The Washington Post is reporting that Tom Wheeler, a telecom industry executive, will be nominated by President Obama to lead the Federal Communications Commission.  Wheeler's nomination follows the departure of Julius Genachowski several weeks ago.  Wheeler has served as an adviser to both the White House and the FCC.  He also has strong industry ties, having served as the leader of both CTIA and NCTA, trade associations for the wireless and cable industries.

Not soon after Google announced that Austin, Texas would be the Internet giant's next metropolitan region to become a Google gigabit city, AT&T said it would also deploy an ultra-high speed broadband network.  However, AT&T's offer came with a simple condition - that it would receive the same concessions and terms from local officials.

The AT&T announcement was significant not for being a double gigabit city, but because the company was trying to emphasize how regulations encountered by traditional phone companies are a significant barrier to broadband deployment.

At&T also recently announced an ambitious plan to provide broadband connectivity to over 300 million people by the end of 2014. By investing $14 billion in both wireline and wireless technology, By investing significant capital into the company's broadband network, AT&T hopes to reach over 96% of all U.S. residents.

The ambitious AT&T strategy called Project VIP, includes both a wireless and wireline broadband strategy to expand broadband access in rural America.

Details of the project include plans to explore the implementation of DSLAMs to increase speeds of current DSL copper-based networks, as well as the expansion of the company's 4G/LTE wireless networks.  The strategy comes at a time the company is calling on the FCC to loosen restrictions on legacy networks.

In the fiercely competitive race to offer the highest broadband speeds available in the consumer market, Verizon is continuing to set the standard with advertised speeds in major markets.  Verizon recently doubled two of its existing speed combinations, and offered a new speed combination of 75/35 Mbps (Download/Upload)  - and a new speed tier offering 300/85 Mbps broadband service.

Verizon's Fiber Broadband Strategy: Company invests heavily in fiber in NYC and rural America

The announcement of the newly introduced FiOS speeds followed previous releases promoting the company's home-monitoring service and streaming video content delivery.

While Verizon is increasing its advertised speed tiers in many markets, Google continues to dominate the news when it comes to selective deployments in major metropolitan areas.  First is was the Kansas City metropolitan area, followed by Austin, Texas, and then Provo, Utah.

Verizon also recently introduced HomeFusion, as a wireless alternative for home broadband use - although the service is priced higher than most home broadband service.

Along with a number of broadband initiatives announced in 2012, the Bloomberg administration announced an agreement between Verizon Communications Inc. and New York City to install fiber-optic cables under sidewalks to enable the company to offer faster broadband connections throughout the City.

NYC's Broadband Strategy: Bloomberg Administration Seeks to Accelerate Broadband Access

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Announces Director of Digital Learning Director

The fiber-optic installation technique Verizon is using is called "micro-trenching" or "saw-cutting," and involves cutting grooves in the ground which serve as a conduit for the placement of cables.  The company's agreement with the City includes room for Verizon's cables, as well as at least four additional carriers.

NYC to try Micro-Trenching to Accelerate Broadband Deployment

As Fiber continues to dominate the business strategy of many large broadband providers, does this trend signal the demise of copper networks?

Is Copper DSL for Broadband Dead? American Broadband Providers Reevaluate Use of Copper DSL