AT&T U-verse

AT&T U-verse, commonly called U-verse, is an AT&T brand of triple-play telecommunications services in 21 states of the United States. Launched on June 26, 2006 using the FTTP, VDSL, and ADSL communication protocols, U-verse includes broadband Internet, IP telephone, and IPTV services in 21 states. The U-verse name is also used for the bundling of wireless and DirecTV services, even outside AT&T's 21 state local coverage area.

History

AT&T Inc. announced its plans for a fiber-optic network and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) deployment in 2004 and unveiled the name "U-verse" (formerly "Project Lightspeed") for the suite of network services on January 6, 2008. Beta testing began in San Antonio, in 2005, and AT&T U-verse was commercially launched June 26, 2006 in San Antonio. A few months later on November 30, 2006, the service was launched in Houston. In December 2006, the product launched in Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Hartford, Indianapolis, and other cities in their vicinity. In February, 2007, U-verse was launched in Milwaukee. One month later service was initiated in Dallas and Kansas City. In May 2007, U-verse launched in Detroit, Los Angeles, and surrounding areas. Launch continued in Cleveland, Akron, and San Diego in June 2007. The Oklahoma City and Sacramento launch occurred in August, 2007. In November 2007 service was started in Austin. In December 2007 U-verse was launched in Orlando and St. Louis. A controlled launch was also initiated in Atlanta that month marking the first launch in the Southeastern United States. On December 22, 2008 the product debuted in Birmingham. On January 25, 2010, AT&T announced that U-verse was available to over 2.8 million households.

AT&T

AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation, headquartered at Whitacre Tower in downtown Dallas, Texas. AT&T is the second largest provider of mobile telephone and the largest provider of fixed telephone in the United States, and also provides broadband subscription television services. AT&T is the third-largest company in Texas (the largest non-oil company, behind only ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, and also the largest Dallas company).As of May 2014, AT&T is the 23rd-largest company in the world as measured by a composite of revenues, profits, assets and market value, and the 16th-largest non-oil company.As of 2016, it is also the 18th-largest mobile telecom operator in the world, with over 128.6 million mobile customers.

AT&T was ranked #6 on the 2015 rankings of the world's most valuable brands published by Millward Brown Optimor.

AT&T Inc. began its existence as Southwestern Bell Corporation, one of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC's) created in 1983 in the divestiture of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (founded 1885, later AT&T Corp.) following the 1982 United States v. AT&T antitrust lawsuit. Southwestern Bell changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. in 1995. In 2005, SBC purchased former parent AT&T Corp. and took on its branding, with the merged entity naming itself AT&T Inc. and using the iconic AT&T Corp. logo and stock-trading symbol.

Access Point (Antarctica)

Access Point is a rocky point immediately southeast of Biscoe Point and 2 miles (3 km) northwest of Cape Lancaster on the south side of Anvers Island, in the Palmer Archipelago. First charted by the French Antarctic Expedition under Jean-Baptiste Charcot, 1903–05. Surveyed in 1955 by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) and so named because there is a landing place for boats on the northwest tip of the point which provides access to the inland parts of the island.

Coordinates: 64°50′S 63°47′W / 64.833°S 63.783°W / -64.833; -63.783  This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Geological Survey document "Access Point" (content from the Geographic Names Information System).

Wireless access point

In computer networking, a wireless access point (WAP) is a networking hardware device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, or related standards. The AP usually connects to a router (via a wired network) as a standalone device, but it can also be an integral component of the router itself. An AP is differentiated from a hotspot, which is the physical space where the wireless service is provided.

Introduction

Prior to wireless networks, setting up a computer network in a business, home or school often required running many cables through walls and ceilings in order to deliver network access to all of the network-enabled devices in the building. With the creation of the wireless access point, network users are now able to add devices that access the network with few or no cables. An AP normally connects directly to a wired Ethernet connection and the AP then provides wireless connections using radio frequency links for other devices to utilize that wired connection. Most APs support the connection of multiple wireless devices to one wired connection. Modern APs are built to support a standard for sending and receiving data using these radio frequencies. Those standards, and the frequencies they use are defined by the IEEE. Most APs use IEEE 802.11 standards.

Google Fiber

Google Fiber is Google's fiber-to-the-premises service in the United States, providing broadband internet and cable television to a small and slowly increasing number of locations. As of end of 2014, Google Fiber had 29,867 television subscribers. As of Oct 2015, up to 120,000 customers have been estimated.

The service was first introduced to the Kansas City metropolitan area, including 20 Kansas City area suburbs within the first 3 years. Initially proposed as an experimental project, Google Fiber was announced as a viable business model on December 12, 2012, when Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt stated "It's actually not an experiment, we're actually running it as a business," at the New York Times' DealBook Conference.

Google Fiber announced expansion to Austin, Texas and Provo, Utah in April 2013, and subsequent expansions in 2014 and 2015 to Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and San Antonio.

On August 10, 2015, Google announced its intention to restructure the company, moving less central services and products into a new umbrella corporation, Alphabet Inc. As part of this restructuring plan, Google Fiber would become a subsidiary of Alphabet, and may become part of the "Access and Energy" business unit.