Viodi View – June 23rd, 2005 Issue – Go to Viodi.com and Viodi.tv for current posts

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Viodi View Newsletter – June 23rd, 2005

Viodi’s Local Content Workshop

Pet peeve is a term that seems to be slowly leaving the everyday lexicon. It seems like when I was younger I had way too many pet peeves. One pet peeve I had was “glass in the road”. Nothing was more frustrating than riding through shards of bike tire puncturing glass. I decided in the last week that my new pet peeve is the bad behavior exhibited by the hackers and malcontents who are throwing virtual glass on the Internet highway with their unrelenting, viruses, spyware, and spam.

The breaking point for me was last Sunday when a friend of mine picked up some sort of virus by opening a bogus email from someone purporting to be [email protected]. In the last month, I have been receiving at least a hundred emails per day of this sort. Since, I do not keep my email addresses on my computer (I use SBC Yahoo!’s web-based client for email), the only thing I can think of is that some crawler or robot is out there automatically pulling email addresses off the Viodi web site.

So, one step I can take is to remove all of the linked addresses off of past issues of the Viodi View to prevent these electronic vermin from debasing the Viodi domain. Even with this effort, it is not clear that it will solve the problem. I am not alone, as, the other day, I was talking to a friend whose much larger organization is facing similar problems. The point to my ranting and raving is that these hacker yahoos have to be stopped before they bring the Internet economy to its knees.

IP Video @ Supercomm 2005 Interactive CD-ROM Complete:

With approximately 50% of the attendees ordering the CD-ROM of the proceedings, I have been under a pretty tight deadline to get something out the door. The master CD has been mailed to the duplication house, so, if everything proceeds to plan, CDs should be mailed early next week. I am really proud of this CD, as we have mixed together the audio, video and slides onto one disk. The user interface, along with the title slide for each of the more than 40 presenters can be found at:

http://www.viodi.com/ipvideo05cd

To some extent, this CD is an example of how content can be repackaged into a different form, providing new value. Having the content indexed, together with rewind and fast forward capability has given me a chance to pick up subtle things that eluded me when I saw the conference live.

Some IP Video @ Supercomm Tidbits:

Both Bruce Swail from Motorola, as well Jeff Weber from SBC suggested that HDTV is now a must-have for operators’ providing video services. Weber went on to explain that with their LightSpeed product, they are conservatively looking at rolling out with minimum bit rates of 20 to 25 megabits per second. Weber believes this is enough for four streams of video, one of which will be a high definition signal.

Attendee, consultant and former cable TV executive, Richard Yelen, commented that, “with lower HDTV set prices forecasted for this fall, one HDTV channel may not be enough for the early IPTV adopters.” Yelen continued to comment, “that inferior or ‘me too’ product will not win the conversion to IPTV. The new video entrants must differentiate in other ways, most notably service.”

Weber and Dorothy Attwood of SBC emphasized that their plans are to serve all of their subscribers either via their Homezone or Lightspeed products. Weber said the Homezone product is the first step in their path to serve all of their subscribers [note, Homezone uses a combination of satellite television delivery in combination with on-demand via xDSL].

Atwood and Weber used the argument that this two-prong approach will prevent the “red-lining” issue that is the concern of officials in some cities. Norma Reyes, Cable Commissioner for the city of Chicago, explained that it is important that providers build out to the entire franchise area and not just to the more affluent areas. She also made the point that, from an economic development standpoint, it is critical for operators to provide access to broadband to all of the businesses in a city. Milton Friedman would be proud as Reyes touted the power of competition to bring better service to consumers.

It will be interesting to see if the legislation being worked up by Senator Ensign of Nevada addresses the issues discussed by the panelists at IP Video @ Supercomm.

HITEC Conference Equals High Definition

Brian Stevenson reports in from the HITEC conference that high definition television is all the rage at the HITEC conference in Southern California this week. Lodgenet, On-Command, and nStreams have all announced deals and/or products that will allow hotel operators to offer high definition and advanced interactive television portals. Integral to these solutions are Conditional Access Systems (CAS). Lodgenet announced that they are working with LG and their Pro:Idiom(TM) (CAS), while OnCommand announced that NDS created a special flavor their CAS for hotel application in the hospitality industry.

Why should this be of interest to telcos? First, this is another indicator of the burgeoning growth in HDTV. Hotel guests are going to see the high definition quality and begin to have expectations that their residential service providers offer comparable service. Secondly, with a base of over 2.5 million rooms in the U.S. alone, this is a proven market and one that is upgraded on a continual basis. That there are conditional access systems being modified to work in relatively small, but widely dispersed, distribution systems is a good sign for independent telcos that have similar characteristics (granted, hotels loop lengths are much shorter than telcos).

Network Personal Video Recorder Survey:

The concept of a Network PVR has been around for quite awhile. We discussed this concept in the late 90s during my days at DemandVideo. Since then, the deployment of DVR has skyrocketed, while the deployment of Network PVRs is relatively miniscule. I am honored to be speaking on this subject next week in Barcelona, Spain at C-Cor’s Global IP Summit.

My presentation is centered on a survey I sent last week to operators polling them about the challenges, opportunities, and timeframe for widespread Network PVR deployment. I greatly appreciate the number of surveys that have been returned. Combing through the data will be fascinating.

If you have not already, it is not too late to complete the surveys. Email me if you need the link.

Tips From Independent Telcos

Speaking of surveys, at the last Local Content Workshop, I picked up some interesting ideas on how to make customer surveys more effective. Click here to read this and some of the other things I learned from some of the telco folks that attended the last Local Content Workshop [must be Club Viodi members].

Intellectual Property – The Other IP

I am itching to do another Local Content Workshop. There has been interest in holding a workshop in the Carolinas/Georgia area and in the Oklahoma/Missouri area. I am looking at sometime in August, so email me if you have any suggestions as to where and when we hold the next workshop. Intellectual property questions were raised in the IP Video session, Grassroots Content – Growing It Locally. I did my best to recite attorney Thomas Crowell, who has spoken at the last couple of Local Content Workshops, but it is probably better to hear it directly from the source. Click here to hear some of Thomas Crowell’s comments on the other IP. This is the second part of his discussion of what ‘fair-use’ means.

Outsourcing – A Rural America Alternative?

Midwest Data Center, a subsidiary of Rockport Telephone, announced a deal with RSI, Rural Sourcing Incorporated, whereby they, “will jointly market their technology and telecommunications services to Fortune 500 businesses as well as small to mid-size regional companies.” The Midwest Data Center operates an advanced, secure data hosting facility in rural Missouri. RSI utilizes lower cost rural areas to develop information service technology solutions, benefiting both the end users as well as providing economic development for rural areas. This announcement points to the importance of maintaining a robust rural telecommunications infrastructure in order for the U.S. to remain competitive in the worldwide marketplace.

Olson Technology, Incorporated Networks With ATX

My first employer and the friend I have known longest in the industry, Tom Olson, reports that his company, Olson Technologies, Incorporated, is being integrated into ATX Networks, the sales and marketing division of ATX, Incorporated. It sounds like a perfect opportunity for Tom and his colleagues, as each entity within the ATX web are provided autonomy while being able to leverage the strength of being part of a larger entity. Tom is one of the great RF Engineers and an even better person. He has routinely designed and built optic and RF products for larger OEM customers that they could not build. Congratulations Tom and Sue on this new phase of your business.

Upcoming Conventions and Conferences:

The Interactive Television Alliance is holding their Re-inventing Television Summit at the Queen Mary in Long Beach from July 20th to the 22nd. They have lined up a slate of pioneering executives, “mentors” from the early cable networks as well as five futurists. The ITA events are very interactive and very informative. To read the review of last year’s event, please click here.

You can then jet from Long Beach directly to Boston to OPASTCO’s summer convention. It will be held from July 23rd – 27th. OPASTCO announced that they have extended early bird pricing for their summer convention in Boston to July 1st. Get those tickets now, as this is always a good event. It is very family friendly, so think about that as you are planning your travel. To read the review from last year’s event, please click here.

The Korner – Maybe I Should Have Set Myself on Fire

It has been said that any publicity is good publicity. Every time I hear this phrase, I think back to Supercomm 1995 when I had the opportunity to take a stand and generate some publicity for the start-up that was my employer. Being a start-up, we had a limited budget for a big show like Supercomm, but we leveraged ourselves by getting a number of cutting edge technology companies, such as Harmonic, Divicom, Stellar One, Tut Systems and FutureTel, to participate in our booth.

The theme of the booth was ‘Fiber to the Farm’, as E/O Networks access product was designed for rural applications and was fiber optics based. As such, the booth looked somewhat like a ranch, with fence posts, hay bails and other accoutraments one would expect on a ranch. The bad news we had not planned the cable management from all of the demo systems and, as a result, we had oodles of exposed cables.

Tony Jamroz (a name many of you may recognize), the Chairman of E/O Networks, volunteered to find a solution. Sure enough, he came back several hours later with several burlap bags. We all thought it was pretty humorous that the bags had ‘100% Pure Hemp’ and a big hemp leaf emblazoned on one of their sides. We filled the bags with newspapers and covered our wires. At last, the booth was complete.

The big day of the show comes and I am alone in the booth around 7:30 A.M. Up strolls an official from show management. He demanded that I remove the burlap bags because of their ‘message’. My explanation that the bags were integral to our booth fell on deaf ears. When I told him I would flip the bags so the hemp message was not visible, he reluctantly agreed. He insisted that they were to stay in this position. Sure enough, he came back after the show started to make sure the hemp message had not been exposed.

The point is I had a chance to create a real controversy and stir up some press. I could have refused to flip the bags. Granted, some of the press might have been bad (I could imagine headlines like “Drug Dealers Infiltrate Supercomm”), but it would have made our presence that much more memorable.

So, I saw Supercomm 2005 as the last opportunity to make up for my missed opportunity a decade ago. Airship Viodi seemed to be the perfect vehicle for my cheap publicity stunt. The idea was to fly Airship Viodi into the tradeshow floor; essentially creating a flying booth. I even coordinated with Telephony magazine to have a photographer available to snap some pictures of me being tossed out of Supercomm.

Well, the big day came and I was so anxious, I forgot the remote control in my hotel room. I could not find the Telephony magazine people, so I went ahead with my plans. Instead of looking like a heroic rebel effortlessly piloting Airship Viodi over the security people, I felt like I was a five year old carrying a big balloon.

Amazingly, security did not notice or say anything about my 54 inch, helium filled, airship. In fact, I was able to peruse the entire floor with no issues from the authorities. It was a great conversation starter, however (add airships to dogs and kids as great conversation starters). Just to prove I went through with my wild ploy, I stood for a picture at Telephony’s booth. I sent the photo to Vince Vittore and he commented back that, “you got a weak thumbs-up from the crowd in the Calix booth. I suggest setting yourself on fire or perhaps streaking through the exhibits would have been more attention grabbing.”

Anyone have a match?

[correction to June 8th Issue – Viodi incorrectly identified NCast’s product as the Telecaster, instead of the Telepresenter.]

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