broadband access

Kansas City is Fiber-Ready!

Stevie Converse — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:34:55 -0500

Full article: Google Fiber Blog
Google has measured utility poles, studied maps and surveyed neighborhoods and come up with a comprehensive set of detailed engineering plans. Now the company is ready to lay fiber.

European Commission Claims 95 Percent of Citizens Have Broadband Access

Lindsy Embree — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 08:44:59 -0500

Full article: V3.co.uk
Dan Worth
The European Commission estimates that around 95 percent of European Union citizens now have basic broadband access, as the organization aims to achieve universal coverage by 2013.

Connect Minnesota Releases 2011 Residential Broadband Adoption Survey Results

Stevie Converse — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:59:10 -0400

Full article: Connect Minnesota
Connect Minnesota released new residential broadband adoption survey results revealing the top trends in technology use among key demographics in the state. According to the survey, approximately 28% of the population still does not subscribe to broadband. Most notably, the majority of low-income, senior, disabled adult, and Hispanic households are without broadband at home, leaving them facing an uphill battle in keeping up with essential online resources, job and educational opportunities, and social services.

Markets and Morality: The Slow Life in an Online Dead Zone

Stevie Converse — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:46:02 -0400

Full article: Boston Globe
Roland Merullo
The free market is basically a good system, but the profit motive is not a moral force. The unregulated free market has no more conscience than a balance sheet. That must be imposed by government, by our collective sense of decency, for the benefit of everyone. Nowhere is that more apparent than with broadband service. The government must intervene because the market isn't serving large portions of the population, while other countries are reaching more of their citizens through government-enabled initiatives.

Media Minutes: October 21, 2011

Candace Clement — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:31:03 -0400

A street protest outside News Corp.'s annual shareholders' meeting in Los Angeles is sending a message to Rupert Murdoch and his investors that "News Corp. Is Not Above the Law." And community members spoke eloquently at the Rural Broadband Summit about Appalachia’s need for high-speed broadband service.

Media Minutes: October 14, 2011

Candace Clement — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:40:01 -0400

A draconian state law has kept Longmont, Colo., from using its fiber optic broadband network to increase broadband competition and create business opportunities for residents. But the residents are undeterred and will try again to take the network public this November. And Mexico has quickly become one of the most dangerous places for journalists as it has failed to prosecute more than 90 percent of press-related crimes over the last decade.

Victories of People-Powered Lobbying

Stevie Converse — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 10:17:22 -0400

Full article: SavetheInternet.com
Candace Clement
Over the last two weeks, more than 80 Free Press activists from across the country have met with members of Congress and their staff to provide the public's perspective on a range of media issues -- including the AT&T–T-Mobile merger. In these visits policymakers heard not from lobbyists and lawyers but from people who are impacted by the decisions made in Washington.

Super Wi-Fi or White Spaces, What's Up with Unlicensed Broadband?

Stevie Converse — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:35:40 -0400

Full article: GigaOM
Stacey Higginbotham
The U.K. has laid out plans to use white spaces broadband. In the U.S., a combination of rules designed to keep those trying to use the spectrum for broadband from interfering with those trying to use the spectrum for TV or wireless microphones have made the deployment of services and building devices a time-consuming challenge. While the nation waits for white spaces, which first became available as a result of the digital TV transition that occurred in 2009, the stated use for those airwaves have changed.

Fairpoint Meets Vermont Deployment Promises

Stevie Converse — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:53:58 -0400

Full article: Broadband Reports
Karl Bode
Fairpoint Communications acquired Verizon's unwanted New England DSL network in 2008, then subsequently imploded under the not so watchful eye of New England regulators. Fairpoint's trying to make a comeback, recently exiting from bankruptcy and so far successfully adhering to merger conditions that require they deliver DSL to the majority of customers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. But the DSL is slow for its rather high price.

Verizon Confirms Wireless Data Pricing Shakeup

Stevie Converse — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 08:28:40 -0400

Full article: Broadband Reports
Karl Bode
Verizon has confirmed that they will be stopping unlimited data pricing on July 7. As of that date, all 3G or 4G smartphone owners will have just three data options available to them: $30 for 2GB of data, $50 for 5GB of data, and $80 for 10GB of data.