![\"Viodi](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/images\/logo-145px.gif\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n
Viodi View Menu<\/strong><\/p>\n Current Issue<\/a><\/p>\n Promise of a Cable-less House<\/a><\/p>\n Kino Kraziness<\/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>Incremona Training<\/a><\/p>\n Industry<\/strong>Industry Calendar<\/a>Favorite Links<\/a><\/p>\n About Viodi<\/a>Contact<\/a>Biographies<\/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 2005Viodi, LLC<\/a>. All Rights Reserved. Viodi View Newsletter – October 28th, 2005 <\/strong><\/p>\n By Ken Pyle, ken.pyle@viodi.com, Managing Editor, Viodi View<\/p>\n Almost Live from TELECOM \u201905<\/strong><\/p>\n Chaos is the word that is heard at TELECOM \u201905<\/strong>. Part of the chaos is due to the number of good sessions that are concurrently available. There has also been a rather unusual mix of industries at this conference, including a large number of broadcasters and more content people than ever before. That Starz<\/strong> had a booth and a keynote speaker is significant, as it points to this being more of a show about video. The addition of the broadcast track seemed out of place to me. But after talking to a few broadcasters, I realized this was a brilliant move by US Telecom, as the local broadcasters<\/strong> and independent telcos<\/strong> could have some interesting synergies<\/strong> \u2013 more about that in a future Club Viodi issue. <\/p>\n If I my ears weren\u2019t continually filled with wax, I would need earplugs to attenuate the noise surrounding IPTV. The hype machine is in full gear surrounding IPeeTV, as the message from so many of the speakers seems to be that cable can never do what IPTV can. This question was posed in the panel, ITV \u2013 Is It IPTV\u2019s edge<\/em><\/strong> and the fundamental conclusion was that, in the end, IPTV, HFC and, perhaps even, satellite platforms can all evolve<\/strong> to support pretty much the same set of services<\/strong>. The real important thing for operators is to understand how to package, promote and price interactive services such that they meet the needs of their market. We discussed this topic in the panel, Content Differentiation, What\u2019s An Operator to Do<\/strong><\/em>?<\/p>\n As has been written previously in the Viodi View, the cable industry has had the cable operator-owned, CableLabs to drive the industry specifications and ensure interoperability. The movie industry has just put together a similar effort, known as MovieLabs<\/a><\/strong>, and bankrolled it to the tune of $30 million and is based on the CableLabs approach. There is a European telco-founded <\/strong>group, the Home Gateway Initiative<\/strong><\/a>, which is specifying requirements for the residential gateway. An operator-owned organization that would lead the IPTV interoperability and standards efforts does not exist and, I believe, is sorely needed. <\/p>\n The idea that telcos need to take a much more proactive approach to standardization and interoperability of IPTV was the idea behind the Viodi-organized panel, called Standard This, Can\u2019t We Work It Out<\/strong>. The key take-away from this excellent panel was that telcos, no matter what their size, need to have their voices heard at these events. The industry needs to participate<\/strong> in either existing forums, such as ATIS<\/strong>, the ISMA<\/strong> and the ITA<\/strong>, if we are going to get the standards that will be necessary to turn the IPTV hype into business reality<\/strong>. <\/p>\n One company that is leading by example is SureWest.<\/strong> I had a chance to talk to Bill DeMuth<\/strong>, CTO and Vice President of Engineering about SureWest\u2019s just announced IPTV, HDTV deployment<\/strong>. For curious Viodi View readers (and one emailed me to find out, so there is at least one curious reader), the set-top that they are using is the Amino 120<\/strong>. HD is becoming a critical piece of the rollout, as evidenced by the comments of Will Helmly<\/strong>, President of Home Telephone<\/strong>, who reported 18% penetration of HDTV service<\/strong> in an upscale area of 1,500 homes served by his company. An RF solution was his only practical solution for meeting these customer demands in today\u2019s environment. <\/p>\n A story that got some press was the NRTC-SES<\/strong> partnership to provide Satellite-Content and Headend IPTV (Hey, what about a new acronym – SCHIP TV) services. The really big news, that I did not see reported, but noticed at the \u201cLook Ma, No Headend\u201d, panel was that NRTC and NTCA have partnered <\/strong>to bring these services to their respective members.<\/p>\n The Look Ma, No Headend panel<\/strong><\/em> was somewhat of a shootout between all of the players, ATCI, Auroras TV, Broadstream, Eagle Broadband, NRTC<\/strong> and PanAmSat<\/strong>, in this nascent market segment. Even after this shootout, the verdict is still out as to which of these entities will provide the winning combination. Factors that will determine the winner will be the date when MPEG-4 set-tops <\/strong>are commercially available, the financial strength and how well the business model works for the independent telcos. Maybe these topics will be worthy of another shootout. <\/p>\n OEN<\/strong>, the fiber-based headend and programming service, continues to make a flurry of announcements<\/strong> since the FTTH Conference issue of the Viodi View. Their MPEG-2 approach eliminates the aforementioned MPEG-4 availability challenge and has allowed them to sign a deal with ViewNow<\/strong> for VOD<\/strong> content. ViewNow, TVN <\/strong>and iNDEMAND<\/strong> all brought some good ideas as to how operators can drive on-demand purchases<\/strong> in the On Demand Success Case<\/strong><\/em>s panel. Cauldron Solutions<\/strong> discussed the importance of having an online product management system in order to maximize on-demand profits<\/strong>. <\/p>\n And the above comments are just a small slice of what has been going on at TELECOM \u201905. I have not even reported on the two topics from the IP Video track which may have been the most important sessions<\/strong> of TELECOM \u201905 \u2013 local content<\/strong> and Peer to Peer distribution<\/strong>. More about those in a future issue. <\/p>\n We are producing a CD-ROM of the Viodi-produced IP Video sessions<\/strong>. Send an email to telecom05cd@viodi.com<\/strong> by the close of business on Thursday and the show special pricing of $99 will be extended to you. <\/p>\n KINO Kraziness<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Roger Bindl<\/strong>, who spent the last couple of weeks in Montreal learning French, working on his film-making skills and trying to avoid being typecast, submitted a video presentation for the panel Budding Relationships: Case Studies in Localism<\/em>. This video provides a view of the rapidly growing grassroots content revolution<\/strong> as embodied in the Kino movement and how it is changing people\u2019s lives. Check out this link<\/a><\/strong>, as it will lead you to some of the fun stuff he produced while north of the border. <\/p>\n Weissberger on the Promise of a Cable-less House<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The October 12th, 2005 issue of the Viodi View, provided an overview of the HomePlug conference and the promises of that interesting technology to solve home networking issues. While I was attending that event, Alan Weissberger<\/strong> was attending a Wi-CON Americas<\/strong> conference that promises to use wireless technology to free us at long last from the spaghetti nest of wires required to connect our home electronics gear. Click here to read<\/a><\/strong> why Weissberger believes that two emerging wireless broadband technologies hold great promise for multi-media distribution within the digital home and multi-dwelling units: IEEE 802.11n and Wireless USB<\/strong>. <\/p>\n Independent Telcos Facilitate Economic Development<\/strong><\/p>\n I was fortunate enough to attend an NTCA<\/strong> regional meeting on economic development a few weeks ago in Vancouver, British Columbia. This conference provided telcos with ideas and examples as to how to jumpstart their local economic development programs. Independent Telcos are often the primary spark of economic development in their service areas, so this is an important conference series. Shirley Bloomfield<\/strong>, Vice President of Government Affairs and Association Services for NTCA, suggested that independent telcos need an economic development strategy<\/strong>, a mechanism to fund that strategy and they must work with other partners in the community. <\/p>\n Bloomfield provided numerous examples of how telcos are enabling rural economic growth by doing things such as town beautification<\/strong>, assisting public agencies<\/strong> by participating in their economic development efforts and leveraging their in-house resources to create new businesses<\/strong>. Bloomfield explained that the impetus behind the newly formed Coalition to Keep America Connnected<\/a>, which consists of 750 to 800 telcos represented by OPASTCO, NTCA, WRTA and ITTA, is to paint a picture of the important role of independent telcos at connecting areas that were traditionally ignored by the larger telecom providers. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a Bird, It\u2019s a Plane, It\u2019s a Strattelite<\/strong><\/p>\n The most unique thing on the show floor was from a company called, Sanswire Networks<\/strong>, a division of a larger private label telecom provider called GlobeTel Communications Corp<\/strong>. GlobeTel has mostly been focused on providing telecom services, like long distance, debit cards, etc. for international markets. They are working on an airship<\/strong> that will serve as a sort of floating cell tower operating in the stratosphere, above the weather. <\/p>\n At 13 miles above the earth, it is close enough that it doesn\u2019t cause delay, but high enough that it could provide service to 126,000 square miles of territory. As can be seen in this Discovery Channel video<\/a><\/strong>, they are currently building the prototype and a commercial version could be ready next year. They are working on military versions as well. If this works and is as cost effective as it seems like it could be, it could a revolutionary way<\/strong> to bring communications to rural and underserved urban areas. I was thrilled as I met their CFO \u2013 Chief of Flight Operations \u2013 who is responsible for, literally, making sure this project flies. <\/p>\n EasyNet purchase – A Sign of Things to Come in the U.S.?<\/strong><\/p>\n Normally, I don\u2019t report on things across the pond, as I figure other people cover that much better than I ever will. I thought the EasyNet acquisition should be of interest to Viodi View readers, as BSkyB is Rupert Murdoch controlled. It will be interesting to see if this purchase is a sign of things to come here in the U.S. That is, will DirecTV<\/strong> make a play to acquire<\/strong> a large U.S. ISP t<\/strong>o give them control over their return path? <\/p>\n The Korner \u2013 And the Answer Is \u2013 Marketing Works<\/strong><\/p>\n The TELECOM \u201905 agenda reminded me of the Internet or the 10,000 title VOD world in the sense that navigation and discovery of content was difficult<\/strong>. This content clutter added a bit to the chaos of the conference. There were so many panels and so many that were similar, it was difficult to determine which panels to attend. Thanks to the Krazy Ken\u2019s Trivia contest, however, we were able to rise above the clutter a bit. <\/p>\n Contests<\/strong> such as this one, represents one of many simple, but effective, techniques<\/strong> that independent telcos use every day to achieve superior DSL and video penetration. The contest involved sponsors (listed to the right), the online presence in the form of micro website, www.viodi.tv<\/a><\/strong>, and real world participation by the customers. I hope it was a bit of fun as well. <\/p>\n Here are the questions and the answers:<\/p>\n Trivia Question #1<\/strong><\/p>\n What is the name of the only independent telco which has exchange boundaries that extend into the county that is the home to Silicon Valley?<\/p>\n Answer: Global Valley Networks (formerly Evans Telephone) \u2013 Evans brought telephone service to the San Antone valley area of Santa Clara in the late 70s time frame \u2013 1970s, that is. <\/p>\n Trivia Question #2<\/strong><\/p>\n Name the former IP Video speaker (from either TELECOM 03, 04, IP Video @ Supercomm 04 or 05 who was the author of an off-beat book about the Vietnam-war era. <\/p>\n Answer: Dick Jones (aka Rich Allan) of Verizon. His book received great reviews at the 12th Annual International Book Awards as the judges awarded “DRAFTED” by Rich Allan with a 5 of 5 for Plot, a 4 of 5 for characters, and a 4 of 5 for cover design. Check out his book by clicking here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Trivia Question #3<\/strong><\/p>\n What is the name of the first interactive television program? <\/p>\n Answer: Winky Dink \u2013 check out the Interactive Television Alliance\u2019s web site<\/a><\/strong> for info on this one.<\/p>\n Trivia Question #4<\/strong><\/p>\n What is the name of the entity that first used peer to peer networking for legitimate applications?<\/p>\n Answer: Chip Venters, CEO of Digital Containers, was the judge on this one. He accepted the US government as a correct answer, although he had initially been thinking of telcos as the correct answer. <\/p>\n Trivia Question #5<\/strong><\/p>\n What is the name of the earliest HDTV system that is still in operation?<\/p>\n Answer: MUSE developed by NHK in Japan \u2013The development on this analog HDTV transmission standard began in 1979. <\/p>\n Trivia Question #6<\/strong><\/p>\n What is the name of the movie starring Nicolaus Cage as an alcoholic writer? <\/p>\n Answer: Leaving Las Vegas <\/p>\n Bonus question: Who was the leading actress in that movie?<\/p>\n Answer: Elizabeth Shue (thanks Zhone for adding the Leather bag to the prize mix)<\/p>\n Next Article<\/a><\/p>\n Back to Top<\/a><\/p>\n Previous Issue<\/a><\/p>\n Viodi View Subscribe<\/strong><\/p>\n Click Here to Learn How to Contribute to the Roger Brown Family Fund<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n IP Video Tracks at TELECOM 05<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Order the CD-ROM!<\/p>\n send an email to CD-ROM Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n
5255 Stevens Creek, #127 Santa Clara, CA 95051<\/p>\n![\"Click](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/051000\/latensAd-telcotv.gif\")
<\/a>
Sponsored by Latens – The Future of Content & Revenue Protection<\/a><\/p>\n\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/051002\/roger_side_camera.jpg\")
Click to Watch Video<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/postsnet.com\/campaigner_images\/Images\/optinlistbuilder\/FM-1.gif\"\/)
<\/a>
Privacy Policy<\/a><\/p>\n
telecom05cd@viodi.com<\/strong><\/p>\n