Surewest is a California independent telco that acts as an incumbent in one area near Sacramento, California and as a competitive FTTH carrier in another area also near Sacramento. Surewest has agreed to acquire Everest Broadband, a competitive carrier offering voice, data, and video broadband services in areas near Kansas City. This acquisition will complete by the end of 1Q08 and will double Surewest's IPTV subscriber base with an expected total of 54 thousand.
This is an interesting move for SureWest. There are about 1,000 small, independent telcos in the U.S., so there is plenty of opportunity for further consolidation. Surewest is a solidly managed company and should do well with this and possibly other acquisitions.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Siemens Developing Fiber IPTV Distribution Network
I had a hallway conversation at its analyst conference in Amsterdam this week, Nokia Siemens told me that it is developing a long reach PON system that will permit the OLTs to be located in the regional headends rather than the central offices serving the subscriber. There will then be an optical connection from the head end to each subscriber, which will eliminate any chance for the congestion that now can occur in Ethernet or IP metro/aggregation networks, especially when the demand for on demand unicast services is high.
This architecture is right in line with the report Networking Strategies for TelcoTV Services that we published a few months back. The conclusion in this report is that IPTV service providers will need to create a non blocking optical network rather than use an Ethernet or IP network to connect the regional headend to the OLTs in the serving central offices.
Few companies are stepping up to this requirement that is a direct result of the increasing amounts of personalization on on demand services that everybody expects to be part of the evolution of IPTV networks. It is good to see that Nokia Siemens is taking this seriously.
This architecture is right in line with the report Networking Strategies for TelcoTV Services that we published a few months back. The conclusion in this report is that IPTV service providers will need to create a non blocking optical network rather than use an Ethernet or IP network to connect the regional headend to the OLTs in the serving central offices.
Few companies are stepping up to this requirement that is a direct result of the increasing amounts of personalization on on demand services that everybody expects to be part of the evolution of IPTV networks. It is good to see that Nokia Siemens is taking this seriously.
Nokia Siemens says Fiber is Green
Nokia Siemens stated that fiber is greener than VDSL in a presentation at its industry analyst meetings at Nokia World in Amsterdam this week. The main part of the presentation was about reducing the carbon footprint of mobile networks, primarily by reducing the power consumption of the base stations as well as by using techniques for turning off unneeded capacity.
In response to my question it pointed out that PON based FTTH architectures also reduce carbon footprint. On the other hand, VDSL increases the carbon footprint of a network because of the large number of remote systems that must be deployed.
I guess this means that fiber is just good all around. This is one more reason to select fiber.
In response to my question it pointed out that PON based FTTH architectures also reduce carbon footprint. On the other hand, VDSL increases the carbon footprint of a network because of the large number of remote systems that must be deployed.
I guess this means that fiber is just good all around. This is one more reason to select fiber.
Wind Introduces IPTV in Italy
Italliand competitive carrier, Wind Telecommunications the launched an IPTV service that is largely basein on broadcast channels from Sky Italia. This new service is called Infostrada TV. It includes free to air digital terrestrial channels and a package of international channels for a monthly fee of 7 euros. Service activation costs 99 euros and is now at a promotional price of 49.50 euros and a set-top box with a PVR and 100 hours of recording time.
Wind will also offer the premium services Sky Italia with various options starting at 36 euros per month for a combination of basic, cinema, or sport channels and is now being offered with promotionpromotional price of 15 euros until the end of February 2008. Wind joins Telecom Italia (Alice TV) and Fastweb. with IPTV offering in Italy.
This is another example of how IPTV is becoming a basic requirement for broadband services in Europe. Wind appears competitive with Telecom Italia but has to do more work to catch up with FastWeb's well developed service.
Wind will also offer the premium services Sky Italia with various options starting at 36 euros per month for a combination of basic, cinema, or sport channels and is now being offered with promotionpromotional price of 15 euros until the end of February 2008. Wind joins Telecom Italia (Alice TV) and Fastweb. with IPTV offering in Italy.
This is another example of how IPTV is becoming a basic requirement for broadband services in Europe. Wind appears competitive with Telecom Italia but has to do more work to catch up with FastWeb's well developed service.
ZTE Wins China Netcom AVS Project
ZTE won the first AVS-IPTV commercial network bid from China Netcom. ZTE will be the sole IPTV provider for the project.
AVS is intellectual property developed in China that enables local providers to save on patent fees required with foreign systems. China’s Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and China Netcom have been working toward the commercial implementation of AVS standard. AVS IPTV commercial trials started in November 2006.
In 2006 ZTE won deals for IPTV projects at Beijing Telecom, Shanghai Telecom, and China Netcom. ZTE claims that it has over 50 percent share of China’s current IPTV product solutions market.
This is a significant win for ZTE. It shares virtually all of the IPTV systems business with UTStarcom in China. AVS support should give it a significant advantage in the Chnese market since the country has a major push under way to use as much local intellectual property as it can.
AVS is intellectual property developed in China that enables local providers to save on patent fees required with foreign systems. China’s Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and China Netcom have been working toward the commercial implementation of AVS standard. AVS IPTV commercial trials started in November 2006.
In 2006 ZTE won deals for IPTV projects at Beijing Telecom, Shanghai Telecom, and China Netcom. ZTE claims that it has over 50 percent share of China’s current IPTV product solutions market.
This is a significant win for ZTE. It shares virtually all of the IPTV systems business with UTStarcom in China. AVS support should give it a significant advantage in the Chnese market since the country has a major push under way to use as much local intellectual property as it can.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Comcast to Start DOCSIS 3.0 Deployment
Comcast plans to have DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem technology available to about 20 percent of its subscribers by the end of 2008. Comcast is looking to deliver video content to TV's using this data technology.
However, the initial DOCSIS 3.0 deployment will increase speeds only in the downstream direction. It appearts that DOCSIS 3.0 equpment that supports higher speeds in the uupstream direction will not be available at that time.
This is a move that ATT will have to watch closely due to the limited bandwidth available from its VDSL approach. Verizon's fiber based FiOS network should be able to compete nicely with DOCSIS 3.0 without much difficulty.
The good news for ATT is that the initial deployment is limited in both scope and function. My guess is that Comcast will create a premium, higher priced service, based on DOCSIS 3.0. If Comcast follows such a conservative strategy, ATT will have some time to adjust its strategy to be competitive with this new cable technology.
However, the initial DOCSIS 3.0 deployment will increase speeds only in the downstream direction. It appearts that DOCSIS 3.0 equpment that supports higher speeds in the uupstream direction will not be available at that time.
This is a move that ATT will have to watch closely due to the limited bandwidth available from its VDSL approach. Verizon's fiber based FiOS network should be able to compete nicely with DOCSIS 3.0 without much difficulty.
The good news for ATT is that the initial deployment is limited in both scope and function. My guess is that Comcast will create a premium, higher priced service, based on DOCSIS 3.0. If Comcast follows such a conservative strategy, ATT will have some time to adjust its strategy to be competitive with this new cable technology.
Qwest Wins IPTV Franchise in Portland
Qwest went to the city of Portland, Oregan stating that it would bring competition to the cable incumbent Comcast. Qwest povided maps of the city indicating where it would upgrade its bandwidth speed from the current 3 Mbps maximum to its new FTTN network delivering at least 20 Mbps. Qwest said it planned to have the video service available to 20 percent of Portland in four years and 50 percent in six years.
Qwest's Portland video franchise goes into effect on January 1, 2008 after which Qwest will have 18 months to notify the city of when it plans to begin cable service.
Qwest's Portland video franchise goes into effect on January 1, 2008. At that point, Qwest will have 18 months to notify the city of when it plans to begin cable service, if at all.
This is a pretty tentative and slow rollout of IPTV services. Qwest seems to have made the decision that IPTV is not an important strategy. Frankly, I am skeptical that this will lead to an IPTV rollout of any significance.
Qwest's Portland video franchise goes into effect on January 1, 2008 after which Qwest will have 18 months to notify the city of when it plans to begin cable service.
Qwest's Portland video franchise goes into effect on January 1, 2008. At that point, Qwest will have 18 months to notify the city of when it plans to begin cable service, if at all.
This is a pretty tentative and slow rollout of IPTV services. Qwest seems to have made the decision that IPTV is not an important strategy. Frankly, I am skeptical that this will lead to an IPTV rollout of any significance.
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