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EuroWire – January 2011 32
Transat lant ic Cable
after years of attrition. But relations between the two
deteriorated, to the extent that this souring was cited by
Moody’s Investors Service as a factor in its decision to put
Sprint on watch for possible downgrade. Moody’s also
observed that Sprint itself has $5 billion of debt coming
due from 2011 through 2013. Earlier, Dow Jones had noted
Clearwire’s “blistering pace of adoption for next-generation
wireless services” and the high costs associated with building
a brand-new network.
Telecom interests in the US hope for
the best as an important committee
chairmanship changes hands
While the midterm elections in the US in November saw
the majority in the House of Representatives taken from
President Barack Obama’s Democratic Party, the effect on the
president himself will be limited. In their first terms in office,
Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Clinton experienced just
such “corrections” to their governing mandates and went on to
win re-election. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who faced the same
situation during his second term, went on to win third and
fourth terms in office. And Mr Obama, despite his uncomfortable
position presiding over a slow economic recovery, enjoys a good
deal of personal fealty among the electorate.
The Republican sweep of the House (the Democrats retain
control in the Senate) holds greater significance for individual
industry sectors, as congressional committee chairs are taken
over by other legislators. Telecommunications is among those
bracing for change.
On the Washington-based news website Politico on the day
after the election, Tony Romm noted that the top House and
Senate committees that handle tech and telecom issues will be
transformed politically and substantively. This at a time when
a number of important issues are reaching the critical stage.
(“Tech, Telecom Prep for Sea Change,” 4th November)
Mr Romm wrote, “Election Day 2010 brought the defeat of one of
Washington’s most respected tech minds.”
He is Representative Rick Boucher, Democrat of Virginia, whose
failure to keep his seat not only leaves a leadership vacancy on
the Communications, Technology, and Internet Subcommittee
of the House. According to Politico it also means the chamber
will be without a member who spearheaded countless tech
and telecom initiatives. Among Mr Boucher’s earnestly pursued
initiatives last year are the reform of a programme to bolster
phone service to hard-to-reach areas of the country and the
freeing up of airwaves for more mobile phone and data use.
On the day before the election, techdirt.com regretted in advance
the defeat of Mr Boucher, whose support for a controversial
climate bill would be penalised by the voters.
“There is a very, very small number of congressional
representatives who actually seem to really get technology,
telecom, and copyright issues,” wrote the site’s Mike Masnick.
“And Boucher is one of them.”
Elsewhere in telecom and tech . . .
Is cloud computing also “greener” computing? The US tech ❈ ❈
giant Microsoft put this question to itself and – perhaps not
surprisingly – got a satisfactory answer.
A lifecycle analysis commissioned by Microsoft (Redmond,
Washington) and conducted by management consultancies
Accenture and WSP shows that cloud computing holds
potential for important reductions in energy consumption
and carbon emissions. The greatest benefits may be
realised by small companies. Large data centres, like those
run by Microsoft and Google, obviously benefit from
economies of scale and operational efficiencies. For mid-
sized organisations, of about 1,000 computer users, the
savings were in the range 60 to 90%, according to the study.
But small businesses, of about 100 users, that move their
business applications away from on-site servers into the
cloud can see net energy and carbon savings of more than
90%, the researchers wrote. As summed up by Rob Bernard,
the chief environmental strategist at Microsoft, “The cloud
has the ability to deliver business value for customers in an
age where corporate responsibility is critical to business
success.”
The 16-page study (“Cloud Computing and Sustainability: the
Environmental Benefits of Moving to the Cloud”) is available
free at
Under an agreement with Verizon Wireless, Paris-based ❈
❈
Alcatel Lucent will build the American operator a faster
network based on LTE (long term evolution) technology.
Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone,
the British global mobile operator, plans to upgrade its
3G networks to LTE through 2013 as it sells more data-
intensive smartphones and other devices. The largest
US mobile operator is expected to become the second
domestic operator to sell the Apple iPhone, which has been
offered only by the American phone giant AT&T. The French
company is the product of a merger of Alcatel with Lucent
Technologies, which was formerly part of AT&T. Alcatel
Lucent said its agreement with Verizon Wireless, announced
4th November, will generate $4 billion in sales over four years.
In brief . . .
New sources of supply, as well as a growing scrap-steel ❈ ❈
industry in China, will push down the price of iron ore to
below $100 a ton over the next decade. The likely dimming
of the bullish outlook for the key ingredient in steel making
was reported by Devon Maylie, who covers commodities for
Barron’s. On 20th November he noted that the price of iron
ore directed to China was down some 12% from its record
high in April of $186 a ton. According to the analyst, the
trend that would hurt the profits of mining companies is
being driven by the miners’ own investments in new projects
and mine expansions around the world. Steel producers will
be the beneficiaries.
The future is also brightening for information technology ❈ ❈
companies in remote areas of the US, where a few