Engineering Considerations for Pleasing the Picky Business Services Customer

Laura Hamilton

Laura Hamilton

Jones-NCTI University ProgramVoice and data services to business customers continue to offer a hefty revenue opportunity for cable operators, but those juicy prospects come with their own special set of engineering challenges. The small- and medium-business (SMB) space has long been underserved by other telecom players and is a sweet spot for cable ops. But no matter their size, these kinds of subscribers are tough customers. They demand a completely bulletproof, stellar quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE), and they want it backed up with concrete service level agreements (SLAs).

After all, many of these SMBs depend completely on their voice and data services to ensure they really get their business done every day. So, while there’s not denying that cable ops are expanding into this market from their residential base, this is not residential service. If you think your residential customers are unforgiving, then imagine what a small business sub would be like if his voice or data went down for several hours.

Miranda iControl

Reaching Out to Businesses

But the bottom line is that MSOs currently have solid networks in place to supply a huge variety of business customers with a wide range of quality voice and data services. They’re sitting right along cable’s networks, and perhaps the best proof that cable understands the vast potentials of its networking prowess to serve SMBs comes from recent reports that it plans to beef up its workforce to reach out particularly to those customers.

Take some of the latest word from Comcast CFO Michael J. Angelakis at a Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom conference earlier this month wherein he said the op could hire 500 people this year in business services (according to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer). Angelakis said the new hires would mostly take aim at companies that have about 20 employees. “There’s [also] a very large market with some real pent-up demand, with real need for high-bandwidth, really good services, and that’s in the zero-to-a-couple-hundred employee companies,” he said at the confab.

Of course, making those kinds of proclamations to the financial community generally means you had better have the engineering muscle to back it up. The good news for Comcast, and really, cable operators in general, is that doesn’t look like a problem.

The Cable Show, Los Angeles, CA

Robust Systems

John Dahlquist, vice president of marketing at Aurora Networks (www.aurora.com) is quick to point out to BGR that cable operators already have robust networks in place to support a vast array of commercial services to companies of many sizes. “With the right solutions in place, such as GEPON and RFoG for fiber infrastructure or fiber deep and digital return for increasing bandwidth, cable operators can offer affordable yet very high speeds to businesses through networks that provide reliable and scalable services,” he says.

“Cable operators don’t need to build, maintain and manage separate networks or multiple platforms and backoffice software to deliver commercial services. Cable operators can have the greatest impact by providing reliable, advanced commercial services at competitive prices. They can do that best by utilizing the network resources they already have in place.”

Dahlquist explains that this not only minimizes the cost to deploy, but also reduces the time to deploy given that so much of the needed solution is already in place today.

Also calling out cable’s unique current positioning in the business services arena is Rafael Fonseca, VP of systems engineering and technical marketing, at Cedar Point Communications (www.cedarpointcom.com) in a recent conversation with BGR. As cable converges its networking capabilities with IP technology and builds further on its capabilities of a single network for all services, it leverages its technical advantages against competitors from both an OPEX and CAPEX standpoint, he says. Add in the converging nature of backoffice technologies, and cable gains even more distinctive advantages, he believes.

Keeping Costs Down

In the end, SMBs – and companies of any size for that matter – progressively want more bandwidth, but they increasingly demand it at a lower cost. So a key factor in all this for any cable operator is going to be providing that while keeping its own operating expenses down as well.

“If cable operators can keep their operating costs low, they can pass any savings on to the customer,” Aurora’s Dahlquist points out. “Reducing OPEX and gaining greater efficiencies within the network also frees up cable operator resources for other services or areas of operations that can benefit customers.”

Dahlquist puts it simply when he says that cable operators can win commercial customers with services that are robust, reliable and competitive with similar services offered by competitors. He believes that inherently, by eliminating amplifiers from the network, cable operators are driving fiber deeper, ultimately passing more potential commercial customers. This increases the commercial footprint that can be served from their residential network, providing a lower capital cost for signing up a new commercial customer, he concludes.

“As cable operators study how they can evolve their networks for the delivery of commercial services, they can look to cut costs and improve efficiency, such as eliminating amplifiers in the network,” Dahlquist adds. “And by reducing active network elements, cable operators minimize plant maintenance and gain significant savings with a reduction in network power costs.”

And of course, those savings can be passed on to the business customer, who’ll be very happy to take those dollars, thank you very much.

Stress Tests

An obvious gorilla in the room you need to immediately address when talking about business services involves resiliency and redundancy in the cable network. “Businesses generate revenue by having services up all the time,” Cedar Point’s Fonseca stresses. “Outages translate directly to their bottom line.”

To that end, Fonseca describes an interesting point that some operators may not think of when first addressing any one particular SMB, and the unforeseen stresses that customer could ultimately place on the cable system. That is, at certain times, there could be a significant increase in network traffic based on the type of business being served. The operator must engineer its business services with the reality in mind that it could be serving a subscriber that has exploding voice and data needs around a particular time of year or a particular event – say Mother’s Day or the holiday season, for example.

Those kinds of issues are the reason that all the different entities within a cable op must be in alignment before it gets its feet wet in business services, points out Cedar Point Director of Marketing Jim Gayton. So, sales, marketing and training all need to work together closely from Day 1 to anticipate these potential problems and prepare for them before they’re experienced by the customer.

By many accounts, U.S. MSOs are making all the right moves to attract more and more small- and medium-sized business customers, and that could ultimately lead to even bigger commercial customers. In fact, a good indicator of all these kind of potentials is perhaps just over the Atlantic. Cedar Point’s Fonseca recently sat on a panel at the Cable Congress in Brussels, and reports that during that session, Virgin Media said it was getting around 10% of its total business from commercial customers. The opportunities behind those kind of numbers certainly has to appeal to U.S. operators, which already have powerful networks in place to reach a large mass of currently underserved business customers.

Laura Hamilton is editor-in-chief at BGR. Email her at laura.hamilton@comcast.net.

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Taking a World View

Tim Hermes, BGR CEO

Tim Hermes, BGR CEO

Can it be True? Well, can it?

A press release hit my in-box March 1 where UK-based STB provider PACE announced it was now the second largest set-top provider in the world. Wow. I woulda never guessed it because in my usual way of thinking, if its not used primarily in a US system it must be, well, riding the bench for a reason. Oh, how wrong I can be. It’s interesting to see PACE do so well and I am happy for them. Knowing many of the PACE US guys I can tell you no group of employees works harder, so I am sure that is reflected across the pond.

Which leads me to the bigger point. When it comes to US cable TV, what I see in systems is pretty much red-white-and-blue. I think its cool that our industry seems to conscientiously go “America First” when it comes to buying gear for their systems. Certainly, if you look at BGR’s ad roster, nearly all of our sponsors are American companies.

But it also tells me how myopic we can be. The world doesn’t end at the US borders. In fact I was pleasantly reminded of that this week at the SCTE’s Canadian Summit when I saw some great technology from up North and met the technologists and engineers that created it. (Side note: The Canadians are THE nicest people on earth.)

The bottom line? Its a big world, Sparky. PACE has looked beyond our borders for their growth. They’ve done some nifty maneuvering and partnering here in the states to develop a solid revenue stream, and developed technology operators abroad want. My take-away from this little lesson? There’s still a big piece of the pie out there for US vendors. There’s only 300 million or so Americans. But there are BILLIONS of people on this rock we share.

And many of them have cable.

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SCTE Engineering Professional Program Certifies First Individuals

Jason Byrd of Suddenlink and Randy Dart of Charter are the first individuals to certify in SCTE’s (www.scte.org) Engineering Professional programs. Byrd is the first to earn the SCTE Internet Protocol Engineering Professional (IPEP) certification. Dart is the first to earn the SCTE Digital Video Engineering Professional (DVEP) certification.

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Incognito Adds to Global Sales Team

Incognito Software (www.incognito.com) added Roy Kraft and Hector Villalvazo to its global sales team. Kraft joins the company as the sales director, North America East while Villalvazo joins as pre-sales manager for Mexico, Caribbean and Central America. In other appointment news, Incognito also named Patrick Kinnerk as product manager.

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SCTE in Search for CTO

SCTE (www.scte.org) has created an opening for a chief technology officer, and has instituted a search process to identify potential candidates for the position. The CTO, who will report directly to SCTE President/CEO Mark Dzuban, will be responsible for driving technical leadership and innovation that can help the cable industry achieve several critical goals: Further honing the skills of the industry’s field engineers; maximizing value and return from current cable network architectures; and helping to develop the standards that will be critical to operators and programmers as they deploy next-generation services.

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Tuomi Joins Aurora as VP of WW Sales

Pirjo Tuomi

Pirjo Tuomi

Pirjo Tuomi joined Aurora Networks (www.aurora.com) as vice president of worldwide sales. Tuomi, who has 20 years experience working with telecom and cable equipment companies around the world including Vello Systems, BigBand Networks and Nortel, will lead Aurora Networks’ global sales efforts.

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MTV Networks Int’l Orders Miranda Viewers

Miranda Technologies (www.miranda.com) reports that MTV Networks International, Amsterdam (MTVNI Amsterdam) has ordered two Kaleido-X multi-viewers and an NVISION 8576 enterprise class router for a system expansion, which will allow playout of up to 75 channels from July 2010.

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Bejing Gehua Picks BigBand Edge QAM

Beijing Gehua Cable TV Network (Gehua Cable) picked BigBand’s (www.bigbandnetworks.com) edge QAM BEQ platform to deliver its new interactive HDTV and broadband internet services. Gehua Cable operates the broadcasting and cable TV network as well as reception and transmission of broadcasting and cable TV programs within the Beijing municipal area. The large-scale cable network covers all 18 districts and transmits more than 100 channels to 3.2 million people.

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Alcatel-Lucent Selected by ZON Multimedia

Alcatel-Lucent (www.alcatel-lucent.com) was selected by ZON Multimedia in Portugal, to supply the active equipments necessary for the deployment of a GPON-based FTTH architecture that will support the delivery of a range of services such as advanced high-definition television (HDTV) services, VoIP and VOD. ZON Multimedia will leverage Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON platform in new expansion areas and in a network development environment where HFC/FTTH technologies coexist.

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Cablevision Announces New PC to TV Media Relay

Cablevision announced the development of a new PC to TV Media Relay, which reportedly will allow digital cable subs to relay whatever information or images currently appear on their computer screen to their TV in real-time, without any additional equipment in the home. The MSO describes it this way: “This innovative service will allow Cablevision customers, with the press of a button, to transfer anything available for display on their PC, whether the information is stored on their PC, transferred from a drive or accessible on the Web, to the television for viewing on a dedicated channel that is accessible only by that customer.” The op says it plans to begin a technical trial of PC to TV Media Relay for the PC by June 2010.

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Comcast Releases Updated iPhone App

Comcast iPhone Application Screen Shot

Comcast's New iPhone App

Comcast released a new version of its Comcast Mobile application, which now includes a remote DVR programming service (rDVR) that is being rolled out across the country. With the Comcast Mobile app 2.0, subs can program their DVR “at any time, from anywhere.” Comcast Mobile, the free downloadable app now available for the iPhone or iPod touch, serves as a single access point to some of Comcast’s most popular services including Comcast.net email; visual voice mail, which enables customers to view and select which voice mail messages they want to hear; address book sync; real-time TV listings and trailers of on-demand movies.

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Product News for March 4, 2010

Innovation Showcase a Centerpiece at Canadian Summit

SCTE (www.scte.org) will host its first Innovation Showcase March 9 in conjunction with its Canadian Summit in Toronto. The following vendors will participate in the inaugural Showcase:

  • Aurora NetworksARRIS (www.arrisi.com) will show its Moxi whole home media solution featuring the Moxi HD DVR, Moxi Mate multi-room players and Moxi Portal, and will showcase the ability to time- and place-shift digital content throughout the home
  • Kindsight (www.kindsight.net) will demonstrate how its paid and no-cost/ad-funded services can provide identity theft protection for broadband subscribers and a revenue opportunity for operators
  • Motorola (www.motorola.com) will demonstrate how its solutions enable the delivery of personal media experiences
  • Sandvine (www.sandvine.com) will show how its latest technology can help service providers deliver transparent differentiated usage management policies to their customers
  • Vecima (www.vecima.com) will showcase how its Terrace MDU gateway reclaims analog bandwidth to the outer edge of the cable network, including MDUs and household service groups, and enables the transition to all-digital operation

Miranda iControl

ARRIS Completes Testing of Digital Ad Splicing

Arris LogoARRIS (www.arrisi.com) announced that it completed interoperability testing for the EGT VIPr ad splicing solution with its ConvergeMedia SkyVision digital advertising system, as well as with other ad system suppliers. According to ARRIS, these interoperability tests validate that the EGT VIPr ad splicer supports cable operator dynamic ad insertion in full compliance with the SCTE 30 and 35 specifications.

In addition to ad splicing capabilities, the EGT VIPr can rate-shape the video traffic while maintaining the highest video quality through a unique, patent-pending, encoding capability called “Intelligent Recode.” This feature provides full program decode and re-encode, closed loop Statistical Multiplexing, SD and HD programming.

Current rate-shapers typically have limitations on the amount of bit rate reduction before causing video degradation. The EGT VIPr is said to not suffer from such high bit-rate video limitations. It reportedly can routinely process high bit-rate video while preserving the best possible video quality for both the program content and the actual ads being spliced.

SCTE Canadian Summit 2010

Clearfield Gets Clear on Fiber Protection

Clearfield ProductsClearfield (www.clearfieldconnection.com) recently rolled out its Clearview xPAK cassette. xPAK unfolds to a flat, single piece element in which all required components for fiber protection are integrated.

“When landing small port count fiber, we went back to the field and asked broadband service providers what they needed,” Johnny Hill, Clearfield’s COO says. “They told us they had the highest standards for fiber protection and reliability – but deployment needed to be fast, intuitive, small count and small form factor. And the product needed to be so inexpensive, that techs could conveniently keep small lot counts in their trucks and deploy as service calls were scheduled.”

“We get into a lot of buildings that were built more than 100 years ago, and the communications space inside those buildings is a premium,” explains Alan Shaw of Time Warner Cable’s Business Class team. “As we bring business class services to these tight spaces, Clearfield’s xPAK design delivers the functionality we need.”

The Cable Show, Los Angeles, CA

Infinera to Show Off New ATN Metro Platform

Infinera ATN Metro PlatformInfinera (www.infinera.com) will showcase its new ATN metro edge platform at the SCTE (www.scte.org) Canadian Summit in Toronto. The ATN platform is designed to interwork with Infinera’s DTN platform to provide point-and-click services across a cable network.

The Infinera DTN is a digital ROADM based on large-scale photonic integration. With the new ATN platform, Infinera says it offers an end-to-end solution providing scalable optical transport from the metro edge through regional networks and across the national backbone. The ATN has been deployed by service providers in the U.S. and Europe, including one of the top five U.S. cable operators. Infinera also reports that the DTN is already widely deployed by MSOs, including all of the top five U.S. cable operators.

The Infinera ATN will be on display at the Canadian confab, along with a 3D interactive virtual screen that will allow visitors to view the Infinera platforms from any angle and “fly” inside the system to explore the components and product architecture.

The Cable Show, Los Angeles, CA

Antronix Rolls Out MoCA Product Family

Antronix Product ImageAt the SCTE (www.scte.org) Canadian Summit, Antronix (www.antronix.net) will showcase a new line of products specifically designed to address applications in the MoCA pass band from 1,125 to 1,525 MHz. All enable the deployment of services over a MoCA compliant backbone, while maintaining performance in the legacy band.

Three MoCA product lines will be on display:

  • Blocking filters – Installed at the point of entry, these devices are designed to keep MoCA signals within the residence. They offer the dual benefit of minimizing MoCA signals from appearing on the outside plant while preventing interference between homes that employ MoCA technology. Constructed with a solid brass, nickel-plated housing, the unit is suitable for outdoor installations.
  • Splitters – Included is a full line of splitters, optimized for use in the MoCA band from 1,125 to 1,525 MHz, while continuing to provide excellent performance in the legacy band. All offer 6 kV surge protection and SCTE compliant F ports.
  • Residential amplifiers – A feature selectable family of amplifiers geared to address end user topologies and applications. Available configurations include internal isolation filters, triplexers for MoCA signal bypassing and forward and return gain selections. An all ports down housing reportedly allows for ease of installation.

In related news, Antronix also announced two new VoIP residential amplifiers: the VRA50, a five-port device featuring a passive VoIP port and four amplified output ports with unity gain in the forward direction and passive return; and the VRA900, a nine-port device featuring a passive VoIP port and eight amplified output ports with unity gain in the forward and return directions.

Both offer a passive VoIP port providing for reliable service, even when power to the amplifier is disrupted, according to the company. These amplifiers employ the Antronix patented CamPort auto seizing F-port, ensuring maximum contact area and reliability for multimedia applications. The all ports down configuration allows for ease of installation in a NID enclosure.

Jones/NCTI Takes Aim at Contact Center Profitability with New Tool

Jones NCTI LogoJones/NCTI (www.jonesncti.com) unveiled the LogiCALL Smart Path, a decision tree methodology screen guide that directs contact center agents through a series of questions and answers, enabling them to resolve customer inquiries and issues in a more effective and timely manner.

Accessed through an agent’s desktop, Jones NCTI says the LogiCALL Smart Path provides the tools necessary to enable agents to make better real-time decisions in resolving problems, while standardizing and ensuring accurate resolutions across the organization. It eliminates the time and expense of incorrect diagnoses and miscommunications while reducing the length of call times by keeping the call more focused, the company reports.

In addition, Smart Path’s administration screen allows company administrators to create and edit text, modify fonts, insert links and manage processes, including billing, sales and troubleshooting flows. It also can integrate with other applications currently used by employees.

Features include:

  • Session ID: Captures the slides viewed by an agent on each call
  • History Navigation: Displays each slide viewed during the current session
  • Information Aids: Presents agents with easy access to documents and other helpful resources
  • Session Notes: Provides agents the ability to record information about a specific session

BigBand Outlines Centralized IP Video

BigBand Networks (www.bigbandnetworks.com) says it will discuss the cable’s evolution to a centralized IP video delivery system where video is video, regardless of its destination and can be delivered seamlessly to multiple platforms at the SCTE (www.scte.org) Canadian Summit 2010, March 9-10, 2010, in Toronto.

As part of the company’s participation, Jay Chambers, principal engineer for BigBand Networks, will present his paper, Challenges in Migrating Cable Networks to IPTV, during the session, IPTV—Enabling Next-Gen Service Delivery on March 10. Chambers will discuss the evolution of today’s networks into a centralized IP video delivery system and dig into specific technologies that are needed today to help bridge the migration to full IP networks using DOCSIS 3.0. He will also consider a variety of technical considerations including platform selection, bandwidth availability, edge QAM technology, in-home equipment strategy, personalization and implementation.

EBIF-Enabled TV Caller ID Application is Ready for Commercial Launch by Ops Using HITS AxIS

HITS Axis LogoMediaFriends (www.mediafriendsinc.com) and HITS announced that an EBIF-enabled MediaFriends’ TV Caller ID application is now available for commercial launch by cable systems using the HITS Advanced Interactive Services (AxIS) product suite to offer ITV applications. The HITS AxIS centralized service model supports the development, launch and operation of interactive applications using the enhanced TV (ETV) and Tru2way architectures and provides cable operators, programmers and application developers an efficient and cost-effective entry into the ITV market.

MediaFriends’ TV Caller ID is an EBIF-enabled ITV application that delivers personalized caller ID notifications with on-screen call logs to multiple TVs in a home and is fully controlled by the user. MediaFriends enables users to personalize caller ID notifications with nicknames and send them to multiple TVs and PCs in the home. HITS is also working with MediaFriends on field-testing their EBIF-enabled Social TV application – MediaFriends Chat.

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V+V+D =$

Tim Hermes, BGR CEO

Tim Hermes, BGR CEO

There’s gotta be a formula. Somewhere some big-brain types are hunched over statistical software crunching numbers on the Big Question – and one that I, frankly, probably have wrong.

If I understand correctly cable operators get their revenue in two key ways – subscriber revenue through monthly service fees, and local and online ad revenue (my provider does an excellent job on their portal and is my default page for news, information and all things Britney – and I often click on the Expedia ads to see the latest $100 flights).

The big question? Which of the triple play services has the highest profit margin. Not top-line, as I am sure video has that because of tiered sales and ad revenue. I’m talking pure margin percentage – costs vs. revenue. Voice? Video? Or data? Here at the Hermes Compound, we have triple play from one of the Big Boys. And a glance at my latest bill shows an even split between TV and voice of about $62 and about 20 bucks higher split for internet, however we have two modems serving the office and the outside Man-Cave my son has dubbed “the Fort,” so internet is really about 20 bills less.

So…where’s the highest margin? While I doubt an op will come right out and say it, I am going with Internet service. Hey, the net is free. People want speed, and are willing to pay for it. Opening the pipe up can’t be too hard if you have the right gear for it, and as long as the coax in the home is sound and delivering. Now the downside of course is the back-end support help but with practically every state-level university cranking out IT grads like a 1920’s Henry Ford assembly line, my guess is that the average age – and salary – of the local cable troubleshooter answering the phone once you go through the 30 prompts is probably one-sixth their IQ. These are smart kids, and every time I have had an issue they have gotten to the bottom of it. And if not, the outsourced Indian contingent can usually nail it.

Now phone? Basically the same thing. However it seems phone problems require more truck rolls and aren’t as often serviced over the phone but in person. That’s gotta add up in man-hours, insurance, overtime, fleet upkeep. But the add-on features – call waiting, caller ID, additional lines, enhanced voice mail…all set up at the touch of a button also create a recurring line item on the invoice. And while I still can’t figure out how to delete a voice mail without listening all the way through the call, I’m pretty happy with my voice service too and will keep using it.

So where are the bucks being made? Which of the Triple Play is really “Triple Pay?”

The answer is, probably, all three. The guys running these systems are uber-smart for the most part and had this knocked years ago. Me? I’m just barely keeping up. But it’s fun to think about,. And for the record? I’m guessing “internet.”

Tim Hermes is CEO at Broadband Gear Report. Email him at timhermes@comcast.net.

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Editor’s Letter – The Big Gig

Laura Hamilton

Laura Hamilton

Jones-NCTI University ProgramGoogle certainly got the buzz machine humming a couple weeks ago with its announcement that it plans to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States. As you’ve no doubt heard, the company says it plans to deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, FTTH connections.

“We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people,” Minnie Ingersoll and James Kelly, Google product managers, posted in a blog.

What that competitive price ends up being obviously remains to be seen. Sure, downloading a high-def, full-length feature film in less than five minutes or watching a 3D video of a university lecture would be very cool, but what will subscribers in the real world, beyond trials, actually pay on a regular basis to do that? While Google was careful to stress that what it wants to do is “experiment” and “trial,” it’s hard to imagine other service providers quickly jumping on any kind of ultra high-speed bandwagon if consumers don’t show a willingness to open their wallets to ensure a solid ROI.

Triveni Guide Builder Mobile

Subs invariably want faster and faster speeds. But paying for that is sometimes another matter. One way of gauging this is to check out the blogosphere right after a major rollout by a cable op of DOCSIS 3.0. Often, bloggers will wax poetic about the new wideband speeds they’re being offered, but many will complain openly about the additional price tag.

But pricing issues aside, Google’s plan to test new ways to build fiber networks is going to be fascinating to watch. And the lessons learned will be a great benefit to cable operators — who’ll most certainly be at the forefront when the real-world ultra high-speed evolution ensues.

Laura Hamilton is editor-in-chief at BGR. Email her at laura.hamilton@comcast.net.

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Consumers Name Cost as Major High-Speed Data Hurdle

Cost is the major barrier that is keeping people who haven’t already taken up high-speed data services from doing so, according to recent data from the FCC (www.fcc.gov). The Commission just released the results of a national random survey it conducted of adults in October and November 2009 to assess attitudes toward broadband. The survey found that 35% of adult Americans do not have high-speed Internet connections at home — or approximately 80 million adults and 13 million children over the age of five.

Miranda iControl

More than a third — 36 percent of non-adopters, or 28 million adults — said they do not have home broadband because they feel the monthly fee is too expensive (15%), they cannot afford a computer, the installation fee is too high (10%), or they do not want to enter into a long-term service contract (9%).

The FCC survey also indicated that digital literacy problems as well as some people’s belief that high-speed data services lacked relevance to their lives were major stumbling blocks to high-speed data adoption.

SCTE Canada Show

NCTA (www.ncta.com) President and CEO Kyle McSlarrow responded to the FCC’s “Broadband Adoption and Use in America” survey results by pointing out that major cable operators recently proposed an “Adoption Plus” broadband program targeted at millions of middle-school students from low-income families that would combine discounted service and equipment with digital literacy training. “We are committed to working with the FCC and other stakeholders on ‘A+’ or other similar programs that attack the key barriers to broadband adoption, and support efforts in Congress by Sen. Rockefeller and Reps. Markey and Matsui to increase broadband adoption among low-income families,” McSlarrow said in a statement.

The FCC released the survey results as a lead-up to its planned delivery of a National Broadband Plan to Congress on March 17.

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Cable Show Engineering Preview

Network architecture, operational efficiencies and advanced hardware and software services will take center stage at this year’s 2010 Spring Technical Forum, co-hosted by SCTE (www.scte.org), CableLabs (www.cablelabs.com) and NCTA (www.ncta.com). The confab – which includes SCTE’s Conference on Emerging Technologies and NCTA’s annual Technical Papers program – will take place during the Cable Show 2010, May 11-13 in Los Angeles.

The Cable Show, Los Angeles, CA

Nearly 30 authors will present the highlights of their technical papers in one of the following sessions:

  • Bit Players: Data, Software and the Cable Evolution
  • Generation Next: Inventing the Access Networks of Tomorrow
  • An Education in EBIF: Advancing Cable’s ITV Foundation
  • Cloudy, With a Chance of Breakthrough: New Models for IP Service Delivery
  • Quest for Quality: Optimization Approaches for the Digital Era
  • Depth Perceptions: Technical Approaches for 3D Video Integration
  • Capacity for Change: Capacity Expansion in Theory and in Practice

The multi-day conference will feature a series of panels including a strategic view of cable’s technology future from the industry’s chief technical leadership; practical approaches to improved energy efficiency and cost savings associated with alternative energies and best practices; and a customized view of the entire cable technology ecosystem geared for the local West Coast engineering community.

For more info, visit www.thecableshow.com.

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3DTV and Me (and you, and whoever else has it)

Tim Hermes, BGR CEO

Tim Hermes, BGR CEO

Car keys. That’s what I think about when I think of 3DTV.

Go with me on this.

I can NEVER find my car keys (or phone, or wallet, or sunglasses) when i need them. It’s a source of constant embarrassment for me. How can a silly little piece of metal ruin my day so often? Doesn’t matter…it does. And when it does, it can really stink. And I can’t help but think about car keys when I think about the hoopla around 3DTV. 3DTV is going to happen – and pretty quick. As soon as the compression issues get smoothed out (no pun intended) the STBs can handle it, and the bandwidth gets cranked up to accept 1080p60, then I’m sure the trials will start to roll. And Quixel says a solid majority of cable consumers wants 3D channels through their systems. Me too, if…

…I can find my 3D glasses.

Imagine it’s 2012. You’re a family of four and you’re ready to watch Avatar 2 in 3D on pay-per-view through your local provider. Now the popcorn is ready, everyone’s in their favorite seat, and you realize you are missing a pair of 3D glasses so only three of the four of you can see the 3D . Where can you get more? Will your provider be mailing you an extra pair or two every month with your invoice, that you carefully nest in a drawer by the phone next to the magnets for the vet and the Chinese menus? Will the 7-11 around the corner have them on sale for $.99/each?

Here’s the thing…if my entire “viewing group” can’t get the whole 3D experience because we are missing a pair of 3D glasses probably made for eleven cents in China, I can pretty much guarantee we’ll rent a different 2D movie everyone can enjoy. And the way my household misplaces things like hats, gloves, remotes, and offspring, losing a pair or two of 3D glasses can easily mean us putting “Pirates of the Caribbean 8 – Return to Cleveland” into the DVD player. This could really be a big deal-breaker for a lot of consumers. So full-time 3D channels, that bank on ad revenue or premium -tier revenue need to start thinking this through – will the “aftermarket” take care of this – like so many companies have done capitalizing on the iPhone accessory craze? Doubtful. This is a commodity buy…but the bottom line is that until this very-real issue gets resolved so the system is delivering the gear – both for the TV and for your eyes – 3DTV will still be a few years away.

Tim Hermes is CEO at Broadband Gear Report. Email him at timhermes@comcast.net.

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Product News: February 18th, 2010

CableLabs and Canoe Complete New EBIF Spec

Canoe VenturesCableLabs (www.cablelabs.com) and Canoe Ventures (www.canoe-ventures.com) completed the latest EBIF spec. This new version (I06) features functionality developed to meet competitive interactive television market requirements and will widen the range of EBIF-enhanced programming, advertising and applications.

In related news, Canoe and CableLabs announced a partnership between Canoe Ventures’ new Innovation Lab and CableLabs’ AdLab, as part of their ongoing collaboration to support the development and Aurora Networksdeployment of new advanced advertising technologies and services.

The first test of the new environment will prototype and evaluate the technologies required for an end-to-endinfrastructure based on SCTE 130 standards. This prototype-only environment was developed with the participation of Cisco, OpenTV, Ericsson, Motorola and This Technology, LLC. Canoe and CableLabs plan to work with other SCTE 130, OpenCable and EBIF-compliant technology and service providers for additional testing and prototyping projects moving forward.

The SCTE 130 standard is a multipart specification that defines how advertising-placement servers (ad decisions systems or ADS) communicate with video-delivery equipment (ad managers or ADM). It supports a unified platform for dynamic, addressable, and interactive ad insertion, while merging inventory metadata (placement opportunity information or POIS), content metadata (CIS), and subscriber metadata (SIS). Canoe and CableLabs are creating an environment emulating a Canoe hosted national network ADS capable of interacting with distributed MSO SCTE 130-compliant systems. CableLabs and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers hosted an interoperability event at CableLabs’ headquarters November 9-13, 2009 to focus on SCTE 130. It was the industry’s largest and most comprehensive Advanced Advertising Interop to date, with 24 companies participating.

Vecima Networks

Mixed Signals Shows Off Loudness Capabilities

Mixed SignalsMixed Signals (www.mixedsignals.com) demonstrated the advanced audio monitoring capabilities of its Sentry digital content monitoring solution at the recent CableLabs (www.cablelabs.com) Winter Meeting. Mixed Signals reports that it worked closely with major TV leaders to create its audio monitoring solution, which enables ops to identify loudness issues in programming and commercials, giving them the information necessary to fix volume changes that occur during channel changes and when commercials run.

The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act has already been approved by the House of Representatives and is now with the Senate, where passage is expected. Unless the industry can implement a viable solution for addressing loud commercials, it is feared that Congress will task the FCC with specifying a solution that operators must adopt regardless of cost or complexity.

Mixed Signals reports that it has upgraded Sentry specifically for monitoring audio level issues in the multichannel cable environment. Complementing its existing ability to continually monitor hundreds of channels simultaneously, Sentry now supports the ITU-R BS.1770 audio specification for monitoring program loudness. Developed by the ITU, the BS.1770 specification is shortly expected to be adopted by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) here in the U.S., which in turn will lead to its use by broadcasters and then cable and other multichannel video service providers. Mixed Signals reports that operators already using Sentrys can easily add support for BS.1770 via a software upgrade.

Megger

BigBand Goes Big on IP Video Delivery at CableLabs Confab

Among BigBand Networks’ (www.bigbandnet.com) demonstrations at the recent CableLabs (www.cablelabs.com) Winter Conference in Denver were the following:

  • Delivery of IP video to multiple screen and devices leveraging existing network infrastructure
  • CVEx Converged Video Exchange — a software control plane that reportedly helps ops deliver both RF and IP-based video services across the network edge
  • vIP PASS — a video solution designed to help ops capitalize on existing infrastructure with a delivery of video services to a range of IP devices via DOCSIS 3.0 modems
  • QAM innovation that reportedly solves bandwidth needs at the edge of the network and integrates with video delivery platforms:
  • The company’s universal edge QAM platform, which includes BigBand’s double density BEQ6200 8:1 QAM and BEQ6000 QAM

Ericsson Combines Optical Transport and Packet Technology

Ericsson (www.ericsson.com) announced the newest member of its OMS 1400 family, the OMS 1460, which is said to enable operators to evolve their current TDM networks to high capacity and low-cost packet-based networks and is specifically optimized for the metro packet transport.

Ericsson says that the business reality for many operators is related to the fact that the growth of high-speed packet-based services is coming during a time when revenues are not increasing at the same rate. So they strive to cultivate the efficiency of each network layer in order to minimize costs. For this reason, and to be more in-tune with the new IP services, there is a general migration to packet-based networking.

For its own migration, the transport network welcomes new functionality such as the transport profile of MPLS and Ethernet ring protection, while other technologies like WDM, ROADM and OTN play an important role in ensuring ever increasingly more cost-effective, high bandwidth networking. All features mentioned here appear as modular options on the OMS 1460. The company reports that the OMS 1460 will be commercially available within a year.

SCTE Canadian Summit 2010

Rovi, FourthWall Collaborate on Enhanced TV

FourthWall Media (www.fourthwallmedia.tv) and Rovi (www.rovicorp.com) signed an agreement to offer an Enhanced Television (ETV) solution to many of Rovi’s Interactive Program Guide customers throughout North and South America. In 2010, Rovi will offer an integrated ETV Platform, including FourthWall Media’s EBIF User Agent, ETV Server, and TV Widgets as part of Rovi’s guide solutions.

Under the agreement, Rovi will make available seamlessly through its guides an initial set of pre-integrated TV Widgets from FourthWall. These include eBay on TV, Yellow Pages on TV, News, Weather, and numerous Sports widgets for nearly every major league, team and college. Each TV Widget can be hyper-personalized turning the television into an interactive, tailored experience for the viewer. In addition, the integrated solution will enable service providers to launch new EBIF applications developed by third-parties.

The Cable Show, Los Angeles, CA

Active Broadband Displays App Based on D3 IP Detail Records

Active Broadband Networks (www.a-bb.net) recently demonstrated what the company calls “the first DOCSIS 3.0 IPDR collector and the first application using the new DOCSIS 3.0 IPDR capabilities,” the Subscriber Experience Manager.

Active Broadband Networks demonstrated a beta version of the Active Resource Manager Subscriber Experience Manager at the CableLabs (www.cablelabs.com) Winter Conference held earlier this month in Denver. The Subscriber Experience Manager is said to leverage new information provided by IPDR to profile network conditions and subscriber usage identifying periods where subscriber experience is impacted. The Subscriber Experience Manager then computes experience in the form of bandwidth supplied, demand served and interface delay. The solution reportedly offers increased visibility into the impact of network congestion to manage customer satisfaction and network capacity.

Active Broadband Networks is also announcing the availability of Active Resource Manager Release 4.2. This release is said to add new business intelligence style dashboards and reporting, a Web services interface with more than 60 queries that can be used to integrate accurate IPDR information with existing operational applications and updated system management capabilities including a new Command Line Interface.

DVEO Ships New MPEG-2 to H.264 Transcoders

DVEO (www.dveo.com) is shipping three new Linux-based MPEG-2 to H 264 transcoders. The MPEG Gearbox is the company’s new family of Linux-based MPEG-2 to H 264 transcoders or MPEG-2 to MPEG-2 scalers for the IPTV and cable industries.

Three systems are available: ASI to IP, ASI to ASI, and IP to IP. Each system transcodes one HD (720p) stream or two SD streams into H.264 and outputs the streams over ASI or IP. The MPEG Gearbox ASI/IP can also receive 1 to 4+ MPEG-2 channels and output them to a dedicated IP network as MPEG-2 streams. Audio support is MPEG and AAC (MPEG-4).


Motorola Ventures participated in financing for Zenverge (www.zenverge.com). The financing will support production of a family of single-chip media ICs based on the Zenverge Entertainment Nexus (ZEN), a new architecture for digital HD convergence.

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Cable Hall of Fame Class of 2010 Announced

The Cable Center (www.cablecenter.org) announced the members of the Cable Hall of Fame Class of 2010. The six honorees will be inducted during the annual Cable Hall of Fame Celebration, held in conjunction with Cable Connection – Spring in Los Angeles, May 11-14.

The new inductees are:

  • Yolanda G. Barco, former Vice President and Executive Officer, Meadville Master Antenna Inc.
  • Allen Ecker, Executive Vice President of Scientific-Atlanta, Retired
  • Terence F. McGuirk, Chairman and CEO, Atlanta Braves
  • Marc B. Nathanson, Chairman, Mapleton Investments
  • Abbe Raven, President and CEO, A&E Television Networks
  • JR Shaw, Executive Chair, Shaw Communications

According to the Cable Center, the honorees were chosen based on their dedication to and impact on the cable industry and their communities. The 2010 Cable Hall of Fame selection committee was chaired by Michael Willner, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Insight Communications, chairman of The Cable Center’s board, and a 2008 Cable Hall of Fame inductee. Since 1998, 78 men and women have been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame.

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Switzer to Deliver Keynote at 2010 SCTE Canadian Summit

Israel “Sruki” Switzer will deliver the keynote address at the upcoming SCTE Canadian Summit 2010. The Summit is slated for March 9-10 in Toronto at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Switzer’s keynote speech, sponsored by Fujitsu, will kick off the Summit the morning of March 9. For more info, visit www.scte.org/content/index.cfm?pID=1647.

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