broadband

Get a TruConnect USB 3G modem for $29.99

A few months back I wrote about a dirt-cheap T-Mobile USB aircard that sold out in mere minutes. I know a lot of readers were frustrated that they didn't get a chance to get one.

Thus I'm happy to offer a Cheapskate exclusive: the refurbished TruConnect USB Card 3G modem for $29.99, plus $5.99 for shipping. It sells new for $79.

Not to be confused with TruConnect's MiFi, which I've written about before, the USB Card is designed to plug into a laptop for on-the-go mobile broadband. You can share that broadband with other … Read more

FCC to test mobile broadband performance for consumers

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced a new measurement program focused on mobile broadband.

According to the government agency (PDF), its first step will be to hold an open meeting "with interested parties" on September 21 to discuss the ways in which it will measure mobile broadband performance and compare that to claims made by providers, such as Verizon Wireless, AT&T, and others.

"The statistically sound methodology of the program allows comparisons and analyses that are valuable to consumers and spur competition among service providers," the agency said yesterday in a statement.

The … Read more

Time Warner Cable invests $25M to build 1Gbps fiber network

Time Warner Cable announced Tuesday a $25 million investment to expand its fiber broadband network to businesses in New York City.

The new fiber network will be built in Brooklyn as well as to parts of Manhattan such as the Financial and Flatiron districts. Last year, Time Warner and the city of New York reached a franchise agreement in which Time Warner said it would expand its fiber network to areas that don't currently have access.

The new service will offer speeds up to 1 gigabit per second, the company said in a press release (not yet available online). … Read more

FCC report finds broadband deployments still too slow

Roughly 19 million Americans still don't have broadband Internet, according to a report released Tuesday by the Federal Communications Commission.

This is the eighth year that the FCC has issued the report, which is a requirement of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. And for the third year in a row, the agency has found that broadband service is not being rolled out in a "reasonable and timely fashion." Still, the report sees an improvement over the year before, when the FCC found that 26 million Americans lacked broadband.

About 14.5 million of the 19 million Americans without … Read more

U.K. aims for the fastest broadband in Europe by 2015

The U.K.'s culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, wants Britain to have the fastest broadband in Europe by 2015.

Hunt reaffirmed the government's ambition for the U.K. to top the broadband league tables in a matter of years at an event yesterday in Google's London offices, the Guardian reports. The offices are close to Silicon Roundabout -- an area of the city home to a number of technology startups.

The culture secretary told attendees at the event:

"To really be the best you need to be the fastest. I am today announcing an ambition to be … Read more

Dish reportedly readying nationwide satellite broadband

Dish Network is reportedly preparing to roll out a nationwide satellite-based broadband service this fall, ramping up competition with cable companies.

While Dish already offers satellite broadband to select areas as part of a partnership with communications company ViaSat, the new service would utilize a satellite recently launched by Dish sister company EchoStar, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg.

The satellite, which was launched last month, can support download speeds of 15 megabits per second and can handle about 2 million new Internet customers, the sources told Bloomberg. However, speeds may be limited to 5 megabits per second to … Read more

Google Fiber gets a fast start in Kansas City

After just one week on the market, Google Fiber is taking off in Kansas City (in both Kansas and Missouri), where 46 of the designated neighborhoods -- or "fiberhoods" -- have qualified for the service, the company reports on its Google Fiber site.

Google announced its fiber-to-the-home network last week, which offers speeds of up to one gigabit per second and a new TV service. Google said it would prioritize construction of the network in neighborhoods -- so-called "fiberhoods" -- in which residents show the most interest. It set up a website where residents interested in … Read more

Feds to mobile users: Drop dead

WASHINGTON--The federal government is slinking away from a promise by President Obama to free up badly-needed radio spectrum for mobile users and the already over-taxed networks that serve them.

Just months after the publication of the National Broadband Plan in early 2010, the president issued a memorandum ordering the FCC and the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration to "make available a total of 500 MHz of Federal and nonfederal spectrum over the next 10 years" for mobile users.

The goal was to clear unused or underutilized spectrum the FCC could then auction off for use … Read more

Can Google Fiber TV compete?

Google Fiber 1Gbps broadband service already looks like it's a step above competitors, but it's unclear how its TV service will stack up against other TV providers' services.

On Thursday, Google unveiled its new Google Fiber network that will deliver 1Gbps broadband service to residents in Kansas City. It also announced a new TV service it calls Google Fiber TV, which will deliver hundreds of channels of programming as well as on demand programing, interactive search capability, and advanced DVR functionality.

In some ways, the all-IP TV delivery network may be superior to existing services from cable operators, … Read more