BROADBANDblogs

In a recent AFL-CIO executive council meeting, Communications Workers of America ( CWA ) President, Larry Cohen, presented a resolution that calls for a national broadband policy that includes improving broadband speeds to all Americans. The goal is to bring speeds of at least 10Mbps everywhere in the nation by 2010. The fact that our nations number one communications union has presented such a resolution shouldn't come as a suprise to anybody, but the statistics behind the resolution may. CWA states that the US has fallen to 16th in the world in availability of broadband services to its citizens, while average costs are higher and speeds are considerably slower.

This resolution, and the stats behind it, remind us of some broken promises. Over the past 25 years or so, the US has been shifting from a manufacturing economy to a service based economy. During this time our government has asserted that the business sector, left alone to find a direction, would somehow naturally achive economic equilibrium, and implied that we would remain the technological and economic leader in the world. (And, by the way, selling this concept as the correct MORAL choice - Enron.)

25 years ago we bought into these ideas. We voted to get government off of our backs, dropped our union membership, and trusted that our businesses would do right by the American public.

How are we doing now? Where should the leadership be coming from? Do we need some adjustment in our direction?

In the past 18 months CableVision has enrolled nearly 3/4 of a million new telephone subscribers using thier VoIP ( Digital Broadband Phone ) service, according to recent reports. The total number of CableVision VoIP subscribers in now over one million. That number accounts for about 1/3 of CableVision's total service subscibers.

Other companies that have experienced significant gains in VoIP subscribers include Time Warner, with 270,000 new subscribers in Q1 2006, and Comcast with 211,000 sign-ups in the same period.

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It is no secret to our readers how we feel about our little, expansive part of the world. We live in a part of the US that is big on space, and small in population. As a result, it is hard to find big companies that wish to serve our area, and the ones that do, often do it very poorly.

The cellular service here in Wibaux is a good example. We sit in a bit of a hole out here on the plains. The cell tower that serves this area shoots over about 90% of the town. To get a call, or to place a call, one has to drive up on the hill at the edge of town. The cellular company that serves our area has not been at all responsive in improving the service here. 99% of the potential cellular traffic here is on I-94, speeding by, and is only affected by the dead spot for a few seconds. This is typical of the attitude of major companies when asked, or required, to provide services to this part of the country.

While visiting www.DSLService.us we found an article about a small Wyoming company named Visionary Communications. It is about a small company, thinking big, in our little, expansive part of the world. They are worth a look.

DSL Service US Article

Once again Charter Communications has divested itself of subscribers in an effort to enhance overall operating efficiency. This time it is 75,000 plus customers in smaller towns in Illinois and Kentucky. The accounts we purchased by New Wave Communications.

New Wave provides Cable TV, Broadband Internet, and VoIP to customers in seven Southeast and Midwestern states.

Charter Communication has begun a new customer loyalty rewards program. Reno, Nevada customers will be receiving a credit card type gift card from Charter. The card, which will be recharged each month the customer remains with Charter, is good for products and services from participation Reno merchants. When the customer presents their CharterRewards card, their bill will be reduced from $3 to $25. The current card has over $500 in monthly discounts.

In a recent move, Suddenlink Communications has nearly tripled the number of High Speed Internet subscribers using their services. A purchase of 940,000 Cox Communications customers and an additional 240,000 Charter Communications customers is the reason behind this growth spurt. This will bring their number of residential subscribers to 1,400,000, and make Suddenlink one of the 10 largest Residential Broadband providers in America.

Suddenlink was formerly Cebridge Connections.

Walmart has found another way to shut down small business operators. What makes this story more bitter still is the fact that telecom giant, Verizon, is in bed with Walmart

Broadband Blog reports that Verizon has announced that by the end of June, Verizon Online DSL will be available for subscription at all of the 549 Walmart stores. This will put the squeeze on many small online businesses that depend, in whole or in part, on marketing Broadband High Speed Internet Access. But, let the buyer beware. The price for Verizon 768 Kbps service that is avialable online for $14.95 per month will cost the, oh so savey, Walmart shopper $17.99 per month.

The fact that Walmart would not think twice about hurting the little guy, while soliciting their business, comes as no suprise. Walmart thrives off of the purchases of low wage workers and small business that barely scratch our a living. Take away enough of an operators business, cut into their income, and they can no loger afford to shop at Sears; they have no choice but to become Walmart customers, or even Walmart employees. However, we cannot understand why Verizon would opt to sully their sterling, top of the Baby Bells, image for companionship of such a sleazy bed partner.

Is it just one persons opinion, mine, or is the fact that Verizon has hopped into bed with Walmat, to me an indication of how sleazy big business in America has become, troubling to others also?.

CNET, quoting Nielsen/NetRatings, reports that 72% or 102.55 million American homes have Broadband High Speed Internet Connections. Those numbers are up from 57% and 78.5 million, respectively, from a year ago.

90% of businesses now have a high speed conncection, up from 82% in 2005, while residential dial-up usage has dropped to 28%. A year ago, 43% of US households used dial-up for their internet connection.

...or Speeding on the Internet !

How much download speed do you really need from your Broadband High Speed Internet Providers? Take for example, Verizon FiOS ( Broadband Internet over Fiber Optic Cable); it delivers 30 Mbps downstream speeds. But, does the average residential or small business customer really need the speed?

The short answer: For most customers, not yet.

And it is not only over fiber that the insane speeds are available. Check out what is available over Cable...

16 Mbps on Comcast High Speed Cable Internet

7 Mbps on Time Warner High Speed Internet

16 Mbps on Comcast High Speed Cable Internet


...just to name a few.

And DSL, well, as usual, DSL speeds are lagging behind, but the speeds here are increasing, and quite impressive, also. Verizon offers 768 Kbps for $14.95, while AT&T has a 1.5 Mbps offer for just $12.99 per month.

So, how much speed does the average Broadband custormer need? A recent article on CNET gave us the following examples of how much bandwidth is needed for downloading various files.

A good quality video stream uses between 500 Kbps and 600 Kbps, and streaming audio, even less. Broadband phone ( VoIP ) calling only uses about 56 Kbps or less of bandwidth. And, downloading music would only take 10 to 12 seconds longer using a 768 Kbps connection compared to using a 6 Mbps connection.

For most applications today, Verizons 768 Kbps is sufficient. Some exceptions would be small businesses and residences that are using serveral internet connections at once, Gamers, and HDTV. It is clear that there are more bandwidth intensive applications coming every year, and eventually, we will all feel the need for more speed. Today, however, it seems that 1.5 Mbps for $12.99 per month is where most consumers should shop.

Related Article: Comcast Redefines "High Speed" Internet Access

With bandwidth speeds improving and new pricing and packages, many customers find DSL to be a better bargin than Cable Internet Access. Recent studies cited by CNET and others show a correlation between income and high speed internet preference, with households with $75k+/yr selecting Cable Internet Access, and households with under $75k/yr opting for DSL.

It is not hard to understand why DSL providers have begun to close the subscription gap with Cable Internet providers. For example, AT&T's DSL service for $12.99 per month delivers more than enough bandwith speed, 1,5 Mbps, for all but the most demanding residential Broadband applications. Why would anybody who didn't need the extra bandwidth pay the premium prices for it?

Verizon has announced deep cuts in the rates it is charging some Business DSL customers.

Customers whose service has speeds of up to 7.1 Mbps down ,68 Kbps up, and dynamic IP addressing Verizon has cut the monthly rate from $204.95 to $79.95. That is less than half of what Business Broadband customers were paying a month ago. For those with static ip addresses the rates have been cut from $234.95 to $149.95 per month.

For those looking for Verizon or other Business Broadband Services, including T1 Internet, we suggest T1 Internet Information as a start.

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WildBlue Satellite Internet has not been around much more than a couple of years, but last week they had an announcement that should send the company into the wild blue yonder.

WildBlue Satellite announced that they have cut a five year deal to be the exclusive provider of Broadband Satellite High Speed internet Access to both DirecWay Satellite and EchoStar Satellite. EchoStar is the parent company of the Dish Network Satellite TV, while DirecWay is the name DirecTV has been using for its Satellite Internet operations.

Last month DirecWay changed their name to HughesNet, yet it appears by this announcement, that the DirecWay name will still be around.

It's time for a confession. We are paying $12.95 per month for our dial-up internet access.

AT&T Yahoo!� DSL is just $12.99 per month. REALLY! For just 4¢ per month more we could be enjoying all of the features and the eye blinking speeds of At&T's broadband high speed internet access.

Seriously, our dial-up connection is just for back-up, which we have only needed one time in the past couple of years. You wouldn't expect BROADBANDblogs to be using dial-up as our primary internet connection, would you? But, the point should be obvious, broadband internet access prices for residential users has dropped to the point where it is just as cheap as dial-up. We forecasted this in some of our previous posts. This, we believe, is going to be the cheapest prices for dsl service. If you are not already enjoying the speed and benefits of high speed internet access, now is the time to subscribe.

For our friends in rural areas serviced by AT&T, and where DSL or Cable Internet is not yet available, AT&T is offering fast and affordable satellite internet access. We have been very impressed with this provider since they merged with SBC. You owe it to yourself to give them a look.

Comcast High Speed Cable Internet has introduced a new product that will redefine broadband services for residential and small business customers. Aptly named, PowerBoost™, Comcast's enhanced service is offered at no additional charge, does not require any additional steps or software downloads, and will work with the customers existing harware. Comcast customers will automatically receive the service as it is rolled out in their area.

According to the official comcast press release,

PowerBoost technology utilizes additional capacity already built into Comcast’s advanced fiber network to provide customers with extra bursts of download speed – up to 12Mbps and16Mbps, respectively, on Comcast’s 6 and 8Meg services.

PowerBoost™ will enable users to download 3 mp3 files in about 6.5 seconds, or a game file of 686MB to be downloaded in only 12 minutes as compared to 61 minutes on a 1.5Mbps DSL internet connection. The time savings are huge when considered many broadband subscribers are still operating at 256kps.

AOL has now added Covad DSL high speed internet access to their product offerings. The service, Covad's ADSL 6.0, will start at $39.95 per month, and feature a maximum 6 Mbps download speed and 768 kbps upload speed.

The move is another in AOL's attempts to switch their dial-up subscribers to broadband internet services.

Telecommunications Giant, AT&T, is expanding broadband internet coverage to 100% of the customers in their service area.
AT&T Yahoo!� DSL plans to offer serveral Satellite Internet plans to locations where DSL is not yet available.

The official launch date for T1 Line Atlanta has been set for June 1, 2006. Specializing in dedicated telecommunications products for business in the Atlanta, Georgia area, the site features a real-time price and availability quoting for T1, DSL, OC3, and other business voice and data lines.

Customers will be able to network with business telecommunications product specialists. The product specialist will help the buyers assess their needs, and recommend the proper telecom product(s) and the most economical solutions. The product specialist can then refer the buyer to one or more of 20 different providers, and assist in the paperwork and provisioning process. All of the consulting services are free to Atlanta area businesses.

The site also features News and Information for Atlanta area businesses.

Citing a report from the Leichtman Research Group, Tech Web informs us that the trend towards broadband continues.

According to Tech Web, "A total of 3.06 million net additional subscribers signed up for broadband in the quarter, bringing the total of high-speed Web subscribers to nearly 46 million. Nearly 25.8 million subscribers have cable, while DSL is used by about 20.2 million subscribers."

In a security advisory on the General Motors web site, GM Dealer World, all GM dealers are advised to use a dedicated T1 Line for their internet connections. The advisory is in response to indiscriminate attacks on dealers and corporate computers. General Motors Dealers are encouraged to adopt a multi-level approach that includes the use of a T-1 internet connection. To view the entire advisory go to http://www.gmde.net/security/.

We are back. This is a long overdue post, but the past several months have taken us places we could not have imagined. We don't care to bore our readers with stories of natural disasters, hard knock schooling, and unforeseen changes in our business life, so suffice it to say, "thank you everyone (you know who you are) for your support and patronage.

Our business is currently being remodled. For too long our efforts have been misdirected, and we are now refocusing our priorities. We will be paying less attention to our marketing of Residential DSL, Cable, and Satellite High Speed Internet Access. While those products have been very good to us, and we will not drop them completely, we feel our resources are better utilized when we focus on Business Broadband and Telecommunications Services.

Initially, we will our target markets will be cities with dynamic business climates, like Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, LA, San Diego, and Seattle. We will be presenting T1 Lines and other business broadband products to small and medium sized businesses in these markets. ( We have already started to market T1 Lines in Atlanta. )

So, after a prolonged absence, here we go again.