Big data will continue to provide benefits and challenges for municipalities, according to a MeriTalk survey taken last fall of 150 state and local information technology professionals (http://bit.ly/154R5CH). NetApp, a seller of storage systems and storage security systems, underwrote the study, which was released Monday. The officials described tremendous big data growth on the horizon. “Today, the average state and local agency stores 499 terabytes of data,” the report said. It said 87 percent of state and local agencies believe this size has grown in the last two years and 97 percent expect it to increase over the coming two years. Fifty-seven percent of respondents believe big data improves agencies’ overall efficiency, 54 percent that it aids in the speed and accuracy of decisions and 37 percent in improving the understanding of citizens. The report said many don’t understand or are in the initial stages of understanding how to use big data. It said 44 percent aren’t talking about it and 39 percent are just learning. There’s a margin of error of plus or minus 7.97 percent in the survey, MeriTalk said. Most stored data comes from transactional business data, field staff and from other agency reports, respondents said. Problems include storage capacity and the question of who owns the data, the report said.
New Mexico’s congressional delegation asked the FCC to preserve broadcast TV and translators in rural areas during the spectrum incentive auction, in a letter to Chairman Julius Genachowski Friday (http://bit.ly/10OTjEO). “It is important that the Commission protect the public’s ability to receive free over-the-air television ... whether that signal is provided by a full power broadcast or a translator,” said the letter, signed by the state’s two senators and five House members. The letter said nearly 600,000 New Mexico residents rely solely on broadcast TV, transmitted by more than 200 translators in the state. The letter said broadcast TV spreads information, especially during emergencies such as wildfires, in New Mexico’s rural areas and tribal lands where cable, satellite and high-speed Internet are less common. “Thus we do not underestimate the enduring value of free broadcast television ... even as new mobile services become more and more essential,” said the legislators.
The actual applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) remain limited because the technology is still in its early stages, IDC Government Insights said Monday in a report. Applications of IoT have thus far focused on the transport, security and environmental monitoring domains, IDC said. IoT applications in the public sector can also expand into the defense and health domains, IDC said. “In each of these domains, connected objects can provide situational awareness that can help citizens and government personnel act and react at the operational level, monitor the status or behavior of people and assets to make management decisions, and support very fine-grained, sensor-driven analytics that help with planning decisions,” said Massimiliano Claps, IDC Government Insights EMEA research director, in a news release. The research firm recommended public sector executives consider multiple management factors that will influence harnessing the benefits of IoT, including the value of data that will be generated, the scale of infrastructure, governance complexity, financial sustainability and legal aspects (http://bit.ly/16dC1Ss).
Hughes launched HR4700 Branch Gateway, a comprehensive single device that combines security from Fortinet with high-performance routing and broadband Wide Area Network optimization, Hughes said in a press release (http://bit.ly/ZXTIyg). The device was developed “specifically to meet the demanding security and application performance needs of multi-branch organizations.” It features a next-generation firewall, in-plane switching and application, and endpoint control, it said. The embedded optimization technology “makes it possible to enjoy high application performance over standard broadband networks, instead of expensive T1 or Ethernet access,” Hughes said.
Mobile health software company AirStrip said Monday it settled its patent lawsuit against mVisum. AirStrip said mVisum agreed not to offer products that would violate AirStrip-owned U.S. Patent No. 8,255,238, including those that might stream or display in real time patient physiological data. MVisum also agreed not to market any products that would compress, cache or buffer patient physiological data for use on a smartphone or tablet. AirStrip originally filed its lawsuit against mVisum in October in U.S. District Court in New York (http://bit.ly/ZZeDAg). MVisum did not have an immediate comment on the settlement.
ATK successfully completed its solid rocket booster preliminary design review with NASA for the agency’s Space Launch System. The milestone indicates the booster design is on track to support the first flight of the SLS in 2017, ATK said in a press release (http://bit.ly/124U9cZ).
AT&T and Zeus Wireless continued battling over a contested payment for access charges, Texas Public Utility Commission filings showed last week. The PUC should deny Zeus’s complaint and request for interim relief, AT&T told the commission Friday (http://bit.ly/ZLJ9Dg). It outlined the more than $600,000 it feels it’s owed: “AT&T Texas bills Zeus for the termination and transit services at the rates set forth” in its interconnection agreement with Zeus, the telco said. “Remarkably, however, Zeus refuses to pay a single dime for any of the services.” The dispute had been the subject of a prior PUC proceeding that ended with no relief given. “From January through mid-April 2013, AT&T and Zeus exchanged correspondence and communications between counsel in an attempt to resolve the disputes at issue,” Zeus told the PUC (http://bit.ly/11x7Q2Y), calling that negotiation “unsuccessful.” In March, Zeus accused AT&T of breaching the agreement because AT&T failed to provide new trunks, while AT&T demanded $600,000 of payment, which Zeus interpreted as a threat of ending the agreement on May 15, according to the Zeus filing. “Therefore, interim relief is needed from the Commission in order to prevent Zeus’s service from being interrupted by AT&T and to direct AT&T to provision the services and products ordered by Zeus,” it said. As in the past, Zeus disputes the charges AT&T says it’s owed: “AT&T cannot cram charges for services allegedly provided over a 31 month time period into a single invoice and declare it due and owing in 30 days.” Zeus wants the PUC to make AT&T stop trying to collect the hundreds of thousands of dollars and to ensure the interconnection agreement is preserved. The PUC judged Zeus’s concerns “sufficient” and plans to hold a hearing June 3, it said (http://bit.ly/10OR58t).
Discovery Communications is expanding its commitment to science, technology, engineering and math education, after last week saying it will include such STEM content on its Science Channel (CD April 23 p6), a company spokeswoman told us Monday. The cable programmer on Wednesday will disclose “new initiatives across its networks, education and digital businesses as part of a multi-year commitment in support of President Obama’s ‘Educate to Innovate’ campaign” on STEM, Discovery said in a news release. CEO David Zaslav, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and others will speak at a Wednesday event in Burtonsville about the plans, the company said.
FiberSat Global Services seeks assignment of C-band and Ku-band earth station licenses. The request is in connection with the sale of company assets to Cinetcomm, it said in its application to the FCC International Bureau (http://bit.ly/11QR8NR).
Social messaging apps will cost carriers more than $86 billion in 2020, research firm Ovum said Monday. That type of app will cost carriers $32.6 billion this year, Ovum said. The rise of social messaging has slowed SMS growth -- the SMS growth rate is forecast to be 8 percent over the course of 2013, down from a 14 percent growth rate in 2011, Ovum said. Mobile broadband revenue will form the “bulk” of carriers’ non-voice revenues after 2013 -- mobile broadband will make up 43 percent of non-voice revenues, while SMS will make up 40 percent, Ovum said. SMS revenue growth will plateau in 2015 in part because of the rise of social messaging, as well as the bundling of SMS with calling minutes and mobile broadband plans, Ovum said. The next two years will be “crucial” to the relationship between telcos and over-the-top (OTT) operators, said analyst Neha Dharia in a news release. The industry research firm expects telco-OTT partnerships will intensify over the course of 2013, Dharia said. WhatsApp has already formed a number of partnerships, including three in Hong Kong and one in India, while Facebook recently entered into a partnership with 18 global operators to allow free or discounted data access to its messaging platform, Ovum said (http://bit.ly/17tdI19).