MuniWireless

The lingering, won’t-go-away question about whether or not AT&T’s wireless networks are up to snuff reached a bit of a critical mass this past weekend, first with a critical story in the New York Times that was followed by reports of iPhone Disconnectus at SXSW.

Though Ma Bell tried to soothe the interactive crowd’s Twitter explosion of contempt by adding more cell capacity in Austin, Om does a good job of asking the bigger question of what’s up with the network…

Stephouse Networks, a Portland-based wireless ISP, announced they are offering Wi-Fi and fixed WiMAX service within the five square miles of Portland’s downtown area and two square miles of North Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood. The fixed WiMAX service is targeted to enterprise users, primarily to replace more expensive T-1 lines.

Last week, I spoke to Tyler Booth, CEO of Stephouse, about their Portland network. Booth made it clear that Stephouse did not take over the MetroFi contract with Portland (even though…

Before you go out and buy the new 3G iPhone from Apple, read the reviews by David Pogue and Walt Mossberg. In summary: if you already have an iPhone, it’s not worthwhile getting the latest version. Apple is opening its iPhone applications store tomorrow in connection with the 3G iPhone launch, but those applications will also be available to existing iPhone users. One application I’m keen on using is iCall, a VOIP program that allows you to make calls via…

Last week I complained about T-Mobile’s not-so-unlimited, “flat-rate” data plans for iPhone users in Europe: the nasty roaming charges, the unnecessary extra fees for using T-Mobile’s own networks in other countries.

Today, T-Mobile UK announced that it would be slashing European data roaming charges by 80 percent starting in August 2008, just in time for the summer holiday season (at least for the French, Spanish and Italians; Northern Europeans, like the British, the Germans and the Dutch, tend to go on holiday…

Toronto Hydro, the public utility owned by the city of Toronto, has sold its telecom subsidiary, Toronto Hydro Telecom (THT), for $200 million to Cogeco Cable. Among the assets of THT are the municipal Wi-Fi network called OneZone and a 450-kilometer fiber optic network that connects 500 buldings in the city. The city plans to use part of the proceeds from the sale of the subsidiary to repair public housing units.

Read more about this story here (from the Toronto Star).