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Gerry Blackwell

  Feature:
    •  Archives

Features

The Peoples Hero
[January 8, 2009] Brian Capouch is well known among those who work in VoIP for his originial thinking, and we were glad to nab an interview with him about his latest project.

A Sea Change in IPTV?
[December 31, 2008] Video on demand: it's just an add-on to linear TV—right? A nice extra, but not absolutely essential to your IPTV strategy.

Moto IPTV
[December 11, 2008] Size matters. Don't let anyone tell you different. Experience too. Good software doesn't hurt either.

Fun with Big Pipes
[November 7, 2008] When Belgium's ILEC needed a multi-gigabit fiber optic upgrade to prepare it to deliver regular and HDTV over Ethernet—especially for sports—it called on equipment provider Ekinops and integrator SEE Telecom. This is not IPTV, but it may be the future.

Pioneering IPTV: the pain and the glory
[October 17, 2008] This company was one of the first to deploy IPTV. Here's what they learned.

Sezmi: An Alternative to IPTV
[August 22, 2008] This hybrid solution of IP and broadcast TV may prove cheaper to roll out and thus more attractive than IPTV to ISPs.

ViaClix and the Monetization of Television
[July 18, 2008] Based in California, this company has focused on some projects in the Middle East, until now.

Error In Your Favor
[June 27, 2008] This company claims to deliver free money to ISPs. But its service has seen only limited adoption.

Front Porch Says Competitors Over Promise Behavioral Ad Revenue
[May 29, 2008] Yes, you can earn money from serving ads based on your customers' web behavior, but not as much money as some vendors claim, and not immediately.

ISPhone, Updated
[May 6, 2008] With open source and proprietary parts, an industry veteran has built a competitive product that offers advantages to even the smallest ISP.

New Wireless Provider Bets on HSPA
[April 17, 2008] Ed Evans has cogent arguments in favor of the choice he made, but few seem to be ready to do what he's doing. Is he a pioneer, or is he doomed?

The Super Antenna
[March 31, 2008] We contacted Superpass to find out how this tiny wireless equipment company competes with the major players.

A Startup's Alternative Spectrum Plan
[December 31, 2007] When this company went before the FCC with an alternative way to manage spectrum, the incumbents fought back.

Banking on WISP Acquisitions
[December 21, 2007] This is a WISP rollup strategy we've never seen before.

Walking the Tightrope
[December 11, 2007] The next big battleground in the increasingly competitive ISP market will be the same as it always is: e-mail.

Outsource Your Television, Kill Your Telco
[October 30, 2007] If the monopolies have launched the triple play in your market, you don't need your own billion dollar taxpayer funded infrastructure to fight back.

MyTVPal
[September 21, 2007] It's not ready for release, but this video provider could succeed even as others get all the press. Unlike the others, this one claims it plans to work closely with ISPs.

The Fight for 700 MHz
[July 26, 2007] Wireless politics in Washington, D.C. heats up as a new company with powerful backers seeks to change the rules and challenge the monopolists.

Merit Network, Inc.
[June 26, 2007] Up in Michigan there's a piece of NSFnet history working hard for universities in ways that might benefit commercial ISPs.

ISP Profile: MSTAR
[May 29, 2007] From dialup to DSL and now to fiber, this provider knows how to shine on open networks.

IPTV Today—and Tomorrow
[March 15, 2007] Although IPTV, the telephone company's (and ISP's?) great hope for the triple-play future, has so far failed to take the world by storm, its future seems assured. Indeed, it may in the long term be the only way video content is distributed.

A WISP with Vision
[January 5, 2007] He has navigated federal, state, and local bureaucracies, runs an ISP association, and has built a WISP that's always a step ahead of the industry.

Single Malt Internet Television
[November 17, 2006] In the age of infinite channels, every hobby gets its own, and the expensive hobbies will have better-funded channels. But can the owners of the pipes make money from the trend?

MetroFi's Ad Supported Wi-Fi
[November 7, 2006] It could be the next generation of urban wireless networks, with a Covad co-founder and a deal with AT&T.

SaskTel's Max IPTV Service
[September 15, 2006] In many areas, regional ILECs are ahead of the nationals, and one such is in Canada's prairie land.

Sparkplug Inc.
[July 18, 2006] When WISPs first hit the national news, publications immediately expected to see a national rollup, but it did not happen. Instead, mergers like this may make more sense.

Wireless Plan to Bring 1 Gbps to Homes in Sandoval County
[June 20, 2006] The guy who brought broadband to Tonga is ready to revolutionize the U.S. market by offering very very fast residential service.

Ruckus Wireless
[May 30, 2006] The best home networking solution for IPTV might be the wireless solution.

Amino Technologies
[May 18, 2006] Whatever the future of IPTV, Amino Technologies expects to be a key component of its technological genetic code.

KeyOn
[April 7, 2006] A regional WISP works partnerships, acquisitions, and financing into a growing business.

IPTV is Software as a Service (SaaS)
[March 10, 2006] One application developer claims to have built the operating system that will usher in the future of IPTV.

Try VOD Before Doing IPTV
[February 17, 2006] IPTV is expensive, so why not try something more direct? This product shows everything the technology has to offer, and also highlights the reasons why most ISPs aren't investing in it yet.

Foneros Unite
[February 7, 2006] If Spanish Internet entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky hits the bull's eye again with his latest venture, we may all be operating our own Wi-Fi hotspots before long. You decide if his aim is good.

ITVN: Vertically Integrated IPTV
[December 29, 2005] It claims to be the only truly IPTV product available. It truly wants to work with ISPs. But is the technology and the product line really ready for prime time?

The IPTV Testing System
[December 6, 2005] As carriers and ISPs prepare IPTV rollouts, one company is ready to help them test their service before it runs on the network.

This Network Sings
[September 30, 2005] An ambitious new ISP business model is based on the power of music.

Rural Cooperative Does IPTV
[August 22, 2005] It's not cheap and it's not easy, but if a company with less than 10,000 customers can roll out IPTV, then it's likely that you can too.

IPTV Grows in Europe
[June 30, 2005] A well-funded startup has managed an impressive start, growing in part, ironically, thanks to the monopolies that rule its nation.

Triple Play in Wyoming
[June 24, 2005] A WISP in Wyoming proves that triple play services are nothing new to small, innovative, nimble ISPs.

Triple Play for Business
[May 24, 2005] A cutting edge service provider in San Francisco reports there's growing demand for voice, video, and data business services.

IPTV: The Big Picture
[April 15, 2005] There's a compelling business case but also a number of risks, so, in this article, we get the world's leading DSL analysts to weigh the pros and cons of IPTV.

IPTVComplete
[March 4, 2005] Don't want to build your own cable head end? Don't bother. You can outsource the whole IPTV thing.

Envisioning IPTV With MPEG-4
[January 21, 2005] This ILEC spinoff has the expertise to deliver a complete IPTV solution now. The company also has a clear idea of which ISPs can do IPTV—and which cannot.

Kasenna Says ISPs Can IPTV
[December 30, 2004] One provider of IPTV equipment is already working with ISPs as small as 19,000 subscribers.

Set Top Box Maker Challenges ISPs to Deliver End to End Service
[December 23, 2004] Sure, IPTV's a good business. But at least one vendor at the center of it all (i.e., the edge) says that ISPs and WISPs may not be able to deliver the product consistently from the head end to the living room.

The Hotspot Content Connection
[December 2, 2004] The infrastructure's basically ready, but this startup still has a few details to work out.

Microsoft IPTV: First the PC, Now the TV
[November 12, 2004] Microsoft, which already has its nose in just about every aspect of computing and the Internet, may also be the supplier of choice in future for broadband service providers looking to get into the pay TV business.

TowerStream: Getting It Right The Second Time
[October 26, 2004] We take a closer look at TowerStream, the fixed-wireless service provider building a pre-WiMax cloud over major metropolitan areas to growing success.

BelAir: Meshing Quite Nicely
[October 19, 2004] A talk with the network equipment provider showcases the company's claims to fame and new features of its hardware (Virtual APs anyone?) in comparison to the competition.

Beyond VoD
[October 15, 2004] A startup out of Plano, Texas claims it has a better codec, and is using it as a platform for a whole suite of services—including VoD— that ISPs can offer their customers.

Rockstar Goes Mobile
[September 7, 2004] The developer of ISP system software (now called Aramova) thinks the future for all Internet access—not just Wi-Fi based—is with the aggregators.

A Competing TV Provider
[August 27, 2004] It uses broadcast TV infrastructure to compete with TV stations. It's not an ISP, but its business model is unique, fascinating, and strangely familiar.

I, Hotel
[August 24, 2004] The 18-month-old provider of Wi-Fi systems for (of course) hotels thinks it has an infallible formula for success, and so far has a track record to back it up.

The Online Video Jukebox
[July 22, 2004] One content deal at a time, video content is being made available over the Internet, and some ISPs are already starting to cash in.

Predicting the Shape of TV Over IP
[June 18, 2004] TV over broadband is coming, but it could manifest itself in any of several different forms, with significant consequences for ISPs large and small.

TheGlobe Does VoIP
[May 11, 2004] A startup company with big ambitions is looking to medium-sized and small ISPs to be its distribution system. It's all part of the Internet's latest disintermediating trend.

Britain's Rural Broadband Entrepreneur
[May 11, 2004] The new company Telabria hopes, working with beer companies, to blanket the 25 percent of the United Kingdom that can't go online, using high-speed, mesh-based Wi-Fi to compete with legacy copper infrastructure.

The Wireless Lamp Post
[May 4, 2004] Every business plan has its quirks, but few deliver the bandwidth of LastMile Communications: 40 to 400 Mbps at $375 per lamp post access point.

Big, Sunny Side Up Wireless
[April 13, 2004] Dave Thayne is building something big and wireless in Utah—and in Idaho, Arizona, Texas, and Nevada.

SmartWires Yearns to Grow
[March 16, 2004] Daniel Ghansah, sole proprietor of the WISP SmartWires, is the poster boy for single-handed entrepreneurial chutzpah.

The Benefit Of Their Experience
[Febraury 24, 2004] It's a sign of maturity in the WISP industry: one of the oldest WISPs is building a WISP management software product.

Go, Cleveland, Go!
[January 27, 2004] The path to the Superbowl may not go through Cleveland this year, but citizens can boast about a municipal Internet project that is the most aggressive and ambitious in the nation.

RLECs Deploy Wireless
[December 30, 2003] Even those small ISPs that have the incumbent advantage find it necessary to deploy wireless technology to evade the tentacles of the RBOCs.

Grand County Internet Services
[October 21, 2003] Launching fixed wireless broadband has been an adventure for Eden Recor, president and owner of Grand County Internet Services, in the mountains near Denver.

Beware the Bandwidth Thieves
[September 30, 2003] How big a problem for wireless ISPs is bandwidth theft? How often are hackers posing as customers and using your network bandwidth without paying for it? You may never know. That's half the problem.

American Tower
[August 12, 2003] One of the ILECs of the wireless industry, American Tower has infrastructure that many companies want to exploit. It is also carrying a massive debt load. So why is it turning WISPs away at the door?

At This WISP, Oliver Asks for More
[July 22, 2003] With many potential opportunities to examine but less actual growth than he'd like, Oltronics president Bob Oliver has more than just plan A and plan B—he's already cooking up plans C and D.

FastKat 1, Goliath 0
[July 15, 2003] A couple of cheesed-off would-be broadband customers have formed their own successful WISP.

Broadband Comes to Coffman Cove
[May 27, 2003] For communities still languishing in the digital divide, Coffman Cove's municipally funded and operated WISP should be an inspiration and could be a model. If it can be done here in Alaska, it can be done anywhere.

Investors Build Their Own WISP
[May 13, 2003] Humanvision, a Maryland venture capital company, started its own Wi-Fi service company when it couldn't find one to invest in.

Out of the Midwest
[April 15, 2003] For aggressive Wi-Fi services company EthoStream, it's Milwaukee today, tomorrow the world.

BroadBand Solutions
[April 1, 2003] Here is one WISP that is selling consulting services, Internet access, customer management software, and more, all while building a growing ISP. How do they do it? Here's the story.

The SkyWeb Alliance
[March 25, 2003] If local WISPs can learn to reach out from their local areas to create regional alliances like the SkyWeb Alliance, they may be able to compete with the RBOCs on a statewide or even national scale.

ISP For Sale: Make An Offer
[February 25, 2003] In a down economy, healthy companies are learning that their less responsible competitors are for sale at good prices, and ISP brokers are back in business.

Crossing The Digital Divide
[January 28, 2003] When a small community in rural Canada decided to become call center-ready, nobody could have imagined the myriad changes that broadband wireless would bring to Saint Pierre-Jolys.

2002

Mobile in Mankato
[December 31, 2002] Mobile carriers are waking up to the potential of offering fixed wireless services using license-free spectrum. A combination of fixed wireless, 3G, and even 2.5G service could be the foundation of a powerful, pervasive business plan.

Event Bandwidth Bags WISP Bucks
[December 10, 2002] While the World Series champion Anaheim Angels boasted U-NII broadband thanks to NextWeb, the Angels' opponents, the San Francisco Giants, lacked broadband access entirely. The Giants are owned by PacBell.

AlwaysOn First in the Market with SOMA Gear
[November 26, 2002] In towns and villages across America, big-city telecom refugees armed with cutting-edge wireless technology are plotting their return to glory. Hometown, U.S.A. today—tomorrow, the world.

SkyBridge's Wireless Gambit
[November 12, 2002] Las Vegas, which is surprisingly one of the fastest growing cities in the country, seems to attract, chew up, and spit out fixed wireless entrepreneurs. Meet a two-time player in the market.

Pillar of the Fixed Wireless Industry
[October 29, 2002] From first-generation firewalls to a turbocharged fixed wireless base station break thorough, KarlNet's influence and reputation are out of proportion to the size of the company.

WisperTel
[October 15, 2002] Don't let the tranquil name fool you. WisperTel is making it loud and clear that they intend to develop profitable, well-targeted wireless Internet service networks.

RAMTelecom and Baker Lake
[October 1, 2002] An Inuit community proves that high-speed solutions come in many shapes and sizes by combining the versatility of Wi-Fi with the ubiquity of satellite systems to provide truly remote access.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[September 24, 2002] A glut of 5.8 GHz gear hits the market, hotspot pioneerWayport continues to aggressively sell its services, and ClearSKY Networks launches service in a six-block hotzone.

Netting Travelers with Iowaone.Net
[September 17, 2002] A new software-billing bundle helps one WISP build momentum for an interesting business proposition with local hotels. But will the profit-sharing venture work?

NuVox Sticks to Tried and True Plan
[September 10, 2002] One CLEC proves the way to beat the data doldrums is to stick with fundamentals—avoid competitive markets, build only the facilities you need, and target an under served audience.

Northwest Communications, Growing Against the Grain
[August 27, 2002] A small, local telephone company proves that it can do it all in Iowa—voice, dial-up, cable, and wireless—you name it, Northwest Communications provides it.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[August 20, 2002] Two research firms release WLAN studies, Singapore heats up hotzone wars, and a S.C. ISP utilizes yet another wireless frequency to deliver high-speed services over licensed spectrum.

This Laser Requires No License
[August 13, 2002] Across North America, ISPs are finding that free space optics (FSO) technology is like 802.11b because it is license free but it has handicaps that restrain its popularity.

Wireless In Paradise
[August 7, 2002] Surfing Maui will never be the same. Maui Sky Fiber and IPWirelss join forces to provide Hawaiian surfers blazing fast wireless Web access and e-mail services from surf to shore and beyond.

CommSpeed, Making MMDS Work
[July 30, 2002] Which is better—licensed or unlicensed spectrum? Neither, and both. CommSpeed leverages all its wireless options to provide hybrid high-speed Internet services to business and residential users.

Growing Beyond Its WISP Grass Roots
[July 23, 2002] Uncontested in local markets, MapleNet may have started as a small, homegrown wireless Internet service provider, but its ventures take MapleNet far beyond its grass roots origins.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[July 16, 2002] The wireless world of sports, Motorola spreads its U-NII band canopy, and U.K. research indicates that public hotspot ventures are attracting considerable interest from mobile operators.

The Municipal WISP(Part III)
[July 9, 2002] Some municipal wireless endeavors are good news for local ISP operators—others are bad news. It pays to know which type of muni-WISP is coming to market in your service area—friend or foe?

The Municipal WISP(Part II)
[July 2, 2002] It may one day be as common for small cities and towns across America to offer broadband Internet access services as it is today for municipalities to provide electricity and water.

Small Cities Serve Their Own (Part I)
[June 25, 2002] All across America, municipal and county governments are waking up to the hard economic truth of the Digital Divide—and deciding to do something about it.

CleanMyMailbox
[June 18, 2002] There's a new weapon in the war against spam that doesn't rely on "black listing" to do its dirty work. But users will have to trust that Permission Technologies never divulges subscriber particulars.

Ultra-Wideband: Great Promise, But No Guarantees
[June 11, 2002] Theoretically, Ultra-Wideband wireless systems represent the next logical step for wireless communications technologies. Now, someone just has to prove it will work.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[June 4, 2002] New bridge from Alvarion connects base stations with otherwise inaccessible customers, USURF makes waves in the Rocky Mountains, and researchers say Wi-Fi to overtake MMDS in the U.S.

What the Licensed Competition is Doing
[May 28, 2002] To date, Sprint's foray into wireless broadband access has proven less than spectacular. This time, the company may be onto something that works. Time will tell if it's also economically viable.

WiFi Metro Heats Up Another Hotzone
[May 21, 2002] Is anybody making any money from building Wi-Fi hotspots or reselling wireless access to these hotspots? WiFi Metro adds a new ripple to WISP opportunities for roaming the airwaves.

Hotspot-in-a-Box
[May 14, 2002] We're not sure if anybody has actually figured out how to make money from building Wi-Fi hotspots just yet, but there sure are a bunch of companies out there taking a shot at it.

Satellite Service: The Other Wireless Broadband
[May 7, 2002] Not so long ago, the idea of using satellites to deliver high-speed Internet service was almost laughable—unless your customers were in the Arctic Circle or in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[April 23, 2002] NextWeb snaps up Innetix, StarNetWX lights up Las Vegas, SkyRiver Communications floods San Diego, and Reality Wireless Networks checks out of Saratoga, Calif.

But How Much Does It Cost? [Part 3]
[April 16, 2002] Now it's time to populate your wireless points-of-presence with radios and related gear so you can actually provide service and start to earn revenues to pay back your investment.

But How Much Does It Cost? [Part 2]
[April 9, 2002] Last week we started to look at how much it would cost an ISP to get into the fixed wireless business using 2.4GHz license-free transmission equipment. In brief, it's more than you thought.

But How Much Does It Cost?
[April 2, 2002] Setting up a broadband fixed wireless access network sounds fairly simple, right? Cheap too. I mean, you can buy 802.11b access points at CompUSA for a few hundred dollars. Anything else?

Research Suggests All Is Not Bleak
[March 26, 2002] The broadband fixed wireless industry has supposedly been in the doldrums for a year or more. Vendors are bleeding red ink and singing the blues. More than a few have dropped out.

Growing Beyond The Dock Of The Bay With NextWeb
[March 19, 2002] How do you grow your wireless ISP business? According to NextWeb, keep everything hands-on, in-house, and build upon two fundamentals; your ISP experience and wireless expertise.

Mesh At Work
[March 12, 2002] Mesh network architecture has just begun to gain mindshare among industry players, but one pioneering ISP in northern California is already up and running a moneymaking mesh network.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[March 5, 2002] Some good news out of Israel, non-Olympic news from Salt Lake City, unconfirmed rumors swirl about the future of XO Communications, and new research from Yankee Group.

Redline Dares To Cross NLOS Limits
[February 26, 2002] Our quest for inexpensive, small, but reliable non-line of sight wireless equipment continues. This time, we're off to field tests in Canada by way of Southern California.

Go Fish, Like Global Wireless
[February 19, 2002] Cast your net into a rich niche market and your catch-of-the-day could become a profitable beachhead for your wireless Internet services.

Prarie iNet: Small Town Big Time
[February 12, 2002] A debt-free buildout, word-of-mouth marketing, a sharp technical staff, and patience are essential to building a successful wireless Internet service.

Wi-Fi News Briefs
[February 5, 2002] One merger, several new NLOS products, and a new security release from Funk.

PacketAir Readies For Take Off
[January 29, 2002] The notion that service providers could some day deliver broadband mobile data access has been percolating for a couple of years. It may finally be coming to a boil.

Boingo!
[January 22, 2002] Wireless hotspots are more than a local source for high-speed Internet access with a cup of cappuccino. As a matter of fact, public hotspots are a hot bed of aggregator activities.

Damning The Economic Torpedoes
[January 15, 2002] If your service area is saturated with broadband players, consider playing in a different backyard. For one wireless ISP, it's full steam ahead to remote markets underserved by DSL and cable.

Soma Networks
[January 2, 2002] Soma is a small company with a little device. With over 100 patents filed, the company's technology is still in trials, but the dreams are big for licensed and unlicensed spectrum.

 

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