Mobile Diner® where wireless and washington meet….

I recently wrote about the Broadband Opportunity in America and one of my major points was urging policymakers to take a new approach in tackling the Broadband challenge.  Specifically, focusing on the demand side of the problem.

Over the years, in telecom policy discussions, we have always discussed how wireless could be a major factor in enabling folks to reach the web.  When I was at AT&T Wireless, I was proud of our relationship with NTT DoCoMo and had faith that we could replicate much of their success in 3G.  It has taken a few years but the industry has arrived.  Wireless can now offer a reliable link to the internet with devices that consumers demand.

A recent article in PC World highlighted research that showed low-income users were the fastest growing segment of new iPhone users.  The study found that users with income levels of $25,000-$50,000 represented the largest demographic of consumers for the month of August. Continue Reading »

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On election night, a huge group of my friends taxied, bused, and brought our celebration of Barack Obama’s victory to the White House lawn.

The impromptu late night party was sparked by text — creating an exuberant flash mob of sorts. It is somewhat fitting that SMS should welcome our 44th President to the nation’s Capitol.

Without mobile technology, Obama would not have mustered up 53% of the popular vote that sent him to the White House.  Pivotal in this large margin was the huge youth vote turnout (ages 18-29), an estimated 21.6 – 23.9 million voters (up 2.2 million from 2004) of which  PEW Research finds 66% supported Obama.

Mobile Millennials Rocked the Vote!

Obama’s new media campaign engaged this demographic like never before.  According to PEW Research, 46% of Americans used wireless, e-mail or the Internet to engage and reach out to other voters in this election. Civic engagement, much of it youth, was harnessed by Obama’s text messaging campaign and implementation of new media technologies.

The Obama iPhone app fused mobile and social media with the “call a friend” feature encouraging wireless users to contact friends in battleground states and offering them real-time mobile access to issues.  In addition to the iPhone app, the “vote early” campaign encouraged early action at the polls.

The Politico aptly sums it up:  “never in post-war American politics have youth voted so differently than other generations as they did in 2008.”

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(Flickr Photo Credit – danesparza)

With regard to telecommunications policy and broadband, the last few years in Washington has been more noise than signal. Hearing after hearing brings lots of whining about broadband – but no solutions. A few academics have gone to the Hill and claimed there is no competition and a few lawmakers like to point out our worldwide rank (15th) in broadband. These same individuals will also point the finger at service providers for a lack of broadband in America.

CHANGE

This is a change election. Every candidate – even folks who have been in office for years – are running on change. Accordingly, I hope that a new administration will bring a new approach to the broadband opportunity in America.

No more pointing the finger. No more lack of accountability. This issue is not conservative or liberal. It is a people issue.

In any case, here are some thoughts to get the ball rolling in the right direction on an issue that is extremely important to our future. Continue Reading »

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