Main: Internet: Broadbandreports:
 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |  |
Where 25 Dot-Com Leaders Wound Up - And what's going on with EarthLink's Helio
CNET has a fun article this week taking a look back at twenty five leading dot-com websites and where they wound up over the years. Many of these names, including CNET itself, are still popular today although they look a lot different than they did when they first launched. Others, such as Excite@Home (the significant merger of Excite.com with broadband infrastructure builder AtHome) have simply disappeared. The list is interesting and the reading is worth reviewing. However some of the statements should be read with a cautious eye. For example, the article calls EarthLink s Helio a popular MVNO that helped the company branch out. However the truth is that Helio has been a significant and ongoing source of loss for EarthLink. In fact, Helio s CEO has just been replaced in the hopes that a new leader can resolve its problems. ]]>
Broadband National Geographic - Users are going to online video so cable channels will as well
As any fan of National Geographic knows, the world is a dog-eat-dog place. In order to compete with other channels, the National Geographic Channel is banking on broadband users interest in seeing their video footage on the Internet. They have launched a broadband video website with over 1500 clips from their archives. This site will be adding clips, as well as longer episodes, on a weekly basis. The site is currently divided into six subdivisions and plans to add four more annually in order to keep up with the video competition that is driving people away from cable TV and towards the Internet.]]>
Bell CA Quick To Resolve Customer Satisfaction Problems - Of course, it wouldn't matter if their customer service department was open
There has been discussion in our forums this weekend about Bell Canada s customer service. An issue arose for Member Spartacus who wanted to reach customer service yesterday; the site s website said that they are open on Saturdays but their phone number turned up a closed message. Frustrated, this member decided to go right to the top and email Kevin Crull, Bell Canada s President of Residential Services. Crull s office immediately confirmed that there was a problem and a representative called this member to resolve the issue promptly. This combination of frustrating problems combined with a commitment to problem-solving seems in line with the company s history of mixed reviews.]]>
Macbook Air Sets Stage For Generation of Smaller Computers - But its flaws continue to cause mixed reviews
Despite reports of numerous problems with the Macbook Air, sales were high when the new notebook was released this week; it sold out of stock within minutes of hitting San Francisco shelves. As was to be expected, reviews were mixed with some people loving the ultrathin computer and others irritated by the aforementioned problems. However, the general consensus seems to be that despite flaws, it does break new ground for a forthcoming generation of smaller laptops. This seems to hold true with announcements that Intel will be marketing the chip designed for the Macbook Air to PC makers interested in creating their own smaller notebooks. Readers in our forums have pointed out that misconceptions about the true purpose of the Macbook Air could be what s led to the disappointment of some people.read comment(s)]]>
Vista SP1 May Be Available Tomorrow - Microsoft hasn't confirmed but reports seem confident
Windows Vista users have been waiting for months for the release of the first service pack which will hopefully improve their computer experience. They shouldn t have to wait much longer as the rumor is that it will be released tomorrow. What can be expected? Microsoft has said on numerous occasions that Vista SP 1 won't include a raft of new features, but will instead focus on fortifying the security, performance, and reliability of the OS. Microsoft hasn t confirmed whether this is the final version of Vista SP1, saying only that they ll be releasing that version within the first quarter of this year. They ve also refused to comment on rumors that this week will also see the launch of Windows Server 2008, the first major update to their server software in over five years. ]]>
Verizon Gains Ground in VA Deregulation Issue - State Corporation Commission caves on certain competition issues
Verizon has been pushing for deregulation along the eastern seaboard, claiming that the area is now competitive and they should be allowed to raise rates. The FCC denied these requests in the past but Verizon is now gaining some ground in Virginia. The State Corporation Commission agreed to modify a December decision on the telephone deregulation issue and agreed that there is more competition in the area than previously thought. In addition to phone service competition, they agreed that certain VoIP service could be considered competitive to Verizon in the business sector. However, they have still denied Verizon s request to extend this deregulation to residential services as they believe there remains limited competition in this area. They also denied Verizon s request to consider cable companies that don t provide phone services as competitive to them and further denied that wireless companies pose competition to Verizon s landline service.]]>
BitTorrent Trend Suggests ISPs Need to Improve Networks - The ultimate alternative to BitTorrent throttling
An article over at TorrentFreak this week took a look at the alternatives that ISPs can consider to deal with their BitTorrent problem . The article cites a number of different suggestions that would be more customer-friendly than the currently popular ISP practice of throttling. However, the ultimate suggestion is that ISPs need to get used to the idea that BitTorrents are the future and must upgrade their networks accordingly. The Internet is only a few years old, if the plan is to keep using it in the future, ISPs need to upgrade their networks. So, invest in more Internet gateway capacity, 10Gbps interconnect ports, and peering agreements. BitTorrent users are not the problem, they only signal that the ISPs need to upgrade their capacity, because customers will only get more demanding in the future. The Internet is not only about sending email, and browsing on text based websites anymore. There are pros and cons to all of the alternatives to BitTorrent throttling. However, even the negative ones seem to be more acceptable to most BitTorrent users than the current practices that are in place.read comment(s)]]>
Comcast Customers Want HD Super Bowl - Tempers flare as people head online to enhance their viewing experience
Many Super Bowl fans are heading to the Internet tomorrow to enhance their viewing experience. They will get updated game stories and stats. Many will also exchange messages with other fans about the progress of the game. Some of those messages might be gripes from Comcast customers who wish that they could view the game in the digital high-resolution HDTV format that FOX has been advertising all over the place. Those who won't get to do that can blame it on the ongoing battle between the owners of FOX channels and Comcast. The battle is the result of FOX seeking higher fees from Comcast to let their customers view the HDTV channel; Comcast hasn t worked out a deal so the signal remains blocked. Each side blames the other for the lack of resolution to the problem. Customers who were already upset by the issue are aggravated that the problem is affecting Super Bowl weekend.read comment(s)]]>
Cablevision Charges Excessive Fee For Phone Number Transfers - And then blames other phone companies for the problem
Consumer Reports was concerned to find out that customers switching to Cablevision s Optimum Voice VoIP telephone service can t keep their old phone numbers without being charged an excessive $40 fee. They did some research to find out what was behind the charge and learned something interesting. Cablevision representatives told the researchers on more than one occasion that the fee is to compensate for charges from the old telephone service for switching over the number. In this case, they blamed Verizon. Verizon insists that they never charge other companies a fee for transferring the phone number. Another Cablevision spokesperson said that the fee is caused by the processing costs associated with transferring a number. Further research found that most other companies aren t charging new customers to keep their old phone numbers; those that do are charging less than half of the fee that Cablevision requires. Perhaps this is where the company s high profits are coming from.read comment(s)]]>
Insight Customers Concerned About Comcast Transition - Email switch marks the start of their issues
Comcast recently took control of Midwest networks owned by Insight. Comcast planned for the transition to be gradual on the customer s end. One of the early phases of that transition is a switch in email addresses to the Comcast address. The date for the switch hasn t been announced yet but residents anticipating the problem are not pleased. Some didn t realize that it would happen and others have gone through email transitions before and don t want to have to do it again. Over in our forums, there s been ongoing discussion about making the transition.read comment(s)]]>
Spectrum Auction: $18 Billion and Beyond - B-block gets all of the attention while D-block remains ignored
Bidding at the FCC spectrum auction exceeded the FCC s $10 billion goal earlier this week. Although bidding has started to slow down, the total amount of bids surpassed $18 billion yesterday before the auction closed for the weekend. The bulk of that bidding is for the A-block and B-block sections of the spectrum, with B-block (covering Chicago) getting the most attention. Bidding for the C-block has come to a halt since meeting its reserve price a few days ago. D-block continues to get zero attention; 25 rounds of bidding have passed without any bids and this public safety portion of the spectrum remains at a bid well below half of the minimum price required for a sale.read comment(s)]]>
AT&T To Raise DSL Prices - Just because it can
Coming on the heels of an outage in AT&T's 3G and Edge network that affected many Midwestern states, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that the telco will be tacking on an additional $5 a month for its DSL service: Most customers with AT&T's high-speed DSL Internet service will be charged an additional $5 a month, the company said Friday. The increase affects DSL plans, each with a different connection speed, that now have monthly charges of about $15, $20 and $25. Apparently, customers paying for the highest-speed elite plan will not see an increase nor will those who have long-term contracts. Additionally, people who don't now have DSL can still sign up for service at $10 a month if they order online from AT&T's Web site. That price was a concession required by government authorities to approve AT&T's takeover of BellSouth last year. AT&T is claiming in a statement that popularity of video and music downloads as well as photo sharing and online gaming are behind the increase, citing the 'billions of dollars AT&T invests each year to stay ahead of these trends' plus the current 'market conditions'. However, DSLprime.com's Dave Burstein points out that 'Total cost to the company for the bandwidth it delivers is about $1 a month per customer. AT&T is raising its rates because it can. It has the market power to do so. Increased costs aren't the reason. In December AT&T hiked the price of its dial-up Internet connections by $6 for existing customers. It also set a price of nearly $23 a month for new dial-up customers in a bid to nudge dial-up customers to take up DSL.read comment(s)]]>
Friday Open Thread - Empty your head here
It's Friday; empty your thoughts into the comment section below.read comment(s)]]>
Grumblings All Around About AT&T - But 10Mbps U-verse starts today
AT&T is irking people all around with problems in different areas of its service. Yesterday s outage was one source of irritation for 3G and EDGE customers who weren t able to get online for much of the day. A more ongoing problem for some customers is the inexplicable reduction in size of pictures sent by MMS; some of those messages aren t going through at all. And making headlines this week is a complaint filed by the Alliance for Community Media which attacks AT&T for providing sub-par service to public, educational and government (PEG) channels. AT&T did please many customers recently with the announcement that they re going to be offering a 10Mbps/1.5Mbps U-Verse tier for $55 a month when bundled with U-verse TV. The start date for that service was set for today and people are beginning to place orders. ]]>
FCC Focused on Rural Broadband - Website and workshops for 2008
The FCC plans for 2008 to be a year that s focused on rural broadband development. To that end, they have combined efforts with the USDA to launch a new website entirely devoted to acting as a resource for information about rural broadband opportunities. The site provides an overview of broadband services, information about broadband funding and news about broadband initiatives and FCC proceedings. The FCC has also announced plans to hold four rural broadband workshops throughout the year to assist communities in finding solutions to meeting their broadband needs.]]>
Security Industry Issues Last Minute Analog Shutdown Reminder - Wireless systems could be affected in less than three weeks
We re less than three weeks away from the date when analog cell phones will be turned off. Although most people with analog phones are aware of the problem, it s the users of other wireless systems who could be affected. The media made a big push at the end of 2007 to warn On Star users that they could find their systems affected by the transition. The Security Industry Association (SIA) has now issued a last-minute press release reminding homeowners with alarm systems that there s a chance their homes will be insecure after the transition is made. It s noted that most alarm systems won t have this problem but SIA wants people to know that some might be impacted.read comment(s)]]>
The Cost of Cable's Addiction to Speed - Advertising faster speeds and then capping use makes no sense
An article over at Light Reading takes a look at the way that cable companies have become addicted to offering increasingly faster speeds which they can t manage and then using caps to limit those speeds. Time Warner and Comcast are the two MSOs highlighted in the article and the analogy used to describe the ridiculousness of their actions is that of a buffet: An MSO talking 100 Mbit/s out of one side of its mouth and usage caps out the other is like a bi-polar buffet restaurateur. They continue adding more entrees to an all-you-can-eat spread, and then reduce the size of the plates and tell diners they only have 10 minutes to chow. It's a recipe for dissatisfaction. The buffet looks bigger and tastier so the patron's hunger grows and then they are asked to practice portion control. Although there are some good points made in the article, there are also some controversial opinions. For one, the author suggests that those users who are bogging down the system by using excessive bandwidth should be refused service. And for another, the claim is made that cable subscribers don t really care about speed; they care about service quality which is only partially composed of fast speeds. The ultimate suggestion is to slow down the race to offer the fastest speeds and to improve overall performance instead. However, since it's fast speeds that get the attention of new subscribers and boost the bottom line for the business, it s unlikely that this approach is going to be taken.read comment(s)]]>
Bay Area Demonstrates Successful Public Transit Wi-Fi - WiFi Rail patents its multi-terrain system
WiFi Rail, a company which specializes in the development of wireless systems for public transit, has been working with the San Francisco Bay Area on the installation of a multi-terrain W-Fi network. The installation and testing on that system are complete and have been successful. Tests on moving trains -- at over 65mph -- have demonstrated upload/download speeds over 15 Mbps. Testing has included streaming live video from onboard train cameras while simultaneously watching five Internet video feeds, video conferencing, VoIP phone calls, and downloading multi-meg files. This particular system runs across underground stations and aboveground tracks as well as through interconnecting tubes. However, it points to the possibility of extending wireless networks across multiple public transportation environments ranging from freeways to ferry systems. As such, WiFi Rail is currently working on patenting its system.]]>
NTIA Says Bush Has Met Broadband Goals - Findings based on flawed data
At the end of 2007, the acting administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) stated that she believed that President Bush s goal to achieve universal broadband had been met. That statement was met with serious opposition. But that hasn t deterred NTIA releasing its report claiming that the country has made many achievements related to this goal. Today s report shows the nation s broadband success story. The President s policies have made a significant impact on the availability and affordability of broadband in the United States, said U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez. The broadband policies put in place by the President have created a competitive environment to foster innovation and provide effective technologies, services and cost-effective solutions to revolutionize health care delivery, education, society and the economy. The measurements used to promote the meeting of that goal remain in question as they are based on FCC findings that use biased data. On the other side of the world, Japan claims to have already rolled out 100 Mbps fiber to eighty five percent of its homes.read comment(s)]]>
Skype Spam On The Rise - Lack of customer service hinders solutions
Skype has faced a series of complaints from users over the past year and predictions for its future have been glum. The situation has only gotten worse as Skype spam has been on the rise. Suggestions last year that Skype form a Do Not Spam list went ignored; in fact, the site s user database is a source for people looking for lists of folks to spam. Skype calls from Russian sex sites and Chinese marketing teams have been flooding the system. Skype's customer service is notoriously lacking so there s little that an individual can do about the problem besides block one user at a time as the calls come in. As other VoIP systems become more prevalent, a shift away from Skype seems likely. read comment(s)]]>
| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
