MuniWireless

Harold Feld has written an article analyzing the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. Since he managed to get through the entire piece (unlike me), his take on the Plan is worth reading, especially because he disagrees with me on the issue of incumbent influence.

We do agree on one critical factor: he and I are appalled that structural separation is not part of the Plan. Harold says:

No, I did not get all I want. No one ever does. On some issues, such…

This is the last of a series of articles written by Marc Canter about digital cities and fiber networks.

In the first two parts of this series I defined what I meant when I use the term “Digital City” and the basic rights that every Digital Citizen has to a JOB! I talked about a sustainable model to drive these jobs and how by paying for multimedia encyclopedias – corporations could create a 3:1 usage of their money – and write…

The FCC has unveiled the National Broadband Plan whose goal is to ensure every American has access to broadband. The plan addresses broadband competition, reallocating spectrum for mobile broadband, reforming universal service regulations and nudging public schools, health care providers and government agencies to make maximum use of broadband. You can download the National Broadband Plan from the FCC website (PDF).

I read parts of the National Broadband Plan and was impressed by its ambition and scope, but after a few…

Broadband speed tests are nothing new to many readers of this site. Most of us probably use Speedtest.net. But the fact that the FCC has posted a broadband test tool profiled prominently on the Broadband.gov website, shows how politically sensitive broadband — its presence and absence, its cost and speed — has become. It’s getting to be like electricity. If you don’t have it, you might as well be living on another planet.

The FCC’s tool lets you measure download and upload…

Kyushu University and PicoCELA Inc., both based in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, have developed and put into use technology to build a wide-area wireless LAN at a dramatically reduced cost. The newly developed wireless multihop backhaul connects multiple wireless LAN access points to make them work with one another as a single radio network, cutting back on installation costs by reducing wiring for Internet connection. Wireless access points were installed in the commercial complex Canal City Hakata, resulting in the successful operation…