Large ISP Corporations trying to block Rural Communities Building their own Fiber Optic Networks?: [24th Feb 2011]

Despite being unable to get Internet providers to upgrade their service to fiber, some rural communities are being forced to give up efforts to build their own networks. Some of these community networks offer better speeds than companies such as AT&T, Time Warner Cable and Centurylink were able to provide. These providers have nevertheless been trying to get laws passed to make this practice banned or limited. Stop The Cap, an action group which is opposing these laws is pointing out that one such law is being put through this week with no public input and no review. They claim that the bill will lead to a lack of competition and increases in Internet costs. They also point out that it could mean no fiber in North Carolina where the bill is due to be "discussed".


It looks like South Korea is likely to stay top of the pile when it comes to broadband speeds. The government in the country is planning to ensure that every home has access to 1GB broadband speeds by the end of 2012. A pilot program with 1500 homes is currently underway. The cost to these homes is the equivalent of just $27. It is thought that it is easier for this country to achieve such speeds because of the compact geography and the fact more people live in multi-tenanted buildings.


The NTIA have launched the first ever broadband map for the US and it went live last week. The map was developed with help from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which set aside $293 million to bring the project to fruition. Unfortunately much of the data which was collected will not be available to the public and the map will not include information on pricing or speed performance. The map will allow customers to search records of broadband availability, the maximum advertised speeds in a given area, who the service providers are and the type of broadband available. This data will be updated every six months. The NTIA have said that the reason they will not show pricing is because it changes too frequently, but there is evidence to show that providers fought against this information being displayed. The data gathered has shown some areas and institutions which are under-served and that 95% of Americans do have access to wireless broadband, although some have very slow speeds.


T-Mobile have released information about a new data unlimited data plan which may be released later this year. The plan will include more than 5GB of data each month. The information came from a leaked memo released by the company. It has also been suggested that the provider will revamp its voice packages over the next few months.


Amazon has launched a video streaming service and has made around 5,000 movies and TV shows available for streaming by members of their $79 a year Amazon Prime Plan. Robbie Schweitzer from the company has said that adding this function to the buying and renting service which already exists is a great way to add value to the service. The video can be watched on PCs, Macs, Blu-ray players, compatible set top boxes and Internet connected TVs.


Comcast is in hot water with the Writers Guild of America West as they believe the new owner of NBCUniversal does not want to maintain the union environment which currently exists in Hollywood. The Guild feel that the company has used strong arm tactics elsewhere to discourage union membership. A Comcast training manual has been cited as saying that Comcast does not feel that union representation is in the best interests of employees, customers or shareholders. It has also been pointed out that some employees may be categorized as being Comcast and may be unable to join the union with NBC writers. Guild members are vowing that Comcast will not be able to run NBC how they want.