FCC wireless plan torpedoed by Google-loving mega-startup
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Frontline takes a hardline The Federal Communications Commission is facing criticism from both sides of the great 700-MHz debate as it prepares to auction off a prime portion of the US wireless spectrum.â¦
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A large, low-frequency band that's currently used by UHF television stations could be the key to a workable wireless internet -- if the big U.S. cell carriers don't kill it first.
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To the surprise of no one As you might expect, Verizon isn't too happy about recent news from the FCC. A day after Federal Communications Chair Kevin Martin called for open-access to the U.S. wireless spectrum, the company's general counsel told Congress that giving consumers the freedom to control their own wireless destiny is a bad idea.â¦
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A few big brains in Palo Alto want to ease the corporate stranglehold on mobile communication. By Robert Strohmeyer from Wired magazine.
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A wireless startup company that planned to build a national public safety communications system has apparently bailed out of the upcoming airwaves auction, a move that creates doubt about the future prospects for the network.
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EarthLink's contract to build a municipal Wi-Fi network in San Francisco appears to be a victim of the company's financial struggle.
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Business models followed technology too closely A year ago, hardly a week went by without news of a major municipal wireless project in the US, supporting free or subsidized access and a host of shiny business models. Now hardly a week goes by without news of the death of one of these plans.â¦
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Philadelphia's plan to offer inexpensive wireless Internet as a municipal service &#151; the most ambitious yet by a major U.S. city &#151; has collided with commercial interests including the local phone company, Verizon Communications Inc.
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A Silicon Valley startup is promising to blanket San Francisco with free wireless Internet service, reviving a crusade that crumbled last year after two much larger companies, EarthLink Inc. and Google Inc., scrapped their plans to build a high-speed network for Web surfing.
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Carnegie Mellon professor and telecommunications expert David Farber explains what's at stake in the January 2008 FCC auction of spectrum in the 700-MHz band -- spectrum that Google has expressed interest in.
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Blog: Draft wireless auction rules being pondered at the FCC could be a victory for companies like Google that fear without government intervention, the same few companies will control coveted spectrum, limiting consumer choice.
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The FCC says it's inclined to let Web surfers go wireless on airplanes. Yippee! But they might allow in-flight cell phone use, too. Oh.
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A Macromedia executive says wireless carriers are demanding specific menus, buttons and functions. Could Flash be the answer?
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Google's apparent promise to place a very high bid for a portion of the current UHF TV spectrum, if the US Federal Communications Commission follows through with a plan catalyzed by former Netscape chairman Jim Barksdale, has completely changed the game for wireless incumbents who weren't expecting stiff competition from a search engine company.
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New plans offering unlimited talk will change the wireless landscape.
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Although its ambitious plan to provide free Wi-Fi for the city of San Francisco is on hold, Google trumpets its success providing free internet service to the much smaller city of Mountain View, some 30 miles to the south.
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(InfoWorld) - Femtocells, an emerging technology for improving cellular coverage in homes and enterprises, have attracted the interest of none other than Google. The search giant participated in a $25 million round of funding for Ubiquisys, a femtocells vendor based in Swindon, U.K. Technology venture funds Accel Partners, Atlas Venture, and Advent Venture Partners also invested, Ubiquisys announced Friday. Femtocells, named for an order of size in physics that is smaller than "pico" or "nano," are cellular base stations for individual homes or offices. Mobile operators hope to sell them to customers who will install them and immediately enjoy better coverage for data and entertainment services. Weak cellular signals indoors, where most high-speed data services are used, have stunted the growth of those lucrative offerings, according to industry analysts. Google invested in Ubiquisys as part of efforts to help people use the Internet wherever they are with the richest possible experience, spokesman David-John Collins said. "It's about promoting different ways and platforms for people to access the Internet itself," Collins said. Also Friday, theÂ company told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)Â it would bid at least $4.6 billion in an upcoming auction of 700MHz wireless spectrum if the FCC imposes certain conditions. They include letting consumers buy any phone, use it on any network, and download any applications, services or content they want. Google also wants the auction winner to have to sell access wholesale to other service providers. Google's investments in unused optical fiber networks and a free Wi-Fi system for its hometown, plus its planned involvement in a San Francisco Wi-Fi network, have led to theories that it plans to compete with incumbent broadband providers. The company has also invested in Wi-Fi sharing technology vendors Fon Technology and Meraki Networks and powerline broadband provider Current Communications Services, Collins said. Privately held Ubiquisys was founded in 2004 and earlier this year introduced the ZoneGate femtocell system. Many established carrier equipment vendors, including Nokia Siemens Networks BV, Motorola, and Alcatel-Lucent, also are developing and testing femtocell technology. Commercial deployment of the devices is expected to start in earnest next year.