It has been said before that there is no single “killer application” for broadband, but it is the collective power of all the broadband applications that become the killer application. For the last-mile service provider, this may mean multiple small revenue streams from multiple products, as opposed to just a one or two large revenue streams from one or two products. It also means service providers will have to continue to be both persistent and creative about improving operations and reducing costs while continuing to find new ways to improve their offerings.
A Lifeline Video Service
For years distributors of video programming have been squeezed by rising programming costs on one side and consumers’ ability to pay for those ever-increasing costs. Services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime have filled the void for some consumers looking for lower-cost alternatives. In this interview, Jerry Weber, VP of Network Design of FARR Technologies, discusses an alternative that some of his clients are deploying whereby they provide a skinny package of local broadcast, off-air combined with over-the-top service.
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An Alternative to Title II Regulation
“Anything that goes on the DOCSIS network is now subject to, in our opinion, regulation from the government,” argues Mark Guerrazzi, Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Adara Technologies. Guerrazzi refers to Title II regulations (i.e. net neutrality rules) that the FCC had just approved prior to the filming of our interview. The scenario Guerrazzi describes is one where the Internet would essentially serve as a transport for a cable television-delivered signal. In such a way, an operator might be able to negotiate deals with content providers that might be impossible under “net neutrality” rules.
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Highlights of 2015 TiECon Part II – Cloud Track by Alan Weissberger
This second article on this year’s TiECon conference focuses on selected presentations and panel sessions from the Cloud track. That track covered planning, operational challenges of cloud infrastructure, business and technical challenges of migrating services to the cloud, and the still problematic state of cloud security (which is badly lagging the advances in compute, storage and even networking).
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Highlights of 2015 TiECon Part III – IoT Track by Alan Weissberger
This is the third and final article on this year’s TiECon conference. It covers the Internet of Things (IoT) track with emphasis on Cisco’s closing Keynote presentation. For years, the biggest issues for IoT have been worries about security and privacy. Despite lots of hype, there is no definitive set of standards and connectivity options for various IoT industry verticals.
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A Critical Part of People’s Lives
“The smart home and bringing that technology to be a permanent part of people’s lives is a hot topic,” according to Stuart Sikes, president of Parks Associates. Sikes was referring to the popularity of this year’s CONNECTIONS™ Conference and how the technologies surrounding the smart home are starting to move into the mainstream.
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Using Big Data to Drive Customer Satisfaction by Kshitij Kumar
Telcos have access to a gold mine of customer data. Whenever a customer interacts with the operator’s website, whenever they use any self-service options, or even when they call in to talk to a live operator – there is data that is generated that holds a lot of value for the telecommunications provider.
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Plug-In, No More
One of the takeaways of being a beta-tester of a plug-in hybrid car a few years ago was that it would become somewhat annoying to plug-in a car every night. The marginal savings due to reduced gas consumption probably wouldn’t have been enough long-term incentive for me to make sure my car was “plugged in” every night. Not charging may be OK with a hybrid, but it just doesn’t work with a pure electric car.
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The Korner – Affordable Vehicle On Demand
“I got frustrated seeing all of this wealth pouring out of this country,” said Paul Elio founder and CEO of Elio Motors. Elio was referring to need he saw in 2008 for a more fuel-efficient, affordable vehicle. As reported in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, unlike Telsa’s Elon Musk, Elio is not a billionaire with deep pockets to fund such a huge undertaking of creating a startup automobile company.
Like Musk, he has created an extremely energy-efficient vehicle (84 MPG highway/49 MPG city). unlike the Tesla, this vehicle, with its list price of $6,800, targets a broader market. He is also adopting a business model that, if successful, will help drive out costs, compared to the incumbents.
For operators, this sort of vehicle could be an economical and distinctive addition to a fleet. Elio’s vehicle won’t be for everyone, but it could fulfill a niche and be one of many such approaches of offering innovative mobility solutions that have the collective effect of overturning the auto industry status quo.
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