Posted by Aparna Sridhar, Google Policy Counsel

Today, the Federal Communications Commission took an important step toward powering tomorrow’s wireless broadband.  The FCC adopted new rules that will designate some spectrum--resources that, under the FCC’s plan, would not in any event be auctioned for wireless carriers’ broadband services--for unlicensed devices and applications on a shared basis.  

Unlicensed uses of spectrum are an important complement to carriers’ mobile broadband services.  For example, the Wi-Fi networks in homes, businesses, and coffee shops allow users to take data off the wireless carriers’ licensed networks, which enables faster service and reduces congestion on cellular systems.  For smartphones and tablets in particular, Cisco has found that daily data consumption over Wi-Fi is four times that of cellular.  Offloading data from cellular networks to Wi-Fi has saved mobile network operators billions of dollars in network deployment costs.  Faster and cheaper access to online services drives usage of those services and thus demand for all forms of network access, creating a virtuous cycle of investment.  Access to new, lower-frequency TV band spectrum could accelerate this process and create more unlicensed service options, allowing better indoor coverage and service in rural and underserved areas.  

The FCC’s plan allows television broadcasters to sell their spectrum rights voluntarily so they can be purchased by mobile operators.  This will enable more efficient spectrum use and spur economic growth.

The FCC had a challenge in designing its plan for an auction of TV broadcast spectrum, and we’re pleased that it is supporting both licensed and unlicensed uses.  While the plan doesn’t provide as much unlicensed spectrum as we recommended, it should provide just enough unlicensed spectrum to attract investments in equipment and operations in the new band.  Google will do its part to ensure that our Spectrum Database supports sharing of the newly allocated spectrum.

We’re grateful that Congressional supporters of unlicensed spectrum use have continued to back the FCC’s progress on this front. While there’s still a lot of work ahead to get the final details of the auction right, we look forward to working with all stakeholders to build the next generation of wireless technologies and see them deployed across America.

Posted by Meredith Whittaker, Program Manager, Google, and Nick Feamster, Associate Professor, Georgia Tech

Over the past two and a half years, more than 40 million consumers have accessed Measurement Lab tools to better understand their broadband performance. Nearly 400 terabytes of broadband performance data are now publicly available. Now, researchers have developed a new tool that will help take M-Lab measurement to the next level.

BISMark (the Broadband Internet Service BenchMARK), a project being led by Georgia Tech and the University of Napoli, aims to measure Internet performance continuously over time. Unlike the many existing tools that run from a user’s computer, BISMark runs on a user’s home router itself. As a result, BISMark can not only measure Internet performance continuously over time, but also help differentiate any performance problems caused by a user’s ISP from those caused by a user’s home network setup.

If you’re interested in better understanding your broadband performance, you can sign up today to receive a free BISMark measurement router. Working with SamKnows and the FCC, the BISMark team will be selecting participants in the coming weeks, and routers will be shipped shortly thereafter. (If you’re especially eager and tech-savvy, you can skip the sign-up and try out an early version of the BISMark package on any OpenWRT-capable device; the project page has information about planned upcoming releases.)

Once you connect your BISMark router to your modem, the tool will run tests throughout the day, including measurement latency, packet loss, jitter, throughput, and network capacity. The BISMark team is also developing a network dashboard, which will allow users to access a detailed view of their ISP’s historical performance.

Like all M-Lab tools, BISMark is fully open-source, and all data collected on M-Lab servers will be placed in the public domain.

Posted by Rick Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel

There’s been a lot of debate about the best way to implement the National Broadband Plan and open Internet rules after the recent Comcast decision. Lots of smart people have recommended reasonable solutions to the FCC’s jurisdictional headache.

We’ve said all along that what’s important to us is promoting an open Internet, and providing access for Americans to the best broadband possible. In comments filed today with the FCC, we say that “we continue to believe that the FCC has ample legal authority to adopt broadband openness rules” and that we support whatever jurisdictional fix is “most sustainable legally.”

To us this has never been about regulatory rigidity but about protecting consumers and keeping the Internet open for innovators. So while we’re not wed to any particular legal theory to justify the FCC’s jurisdiction, we do believe some minimal oversight over broadband networks is essential.

Posted by Harry Wingo, Policy Counsel

Yesterday, I spoke at a panel with other tech companies about how small businesses can leverage the Internet to grow their business. The event was put on by the SBA and FCC through a program called SCORE, which, among other things, is seeking to accelerate small business growth through access to broadband. SCORE will create a comprehensive package of applications, training, and support to small businesses in the country's neediest areas.

One of the small business owners I met at the event, Emily McHugh of Casauri, spoke about how the Internet helped start and grow her business. Emily and her sister started their business in 1999 because they thought there weren’t enough good bags out there for tech gear. And they were right! With Emily’s business degree and her sister Helen’s design degree, Casauri took off. They’ve helped scale their business by leveraging the Internet. All of Casauri’s accounting, sales, and data storage is done online. This cloud computing approach makes their business more efficient and saves them money. But Emily cautioned, "the Internet doesn't mean anything to small business without access...dial-up doesn't count... it's all about speed!"

Emily and her sister are not alone. Lots of small businesses are tapping the Internet to grow their businesses and we believe SCORE will help boost digital literacy, online commerce capabilities, and usage of low-cost, cloud-based tools for small businesses across the country.

If you’re interested in learning about how to start a business or make it more efficient using low-cost or free online tools, you may want to take a look at our series of blog posts on entrepreneurship, which started yesterday on the Official Google Blog.

And, now, I’m going back to browsing all of Casuri’s great laptop bags.