Acting through the US Dept. of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service, the Obama administration and USDA has granted $900 million in loans to rural electric cooperatives to finance upgrade, expand, maintain and replace electric generation and transmission infrastructure. More than $19 million of the total has been earmarked for smart grid technology projects.
USDA Grants $300M in Loans for Rural Electric Coops, Smart Grid Investments
Posted by: Mike Boehne | August 30th, 2011 | No Comments »
Enventis Hosts Groundbreaking for 430-fiber mile Greater Minnesota Broadband Collaborative Project
Posted by: Steve Senne | August 26th, 2011 | No Comments »
Upper Midwest telecompetitor Hickory Tech subsidiary Enventis is holding a groundbreaking ceremony in Duluth, Minnesota today to mark the start of construction of the Greater Minnesota Broadband Collaborative Project. The $24 million project will bring 100 megabyte (MB) fiber optic broadband access to 36 rural communities in 23 counties in northern Minnesota, including 74 Community Anchor Institutions, such as health care facilities, schools, libraries and public offices.
Ericsson Commercial LTE Advanced Demo Delivers 3x the Bandwidth
Posted by: Steve Senne | July 8th, 2011 | No Comments »
Ericsson demonstrated its commercial LTE mobile broadband service for the first time today for the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency. Carried out in Kista, Sweden, the anticipated “next step in LTE,” Ericsson’s LTE Advanced delivered over-the-air speeds more than 10x faster than what Swedish LTE users currently experience, according to a press release.
2015: VoIP Forecasted to Become a $40 billion per Year Market
Posted by: Steve Senne | June 28th, 2011 | No Comments »
With a current subscriber base of 120 million and a global growth rate of 12.6% in 2010, VoIP is forecasted to be a $40 billion annual worldwide market by 2015, according to Point Topic. France has been one of the growing markets where 50% of fixed network telephone traffic in 2010 started using a VoIP phone.
USDA: Goal to Invest $250 Million in Smart Grid Over Next 12 Months
Posted by: Mike Boehne | June 14th, 2011 | No Comments »
Yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans aimed at “modernizing the nation’s electric grid”. The USDA’s goal is to invest $250 million across 10 states to improve electric services to customers.
Vilsack said, “This is one more step in our effort to modernize rural America’s electric grid.” Smart grid technologies give consumers greater control over their electric costs and help utilities efficiently manage power generation and delivery.”
ITU: Broadband Costs Half the Monthly Income in 32 Countries
Posted by: Steve Senne | May 24th, 2011 | No Comments »
The average global cost of information and communications technology (ICT) services declined 18% between 2008 and 2010, according to the latest 2010 ICT Price Basket report from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Though very much more affordable in the most economically developed countries, the largest declines in ICT services occurred in emerging market and less developed countries.
ABI: Mobile Video Streaming Traffic Will Surpass All Web and Internet Traffic by 2015
Posted by: Steve Senne | May 13th, 2011 | No Comments »
Analysts have been fine-tuning their data traffic spreadsheet models given the rapid rise in demand for online video. The latest forecast from ABI Research expects 2011 global data traffic will reach nearly 8,000 petabytes, or 8 quintillion bytes, and data traffic will continue growing at annual 50% rate in ensuing years to exceed 60,000 petabytes in 2016. At 58%, the growth rate will peak in 2012, then begin to decline slowly with growth reaching 56% in 2013.
Connectivity Scorecard Ranks U.S. Number Two Worldwide
Posted by: Mike Boehne | May 9th, 2011 | No Comments »
Depending which research you consult, the U.S. typically ranks around number 20 among nations of the world in terms of broadband deployment. But Nokia Siemens Networks argues that such numbers, which typically focus on residential deployments, do not tell the whole story.
Akamai: Average U.S. Broadband Speed 5.1 Mbps
Posted by: Steve Senne | May 2nd, 2011 | No Comments »
Akamai has released its Q4 2010 “State of the Internet” report. Gathering data from across is global server network, included is data about attack traffic, broadband adoption and mobile connectivity, as well as time-series trends.
Highlights of the report include:
IEEE Approves New WiMAX2 Standard
Posted by: Steve Senne | April 6th, 2011 | No Comments »
The Standards Board of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has approved IEEE 802.16m, a standard designed to support future advanced services and applications for next generation broadband mobile communications, also known as WiMAX2.
