AT& is expanding its bandwidth throttling experiment with Beaumont, Texas being the second test market after Reno, Nevada. Time Warner Cable was the first to set caps in the region to a data transfer volume of up to 40 GB per month and other major ISPs are running similar tests across the country. The ISPs generally claim that the purpose of these "experiments" is to protect average subscribers from a minority that consumes most of the available bandwidth. At least that is the official explanation.

Providing broadband Internet to rural America never has made economic sense to telecommunications and cable providers, but it seems that there soon might be a fast Internet solution for those underserved areas. IBM is working with electric cooperatives across the eastern U.S. to deliver broadband over power lines to rural America. The implications are significant and could bridge a growing digital divide between rural and metropolitan America.

The FCC will be voting on several big issues on November 4, including the Verizon Wireless-Alltel merger, Universal Service Fees, rural interconnection fees, wireless operations in TV white space as well as the Sprint-Clearwire deal, which will remove a major hurdle in getting WiMax off the ground.

Hot on the heels of a new report that suggests the U.S. is hopelessly falling behind in global race for broadband Internet speeds, Comcast announced two new residential options that are so fast that the company decided to name them “wideband”. Generally available connection speeds of 22 Mb/s and 50 Mb/s are a positive sign for the broadband Internet development in the U.S. The catch? 50 Mb/s was available before and it is only marginally cheaper than the service that has been available for some time.

If we look at the notebook manufacturers offering WiMax as an option, one important company is missing: The world’s largest computer builder, Hewlett-Packard (HP).  Why? HP believes it is premature to offer WiMax due to limited availability, questions about interoperability, roaming and service quality.  At least at this time HP believes 3G is the better option.

WiMax, often also described as 4G wireless broadband, is out of the gate. It is almost one year late, it is only available in the Baltimore region, it is - as expected – not cheap and the service offering is everything else than clear. The question is: Will consumers bite?

Ending a string of delays, Baltimore will become the first U.S. city with a WiMax network. Intel said it will be hosting a launch event throughout the Bond Street Wharf Park in Baltimore on October 8. 

Xohm president Barry West announced that Sprint and the companies that saved the company's WiMax network in May will be offering the high-speed wireless technology in September of this year on a very limited basis. 

T-Mobile took a stab at an already dying industry and is offering a VoIP replacement for your landline telephone service for a flat fee of $10 per month. The T-Mobile offer has serious implications as it is not only darn close to being free, but it is also marketed as an add-on to your cellphone, which essentially downgrades your landline to being a secondary service. The question really is: Are you ready to ditch your existing traditional landline and are you prepared to deal with the disadvantages of a VoIP service?