“Déjà vu’ all over again”, as Yogi Berra reportedly once said, is the term that describes today’s popular news events. The stagnant economy and, more importantly, consumer confidence seem reminiscence of the 70s. There is a definite tension in the air as we are waiting for the affects of the government spending to kick-in and wondering if the result will be stable growth, high inflation or, that ugly 70s term, stagflation.

Government spending in the form of the stimulus was the topic of many of the conversations and panels at the IP Possibilities Conference last month in San Diego. There was talk of the broadband stimulus being the first part of a national broadband strategy (see this link to Bennet & Bennet for a good summary), whereby every American has to have access to broadband capability, that will culminate in a plan that FCC must deliver to Congress by February 17, 2010 (ironic date, given it will be exactly one year after the delayed DTV transition date).

Looking Down Under to Stay on Top of Broadband

In this video, Steve Klein of ViodiTV sponsor Allied Telesis discusses the role of technologies such as IP and Fiber to the Home in the context of an overall national broadband plan. His comments about Australia and their plan to bring fiber everywhere are esepecially interesting.Click hereto watch the video.

A New Way at Looking at Over the Top at IP Possibilities

A big question in any discussion of broadband policy is the role of the service providers; the folks who are investing large sums on the last mile infrastructure. The question is often posed as to whether the service providers will end up being dumb pipes or something much bigger. In this video, Andrew Randall of ViodiTV sponsor Metaswitch provides a nuanced view of how independent telcos can approach applications that could be considered friend or foe, depending upon one’s viewpoint.  Clic here to watch the video.

Open Standards Smart Grid via WiMAX by Alan Weissberger

San Francisco start up software company Grid Net, is using WiMAX technology in its wireless smart meter instrument. The meter, being built by GE, uses Intel’s WiMAX chip and Grid Net software. It is said to be one of the first truly "open-standards" based approaches to building a meter. Click here to read more.

50K WiMAX Subscribers Today – > 13 Million By 2013 by Alan Weissberger

The Economic Times of India reports that Tata Communications (TCL) has signed up 50,000 subscribers for its fixed WiMAX service. TCL, earlier known as VSNL, had received WiMax spectrum in the 3.3 GHz band under its Internet Service Provider (ISP) licence with the Indian government.   Other Indian network operators- Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Sify and Reliance Communications – also own spectrum in this band.  Click here to read more.

New Apps and Smart Phones to Drive Demand for 4G Mobile Networks by Alan Weissberger

We now believe that smart phones and "all-in-one" gadgets will drive the need for more bandwidth and QOS and accelerate mobile network movement to 3.5G (EVDO, HSPA, mobile WiMAX, etc) and 4G (LTE and Advanced WiMAX- IEEE 802.16m).  Click here to read more.

Brief Kudos & Upcoming Events

• DSL Prime – Congratulations Dave Burstein and Jenny Bourne of DSL Prime/DOCSIS Report/Fiber News on the look of their new web site. Bursteing brings an insightful view and valued information in his newsletters and web site.
• Entone – Congratulations to Steve McKay and the folks at long time Viodi View sponsor Entone for their deal with Vudu. I had the pleasure of speaking at Entone’s User Group meeting last year and came away impressed with the organization.
• Nokeena for making their public announcement about their streaming solution that could change the economics of content delivery networks and have a big impact in rural and less served areas.
• Verismo Networks – Congratulations on the launch of their VuNow Internet TV platform with Act Television in Bangalore.

• Mobile Broadband Ecosystem in Pacific Rim – Hear from speakers from companies such as AT&T, China Mobile and NTT – Saturday May 3oth
• Parks Associates Connections Conference June 2nd to 4, Santa Clara– Independent telcos visit the excellent Parks Associates Connections Conference the first week in June.  Roger and I will be there – more details to follow.  

The Korner – More than Possibilities at IP Possibilities

With the stress of the economy and the general pressure created by our 24 hour a day, social network connected society, it is sometimes difficult to step back and, at least for me, take a moment to look at the beauty that is in our midst. The IP Possibilities Conference was a blur and I certainly didn’t take in the scenery and the cool outdoor sea breezes as much as I would have liked.

Thus, I found this video from Roger Bindl to be refreshing, as he captures, not only highlights of the conference, but some of the ambience that helped make it an enjoyable experience. Roger has become quite skilled at turning what could be a boring talking head experience and turning it a rich media production with effects and images that add value to the speakers’ words. Click here to watch his summary video of this very important conference regarding IP and broadband.  Click here to watch the video.