Startup Talk: Verizon Completes Testing On Broadband Service 1,000 Times Faster Than Average Home Connection

Editor’s note: Each Thursday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Startup Talk,” a round-up of startup, technology and entrepreneurial news in our email newsletter, which you can sign up to receive daily for free here. 

VERIZON COMPLETES TESTING ON BROADBAND SERVICE 1,000 TIMES FASTER THAN AVERAGE HOME CONNECTION
Verizon said this week that it has completed testing on a new broadband technology that is capable of delivering Internet speeds 10 times faster than Google Fiber and 1,000 times faster than connections at most U.S. homes, according to several media reports this week.

On this Youtube.com video, Verizon says it is preparing its 10G fiber network that is currently 200 times speedier than its current best broadband offering. The wireless giant also said it has completed testing for the next-generation technology in one of its customer’s garage.

What Verizon has not said publicly is when this new service will come to market, and how much it will cost. Read more here.

AT&T IMPROVES WIRELESS COVERAGE IN TIME FOR RAZORBACK FOOTBALL SEASON
AT&T said Wednesday it has boosted its mobile Internet coverage at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium to give Arkansas hog callers a better wireless experience at this year’s football games.

“When our customers head out to the stadium to cheer on the Razorbacks, we want them to have a great network experience. This year, we’ve added even more capacity to our network inside and around Razorback stadium so Hog fans can have an improved experience making calls, posting pictures, or downloading apps at games,” said Ed Drilling, president of AT&T Arkansas.

AT&T’s new wireless system, called DAS technology, consists of numerous, small antennas that distribute AT&T’s wireless network coverage throughout Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. Between 2012 and 2014, the wireless giant said it has invested nearly $600 million in wireless and wired networks in Arkansas.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES LATEST CITY TO TAKE PART IN GLOBAL STARTUP INITIATIVE
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration on Tuesday partnered with leaders from Pittsburgh’s innovation sector to deliver the next installment of Startup Global, an initiative designed to help more startup firms think globally from the earliest stages of a company’s growth.

The Commerce Department first announced the Startup Global program at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City in February, and Pittsburgh is the third in the pilot program’s series of educational events. The Startup Global pilot resulted from the National Export Initiative/NEXT, the Obama Administration’s strategy to advance program and policy improvements that will make it easier for more U.S. companies to engage in international business and expand to new markets.

LOCAL STARTUPS MAKE PITCH TO DOWNTOWN PARTNERSHIP BOARD
Downtown Little Rock Partnership (DLRP) board members on Wednesday chose local startup Apptegy as the winner of a lunchtime pitch contest that pitted a handful of Venture Center members in the “Shark Tank-like” contest. Apptegy and other four other early stage Central Arkansas startups each gave five-minute presentations to members of the DLRP board. DLRP President Susie Smith said the pitch contest was an opportunity for members of the downtown group to get exposure to some of the companies that are now part of Little Rock’s fast-growing “Creative Corridor.”