The COW is a Cell On Wheels and AT&T has brought it to the Indianapolis Speedway to add more bandwidth to support the additional tens of thousands of people in town for race week.  This is in addition to the recently enhanced 3G and 4G LTE cell sites.

AT&T has enhanced 12 existing wireless broadband sites with more carriers.  The additional carriers (wireless channels) will allow many more people to share the race week with friends and family.

Four brand-new wireless broadband sites were just installed at the Indianapolis Speedway to permanently provide capacity for year-round operations and visitors to the area.  AT&T has also installed a lot of micro-cells in the racetrack to eliminate dead zones and provide even more capacity.  AT&T expects a lot of people with their smartphones to attend the race and partake in the festivities.

The VP and GM of AT&T Indiana and Michigan, Brian Ducharme tells us “Events at the race track generate memorable experiences that our customers will want to share with friends and family through text messages, photos, status updates on social networks and calls from their mobile devices. We’ll have a team of network engineers monitoring the network to help ensure the best experience possible at the fan-packed venue.”

This past November marked the introduction of AT&T’s 4G LTE network in Indianapolis and the expanded 4G LTE coverage at the track and surrounding areas will give all AT&T customers the speed to share their favorite moments with friends and family.  Will you be in Indianapolis this weekend?  Please drop us a comment so we can see how well the coverage performs.

Dish offers a service called AutoHop that is driving the network providers crazy.  AutoHop allows Dish customers to completely skip commercials when they play back shows.  Dish’s PrimeTime Anytime service allows subscribers to play their favorite shows and the addition of AutoHop automatically skips the commercials.  Users don’t even have to fast-forward through the commercials anymore.

The networks do not particularly like this new invention, as it cuts out their revenue from commercials.  Commercials keep the video content providers in business.  Without commercial advertisements we would be paying $30 a show or more.

CBS is claiming that Dish’s PrimeTime Anytime service is effectively making a copy of the shows and illegally modifying them to remove the commercials.  Yes, it happens on the fly if the subscriber turns on the option, but CBS is liking it to copyright infringement and has filed a suit to have Dish stop the practice.

On the other hand, Dish is claiming that since the remote control was invented people have been able to fast forward through the commercials.  They have just automated that process.

I see a difference between the two.  When you fast forward through the commercial, you look at the commercial speeding by.

The commercial makers set up the commercial so when you fast forward through you still get the impression of what is being advertised.  When I fast forward past commercials, my eyes are looking at the commercial so I can stop the forward as soon as the show starts up again, and I definitely get the impression that the advertisers want.

NBCUniversal, FOX and CBS are the networks that have sued Dish.  You will probably see more joining in the attack against AutoHop.

Do you think the networks will win their suits against Dish Networks?

T-mobile has joined with MetroPCS in an attempt to block the FCC from issuing a waiver to Dish Network for repurposing their S-band spectrum licenses.  Currently, their S-band licenses are for MSS (Mobile Satellite Services)

If they get permission from the FCC to turn the usage permit to land-based LTE, Dish Network could possibly move forward with their plans to enter the 4G LTE marketplace.  Dish is rumored to be starting a 4G LTE terrestrial network.

Supposedly, Dish’s plans call for their 4G LTE network to start sometime four years from now in 2016.  This would compete with T-Mobile and MetroPCS.

MetroPCS and T-Mobile also have other concerns.  They believe it is possible that Dish Network will just turn around and sell their newly-converted spectrum to Verizon, AT&T and/or Sprint.  This would really put Metro and T-Mo even further behind the 4G LTE networks of the big three.

All told, Dish Network holds a 40 MHz segment of MSS spectrum.  I do have to give T-Mobile and MetroPCS an award for boldness.  They want Dish to give up half of their S-band licenses.

Well, necessity can bring about strange bedfellows.  Do you think T-Mobile and MetroPCS will be successful in having the FCC block the conversion from MSS to LTE?  Do you think they will be able to force Dish Networks to give up 50% of their S-band spectrum?

They have even raised prices on the tiered data plans and charge overages when the caps are exceeded.  Add to these increases one-time charges when upgrading your handset in addition to signing a two-year contract.

The carriers are wasting many millions of dollars on Facebook advertising.  I would bet every one of them has teams of social engineering types pounding Facebook with likes and other seemingly user-generated praise posts.

Despite all the efforts, only an average of 2% of mobile carriers’ customers have clicked the coveted Facebook “Like” button.  AT&T Sprint and Verizon cannot get “much above 2%” according to a study by Strand Consult.

Despite these results, Strand does not think the companies should bail out of Facebook.  I would recommend the big three dramatically decrease their Facebook advertising and invest in marketing efforts in another venue; alas I am not paid the big bucks to make those recommendations.

Strand’s report includes the following conclusion: “Indeed, we have seen solid evidence from around the world that social media—operators’ own support websites, Facebook, Twitter, and other user-driven tools, can help reduce support costs. For those tasks, we recommend social media. But we have yet to see Facebook as a solid driver for leads and sales.”

Like I previously said, the wireless broadband carriers should advertise elsewhere.  I also wouldn’t recommend that they invest in Facebook stock with the way it has behaved since its recent début.

Just about every mobile broadband provider has emergency trucks available to bring up emergency broadband communications for first responders and other emergency personnel.  COLTs, COWs, GOATs and similar pieces of equipment have traditionally been available throughout the country.

Unfortunately, a lot of businesses need broadband connectivity options to allow them to continue operations.  Hughes Network Systems announced the availability of Hughes Emergency Services.

These services cover bringing networks back up after a disaster and providing reliable satellite broadband service to keep businesses on line at a time where communications with their customers is most important.

The senior VP for Hughes Network Systems, Mike Cook said in a press release “This year’s unpredictable storm season reinforces two facts. You cannot predict if a storm will strike, but you can prepare for its worst effects. Businesses and governments must ensure continuity of operations during disasters–which means the ability to respond to immediate citizen and customer needs. But no response is possible without reliable communications. When cell phone towers are damaged and traditional circuits flooded, satellite broadband service ensures that organizations can respond to the disaster and maintain day-to-day operations like sending emails, processing orders, sharing information and checking inventory.”

If your business has a spare $15,000 to $45,000 available, you could buy a cell site in a suitcase that will give you up to 2.5 Gbps broadband service from AT&T.  I would suspect that Hughes Emergency Services would cost significantly less.

Hughes has also recently inked a deal where they will partner with DirecTV to provide broadband connections to rural customers.

DirecTV is aiming to change that vision.  They have agreements in place with ViaSat and Hughes Communications.  Hughes’ HughesNet Gen4 and ViaSat’s Exede services will provide download speeds greater than 10 Mbps.

Hughes Communications is now owned by EchoStar.  They were purchased by EchoStar for $1.3 billion in February of this year.

It looks like DirecTV will be offering the satellite service as part of a bundled package.  DirecTV already offers landline-based broadband through partners such as AT&T, CenturyLink and Verizon Communications.  Rural areas were left out in the cold, as broadband services such as DSL are not available in the remote rural areas, until now for DirecTV customers.

Senior VP of Emerging Markets for DirecTV, Oswin Eleonora commented in a press release: “We look forward to offering every single DirecTV customer access to fast, affordable broadband options through DirecTV, no matter where they live. With greatly improved capacity and speeds, satellite broadband services provided by ViaSat and Hughes will fully support our customers’ connected-home experience, enabling them to access a host of features like YouTube, Pandora, social TV apps and more than 7,000 VOD titles.”

So far, DirecTV has not released the cost of the services or a firm release date.  It looks like DirecTV is trying to catch up with Dish Network, as Dish already partners with WildBlue to offer satellite broadband services.

According to Comcast this “usage threshold” was adopted to make sure that all customers would have a good experience and receive their fair share of data.  For the most part that worked for the first couple of years.

After that, the explosion of tablets and smartphones using home Wi-Fi connections created a higher demand.  Add to that the OTT programming (Over The Top services) like Netflix and Hulu and some home users will use up that amount of data before the month’s end.

Comcast’s new structure has not been totally revealed yet.  What we do know is that they will be getting rid if the 250 GB policy limit and setting in place a hard data cap of 300 GB.  From there Comcast’s “data usage management” plan calls for two different trials.

One trial starts with the 300 GB cap and then charges users $10 for every 50 GB of usage over that limit.  This will be rolled out in a few select markets over the next few months.

A second model will be tried in other select markets.  This also starts with the 300 GB cap and $10 per GB overage charges for their lower-priced plans like their Internet Essentials, Economy, and Performance plans.  They will then offer higher priced tiers that offer larger data usage as the price increases as in their Blast and Extreme plans.

They will probably look at their customers’ reactions before deciding which model to choose.  In the mean time, Comcast will suspend enforcing the 250 GB policy in the areas that are not part of the “new data usage management approach” trials.

Comcast’s Executive VP and GM of Communications and Data Services, Cathy Avgiris summed this up in a blog post: “Given this changing and dynamic marketplace, we will continue to consider other ways to ensure that all of our customers are treated fairly and have a consistent and superior experience while using our residential high speed Internet service in the way in which it is intended.”

If you had to choose one of these models, which one would you like the best?

Photo courtesy of Fred Hoot.

The Broadband Deployment Council is trying to avoid duplication of efforts in making sure different companies do not have overlapping coverage areas for the last-mile infrastructure construction.  If companies already have plans in place to bring broadband services to a particular rural area, the council will probably exclude the new funds to be used for that purpose.

It certainly looks like the council is determined to leverage the $4 million in grants to deliver rural broadband to the areas in the state of West Virginia where there are no current plans for construction.  I bet they figure if a broadband service provider already has plans to install last-mile infrastructure to a town, they have already figured how to pay for it.

Broadband Deployment Council member Lee Fisher explained “Sharing that kind of information is a great opportunity for all the carriers and the council to move this process forward. We don’t want to award any grant money that duplicates. We want to spend this money as effectively as possible.”

Needless to say, many broadband providers do not want any of their strategic plans made public.  Competitors could use that information to gain an unfair advantage if the council were to release those documents.

Frontier Communications is one of the possible applicants for the grants to be offered by the W.V. Broadband Deployment Council.  Spokesperson Dan Page shared Frontier’s thoughts on revealing their secret plans: “We appreciate the council’s sensitivity to the competitive issues involved with a provider’s disclosure of future broadband expansion plans. With the council’s assurance that such information will be treated as confidential, Frontier, in the spirit of our partnership with the state, will provide the council the information it requested.”

Most of the providers will insist on non-disclosure agreements with all council members before turning over their plans.  The Council’s plan to get the most bang for the buck seems solid so far.  What do you think?

Charges are still being flung against them; this time for giving Xbox video priority over OTT (Over The Top) services like Netflix.  As expected, Comcast denies the charges.

It looks like Comcast is using DSCP (Differentiated Services Code Point) markings to ensure its Xbox Xfinity app is put on top of the service heap.

Comcast appears to be splitting hairs and playing some games (no pun intended) with third-party video and their own.  They claim they are using DSCP to make sure Xbox video traffic is put on a private connection path that is separate from the customer’s normal Internet access.

This sure looks like Comcast has taken lessons from AT&T.  AT&T separates its U-verse services from the normal Internet traffic handling.

And there is another accusation that Comcast is not practicing net neutrality.  The Xbox game console is not subject to Comcast’s 250 GB monthly cap, while Netflix, Hulu and other OTT services are subject to this cap.

Comcast is claiming that it is treating the Xbox 360 as a set top box.  A Sony PlayStation performing all the functions as the Xbox 360 is not considered a set top box but as a game console, so the video usage affects the data cap.

Comcast’s CTO, Tony Werner explains “Specifically, we provision a separate, additional bandwidth flow into the home for the use of this service — above and beyond, and distinct from, the bandwidth a customer has for his or her regular Internet access service.”

Do you think Comcast is playing games to do an end-run around the Net neutrality laws to give priority to its own video services and discourage the use of competing services?

Photo courtesy of Fred Hoot.

Massachusetts will see the Hyannis/Mid-Cape area activated also.  The Benton Harbor/St. Joseph area of Michigan will see a 4G LTE rollout.

Mississippi residents in the Biloxi/Gulfport/Pascagoula and Oxford areas will be glad to be able to take advantage of the faster 4G LTE network.  People visiting the casinos and resort areas of New Jersey’s Atlantic City/Toms River area will be able to take advantage of the 4G LTE network on their 4G-enabled devices.

The towns of Dickinson and Williston in North Dakota will be heated up along with the towns of Ashtabula, Bucyrus and Defiance in Ohio will also get the 4g LTE treatment.

Other new markets across the nation to get Verizon’s 4G LTE network are Eugene/Springfield, Oregon.; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Mitchell, S.D.; Paris, Texas; Burlington/Northern, Vermont; Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Martinsville and Staunton/Waynesboro, Virginia; and Sheridan, Wyoming.

My home state of Pennsylvania will see Lancaster, New Castle, Northern Cambria County, Oil City/Franklin, Somerset and York get all the services available with 4G LTE.

Verizon also announced that the following areas would receive expanded coverage on May 17th too.  Denver, Colorado; Dover, Delaware; Fort Myers and Lakeland, Florida.; Hagerstown, Maryland.; Canton, Lima, Mansfield, Toledo and Youngstown/Warren, Ohio; and Erie, Pennsylvania.

If you happen to be in any of these areas and decide to get a new 4G LTE handset, Verizon is releasing the new Blue DROID RAZR by Motorola.  You will only be able to order it online starting this Thursday.

If you live in the areas listed, Broadband Expert would like to hear from you on the performance of the new 4G LTE networks.

A shout-out to Brigitte for this tip!