AT&T upgrades coming, if you live on the "high-potential" side of the divide

26 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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You either have or you have not, Slim.

AT&T is getting ready to roll out 45 Mbps service in Dallas shortly and expand over its entire wireline footprint during the coming year, according to Broadband DSL Reports. The technology being deployed – VDSL2 and pair bonding – has the potential to eventually make good on an earlier promise to deliver 75 to 100 Mbps service.

To maybe half of AT&T’s wireline customers. The other half will have to make do with slower copper-based speeds or, in some cases, with 4G mobile service.… More

Satellite first, FTTH (much) later

25 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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Not all crazy ideas are crazy.

Netflix is talking about delivering ultra high definition content to its subscribers, using the 4K video format currently under development. Real time streaming of 4K content will require something like a 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps connection. Or it could be downloaded, over time, to in-home hard drives at slower speeds.

Either way, it would strain existing networks. A gigabit is only possible with fiber. In theory, cable modem service can support 100 Mbps speeds, but only for a very limited number of homes in a given area and only intermittently over long periods of time.… More

CPUC commissioner possible pick as new FCC chair

24 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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Catherine Sandoval, California Public Utilities Commission.

One person mentioned as a replacement for outgoing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Julius Genachowski is Catherine Sandoval, a member of the California Public Utilities Commission and a law professor, currently teaching at U.C. Berkeley. A Silicon Valley resident, she’s taken up the telecoms portfolio on the CPUC and understands the industry from a West Coast perspective.

Sandoval would be a great choice. The FCC needs someone who’s been shaped by Californian culture, high tech and otherwise.… More

HBO legend sees a long road to 4K television

23 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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Zitter didn’t just look into the future, he made it.

Bob Zitter, HBO’s revered chief technology officer, retires this month, ending more than thirty years at the cutting edge of television technology. In a valedictory keynote at the TV Connect conference in London, Zitter expressed near-term skepticism about the future of 3D and 4K television technology, but held out long term hope.

HBO tried offering 3D content, but Zitter said they never believed in it.… More

Genachowski leaving the FCC changed for the better

22 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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FCC chairman Julius Genachowski in San Leandro last month.

Julius Genachowski made it official this morning, stepping down as chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He’s leaving behind an agency that is arguably keeping pace with the industry it’s regulating, something few agencies or politicians in Washington can do. With the telecommunications industry increasingly shunning copper-based telephone service as it shifts to delivering broadband via wireless and fiber optic technologies, it is no small achievement.… More

Another week, another Apple obit

21 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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Actually, I’m waiting for the new Star Wars movie.

Traffic in major U.S. cities is snarled as lines of hopeful buyers camp out in front of AT&T stores and spill into the street, awaiting tomorrow’s launch of the Blackberry Z10. Okay, I haven’t actually seen it, but based on CEO Thorsten Heins’ declaration of victory over Apple, it must be happening. What else could explain his exuberance? He doesn’t seem like the sort to dabble in hallucinogens.… More

Netflix making consumer case for gigabit service

20 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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Building a business on 4K content.

Netflix is throwing its weight behind the new 4K ultra-high definition video format and, once again, potentially disrupting the broadband industry. Neil Hunt, chief product officer at Netflix, told The Verge “we expect to be delivering 4K within a year or two.” Sony has also floated the possibility of supporting 4K services in future networked products.

Network routers won’t start melting under the strain anytime soon. There’s not much content that meets the 4K spec yet.… More

Party power (or lack thereof) shapes California broadband spending plans

19 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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The practical side of political alignment.

More than two-thirds of the seats in both the California Assembly and Senate are held by Democrats. That means it’s possible to add money to the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) and change its direction with no support at all from Republicans and no fear of losing the political cover a supermajority vote provides.
During hearings and meetings in Sacramento last week, Democrats focused almost exclusively on using CASF to increase the number of Californians who use the Internet.… More

CPUC floats phone company-grade scrutiny for all broadband subsidy applicants

18 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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AT&T gets a thorough examination. Why shouldn’t you?

More questions today from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) about the financial and oversight requirements unregulated Internet service providers would need to meet, should eligibility for California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) subsidies be extended to them.

CASF currently provides grants and loans that could total as much as 90% of the cost of building broadband infrastructure in eligible areas. But only to companies that qualify as a telephone company (the definition is broad), go through a rigorous certification process and are subject to the CPUC’s regulatory power.… More

Friends, coders, countrymen, build me an app

17 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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Fifty-two hours, five teams, five working apps.

Five Android app development teams faced off this weekend in the second annual Ideas of March competition at Cal State Monterey Bay. On Friday afternoon, young coders from around Monterey County formed teams and heard pitches from local businesses and community groups. They picked one and spent the next 52 hours building apps that fit the need.

This afternoon, they presented their work to a panel of judges, myself included.… More