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If CPUC doesn't change broadband subsidy rules, results will still disappoint

9 December 2013 by Steve Blum
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Waiting for AT&T to light up Point Arena.

The towns of Pt. Arena and Gualala in Mendocino County, on California’s northern coast sparked debate at the California Public Utilities Commission last week. Commissioner Michel Florio used them as examples of communities that don’t have Internet service at all, as he questioned whether the CPUC should spend $1.8 million to build a fiber-to-the-home system for somewhere between 32 and 159 households in the Sierra National Forest, in Madera County.… More

AT&T warns of the danger of building monopoly fiber networks

24 October 2013 by Steve Blum
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I’m shocked, shocked to find subsidised monopolies here.

AT&T has issued an open warning about the dangers of giving public subsidies to an organization, in this case a school or library, to build its own dark fiber network…

If private fiber networks are deployed only to serve certain select locations…they will risk becoming islands of connectivity in a sea of inadequate broadband…If E-rate [federal subsidies for educational sector broadband] is to be used to deploy networks, then it will only be cost effective for the country if the funds are used by telecom providers to build publicly available networks in communities that lack adequate broadband today.

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Santa Cruz County broadband policy initiative becomes a model for California

22 October 2013 by Steve Blum
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Santa Cruz innovation gains traction in California.

The effort to clear obstacles to better broadband infrastructure in Santa Cruz County was widely praised by local elected officials and telecoms company representatives from across California, at a two day conference in Sacramento last week, organised by the California Emerging Technology Fund and Valley Vision.

“It’s a very effective process”, said Marc Blakeman, an AT&T staff lobbyist who spoke to the eighty-plus people in attendance. As the roundtable discussion turned to local challenges in other parts of the state, elected leaders repeatedly cited Santa Cruz County’s broadband infrastructure policy as a model to follow.… More

Broadband incumbents and local leaders see similar broadband challenge in California

20 October 2013 by Steve Blum
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You have to bury the lie before you can bury fiber.

Hundreds of thousands of Californian homes do not have access to modern broadband service. Building infrastructure to reach them is a priority for industry, and local and state government. There was wide agreement on both points at a conference held in Sacramento that brought together elected officials and broadband professionals from every corner of California.

The event was organised by the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), with the assistance of Valley Vision, the lead organisation in the Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium.… More

Gigabuzz without the bits in Austin and Vegas

13 October 2013 by Steve Blum
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Not the first time the marketing department has promised the moon.

AT&T and CenturyLink are pumping up the gigabit marketing machine, without much in the way of network infrastructure to back it up.

CenturyLink says it’ll deliver a gigabit to select locations in Las Vegas this fall, without specifics on price or location. The press release does say that its previously announced fiber-to-the-premise service in Omaha will be offering service by the end of the month, but only to “targeted homes and business” customers.… More

AT&T says don't worry, it's just progressive education

16 September 2013 by Steve Blum
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It only gets worse from here.

The first violation letters under the Copyright Alert System have been sent out by AT&T, according to a post on the TorrentFreak blog. That’s apparently the first of the six strikes allowed under the program, which has been adopted by major telephone and cable companies, in collaboration with music and movie companies, to fight piracy.

You get strike each time a major ISP receives a complaint about you downloading pirated videos or music.… More

ZTE might get some developer love with cheap Firefox phone

17 August 2013 by Steve Blum
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Or it might be chasing its tail.

ZTE isn’t big in the U.S. Only the least of the four major mobile carriers – Sprint – offers a branded ZTE smart phone on its website and then just a single model. Its only distinguishing feature is the number of flaming negative reviews written by unhappy buyers.

With little to lose, ZTE is bypassing mobile carriers and going direct-to-geek by selling an unlocked $80 phone – the Open – running the new Firefox mobile operating system on eBay.… More

AT&T boosts Uverse speeds for some Californians

30 July 2013 by Steve Blum
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High potential for an earthquake. Broadband, not so much.

California and Nevada are the next stops on AT&T’s deployment of its pair-bonded VDSL2 Uverse upgrade. The company announced the roll out of 45 Mbps service here in a carefully worded press release, and also held out the eventual prospect of delivering up to 100 Mbps to homes and businesses via copper wires.

It’s part of a plan announced last fall to focus on upgrading “high potential” cities and neighborhoods to maximum speed levels that are on a par with what cable companies claim to provide.… More

Marginal communities losing wireline connectivity

5 July 2013 by Steve Blum
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It’s all fun and games until somebody cuts the cord.

“High potential” areas get fiber, low potential areas lose even copper connectivity. The latest evidence of that trend comes from Fire Island in New York. It’s a barrier island resort area just off the Long Island coast with about five hundred year-round residents and thousands of part-timers and visitors. It was whacked by hurricane Sandy last year, which, among things, swamped Verizon’s legacy wireline network.… More

Apple plays market leader again with Hotspot 2.0

13 June 2013 by Steve Blum
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Seamless offloading of cellular data traffic onto WiFi networks is a big step closer. Apple announced that version 7 of iOS and the next generation of iPhones will support the Hotspot 2.0 standard. The new capability should start appearing this fall.

The idea is to allow users to automatically authenticate on a WiFi hotspot blessed by their carrier when it’s available. Data traffic would then be routed via WiFi until the user moves out of range.… More