Accord clears way for wireless service in Big Dig tunnels
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After years of negotiation, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and four wireless providers agreed on a price tag to provide cellphone service within Big Dig tunnels, with drivers expected to be able to continue their phone conversations underground by next summer.
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By Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.  Sep. 20--State regulators cleared the way Tuesday for work to begin on  Portland's free, wireless Internet project.
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(InfoWorld) - With wider national coverage than either company could have had on its own, Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. say they can achieve on their joint WiMax network some of whatÂ Google Inc. and others want to seeÂ in the prized 700MHz band. TheÂ companies announced Thursday they will link their respective WiMax wireless broadband networks to give subscribers a seamless roaming experience across territories that eventually will cover 300 million U.S. residents. The network will deliver between 2M bps (bits per second) and 4M bps downstream and about half that speed upstream, they said. Sprint and Clearwire plan to use WiMax so that subscribers can choose among a wide range of devices built to the open standard on which the technology is based. In addition, they intend to let users access any application or service on the Internet, said Atish Gude, senior vice president of mobile broadband operations at Sprint. The upcoming auction of 700MHz radio spectrum around the U.S. has sparked a fierce debate between traditional carriers and Google Inc., Frontline Wireless LLC and others over how that spectrum should be used. Current mobile operators generally sell a limited set of devices locked to their networks and favor their own applications among the offerings their customers can access on their phones. Google told the FCC on Friday it won't bid unless the government requires any-device, any-application networks. It also wants a rule forcing the winners to sell wholesale network access to other service providers. Sprint doesn't have plans for wholesale access. Sprint, which announced its WiMax plans last year, said Thursday it owns spectrum licenses for the WiMax band that cover 185 million U.S. residents. Clearwire has spectrum in the same band to serve 115 million people. The combined network should be fairly comprehensive, covering urban, suburban and rural areas across the country, which today has a population just over 302 million, the Census Bureau estimates. After "soft" launches in Chicago and Washington, D.C., at the end of this year and commercial availability starting next year, the companies together aim to reach 100 million people by the end of 2008. This is the same 2008 goal Sprint had given previously by itself, but it was an aggressive goal then and is now a conservative estimate, Gude said. The companies did not estimate when the full network would be completed. Given the higher frequency Sprint and Clearwire plan to use, at 2.5GHz, their network is likely to need more base stations than a similar network using 700MHz, which travels over long distances and through walls more easily. Clearwire already operates a wireless broadband service and has been planning to convert it to standard mobile WiMax, which is only now emerging as a commercial technology. The company is backed by heavy hitters including Intel Corp. and Motorola Inc. Sprint, struggling against larger rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless Inc., could use Clearwire's helping hand. The deal may let Sprint realize its WiMax dream at less expense, said IDC analyst Godfrey Chua. There seems to be little overlap between the two carriers' licenses, so the partnership won't really hurt competition and is likely to win government approval, Chua said. The first users will access the network with standalone modems, notebook add-on cards or PCs and smaller Ultra Mobile PCs with embedded modems, Sprint said. But it sees mobility as the key driver of the network and believes WiMax handsets will arrive by 2009, Gude said. However, Chua thinks ever-faster cellular technologies have the edge for mobility. The Sprint-Clearwire network will compete mainly against DSL (digital subscriber line) and cable modem services, with the advantage that subscribers can set up a notebook away from home and enjoy the same service. It could significantly boost broadband competition, he said. "It's making the world a little bit more interesting now," Chua said. Â
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Earthlink Inc. , the Internet  service provider, said on Friday it has won approval from the  New Orleans City Council to build a wireless high-speed  Internet network in the city.
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EarthLink Inc.'s current contract to build a municipal Wi-Fi network in San Francisco appears to be dead follow...
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Clearing the way for homes and businesses to receive high-speed Internet services through their electrical outlets, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules this week that would enable the utility companies to offer an alternative to the
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Communications regulators have  cleared Google Inc  to bid in an upcoming auction of  coveted wireless airwaves, according to auction documents  released by the Federal Communications Commission on Monday.
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Philadelphia has finished testing  its wireless Internet project, setting the stage for America's  biggest citywide Wi-Fi network that will also offer access to  low-income households, officials said on Thursday.
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The agreement would allow the city to provide wireless Internet access as a municipal service even if Gov. Edward G. Rendell (D) signs legislation to give Verizon the power to scuttle the project.-washingtonpost.com
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By Daily Record Staff  MobilePro Corp., of Bethesda, a provider of wireless technology and broadband telecommunications services, said its wireless subsidiary, Kite Networks, completed the initial phase of deployment for a Wi-Fi network at Longmont, Colo.
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Contractors will pay nearly $500 million to settle the state's lawsuit over a fatal tunnel collapse and to cover leaks and design flaws in the Big Dig, a person close to the negotiations said.
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Clearing the way for homes and businesses to receive high-speed Internet services through their electrical outlets, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules
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NEW YORK - Nextel Communications Inc. and Verizon Wireless are settling their legal disputes, removing a key challenge to a federal decision to clear up interference between cell phones and emergency-response radios.
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Wireless broadband gets a boost with optimized EV-DO installations in several regions.
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Communications regulators have cleared Google Inc  to bid in an upcoming auction of coveted wireless airwaves, according to auction documents released by the Federal Communications Commission on Monday.
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Philadelphia officials have laid the  groundwork to provide wireless, high-speed Internet access  anywhere in the city, but their plan is threatened under a  state bill that could be signed into law on Tuesday.
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The biggest wireless service provider keeps getting bigger