A tangled thicket of Oregon tax rules might snare Google Fiber, and could have a big impact on whether that company opts to bring its hyperfast Internet service to the Portland area.
State lawmakers say they’re planning to address the tax issue during the legislative session that begins next month. It’s unclear if that would be soon enough for Google, which has said it could make a decision on serving Portland and its suburbs by the end of the year. Continue reading
So that Google Fiber thing? Is that happening?
Google Fiber is expected to announce by the end of the year whether it will begin offering its fiber optic internet service in the Atlanta market. Monday is Dec. 1. So, you know, you gonna hook it up or what, Google?
The company isn’t saying much. Continue reading
Ting, a Sprint (NYSE: S) mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) partner, is building its own 1 Gbps fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) by purchasing Charlottesville, Va.-based Blue Ridge InternetWorks (BRI).
Initially, the focus will be on bringing services to customers in the Charlottesville market. According to a Washington Post report, Ting will provide 1 Gbps service for about $100 a month, and expects to hook up around 12,000 homes in Charlottesville beginning in the first quarter of next year. Continue reading
I want to be an optimist about this effort, but I am afraid that it will turn out to be another of many conferences bureaucrats attend using taxpayer money. The contribution that broadband services makes to economies is well documented and understood so listening to highly paid consultants restate what they can read in a magazine or report is not a valuable use of time. Instead they should use this forum to openly share results and experiences in deploying broadband infrastructure. They should learn what business models work and what don’t work. This forum should present ways to stimulate new applications of services and promote competition of service providers. I hope that “Next Century Cities” is used as a constructive tool to share the knowledge of broadband infrastructure deployment and service provider competition and not as a way to grow government over the private sector.
There is a new organization in town and it’s quietly getting the attention it deserves.
Called “Next Century Cities,” it met last month with mayors and executives from 32 cities in Santa Monica, California to talk about the new economy, the critical importance of broadband infrastructure to economic wealth and well being and the vital role cities must play to succeed and survive in what is fast becoming a turbulent, knowledge driven world. Continue reading
TCS Communications operator Alberto Lucio uses an underground drilling machine to install lines for Longmont’s NextLight fiber optic broadband network on Monday in the Southmoor Park neighborhood. (Matthew Jonas / Longmont Times-Call)
As Longmont Power and Communications opened up NextLight municipal Internet to roughly 500 homes in Southmoor Park for the first time Monday, the phone wouldn’t stop ringing.
LPC customer service reps worked from 7 a.m. and through lunch answering questions from would-be first customers about billing and installation. Some administrative assistants also pitched in to handle the call volume. Continue reading
We Americans are getting addicted to our high-speed broadband connections. Unfortunately, they are often slower and more expensive than the Internet hook-ups you can grab in many other developed nations.
For example, my brother pays $40 a month for his 100-megabit broadband connection in Karlstad, Sweden. He can take his pick from 19 different service providers, all using a common last-mile infrastructure and competing on price and features. For $70 a month, he could upgrade to a full gigabit. Continue reading
Please read my accompanying blog article.
There has long been a heated debate over the merit of government-run broadband networks, of which there are currently over 100 operating in municipalities around the country. Proponents of government-owned broadband networks, such as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Tom Wheeler, claim they introduce competition into the market, while critics point them as an inappropriate use of tax dollars and an example of government improperly competing with the private sector.
The inherent problem with municipal broadband is that government entities are incapable of fairly competing in the free market, as they are taxpayer-backed and therefore able to charge less for a service than it actually costs. Private businesses cannot do this, as doing so would result in bankruptcy. Continue reading
