According to CBS Minnesota, US Internet is now offering a faster wireless broadband option…

The new TDM network involves a device, called a time-division multiplexing node, which is attached to the side of a user’s home and can send an internet signal at broadband speeds through the walls to the user’s router.

Developed in-house over the course of two years of research and experimentation, the TDM network is separate from USI’s fiber-based service, which is also expanding.

Carter said he has been very pleased with the TDM network’s performance, which has had “almost zero problems” and meets the FCC requirement for broadband internet.

“They get the full, Hi-def Netflix experience,” Carter said. “No buffering, very low latency, very low jitter. It’s a spectacular experience.”

The TDM network currently has installed more than 60 TDM nodes and offers two tiers of service — 75 Mbps for $35 per month, and 25 Mbps for $25. The 75 Mbps option is only available in south Minneapolis; the 25 Mbps is live in downtown and expected to expand to north and northeast Minneapolis by the end of the summer.

It sounds like this might be a technology leap for cities. I don’t know what the implications might be for rural areas. US Internet is able to build upon and expand from their fiber-based infrastructure. Carter spoke to the Minnesota Broadband Task Force last summer. He was amazed at the roadblocks (backhaul charges, populations density) to providing affordable broadband in rural areas. He was very clear that while his business might expand beyond Minneapolis that he wasn’t looking to expand to Greater Minnesota. That’s not to diminish the impact of improving urban access and affordability but simply to ask how this might be applied to smaller towns and surrounding areas.