Google is laying the groundwork to start distributing video, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The company has long talked about being in the TV business. The issue was whether it would voluntarily restrict itself to over-the-top (OTT) content or attempt to compete with multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). If the latter, […]
Telecommunications
Wi-Fi Networks: A New Frontier for Cable Operators
Outdoor Wi-Fi is red hot as cable operators look to reduce churn. Outdoor Wi-Fi is the new black when it comes to data services for cable operators. Not only does Wi-Fi reduce customer churn in the face of increased competition from telcos, it does so by leveraging the existing DOCSIS plant while laying the groundwork […]
Verizon, AT&T Dominate TelcoTV
Both get keynotes, but Verizon lets a surprise slip. Verizon might drop a bomb on the rest of the communications industry next year. Maybe. It’s still thinking. At a keynote address at TelcoTV, during the last question he fielded at the concluding Q&A session, the last thing Verizon senior vice president of consumer product management […]
Let’s Get Progressive With Multi-Screen De-Interlacing
Progressive TVs, PCs, tablets and smartphones are here to stay. In the old days, “video display” used to mean “the TV” – more specifically, an analog input standard-definition TV. But that has all changed now. Today’s new televisions are digital, and video viewing is becoming more popular on PCs, tablets and smartphones, creating a broader […]
Multi-Screen Challenges and Benefits
Do you have all that it takes to be successful? Over the past year, cable executives have showcased and deployed applications that extend video services to new consumer electronics devices such as tablets, smartphones and connected TVs. Driven by the rise of mobile computing platforms and fierce competition from over-the-top entertainment providers, multi-screen applications offer […]
Monetizing Multi-Screen Deployments
MSOs need to focus on powering dynamic promotions to increase revenue. The push for multi-screen video services is creating new players in the digital content value chain, including over-the-top providers, and creating opportunities and challenges for service providers, advertisers, content providers and consumers. The implications for providers are a new set of challenges related to […]
Open Mic – Expo: Something for Everyone
The common thread: Listen to what the customer wants. By the time you read this, my year as program chair for SCTE Cable-Tec Expo will be drawing to a close. When the curtain goes up on Expo and a companion event, the Capacity Management Symposium, during the week of Nov. 14, it will mark the […]
AT&T extends deal to redistribute DirecTV
AT&T has signed a three-year extension with DirecTV to continue to be able to resell the latter’s TV service across the 22 states where AT&T offers residential broadband and voice service. Given that AT&T is not going to expand U-verse much more than it already has, the value remains high for a relationship with a […]
Judge allows Sprint suit over AT&T, T-Mobile deal
A federal judge is allowing Sprint and C Spire Wireless’ lawsuits against AT&T’s merger with T-Mobile USA to proceed on the grounds that they could have an anticompetitive effect on the market for wireless devices. “Sprint and Cellular South have adequately alleged a threatened antitrust injury with regard to the proposed acquisition’s effects on their […]
Clearwire adds 1.9M subs in Q3
Clearwire managed to add a record number of subscribers in the third quarter – 1.9 million, mostly wholesale – and reported a decent quarter overall, but its financing requirements are keeping investors from getting too excited. Clearwire President and CEO Erik Prusch said the company continued to add retail customers, as well – 35,000 in […]