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Viodi View Newsletter – July 12th, 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 – The World Will Have One Computer
- Why Intel Invested $600M in Clearwire
- Another Use for TIVO, Now That Rocketboom’s Future Trajectory Is Uncertain
- OPASTCO & Local Content Workshop
- People On The Move
- Oooops:
- The Korner – It’s All Greek to Me
About once a year, a good jolt of international humble pie is a good thing for this American and a Silicon Valley native who tends to be a little too myopic in my thinking. With all of the buzz and excitement of Silicon Valley, it often seems that this former fruit capital is at the center of the world. C-COR’s Global IP Summit and the surrounding ancient Greek environs served as a good wake-up call that technology transcends borders and that center of the world can be anywhere there is a high speed Internet connection.
Global IP Summit Highlights – The World Will Have One Computer:
If there was one thread that was weaved through the 12+ sessions at C-COR’s Global IP Summit it would be “one”. Increasingly, a provider only needs one network for carrying all of the landline services that customers demand. And these services, as they become more and more integrated, are becoming features to a single product which has a high quality, flexible and reliable network at its core. One speaker suggested that soon the world will only have one computer, as IP is connecting all devices into a single massive network.
Speakers repeatedly reinforced the idea that MSOs are beginning to quickly migrate to an all digital and switched digital broadcast network (e.g. UPC is “giving away” 500,000 digital set-tops in Holland). With low-end, digital set-tops priced at $70 (no display, digital only), there will be a huge demand for digital RF set-tops in the next few years, as an all digital architecture will allow MSOs to recover bandwidth that can be used for additional High Definition offerings. It also allows them to simplify and consolidate trunking onto multicast IP fiber networks (no need for RF fiber trunking in this scenario). The all digital platform is complemented by the addition of digital switching at the hub level. Like an IPTV system, this provides great bandwidth efficiency and the opportunity for better service personalization.
Tying all of their existing services together will be the wireless overlay with their Sprint partnership. They are promising all of the communication’s convergence features we have heard of for so long; things like DVR control from the phone. One thing that makes the cable companies different than the telcos these days is that they remain independent, while working closely as group to advance their industry. The large telcos, which invented Bellcore – the ultimate standards and testing organization – are increasingly fractured in their approaches to upgrading their networks. It is also a bit ironic that Sprint has come full circle, as the original investors in Sprint PCS were the major MSOs.
Over the Top IP applications (e.g. YouTube, Packet8, etc.) was another topic that kept bubbling to the surface in many of the panels and keynote addresses. Mike Fries, the CEO of UPC, summarized the statements of his colleagues and the other panelists when he indicated that cable would have to embrace these third-party applications and not impede their flow if they were to remain relevant to their customers and stay competitive with rival networks.
More detailed notes from the panels that included discussions of bundling, advertising, the future, marketing, over the top video, switched digital video versus IP and much more will be provided in future issues of the Club Viodi web site.
Why Intel Invested $600M in Clearwire:
by Alan J. Weissberger [email protected]
Clearwire, a network operator which has only installed proprietary fixed wireless networks from subsidiary NextNet Wireless, announced that it has received $900 million in financing from Intel and Motorola. Intel Capital, which had earlier invested in Clearwire, will put $600 million more into the company. That represents the single biggest investment for Intel Capital ever. Motorola will buy NextNet Wireless from Clearwire. Motorola Ventures is also buying an unspecified stake in Clearwire. The three companies will cooperate on research, development and deployment of future wireless broadband networks. Motorola will sell NextNet equipment to Clearwire, and Intel will concentrate on getting mobile WiMax chips designed into future notebook PCs.
[Clearwire’s press release announcing this additional infusion of capital can be downloaded from: http://clearwire.com/company/news/07_05_06.php]
Will this initiative create a new food chain that dominates the mobile WiMAX market? That is, Intel selling their Rosedale WiMAX chips to Motorola (and other network equipment companies) which in turn sell their gear to Clearwire. Maybe, but we think that other semiconductor manufacturers will also benefit. This funding and collaboration announcement shows that three major players are intensely focused on getting the mobile WiMAX standard – IEEE 802.16e-2005 -deployed around the world. Ultimately, mobile WiMax will connect notebook computers to the Internet (the mobile computing market) as well as carry steaming video, data, and VoIP traffic to various gadgets (the handheld communication market). Motorola, which sells the Canopy fixed wireless product, is quite keen on mobile WiMAX. Intel aims to get their mobile WiMAX chips designed into notebook PCs sold in 2008.
Where does this leave fixed WiMAX (IEEE 802.16-2004)? Suprisingly, that technology has a lot of potential and power, which we will explore in the next issue of the Viodi View.
Another Use for TIVO, Now That Rocketboom’s Future Trajectory Is Uncertain:
The previous issue of the Viodi View may have jinxed Rocketboom. In that issue, it was mentioned how TIVO was employed to fetch daily episodes of this unique Internet VLOG. Since that issue, the face in front of the camera, Amanda Congdon, and her partner behind the scenes have, unfortunately, gone separate ways. It will be interesting to see Congdon’s career path, as her personality was the driving force behind this groundbreaking show.
Rocketboom’s demise left me wondering what to do with TiVo, besides the mundane things like recording old Tom & Jerry episodes. Fortunately, I found a new application; testing videos. Videos don’t appear the same on PCs as they do on televisions, so it is always a good idea to test a PC-edited video on a television. The process of burning a DVD just to test can be time consuming and wasteful of DVD stock. With TiVo, however, all one has to do is export an MPEG-2 file to the TiVo folder on the PC. The file can then be viewed on the television via the TiVo – way cool.
OPASTCO & Local Content Workshop:
The reason I have been busy testing videos is in preparation for some of the things we are doing at OPASTCO, as well as for next week’s Local Content Workshop. If you are at all interested in the independent telco market, you should be at OPASTCO. After OPASTCO, we will be heading to Myrtle Beach, SC and to Horry Telephone to talk Local Content. This is the biggest Local Content Workshop yet and it is going to be fun. Thanks Horry for you help with the Local Content Workshop, as well as Kasenna and NeoNova for sponsoring what we are doing at OPASTCO.
Here are some interesting announcements of friends who are moving around.
Mary Coller Albert formerly of Sony is now Chief Marketing Officer of Movielink.
Allison Flerl will be moving from USTA to the Corporate Communications/PR team at VeriSign, where she will focus primarily on the VCS (VeriSign Communications Services) business unit.
Mark Langford has moved back to the U.S. from Cablecomm (and before that Swisscomm) and is now VP Product Development for MovieBeam.
Hassan Miah, the former Managing Director of Intel Capital, where he led worldwide media and entertainment investments, is now Managing Director of Oris Capital. This is an interesting company as it will be investing in companies that merge entertainment and technology.
Behrooz Parsay, a Raynet Alumnus, is now VP of Engineering at Aperto Networks.
Congratulations to All!
In the last issue, Digdia was incorrectly identified as Digdea. Thanks Paula for catching that error. Digdia’s link is:
The Korner – It’s All Greek to Me
What gives travel real meaning is not the monuments or sights one sees along the way, but the relationships that are formed and the experiences that are shared with the people with whom one travels. As I look back on my first trip to Greece some 14 years ago, most of the crystal clear memories I had were of the people; the Australian young lady my travel-mate and I befriended, the retired couple we met in front of a museum; the two hour rush from Delfi to the Athens airport that coincided with a two hour argument between my then-girlfriend as to when we needed to arrive at the airport and the best way to navigate the narrow streets of Athens.
Thus, I was thrilled when Phil Erli, a visionary and independent telco leader, invited me to join him in his travels around Greece. Touring ruins with Phil is like have a personal tour guide. His recollection of events and prominent historical figures is amazing. Gazing at the ruins of long lost infrastructure and the bones of people buried 5,000 years ago is a humbling experience, as it is puts into perspective the fleeting nature of our earthly accomplishments. The excavations by archeologists literally show how civilizations build upon the fruits of those that had proceeded.
Delfi, considered to be the center of the world in its day, reminded me of the attitude of many of the people of modern day Washington D.C., Los Angeles or Silicon Valley have about their respective bergs. People would make pilgrimages to this isolated site to learn what lie in their future. Pilgrims would pay the high priests to have a question answered. The high priest was a bit of a middleman, as we would consult the oracle (also known as, the Pythia). The female Pythia would then inhale vapors of naturally occurring ethylene that leaked from the “navel” of the earth (i.e. a crack in the ground) and chew on laurel leaves.
The stoned Pythia was thought to have the insight of Apollo as she let loose with a stream of consciousness. It was up to the priest to interpret the oracle. Like a modern day consultant, the high priests were paid to tell the pilgrim what the pilgrim already thought they knew. The interpretations and resulting predictions were ambiguous, so that, regardless of the outcome, the pilgrim would believe the oracle to be correct. The high priests did have some insight of important things, as Delfi was a neutral site among the city-states of Greece and acted sort of as a middleman for information. And it was play for pay, as the more treasure provided to Apollo’s temple, the more detailed answer that would be given.
The modern day ruins of Delfi features the obligatory gift shop. The gift shop’s cashier, a man estimated to be between 25 and 30, was listening to a Greek radio station and reading a Greek newspaper when Phil asked him for assistance. These disparate media being consumed by this young man were being transported on a single medium, otherwise known as the Internet. That this historic site had access to the World Wide Web was amazing, since Delfi is in a pretty rural, rugged and rocky part of Greece (the last two adjectives are redundant).
The cashier provided some interesting insight, as he indicated that he pays approximately 25 Euro (~$40) for a 1 Mbit/second Internet ADSL connection. He doesn’t use the phone line provided by the telco, opting instead for the no-cost Google Talk. He just got a “free” Motorola Razor, but only uses it for SMS messaging, as voice service is too expensive. He doesn’t subscribe to cable, as he doesn’t like the Jerry Springer-style shows that he perceives to be prevalent. He did admit to watching the online versions of shows from the History Channel, as well viewing programming provided by Free to Air broadcasters.
It is kind of ironic and humbling that this guy, who is in the middle of nowhere, proved to be as cutting edge as just about any Silicon Valley consumer; a place that some claim to be the center of the tech world (ok, I have done this on occasion as the self-proclaimed ambassador for San Jose, the Capital of Silicon Valley).
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43rd Annual Summer Convention
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July 15-19, 2006
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Municipal Wireless: Business Models, Privacy, and Missing Applications
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