Sprint, Comcast, Google, Time Warner and Intel Join Forces in New Personal Broadband Joint Venture

The race to bring consumers ultrafast wireless Internet service is on. Titans from the cable, Internet and chip industries are investing $3.2 billion in a company that will deliver Web access for cellphones and laptops at speeds much faster than what is available today using a technology called WiMax. Analysts say the venture, valued at more than $12 billion, will have a two year head-start on rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc., which are just beginning to sketch out plans for their next-generation wireless networks. The venture includes wireless provider Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp., a start-up backed by cellphone pioneer Craig McCaw. Other big-name backers include cable-TV giants Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc., Internet giant Google Inc. and chip maker Intel Corp. More...

AT&T Providing Free Wi-Fi Access to iPhone Users

A couple of readers have reported that AT&T hotspots are now offering free Wi-Fi access to iPhone users. Barnes and Noble, Starbucks and presumably AT&T's 71,000 other Wi-fi hotspot locations are now offering iPhone users a custom portal to access free Wi-Fi. A special iPhone formatted page asks for your mobile phone number. Once entered, you can access the Wi-Fi access for free. More...

Philly's Wi-Fi network in jeopardy

The fate of Philadephia's citywide Wi-Fi deployment is still in limbo as EarthLink threatens to pull the plug. EarthLink, which fronted $20 million to build the network and has completed 80 percent of the build-out, stopped accepting new customers last week, according to a report by Metro Philadelphia. The company has also supposedly given the city a deadline of this week to come up with a plan to take over the network or sell it to a third party. EarthLink, which won the contract in 2006 to build what was at the time to be the largest citywide Wi-Fi deployment in the nation, said earlier this year that it's getting out of the Wi-Fi business. The company had aggressively pushed its municipal Wi-Fi strategy. And Philadelphia was one of several large contracts the company had won to build citywide Wi-Fi networks. But after the death of EarthLink's CEO Garry Betty in early 2007, it quickly became clear that the Internet service provider had a change of heart when it came to Wi-Fi. More...

Cablevision Plans Wireless Personal Broadband Network

Cablevision Systems Corp. posted a quarterly loss despite a 10% jump in revenue and disclosed plans to build a wireless broadband network to serve its subscribers in the New York area. Chief Operating Officer Thomas Rutledge said the company is rolling out a mesh network using Wi-FI technology. The rollout has already begun in select communities and will be completed in two years, he said. The service will be free for existing customers. "We can create a lot of value for consumers," he told analysts in a conference call Thursday. He added that the company can deploy the network cheaply. More...

Politicos want free wireless broadband on unused airwaves

A Silicon Valley Democrat in the U.S. Congress is proposing a new auction of unused radio spectrum, but with some ambitious strings attached: The winner would have to offer a free, wireless broadband network that reaches 95 percent of the American population within a decade. Voicing disappointment that familiar large wireless carriers scooped up the most significant share of airwaves in a recently concluded auction, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced the Wireless Internet Nationwide for Families Act, which would direct the Federal Communications Commission to auction off a band of wireless spectrum. More...
 

FCC dealt setback in broadband-over-power-lines push

In a potential setback for fans of broadband over power lines, a federal appeals court has sided in part with amateur radio operators who challenged rules designed to speed the nascent Internet service's rollout. When setting rules for BPL operators nearly two years ago, the Federal Communications Commission said it was trying to encourage deployment of a "third pipe" to compete with cable and DSL services, while establishing limits aimed at protecting public safety, maritime, radio-astronomy, aeronautical navigation, and amateur radio operators from harmful interference. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL), which represents amateur and ham radio operators, however, promptly sued the agency, contending that the FCC's approach was insufficient to ward off interference with its radios and inconsistent with its previous rules. More...

GPS Devices and Systems Will Generate Revenues of $240 Billion by 2013

GPS satellite technology is becoming increasingly important as it is being embedded in an ever-wider range of mobile consumer devices to enable navigation and Location Based Services. While GPS handsets and in-vehicle navigation systems will remain the most lucrative markets, industrial applications such as network timing, land surveying, and machine control are quickly gaining momentum. By 2013 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) end-user devices and systems will generate yearly revenues of $240 billion. “The implementation of GPS technology in mobile consumer devices such as handsets and digital cameras, and its indoor use, pose some important challenges,” says ABI Research principal analyst Dominique Bonte. ”GPS technology was designed for outdoor use and specific military applications, and its weak signals and long fix times are not well-suited to indoor environments and mobile devices such as digital cameras with their low power consumption and always-on requirements.” More...

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