Triple Play

Service providers spending nearly 40% of capex on triple play

April 27, 2006

Interesting survey from Infonetics that I thought I'd share regarding Triple Play expenditures. Service providers are really starting to ramp up their spending. Service providers around the globe see triple play services not merely as a means of increasing top-line revenue, but as a means of self-preservation, says a new study by Infonetics Research. Network operators are redefining and realigning themselves to be the one-stop shop for all things digital for residential and enterprise subscribers, and they believe triple play services will give them the competitive edge they need to succeed.

Take as evidence the fact that North American, European, and Asia Pacific service providers participating in the study ("Service Provider Plans for IP Triple Play") report that on average nearly 40% of their capital expenditures were spent on triple play network equipment in 2005.

Posted in Triple Play

Revenge of the Electric Company

May 1, 2006

The phone companies have high-speed DSL, the cable companies have high-speed broadband cable, and both offer Triple Play solutions, but what about the electric company? Just about every home in any industrialized nation has three copper wires services coming into their home - electric, phone, and cable, yet for the most part only the phone and cable wires are being utilized, leaving the electric companies in the "dark" (there's a joke in there somewhere).

Sure, you can build a home Local Area Network (LAN) that transmits packets using your home electrical wiring (HomePlug Powerline Alliance) but the packets can only travel a short distance. What good is a LAN without access to the Wide Area Network (WAN) - specifically the Internet.

Well, electric companies aren't going to stand idly by while the phone and cable companies make money hand over fist with these new Triple Play packages. There are now technology solutions that can transmit IP packets over electrical wiring over long-distances.

Posted in Triple Play

Siemens, Time Warner Cable Successfully Demo IMS

May 3, 2006

According to my ABI Research Daily newsletter, Siemens and Time Warner Cable have successfully demo'ed IMS which will certainly usher in the promise of a converged blend of personalized wireless and fixed consumer services, bringing entertainment, telephones, Internet applications and wireless together. IMS is going to be huge due to it's ability to go beyond Triple Play's "simple" offering of three services to instead offer customers a customized and personalized experience that integrates all three disparate services. I say "three" but really it could be four, five, or even more applications, but "triple play" is still the catch-phrase of the day.

Anyway, here's the news:

Siemens Communications Inc. and Time Warner Cable announced the successful demonstrations of fully integrated fixed line, mobile and WiFi broadband technologies via Internet protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) standards to deliver fixed mobile convergence (FMC). The demonstrations highlight the operational value of adopting Siemens' IMS solutions and show how consumers can now enjoy shared multimedia applications, entertainment features and communication sessions - including converged wired and wireless solutions.

Posted in Triple Play

John McCain pushes a la carte TV channels bill

June 7, 2006

Legislation was introduced today by Senator McCain to push forward a la carte TV programming. Personally, I'd like to have a la carte satellite TV programming, naked DSL or naked broadband cable, and a reliable VoIP service provider.

Alas, I am still overpaying for cable TV and only get like 4 HDTV channels. I'd love to switch to satellite TV, but would still need to keep at least basic cable in order to keep my high-speed broadband cable connection. It is not very cost effective to switch to basic cable plus pay for satellite channels.

Posted in Triple Play

Video Franchise Fee Reform Bill Passes - Good news, Bad News

June 9, 2006

The U.S. House of Representative yesterday approved the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 (H.R. 5252). H.R. 5252 reforms the current video franchising regulations that have stifled competition in the video services market and have enabled cable companies to become monopolies.

Posted in Triple Play

Pure VoIP vs. Telephone and Cable VoIP

August 16, 2006

VoIP.com wrote an interesting article put out as a press release on PRWeb.com. Titled "Pure VoIP Vs. Telecom VoIP: Guidance from VoIP.com", the article takes a position that pure VoIP players such as Vonage, Packet8, SunRocket, etc. are a better value than telecom VoIP providers, such as cable companies and telephony carriers. First, a caveat, VoIP.com is a provider of pure VoIP, so their opinion is going to obviously have a bias.

The articles accurately states, "VoIP services vary widely from provider to provider, however there is an undeniable line in the sand that divides pure VoIP from the digital voice plans rolled out by the telecos.

Posted in Packet8, Triple Play, VoIP, Vonage

Number Portability problems

September 5, 2006

I never thought that in 2006 I would have number portability problems. Hasn't number portability regulations evolved to the point where it is no longer an issue? Alas, I found out the hard way that number portability is still very much a political game by the phone carriers and even the VoIP service providers to hold their customers hostage.

First, let me state that I've been a happy Vonage customer for many years, and used it in two different home addresses with the same exact phone number, which was ported from AT&T/SBC. Thus, I've had the same phone number for about 10 years, which many friends and family know.

Posted in Mobile Phones, Triple Play, VoIP, Vonage, Wireless

IPNetworked added to Gigaom blog family

November 6, 2006

Om Malik has added a new blog to his portfolio called IPNetworked. According to Om, "IPNetworked is a blog that will exclusively track the telecom carriers, cable companies, Internet service providers, Web hosting services, and the data centers. Speed changes, legislative matters, price cuts, and IPTV – it will cover a wide gamut of topics."

Russell Shaw will be one of the writers on this new blog. Congrats Russell on the new writing diggs after leaving VON Magazine.

Posted in News, Triple Play, VoIP

Juniper Networks and Intelliden deliver Dynamic Networking Automation solution for High Bandwidth Applications

January 24, 2007

Juniper Networks, Inc. and Intelliden, Inc. today announced that they will deliver a Dynamic Networking Automation solution for high bandwidth IP services, which will leverage QoS and policy management controls as well as IMS - IP Multimedia Subsystem. Triple Play, Quad Play, etc. offerings can take advantage of this solution. Anyone looking to educate themselves further on IMS should really check out TMC's IMS Magazine.

In any event, Intelliden has integrated Juniper’s Networks Service Deployment System (SDX) platform with Intelliden’s Dynamic Resource Provisioning solution.

Posted in Triple Play, VoIP

AT&T U-verse Doomed?

February 13, 2007

Many have heard of the difficulties in implementing AT&T's U-verse IPTV service. AT&T's U-verse network is actually a fiber/copper hybrid, which pulls fibers to 3,000 to 5,000 feet from the homes they serve, where it then connects to mini-DSLAMs called "52B" boxes and then it runs copper the last mile to the home. This hybrid approach is a bargain when compared to the $20 billion Verizon is spending to build-out fiber all the way to the home. This hybrid fiber/copper approach gives AT&T a 20Mbps+ link to customers, enough to offer high-speed Internet, VoIP, and the company's IPTV service.

Posted in Home Entertainment, Triple Play

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