Tom Keating : VoIP & Gadgets Blog
Tom Keating
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Triple Play

AT&T U-Verse offering 1 Year FREE of DISH Network

May 4, 2007

Yesterday, I was in Best Buy (Norwalk, CT store) walking past the TV section when I was approached by a guy standing by a table. He handed me some AT&T U-Verse literature and proceeded to pitch me on signing up for U-Verse. I mentioned that I didn't live in Norwalk, he asked where I did live and then he told me they didn't offer U-Verse in my area yet.

However, he stated that AT&T is offering a nice incentive - 1 year FREE of DISH Network service if I signed up now for AT&T U-Verse.

Correction - 5/7/07: The offer is good provided you are in an area where U-Verse is available but not yet on your street or road yet.



AT&T Finally Bundles VoIP & Wireless Cell Phone Service

May 1, 2007

According to USA Today, AT&T is promoting their CallVantage VoIP service by bundling their cellphone service along with AT&T CallVantage, a broadband VoIP landline replacement service. AT&T Wireless users can add CallVantage for $19.99 monthly, a $5 discount.   I've written about "pure VoIP players" vs. carriers & cable MSOs in the past, including my Death Knell for Vonage, Net2Phone, Packet8, Broadvoice, Lingo? article which I wrote about back in 2004. In that article I argued that Tier 1 carriers could offer advanced features that single-play service providers Vonage, Packet8, Lingo, etc.

Verizon VoiceWing VoIP FiOS service

March 2, 2007

Verizon has partnered with OpenPeak to create a new all-in-one voice, data, and video center for the home riding on top of Verizon's FiOS (fiber) service along with Ethernet and WiFi capabilities. Dubbed the Verizon One, this all-in-one communications device will allow users to make VoIP phone calls, access email, search the web, view a calendar, stream music from the web, and even preview images from a digital camera. Here's a photo of the Verizon One:


Unfortunately, the Web browsing experience is tad limited, since you can only get specific Web content that Verizon has enabled. Some of the approved web content includes categories such as news, weather, and movie listings.


AT&T Lightspeed ahead! (NOT!)

March 1, 2007

AT&T won't be reaching 18 million homes this year with its "Lightspeed" U-Verse IPTV & VDSL broadband network, giving more credence to my AT&T U-Verse Doomed? article. The ironic thing is that AT&T just a few days go stated it was ready for an aggressive rollout of U-verse. They told the San Antonio Express News that it had ironed out technical glitches with the service and is readying a breakneck expansion that will take it to all major cities in its 22-state service area and 8 million households by year-end.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
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