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Categories BlackBerry Clearwire CTIA Fiber Intel iPhone LTE Mobile Devices Sprint Towerstream Uncategorized WiMAX Wireless broadband Archives June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 January 2008 Blogroll 3g and 4g Wireless Blog 3G In The Home BWIA/WiMAX News Communications Daily Wireless Disruptive Wireless GoingWiMax IT Business Edge JustAmp Life Without Wires LTE Watch Mobile and Wireless Blog Mobile Opportunity Network Observations No Jitter Spectrum Talk Steve’s Tech Journal Susan Crawford Blog Tech Dirt Telco 2.0 Telepocalypse The Mobile Technology Weblog The Mobilitysite The Wireless Report ThirdPipe Wireless Utopia WirelessMoves Sites I'm Reading Engadget Giga Omni Media Gizmodo Sidecut Reports Silicon Alley Insider TechCrunch WiMax Networking News Wi\|Max.com WSJ Business Technology Blog RSS Feeds All posts All comments


Jeff's Blog Jeff Thompson is Towerstream's President and CEO. For a full description of Jeff and the rest of our Management team click here.


New York City Broadband Gap June 22, 2009 – 12:27 pm I was in New York City recently for a few meetings and learned that the broadband gap I discussed a few weeks ago in Brooklyn also exists in Harlem. While I was at lunch with a couple business associates we overheard a group of people complaining about their Internet service. Thinking I could help out, I joined their discussion. Turns out they were small business owners from Harlem that weren’t able to get high-speed Internet. Operating a business on dial-up speeds was always a struggle for them and once the recession hit, they were at an even further disadvantage. As you may recall from prior posts, this is a hot button issue with me. Obviously, there is a huge digital divide in rural areas – this has gotten a lot of attention recently because of the broadband stimulus package. In fact, Leslie Cauley from USA Today published a piece recently about the challenges a small town in Texas faces due to a lack of Internet. But, as I’ve said before, a lot of people don’t realize there are businesses and consumers in and around urban areas – like Harlem – that can’t get high-speed Internet either. How are small business owners in major cities, like the people I met over lunch, supposed to effectively compete if they don’t have broadband? It’s like bowling with your hands tied behind your back. I hope the broadband stimulus plan helps these underserved urban areas, along with the rural, to truly make the U.S. a connected nation. I would like to hear from anyone who knows about other urban areas that lack broadband. I will also be revisiting this issue in future posts – stay tuned! By Jeff \| Posted in Wireless broadband \| Tagged Broadband Gap, Broadband stimulus, new york city \| Comments (1) \| Permalink \| Del.icio.us Cosmos Digg Slashdot


Technology and Sales June 11, 2009 – 10:44 pm Towerstream, like most other companies, is always looking for ways to innovate. Whether it’s adding mobile WiMAX equipment to our networks, lighting up full buildings, offering new products and promotions or adjusting our sales strategy, we’re always working to stay one step ahead of our competition while ensuring our customers receive top notch service. To that end, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about our sales strategy and the importance of leveraging the latest technologies. Over the past few months, we’ve been evaluating our sales processes. The purpose? Ensuring our sales team members are operating as efficiently as possible to bring on solid leads. As many of you probably know, in our Q109 earnings announcement we reported a record number of customer installations. Our goal is to continue on this tremendous growth rate, but with a more productive model. Our evaluations showed us ways to leverage Internet technologies to be more effective in terms of sales and new business. The adjusted strategy is designed to create more efficiency within the sales process and will in turn enhance both revenue and customer growth and lower acquisition costs. We see this as the natural migration of Towerstream’s sales strategy and feel this is a smarter, more powerful way to gain new customers. As we near the close of Q209, we’re excited about the limitless opportunities ahead and look forward to starting the second half of the year. By Jeff \| Posted in Uncategorized \| Comments (1) \| Permalink \| Del.icio.us Cosmos Digg Slashdot


Go Go Moto June 4, 2009 – 6:02 pm This week, Motorola announced plans to sell wireless broadband modules that can be used in consumer electronics to provide wireless broadband connectivity. These devices will include everything from laptops and netbooks to mp3 players and digital cameras. As CNet’s Marguerite Reardon said in a piece on the news its basically any devices that, “can connect to the Internet using 3G HSPA networks, as well as 4G wireless networks using WiMax and LTE technologies.” Why is this important? Phil Goldstein from FierceWireless sums it up nicely, saying “The new strategy would mean that for the first time Motorola would be putting its proprietary wireless technology in other device manufacturers’ products and not just its own.” Given Motorola’s wireless struggles over the past few years, it’s no surprise that they are looking to shake things up. The CNet article reminds us all that Motorola’s last huge success was the Razr cell phone – way back in 2004. For the tech industry, that’s like centuries! It’s pretty clear now that one way or another – through LTE or mobile WiMAX – 4G is where the market is going. Rather than pigeon-hole themselves with only their own devices, Motorola is working to expand its reach. In her article, Marguerite points out that Motorola isn’t the only company with the bright idea. Other companies, including Novatel and Sierra Wireless are also moving in the same direction. Overall, I think Motorola made some important steps with this week’s announcement – now they just have to deliver on the plans. And get to market more quickly and with a better, more power efficient solution than the other players. Do you agree with Motorola’s plans to power mobile devices other than their own technology? What was the last Motorola device that you purchased and liked? (Mine was a StarTAC – ok, now I’ve really dated myself!) By Jeff \| Posted in Wireless broadband \| Tagged 4G, Motorola, Wireless broadband \| Comments (0) \| Permalink \| Del.icio.us Cosmos Digg Slashdot


Data Overload May 29, 2009 – 1:24 pm According to a recent FierceBroadbandWireless article by Lynette Luna, AT&T and other wireless service providers aren’t ready for “the onslaught of data traffic coming from smartphones, and that the deluge is beginning to clog their networks.” This isn’t a huge surprise to me. Legacy networks were never built with the intention of hauling massive amounts of data. As consumers demand more and more from their mobile devices – particularly smartphones – these networks show their age more and more. The legacy networks have been putting short term patches on the issues. In her article, which was based on a Wall Street Journal interview with an AT&T exec, Lynette points out that “AT&T has begun to nearly double the speed of its network in certain areas” since it brought the iPhone on board. (It should also be noted that the iPhone will still have more speed using its Wi-Fi radio for at least the next five years – if not forever.) And of course, this week AT&T announced it would upgrade its network to HSPA to increase bandwidth. Finally, the company has adopted “strict data caps with punitive overage charges” to fight the overload. But again, these are only short term solutions for a much larger issue. To truly move beyond the challenges of a legacy infrastructure, like AT&T’s network, 4G rollouts must begin on a wide scale. 4G technology – whether its mobile WiMAX or LTE – offers the bandwidth and speed necessary to support the huge amounts of data currently being run on smartphones. And it offers plenty of room to grow as more users adopt smartphones and browse on the go. Of course, we know the future of wireless is coming – Sprint, Clearwire, AT&T and Verizon all have plans in place to begin/further their 4G rollouts. No matter what side of the 4G “battle” you’re on, I think we can all agree the 4G evolution will be an exciting one! How have your smartphone experiences been on the legacy networks? Do you think the 4G network roll outs will help alleviate this? What else can the operators be doing now to help the problem? By Jeff \| Posted in Mobile Devices, iPhone \| Tagged 4G, AT&T, Legacy networks, Smartphones \| Comments (1) \| Permalink \| Del.icio.us Cosmos Digg Slashdot


Palm Pre Frenzy May 26, 2009 – 1:31 pm Over the past few days, the wireless world has been buzzing about the June 6 launch of the Palm Pre, which will be exclusively offered on Sprint’s 3G network. Across the industry, reporters, analysts and consumers alike are asking questions and speculating about the device. How will it compete against the iPhone? What will the browsing experience be like? PC World’s David Coursey questions if the mobile app developer community will embrace the device – or continue focusing on Apple with the iPhone 3.0 also coming out soon? Meanwhile, Marisa Taylor at the WSJ asks if the pricing plans for the device will “make you more likely to jump for a Pre over an iPhone?” Despite all of these questions swirling about the device, I find myself wondering about what the device, and the choice to use Sprint’s network exclusively, means for the future. By now, we all know Sprint is delivering WiMAX service, in conjunction with Clearwire. I don’t think it’s a huge leap to think that Palm choose Sprint because of its affiliation with the technology. Perhaps the next version of the Pre will have duel mode chips embedded, allowing subscribers to leverage both Sprint’s 3G and 4G networks (as it becomes available.) Time will tell if Palm joins the likes of Intel, Google, Cisco and of course Sprint in the WiMAX ecosystem. Are you planning to buy a Palm Pre when it comes out next month? Do you think future versions of the device will include WiMAX? By Jeff \| Posted in Mobile Devices, WiMAX \| Tagged Devices, Palm Pre, WiMAX \| Comments (0) \| Permalink \| Del.icio.us Cosmos Digg Slashdot


Cisco and Clearwire – An Alliance Made in WiMAX May 15, 2009 – 5:03 pm It was a busy week in the telecom world. One piece of news that caught my eye was that Clearwire and Cisco have formed an alliance. Cisco will provide network equipment for Clearwire and also plans to build mobile WiMAX devices for the company down the line. As of now, both companies are being vague about what kind of devices this would include. Stacey Higginbotham from GigaOM speculates that “it’s some sort of WiMAX version of Verizon’s MiFi router that takes a 3G signal and uses it as the backhaul for a Wi-Fi hot spot.” I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from both companies on that in the future. Until now, Cisco’s role in the WiMAX space has been mostly undefined. The company acquired mobile WiMAX equipment maker, Navini back in 2007 but hasn’t done too much with the assets since. Also, initially, the company was only interested in the non U.S. WiMAX market – it’s good to see that they are now concentrating on the U.S. Overall, I think this is really exciting news for the WiMAX market that could really help advance the roll-out of the technology to consumers. What do you think about Cisco and Clearwire’s alliance? Do you agree with Stacey that the mystery “device” will be like the Mi-Fi? Or do you have some other ideas? By Jeff \| Posted in Clearwire, Mobile Devices, WiMAX \| Tagged Cisco, Clearwire, WiMAX \| Comments (2) \| Permalink \| Del.icio.us Cosmos Digg Slashdot


Clear in the Atlanta Air May 10, 2009 – 12:06 pm I saw on WiMAX.com recently that Clearwire’s site indicates it is now offering its “Clear” WiMAX service in Atlanta. As the article notes, “This is great news and a significant milestone for the industry.” I am pleased to hear that Clearwire continues to grow its coverage areas and execute on its plans. Towerstream also had some market-related news this week. On Monday, we announced the expansion of our Chicago market into Evanston. What does this mean? Our coverage scope is MUCH wider, allowing us to reach an additional 31,000 businesses. As you might have seen, this announcement was a bit different. We’re always looking for new ways to communicate with our customers, investors and other industry folks so we decided to try something new, using a “multimedia release” format, rather than a standard press release. This allowed us to include some cool graphics and a video to offer more information to everyone. Take a look at the new format – and let us know what you think! We’ll be looking to use this type of release more and more in the future. While we’re on the subject of Towersteam’s news, on Wednesday afternoon we announced our earnings results for the first quarter of 2009. It was another strong quarter for Towerstream, and the fourth quarter of consecutive revenue growth. We also saw a record number of new subscribers which is a real validation for the strength of our service – especially in this economy. If you have any questions on either of our announcements, let me know! Thanks, Jeff By Jeff \| Posted in Clearwire, Towerstream \| Tagged Announcements, Clearwire, Towerstream \| Comments (0) \| Permalink \| Del.icio.us Cosmos Digg Slashdot


Georgians Bridge the Broadband Gap May 1, 2009 – 4:10 pm Earlier this week, I posted a few thoughts on how the broadband gap isn’t isolated to rural areas of the U.S., but affects urban areas too. I took that as an opportunity to encourage local governments and community groups to band together to tackle the issue themselves, in conjunction with the federal government’s broadband stimulus plan. Lynnette Luna from FierceBroadbandWireless wrote a great piece on Monday about a group of citizens in Georgia that did just that. Local businesses, schools and community members were suffering without reliable broadband, so a few citizens banded together to find a solution. The group, known as SGRITA (Southern Georgia Regional Information Technology Authority), has made major strides over the years, obtaining several million dollars in government grants and spectrum, including the 700 MHz license for its region. Looking ahead, the SGRITA team is looking to obtain a portion of the federal stimulus funds to further expand the reach of its project. In fact, according to the article, “SGRITA is also working in tandem with other counties developing their own broadband plans so that 21 counties in all could be blanketed with broadband access with help from stimulus money. In addition, other counties are mimicking SGRITA and going after state funds.” Though these folks are in a rural region, not an urban one, I still wanted to take a moment to highlight the great work they are doing to raise awareness and broadband proliferation! Are there any broadband organizations in your area, working to overcome the digital divide? How do you think community members can work together to solve this issue? By Jeff \| Posted in Fiber, Wireless broadband \| Tagged Broadband, Broadband Gap, Fiber, Wireless broadband \| Comments (0) \| Permalink \| Del.icio.us Cosmos Digg Slashdot


Mind the (Broadband) Gap April 27, 2009 – 11:12 am The broadband stimulus has lead to a lot of talk recently about the rural areas across the country that lack broadband coverage. In fact, just last week, an article in the Tennessean reviewed broadband grievances from consumers and business owners a like. The article noted, “In many counties, the public library is the place people go to do their online research, hunt for work on job sites, and even file their unemployment applications. In many towns, the lines of people waiting their turn on the computer stretch out the door.” Similar stories can be heard across the country. While this is obviously a real issue that needs addressing, what a lot of people don’t realize is that these rural areas aren’t the only portions of the country that have broadband issues. There are plenty of companies and individuals in and around major U.S. cities that aren’t able to get broadband from legacy providers. Over the years, Towerstream has been able to help many of these companies get the broadband they need without paying to lay fiber, which can be a very pricey venture. Check out our latest case study for an example from a company using our Dallas-Fort Worth network. Local government branches have also stepped in to close the broadband gap. The New York City Broadband Advisory Committee is one such organization that has done some great work over the past few years under the leadership of Council Member, Gail Brewer. Gail and her team advocate the use of wireless broadband and other alternative technologies to ensure everyone in the NYC area has access to high-speed Internet. I think it’s great that U.S. government is stepping in to increase broadband proliferation on a national scale. But while the broadband stimulus plans are being hashed out, it’s important everyone remembers the digital divide isn’t limited to the rural areas of the country. Local government officials should follow the lead of Gail Brewer and help make sure everyone has access to high-speed Internet! Have you been a victim of the urban broadband gap? How did you overcome the challenge? PS – Towerstream recently launched its new Customer Referral Program – I encourage our customers to check out to details! By Jeff \| Posted in Wireless broadband \| Tagged Broadband stimulus, Digital Divide, Wireless broadband \| Comments (2) \| Permalink \| Del.icio.us Cosmos Digg Slashdot


The Trouble with Wires April 16, 2009 – 1:58 pm Late last week, a group of hooligans in California cut fiber optic lines in two locations near Silicon Valley. As a result, thousands of business and consumer customers of AT&T, Verizon and Sprint were without service. According to an IDG News article by Stephen Lawson, the outage affected: Two IBM facilities The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Wired and wireless customers using AT&T’s network 52,000 wireline customers of Verizon Communications (Verizon also uses the AT&T fibers) Sprint’s wireline IP data service for businesses as well as some mobile service from the carrier Every few months, we hear about this type of outage. Whether the fiber/wire damage was caused by rain, construction or vandalism as in this case, the result is always the same – downtime that can be crippling, especially for businesses. Incidents like this are a perfect example of why companies need to consider wireless broadband technology – either as a primary or secondary connection. Towerstream’s service, for instance, is completely independent of the phone company and its fiber wires. When fiber is damaged in one of our markets, Towerstream’s customers are unaffected. Our networks also have built in redundancy – so if one of our Points of Presence (PoPs) is damaged, service will automatically re-route, uninterrupted. In fact, we even offer a service level agreement that guarantees 99.99% network availability. While Towerstream is often the primary broadband supplier for many businesses, some of our customers instead use our service as a secondary solution, ready as a back-up should the primary line go down. When selecting a back-up line, the key is to make sure the provider’s service doesn’t eventually route through the network of your primary carrier. The Verizon customers that experienced an outage due to last week’s fiber cut are a perfect example of this. Though they were contracted with Verizon, their service ran over AT&T’s lines. So if a business was using AT&T as the primary provider and Verizon as the back-up, they would have still suffered a total outage. Still not sure if wireless broadband is *really* more reliable than wireline? Check out this recent video that shows just how easily networks from the phone company can be disrupted. Scary stuff. By Jeff \| Posted in Sprint, Wireless broadband \| Tagged Fiber, Legacy networks, Network downtime, Redundancy, Reliability, Wireless broadband \| Comments (0) \| Permalink \| Del.icio.us Cosmos Digg Slashdot

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