{"id":44,"date":"2003-05-30T11:28:07","date_gmt":"2003-05-30T11:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/2003\/05\/30\/030500overview\/"},"modified":"2023-08-13T18:27:18","modified_gmt":"2023-08-13T18:27:18","slug":"030500overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/2003\/05\/30\/030500overview\/","title":{"rendered":"May 2003, Viodi View"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                                           <a href=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/images\/smalllogo.jpg\" border=\"0\"\/><\/a>                                                               Quick                    Jump Menu to this Month&#8217;s Articles                   Fiber                    to the Home &#8211; Finally                   TV                    Internet &#8211; A Real World Review                   FCC&#8217;s                    Impending Cross-Ownership Ruling                   Mouse                    Ears or Rabbit Ears                   Call                    for Papers                                  <b>May, 2003 Issue <\/b>                                     <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\"><b>THE          VIODI VIEW<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\"><a href=\"mailto:ken.pyle@viodi.com\">by          Ken Pyle<\/a><b> <\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" align=\"center\"\/><b>          <em>In this Issue: FTTH, Cross-Ownership, Mouse Ears or Rabbit Ears and          More&#8230;<\/em> <\/b>     \u00a0                    <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#MUG\">Fiber to the Home &#8211; Finally<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/030500\/030500tv.htm\">TV Internet            &#8211; A Real World Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/030500\/030500fcc.htm\">FCC&#8217;s            Impending Cross-Ownership Ruling<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/030500\/030500mouse.htm\">Are            Those Mouse Ears or Rabbit Ears? &#8211; The Wonderful New World of Disney<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/030500\/030500paper.htm\">Call            for Papers<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Fiber to the Home &#8211; Finally<\/strong>        <\/p>\n<p>The year was 1994 and I boldly made the prediction at the National Fiber          Optics Engineering Conference that, \u201cinitial commercial realization          of an HFC [Hybrid Fiber Coax] FTTH [Fiber to the Home] implementation          is most likely to occur sometime between 2007 and 2018.\u201d Well, I          was wrong, unless I redefine what is, is. Regardless, it looks like the          <strong>year 2007 came a little early<\/strong>, based on what I saw at          NTCA\u2019s conference, <a href=\"javascript:\"><em onclick=\"MM_openBrWindow('http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/ntca','','')\">Fiber:          Opticmize Your Network<\/em><\/a>.        <\/p>\n<p>The numbers of communities and subscribers that are connected via FTTH,          admittedly, is still very small. <strong>Bob Whitman of Corning<\/strong>          suggested that there are <strong>over 70 communities<\/strong> that have          deployed FTTH and more than double that are under construction. NTCA\u2019s          conference brought together the perfect mix of service providers, engineering          firms and suppliers to discuss the challenges and opportunities associated          with the existing and impending FTTH deployments, particularly in the          context of independent telcos. <\/p>\n<p>As with many other telecommunications\u2019 technologies, some of the          first deployments are by independent telcos and are occurring in rural          markets. And the approaches to implementing FTTH are as varied as the          independent telcos are numerous. Suppliers of hardware, including <strong>Alloptic,          Optical Solutions, Wave7Optics and World Wide Packets<\/strong> gave their          arguments for their various flavors of FTTH. <\/p>\n<p>One thing that is clear from their presentations, as well as the presentations          given by the Engineering Consulting firms of <strong>Martin Group<\/strong>          and <strong>Vantage Point Solutions<\/strong>, is that FTTH can be economically          viable. It still is at least 15 to 20% above a traditional copper\/DSL          build, but the increased capability it provides can be worth the premium.          It was stated several times a triple play of voice, data and video is          required to justify the investment in FTTH. <\/p>\n<p>It was also pointed out that now is a good time to deploy fiber deep          in the network, as both the cost of the fiber and the cost of construction          has significantly dropped with the slowdown in telecom. In fact, <strong>Dustin          Maier<\/strong> of the Martin Group said he has seen the cost of construction          drop from $12 to $15k per mile to as low as $6.5k per mile. <\/p>\n<p>And the independent telcos that presented at this conference confirmed          their success by describing their FTTH deployments. These telcos are using          FTTH both within their existing exchange areas, as well for overbuild          situations. Many of the greenfield deployments are in new developments.          Several speakers explained the importance of working with builders to          ensure the success of FTTH in new developments. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Kevin McGuire of Hancock Telecom<\/strong>, an Indiana independent          telco, stated that Hancock has made, \u201ca commitment to deploy FTTH          to any new subdivision in their service territory.\u201d McGuire said          Hancock has gone as far as supplying CAT-5 wiring in exchange for pre-wiring          new houses to their specifications. <\/p>\n<p>NextTech, a subsidiary of Rural Telephone in Kansas, has overbuilt several          communities in outside their existing exchanges. <strong>Jeff Wick<\/strong>,          Chief Operating Officer of <strong>NextTech<\/strong> projected that they          would need 70% penetration to make FTTH viable for one of their overbuild          communities. In fact, they achieved <strong>97% penetration<\/strong>.          Their recipe for success includes: <\/p>\n<p>1) Hiring a local office with local people<br \/>         2) Lots of groundwork with the community \u2013 pre-signup in the new          community<br \/>         3) Customers want one bill from one provider<\/p>\n<p>Another interesting tidbit from the conference is that all of the service          providers represented at this conference use local battery back-up power          supplies from <strong>APC<\/strong>. APC has a battery replacement program          to ensure that batteries are kept fresh. <strong>Huxley Communications<\/strong>          uses the need to replace batteries as a <strong>marketing tool<\/strong>,          by sending their staff out to talk to the customers.<\/p>\n<p>Bob Whitman of Corning, a self-described FTTH evangelist, discussed the          trend of municipalities implementing FTTH. He stressed that they are generally          providing these networks out of frustration with the local service providers.          In many instances, these <strong>municipal entities will work with neighboring          independent telcos<\/strong>, such that the independent telco will provide          the service and effectively lease bandwidth from the municipal utility.        <\/p>\n<p>       <em><a href=\"javascript:\" onclick=\"MM_openBrWindow('http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/ntca','','')\">NTCA\u2019s        Fiber: Opticmize Your Network<\/a><\/em> conference was more than just about        FTTH, as speakers from <strong>Glow Networks, Confluence Research Group,        Turin Networks and Cisco Systems <\/strong>discussed SONET, Ethernet, CWDM        and DWDM technologies as they relate to inter-office transmission. Along        those lines, several regional networks created from independent telcos were        represented at the conference. <strong>Max Huffman<\/strong>, of the <strong>Missouri        Network Alliance<\/strong>, described the formation of a newly formed entity,        <strong>Indatel<\/strong>, which brings together the state networks into        a national alliance of networks.        <\/p>\n<p>I asked the FTTH Solutions\u2019 panelists, consisting of representatives          from World Wide Packets, Alloptic and Optical Solutions, of their plans          for adding the capability to deploy copper from their platforms. Both          World Wide Packets and Alloptic said they have no plans to add this capability.          <strong>Frank Delle Donne<\/strong> from Optical Solutions said to look          for a press release in the near future that discusses their plan is to          work with an <strong>established VDSL provider<\/strong> (my prediction          is it is <strong>Next Level\/Motorola<\/strong>), whereby the <strong>Optical          Solutions<\/strong> equipment will integrate with that provider\u2019s          copper Digital Loop Carrier solution. <\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoBodyText\" style=\"margin-left:81.0pt\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/030500\/030500tv.htm\">Next          Article<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoBodyText\" style=\"margin-left:81.0pt\"><a href=\"#top\">Back to Top<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoBodyText\" style=\"margin-left:81.0pt\"><a href=\"javascript:\" onclick=\"MM_openBrWindow('http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/030400\/030400overview.htm','','')\">Last          Month&#8217;s Issue<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Please forward this free publication to anyone you know who is involved          in some way with independent telephone companies. <\/p>\n<p>Mission of the Viodi View:<\/p>\n<p>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 on Viodi&#8217;s efforts          to unite the independent telephone company&#8217;s interactive television efforts,          please send an email to <a href=\"mailto:vodalliance@viodi.com\">vodalliance@viodi.com<\/a>.        <\/p>\n<p>Disclaimer:<\/p>\n<p>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<p class=\"MsoBodyText\" style=\"margin-left:81.0pt\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/signUp.htm\">Click          Here to Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoBodyText\" style=\"margin-left:81.0pt\"><a href=\"mailto:unsubscribeviodiview@viodi.com\">Click          Here to Unsubscribe<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoBodyText\" style=\"margin-left:81.0pt\">Copyright 2003 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/\">Viodi,          LLC<\/a>. All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/030500\/bernie.jpg\" alt=\"NTCA Fiber: Opticmize Your Network\" width=\"110\" height=\"73\" border=\"0\" onclick=\"MM_openBrWindow('http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/ntca\/','','')\"\/><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"javascript:\" onclick=\"MM_openBrWindow('http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/ntca\/','','')\">Click          Here to Listen to a Sample of the Fiber: Opticmize Your Network Conference<\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/newsletter\/030500\/schultoverview.gif\" alt=\"Schult Pictures\"\/><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\" onclick=\"MM_openBrWindow('http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/schult','','')\"><a href=\"javascript:\">Add          Some Hollywood Glitz to Your Business Office<\/a><\/p>\n<p>            \u00a0           \u00a0     \u00a0     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Quick Jump Menu to this Month&#8217;s Articles Fiber to the Home &#8211; Finally TV Internet &#8211; A Real World Review FCC&#8217;s Impending Cross-Ownership Ruling Mouse Ears or Rabbit Ears Call for Papers May, 2003 Issue THE VIODI VIEW by Ken Pyle In this Issue: FTTH, Cross-Ownership, Mouse Ears or Rabbit Ears and More&#8230; \u00a0 Fiber [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":714,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}