Mayor’s panel to consider Baltimore’s fiber options

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By Gus G. Sentementes, The Baltimore Sun

Two months ago, city officials and business leaders were giddy with the notion that Baltimore maybe — just maybe — could lure Google Inc. to build a next-generation fiber-optic network for blazing-fast Internet service.

On Wednesday, a larger group of city boosters wrestled with a more sobering possibility: What if Google doesn’t choose Baltimore? More than 1,100 communities across the United States are vying for Google’s Fiber for Communities pilot project. And Google isn’t expected to announce a winner until the end of the year.

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China Telecom plans massive FTTH rollout: CommsUpdate : TeleGeography Research

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Xinhua News Agency is reporting that China Telecom plans to install a fibre-optic network with capacity for 18 million lines this year, and expects to launch 100Mbps services in key cities. The telco expects to be able to offer 70% of users in towns and cities speeds of at least 12Mbps before the end of this year. The same source says China Mobile has also decided to step up the construction of fixed line broadband infrastructure and deploy six million lines this year.

Congress rebukes FCC on Net neutrality rules

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The bickering begins over who has control to regulate something that isn’t broken yet.  All three branches of government are now involved to solve a problem that has yet to be a concern.  Why don’t we wait until there is a problem before we create more regulation and most likely destroy a growth engine in our economy.

The Federal Communications Commission’s plan to impose Net neutrality regulations just became much more difficult to pull off.

A bipartisan group of politicians on Monday told FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, in no uncertain terms, to abandon his plans to impose controversial new rules on broadband providers until the U.S. Congress changes the law.

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Inside Google’s Ultra-High-Speed Plans

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How The Online Giant’s Fiber Project Could Change The Future Of Internet Access

As the scrutiny intensifies over the United States’ inability to keep up with the broadband efforts of other countries, a potential savior has emerged. With its upcoming Fiber For Communities project, Google will deliver Internet connections of more than 1Gbps to one or more trial communities, in turn spawning hope across the rest of the country that ultra-fast broadband could soon be a reality for almost everyone.

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Scream 2 (The Broadband Sequel) Now Playing At The FCC?

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By Art Brodsky on May 20, 2010 – 4:16pm

This is a familiar time of year for TV fans.  It’s the end of the season for original programs and the start of summer reruns for many. Some shows are better the second time around, but some lose their punch, or should, if you see them again and again.

For the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), this summer’s big rerun is being brought to you by AT&T, which first broadcast its blockbuster “shock and awe” show last fall.  Now AT&T is doing it again.  While the FCC may have been spooked by this exercise in intimidation the first time around, there’s no excuse for the Commission panicking, screaming, or getting weak in the knees again.
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Baltimore for high-speed fiber — even if it’s not Google’s

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The folks who organized Baltimore’s application for the Google Fiber for Communities project (where the city is vying with more than 1,000 other communities for a high-speed broadband project from the search giant) are moving the ball further by organizing a symposium next month on the topic of high speed broadband fiber in the city.

The thinking is that Baltimore should want to try to build out its fiber-optic broadband network for its citizens, even if Google doesn’t choose us. So how do we as a city get there? That’s what this symposium will be all about, I gather.

Here’s the link for full details — cost is $25 to attend.

Maybe I’ll see you there?

Verizon considers licensing LTE spectrum to rural carriers

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Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) is in discussions with a number of rural wireless carriers to license them its 700 MHZ LTE spectrum, in a bid to expand the reach of its LTE network.

Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam made the disclosure in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. The deals, which have not yet been finalized, would grant the carriers access to spectrum that Verizon paid close to $10 billion for in 2008 via the FCC’s 700 MHz auction.

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