Adobe DRM Expands
Base for Pay Video 14
Magazine
Comcast Takes IPv6
Testing to Next Level
18
February 2011
STRATEGIC INFORMATION FOR THE BROADBAND MARKETPLACE
Source Code >>
Verizon Weighs FiOS OT T Play
SPs’ Web TV Moves
Raise New Questions
BROADBAND CONTENT >>
BY FRED DAWSON
Jim Turner >> 20
Canoe Venture’s SVP for
product management
describes what’s in store
with EBIF applications in the
near term as well as new
developments taking shape
on the horizon
With Comcast and Time Warner Cable leading the way, the cableindustry’smove
into IP-based television became
official last month amid signs
that the emergence of broadband
subscription TV could eventually
lead to cross-border competition
among big SPs.
Until now TV Everywhere
strategies have focused on pro-
viding subscription content in
on-demand mode, leaving live
broadcast service delivery to the
traditional domain of MPEG-
2 and analog TV. But at last
month’s Consumer Electron-
ics Show, Time Warner Cable
announced it had begun stream-
ing live broadcast channels over
IP to Samsung’s Android-based
tablets with live streaming
to the manufacturer’s “smart
TVs” and to Sony’s Bravia TVs
Laura Martin, managing director
& senior analyst, Needham & Co.
Advanced Networks Are Drawing Business
Real Benefits Spur Rural Investments
SP STRATEGIES >>
BY TIM KRIDEL
Now that fiber infrastruc- ture has established a significant footprint in rural areas it makes
sense to question whether the touted benefits anticipated in President Barack Obama’s commitment to broadband as a pillar of
his “winning-the-future” policies
are showing up in the real world.
Judging by the funds already flowing into broadband expansion outside big metro areas, the answer
appears to be a resounding Yes.
In 2010, 68 percent of National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) members were connected to some
portion of their customer base
via fiber to the home (FTTH) or
fiber to the curb (FTTC), up from
59 percent the previous year and
from 44 percent in 2008. And
across all technologies – including DSL and cable – 45 percent
of NTCA members were offering
speeds above 6 megabits per second in 2010.
Lately there’s been an influx
of money to fund fiber upgrades
and expansions not only from
the $7.2-billion federal stimulus
package, but also from a plethora
of state funds and private invest-
ments. “A lot of it is driven by the
promise of economic develop-
ment,” says Geoff Burke, senior
director of corporate marketing
at access network technology
supplier Calix. “Everybody can
get on board with that at the state
level, the regional level, etc.”
The growing sense that the
investment is worth it is fueled
by the experiences of communi-
ties which have enough history
to demonstrate whether there’s
a real payoff. As one example
Burke cites Powell, Wyo., whose
bet on municipal fiber years ago
produced the kind of payoff that
everyone from the feds down to
the local chamber of commerce
is hoping for.
