Category: Industry News
Industry News.
From Wireless Week:
The FCC's decision yesterday to revamp its $8.7 billion universal service fund (USF) could provide more government funding for mobile broadband in rural areas without high-speed Internet access.
The agency's overhaul of the fund will cut federal financing of legacy landline telephone services to increase support for fixed and mobile broadband Internet services.
Tweet
Read the rest of entry »
Cybersecurity "SuperTrojans" Alert
Security experts warn that a new "supertrojan" is lurking in the cyber shadows, which may make ordinary viruses seem as harmless as the common cold.
The two most forbidding pieces of spyware on the Net have James Bond-worthy names: SpyEye and ZeuSTwo. Once competing tools for cybercrooks, now they’re teaming up to form a hybrid being hailed as SpyZeuS -- and security analysts warn companies and users to be on their guard.
Read the rest of entry »
Q: How do I choose an internet provider for my home?
A: The first question is "can I get service at my house?" If the answer is yes, then the next criteria is speed of the service. If you are happy with the performance, then the next criteria might be price. And, layered over all this is reliability.
Q: What service can I get at my house?
A: If you are in a rural area, you usually have two types of service from which to choose - private microwave service from InterMax and service from either one of two satellite service providers - HughesNet or Wild Blue. In the more densely populated areas like Coeur d'Alene, Hayden, Post Falls, or Rathdrum, you might be able to buy DSL service from the phone company (Verizon), or cable data service from the cable TV supplier (Time Warner).
Both DSL and the cable service are absolutely "location specific" to populated areas. Some cell phone companies are also promoting "broadband cards" for your laptop. This service runs on the cell phone network and offers at best the same reliability as your cell phone. Think about how you have come to tolerate dropped calls and service "holes" with your cell phone. That quality of service may not be suitable for your internet connection.
Satellite service - HughesNet and Wild Blue - this is a connection to a satellite 22,000 miles out in space much like a TV satellite connection. It is a satisfactory alternative for TV because the signal just comes down to your house in a stream and time delays caused by distance don't matter. In the internet use of this technology, the signal begins as an inquiry from your computer, goes up 22,000 miles to the satellite, is processed by the computers in the satellite, then goes down to earth another 22,000 miles with your inquiry. Then your inquiry goes over the earthbound internet system to get your answer, then back over the earth system to the outbound satellite system, then up 22,000 miles to the satellite, processed there again, then down 22,000 miles to your computer. Whew... are you tired yet? It is like driving to Spokane via Los Angeles. So while the service is slow, and is sometimes sporadic, it is faster than dialup and if it is all you can get, it becomes your best choice.
Read the rest of entry »
For the past six years people have referred to it as Spokane’s HotZone. Within a year or so, it could be the Spokane HotZone Museum. City and business leaders started the free wireless Wi-Fi area in 2004, eventually creating a 100-square-block area across downtown Spokane.
Find Out More! - http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jun/01/hotzone-cooling-down/
Read the rest of entry »
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission told a Congressional panel on Wednesday that a recent court ruling that the agency lacked authority to regulate the Internet should not prevent it from carrying out its plan to broadly expand the country’s high-speed Internet service.
Read More! -
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/technology/15broadband.html?scp=4&sq=fcc&st=cse
Read the rest of entry »
Intermax has upgraded our domain hosting capabilities, offering our
customers the ability to self-direct and manage their own domains and email
accounts. Contact us for more information!
Read the rest of entry »
A conversation with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski | CNET Conversations - CNET News.
Read here - http://news.cnet.com/8301-30966_3-20001044-262.html
Read the rest of entry »
From the Idaho Business Review, Three Idaho hospitals, along with 18 Washington hospitals, are wired, according to a national health services network magazine. Coeur d'Alene's Kootenai Health is on the list.
Read the rest of entry »
This report, released recently by the Federal Communications Commission, is a great read for those interested in this compelling problem of access to the Internet in rural parts of America.
Here at home, Intermax is well ahead of the curve, having built the largest private microwave network in North Idaho and serving 1,200 businesses and residences in Kootenai and Bonner Counties alone.
Find out more - http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-291012A1.pdf
Read the rest of entry »
From a New York Times Online Story today, linked below: "Like the millions of Americans who are ditching their landlines and relying solely on cellphones, these cable cutters are using new technology to redefine what is necessary and what is accessory, watching television when they want as opposed to when it is broadcast, and saving a few dollars.
"So many of my friends treated cable as a utility, that it wasn't a home until it was set up," said Nick Jackson, 24, who lives on the Lower East Side and works in publishing. "I basically chose Internet over the cable."
Continue reading - http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/cutting-the-cable-as-the-economy-pinches/?hp
Read the rest of entry »