Starry burst on the scene this week with a launch event headed by Chaitanya Kanojia, the founder of Aereo, who promised Starry would bring gigabit Internet to the masses -- by delivering it wirelessly.
Just months after publically unveiling an experimental technology that produces next-generation gigabit Internet speeds on cable networks that are already in place throughout much of the country, Comcast's impending super high-speed Internet service has officially gone live -- at least for one Philadelphia-area home.
Gigabit broadband is spreading across the country at an accelerating pace, as this week AT&T and Google both announced plans for expansion. But AT&T is now pulling ahead in the national fiber rollout race -- thanks, in part, to Google.
What's been a side show to the general battle over net neutrality, the possible Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, and the FCC is the more technical issue of network interconnects and "paid peering." Google Fiber -- which has been seen as the only hope for a fair, open internet if the FCC allows "fast lanes" and the largest cable merger in history -- just announced it doesn't and won't charge for peering.
Google Fiber is a relatively new, semi-experimental super-fast internet service provider that only a few cities in the U.S. have had the pleasure of experiencing so far, and other municipalities are bending over backwards to try to get Google's gigabit fiber internet. Now AT&T wants to play the same game with its fiber service, including in some of Google's prospective domain.
Cable giant Comcast has put forth a long, complicated argument in favor of its acquisition of cable giant Time Warner Cable. In part three of this series "Comcast's Competitors?" we'll look at Comcast's argument for expanding its efforts at bridging the digital divide - the nationwide problem of internet access and affordability for low-income families - to TWC's territory.
In its FCC filing on Tuesday, Comcast put forward its argument why a merger with Time Warner Cable, the second-largest cable company in the U.S., would be beneficial to consumers, market competition, and Comcast's survival in the new media landscape.
On Thursday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings came out in favor of stronger net neutrality rules. Hastings supports a version of net neutrality that would help Netflix stream to customers without constant buffering - and without Netflix having to pay extra to internet service providers. But the root problem for Netflix and customers isn't the "toll" that Netflix recently had to pay for direct access - it's America's bandwidth scarcity.
Google announced recently it was considering some new cities for its Google Fiber internet service, including some heavily Latino cities. But can they make the cut?
America may be at the forefront of innovation in some areas, but it lags behind a a bunch of Asian and European countries when it comes to internet speeds.
The new cable network, Fusion, that targets the young Hispanic demographic, launched today, and President Obama is set to make a special guest appearance this evening, helping to introduce the network to audiences.
