tvb

Our friends at The Simple Dollar, a consumer-focused blog, have put together an infographic showing how AT&T and Verizon dominate the US wireless market. There’s not much new information, but you are given a panoramic view of the existing terrain. … Continue reading →

On Tuesday, the DC Court of Appeals denied Verizon’s request to have the same judges who decided Comcast vs. FCC hear its challenge to the new Open Internet rules. Still to be resolved is the FCC’s motion to dismiss the … Continue reading →

To everything there is a season. A time to propose Open Internet rules. A time to seek relief from these arbitrary and capricious rules in the courts, specifically the DC Court of Appeals. Let’s say it’s not a complete surprise … Continue reading →

Cisco’s marketing department has continued their cuddly product naming  with the announcement of umi (pronounced you-me) last week. It’s basically Skype or in Cisco-speak, “telepresense,” for regular folks. And by regular folks they mean TV-watchers with an Internet connection but … Continue reading →

Is this what Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg metaphorically whispered into the Google founder’s ear?  I’m still reeling from the Google-Verizon non-aggression pact and what it will mean for a  competitive and open Internet.  Some have pointed out that the proposal … Continue reading →

So there wasn’t an agreement between Google and Verizon, as reported by The New York Times, on price tiers. Instead the two companies released a modest proposal and legislative framework for an open Internet.  I like the boldness of their … Continue reading →

Carriers have always loved to meter. They are utilities after all.  Of course, then came the Internet,  dirt cheap bits,  and a generation of consumers brought up on free.  Wanting to charge on a piecemeal basis but fearful of consumer … Continue reading →

It looks like an end game in legacy copper communications is playing out. On Friday, Verizon received approval from the FCC to sell off its wireline operations in 14 states to Frontier Communications: Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia. The affected subscribers are concentrated in rural, low density areas and small cities. The FCC attached a few weak, purely voluntary conditions on Frontier for this transfer of 4.8 million lines. Continue reading →

In the National Broadband Plan, there is hardly any mention of a wholesale or “unbundled” model of fiber-to-the-home. That’s unfortunate. There are many examples of successful deployments of fiber in which the physical part is built by the public sector … Continue reading →

As we all know, Verizon went public on Tuesday with its agreement to allow Skype's VoIP application to run on its network. There are still a few gotchas for Verizon subscribers who want the service, but in the world of telecom this is momentous. Faced with the FCC's proposed rules for net neutrality and a new fifth principle of non-discrimination, Verizon (along with AT&T) has relented. Continue reading →