broadband – Page 119 – Steve Blum's Blog

East Bay broadband report cards due on Monday

27 January 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, cpuc, ebbc, public policy

To late for the dog to eat it.

Tellus Venture Associates will be presenting the initial results of an in-depth analysis of broadband availability in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties at the East Bay Broadband Consortium’s quarterly meeting in Oakland tomorrow.

The research looked at literally hundreds of thousands of broadband availability reports submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission by Internet service providers. The data was initially broken into three categories: residential, commercial and mobile service.… More

Collateral damage could kill hotspots

24 January 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, community networks, copyright, public policy, six strikes, verizon, WiFi

Toll barrier coming down on free range WiFi.

Free public WiFi access might be an unintended casualty of the imminent onslaught of the Copyright Alert System, otherwise known as the Six Strikes rule. I say “might” because I’m not completely sure that the damage will be unintentional. There’s no doubt there will be damage.

This joint effort by major U.S. ISPs and the recording and movie industry associations is a monitoring program that watches Internet traffic for illegal downloading activity.… More

Pricing policy might be the price for mobile spectrum

21 January 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, eschoo, fcc, mobile, public policy

Can they meet in the middle?

The gap between the consumer expectations created by broadband service providers and delivered performance is once again drawing attention in Washington. Mobile carriers are the ones in the crosshairs this time.

Silicon Valley congresswoman Anna Eschoo says she's going to take another try at passing legislation regulating what mobile carriers have to tell customers when they sign up for service plans. She's specifically targeting pricing, terms and conditions of service and network management techniques that can have an impact on the level of service that's actually delivered.… More

New Zealand mobile broadband still easy and affordable

20 January 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, mobile, new zealand, planet earth, vodafone

Lake Wanaka, New Zealand. Why spend time on the Internet?

I’ve been doing my annual check on New Zealand’s mobile telecoms, from a traveler’s perspective. Coverage appears to be much the same. Some prices have gone up and some down.

Vodafone and Telecom NZ both deliver 3G service pretty much everywhere I go, in both North and South Islands. I haven’t seen any change from last year in 2degrees’ coverage, which seems to focus on urban areas and not so much in the countryside, where I’ve been spending most of my time this trip.… More

The Internet faces the dark side of the Force

9 January 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, fcc, internet freedom, itu, public policy

International telecommunications diplomacy isn't a pretty business.

“It was a little bit like the Star Wars bar scene,” said FCC commissioner Robert McDowell, as he described his experience as a U.S. representative at last month's World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai.

He was part of a delegation that included private sector companies, like Google, as well as a boat load of diplomats and policy wonks. They were up against a solid wall of countries that wanted the International Telecommunications Union – a United Nations organization – to get into the business of regulating the Internet.… More

New CPUC map eases the burden on CASF applicants

5 January 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, community networks, cpuc, mobile broadband, public policy

CPUC’s mobile broadband field testing results show lower-than-claimed performance and significant gaps.

The latest California interactive broadband availability map is up, and it has some pleasant surprises. Working with Chico State University, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) scrapped the Flash based platform it launched on last year and rebuilt it using modern technology. Performance is blazing.

Not so fast, though, are mobile broadband speeds around the state. At least not as fast as the mobile carriers would have you believe.… More

Update: Brown signs SB1161, no new Californian regulations for Internet services

30 September 2012 by Steve Blum
att, broadband, community networks, cpuc, PGE, SB1161, wireless Internet, WISP

California governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1161, which prevents state agencies, particularly the California Public Utilities Commission, from extending regulations and oversight to “Internet Protocol enabled service”, including specifically VoIP, until at least 2020.

In his signing message, the governor said “this bill encourages the continued growth of these and other innovative services that have become a hallmark of our state.”

The language of the bill is broad, covering any service that “enables an end user to send or receive a communication in existing Internet Protocol format, or any successor Internet Protocol format through a broadband connection, regardless of whether the communication is voice, data, or video.”

… More

When she's good, she's very good; when she's bad, she's better

28 September 2012 by Steve Blum
att, broadband, community networks, cpuc, PGE, SB1161, wireless Internet, WISP

Governor Jerry Brown has until this Sunday, 30 September 2012, to approve or veto Senate Bill 1161, which would prohibit the California Public Utilities Commission or any other California state agency from regulating “Voice over Internet Protocol and Internet Protocol enabled services” until at least 2020.

The bill is controversial and the debate has been emotional. Advocates say it would clear the decks for continued high tech innovation in California, opponents say it would deregulate big cable and telephone companies and allow them to bully consumers and bury smaller competitors.

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Chattanooga fiber success punctures Gigabit hype

11 September 2012 by Steve Blum
broadband, fiber market study, ftth, municipal broadband

In Chattanooga, Tennessee, electric power is provided by EPB, a municipal utility company that is also in the fiber optic business. EPB claims that anyone in its 600 square mile footprint can get a 1 Gigabit connection to a home or business. The cost is $350 per month.

Word is that thirty four subscribers, out of about 150,000 passed, have opted for 1 Gig. There’s been a lot of handwringing about this supposedly low take rate, with a lot of criticism directed at the price.

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San Leandro beats Google's Kansas City broadband speeds

25 July 2012 by Steve Blum
broadband, business, commercial real estate, community networks, dark fiber, east bay broadband consortium, ebbc, economic development, fiber market study, finance, Google broadband, lit san leandro, san leandro

Press release from the City of San Leandro:

San Leandro, Not Google, Is Writing The Next Chapter Of The Internet

Source: Lit San Leandro

“As Google attempts to grab the headlines with its announcement tomorrow of a fiber initiative for Kansas City that will offer users connection speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, Mayor Stephen Cassidy of San Leandro announced that San Leandro is staking its claim as the fastest city in the nation.

… More