The current Fox-Cablevision dispute may signify when things start to change in terms of the retransmission consent/must-carry rules, so said Matt Polka of the American Cable Association at MTA’s Video Peer Group meeting in Nisswa, MN. Retransmission legislation was a driver in the birth of the American Cable Association some 18 years ago. He pointed out that this high-profile dispute has wide-ranging consequences and could affect the Comcast-NBC merger as well as be a catalyst that determines whether the broadband content market moves to a wholesale model. Stay tuned for the ViodiTV interview with Mr. Polka for his insight on these matters.
ITU-R Progresses LTE Advanced and WiMax 2.0 as 4G RAN standards by Alan Weissberger
Did you think the version of LTE being deployed this year and next (3GPP Release-8) and Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005) were 4G technologies? They’re actually both 3G technologies which are included in ITU-R M.1457-9 Detailed specifications of the terrestrial radio interfaces of International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000).
In reality, it’s the ITU-R’s IMT Advanced family of recommendations that will actually specify 4G radio access technologies. Click here to read the rest of Weissberger’s article.
Ethernet Mobile Backhaul Equipment Predicted to Spike in 2010 and Continue Growing (Infonetics and ABI Research) by Alan Weissberger
Mobile backhaul refers to the link(s) between the base station and the network carrier point of presence (POP). This can include a variety of Radio Access Networks (RANs), microwave, fiber or even bonded copper subnetworks. With bandwidth increasing exponentially to support many more mobile users and mobile broadband apps, the need for carriers to invest in backhaul infrastructure has to be balanced against the very small or even negligible revenue growth from all subscribers (voice and data). Click here to read how these challenges will be drivers for expansive growth of Ethernet mobile backhaul.
GigE, LTE and Ala Carte – Elements of a New Rural Vermont Telecom Network
No one technology will solve the challenges of bringing affordable broadband to rural areas. In this video interview, Dr. J. Michele Guite of Vermont Telephone discusses their efforts to combine LTE wireless technology with GigE fiber backbones to connect 114k rural Vermont households to the Internet at broadband speeds. This interview took place at the 2010 Broadband Properties Summit, several months before the approval of Vermont Telephone’s ARRA application. Click here to view the video.
Note: Viodi will be working with the folks at Broadband Properties to bring local content and ViodiTV to their April 2011 Broadband Summit – Stay Tuned.
A Honeymoon Period for Brands on Facebook
Although it states the obvious, an AdWeek article about the results of a recent survey of Facebook users has some good pearls of wisdom for independent communications companies wanting to create a fan base via Facebook.
The people most likely to be supporters of a Facebook brand site are those people who already like and/or use a product. Getting people to a Facebook site is important, but to engage them one has to make them feel important. Click here to read the rest of the article.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts:
- Congrats to John McHugh of OPASTCO for inclusion with this esteemed group of technology leaders advising the FCC
- iPhone Precursor? Verizon Wireless Offers iPad On 10/28 – WIll Verizon also offer a VoIP app for the iPad
The Korner – Motion Pictures at 4G World by Roger Bindl
The last half of the 1800s brought pictures “to life” with the zoopraxiscope, kinetoscope, and the vitascope. These were the early days of moving pictures and Cinematographe.
The “Wheel of Life” Zoopraxiscope
PD Image from Wikipedia – view synchronization by Roger
Although simple and presumably unrelated, the photo flip book below made me realize how life haschanged and how amazing 4G really is. The booklet is a promotional item (look closely to see promotion text for Lotus), but it made me think. In the late 1800s, moving pictures and telephones were amazing, but they aren’t anymore. The how, where, and when we talk or watch moving pictures today is amazing.
Photo Flip Book
I spent an afternoon at 4G World this week – about 120 years after a web of iron wires spread across the world and a time when vitascope wouldn’t remind you of a mouthwash. I saw a light in WALL-E’s eyes that could send millions of moving pictures for a mile or more. I recalled that the distant past was but a year or so ago and they called it 3G. It was fast, but not fast enough nor far enough. And the, “Can you hear me now,” guy was replaced with a 4G test box (JDSU) that plots a map to where the box “heard me now”.
WALL-E’s eyes were optical transceivers made by SkyFiber that use infrared light to send and receive 1Gbps of data through the air for over 1 miles. These are light waves that don’t require licensing as it would with radio frequencies, and wouldn’t you know it, Alexander Graham Bell created the Photophone in 1880, so the concept has been around for a while.
Jeffrey Powers, geekazine.com, and WALL-E like eyes
Click here to read the rest of Roger’s post about 4G World and wireless broadband means big changes to the way we live.
