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Verizon LTE Worth a Look as Possible DSL Replacement – NYTimes.com

April 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As we’ve noted, the rise of LTE opens up the potential for wireless carriers to court DSL subscribers, something Stacey reported on last week with Verizon actively looking to win over wireline customers. Well, even with the limitations of wireless, the comparison is valid, at least for now, according to Deutsche Bank, which studied the latest 4G offerings.

Deutsche Bank’s 4G comparison, reported in a research note today, arrives at some of the same conclusions that Kevin reported on from a RootMetrics user study: that Verizon LTE blows away the other “4G” labeled competition in terms of speed and performance. In a test of 4G broadband laptop cards at eight locations in the Bay Area, Deutsche Bank found average Verizon LTE download speeds were 13.3 megabits per second compared to 2.13 Mbps for Sprint and 0.87 Mbps for T-Mobile. Uploads speeds were 7.37 Mbps for Verizon, 0.49 Mbps for Sprint and 0.58 Mbps for T-Mobile. It didn’t bother testing AT&T, because it didn’t believe the network merited comparison yet.

The numbers underscore the idea that at this moment in time, LTE could be worth a look for existing DSL subscribers. In a comparison of price and speed, Deutsche Bank found Verizon’s LTE service competes well with current wireline broadband offerings from Verizon, AT&T and Comcast.

via Verizon LTE Worth a Look as Possible DSL Replacement – NYTimes.com.

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The Rich Get Richer – Verizon Ups FiOS to 150 Mbps – NYTimes.com

November 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

erizon Communications today announced an even faster tier of fiber-to-the-home service: 150 Mbps down and 35 Mbps up. For folks like myself still stuck on first generation DOCSIS cable or plain old DSL, the digital divide grew by a couple of feet. But for the lucky 12.5 million people living in an area where Verizon’s FiOS service is available, by the end of this year, they will have the fastest broadband in the nation for an eye-popping $194.99 per month (to get that price you need to sign up for Verizon voice service as well as commit to a one-year contract). Small businesses can purchase the service as well. Verizon will continue to offer its other FiOS service tiers that go all the way down to a 15 Mbps down/5 Mbps up offering.

For those wondering what 150 Mbps is good for (other than bragging rights), Verizon says:

With a downstream speed of 150 Mbps, consumers can download a two-hour, standard-definition movie (1.5 gigabytes) in less than 80 seconds, and a two-hour HD movie (5 GB) in less than four and a half minutes. Downloading 20 high-resolution photographs (100 megabytes) would take less than five and a half seconds using the 150/35 Mbps service. With the 35 Mbps upstream speed, consumers can upload those same 20 high-resolution photos in less than 23 seconds.

via The Rich Get Richer – Verizon Ups FiOS to 150 Mbps – NYTimes.com.

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Clearwire edges toward 100Mbps wireless broadband | Signal Strength – CNET News

October 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Clearwire is getting near 100Mbps downloads on its LTE-based trial wireless network in Phoenix, a company executive said today.

During a keynote presentation here at the 4G World trade show, Michael Sievert, Clearwire’s chief communications officer, shared initial speed test results on a trial network the company has built in Phoenix to test the next generation of a 4G technology called LTE, or Long Term Evolution. Clearwire announced it was testing LTE network technology in Phoenix in August.

According to Sievert, the company has clocked download speeds at 50 megabits per second using 10MHz channels for up and down speeds. When using 20MHz channels, the speeds go up to 90Mbps. These speeds are significantly faster than the 3Mbps to 6Mbps average download speeds the company currently gets on its commercial network, which uses a competing technology called WiMax.

via Clearwire edges toward 100Mbps wireless broadband | Signal Strength – CNET News.

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Clearwire Hopes to Attract Apple Users With New Hotspot – PCWorld Business Center

August 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Clearwire has expanded its portfolio of personal hotspots to include the iSpot, which has been designed to attract Apple users, the operator said on Wednesday.

Personal hotspots are becoming more common, either as stand-alone products or integrated into high-end smartphones. They are battery powered and users connect to the product using Wi-Fi, and the hotspot then connects to the Internet using HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) or, in the case of Clearwire, WiMax.

The white iSpot offers an average download speeds of 3 Mbps (bits per second) to 6 Mbps with bursts over 10 Mbps, according to Clearwire. The capacity can be shared by up to eight Wi-Fi enabled products, within up to 150 feet, at the same time.

via Clearwire Hopes to Attract Apple Users With New Hotspot – PCWorld Business Center.

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Europe Sets Five-Year Internet Strategy – BusinessWeek

May 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment
European flag outside the Commission
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Half of Europeans subscribing to ultra-high-speed broadband by 2020, bringing an end to the phenomenon of ‘digital virgins’ and the creation of a European cyber-attack rapid response system – these are just some of the ambitious goals contained in the EU’s five-year plan for the online world, unveiled on Wednesday (19 May).

Anxious that the US, Japan and South Korea – still in parts classified as a developing country – are stealing a march on the old continent, where almost a third of people have still never accessed the worldwide web, the European Commission says it is time for a digital revolution.

While today, just one percent of Europeans are signed up to fast fibre-based internet, 12 percent of Japanese have such connections and 15 percent of South Koreans.

“Can you imagine that there are still some 30 percent of Europeans who have never used the internet? Digital virgins, so to say,” Dutch commissioner Neelie Kroes said in announcing the wide-ranging plans. “We want to ensure they all have the opportunity to discover the wonders of the digital world.”

By 2013, Brussels wants all Europeans to have basic broadband and by 2020, for everyone to have access high-speed broadband above 30Mbps, with 50 percent of Europeans able to subscribe to ultra-high-speed rates of above 100Mbps.

via Europe Sets Five-Year Internet Strategy – BusinessWeek.

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Sprint 4G: The Home Broadband Alternative? – PCWorld

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Sprint Nextel
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In addition to being a pretty cool phone with all the latest bells and whistles, the HTC Evo 4G has one very unique attribute: It’s the first U.S. handset designed for 4G (fourth generation) mobile broadband networks.

Sprint says its 4G WiMax network, a partnership between the wireless carrier and its broadband partner Clearwire, is up to 10 times faster than today’s 3G speeds. That translates into download speeds of up to 6 megabits per second (Mbps), although performance will vary by location.

PC World‘s Mark Sullivan, who tested the Sprint/Clearwire network in Las Vegas in March, saw download rates ranging from a blistering 11 Mbps to 13 Mbps at the high end, to a not-too-shabby 2 Mbps at the low end. At those speeds, WiMax is a viable alternative to today’s home broadband offerings, including DSL, cable, and fiber (e.g., FiOS).

Sprint sees a potential market there too. “We see Sprint 4G as a tremendous opportunity for customers who are interested in choosing a wireless solution over Cable/DSL/fiber,” company spokesman Mark Elliott told me recently. The company’s 4G service is currently available in 32 U.S. markets, and Sprint hopes to reach 120 million people by end of 2010.

via Sprint 4G: The Home Broadband Alternative? – PCWorld.

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