Communications Crossroads - Summer 2008 - (Page 26)

“IN THE SAME WAY THAT, OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, PEOPLE BEGAN DROPPING FIXED PHONES FOR MOBILE PHONES, WE THINK PEOPLE WILL BE GIVING UP FIXED BROADBAND FOR MOBILE,” WILLS PREDICTS. signal where it’s needed, instead of a dim signal in all directions. This also limits the interference caused by other nearby systems. Because those systems are not the identiﬁed target, BeamFlex will not divert part of its signal to them. If an interference intrudes, such as someone walking through the area with a Bluetooth device, the BeamFlex will recognize it as interference, and reroute the data stream to avoid the obstacle. “The net of all that is that we’re able to turn Wi-Fi from an unstable, unreliable device to a very reliable one.” This is important for video, because inconsistent connection is bad for video. While milliseconds of dropped data stream are insigniﬁcant for standard data transmission, and barely noticeable in voice transmissions, they are unacceptable to video viewers. Even very brief loss of connection makes the video stream jerky and unwatchable. “Companies want to offer ‘enhanced hotspot capabilities,’ which requires really good Wi-Fi. We’re the only company today that offers Wi-Fi with a true multi-media capability; we’ve made Wi-Fi reliable regardless of the use.” This increased reliability will increase carriers’ ability to make a proﬁt on Wi-Fi, Mustarde asserts. “Right now, they can only charge for the worst case. The worst case is quite regularly zero megabits per second. Our value proposition is not that we go faster than anybody else, but that our worst case is signiﬁcantly better than anybody else’s.” This allows carriers to charge for premier services, to guarantee reliability, to deliver video. “We have a rock-solid delivery program. It’s all data—telephone, home security video … We can give you a platform of absolute reliability to deliver any data you want. For television delivery, using Ruckus Wireless means the carrier doesn’t have to send an installer out. Also, they don’t have to take as many complaint calls from customers because of the picture being out.” Doug Wills Director of Technology Marketing Redback Networks Redback Networks just won an award for its all-in-one edge routing system, the SmartEdge 1200. Doug Wills explains that the importance of the triple play brought this about. While the triple play means that one carrier is delivering Internet service, telephone, and television content to a household, that process usually requires at least three boxes— separate converters for each piece of hardware. The SmartEdge unites all three services, so only one router/ converter is required to deliver the triple play to the household. “Telephone carriers are rapidly catching up,” according to Wills. “We think the biggest opportunity for carriers is in mobile broadband and that every GSM user can be a mobile broadband user.” Ericsson (Redback’s parent company) had been offering mobile broadband for about 18 months at the time of this interview, and the company is ﬁnding that the service can match the speeds of ﬁ xed broadband in many instances. “In the same way that, over the last two years, people began dropping ﬁ xed phones for mobile phones, we think people will be giving up ﬁ xed broadband for mobile,” Wills predicts. The two big drivers for upgrades will be video and mobility. Video offerings will include programming that duplicates cable services, video on demand, and internet video. Wills believes that the ﬁrst 26 COMMUNICATIONS CROSSROADS www.ustelecom.org http://www.ustelecom.org

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

Communications Crossroads - Summer 2008 Up Front Contents TeleBites Delivering the Broadband Future Deriving Revenue from Today's Broadband World The Right Way to Operate Data Centers Buyers' Guide Industry Calendar Advertisers DotCom Index to Advertisers Straight Talk

Communications Crossroads - Summer 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.