AT&T on or about November 7, 2012 is supposed to reveal its decision about 18 million rural fixed network lines that either require broadband upgrades, or might be sold.
Most observers now believe AT&T cannot sell those assets, as there are not willing buyers. That means AT&T will have to upgrade facilities, observers would say.
How to do the upgrade is the issue. Some of those lines are expected to be candidates for U-Verse upgrades. Some lines might get fiber to home upgrades.
But some of us would not be surprised to see a major focus on using Long Term Evolution mobile upgrades as the actual solution for many of those lines.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Will AT&T Use LTE to Upgrade Rural Lines?
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
NFC Mobile Payment Transaction Spend to Hit the $100 billion Mark in 2016
ABI Research forecasts that the total value spend of near field communications mobile payments will rise from $4 billion in 2012 to $191 billion in 2017, breaking the $100 billion mark in 2016. The volume of those retail transactions hinges in part on the number of NFC devices used by consumers, partly by the prowess of mobile payment system providers, partly by retailer adoption and partly by the value consumers come to attribute to such payment systems.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Online Advertising Going Mobile
Offline local media companies seem to have reached some sort of equilibrium, compared to shares of local advertising that have gone to newer players such as Google, Yahoo or Groupon, Borrell and Associates says. Some might argue that means online advertising has reached a sort of mature stage. An important stage, to be sure, but still a mature segment.
In 44 of more than 200 markets tracked, Groupon or Autotrader.com generates more revenue than the largest local newspaper, TV or radio station online operation in that market.
Online media accounted for $13.5 billion, or 14.9 percent of all local ad spending in 2010.
But the next big change in market shares might come as mobile advertising starts to get more traction.
Borrell projects that mobile advertising will grow in 2012 by 17.8 percent. Without mobile advertising, “local online” (basically banners and search advertising served up on Web pages) would likely be flat for the foreseeable future, signaling the maturation of what is now a 15-year-old medium and the emergence of a new one to steal the attention.
By 2015, the majority of all “online” advertising will become untethered from desktops and will be delivered to mobile devices such as iPads and other tablets, smart phones, and GPS-enabled laptops, Borrell predicts.
In 44 of more than 200 markets tracked, Groupon or Autotrader.com generates more revenue than the largest local newspaper, TV or radio station online operation in that market.
Online media accounted for $13.5 billion, or 14.9 percent of all local ad spending in 2010.But the next big change in market shares might come as mobile advertising starts to get more traction.
Borrell projects that mobile advertising will grow in 2012 by 17.8 percent. Without mobile advertising, “local online” (basically banners and search advertising served up on Web pages) would likely be flat for the foreseeable future, signaling the maturation of what is now a 15-year-old medium and the emergence of a new one to steal the attention.
By 2015, the majority of all “online” advertising will become untethered from desktops and will be delivered to mobile devices such as iPads and other tablets, smart phones, and GPS-enabled laptops, Borrell predicts.
By 2015, Borrell projects that newspapers will be toppled as king of the local advertising marketplace, ending a run that has lasted since anybody first started counting such data.
Online will, by then, be a $24 billion dollar market, representing a 22.7 percent share of all local advertising.
Online will, by then, be a $24 billion dollar market, representing a 22.7 percent share of all local advertising.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Faster Wi-Fi for Mobile Devices Important: 93% Use Smart Phones at Home
Almost every smart phone shipped in 2012 will offer some form of Wi-Fi capabilities. However, a new Wi-Fi protocol will begin to dominate mobile devices soon. The Wi-Fi (802.11ac) standard might be available on 70 percent of devices by 2015, according to ABI Research.
“The Wi-Fi 802.11ac protocol offers several advantages over the current and most commonly used 802.11n protocol,” says senior analyst Josh Flood. “Firstly, the wireless connection speed will be quicker; the new protocol also offers better range and improved reliability, and superior power consumption. It’s also capable of multiple 2X2 streams and should be particularly good for gaming experiences and HD video streaming on mobile devices.”
What that means is that use of Wi-Fi to offload smart phone and tablet Internet apps will be faster than ever.
“The Wi-Fi 802.11ac protocol offers several advantages over the current and most commonly used 802.11n protocol,” says senior analyst Josh Flood. “Firstly, the wireless connection speed will be quicker; the new protocol also offers better range and improved reliability, and superior power consumption. It’s also capable of multiple 2X2 streams and should be particularly good for gaming experiences and HD video streaming on mobile devices.”
What that means is that use of Wi-Fi to offload smart phone and tablet Internet apps will be faster than ever.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
57% of U.S. Broadband Connections 4 Mbps or Faster
As with just about any particular metric related to broadband access, "average" doesn't mean much. New Akamai data suggests 57 percent of U.S. broadband access customers get minimum speeds of at least 4 Mbps. That suggests the Federal Communications Commission will, in fact, boost its definitions of "broadband" in the future.
But top speeds are quite variable, from place to place. "Average" speeds can range from 8 Mbps to 12 Mbps, with peak speeds in the 30 Mbps to 40 Mbps range.
Over time, the statistics will have be considered in a more nuanced fashion, though, as more of the actual access connections shift to mobile, rather than fixed, networks. Generally speaking, mobile connections do not operate at fixed network minimum, typical or top speeds.
But top speeds are quite variable, from place to place. "Average" speeds can range from 8 Mbps to 12 Mbps, with peak speeds in the 30 Mbps to 40 Mbps range.
Over time, the statistics will have be considered in a more nuanced fashion, though, as more of the actual access connections shift to mobile, rather than fixed, networks. Generally speaking, mobile connections do not operate at fixed network minimum, typical or top speeds.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Moon was Formed of Earth Fragments After Another Planet Smashed into Earth
The traditional theory that the Moon was formed out of fragments of Earth blasted into space after a massive planetary collision 4.5 billion years ago has gained support from two new studies.
Previous theories have suggested that the Moon could have been made from pieces of another planet that crashed into Earth, but recent studies showing that Earth and the Moon have the same isotopic composition discount that idea. In fact, the Moon is of the same substance as the Earth.
Matija Cuk of SETI and Sarah Stewart of Harvard reckon the Moon was formed by the rapid spin of the ancient Earth. If its rotation rate at the time of interplanetary dust-up was significantly speedier, giving a "day" of just two to three hours, the planet would have thrown off the necessary material to form the Moon.
If the Earth was spinning through a day of just two hours, it would be near the point when it would start to fly apart itself from rotation forces, making it much easier to throw away loose bits of itself.
Previous theories have suggested that the Moon could have been made from pieces of another planet that crashed into Earth, but recent studies showing that Earth and the Moon have the same isotopic composition discount that idea. In fact, the Moon is of the same substance as the Earth.
Matija Cuk of SETI and Sarah Stewart of Harvard reckon the Moon was formed by the rapid spin of the ancient Earth. If its rotation rate at the time of interplanetary dust-up was significantly speedier, giving a "day" of just two to three hours, the planet would have thrown off the necessary material to form the Moon.
If the Earth was spinning through a day of just two hours, it would be near the point when it would start to fly apart itself from rotation forces, making it much easier to throw away loose bits of itself.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Sprint Quietly Gains Control of Clearwire
Sprint Nextel Corp.will gain control of Clearwire Corp. without an acquisition, the Wall Street Journal predicted, and so it has happened.
Sprint will pay Eagle River Holdings LLC, the investment firm owned by McCaw, about $100 million for 30.9 million of Clearwire’s Class A shares, or 4.5 percent of the total, and 2.73 million of its Class B stock, according to a regulatory filling today. McCaw, who co-founded Clearwire, retired as chairman of the company two years ago.
Sprint, which already held 48 percent of Clearwire, thereby would own fully 52.5 percent of the class A shares.
By doing so, Sprint which already owns a 48 percent stake, will gain control of Clearwire without having to acquire all of the company.
You might say that ends any immediate speculation about any potential rival Clearwire acquisition with a whimper, not a bang. To be sure, Sprint has not had any particular interest in buying all of Clearwire in the past. But that has changed, apparently, with the SoftBank purchase of 70 percent of Sprint.
The move will make sense for observers who assumed Softbank would want clear control of Clearwire as part of its purchase of 70 percent of Sprint. Most observers think SoftBank wanted control of the Clearwire spectrum assets.
Sprint will pay Eagle River Holdings LLC, the investment firm owned by McCaw, about $100 million for 30.9 million of Clearwire’s Class A shares, or 4.5 percent of the total, and 2.73 million of its Class B stock, according to a regulatory filling today. McCaw, who co-founded Clearwire, retired as chairman of the company two years ago.
Sprint, which already held 48 percent of Clearwire, thereby would own fully 52.5 percent of the class A shares.
By doing so, Sprint which already owns a 48 percent stake, will gain control of Clearwire without having to acquire all of the company.
You might say that ends any immediate speculation about any potential rival Clearwire acquisition with a whimper, not a bang. To be sure, Sprint has not had any particular interest in buying all of Clearwire in the past. But that has changed, apparently, with the SoftBank purchase of 70 percent of Sprint.
The move will make sense for observers who assumed Softbank would want clear control of Clearwire as part of its purchase of 70 percent of Sprint. Most observers think SoftBank wanted control of the Clearwire spectrum assets.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
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