 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Charter Cable is upgrading its broadband service to deliver free speed upgrades, but with the company’s Internet Overcharging-usage cap scheme in place, some customers are not impressed. “We plan to streamline Charter Internet options to: Lite, Express, Plus, and Ultra,” Charter social media rep “Eric” wrote on the Broadband Reports‘ Charter customer forum. “Current Max customers will be able to move to a different level of Internet Service.” The company’s boosted speeds (prices vary in different markets): Click headline to read more--
Merit Network Inc. and Enventis, a subsidiary of Hickory Tech (Nasdaq: HTCO), announced they will work together to save taxpayer dollars on their respective Broadband TechnologyOpportunities Program (BTOP) projects. Enventis and Merit signed an agreement to collaborate on the construction of a fiber build from Superior, Wis. to Duluth, Minn. in which both BTOP projects were scheduled to build. The construction of this segment will be done by Enventis and will include crossing the St. Louis Bay. Merit Network is building fiber infrastructure through northern Wisconsin into Duluth, Minn. to provide a redundant path for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, as well as to allow Merit to connect to several other regional optical networks serving education and research members in their respective states. Click headline to read more--
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is prepared to junk federal rules that limit companies from owning TV and radio stations in the same market — and go half way in doing the same for TV stations and newspapers. He’s circulating a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would wipe out the TV-newspaper restriction in the 20 largest markets, trade magazine Broadcasting and Cable reports citing “a person familiar with the document.” But it would keep a test that could block a combo in smaller markets if it would result in less local news, less diversity of voices, or too much concentration of economic power. Genachowski’s proposal sounds a lot like the standard that former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, pushed through in 2008. Click headline to read more--
Fed up with your phone or cable company? Congress may help you share your sad tale. A proposal from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., would instruct the Federal Communications Commission to monthly post thousands of consumer complaints online, revealing the worst practices of communications companies that are sometimes shielded from public view. Waxman, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said that the amendment to an FCC reform measure would help make the agency more transparent. “Consumers have a right to know which providers are subject to the most complaints and for what reasons," he said. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., chairman of the panel's Communications and Technology Subcommittee, said that GOP lawmakers would support Waxman's amendment with some minor edits. Waxman withdrew the amendment so they can negotiate privately, potentially setting it up to win bipartisan approval when the full committee marks up the FCC bill. Click headline to read more--
Please join us on Monday, December 5th, 8am-12pm to introduce MAP's fifth annual Forum Series. The entire series is free and open to the public. Continental breakfast will be available. Location South America Room Pew Conference Center 901 E Street Northwest Washington D.C. Click headline to read more about this and future events in this series--
This summer we’re inviting the smartest and most creative entrepreneurs and students to join the Gig Tank. Part start-up accelerator, part think tank with one mission: imagine the future of the internet when bandwidth is no longer a barrier. We have the country’s first and largest gigabit per second fiber optic network with service to all its residents, right here in the Gig City, Chattanooga TN. And there’s Gig Prizes with up to $300,000 at stake. If you have an idea for the next world-changing killer gigabit app or business, we want to hear it. Click headline to watch video and the apply now button--
Six states have withdrawn from the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), leaving California and four Canadian provinces as the remaining members of the regional greenhouse gas reduction organization, Patrick Cummins, WCI's project manager, said Friday. Besides California, the remaining WCI members are the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. The exit of Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington mostly was expected, as the states were seen as unlikely to implement a cap-and-trade program, observers said. "News about the departure of the six states comes as no real surprise," said Jeff King, the head of environmental markets at Scotia Capital. "There was little to no hope that they'd get involved in a regional cap-and-trade program given the current political make-up of the states." Click headline to read more--
Having a good broadband connection is rated as "very important" by the vast majority of residents and businesses in Wiltshire, a new study has revealed. Conducted by the county council, the poll discovered 99 per cent of employers and 97 per cent of householders in the area are keen to have a high standard of internet connectivity. The local authority is set to invest £16 million in rolling out super-fast broadband across Wiltshire and has recently been awarded £4.6 million by the government to help it achieve this goal, making it one of just three counties to receive this funding boost. Having completed the survey, council bosses will now identify communities where broadband services are in need of improvement as they seek to bring next-generation access to 85 per cent of properties by 2015. Click headline to read more--
Last January the FCC issued an order (pdf) designed to put an end to cable operators preventing competitors from accessing local sports channels owned by the cable company. The rules went into effect in June, and the FCC's Media Bureau ruled in September that Cablevision and MSG violated the agency's new rules by withholding HD versions of MSG and MSG-Plus from Verizon and AT&T. Last week that ruling was upheld, and Verizon is now saying they'll be offering MSG HD within a few weeks to FiOS TV customers. Comparing it to "a home team win in overtime," Verizon says the exact channel locations on your lineup will be determined closer to the mid-December launch date. Cablevision did file another appeal, but their case at this juncture isn't looking so hot.
Organizers say the $69 million broadband project for this region hit a major milestone this week after construction crews moved into the Stephenson County area for the first time. The Illinois Fiber Resources Group (iFiber) announced Wednesday that crews from Aldridge Electric and Kelso-Burnett have begun “plowing conduit” for the initiative from Forreston to Freeport, partly in Ogle County and partly in Stephenson County. Plowing conduit refers to the process of laying in new fiber optic cable that will eventually make up the high-speed broadband network. “As a milestone, it’s the first entry into Stephenson County by our construction crews,” said Daniel Payette, this region’s outreach coordinator of the broadband effort. He added that the crews are on schedule in terms of the project’s overall timeline. “They’ve been managing to keep to the general construction guidelines they’ve established.” Click headline to read more--
Electric car startup Coda Automotive started production of its inaugural electric sedan this week, and expects to start delivering its first cars to dealers in December. While Coda pushed back production of the car from the end of 2010 to the end of this year, the sedan has now come out with some interesting features that helps the five-seater stand out from the competition, including a 150-mile range, an under-$40,000 price tag, and a 10-year battery warranty. The official production car is being shown off at the LA Auto Show this week. Here’s 10 things you need to know about Coda Automotive and its inaugural electric sedan: Click healine to read more--
In light of Major Mike Bloomberg’s displacement of Liberty Plaza/Zuccotti Park, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) campaign is spreading throughout the nation and the world. Most important, its critique of inequality is getting sharper and more systematic. Its core target has been the banking and financial-services industry, but activists are turning the spotlight on other, equally pernicious sectors of the economy, including the extraction, healthcare military and prison industries. Analyses of these industries reveal a common story: the fix is in. The nation’s communications industry traditionally escapes critical inspection. In our busy postmodern life, communications, like air, water and electricity, is essential, merely taken for granted. Whether making a phone call, emailing a friend, accessing information, paying a bill or watching a political debate or TV show, our telecommunications infrastructure is a vital link to others and the world. On October 27 the Federal Communications Commission announced a reform plan of the Universal Service Fund (USF) as part of its implementation of the National Broadband Plan. The reform is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, President Obama’s stimulus plan. Unfortunately, the USF reform plan is going to raise your phone, broadband, Internet and wireless rates in five new ways, all designed to give more money to the phone and cable companies. Click headline to read more--
Irish green energy company Gaelelectric met with Northern Ireland Assembly chiefs in Dublin yesterday to discuss the development of renewable energy throughout Ireland. The energy company are planning to invest in wind farm technology in the North. Gaelelectric reecntly opened offices in Belfast, which has nine wind powered projects at various planning stages. Brendan McGrath, CEO of Gaelelectric said: “In the last 18 months, Gaelectric has secured planning approval for four wind farm projects in Northern Ireland which total about 81MW in generation capacity. Click headline to read more--
|
Unlimited data plans are the genie mobile operators are steadily stuffing back into the bottle. Though they have been wildly successful at enticing users to migrate to smartphones and take up data plans—hence expanding their monthly expenditure with mobile operators—many experts predicted at the outset that the all-you-can-eat model would be short lived. As unlimited plans exit the market (to a steady chorus of boos from many consumers), the question arises whether the shift away from them is good for anyone. Hugh Roberts, an internationally recognized expert on communications billing and strategic consultant to some of the world’s leading operators, sets the gradual disappearance of unlimited plans in a greater economic context. Roberts says that "given the current economic reality in most developed markets" communications service providers in general have often "resorted to knee-jerk reactions focused on cost cutting" in an effort to "offset declining voice revenues." He says that hand-in-hand with these moves has been a tendency to exercise "claw back strategies such as tiered pricing in place of one-size-fits-all subscriptions," but questions whether these moves truly benefit operators in the long term. "The basic choice is a balancing act," says Roberts, as service providers must choose between "all-you-can-eat" which may drive customer retention, and "usage based pricing" which may result in near-term average revenue per user improvement—"but at what cost?" Click headline to read more--
The more that AT&T's proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile is perceived as unlikely, the more interesting the deal becomes. While many believed investigations into the deal were little more than political posturing, the suit filed by the Justice Department to block it has changed minds. Analysts now expect the deal has less than a 50% chance of being completed, with some analysts putting that expectation as low as 20%, the Financial Times has found. AT&T, however, remains positive about the outcome. Earlier this month, it pushed back the expected closing date on the deal, though very much still expecting it to happen (CP: AT&T expects T-Mobile purchase to happen, just later). And speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference in Barcelona last week, Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices at AT&T, said he "fully expects" the deal to go through. Click headline to read more--
Hackers are alleged to have destroyed a pump used to pipe water to thousands of homes in a US city in Illinois. Hackers with access to the utility's network are thought to have broken the pump by turning it on and off quickly. The FBI and Department for Homeland Security (DHS) are investigating the incident as details emerge of what could be a separate second attack. Experts said the news revealed a growing interest in critical infrastructure by cyber criminals. Information about the 8 November incident came to light via the blog of Joe Weiss who advises utilities on how to protect hardware against attack. Click headline to read more--
State leaders are now armed with new tools and new connections that will help put broadband expansion plans into motion across Nevada. The state's first-ever broadband summit, called Wired for Success, drew more than a hundred attendees to Dayton Intermediate School on Monday, where they focused on job creation and the economic development that comes from expanding broadband access, adoption, and use across the state. The event was co-hosted by Connect Nevada and the Nevada Broadband Task Force. The Wired For Success summit lived up to its name with speakers and panelists ranging from Nevada government and private industry to state educators and technology experts. Click headline to watch the on-demand video of the event--
There are definitely times when you learn of a business practice where you think, "Wow, my opinion of AT&T could not go any lower." And then, BOOM. You find out that AT&T was intentionally underfunding a 9-11 call center in order to undercut its competitors in bids. Yikes. Did we mention that this is not an isolated case? AT&T has been busted in several jurisdictions for this practice. Hat tip to Stop the Cap! for bringing my attention to a lawsuit brought by Hamilton County against AT&T for its practice of under-reporting the number of business lines it provides. This practice allows it to undercut all competitors in the market, including the community fiber network run by Chattanooga's Electric Power Board. From the Times Free Press article: Click headline to read more--
To me, public libraries — the availability of free education for all — represent the collective commitment of a community to their future. They symbolize what is most important, a commitment to educating the next generation. The role of a public library should also adapt over time, and that time is finally here. It’s time to plan how we’re going to build the future and what place public libraries have, should have, or won’t have. The goal of this article is to get everyone talking about one of our great resources, the public library, and its future. If you’re reading this, you’re likely not reading it in a public library. Computers are cheap, and internet access is pretty good for most people. The majority of people do not get their online news from terminals at the public library. At one time the library was “the living internet” — you went there to look up something hard to find, to do research — now it’s all at our fingertips through search engines, Wikipedia, and the web. So where does this leave libraries? Last week I walked by the Borders on Broadway in NYC — it’s going out of business. There are many reasons, but I think most people will agree giant collections of books in giant buildings do not make as much sense (or cents!) any longer. Not commercially, and likely not publicly, such as in a library setting. So where does this leave the library? Maybe they’ll move more and more to eBooks with some weird library-DRM, collections of DVDs, and other media outside of books. But again, it’s usually better online, and available in our homes. Click headline to read more and access data links--
Texas, led by Governor and Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Perry, has a long-nurtured reputation as reactionary on the subject of climate change. There is also a thoughtful minority that endorses the science. As this new installment in Peter Sinclair’s Climate Denial Crock of the Week shows, the deniers are having a hard time sustaining their case in the face of grim reality. Click headline to watch the video--
A recent report by the Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) indicate that disparities in broadband Internet usage among demographic and geographic groups continue to exist in the United States. While broadband Internet adoption has steadily increased in the past few years, from 51% of households in 2007 to 68% in 2010, this progression has not been equal among racial and ethnic groups or geographic location in the United States. White and Asian households’ broadband adoption rates range from 72 to 81 percent, while Black and Hispanic households have a range of only 55 to 57 percent broadband adoption. The disparity between urban and rural areas is also significant, with 70% of urban households adopting broadband Internet, compared to only 57% of rural households. Click headline to read more and download the report--
E.ON says it is investing 5 million euros to develop a pilot plant in Falkenhagen, Germany, that will use wind energy to create hydrogen gas, which will then be distributed into the country's gas grid. Beginning in 2013, the plant will use wind power to produce about 360 cubic meters of hydrogen per hour through electrolysis. The hydrogen will be fed into the Ontras gas pipeline system and be used like normal natural gas. E.ON expects that hydrogen could constitute up to 15% of the natural-gas system without causing operational disturbances.
Nigeria’s internet access problem characterised by slow and exasperating access to the cyberspace even with the growing number of underwater cable systems on the country’s coast line, would soon become a thing of the past. The federal government has opened its doors to the global investment community through the adoption of an open access model, strategically designed to strengthen investment in the area of deploying in-land fibre networks needed to move available bandwidth capacity around the length and breadth of the country. Tony Ojobo, director, public affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), made this known during a courtesy visit to BusinessDay’s head office in Lagos. Click headline to read more--
Kentucky ranks near the bottom of states in terms of the percentage of households using broadband connections. Only Alabama at 56 percent and Arkansas and Mississippi, both at 52 percent, are lower than Kentucky’s 58 percent, according to “Exploring the Digital Divide,” a report released this month from the U.S. Department of Commerce. And nearly 30 percent of Kentucky households report having no computer at all. The state with the highest broadband adoption rate is Utah, at 80 percent. Based on a survey of 54,300 households by the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated average of 68 percent of households had broadband service in 2010, up from 64 percent the previous year. Still, there is a digital divide mostly among rural, low-income minorities who don’t have the service at home. There is no single solution to limiting the divide, the report said. At least in Warren County, affordable and available service are issues. There are areas in the county that aren’t served by a cable company, so broadband is not available to them. Satellite Internet might be available in some areas, but is thought to be too expensive by some. In the city limits, residents have options for high-speed access with AT&T or Insight Communications. Businesses have a third option with the fiber optic network that was installed by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities. The lack of high-speed Internet service is a complaint that has been fielded numerous times by Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon. Click headline to read more--
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced Thursday that Greg Guice has been named director of the agency's Office of Legislative Affairs and Christopher Lewis has been appointed deputy director. Guice previously served as acting director of OLA and special counsel for House affairs. He spent the past 12 years as an attorney for the commission on wireline, wireless and public-safety issues. “Greg’s substantive knowledge and interpersonal skills have helped OLA act as a critical resource to Congressional staff and further the agency’s Congressionally-mandated obligations," Genachowski said in a statement. Guice was detailed for almost two years to serve as counsel to former House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) to help the committee's work on universal service reform, spectrum policy and other areas. He earned a B.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. from George Mason University. Click headline to read more--
|
