Maybe it was the look of confusion as I stumbled across him while fumbling for my smart phone to find the just-in-time directions for my next move. Having earlier struck up a brief conversation about only one airline serving the regional airport, it was probably obvious to this stranger that I didn’t have a clue about how I was going to execute my next step. After hesitating for a moment, I said yes to his offer to give me a ride to my hotel; a hotel which I discovered was some 30 miles from this rural airport….Go to the Korner, below, to read the rest of the story.
Lots of Possibilities With the Right Mindset
Mindset change, new business opportunities and cybersecurity are three terms that describe some of the highlights of last week’s 2015 IP Possibilities conference and trade show. The sessions were terrific and the exhibit floor featured some interesting innovations, but the best part of the show, was the interaction with innovators from around the country. In the near-future, we will point readers to a series of Viodi-produced videos about the event, but, in the meantime,
Click here for written highlights.
The Road to FTTH Success Begins With….
Even before the first fiber is pulled and equipment selected, the road to Fiber to the Home success begins with cost accounting. In the above interview, filmed at the 2015 Minnesota Telecom Alliance Annual Conference and Convention, Darrell Bolen, Director, Separations of FARR Technologies, points to the important interplay that needs to take place between the accounting, engineering and regulatory disciplines to optimize the network design.
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The Burden of Uncertainty
“There are really significant burdens of which we are uncertain and that uncertainty, as always, leads to concern about how you invest capital and how you grow,” said Bob Gessner, president of MCTV and Chairman of the ACA. Gessner was referring to the impact of Title II rules on operators’ investment in broadband (the LA Times reinforces the idea that these rules have created uncertainty in this article). As he pointed out in his opening comments at the 2015 ACA Summit, broadband is the future for ACA members.
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53 Areas of Harm?
With Comcast backing away from its merger with Time-Warner, this interview with Jeff Blum of Dish Network at the ACA Summit last month was prescient. Now, with the Comcast/Time-Warner in the rearview mirror, will the DirecTV takeover by AT&T move to the front burner for groups that were opposed to the Comcast/Time-Warner deal? What will be next for Time-Warner, Comcast, Charter, Liberty Global given this new reality? Lots of questions.
Click here to here to see what Jeff Blum said about the proposed merger.
Detroit or Silicon Valley?
Connecting vehicles to each other, to infrastructure, to other modes of transport and even pedestrians will be increasingly important, as in the future, traffic will include a mix of human and self-driving vehicles. There may not be consensus on when autonomous vehicles will be commonplace on the roads and highways of America, but one thing all experts can agree on is that testing, testing and more testing will be required.
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Some Tweets and Short Thoughts:
- Will automating features in cars make us even more inattentive drivers? These studies hope to find out.
- CS&L has officially been spun-off from Windstream as a Real Estate Investment Trust. Look for them to be calling on independent operators to add to the 64k miles of fiber and other assets that they will lease back to telecom companies. It will be interesting to see how this impacts investment in infrastructure in rural America.
- As the popularity of connecting TVs directly to the Internet increase and people cut the cord the need for advertisers to easily target messages cross-platform and to very localized groups will be increasingly important and this is the direction things are headed.
- @NineStarConnect Hoosiers in Guatemala helping build infrastructure. How cool is that!
- Time for Congress to Reform Cable TV Laws | Commentary – Beltway Insiders
The Korner – Don’t Accept Rides with Strangers – Except in America’s Heartland
Taking a page from the 80s and the introduction of just-in-time manufacturing, I often apply this principle to travel. That’s really another way of saying I am not as diligent about mapping out or paying attention to every detail of travel as I should. The plus side to this is it sometimes leads to unexpected adventures and discoveries. Fortunately, there always seems to be a guardian angel that swoops in to help me.
Having earlier struck up a brief conversation, it was probably obvious to the stranger who was educating me on the local geography that I didn’t have a clue about how I was going to execute my next step. After hesitating for a moment, I said yes to his offer to give me a ride to my hotel. As we walked to his car, the thought did go through my mind that this could end up like a bad horror movie on late night TV.
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