broadband

News

• Groups launch gigabit-per-second broadband project

  An Ohio startup company has raised US$200 million to fund gigabit-per-second broadband projects in six university communities across the U.S., the company announced Wednesday.

• VoIP provider files net neutrality complaint with FCC

  A Florida VoIP carrier has filed a net neutrality complaint against a Georgia utility and broadband provider, after the utility accused the VoIP firm of theft of service for using its network to deliver voice service without paying for it.

• Education group: Schools need 100 Mbps per 1,000 broadband users

  Schools in the U.S. will need broadband speeds of 100 Mbps per 1,000 students and staff members by the 2014-15 school year in order to meet a growing demand for Web-based instruction and a skyrocketing number of student-owned Web devices, according to a new report by a trade group representing state education agencies.

• Alcatel-Lucent offers managed service to improve mobile network performance

  Mobile operators that want help keeping their subscribers happy can get it through a new managed service from Alcatel-Lucent, the company said on Monday.

• Optus and NSW Dep. of Education sign $15m contract to improve satellite services

  Optus will enhance its satellite services to improve services to students in remote areas in a five-year contract worth an estimated $15 million.

• Ericsson lets operators speed up mobile, fixed networks using caching

  Using caching technology from Akamai Technologies, Ericsson's Smart Cloud Accelerator, announced Wednesday, is designed to allow operators to improve performance in both fixed and mobile networks.

• Groups protest Verizon's proposed special access rate hikes

  Members of the NoChokepoints Coalition will ask the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to stop Verizon Communications from raising the rates for middle-mile broadband connections that many businesses rely on.

• Senator questions whether Comcast is following NBC merger conditions

  A U.S. senator has urged the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to investigate whether Comcast is violating conditions imposed in its early 2011 merger with NBCUniversal.

• Who needs Google Fiber? Orono, Maine, getting 1Gbps broadband network

  Small-town Maine may be known best for its lobster and as the setting for several Stephen King books, but soon it could become known for its high-speed fiber network as well.

• Public Knowledge asks providers for details about data caps

  Mobile and wired broadband providers should disclose detailed information about data caps, and the U.S. regulators should "vigilantly monitor" so-called usage-based pricing for abuses, digital rights group Public Knowledge said in a white paper released Monday.

• Vodafone offers $1.68 billion for Cable & Wireless Worldwide

  Vodafone has offered to acquire Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CWW) for £1.04 billion (US$1.68 billion), as it aims to strengthen its enterprise offerings and network holdings, the company said Monday.

• Study: Entrepreneurs can save big money with broadband service

  Solo entrepreneurs can save more than $US16,000 in their first year by using broadband-based services such as printing and logo design instead of traditional vendors, according to a new study.

• Honeywell and Inmarsat to improve in-flight connectivity

  Honeywell and Inmarsat have signed a deal to cooperate on next-generation in-flight connectivity systems that will increase the maximum bandwidth to 50M bps (bits per second), they said on Wednesday.

• Chorus draws down on broadband fund

  Chorus, the fibre network company spun out of Telecom, has made its first draw-down on the government's ultra-fast broadband funding to build high-speed internet links in Auckland.

• Verizon to stop offering standalone DSL

  Verizon Communications next month will stop offering so-called "naked DSL" -- high-speed Internet without landline phone service -- in a move that flies in the face of the trend of consumers ditching their home phones for mobile handsets.