The long awaited rules and guidelines governing the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus program were revealed on July 1st. Vice President Biden released the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) in western Pennsylvania during the first stop of a President Obama launched ‘rural tour.’ Joining Biden on the first stop were FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The NOFA is the first in a series of notices that provides definitions and... Read Full Story

Today’s the day. The federal government will be releasing the rules governing the $7.1 billion broadband stimulus grant program. It’s expected that the official announcement will come from Vice President Joe Biden at a ceremony at Seneca High School near Erie, Penn. Biden will be joined by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. Once the rules are revealed, the real fun begins. There should be a flurry of activity, first to interpret the rules, then to line up... Read Full Story

Sprint is looking to follow their own lead with femtocell technology by being the first U.S. carrier to offer a true 3G femtocell later this year. Sprint was the first carrier to offer a 2G femtocell, the Samsung Airave. Light Reading’s Unstrung is reporting that Sprint alerted them to their pending 3G femtocell plans. Sprint is hoping to pre-empt AT&T, who has also announced 3G femtocell plans for 2009. Read More ... read more Read Full Story

Time Warner Cable now has four million telephone subscribers, making them the sixth largest telephone company in the U.S. by their estimation. Cable companies are no stranger to saber rattling concerning their digital phone prowess. Comcast has issued a press release or three toting their position in the top ten phone company rankings by access line. Comcast now claims the third spot. Read More ... read more Read Full Story

In a much anticipated move, Comcast’s WiMAX product, High-Speed 2Go is official in their Portland market. "With Comcast’s wideband Internet, we already offer one of the fastest wired connections available today. Now with the launch of High-Speed 2Go, we also deliver the nation’s fastest wireless Internet," said Cathy Avgiris, senior vice president and general manager for wireless and voice services at Comcast in a company statement. Comcast is using Clearwire's and Sprint's wireless networks... Read Full Story

Atlantic Broadband, a mid size cable operator based in Quincy, Mass. with operations on the east coast, will launch a television VOD channel featuring both locally produced and web derived content. The MSO will utilize technology from ClearLeap to power the new service. The new VOD channel will initially launch in their Johnstown, Pa., and Miami Beach, Fla. Systems. Atlantic Broadband services close to 300k total cable subscribers. Read More ... read more Read Full Story

The belief that teens' media preferences and viewing habits are radically different than those of adults is misleading and false, according to a Nielsen research report released today. Debunking commonly held perceptions of teens and their media use, the research results should prove heartening to traditional as well as new media content providers and distributors, TV networks and producers in particular. Read More ... read more Read Full Story

Mobile broadband and wireline broadband services are focal points industry-wide these days, as they should be. They represent the lion's share of the future of the business. But, in the minds of consumer's, which is more valuable? New research from Strategy Analytics indicates that wireline broadband access continues to be subscribers' primary and most highly valued Internet channel. Forty-eight percent of Americans would drop their mobile data plan completely as they look to scale back hou... Read Full Story

Google began a phased launch of Google Voice yesterday. They are sending out invitations to a select few. Others can request an invitation. No word on when Google will open the service to anyone. The Google Voice (GV) experiment is an interesting one. At its core, GV is disrupting the very nature of telephone numbers. Read More ... read more Read Full Story

As we discussed earlier this week, the FCC has officially approved the merger of CenturyTel and Embarq. The new company will be called CenturyLink. According to CenturyTel, the merger now has received all necessary approvals, and the companies expect the merger to be effective on July 1, 2009. As is the case with most mergers, there were several conditions placed on the new company to gain FCC approval. Read More ... read more Read Full Story