The Electric Blackberry Acid Test

5 May 2013 by Steve Blum
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“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”

I was wrong to say that Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins doesn’t seem to be the sort of CEO that might dabble in hallucinogens. First he claimed victory over Apple in the smart phone wars, and last week followed up with a declaration that tablets are dead.

We need Hunter S. Thompson. Now. He broke the ibogaine story in the 1972 presidential race and would quickly find any ambient pharmaceuticals floating through the Blackberry corporate ecosystem.… More

Intel's new captain must turn quickly

4 May 2013 by Steve Blum
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A titanic job ahead.

Sounding defensive about the future of personal computers, Brian Krzanich, Intel’s newly appointed CEO, told USA Today that he’s not giving up on that sector but he will be going after the mobile market with renewed vigor.

With PC numbers falling and mobile device sales exploding, Intel is losing its dominant position in the semiconductor industry. More efficient processors based on ARM technology are the standard in the mobile world. And now, ARM chip makers are about to make a major new move into another Intel bastion, server farms.… More

New T-Mobile launches D-Day assault on retail channels

3 May 2013 by Steve Blum
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Don’t worry if I’m a gone awhile. I’m on a mission.

The T-Mobile/MetroPCS merger was wrapped up this week and now the combined company is packing superior retail firepower.

MetroPCS sells on a no-contract and pre-paid basis, which meshes perfectly with T-Mobile’s business model. It was a good fit. T-Mobile gets three things out of the deal: spectrum, which it desperately needs, nine million customers and MetroPCS’s distribution channels. Over the next two or three years, MetroPCS subscribers will be transitioned off of their CDMA phones, and T-Mobile will light up the cleared spectrum with GSM and 4G services.… More

Fear and economics fuel CenturyLink's Omaha FTTH test

2 May 2013 by Steve Blum
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The case for fiber converges on Omaha.

After getting stung by Google in Provo, Utah, CenturyLink will roll out fiber-to-the-home service in Omaha, Nebraska. Two key factors that will drive future FTTH deployments make this announcement more than a marketing stunt.

First, CenturyLink is targeting a particular area served by pre-DOCSIS hybrid fiber and coaxial cable system, according to a story on the Telecompetitor news site. Instead of upgrading it with better coax or trying to refurbish it in place, CenturyLink is replacing it with gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology.… More

FTTH price sensitivity looking similar in Britain and California

1 May 2013 by Steve Blum
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But not at any price, luv.

Last month, British Telecom rolled out a fiber-to-the-home offering that relied on just over half of its users paying somewhere in the $1,000 to $2,300 range for installation, and the rest paying more. Now PC Pro, a UK-based newsletter, reports that BT is backing away from its previous goal of getting FTTH into 25% of its subscriber’s homes.

The report quotes a BT source as linking the pull back to success with its fiber-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) offerings, which are already touted as being in the 40 to 80 Mbps range and could soon go as high as 100 Mbps.… More

California senate committee guts broadband infrastructure funding, for now

30 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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“Just raising a number of concerns,” said the phone guy.

Additional money for the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) is on hold. The sponsor of a bill – SB 740 – to refill the fund with $100 million over five years, senator Alex Padilla (D – Los Angeles), pulled the money off the table today. He said he wanted to wait and see what happens to the more than $200 million in grant applications that are pending before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).… More

California love fest for public housing broadband subsidies

29 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen fiber?

The California Assembly’s utilities and commerce committee considered a bill today – AB 1299 – to direct $25 million from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) toward wiring public housing complexes and encouraging residents to subscribe to broadband service.

No one was opposed. Lobbyists for AT&T, Verizon, Frontier and the cable industry all spoke in favor, which was no surprise. They’re naturally inclined to support something that reduces construction subsidies for competitors and will likely increase their subscriber count.… More

Broadband subsidy plan for both infrastructure and public housing taking shape in California legislature

28 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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It’s easy. Just build a bigger barrel.

There’s a deal forming in Sacramento to generate money for public housing projects and the non-profit organisations that orbit them by refilling the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) in a way that also maintains a healthy balance for broadband infrastructure subsidies. Two separate CASF-related proposals in the state legislature are being shaped to complement each other, if not converge into a single bill.

Assemblyman Steven Bradford (D – Los Angeles) wants to spend $25 million from CASF on wiring public housing projects for broadband and paying non-profit groups to run broadband promotion programs in those neighborhoods.… More

Sweets for cable companies could sour public housing broadband grants

27 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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In a horse trade, it’s not just the horse that can get taken for a ride.

Cable television lobbyists in Sacramento seem to be earning their pay checks. A proposed revision to the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) has a couple of very nice presents for the industry. Assembly bill 1299, which will be heard by the utilities and commerce committee on Monday, gives benefits to cable companies which might have the perverse effect of discouraging public housing authorities from pursuing broadband projects.… More

New Californian broadband subsidy priorities take shape

26 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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Committee chair Steven Bradford wants more money for urban organizations.

Next week may determine the future of the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF), which provides subsidies for broadband infrastructure in underserved (and unserved) areas of the state. Two bills will be aired in front of two committees – one in the state senate, SB 740, the other in the assembly, AB 1299.

SB 740, which will be heard by the senate energy, utilities and communications committee on Tuesday, would add $100 million to the fund by extending a fee that’s tacked on to phone bills and allow a greater range of broadband providers to apply.… More