Bob Fernandez

Groundhog Day? Rural internet firm says Comcast messes up its bill every month, squashing its prospects

Jeffrey Houser launched the rural internet-service provider Rednet by shooting Wi-Fi from ridge-top antennas to customers from Punxsutawney (PA) of groundhog fame to homespun Blairsville (PA). His vision was to bring the internet to rural areas. And all was going well until Rednet connected off-campus apartments for students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, expanding beyond his rural base, but also encroaching on Comcast's turf.  And that’s when, Houser says, his company ran into the buzz saw of Comcast’s billing and collections department.

In Comcast’s hometown, the chasm between internet haves and have-nots looks intractable, new census data shows

New census data confirms what many in the city have long suspected: Big swaths of Philadelphia (PA) are nearly off the grid, with minimal access to fast internet services in their homes. Across the US in 2017, the national broadband penetration rate by household was 83.5 percent in 2017. In Philadelphia, the rate was 71.6 percent, the second-lowest among the 25 largest cities.

Tiny Doylestown Borough (PA) battled Verizon over 5G and won a big settlement

When Verizon proposed dozens of 5G small-cell antennas along streets in Doylestown Borough (PA), the reaction was a defiant no.