Intel’s Maloney talks beer and broadband

“They’re two of the most insular places in the
United States and they both have a certain arrogance toward each other.
But I think they can both learn a great deal from each other, too.”

Intel,
along with Sprint Nextel, Google, Comcast and Time Warner, has made a
nearly $1 billion bet on Clearwire, a start-up wireless company that is
trying to deploy WiMax networks for broadband access across the
country. Like its cousin WiFi, the technology will beam wireless
Internet access. But unlike WiFi, which blankets a coffee shop or
airport, WiMax can cover a 10-mile area, making it a possible solution
for connecting rural areas.

“Data usage is doubling every couple of years,” he said. “We need to make lots of spectrum available.”

More
spectrum available for WiMax services means more people will be able to
use mobile devices to connect to the Internet. And that means more
Intel chips will be needed throughout the market for new cell phones,
laptops and netbooks.

Maloney said he takes a “more nuanced
stance” on net neutrality. “We believe the Internet should be open to
every application. The reason people are banging down the door for
broadband is because there are all these new, weird applications out
there. On the other hand, we believe companies have the right to manage
their traffic … Both camps have oversimplified this issue.”

When
I asked how he felt about having a fast lane for certain priority
traffic for telemedicine, for example, he said he is wary of
“over-engineering” the Internet.

Technology that is “good enough,” he said, “is the most underappreciated concept in engineering.”

{mosads} Most of the time,
Internet traffic gets to its destination without any problems. “Do we
really need to super-engineer something to make sure a diagnosis gets
to a patient one-billionth of a second sooner? It’s like smashing a nut
with a sledgehammer.”

Intel
has filed an application for $25 million in broadband stimulus dollars
with Connected Nation, hoping to fill in coverage gaps in rural areas.

Peter
Cleveland, Intel’s director of global public policy, joined the company
nearly a year ago after serving as chief of staff for Sen. Dianne
Feinstein (D-Calif.). Cleveland said Intel mostly supports the current
patent reform bill Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) is trying to get to the
floor, although the company would like to see a few tweaks when the
bill goes to conference.