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Posts Tagged “

Broadband

net neutrality

Dems Launch Net Neutrality Bill, GOP Says "Hands Off the Poor ISPs!"

Yesterday on Capitol Hill, two Democratic representatives introduced a House bill that would require broadband ISPs to "interconnect with the facilities of other network providers on a reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis." It also requires them to treat all content, applications and services as the same, with "equal opportunity to reach consumers," says an IDG story in the New York Times. Any ISPs who start messing around with packets could be subject to antitrust enforcement. Republicans weren't so happy with the bill. More »

net neutrality

Will Your ISP F You In the A? Bandwidth Hogs Beware

As the amount of bandwidth we devour has skyrocketed, so has ISPs' need to police our appetites, even as they offer more bandwidth to whet it. We talked to the biggest ISPs around to get their official positions on traffic management and content filtering to see what's in store for your pipes. Here's where you find out which ISPs may screw you, and which ones swear to Giz they won't. Update: We've got new responses from AT&T and Speakeasy. More »

internet

The Future of Broadband: We're Totally Screwed

As turtle-tastic as broadband is in the US compared to Asia, other than Time Warner's experiment to charge by the byte, at least consumption-based billing has mostly been a problem for Canadians. Until now. Justin from Bend, Oregon just sent us his ISP's new pricing plan, which makes Time Warner's look supremely generous: $55 a month buys you a measly 50GB running at a respectable 16Mbps downstream. If you run over, it's an extra $1.50 per GB. We hope Bend residents aren't huge fans of iTunes rentals—they'll chew through your allowance mighty quick. Welcome to what's shaping up to be the scary future of broadband in this country: It'll be faster, but it's either going to be filtered, slowed down or capped. [BendBroadband]

wimax

Is WiMax All Washed Up? An Open Letter

Dear Sprint and Intel,
I'm sorry to hear about your recent WiMax delays and struggles, I really am. The Xohm service was originally scheduled to launch this month, but all you've given us are a few prototypes and half-baked demos in controlled environments—the public has yet to see the technology truly in action. WiMax in general and Xohm in particular have the potential for greatness, but you guys seem to have lost your way. Here are all the signs that WiMax may be washed up: More »

at&t

AT&T to Use 700MHz Spectrum for High-Speed 4G LTE Network

The mandatory period of silence for 700MHz auction participants is over, so AT&T is revealing what's up their sleeve for the prem-o slice of spectrum on a conference call. AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said that it'll give them more flexibility and bandwidth to handle surging demand for mobile broadband now and later; better coverage (like in buildings, thanks to the spectrum's sweet properties); and an "easier path to 4G technology," that being LTE (which Verizon is also in on). They'll primarily be using 700MHz for their LTE network, and since it's GSM based, 4G devices will be able to work in 2G and 3G areas. More »

cellphones

Verizon Promises In-Home Cell Boosters This Year, But For How Much?

Femtocell, femtocell, femtocell. Get used to it, because it's a word you'll be hearing a lot of from now on. Yesterday, Verizon Wireless promised to offer broadband-connected mini cell towers (yep, femtocells) to customers in 2008. We're told that products such as the EV-Do model just introduced by Motorola and Airvana are intended for home use, not just in offices. There will be a cost of some kind for the hardware, possibly along the same lines as your monthly cable-box fee. The question is, how much more will you pay to get guaranteed cell voice and data reception in your home? [AP]

wimax

Sprint Xohm WiMax Test Drive: Just Like Cable

Sprint's got a bunch of devices huddled in a booth running off its Xohm WiMax network: some Nokia N810 tablets and a smattering of notebooks from different makers (like a Windows XP Asus Eee PC, but it was acting a bit wonky, so I had to move on to a more generic laptop). Basically, the internet experience is just like cable, except wireless—the buildout is aimed at 2-4Mbps downspeed bandwidth and about 1.5-2 up, which is exactly what I was pulling here, according to a stealthy speedtest.net check. More »

pcs

Cows, Farmer's Daughters Get $267 Million Broadband Boost

If your Internet surfing gets cut constantly because a cow kicked over a lantern and burned down the barn or worse-because you use DSL, help could be on the way. Denver-based Open Range Communications is hoping to eliminate rural DSL Internet surfing with a substantial $267 million loan it received from the Department of Agriculture. The loan is part of the USDA's Rural Development Broadband Loan and Loan Guarantee Program, and will provide broadband service in 518 rural areas in 17 states, including Illinois, Alabama, Arkansas and Wisconsin. This is great news and a long time coming for the rural communities of the US because, if anything, they've consistently shown a great thirst for knowledge, science and the unknown. [USDA via GigaOM] More »

in-flight

Gogo To Bring In-Flight Wi-Fi By Spring; We Can't Wait

We already knew that Virgin America and American Airlines were planning to bring in-flight wi-fi in 2008, but we seriously didn't expect it be ready by spring. Aircell has just launched its US in-flight wi-fi service called "gogo" and they claim it will be available in the first half of 2008. Virgin America and American Airlines have both signed on to use gogo but it looks like Virgin America is the only airline taking the service seriously. More »

speed

Researchers Transmit Optical Data at 16.4 Tbps Over 1,500 Miles

FiOS, you ain't got nothing on this: Alcatel-Lucent researchers in France have successfully transmitted optical data at an absolutely blazing speed of 16.4 Tbps over a distance of over 1,500 miles. More »

america's next top president

Super Tuesday Tech Special: Republican Edition

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, meaning that from among the three Republican candidates (four if you count good ol' Ron Paul), a Republican presidential candidate should emerge. Since we're most interested in how the candidates stand on technology matters, we've presented them below. Now, we're not going to pretend that this batch is super up to speed on all things tech. But for readers who will vote Republican, you should know which candidate has your best tech interest in mind. And if that's too boring for you, if each Republican candidate were a gadget, which one would he be? We made the calls—you tell us if we're right. More »

america's next top president

Super Tuesday Tech Special: Democratic Edition

The Super Tuesday primaries are tomorrow. If you're voting in a Democratic contest, the choice is down to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. If you still haven't decided who will get your vote, fear not, because we've broken down the candidates on the issues that matter most to us: their tech policies. If that's too serious for you, how about this? If each candidate were a gadget, which would they be and why? Tell us how close we got to being right. More »

fcc

FCC Chairman Kicking Cable and Wireless Ass in 2008

The initials F-C-C don't usually engender excitement, but at least according to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, it's ground zero for most of the broadcasting, wireless and high-bandwidth landline innovations we'll see in the next couple years. Martin spilled on everything from the 700MHz auction to a rumored DirecTV/Dish network merger. (Seriously.) They covered a lot of stuff, here's the Cliff's Notes: More »

godzilla bandwidth

100Mbps Cable Modem Certification Testing Starts; Showdown With Fiber Next Year

CableLabs has started testing and certifying the next generation of cable modems that use the DOCSIS 3.0 standard. In sorta English, we're talking boxes that'll handle 160Mbps download speeds and 120Mbps up, putting them on par with fiber optic services. The AZNs still have the jump on us, with customers in Korea and Singapore getting first crack at the fiber-like speeds in trials earlier this year. But, we should see cable companies rolling out the new hotness sometime next year. More »

roundup

Afternoon News: Broadband Gridlock, Palm's Black Friday, and Cheap HDTV

• Broadband gridlock caused by increased bandwith demand could force us to return to dialup by 2010. In other "news", the sky is falling and 9/11 was an inside job. [BBC]
• Palm TX for $199 ($100 off) and Tungsten E2 for $149 ($50 off) from now until 11/26. [Crave]
• Insignia 26" 720p Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD HDTV on sale at BestBuy.com for $380, a savings of $170, until tomorrow. It's a solid deal, but you should see how excited Doug Aamoth is about it. [Best Buy via CrunchGear]

broadband

Congress Tells Off FCC, Expects Full Count of Broadband Households

Turns out, the FCC defines an entire zip code as served by broadband when one single household receives one single 200-kilobit trickle. The US House of Representatives voted to change that. It seems, in order to see exactly how badly we're doing compared to the other post-industrial nations—do we rank 11th? or 15th? or 24th?—there needs to be a more accurate "broadband census." More »

politics

Obama Would Make Chief Technology Officer a Cabinet-Level Position

In preparation for his visit to Google headquarters today, presidential candidate Barack Obama released a nine-page statement outlining his plan to improve technology (if elected). His first order of business would be to appoint a Chief Technology Officer, a new government official who makes sure Obama's ideas are put into action. More »

fat pipes

Next Up for Verizon FiOS: Invading Manhattan, Japan-Like Uber-Bandwidth

You might have heard about Verizon's new 20/20 symmetric FiOS—a sweet 20Mbps upstream and down. But 20 ain't 100, and we're damn jealous of the Japanese, so we got on the phone and asked the guys managing Verizon's tubes what's around the bend. The scoop for city dwellers is that we can expect "not too distant" announcements about FiOS availability in Manhattan thanks to ultra-bendable Corning fiber ideal for labyrinthine build-out in apartment high-rises. So, what's the holdup on the Japan- style 100Mbps fiber optic love? Doesn't Verizon have the pipes to supply it? Here are the answers to those questions, and the most important of them all: When is it coming to your house? More »