Indie Telco Local Content Workshop Information
Quick Jump Menu to this Issue’s Articles November 11th, 2004 Overview TelcoTV or Matchmaking? December and January Conventions
TelcoTV or Matchmaking?
by Ken Pyle ([email protected]), Viodi, LLC
November 30, 2004 Issue
The TelcoTV experience was summed it up best by a person from a telco who suggested that in earlier shows Telcos were trying to figure out how to deliver video, but now they were seeking out advanced applications to add to their multi-service networks. This particular person used his company as an example describing how they launched a year ago, have added 1,800 video subscribers and have a two week waiting period for installs. He was searching for new applications to make their service even more compelling. TelcoTV was the place to go for new applications, as well as to understand the nuances of content, regulation and technology.
One really needs to spend the full three days at TelcoTV. Unfortunately, I only had about six hours, so my observations are limited to the following:
- There was an excellent session regarding NECA and its impact on independent telcos efforts to offer video services. NECA essentially sets the tariffs that telcos can charge for their DSL lines and backbone transport. This can become a significant cost for a telco and can make or break a business case for video. Mike Foster, President of Twin Valley Telephone, suggested that some telcos might be under reporting DSL lines, effectively reducing their payments into the NECA pool. Foster also suggested that a bundled package that includes a video component is not only a must for telcos, but will be necessary in order to maintain and grow the NECA pool.
- Greg Haledjian of Irwin, Campbell & Tannewald, P.C. gave a good tutorial on the regulatory aspects associated with video. His was a good reminder of all of the regulatory considerations for a telco deploying video.
- I was told that the HD sessions went very well, as speakers from ESPN and Discovery Networks discussed this hot topic. One telco I talked suggested that he is not expecting a high definition solution for their DSL network until Q4 of next year. This telco is also pretty realistic about their design criteria as they are deploying 16 Mb/s to 7 kilofeet and 8 Mb/s to 12 kilofeet. He suggests that more aggressive data rates can cause the performance to be unreliable.
- Tut Systems was showing some interesting things like some MPEG-2 HDTV over twisted pair and a MPEG-4 AVC encode/decode using a set-top box from a company called Sentivision. The demonstration that Chuck Van Dusen, Tut’s Chief Technical Officer, showed me looked pretty good. Van Dusen suggested that MPEG-4 AVC demonstrations and trials will begin in earnest for MPEG-4 in Q1 of 2005.
- One of the things I found of interest that points to some of the “new” applications that may finally take-off was Motorola’s Ojo phone. This sleek, 21st century looking phone is a Video over IP phone that has been designed to take advantage of broadband connections. Motorola had a live demonstration set-up, so it was possible to make video phone calls from the tradeshow floor to Motorola people in various parts of the country. I tried it on the lowest bit rate and the video was synchronized to the audio. I did notice a bit of delay that caused us to talk over each other. One of the cool features of this phone is that the handset is wireless, so it is possible to use as a regular wireless phone. It is based on a MPEG-4 codec, so it has the potential to talk to non-Ojo clients, such as what might be found on a PC. With a reported list price of $799, the big challenge will be to make this affordable enough to make it mass market appeal.
- More evidence that telco’s television efforts are being taken seriously is the number of “suppliers to suppliers” that were exhibitors at TelcoTV. For instance, Media Excel, which makes software for set-tops and portable media players had a booth.
- Another interesting trend was the number of first time suppliers, such as Latens, Matrixstream and Tatung. My apologies to the exhibitors to whom I said I would visit. Next time, I need to budget more than six hours for TelcoTV.
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