In an interesting move, Silicon Valley’s Mineta San Jose International Airport adds free on top of paid Wi-Fi: The authority decided to put out $90K for equipment and foot a $41K per year bill for service with 15 Mbps backhaul to handle what they believe will be 1,000 daily users. Oddly, T-Mobile and Wayport will also continue to operate for-fee networks that pass along $139K in revenue to the airport. The free service will be advertising supported. Several companies are working with the airport on providing advertising.

Copyright ©2008 Glenn Fleishman. All rights reserved. Please notify us if you find this content anywhere but at wifinetnews.com or wimaxnetnews.com. Reproduction of full articles from RSS feeds is prohibited without permission.

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Despite an appeal for more time, Verizon Communications must meet a Federal Communications Commission requirement that all telco television providers must deploy advanced set-top boxes for FiOS TV with separable security components by July 1.When the FCC required the majority of cable operators to provide only CableCard-based set-tops in July 2007, telco television providers, including Verizon, were granted a one-year extension. According to an FCC statement, the extension was allowed because set-top box manufacturers had not developed any nonintegrated HD or DVR devices for FiOS TV systems using coaxial cable.Verizon Appealed FCC RequirementsIn an appeal, Verizon contended that separable security for their set-top boxes from Motorola would be difficult and costly due to “the lack of standards for Verizon’s hybrid QAM/IP approach.” Verizon’s appeal was not granted and as the one-year extension draws near, Verizon and other telco television providers must adhere to the FCC requirement to use CableCards in their HD and DVR set-tops.Verizon’s New Motorola-Designed Set-Top BoxesMotorola, Verizon’s set-top supplier, has now designed two new set-tops to meet the FCC requirements while providing more processing power and the ability to support MPEG-4 video. Evan Groat, director of product management for hybrid set-top boxes for Motorola said, “It’s basically the same exercise the cable industry went through to put a CableCard in the boxes,” Groat said. “The challenge was to update the technology on the new platform and do it in a pretty short time frame.”Verizon media relations director, Bobbi Henson, said, “We have a separable CableCard-based solution and we’re on track to meet the FCC requirement.”

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Profile of Fon founder and his plans for future in the New York Times: The head Fonero, Martin Varsavsky, gets a write-up from a confab he put together and hosted at his vacation home on Menorca. Varsavsky is nothing but interesting, something I’ve heard from everyone who has met or had business dealings with him, and this article partly details his upstart challenge and the shifting focus at Fon. I’ve been saying for a long time that Fon locations may be numerous and require no coordination for their growth, but only locations convenient to frequent use would have a real impact, such as in retail locations. John Markoff notes that Fon has simplified its roaming model–non-Foneros pay, Foneros don’t–and that Varsavsky is now focused on bigger wins, like Fon’s Time-Warmer and BT deals. Markoff also gets the detail that Fon is losing €500,000 a month down from €1m per month. Varsavsky is interested in WiMax to supplement Wi-Fi, but I can’t see any model in which the frequencies useful for WiMax will be widely available enough for this kind of roaming system.

Creative drops Wi-Fi music player: The formerly leading portable music player firm, before Apple and Microsoft entered the biz, confirmed a report that the Zen Share existed, but that the company chose to drop that Wi-Fi-enabled player. An under-wraps player may appear in about two months that could include Wi-Fi–the name Zen X-Fi could be revealing or not, as X-Fi is an audio-processing technology.

Inspiair’s physics-defying technology sold, relabeled Max-Fi: I express my doubts about the combination of marketing promises, including area covered, low latency, and speed, and the collision of those promises with the laws of physics as well as regulatory issues. The lack of sales, noted in the article, tends to confirm my opinion, which is precisely what happened with Vivato after early positive response led to devices being built that couldn’t meet the mark. Current claims are 30 sq km with 14 access points for outdoor coverage at the port of Antwerp, a network that’s in a test. I wrote about Inspiair back in 2006.

Foster City, Calif., turns down MetroFi equipment offer: The city decided against paying $200,000 for MetroFi’s gear, which serves about 1,500 people a month, partly because yearly operations would top $125,000.

Copyright ©2008 Glenn Fleishman. All rights reserved. Please notify us if you find this content anywhere but at wifinetnews.com or wimaxnetnews.com. Reproduction of full articles from RSS feeds is prohibited without permission.

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Time Warner Cable and MGM HD, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s new high definition channel, announced they have signed an affiliate agreement to provide MGM HD to Time Warner Cable customers.”This is a great opportunity for us to make MGM HD available to more consumers across the country,” said Douglas A. Lee, executive vice president of Worldwide Digital Media, MGM. “With our deals with Time Warner Cable and other leading cable companies, MGM HD has gained tremendous momentum and is ideally poised and ready to capitalize on the opportunities for HD content across the U.S. marketplace.”Melinda Witmer, executive vice president and chief programming officer for Time Warner Cable stated, “MGM HD will help attract new HD customers to Time Warner Cable and will also give our existing HD customers access to an even wider array of high-definition entertainment programming.”MGM HD Classic and Contemporary Films and Special ProgrammingDelivering an extensive library of classic and contemporary films in high definition, MGM HD is composed of a 24/7 linear network and companion MGM HD video on demand. The channel draws its offerings from the largest modern film library in the world and features world premieres of newly re-mastered hits and exclusive original programming.MGM HD Affiliate Agreements with Major U.S. Cable ProvidersMGM HD, the studio’s first wholly-owned channel in the U.S., launched last October. In just the last week the company announced agreements with Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and the Dish Network. MGM HD also has an affiliation agreement with DirecTV, a pact with Verizon, and carriage contracts with RCN and several smaller cable operators.While the number of MGM HD subscribers has not been released, Lee said, “We’re really growing and are exceeding our expectations. We’re ahead of our business plan.”

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AT&T announced free Wi-Fi service for its qualifying LaptopConnect customers allowing access at more than 17,000 Wi-Fi hot spots across the U.S. - including restaurants, airports, hotels, and nearly 7,000 company-owned Starbucks locations.AT&T’s LaptopConnect Customers Receive Alerts to Nearby Hot SpotsAT&T LaptopConnect customers utilize AT&T’s wireless network to connect to e-mail, the Internet, and business applications almost anywhere they can make a phone call. Qualifying LaptopConnect customers will now automatically receive a pop-up message alerting them to Wi-Fi availability when in range of an AT&T hot spot. At that point, customers who have downloaded the latest AT&T Communication Manager software to their laptop PC can click to access the Wi-Fi connectivity.”The combination of the nation’s largest wireless and Wi-Fi networks is unbeatable,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, business mobility products for AT&T’s wireless unit. “It’s the ultimate in mobility for laptops - AT&T’s wireless network plus more than 17,000 Wi-Fi locations.”AT&T to Expand Wireless Network to 350 Markets by Year EndWhen not in a hot spot, AT&T LaptopConnect cards operate on AT&T’s wireless network, which provides DSL-like speeds on the company’s 3G network in more than 275 markets in the U.S. The company plans to expand to nearly 350 markets by year end. AT&T’s wireless network also offers data connectivity across AT&T’s EDGE network which covers more than 13,000 cities and towns and some 40,000 miles of major highways. Internationally, AT&T customers can access data in more than 145 countries and 3G roaming in 60 countries.AT&T also offers free Wi-Fi access to qualifying broadband subscribers and plans to expand free Wi-Fi access to additional wireless customers in the future.

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Comcast has signed an agreement with Arris Group for the purchase of the latest generation of C4(R). Arris is a global communications technology company specializing in the design, engineering, and supply of technology supporting triple- and quad-play broadband services for residential and business customers around the world.Comcast on Target to Offer Speeds up to 160 MbpsComcast has not disclosed the size of the purchase, but stated it plans to deploy the DOCSIS 3.0-based service to approximately 20 percent of its systems by the end of 2008 and will have completed the rollout to all homes by mid-2010. The company has already launched its 50 Mbps wideband service for both business and residential customers and says it will be able to offer broadband speeds up to 100 Mbps followed by 160 Mbps soon.Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) chassis from ArrisThe DOCSIS 3.0 C4 CMTS enhances the existing hybrid-fiber coax infrastructure to deliver higher Internet connection speeds of up to 160 Mbps using channel bonding technology. An enhancement process allows the cost-effective introduction of this major technology upgrade to the existing installed base of C4 CMTS, and greatly increases the overall capacity of the platform. The technology provides the service operator greater flexibility in being able to provision upstream and downstreamcapacity independently, providing the ability to tune each configuration to the traffic patterns of the network. Arris’ ongoing commitment to industry standards means other features such as extended address management are also provided.”Comcast continues to be an integral part of our planning process and we are excited to receive this initial order from them,” said Arris Chairman and CEO Bob Stanzione. “The increased speeds and capabilities provided by DOCSIS 3.0 will change the way people use the Internet, providing a network capable of delivering personalized content anytime, anywhere.”

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This year, Broadband programs will be included in the Emmy Awards nomination process. The decision will allow Internet programs such as the popular “Prom Queen” and “Quarterlife” to compete with traditional television programming for nominations.A clash between New York-based National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) and Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) has made this final outcome a slow process. NATAS oversees the Daytime and News and Documentary Emmy Awards, while its Hollywood counterpart, ATAS, is responsible for the Primetime Emmy Awards.No Separate Emmy Category for Broadband ProgramsArbitration began when NATAS planned to give awards to new-media programming - including Internet offerings - by creating a separate category to accommodate them. ATAS objected stating that by creating new categories NATAS was in violation of the existing agreement between the two academies. The ATAS stance was that broadband programming should be considered under existing guidelines, not as a separate category. The case was heard by the New York State Supreme Court which ruled in March that NATAS may not create a separate category specifically for broadband offerings.Internet Shows Will Compete in Traditional Emmy CategoriesNATAS has accepted the final ruling of of the court and says they will conform to the same guidelines ATAS does to encourage those who create and produce broadband programs to submit their nominations in the Emmy process, but as a part of the traditional format. Existing categories include drama, comedy, variety, reality, children’s programs, news, documentaries, and sports.Television Studios Court Emmy Nominations on the InternetShowtime, for the first time this year, put full seasons of its original series on the Web for Academy members to view. In 2005, when Showtime used this strategy for “Huff,” the show ended up receiving seven Emmy nominations despite low ratings. Almost every other major television studio - with the exception of 20th Century Fox - has made their shows available to Academy voters through DVD mailers or streaming episodes online.Nominations will be announced July 17 and the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air September 21.

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My personal experience with learning site promotion and keyword selection.

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Online marketing may have developed a sudden surge these past few years, but many in the know how have felt its rise even from way then. As more internet based businesses are put up, the need to develop new marketing skills and knowledge based on this new medium have arisen. More and more marketing strategies are being discovered and developed to cope with the changing face of business the business world.

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WiFi Rail gets a nod from the Bay Area Rapid Transportation (BART) authority’s board: The board of the giant SF bay people mover has given a kind of tacit go-ahead for negotiations with WiFi Rail, a company that has been testing a unique form of delivering Wi-Fi using coaxial cable as antenna extensions. Cooper Lee, founder and CEO, told me that the approval lets them focus on nailing down a contract with the authority, which he believes should take just a couple of weeks, as WiFi Rail is eating the costs of the project.

While this may sound familiar to those following municipal Wi-Fi, this deal is substantially different: it’s much more like unwiring an airport than a city, and thus the expense in unwiring should be quickly outweighed by the uptake by passengers. City-wide Wi-Fi promised 1 to 4 Mbps in most cases; WiFi Rail has tested out at 10s of Mbps–their technology turns rail segments into wireless LANs with excellent reception. They terminate with fiber all over, so aggregation and backhaul isn’t an issue. And unlike an airport, where travelers might turn to 3G cell data, those solutions don’t work in the underground portions of BART and many other places along the rights of way due to obstructions.

And this isn’t a “we have a great idea, let us build it” scenario. WiFi Rail has had test projects running for nearly a year, with a segment in San Francisco active for part of that time, and those tests determined the board’s interest in proceeding. WiFi Rail told IDG News Service that 9,000 people have signed up for the current system and used 42,000 sessions.

WiFi Rail’s network is currently free, and charges won’t commence until the first stage is done. Lee said that fees, which will be about a dollar a day with subscriber discounts but are part of the negotiation with BART, will be charged at a 50-percent rate after the first phase is done until the whole network is complete. IDG notes that the company will be required to resell access at wholesale rates, and I expect aggregators like iPass (based in the Bay Area) and Boingo (further south in Santa Monica) will leap at reselling BART service, just as they do ferry-Fi here in the greater Puget Sound region.

The first route to be unwired will run from Balboa Park in San Francisco to two ends of a Y in Oakland, Lake Merritt and 19th St (see system map). For the 180,000 regular business commuters of the system, of which WiFi Rail wants to achieve an initial 20-percent uptake among, continuous Wi-Fi service should be a godsend against boredom and overwork. Yes, I know, for some, it will mean more expectation of work, but for others, it’s a way to be mildly productive while en route, avoiding longer hours in the office or more work at home.

I need to go ride the ferries here during rush hour to talk to commuters and see what usage is likely on BART. There are tens of thousands of regular ferry commuters with an average 30-minute crossing as part of a longer (45 to 90 minute) trip each way into Seattle and other communities. It’s a reasonable comparison with BART both in scale and nature of passengers.

What say you, Californian BART riders? Do you look forward to iPod touch, iPhone, BlackBerry (with Wi-Fi), and laptop connectivity? Or do you want to stay unplugged?

Copyright ©2008 Glenn Fleishman. All rights reserved. Please notify us if you find this content anywhere but at wifinetnews.com or wimaxnetnews.com. Reproduction of full articles from RSS feeds is prohibited without permission.

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