Broadband Providers Complain as March 17 FCC Broadband Plan Unveiling Nears

The arrest by the Australian Federal Police of a self taught 25 year old computer hacker for taking control of the network of Platform Networks, an ISP providing trial services on the NBN has exposed the frightening vulnerability of broadband providers.

A new survey purports to show that one third of broadband users are wasting money by using different service providers for voice and internet services. Apparently bundling is the key to reducing the financial impost of communications these days.

The U.S. risks falling behind on online product innovation because it isn’t gaining a critical mass of subscribers to superfast broadband services (of 25Mbps+). That’s the scenario being painted by the Broadband Stakeholder Group, an advisory group to the U.K.

Editor’s note: Richard Bennett is a Senior Fellow with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and co-author of ITIF’s 2013 report, “The Whole Picture: Where America’s Broadband Networks Really Stand.” Follow him on Twitter @iPolicy. We’ve all heard the story: America’s broadband networks are second-rate.

NBN Co has announced the first tier of 12 retail service providers for the National Broadband Network. Although most of the big names are present, Australia's fourth largest provider TPG is a notable exception, while number three ISP Optus is missing from the list of first four RSPs to be declared NBN-ready.

New Zealand telcos and user organisations are proposing changes to the enabling legislation for the country's Ultrafast Broadband Network (UFB) that, as it stands, would give providers a ten-year holiday from pricing regulation. Instead they want to see Australian style 'special access undertakings' adopted.

The Broadband Commission for Digital Development, set up by the International Telecommunication Union and UNESCO, has produced a second report emphasising the essential role for broadband in recommending strategies governments should adopt to ensure adequate broadband infrastructure.

I am able to establish a mobile broadband connection but I still don't have access to internet. The mobile broadband works without any issues from Windows 7 on the same machine.

I configured the mobile broadband connection in the unity network manager.