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In this on-line publication, we share our analysis, opinions and direction on the interactive television news and views that we believe will be of interest and use to our friends associated directly or indirectly with independent telephone companies. For more information as to the various ways Viodi works with independent telephone companies, please go to http://www.viodi.com/alliance/
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Viodi View Newsletter – June 28th, 2006
Click here to learn more about Viodi’s Local Content Workshop
By Ken Pyle, [email protected], Managing Editor, Viodi View
- C-Cor’s Global IP Summit Highlights
- On-Demand Video Opportunities
- Bundle Strategies – double, triple quadruple play?
- Still Independent…..
- Municipal Wireless: Business Models, Privacy, and Missing Applications
- Upcoming Events – OPASTCO, Local Content Workshop, Digital Hollywood
- An MPEG-4 Snack….
- The Legality of Place Shifting….
- The Korner – Will Net Neutrality Blast Off?
Long airplane flights combined with no Internet access means time to think and to catch up on reading; time to think about things like private property ownership, universal service and economic concepts like natural monopoly. The political alliances that have formed around issues such as net neutrality, ala carte and franchising are indeed fascinating. None of the groups involved in this fray seem to be opposed to allying with any group as long is it helps them meet their political objectives or objections. This is a big topic that begs many questions, which we will leave for later.
Images from C-COR’s Global IP Summit – Global IP Coverage Sponsored by C-COR
C-COR’s Global IP Summit Highlights:
The C-COR Global IP Summit, which was the point of the travel for me this week, has been a great catalyst for stirring up ideas and thoughts as to market direction. Josh Sapan of Rainbow Media kicked off the conference by making the important point that new content distribution platforms generally don’t take off until there is content is designed that takes advantage of the platform’s strengths. Sapan compared High Definition Television to color television and he explained that it took seven years before color television hit the knee on the curve where it exploded in terms of penetration.
It was the advent of content designed specifically for this new technology, namely Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” that drove adoption. With more than 12 pages of notes on the first day, there is much more to be written, but the refreshing thing about the conference was the lack of sessions on legal and regulatory matters. It would be great if somehow the collective telecommunications’ industry could devote all of its energy to serving the customer instead of having to wade through the murky legal and regulatory environment.
Josh Sapan, Rainbow Media,
Dave Woodle, C-Cor
Despite the uncertain regulatory environment, progress is being made with regards to implementing long-hyped services, such as on-demand. Gary Sasaki of Digdea authored an excellent report, Turmoil in On-Demand Viewing Creates Opportunities, which looks at the challenges faced by the entire ecosystem surrounding the delivery of on-demand content. What makes his report valuable is that he considers all forms of content and its packaging and distribution, from theaters to online downloads to streaming VOD to retail. This holistic view is very valuable as monopolies are often undermined from competition by product substitution (e.g. the demise of the scribe, thanks to the Guttenberg press). So, as the politicians look at telecom, they should remember that it does not exist in a vacuum.
The report, published in May 2006, is very current and talks about such timely topics as Time-Warner’s Start Over service (a variant of the Network PVR concept) and the on-going cable legislation. More than just words, it features screen shots of operators’ service offerings and pictures of equipment. This well footnoted, 217 page report kept the attention of this attention span-challenged reader, which says a great deal. It is a must read for any supplier to or provider in the telecom industry.
It provides real insight into the cable world and blows away the myths heard about IPTV. As an example of one of the nuggets presented was the result from Digdia’s survey that suggested that by almost a 2.5 to 1 difference, people would rather spend $3.99 for an ad-free movie delivered to the television than the same movie priced at $2.99 with advertisements. When a similar question was asked about television shows, the on-demand with advertisements was the overwhelming favorite approach.
Sasaki has some out of the box thinking, especially when it comes to increasing the effectiveness of advertising by integrating the operator’s various Internet, television and mobile platforms. For instance, he suggests that video on-demand advertisements might be personalized based upon a viewer’s web viewing history. To ensure consumer privacy, while providing a conduit for data exchange for this sort of scenario, he suggests that a new sort of data clearinghouse is necessary [note, it appears that a company that is just surfacing after a seven year gestation, Invidia, may have a model similar to what Sasaki describd].
He even has an evolution plan for the nascent HD-DVD and Blu-Ray standards could meld into a new offering called HD-Ray, eliminating this decade’s Beta vs. VHS wars. There are a few minor discrepancies within the report, but given the comprehensive and timely nature of this report, these are nits in the overall view.
Bundle Strategies – double, triple quadruple play?
Another report that will prove useful to anyone looking at marketing telecommunication and entertainment services via electronic distribution, will benefit from reading IDATE’s report titled, Bundling Strategies: double, triple, quadruple play. Although this 200 page study has a European and larger operator viewpoint, it presents some good ideas as to how both incumbent and operators are successfully bundling services to increase Average Revenue Per Unit and reduce customer churn. This isn’t the report you would buy if you want to learn about the U.S Independent Telco market, but it provides a great view of what is being done internationally and is a valuable aid to get ideas on how to things differently than convention wisdom.
One of the most important things this report does is introduce a metaphor for describing the bundle. They point out that there are two kinds of bundles; the ‘Horizontal Bundle or Broad Range’ bundle and the ‘Vertical Bundle or Deep Range.’ The Horizontal Bundle consists of the services, such as telephony, Internet, video and wireless traditionally associated with a multi-play. The Vertical Bundle consists of the features offered as part of each service.
I would suggest that there is a third type of bundle, which is a Diagonal Bundle, whereby features from one service are integrated with one of the other services (e.g. caller I.D. on television). This Diagonal Bundle really represents that once trite term known convergence. For more thoughts on how to make bundling work, pick up the next issue of Telephony’s Independent magazine and read what marketing leaders from the U.S. and Europe think about this important topic.
The following article was published in the March issue of Telephony’s Independent.magazine. Given that Independence Day is just around the corner, it seemed appropriate to finally publish this evergreen article in the Viodi View. I have been thinking about what independent means a great deal lately. It might be the recent fifth anniversary of Viodi that has triggered these thoughts. Often times, I imagine Viodi’s growing pains are similar to what the independent telcos went through during their years of struggle as they established telephone service in areas where no one else dared go. Click here to read the rest of this article.
Municipal Wireless: Business Models, Privacy, and Missing Applications [Premium $Fee]
Speaking of independent, Dr. Alan Weissberger is an independent technology analyst, who has consulted for dozens of Fortune 500 companies, as well as international standards bodies. In this article, he shares insight into the challenges of municipal wireless. This is a must-read article for anyone who is interested in this much-hyped topic. Previous articles by this author have examined Google and Silicon Valley Joint Venture’s plans to build municipal wireless networks in the SF Bay Area.
Recent press coverage of Municipal Wireless networks has given rise to a number of questions, many of which we have been thinking about for quite some time. Is there a sustainable business model for municipal WiFi networks (Evidently not, judging by recent articles in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times)? Is privacy really such a big issue? In particular, what is Google planning to ensure privacy of muni WiFi users? Will municipal wireless network applications consist of just web browsing, email and Instant Messaging, or are there undiscovered, new applications that can take advantage of the nomadic nature of multiple users within a community? Such applications could attract more users to those same municipal wireless networks.
Via a San Jose Mercury on-line interview and reference to a letter sent to the City of San Francisco, Weissberger provides an update on Google’s latest response to the privacy issues they face in moving forward with their San Francisco municipal WiFi project. We also offer a prescription for how municipalities might attract more users to their wireless networks. Finally, we offer a perspective on municipal wireless applications and their social implications.
- OPASTCO, July 15th-19th – Interested in the valuation of independent telcos given this uncertain regulatory environment? I am and I look forward to a brief video interview with Frank Gallagher of Stifel Nichols at the upcoming OPASTCO conference. Frank is moderating a new panel which consists of owners and general managers of four independent telcos.
- Local Content Workshop, Myrtle Beach, SC July 20th – Horry Telephone, the host of the July 20th workshop has agreed to discuss what they are doing in terms of creating local content. This is exciting as HTC creates compelling content that is broadcast across their Internet and video offering. If you are work for an independent telco and send an email to [email protected], we will extend the discount pricing to you until the end of this week.
- Local Content Workshop, Austin, Texas – week of August 11th – We are considering bringing the Local Content Workshop to Texas. If you are wit h an independent telco and this is of interest, please send an email to [email protected].
- Digital Hollywood, Building Blocks San Jose – Victor Harwood’s Digital Hollywood events are always great events, as he brings together leaders from the entertainment, technology and communications’ worlds. I look forward to moderating a panel called, Telcos, IPTV & the Technology Food Chain: From the Broadband Infrastructure to the Headend, ITV Services and the Set-Top.
- Call For Independent Telco Speaker, October, Las Vegas – We are looking for a speaker from an independent telco who has worked with a broadcaster, preferably a television broadcaster, in a cooperative way. For instance, this cooperation might include joint coverage by an independent telco and a local broadcaster of a regional sporting event. Please respond with an email to [email protected].
Real interesting advertisement in the sports page of last weekend’s San Jose Mercury by a dealer for DISH TV, which suggested that they have the latest in MPEG-4 HD DVRs. It is interesting that they are highlighting MPEG-4 in their ad.
The Legality of Place Shifting….
Here is a snippet of a very good presentation from C-Cor’s Global IP Summit regarding the topic of over the top video. In this segment, Blake Krikorian, CEO of Sling Media, provides his viewpoint on the legality of place-shifting of broadcast content. Krikorian suggested that the majority of the Sling Box usage is place shifting content around the home (e.g. watching your television on the lap-top, while in the hot tub).
The Korner -Will Net Neutrality Blast Off?
Tom & Jerry, Desperate Housewives, CSI are examples of what the Pyle Channel Program Directors have programmed on the family TIVO. My one and only choice has been to program the Internet-delivered daily show called Rocketboom. Rocketboom is often an entertaining and clever daily review of content on the Internet that the Rocketboom team (of 2) find interesting. They also create their own content, which is all over the map in terms of quality and subject matter.
Last week, Rocketboom dove deep into the pool of the network neutrality debate with a video they produced that used cars and highways as a metaphor for what is going on in the Internet. It spoke of the concept that the telcos and cable companies want to build toll roads and charge different content providers for access to those toll roads. The biggest problem I had with the video was that it had many inaccuracies and told only part of the story. For instance, the story about Craig’s List being blocked by Cox Communications was spread, even though it was proved by Craig Newmark, the Craig behind Craig’s List, to be false.
Based on the rhetoric of the Rocketboom video, the last mile operator should not be allowed to provide co-location space in their central offices to Internet Content Companies that want to install, say, servers that are at the edge of the local loop. That some Internet Content providers could pay for quality of service guarantees would somehow be unfair according to the Rocketboom video. The ironic thing about this is that one of Rocketboom’s main distributors to the TV (and how I first heard of Rocketboom a year ago or so) is Akimbo. As has been widely reported, Akimbo has signed a distribution agreement with AT&T (and received investment as well). Seems to me this indirectly give Rocketboom preference on AT&T’s network; exactly what they suggest should not happen…….to be continued, maybe.
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43rd Annual Summer Convention
The Homestead
Hot Springs, VA
July 15-19, 2006
A Must Attend Event for Anyone Interested in the Independent Telco Market
Happy Independence Day!
FTTX Network Architecture Seminar:
Understanding PON Design
ADC is pleased to invite you to an interactive seminar series focused on FTTX Network Architecture. This informative 2-1/2 day program provides highly in-depth, hands-on training on the issues that are important to anyone deploying FTTX or considering it.
WHEN: July 18-20, 2006
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Network PVRs Are Desired, But Operators Have Doubts
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