SiliconBeat

After complaining repeatedly in my column, and to my friends and elsewhere about my Internet service, I’m finally switching providers.

Here’s the surprise: I’m switching to Comcast.

After writing a recent column about my frustration with Earthlink as my broadband provider and with my lack of other choices, I went around scrutinizing those choices more closely. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the weekend, I continued to get feedback on my column last week discussing the urgent need for national broadband policy. In addition, I stopped by the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco on Saturday.

I was there officially because my wife, Jennnifer Schradie, was presenting her latest academic paper (shameless plug): The Digital Divide And Web 2.0 Collide: The Digital Production Gap. The paper examines the growing gap between those who are able to participate in online activities and those who can not, based on socioeconomic status.

She was followed on her panel by two other researchers who were looking at different aspects of the digital divide. And both of their presentations left me with a couple of interesting takeaways regarding broadband. Read the rest of this entry »

My latest column looks at the urgent need for a national broadband policy. There’s a lot been written about this subject and I wanted to share some of the links that I came across while doing some background research. Read the rest of this entry »

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski visited the San Jose Mercury News on Monday to discuss a wide range of policy issues facing the Federal Communications Commission. In this 10-minute clip, he explains the three categories being explored as part of a national broadband policy his agency must deliver in February 2010.

Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission was in Silicon Valley this week. I got him on the phone for about 15 minutes to discuss a wide range of subjects. We covered the big move by the FCC this week to approve use of the so-called “white space” for wireless broadband. He also discussed some the initiatives he’s taken to expand access to broadband, and to encourage deployment of faster broadband speeds. And finally, we talked about some of the big issues and opportunities the new president will face in January 2009.