Postings from Tom Evslin on CircleID en Copyright 2008, unless where otherwise noted. 2008-05-07T06:02:00-08:00 118 47 http://www.circleid.com/images/logo_rss.gif http://www.circleid.com/ http://www.circleid.com/posts/85780_sprints_deal_new_life_wimax http://www.circleid.com/posts/85780_sprints_deal_new_life_wimax More...]]> 2008-05-07T06:02:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/83258_googles_gigabit_gambit http://www.circleid.com/posts/83258_googles_gigabit_gambit according to CNET's newsblog. Not only a gig but a mobile gig, accessible by cellphone or roaming computer -- no fiber required. Sound too good to be true? -- it isn't, IMHO! Engineering is not the problem... More...]]> 2008-03-25T08:56:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/92208_wimax_vs_wifi http://www.circleid.com/posts/92208_wimax_vs_wifi WiFi (technically standard 802.11) and WiMAX (802.16) don't compete for broadband users or applications today. That's partly because WiFi is widely deployed and WiMAX is still largely an unfulfilled promise and partly because the two protocols were designed for very different situations. However, if WiMAX is eventually widely deployed, there will be competition between them as last mile technologies. Some people describe the difference between WiFi and WiMAX as analogous to the difference between a cordless phone and a mobile phone... More...]]> 2008-02-20T08:17:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/711284_verizon_open_wireless http://www.circleid.com/posts/711284_verizon_open_wireless announcement from Verizon Wireless yesterday announcing that "it will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company. Verizon Wireless plans to have this new choice available to customers throughout the country by the end of 2008..." And Verizon Wireless is right to open up. There's plenty of room to be cynical about this; after all, Verizon Wireless is trying to STOP the FCC from putting an openness requirement on the 700Mhz spectrum to be auctioned... More...]]> 2007-11-28T16:58:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/710262_comcast_wrong_approach http://www.circleid.com/posts/710262_comcast_wrong_approach More...]]> 2007-10-26T14:39:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/710119_third_stage_voip_never_fired http://www.circleid.com/posts/710119_third_stage_voip_never_fired VocalTec had just released its VoIP software for PCs (it was named iPhone, BTW). Industry guru Jeff Pulver (whom I now partner with in FWD) had begun to hold his Voice on the Net (VON) shows. As the founder of VoIP startup ITXC, I was invited to give a keynote at VON in Boston. The evolution of VoIP, I opined with the requisite PowerPoint slides, will be like a three stage rocket. I was right about the first two stages and dead wrong about the third... More...]]> 2007-10-11T09:37:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/710412_fon_british_telecom_wifi http://www.circleid.com/posts/710412_fon_british_telecom_wifi announced today between British Telecom and upstart FON allows BT's Internet customers to share their own broadband connections via WiFi and, in turn, be able to access WiFi free at "thousands" (doesn't say how many) of FON hotspots around the world operated by other Foneros... When you buy home Internet access from BT and opt into this plan, you are also buying roaming access at no extra charge. The technology is supposed to assure that the part of the connection which you share is segregated from your own access so that there are no security problems caused by the sharing. More...]]> 2007-10-04T12:26:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/79510_rent_buy_economics_voip http://www.circleid.com/posts/79510_rent_buy_economics_voip More...]]> 2007-09-05T09:41:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/070816_p2p_boon_boondoggle_bandwidth_dark http://www.circleid.com/posts/070816_p2p_boon_boondoggle_bandwidth_dark Yesterday's post explained how peer-to-peer (P2P) applications use the processing power, bandwidth, and storage capacity of participants in a service rather than centralized resources. This makes such applications generally less subject to catastrophic failure, much less subject to running out of resources (since each new user brings new capacity as well as new demand), and much cheaper FOR THE PROVIDER of the application in terms of hardware and bandwidth required. It's the FOR THE PROVIDER part that's the rub. Let's consider the case of BBC's iPlayer service... More...]]> 2007-08-16T17:34:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/070815_p2p_boon_boondoggle_bandwidth http://www.circleid.com/posts/070815_p2p_boon_boondoggle_bandwidth iPlayer from BBC is causing some consternation and eliciting some threatening growls from British ISPs... More...]]> 2007-08-15T13:43:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/070807_google_bid_700mhz_spectrum http://www.circleid.com/posts/070807_google_bid_700mhz_spectrum More...]]> 2007-08-07T09:37:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/fcc_700mhz_spectrum_auction http://www.circleid.com/posts/fcc_700mhz_spectrum_auction FCC has issued rules which will govern the auction of valuable radio spectrum which could make a huge difference in the price and quality of communications in America. The glass is definitely half something: I'd say closer to empty than full but there are some things to like and some hope for competition. The decision is a compromise. Republican Chairman Martin was joined by Democrat Commissioners Adelstein and Copps in setting some open access conditions for 22MHz out of the 62MHz which will be auctioned. Republican Commissioner Tate reluctantly went along with these conditions and Republican McDowell voted against them. More...]]> 2007-07-31T18:17:00-08:00 http://www.circleid.com/posts/google_fcc_bandwidth_gambit http://www.circleid.com/posts/google_fcc_bandwidth_gambit an offer it shouldn't refuse. At this point it's unlikely that the FCC will accept but it would be good for the United States if it did -- and good for Google, of course. Two problems with the Google offer: at&t and Verizon hate it and it probably would result in the 700MHz auction bringing in somewhat less money (immediately) for the treasury than an alternative which would encourage the telcos to bid. More...]]> 2007-07-23T16:21:00-08:00