Hasta La Gadget!

Though rural dwellers are often broadband-poor, there seems to be plenty of companies lining up to serve them in the UK. Regulator Ofcom just announced participants for its “white space” or unused spectrum trials, including Microsoft, Google, Click4Internet and British Telecom. Redmond’s going to test WiFi-like services to underserved Glasgow, while Click4internet will assess rural broadband in remote or tricky locations. Google has signed on as a potential database provider, and other use cases like traffic management will be tested by BT and others. Ofcom wants to launch such services by next year and released a blueprint detailing how existing mobile and digital terrestrial TV spectrums could be divvied up. To see all the companies and what each plans to do, check the source.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Wireless, Internet

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Source: Ofcom

We’ve had the chance to rent movies and otherwise purchase content through Facebook; wouldn’t it make sense if we could sign in to Facebook to buy goods elsewhere? The social network certainly thinks so, as it just confirmed to AllThingsD that it will be trialing a mobile payment system in about a month. The service is reportedly very PayPal-like — Facebook users with credit cards on file would just have to log in to make purchases inside of a mobile app. Only the flash sale outlet JackThreads is participating in the test at this stage, and there’s no mention of when the trial period expires. However, a full-fledged launch is potentially a major advantage for the House That Zuck Built. The payment system would give Facebook both a larger foothold in e-commerce and more insight into what members are willing to buy from advertisers.

Update: Our colleagues at TechCrunch have shed a little more light on the subject. They claim that the payment system is more of a complement to existing services than a competitor: it would only fill out the forms for another payment provider, including PayPal. Facebook reportedly sees this more as an extension of its advertising system, as it would both speed up sales and let marketers know when their ads are effective.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook

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Source: AllThingsD

While there have been white space test runs in the UK, these were private trials that weren’t going to get the ball rolling without government help. Thankfully, local regulator Ofcom is of a like mind. It now plans a trial for data on the in-between frequencies this fall, with full-fledged service going live as soon as 2014. The agency expects to settle on the final locations for the pilot after it chooses partners. No, Ofcom can’t guarantee that all the stars will align for rural broadband or other long-range wireless projects — but its involvement at least means those stars are within reach.

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

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Via: GigaOM

Source: Ofcom

AT&T has been testing the viability of loyalty rewards through a limited AT&T Plus trial over the past year. Unfortunately, time’s up: as you can see in the letter above, the carrier is shutting down the Plus experiment on March 31st, with discounts and fee waivers ending for existing members on May 31st. We wouldn’t expect a follow-up in the near future when AT&T isn’t moving past the trial level “at this time,” according to a spokesperson we reached. Most of us won’t be affected when the Plus test has been limited to a handful of areas, but perks are perks — it’s sad to see them go away.

[Thanks, Drew]

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T

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We’ve clearly crossed a psychological barrier to digital media adoption when major content providers are going online-first on a regular basis. The BBC, despite its sometimes stuffy image, is revealing that it’s just as eager to break with tradition: it’s been given the go-ahead for a trial that will offer content on iPlayer before it appears on TV. The year-long test will offer up to 40 hours of regular BBC shows in advance, with no TV license fee required. While the selection of shows isn’t yet public, the offering should be a bolder experiment than usual in showing whether or not iPlayer can serve as more than a catch-up tool or repository for exclusives. Let’s hope it does — we’d like to see online services treated as first-class citizens.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Source: BBC