1. Monthly archive
  2. August 2008

August 2008

AT&T's goal is to stay ahead of tech curve

AT&T's goal: "More bandwidth in more places." AT&T is a beast. The telecom giant has local phone operations in 22 states; "Internet Protocol" (IP) networks that carry voice, data and video in more than 140 countries; and a long-distance backbone that traverses the USA. Undersea fiber-optic cables used for trans-Atlantic communications? Check that box, too. It's also building an advanced video network that offers a circus of converged services. AT&T is also the USA's No. 1 wireless cellphone carrier, with about 73 million customers. Staying ahead of the technology curve is a constant challenge. One of the biggest obstacles: the copper network. Used for decades to provide traditional land-line phone service, the network is creaky and expensive to maintain. As more people cut the cord and go wireless, there are fewer people to spread those "fixed" costs among. AT&T is considering a range of technology solutions. At the top of the list: "WiMax," an advanced wireless technology that can handle voice, data and video. WiMax is also cheap to install and maintain. Also under consideration: femtocells. The technology, which relies on miniature wireless receivers, can significantly boost the performance of in-home broadband connections.

Seniors Tap Into Texting

For wireless companies, senior citizens are a relatively underserved market. About 50 percent of seniors over age 65 own a cellphone, compared with nearly 90 percent of consumers 18 to 29, according to a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Two percent of seniors own a BlackBerry or other PDA, compared with 17 percent of their younger counterparts. Six percent of seniors have sent a text message, while 75 percent of the younger group are ravenous texters. Seniors make up the fastest-growing market for companies like AT&T. And they control about half of the disposable income in the country.

EFF Releases "Switzerland" ISP Testing Tool

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is releasing "Switzerland," a software tool for customers to test the integrity of their Internet communications. "The sad truth is that the FCC is ill-equipped to detect ISPs interfering with your Internet connection," said Fred von Lohmann, EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney. "It's up to concerned Internet users to investigate possible network neutrality violations, and EFF's Switzerland software is designed to help with that effort. Comcast isn't the first, and certainly won't be the last, ISP to meddle surreptitiously with its subscribers' Internet communications for its own benefit." Part of EFF's "Test your ISP" project, Switzerland is an open source, command-line software tool designed to detect the modification or injection of packets of data by ISPs. Switzerland detects changes made by software tools believed to be in use by ISPs such as Sandvine and AudibleMagic, advertising systems like FairEagle, and various censorship systems. Although currently intended for use by technically sophisticated Internet users, development plans aim to make the tool increasingly easy to use.

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