#gopher-wire

#gopher-wire

In 1952, Japanese technologist Masaru Ibuka learned that Western Electric was releasing its transistor patents to the public for $25,000, a significant investment for his struggling firm. This opportunity would allow access to essential patent portfolios and technical information, crucial for innovation in electronics.

The firm's study, 'North American Fiber Broadband Report: FTTH Review and Forecast 2026-2030,' indicates that nearly $200 billion will be spent on fiber over the next five years, highlighting a significant investment in fiber-to-the-home services.

Project Spark is designed to fundamentally reshape how high-capacity services in the UK are built, priced and delivered, supporting the next wave of digital infrastructure expansion.

A router is the hub that sends internet traffic from the modem to every connected device. Even with a fast plan, an outdated or weak router can throttle home internet speed, causing buffering, lag, and slow loading times. This often shows up when multiple people stream, game, or join video calls at the same time.

Wholesale access has been inherently supported by the Broadband Forum's network architecture over the past 20 years, and this project takes the best practices from copper‑based broadband to reshape and evolve them for fiber and cloud networks.

Long-range radio waves can pass through obstacles more easily, which makes them perfect for monitoring expansive factories or outdoor infrastructure. A recent report by Fabrity highlighted that these systems use very little power. This allows sensors to operate for 5 to 10 years on a single battery. Using such tech means you do not have to install expensive wiring across your entire site.

Ninety-five percent of intercontinental internet traffic travels through undersea fiber optic cables. Not satellites, not some ethereal "cloud" floating above us. Cables. Physical, tangible lines of glass fiber, thinner than a garden hose, laid across ocean floors by specialized ships. There are roughly 550 active or planned cable systems worldwide, according to TeleGeography's Submarine Cable Map, and they represent the actual, material backbone of the global internet.

Light-based internet provider Taara, which spun out of Alphabet's "moonshot" incubator last year, just launched Taara Beam to provide 25Gbps connectivity within cities over invisible beams of light - line of sight permitting. Unlike last year's Taara Lightbridge, which connects communities separated by water and mountains at distances up to 20km (over 12 miles), the shoebox-sized Beam can be mounted to street poles and roof tops for city-wide connectivity at distances up to 10km. The 8kg (less than 20 pounds) device typically consumes about 90W.

For any IT department, these four words are the beginning of a familiar, often frustrating, journey. In our modern world, where business success is built on distributed applications and hybrid cloud architectures, the network is the circulatory system. When it fails, everything grinds to a halt. Yet, despite its critical importance, it often remains a black box-a source of blame that is difficult to prove or disprove.

Ookla said the growing use of ChatGPT and other AI tools places much more demand on mobile networks than the typical activities of browsing social media and the web, watching videos, texting, and making the occasional phone call. As a result, more speed and expanded capabilities will be necessary. The report said advanced AI capabilities like AI-enabled glasses will put a particular strain on upload connections in the future.

Edge computing is a type of IT infrastructure in which data is collected, stored, and processed near the "edge" or on the device itself instead of being transmitted to a centralized processor. Edge computing systems usually involve a network of devices, sensors, or machinery capable of data processing and interconnection. A main benefit of edge computing is its low latency. Since each endpoint processes information near the source, it can be easier to process data, respond to requests, and produce detailed analytics.

The company said the expansion will create regional employment opportunities, including construction workers, installation technicians, sales and marketing staff, and community engagement personnel. Ezee Fiber also plans to establish a regional office in Salem. "I'm proud to bring Ezee Fiber's multi-gig internet service to homes and businesses in Oregon," said Matt Marino, Chief Executive Officer of Ezee Fiber. Marino said customer support has contributed to the company's growth over the past two years. The company reports a 4.9-star Google rating and thousands of five-star reviews.

But here's what I learned after spending an embarrassing amount of time researching this: WIRED points out that "Your router pumps out a Wi-Fi signal in all directions, so the best place for it is in the middle of your home." When I moved my router from the corner of my living room to a more central location, the difference was immediate.

The upgraded speeds for GFiber include: The previous Core 1 Gig is now Core 3 Gig, priced at $70 per month. Core 3 is 3x the symmetrical speed of GFiber's initial internet offering and is still the same price it was in 2012. Home 3 Gig is now Home 5 Gig, for $100/month. Customers at this tier are seeing about a 67% increase in speeds and will receive the GFiber Multi-Gig Wi-Fi 7 router.

The bullish forecast hinges on AT&T's infrastructure push, anchored by two major deals - a nearly US$6-billion purchase of Lumen's consumer fibre business and a US$23-billion acquisition of EchoStar's spectrum licenses. The deals are expected to close early this year and help AT&T lure customers from rivals with faster internet speeds and improved mobile coverage, capitalizing on demand for broadband as remote work, streaming and connected devices drive data consumption higher.

NMSurf is one of the largest fixed wireless providers in New Mexico, serving the central and northern area of the state. La Bajada was previously served by a 3-Gig microwave middle-mile connection. But, Catanach said, the bandwidth was becoming insufficient. New microwave licenses are hard to come by in New Mexico, he added, because the state itself claims many licenses for radio communications.