May 16 2012

Today, there are more wireless subscriptions than people in the U.S. That’s just one of the facts we reveal in the first of a series of Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP) info graphics available in English and Spanish. If you have a “work” mobile phone plus a “personal” device, you’re part of that trend. Here’s another shocker: by the end of 2012, there will be more wireless subscriptions than people on the planet. This ever-growing increase in demand is great news for developers who are creating new apps, and for entrepreneurs who are connecting to the global marketplace and growing their businesses.

It’s also important news for Hispanics, who are relying on their mobile devices more and more. In fact, according to a 2010 Pew Internet and American Life study, Hispanics continue to be the most active users of mobile devices for internet access. On average, 51 percent of Hispanics access the internet from their phone, as compared to 33 percent of whites and 46 percent of African Americans. With young adults leading these data trends, we can only expect these numbers and percentages to increase.

As evidenced by the above, we aren’t just using our phones to talk. In the first half of 2011, more than 6 billion text messages were sent each day — that’s a 16 percent increase in just one year. But as more and more people join the wireless revolution, there’s a bigger demand for spectrum- the invisible airwaves that carry phone calls, e-mails, connections to the Internet, tweets, streaming music and videos to mobile phones. In other words, spectrum is what makes our mobile devices work.

As mobile phone use has increased, wireless networks have become overloaded, and as this congestion increases, so too will dropped calls, unreliable connections and slower Internet speeds. Of particular concern is potential cost increases and stricter data caps driven by lack of available spectrum, which is most dangerous to emerging online communities who choose mobile because of cost and flexibility.

Congress recently approved legislation that would provide an opportunity to reallocate underutilized broadcast spectrum through a reverse auction process, which is a step in the right direction. As shown in the info graphic, by 2016, 10 billion mobile devices worldwide will be connected to wireless networks. However, as the numbers demonstrate, the data demands of these devices and their owners will only be met if spectrum is freed up to drive investment in mobile capacity.

Inaction on spectrum threatens to roll back the great benefits of mobile Internet access to Hispanic communities and others who rely on their mobile devices for a less expensive, flexible, always on-hand access to the web.

Jason A Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director, the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP). Follow on twitter: @hispanicttp. www.httponline.org.

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Just a few short years ago,Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry was the industry leader in smartphone technology. It enjoyed near-monopoly status within some key workforce sectors such as Capitol Hill and federal agencies. Today, after just a few short years, and the relentless introduction of newer, faster, smarter (and, many think, cooler) devices that offer Blackberry functionality plus new tools and a preferred interface, many now speculate on RIM’s survival. This provides all of us an important market study on the speed of innovation.

Needless to say, the pace of new technology is astounding. The industry gold standard bearer, Apple, continues to push the envelope – having announced within the last year significant upgrades to both of their flagship product lines, the iPhone 4s and the third-generation iPad.

In the meantime, BlackBerry’s “numbers are plummeting. A National Journal survey found that 41 percent of Capitol Hill workers have iPhones – compared to just 13 percent two years earlier. Meanwhile, BlackBerrys are down from 93 percent to 77 percent, implying that some percentage of people who would rather not are being forced to carry around BlackBerrys for work.” As one Washington Post writer astutely surmises: “Nothing consigns a technology to the Has-Bin faster than being forced to carry it around for work.”

While RIM products may be out of vogue, our national desire for smart mobile technology is only growing. According to the new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project: “Nearly half (46%) of Americans aged 18 and older own a smartphone as of February, 2012, up from 36% in May, 2011.”

However, the same survey had some bad news for RIM: “An analysis of the platforms being used reveals around 20% of all American mobile phone users own an Android OS-based phone, slightly more than the 19% of iOS users. Just 6% used Blackberry RIM, down from 10% in May last year.”

With all of this movement in market share, the state of innovation balanced by industry regulation and policy deserves some attention. Today’s regulatory and policy ceiling can be tomorrow’s floor – meaning that what policymakers and legislators determine to be the rules that companies live by while leaving room for growth today, could some day become restraining and stifle innovation, simply because one can not know where the market lands tomorrow.

As we’ve seen, technological innovation has the power to address societal challenges. Investment and innovation in Health IT , for example is only now beginning to gain momentum. This sea change in healthcare can improve and even save lives –especially within the most at-risk communities that have difficulty accessing healthcare and struggle with more chronic disease.

While the future of the BlackBerry is uncertain, the potential within advancing mobile technology is bright indeed – with the warning that our policymakers have a key responsibility to make sure the path is cleared for that future to become areality.

Jason A. Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director, the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP). Follow on Twitter: @hispanicttp.  www.httponline.org.

Last year, I wrote about the need for Congress to reform a decade-old program that has failed in its mission of bridging the Digital Divide in rural America:

A case in point is the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service, whose Farm Bill-funded Broadband Loan program has come under fire for failing its core mission. This program is supposed to provide loans, over $300 million authorized this year alone, to build out broadband service in under-served and rural areas. But advocates and analysts say the loans have been misdirected to non-rural areas that already have a broadband provider – as illustrated by a report from the Department’s Inspector General.

Sadly, the Broadband Loan program has not been reformed in the year since, and Congress is considering whether to further fund the program in this year’s Farm Bill, which is being considered in the Senate this week. It’s a unique opportunity for Hispanic Digital Divide activists to speak up and advocate for real change.

The Broadband Loan program has not dispersed a new loan in almost three years, meaning that hundreds of millions of dollars more are sitting unused while 10 million households continue to go without even the option of subscribing to broadband service. Congress can dramatically improve the program by requiring the Department of Agriculture to specifically target these funds to areas without any broadband networks so that we are spending our resources in the areas in which they will have the most dramatic and immediate impact. Congress may also consider recasting the program as one that gives grants, not loans, to create more incentives for applicants to roll the dice on what would otherwise be a very expensive and risky gamble.

On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry will begin its mark-up of the 2012 Farm Bill. Click here to find Senators who are Committee members and to find contact information.

Jason A. Lorenz, Esq. is Executive Director, the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP). Follow on Twitter: @hispanicttp. www.httponline.org.

Spectrum is the lifeblood of wireless innovation and the resource necessary for making high-speed, 4G services available to more communities in more places. Each day, millions of Hispanic consumers and small business owners rely on spectrum to power their wireless devices, smartphones and tablets, while demand for spectrum continues to grow at a staggering pace – creating a looming spectrum crunch that HTTP and its members are concerned could threaten the long-term availability and cost of these services. Recently, HTTP filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging the Commission to approve the proposed purchase by Verizon of advanced wireless spectrum (AWS) licenses currently held by cable operators including Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, by Verizon Wireless.

The filing reflects our belief that this transaction is beneficial for a number of reasons.  Primarily, it moves currently unused spectrum intouse, and drives investment to address a looming spectrum crunch that threatens to drive mobile prices upward and constrict service.

In our filing, HTTP says:

One of the most critical technology policy issues facing Hispanics, and all Americans today is the continued evolution of high-speed wireless services as a viable competitor to wire line broadband for access to the Internet…. HTTP believes that this transaction presents significant opportunities to continue the advancement of wireless broadband, while enhancing awareness of wire line broadband among Hispanics — two of the most important components of closing the ongoing Digital Divide.

Separately, SpectrumCo member companies and Verizon Wireless penned a group of commercial agreements that will drive convenience, cost savings, and, HTTP hopes, more even distribution of broadband wire line and wireless services. The cross marketing agreements that Verizon has entered into with the cable companies offer significant opportunities to the Hispanic community, which continues to experience a significant lag in adopting a home broadband connection.  These agreements in essence add a new sales and product platform for all companies involved which will lead to unique product offerings for consumers such as attractive service bundles.  HTTP hopes that theunique marketing partnership will lead to greater adoption of broadband service in the home.

“This transaction brings currently unused spectrum online to continue powering the wireless innovation that benefits Hispanic businesses and families,” stated Javier Palomarez, President & CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC).

“LULAC is encouraged by the opportunity written into this agreement to address the digital divide through smart cross marketing,” said Brent Wilkes, National Executive Director for the League of United Latin AmericanCitizens (LULAC), the country’s largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization.  “These companies will be able to offer completely new and customizable service bundles that serves the unique needs of the Hispanic community to drive digital adoption.”

“This transaction represents the future of the broadband space – a more complex competitive environment, where economies of scale drive better service offerings, stated Jose Marquez-Leon, President and CEO of Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA). The future means more companies in the same space, competing for market share, and, where appropriate, maximizing overall market footprint.”

If the transaction is approved, the new spectrum licenses will help Verizon improve its 4G LTE mobile broadband network.

Regardless, the significance of the Spectrumco/Verizon deal underscores the growing demand on spectrum and the looming crunch. HTTP has strongly encouraged the FCC to approve the spectrum transfer, as one way to repurpose a swath of spectrum for use, help prevent a spectrum crisis that would drive up prices, and avoid harmful consequences for the most vulnerable consumers in the mobile broadband space.

Jason A. Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP). Follow on twitter: @hispanicttp. www.httponline.org.

March 15, 2012

Wireless issues have seen lots of action this month and that doesn’t even account for last week’s big announcement from a certain company in California.

The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) hosted a major conference that focused on the key problem facing wireless technology: lack of federal action to free up airwaves.  Here’s a good summary on the problem and the event from Alton Drew.

My colleague, Jose Marquez at Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA) posted this excellent blog on how wireless can benefit healthcare through an extension of the benefits of telemedicine, health and e-health technology that can drive costs down and improve the doctor/patient relationship.  Latinos struggle with dire health disparities that could affect the long-term productivity of generations. Broadband-enabled healthcare is one opportunity to address these disparities.

Finally, the research firm JD Power & Associates published a new survey on consumers and their wireless usage.  The results confirm what Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) already know: More people are snapping up smartphones, which means more people are accessing mobile data.  This trend continues to stretch wireless network capacity.

But the results aren’t just measured in dropped calls and slower connections, although those are bad enough.  There’s also economic fall-out.

I’ve written about this issue previously (see here and here) and the problem this poses for Hispanics.  Congress passed a law recently to allow for auctions of broadcast spectrum for use in wireless services.  The President signed it and now the spotlight is on the FCC to move the process forward, and support transactions that move underutilized spectrum, such as the one proposed by Verizon and the cable companies, into use as well.

The FCC needs to move quickly.  The stakes are high. While many of the policy issues facing this community offer multiple perspectives, there is no question that inaction, or slow action, to address the spectrum crunch leads only to poor consequences for communities who rely on these services – higher prices and lower quality of service. This issue is neither partisan, nor unclear. Rather, action to address the spectrum crunch provides an opportunity for leadership that, at once drives investment, jobs and innovation across the tech sector, all of which is beneficial to our communities.

JASON A. LLORENZ, ESQ. IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE HISPANIC TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS PARTNERSHIP (HTTP). FOLLOW ON TWITTER: @HISPANICTTP.  WWW.HTTPONLINE.ORG.

LISTA, HTTP and our members often discuss the transformative potential of technology. We promote technology, innovation and broadband connectivity because it empowers communities, reveals new possibilities, and changes lives. But technology can also improve health, quality of care – and save lives while saving the health care system dollars. Health IT has had a dramatic impact on patient care and telemedicine, with endless future possibilities.

That’s why the National Latino Alliance on Health Information Technology (Latino HIT), an initiative of LISTA that focuses on advancing health care delivery to Latino communities, kicked off our “EHR Insights 2015: Latinos and Health Care Information Technology”, a conference discussing ideas and applications of health IT, along with HTTP last week. Our conference encouraged the implementation of health IT and electronic medical records in the primary care physician’s practice, paving the way for additional exciting health care technologies and increased adoption of mobile health (mHealth) and telemedicine that in turn will help address health disparities in the Latino community.

Yes, the digital revolution has the potential to improve Latino health. It must be stated that with roughly 50.5 million Hispanics living in the United States and representing 16 percent of the U.S. total population, Latino health and thedisparities we face have national implications. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and stroke are some of the leading causes of illness and death among Hispanics. As of 2006 CDC data, Latinos were 1.5% more likely to die from diabetes than the general population.

The leading cause of death for Latinos is heart disease. One of the most critical contributing factors to heart disease is hypertension (or high blood pressure), which can be related to obesity. The CDC notes that Latinos are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to effectively manage their hypertension and pursue preventive care. Latinas particularly, have high levels of hypertension and are more likely to have heart complications as a result.

Communities who struggle the most with life-challenging diseases and illnesses could greatly benefit from new health IT applications that include remote health monitoring and remote medical consultations – opportunities to allow patients to participate in their own healthcare, communicate more regularly with medical professionals regardless of location, and see a more cost-efficient and convenient form of care. But the healthcare innovations that can deliver treatment, care, and expertise in new ways depend on the availability of a robust network infrastructure, including the ubiquitous deployment of high-speed wireless broadband.

The increased demand and use of wireless devices has created a “spectrum crunch” that threatens the long-term evolution of these life-saving innovations. This increased strain on capacity not only affects customer experience and causes dropped calls and slow data speeds, prompting the need for additional spectrum. Health IT applications run on these same airwaves. In order to fully realize the benefits and exciting potential of health IT, additional spectrum is needed, STAT.

Luckily, spectrum reform has happened: Congress recently passed legislation that will make underutilized spectrum available at auction, where carriers can bid for the rights to use it to expand their wireless broadband networks. Swift action to move new swaths of spectrum to use will power continued innovation and investment in the space, and create new applications that could save lives. As Peter Rysavy notes in his piece, re-purposing high-quality spectrum across the bands, and investment in the new capacity it allows, will be needed to advance the deployment of valuable, high-capacity networks.

The spectrum issue is a dense, obscure subject to communicate, even to our most tech-savvy stakeholder. But the bottom line is that Congress’ and the FCC’s role in moving spectrum quickly to advance wireless network capacity is of incredible value to all communities. In the health IT space, technology will drive new ways to address health disparities, drive efficiency, and save money – all of which stands to benefit Latino communities. But only with the continued evolution of 21st century broadband networks – both wire line, and high capacity wireless.

Jason A. Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director, the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP). Follow on Twitter: @hispanicttp.

Jose Marquez-Leon is President and CEO of Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA), which created the National Latino Alliance on Health Information Technology. Follow on twitter: @Lista1

Yesterday, Apple unveiled the latest and greatest of it’s amazing devices – its iPad 3.  While the reviews are still rolling in, the third-generation in the tablet series, adding 4G LTE capabilities, is expected by all accounts to be another blockbuster for a company that continues to be on the bleeding edge of innovation and design.  But most exciting, is what the continued evolution of tablet products, powered by high- capacity networks can mean for access.

Few imagined five years ago the impact Apple would have on the way we access information, play, and work on the web.  First with the introduction of the iPhone, then followed by the iPad, Apple has been revolutionizing the way the world accesses information online and on the go. We also can not overstate the significance of smartphones and tablets to making the web mobile and accessible – and the revolutionary, multi- billion dollar application or “app” market they have inspired.

The innovation and creativity to package a pocket-sized computer with a cell phone has spurred unprecedented competition, investment and further innovation from wireless carriers and device manufacturers alike. The “app” market itself, which will be a 15 billion dollar marketplace at the end of this year, has driven a new industry, jobs, and widespread  entrepreneurial activity.

Smart devices have lowered the barriers to broadband access and mobile computing for all consumers – especially Hispanics, who trail in home broadband adoption, but remain leading adopters of wireless and tablet devices. In fact, according to data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Hispanics are among the most prolific users of mobile broadband, far outpacing white and African American wireless users.

Now the iPad 3 brings new functionality to a wondrous window to the digital world — with a 4G option. This is good news for Hispanics and others looking for affordability and accessibility in the mobile broadband space, with greater capabilities.  What was not possible with smartphones, the tablet now delivers with its larger screen and ample processing power — combined with a wireless keyboard and some other options, we wonder if the iPad should join the category of digital divide killer.

The entire conversation about broadband adoption begins and ends with a business, an individual, or a family’s willingness to invest in digital tools. What the ipad 3 really accomplishes is a furtherance of excitement about what can be done online. Excitement about the app market as a marketplace for emerging entrepreneurs, excitement about the games that a young high schooler could learn to design, and the opportunities provided by emerging healthcare applications are all intrinsic to the conversation about closing the digital divide.

Once we figure out how every k-12 student can access books online, in  a web- enabled environment, we will revolutionize the education system as well.

Needless to say, the iPad 3 is a welcome addition to a stellar lineup of mobile computing devices. As we have seen with the adoption of smartphones, the hope is that as the tablet market matures, Latinos continue to leverage this new technology and  help close the gap in digital skills that will really make wireless technology the great equalizer.

Jason A. Llorenz, Esq. is Executive Director of the Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership (HTTP). Follow on Twitter: @hispanicttp.www.httponline.org.