Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Friday 20 July 2007, 4:18 PM
Google to bid for US spectrum
Over in the States, the 700MHz frequency is heading towards auction in January. Formerly used for UHF TV signals, the spectrum - about 36MHz worth - is the last bit of significant wireless real estate to become available in the US.
Enter Google, which is concerned that the spectrum will be snapped up by one of the existing wireless giants and placed under their usual restrictions. Kindly Google, of course, is willing to step in to save the consumer from the evil corporations, and has just announced that it will be magnanimously bidding for the spectrum itself. It's putting up $4.6bn towards this venture, and it wants the FCC to adopt these four principles for the auction (cut'n'paste time, folks):
- Open applications: consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire;
- Open devices: consumers should be able to utilize their handheld communications device with whatever wireless network they prefer;
- Open services: third parties (resellers) should be able to acquire wireless services from a 700 MHz licensee on a wholesale basis, based on reasonably nondiscriminatory commercial terms; and
- Open networks: third parties (like Internet service providers) should be able to interconnect at any technically feasible point in a 700 MHz licensee's wireless network.
That's a whole lot of openness going on there. What it all comes down to is the preservation (or introduction?) of net neutrality, one of Google's favourite issues, and hey, if Google makes a bit of money along the way, so be it.
As the company puts it in its blog: "For now, and for all of us, the issue is simple: this is one of the best opportunities we will have to bring the Internet to all Americans. Let's seize that opportunity." Sniff.
By happy coincidence, that very same spectrum happens to be coming up for auction right here in the UK, too. And is Google preparing to take a punt on the UK wireless broadband market using, say, WiMax or some such technology? Knowing you'd want to know that (hey, we're here for you) I put a call in to Google's UK press office, but no-one would discuss the issue at all.
Watch this space....
Friday 20 July 2007, 11:51 AM
Would you like a laptop with that?
How competitive is the broadband market getting in this country? Pretty crazy, actually. You may have read that those signing up to Orange's much-derided broadband service at PC World stores can now pick up a free laptop for their troubles, but now Carphone Warehouse is joining in the fun, with those signing up to AOL getting a free Dell Inspiron (talk about Dell finally visiting the High Street in the oddest way).
I'm really not sure what the economics of this are. Are laptops that cheap to produce? Is broadband that cheap to provide? Whatever's going on, the margins must be wafer-thin...
Wednesday 18 July 2007, 10:02 AM
Kiwi car club closes down open source
News comes from down under that the New Zealand AA (the Automobile Association, not Alcoholics Anonymous) has ditched OpenOffice in favour of Microsoft Office. According to the AA's CIO Doug Wilson, Microsoft's suite is not any cheaper (y'don't say) but compatibility issues and Microsoft's clear vision ("You have no idea where open-source products are going, whereas vendors like Microsoft provide a roadmap for the future") make Redmond a winner.
Fair go, but Microsoft's failure to get accreditation for its own "open" document standard was, I'm fairly certain, not on its roadmap. Let the battle continue!
Monday 16 July 2007, 6:22 PM
T-Mobile forced to open up to Truphone
Score one for the underdog. Truphone has succeeded in its application for an injunction against T-Mobile. To recap, the mobile phone operator had been blocking its users from calling any number that's assigned to the fledgling VoIP provider, which offers a client for smartphones that can run internet telephony through the handset's Wi-Fi connection or via 3G. Truphone claimed that T-Mobile UK was the only operator in the world to be putting such a block in place. Heck, even the other T-Mobiles were playing ball.
According to Truphone chief James Tagg: "The injunction is good news not only for Truphone but for every company trying to develop internet-era services and for every consumer wanting freedom of choice and lower prices." If T-Mobile forces this one to go to full trial, then some interesting precedents are going to be set.
In keeping with Truphone's DIY, vlog-happy ethic, here's their YouTube video in reaction to the court's decision...
Friday 13 July 2007, 11:36 AM
Tiscali buys most of Pipex
See update below, and full story here
Is it true? Is it not? Dunno, and that's why it's going in a blog post rather than a story.
If you're interested, though, check out a Times article on the speculation here. According to that report, Pipex has fallen victim to the high-street "free broadband" offers, which are now widely regarded as being a terrible deal and have ratcheted up customer dissatisfaction no end. Go figure.
UPDATE (4pm): Yes, it's happened. £210m enterprise value - not bad. The deal covers broadband and voice - that's a million customers - leaving Pipex pretty much with its wireless side (so keep an eye open for mobile WiMax). Pipex's ex-customers get to join the triple-play TV-broadband-phone revolution, while Tiscali will now have around 1.9m customers - around 15 percent of the UK broadband market. Trebles all round! Have a good weekend.
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