Tag: Internet access

Minnesota Hooks Up 10 GB Fiber Network

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minnesota-hooks-up-10-gb-fiber-network[1]

By: MARTIN BLANC

While AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is worrying about net neutrality rules and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is delaying fiber expansion, the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is enjoying speeds of 10 Gbps (1 Gbps = 1024 Mbps). US households on average, on the other hand, only have access to speeds of 20.7 Mbps.

Provided by US Internet, the fiber to premises broadband service costs around $399 per month. While it would definitely put a dent in the subscriber’s pocket, it is great for small and medium scale businesses that depend on fast Internet access. Continue reading

The road to municipal Internet: Boulder benefits from Longmont’s journey

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English: Looking north from the intersection o...

English: Looking north from the intersection of Main St. and 3rd Ave. towards the 300 block of Main St. Longmont, Colorado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Governments do not tend to learn from their mistakes, they just cover them up with more money. Even detailed articles like these fail to ask the question whether government should be doing this or are there better ways of delivering broadband services.

By Karen Antonacci

Paul Radliff, of Longmont, had his home connected via fiber-optic cable to the city’s new high-speed Internet service earlier this month.

Under his old DSL service, he could download information at a speed of 20 megabits per second. Continue reading

U.S. Consumers Have Limited Options For High-Speed Web, Commerce Dept. Says

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US-DeptOfCommerce-Seal

US-DeptOfCommerce-Seal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I find it sad that so many people in this country are not aware of the 10th Amendment that prohibits the federal government from overriding state laws unless expressly stated in the Constitution. The report does outline the abysmal state of competition in the broadband market even though it blurs the line between wireless and wireline. 

Lest there was any doubt, competition among broadband providers remains lacking — at least at speeds of more than 10 Mbps.

That’s according to the Commerce Department, which this week released a new report regarding the state of broadband availability. Continue reading

Medina County Fiber Network’s growing pains end; revenues rise

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Medina County Fiber Network director David Corrado works out of the Medina County Economic Development Corporation's office at the county administration building in downtown Medina. Donna J. Miller, The Plain Dealer

Medina County Fiber Network director David Corrado works out of the Medina County Economic Development Corporation’s office at the county administration building in downtown Medina.
Donna J. Miller, The Plain Dealer

MEDINA, Ohio — The Medina County Fiber Network that carries cost-saving broadband services to businesses, government buildings and school districts is approaching a pivotal year in its development.

“With nationwide carriers bringing their Internet, voice and Internet-transmitted television services to the county, we are concentrating now on doubling the customer base from the current 50,” CEO David Corrado said. Continue reading

Plotting Next Steps Towards High Speed Municipal Broadband for Seattle’s Internet-Hungry Masses

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Remember when local comedian Brett Hamil fucking nailed it in a video-blog bemoaning his sluggish internet service? He’s back with a follow-up—still waiting, six months later, for Mayor Ed Murray to make up his mind about whether to pursue building a high-speed municipal broadband network in Seattle:

Continue reading

Why the U.S. Has Fallen Behind in Internet Speed and Affordability

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Not often will I agree with opinion from “The New York Times,” but in this case they are pretty close to getting it right. After you dig through the comparison to other cities and slamming of our communications service providers they get to the heart of the matter by saying that a duopoly is not competition and competition will lower prices and improve the quality of service. Note that I did not mention “speed.” 

here are structural differences that make the U.S. different from Asian and European countries such as our lower population density and more people living in single-family dwellings. These two facts dramatically increase the cost to build a network to where at best two providers can make a decent ROI. Why do you think that AT&T and Verizon keeps shedding their rural territories? Where we see competition, we see lower prices and better services. Another reason many of these countries have lower prices is that governments have subsidized building of these networks with taxpayer dollars easing the challenge of turning a profit to service providers. In many of these countries service providers use to be owned by the government so they still have a cozy relationship. Continue reading

Community group lobbying for fiber Internet investment in Baltimore

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This is an all too familiar tale of a city embarking on a broadband venture where only the consultants make money (Sorry friends). Residents of the city want to see competition but turn to the government. When that fails they start a grassroots effort. Unfortunately any grassroots campaign will not be enough to even fund a neighborhood. I wish this coalition the best of luck but they need to use their funds to get someone that can try a novel approach to engage a public/private partnership to drive broadband competition.

By Scott Dance,

Baltimore was among dozens of disappointed cities when Google announced it had picked Kansas City, Mo., for a high-speed fiber-optic data network in 2011, but officials vowed to continue fighting for fiber nonetheless.

Nearly four years later, some are disappointed by the lack of progress— and want to show that some of the fervor that wooed Google remains, waiting for new, affordable options for fast Internet service. Continue reading