IPTV Takes Off at Internet Speed

To date, the “I” in Internet Protocol Television has been about the protocol. If the 2010 TelcoTV Conference is an indication, IPTV may have caught up with the rapid pace of change associated with the Internet. Based on the demonstrations on the TelcoTV tradeshow floor, 2010 may be the year that IPTV finally goes from a “me-too” offering to one where innovation becomes its trademark.  Click here to read more.  

Insight on the NBP

The National Broadband Plan was the topic of a panel led by Carol Wilson at TelcoTV 2010. Catherine Moyer, OPASTCO Chairperson, contributed insightful comments to that panel on the regulatory and financial impacts of the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. In case you missed her at last week’s event, watch this interview with Moyer from OPASTCO's 2010 Summer Convention to get an idea of some of the challenges regarding the National Broadband Plan.  Click here to view.

FCC’s Multiple Front Offensive to Solve Wireless Backhaul Demands by Robert D. Primosch, Esq.

According to a recent report published by Cisco, online video now accounts for more than 25% of all broadband traffic. In all likelihood that number will only go up, straining the capacity of existing backhaul alternatives. The FCC thus is taking steps to position fixed wireless as a meaningful option for high-capacity backhaul in areas where fiber might not be cost-effective.  Click here to read more.  

LTE Market Forecasts Up as Operators Announce Deployment Plans by Alan Weissberger

There's no doubt that LTE (3GPP Release-8) is gaining traction among many wireless network operators.  Two market research firms increased their LTE forecasts this week, while U.S. Cellular announced its LTE roll out plans.  This December, Telia Sonera will turn on LTE data service in Finland, while NTT DoComo will make its LTE data service available in Japan.  Finally, we report on a new Base Station System on a Chip (SoC) that could significantly reduce the cost and upgrades for LTE infrastructure equipment.  Click here to read the rest of the article as well the many comments from readers.  

Early Stage Startups Get Wings from TiE Angels Highlights of Nov 15th Meeting by Alan Weissberger

With venture capital and private equity firms concentrating their investments on existing portfolio companies and unwilling to invest small amounts of seed capital, where does an emerging start-up company look for funding? Where can they express their value proposition to a serious group of individual investors? The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) has a solution. Created in July 2010 as a platform for angel investors to work together to evalutate entrepreneurial companies, the TiE Angels aim to provide a structure, process and discipline for angel investing, as well as to benefit from the collective wisdom of other angel investors. TiE Angels is not a venture fund, an investment bank, a broker/dealer, investment clearing-house, or an Investment advisor, but rather a forum in which investors may be educated on aspects of investment and business, as well as be introduced to companies for possible investment.  Click here to read more.  

Looking for Cool Stuff at CES!

Cool new gizmos and gadgets are always one of the attractions about CES. We are looking for gadgets and other interesting things that will affect the delivery of video over broadband and will be discussing whether these developments hurt or help the traditional ways of distributing video.

We will have a diverse panel of experts who will be adding insight at this preview of things that will be important at CES 2011.

This is an official call for suppliers of cool gadgets to reach out to us to see how you might participate in what promises to be a fun and interactive panel.  Click here to learn more.

ViodiTV – Preparing for 2011 Broadband Properties Summit – Advertisement

ViodiTV will be on the Hotel TV channel again at the Broadband Properties 2011 Summit. Check out this video for highlights from last year, what to expect in 2011, and to consider sponsorships. Ken and Roger will produce daily show coverage and interviews for a daily TV program, and for streaming on Viodi.tv and bbpmag.com after the summit. Contact Viodi or Diane O'Keefe at BBP for some very unique sponsorship opportunities.  Click here to view.

Some Tweets and Short Thoughts

• Good idea from the FCC – “If you’re in an emergency and want to text for help you can pretty much text anyone EXCEPT 9-1-1” The Next-Generation: 
• Holiday Inn exceeds RF leakage levels – $112k (potential fines, if not fixed) reasons for deploying Fiber to the Room 
• Why projections for 3DTV are probably right – Viewsonic's $179 3D Camcorders and Picture Frames

The Korner – That's the Ticket

Overnight successes rarely live up to that description. So many times in the technology world, someone will have a good idea, everyone starts talking about the possibilities of this greatest next big thing, and suddenly the hot air of hype is everywhere. Then the pinprick of inertia deflates the balloon of over-inflated expectations and yesterday’s great idea becomes another technology also-ran. In the meantime, companies and people continue to work on the original concept, ecosystems are born, business models are changed and the idea from so many years’ past becomes a reality and an “instant hit”.

The overnight success feeling is what I had when I stopped by the ETI Software Solutions' booth at TelcoTV 2010. Pete Pifer , the founder and CEO, had shared with me his idea of TV Ticket® some years back. He envisioned a world of pre-paid video and the advantages that a prepaid model would bring to both consumers and operators. Pifer, being a pragmatic entrepreneur, is not one to hype his ideas, so he continued to improve the idea and perfect it until the market was ready.

One of the keys for his idea to work was all-digital implementations of video networks. With IPTV and widespread implementation of digital RF, the patented TV Ticket pre-paid solution became ready for primetime. The advantages of a prepaid video service made sense, as it would open up the market to people with no or poor credit, provide a way for people to obfuscate their identity when purchasing certain type of programming and allow gifting of service from one person to another.

What I did not get, when Pete explained his idea to me so many years ago, were the various ways his invention could serve as a promotional tool. Lo and behold, ETI Software Solutions was using TV Ticket to promote TV Ticket at their TelcoTV 2010 booth and thoughts of using this as a promotional vehicle became obvious. In this brief video, Frank Gine, ETI Software EVP, explains what I could not envision when TV Ticket was just a mere idea.  Click here to view.

[Note, the above video is not of the same quality as when my video partner, Roger Bindl, is with me.  I missed Roger at this event!]

Thank you for reading, viewing and your great feedback!  Happy Thanksgiving!