Access Providers

Intentional Disruptions to Internet Access Cost Countries $2.4 Billion Last Year

Around the world, digital technology is seen as vital for economic development. In the U.S. alone, the Internet accounts for about six percent of the entire economy. Digital technology has expanded its role in the global economy in recent years, as both developed and developing nations have become increasingly reliant on the Internet. more

Google Fiber Launches 5-Gig Service in 4 of Its 12 Existing Metro Markets

Google Fiber is boosting its internet speeds and availability by offering a new 5-gig tier in four of its existing markets. Nick Saporito, Head of Multi-gig and Commercial Product, made the announcement in a blog post on Valentine's day titled: Fall in love with fast -- 5 Gig is here! more

Verizon and AWS Expand Network Ties to Meet AI Data Demands

Verizon and AWS have deepened their collaboration to build dedicated fiber infrastructure, addressing the growing need for low-latency, high-capacity connectivity to support the rapid expansion of enterprise-scale artificial intelligence workloads. more

The Big Questions Facing the Telecom Industry

I took a pause the other day to think about the big issues facing the telecom industry. When I've done that in past years, I always came up with a few major issues and more smaller ones. But we are in such turmoil right now that I rattled off the following list quickly. I can't remember a time when our industry was wrangling with so many major issues at the same time. The industry's performance over the next decade is going to depend upon how we handle these issues. more

Berners-Lee Urges Citizens to Comment: “Four Days to Save the Open Internet in Europe”

In an open letter released today, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Professor Barbara van Schewick, and Professor Larry Lessig are urging citizens, lawmakers and regulators, to speak up. more

Facebook Goes Live with Express Wifi in India

According to a new update on Facebook's Internet.org website on Monday, a service called "Express Wifi" has gone live and plans are in place to expand to other regions soon. more

Massive African Internet Outage and the Fragility of Undersea Cables

Eight countries in West Africa reported Internet outages after damage was reported to four different undersea fiber cables. The most affected countries are Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Benin, with additional problems caused in Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Lesser impact was felt in South Africa, Senegal, and Portugal. There has been no official word on what caused the problem, but it's likely due to the shifting of the seabed due to seismic activity. more

6 Reasons a Billing Solution Won’t Cut It for Service Fulfillment

You don't always need to dazzle consumers -- but you do need to deliver what they want, when they want it, or else risk being left behind. The crux of service activation is to provide requested services to the subscriber in the shortest possible timeframe. The rise in multi-play service offerings can sometimes make this goal difficult, with service fulfilment involving multiple back-end components, including billing, provisioning, activation, monitoring, and diagnostics, as well as different technology types. more

Broadband Speed and Market Signaling: Strategic Constraints in U.S. ISP Policy

Despite early dismissals from cable giants, consumer demand and real-world use cases proved the value of gigabit broadband. Today, slow uploads and strategic pricing continue to signal an industry reluctant to embrace speed. more

Are You Playing Roulette With Your Network Upgrades?

Exponential growth in network bandwidth requirements has created a need for large CAPEX investments for most service providers. Unfortunately, each provider faces limits on all expenditures and must upgrade only what is needed, when it is needed. Nobody should waste time or money by performing unnecessary network upgrades. To avoid needless upgrading, providers must have all the data they can get from their network to guide them through the decision-making process.  more

3.2 Billion People Online in 2015 - Up from 3B in 2014, Facebook Reports

At the end of 2015, 3.2 billion people were estimated to be online -- up from 3 billion in 2014, according to the study conducted by Connectivity Lab at Facebook. The increase is "partly attributed to more affordable data and rising global incomes in 2014." more

A Spectrum Crisis?

CTIA, the trade association for cellular companies, published a recent blog titled, "The Looming Spectrum Crisis". The blog quotes a study from Accenture that concludes that a lack of spectrum for 5G is reaching a point of crisis. The Accenture study says that cellular networks will be unable to meet nearly one-fourth of peak-period requests for connection as soon as 2027. more

U.S. Government Invests $930 Million in Expanding Nationwide Internet Connectivity: Bridging Digital Divide in Remote and Underserved Regions

In a bid to expand nationwide internet access, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a major $930 million grant initiative on Friday aimed at improving internet connections in remote parts of Alaska, rural Texas, and other regions with significant connectivity issues.  more

Democracy Now Video Reporting on Iran’s European Aided Internet Monitoring Capabilities

Democracy Now has a video discussion on the recent reports about telecoms in Europe aiding the Iranian government develop highly sophisticated Internet censorship mechanisms or deep packet inspection. The WSJ recently reported that the Iranian monitoring capabilities where "at least in part [provided] by a joint venture of Siemens AG, the German conglomerate, and Nokia Corp., the Finish cellphone compnay, in second half of 2008." (also see previous report: Iran's Internet Censorship Most Sophisticated in the World) more

Quantifying the Benefits of Telemedicine

There was a recent article in JAMA Network Open, part of the monthly journals of the American Medical Association, that reported on a large study to quantify the benefits of using telemedicine with cancer patients. The study was conducted at National Cancer Institute - Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Florida from April 2020 through June 2021. The study wanted to quantify the cost savings for patients that were able to conduct visits via telehealth rather than drive to the cancer center. more