Last year the U.S. Military moved to block access to YouTube from troops and government employees, citing bandwidth usage problems with the services. Now, in co-operation with Seattle startup Delve Networks, it has launched a video sharing website for troops, their families and supporters. Members of the branches of the armed forces, their families, civilian Defense Department employees and supporters can join the service and upload videos.
TroopTube is tightly monitored however, with all video submissions being reviewed by Pentagon employees before they are added to filter out everything from threats to national security to copyright infringing content. Delve developed the technology to approve and sort incoming videos, as well as technology that makes several different video sizes and streams whichever is best suited for the users’ Internet connection.
Delve Chief Executive Alex Castro called TroopTube a “retention tool” which is aimed at a new generation of soldiers who bring laptops and other portable gadgets to the front line with them. “A lot of people are excited in the company to be doing something for the people who make sacrifices,” said Castro. “We’re proud of this.”
Last year the Pentagon opted to block YouTube and other video sharing sites, as well as social networking sites such as MySpace, citing security fears and bandwidth problems.
Result for: bandwidth usage
Just one month after Comcast began imposing a bandwidth cap of 250 GB on all of its subscribers, AT&T has begun testing a cap of their own, however with a much smaller limit, 150 GB.
The cap will have tiers as well depending on how fast your connection is, slower users will only get 20 GB limit while the fastest users will get the 150 GB cap.
The test, beginning in Reno, Nevada today, will “evaluate a usage-based model that could potentially help address today’s trend of explosive bandwidth usage, [and] may be extended to one other market by the end of the year,” said AT&T.
Anyone in Reno who uses over 150 GB per month will automatically be enrolled in the full bandwidth trial at the end of the year.
Any trial participant that exceeds the limit will be given a one-month grace period but if they do it again they will be fined $1 for every GB over they go.
Unlike Comcast however, AT&T will provide all customers with a “bandwidth measuring tool” and will also notify customers when they have hit 80 percent of their limit.
“A small group of customers are using the majority of bandwidth on our network,” added AT&T. “In fact, almost 50 percent of total bandwidth is used by just five percent of customers – customers, for example, who are uploading and downloading the equivalent of more than 40,000 YouTube videos or 40 million e-mails a month. This kind of heavy usage has an impact on all of our customers.”
Result for: bandwidth usage
During an interview with Gigaom, Comcast spokesperson Charlie Douglas noted that although they feel the 250 GB bandwidth caps they will be starting next month are sufficient now, they are willing to raise the caps over time, if digital downloads or other innovations come around that need intense amounts of bandwidth.
For the time being, Douglas says, the caps are set at about 100 times the average user’s monthly bandwidth usage. The company has said that only 5 percent or so of users ever use over 100 GB a month.
Douglas gave his word that if “average consumption rises”, the cap will as well. We will have to take his word on it for now, although Comcast has been less than truthful in the past about matters like this.
