Verizon ends fiber optic rollout, chooses instead to partner with cable TV

Well, the great idea of auctioning off spectrum to create more competition in wireless services seems to be going by the wayside. Verizon, who had made a big push to provide fiber optic based internet service + cable TV (FIOS) to many homes on the East Coast, seems to have stopped that altogether (too costly, it seems), and instead has been making partnership deals with existing cable TV companies who own the rights to currently unused wireless spectrum. Verizon gets the spectrum rights (for money), making it an even stronger dominating market force, and through partnership agreements it gets access to more homes. The downside? Cable TV companies are giving up on wireless, which may have been a pipe dream to begin with, and consumers will continue to have limited choices for fixed line internet access. Continued expansion of fiber to the home, also, appears to go by the wayside.

See the Op Ed piece here: Verizon's Worrisome Cable Deals.

Broadband Blindness Now Up!

I'm happy to announce that the final cut of "Broadband Blindness" is now finished and streaming now on Sactoast.com. Due to the large file size, I've broken it into three parts. This documentary features interviews with Carol Anne Ogdin (Interbahn, Placerville), John Paul (SpiralNet, Nevada City), Fred Pilot (Camino Fiber Cooperative, Camino), Tara Thronson (Valley Vision, Sacramento), Thomas Beamish (UC Davis, Davis), and Michael Morris (CPUC, San Francisco). Go to the "Digital Divide" page to view Parts 2 and 3.

Urban Winemaking Part 3

Part 3 in our Urban Winemaking series will be online later today. In this episode, we visit Sacramento's Spoto Wines and talk with Stuart Spoto about the pressing process and what goes into making his high-end, Oakville (Napa County) vintage reds.