Technology Futures

Young people in the 18 to 34 age group continue to ignore traditional cable and satellite TV packages in favor of Internet-based Over The Top (OTT) packages like Netflix and Hulu, among others. With ESPN and HBO joining the OTT revolution, cable and satellite TV are dead, dead, dead, as live sports and specialty programs (think HBO offerings like the hugely popular Sopranos) are now available without that bloated and over-priced cable TV subscription.

The cable companies response to losing market share has been to simply switch their tired old "annual rate increase" strategy to their Internet package, while trying to cram more bandwidth onto the creaky old 20th century copper coax cable.

We have a different strategy: Build modern fiber networks and operate them as a Local Transport Provider (LTP). We are separating the infrastructure from the services completely, which opens the local network up to multiple providers and hundreds of commodity and niche services--customers pick and choose the provider and the services they want. It's called shopping for the best product at the best price. Cable TV and telephone companies are offering the 1950s Soviet economy style of business: "One product, take it or leave it, and we'll tell you what you are going to pay us."

Old model: command economy run by the giant incumbent companies with mediocre service.

New model: free market economy where the customers decides what they want to buy and how much they want to pay.

How can we do that? It's simple. The key concept is the switch to understanding the local network as the Local Transport Provider, completely separate from the Service Provider. We are unbundling the network, completely and unequivocally, which was the original goal of the 1984 and 1996 Telecom Acts.

Trust me...it's finally here, and we are revolutionizing broadband.

Welcome to the world where the Local Transport Provider puts customers first.

A good friend of mine who is a programming genius and an inveterate tinker has provided a glimpse of what is possible with largely off the shelf technology. All of the items on the list below are already implemented and in place.

• Fully automatic generator electric backup. Controllable via web page. Generator activity generates emails/texts. Lots of UPSs for house computers and DVR and digital phone service. Heated generator battery, thermostatically controlled. Generator enclosure’s temperature monitored.
• Turn on lights when come home from GPS in phone.
• Smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, glass break detectors,
  IR sensors, water leaks (water heater, dishwasher, sump pump, laundry, well tank) detected, and entry/exit detectors are all monitored by a professional central office alarm company and generate phone calls, texts, and emails. Police and fire dept are notified if there is an alarm.
• Sensors turn on lights for some rooms when occupied.
• Temperature can be controlled from a conventional thermostat as well as from a web page from any PC or phone. Heating and cooling set points are modified based on whether the alarm is set and whether we are home or away. Also controlled via smart phone.
• HVAC fans can be set from web page and phone app.
• Emails and texts are generated when it starts/stops raining or snowing, temperature or humidity changes.
• Cameras automatically record when motion is detected. Videos are viewable on the web page. The cameras can be controlled from the web page.
• The alarms, both barn and house, can both set armed and disarmed from the web page and phone app.
• Electric blanket turned on and off by timer and web and phone can override.
• Mailbox generates email when opened.
• All status messages are written to a log available on web page.
• Most lights are remotely controllable.
• Well pump activity, attic, basement, living areas, and generator enclosure environments are monitored.
• Exterior lights turned on at dusk and off at midnight and dawn.
• Both house garage doors monitored and controlled via web page.
• Car detected on driveway and exterior house lighting turned on during the night. Also snap shots of driveway taken and emailed.
• Video recorded when motion detected on driveway. Front of house, rear of house (good for detecting bears), and porch area.
• NFC tags used in combination with smart phone to trigger house events. Currently, the house computer will arm the house burglar alarm in stay at home mode when Mike’s phone swipes the NFC tag on his nightstand.
• Pictures and video taken when doorbell pressed.
• Videos automatically uploaded to web site and available for viewing within three minutes of triggering events.
• Washer and dryer startups and completions generate emails, texts, Sonos speaker announcements, and phone calls.
• House computer can be controlled via TeamViewer, email, phone app, or web page.
• Set what to record on DVR from web page.
• Send emails when phone message is left on house phone. Cell phones rings simultaneously with house phone.
• Listen to phone messages from anywhere.
• Emails and texts sent to both phones, two computers, web page status log, and watch when status of monitored item changes.
• Emails sent for pill reminders.
• House control status email and text notifications sent to wristwatch.
• Texts to phones read out loud by car stereo.
• House thermostats set to home setting when phone comes into the GPS monitoring area of the house. This starts the house heating/cooling and turns on lights when we arrive home.
• Monitors router IP address and saves latest IP address for use by phone and web apps like an improvised DDNS.
• Each sensor that detects movement sends a snapshot from all nearby cameras included in the email.
• Sends latest outside temperature changes to Mike’s phone and Pebble watch.
• Sonos WiFi remote controlled speakers in computer room, bedroom, and family room play status messages from house computer such as house and barn alarm arm/disarm, turning on driveway pillar lights at dusk, GPS arrivals, house computer starts and restarts, porch area motion and driveway traffic detected, washer or dryer starts and stops, etc.
• Caller ID info displayed on TV screen.
• Thermostats set appropriately when alarm armed/disarmed based on whether house is empty or we are in bed.
• Emails and texts are sent when battery charge levels on battery operated sensors and devices fall below 10%.
• Burglar alarm can be armed with a Big Red Button at our bedside and will put the whole house computer into nighttime mode.
• Weather forecast, both future and current conditions are shown on web page.
• Two way command line communication on web page House computer.
• One click access to house computer control page on phones.
• Time of day is announced out loud every hour on the hour during waking hours.
• Last 12 log entries are converted to audio and read out loud upon command.
• Big red button on nightstand to arm burglar alarm and set house computer to “House armed in home mode.”
• If any overhead garage doors are open (barn or house) the house computer will announce that fact on the Sonos speakers when the house burglar alarm is armed.
• Water heater, washer, dryer, and sump pump use cycles are monitored and counted.

Open access networks unbundle the physical network from the services being carried over that network. We have become so used to having the network and service provided by the same company that it is sometimes a struggle to remember that that approach is only an artifact of very old technology. The copper twisted pair deployed for phone service was only capable of delivering that one thing: voice phone calls. And copper coaxial cable was only capable of delivering one thing: TV content. The fact that those two networks now include data services is kind of like the old joke about the talking dog--what the dog says is less interesting than the fact that it can talk at all.

With the development of fiber network technology and the concurrent development of the Internet (TCP/IP) protocols, it was no longer necessary to have a separate network for each service. Voice, Internet, and video--along with many other kinds of services--can be carried over a single high performance network. In fact, it is no longer necessary to have a separate network for each service provider. A modern fiber network can easily transport the services offered by many different providers; buyers can pick and choose what services they want, based on the cost and quality of each service.

Open access networks unbundle transport of the services from the services themselves. The network owner/operator is NOT a service provider. Instead, the network owner/operator using the open access business model is a Local Transport Provider, or LTP. LTPs deliver the data traffic of service providers from a common provider meet point on the network to the customer purchasing the service.

LTPs haul bits from point A to point B. An LTP does not have to have Internet backhaul (IP). It is a very simple business model that has network neutrality built in, as buyers of services can pick and choose from a wide variety of service providers and services, rather than being chained to the offerings of a single de facto monopoly provider.

The Intelligent Community Forum announced the Top7 Intelligent Communities for 2015 today.

The Top7 list is dominated by the United States with three communities: Arlington County, Virginia; Columbus,Ohio; and Mitchell, South Dakota.

The others come from four nations: Ipswich, Australia; New Taipei City, Taiwan; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Surrey, Canada. Four of the cites are on the Top7 list for the first time: Mitchell, New Taipei City, Rio de Janeiro and Surrey.

“Each is ‘revolutionary’ in its own way, and each has planned its future in a way that is consistent with its cultural identity, while using universally available digital tools and broadband technology," said Intelligent Community co-founder Lou Zacharilla.

Disclaimer: I have been a juror for the ICF for several years. The ICF work is important because broadband, by itself, does not make a community "smart." Intelligent communities develop an integrated community and economic development strategy that makes broadband an infrastructure building block that supports a broader set of goals and objectives.