Tag: FTTx

Verizon Gets Slapped by New York City Mayor

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English: Verizon Building in New York City

English: Verizon Building in New York City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

by Daniel Cooper | @danielwcooper | June 19th 2015 At 11:00am

Way back when, Verizon pledged to build fiber optic services to every home in NYC, but for some reason, it never got around to finishing it. Unfortunately, New Yorkers are used to getting what they want, and so Mayor Bill de Blasio has slammed the company saying that it needs to sort out the problem, or else. The city has delivered Big Red a very public ultimatum: Either it brings its FiOS network to “every household” in the five boroughs, or it’ll face some heavy penalties.

The saga began back in 2008, when the city agreed that Verizon could operate a local cable TV franchise in exchange for a fiber optic network. The deal was that every person in NYC that wanted super-fast broadband would be able to get it by June 30th, 2014. Naturally, the overwhelming number of consumer complaints prompted the mayor’s office to conduct a full investigation into what the hell was happening. Continue reading

Dark fiber should fill residential broadband holes

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I am delighted to read articles like this even if they do not get every detail right. What the author is advocating is open-access fiber infrastructure not “dark fiber.” In a sense I’m mincing words because the two are essentially the same but the author is implying that the consumer could do something with that fiber when actually a service provider needs to add electronics to it so the customer could interface to the network. Also “dark fiber” alone does not guarantee low latency. It is the network elements that have a greater impact on latency. Still I am glad to see people talking about increasing residential competition instead of adding regulation to keep the status quo.

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With broadband speeds newly defined as starting at 25 Mbps, as opposed to the archaic 4 Mbps definition, what happens if you now no longer have residential broadband? And what do you do if, to add insult to injury, your ISP ups its prices? Continue reading

No Broadband Champagne Yet

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Blair’s opinion piece generally supports competition as opposed to more regulation as proposed by FCC Chairman Wheeler. While he has the facts to make a case that more regulation stifles innovation and cements the incumbents market position, he does not fully utilize them to make a strong case against Title II regulation. Instead he uses this opportunity to support municipal broadband and his Gig.U organization. Still I am delighted that re/code published is opinion article against more regulation because they have been a strong supporter of Title II regulation.

By Blair Levin, Executive Director, Gig.U

On Feb. 26, the Federal Communications Commission will vote to regulate broadband under Title II and challenge two state laws constraining municipal broadband deployment efforts. Progressives, longtime advocates of both actions, owe a huge “thanks” to Verizon. Its legal challenge to earlier, weaker FCC rules opened the door to the reclassification and a footnote in the court decision provided a path for the FCC to champion municipal broadband, a valuable lesson for all considering responding to adverse agency decisions. Continue reading

Is Charlotte The Next Google Fiber City?

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by Karl Bode
English: ImaginOn

English: ImaginOn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Google is of course considering whether or not to deliver Google Fiber to a possible 34 potential cities, of which only a few are likely to be chosen. Right before Christmas Google delayed the announcement of the next city (or cities), but stated they’d be announcing the next Google Fiber city early next year.

It’s possible that Google Fiber’s next stop will be in North Carolina. Continue reading

Sprint MVNO Ting sets foundation to deliver 1 Gbps FTTH service

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imgresTing, 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

First Day of Longmont Fiber Optic Sign-up Sees High Demand

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TCS Communications operator Alberto Lucio uses an underground drilling machine to install lines for Longmont’s NextLight fiber optic broadband

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

How Come My ISP Won’t Increase Internet Speed and Lower My Bill, Like They Do in Sweden?

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By Anders Bylund | More Articles | Save For Later
October 7, 2014 | Comments (5)

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