broadband

Femto Forum takes page from DSL world for CPE provisioning

Lynnette Luna — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:42:35 -0400

The Femto Forum is taking its que from the DSL world when it comes to provisioning home base stations and remotely managing them. The forum announced that its members have agreed to implement the Broadband Forum's TR-069 CPE WAN Management Protocol for real-time management of customer premise equipment (CPE), as the basis for the management protocol for femtocells.

The Forum noted that femtocells will be deployed in high volumes and installed by the subscriber so the provisioning and configuration has to e completely automated and managed remotely by the mobile operator. The TR-069 standard has proven it allows operators to offer simple installation and provisioning; perform advanced diagnostics and conduct remote firmware and service upgrades with millions of end devices, in an extremely cost-effective manner, the forum noted.

The Femto Forum said it plans to continue working closely with the Broadband Forum to define extensions to TR-069 to add additional femtocell capability to the standard. The two bodies have been working together over recent months to ensure the protocol is able to meet the criteria of femtocells.

For more:
- check out this release

Related stories:
Femto Forum looks to agree on 4G/WiMAX integration standards. Femto Forum story
Femto Forum, NGMN Alliance unite for femtocells. Femtocell story

Some Americans say they'll never leave dial-up

Lynnette Luna — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:18:36 -0400

Some people like to stay in the dark ages. According to a new report release by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, about 10 percent of U.S. citizens are browsing the Internet using dial-up connections. And most of those people see no reason to upgrade, primarily because they say broadband is too expensive. About 35 percent said broadband was too costly, while 19 percent say nothing will ever get them to move off dial-up. Another 14 percent said they didn't have a choice other than to use dial-up because broadband isn't available in their neighborhoods. Article

Thomson integrates Airvana femto module in home gateways

Lynnette Luna — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:34:09 -0400

Thomson, the leader in broadband customer premises equipment (CPE), revealed it has integrated a UMTS femtocell module from Airvana in its home gateways. The dominant broadband residential gateway supplier chose Airvana over ip.access. The deal is a coup for Airvana as integrated devices are seen as the most cost-effective way for operators to deploy femtocells to the mass market even though they will first roll out standalone femtocells to jump start the market.

Thomson said it chose Airvana over ip.access because of Thomson's own co-marketing and co-development partnership with Nokia Siemens. "We were looking for a technology supplier that would offer support for that ecosystem. Given ip.access wasn't willing to support that at that time, we went looking for a technology supplier that would support that ecosystem," Stan Claes, director of the IPS femtocell group at Thomson, told Unstrung.

For more:
- check out Unstrung

Related stories:
Femtocell news cometh. Femtocell story
T-Mobile's VC arm invests in femtocells. Femtocell report

Minneapolis proves muni-WiFi model can work

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:59:53 -0400

Minneapolis' muni-WiFi network, which covers a 57-square-mile area, is meeting and surpassing expectations set by the city. A recent test conducted by independent third-party consulting firm Novarum found that the Minneapolis network consistently delivered reliable speeds for both 802.11n and 802.11g customers that rival cable and exceed 3G and DSL speeds. BelAir Networks, the city of Minneapolis and USI Wireless were partners involved in the project.

"We believe the Minneapolis area coverage is the biggest in the world," BelAir CTO Stephen Rayment said in an interview with InformationWeek. "We have 450 deployments around the world, but Minneapolis is our poster child. The network delivers 3 Mbps total in up- and downlinks."

The network showed its value early when it provided the only communications link when the I-35W bridge collapsed last year.

In addition to the value of the network for public-safety use, city workers can purchase broadband for a cheaper rate of $12 a month and consumers can get service for $20 a month.

For more about the Minneapolis WiFi network:
- read this InformationWeek article

Related article:
Minneapolis muni-WiFi to roll out March 11 Report on muni WiFi in Minneapolis

ALSO NOTED: Ericsson introduces commercially available LTE-capable platform; Australian government nixes WiMAX plans; and much

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:59:51 -0400

> Ericsson introduced what it calls the world's first commercially available LTE-capable platform. Article

> Government plans to roll out broadband to underserved and rural parts of Australia using a mixture of WiMAX and ADSL have been abandoned. Article

> A trial WiMAX network in South Africa will be closed down at the end of the month after the regulator decided not to extend the trial license. Article

> Brazilian long-distance telecom provider Embratel Participacoes plans to invest $351 million in setting up a WiMAX broadband Internet network in 200 cities by the end of 2009. Article

> Thanks to greater adoption of 3G services and increase in made-for-mobile content, the mobile entertainment market could reach $47.5 billion by 2010, says Juniper Research. Article

And Finally... Will the iPhone drive iPorn? Article

Covad's experiment with muni-WiFi comes at right time

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:59:58 -0500

With EarthLink dropping out of the muni-WiFi market and plans imploding across the country, you have to wonder why broadband operator Covad has any interest at all in muni-WiFi. But the company, which wants to extend the reach of its fixed-line broadband services to hard-to-reach areas, has agreed to test a network in San Carlos, Calif., as part of the struggling Silicon Valley Network, that ambitious WiFi initiative that aims to blanket 1,500 sq. miles with WiFi. (See story No. 1)

In reality, this might be the right time for Covad to become involved with muni-WiFi as it's becoming clear what business cases are successful. Clearly, free WiFi is not the optimal business model, but one of a mixed-use that involves the government as an anchor tenant and offering service to the public. Enough failures have shown what works and what doesn't in terms of a business model.

The other WiFi business model that is emerging--and one Covad might be most interested in--is one centered on regional wireless networks in rural areas where broadband access is sparse. The state of Vermont, for instance, aims to have 100 percent broadband coverage in the state by 2010 by helping fund wireless ISPs throughout the state. That type of model, of course, is what Silicon Valley Network aims to do in California.--Lynnette

Clearwire officially launches PC card, $60 too high?

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:59:55 -0400

Clearwire announced the official launch of its first PC card. We reported in September that the operator quietly made available PC cards in its retail stores and online in almost all of its markets. Clearwire says the card is now available through all of its distribution channels in its markets across the U.S. The launch effectively increases Clearwire's target market. The PC card can be used in most laptops versus a modem's size and power requirement that limit mobility.

Service plans for the Clearwire PC card start at $60 a month with a PC card lease fee of $7 a month. Walter Piecyk at Pali Research noted his surprise that Clearwire has continued with the $60 per-month fee for use of its PC card since store checks indicate the price might be too high to create broadband demand, especially when Sprint and Leap Wireless are offering service for $50 and $40 per month, respectively.

For more about Clearwire's PC card:
- read this release
- take a look at the Pali Research blog (reg. req.)

Study: WiMAX gives Internet companies alternatives

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:59:53 -0400

According to a report from Boschulte Schnee Group, WiMAX represents a way for Internet companies such as Google, Yahoo! and others to gain a broadband path to consumers without going through either cable or telecom networks. Combined with the upcoming 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction, WiMAX poses definite threats to incumbents--conclude authors Alfred Boschulte, former CEO of Nynex Mobile, and Victor Schnee, founder of Probe Research.

To read more about the report:
- check out this article from Telephony

Verizon to offer in-flight WiFi

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 19:01:37 -0500

Verizon says it is ready to begin offering in-flight broadband service to airline passengers sometime in 2007. Verizon's announcement follows last week's issuance by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of updated rules on spectrum auctions, which open the door to broadband WiFi service for passengers high up in the air. Bill Pallone, president of Verizon Airfone, urged the FCC to auction new licenses in the 800 MHz band. "There are many interested airlines and general aviation operators that share our commitment to this broadband vision," he said.

Verizon's WiFi technology is based on CDMA2000 1xEV-DO with provisions for extended distances and Doppler compensation for high-speed aircraft. The company had been conducting trials since 2004 of service capable of ground-to-air peak speeds of 2.4 Mbps--enough for Web browsing, email service and VoIP telephony. The system will not interfere with cockpit electronics.

For more on Verizon in-flight WiFi:
- see this UPI report

ALSO NOTED: Nintendo DS WiFi; WiFi finders; Irish Broadband deploys WiMax; and much more...

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:00:50 -0500

> Nintendo DS WiFi is launched. Article

> A bunch of new of WiFi finders. Review

> Intel will support the latest version of Cisco Compatible Extensions in its next-generation WiFi technologies. Report

> Kodak believes its new WiFi digital camera is going to be one of the year's hottest holiday electronics gifts. Release

> Irish Broadband deploys WiMax across Ireland. Article

> More than 150 pilot and commercial deployments of WiMax networks are currently in use around the world. Report

> Vodafone looking at broadband and WiMax. Article

> UWB companies begin to check products for interoperability. Article

> Ember shipping EmberZNet 2.0, a 2nd-gen ZigBee protocol stack. Report

> Sun Microsystems released an RFID package aimed at helping pharmaceutical companies track and authenticate drugs. Article

And Finally... IVT says that the world's first Bluetooth Class 1 Cordless Telephony Profile (CTP) enabled GSM phone is now in mass production. The new phone acts as a normal cellular phone when outdoors and as a cordless fixed line phone when indoors. Report