An Overview of Net Neutrality What is net neutrality? Basically, it means there’s an open internet where all internet service providers treat content equally, not giving preferential treatment to certain digital content providers. Think of it this way: if the internet were an airline, for the longest time everyone sat together in coach, but if/when… Read more »
When it comes to broadband internet connections, most people value speed. They want to be able to access the internet and transmit data as quickly as possible. Moreover, in order to do this, people typically rely on either cable or fiber optic broadband service. However, what many people don’t realize is that there are notable… Read more »
Under the guidance of its newly-appointed Chairman Ajit Pai, the FCC has pledged to accelerate broadband deployment and close the digital divide in rural America. Now, House Democrats have unveiled five bills that are designed to achieve these same goals, demonstrating that improved broadband access might be an issue both parties can get behind. “Broadband… Read more »
Google and its parent company Alphabet are well-known for their innovative “moonshot” projects, and in 2013 the company launched one such project that was ambitious even by Google standards. It’s called Project Loon, and it uses high-altitude balloons to bring Internet access to remote, unserved regions of the globe. The balloons are deployed into the… Read more »
The Arctic Circle probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you think of centers of innovation, but it may be poised to play an important role in the future development of a globally-connected Internet. Thanks to its geographic location and cold climate, a number of IT companies have expressed interest in setting… Read more »
We’ve talked a lot about the digital divide in this blog, and about the transformative effect that broadband internet access can have on historically underserved communities. The busy streets of Manhattan might be the first thing that comes to mind for many people when they thing about New York, but there’s another side to the… Read more »
There is perhaps nowhere in the world where the digital divide is more pronounced than in India. Although the country is home to some of the fastest-growing tech companies in the world, there are also close to 900 million people living in India with no access to the Internet. Of the 4 billion people who… Read more »
For companies like Verizon, AT&T and Comcast, user data has become an increasingly valuable tool for creating targeted advertisements that ostensibly offset the cost of internet service for consumers. In practice, however, broadband providers have gained a reputation for being somewhat less than transparent with regard to how, when and why they gather data from… Read more »
Internet access is no longer limited to PCs and smartphones. These days, everything from municipal transit buses to climate control systems to household appliances are being integrated into the Internet as well. This new influx of web-connected infrastructure is known collectively as the Internet of Things (IoT). Today, the IoT is in a similar phase… Read more »
Yesterday, Google hosted a highly-anticipated event to reveal a new suite of hardware products including a smartphone and virtual reality headset. It remains to be seen whether Google’s hardware will be able to compete with the likes of Apple and Amazon, but rest assured the creator of the world’s most popular search engine has still… Read more »
