Viodi View – The Bridge Between the Heartland and Silicon Valley

  • Content Production Potpourri – Demonstration Schedule

    Roger and I are at NAB this week and we will have many interesting reports from this confab, particularly as it relates to telecom. If you are at NAB, stop by the Content Production Potpourri, as we will have approximately 12 demonstrations from companies that are making tools for low-cost, high quality local content productions.  

  • FCC 700 MHz Auction Postscript: Big loss for US Wireless Network Competition

    Abstract:   We have previously opined that the highly touted 700 MHz auction was a win for the U.S. government (almost $20B was raised) and Google (open access rules for C block w/o spending a dime).  Yet it was a big loss for public safety.    Based on a post auction spectrum analysis from a…

  • Cleaning Products – No, It’s Web 2.0 Technologies

    Martin Taylor, Vice President of Product Management and Technology for MetaSwitch, gave an excellent overview of XML and its ascent as the standard for machine-to-machine interface in the telephony world. XML allows for a mash-up of applications, such as the obligatory caller ID on television. Combining XML data with Asynchronous JavaScript is AJAX, which allows updating of…

  • Prospering in the Video Business

    The WTA Spring 2008 Meeting featured a upbeat panel on the distribution of video by independent telcos. Gerald Duffy of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast moderated a panel that provided both the big and detailed picture of the video business.  Ben Foster, VP of Sales and Marketing for Twin Valley Telephone, an early adopter of…

  • Only in California – The Original Social Network

    The basis for one of the nation’s most innovative independent telcos was the social needs of a couple of teenage girls. At the WTA 2008 Spring Meeting, Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee explained how over 90 years ago Roseville Telephone (Now SureWest Communications) got its start when a couple of farmers connected their farms with…

  • AT&T, Verizon Wireless Underwhelming Plans for 700MHz Spectrum

    Last night, winners of the "beachfront property" FCC 700MHz auction were finally permitted to reveal their plans for using the spectrum obtained.  AT&T and Verizon won most of the licenses, spending a combined $16 billion.  As anticipated, the wireless giants aim to build faster wireless broadband networks capable of delivering high-speed data, voice, video and…