WASHINGTON July 30, 2010- The City of Chicago has won the latest Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant for $9 million. The money will be used to upgrade and expand public computing centers across the city. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2010 – San Francisco area public officials have announced that they would enter into a partnership with Motorola to construct a 700 MegaHerz LTE system – one of 21 in the country granted the right to do so by the FCC. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2010 – Best Buy’s new mobile broadband service provider, Best Buy Connect, will be adding 4G options to its customers. Keep Reading
ST. LOUIS, July 30, 2010 - The Wireless Internet Service Providers’ Association took the opportunity to address key issues of concern to its members at its summer meeting in St. Louis this month. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 30, 2010 –Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., in coordination with ranking member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., unveiled a new bill aimed at addressing America’s scarce supply of spectrum. The legislation, titled the “Voluntary Incentive Auctions Act,” would permit the FCC to conduct incentive-based spectrum auctions. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 29, 2010- In a bipartisan vote of 41-22; the House Financial Services Committee approved a bill which would allow for internet gambling, entitled the INTERNET GAMBLING REGULATION CONSUMER PROTECTION & ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2009 (H.R. 2267). Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 30, 2010 - In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission Democrat John Dingell said that the chairman should abandon his effort to reclassify broadband. In a response chairman Genachowski said that while he looks forward to working with Congress to a update the communications act key feels that these actions need to occur quickly and cannot wait for Congress to complete its deliberation. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 29, 2010- With a vote of 308- 114 the House has approved a supplemental appropriations, HR 4899, which eliminates previous amendments that would have rescinded broadband funding. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 29, 2010- The National Business Center an office within the Department of the Interior is seeking a study of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2010 – Speaking in a webcast by the Broadband Policy Series this afternoon, David Williams of Citizens Against Public Waste said that there “wouldn’t be any circumstances in which government should step in” where community broadband is concerned. According to Williams, even when local governments step in, there tends to be a centralizing process by which one locality wants the same services as another locality, thus evolving the process to a Federal level. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2010 – Sen. Al Franken says that he believes “net neutrality is the First Amendment issue of our time, and the merger of Comcast and NBC is an enormous concern. ”If no one stops the Comcast and NBC merger, Franken asked: “How long do you think it will take before four or five mega corporations affectively control the flow of the information in America not only on television but online?” Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 29, 2010- Consumer research firm Validas has just released data from a recent consumer survey which shows that on average Verizon Smartphone users consume more data than AT&T iPhone users. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2010 – In an effort to promote consumer welfare the Federal Communications Commission has launched a new web site entitled the Consumer Help Center. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2010 –Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, speaking to the annual Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO) convention in Seattle yesterday, told his audience that he agreed with bipartisan critics of the Universal Fund as being “broken.” “As the math of the overall Universal Service Fund gets worse each year, the importance of broadband to rural America gets greater,” Genachowski said. “There is a clear need to reform USF – not to end it, but to reorient USF to directly support broadband all over America. “ Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2010 – Following an investigation of Google’s unauthorized Wi-Fi data collection, UK data protection authorities announced that the telecom giant had not done real damage. Keep Reading
By all accounts, online piracy of software, movies, and music is on the upswing and becoming ever more sophisticated, but that doesn’t daunt Steven Tepp. Tepp has just joined the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC as its first senior director for internet piracy and counterfeiting. His job will be to lead the Chamber’s efforts to battle the phenomena on behalf of its members. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 28, 2010 – Ookla Net Metrics has made internet performance statistics available for countries, states, and localities available through its Net Index website. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 28, 2010 – This Monday, the architects of Vermont’s experimental rural fiber network, the East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network, announced that financing for the project was “well under way.” Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 28, 2010 – Experts gathered at the behest of the Federal Communications Commission and Food and Drug Administration to give the investor and research and development perspective at the agencies’ public meeting on enabling the convergence of communications and medical systems. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 28, 2010 – Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation are worried about unclear consumer online privacy policies and the negative effects of targeted advertising. Representatives from Apple, Facebook, Google, The Cato Institute, AT&T, and the Annenberg School for Communication overviewed their current privacy policies and tools, and outlined the future of their privacy controls. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 28, 2010 – The Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission have formed a task force to deal with online privacy concerns facing American consumers. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 28, 2010 –Speaking at a conference on cybersecurity hosted by the Department of Commerce yesterday, one expert argued that when it comes to cybersecurity threats, “we don’t need a new strategy.” The speaker, Philip Reitinger of the Department for Homeland Security, made the observation in the introduction to his remarks on how combating cybersecurity might be accomplished in the current climate. Keep Reading
A new report due out this week from the US Chamber of Commerce says that China's continued efforts to boost its domestic technology prowess at the expense of US technology companies will trigger "contentious trade disputes and inflamed political rhetoric on both sides," according to a Tuesday story in the Wall Street Journal. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 27, 2010- Ericsson will work with Radius Infratel to setup the nation’s largest FTTH network. The network will bring service to 600,000 households with speeds of 100Mpbs down. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 27, 2010 - Gabon will be holding a 3G auction. Bids have a deadline of September 30th. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 27, 2010 - In an effort to expand its broadband connectivity the African nation of Algeria will hold a 4G license auction next year. Currently the nation only has three mobile providers; Qtel, Wataniya Telecom Algeria, Orascom Telecom Algeria, and the state owned Algerie Telecom Mobile. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 27, 2010- AT&T has announced that they will be upgrading the capacity of their undersea cable, APCN2, to Asia. Currently the cable has a capacity of 10 GB/s and will be upgraded to 40 GB/s. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON July 27, 2010 - Akamai has just released data from its annual State of the Internet Report and the US is falling behind. South Korea has the fastest average maximum speed of 33Mbps, followed by Japan with 26Mbps, Romania with 25Mbos, the US ranks 8th with a speed of 16mbps. Keep Reading
SAN FRANCISCO, July 26, 2010 - iPhone owners can now add applications not approved by Apple, but whether Apple will support jailbroken iPhones is another story. Keep Reading
SAN FRANCISCO, July 26, 2010 - The US Copyright Office on Monday addressed many of the longstanding criticisms of a digital-era copyright law when it granted all of the exemptions to the law (under certain circumstances) requested by a flagship digital rights group. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2010 - A panel of industry representatives from companies manufacturing new broadband-capable medical tools said they were looking for ways to have these technologies integrated into the current medical systems. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2010 – Americans were among the largest group of people visiting South Africa during the World Cup soccer match played in June, according to mobile phone data from Aicent. More than 60 percent of Aicent’s data traffic came from customers of GSM operators in the United States, said Aicent, a provider of data network, messaging and roaming services for mobile operators. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2010 – To plug it in and keep it beating, these two agencies must keep on meeting was the general theme of a panel discussion Monday convened by the Federal Communications Commission and Food and Drug Administration to address the current state of wireless health, and the lessons learned in those fields. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2010 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg signed a statement of principles on wireless healthcare at a joint FCC/FDA meeting on wireless medical technology. Keep Reading
LONDON, July 26, 2010 - With the world moving toward cloud computing where services and data are delivered over broadband networks, many experts are concerned that countries are setting minimum bandwidth limits too low for future participation in the global economy. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2010 – According to Chinese industry association China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the number of internet users in China will increase to 420 million by the end of 2010. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 26, 2010 – According to a study released last week by Strategy Analytics, the United States ranks 23rd in its development of broadband infrastructure. It places one spot beneath the United Kingdom, which recently pushed back its goal of universal access to 2015 citing funding concerns, with smaller countries such as Lithuania and Singapore ranking several spots above it. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2010 – Yesterday, Qwest internet announced its intention to create a new brand of internet service called “heavy duty” internet, so named for its fast speed. The program’s advertising campaign declares it to be a “new kind of internet that doesn’t cut out while streaming your favorite movie, or during an all-out gaming marathon.” Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2010- Chevron gas and convenience stores will be getting an edge on their competition by offering new broadband services. Hughes Network Systems will be the provider for Chevron’s secure managed broadband systems, which will include connection capabilities for DSL, cable, satellite, and 3G at Chevron stores. Hughes will also be managing the system, so store owners will have venues for technical support and installation. Hughes will also manage Chevron’s point-of-sale connection for credit card transactions, where they will be able to reduce security risks and credit card number theft. The higher bandwidth that Hughes has will make it possible for Chevron store owners to streamline video surveillance, temperature monitoring, and inventory scanners. Customers will also be able to utilize stores’ WiFi and ATMs. Keep Reading
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2010- H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, will require online gaming sites to purchase licenses and subscribe to existing gambling laws. In a hearing this week the main stakeholders voiced their concerns. Keep Reading