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Viodi View Menu<\/strong><\/p>\n Current Issue<\/a>Adelstein Comments On Rural Telecom<\/a>P to P \u2013 Palm Springs to Provo<\/a>The New TV O.D.<\/a><\/p>\n Previous Issue<\/a><\/p>\n Viodi View Subscribe<\/a> <\/p>\n Viodi Forums<\/strong>Club Viodi<\/a>Local Content<\/a><\/p>\n Multimedia Search <\/a><\/p>\n Viodi Workshops<\/strong>Local Content<\/a>Telco Video 101<\/a><\/p>\n About Viodi<\/a>Contact<\/a>Biographies<\/a>Favorite Links<\/a><\/p>\n Interested in Sponsoring the Viodi View? Send an email to: sponsor@viodi.com<\/strong><\/p>\n Please forward<\/strong> this free publication to anyone you know who is involved in some way with independent telephone companies. <\/p>\n Mission of the Viodi View:<\/strong><\/p>\n 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\/<\/a><\/p>\n Disclaimer:<\/strong><\/p>\n The Viodi View [Viodi, LLC] and its associates used their best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, the Viodi View [Viodi, LLC] does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.<\/p>\n All displayed trademarks, logos and service marks are the property of their respective owners. \u00a9 2004 Viodi, LLC<\/a>. All Rights Reserved. Viodi View Newsletter – February 2nd, 2005 Issue<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a first; an entire row<\/strong> to myself on a Southwest Airlines<\/strong> flight. Southwest Airlines has been the one airline to remain profitable throughout the turmoil that has engulfed their industry for so many years. One of the ways they have remained profitable is by filling up their airplanes. The older airlines, with their legacy infrastructures, just have not been able to adjust their ways of doing business to compete profitably with these low-cost carriers. I wonder if we are about to see similar turmoil in the telco industry <\/strong>as relative upstarts employ new ways of serving the needs of telco customers?<\/p>\n ICE, ICE Baby<\/strong><\/p>\n David Irwin of Irwin, Campbell & Tannewald, P.C<\/strong>. put it best when he coined the acronym ICE or Internet Changes Everything<\/strong>. In disparate industries, the rise of Internet and Wireless technologies is disrupting the traditional ways of doing business. The common theme of the conferences I have attended over the past few weeks is that advances in IP and wireless technology<\/strong> represent both a threat and an opportunity for industry incumbents. <\/p>\n There are clearly opportunities for new providers to enter the market with entirely new business plans and operations. And they don\u2019t all have to be \u201cno-frills\u201d bus replacement service, like a Southwest Airlines. JetBlue<\/strong> has proven that a low-cost carrier can offer features not found<\/strong> on the legacy airlines<\/strong>. In the telecom industry we are already seeing richer feature sets from the low-cost VoIP providers and wireless carriers. <\/p>\n 2005 IOC Wireless Symposium \u2013 Sneak Peek and Listen<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The CD-ROM that Viodi produced for NTCA\u2019s 2005 IOC Wireless Symposium is complete and ready for purchase. This CD has the audio synchronized and indexed to the overheads presented by the 43 speakers at this three day conference. This CD is a great value<\/strong> for anyone interested in the impact of wireless on telecommunications. NTCA has placed one of the presentations<\/a> from their symposium online for your listening and viewing pleasure. This presentation<\/a> is from Eric Mantion of Instat\/MDR<\/strong> and is an excellent look at how WiMAX<\/strong> offers retailers<\/strong> and other old economy businesses the chance to become a new breed of telecom competitors. <\/p>\n Adelstein Comments On Rural Telecom<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n VoIP, wireless and regulatory were some of the many topics discussed at OPASTCO\u2019s<\/strong> Winter Convention. The rapid changes occurring in the industry seemed to be on the forefront of everyone\u2019s thoughts at this annual event. FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein<\/strong> was a keynote speaker, which was interesting for me, as I had recorded his speech at NTCA\u2019s 2005 IOC Wireless Symposium<\/strong>, at the beginning of January (click here<\/a> to purchase the CD-ROM from that symposium, which includes the audio <\/strong>from Adelstein\u2019s keynote speech). To read his insightful comments<\/strong>, as well as review some of the other insight from OPASTCO\u2019s Winter Convention, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n P to P \u2013 Palm Springs to Provo – John Dillard Speaks<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n From Palm Springs, I made the trek to Provo, Utah for Midstate Consultants\u2019 <\/strong>annual meeting, otherwise known as \u201cBobcomm<\/strong>\u201d. At 350 people, this was much bigger than I expected. Mike Riley<\/strong> and company did a great job<\/strong> of putting together an agenda and lining up speakers from a variety of telcos who spoke on their deployment of VoIP, video and wireless applications. A more complete review of this conference will be provided in a future issue. In the meantime, John Dillard of Monroe Telephone<\/strong> has generously allowed Viodi to publish the comments that he made at Bobcomm. Click here<\/a> to read his comments, which should be read by anyone<\/strong> who is trying to assess how VoIP<\/strong> can integrate into an independent telco\u2019s existing operations.<\/p>\n An Exclusive on Exclusivity<\/strong><\/p>\n Thank you to Robert Primosch for pointing out to me a very interesting story, that did not get any press but should be of interest to any telco involved with video<\/strong>. It is the story of an attempt by one television station to grant exclusive retransmission rights<\/strong> of their digital signals to an incumbent cable operator. The station was apparently advertising that the Super Bowl would be available in high definition format exclusively from the local cable operator. Due to the time-sensitive nature of this filing, the FCC was going to rule on it last week. Before the FCC took action, the television station and the telco came to an agreement. To read the details of this story, please click on the following links:<\/p>\n http:\/\/hraunfoss.fcc.gov\/edocs_public\/attachmatch\/DA-05-133A1.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/hraunfoss.fcc.gov\/edocs_public\/attachmatch\/DA-05-136A1.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n The point of this story is that independent telcos<\/strong> need to be constantly on guard<\/strong> to ensure that larger media entities do not forge exclusive retransmission agreements with incumbent operators. The local broadcast stations are a must-have for any provider of multi-channel video distribution services. <\/p>\n The New TV O.D.<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n The importance of local content was stressed by several speakers at the NATPE<\/strong> [National Association of Television Programming Executives] conference in Las Vegas. Patricia Karpas, General Manager of AOLTV<\/strong> defined local content rather broadly when she suggested that, \u201cwhat binds people to platforms of tomorrow and today are those that will serve both physically and virtual communities.\u201d Alternative ways<\/strong> of reaching those communities<\/strong> either via wireless means or through the Internet were provided by numerous companies on the tradeshow floor. To get a glimpse of this year\u2019s NATPE, please click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n It figures \u2013 I Say Go for A Dish and They Go for Ma Bell<\/strong><\/p>\n In the last issue<\/a>, I suggested that Echostar<\/strong> could be an interesting acquisition target for SBC<\/strong>, given Echostar\u2019s market valuation of between $15 to $20 billion or less than $2,000 per subscriber<\/strong>. My thinking was that Echostar would give SBC an instant nationwide video presence and that a combined SBC\/Echostar could provide\u00a0bundles without strings<\/strong> (for instance, with current pricing existing Dish customers cannot get as good a bundle as a non-Dish customer).. They must have been listening to my advice and done the opposite (probably a sound financial strategy, especially when picking stocks) with their announced their acquisition of AT&T, a brand that has quickly fallen from being an icon to near extinction among the younger generation (notice how quickly Cingular ditched the AT&T logo<\/strong> and opted only to keep the \u201cbars\u201d after they acquired AT&T Wireless). By the way, I might actually have some indirect stake in this, as I think my wife still has some shares in Echostar in her retirement account. <\/p>\n The Korner – Up, Up, Up, and Away\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n I owe so many friends for all of the meals, couches, and showers they have provided that I could probably spend an entire issue listing all of the friends, old and new, that have helped me along the way. My travel modes and methods are often unorthodox and normally quite spartan. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to be a stowaway <\/strong>on a private jet <\/strong>from Palm Springs to Provo. <\/p>\n A big thank you goes out to Pannaway Technologies<\/a><\/strong> for their generosity in saving me a seat on the jet they had chartered. This was not any jet; it was a sleek, recent vintage, Lear model 35 that flew upwards of 505 miles per hour. I could see how one could get spoiled with this sort of transport, as every day hurdles to travel, like security checks (there are none) and parking (free), are eliminated. <\/p>\n The best part of the trip, however, had nothing to do with the flight and everything to do with the company on that flight. I had the chance to talk with David Wright<\/strong>, the General Manager of Cross Telephone<\/strong>. It was fascinating talking to him, as he is steps ahead of the industry. The bundled services he and his team are implementing are the realization of a vision<\/strong> he had when he started his own successful company over ten years ago. Look for more on this very interesting person and his thoughts in future issues. <\/p>\n I was so focused on the interesting conversation with David, I forgot to snap any photos of the interior of the plane or avail myself of the onboard snacks and sodas. I did not even open up my lap-top. It is sort of ironic that the highlight of my private flight could have taken place anywhere or on any commercial plane. Thanks again Pannaway<\/strong> for providing my transport and for my many other friends<\/strong> who have helped me along my way. <\/p>\n Next Article<\/a><\/p>\n Back to Top<\/a><\/p>\n Previous Issue<\/a><\/p>\n Viodi View Subscribe<\/strong><\/p>\n \n My cousin Greg was in Thailand<\/strong> during the holiday season and was so moved by the destructive power of the Tsunami that he wrote the following<\/strong> song<\/strong> to express his sorrow for the innocent victims of that natural disaster. Greg agreed to share the song with the Viodi View community with hope that it might be used as a fund-raiser<\/strong> to help the recovery efforts. For instance, maybe it could be recorded by a local band, pressed onto a CD-ROM and sold as a fund-raiser. Or, it might be included on a web site with a donation button to a charity. It would be great to hear different versions of the song with different voices and musical styles. So please feel free to use it <\/strong>for your fund-raising efforts. Just let Greg (greg@viodi.com) know that you have used the song. Greg also has a CD entitled Brand New Day<\/em><\/strong> which can be found by clicking here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Download Tsunami Song<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Lyrics<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
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