politics

Might as well be steroids. Networking companies are proposing a next-generation Wi-Fi standard that will provide data transfer rates of about 100 mbps. The completed standard is expected in late 2006 or 2007.

Today's fast Wi-Fi (that'd be the "g" version, not the 802.11b that's on my laptop) has specs that allow up to 54mbps, but usually provide about half that.

It's wasn't quite the moon landing, but the folks preparing for the Olympics had a hell of a network setup job. According to the AP, the formerly state-owned phone company there has set up 3,000 ISDN lines for journalists, 750 miles of fiber optics, 6,000 high-speed computer connections and 5,000 broadband data connections. (Not quite clear what the difference is there, but I'm guessing Ethernet vs. DSL).

Here's hoping it all works, and stays working. Greece has been the butt of many anxious jokes recently, as people feared they wouldn't get even … Read more

The town of Grand Haven, Mich. (pop. 12,000) has turned on a Wi-Fi service that reaches everywhere in the city . Residents can sign up for broadband service for $20 a month, care of local service provider Ottawa Wireless. It's a slow version of broadband ?? 256 kpbs downloads for the $20 service ?? but it's universally available, which isn't a bad thing. It's certainly a good for putting competitive pressure on the local cable company and telco.

A few other cities in the U.S. are doing the same thing, using Wi-Fi and repeaters that can send … Read more

Ma Bell and other large phone companies are pulling out of the local phone service market (and the DSL market too) following recent FCC rulings and the resulting higher prices for network access from the Bells. But help is on the way. The Meta Group says WiMax will give competing companies a viable path to offer voice and broadband services beginning in 2006. Capital costs per customer will be about $240 then, and drop to about $80 in 2008.

Of course, by that time, Verizon and SBC will have fiber optics to millions of homes, and Cox and Comcast will … Read more

The last few weeks have seen a host of announced and unannounced speed hikes for cable modem users. Cox confirmed today that its 2 million $40 customers are now getting 4 mbps downloads, up from 3 mbps. Broadband Reports readers are keeping a close eye on the various experiments, and are seeing especially high rates in Canada ?? even up to 10 mpbs in places.

Let us know what you're seeing.

The International Olympics Committee is allowing more than a dozen broadcasters to show video of the Athens games online and on video cell phones, says the AP. But there's a catch, designed to protect those lucrative broadcasting contracts. It can only be offered in the company's home country, with restrictions in place to block foreigners from tapping in.

In the U.S., that means no live broadcasts online, although there will be delayed highlights posted by NBC. Unless, of course, some peer-to-peer type figures out a way around the restrictions. That would never happen.

Want all the HDTV you can eat? CommsDesign has a primer on the new gigabit PON (passive optical networking) that engineering types are playing with. It's faster than today's fiber optics standards, providing up to 2.5 gbps of download speed.

It's $500 and only works with other phones like it, but Packet8 is selling a Net-based videophone to supplement its ordinary Net telephone service.

The company offers very helpful "videophone etiquette" to avoid misunderstandings. So remember, never call before 10 am or after 10 pm (except on Christmas, of course), never wear stripes or white, and be sure to introduce everyone that's in the room with you.

David Foster Wallace told the best future history of videophones' rise and fall in Infinite Jest. In summary: People loved them, then realized they looked grungy, so started dressing … Read more

Associated Press has a story on Acacia Research, the company that says it has a patent on on-demand streaming media technology, approaching colleges for licenses. The Chronicle of Higher Education has been covering the approach to schools for a while.

A lot of companies, from Disney on down, have been settling with Acacia. The company started with online porn sites, but now is seeking licenses from virtually all Web streaming media companies, cable and satellite TV networks, and businesses that use intranet video. Comcast has said it is fighting Acacia's patent claims, and that might be where the issue … Read more