It is easy to miss something through the sea of trade show booths at the massive confab known as CES. Fortunately, Viodi has been reaching out to suppliers, filtering through press releases and working with a group of panelists to identify some cool gadgets and gizmos at this annual event. It is an honor to serve as moderator at the Broadband Unlimited Conference [LVCC North Hall – January 5th], where we will discuss a few of these offerings and their impact on broadband and video distribution.
Click here to see some of the things that caught my eye as I prepared for the craziness of CES.
On Thursday January 6th, we will be producing ViodiTV in conjunction with Parks Associates at their event at CES.
Faster Innovation of ServiceAn example of the quality of the Parks Conferences and the speakers can be seen in the following interview with Joseph Ambeault of Verizon. Verizon will be making a pretty big splash at this year’s CES with their widely reported offerings that make for a smarter, better connected home. Watch our video interview to see the unique way Verizon has created a culture of innovation.
Invisible Network ManagementAndy Melder of Gigle Networks talks about the importance of having network intelligence at the device level to make network management invisible to the end user at the June 2010, Parks Associates Connections Conference. Gigle Networks made the news last week, as Broadcom completed its previously announced acquisition of this chip maker which has technology that allows data transmission over power-line, phone-line or coaxial cable. Click here to watch the video.
Will 2011 Be the Year of Fiber to the Building?
Stimulated by predictions of exponential Internet traffic growth and advances in DWDM/ fiber optic technology, the dot com and telecom bubble years of 1998-2001 were marked by waves of optical network start-up companies that were very well funded by VCs and Angel Investors. Many of those companies were focused on Metro Optical network access, assuming that incumbent telcos and CLECs would build out their fiber plant all the way to the business customer premises- typically terminated in the basement of an office building in a densely populated metropolitan area. Needless to say, that didn't happen and almost all of those start-ups went out of business. Click here to read the rest of Alan's analysis on the prospects for Fiber to the Building in 2011.
Telco Spending Up Modestly in 2011; LTE Revenues >$200B by 2015
New market research reports from Infonetics and Juniper Research are summarized in this article which also looks at the critical issues to transform LTE Capex into revenue for telcos. After a second straight year of decline, Infonetics Research predicts telecom carrier capital spending (CAPEX) to be up a modest 1.6% next year. In its just released updated report on Service Provider Capex, Opex, ARPU, and Subscribers, Infonetics analyzes telco capex, operational expenses (opex), revenue per user and subscriber trends by operator, operator-type, region, and telecom equipment segment. Click here to read more.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts
- ILEC Anxieties Outweigh Stimulus – an article I researched and Fred Dawson greatly improved for his publication, ScreenPlays Magazine.
- The Dangers of COICA – This bill is worth a closer look
- An ad for a TV antenna suggesting "No Monthly Fees" made me realize that most people under 30 don't know anything other than subscription TV.
- Ironic that I am watching CSPAN coverage of FCC Net Neutrality rules via the Internet – couldn't find TV remote.
- QuicKino -Commercials over-ride volume controls. Will the FCC try to regulate this based on the new TV commercial law?
The Korner – Net Neutrality Ruling – A Slippery Path to Internet Video Regulation?
The above comment regarding the loudness of streaming video commercials versus the actual program content triggered the thought that the FCC might eventually use the new law of television commercial loudness to regulate Internet video. These sort of thoughts about the FCC over-reaching their authority have been on my mind since listening to the CSPAN coverage of last month's FCC meeting on that topic.
One question that I had coming out of that meeting was whether the justification of Title VI as a way to protect internet video providers from being discriminated against by MVPDs also be used as a basis for regulating those very same internet video providers? I asked for and received some interesting feedback on my question.
As part of the article where I asked this question, I reference an earlier article about the possibility of regulation of Internet video. In that article I reference the case of Charlotte Ross and her famous NYPD scene and the subsequent obscenity fine levied by the FCC on ABC. Coincidentally, the 2nd Court of Appeals, just vacated the FCC's decision; essentially telling the FCC they had over-reached. And, here I thought all of the recent web hits of that article were due to the provocate image of Charlotte Ross in my articles.
