Sidecut Reports

The one thing missing from an otherwise excellent breakdown of AT&T’s iPhone woes by Wired today is a detailed explanation of why Ma Bell’s antiquated backhaul infrastructure and lack of available wireless spectrum are the main reasons why AT&T couldn’t cope with the iPhone data demands.

We’ve heard all about how the unprecendented data surge caught AT&T unawares, even though its top executives once claimed that handling the iPhone’s demands wouldn’t be a problem. A couple years later, and the company still hasn’t gotten things right. Don’t shareholders, investors, partners and customers demand a better explanation than a vague promise to move heaven and earth to fix the problems? How long will such data-free answers suffice?

We’ll know more when AT&T holds its quarterly conference call this Thursday — as in, we’ll know if Ma Bell is going to provide real answers, or perform more duck and hide.

Normally known for his intelligent takes on all matters regarding telecom policy, our pal Harold Feld shows his technology and market chops with an excellent post today about why he thinks the so-called “death of WiMAX” may be a precursor to a long, active afterlife.

You should, of course, read the entire wonderful post but to sum up Harold’s points — WiMAX may be surpassed by Long Term Evolution (LTE) as the eventual 4G market “standard,” but that’s not going to happen for awhile and with lots of gear and services deployed, it’s not like WiMAX is going to disappear off the shelves like Betamax tape players. A great post to bookmark and remember after all the “death sentences” for WiMAX inevitably appear.

If you like the idea of smart, concerned and passionate people being involved in the government’s oversight of all matters broadband then you should welcome the news of the FCC naming University of Colorado associate professor Douglas Sicker as its new chief technologist.

News reports and releases can spell out Dr. Sicker’s considerable resume and background, but they really don’t tell you what I think is the most important attribute Sicker will bring to the FCC, namely his passion for good technology and finding the best solution. Though we’re not close friends, I can attest from several meetings with Dr. Sicker at confabs like the old PFF Aspen Summits and at the wonderful Silicon Flatirons events in Boulder that he is not just knowledgeable about complex legal and technical matters in the communications world, he is incredibly enthusiastic about finding the best answers — making him a perfect fit to be the FCC’s CTO.

Sicker’s appointment is just the latest in a string of smart-people moves from CU to the government, following Phil Weiser’s jump to the DOJ and the impressive idea of a new technical advisory group led by CU telecom legend Dale Hatfield. Congrats to all, especially to Dr. Sicker. Looking forward to great results, soon!

Given that the Washington D.C. Court of Appeals today smacked down the FCC’s ham-handed attempt to impose net neutrality rules on Comcast from a couple years ago, it’s no surprise that many folks are proclaiming this to be the end of net neutrality and a blow to the Obama administration’s telecom plans.

They should know better.

All this does is mark the start of the real battle for not just net neutrality, but for control over matters broadband and beyond.

In reality, today’s decision is probably a somewhat welcome one for the Julius Genachowski-led FCC and the Obama telecom troops, since it officially removes the taint of questionable decisions led by former FCC chairman Kevin Martin from the net neutrality debate. Martin, the friend of big telcos like AT&T and Verizon, ostensibly presided over the implementation of the net neutrality “principles” back in 2005 and then the Comcast case itself. But being by all accounts a very smart guy, Martin is probably laughing out loud somewhere now, knowing that his tactics and decisions probably got the end goal he and his backers truly wanted — mass confusion around net neutrality and the FCC’s role in adjucating it.

Though we’ve sort of been off the policy beat lately, I remember asking lots of insiders about the Comcast decision after it was initially passed, and even the most pro-net neutrality types all thought it would eventually be overturned like it was today. “Good result, bad process” was the way one net neut proponent summed up the original FCC ruling. Good call.

But since Obama’s election, Genachowski and other administration types have been busy looking well beyond the Comcast case, putting in motion not only a separate net neutrality proceeding, but also developing the recently released national broadband plan, which if executed as described will go a long ways toward making net neutrality principles part of everyday regulatory practices — not by trying to define the slippery idea of net neutrality itself but by implementing a raft of actual measurable, enforceable things like truth in broadband-speed advertising and transparency in network management practices.

Should the broadband plan’s metrics-based ideas come to pass, network service providers would have a hard time hiding the kind of dubious practices that got Comcast in hot water in the first place. And just like with the health care bill, Obama and the Democrats probably have all the votes they need right now to pass new net neutrality regulations should they so desire — in fact insiders we have talked to in the big telco camps fully expect that some sort of net neutrality regulation will appear before the end of the year. But that also means they’re gearing up to fight it, if for no other reason than to keep the nuns safe from Google.

We digress. Clearly there is much more still to happen, and we’ll be watching while it does. But the end of net neutrality? In reality, a much bigger battle for the ultimate control of the nation’s networks has just begun.

LAS VEGAS, NEV. — CTIA — In two completely news-free keynote presentations here at CTIA Tuesday morning, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega and CEO Randall Stephenson both made a call for additional wireless spectrum — so that future mobile networks in the U.S. don’t run out of breathing room before they even get off the ground.

De la Vega, the incoming chairman of the wireless industry association, identified additional wireless spectrum as one of the necessary pillars to continue the growth of wireless broadband, an industry that he said increased by 28 percent in 2009 to $41.3 billion in overall revenue. His boss Stephenson followed by praising the FCC’s recent call in its National Broadband Plan to free up as much as 500 MHz of new spectrum over the next decade, introducing a video visit from FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, who — guess what? — said he would do all he could to make more spectrum available.

While both de la Vega and Stephenson talked about the need to build a robust infrastructure to support the expected wireless growth, neither presented any specifics about AT&T’s plans to make its own networks more reliable — perhaps missing the chance to tell wireless industry insiders that Ma Bell was leading by example.

Clearwire, the owner of the largest amount of wireless spectrum for broadband use, kicked off CTIA by announcing additional markets for its WiMAX services in 2010, including Los Angeles and Miami. As our most recent report details, Clearwire is the one provider who isn’t facing a spectrum shortage. Stay tuned for more CTIA updates throughout the week!