March 2014 – Steve Blum's Blog

Illinois says Gigabit Squared lied repeatedly, wants $2 million back

31 March 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, chicago, community networks, ftth, gig u, gigabit seattle, gigabit squared, illinois, public policy, seattle

Once upon a time, it was strictly formal dress for sunrise.

The company that sold magically cheap fiber and a business case built on fairy dust to Seattle, then left town owing fifty grand is in even bigger trouble in Chicago. The state of Illinois gave Gigabit Squared a $2 million grant to deploy “ultra high speed” Internet access on the city’s south side and, to say the least, isn’t seeing results, according to a story in the Chicago Sun-Times (h/t to the Baller-Herbst list for the pointer)…

Gigabit Squared, a Cincinnati-based company that last May touted the high-speed project in nine South Side communities, “has lied repeatedly” about its intentions and may have spent only $250,000 of the grant money for legitimate purposes, said David Roeder, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which issued the grant.

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Zuckerberg wants fill planet's toughest broadband gaps with drones

30 March 2014 by Steve Blum
aerovironment, broadband, drones, facebook, geek stuff, planet earth, uav, zuckerberg

There’s a huge difference between some Internet access, no matter how poor, and none at all. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is looking at drones as economically sustainable broadband infrastructure where conventional technology doesn’t cut it. In a white paper published on Internet.org, Zuckerberg frames the question…

Our research has shown that approximately 80–90% of the world’s population lives today in areas already covered by 2G or 3G networks. These environments are mostly urban or semi-urban, and the basic cell and fiber infrastructure has already been constructed here by mobile operators.

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Sony picks in-house OS for wearables and survival

29 March 2014 by Steve Blum
Android, consumer electronics, geek stuff, google, innovation, samsung, sony, tizen

Used to be staying alive was innovation enough.

Google’s try at adapting its Android operating system to specifically support wearable devices isn’t getting much love from manufacturers. Following Samsung’s lead, Sony has decided to make its own Android mod for wearable products, instead of using Google’s Wear platform. It’s a necessary gamble if Sony still wants to be Sony.

The company is trying to remake itself into a mobile-oriented, innovative brand. Like it used to be when Sony launched the Walkman 35 years ago.… More

Gonzales mayor makes the case for Salinas Valley broadband

28 March 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccbc, cpuc, gonzales, public policy, regional consortia, salinas valley, sunesys

Maria Orosco addresses the CPUC yesterday.

Gonzales mayor Maria Orosco and city manager Rene Mendez spoke on behalf of their community, the Salinas Valley and the entire central coast region yesterday, as they urged the California Public Utilities Commission to approve an $11 million grant to build a fiber optic broadband backbone system.

Mayor Orosco spoke to the Salinas Valley’s need for twenty-first century broadband infrastructure and the benefits it would bring…

Good morning, my name is Maria Orosco, mayor of the City of Gonzales.

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Salinas Valley fiber optic project gets CPUC support, but final vote postponed

27 March 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccbc, cpuc, public policy, regional consortia, salinas valley, sunesys

Click to see presentation.

“I think this is a great project and I want to see it happen”, said commissioner Michel Florio, as the California Public Utilities Commission discussed an $11 million proposal to build a fiber optic backbone down the Salinas Valley. “I drive through that areas regularly. I know the geography, it’s the 101 corridor. It is in many respects a low income area”.

But he wasn’t completely sold on the numbers, questioning the length of time it would take for the applicant, Sunesys LLC, to see a return on its investment in the project, if 83% of the construction cost was subsidised by the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF).… More

CPUC considers Salinas Valley fiber project tomorrow

26 March 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccbc, cpuc, public policy, regional consortia, sunesys

Building better infrastructure.

An $11 million proposal to build a fiber optic backbone connecting the Salinas Valley to Silicon Valley, by way of Santa Cruz, goes in front of the California Public Utilities Commission tomorrow morning. A decision might or might not come. Commissioner Michel Florio has asked that the vote be delayed until next month, although that could change as the proposal is discussed.

CPUC president Michael Peevey is proposing to subsidise 83% of construction costs – grants from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) are usually limited to the 60% to 70% range – because of the social and economic impact the project would have.… More

Sorry CenturyLink, businesses do need a Lamborghini

25 March 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, centurylink, ftth, gigabit, google fiber, lamborghini, public policy

Don’t ignore the business model.

“It’s like having a fancy sports car. It might go 200 miles per hour, but what good does that do if the speed limit is 60?” said Jim Schmit, CenturyLink’s vice president and general manager for Idaho, as quoted in the Idaho Statesmen. He was trying to explain that he’s not worried about the threat posed by Google Fiber or other gigabit competition, because homes and businesses don’t need that kind of speed.… More

Cash offered to big incumbent ISPs to upgrade bandwidth

24 March 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, fcc, netneutrality, public policy

The fight over who pays for the Internet has moved deeper inside the network. Cogent and Level 3 are two companies that provide much of the backbone transport for major last mile Internet service providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon. They’re accusing the big ISPs of, in effect, holding millions of consumers hostage in order to force others – backbone companies and content providers like Netflix, in particular – to pay the cost of upgrading their systems to support the continuing boom in Internet traffic.… More

Broadband grades depend on copper and glass

23 March 2014 by Steve Blum
att, broadband, broadband grades, comcast, ebbc, public policy, regional consortia

Examples of how the grading was done.
The grading system I developed to rate and compare the broadband infrastructure available to communities east of San Francisco – Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties – focuses on primary, consumer wireline networks because those are the base upon which all service is built…

Even wireless systems must connect to wireline networks at some point, usually directly after the first “hop” from a subscriber. Consequently, the level of broadband connectivity in a region is primarily determined by the quality and extent of wireline facilities.

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Faster speeds collide with costly caps in Alaska

22 March 2014 by Steve Blum
alaska, broadband, community networks, ftth, gci, ketchikan

Click for a bigger map and more details.

Consumer broadband service is getting faster in Alaska, although data caps and a high cost for exceeding them will still limit its usefulness. GCI is the largest cable company in Alaska, and it just announced a no cost upgrade of its flagship Red service to 200 Mbps download speeds, starting in Anchorage. GCI’s plan is to hit a gigabit by the end of next year, at least in the neighborhoods where it decides to invest in fiber-to-the-home deployments…

GCI will prioritize the neighborhoods to get the new 1 gig service, based on the number of homes that have expressed interest…Recruit your neighbors.

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