Category: News

News and other note worthy events

Records Shed Some Light On Google Fiber Project In Targeted Areas

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Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Fiber Project may not be an easy task to carry out. Records reveal why.

By: LARRY DARRELLPublished: May 6, 2015 at 5:18 am EST

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) said three months ago that it would be making an early deployment of its Google Fiber, an ultra-speed Internet service, in Raleigh and numerous other North Carolina municipalities. Recently, the tech giant put up quite an announcement with the governor and the mayor of Raleigh, regarding the company spreading out its fiber-optic cables throughout the developed city. This may seem easy to begin with, but it is certainly hard to implement both practically and legally.

Google Fiber is stated to provide speeds hundred times faster than any other basic broadband. Craig Settles, a telecommunications advisor, said: “We’re early enough into the game, where people are going to be paying a lot of attention,” adding, “People are still going to figure out, how are we going to do this? What will be the success factors in Raleigh?” Continue reading

CenturyLink expands gigabit Internet service to small businesses in Boulder, Fort Collins

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Downtown "Old Town" Fort Collins

Downtown “Old Town” Fort Collins (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An official for CenturyLink on Monday said that the company’s decision to begin offering 1-gigabit fiber-optic Internet speeds to a large chunk of businesses in Boulder and Fort Collins was not influenced by those cities’ ongoing exploration into creating their own municipal broadband utilities.

CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) began offering such service to small and medium-sized businesses in Denver and Colorado Springs last summer. Previously, only enterprise-sized businesses that could afford the added expense of having such service brought to their buildings, or large office buildings that provided CenturyLink with sufficient density for a positive return on investment, had access to such service from the company. Continue reading

Cox’s G1GABLAST reaches Arizona, California, Nebraska, and Nevada

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Competition is at work here. With more than 2 players in these markets, Cox is feeling the heat. This move is good for them and the consumer.

Cox Communications

Cox Communications (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lightwave Staff

Cox Communications reports that its residential gigabit Internet service G1GABLAST is now available in Phoenix, Omaha, Las Vegas, and Orange County, CA.

Cox will be battling gigabit competition in Phoenix from CenturyLink and potentially Google Fiber, and from CenturyLink in Omaha and Las Vegas. Continue reading

Need for speed: city utilities fight to offer internet

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Picture of Alcatel-Lucent OLT with fiber connected.

Cities frustrated with high prices and slow internet speed fight to build their own blazing fast fiber-optic networks.

This very detailed article is one of many examples that demonstrates competition benefits the consumers in price, choice, and customer service. No one argues that broadband services improve the lives and vitalities of those that it touches or that the incumbents are slow to improve and expand their services without competition. What is at question is whether a government owned service provider has any unfair advantages over private service providers? Does FiberNET benefit from their utility parent owning poles and right-of-ways? Do these advantages prevent other players from possibly competing against FiberNET? Should FiberNET’s facilities be open to all potential carriers?

There is no doubt that Morristown FiberNET is well run and delivering a quality product. They have over a 100 year history to build providing other utilities. I believe that the MUS should open up their fiber network to other potential service providers including the incumbents to spur even more competition that will benefit the city and its residents. Continue reading

How Connecticut Set Itself Up to be the First Gigabit State

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Connecticut is moving ahead with a statewide gigabit broadband initiative after resolving a surprisingly simple, but common, issue standing in the way of fiber deployment.

Connecticut needed this. Lately, the only noteworthy contribution my home state has made to the national news is Aaron Hernandez, an apparent psychopath who earned millions of dollars playing football while (allegedly) murdering anyone who looked at him the wrong way. Continue reading

Fiber Penetration Hits 42.5 Percent in U.S.

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Spinning Optical Fiber

Spinning Optical Fiber (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BOSTON, MA — Business fiber penetration of commercial buildings in the U.S. increased to 42.5 percent in 2014, according to latest research from Vertical Systems Group. This compares to a penetration rate of only 10.9 percent in 2004. These statistics measure fiber availability at company-owned and multi-tenant buildings with twenty or more employees, which covers more than two million individual business establishments.

“Accessibility to fiber-based business services in the U.S. nearly quadrupled between 2004 and 2014, with hundreds of thousands of sites newly fiber-connected during this time period. As a result of this growth, our fiber penetration benchmark now exceeds 40 percent for the first time,” said Rosemary Cochran, principal at Vertical Systems Group. “Looking forward, the high stakes endgame for network operators is to deepen and broaden their service infrastructures around fiber – the future of wireline.” Continue reading

Princeton to seek new broadband partner – News – telegram.com – Worcester, MA

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Union Station in Worcester, MA, USA.

Union Station in Worcester, MA, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PRINCETON — The Princeton Broadband Municipal Light Plant has terminated its contract negotiations with Matrix Design Group, ending a joint effort to establish high-speed Internet service for the town.

Selectmen in their roles as commissioners for the broadband light plant signed a memorandum of understanding in October with Matrix to negotiate toward an agreement to design, build, operate and maintain a fiber-optic network for high-speed Internet service. Town meeting approved borrowing $1.2 million for the make-ready work that needs to be done before the network installation. Continue reading