broadband

FCC Announces Public Hearing on “Broadband and the Digital Future”

The Federal Communications Commission today announced a public hearing to be held on Monday, July 21, 2008. It will be held at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The hearing is open to the public, and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

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InternetforEveryone.org is launched at PDF Forum

internetforeveryone.org At the Personal Democracy Forum this week FCC Commissioner Michael Adelstein announced the formation of InternetforEveryone.org – a new coalition to advocate universal Internet access in the United States. Headed by Free Press, the coalition involves many and varied organizations including the ACLU and Google. Individuals are also welcome to join.


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FCC requests comments on plan for free, censored broadband

We previously reported that the FCC plans to provide universal wireless broadband with content filtering. In a press release on Friday, June 20th they request comments on the plan to license access to the 2.1GHz Advanced Wireless Spectrum (AWS). The winning bidder must use 25% of the spectrum for free two-way broadband Internet service at a minimum rate of 768kps downstream. They must be able to provide the free service to 50% of the U.S in four years and at least 95% by the end of the 10-year license term. Continue reading

Supreme Court to review case of independent ISP vs. AT&T

US Supreme CourtThere’s been some discussion on the ISOC-NY discuss list as to whether a free market solution or government initiatives are best way to improve broadband access in the U.S. Part of that discussion is the question as to whether there actually has been an open and competitive market for broadband services.

A case where an independent ISP, Linkline Communications, alleged that AT&T charged excessive access fees that prevented them from competing in the broadband market will now be reviewed by the Supreme Court. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco had ruled against AT&T but the Bush Administration’s Office of U.S. Solicitor General sided with AT&T, maintaining that federal antitrust laws don’t cover the LinkLine claims. Continue reading

Why Tiered Broadband Is the Enemy of Innovation

Om Malik Om Malik, in a GigaOm article last week, suggests that, while newly introduced tiered broadband pricing schemes appear to be a pre-emptive strike on the future of video-on-demand, they will, by stifling new innovative applications – throwing the baby out with bathwater, as he puts it – ultimately become a self-inflicted wound for the network operators.
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Satellite based Internet for the developing world

Students from the Space Systems Engineering program at the University of Michigan have worked on designing a low-cost system for internet connectivity in developing countries. This presentation focuses on their proposed solution to delivering such capabilities to the rural populations of Africa. In addition, upcoming technologies are discussed that will impact similar missions in the future.

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AT&T: Internet to hit full capacity by 2010

AT@T logoA CNET article reports that, at a recent forum in London Jim Cicconi, VP of legislative affairs for AT&T, warned that the current systems that constitute the Internet will not be able to cope with the increasing amounts of video and user-generated content being uploaded.

“The surge in online content is at the center of the most dramatic changes affecting the Internet today,” he said. “In three years’ time, 20 typical households will generate more traffic than the entire Internet today.”

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