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Most Countries Unready for Future Broadband Needs

September 15, 2008 9:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A group of MBA students has developed a Broadband Quality Score for 42 countries and found that the only country with enough bandwidth capacity to meet its needs in the next three to five years is Japan. Ars Technica reports that the score includes upload and download speeds and other measures. The United States, the study found, has slightly more capacity than it needs right now, but not enough to handle future demands, which will include visual networking, high-density streaming, consumer telepresence, and large file sharing.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: Ars Technica, broadband, Japan

Beyond Wi-Fi - Making the U.S. More Competitive on Broadband

September 8, 2008 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Mark Stencel, Governing.com

For many local governments, the Wi-Fi gold rush ended last November. That's when Internet service provider Earthlink announced that "significant further investments" in its municipal wireless business did not make sense for its shareholders.

Earthlink's news was no surprise. Earlier, the Atlanta-based company had announced big layoffs and vague plans for reorganizing its municipal broadband group. Since Earthlink was the leading corporate player in the field, its troubles did not bode well for community wireless initiatives, some of which were abruptly put on hold.

Tags: broadband, Earthlink, Governing.com, Mark Stencel, wi-fi

Continue reading Beyond Wi-Fi - Making the U.S. More Competitive on Broadband.

U.S. High-Speed Internet Not All That Speedy

August 15, 2008 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The U.S. is lagging behind other countries in providing broadband Internet access to its citizens, a report from the Communications Workers of America has found. According to Information Week, the CWA report showed that the median download speed in the U.S. is 2.35 megabits per second, compared to 63.6 Mbps in Japan. Of the 50 states, Rhode Island has the fastest connections at a median of 6.8 Mbps, while Alaska is slowest, at only 0.8 Mbps.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: broadband, Communications Workers of America, Information Week

FCC Proposing Broadband for Everyone

August 6, 2008 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Federal Communications Commission wants to bring high-speed Internet access to the 40 percent of American homes that lack it. Business Week tells us that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants to provide government incentives for private companies to provide more broadband service. He wants to auction off wireless spectrum and have the winning bidder commit to bringing at least minimal broadband service to 95 percent of the country within 10 years.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: broadband, Business Week, FCC

Huge Physics Project Leads to Super-Speed Network

July 17, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today's Internet capacity will seem incredibly limited in a decade or two, but some of the steps needed to increase bandwidth are being previewed in a large-scale physics project in Switzerland. As CNET News reports, CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, has built an ultra-high-speed network so scientists can share massive amounts of data collected from the world's largest particle accelerator, scheduled to go online next month. The people who built the network are learning how to handle data moving at speeds about 1000 times as fast as the average home broadband connection.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: bandwidth, broadband, CERN, CNET News, physics, Switzerland

Everyone Needs a Gigabit by 2015

June 27, 2008 9:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The government must take steps to push the availability of broadband Internet access if the U.S. is to remain competitive, a telecom law firm is recommending. The Baller Herbst Law Group, in a report to a North Carolina agency, calls for 100 megabits per second of affordable access for all Americans by 2012, with 1 gigabit per second service three years later, Ars Technica reports. Like electrification, it will require government action to ensure poorer and more rural areas get service, the report says.

posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Tags: Ars Technica, Baller Herbst Law Group, broadband