Comments for The Viodi View http://viodi.com The Bridge Between the Heartland and Hollywood Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:16:06 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 Comment on Workshop Report: Clearwire on track with rollouts and app tools, but MSO partners struggle with Business Models by anonymous http://viodi.com/2010/03/05/workshop-report-clearwire-on-track-with-rollouts-and-app-tools-but-mso-partners-struggle-with-business-models/comment-page-1/#comment-27449 anonymous Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:16:06 +0000 http://viodi.com/?p=1737#comment-27449 Interesting that none of the CLEAR WiMAX service providers cared to comment on the commnets or the points made in this article. Interesting that none of the CLEAR WiMAX service providers cared to comment on the commnets or the points made in this article.

]]> Comment on Workshop Report: Clearwire on track with rollouts and app tools, but MSO partners struggle with Business Models by Alan Weissberger http://viodi.com/2010/03/05/workshop-report-clearwire-on-track-with-rollouts-and-app-tools-but-mso-partners-struggle-with-business-models/comment-page-1/#comment-27447 Alan Weissberger Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:23:13 +0000 http://viodi.com/?p=1737#comment-27447 Jack, that was a great comment! I will leave it up to Clearwire and their three MVNO partners (only Comcast and TW Cable participated in the referenced panel session) to describe the <strong>actual business opporunities for developers, </strong>which as you astutely point out, were not disclosed during this panel session.  Only (best effort) Internet access was talked about in the context of the cities and speeds that TW Cable and Comcast are now offering as CLEAR MVNOs.  Personally, I think  video surveillance, the topic of our ComSocSCV April meeting, will be a big beneficiary of mobile WiMAX if the operators properly promote it.  But that application was not discussed during this workshop. Alan Weissberger <a href="http://www.comsocscv.org" rel="nofollow">www.comsocscv.org</a> Jack, that was a great comment!
I will leave it up to Clearwire and their three MVNO partners (only Comcast and TW Cable participated in the referenced panel session) to describe the actual business opporunities for developers, which as you astutely point out, were not disclosed during this panel session.  Only (best effort) Internet access was talked about in the context of the cities and speeds that TW Cable and Comcast are now offering as CLEAR MVNOs. 

Personally, I think  video surveillance, the topic of our ComSocSCV April meeting, will be a big beneficiary of mobile WiMAX if the operators properly promote it.  But that application was not discussed during this workshop.

Alan Weissberger
http://www.comsocscv.org

]]> Comment on Workshop Report: Clearwire on track with rollouts and app tools, but MSO partners struggle with Business Models by Jack Reed http://viodi.com/2010/03/05/workshop-report-clearwire-on-track-with-rollouts-and-app-tools-but-mso-partners-struggle-with-business-models/comment-page-1/#comment-27446 Jack Reed Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:47:32 +0000 http://viodi.com/?p=1737#comment-27446 <strong>The 4G WiMAX Business Opportunity for Developers?</strong> This article doesn't state what <strong>actual business opporunities for developers </strong>were discussed or identified during the panel session where Clearwire, Comcast, TW Cable and Cisco partipated.  If there are no services other than best effort Internet, what are the business opportunities for application developers? Further, it doesn't seem like Clear or its three resellers/MVNOs (Sprint, Comcast, TW Cable) will financially benefit from Internet video or Location Identification (which Clearwire plans to make available for free).  Are they all facing disintermediation? There don't seem to be any revenue sharing business models (e.g. for eReader downloads, mobile banking, premium video, mobile advertising, etc) for any of these mobile WiMAX operators to make any additional revenue.  Even worse, if they subsidize WiMAX embedded netbooks or devices how will they get any ROI from offering only a monthly uncapped data subscription plan? Finally, the M2M apps (other than video surveillance) probably could get by with 2G and certainly don't need 6 or 7M bits/sec downstream and 1M bit/sec upstream.  So they are not likely to be a big revenue generator for WiMAX operators.  Then, what's left? The 4G WiMAX Business Opportunity for Developers?
This article doesn't state what actual business opporunities for developers were discussed or identified during the panel session where Clearwire, Comcast, TW Cable and Cisco partipated.  If there are no services other than best effort Internet, what are the business opportunities for application developers?
Further, it doesn't seem like Clear or its three resellers/MVNOs (Sprint, Comcast, TW Cable) will financially benefit from Internet video or Location Identification (which Clearwire plans to make available for free).  Are they all facing disintermediation?
There don't seem to be any revenue sharing business models (e.g. for eReader downloads, mobile banking, premium video, mobile advertising, etc) for any of these mobile WiMAX operators to make any additional revenue.  Even worse, if they subsidize WiMAX embedded netbooks or devices how will they get any ROI from offering only a monthly uncapped data subscription plan?
Finally, the M2M apps (other than video surveillance) probably could get by with 2G and certainly don't need 6 or 7M bits/sec downstream and 1M bit/sec upstream.  So they are not likely to be a big revenue generator for WiMAX operators.  Then, what's left?

]]> Comment on Workshop Report: Clearwire on track with rollouts and app tools, but MSO partners struggle with Business Models by Anonymous http://viodi.com/2010/03/05/workshop-report-clearwire-on-track-with-rollouts-and-app-tools-but-mso-partners-struggle-with-business-models/comment-page-1/#comment-27438 Anonymous Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:37:55 +0000 http://viodi.com/?p=1737#comment-27438 <strong>Will "4G" Mobile WiMAX be able to handle OTT Video?</strong> Based on this article, it's not likely there will be any premium video services delivered over mobile WiMAX anytime soon.  What about OTT (Internet) video? In a new report titled,  <span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>OTT Video: Service Providers Face a Gathering Storm,  </strong></span>Heavy reading states, "Service providers can leverage to manage this phenomenon – such as DPI (Deep Packet Inspection), policy, and local caching – and weighs the viability of some potential revenue-generating options for service providers. It also explores what other members of the value chain – including content owners, P2P enablers, and CDNs – are doing to reduce the network impact of online video." As AW correctly points out in his comment response above, the RF characteristics (signal strength, signal to noise ratio, etc) will varify depending on the user's location within a cell/sector.  But it will also varify widely while the user is in motion, e.g. in a train, bus or other vehicle.  Hence the OTT video frame rate, pixel size, and other video parameters must change accordingly to prevent video freezes, distorted video, and loss of lip synch.  Have the Mobile WiMAX service providers figured out how to do that?  If not, they won't be able to deliver a good quality video experience over their fat (but dumb) pipe. Heavy Reading:  "However, this (OTT) video content does travel over their networks, and its high-bandwidth, low-latency requirements, coupled with widespread usage, are causing significant problems for service providers. Broadband pipes are getting clogged, and service providers are having to develop new ways to manage the challenges posed by broadband video traffic. This problem is not going to go away: Even as service providers struggle to manage video traffic on their networks today, it is projected to increase exponentially over the next five years. Network operators will have to identify ways to either manage this traffic, or monetize it so that they can pay for continual network upgrades." Will Clearwire, Sprint, TW Cable, or Comcast be able to manage all the network traffic to prioritize OTT video over email and casual web surfing which don't require low latency and jitter controls?  We think Clearwire will have to take the lead on that, because the other WiMAX providers listed are reselling the CLEAR network.    And when will there be video players optimized for mobile WiMAX from Microsoft, Adobe, Real Networks, Apple, etc?   Will "4G" Mobile WiMAX be able to handle OTT Video?
Based on this article, it's not likely there will be any premium video services delivered over mobile WiMAX anytime soon.  What about OTT (Internet) video?
In a new report titled,  OTT Video: Service Providers Face a Gathering Storm,  Heavy reading states,
"Service providers can leverage to manage this phenomenon – such as DPI (Deep Packet Inspection), policy, and local caching – and weighs the viability of some potential revenue-generating options for service providers. It also explores what other members of the value chain – including content owners, P2P enablers, and CDNs – are doing to reduce the network impact of online video."
As AW correctly points out in his comment response above, the RF characteristics (signal strength, signal to noise ratio, etc) will varify depending on the user's location within a cell/sector.  But it will also varify widely while the user is in motion, e.g. in a train, bus or other vehicle.  Hence the OTT video frame rate, pixel size, and other video parameters must change accordingly to prevent video freezes, distorted video, and loss of lip synch.  Have the Mobile WiMAX service providers figured out how to do that?  If not, they won't be able to deliver a good quality video experience over their fat (but dumb) pipe.
Heavy Reading:  "However, this (OTT) video content does travel over their networks, and its high-bandwidth, low-latency requirements, coupled with widespread usage, are causing significant problems for service providers. Broadband pipes are getting clogged, and service providers are having to develop new ways to manage the challenges posed by broadband video traffic.

This problem is not going to go away: Even as service providers struggle to manage video traffic on their networks today, it is projected to increase exponentially over the next five years. Network operators will have to identify ways to either manage this traffic, or monetize it so that they can pay for continual network upgrades."
Will Clearwire, Sprint, TW Cable, or Comcast be able to manage all the network traffic to prioritize OTT video over email and casual web surfing which don't require low latency and jitter controls?  We think Clearwire will have to take the lead on that, because the other WiMAX providers listed are reselling the CLEAR network.    And when will there be video players optimized for mobile WiMAX from Microsoft, Adobe, Real Networks, Apple, etc?

 

]]> Comment on Workshop Report: Clearwire on track with rollouts and app tools, but MSO partners struggle with Business Models by Alan Weissberger http://viodi.com/2010/03/05/workshop-report-clearwire-on-track-with-rollouts-and-app-tools-but-mso-partners-struggle-with-business-models/comment-page-1/#comment-27437 Alan Weissberger Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:23:06 +0000 http://viodi.com/?p=1737#comment-27437 <strong>ADVANTAGE:  Clearwire </strong> Comment submitted anonymously to the IEEE ComSocSCV Discussion list (IEEE members- sign up instructions at www.comsocscv.org): The reality is that Clearwire is a tour de force with respect to wireless communication - it achieves five nines availability. It makes wireless communication appear to be a wire-line fat dumb pipe.  Furthermore it preserves the illusion through orders of magnitude growth. The illusion is created by adapting in real time to changing circumstances; the Clearwire network is definitely smart. The market advantage of five nines availability is that Clearwire, unlike most mobile communications, can be used for the most sensitive messages, including government, hospitals, banking, ..., etc.  Clearwire is a premium service which will command, in time, a premium price.  Clearwire VOIP  will be better than normal cellular service, provided one remains within the service area.   The QOS advantage of Clearwire over basic cellular service is partly dependent upon local weather. Central and southern California may not be Clearwire's best business opportunity.   The advantage of a fat dumb pipe is that it doesn't care whether the application is mobile to mobile, or consumer. Both will be found on Clearwire.  But, in order to preserve the bandwidth and QOS advantages, Clearwire will, in time, need to raise prices in order to reduce demand.  At that point, Clearwire will become the preferred network for advertisers to reach the most prosperous consumers.   The term "road warriors" is overly broad.  It includes, soccer moms, marching band moms, doctors, psychologists, and a whole host of people who are mobile, but not roadies or warriors in any real sense.  A more nuanced market segmentation scheme would be helpful.   Anonymous   <strong>AW Comment: </strong> I believe the commenter is referring to 5 nine's availability  and huge capacity of Clearwire's backhaul network (a bottleneck for most cellular carriers).     I don't believe QoS or even bandwidth is effected much by local weather.  Rather, I believe that received signal strength and other RF parameters vary widely within a cell or sector and are diminished towards as a subscriber moves toward the outer perimeter of the cell/sector or is indoors behind steel walls/ concrete.  That's why I believe the RF awareness capability will be so valuable for app developers- they can adjust the video or graphics quality to match existing RF parameters sensed by the receiver PHY layer. ADVANTAGE:  Clearwire

Comment submitted anonymously to the IEEE ComSocSCV Discussion list (IEEE members- sign up instructions at http://www.comsocscv.org):
The reality is that Clearwire is a tour de force with respect to wireless communication – it achieves five nines availability. It makes wireless communication appear to be a wire-line fat dumb pipe.  Furthermore it preserves the illusion through orders of magnitude growth. The illusion is created by adapting in real time to changing circumstances; the Clearwire network is definitely smart.
The market advantage of five nines availability is that Clearwire, unlike most mobile communications, can be used for the most sensitive messages, including government, hospitals, banking, …, etc.  Clearwire is a premium service which will command, in time, a premium price.  Clearwire VOIP  will be better than normal cellular service, provided one remains within the service area.
 
The QOS advantage of Clearwire over basic cellular service is partly dependent upon local weather. Central and southern California may not be Clearwire's best business opportunity.
 
The advantage of a fat dumb pipe is that it doesn't care whether the application is mobile to mobile, or consumer. Both will be found on Clearwire.  But, in order to preserve the bandwidth and QOS advantages, Clearwire will, in time, need to raise prices in order to reduce demand.  At that point, Clearwire will become the preferred network for advertisers to reach the most prosperous consumers.
 
The term "road warriors" is overly broad.  It includes, soccer moms, marching band moms, doctors, psychologists, and a whole host of people who are mobile, but not roadies or warriors in any real sense.  A more nuanced market
segmentation scheme would be helpful.
 
Anonymous
 
AW Comment:  I believe the commenter is referring to 5 nine's availability  and huge capacity of Clearwire's backhaul network (a bottleneck for most cellular carriers).  
 
I don't believe QoS or even bandwidth is effected much by local weather.  Rather, I believe that received signal strength and other RF parameters vary widely within a cell or sector and are diminished towards as a subscriber moves toward the outer perimeter of the cell/sector or is indoors behind steel walls/ concrete.  That's why I believe the RF awareness capability will be so valuable for app developers- they can adjust the video or graphics quality to match existing RF parameters sensed by the receiver PHY layer.

]]> Comment on Workshop Report: Clearwire on track with rollouts and app tools, but MSO partners struggle with Business Models by Alan Weissberger http://viodi.com/2010/03/05/workshop-report-clearwire-on-track-with-rollouts-and-app-tools-but-mso-partners-struggle-with-business-models/comment-page-1/#comment-27436 Alan Weissberger Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:08:43 +0000 http://viodi.com/?p=1737#comment-27436 Comcast's "Bolt on": High-Speed 2go for existing High-Speed Internet customers. I was unable to find the moniker "Bolt On" in any Comcast literature or web site.  More importantly, it's not apparent what "existing High-Speed Internet customers" means.  For example, if someone is NOT an existing Comcast high speed Internet customer (e.g. they have dial up or DSL Internet at home or no home Internet at all), can they buy Hi Speed 2 Go?  Will Comcast sell a  Nationwide 3G/4G Hi Speed 2 Go plan to a road warrior who is not domiciled in a city or geographical area that Comcast branded 4G Mobile WiMAX is available in?  For example, a business executive living in Silicon Valley (no 4G WiMAX available) who travels extensively to areas in the U.S. where Comcast offers 4G Mobile WIMax service. We were hoping to have either an email dialog or at least one phone conversation to clarify these (and other issues), but unfortunately Comcast's WiMAX team chose not to reply to my email requests. Comcast's "Bolt on": High-Speed 2go for existing High-Speed Internet customers.

I was unable to find the moniker "Bolt On" in any Comcast literature or web site.  More importantly, it's not apparent what "existing High-Speed Internet customers" means.  For example, if someone is NOT an existing Comcast high speed Internet customer (e.g. they have dial up or DSL Internet at home or no home Internet at all), can they buy Hi Speed 2 Go? 
Will Comcast sell a  Nationwide 3G/4G Hi Speed 2 Go plan to a road warrior who is not domiciled in a city or geographical area that Comcast branded 4G Mobile WiMAX is available in?  For example, a business executive living in Silicon Valley (no 4G WiMAX available) who travels extensively to areas in the U.S. where Comcast offers 4G Mobile WIMax service.
We were hoping to have either an email dialog or at least one phone conversation to clarify these (and other issues), but unfortunately Comcast's WiMAX team chose not to reply to my email requests.

]]> Comment on Workshop Report: Clearwire on track with rollouts and app tools, but MSO partners struggle with Business Models by Alan Weissberger http://viodi.com/2010/03/05/workshop-report-clearwire-on-track-with-rollouts-and-app-tools-but-mso-partners-struggle-with-business-models/comment-page-1/#comment-27435 Alan Weissberger Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:51:09 +0000 http://viodi.com/?p=1737#comment-27435 For the record, I've had only one phone conversation (Dec 1, 2009) with a Comcast rep regarding their plans for mobile WiMAX, but have never received any information (i.e. email or verbal)  from anyone at the company elaborating on their Hi Speed 2 Go program.   There were no replies to several emails sent thereafter, requesting clarification or comments, e.g. on what other analysts had written. Prior to the Dec 1, 2009 conversation, the following articles about mobile WiMAX in the U.S. were published that might be related to Comcast's mobile WiMAX plans: <span>-<strong>Assessment of Mobile WiMAX in the U.S.  (Comcast is not mentioned)</strong> </span> <a href="http://viodi.com/2009/12/01/assessment-of-mobile-wimax-in-the-u-s/" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0000bf">http://viodi.com/2009/12/01/assessment-of-mobile-wimax-in-the-u-s/</font></a>   <strong><font color="#0000bf">-Comcast to roll out WiMAX service</font> </strong>   <font color="#0000bf">http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/comcast-to-roll-out-wimax</font>   <font color="#0000bf"> </font> <span>-Femtocellls</span> <a href="http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/comcast-trialing-femtocells" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0000bf">http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/comcast-trialing-femtocells</font></a> <font color="#0000bf"> </font> <span>-Potential of Premium video content over WiMAX, e.g. Comcast on demand on line </span> <a href="http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/highlights-of-clearwires" rel="nofollow"><font color="#0000bf">http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/highlights-of-clearwires</font></a> <font color="#0000bf"> </font> For the record, I've had only one phone conversation (Dec 1, 2009) with a Comcast rep regarding their plans for mobile WiMAX, but have never received any information (i.e. email or verbal)  from anyone at the company elaborating on their Hi Speed 2 Go program.   There were no replies to several emails sent thereafter, requesting clarification or comments, e.g. on what other analysts had written.
Prior to the Dec 1, 2009 conversation, the following articles about mobile WiMAX in the U.S. were published that might be related to Comcast's mobile WiMAX plans:

-Assessment of Mobile WiMAX in the U.S.  (Comcast is not mentioned)

http://viodi.com/2009/12/01/assessment-of-mobile-wimax-in-the-u-s/
 
-Comcast to roll out WiMAX service

 
http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/comcast-to-roll-out-wimax
 
 
-Femtocellls
http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/comcast-trialing-femtocells
 
-Potential of Premium video content over WiMAX, e.g. Comcast on demand on line 
http://www.wimax360.com/profiles/blogs/highlights-of-clearwires
 

]]> Comment on Workshop Report: Clearwire on track with rollouts and app tools, but MSO partners struggle with Business Models by Ken Pyle http://viodi.com/2010/03/05/workshop-report-clearwire-on-track-with-rollouts-and-app-tools-but-mso-partners-struggle-with-business-models/comment-page-1/#comment-27434 Ken Pyle Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:02:02 +0000 http://viodi.com/?p=1737#comment-27434 <p>I have a couple of other questions that are probably just fodder for speculation at this point:</p> <p>- Will Comcast ever offer Fancast to people who don't subscribe to Comcast's cable or broadband services, say on a stand-alone basis or outside their footprint?  </p> <p>- Could a VoIP client be in development that would allow a Comcast voice customer to extend their landline Comcast landline phone over WiMAX at no extra cost?  That starts to become an interesting consumer value proposition.    </p> <p>Also, it is interesting, but I supposed expected,  to see where the current WiMAX coverage area is for developers here in Silicon Valley (slide 25 of the Clearwire presentation -</p> <p> <a href="http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/comsoc/Talk_021010_CLEARDeveloperOverview.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/comsoc/Talk_021010_CLEARDeveloperOverview.pdf</a></p> <p>The currents spots seem to be centered around Intel, Google and Facebook with Cupertino (Apple) in a future innovation coverage.  </p> I have a couple of other questions that are probably just fodder for speculation at this point:

- Will Comcast ever offer Fancast to people who don't subscribe to Comcast's cable or broadband services, say on a stand-alone basis or outside their footprint?  

- Could a VoIP client be in development that would allow a Comcast voice customer to extend their landline Comcast landline phone over WiMAX at no extra cost?  That starts to become an interesting consumer value proposition.    

Also, it is interesting, but I supposed expected,  to see where the current WiMAX coverage area is for developers here in Silicon Valley (slide 25 of the Clearwire presentation -

 http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/comsoc/Talk_021010_CLEARDeveloperOverview.pdf

The currents spots seem to be centered around Intel, Google and Facebook with Cupertino (Apple) in a future innovation coverage.  

]]> Comment on Workshop Report: Clearwire on track with rollouts and app tools, but MSO partners struggle with Business Models by Ken Pyle http://viodi.com/2010/03/05/workshop-report-clearwire-on-track-with-rollouts-and-app-tools-but-mso-partners-struggle-with-business-models/comment-page-1/#comment-27433 Ken Pyle Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:25:43 +0000 http://viodi.com/?p=1737#comment-27433 <p> </p> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; ">I have long known about Fancast in the abstract .  Surprisingly, as a Comcast customer, I never had a compelling reason to give it a try until yesterday for the purposes of this article.  I guess that's why they are rebranding to Xfinity.</span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><br /> </span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; ">This would seem to be the solution for Comcast's provision of video service over WiMAX.  In fact, I would imagine that the the "Connection Manager" that Katie Graham refers to in her presentation could be designed such that it would automatically authenticate the Comcast viewer to allow him to watch Fancast content every time he logged onto the network (I would think it would also be smart enough to rate adapt, based on the network).    </span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><br /> </span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; ">Maybe it would do one better and have a little video window or button that could be clicked and the Fancast guide and/or videos would automatically start playing without the subscriber having to open a browser.  It will really start to get interesting if Fancast starts to enable IP devices that connect to the TV to display its content. </span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><br /> </span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; ">Right now, there isn't much of a compelling reason to go to Fancast.  I have to remember my Comcast ID and password, which half the time I can't and I have to have Fancast at the top of mind (which it generally isn't). </span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><br /> </span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; ">In my opinion, this makes Fancast currently on somewhat equal to lower footing than Hulu, but, if Hulu goes subscription and Fancast continues to get more content, particularly content to which a subscriber already has rights (e.g HBO On Demand), then I could see where Fancast could be perceived as a better value for those who are not cordcutters (it really becomes another feature to make the cable service stickier).  </span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><br /> </span></div> <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; ">Adding in mobility and high speed Internet via WiMAX to Fancast is a feature that competes with DishTV's Sling feature.  The beauty of the Comcast/Fancast approach is that, unlike Sling, they don't need a device in the home to unicast it through their last mile cable network.  They just have to pull it from the cloud based on authentication.</span></div>  

I have long known about Fancast in the abstract .  Surprisingly, as a Comcast customer, I never had a compelling reason to give it a try until yesterday for the purposes of this article.  I guess that's why they are rebranding to Xfinity.

This would seem to be the solution for Comcast's provision of video service over WiMAX.  In fact, I would imagine that the the "Connection Manager" that Katie Graham refers to in her presentation could be designed such that it would automatically authenticate the Comcast viewer to allow him to watch Fancast content every time he logged onto the network (I would think it would also be smart enough to rate adapt, based on the network).    

Maybe it would do one better and have a little video window or button that could be clicked and the Fancast guide and/or videos would automatically start playing without the subscriber having to open a browser.  It will really start to get interesting if Fancast starts to enable IP devices that connect to the TV to display its content. 

Right now, there isn't much of a compelling reason to go to Fancast.  I have to remember my Comcast ID and password, which half the time I can't and I have to have Fancast at the top of mind (which it generally isn't). 

In my opinion, this makes Fancast currently on somewhat equal to lower footing than Hulu, but, if Hulu goes subscription and Fancast continues to get more content, particularly content to which a subscriber already has rights (e.g HBO On Demand), then I could see where Fancast could be perceived as a better value for those who are not cordcutters (it really becomes another feature to make the cable service stickier).  

Adding in mobility and high speed Internet via WiMAX to Fancast is a feature that competes with DishTV's Sling feature.  The beauty of the Comcast/Fancast approach is that, unlike Sling, they don't need a device in the home to unicast it through their last mile cable network.  They just have to pull it from the cloud based on authentication.
]]> Comment on Workshop Report: Clearwire on track with rollouts and app tools, but MSO partners struggle with Business Models by Ken Pyle http://viodi.com/2010/03/05/workshop-report-clearwire-on-track-with-rollouts-and-app-tools-but-mso-partners-struggle-with-business-models/comment-page-1/#comment-27430 Ken Pyle Sat, 06 Mar 2010 07:27:38 +0000 http://viodi.com/?p=1737#comment-27430 <p>Very comprehensive article, Alan, as usual.  The comment you make about retail is interesting, especially in the light of Walmart's recent purchase of VuDu.  Although probably unlikely, it wouldn't be a total surprise for a Walmart or some other brand to do something with WiMAX.  </p> <p>Check out this article from awhile back for more detail on what I am thinking:</p> <p><a href="http://www.viodi.com/newsletter/050201/article2.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.viodi.com/newsletter/050201/article2.htm</a></p> Very comprehensive article, Alan, as usual.  The comment you make about retail is interesting, especially in the light of Walmart's recent purchase of VuDu.  Although probably unlikely, it wouldn't be a total surprise for a Walmart or some other brand to do something with WiMAX.  

Check out this article from awhile back for more detail on what I am thinking:

http://www.viodi.com/newsletter/050201/article2.htm

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