telco

Wait a Minute. Does Google Really Want to Be a Cable Guy?

Peter Kafka in Media on November 4, 2011 at 11:00 am PT

Running a cable TV operation is an expensive, messy, un-Googley business. Which is why there’s no way Larry Page is going to do that, says Sanford Bernstein.

Obama Wants a Wireless Broadband Network for Everyone

Arik Hesseldahl in Enterprise on January 26, 2011 at 8:00 am PT

Technology references were numerous in the president’s speech to Congress last night. His call for for a national wireless broadband network will reignite a long-simmering debate over spectrum allocation, pitting TV broadcasters against the FCC.

Google Tries Explaining Its Network Neutrality Non-Deal With Verizon, Again

Peter Kafka in Media on August 12, 2010 at 11:51 am PT

On Monday, Google and Verizon rolled out a “policy proposal”–not a “business arrangement”–that explained the way they’d like to see telecommunications traffic regulated. That didn’t go well. So today, take two.

Post-Legal Soap Opera: Skype CEO Josh Silverman Speaks!

Kara Swisher in News on May 10, 2010 at 8:30 am PT

Late last week, BoomTown sat down with Josh SIlverman, CEO of Skype, to get an update on the popular Internet telephony company. When last we checked in with Skype, it had turned into the “Peyton Place”–look it up, kids!–of the online telecommunications arena, with lawsuit flying, venture capitalists getting slimed and a general tone of very purple drama. Is it all behind Skype? Silverman responds, after the jump.

Good News for the Cable Guys: Verizon Stops TV Push

Peter Kafka in Media on March 30, 2010 at 7:31 am PT

Waiting for Verizon to start competing with your cable company for your TV dollars? You may be out of luck: The telco has stopped rolling out its Fios TV service in new cities.

Heads, We Call it “Brinternet”–Tails, “SergeyCom”

John Paczkowski in News on February 10, 2010 at 9:04 am PT

For the past few years, we’ve been hearing rumblings about Google leasing hundreds of thousands of square feet of carrier hotel space, buying up dark fiber, mulling the purchase of hundreds of millions of dollars in DWDM and Ethernet-based telecom equipment and helping to build out a trans-Pacific multi-terabit undersea cable. Now we know why. Google is developing its own 1Gbps fiber-to-the-home Internet service.

RealNetworks Wants a Convergence Play–Just Like Everyone Else

Peter Kafka in Media on January 4, 2010 at 3:30 am PT

RealNetworks figures you’re going to want to move your entertainment off the Web and onto whatever device you want, whenever you want. So do a lot of competitors.

Spotify Promises a TV Service (in Sweden, of Course)

Peter Kafka in Media on October 8, 2009 at 5:15 am PT

Spotify, the streaming music service Americans love talking about but can’t actually use, has given us even more to chat about: The company now promises to roll out some sort of TV service…some day. Where? In Sweden, of course, which is where Spotify started, and which acts as a sort of test lab/best-case-scenario provider for the service.

Google: We’re Hiring, and Spending, Again

Peter Kafka in Media on October 7, 2009 at 10:55 am PT

Google CEO Eric Schmidt used the opening moments of a New York City press conference to reinforce a message he’s been delivering for several weeks: The worst is over, things are looking up, and Google is spending accordingly.