Verizon exec to chat up utilities about future cooperation

Jim Barthold — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:22:12 -0400

Cable operators struggling with the idea of paying higher fees for access to utility poles should be alarmed by the news that multi-faceted competitor Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is actually cozying up to the utilities industry.

Ernie Lewis, industry partner with Verizon's Global Energy & Utility Practice will deliver the opening keynote address at the Smart Grid Summit conference in Los Angeles Oct. 4 where he's expected to talk about how the two industries can work together to "bring about a Smart Grid evolution." While the link between a smart grid conference--and even the smart grid itself--and pole attachment fees is tenuous, the same could probably be said about the link between the smart grid and broadband, and that gap is narrowing quickly with government support.

"The goal of the Smart Grid Summit is to help telecom and smart grid communities create new opportunities and drive innovation with communications technologies," according to a canned statement from Jon Arnold, founder of Intelligent Communication Partners and co-producer of the summit.

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Research: 'Superphones,' mobile WiMAX to hit stride in five years

Jim Barthold — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:00:41 -0400

New research from Strategy Analytics and ABI Research indicates that mobile WiMAX services and the "superphone" devices by which those services are received will dominate their markets by 2015.

Mobile WiMAX will grow despite competition from more telco-centric fourth generation technology as LTE, ABI Research analyst Xavier Ortiz said, even though the segment's "growth has not been as early or as strong as many would have hoped several years ago" based partially, on "delays in the formation of the new (cable-backed) Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR)," he wrote.

The prospects for devices on which these new services will be received-being called superphones-are easier to discern. "We forecast global superphone shipments to grow 550 percent from 15 million units in 2010 to 100 million by 2015," wrote Alex Spektor, an SA analyst, who defined a superphone as a high-end smartphone with a big display and superfast processor.

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Cisco has its head in the cloud at IBC show

Jim Barthold — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 08:49:59 -0400

It might not be politically correct to say so--or even particularly pleasing to the John Chambers crowd--but Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) seems to have its head in the cloud thanks to interactive TV player ActiveVideo.

Of course it could all just be part of the general sense of camaraderie fueled by exhaustion and revelry that accompanies a big trade show, but Cisco has invited ActiveVideo into its booth at IBC 2010 in Amsterdam to demonstrate its CloudTV platform with Cisco's content delivery system.

What's it all mean? Since the CloudTV technology is software based, it needs a platform like a human needs air and, Cisco is about as ubiquitous as air in the telecommunications space. "Cisco is in just about any account that we might have a relationship with in the future (so) it makes sense to have our software running on their infrastructure," Jeff Miller, president-CEO of ActiveVideo said in a statement delivered to FierceCable.

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Cable can watch as Apple, Google slug it out over TV

Jim Barthold — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:54:07 -0400

Cable likes to portray itself as an entrepreneurial industry, but it's downright staid when compared to the wild, wild world of the World Wide Web. That's why, while the cable industry must remain vigilant when it comes to competitive threats from spitting cousins Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), it can draw some pleasure watching the two intruders duke it out in typical computerland fashion.

The latest barrage was started by Intel President-CEO Paul Otellini who trashed Apple TV because "it uses an ARM-based chip rather than Intel's Pentium M," published reports said. Intel, of course, backs Google TV--as well as cable-friendly Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR)--but that's another piece in this competitive jungle. He also took Apple to task for building a simplistic device while Google TV "would be better since it was the full Internet melded with traditional TV."

The Mac attack response from Mac Daily News: "Apple TV isn't 'simplistic,' it's 'simple'--in a good, Apple way." The biggest difference is that Apple wants to supplant the cable box while Google TV wants to supplement it, the site continued. "We wouldn't bet against Apple and (chief executive) Steve Jobs and certainly not in favor of a search engine/advertising company."

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Bell Canada intros Internet TV, Videotron goes wireless

Jim Barthold — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:29:06 -0400

Cooler temperatures apparently lead to hot ideas up north in Canada where Bell Canada (NYSE: BCE) is "on the verge" of introducing an Internet-TV based service and cable operator Videotron is answering back with a wireless service that delivers heavy doses of French language programming to cable subscribers with smartphones.

Bell's Internet TV is called Bell Entertainment Service and its sole purpose is to make money by siphoning subscribers from Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) and Videotron. The service will run over the fiber networks the telco has put into place for its HSD service. It's been trialed and talked about for a while, but now it appears to be ready to start happening.

Videotron is answering back (although not directly) with a wireless service that lets smartphone users who are also cable customers access a wealth of content on their mobile phones. A key to the service, aside from the fact that much of the program content will be in French to assuage Videotron's base of subscriber in Quebec, is price.

"We will be the ones who (introduce) multimedia and data at a reasonable price," predicted Robert Depatie, Videotron's president-CEO. "I'm expecting reaction."

Need it be said that he can count on that?

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