| From: Sam Citron | 4/13/2007 2:10:25 PM | | | | | | The Wireless Wars [WSJ Commentary]
By GEORGE GILDER
April 13, 2007; Page A13
The 10-year war mounted by EU bureaucrats and Europe's communications giants against America's leading wireless technology innovator, Qualcomm, is now reaching a climax. On Monday, Nokia refused to renew licenses on next generation technology following EU ally Broadcom's suit at the International Trade Commission to bar import of cellphones containing Qualcomm chips from factories in Taiwan.
A decade ago, with its single, unifying cellphone standard known as GSM, Europe led the world in mobile communications. But threatened by Qualcomm's CDMA breakthrough, the Europeans launched a ferocious political and PR offensive, hoping to scare off potential customers of the young American firm. The technology was all hype, they said; it "violated the laws of physics."
When Qualcomm proved them wrong and its mobile technology deployed across the U.S. and Korea, Europe went to plan B. They excluded the Americans from the standards process for third-generation, or 3G, technology, battled in the courts, and mandated their "new" system for all of Europe. But in fact, the new European and Japanese standard, called Wideband CDMA, was essentially a copy of the American CDMA system.
[We've come a long way]
We've come a long way.
With the new mobile system flourishing -- accommodating many times more voice callers and beating the previous generation in security, dropped calls and data -- everyone finally admitted that the American company had a lock on the fundamental technologies. The Europeans and Japanese licensed the American technology, CDMA and its sibling WCDMA, assuring that it would be the future of wireless mobile communications, an industry now selling a billion handsets a year.
Today, however, with those 3G licenses coming up for renewal and a fourth generation of wireless in sight, Europe is once again pushing the political levers to control the future -- this time with the unwitting assistance of the U.S. government. Although their immediate target is U.S. dominance in cellphone technology, a collateral victim would be the U.S. broadband economy.
Until recently, the obscure International Trade Commission played a minor role in the enforcement of patents. But with a Supreme Court ruling in 2006 making it more difficult for patent holders to win federal court injunctions against violators, complainants can now turn to the ITC. Unfortunately, complainants can also use an intellectual-property dispute as a cover for enmeshing competitors in the protectionist mazes of international trade law.
And that is what's happened to Qualcomm, the titan of U.S. intellectual property in wireless, with close to 5,700 patents on the next generation of cellphones and wireless data systems around the globe. Attempting to upend the San Diego titan's well-earned dominance are Broadcom and its European "Gang of Six" sponsors.
At a recent ITC public hearing, Broadcom CEO Scott MacGregor declared that the U.S. wireless telecom system would function better if it completely capitulated to the European standard. The Broadcom campaign began in May 2001 when it purchased, from an obscure bar-code and RFID company called Intermec, a set of three flimsy patents that they are now attempting to use to block the importation of all Qualcomm wireless data chips incorporating its (Qualcomm's) state-of-the-art data system called EV-DO.
EV-DO chips not only make mobile voice-over-IP possible, but they also allow cellphones to function more like multimedia computers, carrying eight to 10 times more data than previous technology. At the ITC public hearing, Verizon Vice President Richard Lynch noted that without EV-DO, "handsets go back to being voice and text."
Not coincidentally, Qualcomm recently announced an upgrade to EV-DO that permits transmissions at up to 9.3 megabits a second, a broadband service faster than U.S. wireline services and fast enough to permit mobile TV and streaming music with simultaneous voice and VoIP calling.
The Broadcom action is part of a campaign, reaching from Seoul through Brussels and cropping up in courts from New Jersey to California, to bring down Verizon's and Sprint's aggressive expansion programs for their EV-DO networks. The EU has its sights set on Qualcomm: The Eurocrats contend that with 20% of global market share in cell-phone technology, Qualcomm is a monopolist, guilty of the sin of inventing new systems needed for successful mobile Internet data access.
At stake in the litigation is who will control the next two phases of wireless technology -- 3G and 4G. Nokia's action on licenses is part of this coordinated attack.
However, with no commercially available alternatives to the Qualcomm EV-DO chips that Broadcom wants to block, the administrative law judge who considered Broadcom's claims noted that a "significant financial burden" falling on third parties, including handset manufacturers, wireless carriers and consumers, "weighed heavily" against categorical exclusion of cellphones containing the chips, which would take at least two years to replace.
And there's the rub. Wireless has become the largest source of profits for nearly all major telcos; and a paralysis on the wireless front would reverberate throughout the American broadband economy.
Verizon's mobile phones, for example, are about two-and-a-half times more profitable than its wireline phones. For the most recent quarter, Verizon Wireless profits were $804 million, while wireline profits were $393 million. AT&T affirmed the strategic importance of wireless last year when it acquired BellSouth for $67 billion. All analysts agreed AT&T's chief interest in BellSouth was the remaining 40% ownership of Cingular, the nation's largest mobile carrier with 54 million customers. And EV-DO's own strategic importance was manifest in the Sprint-Nextel merger. According to Sprint executive Bill Elliott, the ability to migrate Nextel customers to Sprint's EV-DO network "was one of the key reasons for the $35 billion merger."
In the past, U.S. telcos used wireline phone revenues to fund their wireless expansion; now they use revenues from wireless to fund fiber-to-the-home. It is profit from its wireless network, for example, that allows Verizon to maintain its stock price and attract the capital to sustain its ambitious $23 billion program of fiber deployments expected to reach 18 million households over the next four years. Any major setback at Verizon wireless would thus likely halt Verizon fiber.
Similarly, profits from the Qualcomm-based technology used by Cingular (now AT&T Wireless) for next generation systems will be critical to fund AT&T's ambitious Project Lightspeed broadband rollout.
Broadcom's attempt to close down Qualcomm on the basis of some flimsy patents on power-management techniques seems preposterous. The entire Qualcomm system, going back two decades, depends on an exquisite dance of exhaustively patented automatic gain controls and instant power regulation. But by the magic of injunctive relief at the ITC you can shut down the entire U.S. broadband industry in favor of European rivals.
With nearly all chips made or packaged overseas, the entire U.S. information economy now depends on ersatz "imports" based on designs and innovations that nearly all originate in the U.S. and generate profits here. The bottom line: Foreign governments can manipulate U.S. companies to favor their own industrial policies by pressing protectionist buttons at the ITC, putting much of U.S. broadband, wired and wireless, into sleep mode.
Is it not the ultimate irony that this new ITC authority is based on an obscure provision of that protectionist grim reaper, the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930? Surely the president and Congress can act to remove this new U.S. vulnerability -- one that springs from laws and regulations based on an obsolete vision of segregated national economies shipping products across the seas in clipper ships in exchange for transfers of gold.
Mr. Gilder is a founder of the Discovery Institute and the Gilder Technology Fund. Both Broadcom and Qualcomm are on his Gilder Technology Report list of favored companies. |
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| To: Sam Citron who wrote (20845) | 4/13/2007 3:01:36 PM | | From: Sam Citron | | | | 8:01AM Broadcom says charges Qualcomm with unfair competition, fraud and breach of contract (BRCM) 32.69 : Co announces that it has commenced new litigation against Qualcomm (QCOM) asserting that QCOM's conduct before prominent industry standards organizations violates California law. BRCM asserts that QCOM's misconduct before standards setting bodies includes improperly concealing its patents, reneging on licensing obligations, and exerting dominance through hidden affiliations.
[Briefing.com InPlay] |
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| From: Frank A. Coluccio | 4/13/2007 5:11:38 PM | | | | | | OECD Report - PARTICIPATIVE WEB: USER-CREATED CONTENT
By Bill St.Arnaud bill.st.arnaud at canarie.ca
Apr 13 2007 | CAnet
billstarnaud.blogspot.com
Bill wrote:
Here is an excellent report from the OECD on what they call the participative web which explores the economic impacts of the new Web 2.0 and web service tools for users being part of a business or creative process. I personally believe the participative web will have a big impact on all sort of activities from participatory democracy to radically new business models to new ways of doing science and research. Hopefully it will also become a key discussion point for the upcoming OEVD Ministerial meeting on the Future of the Internet in Seoul June 2008. [BSA]
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oecd.org
The concept of the “participative web” is based on an Internet increasingly influenced by intelligent web services that empower the user to contribute to developing, rating, collaborating on and distributing Internet content and customising Internet applications. As the Internet is more embedded in people’s lives “users” draw on new Internet applications to express themselves through “user-created content” (UCC).
This study describes the rapid growth of UCC, its increasing role in worldwide communication and draws out implications for policy. Questions addressed include: What is user-created content? What are its key drivers, its scope and different forms? What are new value chains and business models? What are the extent and form of social, cultural and economic opportunities and impacts? What are associated challenges? Is there a government role and what form could it take?
Definition, measurement and drivers of user-created content There is no widely accepted definition of UCC, and measuring its social, cultural and economic impacts are in the early stages. In this study UCC is defined as: i) content made publicly available over the Internet, ii) which reflects a “certain amount of creative effort”, and iii) which is “created outside of professional routines and practices”. Based on this definition a taxonomy of UCC types and hosting platforms is presented.
While the measurement of UCC is in its infancy, available data show that broadband users produce and share content at a high rate, and this is particularly high for younger age groups (e.g. 50% of Korean Internet users report having a homepage and/or a blog). Given strong network effects a small number of platforms draw large amounts of traffic, and online video sites and social networking sites are developing to be the most popular websites worldwide.
The study also identifies: technological drivers (e.g. more wide-spread broadband uptake, new web technologies), social drivers (e.g. demographic factors, attitudes towards privacy), economic drivers [...]
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| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (20824) | 4/13/2007 5:13:30 PM | | From: Frank A. Coluccio | | | | Baller Herbst List: 4-13-07
BROADBAND
Municipal FTTP discussions in Montpelier, VT
timesargus.com
L.A. Times editorial: "The FCC's goal for the [700 MHz]
auction should be to encourage the development of more
broadband Internet services. So much of the economy's
potential depends on high-speed Internet access, yet the
U.S. lags many Asian and European countries in the
percentage of broadband users."
latimes.com
"'Many people have argued there's an Internet bandwidth
shortage, but it's really a last-mile issue,' said Google CEO
Eric Schmidt at a recent investor's conference. 'There is
so much fiber underground.'"
internetnews.com
"Academic researchers testing applications on
ultra-high-speed networks find that QoS issues disappear
when there is enough network capacity. However, Jansen
said it would not be cost effective to meet increased
demand solely by increasing capacity, and providers
would need to consider other solutions as well."
killerapp.com
Sen. Inouye: telecom issues are largely on the back burner
njtelecomupdate.com
Israeli startup SpeedBit "has managed to shrink the
download time for a full-length feature to about 40 minutes
over a 5 Megabit-per-second (Mbps) Internet connection.
At the higher speeds available in some countries, that
could be slashed to 20 minutes or less."
businessweek.com
Broadband access a priority for Mass. state Sen. Ben Downing
iberkshires.com
WIRELESS
HDTV over WiMAX
muniwireless.com
Most users unwilling to pay premium for broadband access via mobile phone
bbwexchange.com
MetroFi network in Concord, CA
sys-con.com
"The good and bad of WiMAX"
americasnetwork.com
CALEA
More on CALEA compliance, focusing on higher ed
convergedigest.com
VOIP
"Is cable in Verizon's crosshairs? --
A judge's broad interpretation of patents in Verizon's lawsuit
against Internet telephony provider Vonage could give the
phone company enough firepower to go after cable operators
and other voice over Internet Protocol providers."
news.com.com
OTHER NEWS
Senators propose labeling for adult websites
news.com.com
techdirt.com
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| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (20829) | 4/13/2007 6:05:54 PM | | From: Frank A. Coluccio | | | | Lightwave Direct Newsletter of April 13, 2007
[ Go to URL below for best read and access to other URLs: newsletters.pennnet.com ]
SPECIAL THEMED ISSUE: ROADMs
This week's newsletter recaps recent announcements in the reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) market, inlcuding Alcatel-Lucent's acquisition of Tropic Networks and Cisco's introduction of a multi-degree mesh ROADM.
In the news
Alcatel-Lucent to acquire Tropic Networks
In combination with Alcatel-Lucent's ROADM technology, Tropic Networks' advanced optical layer management technology delivers the flexibility and security to maximize network efficiency and operational cost savings, say Alcatel-Lucent representatives. More...
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Researchers demonstrate dynamic dispersion compensation in Optium WSS
Researchers from optical subsystems supplier Optium Corp. and the Centre for Ultrahigh-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems at the University of Sydney, Australia, have demonstrated a WSS that provides dynamic dispersion compensation on a per-channel basis in a DWDM system. More...
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Corenet selects ECI Telecom for advanced ROADM network
The key building blocks in this deployment are wavelength-selective switch (WSS)-based ROADMs, full support of Optical Transport Network for all services, and "SDH-like" wavelength management, say ECI representatives. More...
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Fujikura and Nistica announce partnership
Fujikura will provide full production manufacturing facilities and processes for Nistica's volume delivery of the FLEDGE series of tunable filters and ROADM modules, as well as future Nistica products. More...
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New ROADM systems and subsystems
Capella receives Telcordia qualification for integrated switch module
Capella has announced the qualification of its WavePath 4500 with integrated optical channel monitor (OCM) in accordance with Telcordia and other worldwide standards. More...
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Xtellus announces WSS for C and L bands
The performance of the WSS-11000 results from an optical design that combines the best of liquid-crystal technology and free-space optics, says the company. More...
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DiCon announces what it claims is the world's smallest ROADM
The 1-CH MEMS ROADM is based on DiCon's proprietary thin film coating and MEMS technologies. A MEMS mirror is combined with a customized TFF to form a component that de-multiplexes a fixed wavelength, provides add/drop switching, and then multiplexes that wavelength back with the rest of the channels, explain DiCon representatives. More...
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Cisco enhances ONS 15454, announces new customers
Highlights include a new 40-channel, mesh ROADM supporting from two- to eight-degrees of DWDM traffic, the Ethernet Xponder (pronounced "cross-ponder"), and an MSPP-on-a-blade. More...
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CoAdna WSS-8x1 and 1x8 pass Telcordia
CoAdna Photonics Inc. has announced that its liquid crystal-based wavelength selective switch (WSS) 8x1 and 1x8 modules have been fully tested according to Telcordia standards and successfully passed all the tests. More...
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Featured articles
Digital ROADMs: Completing the promise of the optical network revolution
By Geoff Bennett, Infinera -- Due to their analog nature, ROADMs have significant limitations, including limited management capability, lack of subwavelength multiplexing, and the iunability to exploit the full benefits of a GMPLS control plane. However, a new class of ROADM, based on digital technology, is now emerging to address these limitations and deliver a range of additional benefits to the service provider. More...
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ROADMs need complementary technologies to realize opex value
By Rich Ramsay, Meriton Networks -- The value proposition of ROADM-based systems is rooted in the opex savings they can deliver. To realize those savings, however, systems require complementary features beyond the ROADM subsystem. More...
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| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (20848) | 4/13/2007 6:24:54 PM | | From: Frank A. Coluccio | | | | Verizon Answers FiOS Engineering Questions: Parts I and II
These are takeaways from yesterday's Baller-Herbst Newsletter. Part I appeared on March 23, followed by Part II, yesterday, April 12, 2007. Both parts initially appeared on Verizon's own blog site and were subsequently aired and discussed at dslreports.com .
Enjoy. FAC
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Part I: John Broadband/FiOS Conversation with... Brian Whitton
By John 'CZ' Czwartacki in PolicyBlog on Friday, March 23, 2007
policyblog.verizon.com
Brian Whitton, Executive Director of Access Network Design and Integration for Verizon, answered questions as promised posed by readers of -- or about -- this Q&A session. I was threatening to run over the time I grabbed off his schedule (2hrs) so Brian only got to the first half of the Qs. He’s promised to answer the reminder next week and I’ll post them then.
In the meantime, if you want to know peak speeds FiOS broadband will reach with our new ONTs (400Mbs!!!) or wonder if TiVO works with FiOS TV (it does) or what the simultaneous viewing limit of FiOS TV Video On Demand is (none…how many TVs you got?), you won’t be disappointed!
Thanks to Dave Zatz and the others who emailed/posted questions for Brian. [This conversation was held this morning via Sametime, our IM tool.]
[See here for a related announcement tinyurl.com .]
Broadband and FiOS Conversation with.. Brian Whitton:
John S. Czwarta... Let’s get started, the first question for you is: “how does or will Verizon distinguish between offering on-demand content to the TV over FiOS versus IPTV? how does Verizon classify IPTV from a technical level and what role will it play if any across their network?”
Brian H. Whitton... We at Verizon currently carry VOD content as IPTV across our FTTP network. FiOS broadcast TV content, in contrast, is carried over a separate wavelength on the FTTP network. Our FTTP network has been carefully designed from day one to accommodate an all IPTV delivery method and we are working within the various standards bodies, such as ATIS' IPTV Interoperability Forum to drive the development of open IPTV standards. Verizon is committed to supporting full IPTV as the optimum means of offering all video content to our customers and is prepared to implement complete IPTV as the standards for open IPTV are complete and equipment built to these standards becomes available.
John S. Czwarta... “what is the speed range that FiOS needs to be able to support in Verizon's eyes in order to deliver the kind of content experience they dream of? is the 20MB I have now enough or do they see it having to me more than that?”
Brian H. Whitton... It is very difficult to say for certain what consumers will demand in terms of higher bandwidth speeds, other then to point out that they will demand more tomorrow then what they get today, based on history of data communications over the past 2 decades. Our FTTP design has always been based on a very key tenant from the perspective of bandwidth growth: "Be able to offer materially more bandwidth to consumers over FTTP without having to modify or rehab the optical transport network that we have invested in". For instance, we launched FTTP in June, 2004 based on BPON. BPON supports 622 Mbps downstream and 155 Mbps upstream, serving up to 32 homes. Shortly, we will launch GPON, which will deliver a 2.4 Gbps downstream and 1.2 Gbps upstream to again 32 residences or businesses. This next generation of FTTP, GPON, is achieved without any changes to the outside plant. Our GPON ONTs, the devices placed at a consumers home, have been designed to support peak data rates of 400 Mbps, and we believe this amount of bandwidth will easily accommodate consumer's needs for a long time! While we do not offer 400 MBps today, the point is VZ can adjust the FiOS data rates based on customer and market needs.
John S. Czwarta... I (CZ) have to ask my own Q here, is there anything being deployed elsewhere on the globe that is better/faster?
Brian H. Whitton... We do not believe so. While a few services providers are building PON based networks in areas such as Asia, these networks have been designed principally for data services. Our network design has been tailored to offer all the telecommunications services, including voice, high speed internet service, broadcast and interactive video, all over the same network. We do not know of any other network on the globe that accomplishes what we have done and at the same scale.
John S. Czwarta... Back to real blogger questions: “will the FiOS service consider licensing the TiVo software for it's DVR's? while I can't get FiOS TV yet in my area, the idea that I will lose TiVo2Go if I drop TiVo and move to Verizon's DVR is not a thought I like and one that will keep me from using the Verizon DVR.”
Brian H. Whitton... We continually examine the value proposition our services bring to our customers and look for ways to further enhance our product. Our DVR offering received great reviews from our customers, and in 2006 we greatly enhanced our DVR product with the launch of multi-room DVR, allowing customers to record content to one device, and play back to other TV's in the home equipped with a standard set top box. Regarding TiVO (use with FiOS), a customer who wishes to use the TiVO service can indeed continue to do so and still subscribe to and use FiOS TV
John S. Czwarta... “what percentage of the market does Verizon need to capture for Internet service and over what period of time in order for Verizon to feel it has been successful with this product? I am not asking from a P&L perspective although I am sure that's probably how Verizon will judge success.”
Brian H. Whitton... Verizon announced in January, 2007 our results for FiOS customers added to the network. At that time, we disclosed we added 207,000 FiOS TV and 687,000 FiOS data customers, surpassing our internal goals. Frankly, we believe we offer the very best broadband data and video products, based on quality and speed, and feel our results demonstrate the level of market acceptance we expect to continue throughout 2007 and beyond.
John S. Czwarta... “what new content services will Verizon make available for FiOS users and by when? what are the application they are focusing on first? games? video conferencing? movies?”
Brian H. Whitton... In 2006 we announced the availability of our 'widget' applications. The first of these, weather widgets and travel widgets, allows FiOS TV customers to gain access to real time weather and travel information based on the information, such as zip code, entered by the customers. In effect, these 1st two applications are examples of unifying information widely available on the Internet, but displayed on the TV. We currently support video on demand, with over 5500 titles available to choose from. We continue to develop other interactive applications that you will hear much more about throughout 2007.
John S. Czwarta... “WHY WON'T MY VERIZON FIOS ACCOUNT ALLOW ME TO SEND MORE THAN 100 E-MAILS IN A DAY!!! I am not a spammer, just a FiOS customer that like many, work from home and do a lot of e-mail and spend a lot of time online. This is a BAD customer experience when my mail won't go through and I call Verizon only to be told I am limited to sending 100 e-mail! This need to be removed! Here is a blazing fast connection, but don't use it to send too much e-mail is a complete mixed message.”
Brian H. Whitton... I have not heard of this issue before. I will look into concern and get back to you. CZ UPDATE: The actual limit is no more than 500 individual emails, and no more than 100 identical emails, PER HOUR. This is obviously to thwart spamers, not you. It’s in the terms of service here. Let us know how we can help clear this up further.
John S. Czwarta... “One of the things that cable gets knocked for is only supporting a limited capacity of shows that can be offered through their VOD service at any one time. What is the maximum number of VOD videos that Verizon will have the capacity to offer on demand and on average how many VOD shows do they actually plan on offering through the service.”
Brian H. Whitton... We have no practical limit on the number of simultaneous video on demand titles that can be viewed by a customer. Unlike cable TV networks, Verizon's all fiber to the home network provides more then enough bandwidth to our customers so they can use FiOS TV services and applications in the manner they desire. In the case of VOD, therefore, the practical limitation is the number of TVs a customer has. For instance, a customer with 6 TVs, each equipped with a set top box, will be able to view VOD simultaneously when served by FiOS.
John S. Czwarta... “Motorola technology and set-tops power the Verizon Home Media DVR service, so I’m familiar with its use of MoCA to network TV throughout the home. What is your view on the choice of MoCA (using existing coax cable) as a networking platform versus other options that are out there? What do you think of wireless networking platforms and when do you think we’re likely to see a wireless solution deployed that can effectively stream HDTV?”
Brian H. Whitton... Prior to selecting MoCA as the technology for networking set top boxes, home routers, and the ONT, Verizon's Technology organization carefully evaluated and tested each competing home networking technology, including wireless. Wireless networking, specifically 802.11, is a great home networking technology in that it allows a customer to move their device, typically a PC or laptop, about their home or residence. Verizon's broadband home router that we supply to each FiOS customer at the time of installation includes support for 802.11 so customers can network their PC to the router without a wire. However, device mobility through the home is one of several key needs that customers expect their service provider to fulfill. Customer's expect the video delivery mechanism to work all the time during transmission. We know that wireless delivery is problematic in this regard as it is susceptible to signal fading which in turn would drop packets of video information, something that would be apparent to a viewer watching TV, particularly HD. Our selection of MoCA was made after careful consideration of all the requirements, including speed and packet resiliency. MoCA came out as the best technology to use for delivering IP video content to TV.
John S. Czwarta... “I’ve used all your time so here’s a good one on MDUs to end: “The Verizon FiOS TV franchise was recently approved in my neighborhood, though I’ve heard from a variety of sources that fiber won’t be run to apartment buildings. As an apartment dweller (in a 40 year old building with hundreds of units), is this accurate? If so, is this a technical or financial issue?”
Brian H. Whitton… Serving MDU's with FTTP is a very important part of Verizon's FiOS strategy. Our network construction of the fiber plant passes not only single family residences, but includes MDU's as well. Our preference would be to serve MDU's by pulling the fiber directly in the living unit and placing an identical ONT to what is used to serve single family homes in the living unit. We are currently serving many MDU's with this design. In cases where we will be unable to pull fiber from the basement or entry point of the MDU to the living unit, we have certified other types of ONTs, namely a MDU ONT. This ONT would be located within the MDU, typically in the equipment room in the basement of the MDU, and would use the existing wiring in the MDU to carry high speed data and video to the living units.
To be continued... (as Part II, below)
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Part II: John FiOS Engineer Answers Your Questions, II
Posted by John 'CZ' Czwartacki in PolicyBlog on Thursday, April 12, 2007
policyblog.verizon.com
Brian Whitton, Executive Director of Access Network Design and Integration for Verizon, was able to answer your remaining questions re: FiOS and our fiber optic innovations (see here for the first half of the Q&A). [Note: The format here appears different because the first set was done live via instant messaging and these, because of time, were done via email.]
Our geeky-goodness continues with answers about HDTV, TiVO, CableCard, and IPTV. Questions are in bold italics.
Q. Verizon representatives have gone on the record stating that HD content delivered over FiOS is never compressed beyond what is was when received from the content provider. That being said, is there theoretical limit to the amount of HD channels that FiOS can deliver? Will FiOS TV and Internet customers ever need to worry about their TV traffic stealing from their data bandwidth?
A. We transmit the HD stream at the bit rate and format in which we receive it from the content provider. We have no need to compress it further given the capacity our all fiber network design provides. As we have communicated in the past, our current network design has all broadcast video content, including analog, standard definition and high definition channels, carried over 1 of the 3 wavelengths operational on the FTTP passive optical network (PON). As both the demand for more channelized content and the availability of channels continues to grow, we would evaluate accommodating additional channel capacity over the other downstream wavelength. So, from a practical perspective, we do not see a limitation to the number of HD channels that can be delivered across the FTTP network.
Regarding the second part of the question, we have designed FTTP to continue to expand the amount of available bandwidth to the home, for both video and broadband data, to meet and exceed what customers would want today and in the foreseeable future. For example, we have announced our plans to rollout GPON, which increases the amount of downstream bandwidth by a factor of 4, and the upstream bandwidth by a factor of 8. This bandwidth is in addition to the bandwidth on the PON set aside for broadcast TV. Consequently, we do not anticipate bandwidth congestion from video and data services in the home being an issue.
Q. Is there any possibility of Verizon licensing the TiVo software, as Comcast and Cox have done, for FiOS?
A. I am not familiar with any plans to do so, but we continually re-evaluate our product set and seek ways to enhance the quality of our FiOS TV product for our customers.
Q. FiOS currently supports CableCARD systems, such as the TiVo Series3. Should this continue indefinitely? Will Verizon continue to add channels to the standard digital tier that CC devices can access, or will they begin using Switched Digital Video for channels, locking out CC 1.0 devices?
A. That is correct, we do support CableCard so that devices, or hosts as they are often referred to, that are CableCard compliant can view encrypted content. We have no plans to cease support for CableCard. Since our launch of FiOS TV in 3Q'05, we have continued to expand our broadcast channel lineup, inclusive of both SD and HD content. Using the bandwidth enabled by FTTP, our plans are to continue adding broadcast channels this year and CC devices will of course be able to decrypt and view these channels as well.
Verizon views IP TV as the next stage in the evolution of entertainment video. The industry, comprised of equipment manufacturers, service and content providers, are currently evaluating the solution for digital rights managements for video delivery using a unicast and multicast approach and it would be premature to speculate what the impact might be on CabeCard devices.
Q. When will I be able to get FiOS in my home?
A. It is hard to say not knowing what state and town you live in. We have and continue to execute successfully on our commitment to make FiOS available to an additional 3M households each year. At the end of 2006, we had passed in excess of 6M residences and businesses, and will pass 3M more, each year, through 2010. You can go here to inquire about FiOS availability in your local area.
Q. Does FiOS have the Free to air OTA Networks available to TV’s equipped with QAM tuners? so that an additional box @ $5 a month isn’t required for all televisions.
A. Yes. We carry SD over the air channels both in analog and QAM. HD OTA is carried over QAM only. TVs with built in QAM tuners will be able to view all unencrypted content over QAM. Of course, an HD TV with an integrated QAM tuner is required to view the unencrypted HD content.
Q. With a fiber connection being symmetric, many fiber providers such as Paxio (www.paxio.net) are providing symmetric connections such as 5Mbit, 10Mbit, 30Mbit. Why is Verizon keeping this arbitrary asymmetric limit with Fiber?
A. Our products are carefully crafted based on feedback we get from our customers. Indeed, our FTTP network can easily support a symmetric data service. As market dynamics change, we would re-assess the benefit to our customers of introducing a class of symmetric data services.
Q. In light of both the increased range of the PON home-run architecture and the additional physical footprint acquired in the MCI merger, when can we expect to establish a truly national presence and compete directly with AT&T, Embarq, etc.?
A. Verizon's announced plans for deployment of FTTP are limited to our local telecom footprint.
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| | The *NEW* Frank Coluccio Technology Forum | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last ReadRead Replies (1) |
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| To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (20849) | 4/13/2007 7:16:52 PM | | From: Sailtrader | | | | I read that post and found it rather alarming if everything George
writes is true. I will admit I am not the sharpest tech tool in the bag anymore, but what am I missing Frank?
Your comment implies it is really not worth the effort to reply, so if that is what you intended, I completely understand. |
| | The *NEW* Frank Coluccio Technology Forum | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last ReadRead Replies (1) |
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