Recently in Telecommunications Category

I received this announcement today from Communications Technologies Inc. (COMTek), the company that owns and operates the broadband-over-powerlines implementation just launched in the city of Manassas, Virginia. The news release is in our TMCnet news feeds and available at:

First City-Wide Deployment of Broadband-Over-Powerline (BPL) Technology in the U.S. Now Complete in Manassas, Va.

COMTek and the City of Manassas will hold a news conference tomorrow, Oct. 5, 2005, in Manassas. The conference will also be available via streaming media at the COMTek Web site.

I couldn't find any good visuals about BPL on COMTek's Web site, but here is an interesting diagram on the Plexeon Web site showing how BPL might be deployed in a neighborhood.

BPL is somewhat controversial. Amateur radio operators object to unbridled rollout of the technology, as it might interfere with shortwave radio signals. BPL is cited as one of the technologies that can compete with cable and telco broadband rollouts, but some observers are skeptical whether BPL can become useful broadly in the marketplace.

AB -- 10/4/05

The recent U.S. hurricane disasters have got many of us thinking about the value of communications technologies as a resource for first responders during disasters both natural and man-made. Poor communications capabilities were an obstacle in rescue efforts during the 9/11 attack in New York, as well as during Hurricane Katrina.

It seems evident that flexible, robust communications systems would help police, fire, rescue, Coast Guard and other groups get moving more quickly and work more effectively, and help multiple agencies communicate better with one another in the crucial hours and days after a disaster. That belief was reflected in two stories I took note of this week, one from American Public Media's Marketplace business radio program from Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005; and the other from a release that came through our TMCnet news feeds on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005, from Motorola, "Motorola Calls for Congressional Action to Improve & Secure Nation's First Responders Communications Network."

On the Marketplace program, host Kai Ryssdal interviewed Reed Hundt, who was FCC chair during the Clinton administration. (You can listen to the story at "Whaddaya want, a whole phone system?")

The segment started out with former FEMA head Michael Brown's defense of poor communications after Katrina, in response to a congressional enquiry. What was he supposed to do, he asked, 'Drop a whole phone and radio system into New Orleans, lock, stock and barrel?'

Good question, really. Actually, Hundt thinks such a thing is in fact possible and can be done at relatively low cost by providing federal matching grants to municipalities to "build a national emergency wireless network for all first responders." He also thinks the FCC chair needs to be given the power to "put the commercial networks back online when they're knocked down."

The money to build the needed network is not inconsequential -- a billion dollars, says Hundt. But he points out that this amount is relatively a "drop in the bucket" when compared to total expenditures on communications services in the U.S. He says that "for small amounts of money we can really have universal access and that people will be able to get online and will be able to communicate by voice when they need to in emergencies" -- and this will especially be true for first responders.

The Motorola release covered comments by the company's vice president of technology, Gary Grube, appearing before the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee at a hearing called "Communications Interoperability -- Communications in a Disaster."

Grube called on Congress to make much-needed improvements to the nation's emergency communications infrastructure. Specifically, Motorola wants the government to clear the 700 MHz radio frequency spectrum space and fund an interoperable communications system for first responders.

As I recall, clearing 700 Mhz is a controversial proposal, as it would deprive some consumers of television transmissions. Grube argues that now is the time to move ahead with the full transition to digital TV. This will free up 700 Mhz to allow for the buildout and operation of interoperable emergency communications networks. Motorola believes this will enable public safety agencies to "achieve interoperability among agencies, alleviate radio communications congestion, and implement high-speed data, imaging and video solutions for first responders."

Motorola's release quotes Grube in his testimony about the concept of "True Interoperability": "A key requirement is interoperability. It was too often the case that the responding agencies could not talk to one another. This interoperability challenge is not new and was not caused by Katrina or Rita. These hurricanes simply again exposed the real world problems and inadequacies. Spectrum, money, and planning are the solutions."

Grube says the nation should establish standards assuring that at least "minimal communications" can be restablished after an emergency anywhere in the country. This could be done by pre-positioning self-contained trucks equipped with portable radios powered by alternative energy sources, such as portable fuel cells.

In effect, it sounds to me as if Motorola is proposing that the nation develop just the capability suggested in a backhand way by former FEMA director Brown -- the capability to position rugged, portable communications systems and rapidly deploy them in the wake of a disaster. An exciting idea, and one that could save lives in the next big disaster -- if responsible parties commit resources and start working on it now, before that disaster hits.

AB -- 9/30/05

Tom Cross, TMCnet's Security and Emerging Technologies Columnist, sent me a link to a great Flash tutorial he created for his TECHtionary site, on the topic of E911. Try it out by clicking on the following link:

http://www.techtionaryna.com/techtip/wednesday1.swf

The tutorial is not in-depth, but it gives you a good idea what goes on when you make a 911 call. The fun part of the tutorial is that it shows a caller dialing 911 and the system identifying the caller's location by means of  the 14- or 16-character ALI (Automatic Location Indentifier) string. As E911 zeroes in on the location, the Flash animation zooms in on a map and a 3D rendering of the caller's neighborhood and building. Finally a cop car shows up at the door. Help has arrived!

AB -- 8/10/05

Word is that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has freed telco DSL providers from the requirement to share their infrastructures with competitors. TMCnet has had confirmation from knowledgeable sources that it's a done deal, although as of this moment the FCC has not released a formal statement (at least to my knowledge). The commission's intent is to place DSL on the same regulatory footing as cable Internet service.

TMCnet's podcast from today included as a guest David Breckemeyer, former CTO of Earthlink, who commented on the issue. His feeling is that this ruling will not have a great effect on the capabilities of competitive providers such as Earthlink, since piggy-back DSL service is a negotiated business deal anyway, and providers will still be free to hammer out such deals as they have in the past.

TMCnet's regulatory reporter Ted Glanzer is less sanguine about the possibilities and will no doubt be commenting later today, as well as offering more in-depth reporting once the FCC releases an official statement on today's decision.

To follow coverage of the FCC DSL deregulation issue, please visit TMCnet throughout the rest of the day.

AB -- 8/5/05

I have to confess that I'm not much attracted to the idea of watching a movie on the tiny screen of my cell phone. Why not just read a magazine or newspaper? Oh that's right, people don't read anymore. So maybe there is a market for mobile video after all.

This story from today makes the idea seem more feasible:

Kopin and MicroOptical Bring ''Big Screen'' Video to Cell Phone Users

Sometimes with partnership announcements like this it's a little hard to pick them apart to figure out who does what. But as I understand it, MicroOptical makes video-capable eyewear products and Kopin makes the display technology that is going to allow wide-screen video to be displayed via a wearable display. To add to the party, today's announcement says that this video service is going to be offered by France Telecom's Orange SA and delivered over Samsung phones.

Glad I was able to make that clear.

Reading this announcement, it sounds as if what the user will be able to do is put on a pair of eyeglasses (said to be "sleek" and "stylish"), plug them into their cell phone, and watch a hi-res movie (or TV and Internet content) in their field of vision. All this is supposed to be available in October 2005. Today's release says the eyewear will be able to play five hours of video on three AAA batteries.

One of my perpetual complaints about company Web sites is that they give huge volumes of product data, specs, comparison charts, and endless bulleted lists but fail to visually show you a user-view of the product. I want to know what the user experience is like, and often I get everything but that.

Same problem with the MicroOptical and Kopin Web sites. Here are some pictures showing what some of MicroOptical's eyewear products look like:

And here is a shot of one of Kopin's micro-displays:

How are we doing in terms of "sleekishness" and "stylishness"? So far I'm not feeling particularly reassured.

The best these companies seem to be able to provide in terms of portraying the user experience is this sort of conceptual icon:

(Again, the image of the eyewear here doesn't engender much confidence in the sense of style of this offering, does it?)

And I did manage to snap this shot from a demo video showing a video display within a user's field of vision:

Well, I'm poking fun, and I tend to be hyper-critical of technology marketing efforts. No doubt in the hands of France Telecom and Samsung, this offering will be marketed in a more compelling fashion. Today's press release gives this description -- read it and use your imagination:

"The sleek eyewear allows users to privately view large-size video or pictures equivalent to a 12-inch screen as seen from three feet away, yet simultaneously view their surroundings thanks to the small size of the frame and MicroOptical's patented optics which allow the user to see around the screen."

AB -- 7/7/05

FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin issued a brief statement today approving of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today in the Brand X case. The Court today upheld the agency's 2002 ruling declaring that a cable company does not have to share its broadband infrastructure with an independent ISP.

Martin's statement reads:

"I am pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the FCC’s ruling.  This decision provides much-needed regulatory clarity and a framework for broadband that can be applied to all providers.  We can now move forward quickly to finalize regulations that will spur the deployment of broadband services for all Americans."

Naturally, many do not agree that this decision is good news for broadband deployment in the States.

In his blog today, TMC President Rich Tehrani says this decision is "bad for consumers." Rich has a hard time seeing how this development can result in greater competition in the broadband space: "What we will be left with are two competitors, ILECs and cable companies, with the potential for broadband over power line and WiMAX making some sort of competitive dent."

It's hard for me to see that BPL and WiMAX are going to do much to improve the picture in the near term. The silver lining in the cloud? Says Rich: "Consumers can rest assured that if they want competition for Internet service, they can always go back to dialup."

TMCnet's Communications and Broadband columnist Ted Glanzer, in his article today, "Unpacking the Brand X Decision," quotes Jim Pickrell, owner of Brand X, who is understandably bitter over today's outcome: "It’s a terrible decision. It's bad for consumers and it is bad business ... [Brand X is] effectively locked out ... It’s an end to competition in broadband and telephone ... For us it’s a disaster."

To get the opposite perspective, Ted also interviewed former FCC official Carol Mattey, who thinks today's decision gives cable companies and telcos the financial incentive to build broadband infrastructure. “The ISPs aren’t spending $95 billion [like] cable companies [are] to convert to digital,” she told Ted.

Here are the pieces we've published today on TMCnet relevant to today's Supreme Court news:

High Court: Cable Cos. Need Not Share Lines With Rival Internet Providers -- Hope Yen, Associated Press

Brand X Decision: We Can Always Go Back to Dialup -- Rich Tehrani, TMC Technology Analysis Columnist

Unpacking the Brand X Decision -- Ted Glanzer, TMCnet Communications and Broadband Columnist

AB -- 6/27/05

For us marketing geeks, it's worth noting that Sprint and Nextel have revealed their intended post-merger branding and logo. Today's announcement is on TMCnet at:

Sprint and Nextel Communications Announce New Branding and Logo to Be Used by Combined Company

The new company will be called Sprint, with Nextel retained as a product name. Too bad they couldn't be more creative -- might have been fun to have a company called Sprextel or Nint in the marketplace.

As I'm sure you're waiting with bated breath to see what the new logo will look like, here it is:

It's always interesting to look into the rationale for decisions around branding and positioning. What's that you say? Well, maybe not for you, but some of us are fascinated by such arcana.

Under the imposing subhead "The Sprint Master Brand," today's announcement reveals the following:

"Given its broad market awareness and its history of innovation, the Sprint name was chosen as the lead go-to-market brand name for the new company. Combining the rich attributes of the Sprint brand with the entrepreneurial, instant-communications traits represented by highlighting Nextel's presence in the product line offers strong positioning for the combined company."

The companies expect to complete their merger in the third quarter of 2005, pending regulatory and shareholder hurdles.

AB -- 6/23/05

I just received a report from ABI Research commenting on BT's launch of its "BT Fusion" Bluephone service today. ABI refers to the new business as a "bold move" but also warns that the initiative is not without its challenges.

BT's news release on the new service appeared today on TMCnet:

BT Launches World's First Combined Fixed and Mobile Phone

In the release, the selling points for BT Fusion seem to be cost savings and better indoor call quality. The service will involve installation of an access point (called BT Hub) in the home which should allow seamless transfer between mobile and Bluetooth access, even mid-call. The hub also works as a WiFi router for other devices in the home. BT says the service will start out with a small number of early-adopter subscribers then go into widespread rollout in September.

All-in-all, it seems that ABI thinks this is a good move for BT in that it gets the company back into the important mobile business and fits with their current "all IP" strategy.

Here are the challenges ABI sees for BT in this foray into the fixed-mobile space (I quote):

• The handoff between the mobile coverage and the home Bluetooth coverage will need to be seamless and reliable
• Bluetooth is in most mobile phones but BT needs to migrate to Wi-Fi for future economies of scale
• They need to build out a diverse range of handsets, but the market has fickle tastes
• The mobile operators will not be standing still. They will continue to improve coverage and intend to use 3G to reduce the underlying costs and increase the capacity of their networks. They could, and will, introduce home-zone tariffs centered on your current home (or office) location.

Here's a photo of the BT Fusion Motorola v560 handset:

And this is a photo of a BT customer blissfully enjoying his BT Fusion BT Hub:

AB -- 6/15/05

I was interested to see this news item today from Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor:

Telenor to Launch Unique Mobile Guide at Nobel Peace Centre

Telenor is one of the founding partners of the Nobel Peace Centre, scheduled to open June 11, 2005, in Oslo. Telenor is providing a service it calls "mGuide," which channels information to visitors at the Peace Centre via their mobile phones, automatically downloading the appropriate information to your cell phone when you are near an object in the center.

Here's how today's news release explains mGuide:

"mGuide is based on a new type of SIM card that has an in-built access to a local wireless network (WLAN). This enables supply of new location-based services with accuracy down to one metre. The Nobel Peace Centre is thus able to provide users with detailed information about every object they approach, as they move through the centre. mGuide will initially be used by the guides at the Nobel Peace Centre, but in time visitors will have direct access to the solution."

AB -- 6/7/05

Irish research firm Research and Markets says they have released a new report about the application of broadband over power lines (BPL) in Manassas, Virginia. BPL promises to deliver broadband access via existing power lines. The municipal utility in Manassas has advanced its pilot program into an early commercial offering.

In its news release today, Research and Markets describes the project as follows:

"Manassas missed its goal of having the entire city -- 12,500 homes and 2,500 businesses -- wired for BPL by mid-2004. Even so, without any advertising, BPL has attracted substantial interest: There are a few hundred users on the system and a backlog of 1,300 requests for service.

"Early adopters in Manassas say the system is easy to set up, reliable, and fast. Some customers are being won over from competing broadband Internet options, all of which carry higher prices. Download speeds are comparable to digital subscriber line (DSL) service, although not as fast as the peak speeds achieved over cable modem."

At first glance, you might think this is a great idea -- taking advantage of existing infrastructure ... a potential solution to the last-mile problem .... But when we published stories about this previously, I heard back from the American Radio Relay League, who raised some interesting objections. (See my blog entry "BPL a Danger to Amateur Radio?" from 12/23/04.)

Let me re-quote some of what Allen G. Pitts, media and public relations manager for ARRL, wrote to me at that time:

"ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio, has participated in testing in a number of the BPL marketing trials and has seen interference to radio reception in each of the sites their staff and volunteers have examined. In many cases, BPL proponents pronounce their marketing trials as being 'successful,' but to ARRL’s knowledge, no BPL trial has included a thorough examination of interference issues, so it is premature to pronounce these tests to be a success ....

"Simply put, there is no way that radio frequency signals are going to stay contained in a wire designed to carry normal electric power. It will radiate and pollute the radio spectrum. The FCC’s October 2004 Report & Order recognized this danger to communications and totally barred the BPL companies from using frequencies associated with aeronautics and other governmental agencies. Obviously, these concerns about interference and spectrum pollution were not seen as trivial or resolved by the FCC."

ARRL is quick to say that they are not opposed to BPL per se. Recently the ARRL did issue a release about a new BPL technology developed by Motorola "designed from the start with radio interference concerns in mind.":

Hams Encouraged by NEW Motorola BPL Technology

AB -- 5/27/05