San Francisco is intent on using WiMax to reach more rural areas around the Bay Area's numerous hills. Clearwire has bought access from AT&T to start operating a national WiMax network and Qualcomm is set to laugh all the way to the bank. In a move all too reminiscent of… Continue reading
Just as Wilson, NC has been ramping up to build their own municipal broadband network, the state House has passed a bill from committee severely restricting their ability to enter the market. Unsurprisingly, Time Warner Cable is the chief backer of the bill. It should also come as no surprise… Continue reading
iProvo might still be some time away from breaking even, or so says the "we'll print anything negative about iProvo" Deseret News. According to the article, a miscalculation places the break-even point with current projections as far away as 2012. The original calculation failed to take into account repayment of… Continue reading
In a move only a die-hard monopolist would dare engage in, Qwestar Gas is moving to keep individual consumers out of rate hearings. The move is designed to prevent upset customers from criticizing the company and questioning its witnesses at Public Service Commission hearings. This is all despite very few… Continue reading
It's a bad week to be Vonage. A federal court has ruled that all VoIP providers must start collecting and paying into the Universal Service Fund (USF), adding about $1.30 a month to the average bill. Vonage had sued the FCC to protest not only having to pay but having… Continue reading
Reports from the UK show that some ISPs are engaging in "packet shaping" to restrict the use of peer-to-peer video services, even if they're legal. Given the net neutrality debate in the US, we might very well see such things coming to our shores soon, especially since telcos and cablecos… Continue reading
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… Continue reading
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… Continue reading
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… Continue reading
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… Continue reading