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Viodi View

Viodi View – 09/06/19

Listen to this post at https://soundcloud.com/viodi/viodi-view-september-6th-2019

From Broadband to Preserving Wilderness & Wetlands

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One of the joys of reporting on the rural broadband industry is getting to know the people who are bringing the Internet to their neighbors. A common trait of these people is that they are so much more than their job and, often, their community contributions, whether as a volunteer firefighter, local school board member or other civic organization, amounts to another full-time job. It was appropriate then that The Sportsman Channel’s booth would be where the ViodiTV would catch up with a rural broadband executive who does double duty as a Ducks Unlimited state chair.

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Race for a Secure 5G – #TIS19

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“The reality is that 5G isn’t here,” states Bill Conner, President and CEO of Sonicwall. Speaking at the 2019 Independent Show, Conner suggests there is a great deal of marketing hype around 5G, while questions remain about spectrum, standards, and devices. He says if there is a race, “Let’s race for a safe, secure [5G] future.” Conner implores industry, policymakers, and regulators to use this window of uncertainty as an opportunity to focus on ensuring the fundamental security of the 5G ecosystem.

His comments are bolstered by a recent Brookings Institute, Tom Wheeler co-authored paper. And, in the comment section, Alan Weissberger, provides references to 5G security standards efforts, which as Conner suggests, are still a work-in-progress.

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Are We There Yet? An Overview of the City of San Jose/Daimler Autonomous Vehicle Community Presentation

A long road trip where a child might ask, "Are we there yet".
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Are we there yet? This familiar refrain, often asked by children on a long family road trip, could be applied to the autonomous vehicle. Paraphrasing Gertrude Stein, knowing that there is a there, may be the most important question. Will the addition of autonomy create, as folks like Robin Chase and Lauren Isaac suggest, be a heaven or hell scenario or will it be something in between? While we have just left the metaphorical driveway on our autonomous journey, the August 21st, 2019 presentation from the City of San Jose/Daimler suggests that smart people are looking at autonomy to improve the quality of life for all, which is a laudable objective.

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The Dynamic License Plate (YouTube)

The Reviver Auto license plate is shown.
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Reviver Auto has reinvented the license plate by making it cloud-connected so that registration, renewal and licensing can be updated remotely (e.g., stickers on the license plate no longer needed). The plates are connected via an LTE network and the wording is dynamic, so it allows for the display of messages such as Amber Alerts or “car stolen”. Reviver Auto’s President and CEO, Sean McNeill, indicates that they are working with rideshare and carshare programs to help them message their customers and improve their experience.

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Doggie Business Automation (YouTube)

A robot that manages Rover's indoor mess is one way this device could be described.
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Proving we are in the dog days of summer, Newtons Box will soon begin shipping an Internet-connected, doggie toilet, Inubox,. Co-Founder and Head of Innovation & Development, Ray Rincon explains that this solution is for anyone who has to leave Fido in their home or apartment for an extended period of time. As would be expected, it sends alerts to the owner and keeps them informed of its operation. Best of all, there are no odors because of the combination of the material it uses to dry up liquids, its automated scooping and sealing, and blasts of fragrance it emits.

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Some Tweets and Short Thoughts:

  • Great to be on the @SmartDrivingCar podcast. The dog chimed in with her opinion on #MaaS. Perhaps mid-roll is a better name for bike lanes as that space is for vehicles that aren’t people or cars. I was describing the tasty @aSliceOfNY pizza, not naming it.
  • Indianapolis implementing, to use a telecom term, half-duplex to maximize the use of the public right-of-way to move people in its city, as seen in this short Twitter video. This was one of the concepts suggested in this Viodi View article advocating for a transition approach to an autonomous future.
  • Many rural broadband provider friends are referenced in this new whitepaper “‘Rural America, Rural Economies & Rural Connectivity‘ – a blueprint for connectivity solutions for education, smart agriculture, telecommuting outside of population centers.”

The Korner – Helping Those Without Grid Access – One Solar Light at a Time (YouTube)

MPOWERD shows their solar-powered light which is helping provide light and charge to people who would otherwise have to burn kerosene to create light.
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A simple solar-powered light that has blossomed into a range of products is what MPOWERD® displayed at CES2019. A common theme to the MPOWERD products is that they help people who never were on a grid (villages in Africa), lost connection to the grid due to disaster (e.g. Puerto Rico) or have the luxury of going off-grid (e.g. recreational uses).

John Salzinger, Chief Business Development Officer and Founder of MPOWERD, explains that over 80,000 of their products were sent to Puerto Rico as a temporary solution to the hurricane-induced, grid outage. They have a similar program to help the victims of Hurricane Dorian.

Read more and View Here (YouTube)

Author Ken Pyle, Managing Editor

By Ken Pyle, Managing Editor

Ken Pyle is Marketing Director for the Broadband Forum. The mission of this 25+-year-old non-profit “is to unlock the potential for new markets and profitable revenue growth by leveraging new technologies and standards in the home, intelligent small business, and multi-user infrastructure of the broadband network.”

He is also co-founder of Viodi, LLC and Managing Editor of the Viodi View, a publication focused on the rural broadband ecosystem, autonomous vehicles, and electric aviation. He has edited and produced numerous multimedia projects for NTCA, US Telecom and Viodi. Pyle is the producer of Viodi’s Local Content Workshop, the Video Production Crash Course at NAB, as well as ViodiTV. He has been intimately involved in Viodi’s consulting projects and has created processes for clients to use for their PPV and VOD operations, as well authored reports on the independent telco market.

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