Tuesday, July 27, 2010
In a small Welsh town called Crumlin, broadband consumers are about to become test subjects for an incredibly fast fiber network courtesy of Virgin Media. It's going to be free to consumers and serve as a beta, or proof-of-concept, for Virgin. Now, before you get too excited at this novel idea and wonderful display of philanthropy on Virgin's behalf, ask yourself: doesn't this sound vaguely familiar?

In February of this year, Google announced something similar: Google Fiber. The promise was about the same--unheard-of broadband speeds for a deserving community. The difference was this: nobody knew which community... yet. So, of course, the PR mileage that Google (intentionally or unintentionally) drew from this announcement was far-reaching.

But when Virgin Media announced their venture, it barely blipped the media's radar. Why? What's different? First of all, it's the 2nd time around. Copy cats never do as well as the original. However, I want to be careful to state something: I'm not so sure Virgin Media is copying anything.

Whereas Google's underlying premise of their venture was to bring broadband to more communities, Virgin really is testing some new technology. In the interest of deployment cost and speed, they have opted to route fiber on the above-ground utility poles instead of the traditional underground method.

Virgin hopes to discover whether the fiber can endure the exposure to elements and, when elements cause failure, if the long-term cost to maintain the above-ground route is justifiable in lieu of the upfront costs to install buried fiber. Both scenarios serve as proof of one simple fact: the last mile is the most costly. Virgin Media is using an above-ground method in order to avoid alleviate some of the costs associated with going the last mile--the local loop from cable to computer.

The fact remains, however, that the easiest and most cost-effective way to connect the last mile avoids cable and fiber altogether--regardless of which side of the turf you're talking about. A managed wireless local loop, such as Accel Networks provides, can take the same broadband--which no doubt reaches the area on the back of a terrestrial workhorse--and put it into any business in a matter of days.

So Virgin, Google, and the many others who dare to bring broadband to the masses: we love that you're connecting our community, but could there be a better way to connect each consumer?

Labels: Google Fiber, Local Loop, Virgin Media

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Tuesday, July 20, 2010
I admit it, I fit the stereotype of Americans. I'm quick to see the American issues as unique, our own, and quite frankly care little for the news and current events beyond my own borders (truthfully, beyond my own neighborhood). But at Accel, growing, and out-growing my own myopic vision. It's a very good thing, both for the company, and for my own mind's expansion.

Last week, it was announced that Accel Networks would be crossing the border to the North and providing fixed wireless broadband to Canada. Since that time, I've been reading more and more about the state of broadband in Canada. Where do we fit? Why is this so monumental? Who really cares?

What I found surprised me--which, as you'll see, merely perpetuates the notion of my silly myopia.

Canada, it would seem, is tackling the same overarching problem that the U.S. has been trying to address for the past couple of years. Rural broadband (or lack thereof), both in the U.S. and Canada, is seen as a great hindrance to the advancement of local economies. According to Broadband Canada, the Canadian Government just approved a second round of funding for several broadband providers to roll-out services in more rural areas.

But what sort of broadband infrastructure are they building? The truth is, the majority of development focus remains in terrestrial networks. That's where Accel comes in. Through our partnership with TELUS, Accel Networks now offers fixed wireless broadband services to businesses in Canada on a completely wireless local loop. No cables, no ditches dug, no expensive routing.

Fixed wireless broadband remains the fastest and most cost-effective solution for rural broadband, not to mention an alternative to terrestrial local loops even in urban centers. We're excited to be a part of bringing broadband to the masses, both in the U.S. and abroad.

Labels: Canada Broadband, Fixed Wireless Broadband, Local Loop, Rural Broadband

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Tuesday, July 13, 2010
St. Petersburg, FL — July 13, 2010 — Accel Networks ("Accel") announced today the expansion of its network coverage area across Canada. Through its relationship with TELUS, this expansion gives Accel the broadest fixed cellular broadband network in North America. Canadian customers can now take advantage of Accel's leading edge proprietary antenna technology and monitoring platforms which provides Accel's customers in the United States quality of service which is unmatched by any other wireless provider. Accel has already begun rolling out locations for existing U.S. customers that also have locations in Canada, but plans to establish a Canadianbased reseller network will make Accel's services more readily available to all broadband users in the country by the end of 2010.

"There's a tremendous need for the fixed wireless broadband services we provide all across Canada," commented Mark Gianinni, CEO of Accel Networks. "We're very pleased to have TELUS as our partner in Canada. They have worked diligently with us to test and certify our technology for use in their network and thanks to these efforts, businesses will now have the ability to utilize fixed cellular broadband using our proprietary technology."

Accel provides the broadest coverage and highest data rates of any wireless provider. Its proprietary, multi-carrier solution synthesizes diverse wireless carrier characteristics into a common customer experience. Many of the locations across Canada—particularly those in rural areas—are limited in their access to traditional terrestrial network broadband service such as DSL or frame relay. "The availability of Accel's technology will open new, cost-effective broadband options to businesses who might otherwise have had limited or no broadband service options," said Sean McMurray, Senior Account Manager, TELUS Business Solutions.

To learn more about Accel's fixed wireless broadband solutions, visit www.accel-networks.com

About Accel Networks
Accel is the leading provider of managed fixed wireless broadband services in North America. Drawing on its experience in fixed wireless networking, Accel fused proprietary technology and intellectual property with the 3G GSM and CDMA networks and created the first PCI compliant broadband fixed wireless enterprise network. Accel brings together the availability, reliability, network management and security of terrestrial frame relay with the data throughput and price point of DSL, without the long lead times, complex installations, and high fallout rates of terrestrial broadband.

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $9.6 billion of annual revenue and 12 million customer connections including 6.5 million wireless subscribers, 4 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers and 170,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle, TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video.

Labels: Press Release

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Tuesday, July 6, 2010
We have all done it, right? Sit down for coffee at your favorite hot-spot: Panera Bread, Starbucks, and even several C-Stores now have them. Pop open the laptop, connect, and open a browser window. But, before your can really connect, your browser is redirected to a screen requiring your agreement. If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's probably because you just click 'I Agree' too fast to even realize it's happening. It's a habit. Nobody reads those things anymore, right?

Free WiFi Users - What you Need to Know:
As a user, what do you need to know about these agreements? Well, I must confess, I'm no attorney, nor should you take this as legal advice. However, in my opinion: just click 'I Agree.' As I will expound upon below for WiFi providers, these agreements are meant primarily to protect the provider from legal ramification of yours (or your fellow users) indiscretion. Despite the paranoid ramblings that Google is trying to own the world's data, or that Facebook holds people's data hostage, the simple fact is 99.9% of the Terms of Use found on any web page or WiFi hotspot falls under the CYA category, not the world-domination category.

In any case, what is your alternative? Approach the barista and ask for an addendum to the agreement before you click I Agree? Are you going to write it out on a cocktail napkin and have a waitress initial it? Just click 'I Agree' or go buy an air card -- which, by the way, likely has the exact same terms of use.

Free WiFi HotSpot Providers - What you Need to Know
Now, if you're the provider of these WiFi services, your Terms of Use are not so inconsequential. So, without being construed as legal counsel, allow me to offer some technical know-how that might shed some light on why you should take these agreements seriously (and, if you don't have one, get one).

• First, any activity on the internet is identified first and foremost by IP Address. Seeing as how it is unlikely that you are assigning unique IP addresses to your users, this means that if someone sits down, hooks up, and hacks a system: when the breach is found, all fingers point to you! If fraudulent emails are sent, illegal content uploaded, DOS activated, etc. -- you're hands are dirty.
  
• With this in mind: realize that you CAN indemnify yourself within the terms of use, AND log the identities of your users for forensic purposes in the future. First, talk to your lawyer about an indemnification clause. Second, disclose in your terms of use that you will store something called a MAC Address, and then do so. Finally, require some identifying information before log-in. WiFi is a privilege, not a right, and it's perfectly acceptable to ask for an email address before granting access.
• With all the criminal risks covered, there is still the issue of loss or damages. If you are the provider of a service--even a free service that's a privilege not a right--courts have affirmed you're liable for that service's performance. That is, of course, unless you disclaim such liability. If a business owner connects momentarily to send a big proposal to his hot prospect, and it never goes through. Or, if sensitive information is compromised on your unsecured network, you need to be able to wipe your hands and say, "Not my problem." Get a lawyer to write your Limitation of Liability clause and make sure that's the case.
  

Labels: C-store, Free Wifi, I Agree, Terms of Use, Wi-Fi

posted by Unknown at 10:09 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Thursday, July 1, 2010
We are all familiar with the famous words of our founding fathers that all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" (Declaration of Independence). Those are some broad sweeps describing a wide range of rights. Just what life and liberty entail can be debated, but most broad and most debatable would have to be the definition of what it means to pursue happiness.

In Finland, it would seem that this pursuit now includes the right to broadband. The Finnish government recently made broadband a basic legal right. Now, lest that seem an illogical leap for you, realize that previously the Finnish government had already ordained other communication mediums--telephony and postal services, for example--as unalienable rights for their citizens. So, the addition of broadband to that list is not too far a stretch.

As a patriotic and freedom-loving American, I have to wonder: would I welcome this sort of law in the U.S? As much criticism as has been blasted toward the FCC and their Broadband Plan, we must confess that at least the FCC (on the surface) is trying to spur private development of rural broadband, not mandate it. That is to say: it's more carrot and less stick that will drive our nation-wide and local providers to bring broadband to the rural masses.

Issues of national debt and troublesome new budgets to fund these projects aside, one does have to marvel that the greatest challenge facing our own initiative to bring broadband to everyone is the availability of spectrum. Stop and think about what that means. We're delivering so much data, so much tcom, so much news, communication, emergency broadcasts, and the like that we are running into a shortage of broadcast spectrum. It's quite a different paradigm than in other nations where broadband access is still emerging.

One thing is true: there will always be critics. But, ask yourself, how would the reaction of U.S. citizens be different if the FCC had mandated private companies to serve rural areas, as opposed to incentivizing them to do so?

Labels: Broadband Plan, FCC, Finland, Rural Broadband

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