With a data rate of 6 Gigabit per second over a distance of 37 kilometers, a collaborative project in Germany including researchers from the University of Stuttgart and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF has exceeded "the state of the art by a factor of 10" -- equivalent to transmitting the contents of a conventional DVD in under ten seconds. more
Facebook has announced a new routing system aimed at solving fast-recovery challenges for its Terragraph network that brings high-speed internet connectivity to dense urban areas. more
According to the latest computer and Internet use data released by NTIA, Americans as a whole are becoming less likely to have residential broadband. NTIA's Chief Economist, Giulia McHenry, in blogs post today wrote: "Americans’ rapid move toward mobile Internet service appears to be coming at the expense of home broadband connections." more
President Obama has threatened to veto a backdoor attempt by a Republican-backed bill that would undermine net neutrality protection measures. The "No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act", or H.R. 2666, proposes to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from regulating the rates charged for broadband Internet access service. more
The Federal Communications Commission has introduced new broadband labels in order to provide consumers of mobile and fixed broadband Internet service with an easy-to-understand information about price and performance. "These labels provide consumers clarity about the broadband service they are purchasing, not only helping them to make more informed choices but also preventing surprises when the first bill arrives," said Chairman Wheeler. more
Google has announced that it is working to bring high-speed internet to Cuba, one of the world's least-connected countries. In a blog post published Monday, the company said it is bringing Chromebooks, Cardboard virtual reality kits, and other Google products to the Museo Orgánico Romerillo in Havana, where they will be connected to an internet network operated by the government-owned carrier ETECSA. more
Cuba has announced it is launching country's first broadband home Internet servicea, a potentially major step forward in bringing the island online. more
A number of Senior U.S. officials and business leaders visited Cuba last week and urged the government to speed up its build out of Internet infrastructure and to make it more widely available, Mario Trujillo reports in The Hill. more
Real-Time Entertainment (streaming video and audio) traffic is now responsible for over 70% of North American downstream traffic in the peak evening hours on fixed access networks, according to a new report from Sandvine. Five years ago, video and audio streaming accounted for less than 35%. more
Internet Society President and CEO Kathy Brown wrote about the critical role that the Internet has in enabling the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). more
Inspired by expansion announcements from companies such as Netflix and Airbnb into Cuba, Fabián E. Bustamante, professor of electrical engineering and computer science in the McCormick School of Engineering, and his graduate student Zachary Bischof, conducted research examining feasibility of the business ideas given the region's notoriously weak network infrastructure. more
Responding to a recent New York Times article which warned the possibility of Russian submarines possessing the ability to sabotage undersea communication cables, Doug Madory, Director of Internet Analysis at Dyn, calls them exaggerated scenarios. more
Russian submarines and spy are reported to be aggressively operating near vital undersea cables that carry global Internet communications, according to a story in the New York Times. The issue is raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials regarding the possibility that Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of tension or conflict. more
Eutelsat Communications and Facebook announced today their partnership on a new initiative that will leverage satellite technologies to get more Africans online. "Under a multi-year agreement with Spacecom, the two companies will utilize the entire broadband payload on the future AMOS-6 satellite and will build a dedicated system comprising satellite capacity, gateways and terminals," according to the official announcement. more
Broadband Internet is failing to reach those who could benefit most, with Internet access reaching near-saturation in the world's rich nations but not advancing fast enough to benefit the billions of people living in the developing world, according to the 2015 edition of the State of Broadband report. more