Wednesday Evening Links07:02PM Wednesday Aug 27 2008 by Revcb 2 comments
Last week I noted that Verizon was quietly revisiting every single one of their FiOS installations in New York State after the State PSC found that a number of installs weren't properly grounded and/or bonded. Light Reading editor Phil Harvey e-mails me to note they have more information on the problems and some photo examples of improperly grounded ONTs (optical network terminals). Verizon is apparently giving customers a refund should it be found their install wasn't up to code -- and the company estimates the total "may be in the millions of dollars" according to documents filed with the State. 29 comments
Earlier this week, Wired News posted the results of a survey comparing iPhone speeds across various global 3G networks. This led to several cases of users in various countries realizing they were getting, well, crappy service. Customers of France's Orange were particularly annoyed to find out that their carrier was artificially restricting downstream speeds of their HSDPA network to 384kbps (HSDPA's theoretical maximum downstream speed is 7.2Mbps). Orange says they were simply "preserving the stability of the network," but customers believe Orange was preserving the integrity of their pocketbook. Thanks to Wired's data, Orange says they'll increase downstream speeds to 1Mbps starting September 15. 24 comments
At some point during the last decade, someone redefined "unlimited" to mean "very limited" and didn't bother to inform the folks at Merriam Webster. There's been no shortage of telecom companies that offer an "unlimited" service, only to turn around and tell you their marketing department was just kidding.  story continues..58 comments
While it's true that many municipal fiber and wireless broadband projects have failed due to the incompetence of those deploying them, it's also true that there's a very broad coalition of industry interests lined up to ensure that these projects not only fail, but that they're properly maligned at every possible opportunity. Despite this, Telephony Online notes that municipal broadband lives on, largely because industry remains unwilling to fill the broadband coverage caps that created the concept in the first place. Anyone who thinks the municipal broadband market is headed south, however, needs to take a closer look. story continues..16 comments
Business Week has a good read on the growing number of companies that are offering VoIP services over Wi-Fi enabled cellphones, specifically focusing on Gorilla Mobile and iCall. The number of mobile VoIP users is expected to grow to 100 million in 2010, from 7 million last year, generating $33.7 billion for these companies. Wireless carriers are expected to generate $700.7 billion in sales of voice services this year, and clearly won't be particularly thrilled with the quickly growing sector. Companies like T-Mobile have already taken action, tweaking their handsets so VoIP calls made via Wi-Fi hotspots count against subscribers' wireless minutes unless you sign up for an additional $10 plan. 15 comments
Late last year, you might recall that Verizon made a big deal about "opening up" their wireless network. The announcement got a huge amount of kudos from the press, most of whom didn't understand that Verizon Wireless was simply making freedom and choice a luxury tier -- and keeping their primary focus on their locked-down handsets. 18 comments
Wired News reports on a new vulnerability that could allow troublemakers to intercept traffic on a scale that would make even AT&T and the NSA proud. Two security researchers have demonstrated a new technique to stealthily intercept internet traffic using a vulnerability in the internet routing protocol BGP (Border Gateway Protocol). The tactic, which one hacker claims is bigger than the recent DNS exploit, lets an attacker monitor unencrypted internet traffic anywhere in the world, and even modify it before it reaches its destination. 19 comments
Wednesday Morning Links07:16AM Wednesday Aug 27 2008 by Revcb comments?
Tuesday Evening Links06:59PM Tuesday Aug 26 2008 by Revcb 18 comments
At some point, BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen grew tired of geek adoration for his ingenious networking creation, and decided he actually wanted to make money. So far that hasn't gone well -- largely because his company's initial plan involved the launch of an underwhelming DRM and adware-laden official store, the migration of BitTorrent from open to closed source, making friends with the increasingly hated RIAA and MPAA, and conducting literally thousands of media interviews with CEO Ashwin Navin. Earlier this month the company laid off their marketing staff, and today announced the hiring of the company's very first chief financial officer. Someday, someone will write an insightful BitTorrent book focused on how a great idea isn't always a money maker and a smart technologist isn't always the best businessman, but until then we'll likely have to watch BitTorrent stumble around in a quest for profitability. 22 comments
story continues..114 comments
According to a new SEC filing, WiMax broadband provider Clearwire has enough money to survive about twelve months, assuming the company's deal with Sprint to build a national mobile WiMax network goes off without a hitch. Clearwire has stated they need an additional $2 to $2.3 billion to roll out a nationwide mobile WiMax network through 2010 and beyond, though Unstrung says some analysis peg the costs to be much higher. Of course the deal getting delayed is a very real possibility, thanks in part to AT&T's ongoing efforts to scuttle it. Marketwatch explores how AT&T is fighting the creation of the new Clearwire not just for competitive reasons, but to get the FCC to make regulatory rulings that will benefit the nation's largest broadband and wireless phone carrier. 20 comments
It appears that AT&T has yet again revamped their international data plan prices for the iPhone. In a plan unveiled last November, customers shelled out $24.99 for 20MB or $59.99 for 50MB when traveling in 67 AT&T-approved countries. Starting Wednesday, AT&T users can add (and drop) two new international traveling plans to their current plan at any time: 100MB for $120, and 200MB for $200. "AT&T has worked diligently to provide affordable options for international roaming because the feature-rich mobile experience of iPhone is indispensable to users," insists AT&T. That, and many customers were having to take out second mortgages to pay their vacation iPhone bills. 16 comments
Dish Network is tooting their own horn this morning by announcing they're the first company in the pay-TV industry (in the U.S., anyway) to transmit all standard and high definition programming in the MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding Standard. New customers living in 21 markets in the eastern half of the United States will be the first to get the all MPEG-4 service, with new markets arriving "in the coming months." The MPEG-4 compression standard uses less bandwidth, allowing carriers to provide more HD channels. Dish hopes that MPEG-4 and 1080P content will give them a competitive edge over telcoTV and cable. 54 comments
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science and College of Engineering say they have devised a low-cost system that aims to protect user privacy and improve the security of private online communications. The system, dubbed Perspectives, targets man in the middle attacks by employing the help of friendly sites or "notaries" that aid in authenticating websites used in secure transactions. From the researchers: By independently querying the desired target site, the notaries can check whether each is receiving the same authentication information, called a digital certificate, in response. If one or more notaries report authentication information that is different than that received by the browser or other notaries, a computer user would have reason to suspect that an attacker has compromised the connection. Perspectives is available as a free Firefox extension, and can be downloaded here. More detailed security analysis of the system can be found in this academic paper (pdf). 13 comments
As a tipster hinted yesterday, AT&T has officially announced the launch of their U-Verse VDSL and IPTV service in Jacksonville, Florida. The launch, which comes on the heels of a recent launch in portions of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, gives locals a "better choice to break free from cable." As always, you can compare U-Verse pricing here. 1 comment
Satellite broadband provider WildBlue this morning announced that customers will no longer have to buy hardware outright, and can now lease equipment from the company. According to Wild Blue, this should reduce the upfront cost to new customers by 50% to around $149.95 for a new install. Customers will now pay a lease fee of $5.95 for equipment. "The upfront fee has always been the most challenging hurdle for new WildBlue customers, particularly in this economy", WildBlue quotes a satellite reseller as saying in their press release. 21 comments
Tuesday Morning Links06:56AM Tuesday Aug 26 2008 by Revcb 5 comments
Monday Evening Links07:21PM Monday Aug 25 2008 by Revcb 5 comments
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