US Behind South Korea, Japan, Romania and Denmark: [21st Jan 2010]

>>> Recent reports from Akamai and SpeedMatters have shown that the US is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of broadband speeds. An average speed of 3.9Mbps was recorded in the third quarter of last year. This puts the United States in 18th place. South Korea has the fastest broadband speeds in the world at 14.6Mbps and Japan, Romania and Denmark all come ahead of the US. However reports do show that 43 states in the US have improved their rate of very slow broadband connections. The average advertised speed of downloads in the US is 9.6 Mbps and many providers tend to advertise their products as providing an "up to" speed. The FCC has issued a statement suggesting that providers need to be more transparent in how they advertise their products.


>>> The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Service have issued a report explaining the changes they have made to round two of the broadband stimulus program, after round one came under criticism. Round two was launched on January 15th 2010. Key points of the new allocation are that $2.6bn will be available and will be issued under three categories: Comprehensive Community Infrastructure, Public Computer Centers and Sustainable Broadband Adoption. Projects which are for under-served areas will receive more credit and more consideration will be given to projects which are able to match the fund given by at least 30%.


>>> The FCC is seeking to have regulatory powers over the Internet in the same way it already does for telephone and television services. Currently the FCC has only ancillary jurisdiction over the Internet which was hoped would encourage competition and deregulation. Consumer groups have argued that this simply pushed prices higher as providers could do as they pleased. Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps has said that he believes the US public want extra protection. Experts have suggested that more regulation will face significant barriers.


>>> US Cellular has announced a new calling package which gives customers unlimited calling options. The Unlimited National Individual Plan will cost just $69.99 a month for unlimited calls and the Family Plan will offer two lines for $119.99. Last year the company started it's battery swap scheme, where people with batteries which were dead could swap them for fully charged ones and it will also text it's customers to let them know they are coming close to the number of texts allowed for the month. They will also backup the information stored on the users phone.


>>> Verizon is offering greater value to it's High Speed Internet Customers who take out bundle packages. From January 18 double or triple play bundles up to 7.1Mbps can be bought for the same price as bundles with 3Mbps. In fact, many of the available bundles are now much better value. Susan Retra from Verizon commented that reliable broadband has become so much more important to all consumers and they are hoping to put their customers in the drivers seat.

Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse have come tops in a poll of 69000 readers of Consumer Reports for their Internet, TV and Phone services. For those people that cannot use Internet providers due to a lack of infrastructure, cable companies such as WOW, Insight and Bright House were considered to be the best. The survey also showed that Internet, phone and TV bundles were popular with 85% of people saying they would return to their current provider. However, 60% of those surveyed said they had at least one problem with their bundled service and that bills were difficult to understand. 20% of people in the US have stopped using a standard phone service completely and rely on their cell phones only.

Following months of sending out warnings to illegal file sharers, Verizon has finally started to cut some people off. A spokesperson from the company said that they could limit bandwidth like other companies such as Comcast have done, but decided this approach was not for them. The recording Industry Association of America announced in 2008 that they would no longer sue down-loaders due to the fact they had agreements from Internet providers that they would issue warnings to those involved. It appears that Verizon have followed this course of action. According to Verizon, the numbers who have been cut off are small, showing that the letters have been effective. The customers IP addresses are harvested from the copyright owners. Verizon also states that they must have a court order in place before they take proceedings further.


>>> AT&T are among the many companies offering help to the victims of the Haiti earthquake. They have donated 7000 wireless devices to help re-establish communications and are coordinating donations from their staff and customers. In addition, they have donated smartphones to Concern Worldwide, a humanitarian organization involved in the operation. All devices have a free service and are invaluable in a country where no landline services now exist. Brightstar and Sony Ericsson have shared the burden with AT&T, donating devices. Along with all this support, AT&T have donated $50,000 to each of three aid organizations.