DSL Prime: The Power of Universal Broadband

A government in turmoil in the most connected nation in the world. Meanwhile, the FCC Chair hides from the press, and the telcos are killing their copper networks.

by Dave Burstein of DSL Prime and Future of TV [June 23, 2008]

Power of Universal Broadband
"I'm Only 15 and I Don't Want to Die"
1.3 million sign to impeach President Lee-Myung Bak on the "venomous" Net The Prime Minister has been fired and the Korean government may fall, demonstrating the power of the internet in the most wired country in the world. Seoul has a 103 percent broadband take rate and it seems every one of those lines is being used to raise the protests against American beef. Soon after rumors flared across the Internet, thousands of Koreans swarmed Cheonggyecheon Plaza in a candlelight vigil.

High school students marched with signs, "I'm only 15 and I don't want to die." Further on, 80,000 people marched and the newly elected President's approval rating dropped to 20 percent. As far as I know the entire issue is total nonsense and American beef is no more or less dangerous than beef from anywhere else, but I believe the Korean people are entitled to decide what they should eat.

Opposition Chairman Sohn said, "The governing party is trying to take over the Internet through systematic countermeasures against posts on search engines.'' The Korea Times added Sohn stressed "a government which is trying to gag the media will never be successful." The new regime is also trying to push out the head of KBC.

The President warns, "the spread of falsehoods and inaccurate information are threatening even rationality and trust." The Chinese People's Daily reports Lee "called for OECD-wide efforts to prevent abuse of the internet and create a safer internet-based society." I believe the Chinese consider "internet control" essential for a "harmonious state," and are glad the Koreans are also seeking harmony.

Thousands flooded the police website after the police went after "Andante", the anonymous originator of the impeachment petition. One posted, "I too signed on for the impeachment campaign, so arrest me with Andante," leaving his real name (Korea Times.) I'm sure there's much more to the story, but DSL Prime isn't the place for a history of U.S./Korean relations. The internet changes everything, including the speed of panic and political protest.

Also in Seoul, the Korea Times reports "officials from the U.S. Embassy blocked access to reporters" from the FCC Chair, Kevin Martin. They were particularly outraged because the embassy had made special arrangements for American reporters to interview him. A visitor from France added, "They are Americans. They do that in Paris, too.'' They do that in Las Vegas as well, where USTA boss Walt McCormick cut off the audience when Martin offered to take questions. That was pretty insulting, and McCormick followed up by twisting what Martin had just said.

I haven't asked Kevin if he noticed, but shortly thereafter I noticed Walt had been seated at the far head of the "Chairman's Dinner," as distant from the Chairman as possible. D.C. is like the court of Louis XIV, where everyone watches who draws a smile from the ruler. An FCC official once smiled and said "Hi Dave" to me in public, and the next day a senior executive of «a very large company» spent two hours talking to me because he "wanted to understand my issues."

The best way for Kevin to prove the criticism unfair is to have some open press conferences including taking calls by phone from the Korean reporters. He has an easy answer if they ask him about the key issue between the U.S. And Korea. I'm pretty sure Kevin eats American beef and is comfortable feeding American beef to his family.

e-mail

• S. wonders why I haven't covered the story that Verizon is neglecting what's left of their copper network as well as cutting out the (few) remaining CLECs by shutting down copper. My first answer was "I can't cover everything, and others reported this already." He pressed, so I'm putting in a brief note here. Telco service in North America has gone from pretty good to pretty bad over the last decade, and gets worse every time they fire more employees. The Florida Attorney General is coming after Verizon for millions in fines and Los Angeles wants millions from Time Warner for shoddy service. The only thing preventing corporate disaster is that cable is even worse. The authoritative ACSI has telcos falling from 80 to 70. Cable is down in the low 60's. Charter and Comcast are around 56, among the lowest ratings in any industry.

Copyright 2008 Dave Burstein.
The DSL Prime Newsletter is reprinted with permission.

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