Tag Archive

Cable ISPs Offered Fastest Speeds in 2011* – *At Least Among Largest ISPs, And Thanks to Slow DSL

Published on January 16, 2012 By Don

Todd Spangler over at cable-industry trade magazine Multichannel News crows that cable operators came out on top in 2011 in terms of speed. According to data compiled over at the Ookla Net Index, the six fastest residential ISPs in the U.S. based on av…

Domestic, global regulators question ISPs’ actual broadband speeds

Published on December 13, 2011 By Don

Whether it’s a telco or a cable operator, broadband service providers, in their effort to attract subscribers, have always led in their ads with how fast their download speeds are, but government regulators believe they need to be honest with what spee…

Brazil Wants new Pan-South American Broadband Network – Fiber Linking Every Country Aimed at Reducing Costs

Published on November 30, 2011 By Don

Brazil this week proposed the cooperative build of a fiber optic network that would span the entire continent of South America, with the goal of bringing down costs of current broadband services. The build would involve several fiber optic links, remed…

The ‘Bandwidth Hog’ is a Myth – And Caps Don’t Really Address Truly Disruptive Users

Published on November 30, 2011 By Don

You might recall that back in 2009, we mentioned a piece claiming that the “bandwidth hog,” a term used ceaselessly by industry executives to justify rate hikes, net neutrality infractions, and pretty much everything else — was a myth. The piece was p…

The ‘Bandwidth Hog’ is a Myth – And Caps Don’t Really Address Truly Disruptive Users

Published on November 30, 2011 By Don

You might recall that back in 2009, we mentioned a piece claiming that the “bandwidth hog,” a term used ceaselessly by industry executives to justify rate hikes, net neutrality infractions, and pretty much everything else — was a myth. The piece was p…

Do Data Caps Make Good Business Sense for ISPs? -

Published on November 4, 2011 By Don

Of the 75 million broadband subscribers in the US around 42 million, or 56%, have some form of data cap in place from their internet service provider (ISP) according to data from Leichtman Research Group. However, despite all the negative publicity dat…

MLab Data Highlights the Evolution of ISP Throttling – And How Consumer Complaints Changed ISP Practices

Published on October 21, 2011 By Don

A few years ago Google, in cooperation with academic researchers, the New America Foundation and the PlanetLab Consortium, launched Measurement Lab (M-Lab). Measurement Lab is a suite of tools dedicated to helping broadband customers determine what kin…

FiOS Tops Netflix Stream Quality Rankings – DSL Providers and Clearwire Bring up the Rear

Published on October 14, 2011 By Don

Earlier this year Netflix began ranking the quality of video streaming performance for each of the nation’s largest ISPs. HD streams have variable bitrate but can potentially top out at around 4800 kilobits per second, and the data provides a bird’s ey…

UK advertising regulator introduces rules to keep broadband providers honest about speeds

Published on September 27, 2011 By Don

UK broadband providers may claim to offer high broadband speeds, but the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) wants to ensure that the country’s service providers are actually practicing what they preach.
To…

NBN Co. lights up final "First Release" site in Willunga, South Australia

Published on September 20, 2011 By Don

NBN Co., the operator of Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN), has begun trials of fiber-based broadband service on the fifth of its “First Release” sites in Willunga, South Australia.

Map detail of the NBN Co. fiber rollout. Willunga…