Archive for November, 2007
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
Sticker Shock: Prices Rise on Cable TV, Cell Phones, Even Dial-Up
As further evidence that we don't have a truly competitive marketplace comes a round of price increases on all kinds of telecommunications services. Verizon has decided to jack up rates a whopping 12% on FIOS TV before the dust has even settled on installations in most states. Cablevision, though they have no shiny new [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Jeers, News by Jesse
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
FCC Chairman Martin to Cable Industry: Watch Your Back
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin seems to not be in the business of making friends lately. Despite talking tough on "a la carte" stations and cable conglomerates, he's failed to make much headway with fellow members of the commission or members of Congress. His goal? To treat cable operators like phone companies by [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cheers, Jeers, News by Jesse
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
Upcoming Broadband Legislation from The Swamp
Broadband is all the Washington rage these days. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has become something of a techie celebrity and there's a bunch of bills in Congress set to change the way we approach broadband. Here's a quick run-down of the big ones to keep an eye on.
No Comments » - Posted in Legislation by Jesse
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
Switching E-mail Update Services
Since launching the website, I've been using the Subscribe2 plugin to manage sending updates via e-mail to those of you not so big on RSS. Unfortunately, the plugin has been getting a bit buggy lately. For instance, yesterday it sent out three copies of the e-mail. (I get them too, so I share your [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Website by Jesse
Monday, November 26th, 2007
CableCARD is DOA
Last month, Ars Technica wondered aloud why it is that you can't get a CableCARD device very easily. After all, the FCC mandated that cable companies start supporting "digital cable-ready" television sets way back in July. Despite this, both of the major cable box manufacturers don't sell at retail, cable companies haven't trained their [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Jeers, News by Jesse
Saturday, November 24th, 2007
Google Plans a 700MHz Bid
Though it was more-or-less settled in speculation, Google has committed itself to spending at least $4.6B on a chunk of the valuable "C block" going up for auction this Janurary. Some prime motivators include a change in wholesaling rules by the FCC and Verizon dropping their lawsuit to halt open access (even [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Saturday, November 24th, 2007
Wireless Woes: Earthlink, AT&T, Sprint All Drop Plans
Earthlink finally got over the hangover and decided that municipal WiFi just wasn't working out the way they had planned. The company decided to put it's muni WiFi operations on the chopping block for a cool $40M (provided, of course, that there's an interested buyer). AT&T is also backing off on muni WiFi. After [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Saturday, November 24th, 2007
Life in the Fast Lane: FIOS and UTOPIA Speed Bumps Kick Off Bandwidth War
Verizon shook the industry with a move to 20Mbps synchronous connections. UTOPIA rocked it further by allowing providers to ramp up to 50Mbps. Now the entire cable industry has gone nuts trying to ramp up speeds in short order during Q4.
Insight Communications and Cox Communications have each decided to jump to [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Cheers, News by Jesse
Saturday, November 24th, 2007
Spineless: The Internet Backbone Needs an Overhaul
Cable companies are testing 100Mbps cable modems, an Aussie PhD claims to have found a way to make DSL ramp up to 250Mbps within 3 years and Verizon is trying out some 400Mbps connections on its FIOS service. Big numbers, but the Internet backbone probably can't handle it. A recent study predicts that [...]
No Comments » - Posted in News by Jesse
Monday, November 19th, 2007
Finances and Cherry-Picking: A Response for Rep. Steve Urquhart
Before I left town for a jaunt to DC, Venice and Florence, I had a few questions posed to me by Rep. Steve Urquhart of St. George on my summary of the November 7 subcommittee hearing. It seems he has some concerns over the financial viability of the project and some perceived cherry-picking activities [...]
