Bandwidth problems threaten to curtail military’s social networking

The Pentagon is allowing the troops to use such sites as Facebook and Twitter, but it may be difficult for them to actually sign on since, especially in places like Afghanistan, bandwidth is limited. -db

The Hill
March 1, 2010
By Tony Romm

Trouble with the Pentagon’s strapped Web network could threaten its new decision to permit service members access to social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter.

Broadband capabilities in war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Iraq already number few, creating key challenges for military personnel using the Defense Department’s non-classified network there, explained Price Floyd, a Pentagon spokesman, during a conference call on Monday.

However, the Department’s announcement last week that it would allow troops mostly unqualified access to social networks did not come with an in-kind commitment to increase its bandwidth to meet the new demand, he added.

Consequently, that could put the Pentagon in the position of temporarily denying access to some resource-heavy Web services, including YouTube, if high, sustained use in the field in any way hampers military leaders’ ability to use the network, according to Floyd.

“This policy doesn’t add bandwidth, so it might add to the strain on the existing bandwidth … and in places like Afghanistan, that’s a struggle,” Floyd told reporters on Monday. “And in some cases, this new policy, just because there’s a new policy, doesn’t mean everything is open.

“We have to live in the real world, and if there are issues of bandwidth … [this policy] wouldn’t change that,” he added, explaining the Pentagon would unquestionably, though temporarily, halt access to those websites at the behest of military leaders.

The Defense Department announced its seminal change in Web policy last week, following a seven-month review of its social networking rules.

Until now, the Pentagon had in place key restrictions on service members’ access to a number of popular Web services, in part because of concerns those tools could strain its meager broadband network or present critical security risks to U.S. interests.

But it seems both concerns persist, even despite the Pentagon’s stated change in heart. Still, Floyd insisted on Monday that the Pentagon had anticipated many of those challenges and within the next 180 days would prepare a more nuanced set of social networking guidelines addressing possible difficulties.

“I think, though, people will find quickly, as I did, as I started using it, the benefits of using this as a communication tool,” Floyd later added, noting a change in military culture was under way.

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