tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37133433288632822372024-03-12T23:26:21.784-04:00Tales from The Telco EdgeAdventures in Rural AmericaDan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.comBlogger208125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-72398506836655472522020-12-22T19:00:00.003-05:002020-12-22T19:02:02.595-05:00Congress sets aside $7B to help Americans connect with high-speed InternetIn the coronavirus aid package just approved by congress, $7B was set aside to help Americans connect to high-speed Internet while still paying their monthly bills. This is one of the most substantial broadband investments in U.S. history. According to The Washington Post, at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has forced millions of Americans out of work, they won't lose the Internet. Nearly Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-72863540550049518602020-12-18T11:33:00.002-05:002020-12-18T11:36:59.466-05:00 What comes after smartphones?Now that everyone on the planet has a network-connected computer in their pocket (at least those that want and can afford one), what does the future hold? Benedict Evans has some theories. Even if you are not an investor and this is merely a thought experiment, it's worth pondering. While great products and ideas don't go away, they are limited to the number of people who can buy them. New Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-37334896870852922342017-09-17T13:39:00.000-04:002017-09-17T13:42:18.985-04:00Verizon Drops 8,500 Rural Customers
Verizon is cutting off wireless Internet to some 8,500 customers in mostly rural areas, including many on "unlimited" plans. They are doing this because their heavy use of data has made it difficult or impossible to make a profit, so bu-bye.
"'Approximately 8,500 customers—using a variety of plans—were notified this month that we would no longer be their service provider after October 17th,Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-29777879050704113262016-06-23T21:48:00.001-04:002016-06-23T21:48:16.419-04:00Build a solid disaster recovery plan in less than a day - Seriously
Let’s face it - having a disaster recovery plan is the kind of thing every business should have. Unfortunately for many of us, it stays on the back burner while we hope disaster doesn’t strike. The good news is that with modern cloud technology, building a solid DR plan for nearly every scenario is fast, easy and affordable (mostly free).
What do I do about employees who can’t get into the Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-28618008310694359402016-04-28T16:55:00.001-04:002016-04-28T16:55:25.697-04:00Five things to think about when considering a new phone system<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-16981712820505847542014-12-02T16:32:00.002-05:002014-12-02T16:32:22.231-05:00Sprint Will Cut Your Wireless Bill in Half
Sprint is offering an incentive sure to make waves in the US wireless industry. A new program targeting existing Verizon or AT&T wireless customers, switching to Sprint would allow these new subscribers to pay half of what their bill would have been on their old carrier. So if a customer’s bill on Verizon or AT&T was $160 per month, expect that to go to $80 for a Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-50717992456606007012014-04-04T10:58:00.001-04:002014-04-04T10:59:15.213-04:00
Best Prepaid Cellphone Carriers
Every so often, Lifehacker publishes a list of what they call "5 best". This week, they examine the 5 best prepaid cellphone carriers based on reader feedback. I found the list so compelling, I'm thinking of making a switch myself.
5 Best Prepaid Cellphone Carriers - Lifehacker - http://lifehacker.com/five-best-pre-paid-cellphone-carriers-1461230147/Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-34288043063665329252014-04-01T09:27:00.003-04:002014-04-04T10:59:51.175-04:00
Rural LTE a "real" Market, Thanks to Sprint Partnership
Since 2010, Verizon has been the dominant rural carrier, through what that carrier calls the "LTE in Rural America Program." NetAmerica Alliance has been trying to compete with Verizon by offering 4G LTE service to their customers under the collective brand "Bonfire."
According to Fierce Wireless, "Sprint had been building Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-79148230394952635752013-06-06T09:44:00.004-04:002013-06-06T09:50:06.461-04:00Mind that Phone!
Dropping that iPhone is mistake that could cost you plenty! Carriers are well aware of the pitfalls (pun intended) of owning these expensive devices, and provide insurance plans to save users from these expensive slip-ups.
Limitless Technology Blog explains why these plans are not worth purchasing: http://limitlesstechnology.com/cell-phone-insurance-worth?goback=.Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-49658584031629824642013-02-21T12:31:00.001-05:002013-02-21T12:31:49.079-05:00Have a cell phone signal booster? FCC says to get permission first
Ars Technica reports that The Federal Communications Commission today enacted new rules governing the sale and deployment of wireless signal boosters, those little machines that let consumers get better cell phone signals in areas with poor coverage. More than 2 million of them have been sold in the US, and until now consumers could just turn them on and let them go, until now.
For now Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-34233876321001858462013-02-19T15:13:00.003-05:002013-02-19T15:13:24.132-05:00Top 10 Smartphones (for now)
ZD Net has one again unveiled its list of the top 10 smartphones. The latest version includes some surprises, including placement of the IPhone 5 in 3rd place.
ZD Net - Top 10 Smartphones to kick off 2013 - http://www.zdnet.com/top-10-smartphones-to-kick-off-2013-7000011398/Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-49451315068952077612012-12-20T10:56:00.002-05:002012-12-20T10:58:23.042-05:00Huawai gets called out...on plagerism?
The web sure makes it easy to steal information from other websites, and to some extent this is unavoidable. This is a particularly interesting case: Huawai was at Railway Telecommunications event last November and needed to publicize it to their customers. Rather than write up some original content and post it to their site, the took information nearly directly from a competitor inDan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-39081346582031049332012-12-13T09:42:00.002-05:002012-12-13T09:44:06.849-05:00Is Jolla for Real?
Former visionaries from Nokia are trying something new, and it's getting plenty of notice.
Finnish boutique smartphone company Jolla last month let us know a little more about their new smartphone
platform, Sailfish OS. Many
industry watchers have been watching to see what the small company can
deliver.
According to Forbes:
"The covers were taken off Sailfish OS this Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-83947629204698297582012-12-01T18:11:00.002-05:002012-12-01T18:22:57.973-05:00Making Sense of US Based Family Cell Phone Plans<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-56784415457799244442012-10-15T09:45:00.001-04:002012-12-01T18:19:16.981-05:00After all this time, a suiter for SprintWell, it was bound to happen at some point...Sprint/Nextel is getting bought. For at least the last ten years, there has been speculation that someone, anyone, is going to buy Sprint. Most agree that their network and technology is excellent, and they have a somewhat strong customer base. Sure, they took on a huge risk years ago with ION and blew $80B, taking on a large amount Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-89704026092495662262012-10-03T09:20:00.001-04:002012-12-01T18:19:32.895-05:00T-Mo & MetroPCS to walk down the isle?Here is a merger that could make sense for its partners, customers, and US competition. Apparently, MetroPCS has approved a merger with its current rival, T-Mobile USA. Both of these companies had been looking to merge with others of late (MetroPCS with Leap Wireless, Sprint; T-Mo with AT&T Wireless). These had failed for various reasons, but one thing is for sure: neither Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-59110202094392265122012-02-27T13:51:00.000-05:002012-02-27T13:51:48.813-05:00Anchor weighs down African Internet
Its easy to forget how different things are in different parts of the world. Take Africa, for instance: A ship off the coast of Mombasa, didn't pull up their anchor properly. One of three (THREE!) undersea cables was cut. As a result, a significant amount of Internet service was slowed, or eliminated entirely, to several countries in East Africa. The repair is said Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-77741970310002201042011-07-25T09:51:00.004-04:002011-07-25T10:04:53.038-04:00Deere looks for DirectionsHere's an interesting story from USA Today - Virginia based Lightsquared is proposing to build out 40,000 new cell towers in rural areas. On the face of it, a really good thing. But it turns out, this may be a hindrance to GPS signals which farmers rely on to guide their tractors, among other things. So a fight is on, championed by none other than John Deere who makes many of those tractors. Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-43133754103926197142011-07-24T10:57:00.003-04:002011-07-24T11:07:19.223-04:00Where the locals eat - Las Vegas editionI'm always looking for places where the locals eat - chain restaurants are the same everywhere (which I suppose is their appeal). Nowhere is this more true than Las Vegas. Everywhere a traveler goes is greeted by chains, cheap "bargain" places that scare me, or fancy culinary experiences that may be great, but not necessarily affordable by a family of four. That's why it's worth finding what Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-55023224394834432872011-07-24T10:52:00.002-04:002011-07-24T10:57:18.215-04:00Vacation (finally)!For the next two weeks, I'm on vacation with the fam. We're starting in Vegas, traveling to the Grand Canyon, seeing lots of National Parks in Arizona and Utah, and finishing up in Denver where we'll fly back to Virginia. Here's the kicker - we're camping all the way (...shudder...). Looking forward to an interesting and fun experience with lots of family time and road food. More later...Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-18192357316974752011-06-22T22:51:00.006-04:002011-06-22T23:34:10.185-04:00Texas Hill Country Meets DCAs promised, I have now been to DC's newest barbeque stop, Hill Country in Penn Quarter. As mentioned earlier, I was anxious to compare it to it's neighbor, Capitol Q in Chinatown. Both offers Texas style BBQ which usually means beef. Fans of pork ribs (like me) or puled pork should seek these delicacies elsewhere.The central tenant of Texas BBQ is brisket. prepared correctly, it is sublime.Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-53967125122664869322011-04-29T13:32:00.002-04:002011-04-29T13:37:00.386-04:00BBQ in the Nation's CapitolI've been stationed in Downtown DC for awhile now, so I felt it was about time to try some of the local Barbecue places I pass regularly. I think of BBQ more as a rural thing, but I had a hankerin'. There are two within a short distance (3 blocks) of each other: Capitol Q on H street between 7th & 8th (Chinatown), and Hill Country on 7th between D & E (Penn Quarter). Both are Texas Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-80731212781635828782011-03-23T11:09:00.004-04:002011-03-23T11:23:56.908-04:00RIM was "Blindsided" by Apple I-PhoneI know I've had a LOT of posts about wireless lately but to be fair, there has been a great deal of news. That brings me to this interesting story from V2M(vision2mobile). They site a report from Thompson Routers that says "Research In Motion was “blindsided" by the launch of the original iPhone, possibly the beginning of a downward spiral that completely eroded its huge market share advantage Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-70971032722845646772011-03-22T11:17:00.004-04:002011-03-22T11:40:37.781-04:00Verizon Says it doesn't want SprintThe ink is barely dry on the AT&T/T-Mobile acquisition, and people are already abuzz about a possible purchase of Sprint by Verizon Wireless. But don't go purchasing Sprint stock just yet; Reuters is reporting that VZ's CEO, Daniel Mead, says he has "no interest" in a deal with Sprint. "The CEO said the company did not want to be distracted from its goal of being the most profitable U.S. Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713343328863282237.post-15440800345469858372011-03-15T13:09:00.003-04:002011-03-15T13:47:23.807-04:00AT&T to Cap Data for CustomersAT&T (NYSE:T) has announced it will cap data usage for its U-verse customers to 250 Gbs per month, starting in May. That may seem like a lot (it is), but it is a cap. Even though fewer than 2% will be affected (according to the carrier), customers still won't like it. Some possible issues:1) Slippery slope - 250 Gbs today, may be 200 tomorrow, and 150 the next.2) Precedent - as AT&T Dan Gallanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04256345536532347366noreply@blogger.com0