rural broadband
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TV white spaces forum paves the way for wireless broadband across Africa
I've traveled to remote islands in the South Pacific where wireless internet is proving to be the go-to technology for broadband, and increasingly, it's looking as if tether-less connections will be what brings millions upon millions of Africans online. Google's own Eric Schmidt has confessed as recently as March that the most exciting part of the web's future isn't any one technology or product, but the "next five billion people looking to get connected." So, it figures that Google was a major constituent at the recent TV White Spaces & Dynamic Spectrum Africa Forum in Dakar, Senegal. It -- along with 15 African nations, Microsoft, the Association for Progressive Communications, Afrinic and others -- recently convened in order to discuss the opportunities that are currently facing the continent. Indeed, the fact that there is over 90MHz available in Dakar alone to be used for wireless broadband deployment puts Africa in a unique spot -- one of the most disconnected regions of our planet could become a pioneer in bringing the next wave of humans online. ICASA, the South African regulator, will reportedly use various trial outcomes to evaluate possible rules for use of the TV white spaces. And, as Steve Song of Village Telco points out, it's pretty astounding to have Microsoft and Google working in some fashion towards a similar goal. As it stands, a lot has to happen -- final standards have to be agreed upon, equipment makers have to decide that it's a profitable enterprise, and individual nations have to place a high priority on getting their populations connected. That said, the amount of momentum that's already happening is supremely compelling, and I'm hoping to report back in the coming months on how a smattering of these very trials are impacting communities across Africa right now. Stay tuned!
Broadband internet arrives in California's Gold Country through white spaces deployment
While select outfits race to make satellite broadband an acceptable solution for those who need ping times south of three digits, there's another game in town looking to quietly revolutionize rural access. As LTE slowly rolls out to major metropolitan areas in the United States, vacated spectrum is allowing companies like Carlson Wireless to offer up another option. TV white spaces -- unused TV channels freed up after the analog-to-digital transition of 2009 -- have long since been eyed as the answer for distributing high-speed internet to areas that aren't economical to reach via wireline, or are otherwise shunned by conventional wireless operators. Armed with an FCC-granted Special Temporary Authority to validate the efficacy of the product in real-world scenarios, Carlson has partnered with Cal.net in order to bring internet to sections of California's Gold Country; the project comprises multiple transmission sites delivering broadband to several hundred heretofore un-serviceable subscribers in El Dorado County. There's no word on pricing, but we're sure hoping it's a runaway hit -- we can think of plenty of gorgeous locales in this country that could stand a pinch of internet. (Yellowstone National Park, we're looking at you.)
Hughes updates its HughesNet satellite broadband with Gen4 service
On the same day that Dish's new satellite broadband service kicks off, partner Hughes is upgrading its own offering with even faster speeds. HughesNet Gen4 offers downloads of up to 15 Mbps to the 19 million (or so) Americans who can't get high-speed fixed-line broadband services. $50 a month will get customers 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload with a 20GB data cap, while $80 a month offers a 30GB limit and 2 Mbps upload -- but for high-rolling hermits, $100 a month gets you the full 15 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up and a 40GB allowance. Current users wanting in on the action aren't excluded from the program, and can register their interest at our More Coverage link.
Dish Network launches nationwide satellite broadband service with ViaSat, Hughes, calls it dishNET
Dish Network's long-gestating tie-up with ViaSat and Hughes has finally arrived under the name dishNET. Sounding like an implement you'd use to clean dirty dinner plates, the nationwide satellite broadband service launches from October 1st, targeting customers in rural areas that are underserved with fixed line gear. $40 a month gets you 5 Mbps down / 1Mbps up with a 10GB data cap, while subscribers can get a $10 discount if they pick up a TV package at the same time. We asked the company if this was related to the service based upon its spectrum purchases that was hinted at back in August, and it confirmed this is just leveraging ViaSat Exede and HughesNet.
FCC report says 19 million Americans still without broadband access
The FCC believes that 19 million Americans don't have access to broadband, defined as internet access at a speed of 4 megabits per second or more. Understandably, rural areas are the worst hit, with 14.5 million out in the sticks without access, with areas like West Virginia lacking coverage for 45.9 percent of its population. It's not limited to the wide open spaces of states like Montana (16.7 percent) however, even tech-heavy states like California lack access for 35 percent of its denizens. The commission's Connect America fund is charged with closing this gap, and has already awarded CenturyLink $35 million to connect 45,000 homes in under-served areas as part of a plan to help seven million more people get online by 2018.
House of Lords wants UK TV to go fully online and leave airwaves clear for cellphones
The UK House of Lords' Communications Committee has suggested that all broadcast TV should be moved to the internet to free up wireless spectrum for cellphones. In its report, the panel found that whilst such a network would be cheaper and more efficient in the long run, it would also require extensive re-building of the country's archaic communications infrastructure. Given that the analog-to-digital switchover is currently in progress, it seems unlikely that a further transition will be timetabled -- especially since there are still concerns over the cost of bringing fiber-optic broadband to rural areas. Any change in the plan will need to be rubber-stamped by Government, but perhaps it'd be more amenable if they saw how good 8K video looks on one of those connections.
CenturyLink gets $35 million FCC grant to connect 45,000 rural homes to the internet (updated)
CenturyLink has announced that it's getting $35 million from the FCC's Connect America Fund to hook 45,000 homes in rural areas up to the internet. The company isn't hiding its disappointment at the donation, since it was originally angling for closer to $90 million. However, the conditions attached to the extra cash made further deployment "uneconomic," so the company will have to settle at this first target to begin with. There is some hope for countryside folk: CenturyLink mavens have filed a waiver application which, if granted, would let the company connect a further 60,000 homes where service is currently too expensive to install. Update: The FCC has made its own announcement, pledging that it'll connect up to 400,000 unconnected citizens in the next three years and up to seven million in six. The full text is after the jump.
The most expensive internet in America: fighting to bring affordable broadband to American Samoa
"You could argue that there's some value in it." That's New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking candidly during a recent interview at D10 in California. The topic of conversation? Widespread WiFi, and whether or not the government should be the one thinking about its future ubiquity. More specifically, if WiFi hotspots should be treated like "roads or water supply," as aptly stated by AllThingsD's Kara Swisher. This obviously isn't the first time such an idea has crossed the minds of those connected to Washington, D.C. Muni-Fi (municipal wireless networks) projects were all the rage a few years back, but one spectacular failure after another swiftly extinguished that momentum. In more modern times, America (as well as other nations) has sought to solve the "rural broadband" problem, bringing high(er)-speed internet connections to places with a higher bovine population than human. But bringing broadband to places like rural North Dakota seems like an easy chore to a small, but passionate, group of 60,000 sitting some 4,770 miles from San Diego, California. American Samoa may be an unincorporated US territory located closer to pure bliss than the hustle and bustle of Wall Street, but it's no doubt being taken into consideration in recent mapping projects aiming to pinpoint the areas most lacking in terms of digital infrastructure. Unbeknownst to most mainlanders, this fragile island chain is home to the most expensive internet in America, and the political issues surrounding it are astonishing. Head on past the break to learn more on what I discovered.
Mobile Miscellany: week of April 30th, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, we saw the first rollout of Verizon LTE from one of its rural partners, and both the Optimus L7 and Xperia U were spotted for Fido. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of April 30th, 2012.
FCC to dole out up to $300 million to help carriers expand service in rural areas
It seems like almost every day that we receive a press release announcing Verizon or AT&T is planning to expand its LTE coverage to three, five, eleven new markets. But in some remote pockets of the country, you'd be lucky to latch onto even a solid 3G signal. In a bid to make sure those folks in the boonies get their due, the Federal Communications Commission is establishing a fund to encourage carriers to roll out 3G and 4G service in sparser areas. All told, the agency plans to award up to $300 million to mobile operators, with funds going to the providers offering the lowest rates. The winners will be decided in a sealed, single-round auction, which opens June 27th and is set to close July 11th. As a condition for receiving the funds, carriers must agree to cover at least 75 percent of the road miles within a given census tract. While it's unclear at this early stage which mobile players will take the bait, the FCC's already signaled which parts of the country will be first in line for upgraded service -- namely, Rocky Mountain states like Utah and Idaho, along with Maine, Appalachia and upstate New York.
The Engadget Interview: ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg on Exede and the future of in-flight WiFi
When you think about satellite internet, dismal speeds, ridiculous latency and astronomical fees are likely first to come to mind. But the only technology capable of blanketing our entire planet in connectivity is now able to provide a fast, consistent and affordable experience, thanks to one market-leading company, and the vision and leadership of Mark Dankberg. Launched from Dankberg's home in Southern California, ViaSat lit up on the map in 1986, and spent the first two decades focused on government and corporate contracts. Last year's launch of ViaSat-1, however, beamed the company straight toward the top of the North American satellite broadband market, bringing high-speed internet to the rural masses. Pair the company's Exede household product with airline contracts for in-flight WiFi, and you have one ever-growing infrastructure giant. We sat down with Dankberg -- ViaSat's CEO since inception -- at the company's Carlsbad, California headquarters, learning about the Exede service launch, a portable newsgathering rig and what the future of in-flight WiFi may look like on airlines like JetBlue and United. Join us past the break for the interview in full, and an inside look at how ViaSat plans to transform the entire satellite internet experience.
Satellite web surfing at 40Mbps with ViaSat SurfBeam 2 Pro (video)
If you've been relying on a satellite modem for your daily dose of the Internet, you're probably all too familiar with sub-1Mbps download speeds and an overall painful experience. That's exactly why we've been so impressed with ViaSat and its new 12Mbps down, 3Mbps up Exede residential satellite broadband product. Yesterday, we journeyed deep into Camp Pendleton near San Diego to test out those 12/3Mbps speeds on the go-anywhere SurfBeam 2 Pro Portable, and now we're back to play around with the enterprise setup's more stationary sibling, the SurfBeam 2 Pro. The modem functions in much the same way as ViaSat's less-expensive household version, though there's a bit more horsepower under the hood.The sample we saw at the company's Carlsbad, CA headquarters is also provisioned for faster service, delivering throughput in excess of 40Mbps down, letting you transfer files from the web at speeds you'd typically only be able to meet with a fiber connection. That may be a bit excessive for regular web use, but if you need to download software, movies or other large files in remote areas, that extra speed will likely be more than welcome. Join us past the break for a quick look a Exede, followed by a demo of the enterprise version and its 40Mbps downloads.
Live from Camp Pendleton with ViaSat SurfBeam 2 Pro Portable (video)
There's no power outlet, land-based internet connection or even a decent cell signal in sight, yet we're posting this live, at fast broadband speeds. We're miles deep into Camp Pendleton, connected to ViaSat's SurfBeam 2 Pro Portable mobile satellite transceiver and sending data to and from ViaSat-1 located more than 20,000 miles above our heads. SurfBeam 2 wasn't designed for us to kick back and surf the web in the middle of nowhere at speeds that we could barely achieve while tethered to a cable connection just a few years ago, but we're doing just that, with ViaSat's roughly $20,000 go-anywhere satellite broadband rig. We first heard about Pro Portable last month at CES, which the company is marketing towards military, emergency management personnel and even broadcasters -- that's right, the sat truck of the future fits inside a hand-carry suitcase, and sends HD video from the world's most remote locations right back to broadcast centers at record speed, nearly eliminating that lag that makes certain CNN reports painful to watch.Pro Portable really can go anywhere -- disassembled, it fits inside a fairly modest suitcase, but screw it together and you have a full-size dish. There's also a four-port Ethernet router and an optional battery pack, which provides up to four hours of juice. Think of it as Exede broadband for far-off-the-grid types. Sadly, Pro Portable isn't priced low enough to make its way into your on-the-go blogger kit, but it costs a small fraction of the million dollars you can spend on a sat truck, which rents for thousands of dollars a day. It's also far more transportable and discrete, offering consistent 12 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds nearly anywhere in North America. How can SurfBeam 2 hold up during a bandwidth-intensive HD upload? See for yourself just past the break -- our 230MB hands-on video made its way from the ground to space and back to Viddler in just shy of 13 minutes, and our Skype video call looked fantastic, without any noticeable lag.
ViaSat 12Mbps 'exede' broadband gets official date and data bundles, eyes up you rural types
Still fancy some of that 12Mbps satellite broadband ViaSat announced last week? Well, the service finally got a name: Exede. Also, that suggested January 16th date for consumer roll-out has been confirmed. If you're still undecided whether you want some of that "feels like fiber" service, then maybe the freshly revealed package details might sway you? The $50 basic bundle will get you 7.5GB monthly quota which can be increased to 15GB ($80) or 25GB ($130) if that doesn't fill your data belly. Tap the PR if you want to read more.
ViaSat residential satellite broadband internet hands-on (video)
Last Thursday, ViaSat announced pricing for its new home broadband service, which is set to deliver 12 Mbps+ download speeds (3 Mbps+ up) beginning next week for $50 per month. We just dropped by the company's demo home just a few feet from the Engadget trailer at the Las Vegas Convention Center parking lot to try it out, and were quite impressed with the speeds we saw, especially considering that data was passing through the ViaSat-1 satellite thousands of miles above the Earth. We've used other satellite internet services before, and while there's still just over a half-second of latency, bandwidth speeds were significantly faster than what we've experienced with other services in the past. HD YouTube videos loaded very quickly, after a brief delay, as did Engadget and many other media-rich news websites. We performed a speed test and registered ping speeds of about 600ms, download speeds of about 30 Mbps and upload speeds of about 2 Mbps, but results aren't as accurate as they would be with a land-based connection because of latency and the way packet data is handled. We also placed a VOIP call, and while the delay was noticeable there, it was still usable. Want to see for yourself? Jump past the break as we step through ViaSat's front door to hop online.
ViaSat details home broadband, 12 Mbps service to roll out on the 16th for $50 per month
Earlier this year, ViaSat launched its ViaSat-1, a 140 Gbps capacity satellite positioned over North America. We've already heard about plans to bring Ka-band coverage to the friendly JetBlue skies later this year, but now the new broadband provider has detailed residential availability as well, through the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. NRTC members will have access to 12 Mbps service packages starting at $50 per month as soon as January 16th, finally bringing high-speed broadband to areas where fiber and cable services are not available. ViaSat may not be rolling out to consumers for another couple weeks, but the provider will be on-site at CES to demo the service in "residential, commercial airline, and satellite newsgathering" scenarios beginning Tuesday, and you better believe we'll be there to test it out.
FCC's 'Connect America Fund' redirects phone fees to provide rural broadband
The Federal Communications Commission has just unveiled a new plan that'll overhaul an $8 billion fund that's currently used to "subsidize phone service in rural areas and for the poor," pointing that money towards buildouts in the ambitious rural broadband initiative. Most critics suggest that the existing fee model is severely outdated, and in fact, encourages "perverse schemes by carriers to stimulate certain kinds of phone traffic." Not surprisingly, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has said that he "doesn't expect" phone rates to increase for most consumers, and the agency's currently estimating a $2.2 billion savings from fees that are currently paid out to phone companies. Politics aside, the goal here is to provide broadband access (however that's defined) to every American by the end of the decade, with Genachowski quipping: "We are taking a system designed for the Alexander Graham Bell era of rotary telephones and modernizing it for the era of Steve Jobs and the internet future he imagined." Pretty sure more than just Jobs had visions of a connected future, but we're following the logic, Jules.
FCC frees up to 650MHz of backhaul spectrum to accelerate rural 4G deployment
Busting down a critical obstacle in the deployment of mobile broadband in rural areas, the FCC announced plans to make up to 650MHz of spectrum available for microwave wireless backhaul. This particular block, which will be shared with cable TV relay (CARS) and broadcast auxiliary services (BAS), spans across half of the land mass of the US and blankets roughly 10 percent of the total population. The large expense of laying fiber optics at rural cell sites has been a barrier most companies haven't been able to break through; by implementing the use of microwave wireless backhaul, however, the government is hopeful this will drive the cost of deployment down, create new jobs and accelerate the rollout of 4G networks in remote areas. The FCC also allowed for the use of wider channels and smaller antennas, and lifted several federal restrictions in an attempt to make the process of securing spectrum easier. The department's clearly putting more focus on wireless broadband deployment in remote regions, and is currently asking for more comments on ways to ease the burden. Hit up the source link for more details on the plan.
LightSquared donates phones to North American tribes, keeps the rural connectivity flame a burnin'
It looks like LightSquared's crush on rural America is still ongoing, folks. The firm announced today it'll donate 2,000 satellite phones to the Indian Health Service and other tribal organizations, allowing them to make calls in areas that terrestrial networks don't cover. Sadly, no details on exactly what gear it's deploying, but according to Computerworld the devices are voice-only, meaning IHS employees better get pretty damn crafty if they want to surf Engadget whilst on the job -- can you say dial-up tether? Either way, with connectivity headed to facilities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Arizona, can the firm's wholesale debut be that far off? We'll have to see, but in the meantime, indulge in the official PR beyond the break.
LightSquared creates rural America initiative, promises to be more help than hindrance
With GPS interference issues now resolved, LightSquared's going back to the farm to reassure rural America it means no harm. The wholesale-only 4G LTE service that already signed up a plethora of partners is turning to Sen. Byron Dorgan and Reps. George Nethercutt and Charlie Stenholm to oversee its newly-created Empower Rural America Initiative. The plan calls for oversight of the service's bucolic deployment, promising its filtering tech will keep GPS-dependent precision agriculture on-point and pesticides away from your country home. Also under the proposed guidelines are plans to assist emergency first responders with network access in the event existing communication systems get knocked out. It's a comforting pat on the rustic back that should shore up "broadband adoption gap" issues currently plaguing underserved areas. But while it may look like the farmer and the technologist can be friends, we have a sneaking suspicion there are more self-serving motivations at play here. Hit the break for LightSquared's pastorally empowering PR.
