Tag: Internet service provider

NTS Communications Brings 1 Gig Service to Abilene

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A shot of downtown Amarillo, Texas, U.S.A.

A shot of downtown Amarillo, Texas, U.S.A. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ABILENE, Texas, Jan. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — NTS Communications, Inc.

NTS Communications, Inc. (“NTS”) today announced the launch of high speed Internet service up to 1 Gigabit in Abilene, TX. The service is delivered over a state-of-the-art pure fiber to the premise (FTTP) network. Effective immediately, local business customers in serviceable areas, including the downtown area, will have access to NTS’ Gigabit Fiber Network, which will provide speeds up to 1 Gbps (1,000Mbps).

Cyrus Driver, President & CEO of NTS stated, “We are very excited to continue the rollout of our Gigabit Internet speeds to Abilene, making it NTS’ next ‘Gigabit City’. Our Gigabit Fiber Network will provide the Abilene business community with a highly reliable technical infrastructure for many years to come. NTS’ Gigabit services are delivered over a pure fiber network and directly connect to our customers at their premise. This pure and powerful solution will not only provide highly desirable services to current businesses, but will position Abilene as an even more competitive location for new business and industries in Texas.” Continue reading

South Mississippi cities deserve better than government broadband

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Coastal map of the U.S. state of Mississippi, ...

Coastal map of the U.S. state of Mississippi, showing major towns and cities in the 3 coastal counties: Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson County. Also shown are Cat Island, West Ship Island, East Ship Island, Horn Island and Petit Bois Island.The locations of towns, roads and offshore islands are based on NOAA and NASA maps. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BY DAVID WILLIAMS

Mississippi will receive $1.5 billion as part of its settlement from the British Petroleum oil spill. A new plan proposes to use a significant portion of that settlement to build a government-owned broadband “fiber ring” connecting several South Mississippi cities including Biloxi, Gulfport and D’Iberville. Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich said the total cost of the network, which officials hope will eventually encompass 12 cities and three counties, could top $100 million.

While broadband service is an important tool for students, business owners, job seekers, public safety and health care professionals, spending the BP settlement money on a network owned and managed by the cities is a waste of public funds and puts taxpayers on the hook for future financial exposure. And it is hard to imagine that residents in Biloxi will tolerate the delays the Fiber Ring installation will cause in the current infrastructure projects on the Point. Continue reading

Small Massachusetts town will offer blazing 2 Gbps fiber Internet for US$40 a month

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English: a fiber-optic splitter: 2x(input, 90%...

A fiber-optic splitter: 2x(input, 90% out, 10%out) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jon Gold

Leverett, Mass., will improve its existing fiber-optic network by the start of the new year, boosting peak speeds from one gigabit to two gigabits, and dropping the price from $45 per month to $40, according to a report in the local Recorder newspaper.

A small town in central Massachusetts, just north of Amherst, Leverett has fewer than 2,000 residents, making it among the smallest in the country with its own municipal gigabit [sic] fiber network.

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Google Fiber Eyes Its Two Largest-Ever Targets: Los Angeles and Chicago

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Alphabet Inc. is making its biggest bet yet on spreading connectivity across the U.S., through its newly independent fiber business.

By ALISTAIR BARR

Alphabet Inc.GOOGL -0.93% is making its biggest bet yet on spreading connectivity across the U.S., through its newly independent fiber business.

Google Fiber, Alphabet’s fast Internet service, said Tuesdayit is planning to come to Los Angeles and Chicago, the second and third-largest U.S. cities by population, if they pass a long review.

“While we can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to bring Fiber to Chicago and L.A., this is a big step for these cities and their leaders,” Jill Szuchmacher, director of Google Fiber’s expansion efforts, wrote in a blog. “Expansion planning for a project of this size is a huge undertaking.” Continue reading

‘Needless experiment’: Cities weigh gov’t-backed broadband, critics see tax $$ at risk

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A push by cities across the country to get into the business of the Internet is raising concerns that local governments, with Washington’s blessing, are meddling where they are not needed — and wasting taxpayer dollars in the process.

The push was fueled earlier this year, when President Obama in January introduced a plan for municipal broadband projects which, according to the administration, would encourage “competition and choice” while offering a “level-playing field” for high-speed Internet access.  Continue reading

Something lacking in Georgia city’s plans for municipal broadband – Watchdog.org

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Stories about cities and local governments entering the broadband services without properly understanding the market dynamics are plentiful. Peachtree City’s naivety was shown in the initial steps of their due diligence yet they went ahead anyway. A cottage industry of consultants have popped up to scam taxpayer dollars to perform studies to tell cities what they want to hear, but they don’t accurately point out the dangers and risk associated with municipal broadband efforts.

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Claims of wide private-sector interest in signing up for the recently approved municipal broadband service in Peachtree City, Georgia, were exaggerated by the consultant hired to determine whether the proposal made financial sense, according to emails obtained by Watchdog.org.

The consultant, Allen Davis, owner of the Savannah-based Community Broadband, couldn’t have described the supposed need any more clearly when he spoke to city council members Sept. 17. Davis said he surveyed 76 business owners about the private Internet service they already had and “100 percent of the ones that responded to our request” said they would be interested in signing up for government-run broadband service. Based on those assurances, city officials voted unanimously to approve Davis’ plan at a cost of $3.2 million.

Emails exchanged among city council members and Davis paint a different picture.

According to a document attached to an email from city Finance Director Paul Salvatore to Davis, city officials reached out to 25 businesses in the city in April and May to gauge their interest. Twelve business owners expressed some degree of interest.

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Larimer County election: Loveland, Fort Collins broadband measures land big victories

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Fort Collins and Loveland voters overwhelmingly passed measures on Tuesday night that grant their cities the authority to provide municipal broadband Internet services to residents.

Final unofficial voting results in Larimer County, as of 1:11 a.m. Wednesday morning, showed Fort Collins voters passing measure 2B in favor of municipal broadband authority with more than 83 percent of the vote. Loveland’s similar measure 2C passed with just shy of 83 percent approval. Continue reading