Private spaceship makes first crewed flight

By Clara Moskowitz – A private suborbital spaceship built for the space tourism firm Virgin Galactic made its first flight with a crew onboard Thursday as it soared over California’s Mojave Desert beneath its enormous mothership.

The commercial spaceliner called VSS Enterprise, one of the company’s fleet of SpaceShipTwo spacecraft did not try to reach space in the test flight. Instead, it stayed firmly attached to its WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve mothership. more> http://bwbx.io/StUT

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FCC Initiative Can Spur Broadband Investment and Innovation

By Tony Bradley – The explosion of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices has crowded the available wireless broadband bandwidth–and the problem is only going to continue to grow. If approved, the FCC initiative can help address the impending broadband bandwidth crunch, while also spurring innovation, investment, and partnership within the broadband industry.

Like previous NOI requests from the FCC–this is not a declaration from the government agency. Essentially, the FCC is proposing a course of action, and it has initiated a period for public input and commentary to consider before making a final decision. more> http://bwbx.io/2XPw

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• Broadband a ‘no regrets’ investment: World Bank

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Service change gives Telstra a $2bn lift

By Lucy Battersby – [Australia] Tens of millions of dollars in industry fees could be reduced or wiped out in 2014 when a government-funded body takes over Telstra’s responsibility to provide every house and workplace with a telephone service.

When USO Co is established and takes over the universal services obligation (USO) now provided by Telstra, it will end a policy that divided the telecommunications industry and antagonised Telstra’s competitors.

No one knows exactly how much it costs Telstra to fulfil these obligations, but Telstra has always claimed it did not receive enough money. more> http://bwbx.io/rC04

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• NBN: A model of industry cooperation, John Stanton, Computerworld http://bwbx.io/Yb3j

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Britain Delays Universal Broadband Goal

By Nick Clark – The previous Labour government’s ambition to bring broadband to every household in Britain by 2012 was dashed when the coalition pushed back the date by three years, blaming a lack of funds.

The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt stressed the Government’s commitment to overhauling the network, saying: “All of us recognize that the broadband network is as fundamental to Britain’s success in the digital era as railways were in the industrial revolution.” more> http://bwbx.io/MGny

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• Improvements to Broadband Speeds Code of Practice

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Thousands call for FCC broadband reclassification

By Grant Gross – Last thursday night was the deadline for the first round of comments in the FCC’s notice of inquiry (NOI) on reclassifying broadband from a largely unregulated information service to a regulated common-carrier service. More than 25,000 people and organizations have filed comments, including thousands filing comments in the NOI used form letters supplied by network neutrality supporters Free Press and Public Knowledge.

“I rely on the Internet as a public platform for free speech, equal opportunity, economic growth and innovation,” the Free Press letters said. more> http://bwbx.io/OkFm

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• Gravity’s Rainbow Blows Up Industry Attacks on an Open Internet

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