APRIL 14, 2010 — Hundreds of small independent telecoms, broadband service providers, municipalities, and cable television companies have brought gigabit-enabled, FTTH-based services to a total of more than 1.4 million North American homes — about a quarter of all fiber to the home connections on the continent — according to a report released by the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council. Even more service providers plan to join the trend, the study also reveals. (Download the report)
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Category: News
News and other note worthy events
Telcos Still Pretending Google Gets “Free Ride”
from the repeating-something-relentlessly-does-not-make-it-true dept
Back in 2005, former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre (now the head of GM) boldly proclaimed that Google was getting a “free ride” on his company’s “pipes,” and that they should be charged an additional toll (you know, just because). As we’ve discussed several times now, Whitacre’s argument made absolutely no sense, given that Google not only pays plenty for bandwidth (as do AT&T’s customers), but the company owns billions in international and oceanic fiber runs, data centers and network infrastructure. Despite making no sense, this idea that Google was some kind of free ride parasite quickly became the cornerstone of the telco argument against network neutrality. In response,Techdirt has suggested that telco spokespeople should pay for Google’s bandwidth bill for a month if it’s so low — with no takers.
Unleashing American Broadband
By ERIC SCHMIDT AND IVAN SEIDENBERG
Innovation in technology and business is one of America’s major comparative advantages in the global information economy. That’s why the Federal Communication Commission’s recently released National Broadband Plan deserves attention.