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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 – July 26th, 2006
Click here to learn more about Viodi’s Local Content Workshop
By Ken Pyle, [email protected], Managing Editor, Viodi View
- Neutral on Net Neutrality
- An Exclusive Interview with Dee Dee Myers
- Give the Customers Control…..
- Lots of Opportunities
- WiMAX, Where Are You?
- IPTV Hurdles & Opportunities
- On the Floor: (Club Viodi Members Only)
- Local Content Workshop – South Carolina Style
- Trade Show Happenings
- The Korner – ViodiTV – The Tour
The thing about the so-called digital divide is that, like so many other things in life, one probably doesn’t realize its existence until after it has been crossed. Being on the slow side of a communications chasm last week, I felt a little bit out of touch as I didn’t have any sort of broadband connectivity at the temporary domicile we had rented. But the lack of high speed connectivity may have made me more productive as I did not get distracted by my habit of continually monitoring my email account (ever hopeful that the 20 million dollar bank transfer from the Nigerian bank will finally clear). Most of last week was spent in rural Hot Springs, Virginia at OPASTCO’s 2006 Summer Convention.
One of the repeated conversations and topics of discussions at the convention was the topic of Net Neutrality. In various conversations with independent telco friends, most seemed to have mixed feelings regarding Net Neutrality. Chad Miles, OPASTCO’s current Chairman pointed out, through a rather amusing story, that limiting access to web sites would not be an operators’ long-term interest, implying that regulation would not be required as operators would provide non-blocked and equal access to content providers. He also pointed out that independent telcos rely on the RBOCs for interconnection and are potentially vulnerable if the RBOCs decide to change the business model to favor certain providers.
From Net Neutrality to Human Interest– An Exclusive Interview with Dee Dee Myers
Of course, when just about any topic reaches Washington it turns into politics. Dee Dee Myers gave an insider’s view of White House politics in her keynote speech. She lamented the rise of extremes and the loss of middle ground, which she doesn’t see improving. She also pointed to the role of Gerrymandering in preventing competition for Congressional seats. She gave the independent telcos’ great advice when she pointed out that they need to de-emphasize technology and wires and focus on telling human interest stories to their representatives. To hear directly from Ms. Myers regarding the human interest angle, please click here for this exclusive interview with President Clinton’s former Press Secretary.
John Rose, President of OPASTCO, provided a strong argument as to why independent telcos should not block or discriminate with regards to Internet access. I caught up with Mr. Rose in this 4 minute interview that appeared first on ViodiTV at the Convention. In this video interview he pointed out that telcos need to put the customer in control and provide value that is superior to their competitors, whether it is coming from cable or the net. 
Frank Gallagher, Managing Director of Stifel-Nicolas led a diverse group of independent telco leaders in a discussion regarding the future of independent telcos. Joining him on the panel were Steven Sorapar, also of Stifel-Nicolas, Michael Coltrane, CEO of CT Communications, Thomas Foley of Chickasaw Holding Company (an Oklahoma telco), Larry Sterrs of Unitel (a Maine independent Telco) and Michael Weaver of Otelco Telephone (a holding company of telcos in the South). Sterr predicted that the trend towards of telecommunications as a commodity will test how good the independent telcos relationships are with their customers. Foley predicted that his telephone company will no longer be profitable in five years and he hopes his consolidated affiliates make up the difference. He also believes that sales and marketing will be the key to success.
It was suggested by one of the panelists that, in order to be competitive, an operator must be able to update their services every 90 days. The overall consensus on video was that it will be an important component of a bundle, but the margins will be almost non-existent. Wireless was thought to be critical and it was suggested that a rural wireless consortium makes sense. At least two of the operators are offering broadband wireless as a offensive weapon against other broadband providers. In one case, the telco is offering broadband, via wireless, to Verizon customers beyone 18k loop lengths (Verizon has chosen to ignore them). In another case, an independent telco will be offering 3 to 5 Mb/s via broadband wireless this fall. 
To see Viodi’s exclusive video interview with Stifel-Nicolas’ Frank Gallagher, click here.
WiMAX, Where Are You?
By Alan J. Weissberger [email protected]
We have previously written about Fixed WiMAX (IEEE 802.16-2004 and certified by WiMAX Forum) gear being used to provide broadband wireless access in developing countries (e.g. India, Russia, Brazil, etc). Other applications include DSL fill in, WiFi hot spot or Muni WiFi backhaul, n x DS1/E1 wireless tail circuits, and even cellular voice backhaul. While we still think those applications are viable, we are concerned that there have been no large fixed WiMAX networks deployed or announced in the U.S. Is it because 3.5GHz licensed spectrum is not widely available, the applications do not present a good ROI for operators, or some other reason? We would like to hear something beyond a trial from Sprint-Nextel, AT&T, Bell South, or Clearwire.
Meanwhile, a number of industry experts are claiming that Fixed WiMAX will be obsoleted by IEEE 802.16e (2005), which is capable of providing both fixed and mobile service. But we also hear that it is optimized for the 2.3 to 2.5GHz band and NOT for 3.5GHZ, which is more widely available in the rest of the world. Indeed, 802.16e appears to be the ONLY wireless network technology capable of supporting both fixed and mobile access- with QOS and traffic scheduling thrown in for good measure. 802.16e seems to be a good choice for the operator wishing to build a single network that realizes the vision of fixed-mobile convergence and personal broadband services, i.e. it offers the customer a variety of services and supports different traffic types over a single wireless access interface.
But is 802.16e mainly a unified wireless network or an overlay to 3G networks that cannot yet provide the high data rates, throughput and spectrum efficiency? If the 3G data technologies are available by 2008 will that eliminate 802.16e being combined with 3G to form a hybrid mobile network? Or will the fixed version of 802.16e be deployed in conjunction with a full service 3G mobile network?
We’d like to explore these issues in depth in future issues of Viodi View, but we need your help. What issues or topics are you interested in? For example, are you curious about WiMAXs role in future municipal wireless networks? What about VoIP over WiMAX handsets? Is there really a business case for 802.16e as a 3G overlay network for high speed data, graphics and video- as Intel claims?
Please email your suggestions to the autho – [email protected] -, or call to discuss consulting and research activitites (408 247-9102)
On paper, the IPTV business case looks good. Implementation and operation are the hurdles that still must be overcome before IPTV will truly be successful against the cable and satellite competition. These were some of the take-aways from the “IPTV Business Case” panel at OPASTCO’s Summer 2006 convention. Yours truly was honored to moderate a stellar panel that consisted of Melinda Crawley of MS Communications, Mike Deller of Comporium and Allan Hoopes of SilverStar Communications.
All panelists agreed that what the IPTV industry is missing is a CableLabs-like organization to take the lead in terms of both standards and interoperability of IPTV. Deller suggested that the time to do something like this is running short [ATIS just announced a milestone in that they determined the specific standards that need to be written to address BSS/OSS concerns, but the interoperable part still needs to be addressed]. To see the rest of the insight from this panel of leading experts, click here (Club Viodi members only).
On the Floor: (Club Viodi Members Only)
The impromptu meetings in the hallways and tradeshow floor are one of the best things about a conference like OPASTCO. The one-on-one conversations are often more revealing than the panels. Click here to read some of the tidbits I picked up on the floor (Club Viodi Members only).
Local Content Workshop – South Carolina Style
Horry Telephone was the host location for Viodi’s Local Content Workshop last week in Conway, South Carolina. Horry, largest cooperative telecommunications company in the U.S., showed the different and unique ways they are using local content to differentiate themselves from their rather formidable competition. The workshop was a full of day of exchanging ideas as to how to create and promote local content. Thanks again Horry for hosting the Local Content Workshop.
New workshops are forming and the tentative dates are August 15th in North Dakota and October 10th in Minneapolis. Click here to learn more or send an email to [email protected] to reserve a seat. .
What follows is a round-up of some of the tradeshows that Viodi will likely be attending in the next few months:
- ITA’s Queen Mary Summit – This is a different kind of conference. Very exclusive and intense way to learn about the present and future of interactive television. They have some great speakers and have invited formers’ commissioners Powell, Kennard and Hundt to participate.
- Digital Hollywood – Building Blocks – Chaotic fun, great learning and networking at this event. One would need four clones to see all of the simultaneous sessions and associated expert speakers. This will be in San Jose, my home town, so give a shout if you attend this event.
- NTCA Annual Meeting – I haven’t taken a close look at the agenda, but there will be a session on my favorite topic, Local Content.
- IPTV World – I have heard good things about the iHollywood shows and I am looking forward to attending this one in Foster City.
- OPASTCO’s Technical Conference – This year’s version will have an emphasis on hands-on IPTV, as it relates to independent telcos. Like last year, it is in Minneapolis, which is a convenient location for the Midwest Independent Telco.
The Korner – ViodiTV – The Tour
“You are crazy,” exclaimed my wife. She just couldn’t understand why I would fly to Madison, WI on frequent flyer miles and then drive another 2,500 miles around the hinterlands. Maybe the craziness reminded her of her honeymoon and the 2000+ miles driving around Italy in a Fiat Punto. Maybe it was going to be the grueling hours spent on projects with financial returns that didn’t make sense. Maybe, it was she was just tired of making sure I got to the airport in one piece, which is particularly difficult given that I seem to leave pieces of me everywhere I go.
And Jane is probably right, as the creation of content brings out the craziness in one’s personality. As I followed Roger Bindl down a steep hill of rural Virginia to capture an image of a spectacular waterfall, I had to wonder a bit if Roger was a little crazy as well. He and his wife, Jackie, agreed to join me on this quest to demonstrate the power of local content by actually producing a local content channel that played at the Homestead Resort, home to the 2006 OPASTCO Summer Convention.
The channel itself consisted of interviews with various industry experts, examples of local content from independent telcos, some music videos and some behind the scene footage. All told, we produced three, ½ hour programs that aired over the four days. It was a bit scary as the tight schedule left us with no time for a critical look at what we were putting on the air.
Still, ViodiTV seemed to hang together and tell the story of not only the Convention, but how telcos can create their own content. Despite our shoestring production budget, we received good reviews and there was a fair bit of buzz on the floor about the channel. One lesson learned is that people will look over the production flaws if it is a story or content is of interest to them and their community – in this case the community was the OPASTCO attendees. For some of the other lessons, come to one of our Local Content Workshops or buy the DVD.
A special thanks to OPASTCO for their help in getting ViodiTV on air. My appreciation also goes out to the many folks who willingly allowed me to interview them for the channel. Thanks to Kasenna and NeoNova for taking a chance by sponsoring ViodiTV. Finally, a special thanks to Roger and Jackie for putting up with me for a week and for their many contributions to ViodiTV.
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Municipal Wireless: Business Models, Privacy, and Missing Applications
Independent Local Content- Click Here to Learn More
Network PVRs Are Desired, But Operators Have Doubts
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A Snapshot of the Roadtrip
Roger in Chillicothe, Ohio
Filming Introduction
Capturing B-Roll
Setting Up Shot
Editing
OPASTCO Reception
ViodiTV
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