Don’t blink when it comes to the customer

It’s all about the customer, so don’t get too enamored with
the technology. That was essentially the consensus among several
high-profile, highly-placed executives who spoke at the recent
NCTA
National Show in Atlanta.

Among the speakers at the session titled “Add Cable and Stir;
a Recipe for Business Success” were Glenn Britt of Time Warner
Cable, Michael Wilner of Insight Communications, Mark Cuban
of HDNet, Patrick Esser of Cox Communications, and Tom Rutledge
of Cablevision Systems, among others.

Each was convinced that whoever keeps their eyes on the customer
will eventually be the winner in the battle for consumers.
Keeping a close eye on the IP side of the business won’t hurt
either. “If we focus on the consumer, we should see all new
technologies as opportunities,” Britt said.

And that means IP-based services such as VoIP, high-speed
Internet and new services we don’t even know about yet. “Everyone
is experimenting, and people want choice,” Britt added.

And what did the audience choose as the highest margin business
for cable five years from now? Thirty-four percent of the
standing room only audience chose high-speed Internet, followed
by VoIP (at 24 percent); core video (16 percent); and VOD
and mobile communications (12 percent each).

The message? You had better pay attention to what the customer
wants and be able to provide it fast.

—Craig
Kuhl, IP Capsule Editor, and CED Magazine
Contributing Editor

JDSU monitoring round-the-clock

JDSU
has introduced its digital and IP video service monitoring
system designed to provide 24/7 monitoring of more than 250
video streams, along with testing access coverage at all points
in the network that deliver video service.

JDSU’s new monitoring system is comprised of the new QT-1100 Digital Video Service Monitor (shown here), the Digital Video Service Monitoring Server and Digital Video Service Monitoring Probes.

The IP video monitoring system will give operators the ability
to receive precise analysis of their service and detect problems
in the network from a remote location, from the ingress to
the network edge, the company said.

Why the system? More operators are seeking ways to monitor
networks remotely, particularly as they advance into IP-based
services.

Verimatrix, Entone consolidate
tech with Consolidated

Verimatrix,
an IPTV content protection and security provider, and Entone
Technologies will deploy their CAS (Content Authority
System) and Hydra IP Video Gateway set-top box, respectively,
in support of a video services rollout by Consolidated Communications,
the 17th largest phone company in the U.S.

The CAS will allow Consolidated to better secure its growing
lineup of IPTV content, while Entone’s Hydra Gateway will
enable the service provider to support three simultaneous
television streams, as well as broadband Internet access,
over existing in-home coax cabling.

What’s the big deal? Consolidated, with 245,000 access lines,
can now provide triple play services, including VOD.

EWAN files DMC set-top with
Patent Office

EWAN 1,
a provider of wireless set-top boxes, has filed an application
with the U.S. Patent Office to protect proprietary technology
tied to its DMC set-top box, the company said.

EWAN believes its wireless set-top is unique, and, therefore,
requires patent protection. “Our DMC set-top box is one of
the first wireless set-top boxes on the market. We believe
we can deliver Internet TV with the clarity of high definition
to subscribers’ TV sets, negating the need to purchase an
actual high-definition TV set and screen,” said Scott Kettle,
EWAN’s president, in a written statement.

Linksys Wireless-G router with two phone ports.

The VoIP bundle features the EarthLink “trueVoice” Internet
phone service and a Linksys Phone Adapter or Wireless-G Router
with two phone ports.

EarthLink advances to Level
3

Level
3 Communications is expanding its relationship with
EarthLink.
The multi-year agreement calls for Level 3’s VoIP Enhanced
Local service to provide nationwide local voice service to
EarthLink as part of its bundled voice and broadband Internet
package, the companies announced.

What’s the big deal? It’s another step for EarthLink towards
becoming a “next generation” Internet service, and executing
on its “We revolve around you” marketing message.

Independent American chooses
VoX

Independent cable operator American
Cable has chosen VoX
Communications Corp. to provide the Florida-based
operator with the broadband phone component of its triple
play offering.

The service will be deployed in Little Harbor, a coastal
community of 2,300 residences in Ruskin, Fla., to be followed
by bundled service offerings over the next several years to
the 150,000 multi-family units in American’s Florida market,
the companies said.

WildPackets and Telchemy integrate

WildPackets,
Inc. has integrated
Telchemy’s Vqmon/SA into its OmniAnalysis platform
to provide VoIP analysis and call quality monitoring.

The OmniAnalysis platform gives network engineers real-time
visibility into every part of the network simultaneously from
a single console, according to WildPackets.

So what’s the deal? More evidence of companies partnering
to provide a monitoring system that can look deep into complex
VoIP networks.

Charter merging to fast lane
with phone service

Charter
Communications has launched telephone service in seven
new markets in 1Q, expanding the service to about 1 million
new homes. Charter now offers phone service to nearly 3.9
million homes, the company announced.

Why the expansion? Can you say bundle? Charter is experiencing
impressive growth for its triple play of bundled services.

CommPartners certifiably a
CLEC

CommPartners,
an IP-based network operator, has earned CLEC certification
in 45 states and expects to be in all 50 by year-end, the
company announced.

CommPartners provides wholesale VoIP and enhanced IP applications
to carriers and strategic partners, it said.

What’s the big deal? If CommPartners achieves certification
in five more states, it becomes one of a handful of telecommunications
companies to have earned CLEC status in every state.

And the research says….

Time Warner Cable dialing for digital dollars

Time
Warner Cable scored exceptionally high on its three
direct mail pieces aimed at promoting its digital phone service
in its Charlotte market. The response rate was 1.35 percent,
or a 107 percent lift over its previous campaigns, the company
said.

Using marketing company Cohorts,
U.S. households are divided into 30 groups that share distinct
demographic, lifestyle and consumer behavior characteristics.
TWC-Charlotte identified subscribers who would most likely
be interested in a digital phone package, then were combined
into three mega-segments for direct mail purposes, the company
said.

The result? More than twice the response over traditional
direct mail efforts.

Clearwire gets Winbeam

Clearwire
Corp., a high-speed, wireless Internet service provider,
has acquired fellow service provider Winbeam.

Clearwire is using non-line of site wireless technology developed
by its wholly owned subsidiary, NextNet Wireless.

Why Winbeam? Clearwire expects the purchase will provide
a stronger foothold in the Eastern U.S., where Winbeam’s coveted
2.5 GHz spectrum holdings cover portions of Maryland, New
York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the company said.

Telkonet and GigaBeam going
for the quad play

Telkonet
Inc. and GigaBeam
Corp. have announced that Microwave Satellite Technologies,
Inc., a Telkonet subsidiary, has purchased five WiFiber wireless
fiber links from GigaBeam, and are now being deployed in New
York City as part of what the company says is the first 70-80
GHz ultra high-speed resilient loop network on Manhattan Island.

The network will provide IPTV, VoIP, Internet access and
area WiFi access for a quadruple play of services, the companies
said.

Why the buzz? GigaBeam’s WiFiber will connect multiple buildings
in New York City for a quad-play of services. Current speed?
1 Gbps, with future products capable of 10 Gbps using either
the 10 Gigabit Ethernet or OC-192 protocol standards, according
to GigaBeam.

And the research says….

Broadband subscribers getting on board

By 2011, worldwide broadband subscribers will total 413 million,
says research group In-Stat.

Why the spike? “Increasing availability of broadband services
and the proliferation of new applications that rely on high-speed
connections,” says Mike Paxton, an analyst with In-Stat (disclosure:
In-Stat and CED share the same corporate parent).

DSL remains the leading broadband access technology worldwide,
with 69 percent of all broadband subscribers. And, 3.7 million
new subscribers will sign up for broadband services each month
this year, worldwide. Currently, there are more than 200 million
worldwide broadband subscribers, In-Stat reports.