As I write this post, we are 2500 miles or 4000 km into our road trip.

Our route took us from Toronto to Chicago, then down to St. Louis and Joplin, Missouri. We rode mainly on the interstates – with frequent diversions onto the historic Route 66 – as we went through Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Amarillo, Texas.

As we ate spectacular Mexican food in the Old town of Albuquerque, my son had an observation. Why would people go to Taco Bell in the South West when places like “La Hacienda” are so accessible? And yet, truck stops in every small town seemed to sport the familiar national brands; you needed to head an extra block down the road – Route 66 – to find the local “Craig’s Burrito” shack across from the local high school football field (a scene in Shamrock Texas that seemed right out of “Friday Night Lights”).

As the various new entrant wireless telephone companies put together their business plans, how will they try to differentiate themselves from the big national brands? Can they expect consumers to take side trips onto the old Route 66 to sample the unique local flavour?

Don’t miss an opportunity to try “Deep fried pie” if you’re ever presented with it at a roadside stand near the Texas / New Mexico border. And by the way, we had great Mexican food at La Hacienda in Old Albuquerque, despite having made made a wrong turn.

Blogging may be spotty this week – I am on a road trip with limited on-line access (anyone able to catch the connection to the graphic on this page?). So far, we have covered 2100 miles, en route to Caltech, which we should reach late in the week.

Most interesting is that we have maintained continuous cell phone coverage, throughout the desert in New Mexico, even when AM radio was pretty spotty. 3G is spotty, but EDGE has been almost continuously strong.

Now that the airlines are outfitting seats with internet in the air, maybe car rental companies will consider offering affordable pay-as-you-go mobile broadband.

When I was at a recent analyst conference, I spoke with some people who have deployed HSPA as a mobile internet access system to be offered to passengers in airport taxis.

Domestic networks are making mobile broadband data affordable for most applications; the affordability of international roaming is a continued challenge (and high roaming charges isn’t just a Canadian issue).

There are ways to manage your international voice calling with prepaid SIM cards. What are your experiences with data access while travelling?

Keep those cards and letters coming. And yes, we did make a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Call me next week and I can tell you all about it!

Technorati Tags:
Animal House

Maybe it was a case of election envy. With all the attention being given to the US national conventions, Canada is heading to its own election.

Alec Saunders has said that for him, the next election is all about Bill C-61, the government’s plan to reform Canadian copyright legislation.

I have written a number of times over the past 6 months [eg. here and here] about executing on a national broadband strategy. Will any of these ideas make their way onto election platforms?

What is important to you?

Interesting story in last weekend’s NY Times, claiming that “The era of the American Internet is ending.” The headline says that Internet Traffic Begins to Bypass the U.S.

[Actually, I think that transition began almost a decade ago with the construction of various global fibre networks.]

The article seems to be based on concerns about the US losing access to spying on foreign communications.

Internet industry executives and government officials have acknowledged that Internet traffic passing through the switching equipment of companies based in the United States has proved a distinct advantage for American intelligence agencies. In December 2005, The New York Times reported that the National Security Agency had established a program with the cooperation of American telecommunications firms that included the interception of foreign Internet communications.

Some Internet technologists and privacy advocates say those actions and other government policies may be hastening the shift in Canadian and European traffic away from the United States.

There are all sorts of irrelevant statistics in the article – read the story and you’ll see what I mean.

A question arises whether ISPs can force traffic onto routes that will avoid the US.

Technorati Tags:
NY Times, internet

The Home Office in the UK is charged with the responsibility to protect the public from terror, crime and anti-social behaviour.

According to the government’s website, “We help build the security, justice and respect that enable people to prosper in a free and tolerant society.”

The Home Office is currently in the final phase of a consultation on requiring service providers to retain data generated through electronic communications or public communications networks.

The aim of the directive is to ensure that certain data is retained so that public authorities can investigate, detect and prosecute crime.

My colleagues at Privacy Laws and Business have sent an advisory noting that the government is proposing that it will be compulsory for Internet service providers (ISPs) and telecoms companies to retain all communications data for a minimum of 12 months.

Data retention powers will be much wider than expected. The Home Office has confirmed that local councils, emergency services, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Health and Safety Executive, the Food Standards Agency and the Post Office will have access to call, text, e-mail and internet records for 12 months.

The full consultation document can be downloaded here [ pdf]. How would Canadians and Canadian ISPs respond to such a proposal? What are the implications for Canadians travelling in the UK or Canadian ISPs with UK-based clients?