Archive for September, 2007
Sunday, September 23rd, 2007
DirecTV To Offer Broadband Over Power Lines
No doubt spurred on by terrible speeds, high latency, crowded satellites and sky-high pricing from their existing broadband options, DirecTV is starting to offer BPL service in Cincinnati and Dallas-Forth Worth. The speeds aren't impressive and the pricing isn't going to make an incumbent phone or cable company sweat though it does add another [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Sunday, September 23rd, 2007
Woods Cross May Authorize UTOPIA Feasibility Study
Woods Cross joins the fast-growing list of Utah cities looking at joining UTOPIA and is considering paying for a feasibility study to determine if it's worth it to join. In addition to a presentation from David Shaw, legal counsel for UTOPIA, business leaders and residents clamored for joining the project to ease telecommuting and [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Saturday, September 22nd, 2007
Comcast Reveals How Much Is Too Much
Remember how Comcast would never tell you how much bandwidth you used when they said you were using too much? A combination of insider informants and a company spokesperson has narrowed it down to somewhere between 90GB and 200GB per month. Apparently the limit depends on the market as areas with older and [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Friday, September 21st, 2007
Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee to Meet Sept. 26
The Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee will be meeting Wednesday, September 26 at 1PM. A discussion on broadband will be held around 2:30PM that will include representatives from UTOPIA and Qwest. Given how stacked the presentation was last time around, it's critically important that as many of us as possible show up to use [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Events, Legislation by Jesse
Friday, September 21st, 2007
Washington City to Consider Non-Pledging Status
According to recent changes to UTOPIA's web site, Washington City is considering a resolution to join UTOPIA as a non-pledging member. The city council will discuss and possibly vote on the measure on September 26th. If you live in Washington City or know someone who does, now is the time to contact your city council [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cheers, News by Jesse
Monday, September 10th, 2007
Farmington Nixes Pledging Status, Tables a Vote
Farmington's City Council decided last Tuesday to take pledging status off the table and delay a vote on joining UTOPIA until a future meeting. The decision to move from pledging to non-pledging was motivated by risk tolerance; the council just doesn't feel comfortable with being on the hook in the rare instance that UTOPIA [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Sunday, September 9th, 2007
Bad Telco! A Round-Up of Ways the Phone Company Gives Us the Raw Deal
There isn't too much cohesive about these stories other than showing how badly AT&T and Verizon treat their customers.
For starters, why don't we talk about SBC's actions in South Africa? They were part of a consortium granted exclusive rights to build the nation's telecommunications infrastructure after the end of apartheid. What ended up happening, however, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Jeers, News by Jesse
Thursday, September 6th, 2007
Liveblogging the Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee: Postscript
Now that the broadband portion of the meeting is over, I've got some overall thoughts on the presenters and some events after the close of the meeting.
3 Comments » - Posted in Events, Legislation by Jesse
Thursday, September 6th, 2007
Liveblogging the Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee
Thanks to the free WiFi in the committee room, I'll be liveblogging the entire entire meeting. Check back for regular updates! I'll be here at least until noon or the break for lunch, whichever comes first.
12:44PM I got the chance to mention the $200B broadband scandal as a primary motivator for projects like UTOPIA. If [...]
7 Comments » - Posted in Events, Legislation by Jesse
Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
Make Your Voice Heard: Committee to Discuss UTOPIA Thursday!
The Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee will be holding a meeting Thursday at 9AM to discuss municipal broadband. It will be held in room W125 in the House building. If you're able to, please show up to that meeting and make your voices heard! There's likely to be a lot of misinformation as Steven Titch [...]
