Communications Crossroads - Spring 2008 - (Page 11)

small telecom’s typically close and long-standing relationship with its customer base, coupled with IP’s superior quality, should incentivize local operators to move quickly and deploy. “We can get somebody up and running in 90 days,” he says. “There are now turnkey systems available (such as the one his company offers with the NRTC) and they can get into this market very quickly. It’s not a matter of having a plan for years. It’s not a situation where you’re not going to see the ﬁrst dollar for 34 or 30 months. This is something where you don’t necessarily have to have a huge amount of experience or expertise because it comes with a lot of marketing support.” Franchising offers the small operator something else important, too: Future-prooﬁng. In a world where technology sheds its skin at an astonishing rate, partnering with a larger company, where regular upgrades are mandatory to retain state-of-the-art status, the small carrier can sit back and let someone else do the work. “Technology is changing so quickly you may ﬁnd that your investment becomes obsolete in 12 or 18 months and suddenly you’re faced with having to make another investment,” says Squadron. “The advantage of working with a centralized facility is that they are constantly upgrading.” He speaks from experience. SES, in its ﬁrst two years, has already changed out their full set of digital MPEG4 encoders from the ﬁrst generation. “There was such a big improvement that we felt we needed to make the upgrade.” Viodi’s Pyle says the small carriers should evaluate a number of factors before deciding. These include what their competition is doing, subscriber density and the geographic/demographic mix, their current network conﬁguration and their existing video experience. “A franchised video approach may be right for some operators and not for others,” he warns. “Some operators may be better off to augment their broadband and start by adding local video over the top.” Pyle suggests researching both options: Do a plan with video and the same plan without, then compare results. On the Horizon: Innovations & Challenges Squadron believes getting an IP foundation for your video service means that as time goes on, companies will be able to layer in all kinds of new features that the language will allow, and says industry leaders are constantly ﬁnding new ways of being more efﬁcient and bringing down costs. “One possibility over time might be to have telephone companies share head-ends,” he suggests, and therefore help one another shoulder the burden of costs, of upkeep. Pyle has a solid watch-list for 2008. Among his hot topics: the DTV transition. “As in Europe, there could be a hybrid service that combines free overthe-air with free over-the-top video to create some compelling offerings for cost-conscious consumers. This could put pricing pressures on entities with terrestrial landline networks.” Over-the-top, he predicts, will become increasingly important. “There are going to be a number of entities that may crack the code as to connecting the Internet to the television. At the same time, Blu-Ray and HD DVD—along with the proliferation of high-deﬁnition from cable and DBS providers has set the bar for telco IPTV providers. Portability of content will be increasingly important.” “One of the big challenges,” says Squadron “is going to be how we keep up with the demand for video services across multiple platforms.” As younger people become part of the mainstream consumer culture, the industry will ﬁnd the pressure increasing. “We’re going to have to work hard to come up with the right solutions that satisfy the demand and have a ﬁnancial underpinning that’s sound for everybody,” adds Squadron. “The next wave we’re going to have to deal with is the wherever, whenever, whatever factor. People are mobile, and they expect to get the programming they want on the device they want, wherever they happen to be.” MODEMS & GATEWAYS FOR VOICE, VIDEO & DATA SERVICES FOR MORE INFORMATION , CONTACT Sales@bectechnologies.net EAST COAST SALES: (603) 773-9739 WEST COAST SALES: (714) 890-0201 CENTRAL REGION SALES: (626) 823-1509 Spring 350150_BEC.indd 1 2008 COMMUNICATIONS CROSSROADS 2:39:40 PM 10/2/07 11 http://www.bectechnologies.net

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Communications Crossroads - Spring 2008

Communications Crossroads - Spring 2008 Up Front Contents TeleBites Cover Story: IPTV Technology Today: Network Transitioning: It’s Not a Matter of If, but How Business Advantages: Turning Knowledge and Growth into Profit and Success Industry Calendar Advertisers DotCom Index to Advertisers Straight Talk

Communications Crossroads - Spring 2008

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