Okay, this news below is fine … but what we need is for our “Unlimited” data plan to MEAN “Unlimited” … we should not be punished, as customers, for using one device type or another, one signal or another. The current offering from all the cellular carriers are arbitrarily partitioned off in ways that make no sense whatsoever. Get over it, carriers, you are ALL JUST PLUMBERS. Now, plumbers make a pretty damned good living, but they also are only there to KEEP THE PIPES OPEN.

It doesn’t matter what we connect to the pipes (phone, computer, pda, camera) or how we connect it (WiFi, 3G, LTE, WiMAX) … it’s all JUST BITS and your job is just to keep the bits moving.

Your whole “premium pricing” racket was dead in 1990. You’ve done a great job of mostly faking out the market for the past 20 years; but now the jig is up. We all know that 100Mbps SYMMETRIC is $11.00/mo. in peer nations.

Go ahead and throttle us all down to Unlimited Symmetric 100Mbps, anywhere, everywhere, all the time for a marked up U.S. $49/mo. and step your prices up from there to the Unlimited Symmetric 1Gbps service. That’s your business, and your networks aren’t ready for it. Now get to it.

AT&T Sees Surge in Wi-Fi Connections

Usage Boosted By Increase in Broadband Customer Base, Growth of Wi-Fi Enabled Devices

DALLAS, April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — AT&T*, the U.S. Wi-Fi leader with nearly 20,000 domestic hotspots, today reported dramatic growth in the number of Wi-Fi users and connections. AT&T Wi-Fi connections totaled 10.5 million in the first quarter of 2009 – more than triple the 3.4 million connections in the first quarter of 2008, and more than half AT&T’s 20 million total Wi-Fi connections for all of 2008. The usage surge was driven by growth in AT&T’s wired and wireless broadband customer base, the proliferation of Wi-Fi enabled devices and the transition of Starbucks locations to AT&T’s Wi-Fi footprint.
AT&T broadband connections – including wireline and wireless LaptopConnect cards – grew by 471,000 in the first quarter to reach 16.7 million in service. AT&T provides Wi-Fi access at no extra charge with qualifying AT&T high speed Internet plans, 3G LaptopConnect plans and select smartphone plans.
The number and type of Wi-Fi enabled devices continues to grow. In January, Sony introduced the world’s first Wi-Fi enabled digital camera with a built-in web browser and complimentary access to AT&T’s Wi-Fi network. AT&T is also offering wirelessly embedded mini laptops – the Acer Aspire One, Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Mini 12, and LG Xenia — in select AT&T store trial promotions in Atlanta and Philadelphia. More than 4 million connections at AT&T’s U.S. Hot Spots in the first quarter were made with smartphones, including the iPhone 3G. AT&T is a leading provider of Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, including the BlackBerry(R) Bold(R).
In the first quarter, Wayport Inc. – which AT&T acquired in December 2008 – began operating as AT&T Wi-Fi Services. Wayport’s footprint included hotspot locations in retail, hospitality and healthcare venues**.
“Our customers are showing us that they value both speed and mobility in their broadband connections,” said Angie Wiskocil, senior vice president – AT&T Wi-Fi Services. “As the leading U.S. provider of wired broadband services, with the fastest 3G network and the largest Wi-Fi network, AT&T can deliver a better experience for our customers where they live and work.”
AT&T’s Wi-Fi network complements its wired broadband and wireless 3G networks with Wi-Fi connectivity in nearly 20,000 hotspots in the U.S. – including retail stores, restaurants and airports from coast-to-coast – and access to more than 80,000 global hotspots through our roaming agreements. Network availability, speed and the expanding list of devices help drive data usage.
A full list of AT&T Wi-Fi locations is available at www.attwifi.com.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
**For ease of comparison, Wayport’s hotspot numbers are included in the 2008 numbers mentioned in this release.
Largest Wi-Fi network claim based on non-municipal company and owned and operated hotspots. An 802.11 b/g enabled device required.

Every day, we’re closer to Ethernet Everywhere:

The MediaFlex 7000 series is the first carrier-class 802.11n multimedia system designed to reliably distribute High Definition (HD) IP-based video (IPTV) over Wi-Fi. A complete solution for video-grade wireless networking, the MediaFlex system consists of the Ruckus MediaFlex 7811 multimedia access point (AP) and the Ruckus MediaFlex 7111 multimedia Wi-Fi adapter. With these two fully-loaded products, consumers can now enjoy multimedia content anywhere in their homes, all without wires.

Second generation, Wave 2-ready device improves performance while reducing service provider network investments and support costs

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., Feb. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Building on its well-established lead as the premier supplier of WiMAX infrastructure and CPE products to network operators around the world, Motorola, Inc., (NYSE:MOT) today introduced the Motorola wi4 WiMAX CPEo 450. This new outdoor CPE has integrated VoIP for simplicity, reliability and enhanced transmit and receive capabilities for extended range and increased throughput. The CPEo 450 will be on display at Motorola’s stand (Hall 8, A159) during Mobile World Congress 2009.

Built from the ground up for hassle-free installations, the CPEo 450 incorporates design features that minimize the time, effort and cost of bringing broadband and voice service to new subscriber locations. The outdoor WiMAX CPE integrates VoIP functionality directly into the unit – a unique feature that eliminates the need for multiple boxes, providing a reliable, compact and cost-effective solution. Other features that improve total cost of ownership for operators include integrated pole mounting brackets for convenience in installation, visual signal quality indicators for reliable device orientation, and a new high-performance antenna and radio design for interference mitigation and increased service coverage.

The Motorola wi4 WiMAX CPEo 450 is WiMAX Forum(R) Wave 2 ready and will be commercially available for shipments beginning in Q2 2009 for the 3.5 GHz band with support for 5, 7, and 10 MHz channel bandwidths.

“The CPEo 450 offers best-in-class performance with both voice and data capabilities in a compact outdoor form factor that is easy to install and reduces support costs,” said Charles Riggle, senior director of strategy and business development, WiMAX devices, Motorola Home & Networks Mobility. “Motorola’s CPEo 450 demonstrates once again that a superior performing CPE provides greater wireless coverage, increased throughput and network capacity, and higher service availability. These attributes translate into lower capex and operating cost for carriers, a faster ROI, lower churn and greater customer satisfaction.”

The CPEo 450 consists of an outdoor subscriber unit with integrated antennas and an indoor power adaptor incorporating an RJ45 Ethernet port and two RJ11 voice ports. All network configuration parameters come pre-loaded. When turned on, the network will automatically detect the CPEo 450 and perform all necessary authentication processes, allowing subscribers to immediately begin using voice and data services.

The CPEo 450, with highly sensitive receivers and cross-polarized antennas, achieves higher throughput further from an access point potentially reducing network infrastructure costs for operators. Motorola’s unique advanced power management design enhances system performance in outdoor installations typically used by remote and small enterprise customers where optimized speed and range are essential.

Motorola, a global leader in mobile WiMAX, has 25 contracts for commercial WiMAX systems with customers in 20 countries and has shipped more than 6,600 3-sector and 4-sector access points and hundreds of thousands of CPEs and USB broadband modems. Motorola’s WiMAX business for contract deployments, trials and other customer engagements covers 49 countries worldwide.

For more information on Motorola’s WiMAX solutions, please visit: http://www.motorola.com/wimax

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Cognizant Transmutaion » National Shame: Swaths of Non-Rural US without Broadband; Time for Re-Divestiture

I live in Saratoga, CA, part of “High Tech” Silicon Valley. And my neighborhood STILL does NOT have ANY broadband services. None! (I don’t count unreliable wireless with less than 1Mbps for more than $100/month a viable consumer broadband offering).

Worldwide [broadband] speed tests don’t even have the US in the top 10.

I’m ashamed to admit, I just don’t think I’d have the energy to do it all over again.

Another from the DUH Files … the REALITY is that infrastructure has been inadequate for the PAST FIVE YEARS, given that MARKET demand is for P2P capacity at the edge.

Internet access infrastructure, specifically in North America, will likely cease to be adequate for supporting demand within the next 3 to 5 years. They estimate the financial investment required by access providers to bridge the gap between demand and capacity ranges from $42 billion to $55 billion, or roughly 60%-70% more than service providers currently plan to invest.Internet modeling exercises have typically concentrated on demand and neglected capacity (or vice versa). Moreover, traffic demand and growth measurements almost inevitably assess traffic that’s already on the network, for the very logical reason that it’s much easier to capture aggregated traffic statistics from devices in the core, rather than monitoring devices at the edges attempting to inject traffic into the network to see how well they succeed.

While this approach can provide useful predictions of the ways in which loads evolve over time, it does not really give any insight into the ways in which lack of capacity degrades service, or actively limits demand. Moreover, it provides virtually no insight into how demand is generated, thus missing one of the most critical pieces of the demand/capacity equation. Since one of the hypotheses Nemertes wanted to explore was the possibility that capacity might be limiting demand either at present or in the future, they needed an approach that allowed them to do so.

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ — Asoka USA, a leading Homeplug(R) powerline network solutions provider, today announced Prairie Grove Telephone Company (PG Telco) has chosen Asoka products for its home and office broadband networking offering. PG Telco will now put PlugLink 9650 Ethernet Adapters on every installation truck to allow easy installation, quick connectivity and broad network reach for high-speed Internet.

The PlugLink 9650 offers speeds up to 85 Mbps with bandwidth to support data, audio, media-rich presentations, photos, and VoIP. PlugLink uses a home or business’s existing electrical wiring as the network medium, so customers are delivered a consistent and secure network solution with minimal installation hassle and no extra cabling. In addition, PlugLink 9650 is designed to not interfere with other home or office devices and features advanced automatic error detection and correction technologies for reliable connectivity.

Imagine that … “Ethernet-based services to further bolster social and economic development …”

PARIS, December 11/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced the signature of a turnkey contract for a 4,900 km submarine cable network with The East Africa Marine System Ltd (TEAMS Ltd.) consortium – including the Government of Kenya and Etisalat (Emirates Telecom Corporation) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The TEAMS network will connect the port city of Mombasa in Kenya with the port of Fujairah in the UAE offering the required optical connectivity to bring broadband to all users and positioning Kenya as a new communication hub. Network installation is scheduled by the end of the first quarter 2009.

Designed with an ultimate capacity of 640 Gbit/s, the TEAMS submarine cable network will dramatically increase the regional communication capabilities and support new high-quality broadband services, such as free Internet for schools, and Ethernet-based services to further bolster social and economic development.

Basically, here’s what the experts on Sand Hill told us as they sent us packing while writing blank checks to the likes of Pets.com and @Home network: “There’s no foreseeable use for ALL THAT BANDWIDTH. Besides, what would people ever do with ALL THAT BANDWIDTH? Yeah, there’s a huge GLUT OF BANDWIDTH so we won’t build the networks that are able to handle the next five to seven years of growth, despite this rare and brief Telecom Policy Window that would enable us to win the biggest prize of all.” So here we are in 2007, precisely as promised from 1999-2001. This was totally avoidable AND could have been MONETIZED on a scale that would make GOOG look like VG.

[Can] broadband deliver a sustainable HD experience, or will the bandwidth problems from the now insatiable demand for video cause the Internet to seize up, leaving consumers dissatisfied and the nascent internet video industry struggling to win acceptance as a viable medium? (FierceIPTV)

ROTFLMAO!!!! No, ya’ think? Gotta love it.

Dewayne-Net reports growth in Ethernet sales has almost doubled this year.

In Sandoval County – Life begins @ 100Mbit/s eter Cochrane