In a follow up to our earlier story on ViaSat and NRTC, ViaSat have announced their new 12 Mb/s satellite broadband service, exede. The high speed service will launch on 16 January beginning at $50 per month, offering 12 Mb/s down and 3 Mb/s up, using the new ViaSat-1 satellite.

The exede service will be welcomed by rural communities that have been unable to get high speed Internet connections because of the lack of infrastructure and the distances involved. Satellite broadband overcomes these issues to offer a “feels like fiber” experience.

“With our new exede broadband service, customers across the United States will have a way to get exceptional speed whether they live in a city, suburbs or a more rural area,” said Tom Moore, senior VP of ViaSat.  “Our new exede service speeds make us very competitive with both wireless home broadband service as well as legacy DSL and many cable services.”

The exede residential broadband packages all feature the same high speed but with higher data allowances at each price point. 

Overall, this looks like a great new service for people who were poorly served in the past, but users will have to watch out for those data limits.

The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative has partnered with ViaSat to offer NRTC members faster 12 Mb/s satellite broadband through ViaSat’s WildBlue service. The NRTC represents the telecommunications and information technology interests of around 1500 rural utilities and affiliates in 48 US states.

The new ViaSat-1 high-capacity Ka-band spot beam satellite was launched back in October and includes coverage over North America and Hawaii, enabling a variety of new, high-speed broadband services for WildBlue in the U.S., Xplornet in Canada, and JetBlue Airways on its domestic U.S. fleet. Capable of 140 Gb/s, this one single satellite has more capacity that all of the other North American satellites put together.

“NRTC’s electric and telephone members were the first distributors of WildBlue service, and they remain committed to ensuring that rural Americans have access to robust broadband,” said Tim Bryan, NRTC CEO.  “The enhanced satellite broadband service will make significant contributions to the communities we serve, so we are very happy to continue our relationship with ViaSat and offer the new service.”

Pricing wasn’t announced, but current WildBlue customers pay between $50 and $80 per month depending on service.  Outside of ViaSat-1′s coverage area, the NRTC will also offer 5 Mb/s broadband service through a range of delivery mechanisms. Based on figures from WildBlue, between 10 and 20 million American households are unable to get broadband through DSL or cable and for them, fast satellite broadband at a reasonable price will be warmly welcomed.

Todd and his team will try to get a demo of the satellite service at next week’s CES.

Between the phone ringing, computers rebooting and me sticking my foot in my mouth 2-3 times I have a great show for you.. Back for one show here in Honolulu and off to Austin next week. Then home for Christmas and to prepare for CES 2012!

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In a press release today, Virgin Media announced that it was trialling 1.5Gb/s cable broadband connections with four media companies in London. Offering 1.5 Gb/s down and 150 Mb/s up, if successful it would be the world’s fastest cable broadband and about 240 times faster than the UK average connection speed.

The technology will use the same infrastructure as delivered to residential customers, so in theory, if it works in this trial it should work just about everywhere Virgin has a cable network. Virgin has already successfully trialled download speeds of 1Gb/s in its fibre network but currently offers 100Mb/s as the maximum speed. Virgin has connections to 12.6 million homes, mostly in urban areas, making them one of the largest residential broadband providers in the UK.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, said: “Demand for greater bandwidth is growing rapidly as more devices are able to connect to the internet and as more people go online simultaneously. Our growing network provides a highly competitive alternative to the fastest fibre networks of the future and, with our ongoing investment plans, we can anticipate and meet demand as it develops over time, ensuring Virgin Media business and residential customers continue to enjoy world-class broadband.”

The four companies involved in the trial are all in “creative industries” working with on-line video, broadcasting and interactive applications. Sam Orams, co-founder of BespokeBanter.com, one of the companies testing Virgin Media’s 1.5Gb broadband, said: “While the average home might not need these speeds quite yet, we certainly will. The internet is critical to what we do and intrinsically linked to our future growth so it’s exciting to be working with Virgin Media at the forefront of broadband innovation in the UK.”

The Virgin Media network uses DOCSIS3 and can bond several channels together to provide the data speed bought by the customer. Consequently, there’s a choice of different speeds (10 Mb/s, 30 Mb/s, 50 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s). Virgin currently offers 100 Mb/s in cabled areas for £35 per month. Regrettably, I’m not in one of those cabled areas and I’m stuck at about 3 Mb/s. Bah!

Left my cameras at home for the live recording, decided to use the Macbook Pro webcam.. Wow what a piece of crap that thing is. Interesting show tonight reflect on the challenges of post show CES! and soliciting ideas for next year. I have a great line up of content for you along with some serious questions on cloning for you to reply to.

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Show Notes:
Memolane.com
Firefox keep the RSS Icon.
No Private Stock for Americans.
Amazon App Store Model (gag).
Have you seen the Android Man!
The Facts about Bottled Water
Roku XDS unlocking USB Port.
SF Cord Cutter Meetup!
YouTube Live!
Wikileaks + Rich People Banking Info = Hire a body Guard.
Facebook Privacy Concerns Again!
Get Well Steve Jobs!
Smartphone search and seizure!
The 1000mph Car!
Superfast Broadband for small towns.
Redbook Kiosk rentals on the rise.
Future of Femtocells?
LTE Speed Truth in Japan!
Get your 10k from Apple!
Smart TV or Internet Connected TV?
Top 10 Powerful women in Silicon Valley!
Firefox 4 and Hardware Acceleration for Linux?
Wolly Mammoth Cloning.
Router and Switch Aging Issues.
Tunneling for Games.
What is wrong with our Society!
Airforce has a plan.
Sony Ericsson and Clear lawyer up.
All the G’s
Car Theft by Antenna.
Booking Flight Challenges.
Apps to save Old Media.

More bandwidth!  I want more bandwidth!  If I yell, can I get it?  No?  How about if I ask nicely?

Lots of us have yelled AND asked nicely.  And in a year or so, we might just be able to get it.  At least, another way of getting it.  The FCC is prepared to vote on the provisions associated with making so-called “white space” between broadcast channels available for use with super Wi-Fi, service that will be faster have more range, and be more robust than current Wi-Fi.  “Super” Wi-Fi should penetrate walls, as well, making the provision of this new Wi-Fi a huge player in the current broadband market.

It has taken two years for the FCC to complete the appropriate surveys of white space, and come to terms with broadcasters and wireless microphone manufacturers about how the space will be used and by whom.  With the new provisions approved, development can finally occur.  By 2011 CES, proof of concept devices should be on display, with actual primary devices becoming available within a year.

I, personally, can’t wait.  A wireless signal that can go two or three miles, and offer speeds of 10 to 20 mbps to the home or business?  No more worries about having to have fiber, cable, or copper installed?

Maybe I can seriously consider building that house on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere after all…

Satellite Internet providers WildBlue and HughesNet have said they are both working to upgrade their speed and availability “over the next few years.”

Really?  Years?  I realize it’s a major undertaking to shoot a satellite into orbit around our crowded planet.  The time to have put those satellites in place was several years ago, or worst case, right now.  Not several years from now.  That boat sailed long ago, and any efforts to catch up that take more than a few months are likely never to show a return on investment.

Many of us, even in urban areas, would have gone with satellite-based Internet years ago, if it had been anything worth having.  But satellite Internet speeds are incredibly slow, and outrageously expensive for service that amounts to enhanced dial-up.  “Blazing speed” it isn’t; and your pocketbook will be that much poorer for having subscribed in the first place.

But of course, the satellite companies will continue to move this direction, for basically one reason.  That’s because while the big wire providers (cable, telecoms) are refusing to move into rural and under-served areas, leaving those users with two choices; dial-up or satellite.  All of those rural users wanting broadband, however slow, are going to have no choice but to sign up for satellite Internet.  This of course gives WildBlue and Hughesnet big dollar signs in their eyes.

I would gladly and easily move to a rural area at the drop of a hat, and be happier for it.  But the single thing that stops me is the unavailability of quality broadband services.  Like most urbanites these days, I believe that reliable, fast broadband service should be a basic right, like electricity or water or telephone.  I wish more of the big telecoms/cable providers felt the same way or had the incentive to feel that way.

A new insider is recorded will be getting that pushed here in the next 24 hours. Want to be an insider see the link below. Also I am looking for a fan to run the shows facebook page interested email me. Huge pile of tech tonight, so much so that their are some links below that I skipped as I ran out of time to cover it all.

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Apple Verus AT&T Wired Expose.
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Movie Lawsuits Coming in Torrents.
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The British Government has confessed that it doesn’t have sufficient money to meet the deadline of 2012 for a 2Mb/s broadband universal service.   This commitment had been made by the previous government but was reconfirmed by the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, only last month in his speech at the Hospital Club in London.  He further said, “Our goal is simple: within this parliament (2015)  we want Britain to have the best superfast broadband network in Europe.”

However, speaking at the Broadband Delivery UK conference yesterday, Mr Hunt admitted that there was insufficient funding in place for these commitments and was pushing back the deadline for the 2Mb/s universal service to 2015 with no deadline for the superfast broadband.   Only £175 million had been set aside as surplus from the Digitial Switchover project.

BT estimated that to equip Britain with superfast broadband will take £2 billion of public money and it has already invested £2.5 billion of its own money  in fibre networks that will reach around 2/3rds of British homes.  The additional money is needed to connect up those for whom it would be currently uneconomic to reach.

This also makes it difficult for the Government to fulfil the digital inclusion promises made on Monday by the UK Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox.  Announcing the Manifesto for a Networked Nation last Monday, it sets the ambition that everyone of a working age should be online by 2015 and that no-one should retire without web skills.

The Manifesto also estimates that 10 million adults in the UK have never used the internet for reasons of motivation, access and skills.  Nearly 4 million of these 10 million adults are over 65.  Rural and coastal areas have the highest concentrations of over 65s who don’t use the internet.

Considering also that the supporting quango Digital Public Service Unit was closed down before it even got started, it’s no surprise that the Manifesto is looking to industry and charities as well as government to meet the ambitions.

Further, as reported in GNC previously, UK internet users have grown by 2 million in the last year , expecially in the over-50s.  This suggests that the issues of motivation and skills appear to be resolving themselves and that the only restricting problem is that of access to broadband, fast or otherwise…..which the UK Government doesn’t have any money to help with.

Nothing like a bit of joined-up thinking.

The death of Senator Bryd at the age of 92, had me thinking about the technical advances he saw in his life time. That the fight to get those advances to the most people was being fought then and continues to be fought today. The battleground may have changed, but the arguments often repeat themselves. Today, the battle is over what is the best way to get broadband to the most people. In the 1930′s it was electricity. While 90% of all urban residents had electricity by the 1930′s only 10% of rural residence did. Electric companies of that time said it was too expensive to supply electricity to sparsely populated rural areas, that they could not justify the cost. Rural residents who were lucky enough to have electricity paid rates two times as high as those in urban areas. This was at a time when items such as refrigeration, the radio and the telephone, all which depended on electricity were coming into their own. Without electricity, rural areas were falling further and further behind their urban counter part.

Despite their unwillingness to build in rural areas, utility companies and their supporters fought against any kind of government involvement, They insisted that the free market would take care of the issue. By 1935 it was clear that the free market system was not working and that something had to be done to get electricity to the rural areas. To deal with the problem the Roosevelt administration, created the Rural Electric Administration. The REA supplied incentives in form of loans to private utilities to build the infrastructure to provide electricity in rural areas. In those areas where private companies could not or would not participate, the government encourage the formation of cooperatives which were established to provide electricity for coop members. By law these electric cooperatives could not compete directly against private companies. By the 1950′s nearly all rural areas had electricity either thru cooperatives or private industries.

My question is is it time for something similar to the REA to get high speed Internet or broadband to areas that are not being covered by private industries. Just as electricity was the backbone to much of the innovation of the 20th century, broadband will be the backbone of much of the innovation of the 21st century. As more and more business and communication is done on line, those who have no or slow Internet connection will get left further and further behind. Do we continue to depend on private industry to provide the broadband or do we consider other alternatives similar to the REA. What do you think

Ok had a great visit at Ford Motor Company, videos coming next week but I give you my run-down on the event and my perspective. Show recorded from the kitchen of the home I grew up in. There will be a very special insider for those of you that have signed up to be a insider. For those wanting to meet, there will be a meet-up on 5-22 @ 6pm EST at Applebees in Coldwater Michigan please RSVP. Special version of Geek News Central Insider coming be a Insider!

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Over the years of GNC, I’ve heard Todd rail on about broadband bandwidth caps and while I’ve enjoyed his rants, it’s been low priority topic for me.  Why? Because I think I’m a power user with a good selection of podcasts, a fair bit of online TV viewing, some (legal) music downloads. However, in a single month, I have never got anywhere near 50GB.  I think 30-something gigs was the most.

And then came the email from my service provider telling me that if I continued as I was going, I would exceed my bandwidth cap shortly.  Although I wouldn’t be cut-off, daytime bandwidth would be throttled.  I was a bit surprised but when I checked the firewall logs, it was correct – if anything, they were under-measuring by a few GB.

So, looking back, why the surge in data usage?  Well, I’m going to blame Todd and the Tech Podcast Network coverage of CES.  It was so good, I downloaded every single one of the videos, watched a few of them on-line, just couldn’t get enough.  I even downloaded some of the them twice, once for my PC and once for my Palm Pre!

Removing tongue from cheek, yes, it was the coverage of CES that bumped up the stats but it showed me that a bandwidth allocation of 50GB per month doesn’t actually go that far once you start getting into video.

Recently, I’ve also bought an Archos media player that can go online and stream content direct to my TV.  I’ve been pretty impressed by the viewing experience, even with only a wireless connection.  Although I can do the same with my laptop, having a dedicated appliance is far move convenient.

I don’t have any doubt that online distribution of films and TV programmes will take off in a big way, especially when it comes built-in to the TVs.  As an aside, a built-in media player is far more attractive to me than 3-D!  It’s also clear to me now that the telecoms companies are going to have to up their game to cope. If they’re smart, it’s an opportunity to make money and the competition for broadband services in the UK is pretty healthy. 

For consumers like me, it’s time to start looking for deals with caps bigger than 50GB.

In his pre-Budget report, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer has confirmed that there will be a 6 GBP tax on all households with fixed-line phones in order to setup a fund that will be used to ensure that even the uneconomical parts of the UK will get fast fibre connections.

Note for readers - the incumbent UK Government is Labour, who come from a socialist or left-wing background.  The Opposition is the Conservatives (aka Tories), who come from capitalist or right-wing background.  For a good few years, it was hard to tell which policies came from which party but now the economy is down, they’re reverting to type.

While the aims of the Chancellor may be laudable, I think he’s completely wrong to setup a broadband fund.  All it will do is line the telecommunication companies’ pockets and it’s not as if they’re short of a penny.  In each of 2007 and 2008, one of the major British telecoms companies, BT made 2.5bn GBP (before tax) on 20bn GBP.  Ok, things are bit tighter in 2009 so far but they’re still making millions.

If the past 30 years of technological advancement has taught us anything, the pressure on technology to make things smaller, faster or cheaper has come from competitive pressures, not by throwing subsidies or government money at companies.  These companies ought to be trying to figure out how to make the uneconomic parts of the country into economic parts, by delivering more efficiently or delivering differently.

Around 30% of households are believed to be in this uneconomic category but that’s only for fibre connections - the figures (and Government) totally ignore the possibilities of wireless technologies.  Rather than let the best technology win out – and it’s for the market to choose what “best” means – the fund will be used to connect up with fibre whether it’s appropriate or not.

And even if the property is miles from anywhere why not simply charge the customer the true price of bringing fibre to their home.  That’s what happens for electricity – if you choose to build your house two miles from the nearest electricity line, the utility company will bill you the cost to install the cable to your house.  For a non-essential service to be given this kind of subsidy seems bizarre.

And I’m sure an extra side effect will be increasing numbers of people dropping their landlines in favour of mobiles and VoIP.  I’m definitely thinking harder about it – if I didn’t have ADSL broadband I would have done it years ago.

This is a hot one folks fresh off the hard drive! As usual I have lot of fun in the show and cover a wide swath of tech. The question today is when will the AT&T network crash as the MMS services are turned on. Have you watched the Video of the show? If not I have a link for you in the show notes.

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Windows 7 Boots in 2 Seconds?
New Fonera Web Device available in US.
Intel 10gbs Home Network.
Blue Mikey!
How much Broadband is enough?
Twitter a 1 Billion dollar evaluation?
Google Apps and Trust.
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Congrats To Scobles on New Baby!
Baby Center!
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India Tech Sector hurting as well.
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Will you be Killed by Electric Car?
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Sydney in massive dust storm.

For the past 4 years Geek News Central Listeners have helped be the judges for the Podcast Awards. As always we are seeking out nearly 40 volunteers to help us judge the entries. We will need your help in the middle of October. If you can help out please email me at geeknews@gmail.com, sorry no podcasters can participate in the grading process. I have a jammed packed show for you tonight full of all the top tech and science news.

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Late night recording here folks lots of tech as usual ton of email and some voicemail comments as always. Huge thank you to all our sponsors, support them the best you can and be sure to get a free trial to GotoMeeting it will change the way you do business online.

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Show Topic Notes:
More ads coming to a Movie near you!
Charge a Laptop in 2 Minutes?
Top Movie Torrents for July!
Walk like a Astronaut!
Dumber and Dumber
Vaccine for Colon Cancer Possible!
Do you ignore PC Security Warnings?
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Broadband Speed claims not met!
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A 6500km wall to contain desert?
Skilled Immigrants Leaving the United States.
Microsoft and Amazon big Losses in Q2
Twitter Site Showdowns and Callouts?
Micorsoft Mobile App will it Matter?
Apple makes Music industry Happy.
Sleep on the ISS and other Info.
Blue Food Dye could stop Paralysis!
Emergency Patch Tuesday Today!
Shuttle / ISS Picture against the Sun.
CO2 Scrubber fixed on ISS!
Wifi for all Verizon Fios/DSL Customers!
Bio Fuel Breakthrough?
Skin Cells to Mice?
Is the AP even relevant?
Power Utility says Solar Customers show pay user Fee?
Google Voice iPhone Apps kicked out of App Store.
Smart Milk Jug
iPhone Image Tricks
New Storage Shelf
Would you share your Myfi connection?
Ten things you did know about Apollo 11
31 Stunning National Geographic Images!
31 Business Ideas for Facebook.
Live Video Streaming Suggestions.
Sprint Pissed off the wrong person!
Teens in Tech Critcized.

This will be like the US Tour de Todd as I will be all over the place over the next week. No meetups as I will have little time between each stop. I will have another early live show with hopefully no issues on Monday around 9pm Eastern

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Six-Core Intel Nehalem
Zeo’s Sleep Coach
Linux get USB 3.0 Drivers First!
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Amazon EC2 Outage Issues.
Virgin Mobile in US to sell Prepaid Mobile Broadband Cards!
Sad Stats on Low Income Broadband Penetration.
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Microsoft Money R.I.P.
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Microsoft Anti-Virus Program for free?
Periodic Table to get new Element
Japanese Crash a Spacecraft into the Moon.
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UK P2P users largely ignore warning letters!
Class Action Suit against RIAA?
DJ’s Greed lands them in Jail
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Doom for your iPhone (I’m in)
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When your time is up your time is up!

The stakes could not be in higher now in North Carolina where communities are sick and tired of being sick and tired of paying ridiculous prices for Internet, TV Programming and Telephone services are in a battle to save a local broadband services from being shut down by Time Warner.

Several towns have formed private companies in North Carolina to roll out their own service packages. Not at all surprisingly they are offering some amazing data, television, and telephone services that Time Warner is not happy about.

Wilson, North Carolina asked Time Warner Cable for more bandwidth a lower prices. TWC was unwilling to do so, Wilson, NC invested 28 million dollars to roll there own.

A comparison of services from various providers. The local service, Greenlight, both provides the most affordable bundle option for its speed, and offers an unmatched 100 Mbps option. The success has cable providers trying to outlaw the service. (Source: IndyWeek)

What is ironic here is that every time I have examined a city or town doing this it is a big win for the residents. Even more amazing if you look at the chart. They offer a 100mps symmetrical connection for $300.00 a month.

Almost makes you want to pack up and move your business to the Wilson, NC area.

Here is the kicker Time Warner has used its lobbyist and strong arm tactics to get a bill introduced in the North Carolina legislature that would actually outlaw what the city of Wilson did.

There is a huge battle going in in this state and if you don’t think it could happen in yours you are sadly mistaken. If you are a resident of North Carolina you better pick up the phone today and support Save North Carolina Broadband

$7.2 billion in stimulus money has been earmarked by Congress for spending on broadband service and underserved areas. Thus is born a conundrum that is becoming virtually unsolvable.

What exactly does “broadband” mean? According to ATT, it’s anything not dialup. To others, like the Communications Workers of America, it is anything over 3 mb. And since our median “broadband” speed in this country is about 2.3 mb, while Japan boasts an median of 63 mb and Canada about 7.6, what are we truly talking about when we talk about broadband?

And what is meant by “underserved” areas? Is it rural areas with no access to broadband? Or is it broader than that, applying to any area that can’t get 3 mb or more, which includes both urban and suburban areas?

This is what the FCC is trying to figure out, and is open to comments through April 13th. The acting chairman of the FCC, Michael Copps, believes his agency is up to the challenge of defining these terms for the purposes of deploying the stimulus funding. But he notes that President Obama’s long-term goal is to get broadband deployed deep into the country, which could place rural deployment of broadband at the top of the list.

I’m all for that, since I’ve been craving a move to the country for some time. But I also want to see fatter pipes, to the tune of at least 10 mb, if not more. I realize I’m very blessed at this moment to have a realistic 8 mps down and 3 mb up on a regular basis, but I’m living in an area where the majority of people are using dialup, and if I were to move even one more mile further away from the main metro area, I would lose any type of broadband altogether. I’m also one of those that believes true broadband (I subscribe to the better-than-3mb club) should be a basic utility, just like gas, electric, and phone service. To me, it is no different.

You can submit your own comments to the FCC, through April 13th, on this important determination. Visit www.fcc.gov for more information, or take this link to go directly to the comment instructions (PDF file).

If you won a gift certificate and have not received it please drop me a e-mail. Great show tonight with some great listener feedback. Thanks for all the ongoing support and thanks for being part of the Ohana!

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Show Notes:
FCC rant
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Source

Earlier in the month I talked with a Clearwire representative about getting one of there modems to see if the signal reached my home. As you all know I have been plagued with intermittent upload speed issues where I live.

The cable provider here in Hawaii is Time Warner serviced through Oceanic Cable, while I live on Oahu my home is on Historic Ford Island, with my home less then 200 feet from the Utah Memorial.

Having received the demo unit I decided tonight to do a comparison of 3 services. The real kicker is this though the Clearwire representative could not guarantee service in my current location as I was supposedly out of range. I think you will be surprised at how well Clearwire stacked up against my cable provider.

I knew my Spring EVDO would not really have a chance, but because I rely on it so heavily during the day, and considering that the Sprint service is only 3G here in Hawaii I think they did pretty good in this comparison. I think the Sprint folks will be pretty happy with the results.

All three test were done on the same machine with all programs accessing the net turned off. The test site was www.speakeasy.net/speedtest

First up Oceanic Cable Broadband Service by Time Warner Price $44.95

Second Clearwire in an area where service is not guaranteed Price $36.99

Third Sprint EVDO on a 3G Network with Full Bar Signal Strength Price $79.99

In my humble opinion if services like clearwire work on increasing their speed they have a chance of putting a real hurt on the local cable company. I will be signing up for the service just to have some more flexibility.

What would really be awesome is if I could buy push speeds that equaled download speeds.

Verizon Communications will allow current customers in the Northeast U.S. to discontinue voice telephone service while keeping DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) broadband service. Telecommunication providers have been roundly criticized for requiring DSL subscribers to also maintain voice service, thereby limiting consumer choice.

Verizon has no plans to offer DSL-only service to new customers.

Dave’s Opinion
Verizon gives a bit of back talk in the details of the announcement. Current voice/DSL customers may convert to solely DSL service, but only if they don’t select an alternative wireline voice service provider; the customers must switch to cellular or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) service. It seems that if Verizon must lose a portion of its wireline telephone business, it’s going to make sure that a competitor doesn’t pick it up.

I think that all DSL providers will eventually offer DSL-only alternatives, especially to residential consumers.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Verizon Communications

In a report just issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the number of U.S. broadband users has nearly tripled between June 2001 and December 2003. As of the survey, 28 million lines of high-speed access to the Internet, defined as at least 200 Kbps bandwidth in at least one direction, are in use in the United States.

Cable and Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) serve provide the majority of broadband service: cable, 75 percent; ADSL, 15 percent. In 2001, at the time of the previous FCC report, the relative percentages were: cable, 56 percent; ADSL, 17 percent.

As of December 2003, only 7 percent of U.S. ZIP (Zone Improvement Plan) Codes, had no high-speed service, down from 22 percent in 2001. Also, 46 percent of U.S. ZIP have four or more providers of high-speed service.

Dave’s Opinion
I’m a fan of cable broadband service, and it seems that many online Americans share my opinion. I detest dial-up service, it makes teaching class a drudgery, and it’s too slow for me to listen to my favorite radio stations. I can easily do without cable TV; however, I can’t do without our cable modem. Now, the big question is, are we ready for VOIP (Voice Over IP).

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
FCC Press Release
FCC Report
U.S. Census Bureau Population Clock

Verizon Communications has doubled the speed of consumer DSL service is a dozen east coast states. If the market reacts well, the remaining states will receive the same faster DSL alternative. The additional bandwidth is a reaction to Comcast’s doubling the speed of its cable broadband service, earlier this year. The extra bandwidth will be a big hit with online gamers and professionals who work from home.

For about $40 a month, the new DSL bandwidth will be 3 Mbps, downstream, and 768 Kbps, upstream. For cost-conscious customers who only send and receive e-mail and surf occasionally, a half-speed option will be available for $30 a month.

Dave’s Opinion
Just over half of online Americans have broadband service at home: 63 million or 51 percent. There’s always a use for more bandwidth, even by those who don’t consider themselves technically sophisticated or have flexibility in their personal schedules. When it comes to network connectivity, faster is always better.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Verizon

Metropolitan-wide broadband services may soon be coming from overhead. Sanswire Networks, LLC hopes to bring broadband to entire metropolitan areas via tiny airships. Atlanta, Georgia may be the first city to benefit from this interesting digital communication service, starting as early as next week.

Ground-based wireless equipment will coordinate signal dissemination using a Stratellite floating high over the city.The Stratellites are similar to satellites; however, the new devices are stationed in the stratosphere rather than being in space orbit.

According to Sanswire Networks, a Stratellite is a high-altitude airship that when in place in the stratosphere will provide a stationary platform for transmitting various types of wireless communications services currently transmitted from cell towers and satellites. It is not a balloon or a blimp. It is a high-altitude airship made of Spectra and powered by solar powered electrical engines, each Stratellite will reach its final altitude by utilizing a helium and nitrogen filled double envelope. Once in place at 65,000 feet each Stratellite will remain in one Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinate, providing the ideal wireless transmission platform. Each Stratellite has a payload capacity of several thousand pounds and clear line-of-site to approximately 300,000 square miles, an area roughly the size of Texas. However, the Company’s initial plan is to use one Stratellite for each major metropolitan area.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments below.

References
Sanswire Networks, LLC

According to Nielsen/NetRatings, as of this summer almost 40 million U.S. Internet users connect via broadband at home. That’s almost 13 percent of all Americans. This number is up 49 percent, compared to only a year ago. Commensurately, dial-up users have declined.

While broadband use has seen a recent surge, there are still twice as many narrowband users, providing a significant near-term market for local and national dial-up service providers, although the handwriting may be on the wall, because last year the ratio was 3:1 in favor of narrowband usage.

Dave’s Opinion
I love my broadband connection. I don’t want to think what life would be like without it. I love going to the beach on vacation, but I sure don’t look forward to the comparatively slower dial-up connection I have while I’m there. Teaching class through a dial-up connection isn’t just time consuming, it’s painful.

Call for Comments
What do you think? Leave your comments on the message center.

References
Nielsen/NetRatings
Message Center

ITinfo