Print this page
You are here: Home » News » DSL Reports

DSL Reports dot com

From: DSLreports - front page

Source: http://www.dslreports.com

The largest broadband users community on the web

Friday Evening Links -

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:00:41 EDT


Broadband Bill Meetings In Full Swing; Little Progress Expected Toward Consensus multichannel.com
We're watching more TV online, relying on mobile devices and ditching land lines: CRTC report vancouversun.com
NYC Subway to Get Wi-Fi and Cell Service, We Look In To Buying Bikes switched.com
Roadmap to Broadband Britain released computerweekly.com
U.S. regulators weighing responses to Huawei's entrance fiercewireless.com
MS preps emergency patch for Windows shortcut peril theregister.co.uk
Ballmer: killing the iPad is a "job one urgency" electronista.com
'Suspicious' Android wallpaper app nabs user data; up to 4 million downloads theregister.co.uk
Kindle Wi-Fi: Has Amazon won the e-reader war? csmonitor.com
read comment(s)


Weekend Open Thread - Speak your mind

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:03:09 EDT


The weekend has arrived, so talk amongst yourselves in the comment section below.
read comment(s)


AT&T 3G Will Power The New Nissan LEAF - From in-car media to remote battery level monitoring

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:00:39 EDT


Despite those ever-present AT&T complaints of wireless network congestion, the company (well, all wireless carriers) are continually looking for new ways to connect people their 3G networks -- be they e-readers or electric cars. AT&T has announced that they've struck a deal with Nissan to bring HSDPA 3G connectivity to the new electric Nissan Leaf. The 3G connectivity not only allows users to access in-car media, but it's closely tied to the car's recharging systems, informing you of the nearest recharging stations and allowing users to monitor their battery levels remotely. Given Nissan plans to sell the LEAF worldwide, they chose AT&T because of their support of the GSM standard.
read comment(s)


Best Buy To Sell Rebranded Clearwire Service - Best Buy Connect brand to expand from 3G to 4G in 2011

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:14:00 EDT


In its first partnership extending beyond wholesale agreements with major cable companies like Time Warner Cable and Comcast, Clearwire has announced they're now allowing Best Buy to rent space on the Clearwire network so they can also sell their own 4G services. Earlier this month we noted how Best Buy had already struck a deal with Sprint to resell wireless phone and EVDO service under the "Best Buy Connect" brand. According to the Best Buy and Clearwire announcement, the actual 4G service won't be available at Best Buy until 2011. Best Buy pricing is fairly standard -- though Best Buy hopes to make their offers compelling by offering subsidized netbook and other hardware deals to subscribers.
read comment(s)


Dish To File Complaint Over Comcast Philly Sports Blockade - Companies kick new FCC procedures into high gear

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:23:27 EDT


Last January the FCC issued an order (pdf) designed to put an end to cable operators preventing competitors from accessing local sports channels owned by the cable company. Last month those rules went into effect, and Dish, DirecTV, Verizon and AT&T have kicked the complaint process into high gear as they try to get access to Cablevision's MSG HD in New York, and Comcast's SportsNet Philadelphia. Dish today announced they were filing their complaint over Comcast with the FCC, claiming the cable operator refused to negotiate access to the channel in "good faith." Judging from some inside information, negotiations for access don't appear to be moving anywhere very quickly.
read comment(s)


Cox: People Just LOVE Their TiVo Tuning Adapters - People: well, not so much...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:40:03 EDT


Most cable operators are deploying switched digital video (SDV) technology, which frees up bandwidth on cable systems by delivering fewer channels to the cable-box, keeping the rest waiting at the edge router. In current cable systems, all channels are consistently made available to the set-top, using up valuable bandwidth even if your TV is off. Unfortunately, the new two-way SDV technology prohibits one way CableCARDs from working, so TivO and the cable industry cooked up a free adapter so users could continue to use their TiVOs.

We've seen mixed user experiences with the devices. Many users simply don't want another gadget surrounding their TV, and many have had reliability and interoperability issues. TiVO of course doesn't think an extra box is a very elegant solution, and has been pushing the FCC to free up cable's grip on the set top box ecosystem by mandating more open, Internet-connected platforms.

Of course if you ask the cable industry, these tuners are working just fine. Cox tells the FCC that consumers actually really love the devices:

Cox Communications Inc. recently met with the FCC to punctuate the cable position, offering a listing of testimonials from MSO customers that illustrated their experiences with tuning adapter installations. According to the handout, the quotes were from TiVo surveys conducted around the launch of tuning adapters in the Cox Orange County and North Virginia systems. Not surprisingly, none of the evidence shared offered a negative reaction. Some of the testimonials come off as downright giddy.
Comments to the cable industry's blog by actual consumers would seem to disagree. Can any of our users share their thoughts on whether they've had good experiences with these adapters (like the Cisco STA1520, above right)?
read comment(s)


Netflix Streaming Costs Primarily Licensing, Not Bandwidth - Hollywood cashes in on Netflix success

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:25:12 EDT


As CNET explores, Netflix has been doing rather well financially -- which resulted in Hollywood very quickly begging them for more money. Hollywood has also gotten Netflix to do things like delaying new releases for thirty days under the misguided impression that this is somehow going to help save physical DVD sales. As NewTeeVee notes, Netflix spent $66 million in the second quarter of 2010 on licenses for streaming titles, compared with just $9 million one year earlier. That's substantially more than they pay for bandwidth:

But despite a huge increase in the amount of video streams it's serving up through Watch Instantly, Netflix's streaming costs haven't increased proportionally. In the second quarter, the company said costs associated with delivery over third-party CDN networks only increased by $1 million versus the previous quarter. Netflix is benefiting from bandwidth costs continuing to fall exponentially as it grows its streaming business.
So far, predictions by Internet video nay sayers like Mark Cuban that Netflix's model isn't sustainable don't appear accurate. Netflix has eaten these Hollywood licensing costs without raising subscriber rates, though of course things could get more difficult for Netflix once cable TV providers (say ones that also own content empires) realize that streaming Netflix functionality embedded in every piece of hardware could pose a long-term threat.
read comment(s)


Panasonic Stops Selling Tru2Way TV Sets - Latest effort to kill the cable box doing about as well as the last few...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:58:48 EDT


Back in January of 2008, the cable industry announced Tru2way, a re-imagining of OCAP technology that was intended to integrate set-top box functionality into TVs and other devices. Users would be able to use these devices with any cable operator, eliminating the need for the set top box. That same year a huge deal was made about Sony joining the consortium and all of this "killing off the cable box," though Panasonic wound up being the only company to offer the new HDTV sets. Fast forward two years later, and Panasonic is has decided to stop selling Tru2Way televisions:

"We currently have no tru2way products at retail and there are no announced release dates for Panasonic tru2way retail products at this time," Panasonic said in a statement. However, Panasonic hasn't abandoned tru2way altogether. Jeff Cove, Panasonic's vice president of technology and alliances, said the company has products in the works, including a standalone "set-back" tru2way adapter for TVs, though he declined to provide pricing or availability info. "We decided that the most scalable way to approach tru2way was on the set-back box," he said.
So the death of the cable box will require -- a cable box? Tru2Way is still being used by cable operators within their own TV platforms, but companies like TiVO have long complained the technology doesn't work for them due to "costly and strict license agreements."
read comment(s)


Frday Morning Links -

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:39:21 EDT


An Order of Seven Global Cyber-Guardians Now Hold Keys to the Internet popsci.com
How long will AT&T's competitors resist tiered pricing plans? fiercebroadbandwireless.com
HomePlug Alliance jacks up powerline home networking businesswire.com
Australia to force users to have broadband connection techeye.net
Satellite broadband touted as digital divide clincher (again) v3.co.uk
Talk Talk and Vodafone tie up on mobile broadband theinquirer.net
Cox Business makes Security Suite available to web subscribers cbronline.com
RIM will release a Blackpad theinquirer.net
read comment(s)


Thursday Evening Links -

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:36:22 EDT


What is Sprint's trump card? fiercewireless.com
White House Seeks Easier FBI Access To Internet Records, Blocks Oversight Attempt... Just As FBI Caught Cheating On Exam To Stop Abuse techdirt.com
Clearwire adds Best Buy as 4G wholesale partner fiercewireless.com
San Francisco Bay Area Selects Motorola for the Nation's First Public Safety 700 MHz LTE Broadband Network redorbit.com
Ofcom Faces Backlash For Broadband Criticism eweekeurope.co.uk
Sprint set to release 3G-enabling "case" for iPod touch arstechnica.com
Amazon Launches $139 Wi-Fi-Only Kindle informationweek.com
1 Billion Global Broadband Subs by 2015 Reports Strategy Analytics tmcnet.com
read comment(s)


Vermont Is Wiring Itself With Fiber Because Nobody Else Will - East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network moving forward...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:24:42 EDT


Vermont already wasn't exactly a great state for broadband, given the largely rural state is a ROI nightmare for large ISP bean counters. Their broadband fortunes were recently made substantially worse by Fairpoint Communications, who acquired Verizon's unwanted New England DSL network, then subsequently imploded under the not so watchful eye of Vermont regulators. Vermont's been tired of waiting for uninterested ISPs to wire them so they're working hard at wiring themselves.

The result is the East Central Vermont Community Fiber Network, which tells the Burlington Free Press that the 22-town telecommunications network is "well under way," complete with mysterious financiers. We've covered this network effort before, noting how it's the brain child of a gentleman named Tim Nulty, who has repeatedly declared that running fiber to rural areas, if done right, is perfectly economical. This network (which will offer just broadband and phone service but not TV, for obvious economic reasons) is his opportunity to prove it:

Project Director Tim Nulty said the pilot would "prove our concept" of creating a high-speed Internet network for rural Vermonters, at no risk to taxpayers. Nulty has projected profitability for the network in its fifth year of operation, if 49 percent of the households in the 22 towns subscribe. . . He declined to identify the source of the funding for the project, but said the $75 million network is no longer in the running for a stimulus loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "We have some private investment," he said. "We will raise some additional funds."
Regardless of where you fall on the ages-old municipal broadband debate, Vermont has been an interesting broadband state to watch, from Fairpoint's collapse and efforts to prevent these kinds of community efforts from succeeding, to the fact that a Google executive is running for Vermont Governor with broadband as one of his primary campaign platforms.
read comment(s)


UK Finds That Google Wi-Fi Snooping Yielded Little - No 'meaningful details' gathered from Street View sniffing

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:02:42 EDT


Google recently found themselves under fire from privacy regulators in multiple countries for the company's admission that they had been collecting Wi-Fi user data from unsecured hotspots using Street View vehicles. Google initially stated they only collected publicly available SSID and MAC Address data -- then later acknowledged that they were collecting snippets of actual transmitted data -- though Google insisted they did so accidentally. However, a UK review has found no real privacy harm was done:

The ICO said in a statement: "On the basis of the samples we saw, we are satisfied so far that it is unlikely that Google will have captured significant amounts of personal data." It added: "There is also no evidence - as yet - that the data captured by Google has caused or could cause any individual detriment." Despite this, Google was "wrong" to gather the information, said the ICO.
The UK's findings are in line with Google's admission that the equipment used changed channels roughly five times a second while the vehicle was moving.

In other words, while Google did intend to collect publicly available SSID and MAC information, most of the live Wi-Fi user data collected (from unsecured hotspots only) was largely useless. Google has admitted error and apologized for their screw up, though the company still faces inquiries in multiple countries and in the United States.
read comment(s)