RFSTUF

Anxiety Builds Among Utilities Over the Communications Part of the Broadband Plan
New York Times
The Obama administration's release of its National Broadband Plan in March has ... remote medical diagnosis, a nationwide public safety wireless network, ...

… "You have two very different worlds," Reicher added. One is the open Internet, with broad federal oversight; the other, the electric utility industry, where state regulation has historically led. "Those two worlds have to be reconciled. How they work with each other is vital to the ultimate success of the smart grid," he said…

… The Utilities Telecom Council pointedly noted that the utility communications network, built to withstand hurricanes and equipped with backup power, fared far better the commercial wireless networks during and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Following Katrina, the FCC directed commercial carriers to add battery backup capability, "and tellingly the industry appealed those rules, rather than complying with them," UTC said to the FCC….