Verizon - Leadership Team

Software Defined Radio (SDR) Wireless Innovation Conference and Product Exposition

RichardJ.Lynch, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Introduction by John Glossner, Sandbridge Technologies and Conference Chair

Thank you, John, for those kind words this morning. And thank you for inviting Verizon to be part of this forum. I appreciate the opportunity to give you my thoughts on where I see the wireless market heading, and to make a few observations on how software defined radio has, and could, impact that future.

The past decade has been a remarkably transformative period in the communications industry. Throughout the years, my team - just as many of you in this room - has earned many patents, largely for those technological innovations behind the scenes - the "wizard behind the curtain." But the real transformative innovation, I believe, has been the ways in which what we do has been translated into the products and services we deliver to real customers.

From sophisticated smartphones and tablets, to multimedia services and uncountable applications, this innovation cycle isn't showing any signs of slowing. In fact, the accelerating transformation of wireless technology is what this conference is all about.

It's hard to overstate how fast technology has evolved since the old analog days. It wasn't that many years ago that Verizon began to deploy its first 2G wireless network, ushering in the world of texting and mobile e-mail. Data traffic on that network increased 300 percent in the first four years and the rate of acceleration has only increased since then.

It was only about 6 years ago that we introduced the first nationwide 3G network, which increased data speeds by a factor of 10, giving customers the first reasonable opportunity to do file transfers, share photos and access the Internet on a wireless device. It's now the nation's largest and most reliable 3G network, providing far-reaching mobile broadband connectivity.

Simply stated, Verizon is first and foremost a network company. Not surprisingly, I like to think of us as the network company. Whether you're talking about high-capacity fiber-optics delivered to the home, global connectivity for multinational corporations, or fast and reliable data service for wireless customers - all of these capabilities are tied to the unique capabilities of the Verizon network.

I've been fortunate to work for a company that believes that continued aggressive investment in technology is good for the customer and good for the company. Our many "firsts" are a reflection of that commitment. And we're about to make good on another commitment I made to be first.

This coming Sunday, Verizon will launch the first large-scale LTE network in the nation and, frankly, in the world. Last month we unveiled the 38 markets around the country that will get LTE in this first wave. These are major markets from coast to coast. In this first phase, we'll reach more than one-third of all Americans where they live - a geography that covers a population of 110 million people. And when they travel, some 62 major airports from coast to coast will also have LTE coverage.

This initial launch includes major markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Boston, as well as markets like Charlotte, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle and Austin. Of course, this building will be lit-up as part of the Washington launch happening at the same time.

We're already pushing aggressively to expand beyond our first wave. We're on track for LTE to reach two-thirds of the U.S. population in 18 months. And we'll quickly expand that to cover almost all of the U.S. population by the end of 2013. At that point we will exceed our current 3G footprint and we have every intention to continue expanding to cover nearly all of the U.S.

Verizon was one of the first in the world to commit to LTE for our next-generation platform. As a financially prudent company, we carefully consider the network costs of new technologies. But we also look at the cost-benefit ratio to the consumer for their devices and service. Netting everything out, we clearly understood that LTE was the answer to our future technology direction. So we got deeply involved in 3GPP, and we executed on a spectrum plan that led to us securing a great block of 700MHz covering virtually the entire country.

Today, LTE has emerged as the global standard for next-generation wireless, with most carriers around the world having signed on. Many are waiting for spectrum and are closely watching the Verizon experience.

A lot of research and testing went in to our LTE decision, and based on our field tests it's obvious we made the right choice of technology. I can safely predict that as fast-paced and stunningly successful as wireless has been to date, we may someday look back at the past 25 years as the warm-up act.

Just as 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation wireless networks changed the way society lives, works and plays, so too will LTE. This technology will unleash the next great wave of wireless innovation - and opportunity. And the benefits to society, I believe, will be profound.

LTE is driven by a pure IP vision. It's the first truly high-speed broadband wireless technology. Just look at the sheer physics of it. With LTE, speed goes up dramatically - by another factor of 10. In our field trials over the last year, we've seen real average customer throughputs in a fully-loaded network in the 5-12 megabit range. We're not talking peak sector speeds as you so often hear hyped, but true average speeds that real customers will experience.

But speed is only half the equation. Equally important, and I really do mean equally important, latency drops dramatically - by more than half - to round-trip delays that are more comparable to wired Ethernet-centric expectations.

It's these dual forces of much higher speeds and much lower latency that make LTE so transformative over any wireless technology we have today.

As I see it, this transformation will drive and support four large, intertwined trends.

The first trend is real-time delivery. The super low latency makes this possible. In fact, LTE's 30-millisecond latency is better than the generally agreed 50-millisecond "real time" threshold. Think of what such response times will mean to interactive gaming, video calling and mission-critical applications like medical emergencies or smart-grid telemetry and control.

The second transformative trend, well supported by LTE, descends from the clouds: "cloud computing." More and more on-demand applications and computing power will reside in the network and can be accessed at any time, on any device, from anywhere around the world without challenging the "processing versus battery" balance with which we struggle today.

For businesses, content will be downloaded quickly to mobile devices. Sales personnel in the field can access data on their laptops, as well as their smartphones, tablets and other innovative devices. Think of that alone as a significant savings. They'll carry a tablet and pull down presentations and large amounts of data from the cloud - updated to the second with customer and product information - all with the latest edits from their legal department.

The third transformative trend is video. In an all-IP world of 4G networks, video will be a common ingredient in almost every communication and application. It won't be solely for entertainment and other canned content, as we tend to think of video today. Think of real-time two-way video conferencing, video surveillance and social networking. And increasingly, this video will be interactive and high quality.

A fourth transformative trend is massive machine-to-machine communications. This is a huge transformation. In the past, wireless networks connected people-to-people, or people-to-machines. With LTE we'll see an explosion of machine-to-machine wireless connectivity.

Wireless devices have come a long way - and overcome some major challenges - in the past decade. We've seen major advances in technology that enable today's smart devices, with high-quality displays, longer battery life, inexpensive low-power processors and enhanced video technologies.

The sophistication of the LTE network - coupled with an unlimited variety of applications - will enable billions of these machine-to-machine connections. The only question is "how many billions?"

Soon we expect wireless modules will be found in all sorts of consumer electronics, medical devices, thermostats, cars, home appliances, vending machines, motion detectors, and on and on. With increasing cost efficiencies, these LTE-enabled machine-to-machine devices will offer compelling value, and will make their way into every home, vehicle, building, shipping container and supermarket shelf.

Together, these connections will finally make smart homes, smart offices, smart energy grids and smart health care a reality. These connections will drive wireless broadband deep into the basic functions of business and industry. As it does, I believe, machine-to-machine will revolutionize the way businesses do business, and in many cases create whole new businesses.

As we thought of all aspects of the wireless business that will change - improve - as a byproduct of LTE, we knew that we needed to have an ecosystem of innovation. We realized from the start that a collaborative approach was necessary to exploit the extraordinary capabilities of this emerging technology. So we tapped into robust pools of external innovation by working with partners, entrepreneurs and innovators.

Our commitment to an open development ecosystem began at the same time we committed to LTE. In fact, in the same week that we announced LTE, we announced our Open Development Program. This program helps third-party developers create and certify devices to run on our network. To date we have certified hundreds of traditional and non-traditional devices from machine-to-machine, to consumer electronics, to handsets. As a result, we've already tested and proven the process we'll use to certify the multitude of specialty devices that will come our way in a 4G world.

Last year we opened our LTE Innovation Center. This Center serves as an incubator for early development of non-traditional products for use on LTE networks. The Center works with various industries and companies, such as consumer electronics, healthcare, security and telematics, to help them quickly bring their products to market. Our Center plays the role of matchmaker between the hardware/device folks and the software/app developers and provides all with a robust LTE test network.

This year we hosted our second Verizon Developer conference, inviting the developer community to bring their apps to our storefront to take advantage of our scale and distribution to market their applications. Some 5,000 developers signed up for our Developer Community. For this community, we continue to open up our location, messaging and other network APIs so that others can develop applications that take advantage of the intelligence of our network.

As another thrust to accelerate our envisioned ecosystem, last year we created the 4G Venture Forum - bringing together a number of highly-regarded venture funds, along with our primary infrastructure providers. The aim is to provide a focus on quickly identifying and commercializing innovations that will harness the potential of our 4G wireless network. By providing incubation opportunities, the 4G Venture Forum is playing a key role in developing this end-to-end ecosystem for 4G.

All of these Verizon-driven initiatives are solid building blocks for fueling the 4G ecosystem, yet we know we're only creating the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks to our aggressive investments in building superior networks, Verizon has earned a reputation for wireless network reliability, security and efficiency. This also holds true in our wireline side of the business, where Verizon was one of the first to provide advanced fiber-optic connectivity directly to our customers' homes and businesses on a mass scale.

Verizon has a long history of technological leadership. We don't hang back and wait for others to blaze the trail. Nor do we blindly rush ahead into uncharted territory. We're constantly looking for ways to provide a superior and reliable customer experience on our networks.

And that brings me to the topic of this conference.

I'm well aware that Software Defined Radio concepts and techniques have advanced greatly in recent years and seen valuable application in many areas. For instance:
- Software defined radios have been successfully deployed in defense applications.
- Cellular infrastructure systems are using programmable processing devices to create "common platform" or "multiband, multi-
protocol" base stations.
- Some cellular handsets utilize "system-on-a-chip" devices that incorporate programmable DSPs to support the baseband modem
processing.
- Software controlled radios can now switch from one air interface to another in milliseconds with ever larger portions of the
functionality implemented in software. These radios are a big part of the multi-mode phones that we and others sell in any CDMA
or GSM network domestically and globally.
- We're also able to make minor firmware and major OS and software-level changes over the air on a regular basis to add or correct
functionality in devices that are already deployed.

Today's wireless industry relies on continuously evolving standards, numerous families of radio devices, a broad range of wireless networks, changing spectrum allocations, new value-added services and increasing performance expectations.

Verizon currently uses CDMA-based handsets. To enable global roaming for our customers, we also support WCDMA technologies in devices, and as of now LTE as well. There are at least 10 different frequency bands on which the devices need to operate. As LTE is globally deployed, we expect to add more bands to the device. And all of this is before you include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

In addition to technology and band requirements, we employ very sophisticated and frequently changed roaming algorithms in our devices to make optimal selection of networks and technologies.

The holy grail of this quickly evolving requirement set is clearly an advanced SDR system. But the reality is that this technology is still in development. Complex SDR concepts and regulatory proposals - such as multi-operator spectrum pooling and dynamic frequency allocation - are extremely ambitious and not yet practical in commercial wireless networks.

The complex environment in which we work makes the idealistic vision of the software-defined mobile solution difficult to attain in the near future. And that is one of the challenges we must face if we wish to create a mass market opportunity using SDR.

Optimism over the achievements to date for SDR techniques is understandable. Certainly success should beget additional successes in the future. But I worry that the reliance on SDR technology by those in regulatory, financial and product development positions is out ahead of the reality. This could put us in the position of unwittingly encouraging bad policy and financial decisions.

But with those worries now stated, I come back to the physical reality of requirements and the promise of SDR.

The wireless industry continues to evolve and advance. We are constantly challenged with yet more demand from customers for more and more functionality and performance. To me, this boils down to cramming into devices more technologies, more protocols, more bands, more MIPs, better security, better screens, less weight, often less size, and always, more battery life.

We're all looking to the SDR community to develop the solutions to this intersection of requirements. The challenge is daunting enough, as we all know; but there is one requirement I haven't layered in yet - always at a lower cost. Of course, given no cost target, the challenge of solving for all the requirements looks to be on the horizon. But with this challenge added, we're still a little bit over the horizon. But it's out there, of that I have no doubt.

Rather than strive for the ultimate today, I'll be satisfied to see incremental progress toward our long term vision each and every year. I think we work best in this environment. Learning by doing, being allowed to make path corrections as we take each step toward the long term vision, calibrating requirements with reality - all ways of saying "crawl, walk, run" gets us best to the most successful outcome. I believe the reality of the world in which most of us work will continue to deliver this incremental environment, thus assuring ultimate success.

In closing, let me leave you with a final thought. Verizon has built a reputation for highly reliable, highly secure, high-performance networks. Often, as I said earlier, we do this by being aggressive with new technologies. But if you recall, I also said that we won't deploy before we can be assured that a new technology won't put our reputation at risk. Frankly, I put advanced SDR techniques into that category of "not yet assured." Certainly, I understand that we're gradually seeing SDR techniques used in our network and end-user devices - and that's fine. But I provide challenges every step of the way to be true to our commitment to customer and company.

I challenge this group, and all of those in this field who aren't here today, to make me comfortable, and even aggressive, about adopting more SDR advances into my network every year.

I know enough of you to know that the challenge I've laid out here is one you've already accepted. I look forward to your results.

Thanks for listening, and have a productive conference.

Federalist Society National Convention

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The Paley Center's 2010 International Council (IC) Summit

LowellMcAdam, President and Chief Operating Officer — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Optoelectronics Industry Development Association's (OIDA) 19th Annual Forum

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

No group better understands the power and potential for global, high-speed, highly intelligent broadband networks ... for those connected to them and for the U.S. economy. Your mission - to focus on the business of technology, particularly the hardware that enables the ongoing innovation in our industry - reflects it, as does the theme of your conference: "The Future of Telecom and U.S. Competitiveness."

The U.S. Commerce Department estimates that the communications and information sector already represents about one-sixth of our economy. And this sector will be increasingly important to America’s ability to remain competitive in the global economy and a leader in innovation.

In 2009, in the headwind of the worst recession our country has experienced, our industry invested $130 billion and accounted for an astonishing 43 percent of all non-structural capital investment in the U.S. Verizon:
- Has over the past several years been investing some $23 billion to deploy our fiber-to-the-home network, which has achieved
one-gigabit speeds in tests.
- Is investing heavily in upgrading and expanding our global Internet backbone network that reaches 100 gigabit speeds; and,
- Is building our 4th Generation wireless network with fiber-to-the-tower to bring true broadband speeds to wireless consumers.

To ensure our nation’s long-term economic growth, we need to do what we do best ... innovate and improve productivity. Broadband technology and networks are enabling just that across all business sectors. So, from a policy perspective, I think it’s fair to say that there’s broad agreement that a healthy technology and communications sector is important to our future.

Where there is debate, it is around which public policies will best make the U.S. a hospitable place for technology investment and innovation. In the areas of broadband investment, deployment and adoption, it’s particularly important that we have policies that encourage robust growth in financial capital, human capital and technology. But how do we do that?

First, we need to encourage policies that put the U.S. on a more competitive footing in the global economy. Capital is mobile; it is invested where it is most welcome. But our corporate tax system is an impediment to greater investment in the U.S.

The U.S. corporate tax rate stands at 35 percent, which will soon stand as the highest rate of tax on business in the world when Japan implements its rate cut. A study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that of the various taxes a country can impose, "corporate taxes are the most harmful tax for economic and wage growth and global competitiveness."

U.S. policymakers should take steps to make our business tax system competitive with its major trading partners or risk falling behind in the global race to attract capital, jobs, and drivers for economic growth.

There are other tax policies that can encourage investment, most notably accelerated depreciation, which allows companies of all sizes to immediately deduct part of the cost of equipment, such as fiber-optics and computers. The past couple of years, companies could deduct 50 percent of such costs, and the Obama Administration has proposed extending 100 percent accelerated depreciation through 2011.

Another tax issue is increasing and making permanent the federal R&D tax credit for businesses, which would reward companies that develop new technologies domestically and expand American employment opportunities. Our tax credit currently doesn’t rank even in the Top 10 globally, which sends a clear and wrong-headed signal to entrepreneurs and companies that are looking to invest in innovation.

In addition to investment of capital, we must encourage policies that expand our resources in human and intellectual capital.

Because the U.S. has historically placed a premium on innovation, entrepreneurship and research, we have been a destination of choice for foreign talent in such fields as engineering and the sciences. But for a number of reasons our student and professional visa systems have become overly complex and hinder American companies from attracting the talent they need to innovate and compete.

For example, the U.S. caps H-1B visas for highly trained workers at 65,000 visas per year for scientists and engineers. Even with exemptions, the number of such visa stands at below 100,000 per year. For a country built on the contributions of immigrants, and now in need of all the talent it can develop and attract to compete in the global economy, we should not be limiting highly-skilled, highly-educated people who want to come to this country to work in our innovation economy.

One of the sources for such workers is our university system, which remains the best in the world. Just yesterday, it was announced that U.S. institutions of higher learning attracted a record number of foreign students during the 2009-10 academic year. It isn’t that students don’t want to come here; the challenge is keeping them here once they’ve gained the skills we most need.

Just as companies compete to attract and keep talented employees, the U.S. should be looking for ways to attract and keep intellectual talent. We should encourage policies that allow international students who complete a degree at a U.S. university in a high-demand field, and who have a valid job offer, to obtain a work permit outside of the existing quotas and with a path toward citizenship.

At the same time, we also want to do everything we can to encourage and support our own young people to gain the necessary education and skills in the sciences, engineering and technology fields.

Now let me address proposed policies regulating broadband networks.

Over the past decade, through investment and innovation, we have built a global platform for economic growth ... our broadband networks. As this group well knows, with billions more around the world eager to connect to the networks, we will need more and more-advanced global networks to meet consumer demand.

From a public policy perspective, to meet this demand, the first objective should be to encourage the ongoing investment and innovation we are seeing. Put another way, regulators should "do no harm."

The open Internet architecture that now dominates the broadband world encourages ongoing innovation across the Internet ecosystem. Yet, this notion of an "open Internet" has been one of the most politically challenging issues policymakers have had to deal with. You’ve heard different terms for it - "net neutrality" being the most popular. That term "net neutrality," however, now has different meanings for different people. But at its heart, the debate about this concept is about innovation and network management issues.

We at Verizon have long contended that market forces would drive us to open networks. The notion that an infrastructure provider can own and control all aspects of the services the customer receives went out the window long ago. Today, network providers are partnering with many others in the Internet ecosystem to create new services and to compete aggressively in the marketplace.

After haggling over the issue for over five years, we are in one sense in essentially in the same place we were when this debate started. There still is no identifiable problem to be solved, and instead, as predicted, technology and market forces are ensuring that access to the Internet is open to consumers, as well as to developers of content and services.

Yet in another sense, we have made substantial progress toward reaching consensus on the appropriate standards for the industry and the proper role of government. That role is to be the policeman on the beat, ready to act to enforce the standards of openness if consumers are being harmed.

That said, the current law does not define that role for the government in the Internet space. This lack of clarity is what creates uncertainty in the marketplace, and that’s why we believe that the issue of broadband and Internet policy needs to be addressed by Congress.

Attempts by the Federal Communications Commission to assert it’s jurisdiction in this area have resulted in court rebukes and considerable uncertainty. New efforts by the FCC to adopt net neutrality policies are likely to suffer a similar fate. Moreover, the struggle over these policies seems to be occupying the policy field and preventing the FCC from addressing other critical issues, many of which were teed up in the National Broadband Plan.

I think it’s noteworthy that earlier this month, the European Commission confirmed the need for network flexibility and recognized the value of network management. After an extensive review of the net neutrality issue, Neelie Kroes, the Vice-President of the European Commission with the Digital Agenda portfolio, concluded that there is no need to regulate the way network operators manage their networks, and that to impose such regulation might deter investment.

The EU ruling on network management is a reminder of the global nature of the Internet and broadband networks. Verizon itself has 500,000 miles of cable backbone that link Internet users around the world - and we provide cutting edge IP-based services to U.S. multinationals in 150 countries.

This means that it’s also important to encourage policies for global connectivity and interoperability between networks - both through technical features and the avoidance of regulations that can interfere with this connectivity. For example, government mandates for Internet pricing models or unbundling of advanced networks could easily create barriers in global network deployment. Some are calling for charging arrangements that treat data traffic just like voice telephony. This micromanagement does not accurately reflect what the Internet is, nor the new realities of innovative and rapidly-changing business models.

There’s an old saying that, to someone holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Regulators regulate, lawmakers write laws. On the other hand, engineers and technologists use data, science, and technical analysis to find practical solutions to problems. I’d suggest that we can bring some of that problem-solving, fact-based perspective to bear on issues we’ve traditionally tried to solve with regulations and laws.

One of the hallmarks of the Internet, going back to its formative years, is its collaborative and consensus-building spirit. The reality is the Internet has largely been self-governed. Organizations such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) have over the years helped establish key protocols that make the Internet work and are important to its interoperable nature.

Building on this model, Verizon and some of our partners have encouraged technology leaders and experts from across the Internet ecosystem to set up voluntary organizations and forums to provide advice, technical guidance and advisory opinions to government agencies.

The most recent example of such collaboration is the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group, or BITAG, a growing group of technologists and engineers from academia, the advocacy community, broadband providers, equipment and software companies, and content companies. This group’s purpose is to develop consensus on broadband network management practices and other technical issues. The expectation is that BITAG will provide a forum for engineers and technologists from across the Internet ecosystem to discuss best practices, examine emerging technology challenges, and advise policy makers on how to think about key technology issues.

It wasn’t so long ago that the United States was the fastest growing major industrialized nation in the world, and broadband technology was really just emerging and taking hold. The challenge for us now is to regain our economic footing and put in place the kinds of policies that will make us the fastest-growing major industrialized nation in the world tomorrow. Encouraging policies that invest in all forms of capital is a good place to start.

It is important that we get the policies right for broadband and the Internet, not only for our continued global leadership in technology, but because these networks are so critical to so many areas of our daily life and our future ... the modernization of our electric grid, our health care system and the dramatic improvements we need in our educational system. This is a big agenda, but by engaging all players across the Internet marketplace, and by working together - industry players, policymakers and consumers - we can ensure great opportunities for innovation and growth for us and future generations.

Thank you.

Broadband World Forum: Europe 2010

VirginiaP.Ruesterholz, Executive Vice President - Verizon — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Lead-in Video: In the Next Ten Years.... (01:54)

As Delivered

Bonjour Mesdames et Messieurs.

Thank you, Gavin and Rob, for inviting me to participate in this panel discussion. It's a real honor for me to be with you here at Broadband World Forum 2010.

Some of you may know me from my years at Verizon Wholesale. In my current role, my responsibilities have expanded to include everything from network services and finance, all the way to real estate, supply chains and sustainability. While these may seem like a collection of unrelated activities, everyone on my team works toward a common goal: to encourage innovation and drive transformation across our global infrastructure.

Likewise, you and I have common goals. We may have different customers, competitors and regulatory environments, but many of the challenges we face every day are identical, including:
- Investing in new technology for future growth;
- Improving the efficiency and productivity of our operations;
- Managing a team of global partners and suppliers;
- And most importantly, meeting the evolving needs of our customers

Since the theme of this session is how broadband changes lives, I wanted to start by looking to the future. The video you just watched shows an ideal world with seamless connectivity between a vast array of innovative broadband devices and applications.

Now if you've been in this industry as long as I have, you've probably seen this type of video before. After all, predicting the future is really easy to do. But delivering on those ideas is the hard part. That's why we're still waiting for flying cars, robot housemaids and - in the United States - a decent croissant.

But this time I think we can make this vision of the future a reality. The necessary ingredients are converging across the industry and around the world. They include:
- Intelligent, high-capacity global networks;
- Innovative hardware and software developers;
- Common cross-platform standards;
- Accessible cloud computing services;
- Pervasive wireless devices; and
- Increasing user demand for speed and mobility

It's hard for me to believe that just ten years ago mobile phones and high-speed Internet access in the United States were still novelties. But communication technologies evolved rapidly. Broadband replaced dial-up connections, allowing an explosion of online video, social media and other Web 2.0 innovations. Many homes now have multiple PCs and HD TVs, and 3D is now in the early-adopter stage.

Video is also a driving force on our wireless networks. Investments in 3G technologies created a dynamic market for smart phones, laptop computers, tablets and other wireless devices.

In the business market, customers are connecting global offices, embracing virtualization and adopting cloud-based applications. And like other users, businesses are also taking advantage of high-quality video solutions to collaborate and communicate more effectively.

As a result, consumer broadband access on wired networks provides symmetrical speeds as high as 100 Mbps. In the enterprise market, some of our largest customers are now utilizing 40 Gbps connections on our networks. And in the next few weeks, Verizon's 4G wireless network will deliver broadband access with real-world speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G.

But all the accomplishments of the past ten years are just a warm up for what will come next. These incredibly intelligent, high-speed networks will usher in an exciting new era in communications unlike anything we've seen in the past. In fact, by the end of this decade, the innovative ideas you saw in that video might even seem old-fashioned.

By the year 2020, communications networks will be completely engrained in everyday life, both at home and in the workplace. And the technology behind new broadband and wireless devices will be seamless and totally transparent to the user. Like other life-enhancing innovations, users won't care how it works - just that it works.

As bandwidth capabilities continue to increase to support an insatiable appetite for communication, information and entertainment, the boundaries between wired and wireless will virtually disappear. We'll create an environment where intelligence is built into everything imaginable - and some incredible things we haven't even dreamed of yet. By the year 2020, everyone and everything will be connected - everywhere.

All of this will be possible because of innovative and pervasive broadband networks. And that's why I'm confident that the ideas you just saw in that video will become a reality.

Because at Verizon, we're committed to providing the most advanced broadband networks in the world. We believe that without a world-class infrastructure, even the most innovative devices won't be able to deliver their full potential.

But to achieve this strategic vision, we had to transform our entire company. We were able to make significant investments in our broadband networks in part because of a regulatory structure in the United States that provided an economic foundation for growth.

In the enterprise and wholesale markets, we saw the need for a superior global network and comprehensive managed business solutions. Verizon's global, IP-based network is one of the largest owned and operated facilities-based networks in the world. It reaches 2,700 cities in 159 countries, and is large enough to circle the world 18 times.

We now have more than 11,000 employees outside of the United States - with more than one-third of them right here in Europe. They support tens of thousands of businesses, government agencies and telecom providers around the globe, including 98 percent of Fortune 500 businesses.

We're focused on delivering network innovation, and we're constantly developing new technologies to improve our customers' global network experience. For example:

- Verizon's IP backbone is migrating to 100 Gbps globally to support end users' ever-increasing need for more bandwidth. In fact,
our very first production 100 Gbps link connected Paris to Frankfurt over a fiber carrying production traffic on other wavelengths.

- We're capitalizing on Ultra Long Haul optical transmission, which provides high-bandwidth services to customers in the U.S. and
Europe.

- We're the only U.S.-based charter member of the Trans-Pacific Express optical cable network system that links the United States
to mainland China.

- And one of the most significant enhancements to our European network this year will be the activation of the Europe India Gateway
submarine cable system. This next-generation, undersea optical cable system will link 12 countries and territories and connect
Europe, the Middle East and India.

Verizon is also transforming into a complete IT solutions provider. We're delivering on an "everything-as-a-service" model where cloud-based solutions are securely delivered through managed and professional services over our global IP network. This platform will enable large businesses to improve their IT infrastructure and boost application performance in today's complex and dynamic business environment.

Our cloud-based IT services provide business and wholesale customers world-class computing, storage, security and backup services on an as-needed basis. This can help customers accelerate new business growth, operate more efficiently, reduce complexity and protect their sensitive data.

The integration of network and IT services is also playing a major role in Verizon's domestic broadband network.

We knew that our legacy copper network would prevent us from achieving our vision, so we invested heavily in an innovative fiber-to-the-home network.

As you may know, Verizon is the only major U.S. network that delivers 100 percent fiber-optics directly to homes and businesses. By providing an all-fiber connection, we've created a broadband network that delivers ultra-fast Internet and superior video services.

Our TV platform offers more than 125 high-definition channels, 18,000 On-Demand movies and programs, and the best picture quality anywhere. And our fiber network is extremely well positioned for tomorrow's bandwidth-intensive applications. In fact, we've already successfully tested speeds of 10 Gbps to the home.

This advanced network is capable of delivering converged services in the cloud, where IP technologies and software enable next-generation communications and entertainment. Through this innovative platform, we've been able to bring compelling Internet content to the TV, such as social networking, games and interactive sports applications. We've enabled advertisers to target customers with unique ads delivered to each household. And we're working to make the dream of video calls on TV a reality by integrating our Voice-over-IP service with our video and ultra-bandwidth data network.

Verizon's domestic fiber network and cloud ecosystem integrates capabilities across multiple screens - the computer, the television and mobile devices - to deliver a flexible and seamless customer experience. Users no longer have to crowd around the computer to view vacation videos. Our customers can move media from their PC or smartphone over to their TV - or any other screen of their choice. We're also using the cloud to stream TV content to the Web, their mobile devices, and consumer electronics such as game consoles, tablets and Blu-ray players.

Our all-fiber experience provides connectivity, management, consumption and support from any device. It features self-provisioning, auto-configuration and self-diagnostics. This gives users the flexibility to make changes and solve problems on their own terms, and makes our customer support more efficient.

As a result, network intelligence has been pushed deeper into the home, thanks to our interactive applications; smart devices and equipment; intelligent media management services; and extensive Wi-Fi home networks.

And with the advent of wireless 4G networks, a world of new mobile devices will take broadband to even higher levels of converged connectivity.

In the U.S. wireless market, Verizon has established a reputation for having the largest and most reliable 3G network. But even this impressive network had to transform for us to meet our customers' needs for speed and mobility. So in the next few weeks, Verizon will begin deploying the first nationwide 4G wireless network using LTE - also known as Long Term Evolution.

Before the end of this year, Verizon's 4G LTE network will reach more than one-third of all Americans. That's 110 million people all at once in this first phase of deployment. The initial 38 markets include cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Dallas, Boston, Atlanta and San Francisco. On average, more than 70 percent of the people in each market will be covered on the first day of the launch. In addition to these markets, we will have 4G coverage in 60 major airports across the United States.

We'll be rolling out 4G over a three-year period. The network will reach two-thirds of the U.S. population in the next 18 months, and we'll quickly expand to cover most of the rest of the population by 2013.

LTE is the ideal network technology for tomorrow's wireless devices, and it's poised to become the global standard for 4G networks. This means enhanced roaming capabilities for users, as well as increased opportunities for collaboration with an international coalition of developers and manufacturers.

Our 4G network has performed at speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps in our trials - a ten-fold increase over our current 3G network. And latency will drop by more than half, down to 30 milliseconds, making it effectively equivalent to a wired connection. For gamers, player-to-player response times will be virtually instantaneous. But just imagine what faster speeds and lower latency will mean to police, fire fighters, emergency medical technicians and other first-responders. And just like Verizon's other broadband networks, our 4G network is the ideal platform for mobile cloud-based services and video.

In addition, LTE wireless chips will be built into billions of consumer electronics, medical devices, thermostats, cars, home appliances, vending machines… you name it. This surge of machine-to-machine connectivity will make its way into homes, vehicles, buildings, shipping containers and grocery shelves.

Verizon's advanced fiber, global IP and 4G networks will dramatically increase interactivity with the web, resulting in new levels of connectivity between people, computers and connected devices. As broadband technology gets embedded deeper into our environment, there's really no limit to the number of connections that can be part of our network.
This "Internet of things" will infuse intelligence into all our systems and present us with a whole new way to run a home, an enterprise, a community or an economy.

In the years ahead, these innovations will impact everyone and everything. For example:

- For consumers, the fiber-enabled smart home will be a platform for managing every function of their digital lives, from home
security and energy management to medical monitoring, remote offices and online education.

- For utilities, smart energy grids will enable appliances to be remotely controlled to run at off-peak times. Energy pricing will
become more dynamic, changing in real-time, and will motivate users to be more energy efficient.

- In the medical field, wireless devices will provide reminders about medication and therapy, while in-home devices will monitor and
send vital statistics to doctors for preventative care. And patients will be able to consult with out-of-town specialists over high-
definition 3-D video connections.

- For government, city-centric applications will report traffic and parking conditions using GPS-enabled sensors that provide real-
time notifications about public transit, traffic accidents and parking meters. They'll even monitor the city's air and water quality. And
crime detection will use context-aware video surveillance to monitor unusual activity.

Today's users already have high expectations of their communication technology. In the years ahead, this will continue to the point of dependence. They will come to expect fast, always-on access to the Internet in support of their constantly evolving lifestyles. Broadband technology will enable consumers to have a highly personalized experience with their devices and applications, while businesses will be able to build better services and relationships with their customers.

But broadband benefits more than just our customers. Broadband investments create a "virtuous cycle of innovation" that is critical for our industry, our economy and our society.

- Our network investments led to the development of new devices and applications that took advantage of higher bandwidth capacity.

- The revenues from these products - and the increased data traffic on our networks - will enable additional investments in
advanced devices and infrastructure.

- This will continue to improve our customers' broadband experience and drive additional growth and investment as the virtuous
cycle expands.

This morning I've talked about our accomplishments during the last decade and our visionary ideas for the next ten years. I'm truly amazed at what we've been able to achieve, and I can't wait to see what the future has in store.

So to keep us focused on our vision, I'd like to end with an insight that dates all the way back to 1962. It's just as relevant now as it was on the day it was written. I hope it motivates you to keep innovating.

It's from Arthur C. Clarke's Profiles of the Future, in which he stated:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

With continued investment in superior broadband technology, there will be plenty of magic in the years ahead.

Thank you.

Venture Atlanta

RichardJ.Lynch, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Thank you, Tino, for the kind words. And thanks to Ventures Atlanta for inviting Verizon to be part of this forum.

We appreciate the opportunity. Especially since I understand many of you are venture capitalists, and I'd never pass up the opportunity to be in front of the people with all the money, looking for that next "great idea." I believe I have a live one for you! More on that later.
**********
Most of you wouldn't know this story because it's a little "inside baseball." Back in 1984, when the cellular industry was born, people ‘in the know' were projecting that in 15 years - by the turn of century, that is, by year 2000 - wireless customers in the U.S. would total one million.

Anyone care to venture a guess as to how far off that projection was?

Fortunately, for my career and that of my colleagues, those projections were a low ball. Way low. When Y2K arrived at midnight, there were not one million wireless customers - there were 86 million across the country. I suspect that many of them were calling each other's cell phone that night to ring in the New Year!

That paltry projection seems absurd today. In hindsight, it was probably arrived at as more of a sales forecast for a new product. But what was miscalculated was just how transformative the "cell phone" would be...

And with far-reaching implications, as it turns out:

  - In just 2 1/2 decades, wireless has become a vibrant and significant growth engine for the US economy- where, on average,
    more than $20 billion has been invested every year for the last 10 years on just infrastructure alone. This industry also employs
   2.4 million Americans.

- In 25 short years, the wireless industry has deployed three generations of technologies and services --- and we're well on the
road to our 4th generation.

- In that time, we have earned 280 million customers...

- And created a whole new way of living, working and playing for mainstream America.

Transformative? I think we can all agree the answer is Yes.

Now, consider the dramatic pace of innovation along the way. Throughout the years, my team has earned many patents, largely for the technical stuff behind the scenes-the wizard behind the curtain. But the real transformative innovation, I believe, has always been the translation of that "technical stuff" into the products and services we deliver to the customer. Like:

o Texting. Do you realize that it was just nine years ago that texting was first introduced. It's practically a way of life now. From zero
text messages in 2000 to 2 billion text messages each day -and that's just on the Verizon network.

o Then came a slew of more sophisticated forms of data...

- Multimedia services to your phone for video, and interactive gaming, and music downloads.

- Mobile broadband, which made Internet access portable and gave a whole new meaning to laptops...

- And now it looks like we're on to the tablet revolution.

- Smartphones today have computer processors that approach laptop capabilities...

- Plus high-quality still and video cameras that rival the stand-alones. And high definition video-the same as on your HDTV!

- Not to mention the half million-plus apps that have been created to date for Google, Apple and Rim devices.

This innovation cycle isn't showing any signs of slowing. In fact, that fast pace has industry watchers and insiders alike impatient for the next sizzle - that next "great idea." Well, it's here. It's called 4G LTE.

**************
Before the year is out, Verizon will launch the first large-scale 4G LTE network in the nation and in the world.

I'm pleased to tell you that Atlanta will be one of the first markets in the country to have LTE. It's a perfect fit, with your aggressive technology companies and virtually all companies using the technology aggressively.

Just last week we unveiled all 38 markets around the county that will get LTE first. These are major markets from coast to coast. In all, we'll reach more than one-third of all Americans where they live-a geography covering a population of 110 million people. And when they travel, some 62 airports coast-to-coast will have LTE coverage, including most of the major airports in the country.

These launch markets, beyond Atlanta, include other major markets including New York, LA, Chicago, Dallas, and Boston, along with other southeastern markets like Athens, Georgia; Charlotte, NC; Nashville, New Orleans, Jacksonville and Tampa.

We'll move aggressively to expand. We're on track for LTE to reach two-thirds of the U.S. population in 18 months, in 2012. And we'll quickly expand that to cover almost all of the U.S. population by the end of 2013.

Three years ago, Verizon was one of the first in the world to commit to LTE for our 4G platform. Today, LTE has emerged as the global standard for 4G, with most carriers around the world signing on.

Now that Verizon has 3 years' experience building our LTE network, I can safely predict that as fast-paced and stunningly successful as wireless has been to date, we may some day look back on the past 25 years as the warm-up act.

Just as 1st, 2nd and 3rd Generation wireless networks changed the way society lives, works and plays, so too will 4G. Clearly this technology should unleash the next great wave of wireless innovation - and opportunity. And the benefits to society, I believe, will be profound.

****************
Let me tell you why.

4G LTE is a pure IP-based technology. So it not only acts like a wired IP-based network, it IS just like a wired IP network.

Looking at the sheer physics of it: Speed goes up dramatically -- by a factor of 10 -- with LTE. In our field trials over the last year, we're seeing throughput in a fully-loaded network in the 8-12 megabit range.

But speed is only half the equation. Equally important, and I do mean equally, is that latency drops dramatically -by more than half.

It is these dual forces of super speed AND low latency combined that make LTE so transformative over anything we can have today.

As I see it, this transformation will take the shape of four big, intertwined trends:

o The first trend is real-time delivery. The super low latency makes this possible. In fact, LTE's 30-millisecond latency is better than
    the 50-millisecond "real time" threshold, making it effectively equivalent to a wired connection. I know that the gamers among us
    are salivating at the potential. With player-to-player response times virtually instantaneous, whole new genres of games and
    mass gaming are sure to migrate from PCs and game consoles to wireless devices.

But it's not just about games...think of what this response time improvement will mean to remote doctor consults in medical emergencies...remote surveillance and dispatch to crime scenes... and timely, pinpointed help in natural disasters.

o The second transformative trend of LTE descends from the clouds - "cloud computing." This is "on-demand" applications and
   computing power that reside somewhere in the network and can be accessed any time, on any device, from anywhere around the
   world.

So for businesses:   your field-based sales people will no longer need expensive laptops. Think of what that alone will save. Rather, they'll carry a tablet and pull down Flash presentations and large amounts of data from the cloud -- updated to the second with customer and product information-all with the latest edits from your legal department! And they'll pull it down in seconds - not what it takes today to pull down a PowerPoint in 2G or 3G!

o The third transformative trend is video. In an all-IP world of 4G networks, video will be a common ingredient in almost every form
of communication and application. Not solely for entertainment and other canned content, as we tend to think of video today. Think
of real-time video like video conferencing, video surveillance, and social networks. And increasingly, this video will be high-def.

o A fourth transformative trend is machine-to-machine-or M2M. This is huge. In the past, wireless networks connected people-to-
people, or people-to-machines. With LTE we'll see an explosion of machine-to-machine wireless connectivity.

In fact, the sophisticated 4G LTE network - when coupled with unlimited variety of applications - will enable billions of these smart connections. The only question is, ‘how many billions?'

Wireless chips will be found in consumer electronics, medical devices, thermostats, cars, home appliances, vending machines...treadmills... motion detectors, inventory trackers, energy monitors and heat sensors. This surge of machine to machine will make its way into every home, vehicle, building, shipping container and supermarket shelf.

Together, these connections will finally bring to life the smart home and smart office ... the smart energy, smart grid and smart healthcare future we have been teased with on paper for years. These connections will drive wireless broadband deep into the basic functions of business and industry. As it does, I believe, M2M will revolutionize the way businesses do business, and in many cases create whole new businesses.

Clearly, Verizon is pretty excited to be launching this LTE network VERY shortly-sometime before the end of the year.

***********
One of the advantages of committing early to LTE was a chance to help shape the ecosystem of innovation. We realized from the start that a collaborative approach was necessary to exploit the extraordinary capabilities of this emerging technology. So we moved fast on a number of fronts to tap into external innovation by working with partners, entrepreneurs, and innovators like many of you.

- First, just a few weeks before we announced our choice of LTE in 2007, we announced our Open Development Program which
helps third-party developers create and certify devices to run on our 3G network. We knew that having energy sensors ride on our
network was a slightly different model than phones. To date we have certified hundreds of traditional and non-traditional devices
from machine-to-machine to consumer electronics to handsets. As a result, we already have a tested and proven process to
certify the multitude of specialty devices that will come our way in a 4G world.

- Last year we opened our LTE Innovation Center. This Center serves as an incubator for early development of non-traditional
products for use on LTE networks. The Center works with companies from various industries, including consumer electronics,
healthcare, security and telematics, to help them quickly bring products to market. In essence, our Center plays the role of
matchmaker between the hardware/device folks and the software/app developers.

- This year we hosted our second Verizon Developer conference, inviting the developer community to bring their innovative
applications through our apps storefront and thus take advantage of our scale and distribution to market their applications. Some
5,000 developers signed up for our Developer Community. For this Community, we continue to open up our location, messaging
and network APIs - application programming interfaces--so that others can develop apps for us.

- To further accelerate all of the above, we created the 4G Venture Forum - bringing together a number of highly-regarded venture
capital funds, along with our primary infrastructure providers. The aim is to quickly identify and commercialize innovation that will
harness 4G wireless networks.

************
These partnerships and collaboration are solid building blocks for fueling the ecosystem, yet we know we're only envisioning the tip of the iceberg today.

When you expand the definition of a wireless "device" to refrigerators and washing machines and visors and tractors....and add in developers around the globe creating millions of applications ... and you're doing it for a standard that is finally and truly global. The potential is not only extraordinary - the potential truly is limitless.

********
I'll leave you with these thoughts:

- 4G LTE will have something in it for every one of us. Create your own opportunities-and don't get sidetracked by any timid
projections as in my earlier story. The potential of 4G LTE is limitless.

- For businesses in general, large and small: tell us what you need to enable your business, your employees to work better, faster,
more productively, more competitively.

- For VCs: as you look for places to invest your capital, keep asking "If we gave you the ability to network anything, what would you
do?." Look for people who are developing and innovating truly transformative products based on that answer. There will be no
shortage of innovation, I can promise you.

PAUSE

Thanks very much for your time and attention. Now, if time permits, I'd like to hear some of your questions.

Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) Fall Show

LowellMcAdam, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Lead-in Video: In the Next Ten Years.... (01:54)

Thank you, Steve. It's great to be here to share our insights and the latest news about our LTE network, on the eve of our big launch.

And thank you Dr. Johnson and Mr. Chen for the picture you painted of what LTE will enable in energy management and commerce - two critically important areas to our economy and society.

Going even broader than those two vertical views, that brief video you just saw is a wide angle lens into the future. It portrays a slice of everyday life and just a few of the possibilities 4G LTE will enable.

I realize calling that video "the next 10 years" may prove to be an inaccurate label --- those scenarios may be routine in five years with the way technology and applications are charging ahead.

Whether three or ten years out, that glimpse of a hooked-in, "twenty something" professional, moving seamlessly throughout a very connected day, is not science fiction. The thread of technologies and apps that kicked in every few minutes to make his life better, simpler, more productive -- are well within our grasp.

And yet, when they are here, they will be truly transformational to our day-to-day business and personal lives.

What Steve has asked me to talk about today is the "sophisticated" network that will make possible all of these smart homes and smart offices ... and smart parking meters...smart treadmills... and smart health.

This sophisticated network will enable billions of these smart connections. The only question is, 'how many billions?' Because this network -- coupled with millions of different applications -- will connect people, places, and things that were previously unconnected. Or in ways much richer, more multi-dimensional, than they were ever connected before.

Clearly, all of us at Verizon Wireless are pretty excited to be launching this LTE network VERY shortly.

***********

Three years ago, we knew what we wanted when we were one of the very first in the world to commit to LTE. Three years later, that decision to go early and to go first is proving over and over to be the right move:

- We've been able to invest in new technology, rather than sustaining the old...

- We were motivated to go out and secure the perfect spectrum for LTE -- our seamless nationwide 700MHz footprint.

- We'll capture scale advantages immediately by moving to this dominant global standard quickly.

- Our early commitment to LTE sent a strong signal to other players in the ecosystem - software developers, chip manufacturers, the
consumer electronics industry -- that we were serious about LTE. So now many of them are ready. We are building it, and they
are coming.

- Perhaps the best validation of our decision is the amazing performance we've seen, exceeding our expectations: lab speeds
beating the 70 megabit theories. And in our field trials over the last year, we're seeing throughput in a fully-loaded network in the
8-12 megabit range, and latency of 30 milliseconds.

*********

From our experience three years into this, I can tell you there's much more to LTE than the conventional wisdom would lead you to believe. In many cases, it only tells part of the story.

First, there's a tendency to think that LTE is just about speed. That misses half the equation. While speed does go up dramatically -- by a factor of 10 -- equally important is that latency drops dramatically - by more than half. It is those dual forces that make LTE so transformative over anything we can do today.

I know that the gamers among us are salivating at the potential. With player-to-player instantaneous response times, whole new genres of games and mass gaming are sure to migrate from the PC and game console to the wireless device.

But it's not just about games...think of what that near- real time response will mean to mobile commerce...to remote doctor consults in medical emergencies...remote surveillance and dispatch to crime scenes... and help in natural disasters.

The second misconception is that all 4G is the same. Networks have always been about how you build and manage them, from backhaul to redundancy and reliability. And that is no different with 4G.

There's also the factor of physics. Our seamless coast to coast footprint, all in the same 700 MHz frequency, offers faster time-to-market for device manufacturers and better performance than multi-frequency networks.

Moreover, as you move through the spectrum scale to 700 MHz, the in-building signal penetration is the best on the market.. That has important implications for machine-to-machine connectivity. When you have strong in-building signal penetration you have an environment in which M2M can really thrive -- and really deliver the smart home and smart office.

Finally, I want to dispel the notion that LTE is just about USB modems. You may have heard that there won't be devices -- elegant devices -- for some time. Not true. Come see us at CES in January.

I can tell you now that we will show a half dozen Smartphones and tablets from the top OEMs that will be available in the first half of next year.

************

This morning I have some breaking news to share about our impending LTE launch. You're hearing it here first, unless the blogosphere has scooped me in the last five minutes!
Today we are unveiling the markets where we will launch 4G LTE by the end of THIS year.

[Slide: 2010 LTE Map]
This is a map of our current 3G coverage, and the 38 markets you see lighting up from coast to coast are our LTE launch markets.

These are major markets from coast to coast. We will reach more than one-third of all Americans where they live -- that's 110 million POPs at launch.

Major markets including NY, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, here in San Francisco and the others you see on this map. And we're covering major portions of these major markets - on average, more than 70% of each market will be covered.

You can find a list of these markets in our press release, and we'll cover them in detail at our press conference at 11:15 this morning.

In conjunction with our launch, 55 airports in these markets will have coverage. Plus, we're lighting up LTE at key airports in 7 additional cities.

//Pause//

Very similar to what we did with 3G services, we will roll out 4G LTE over a three-year period from the time we start until virtually the whole country is blanketed.

[Slide: 2011-2013 LTE Coverage]
In fact, we're on track for LTE to reach two-thirds of the U.S. population in 18 months. And we'll quickly expand that to cover most of the population by the end of 2013 - all of the places where we have 3G Rev. A today.

***********

In our plan to build out LTE far, wide and quickly, we're also committed to reaching an additional population of largely rural Americans.

Earlier this year we announced a plan to jumpstart LTE broadband in the Rural United States. To that end, we have proposed sharing access to our premium 700 MHz spectrum with rural operators in places where we would not have gotten to quickly in our build plan.

We've had very strong interest - from more than 200 entities -- which is keeping us very busy. I'm excited to share that we have reached agreements in principle with 5 operators, with another dozen in formal discussions - and more in the pipeline.

This is a true win-win collaboration: Rural operators can leverage our scale on infrastructure and devices, while gaining access to our 100 Million POPs and growing LTE network. Rural customers across the country will gain access to the state-of-the-art broadband network, which will spur additional innovation and jobs.

So we're very excited that this concept of partnering is being well received by rural operators, because it can only accelerate the deployment of 4G LTE across the U.S. That, in turn, is good for customers, good for our industry, and good for America.

********

I want to stay with the theme of partnering for the moment.

Just as LTE is the technology platform of the future, I believe collaboration and openness will be the operating platform of the future, if we're to reach the full promise of LTE.

That's really a new paradigm, a new operating model, for the entire wireless industry. We all know that once upon a time, Verizon Wireless was synonymous with 'walled garden!'

In the first 25 years, the guarded approach of closed systems and garden walls served our industry extremely well as individual companies all along the value chain took root and expanded and matured - and built our industry into the huge success it is today.

In a 4G world, we will turn that "guarded model" inside out. Because, as one apps developer said to me at our recent conference: "All the cool innovation is going to come come from places we least expect it."

That is why, in lock step with transforming our network, we're transforming our business. Anyone who was at that developers conference heard that we continue to open up our location, messaging and network APIs so others can develop apps for us.

Actually, we began retooling our business for a collaborative approach three years ago—we realized then that our future success was going to be a shared success. In fact, it was a few weeks before we announced our choice of LTE that we announced our Open Development program for 3rd party devices.

Then came our LTE Innovation Center in Waltham Massachusetts; our 4G Venture forum, our work with Google, Skype, China Mobile, Softbank Japan, and the Verizon Developer Community.
And I believe we're just warming up as an industry and as a company. The partnerships and collaborations Verizon Wireless has built these last three years are the building blocks of more partnerships that will deliver even more innovation for our customers.

As this 4G future comes to life -- as in the video of our cycling entrepreneur -- there will be something in it for every one of us.

- Clearly, the economy in general will work better, smarter, faster. And I would ask all of you to come imagine with us. You can begin
imagining the future right here through the exhibits and events on the floor downstairs.

Now, I have noted many times that the wireless industry is a Great American success story- stunningly successful. Get ready for the sequel. It is time to turn on the afterburners and get ready for the next generation of growth in wireless.

Thanks very much. Have a great show.

New Jersey Technology Council (NJTC) Executive Leadership Summit

VirginiaP.Ruesterholz, Executive Vice President - Verizon — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

No script. Please refer to transcript.

Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) 2010 National Thought Leader Event

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Click the video link to view Verizon's Tom Tauke chair a panel discussion centered on private sector investments and resources for assisting high-risk minority young people.

Cisco Sports and Entertainment Summit

IvanG.Seidenberg, Chairman of the Board — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 04:00:00 GMT

No script. Refer to Transcript/Video.

Google's Zeitgeist Conference

IvanG.Seidenberg, Chairman of the Board — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Click the video link to view Ivan Seidenberg and Eric Schmidt discuss the future of technology and the challenges of leadership at Google's annual Zeitgeist Conference. (No transcript available).

Technology Policy Institute's Aspen Forum

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 04:00:00 GMT

No script. Refer to transcript.

Economic Club of Washington

IvanG.Seidenberg, Chairman of the Board — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:00:00 GMT

As Delivered

[Introduction by David Rubenstein, President, Economic Club of Washington.]

Thank you, David, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for the very nice introduction. It's very nice to be here this afternoon. The Economic Club of Washington stands at the intersection between policy and business, which is where my Business Roundtable colleagues and I spend a good deal of our time these days. Based on your invitation list I see you've had a number of business leaders here recently to give their prescriptions for putting the U.S. back on the path to growth.

So in my remarks this afternoon I will try to add to this same conversation today. But first, I'd like to tell you a bit about Verizon and the enormously exciting industry we're in.

Before I start though, I might be the only speaker to encourage you to stay on your Blackberries. It's good for business.

Today, almost 2 billion people - about a quarter of the world's population - are connected to the Internet. Twice that many - 4 billion people - have mobile phones, which are themselves becoming smarter and more connected every day. On Verizon's networks alone, we carry more than 1.7 billion text messages, 50 million picture and video messages, 1 billion phone calls, 400 million emails and the equivalent of 4 million full-length movies - all in a single day.

Verizon invests some $17 billion a year to put ourselves in the center of this expanding marketplace.

We operate Internet backbone networks that serve as the digital trade routes for the global economy. We're reinventing our legacy backbone telephone networks around fiber technology capable of delivering 100-megabit capacity directly to customers' homes. In wireless, we operate 3G networks across the country. Later this year, we'll start to roll out our fourth-generation wireless network, which will increase data speeds by up to 10 times and initiate the era of the "Internet of things." Soon, wireless will be embedded in everything we touch, infusing intelligence into all our systems and presenting us with a whole new way to run a home or an enterprise, or even a country.

When it comes to innovation in communications, the U.S. has a clear, decided edge. The smart phone revolution is centered in the U.S. The creation of tens of thousands of wireless applications is a U.S. phenomenon. Our 4G LTE networks - 4th generation networks - will leapfrog the world in wireless. Verizon alone has deployed more fiber-to-the-home than all the countries of Europe, combined. And a new ecosystem of devices, applications and operating systems is coming together around these platforms for innovation, spawning new businesses and driving our industry forward.

America's communications companies have made a big bet on this vision of the future, investing around $130 billion in 2009 alone. Last year, total investment in information and communications technology accounted for an astonishing 43 percent of all non-structural capital investment in the U.S. And while private investment in general fell by almost 23 percent from 2006 to 2009, communications investment rose by almost 9 percent over the same period.

These investments are a major engine of our economy. Businesses report that every dollar invested in Internet technology creates four dollars of value in return. Robert Crandall of Brookings says broadband investment can produce more than half a million new jobs over the next five years, while creating new demand for computers, software, network equipment and applications. And on a global basis, one study estimates the annual economic benefits of the commercial Internet to be $1.5 trillion - more than the global sales of medicine, investment in renewable energy and government R&D investments, all combined.

Broadband, wireless and global IP are at the heart of American competitiveness. At Verizon, we're excited about the future and believe - fervently - that our industry can continue to play a big role in addressing the challenges we face as a country.

Now, it's important that we not throw sand in the gears of this critical growth engine. You may have seen that last week the Federal Communications Commission began a proceeding to establish a new regulatory regime for broadband, which would impose old utility-style regulation on the Internet. We are very concerned that, in attempting to address legitimate issues about access to the Internet, the FCC has proposed basically an unimaginative and overbearing set of rules that essentially tries to retrofit a new industry into an old framework and expand their regulatory reach well beyond what is necessary. As we've said - and as we've demonstrated - communications companies will continue to work with the Commission and the other players in the Internet space to protect customers and ensure an open and robust broadband environment. The FCC's current course of action will really do little to achieve those objectives, but rather will cause uncertainty in the marketplace, create disincentives for investment and make one of the true success stories of the American economy less competitive on the global stage.

***

Now, Competitiveness is also on the minds of the 170 members of the Business Roundtable, which, as David said, I am the chairman. Together, Business Roundtable companies generate more than $6 trillion in revenues and employ more than 12 million people. We account for 60 percent of all corporate taxes, 60 percent of all charitable contributions, and one-half of all private R&D spending in the U.S. Our market capitalization is one-third of the total value of the stock market, and we pay some $167 billion in dividends to individual investors, pension funds and retirement accounts. For every person employed by a BRT company, there are two more employed by the medium and small businesses that supply the goods and services that we need to keep our businesses running.

So obviously, the companies of the Business Roundtable have a huge stake in the success of the American economy. We create jobs all along the food chain. We invent and manufacture and sell the things consumers need. And we have the technology, expertise and capital capacity to play a huge role in contributing to our nation's economic growth.

It should be equally obvious that our collective resources are not being sufficiently engaged.

The BRT has accepted our responsibility as partners in moving the country forward. My colleagues and I have worked closely with policy-makers across the political spectrum on matters from health care to trade and tax policy to energy and climate change. But frankly, we have become somewhat troubled by a growing disconnect between Washington and the business community that is harming our ability to expand the economy and grow private-sector jobs in the U.S. We see a host of laws, regulations and other policies being enacted that impose a government prescription of how individual industries ought to be structured, rather than produce an environment in which the private sector can innovate, invest and create jobs in this modern global economy.

In our judgment, we have reached a point where the negative effects of these policies are simply too significant to ignore.

In the search for short-term revenue fixes, we're doing long-term damage to growth.

By reaching into virtually every sector of economic life, government is injecting uncertainty into the marketplace and making it harder to raise capital and create new businesses.

Meanwhile, without a sufficiently comprehensive focus on growth and jobs, our unemployment rate continues to hover close to 10 percent. The CBO says debt will rise to 90 percent of G.D.P. in 10 years. And last month's job report showed the private sector creating only 41,000 jobs, a figure the Economic Policy Institute says is "nothing closely resembling the job growth needed to dig us out of our very deep hole."

So, from our perspective, it's time to refocus public policy on creating the conditions that will drive private-sector jobs.

Recently, in response to a request from Dr. Peter Orszag of the OMB, the Business Roundtable and the Business Council polled our members about laws, rules and regulations that are inhibiting growth. We summarized our concerns in an extensive report, which we have already delivered to OMB, and I am very much encouraged that the Administration has already reached out to us to set up a process for discussing recommendations and ideas and set the discussion for the future.

From the avalanche of examples included in our OMB submission, let me share some specifics in three categories: taxes, trade and financial reform.

***

One message we heard loud and clear from our members is that the current U.S. tax system is a major impediment to international competitiveness. Our corporate tax rate is the second highest among 30 OECD nations. We're one of only five OECD countries to tax companies on worldwide income. Moreover, since 1990 every other OECD country has lowered its corporate tax rates, while the U.S. is going in somewhat the opposite direction.

Recently, the House passed a tax extender bill containing several provisions that raise taxes on multinational companies. We believe these actions would impair America's competitiveness and harm American workers. Multinational companies account for 63 million jobs, nearly half of U.S. exports and most of the productivity gains in the U.S. economy - facts that need to be taken into account when making tax policy.

Sometimes the problem isn't too much action, but too little. Dividend taxation is one example. Next year, unless the Congress takes action, the tax on dividends is scheduled to rise to that of ordinary income, with rates topping out at 39 percent. On its face, this may seem to be an easy revenue-raising idea. But at a time of extreme market volatility, do we really want to disadvantage stable, dividend-paying stocks - and the retirement funds and millions of long-term dividend investors who depend on them?

Another area in which we fear good intentions will have unintended consequences is financial reform. Clearly, the government has an interest in ensuring a stable financial system, efficient capital markets and ethical and transparent business practices. That's why the BRT completely supports the idea of financial reform. However, we believe some of the current proposals with respect to derivatives and proxy access go a step too far, imposing one-size-fits-all solutions on highly dynamic and diverse businesses. Instead of focusing on the inputs to a transparent and efficient financial system, the proposed reforms will increase risk and volatility at a time when just the reverse is required.

We also see a disconnect between objectives and actions in the area of international trade. The Administration has indicated its intent to double U.S. exports over the next five years, recognizing that with 75 percent of the world's purchasing power and 87 percent of its growth coming from outside the U.S., an export-focused trade policy will grow jobs here at home.

The Business Roundtable agrees wholeheartedly with this goal. But while the European Union is moving ahead in implementing free trade agreements, we have seen very little movement on pending agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea to name a few. Nor have we made it a priority to seek more expansive trade negotiating authority to keep up with foreign competitors.

We also could do more to make America a more attractive destination for foreign direct investment, which fell by nearly 60 percent from 2008 to 2009. Now, to be fair, much of that is due to the global recession. But the truth is, the U.S. share of global capital inflows has been declining for decades. A new survey by Ernst & Young found that, whereas 48 percent of global investors saw North America as a desirable location for investment in 2006, by 2010 this percentage had fallen to just 22 percent. The most attractive market is China, favored by 39 percent. To quote the Ernst & Young study, we're competing for capital in a "new multi-polar world"in which investors can shop the globe for "growth, talent, technology and productivity."

We need to make sure that the U.S. isn't a fly-over zone when it comes to international trade and investment.

***

These are just a few of the issues we have laid out in our response to Dr. Orszag's request. The full report contains literally hundreds of separate actions and decisions that, taken together, create an increasingly hostile environment for investment and job creation here in this country.

As I said before, it would be better to re-focus public policy on creating private-sector jobs. In general, among BRT CEOs there is remarkable consensus around a few fundamental pillars to achieve this growth.

First, we need tax policies that promote capital formation. As Fred Smith, CEO of FedEx, noted recently in the Wall Street Journal, the correlation between domestic job growth and business investment is very strong. He calls for an extension of accelerated depreciation tax provisions as a way to give an immediate boost to the economy. According to the Institute for Policy Innovation, every $1 of tax cuts devoted to accelerated depreciation generates about $9 of growth in G.D.P.

Second, we need to increase exports and improve our international competitiveness. Here, the rhetoric from policy-makers has been right but the actions need to be better aligned through an emphasis on trade agreements, corporate tax reform and other initiatives to put us on more competitive footing internationally.

Third point, we need infrastructure investment to create jobs and build the platforms for 21st century growth. Jim Owens, the Chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, points out that since the 1970s, U.S. investment in infrastructure has grown at only half the rate of G.D.P. growth. Roads and bridges are in disrepair and the power grid is inefficient. In particular, we need to upgrade our transportation and energy systems with communications and information technology to create "smart"grids that will radically improve efficiency and productivity. You've heard the story before. Some of this will take public investment, but most can be done by the private sector, if we don't impose so many rules and regulations that it becomes an uneconomic proposition.

The fourth area is education. We fully support the Administration's actions to shore up America's educational system, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math. Verizon is directing more than $25 million this year from our charitable foundation this year to support education, working with partners like the New York Hall of Science, the National Academy Foundation, Jobs for America's Graduates and the many educational partners in our on-line educational resource, Thinkfinity.org. This is also a top priority for the Business Roundtable, which is leading a business-wide initiative to increase the number of American students with college degrees in STEM fields.

And the fifth area of Business Roundtable's CEO focus, we need to promote the innovation and entrepreneurism that are the beating heart of the economy. While the government has a lot of innovation initiatives, we need better focus and coordination in this vital arena. We need a permanent tax credit for research and development, more effective protection for intellectual property, and sustained federal investment in basic research. Both government and private sectors have a critical role to play here. Now, government invented the Internet, mapped the human genome and developed GPS technology - extraordinary advancements. But it took private industry to commercialize these discoveries, develop real businesses around them and make them available to average Americans. There are many areas, from renewable energy to transportation to homeland security protections, where government and industry can and should be working together to develop the technologies that will create new industries and new jobs. To do that, though, we need a more favorable environment for investment and new business formation.

The BRT believes that these five areas - capital formation, exports, infrastructure, education and innovation - are the necessary inputs for creating growth and private-sector jobs. We also believe that, if we can focus on the big goal and stop trying to micromanage industries, we could make real progress in these areas immediately by taking some of the pragmatic, targeted actions I just mentioned.

As further evidence of our commitment to being a good partner to the public sector, the Business Roundtable is forming an initiative around fiscal reform with the goal of providing constructive suggestions and input to government about deficit and entitlement reform. The single most important step government could take to stabilize the financial markets and create an environment for growth would be to show a real commitment to fiscal discipline and a recognition that sustainable growth will only occur when the private sector - not the government - is expanding.

***

Now clearly we have a lot of work to do. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that each $1 billion of capital spending generates about 18,000 new jobs for U.S. workers. This means that if we could stimulate an additional $50 billion in capital spending we could create nearly 1 million new jobs. That same $50 billion in capital would also accelerate productivity growth by one or two basis points a year. Over the past 10 years, U.S. productivity growth has averaged 2.8 percent a year. Raising that by a single basis point -- to 2.9 percent a year -- would raise real incomes for Americans by 1 percent over the next ten years, injecting an additional $200 billion into the economy.

We have so much untapped potential, if we can come together around a pro-jobs economic strategy.

To do that, we need to focus on the inputs required to create investment and private-sector jobs.

We need a world view that embraces engagement abroad to support growth here at home.

Most of all, we need accountable leaders in government as well as the business community who reject the false choices between job creation or deficit reduction, growth or sustainability, serving consumers or investors, managing for the short term or the long term, being profitable or doing things right.

Real leadership isn't about making false choices - it's about finding solutions to real problems.

Every one of us should find it unacceptable that so much capacity for growth is sitting on the sidelines. It's time for us all to raise our game and embrace the power of the private sector that will create real value and real growth for our country. If we work together to unleash the private sector's investment and innovative power, I have no doubt that America can accelerate its competitive footing and lead the world in the industries that will create jobs and raise living standards for many decades to come.

###

American Conference Institute

RandalS.Milch, Executive Vice President and General Counsel — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:00:00 GMT

I’d like to thank the American Conference Institute for the invitation to speak with you today. It’s a nice change of scenery to be discussing policy here in New York instead of Washington. There has been quite a bit of activity around areas of great import to companies like Verizon and others invested in broadband, the Internet and the communications industry.

Later this week the Federal Communications Commission will meet to discuss re-classifying broadband networks under telephone regulations enacted in 1934. Meanwhile, the FCC, the Federal Trade Commission and Congress are deliberating the hard issues of consumer online privacy – of particular concern to many of you here. And not a day goes by that cyber security – whether on a national-security level or on a personal-security level – isn’t in the news. I believe our nation’s policies in these areas hold vast implications for America’s future: for its economy and global competitiveness, for her citizens, and for those companies that have helped to build what we have come to know as the “Internet ecosystem.” That is what I’d like to discuss with you today.

The Internet ecosystem is made up of a number of players: there are network operators and Internet Service Providers, like Verizon, content creators and distributors, applications and software developers, and hardware and equipment manufacturers for everything from fiber to mobile phones.

What binds these disparate groups is the technology of broadband, both wireline and wireless. Over the past decade companies like Verizon have invested hundreds of billions of dollars to deploy high-speed broadband networks. In just the past five years Verizon alone has invested more than $80 billion to deploy our wireline and wireless networks, and to put more fiber in the ground than all the countries in Europe combined.

Verizon’s ultra high-speed fiber-to-the-premises network, called FiOS, offers data service at speeds as fast as 50 megabits per second, with capacity to exceed 100 megabits per second, as well as a dynamic video service. We are deploying a fourth-generation wireless network based on Long Term Evolution, or LTE, technology. LTE will transform the mobile industry, because consumers will be able to tap into true broadband speeds while on the go. These networks have already enabled huge growth of the Internet and a remarkable period of innovation.

In less than a decade broadband has inalterably changed the way people work, learn, shop, bank and invest, share information, socialize, and are entertained. Broadband networks are engines for job-creation and economic growth through greater productivity. There are new applications in areas like education, health care, energy conservation and e-government. The networks have essentially “democratized” the media landscape and its business models. Virtually anyone with a broadband connection can be a writer, film maker, software designer or entrepreneur, with the ability to reach hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Broadband is also creating different kinds of competition and partnerships. Verizon offers video services. Google distributes operating systems for smart phones. Apple has a mobile-advertising program. Amazon isn’t just selling content, it delivers content on its own hardware. Google, Motorola and Verizon created the Droid, which competes with the Apple-AT&T iPhone. Skype now partners with wireless companies to offer new voice services.

In short, we have an open Internet, where consumers have increasingly more choices in products and services. Investment and innovation are taking place across the market, from network technologies to applications and products and services. Businesses and advertisers are constantly competing and looking for new ways to connect with consumers.

If you stand back and consider all that has happened in ten years, it is breathtaking. But I am here to tell you that we’ve only scratched the surface. Broadband speeds – particularly in wireless – will continue to rise. Network capacity will continue to expand. All of which will mean more innovation and greater opportunities for consumers and businesses in the years ahead.

This remarkable marketplace is the result of policies put in place in the mid-1990s, which allowed broadband and the Internet to develop without the heavy hand of government regulation. This, however, has not meant the absence of adult supervision. Over time, and largely through cooperative efforts among the communications industry, other Internet players and policymakers, basic, pro-consumer rules of the road were established that all players adhere to. In rare cases where those rules are breached, whether to the harm of consumers or competition, the marketplace has been self-correcting. Where more serious issues have arisen, government entities, such as the FCC and FTC, have served as important backstops under their existing authority.

However, as broadband and the Internet have become increasingly embedded and more important to our society, serious policy questions have arisen that must be addressed: How do we ensure that consumers can seek the lawful content they want online, and connect to broadband networks with the equipment they choose? How do we ensure people’s privacy is respected and data is protected in a social networking world? How do we limit the wholesale theft of intellectual property that now plagues the Internet? How do we ensure all commercial players in the Internet get a fair shot to compete?

Above all, what is the best approach to address these issues while also ensuring ongoing investment and innovation in broadband and the Internet? The cooperative model that serves the Internet well? Or a new scheme with greater government intervention? When considering the best approach, a good guide is how ISPs, content distributors and creators, hardware and software manufacturers, policymakers and consumers have dealt with similar issues in the past.

For example, as online advertisers developed new ways to identify consumers’ interests via cookies or search engines, there was an increased focus on behavioral advertising. With some prodding and guidance from the FTC, the industry came together to create a comprehensive set of guidelines for online behavioral advertising. This cross-industry effort, in which Verizon was pleased to play a role, was led by the nation’s key industry groups, the Council of Better Business Bureaus, and leading Internet, advertising and other companies. The self-regulatory principles that emerged are premised on the fundamental point that consumers are entitled to notice, transparency and the ability to control use of their information.

The reality is those of us in the Internet environment are best positioned to identify and act on issues and bad actors as they arise. Government simply isn’t built to address a dynamic marketplace; the Internet can be a remarkable platform for self-correction, where problems are identified by players and consumers. Customer issues, once revealed, are often resolved quickly, before regulators can even begin a process for resolution. We’ve seen this recently as Facebook has attempted to deal with customer privacy concerns.

The industry also has the know-how to address technical issues much more quickly, and where there has been a need to for greater focus on an issue, we are doing so in a collaborative effort.

Last week, Verizon joined with a number of other Internet players, including Intel, Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and Google, in announcing the formation of a Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group. This group of engineers and technical experts will develop consensus on broadband network-management practices or other related technical issues that can affect users’ Internet experience, including the impact of applications, content and devices. The goals of this TAG are to educate policymakers on issues as they arise, address specific technical matters to minimize policy disputes; and serve as a sounding board for new ideas and network management practices.

Responsible, collaborative players stepping up and acting on consumers’ behalf has served the Internet well over the past 15 years. Is it perfect? No. Are there new issues that we need to address? Absolutely. Is there a role for government? Yes, and in considering this role, I’d make four points.

First, in identifying a role for government, it’s important to separate the real issues that consumers care about – privacy, security, quality of service – from the trumped up issues that waste so much time and oxygen in Washington. An example is the so-called “net neutrality” debate, where – unbelievably to me as a lawyer – the proponents of “net neutrality” suggest that the First Amendment justifies government regulation of broadband networks and the Internet.

When you hear someone talking about the First Amendment in one breath, and in the next calling for regulations that would limit speech or how consumers and businesses interact with each other online, it’s important to recall that the First Amendment is intended as a shield from government involvement in speech, not as a sword to empower such intrusion. “First Amendment values” are promoted by freedom from government regulation of speech, not by its imposition.

“Net neutrality” is a solution in search of a problem, and a constitutionally suspect one at that. We should, instead, be focused on the real issues of privacy, security and property protection that need our consideration.

Second, the government’s role in a well-functioning, competitive market should be ensuring that it runs as efficiently and fairly as possible. In the broadband marketplace, the best role for government is as an even-handed backstop to protect consumers and a properly functioning marketplace.

In the past, where there have been breakdowns or unresolved issues, the government has addressed the situation using – and this is important – existing legal and regulatory mechanisms. A good example is last year’s FTC action against bloggers who failed to disclose “pay for play” arrangements with advertisers or sponsors of their sites. Now, bloggers who fail to disclose to their readers that they are paid to promote or endorse products and services face stiff financial penalties for their lack of candor and transparency.

Part of a well-functioning market is a level-playing field where all players are accountable. Threats to consumers or the marketplace do not arise from only one set of players. Indeed, there is scant evidence of anti-competitive or consumer-harming behavior from network providers, while there is no doubt that search engines can and do organize what customers get from search results based on revenue from third parties. When government acts – in those appropriately few cases – it must do so in an even handed way.

Third, a bit of perspective would be helpful when considering how best to approach polices for the Internet. We hear constantly from the paternalistic, “we need government to regulate the Internet” crowd that we are witnessing the death of the Internet as we know it. Yet the Internet is actually functioning well, is highly competitive and exceedingly open. There is a great distance between “alarm” and “harm,” particularly in a dynamic and fast-reacting marketplace like the Internet. Once in a while, folks need to take a deep breath.

It’s also easy for critics to cast broadband network operators as evil or motivated purely by profit. It’s as if the Internet were some technological Arcadia, and that corporations have suddenly appeared to plunder a pristine resource. But they have the story backwards.

It was the private sector and its motivations that jumpstarted and shaped the Internet as we see it evolving today. The high-speed broadband networks and Internet with more than 2 billion people connected globally – the one with iTunes and Facebook, Google, Amazon, eBay and YouTube and millions of other businesses, the one with all sorts of innovative mobile devices connected to it – were made possible by the private sector. Private capital is spurring the innovation we see every day. Moreover, for all of the dark talk about how America is lagging behind the rest of the world in the Internet space, all of the innovations I’ve named are products of the American entrepreneurial spirit.

Finally, whatever roles private industry and government may play or seek to play in the Internet, the focus must be on meeting the needs of consumers. Consumers should be empowered and have the ability to access whatever lawful content and applications they choose, and be well-informed about the products and services they use.

In the area of online advertising, for example, it does little good to tell consumers what data is being collected and how it is used if the consumer has no ability to control the manner in which it may be shared. Not only does control enhance consumer trust, it also enhances the value of the information that is collected. Some consumers will choose not to participate in online data-collection and that’s okay, too. Either way, it’s the consumer who is in charge.

Private sector players have the responsibility, incentives and ability to ensure consumers’ interests are protected and respected, and are uniquely positioned to spot emerging fraud and abuse schemes, privacy intrusions and anti-competitive behavior. The cycle of change online is accelerating, not slowing. Consumers are demanding that their issues be addressed at broadband speeds, not at governmental regulation or legislative speeds.

Moreover, our bottom line and our desire to attract and retain customers is motivation to properly consider consumers’ interests and those of all the players online. If users are not confident that we will appropriately secure their data, they will be hesitant to use broadband products and services more fully, or will move to a competitor that does provide that level of confidence.

We believe that collaborative, voluntary approaches to Internet policy can leverage the particular expertise of industry players and best protect consumers while allowing market and technical innovations to continue.

In laying out this approach, it’s important that we remember our overarching goal: a competitive, consumer-focused marketplace that encourages investment and innovation. That was the vision for the Internet and broadband more than a decade ago, and so much has changed in the online world since, that people forget how far we’ve come.

Only five years ago, we still had telecom and cable sectors, content development, distribution, and hardware sectors, all somewhat siloed from each other. Today, all those lines have are blurred, and that’s a good thing for consumers and the Internet.

But the power of broadband to innovate, integrate and expand opportunities won’t come from imposing limitations on broadband technology or the Internet. That is why Verizon is committed to an open, competitive Internet marketplace, and to working with all industry players to ensure that policies for broadband allow this transformative technology to continue to grow and fulfill its full potential.

Thank you.

2nd Invitational Workshop on Opportunistic RF Localization for Next Generation Wireless Devices

RichardJ.Lynch, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Introduction by Dr. John Orr, Provost and SVP, and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Thank you, Dr. Orr, Professor Pahlavan and Dr. Rahman.

Good morning to all of you. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to speak before this group today.

I firmly believe that location and presence will be the cornerstones of the most successful wireless applications for the foreseeable future. As I look around today, I recognize that each of you play a key role in making localization an essential part of users' lives. I'd also like to extend my appreciation to the speakers and panelists whose expertise will make this event informative and memorable.

Before I begin, I want to recognize what an honor it is to speak at WPI, a school which - quite a few years ago - was on the short list of institutions I considered for my own education. Your outstanding academics, faculty and research programs create a unique environment where science and technology confront real-world challenges. And after nearly a century and a half, you continue to live up to your founders' goal of providing "theory and practice."

Today, we stand in the doorway to a time when wireless will be the preferred and primary way that most consumers and businesses communicate. It's a time where both traditional voice and the newer communication methods rely on a robust, wireless IP platform that integrates smoothly with the next-generation Internet.

I'm excited about this new opportunity, and as the CTO of Verizon, I strive to drive my company to advance this vision. That's why I've been so aggressive in our push toward LTE, and why I took great pleasure in announcing our plans to be a "bleeding edge" leader of LTE at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona two years ago.

Since I believe so strongly in LTE as an enabling platform for the future, let me start by updating you on Verizon's 4G plans. 2010 is the year in which we will make LTE a commercial reality in the U.S. We're currently in the final stages of our pre-commercial testing in Boston and Seattle. Later this year, we'll turn up LTE coverage for one-third of the U.S. population, or 100 million POPs as the industry likes to call it. By 2013, Verizon's LTE network will grow to match or exceed our current 3G footprint. And because the 700 MHz spectrum we're using for this deployment is assigned to Verizon on a nationwide basis, we intend to keep going and bring 4G services to even more of the country.

But let's get back to the focus of this conference. As I mentioned, I believe that location and presence will be keys to the successful wireless applications in the months and years ahead. Imagine all the incredible commercial opportunities we can create by processing all that information - on increasingly powerful smartphones and other wireless devices - over a truly intelligent wireless broadband network. Best of all, we'll be able to maximize the value we deliver to users.

To fully realize this vision, one thing we need is a "localization ecosystem" in which we work together to improve the technology, agree on standards and guarantee privacy for our users. I see this conference as an important part of that ecosystem.

Today's GPS-enabled devices feature improving location accuracy and time-to-delivery, which is helping to drive the popularity of localization services. In addition, the growing consumer awareness of GPS devices is creating a virtuous circle of user discovery and adoption of new location-based services.

Before I go on, I think it might be helpful to take a moment to review how localization technology has evolved over the years.

As you know, GPS was originally developed for military use, but has also been used extensively for commercial purposes such as fleet management and consumer navigation systems in automobiles.

But in 1997, an intense focus on localization was triggered by the FCC mandate requiring carriers to be able to locate the source of emergency 911 calls made from wireless phones. Specific accuracy and time-to-deliver requirements were demanding, and required extensive research and development. Closing the gap between FCC requirements and actual capabilities took several years.

In an effort to meet the FCC mandate, the initial search was for one killer technology. But GPS was designed specifically for outdoor locations, while the wireless WANs - our cell phone networks - were designed for communication anywhere. After years of trials, it was clear that one single technology could not cover all the possible environments and scenarios. As a result, we've worked to develop a hybrid of various technologies to meet the stringent accuracy and time-to-deliver requirements set by the FCC.

We still have work to do to improve the hybrid model, and as additional technologies evolve we'll need to add them to the mix. But this shows how we as an industry can come together to solve problems, improve the technology and enhance the consumer experience. This challenge has literally created a new industry around Location Based Services - or LBS - and given this industry a head start that it wouldn't have had without this early challenge.

Consumers will see the next major location advances in the area of smartphone applications. In fact, Juniper Research estimates that by 2014 the global LBS market will be worth more than $12 billion, largely due to the increasing popularity of advanced smartphones.

Like most carriers, all of Verizon's wireless phones are GPS-enabled. We launched our VZ Navigator application several years ago. It remains one of our premier applications and is broadly perceived as adding significant value for consumers. The product has evolved to include 3D views, integrate real-time traffic information, and to provide information on restaurants, gas stations and other places of interest. There's also a wide array of other location-based apps developed for our smartphone operating systems.

The LBS market continues to grow at a rapid pace. A recent Mobile Marketing Association survey indicated that a quarter of all U.S. wireless phone users have used a mobile location-based service - and anecdotal information shows that people who own Android devices or iPhones are heavy users of location applications. Smartphones currently make up nearly 20 percent of the wireless phone market, but their sales grew by an impressive 57 percent worldwide in the first quarter of this year. With this kind of growth, the tipping point to mass-acceptance and adoption of LBS has definitely arrived.

Not all location apps will get or need a large audience, as even niche products are valuable to their target audience. Let's briefly examine some of the LBS categories to understand the breadth of the market opportunities we're seeing.

The first location service that nearly everyone with a new LBS-enabled device will experience is mapping their location. From there the user moves to navigation, which provides turn-by-turn directions, as well as drive time, construction and traffic delays, and mass transit options.

The next logical progression of LBS adoption is local search, which Juniper Research estimates will be used by 1.5 billion people worldwide by 2014. Search can occur simultaneously with mapping and navigation, and the convergence of these services enables a key revenue opportunity - local advertising - that supports the application's business model. Services that provide user reviews as part of location-aware search have gained a strong foothold with smartphone users.

A great LBS success story is telematics, an area in which I have a significant personal interest and involvement. Verizon is the underlying carrier for GM OnStar, the location-based service where millions of subscribers are provided with in-vehicle services, navigation, and life-saving emergency assistance.

Another service category features various "Family Finder" applications, which are aimed at parents of younger and teenage children. Parents can track the whereabouts of their child, or they can be alerted when the child has left a pre-designated zone. These apps can also be used to check the location of family members with medical conditions, such as Alzheimer's patients.

Social networking applications that allow you to check in and locate friends are well received by their users. They're typically aimed at young adults who grew up in the digital age, are comfortable with new technology and know how to set an app's privacy controls. While there are few privacy concerns among this group of users, this could be an issue. However, we believe this is resolved by requiring the consent of each party before enabling the application.

I want to point out that Verizon has always maintained the highest ethical standards when it comes to protecting customer privacy. But new location-based services have the potential to allow personal information to be used - and possibly abused - by third parties. The industry has the responsibility to safeguard that information in compliance with customers' requirements.

You've probably heard the rumors that Facebook may be getting ready to add a location-based mobile app, which would be available to 500 million registered users. At the end of last year, more than 65 million users accessed Facebook through wireless devices - and these mobile users are 50 percent more active on Facebook than non-mobile users. Providing a useful - and trustworthy - location-based service to this huge group would drive usage into the mainstream and we'd move well beyond that doorway at which we stand today.

Another popular location service is geo-tagging, which allows users to search for content, based on where it was created. Twitter is encouraging subscribers to add location tags to their tweets, so that others can search for things that interest them based on location. For example, you could get information on the Gulf oil spill from people who are in New Orleans. The National Wildlife Federation has an app that lets nature lovers instantly post wildlife sightings containing geo-tags of an animal's location, providing a searchable archive of observations.

I happen to enjoy photography, and geo-tagging will allow me to automatically identify exactly where each shot was taken. From there I could generate a map of my vacation, along with stories, restaurant reviews and notes about local points of interest, which I could share with others. With the increased bandwidth of Verizon's upcoming LTE network, I'll be able to instantly share geo-tagged videos and allow others to "see what I see."

So far, I've highlighted LBS services focused on consumers. But another area Verizon has targeted is machine-to-machine communications. I believe that we'll see M2M communications built into a wide variety of things that may seem unusual to people today, such as shipping containers, medical monitoring equipment, and smart electric meters, to name just a few.

Localization can be used to provide faster and better health care delivery by allowing administrators to track care givers, medical resources and patients. For example, as our population continues to age, telecare will play a significant role in providing safe independent living for the elderly. We could see a wearable device that measures specific vital signs, detects falls and location, and communicates automatically in real-time with care providers in the event of an emergency situation.

Localization can also be used to mine geo-specific traffic data that can provide real-time updates, allowing drivers to find nearby available parking, avoid traffic jams or report unsafe road conditions. Aggregate and anonymous data from mobile devices, traffic cameras and toll stations can give government agencies the ability to monitor and control traffic lights for optimal flow.

The same concepts could be put to use for public transportation and commercial shippers. Location-based sensors can assist corporations who need to monitor their infrastructure and track their assets. In addition, companies can use localization to enhance their customer relationships by providing geo-based loyalty programs and promotions based on individual customer preferences.

These examples are just the tip of the geo-iceberg. We're only limited by our imagination. Twenty years ago, when plain-vanilla cell phones were becoming popular, few could have imagined the dynamic transformation those devices would go through. And as we walk through today's doorway of wireless innovation, the same will be true for the future of LBS-enabled devices, if we do it right.

So in the WPI spirit of "theory and practice," here are a few thoughts on what I believe is necessary to deliver a superior LBS experience to users.

Increasing adoption of location-based services will require cooperative efforts by many disparate interests. The participants in this workshop represent one of the key interest groups necessary to move location technology and services forward.

Our mutual philosophy needs to be focused on a collaborative approach to driving success in mobile, location-based services. No single entity - whether you're a network provider, a manufacturer, a technologist or an apps developer - will be able to envision and provide every aspect of the ecosystem on its own.

Together we'll help to create the next-generation services that will release the full power and potential of LBS to consumers and businesses, and create the opportunity to drive additional demand and service innovation.

We need to encourage standardization and interoperability, because a proliferation of proprietary solutions will stunt the growth of localization. There are many partners involved in the delivery of the final service. This could make it difficult to align multiple proprietary pieces into a positive user experience. Interfaces must be standardized so that developers can build a consistent service for all operating systems.

Another key area is improving energy efficiencies in our devices. We must continue research and development that will advance technologies that allow us to design smaller GPS devices that use less power.

We also need to improve location accuracy. One key approach is to recognize the synergistic improvement in results which can be achieved if we can find a way to logically and efficiently integrate the data available from multiple technologies and sources at one time. I'd like to see data from GPS, Wi-Fi access points, radio frequency finger- printing and proximity sensors be algorithmically used for an accurate location fix.

As is often the case, military developments provide significant civilian benefit, as we saw with the deployment of the original and subsequent updates to our U.S. GPS system - NAVSTAR. We need to continue to cooperatively work to gain benefits for the public from the military advances in this area.

To those in academia, we continue to need your research in areas such as:
- Next-generation IP routing algorithms to reduce latency in delivery of content for data hungry location-based applications
- Improved position accuracy for indoor locations
- Privacy architectures to establish location and presence so that user identity can remain anonymous and protected
- Wireless sensors and automated tracking which support M2M communications without human intervention
- Exploring and understanding human mobility patterns that open opportunities for location-relevant information delivery based on predictive behaviors

For service providers, there is the responsibility of integrating and delivering a variety of localization services to the end user. A precise and accurate user experience is essential for mass adoption of these new services.

Finally, if you're in the application development arena, you need to focus on the unmet needs of users. Location-based apps - especially those with a subscription model - must offer a superior value proposition.

Location-based service opportunities must allow users to control their privacy concerns. Users must be comfortable with the information they provide, and they need to know how their personal data will be used. With the integration of social networking and retail apps, their concerns extend to sharing information about their friends or receiving intrusive marketing. We need to work together to ensure that customers always have the choice to opt-in, and they can easily change settings to control their personal information.

This conference is critical to the continued development of location services that will advance and improve the quality of life in the digital age.

Working together, we can improve localization accuracy, establish industry standards and create useful platforms for application developers. I encourage you to make the most of this great opportunity to expand the localization ecosystem. Today's program is an excellent forum to share information on new technologies and opportunities that will allow users to manage their lives better and have a more seamless and spontaneous wireless experience.

Thank you, and have a productive conference.

Wireless Telecommunications Symposium 2010

RichardJ.Lynch, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Verizon's Waltham Innovation Center

RichardJ.Lynch, Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

As delivered

Groundbreaking Ceremony

Let me add my personal welcome to the distinguished guests who have joined us for this exciting event. We’re especially pleased that Secretary Bialecki and Mayor McCarthy could be part of our groundbreaking today, as we celebrate Waltham as the epicenter of a culture of innovation that will create jobs, attract investment and stimulate economic growth for many years to come.

I’m also pleased to be joined today by the leaders of our major Verizon businesses here in Massachusetts. You’ve already met Donna Cupelo, who heads up our government and corporate initiatives for New England, and I’d also like to acknowledge Ken Dixon, our region president for Verizon Wireless. Ken, please stand and take a bow.

As you heard from Donna, I have deep roots here in eastern Massachusetts; so this is a big day for me … and an even bigger one for Verizon. The Technology Innovation Center on which we’ll break ground today will be a state-of-the-art facility that will house our leading technologists and scientists. More than that, this new center will secure this region’s position as an incubator of innovation and showcase Verizon’s leadership in creating the next generation of communications technology.

The Verizon Technology Innovation Center will be one of the premier technology research facilities in the country, if not the world. Working with the developers Davis Marcus Partners, we’ve engaged two of the Boston area’s most prominent architectural firms – Elkus-Manfredi and NELSON/Black Cow – to design and build a 60,000-square-foot, three-story facility that will provide a high-tech environment for our leading technologists and scientists. In addition, the new building will feature a state-of-the-art Executive Briefing Center where we will bring together our partners, consumer electronics companies and others to collaborate on new products and services. With this expansion, our Waltham campus will grow to about 200,000 square feet and employ more than 300 high-tech workers.

The focus of our work at this new facility will be developing forward-looking communications technologies such as our all-fiber FiOS network and our fourth-generation LTE wireless network, which will be the first truly nationwide 4G network in the country. We’ve been testing LTE in the Boston area since August of last year and are on track to start rolling it out later this year in 25 to 30 markets around the country where it will cover over 100 million people. We’ve also been working with third-party developers on the applications and devices that will take advantage of this new platform.

LTE will not only provide customers with true broadband speeds, but it will also embed wireless connections into cars, buildings, machines, appliances – enabling what some people call the “Internet of things.” LTE really is a game-changer, not just for us, but for the entire tech industry and society as a whole – and with the launch of the Verizon Technology Innovation Center, we’ll be at the very forefront of this revolution for many years to come.

As we launch ourselves into the next phase of growth and innovation in communications, we do so on the shoulders of the giant technology advances that have their origin here on this campus. The list of technical achievements that had their start here contains some of the most strategically important initiatives in Verizon’s history, including the major advances in FiOS, video and wireless that are producing growth in new services and driving network convergence. Virtually every design advance, new service and systems improvement that goes into our networks has been touched by someone here at Waltham on its way from idea to implementation. Our leadership in fiber-to-the-home technology, global IP and network convergence has its roots on this campus. More than 1,000 patents have been filed based on the work of Waltham technologists – some of which, like the ones responsible for the legendary sound quality of the Dolby stereo system, are recognized by consumers worldwide.

The professionals here are not just great scientists, they’re also passionate about the customer and how to use technology to change lives and change society for the better.

So to our employees, I say the expansion we’re kicking off today is a testament to the great work you’ve already done and a down payment on the great work you’ll do in the future.

To our fellow high-tech innovators here in Massachusetts – companies like Airvana, Starent, Camiant, Acme Packet, Netnumber, Sonus networks and EMC, as well as the hundreds of other entrepreneurs who make up the tech community – I look forward to making this a hub for collaboration as we work together to invent the future.

To Secretary Bielecki, Mayor McCarthy and the other government officials here today, let me say once again how proud we are to be realizing such a big part of Verizon’s technology vision here in Massachusetts.

The Verizon Technology Innovation Center will be a tangible symbol of our company’s role as a technology leader and this region’s role as an incubator for innovation and growth. I can’t wait to get started and I’m excited to see what we can create together.

The 17th Annual Greenlining Institute's Economic Summit

IvanG.Seidenberg, Chairman of the Board — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

As prepared for delivery

Introduction by Assembly Member Steven Bradford.

Thank you, Assembly Member Bradford, and to all of you for that warm welcome. It’s been a pleasure to spend some time with your dynamic new executive director, Orson Aguilar, and hear about his plans for leading this organization into its next phase of growth and service. It’s also an honor to share the dais with Barbara DeSoer (from Bank of America Home Loans) in this important dialogue about rebuilding the American dream.

I’ve had a great couple of days here in Los Angeles – speaking at the Annenberg School at USC yesterday, meeting with State Senator Alex Padilla and Assemblywoman Karen Bass today, and spending some time with our employees here in California. I’d especially like to mention three Verizon people here today, whom most of you know from our partnership with the many community organizations represented in this room:

• Tim McCallion – President of our west coast region.

• Elva Lima – Vice President of strategic programs here in California.

• Luis Cruz – President of Verizon Wireless for our Southern California region.

Having worked with the Greenlining Institute and their members for many years, I want to commend your efforts to increase the size of the economic pie for diverse and underserved communities. You have been tireless in your efforts on behalf of inclusiveness in supply chains, employment and philanthropy. I know Tim and Luis would agree with me in saying that – like you -- Verizon has a vital interest in a healthy, growing economy in California:

• We employ about 18,000 people and serve several million customers in the state.

• We invested close to $1.2 B in 2009 to upgrade California’s networks with fiber and wireless broadband technologies.

• We help create jobs throughout the economy, spending about $164 million with minority and women-owned businesses in 2009.

• And through our foundation, we invest millions of dollars a year with hundreds of nonprofit partners in the state to promote literacy, improve education, prevent domestic violence and create a safe space for families on the Internet … the vast majority of which goes to support minority and underserved communities.

Like all of you, Verizon is deeply invested in America’s future. Like you, we’re committed to diversity and believe in expanding the circle of economic opportunity and empowerment to as many people and as many communities as possible. Like you, we operate in a challenging climate of slow growth and constrained resources. And while we’re proud of the progress we’ve made in expanding economic opportunity for all, like you we realize there’s still a gap between where we are and where we need to be in terms of access to the American dream.

Most of all, we share the determination expressed by Orson that, while we live “in a time of great crisis … it is also a time of renewal, a time to look forward, not back.”

In that spirit, I’d like to take just a few minutes to give you our perspective on how we move forward toward our shared vision of healthy communities, flourishing businesses and economic opportunity for all.

The first thing to acknowledge is that any conversation about access to economic opportunity needs to include access to broadband.

Today, almost 2 billion people – about a quarter of the world’s population – are connected to the Internet. Twice that many – 4 billion people – have mobile phones, which are themselves becoming smarter and more connected every day. On Verizon’s networks alone, we carry more than 1.7 billion text messages, 50 million picture and video messages, 1 billion phone calls, 400 million emails and the equivalent of 4 million full-length movies – all in a single day. One study estimates that, on a global basis, the annual economic benefits of the commercial Internet equal $1.5 Trillion – more than the global sales of medicine, investment in renewable energy and government R&D investments, combined. Robert Crandall of the Brookings Institution finds that broadband investment in the U.S. can produce more than 500,000 new jobs over the next five years and create new demand for all the things that will drive the economy forward: computers, software, network equipment and applications.

The message is clear: to participate fully in the global economy, you need to be part of the digital world.

Verizon is working here in California and around the country to expand our fiber, wireless broadband and Internet backbone networks – an investment that helps sustain local economies and create the good jobs that will re-ignite growth going forward. Here in California, we expanded both our high-speed FiOS network and our wireless broadband network in 2009, and we’re preparing to launch an even faster wireless data network by the end of the year.

We always have more work to do to see that the benefits of these networks reach diverse people of all age groups and income levels, and we will continue to innovate and invest to expand the digital community, in the state and in the country. But in terms of our mutual goals of …

• Putting broadband within most people’s reach,
• Increasing supplier diversity,
• And empowering diverse communities to take advantage of digital technologies,

… we really have made great progress over the last decade, at least when it comes to the “table stakes” required to succeed in the digital economy.

Where we still have a gap between where we are and where we need go is in using broadband to tackle the really big issues confronting our society: health care, energy, and education. This gap has been made all the more urgent by a bad economy that makes it tougher than ever to tackle these big thorny issues in a traditional way.

When social problems grow faster than the resources necessary to combat them, the only way to bridge the gap is through innovation.

The potential for using technology to address social issues is huge – and largely untapped. Studies suggest that smart technologies embedded in utility and transportation systems could reduce carbon emissions by more than 20 percent and cut oil imports by as much as 11 percent over the next ten years. Digitizing health care records could save billions of dollars a year and dramatically improve the quality of the health care system. And we have scarcely begun to explore how broadband technologies can revolutionize education and create a smart workforce capable of competing in the global marketplace for talent and ideas.

Verizon is working in partnership with many of you in this room today to solve old problems in new ways by using the power of broadband technology:

• We’re using the Internet to empower teachers, parents and students through our educational website, Thinkfinity.org.

• We’re changing how health care is delivered through electronic health records, wireless monitoring devices and two-way video imaging.

• We’re showing how our networks and a smart infrastructure can conserve energy and make our cities more efficient.

• We’re using videoconferencing and other technologies to empower deaf and hearing-impaired customers.

• And we’re helping people connect to the digital economy through programs like the Greenlining Technology Academy – a partnership designed to increase technology literacy among low-income Californians.

Programs like the Technology Academy show that access to technology is only half the story … real opportunity happens when people have the tools, the knowledge and the proficiency to become e-learners, e-workers and e-citizens. And real innovation happens when people with diverse talents and points of view come together to create these new solutions and put these new tools in people’s hands.

Verizon is committed to being part of the solution to these issues – not the least because we see innovation around health care, smart grids, and education as big growth opportunities for the future. But there’s a limit to what any one company or any one sector can do – whether it’s business, government, schools or nonprofits. True innovation is about collaboration and multiple partnerships around a common goal … and together, I believe there’s no limit to what we can achieve.

We need all the creative energy we and our diverse team of partners can muster, because for all the changes technology has brought over the last ten years, we’re on the threshold of an even more innovative era to come. I’ve read some estimates that say within the next 25 years, we’ll live in a fully connected world, with every person on the planet living within reach of an Internet connection.

Think about that for a minute.

Even as recently as one year ago, who would have guessed that within 10 days of the earthquake in Haiti, cell phone customers would donate $25 million simply by sending a text? Who would have known that researchers would come up with cameras the size of a pill that can diagnose illnesses, wireless devices that can monitor your blood pressure, locator services that can help you keep your children safe? Who can predict the millions of ways technology can make our society greener, our people healthier, our communities wealthier and our kids brighter?

We can’t wait to discover the answers to those questions, and – with your help – we look forward to using our investment, innovation and imagination to create lasting value for communities across California and America.

Thank you, and have a productive conference.
###

University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication

IvanG.Seidenberg, Chairman of the Board — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

No Script. Refer to Transcript.

Council on Foreign Relations

IvanG.Seidenberg, Chairman of the Board — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 04:00:00 GMT

2010 marks the 25th anniversary of the birth of the commercial Internet. Since the launch of that first dot.com website back in 1985, the Internet has become the major platform for global commerce -- the equivalent of the shipping lanes that facilitated world trade in the days of Magellan or the railroads that opened the west during the Industrial Revolution. Today, the Internet drives some $400 billion in annual economic activity, transports billions of dollars' worth of intellectual cargo and has turned every multinational company that wants to remain competitive into a giant information processing machine. A robust and functioning Internet is a laboratory for innovation, a platform for collaboration, a spur to productivity, a means to higher living standards and a conduit for exporting values of openness and freedom around the world.

With advances in fiber and wireless technologies, we're on the cusp of a new growth curve for the Internet and a wave of innovation with tremendous potential to address the big issues facing the global economy, including energy, poverty, education and health care.

The Internet is not a static thing, however. As it grows in complexity and importance, it requires constant investment, improvement, and re-invention. As we think about America's competitiveness and the drivers of global prosperity in the 21st century, we need to think about how to assure the continued security, stability and expansion of this vital platform.

***

It may be counterintuitive for you to think of Verizon as a global Internet company, but actually we've played a big role in creating the "digital trade routes" on which the world's economy runs. We own and operate much of the infrastructure that comprises the Internet today, including almost half a million fiber miles of backbone networks connecting six continents and more than 150 countries. The firm TeleGeography has ranked us the #1 most connected public Internet backbone network for ten consecutive years. And we're partners in laying high-speed undersea cables connecting Europe, India and East Africa, as well as a trans-Pacific cable that increases the capacity between the U.S. and China by 60 times.

We also operate ultra-broadband backbone networks in the U.S. and are reinventing our access network with fiber technology capable of delivering 100-megabit capacity directly to customers' homes. Fiber-to-the-home - what we call FiOS -- is the gold standard for wireline broadband anywhere in the world. With more than 15 million homes passed, Verizon has deployed more fiber-to-the-home lines than all the countries of Europe, combined. And going forward, we think FiOS will be the perfect platform for a slew of innovations coming down the pike -- from immersive video to 3D imaging and more.

On the wireless front, it's hard to overstate how fast this technology has evolved in the brief 25 year history of this industry. In 2002, Verizon began to deploy a 2G all-digital wireless network. Since then, data traffic on that network has increased 300 percent. In 2004, we introduced 3G technology, which increased data speeds by a factor of 10, giving customers the ability to do e-mail, use GPS, share photos and access the Internet on a wireless device. We now have 3G throughout our whole network, creating a highly mobile broadband environment that surrounds customers with Internet connectivity wherever they go.

This first great wave of investment and innovation on the part of the world's communications companies has brought us to the verge of a great tipping point in human history. Today, there are nearly 2 billion Internet users and 4 billion mobile phones users worldwide. The next billion will likely be connected by wireless, which will certainly be the most economical way to drive broadband to underserved populations, both here and abroad. Verizon has been preparing for this new wireless broadband era for some time, acquiring spectrum and working with our vendors and technical associations on a technology for wireless broadband called LTE that is rapidly becoming a global standard.

LTE will increase data speeds on wireless networks by up to 10 times, comparable to today's wired broadband solutions. But the real transformative idea about 4G goes beyond the whole notion of a wireless "phone." In the 4G world, wireless will connect everything: not just people-to-people, but also people-to-machine and machine-to-machine. As 4G capabilities get embedded into our environment, there's really no limit to the number of connections that can be part of the mobile grid: vehicles, appliances, buildings, roads, medical monitors, inventory on trucks or in warehouses or on supermarket shelves. This "Internet of things" will infuse intelligence into all our systems and present us with a whole new way to run a home, an enterprise, a community or an economy.

We're testing LTE as we speak and will start to deploy it throughout the U.S. later this year. We are also jump-starting innovation in LTE handsets, equipment, software and machine-to-machine applications by opening up the development process to entrepreneurs and creating our own innovation lab. And we are galvanizing the worldwide development community by forming a joint venture with China Mobil, Softbank and Vodafone - who, together with Verizon, have a combined 1 billion customers across four different continents.

With LTE, the U.S. will be a prime mover in this vital and innovative new technology.

I know this goes against the conventional wisdom that America is way behind in wireless and broadband. The truth is, that belief is more about the past than it is about the present or certainly the future. Asia's cell phone ecosystem developed so fast because the mobile handset - not the PC - has been their primary means for accessing the Internet. Europe's wireline broadband infrastructure spread quickly because of state subsidies and a compact geography, among other things. The U.S. market has developed differently, based on a private investment model and competition among different wired and wireless technologies. The result is that - today - the U.S. market stacks up very well in the global market in terms of:

- Choice - with the vast majority of Americans having access to two or more broadband networks;
- Utilization - with higher broadband penetration and wireless data usage than Europe as a whole; and
- Quality - with the most advanced fiber and fourth-generation wireless data networks being deployed in the world today.

As for the future, the center of gravity when it comes to innovation has shifted decisively to the U.S. The smart phone revolution is centered in the U.S. Our 4G LTE networks will leapfrog the world in wireless. The rest of the world is catching up to the game-changing fiber networks being deployed by America's communications companies. And all the innovation and entrepreneurial energy in the Internet ecosystem of devices, applications and operating systems is coming together around these world-class network platforms and will drive our industry going forward.

Clearly, Verizon has made big bets on our vision of the future, as has our entire industry. In fact, America's network companies invest more capital in a year than the Federal government invests in transportation. Last year, investment in information and communications technology accounted for an astonishing 43 percent of all non-structural capital investment in the U.S. These investments are a major engine of our economy. One study estimates that direct investment in networks will create half a million new jobs over the next five years and will stimulate innovation in applications, software and equipment. This multiplier effect has ripples across the whole global economy. Businesses report that every dollar invested in Internet technology creates four dollars of value in return. The World Bank says that for every 10 percent increase in high-speed Internet access, economic growth goes up by 1.3 percent. The ability to move, manage and analyze data is now a basic economic input for all global businesses, on par with capital and labor.

So we believe broadband, wireless and global IP technologies are at the heart of American competitiveness and global economic progress. Moreover, we believe communications will be key to solving the big challenges we face as a society.

***

Technology allows us to address issues and solve problems in ways that simply weren't available to us before. Already, researchers are developing micro-cameras that can be swallowed like pills to diagnose illness. E-wallets and mobile commerce will remove yet another layer of friction from commercial transactions, as is happening in Japan today. Using smart grids and mobile technologies to manage electric power could create 280,000 new jobs and cut carbon emissions by more than 20 percent in the next ten years. The list goes on.

And if we think of the impact of widely available broadband in the developing world, the possibilities for progress are mind-blowing. The GSMA recently published a survey of women in the developing world, who as you know are the principal drivers of local economies. Forty percent of them reported that the very fact of having a cell phone increases their income. Having a cell phone means they have access to capital through mobile banking. They use text messages to check crop prices. They can disseminate health information in rural villages. They're learning to read through literacy programs tailored for mobile devices. When women's incomes go up, their communities get richer because they spend 90 percent of their earnings on their families.

A philanthropist who works with women in the developing world puts it more simply: "Cell phones change lives."

This is a profoundly optimistic vision of the benefits communications technology can deliver for the world. To achieve that vision, there are some challenges we have to face and overcome.

First, we need to continue to invest in a bigger and better Internet. Already, the amount of digital information created exceeds the available storage space. Global IP traffic will grow at a 40 percent compound annual growth rate from 2008 to 2013, driven by demand for mobile data and high-definition video. Internet traffic is growing by more than 25 percent a year in Asia-Pacific, the fastest in the world.

As a wise man once said, "I think we're gonna need a bigger boat."

The major policy goal for government should be creating an environment conducive to the massive capital investments required to expand and maintain the Internet of the future. We should be looking at all the policy levers within our grasp - from tax policy to regulation to trade agreements - through the lens of what it does for, or to, capital formation.

Second, the Internet needs to be secure. Just as we have to keep our shipping lanes free from pirates, we need to keep our digital thoroughfares open and free from cyber-threats. The Verizon security teams tell me that they monitor more than 5 billion - that's "billion" with a "b" - security events per day on the global Internet. Because of the design of our networks, we are able to intercept the vast majority of those breaches before they can do harm to us or our customers. We need to be able to keep innovating, keep building intelligence into our networks, and build in the reliability and security on which the Internet economy relies. Policies that limit innovation on the part of network providers, such as net neutrality, run counter to this goal.

Third, we need to increase our capacity for innovation, across the whole economy. Government can set the tone by not imposing rigid rules on rapidly changing industries like the Internet. But mainly, this is a question about people - and in this area, America faces a critical talent gap in the areas that generate innovation and create competitive advantage: science, technology, engineering and math. Worse than that, we have a basic skills gap, with a shocking 40 percent of our young people failing to graduate from high school.

In the last three years, Verizon has invested more than $60million through our Foundation to increase teacher effectiveness and student achievement in reading, math and science. We created a website called Thinkfinity.org as a free educational resource to help teachers innovate in the classroom and use the Internet to engage students and parents in a 21st century way. We're vastly updating our online curriculum to include thousands of STEM-related resources. As a nation, we need to focus our resources on improving student achievement in math and science, increase our national investment in R&D and redouble our efforts to put the tools of digital literacy in the hands of all our young people.

Finally, we need to expand the culture of openness and freedom that has nurtured the growth of the Internet since its inception. The New York Times reported recently that some 40 countries restrict their citizens' use of the Internet in some fashion. In a major speech on Internet freedom in January, Secretary of State Clinton talked about how the U.S. is working through the United Nations and other international bodies to combat governments who use the Internet as a tool to implement their repressive ideologies.

The most powerful force against censorship and repression is the persistence of individuals in getting access to information and the bravery and ingenuity they display in using the Internet to outsmart and ultimately to open previously closed societies. This is in part a testament to the power of technology. But even more than that, it's a testament to the power of values. Secretary Clinton said as much when she spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations last year, saying her goal was to advance "a new era of engagement based on common interest, shared values, and mutual respect ... and promote universal values through the power of our example and the empowerment of people."

It's because of the power of our values that I'm optimistic about America's capacity to lead the next era of Internet-driven growth, and I look forward to continuing to build the platforms and deliver the innovations that will create a competitive, growing America.

New Democratic Network

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Thank you, Simon.

In San Jose, in the heart of the high-tech world, sits what's known as the Winchester Mystery House. It started out in the late 1880s as a small farmhouse and by the 1920s was transformed into a 160-room, seven-story Victorian mansion with doors and stairways that lead no where, dead-end hallways, and mazes that can leave you lost for hours. The house grew that way - with no logic or plan - because the owner just kept adding, adjusting and adding again as needs or desires required; the result is an architectural white elephant.

In the world of communications policy, we have our own version of the Mystery House. It started as the Radio Act of 1927, was subsumed by the Communications Act of 1934, and after numerous amendments during the last three-quarters century, it's become an interesting maze that the Federal Communications Commission and all of us attempt to navigate as we play various roles in the Internet ecosystem.

It's time we turned our attention to this Mystery House and figured out how it can be remodeled to meet the needs of a new era. This task is all the more important because, thanks to the efforts of the Federal Communications Commission, we now have a National Broadband Plan, which lays out a vision for a vibrant broadband and Internet marketplace. In my view, the current statute is badly out of date. Now is the time to focus on updating the law affecting the Internet. To fulfill broadband's potential it's time for Congress to take a fresh look at our nation's communications policy framework.

Verizon's effort over the last year or two to find common ground with Google and others on the issues of net neutrality, behavioral advertising and privacy protection, and other Internet policies, really brought home to me the dilemma we face. Too often these important discussions about policy for the Internet degenerated into disputes over the statutory authority of the FCC.

Then, with the Comcast - Bit Torrent case it became clear that the debate over jurisdiction wasn't just an intellectual exercise. The authority of the FCC to regulate broadband providers under the so-called "Information Services" title, or Title I, of the Communications Act was at best murky.

One idea recently floated to solidify the FCC's jurisdiction was to place broadband under the old rules that applied to telephone networks under Title II. To us, that clearly was outside the scope of the statute. It also highlighted the danger of attempting to apply statutory provisions intended for the telephone industry of the 1900s to the communications and Internet world of the 21st Century.

In confronting this hard question about jurisdictional authority, we also faced this policy question: if Title I and Title II don't apply to the Internet space, what are you saying about the authority of government in this space?

As our efforts to find common ground on the key issues became more difficult because of the disputes over agency jurisdiction, it is clear to me that we need a fresh look at what the role of government should be in the Internet ecosystem, and specifically at the statute governing the communications industry. We've spent some time thinking about that, and today I'd like to share our perspectives.

First, let's talk about what's working in the Internet ecosystem, and then I'll offer some suggestions for a fresh start at developing a workable Internet policy.

What Is Working Well
Back in 1999 FCC Commissioner Bill Kennard said America would get broadband "by letting a competitive marketplace thrive. We need an intentional restraint born of humility ...that we can't predict where this market is going. ... In a market developing at these speeds, the FCC must follow a piece of advice as old as Western Civilization itself: first, do no harm. Call it a high-tech Hippocratic Oath. So with competition and deregulation as our touchstones, the FCC has taken a hands-off, deregulatory approach to the broadband market." There is no doubt that those policies put in place by the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration to jumpstart innovation and the spread of broadband worked.

Broadband providers have invested hundreds of billions of dollars for deployment of broadband networks. Verizon alone has deployed more fiber than all the countries in Europe. The result: today about 96 percent of Americans have access to at least two providers of wireline broadband and as many as three wireless providers, and more than 55 million Americans can connect to a broadband network capable of delivering at least a 50mbps stream.

It's not an accident that over the past decade, the Internet Ecosystem has become a critical global economic engine, or that so much of the innovation from the core to the edge is based here in the United States. It isn't only companies like Amazon and e-Bay and Google. We have companies like Salesforce.com innovating around cloud computing, and Medtronics pioneering medical implants that transmit vital signs over the Web to physicians.

Across the Internet Ecosystem you have many players crossing their traditional lines of business to offer consumers products and services they want. The marketplace is increasingly characterized by collaboration and partnerships among various companies. So Google, Motorola and Verizon Wireless created the Droid to compete against the Apple-AT&T iPhone. The collaborating partners are ever-changing, creating a new dynamic of what some have called Modular Competition.

The approach Bill Kennard talked about years ago of using a light regulatory hand to create a highly competitive marketplace has worked. Now, we need to put in place a framework that will continue to encourage ongoing investment and innovation for this vibrant ecosystem we see. This should be the cornerstone for a refreshed policy framework.

Policy Discussion
So what's the problem? The problem is that the statute is irrelevant to the ecosystem that has developed. The Internet today hosts a quarter of the world's population - close to two billion users. The Verizon network alone connects 100 million of these users with over 1.7 billion text messages and 50 million video/pictures exchanged, 400 million e-mails received, 8.7 petabytes of video streamed. There are new pressures and challenges and problems cropping up that policymakers didn't consider a decade ago - such as the 5 billion potential cyber-threats monitored and acted upon each day.

The issues that arise from all of these new players and cross-platform competitors don't fit nicely within the boundaries of traditional communications regulation. The instinct is to impose regulation, but it's a balancing act. We want order, but we also don't want to hinder investment and innovation in this dynamic broadband and Internet marketplace. How do we accomplish this?

I certainly don't have all the answers for exactly what a 21st century policy framework would look like, but if I may, I would like to suggest four general principles that constitute the foundation on which such a framework should be built.

First, consumers must be fully empowered. Any new policy should put the users in charge. Consumers should have the ability to choose the devices and software they want, access whatever lawful content and applications they need, and obtain the products and services they desire on the move or at home. Empowered consumers are also well-informed consumers, who are able to make choices and decisions based on easily understood language and transparent business practices. Providing consumers with more easily understood and relevant information about how their broadband connections will perform, for example, or how their applications may affect their broadband experience, or what consumers' privacy expectations should be when they download content, helps promote competition and innovation.

Second, the consumer must feel safe. If we want consumers to use broadband in all of the ways we envision - social networking, online shopping and banking, online medical records and remote medical monitoring, online education, cloud storage of such personal content as family photos - consumers must be confident that their online security and privacy are protected. These policies should be consumer friendly and uniform across the ecosystem. For example, a behavioral advertising policy that requires an easy to use process for affirmative consent from a user before that user can be tracked on-line should apply to all players engaged in behavioral advertising, regardless of where they sit in the space and what technology is used.

Third, consumer access and adoption should be priorities. In order to ensure that broadband technologies are fully deployed everywhere, we must tackle one of the most vexing issues from the old communications world: the subsidy issue. Over the years there has been a great deal of talk on Capitol Hill and the FCC about addressing subsidies like Universal Service ... and for good reason. The National Broadband Plan's recommendations for addressing facility-based deployment in high cost areas is headed in the right direction. But we need a new approach to addressing the challenge of giving low-income Americans access to the Internet.

When you look at other consumer-assistance programs for food or fuel, you don't see energy companies or food companies collecting fees from their customers and then figuring out how to split those fees among themselves. The consumer receives direct support from the government and then uses it to purchase fuel or groceries. We should look at the model for fuel assistance and food stamps. Competitive subsidies that are technologically neutral and targeted solely for the benefit of consumers, not corporate intermediaries, would be one alternative to ensuring full national broadband deployment.

Fourth, government's role should be to protect consumers and ensure a properly functioning free market. Put another way, the test for government intervention in the marketplace is to prevent either harm to users or anti-competitive activity. Today, there are a host of consumer-protection concerns - online fraud, child protection, privacy - that need to be addressed. That's one bucket of issues that I won't focus on today. The other set of issues focus on ensuring the properly functioning free market. Let me offer some thoughts on this issue.

Government also has a legitimate interest in ensuring a functioning marketplace - one that incents investment and innovation and provides choice. It's the free market being free for competition. And, I believe, the threat to a functioning marketplace does not arise from only one set of players; it can arise from any place in the ecosystem where market power can be abused. From the perspective of the consumer, it matters not whether competition is constrained by a network company or an applications providers or anyone else in the system of linkages that add up to the Internet.

In fact, today, by the very nature of the Internet Ecosystem, many are working together or competing in other company's turf. Computer companies sell phones, and quite successfully. Search engines sell open operating systems. Network providers create their own apps stores. That means that the value proposition to the consumer is really a package created by many companies acting together with little, if any, regard to their previous corporate histories. So no set of companies should be immune from scrutiny.

Think about the evolution of cloud computing. It is the cloud that will allow consumers to have access to their content wherever they are, regardless of device. But who controls the cloud? If it's anyone, it's not likely to be a network provider - it's much more likely to be some entity that came to control access to the data or the software. For example, consider the messages sent by users on a social network. They are the functional equivalent of an email message. But the functionality, and therefore the potential control, is in the cloud. If we worry about the movement of email and other content along networks, then we need to worry just as much about their movement and treatment in the middle, not at the edge of the Internet.

The bottom line is this. Harm to consumers and competition should not be permitted, from any source. So the level-playing field needs to be big enough to include all of the players. If you're on the field, then the referee can blow the whistle. That's a simple principle - and a good one. Good public policy is always good for companies that want to play by the rules.

Now let's spend a moment on process.

Traditional regulatory models based on rules written to shape and control more static, "one purpose" industries - such as TV or telephone service - are not only out of step with today's dynamic, converged Internet ecosystem, they are harmful to the innovation process that characterizes broadband and the Internet. Traditional agency "fact finding" - often through notices or public requests for comment - are usually geared towards specific rules or regulatory outcomes.

Instead, we could structure a process that uses the innovative, flexible and technology-driven nature of the Internet to address issues as they arise. Instead of the traditional rule-making process, federal enforcement agencies could structure themselves around an on-going engagement with Internet engineers and technologists to analyze technology trends, define norms to guide such questions as network management, and understand in advance the implications of new, emerging technologies.

Technology leaders and experts from all players involved in the Internet should set up voluntary organizations and forums to provide advice, recommendations, and advisory opinions to government agencies. This will help inform the agencies' role as backstops that deter damaging activities that undermine the vibrant competition and openness that defines the Internet.

In pursuing bad actors, the government should use understandable principles that can provide guidance but are informed by experience. Some will suggest that more detailed rules are needed, but by adopting the approach I have outlined, we can both protect consumers and competition and assure the flexible, adaptive oversight that fits the innovative nature of the Internet that we want to preserve.

This will require clear statutory authority for the implementing agency. In other words: this is a job for Congress.

Earlier, I referenced the quote from Bill Kennard, in which he spoke of the role humility played in setting policy. I offer these observations today in that same spirit. In putting forward this policy framework Verizon hardly views it as the capstone to a discussion, but rather the beginning. We don't have all the answers. We want to work with all of you to ensure a vibrant Internet Ecosystem, and fulfill the vision for the technology and the networks laid out in the National Broadband Plan.

Thank you.

TIA 2011: Inside the Network

, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology OfficerAnthonyJ.Melone — Thu, 19 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT

As prepared

Good morning everyone, and thank you, Grant, for your warm introduction.

I appreciate the opportunity to be part of TIA 2011 and to speak with you today. It’s great to be among so many engineers, business innovators and other industry leaders who are focused on enhancing the global network infrastructure for the next decade.

Let me start by mentioning that I’m very proud to see that TIA is helping young companies and entrepreneurs at the Innovation Showcase presentation during this year’s show. These innovators are helping to push the technological, commercial and operational boundaries of our industry. They showcase the dynamic relationship between innovation in the core and at the edge. There’s no question that when we nurture smaller companies, we stimulate new ideas that help maintain our leadership in the global arena and keep us relevant in the lives of our customers.

It’s certainly not a stretch to say that people’s lives revolve around our networks. That’s especially true for members of the millennial generation – the so-called “digital natives” – who’ve never known a world without mobile phones and the Internet. As Verizon’s CEO Ivan Seidenberg said at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, our customers are using technology to erase the boundaries, whether these boundaries are between home and work, virtual or real. They imagine, actually demand, access to everything at their fingertips. They see everything being connected – their homes, offices, cars, buildings, streets and cities.

One of the primary drivers of this transformation is High Quality, High-Definition video. It’s being watched on wide-screen TVs, interactive game consoles, tablets and computer monitors. It’s penetrating America's homes, schools and offices, and can even be found in elevators, taxi cabs and shopping carts. Before too long, once-futuristic applications like 3-D video conferencing, holographic games and virtual travel will be part of our daily lives.

The other big driver is mobility. Wireless data usage is doubling annually, and smartphones are growing at almost 90 percent a year. A whole new computing platform for mobile broadband has emerged, creating a thriving market for mobile apps – and changing the way we interact with the Internet. Wireless technologies have advanced so rapidly that they now do most of what was once only possible with a computer tethered to your desk.

Providing the infrastructure for all this innovation is what our industry is all about. In fact – if you’ll permit me to blow our collective horn for a minute – I’d say our industry’s investment in network infrastructure over the past decade has been one of the key driving forces behind this innovation. Collectively, we’ve made the U.S. broadband market one of the most innovative and competitive on the planet.

Our networks create jobs and promote robust supply chain partnerships with a wide range of suppliers…from large corporations on down to the start-ups such as those here at the TIA Innovation Showcase. Because of the work of TIA companies, consumers enjoy great value and an increasing number of choices. And they’ve enthusiastically embraced new devices and services that were unimaginable just a few years ago.

So as I shift my comments to reflect more specifically on what we’re doing at Verizon – I’d ask you to recognize that, in a sense, I’m really telling the story of our industry: a story of growth, innovation and partnership that is one of the great engines of growth in the economy today.

At Verizon, we’ve always believed that to meet customers’ evolving needs, you need great networks. Our high-IQ networks are the hub of the wheel that's moving the industry forward. They’re the accelerant that will ensure that the “next big thing” – whatever it happens to be – becomes a reality.

To deliver all of this high-bandwidth content to HDTVs, PCs, tablets and other devices, we reinvented our wired network. In the last decade, we built the biggest, fastest fiber-optic network in the U.S. Today our all-fiber FiOS network covers nearly 16 million homes and will be available to about 18 million households by the time we're through.

FiOS was designed to handle the growing volume of HD content available today. More important, it’s the ideal infrastructure to deliver the bandwidth-intensive innovations of tomorrow. We’re a pioneer in transmitting full-resolution, high-definition 3-D video, which preserves the complete 1080p picture quality that customers expect. We've already aired the first 3-D broadcasts for college football, the NFL and major league baseball, and we’re growing our catalogue of 3-D movies-on-demand. This is a great example of building a future-proof network with the necessary bandwidth headroom to meet consumer demand for the latest technology.

The capacity of a direct fiber connection enabled Verizon to up the ante for home broadband. We recently tripled our top FiOS speed to 150 megabits per second, which sets a new benchmark for high-speed Internet in America.

We didn't do this for bragging rights. We did it to transform the broadband experience for our customers. With our 150 meg service, it takes less than four and a half minutes to download a full-length high-def movie – a feat that takes about four and a half hours on your average network connection.

And our engineers have successfully tested 1 gigabit speeds on the same FiOS architecture we use to provide service today. In fact, we’ve even tested a ten gigabit connection over our fiber network using XG-PON2 technology – which is capable of downloading that same HD movie in only four seconds.

Can you even imagine how speeds like that will change the home media experience?

We’ve also built intelligence into the FiOS network to meet the demands of an “anywhere, anytime” world. Our innovative FiOS FlexView video service is an early glimpse at the new ways our customers will consume media content in the years ahead. With FlexView, users can stream video on their choice of screens, including TVs, PCs, laptops, tablets or smartphones. They can choose from thousands of on-demand titles, which are stored in the cloud and can move seamlessly between devices. This means a customer can start watching a movie at home on their TV and continue watching it on a wireless device while waiting for the bus.

The intelligence and high capacity built into our networks also provide industry opportunities for new two-way video services. This is obviously important to the gaming community, where low-latency response rates can be a matter of virtual life and death. But our customers can also take advantage of fiber’s speed and capacity to enjoy high-definition video calls on their wide-screen TV in the comfort of their living room. The high-quality video and real-time response rate provide an interactive video chat experience so realistic – you’ll think everyone is in the same room.

In this high-capacity and increasingly mobile world, content – whether it’s video, still images, software, or mission-critical data – must be able to move across and among networks at the will of the customer. This has made the term “cloud services” the great buzzword of 2011: the ability to provide a consistently seamless user experience across any device anywhere in the world.

Fortunately, this is a familiar concept to those of us in the network business. Verizon has invested heavily in our premiere global IP backbone, worldwide data center assets and cloud-based security services and managed solutions. As a result, we’re well-positioned in the emerging cloud services market.

As you may have heard, to accelerate our cloud strategy, Verizon recentlyacquired Terremark, a global provider of managed IT infrastructure and cloud services. Combined with our global IP network and Terremarks’s digital storehouses, basically anything that can be digitized will be available to our users wherever they travel.

As part of our cloud services, Verizon recently launched a groundbreaking new distribution platform that helps bridge the gap between content creators and retailers. Verizon’s Digital Media Service will help entertainment and media companies meet consumers’ increasing demand for live and on-demand video content on their smartphones, tablets and other devices. This unique delivery platform, built on top of our high-IQ infrastructure, will create new business models for digital entertainment.

Of course, none of this customer control and flexibility would be possible without reliable high-speed mobile networks. Verizon is about six months into our roll-out of the first large-scale 4G LTE network in the U.S. – and one of the first in the world. By the end of this year, we’ll provide LTE service in more than 175 markets all across the country. And over the next three years, we’ll blanket virtually the whole country, including all of the places where Verizon provides 3G service today…and then some.

LTE will allow us to do things we simply cannot do with wireless today. We conservatively estimated that we’d see data speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second with LTE – and our network performance has exceeded even our own very high expectations. The other part of the LTE equation is latency – or network delay – which is cut in half by LTE.

It’s these dual forces of faster speeds and lower latency that, together, make LTE a transformational force that will improve the digital lifestyles of our users. Customers can’t wait for this kind of speed and power. Sales of our first LTE smartphone – the HTC ThunderBolt – have been strong, and we’re on track to launch a total of ten LTE devices by the middle of this year.

At the Mobile World Congress earlier this year, Verizon announced one of the world's first voice over LTE calls using a smartphone. VoLTE will provide users with rich communications services and outstanding call quality. Our demonstrations help lead the way toward commercial availability of interoperable, global devices and network infrastructure supporting voice services over LTE.

VoLTE is based on established industry standards, and will give network operators the ability to offer enhanced voice services on LTE networks around the globe. And consumers will benefit from additional mobile services such as presence, video and chat. These services will be available from any device, location or service provider in both mobile and fixed broadband data networks.

Verizon has always been an innovator in the technology industry, and VoLTE is just one more example. We're working hard this year on this technology, and we expect to have commercial VoLTE services available in 2012.

But when it comes to the true impact of LTE on business and society, the best is yet to come.

With LTE and other 4G technologies, we’ll finally enable smart homes and smart offices, provide mobile health care and improve energy management. These are things that people have talked about for years. These scenarios – and many more – are now well within our grasp.

Verizon is working, on our own and with partners, to take advantage of all the opportunities our sophisticated networks are helping create.

We're testing a connected home solution that will roll out this year,
We're partnering with utility companies like Duke Energy to create smart grids,
We’re showing hospitals how they can create a smarter health care system,
And we’re helping educators use technology that can improve performance in science, technology and engineering.

In the months and years ahead, our LTE network will enable life-enhancing two-way services such as:

Enhanced doctor-patient video interaction, X-rays and MRI remote consults in medical emergencies,
Remote camera control and threat assessment at crime scenes, and
Real-time video feeds to first responders as they’re rushing to a disaster.

Of course, as we continue to roll out LTE, our CDMA network is still going strong and will continue to be a vital piece of our wireless strategy for a long time to come. CDMA is an efficient and reliable network that serves us well today, and will continue to for many years into the future. So we’re continuing to improve our overall 3G capacity as well as incorporating Wi-Fi strategically in our overall plan.

All of this innovation is a result of the advanced intelligence we build into our networks. Managing the unique properties of all this digital media – from rights management and security to quality of service and optimized delivery – requires much more than just a fatter pipe.

But no single company, and no single segment of the industry, can realize the full promise of the broadband era on its own. Just as fiber and LTE are the technology platforms of the future, we believe collaboration and openness will be the operating platforms of the future – requiring new kinds of partnerships among all the different players in the Internet ecosystem.

In the broadband arena, devices, applications, operating systems and networks interact in complex ways, creating a market that is highly collaborate and highly competitive at the same time. In this environment, players from all across the industry must work together to provide the best value and deliver a superior customer experience.

That’s because, as one developer keenly observed at a recent conference: “Much of the cool innovation of the future will come from the places which we least expect.”

A new era of open development is now upon us – and at Verizon, we’re doing everything we can to stimulate this collaborative process. We created an open development platform for our FiOS network by publishing a software development kit, complete with APIs, that enables developers to publish apps on our Widget Bazaar applications store. FiOS customers now have access to a variety of interactive apps for news, sports, entertainment, shopping and social media, providing an Internet experience on their TV.

To build an industry ecosystem for our LTE network, Verizon created an LTE Innovation Center in Waltham, Massachusetts. And very shortly we’ll be opening an Application Innovation Center in San Francisco. Each center features dedicated labs for development and testing, as well as an Experience Center to showcase new ideas.

We’re working with more than 60 developers to create advanced LTE devices, and we have over 30 near-production prototypes already. Let me tell you about just three of these:

One is a product for the video industry called Live Edge, which integrates an LTE device into a standard industry camera. This enables it to transmit live broadcast-quality HD video to network studios from anywhere in reach of an LTE network. This compact and disruptive innovation eliminates the need for satellite trucks and microwave networks, and significantly reduces delivery time and costs. Every major broadcast network is interested in this technology.

The second prototype is product called the Media Tile. Basically, you plug a portable video screen into any standard power connection to create a “human kiosk.” The device connects a customer face-to-face with service reps who can answer any question, in any language, on the spot. This is an ideal solution for markets such as retail, hospitality, health care, tech support or banking.

Third is a high-resolution LTE-enabled video camera called Librestream, which has the potential to dramatically improve field operations, remote diagnostics and the like. In essence, this is an interactive SLR-sized camera that gives businesses, governments and utilities the ability to collaborate with remote experts using voice and HD video.

This is all made possible by the great 2-way capacity and high-fidelity of the LTE network.

I’m proud to say Verizon’s early and unwavering commitment to LTE has allowed us to help shape this ecosystem of innovation. By sending a strong signal to software developers, chip manufacturers and the consumer electronics industry that we’re serious about LTE, they have responded with equal passion.

In the future, we’ll see widespread LTE connectivity in things like home appliances, automobiles, and cameras. There will be millions of developers around the globe creating maybe billions of applications, and doing it for a network standard that is truly global.

The potential is not only extraordinary – but virtually limitless. The sheer scale of connections in this new world will be mind-boggling.

The number of sensors embedded in objects and linked to the Internet will grow from 4 billion today to 60 billion by the end of this decade. The volume of data generated by this “Internet of Things” is expected to double every 18 months. And the migration of computing power into the cloud will help us turn all that information into intelligence that we can use to create new industries and revolutionize existing ones.

But as I said, no single company can make all of this happen by itself. Innovation on this kind of scale can only happen through collaboration between strategic partners with a shared view of the future. And we’re not quite there yet. As an industry, we still need to resolve some key issues that challenge our reputation as global network innovators.

The rapid changes in technology have increased the need for standards bodies to identify technology trends earlier in their development cycles. This will enable standards to be created faster that meet the needs of all members of our industry. This will also help avoid proprietary models that fragment the industry, limit inter-operability and – most importantly – confuse consumers.

Part of our industry’s success has been our ability to evolve business models to deliver superior value to our consumers. By aggressively addressing these and other challenges, I’m confident the next wave of innovation will be the most dynamic in our history.

In closing, let me say that I’m sincerely proud to be a part of this great industry. Its success is largely based on our ability to transform our business models to meet evolving markets. Embracing partnerships and open collaboration will allow our industry to continue providing value to consumers while maintaining an innovative and competitive environment.

The benefits of the new era of connectivity will be global, but its epicenter is right here in the U.S. This widening circle of innovation and collaboration can help reinvent the American economy, create growth and opportunity on a massive scale and – most importantly – make sure that our customers’ future will continue to revolve around our great networks.

# # #

Internet Caucus Advisory Committee's (ICAC) "7th Annual State of the Net Conference"

, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology OfficerAnthonyJ.Melone — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:00:00 GMT

As Delivered

Good morning everyone. It’s great to be here to help kick off your conference, and to share my views on the future direction of the industry and what Verizon is doing to deliver continued innovation and advanced capabilities to U.S. consumers.

There’s no doubt that the telecommunications industry is experiencing rapid technological change. But what is really driving our industry is consumers.

As our CEO Ivan Seidenberg said at the recent Consumer Electronics Show, consumers are using technology to erase the boundaries between home and work, here and there, virtual and real. They imagine access to everything at their fingertips. They see everything being connected -- their homes, cars, buildings, streets and cities.

Wireless technologies have advanced so rapidly and are now so powerful, they can provide much of the capability that was once only possible with computers tethered to your desk. And consumer demand for these advanced wireless services has led to very rapid changes in our industry.

The U.S. is at the center of this technological revolution. Ten years ago, only one of three Americans had a cell phone. Today, it’s more than nine in ten. We’ve gone from 2G to 3G to 4G - with every improvement expanding the market. Wireless data doubles each year. Smartphones are growing at almost 90 percent a year. And a whole new computing platform for mobile broadband has emerged, creating the market for mobile apps -- and changing the way we relate to the Internet.

Now, while consumers are driving this mobile market, it’s not always easy to know what they’ll want next. But Verizon has always believed that building the best networks will ensure we’re ready to deliver it. That’s why we’ve consistently invested in the most advanced and most reliable networks. In addition to differentiating Verizon, these investments have stimulated tremendous growth across the industry and help make the U. S. a leader in mobile broadband.

Now, Verizon has embarked on yet another era of wireless innovation with our recent launch of a 4th Generation broadband technology called LTE.

Let me describe our experience in launching our 4G network some 45 days ago, how this next generation network can fuel innovation by tapping the creativity of individuals and business both large and small. Finally, I’ll connect the dots to the tremendous things this technology can do for wireless consumers.

The reality is that 4GLTE is the "sophisticated" network that will finally make possible the smart homes and smart offices ... the smart medicine and smart energy ... that people have talked about for years. Those scenarios and more are no longer science fiction, but well within our grasp.

In early December, Verizon launched the first large-scale 4G LTE network in the U.S. -- and one of the first in the world.

We launched in 38 markets -- all major markets from coast to coast, reaching a population of 110 million people -- more than one-third of all Americans.

These major markets include NY, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco and right here in Washington DC.

Over the next three years, we will very aggressively roll out 4G LTE beyond these markets ... until virtually the whole country is blanketed.

In fact, we’re on track for LTE to reach two-thirds of the U.S. population by mid-2012. And we’ll quickly expand that to cover most of the population by the end of 2013 - all of the places where Verizon provides 3G service today...and then some.

This year alone, we’ll add more than 140 markets all over the country, including:
- Detroit, Sioux Falls, Memphis, Milwaukee, Honolulu
- Little Rock, Boise, Mobile, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City ...too many to mention them all.

Going back three years ago, Verizon was one of the first in the world to choose and commit to LTE for our 4G service. Since then, LTE has emerged as the de-facto global standard among the world’s carriers.

Perhaps the best -- most satisfying -- validation of our decision to go early and to go first with LTE has been the customer experience and reaction since launch.

While we had great confidence in my network team and our suppliers, we were realistic in our expectations about possible early speed bumps, as you have with any new technology. I’m tremendously pleased that the bumps are few and far between.

In fact, the actual performance and customer feedback is everything we hoped for and more. Customers and industry analysts are providing feedback that matches everything we have been saying:

- 10-20 times faster than 3G
- 10 MB presentations downloading in 10 seconds
- One customer reported that their LTE service performed better than wired cable broadband.

Earlier I said we had lots of confidence in the Verizon Wireless team. Well, we also had a lot of confidence in our key infrastructure partners - Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson. They deserve tremendous credit for helping us achieve this milestone.

So what does LTE mean for consumers and the industry going forward?

It’s important to note that LTE is not just about doing things faster.
- It’s about doing things we cannot do with wireless today.
- It’s about bandwidth-hungry, rich multi-media apps with real time response intervals that we could not efficiently handle in a mobile environment until now.

And just as 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation networks changed the way we live, work, and play, so too will 4G.

Some of the reasons I believe this to be the case are...

- LTE is a pure IP-based technology. As such, it will work seamlessly with any IP-based network, including wired networks. Speeds go up dramatically
-- by a factor of 10 -- with LTE. As I said, we’re seeing throughput in a fully-loaded network in the 5-12 mbps range.

- But speed is only half the equation. Equally important, latency -- or network delay -- drops dramatically - by more than half. It is these dual forces of
super speed AND low latency combined that make 4G LTE so transformative over anything we have today.

As I see it, this transformation will be characterized by four big trends from the customer’s vantage:

- The first trend is real-time delivery. The super- low latency of LTE makes it effectively equivalent to a wired connection. This virtually instantaneous
   response time will be a big hit for online gamers, but LTE is not just about mobile entertainment.   Think of what real time response will mean to doctor-
   patient video interaction, Xray and MRI remote consults in medical emergencies...remote camera control and threat assessment at crime scenes... and
   real-time video feeds to first responders as they’re rushing to a disaster.

- In these examples, a second transformative trend is obvious: video. In the world of 4G, video will be a common ingredient in almost every form of
communication and application. But it won’t be limited to downloading movies and other content, as we tend to think of video today. It will include real-
time streaming video for conferencing, video collaboration to leverage centralized subject matter experts, or live video feeds from news reporters on
location back to the Studio. And increasingly, this video will be high-definition.

- A third transformative trend with LTE is machine-to-machine..4G LTE will make possible intelligent applications ranging from remote diagnostics to
maintenance to restocking ...apps that will make their way into every home, vehicle, building, shipping container and supermarket shelf. They’ll drive
wireless broadband deep into the basic functions of industries-- revolutionizing the way businesses transact, and even creating whole new business
models.

Clearly we’re very excited to be launching this powerful network. But without collaboration, we can only go so far. The real magic is in combining this powerful network with equally powerful apps and software-- and then tapping into external innovation, which Verizon believes is critical.

Just as LTE is the technology platform of the future, we believe collaboration and openness will be the operating platform of the future -- if we’re to reach the full promise of LTE.

That’s really a new paradigm for the wireless industry. In the first 25 years, a guarded approach of closed systems and garden walls served the industry and our customers extremely well as individual companies all along the value chain took root and expanded and matured - and built wireless into the huge success it is today.

In a 4G world, we will turn that "guarded model" inside out. Because, as one developer noted at our recent conference: "Most of the cool innovation will be coming from places from which we least expect."

By working with partners, entrepreneurs and innovators, Verizon has moved fast on a number of fronts to tap into external innovation.

- Three years ago we announced our Open Development program for 3rd party devices.

- Last year we opened our LTE Innovation Center in Waltham, Massachusetts. This center serves as an incubator for development of non-traditional
products for use on LTE networks. We’re working with companies from various industries including consumer electronics, healthcare and telematics to
help them quickly bring products to market.

- Similarly, this year we will open an LTE Applications Innovation Center in San Francisco - an outgrowth of our extremely popular Developer
Conferences. We continue to develop new ways for these developers to bring their products quickly to our more than 90 million customers.

- And to further accelerate these initiatives, we created the 4G venture forum-bringing together a number of highly-regarded venture capital funds and our
primary infrastructure providers -- to quickly identify and commercialize innovations that harness the capabilities of 4G networks.

Verizon’s early commitment to 4GLTE has allowed us to help shape this ecosystem of innovation. We’ve sent a strong signal to software developers, chip manufacturers, and the consumer electronics industry that we’re serious about LTE and they’ve responded.

But we’re just warming up. These partnerships and collaboration are solid building blocks for fueling the ecosystem, yet we know we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg today.

When you expand the definition of a wireless "device" to things like home appliances, automobiles, and TV cameras, add in millions of developers around the globe creating billions of applications, and doing it for a network standard that is truly global, the potential for this network is not only extraordinary - but limitless.

I want to stay on the theme of partnering for a moment to share one more dimension of our 4G LTE launch.

In our plan to build out 4GLTE far, wide and quickly, we’re committed to reaching populations that our existing 2G and 3G networks don’t currently serve.

Last year we announced our initiative to bring LTE broadband to rural America through partnerships with smaller wireless companies. By providing access to our 700 MHz spectrum, these rural operators can deliver 4G services to consumers in places where we would not have gotten to quickly in our build plan.

Since we announced the program just over six months ago we’ve had very strong interest - from some 240 entities. Today, we have agreements with several rural operators that together cover 1.7 million pops and 50,000 square miles. And we have dozens more in the pipeline.

We’re very excited this partnering initiative is being well received by rural operators. It’s one great example of win-win collaboration for both companies and our customers. Most important in the big picture, rural partnering will accelerate the spread of 4G LTE across the U.S. -- which is good for businesses and consumers, good for the technology industry and good for the country.

I’ll leave you on the point I started with: that is, the U.S. wireless industry in 25 years has become a vibrant growth engine for America. Now, 4G LTE is one more example that will fuel that engine of growth and, most important, will deliver even more competition and choice for consumers -- from multiple networks and operating platforms, to an explosion of devices and device form factors, to virtually any application you can imagine.

Thanks for your interest, and if there’s time I’m happy to answer any questions.