TECHNOLOGY
AT&T | September 22, 2023
AT&T's new fixed wireless home internet service for small businesses promises quick setup and reliable connectivity.
AT&T is expanding Internet Air to various locations, including Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia.
The service offers $55/month pricing with no extra fees, includes security features, and is eligible for financial assistance.
AT&T's latest breakthrough, AT&T Internet Air, aims to address the pressing need for consistent and dependable internet connectivity among small business owners. In an era marked by rapid technological advancement, the demand for a seamless online presence has never been greater. Yet, achieving strong connectivity remains an enduring challenge for those residing in regions with limited broadband options.
This innovation, introduced by AT&T, goes beyond the conventional realm of home Wi-Fi; it is a fixed wireless home internet service. In simpler terms, it delivers home Wi-Fi through AT&T's robust wireless network. Its remarkably swift setup process is what truly sets it apart, especially for small business operators running their businesses from home. In an environment where time equates to money, AT&T guarantees its customers a fully operational Wi-Fi connection in under 15 minutes. Once configured, users can count on a continuous, optimized, and secure internet connection.
Traditional internet options have long been a source of frustration for many, particularly in less densely populated areas. Erin Scarborough, President of Broadband and Connectivity Initiatives at AT&T, has emphasized that their team has made it a priority to identify and address these pain points experienced by customers—their solution: AT&T Internet Air. By harnessing the available network capacity in less congested areas, they have established a connection that is both dependable and robust.
AT&T has already rolled out this service to its existing copper-based clients, receiving positive feedback. The company's vision is crystal clear: to ensure that the selected locations have the requisite wireless coverage and capacity. This not only guarantees an exceptional in-home experience but also sustains the quality of wireless service for their mobile users.
User-friendliness is paramount for small business owners who often handle multiple responsibilities. Upon receiving the AT&T Internet Air package, customers can scan a QR code to access a comprehensive, step-by-step setup guide. Furthermore, the AT&T Smart Home Manager app streamlines the process and even offers a feature to help identify the optimal location for the home's connection. For larger spaces, AT&T provides add-on Wi-Fi extenders to ensure coverage in every corner.
Moreover, AT&T recognizes the aesthetic preferences of its users. The device itself features a sleek, modern design that complements any workspace.
AT&T Internet Air is steadily expanding its coverage, complementing its top-notch AT&T Fiber offering. New locations now include areas in Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and many others, with recent additions in Cleveland-Akron, Orlando/Gainesville, Denver, and Providence-New Bedford.
For small business proprietors, budget considerations are of significant importance. AT&T Internet Air employs a transparent pricing strategy that is $55 per month (plus taxes), with no additional charges for overages, equipment, or annual contracts. Additionally, AT&T includes ActiveArmorSM internet security for added online transaction security. The service is also eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program, which offers financial assistance to qualifying households.
In today's digital age, where an online presence is critical for businesses, AT&T Internet Air presents a promising solution, particularly for small business owners. Its straightforward setup, transparent pricing, and robust connection represent a significant step toward ensuring universally accessible and reliable internet access.
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MANAGEMENT
Business Wire | September 27, 2023
DigitalOcean Holdings, Inc., the cloud for startups and SMBs, today announced the launch of DigitalOcean Managed Kafka, a new, fully managed data streaming platform as a service offering for Apache Kafka. DigitalOcean Managed Kafka helps small and medium-sized businesses across industries, including video streaming, the Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, gaming, and eCommerce, access and process data streams in real time while eliminating the complexity associated with the Kafka administration. Through this offering and other enhancements across DigitalOcean’s portfolio, startups and tech entrepreneurs can more easily grow their businesses in the cloud.
“While Kafka is the gold standard for data streaming, it frequently presents technical challenges for smaller businesses with budget and resource limitations. We are excited to introduce a solution that makes this technology more accessible and meets DigitalOcean’s standard for simplicity,” said Megan Wood, Chief Strategy & Product Officer at DigitalOcean. “By reducing the burden of implementing a new platform, companies can shift their focus away from the complexity of managing their data streaming services and get back to building apps that differentiate their business.”
As businesses receive higher amounts of data inputs, the ability to rapidly capture and process this data becomes crucial. Thousands of companies, including over 80% of Fortune 100 companies, rely on Kafka to optimize their data streams and provide leaders with insights that inform decision-making. With DigitalOcean Managed Kafka, startups and SMBs can benefit from the ability to scale up and down clusters with ease while setting up alerts for proactive maintenance. Additionally, DigitalOcean customers can expect end-to-end security via private networking and data encryption along with cost-effective, predictable pricing starting at $147 for a three-node cluster.
“DigitalOcean's Managed Kafka offering has been a game-changer for us at Datacake,” said Lukas Klein, Chief Technical Officer at Datacake. “By taking care of the operational aspects of running our Kafka cluster, we have been able to focus our attention on what really matters – building a great product. With this new service, we were able to migrate seamlessly to an event-based architecture while maintaining the highest levels of operational security.”
Alongside DigitalOcean Managed Kafka, DigitalOcean has been making investments in its product and infrastructure offerings to provide peace of mind, increased productivity, and more affordable solutions to SMBs and startups. Some of those recent updates include:
GPUs with the acquisition of Paperspace-The computing power needed for training AI models and deploying at scale
Premium CPU-Optimized Droplets-Higher outbound network speeds, higher performance, and faster disk writes than standard Droplets
Enhanced memory and storage for Basic Premium Droplets-More flexibility with a wider choice of virtual machines
Low-cost support plans for every size of business-Eight-hour response times for all issues, regardless of severity
Object Storage in the Bangalore data center-Increased performance with compute and storage in one location
In addition, over the coming quarters, DigitalOcean will unveil the following enhancements and capabilities to continue to make DigitalOcean the cloud of choice for SMBs and startups:
More flexible storage offerings -Effortlessly accommodate dynamic storage requirements with Scalable Storage for Managed Databases, a cost-effective solution that helps businesses expand their data footprints with confidence
Faster, frequent, and comprehensive Backups -Ability to create daily Droplet backups that are differential, significantly reducing the time required to create them
Better performance for a range of products -Extending the premium variant to the General Purpose line of Droplets, providing newer generation CPUs, faster NVME drives, and up to 10 Gbps of outbound data transfer speeds making them ideal for running e-commerce, consumer, and SaaS apps
About DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean simplifies cloud computing so builders and businesses can spend more time creating software that changes the world. With its mission-critical infrastructure and fully managed offerings, DigitalOcean helps developers at startups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) rapidly build, deploy and scale, whether creating a digital presence or building digital products. DigitalOcean combines the power of simplicity, security, community and customer support so customers can spend less time managing their infrastructure and more time building innovative applications that drive business growth.
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FINANCE
PR Newswire | September 27, 2023
BMO today announced the expansion of its Zero Barriers to Business program for Black, Latino, Native, and Women-owned businesses across the bank's expanded footprint. The program aims to break down barriers for historically underserved and marginalized groups through inclusive banking products, services, and resources as part of BMO EMpower 2.0 – the bank's more than $40 billion community benefits plan. As part of the expansion, BMO has committed $200 million in lending to support the progress of minority-owned businesses.
BMO's Zero Barriers to Business now helps business owners in 22 states – including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
"Helping our clients, colleagues and communities make real financial progress is at the core of our Purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life," said Niamh Kristufek, Head of U.S. Business Banking at BMO. "The launch of BMO's Zero Barriers to Business to our expanded footprint brings us one step closer to a more inclusive society – especially for groups facing systemic barriers – by ensuring our clients have access to capital and financial tools and education."
According to BMO's Real Financial Progress Index, more minority business owners report they have started a business this year or plan to compared to non-minorities, with 16 percent of Black respondents starting a business, 9 percent of Latino, and 7 percent of Asian-Americans. Nearly 20 percent of U.S. small business owners are minority-owned, according to Forbes' Small Business Statistics of 2023 – but according to Fed Small Business' 2022 Report on Firms Owned by People of Color, borrowers of color were about half as likely as white-owned applicant firms to receive all of the financing they sought.
Specifically, BMO's Zero Barriers to Business includes:
Better access to capital:Business owners receive access to working capital with expanded credit criteria and competitive interest rates. Small businesses can get a revolving line of credit and/or business credit card that will allow them to pay interest on what they borrow. They can also qualify for rate discounts when setting up automatic payments from a BMO Business Checking account and get improved access to funding with specialized credit criteria.
Access to education:Free access to practical tools such as business plan templates, profit improvement calculators, podcasts, webinars, and coaching to help business owners make real financial progress.
Access to partnerships:BMO is continually forming new partnerships with organizations that give business owners access to meaningful networks, additional coaching, educational resources, and alternative funding sources.
Since launching the program in late 2020, the bank has helped minority small businesses make real financial progress by:
Approving$80 millionsmall business loans.
Funding more than 3,400 small businesses.
Providing more than 800 hours of educational webinars and business literacy workshops supporting 5,000 business owners in collaboration with organizations such as Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Chicago Urban League, Sunshine Enterprises, and Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation.
Graduating 45 clients fromZero Barriers to Businessto qualify for traditional lending programs under standard lending criteria.
Securing 40 non-profit Community Development Financial Institutions Funds (CDFI) partnerships to support access to capital, education, and networking opportunities for diverse small business owners.
The expansion also comes during Hispanic Heritage Month along with a $500,000 commitment by BMO to support the creation of a Latino Business Loan Program with Colorado Enterprise Fund. The fund aims to eliminate barriers and support inclusive economic opportunity for small businesses across Colorado.
Ceyl Prinster, CEO, Colorado Enterprise Fund said,
Colorado Enterprise Fund's mission has always been to provide access to capital to underserved communities including minority-owned small businesses. With the funding from BMO, CEF will focus even more economic and educational resources toward Latino small business entrepreneurs throughout Colorado.
[Source – Cision PR Newswire]
About BMO Financial Group
BMO Financial Group is the eighth largest bank in North America by assets, with total assets of $1.25 trillion as of July 31, 2023. Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a diverse team of highly engaged employees providing a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management, global markets and investment banking products and services to over 13 million customers across Canada, the United States, and in select markets globally. Driven by a single purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life, BMO is committed to driving positive change in the world, and making progress for a thriving economy, sustainable future, and inclusive society.
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