Archive for May, 2007
Saturday, May 26th, 2007
Municipal WiFi Failing and Ailing
Plagued by poor signal strength, low subscriber numbers and generally botched installs, municipal WiFi is looking like the monorail of the 21st century. Most subscribers complain that not only do signals often drop or fail to get inside of their buildings, but the speeds experienced are slower than traditional DSL or cable modems. Since WiFi [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Saturday, May 26th, 2007
Congress Pushes Broadband Bill
In a move sure to keep cable and telco execs stocking up on Mylanta, Congress is pushing through a new broadband bill designed to improve speed, access and reporting of availability. The bill borrows from the successful Connect Kentucky program to invest more money in bringing broadband to rural and underserved areas. It also [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cheers, Legislation, News by Jesse
Saturday, May 26th, 2007
AFCNet Has a New Potential Buyer
The American Fork city council has voted unanimously to start negotiations with an Orem company to sell off their ailing municipal broadband network. Much like with the Packfront deal, Suphra would be required to upgrade the network to support triple play services and extend service to more homes than the network currently serves. Given the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Saturday, May 26th, 2007
Supreme Court Tosses Telco Anti-trust Suit
The Supreme Court has given incumbent telcos a free pass on their abuse of monopoly power by dismissing a suit alleging conspiracy to prevent competitors from offering phone and broadband services. While the legal standard for anti-trust could barely not be met, the suit does show a strong history of industry-wide collusion in not entering [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Jeers, News by Jesse
Saturday, May 26th, 2007
Google Taking Interest in Wireless Spectrum
Google's been eyeing the upcoming auction for the 700MHz spectrum and involving itself heavily in the public debate over broadband. It seems their intent with the spectrum is to become a wholesaler of wireless access across the nation, letting companies bid against each other for the right to use the network in various markets in [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Saturday, May 26th, 2007
Virginia Suburb Experiencing Monopoly Headaches
Six years ago, a new housing development in Loudoun, VA decided to build an FTTH network as a part of their neighborhood of luxury homes. Today, they're regretting every bit of that decision. Where they went wrong was signing a 75-year contract with a no-name company that has done a poor job of providing reliable [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Jeers, News by Jesse
Saturday, May 19th, 2007
Qwest “Price for Life” A Bum Deal
Qwest has heavily marketed the idea of locking in the rate for pay for their DSL service, but you're left wondering if it's really that good of a deal. An in-depth look reveals that they can revoke that discounted price if you change speeds, move, change your service provider or cancel service before the end [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Saturday, May 19th, 2007
Telecommuting and IPTV Will Drive Bandwidth Requirements Higher
Our bandwidth-hungry days are far from over. With spiraling gas prices hitting most of the country, many workers are turning to telecommuting to get the job done. Pair that up with the financial benefits of telecommuting (especially with new tax incentives from Congress) and we're likely to see that trend continue. Of course, this places [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Legislation, News by Jesse
Saturday, May 19th, 2007
Will Qwest Sue iProvo?
Though the threat stemming from last year's loan never materialized, there's concern that Qwest could sue Provo over the proposed loan of $1M to cover bond expenses. It all depends on where the proposed $1M loan comes from. If it's another loan from the city's electric department, it would likely not be challenged. A payment [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Jeers, News by Jesse
Friday, May 18th, 2007
Charter Gets Waiver For Proprietary Set-top Boxes
In what's bound to start a wave of "me too" from the industry as a whole, Charter Communications has obtained a waiver from the FCC to get an extra year to comply with open access rules for set-top boxes. The rules require cable providers to comply with the CableCARD standard so you can buy your [...]
