They say that in times of financial distress a nation turns to the movies for entertainment. But with movie theaters charging 9, 10, 11 bucks a head to watch the latest Hollywood offerings, a night out for a family of 4, when coupled with popcorn by the bushel, soda by the gallon and a King-size pack of Twizzlers is easily going to approach the dreaded $100 mark….

 

For a night at the movies!

 

Maybe that’s why Verizon is enjoying such a successful deployment of its FiOS TV service, announcing today that it has surpassed the 1 million customer threshold.

 

At $42.99/month for the basic TV service there would still be enough left over from a single visit to the local multiplex to throw in a movie channel package featuring over 40 movie channels ($12.99), a Sports package ($7.99) and what the heck… since American Idol is only on so often, throw in a Karaoke package for another $7.99.

 

 

TMCnet’s newest contributor, Jon Arnold will be in Miami Beach at the Internet Telephony Conference and EXPO next week moderating several panels, including A Look at Hosted VoIP, Intelligent Interconnects in the VoIP Peering Environment, and The State of IPTV

 

Jon will also be seen hustling about the event in the company of a cameraman, as they videotape a series of interviews with various executives and thought leaders in the space. These interviews will be hosted on TMCnet as well as on IPConvergenceTV.com as part of a joint initiative aimed at educating the market.

 

Watch for these video interviews to start appearing online shortly after the event.

I received a heads up on some HD videoconferencing news that will be going out across the wires this coming Monday 11/12.

 

LifeSize, maker of high-definition videoconferencing equipment, will announce a distribution agreement with uber-distributor Tech Data. Tech Data will distribute LifeSize’s complete HD product portfolio of high-definition video communication systems to solution providers nationwide.

 

LifeSize and Tech Data will reportedly work together to jointly develop marketing channel programs to assist resellers. The HD video conferencing solutions will be supported by Tech Data’s Telephony Specialized Business Unit (SBU).

 

LifeSize will also formally introduce Dan Sibille as their new director of global channels. Dan and his team will manage existing and grow new OEM relationships, maximize existing and develop new distribution relationships and develop programs for qualified channel partners.