High Fiber and the Future of the Internet (and mHealth)

I should start this article by saying that I’m both a consumer advocate and long-time advocate of BIG Broadband and fiber-to-the-home, even as I support wider deployment of fast 3G & 4G networks for mobile health apps and other purposes. That’s why I’m posting this 13 minute video, where PBS correspondent Rick Karr reports on why the U.S., where the Internet was born, has now fallen badly behind in the race to the online future. The video describes the telecom business environment of open competition in the Netherlands and its success in promoting ultra-fast fiber-optic networks. That contrasts starkly with the lack of competition here in the U.S., where most consumers only have two broadband Internet providers to choose from: a phone company and a cable company.

Back in May, my advocacy also caused me to submit Lifted by the Cloud, a 7min vision video of cloud-based accessibility to the FCC as part of a contest sponsored by the FCC , the Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities, and Raising the Floor. And this week, my advocacy caused me to engage in an online debate over whether mHealth is being hijacked by the phone industry for their own gain. The debate got a bit heated, which is common in social media. Enjoy.