tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9582646156867413642024-02-07T22:56:51.405-05:00Greywale ManagementGreywale Management: Strategies for Service Providers:Mobile, Broadband, IoT and Network Energy.Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-28361109456578509292015-07-24T12:01:00.000-04:002015-07-24T12:01:47.714-04:00Voice over Wi-Fi: Cable versus LTE: Part II<h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Playfair Display', Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 26px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">In the article </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">“How Big a Threat Is VoWi-Fi to the LTE Operator?”</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"> (Video: </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8hgAzT073Q" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: normal; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8hgAzT073Q</a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">) I illustrated the potential threat cable voice-over-Wi-Fi is to the mobile network operator. In Part II of the LTE threat I look at this issue from the CxO’s point of view of each organization.</span></h1>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Cable executives see VoWi-Fi as “nothing but upside.” VoWi-Fi enhances customer bundles, adds new revenue opportunities and is technically achievable. From a network perspective, their HFC networks are widely deployed, minimize access point backhaul issues, and have a presence in millions of homes and small/medium businesses. This physical presence gives them instant Wi-Fi access points on which they can add voice services. Additionally, they have a voice backend, and they are well positioned to handle the additional voice traffic throughout their network. Given these strengths, they can and will move fast, hence, “nothing but upside.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Mobile network operator (MNO) executives see Voice over Wi-Fi as “nothing but threats” to subscriber relationships, top-line revenue and profits and CAPEX flexibility. These threats are visualized in a number of ways. MNOs lack a physical presence in the home beyond the end-user devices with most users already off-loading to broadband delivered Wi-Fi for performance and data cap reasons. Although LTE backhaul networks have substantial capacity it is questionable whether they can gracefully cope with an onslaught of Wi-Fi data traffic. No company will deploy a voice-only Wi-Fi network. MNOs that do not own fixed network assets have a more daunting competitive environment; however, those that do have fixed network assets still have substantial challenges.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Cable is not without its own challenges. Given that they will be a new entrant to the mobile voice market they must meet certain baselines of quality of service, which will add to the deployment time, cost and complexity. Cable companies will never build out an LTE network. Never is a long time but, this is a safe bet. True, they can become MVNOs or be bold and buy Sprint or T-Mobile. Without LTE cable companies will not be able to offer the coverage MNOs can.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">New Wi-Fi voice and data technologies are under development. Improvements to the over-the-air protocols to address fairness and contention are emerging but VoWi-Fi technologies are nascent and standards take time. All of this will delay cable’s first mover advantage.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">MNOs have advantages as well. The biggest, as well as the most technically challenging, is intelligently leveraging their fixed and mobile networks to gain real-time insights of both networks’ end-to-end conditions such as congestion. Then, using these insights they can provide a superior quality of experience to their subscribers, particularly those deemed as high-value subscribers. For example, a default “off-load-to-Wi-Fi” strategy may not make sense for all subscribers if the Wi-Fi network is congested and the LTE network is not.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;">MNOs with small cells sites can upgrade them with LTE/Wi-Fi combo devices. The MNO has already solved the tough small cell site problems (real estate, backhaul, powering, etc.) so swapping out devices is manageable. Keep in mind that these small cell sites are not randomly dispersed. They are located in high-traffic, high-value locations. This enables the MNO to quickly expand its Wi-Fi network presence in these and high-value locations. Even more powerful is the ability to add Wi-Fi to its Self- Optimizing/Organizing Network investments.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">The MNOs have a bold strategy available to them. They can move fast too, and because they have a carrier-class LTE network on which to fall back they don’t have to start with a gold plated Wi-Fi network. They state that they want to be more like web companies and deploy services fast and improve them over time. On this point, they can walk the talk and rapidly deploy a data-only Wi-Fi network that’s “good enough” and let their subscribers use it for free until they attain the level of quality they really want. A lesson from the web world is capturing customers quickly, which is paramount to success.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Voice-over-Wi-Fi has the real potential to be a major disruption to the service provider industry. Cable companies see this as nothing but upside, whereas mobile network operators see this as nothing but threats. Both have advantages and challenges. Cable has the footprint, voice backend and potential first mover advantage. Yet, as a new mobile voice entrant they have minimum quality thresholds they must meet to be credible. MNOs, on the other hand, lack a strong physical presence in the home and may face network capacity challenges with the addition of massive amounts of Wi-Fi data traffic. However, they have the ability, if bold enough, to take a page out of the web company playbook and move even faster to deploy a “good enough” data-only Wi-Fi network using today’s technologies and their current installed infrastructures.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Want more information or to discuss strategies to dominate the game changing market of voice-over-Wi-Fi? Cable companies, mobile network operators and vendors to both industries contact ACG at<span style="color: blue;"> <a href="mailto:sales@acgcc.com" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: normal; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">sales@acgcc.com</a></span> to schedule an appointment to discuss these issues with our analyst<span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://acgcc.com/service/greg-whelan/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: normal; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">Greg Whelan</a>.</span></span></div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-20718124616282923132015-07-24T08:46:00.000-04:002015-07-24T08:46:18.246-04:00The Future of Broadband CPE: Part I<h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Playfair Display', Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 26px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;">
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<em><span style="color: #333333;">At Stake: Who Controls the entire home, the service provider or the web company?</span></em></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">The network-terminating CPE device provided by the access network service provider is at an inflection point: it’s at the intersection of service providers’ business drivers and emerging technologies. What’s at stake is control of the entire home and all the revenue generating up-sell opportunities, including emerging Internet of Things services. Access network service providers must decipher this paradigm or risk being usurped by the web companies.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Customer Premise Equipment or CPE historically meant customer owned equipment. In the case of a T1 circuit the service provider would terminate the network with a CSU/DSU and would connect to the customer-owned access router. If there was an issue, the SP would perform a loop-back test to the CSU/DSU and if it passed the test they were done with support. The same is true with legacy home telephony. If there’s a dial tone at the Network Interface Device, the gray box attached to the outside your home, the telco is “done.” If you still have issues beyond that it’s your home wiring, which the ILEC’s no longer manage (for free anyway).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">In the early days of broadband, the service provider, telco and cable company would terminate their connections with a DSL or cable modem. The premise facing interface was Ethernet (Layer 2 interface). When consumers wanted to connect more than one device to the Internet they would acquire a Wi-Fi router (Layer 3) through the retail channel.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Today, service providers are combining the modem functionality with the Wi-Fi routing functionality in to a single device. Interesting to note is the SP is taking ownership of the Wi-Fi network, something historically they were loathed to do and could not do for regulatory reasons. The more functionality an SP takes ownership of the more they are responsible for. This leads to the inevitable increase in help calls.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Competition is forcing them take ownership of the total customer experience. A poor experience combined with lackluster customer support is the number one reason for customer churn. Now the CPE or broadband gateway is taking on the dual role of terminating the network and controlling the home network and ultimately the devices and things in the home.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">This is not without precedence. The set-top box has always had this dual personality. It terminated the SP’s video network and controlled the home video experience. This is even more prevalent with whole home DVRs. As far as cable companies were concerned the STB was part of the network when it was convenient and CPE when that was convenient.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Now and in the future the SP provided CPE device needs to do two things well. First, it must terminate the access network (Layers 1 and 2), hence the term “network terminating CPE”. Second, it must control and manage the entire home experience (Layers 3-7+). It can and will do the network terminating part well, but it also MUST do the home experience well or risk churn where competition exist or having a web company usurp them.</span></div>
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In future articles I will address numerous issues including:</div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">1. Virtualization Options and Realities</span><br /><span style="color: #333333;">2. IoT and Smart Home Implications</span><br /><span style="color: #333333;">3. Distribution of Intelligence (Cloud, Network and CPE)</span><br /><span style="color: #333333;">4. Distribution of Intelligence (CO/HE, Outside Plant and CPE)</span><br /><span style="color: #333333;">5. Wi-Fi & LTE Convergence</span><br /><span style="color: #333333;">6. Business Models, Value Chains and the N-Dimensional Ecosystem Dynamics</span></div>
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If you would like us to help you navigate the future of broadband CPE industry-wide dynamics and opportunities contact <a href="http://acgcc.com/service/greg-whelan/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; color: #ea2e0d; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: normal; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">Greg Whelan</a> at <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://acgcc.com/the-future-of-broadband-cpe-part-i/gwhelan@acgcc.com" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: normal; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">gwhelan@</a>greywale.com</span></div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-41022896356747450632015-06-30T09:03:00.002-04:002015-06-30T09:03:56.205-04:00Wi-Fi – “the toy that grew up”<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Reprinted from the <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wireless Broadband Association: Industry News Roundup</strong></div>
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Wi-Fi – “the toy that grew up”</div>
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Historically, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) looked at Wi-Fi as a toy, a low-end technology that was great to off-load data from networks. Now Wi-Fi is having a strategic impact on MNOs across the globe. Now the question is LTE or Wi-Fi: remind me which one’s for off-load?</div>
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Yet, as with many technical innovations, the low-end always wins. Wi-Fi is a classic example of this theory. Through a combination of Moore’s Law, economies of scale, R&D investments and free market dynamics Wi-Fi is king of the hill. In most developed countries people and things can access a Wi-Fi network in 80% of locations. Companies, such as Devicescape, have created virtual networks based on “ambient’ Wi-Fi networks. Hotspots are so ubiquitous that Opensignal launched an application to find the best one out of the many available.</div>
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Wi-Fi and Hotspots are becoming strategic to all carriers (fixed and mobile) as they have realized the importance of keeping traffic on their network for quality of experience and billing purposes. The market for carrier Wi-Fi gear continues to grow as carriers look to exploit these opportunities.</div>
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Today, high- speed access to the Internet is as fundamental as indoor plumbing. People expect it and city and national governments view it as mandatory for many economic development and quality of life issues. With the ubiquity of Wi-Fi enabled devices and the simplicity of Wi-Fi deployments it is no surprise that Wi-Fi is a leading candidate to achieve this. Even in remote,rural and under-developed regions, Wi-Fi leads the ways.</div>
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Even with fierce competition from ZigBee and other alternatives Wi-Fi is also a leading network technology for applications using IoT technologies. Wearables are no exception. LG smart watches use Wi-Fi and researchers are looking to Wi-Fi for an entire body network. We could all become Wi-Fi access points.</div>
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Yet success breeds challenges. Wi-Fi uses attractive unlicensed frequency bands and the licensed crowd wants in as the LTE community is looking to use the same 5 Ghz frequency band. Trying to head off a battle royale, the U.S. FCC has already entered the fray.</div>
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Wi-Fi, the toy that grew up, continues its momentum to solve real problems for consumers, businesses, service providers and governments. It was often said never to bet against Ethernet, I’d like to add never bet against Wi-Fi.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Greg Whelan,</strong> ACG Research</div>
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To discuss this and other strategic technology issues impacting the global service provider market please contact me</div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-23633285986402152922015-06-26T08:03:00.000-04:002015-06-26T08:03:21.544-04:00Access Insights™ At the Intersection of Service Provider Business Drivers and Emerging Technologies<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4d4f51; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 30px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
What is <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“access”</strong>? Simply put, it’s people and things accessing the cloud and each other. </div>
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<a data-mce-href="http://acgcc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/chart1.jpg" href="http://acgcc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/chart1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"></a>Access is no longer <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fixed or Wireless.</strong> Access is about connecting people and things to each other and to applications and service in “the cloud”. Thus, access is about <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fixed and Wireless.</strong> It’s about having the right combined architecture on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. This “combo” trend is having, and will continue to have, major impacts and disruptions in the access market and in the entire service provider ecosystem. New technologies, architectures and business models will emerge. Market realities are forcing carriers to offer (up to) gigabit speeds and incumbents have billions of dollars in deployed assets and architectures. All this makes Access challenging for both technical/architectural and business decision making. </div>
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I’ve determined that attention deficit disorder (A.D.D.) is a truly global phenomenon. Therefore, I will present my points in terse salient bullets :-)</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Top Access Insights to Ponder</strong></div>
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The future of Access is Fixed <strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">and</strong> Wireless… not “or”<ol style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 30px 40px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SPs need to adapt organizations, so do vendors!</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is timing everything? Plus...real strategic implications to the @$# Speed Test.</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Next Gen Broadband CPE architecture and business models are being disrupted...<ol style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 30px 40px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Big risk</strong> to incumbent service providers and Vendors</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wi-Fi: The “toy” that grew up: Strategic implications abound<ol style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 30px 40px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wi-Fi: Further proof that the “low end always wins”</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Voice over Wi-Fi<ol style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 30px 40px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nothing but upside to Cable Companies. Nothing but threats to MNOs.</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">LTE vs. Wi-Fi<ol style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 30px 40px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Remind me which one is for off-load?</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Next Gen Cable Access Networks …<ol style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 30px 40px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">PON Greenfield is redundant, DOCSIS Greenfield is an oxymoron</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">CPE vs. Carrier Gear (Plastic vs. Metal)<ol style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 30px 40px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Plastic companies building metal?</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SDN-NFV in Access<ol style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 30px 40px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s coming… contemplations begin…</li>
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<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What’s the value of vendor incumbency at inflection points?<ol style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 30px 40px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is Access different from any other industry?</li>
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There’s, hopefully obviously to the reader, a lot of thought behind each of these points. I’d welcome the opportunity to discuss them in more detail. Please contact me if you’d like to schedule some time explore how these insights impact your strategies and how we can create actionable plans to address and exploit them.</div>
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Greg Whelan <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #006fa6; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">gwhelan@greywale.com</a></div>
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Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-63357724696027121392015-06-26T08:01:00.000-04:002015-06-26T08:01:01.351-04:00Broadband Regulations: Be Careful What You Wish For!<h1 class="entry-title" style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 34px; margin-bottom: 30px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://acgcc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/chart1.jpg" href="http://acgcc.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/chart1.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"></a>Regulations are a critical factor in the access network. Unlike the “rest of the network” the access network is burdened with federal, state and local regulations and this is only getting worse. I’ve written extensively in the past that net neutrality is a bad idea and that Title II is a gigabit killer.</h1>
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Why is regulation bad for everyone, including Google? The regulated monopoly “phone companies” depreciated equipment over 30 years. With asset-based pricing regulations you want to keep your asset base as high as possible. Thus, the innovation cycle of the regulated voice industry was 30 years. In the unregulated data networking industry the desired depreciation cycle is five to seven years with three to five years being a more common life span of equipment. Thus, the innovation cycle is three to five years. Today, service providers want to accelerate their innovation cycle to less than one year and ideally three to four<strong> months</strong> to be more competitive with the “web companies” such as Google and Facebook.</div>
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Until recently the net neutrality debate was focused on adverse traffic impacts such a throttling P2P traffic. It’s widely reported that as few as 10 percent of users consume upwards of 80 percent of capacity. The numbers have changed with the proliferation of streaming video but the issue remains. Mobile network operators have solved this problem with data caps. They also have program where web companies can pay so their traffic doesn’t count against subscribers’ data caps. (This may be illegal soon as well.) When an analogous program (for example, paid fast lane) was implemented in the broadband access market there was outrage.</div>
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Traditional content delivery networks (CDNs) can bypass much of the public Internet to improve quality of service. Companies that want to provide a better user experience can use CDNs and cache their content in select Tier 1 locations across the country. This helps; however, from the Tier 1 cache to the user is best-effort delivery. Once the traffic enters the local exchange carriers’ (LEC) network in a large metropolitan area the “last 50” miles are best effort.</div>
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With this model OTT companies cannot ensure the quality of their service. Why shouldn’t they be able to pay the LEC for better traffic treatment? The argument is that this benefits the large companies at the detriment of start-up companies. It’s just another challenge innovative start-ups must overcome. This actually benefits consumers as only those companies with a compelling offering will make it over the hurdle. Marginal companies with a marginal offering won’t flood the market and the network with garbage. This is a good thing. Isn’t the FCC all about protecting the consumer?</div>
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Can capitalism and the free market address the issue of a “digital divide”? Yes, a case in point is Comcast in the Boston area. The company offers $10/month broadband service to any family that has children on the free or subsidized school lunch program in the city of Boston. No laws, no regulations just a solid business driven move by Comcast.</div>
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Service providers have invested billions of dollars deploying and managing broadband networks. Data rates have continuously increased. Gigabit networks are being deployed around the world by a range of companies and organizations. The free market is driving them. It’s counter intuitive to expect them to spend limited CAPEX if their return on investment is regulated or uncertain. Today, regulators are faced with conflicting priorities. On one hand they want to spur gigabit investments but on the other hand they want to regulate broadband access. It’s obvious that you can’t get both.<strong>To repeat: Title II is a gigabit killer.</strong></div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-86695876661133358112015-04-14T16:19:00.000-04:002015-04-14T16:19:35.607-04:00Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent: Who Should Buy Who?<h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Playfair Display', Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 26px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;">
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/3068336-wall-street-breakfast-nokia-confirms-advanced-merger-talks-with-alcatel-lucent" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: normal; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">Seeking Alpha reported that Nokia</a> <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/3068336-wall-street-breakfast-nokia-confirms-advanced-merger-talks-with-alcatel-lucent" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: normal; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">confirmed it is in talks to acquire all or part of Alcatel-Lucent</a></span> and it is no surprise the companes are quibbling over valuation. Alcatel-Lucent has gone through some tough times and appears to be executing well on its Shift plan. Arguably, they are undervalued but investors are waiting for more tangible results, which will indicate that the plan is working. Current shareholders and employees can sense this positive momentum and are remiss to “sell-out” before the results of their hard work and commitment are fully realized. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Consolidation in the equipment market is not unexpected. Communication service providers are consolidating too and are getting bigger. When this occurs large equipment providers tend to consolidate as well as they have fewer large customers and need economies of scale to be successful. This is truly a zero-sum game. Either you get 70 percent of the business, 30 percent as a second, keep the first one honest, source or you get zero percent. With the inherent complexities of SDN, NFV and virtualization, particularly in multi-vendor integration, it may be years before the “second’ source is even added.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Driving this buyout could be Huawei. The company is disrupting the entire global telecommunication equipment market. The industry has been aware of the company’s “grey area” business practices such as outright appropriating technology and intellectual property to giving eNodeBs away for free, with customers just paying the yearly maintenance fees (with a bonus of dozens of undocumented back doors). Although this is disturbing to the industry what really is of concern is Huawei’s huge product portfolio, their ability to throw “armies” at initiatives and their ability to take a long-term view to market (and global) domination.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">The big issue for either Nokia or Alcatel-Lucent is who is going to compete with Huawei? Communication networks are a fundamental asset to nation states. They drive economic development, entertainment, education, national security, etc. Perhaps it’s time all governments treat them as national assets.</span></div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-16481390551066639512015-04-01T19:19:00.004-04:002015-04-01T19:19:55.424-04:00Voice over Wi-Fi: Cable versus LTE: Part II<h1 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Playfair Display', Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 26px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">In my previous post </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><span style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; cursor: pointer; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">“How Big a Threat Is VoWi-Fi to the LTE Operator?”</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">I illustrated the potential threat cable voice-over-Wi-Fi is to the mobile network operator. In Part II of the LTE threat I look at this issue from the CxO’s point of view of each organization.</span></h1>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Cable executives see VoWi-Fi as “nothing but upside.” VoWi-Fi enhances customer bundles, adds new revenue opportunities and is technically achievable. From a network perspective, their HFC networks are widely deployed, minimize access point backhaul issues, and have a presence in millions of homes and small/medium businesses. This physical presence gives them instant Wi-Fi access points on which they can add voice services. Additionally, they have a voice backend, and they are well positioned to handle the additional voice traffic throughout their network. Given these strengths, they can and will move fast, hence, “nothing but upside.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Mobile network operator (MNO) executives see Voice over Wi-Fi as “nothing but threats” to subscriber relationships, top-line revenue and profits and CAPEX flexibility. These threats are visualized in a number of ways. MNOs lack a physical presence in the home beyond the end-user devices with most users already off-loading to broadband delivered Wi-Fi for performance and data cap reasons. Although LTE backhaul networks have substantial capacity it is questionable whether they can gracefully cope with an onslaught of Wi-Fi data traffic. No company will deploy a voice-only Wi-Fi network. MNOs that do not own fixed network assets have a more daunting competitive environment; however, those that do have fixed network assets still have substantial challenges.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Cable is not without its own challenges. Given that they will be a new entrant to the mobile voice market they must meet certain baselines of quality of service, which will add to the deployment time, cost and complexity. Cable companies will never build out an LTE network. Never is a long time but, this is a safe bet. True, they can become MVNOs or be bold and buy Sprint or T-Mobile. Without LTE cable companies will not be able to offer the coverage MNOs can.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">New Wi-Fi voice and data technologies are under development. Improvements to the over-the-air protocols to address fairness and contention are emerging but VoWi-Fi technologies are nascent and standards take time. All of this will delay cable’s first mover advantage.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">MNOs have advantages as well. The biggest, as well as the most technically challenging, is intelligently leveraging their fixed and mobile networks to gain real-time insights of both networks’ end-to-end conditions such as congestion. Then, using these insights they can provide a superior quality of experience to their subscribers, particularly those deemed as high-value subscribers. For example, a default “off-load-to-Wi-Fi” strategy may not make sense for all subscribers if the Wi-Fi network is congested and the LTE network is not.</span><br /><span style="color: #333333;">MNOs with small cells sites can upgrade them with LTE/Wi-Fi combo devices. The MNO has already solved the tough small cell site problems (real estate, backhaul, powering, etc.) so swapping out devices is manageable. Keep in mind that these small cell sites are not randomly dispersed. They are located in high-traffic, high-value locations. This enables the MNO to quickly expand its Wi-Fi network presence in these and high-value locations. Even more powerful is the ability to add Wi-Fi to its Self- Optimizing/Organizing Network investments.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">The MNOs have a bold strategy available to them. They can move fast too, and because they have a carrier-class LTE network on which to fall back they don’t have to start with a gold plated Wi-Fi network. They state that they want to be more like web companies and deploy services fast and improve them over time. On this point, they can walk the talk and rapidly deploy a data-only Wi-Fi network that’s “good enough” and let their subscribers use it for free until they attain the level of quality they really want. A lesson from the web world is capturing customers quickly, which is paramount to success.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Voice-over-Wi-Fi has the real potential to be a major disruption to the service provider industry. Cable companies see this as nothing but upside, whereas mobile network operators see this as nothing but threats. Both have advantages and challenges. Cable has the footprint, voice backend and potential first mover advantage. Yet, as a new mobile voice entrant they have minimum quality thresholds they must meet to be credible. MNOs, on the other hand, lack a strong physical presence in the home and may face network capacity challenges with the addition of massive amounts of Wi-Fi data traffic. However, they have the ability, if bold enough, to take a page out of the web company playbook and move even faster to deploy a “good enough” data-only Wi-Fi network using today’s technologies and their current installed infrastructures.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;">Want more information or to discuss strategies to dominate the game changing market of voice-over-Wi-Fi? Cable companies, mobile network operators and vendors to both industries contact greg whelan (gwhelan@greywale.com)</span></div>
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To watch my video please see </div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">(Video: </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8hgAzT073Q" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: normal; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8hgAzT073Q</a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">) </span></h1>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-53878037708030580212015-04-01T19:17:00.000-04:002015-04-01T19:17:07.215-04:00How Big a Threat is Cable VoWiFI to the LTE Mobile Network Operator?<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Playfair Display', Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px 0px 7px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: justify;">For years Wi-Fi was looked upon as the off-load network. MNOs were glad to off load massive amounts of data traffic onto these low-end, best effort, “free” networks, providing, of course, that their LTE networks were at or near capacity. Priority one, keep the billing meter running and only off load once the meter is maxed out. How could these $100 access points running off consumer-grade best-effort broadband become a threat? After all, MNOs have spent 10s of billions on a carrier-class LTE infrastructure.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;">The cable operators realized that they have a near ubiquitous high-capacity network and adding Wi-Fi access points was an opportunity. As we have seen numerous times in the past, when cable companies see they have an opportunity they quickly take advantage of it. Today, Comcast claims to have more than four million access points, which will grow to eight million by the end of the year. Yes, about half of these are in subscribers’ homes where (unbeknownst to them) they are a public access point for their neighbors.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Now, along comes voice over Wi-Fi (VoWi-Fi). This solves one of the age-old industry dilemmas: Great mobile voice outside OR great mobile data inside. Small cells and DAS are solving the indoor voice problem today; however, they are starting from an installed base near zero, and deployments are nontrivial and customized per venue. Outdoor small cells also face the added challenges of power and backhaul.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Wi-Fi is as close to a ubiquitous technology you will find. Enterprises, small business and residential consumers all have become accustomed to having access to Wi-Fi everywhere. There are clearly technical challenges to deploying quality carrier-class VoWi-Fi, but these are all solvable. After all they have been solved in the LTE market. Examples include MIMO antennas, seamless roaming and improved Doppler tolerances.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Thus, one can assume that VoWi-Fi will work and will “off-load” a significant percentage of indoor voice calls from the LTE network. Should MNOs be concerned? Let’s do some simple math to try to answer this question. It’s widely reported that approximately 80% of mobile traffic originates indoors. In five years what percentage of indoor voice traffic will be on the Vo-Wi-Fi network and not on the LTE network? Let’s assume 50%. This is reasonable because iPhone and Samsung smart phones support VoWi-Fi calling, and mobile subscribers are very aware of the cost of exceeding their mobile data caps. Therefore, the MNO will see a 40% reduction in voice traffic over the RAN and EPC. The BIG question is what the impact on revenue will be. If we assume that the revenue impact is only 5%, a $20 billion/year MNO would see a $1 billion reduction in cash flow. If the cable companies only see 25% of that amount, that’s $250</span> million in cash to them. The difference is assumed to be lost to price reductions.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;">MNOs, MSOs and service providers looking at offering VoWi-Fi services will need help to address this threat and opportunity and develop winning deployment and go-to-market strategies. Likewise, vendors in this ecosystem need to be cognizant of the multidimensional dynamics of the VoWi-Fi opportunity.<span style="color: blue;"> </span> Contact me for help develop your business and marketing strategies. We can provide a range of services from complete strategy development to creating high-impact differentiated messaging to product launch support.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;">How big a threat is VoWi-Fi to the LTE operator? Today, the answer is not much. Tomorrow, the answer is simply when is tomorrow.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Contact gwhelan@greywale.com for more information about our products and services.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #7e7e7e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;">
<span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://acgcc.com/service/greg-whelan/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.2s ease-out; color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-stretch: normal; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out;">For more information about Greg Whelan, click here</a>.</span></div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-61886851749410882382015-02-06T07:03:00.001-05:002015-02-06T07:03:24.887-05:00Virtualization: There’s got to be more! <div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Virtualization: There’s
got to be more! <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Porting to Intel and
Virtual Machines is a technical implementation detail not a business solution. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When vendors are asked about their virtualization strategy
you often hear a common answer. They say
they’re “virtual” since they ported their software to Intel. What’s the value proposition? Porting to Intel isn’t it. Sure it reduces
CAPEX, at the expense of performance. All it really does is shift industry revenue,
power and influence from the Broadcoms of the world to Intel. Plus, we now know that if CAPEX goes to ZERO
less than 33% of CxO’s top of mind business problems are solved. When pressed for the rest of their
virtualization strategy they say the run on virtual machines in a data
center. OK, and then what? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s assume they perform three functions called A, B and
C. They port them to Intel and then run
them on virtual machines (VMs). Shifting revenue from Broadcom to Intel is a technical
implementation detail and not a business solution. Service providers should be thinking <b>there’s got to be more</b>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The logical question to ask is whether A, B and C are the
right functions in the virtual world.
Just because they were required in yesterday’s environment does not mean
they are required in the virtual world.
Do you really need 20% of A and 60% of B? Do you really need 150% of C? You get the picture. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Service providers will be spending billions of dollars
moving to the virtual world they should be asking themselves, why? Sure there’s a benefit to take the A’s, B’s
and C’s of today’s world to virtual machines.
But is it really enough? This is
a one in a lifetime transformation and a fight for ultimate survival. SP’s need to ask for more. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Vendors on the other hand need to be asking themselves
similar questions. Is porting to Intel enough? What can we do that’s game changing in the virtual
world? The answer, IMHO, to the first
question is No Way. The answer to the
second question depends on the vendor’s core competencies, ecosystem presence,
business strategy et al. The good news is that ACG Research can help
you answer this second question. Give us
a shout. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtV067oTRxoTI8O9V7hQqcQ240zb8xNM_nWgQvugSrabVK7jsZi8nuQZDzyuquC6Lk3zEGNgfM-2XIYlsYm5ltS9Juj9qGPt-lw3A8aCOQhOw9DrcZE8JsBhzxGa-C0R39aw2S8PCE6Dj/s1600/acg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKtV067oTRxoTI8O9V7hQqcQ240zb8xNM_nWgQvugSrabVK7jsZi8nuQZDzyuquC6Lk3zEGNgfM-2XIYlsYm5ltS9Juj9qGPt-lw3A8aCOQhOw9DrcZE8JsBhzxGa-C0R39aw2S8PCE6Dj/s1600/acg.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-30152351375436396352014-10-24T07:37:00.002-04:002014-10-24T07:37:11.998-04:00Cord Cutting/Shaving Discussion <div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b>Cord cutting</b> or cord shaving is when
consumers drops their paid video service and purchase a broadband-only service
from their local access SP, telco or cable. In the U.S., numerous estimates
show more than 300,000 subscribers switched to broadband only in 2Q14. This is
significantly lower than previous quarters. Yet it is still significant. SPs
need to monitor this trend to see of it is in fact slowing or grow.</div>
<div class="BodyContent02" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
The economic impact of cord cutting has
reverberations throughout the ecosystem. For the SP it merely shifts revenue
and margin to the broadband business. For the ecosystem, revenues and margins
are shifted to the OTT player such as Netflix and adversely affect the
traditional “upstream” value chain including channels, for example, ESPN, TV
and movie producers and advertisers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
This trend is impacted by consumer
viewing habits. The younger generations are more mobile and are less likely to
spend limited discretionary dollars on a large-screen TV and also to pay for a
subscription video service. Video subscriptions are also impacted by macro
economic trends. Broadband has become the last service to be eliminated. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Tomorrow's "real cord cutting"
refers to consumers who completely stop all services from a wired service
provider and go completely wireless. We have seen the prequel with the
elimination of a "home phone." This next-generation cord cutting has
consumers relying on their 4G/LTE/5G service for all broadband applications. This
can be accomplished by simply turning their smart phone into a Wi-Fi access point
when in their home. The economic impacts of next-generation real cord cutting
are severe. The fixed access service providers not only lose all service
revenues but also lose customers entirely. This will be particularly painful
for cable MSOs that lack integrated wireless services. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
As 4G/LTE and eventually 5G deployments
expand and as more small cells get deployed the average bandwidth per device
will increase substantially. Slowing down real cord cutting will be the price
of mobile data plans and data CAPS, which will eliminate the intended savings
in the first place. Service providers with wireless assets will be in a strong
position to succeed in this future scenario. Other, such as cable MSOs, will
need to address their pricing plans, which are driving customers away in the
first place. They can also compete with unique content, primarily "sports
and wars," (for example, live programming) and push for better quality
video, such as emerging 4K technologies. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
To discuss this please email me at gwhelan@acgresearch.net </div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-22425085649585088492014-10-24T07:32:00.003-04:002014-10-24T07:40:48.563-04:00Cloud (Network) PVR Discussion<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
After a delay due to legal review, which
was settled favorably to the SPs’ network, DVR/PVRs (N-PVR) are being deployed
in earnest by all SPs. N-PVRs are becoming mainstream: In addition to improving
the consumers’ experiences they also offer numerous business values to the SP. N-PVRs
are also a great step toward virtualization and the move to everything on demand.
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Simply put, an
N-PVR is a DVR that resides in the cloud. When a viewer stores a program,
instead of it being stored on a hard disk drive located inside the set-top box,
the program (or metadata) is stored on a server or CDN cache located in the
service provider’s network.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">N-PVRs benefit both the service provider and the consumer. Service
providers benefit substantially on both CAPEX and OPEX. Service providers have
a love-hate relationship with the set-top box. They love them because they
provide a managed service enablement platform in each home, yet they hate them
because they account for about 50% of total CAPEX. Interesting to note is providers
argue they are part of the network when it is convenient and argue that they
are CPE when it is not. The latter is because of regulator ambiguity of TITLE
VI in the U.S.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By eliminating the hard drive from every set-top the cost of the
box is reduced, directly impacting CAPEX. Hard drives, being mechanical devices,
will fail. The elimination of the drive thus increases the reliability of the
box and reduces angry customer support calls and truck rolls. This directly
impacts OPEX. Without a hard drive the set-top box will consume less energy,
supporting the SPs’ goal of meeting the voluntary energy reduction agreement
the industry and the U.S. Department of Energy (Note, not the FCC) signed in
early 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">N-PVRs store consumer “save” programming in the cloud. This simplifies
whole home DVR and video everywhere service offerings. With N-PVR all consumer
playback originates in the network and not the primary set-top box. Although
newer homes have coax cable widely installed throughout the home the bulk of
homes do not. All in-home technology deployments are challenging to the SP because
of the high variability in both the housing stock and in consumer
sophistication. With the N-PVR all video streams are delivered from the network
as “just another” channel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">N-PVRs benefit the move to TV everywhere or TV to all devices. In
the home consumers watch TV programming on all of their devices. Because Wi-Fi
is the common fabric connecting every device, N-PVR based video programming can
be sent via the broadband connection and over the Wi-Fi network to all devices.
Thus, consumers can view stored programming on all their devices, and the SP
does not have to contend with home networking issues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The N-PVR takes this concept out of the home as well. Consumers
can view stored program from anywhere on any device with a broadband connect. This
also applies to the delivery of programming on smart phones via 4G/LTE
connections. In each of these cases, the stored SP programming is treated as over-the-top
(OTT) and facing the same challenges pure OTT suppliers face such as quality of
service and data usages. Equally, they can benefit from the innovation in the
OTT marketplace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This everywhere DVR experience also presents a new revenue
opportunity to the SP. Targeted advertising and local ad insertion take on new
meaning. For example, if a Boston-based consumer is watching a stored program
from San Francisco, why show the ad Boston-based car dealership? Similarly,
with smart phone location-based services being widely deployed, the SP can insert
a targeted ad based on the user’s real-time location. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 1.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As illustrated, N-PVRs not only offer consumers a better video
experience, they offer the SP real business value: reduction of both CAPEX and
OPEX and creation of new revenue generating opportunities. Properly deployed,
the N-PVR infrastructure will create the foundation for everything on demand
and the move to virtual set-top boxes. Given these factors, SPs should deploy
N-PVRs aggressively with the caveat that they must take a long-term strategic approach
of viewing N-PVRs as the first application of the platform and not the only
application. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To discuss this please contact me at gwhelan@acgresearch.net</span></div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-53455927177688365682014-06-30T10:41:00.000-04:002014-06-30T10:41:18.472-04:00Does Anyone Doubt IoT is at the Peak of the Hype Curve?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmJrHekjVZWrtWqhIH-sGo5ka4J0UYOYNcxV38jN_B1xn32ljYuiwZV83eZPjFntGQll-sx190sRzikvPY_6AsmBx_4QcLX50f60VAagRZfLz6LOHCMIxLgacv5hbpRyoD-zuE_leo8q3/s1600/hype+curve.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>Yikes! That's all I need to say about the excessive hype of anything and everything IoT these days. From the connected refrigerator, the connected car, wearables, et al the hype in this market is out of control. Every industry leader from Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon is staking their claim as the industry thought leader. The same is true for hundreds of smaller companies. The only thing clear is that IoT is at the peak of the hype curve. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mUgq5FmKj_S6pt0asArhtDs3Y0yrVExywuZLYmXfFAtixoehh_34C7vq3SMjHznq2LG2hu22MhcueJrwZFegHGOJ4EJq8xGFo_hUC_83oH8cAzzUaxc6YEFnR54BkFajote-0bPL4DwG/s1600/hype+curve.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mUgq5FmKj_S6pt0asArhtDs3Y0yrVExywuZLYmXfFAtixoehh_34C7vq3SMjHznq2LG2hu22MhcueJrwZFegHGOJ4EJq8xGFo_hUC_83oH8cAzzUaxc6YEFnR54BkFajote-0bPL4DwG/s1600/hype+curve.png" height="130" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
M2M (Machine-to-Machine) applications have been around for decades and have been and are quite successful. Many are based on industry standard protocols and millions of "things" are connected via the cellular network. Nothing new here. Remote sensors connected via some network to a centralized location where the sensor's data is aggregate, analyzed and acted upon. <br />
<br />
Once the hype "bubble" crashes many real markets will be widely successful. You will know what markets they are since they <b>will not</b> include the acronym IoT in their description.<br />
<br />
<br />
. Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-24543700301926107342014-06-10T08:28:00.001-04:002014-06-10T08:28:49.942-04:00IoT Success: Batteries & Backhaul...& Transparency<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The Internet of Things
(IoT) is riding high at the peak of the Hype Cycle. Is it a $17 Trillion
market or merely a $10 Trillion market? Depends on what you include in
your definition of a "thing". The more you include the bigger
the market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOsCl5laWlBq2BszglE85U_B4ayspl_CixU4EcCbI5ICwo4WGbLxRuZBkEGffCv357Zl0XkEIxOyG-NPrR0jljKjJVIzBltbduMaI-Wk26JsKxW1x2LWInxNcpU9I_hMZj86lpEMoSq_6/s1600/IoT+Diagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOsCl5laWlBq2BszglE85U_B4ayspl_CixU4EcCbI5ICwo4WGbLxRuZBkEGffCv357Zl0XkEIxOyG-NPrR0jljKjJVIzBltbduMaI-Wk26JsKxW1x2LWInxNcpU9I_hMZj86lpEMoSq_6/s1600/IoT+Diagram.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />IoT applications have a
basic common architecture as shown in Figure 1. IoT digitizes some analog
parameter and sends it to the "cloud" for analysis and possible
action. The primary factors that all IoT or M2M applications must
address are Batteries, Backhaul and Transparency. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Let's address the</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">transparency</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">issue first. In quantum physics there's
the "uncertainty principle". Simply put is says that whenever
you measure a system you disturb it. Since most IoT applications measure
a real world analog phenomena (e.g., temperature, pressures, et al) the
"thing" must do so with minimal impact on the system you are
measuring. Transparency parameters include cost (CAPEX and OPEX), size,
weight, aesthetics etc.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Batteries</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">, or more generally power, is a critical
parameter within IoT applications. If you require grid power you lose
some transparency and limit your ability to deploy the thing. Not every
location will be close enough to the grid to be able to be powered by it.
Remote sensors will require batteries. These batteries must last
many months and even many years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Even IoT applications
within the home must address the battery issue. Take a simple motion
detector. The ideal placement is in the corner of the room near the
ceiling. Not many power outlets near by. Thus the customer can
either install an outlet close by, move the sensor close to the outlet (i.e.,
near the floor) or have to see the wire dropping down to the nearest outlet.
Batteries solve this problem. However, if they need to be replaced
every month the value and transparency quickly depreciates. What if this
motion detector is part of a security perimeter for a high value asset (e.g.,
power plant). If the good guys need to replace the batteries periodically
it will show the bad guys where these "hidden" sensors are.
Thus, batteries are critical to the success of the application and can
make or break a business case. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The "I" in
"IoT" is for "Internet", meaning internet protocols (IP).
The digital data of the analog phenomena must be sent to the cloud via
some type of network. This is referred to as</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Backhaul</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">. Networking
options are plentiful and include 2G/3G/4G/LTE, Wi-Fi, Zig-Bee,
Satellite, Blue Tooth, Ethernet and local broadband options. The
technology selected depends on the application and on parameters such as data
rates, latency, cost and what's available. The more remote the thing is
the less options are likely available. The selection of a backhaul
solution must address both transparency and battery issues discussed above.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">There are other issues
and parameters that need to be address to make an IoT application successful.
For example, the cloud solution (e.g., "big data" base,
analytics, heuristics, et al) are not trivial yet they are solvable engineering
problems. The same is true for the "thing" or sensor. For most
all you have to do is go to the Analog Device catalog and select a chip.
Again, non trivial but solvable. Thus, batteries and backhaul and
transparency are critical make-or-break parameters to ensure success of your
IoT application.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">To discuss this please
email me at gwhelan@greywale.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Other articles can be
found at greywale.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-63406929991183933222014-06-04T09:34:00.000-04:002014-06-04T09:34:07.687-04:00The Next Cord Cutting: Real Cord Cutting<br />
Today "cord cutting" refers to consumers who stop paying for TV and go broadband only from the cable or telecom company. This is more accurately called "cord shaving". The economic impact is significant but it's more of a redistribution. More money to "Netflix" and less to the service provider for video. Yet, more to the latter for higher capacity broadband that provides higher margins. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_tq3EmIir7QVBYTq2BnbdZ1tWtF3QQdmVwBOPbTRG4NeFfTzJEQKjToF4a06xgJvGVD0qYb1DXEdUnOUg_Me2JXJDu-alY3BcxZj_kBFJW5jfkek566pm0NMDu1wH1GAqRcvCOKsEE34/s1600/cord+cutting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_tq3EmIir7QVBYTq2BnbdZ1tWtF3QQdmVwBOPbTRG4NeFfTzJEQKjToF4a06xgJvGVD0qYb1DXEdUnOUg_Me2JXJDu-alY3BcxZj_kBFJW5jfkek566pm0NMDu1wH1GAqRcvCOKsEE34/s1600/cord+cutting.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
Tomorrow's "Real Cord Cutting" refers to consumers who completely stop all services from a wired service provider. The go completely wireless. We've seen the prequel with the elimination of a "home phone". This next generation cord cutting has consumers relying on their 4G/LTE service for all broadband services. This can be accomplished by simply turning their smart phone into a Wi-Fi access point when in their home. The economic impacts of next generation real cord cutting are severe. The fixed access service provides not only lose all service revenues they lose customers entirely. <br />
<br />
As 4G/LTE deployments expand and as more small cells get deployed the average bandwidth per device will increase substantially. When the Netflix threshold (e.g., when the quality of streaming video is acceptable) is only a matter of time. Slowing down real cord cutting will be the price of mobile data plans which will eliminate the intended savings in the first place. Service providers with wireless assets will be in a strong position to succeed in this future scenario. Other, such as cable MSOs will need to address their pricing plans which are driving customers away in the first place. They can also compete with unique content, primarily "Sports and Wars", (i,e., live programming) and push for better quality video such as emerging 4K technologies. <br />
<br />
Today's cord cutting is growing significantly especially in the under 30 demographic. Tomorrow's real cord cutting will occur and will have substantial economic disruption for the entire ecosystem.<br />
<br />
<br />
For past article please visit <a href="http://www.greywale.com/" target="_blank">greywale.com </a><br />
<br />
<br />Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-51995918529915870842014-05-29T07:21:00.002-04:002014-05-29T07:21:50.243-04:00The Last Mile.. All local loops are local.<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">This is a great quote that captures the real challenges of the last mile. Notice these challenges are not technical. To adapt a quote from Tip O'Neal (Speaker of the U.S. House (D-MA) circa 1980s) .... <b>All local loops are local. </b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">"The last mile. It sounds easy, it's only a mile, after all – but the problem is, there are just so darned many of them. Wireless or Fixed, the last mile is a massive, poorly-scaling problem that manifests itself with trucks, cherry pickers, tower climbers, backhoes, manholes, labor unions, vandals, and byzantine local regulations and by-laws. What's to love? But as wireless modulation schemes approach the Shannon-Hartley limit, the last mile will increasingly be where we see networks scale to meet the surging demand for </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">mobile capacity.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;"> "</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11.818181991577148px;">From a meeting notice of the Telecom Council of Silicon Valley.</span>Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-11102291620019752172014-05-28T08:15:00.001-04:002014-06-12T07:56:17.438-04:00Google and the Home... Is there where we are heading?<img src="http://tomfishburne.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/140121.internetofthings.jpg" height="228" width="320" />Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-40295826359711151072014-05-21T06:07:00.000-04:002014-05-21T06:07:01.733-04:00Open Internet + Fast Lane: Win for Consumers: Yet Trust but Verify<b><br /></b>
<b>The recent move by the FCC is a win for Consumers. Yet, it's important the FCC "Trust but Verify</b>".<br />
<br />
Let's look at who will be the winners with the new FCC rules. The Consumers. Consumers will be the ultimate winners. First, the ISPs will get a fair return on their capital investments and will have the incentive to invest in more bandwidth. Which enables wave after wave of innovation. Second, those companies that pay for the fast lane will be those that consumers want and have a willingness to pay for. Netflix for example.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWfBvglo20GhPmIeZ9-6wh7RnhL1-nnIkwizJbKzmDE12MTQWdfaTVG5LZcO3cvOIGDN2Av1tgV-CxFOi-NYztGhF95KxeyARgVZrPqVtZpgdPpDjjOljU6hmF0K7KUNgcQthp_03fuzd/s1600/TBV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLWfBvglo20GhPmIeZ9-6wh7RnhL1-nnIkwizJbKzmDE12MTQWdfaTVG5LZcO3cvOIGDN2Av1tgV-CxFOi-NYztGhF95KxeyARgVZrPqVtZpgdPpDjjOljU6hmF0K7KUNgcQthp_03fuzd/s1600/TBV.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
Keep in mind that the FCC proposal STILL prohibits the ISP for degrading traffic. Thus, those consumer applications in high demand get preferred treatment for the last 50 miles of the network (CDN Cache to home) and all other traffic gets treated the same it's always been. <br />
<br />
The argument that small start up companies will be disadvantages is hollow. It will force entrepreneurs to innovate more to deliver a compelling product to consumers. It's just another market force to overcome. It will raise the bar and eliminate the marginal applications from clogging the network. This is no different than supermarket shelf space, a large barrier to entry. Coke and Pepsi dominate. Yet, look at all the upstart beverage companies that keep gaining shelf space. They're doing this by creating innovative products that consumers want. Not by whining to some federal regulator.<br />
<br />
<b>Why do industry pundits complain when Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, et al get fair return on their investment and look the other way when Google, Amazon, et al make $1000's per second? </b><br />
<br />
Therefore, Consumers are the big winner here. A) More bandwidth B) More innovation and C) Less marginal applications.<br />
<br />
Given that the FCC is charted, via the Congress, to protect consumers this new Fast Lane approach is a step in the right direct. However, the service providers must be careful not to over use this opportunity. Hence, the "Trust But Verify" mantra.<br />
<br />
Telco's and Cableco's must know that the FCC will be closely monitoring this new ruling (assuming it gets implemented). They must adopt a high level of transparency to eliminate complaints from consumers. Remember, all it takes is some savvy lawyer to get a single citizen to file a complaint. To prevent endless litigation and legal costs that effectively eliminate the economic value to the "fast lane", service providers need to provide this high level of transparency to avoid an FCC mandated higher level of transparency. <br />
<br />
SPs should freely adopt a level of transparency that satisfies consumers and their advocates and limits the level of proprietary disclosure to their competitors. They should ensure the "fast lane" does not, by design, effectively harm all other traffic. This can occur unwillingly using standard IETF IP Networking Protocols.<br />
<br />
Therefore, I believe the "Open Internet + Fast Lane" approach is worth implementing. It ultimately benefits the consumer and it's fair to the service providers. Yet, and a "BIG YET", the FCC must Trust and Verify.<br />
<br />
To comment on this or to discuss this in more detail please contact me at gwhelan@greywale.com<br />
<br />
For additional articles and analysis please visit www.greywale.com<br />
<br />Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-49444147633577299362014-04-15T11:15:00.001-04:002014-04-15T11:15:40.406-04:00Is VoLTE Worth the Investment?<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Mobile network operators across the globe are moving to
deploying VoLTE (Voice over LTE) systems.
The reasons for this are as expected.
They include:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdwamkmKgRjkOurevo2clcRrFLpG6V1lQMbyww_6qZcnMgsH_-QZ4J4_ZdXlpN9LC55XBNMNBV1S4yMYs6nrtcukukp6zLgHJeeRcIbuQDINFZy2NTS1v8EhDxsa79coJ-BoPqG6XG4fj/s1600/volte3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdwamkmKgRjkOurevo2clcRrFLpG6V1lQMbyww_6qZcnMgsH_-QZ4J4_ZdXlpN9LC55XBNMNBV1S4yMYs6nrtcukukp6zLgHJeeRcIbuQDINFZy2NTS1v8EhDxsa79coJ-BoPqG6XG4fj/s1600/volte3.png" height="183" width="200" /></a></div>
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<ol>
<li>Better voice quality</li>
<li>Protect voice revenues</li>
<li>Leverage IMS investment</li>
<li>Be able to provide billing
services (Leverage their billing system)</li>
<li>Migrate 2G and 3G voice services
to LTE</li>
</ol>
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</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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However, given the successes of over-the-top (OTT) services
over wired broadband and in current wireless networks is this billion dollar
investment prudent? Consider the
following:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li>OTT has won, or is winning, the battles. Skype and Netflix are two good examples. WhatsApp is another case in point of OTT
success. </li>
<li>OTT services are “good enough”. The majority of the market is unwilling to
pay for QoS when a free, or near free, service is sufficient.</li>
<li>When a consumer experiences poor quality for an OTT service
they blame the service provider and not the OTT provider.</li>
<li>QoS can only be guarantee when the “call” is completely on-net. As soon as the voice call leaves the
originating SP all bets are off. Why
spend the $ billions only for a subset of calls?</li>
<li>Voice revenue and now SMS Text revenues are crashing. Why
spend $ billions to chase a losing battle?</li>
<li>Service providers are moving away from call-based billing (i.e.,
CDRs (Call Detail Records)). Although
the NSA loves them. Unlimited calls and
texts are the norm. </li>
<li>Data limits are prevalent.
A few Youtube videos or one Netflix movie will dwarf a month’s worth of
phone calls from a data usage perspective. </li>
<li>When Google deploys their fiber optic networks (e.g., Kansas
City) they do not offer voice services.
The reason is to avoid the mountains of regulations required when
offering voice services. Does that
mean people in Kansas City don’t make voice calls? </li>
</ol>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
It is understandable why a service provider with decades of
legacy voice experience would want to consider VoLTE. After all, they have decades of legacy voice
experience. Similarly, it’s not
surprising that service providers that have spent $ billions and years
deploying and perfecting IMS want to leverage that investment in time, money
and careers. It’s difficult to face
reality that IMS is a “sunk cost” and therefore should not be factored in when
evaluating VoLTE investments.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The OTT trends and successes cannot be refuted. Service providers continue to face the fact
that they cannot compete effectively against every segment of OTT
services. The $ billions they would
spend on VoLTE would be better spent on: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li>Increasing bandwidth per subscriber</li>
<li>Providing industry leading network security to protect their
subscribers</li>
<li>Fighting the short sighted Net-Neutrality laws that make
regulators “feel good” at the expense of long term viable markets.</li>
<li>Creating an infrastructure where OTT’s want to pay them for
QoS in a fair, open and non-discriminatory manner. </li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve spent 20 years working on technologies with the goal to
ensure service providers do not become a “dumb pipe”<sup>1</sup>. I am fully biased toward ensure the success
of SPs and believe that “net neutrality” is unfair to them<sup>2</sup>. However, SPs should not spend $ billions on
VoLTE just because it’s voice. High
speed, high quality broadband is the future.
Don’t fight it. </div>
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To discuss this please contact me at gwhelan@greywale.com</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Notes: <span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></div>
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</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><a href="http://greywhalemanagement.blogspot.com/2012/07/if-sps-become-dumb-pipe-everybody-loses.html" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">http://greywhalemanagement.blogspot.com/2012/07/if-sps-become-dumb-pipe-everybody-loses.html</a></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><a href="http://greywale.blogspot.com/2014/02/net-neutrality-overruled-win-for.html">http://greywale.blogspot.com/2014/02/net-neutrality-overruled-win-for.html</a></li>
</ol>
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<o:p> </o:p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Click here for an </span><span style="color: #015782; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://greywale.com/articles" target="_blank">INDEX of Articles and Post</a></span></span></div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-3354164288844055992014-04-11T08:39:00.003-04:002014-04-11T08:39:46.432-04:00IoT, Market of Everything....I'm questioning whether the term "IoT" is more about hype and selling trade shows than a real market opportunity. As previously noted, there are many real markets and applications that are now put in the "IoT" bucket. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqAeDMc_TOpX3ZXlzq7gy7rF8ZP3w46Li61B_5eVyDVcVNEIvVDgKDpJhF6G3Oc2rI6uRTQ3YVD4L8VKT-2NZbNiCRdFrnLlBgQVOdbVcaXPZ-PieZ7XkGDq-ZtXP_daNUgdQvBPJA7Lq/s1600/market+size.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyqAeDMc_TOpX3ZXlzq7gy7rF8ZP3w46Li61B_5eVyDVcVNEIvVDgKDpJhF6G3Oc2rI6uRTQ3YVD4L8VKT-2NZbNiCRdFrnLlBgQVOdbVcaXPZ-PieZ7XkGDq-ZtXP_daNUgdQvBPJA7Lq/s1600/market+size.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a><br />
Why do many lead with the "smart refrigerator" as the poster child for IoT? A smart appliance requires a "smart consumer" which makes it a niche market at best. <br />
<br />
<br />
What's different now? Cheap sensors, cheap modems (wired and wireless), cheap broadband connectivity, remote (i.e., cloud) intelligence? <br />
<br />
When you put everything in the "IoT bucket" of course it's going to be a multi-trillion dollar market. It's analogous to tire manufactures including the price of vehicles in their market size calculation.<br />
<br />
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To discuss these issues please contact me at gwhelan@greywale.com</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 16.545454025268555px; text-indent: -24px;">
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For a list of previous articles please see <a href="http://greywale.com/articles" style="color: #29aae1;"> http://greywale.com/articles</a></div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-84560118184273808872014-03-20T08:02:00.001-04:002014-03-20T08:02:54.032-04:00Interesting Question<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hJzjLN17orcP6MTuLpTsIGY97mQLi577u1FtVYKUsACmLKD5AXT493HGV-CAhPxIqoazqQVriRvWAQjLhYtjd_0yoejosgwIvc6GosZ1asIuvDny2FJrCZ6YRfcCRfZKCu5QPITFo-JE/s1600/cell+v+wind.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4hJzjLN17orcP6MTuLpTsIGY97mQLi577u1FtVYKUsACmLKD5AXT493HGV-CAhPxIqoazqQVriRvWAQjLhYtjd_0yoejosgwIvc6GosZ1asIuvDny2FJrCZ6YRfcCRfZKCu5QPITFo-JE/s1600/cell+v+wind.png" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-64547208886826795502014-02-21T07:45:00.000-05:002014-02-21T07:49:01.404-05:00Network PVR a Win for SPs and Consumers<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #29aae1; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
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Moving the "storage" function out of the Set-top box and in to the network is a win for both the service provider and for the consumer. This article, written in <b>ADD solving terseness</b>, will give the read an overview of the salient points of the benefits of deploying a network-based DVR or N-PVR. Comments/corrections/suggestions are always welcomed.</div>
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<b>What is N PVR?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>Network Personal Video Recorder (a.k.a. Network DVR)</div>
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2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>A DVR in the Cloud</div>
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3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span>A user’s programming or content is stored on a server located within a service providers facility instead of stored on a hard disk drive embedded in a set-top box.</div>
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<b>Benefits for Service Provider and Consumer</b></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Enables SPs to remove costly storage in every STB.</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">One less device to fail.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Reduces cost per STB, less stranded capital</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Reduces power consumption of STBs</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -1.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -1.5in;">Helps achieve goals set in voluntary agreement (see: http://greywale.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/greywale-communique-STB-010614.pdf)</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Makes whole home DVR simpler</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">All traffic originates from the network to any device (TV, PC, Tablet, Smart phone et al.)</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Transparent to user</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Simplifies home networking, re-use existing networks such as WiFi, No need for a new technology.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Enables TV-Everywhere or video everywhere and advanced video services</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">A single seamless video experience across all devices/screens.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Pause on one screen; resume on another screen is simplified.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Watch “save” programming on any device at any location.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Enables location-based targeted advertising</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Ads can be “re-inserted” to location user is actually watching stored content.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">No need to play Boston Ads if user is watching Red Sox game in San Francisco.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Enhances advertising packages to ad buyers.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Enhances viewing experience of consumer since ads are more relevant.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Increases ad revenues</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Reduces usage and congestion of upstream bandwidth</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Eliminates the need for Sling Box</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -1.5in;">Sling box clogs limited upstream last mile channels</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -1.5in;">N-PVR eliminates Sling Box zero revenue traffic</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Enables SPs to take advantage of innovations in Content Delivery Systems and advanced caching technologies.</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">May already be implemented for Video on Demand.</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Enables smart phone to become DVR controller</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Guide on smart phone delivered from network</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">“record” in network</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Leverages investments in cloud infrastructure</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">ROI of data centers investment will be enhanced with the addition of N-PVR application. </span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">CAVEAT</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">As N-PVR rolls out, cache’s and servers may find themselves in facilities that aren’t as friendly as purpose built data centers. These may include regional and local facilities such as central offices and head ends.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Energy issues (e.g., heat) should be addressed.</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">LEGAL Issue</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The Cablevision litigation in the U.S. has been resolved in Cablevision’s favor.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Content providers argued it violated copyright laws.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Cablevision argued it’s the same as a DVR just a different location.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">After a number of rulings and subsequent appeals the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case ending the litigation.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Recommendation to SPs…Deploy! </span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"> <span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Technical Issues</span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">SP’s will need to have the stored programming in numerous formats applicable to specific devices. i.e., different resolution and data rates for an HDTV verse a smart phone via 4G/LTE.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Do you translate and transcode on demand or ahead of time? </span></li>
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To discuss these issues please contact me at gwhelan@greywale.com</div>
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For a list of previous articles please see <a href="http://greywale.com/articles" style="color: #29aae1;"> http://greywale.com/articles</a></div>
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Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-90811875915644009332014-02-10T14:44:00.000-05:002014-02-17T08:23:35.358-05:00IoT? Internet of Things....What is a Thing?<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #29aae1; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
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Internet of Things, or IoT, is a topical conversation these days. Companies with vested interest, such as Cisco, have announced this market to be $Billions and $Billions in the not so distant future. </div>
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The word “thing” is a good one here. You can add “no” and “every” to the front of it and get other proper words. So IoT can mean “nothing” and “everything”. <b>That exactly what it means today</b>! </div>
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A market of nothing and everything is not a real market. It’s either a ZERO billion dollar market (nothing) or an infinite billion dollar market (Everything). Zero dollar markets don’t sell market research reports and space at trade shows. So the industry tends to favor the infinite dollar market. So we see reports of IoT being a $19 TRILLION market (Cisco), $14 to $33 Trillion (Mckinsey) and a mere $2 Trillion market (Gartner). </div>
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We’ve seen this movie before. In the 1990’s the market for “Multimedia” was predicted to be many billions and more recently we hear the market for “Cleantech” will be multiple billions. Yet, like the term IoT, these words meant <b>nothing</b> and <b>everything</b>. </div>
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When asked what multimedia applications were the answers were always video editing, video conferencing, training and kiosk. Not sure about “kiosk” but the other three are not multimedia applications they are specific identifiable markets.</div>
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Similarly, what are cleantech applications? Energy efficiency, renewable energy and smart grid are often the answer. Here again, these are not cleantech applications, they are specific identifiable markets. </div>
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So let’s drop the hype around IoT and start talking about real markets that combine sensors, IP networks and analytics. I almost said “Big data”, but that’s another “nothing” and “everything” market.</div>
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For further discussion please contact me at gwhelan@greywale.com<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">Click here for an </span><a href="http://www.greywale.com/articles" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><b>INDEX of Articles and Post</b></a></div>
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Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-10398520639139266952014-02-04T05:39:00.000-05:002014-02-15T10:51:54.752-05:00Alcatel Rejuvenates Bell Labs: Network Energy is a Top Focus<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After years of
corporate and industry uncertainty Alcatel is reigniting their R&D arm,
Bell Labs, to tackle the challenges of future.
Alcatel-Lucent CTO <u>Marcus Weldon</u> has identified <b>seven</b> “innovation domains”. They are: <span style="line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Network
capacity<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Network
performance<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Network
optimization<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Network energy<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Network
security (especially for virtualized applications)<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Network
applications<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.25pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Devices
(with a focus on how they connect to and interact with the network, rather
than the development of end-user devices such as smartphones and tablets)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">KEY
POINTS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Network Energy</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is included <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 61.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">a.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Of all the areas where Alcatel could
invest R&D dollars <b>network energy</b>
was placed in the top tier.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Alcatel considers <b>network energy</b> a natural area to focus on.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 61.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">a.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The seven innovation domains were
created to focus on the “natural areas” network operators are concerned with.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Alcatel is aware that <b>network energy</b> issues are either
top-of-mind or becoming top-of-mind boardroom issues at Service Providers
around the globe.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Alcatel has a team of “PhD”s focused on
Network Energy<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Network Energy is the new name for
previously referred to as “Green Research”<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For a more complete discussion please see Greywale Communiques at www.greywale.com</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px;">Click here for an </span><a href="http://www.greywale.com/articles" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px;">INDEX of Articles and Post</a></div>
</div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-67537869395351511952014-02-04T05:35:00.001-05:002014-02-15T10:52:07.896-05:00Net-Neutrality Overruled! A Win for Everyone!<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: white; color: #29aae1; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why this is good for everyone?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 14.25pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<li style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 16.545454025268555px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Market Reality</span></span></li>
<ol style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 16.545454025268555px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Service Providers are public companies</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Broadband is not classified as a "common carrier"</span></span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">If it was it wouldn't have been deployed</span></span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Google, et al, get a free ride and they generate tons of cashs</span></span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">No one seems to complain about this.</span></span></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<li style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 16.545454025268555px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">It's not unfair to the small company</span></span></li>
<ol style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 16.545454025268555px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">No difference than numerous other industries</span></span></li>
<ol>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Not everyone can afford to, or wants to, buy a Superbowl ad.</span></span></li>
<ol>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">No outrage here?</span></span></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">This will force small companies and strat-ups to innovate harder</span></span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The consumer will benefit more.</span></span></li>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">FCC is all about protecting the US consumer</span></span></li>
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<li style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 16.545454025268555px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Service providers will have the incentive to invest in last mile bandwidth</span></span></li>
<ol style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 16.545454025268555px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">They will get a fair return on their investment</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Consumers will benefit again</span></span></li>
<ol>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">So will Google</span></span></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<li style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 16.545454025268555px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Consumers will benefit</span></span></li>
<ol style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 16.545454025268555px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">More bandwidth</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Better services</span></span></li>
</ol>
<li style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 16.545454025268555px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Yet, FCC must TRUST but VERIFY</span></span></li>
<ol style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 16.545454025268555px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">FCC needs to ensure policies and "tariffs" are fair, equitable and non-discriminatory</span></span></li>
</ol>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="color: black; font-size: small;">Click here for an </span><a href="http://www.greywale.com/articles" style="font-size: medium;">INDEX of Articles and Post</a></div>
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Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-958264615686741364.post-91140556761472805972014-01-06T17:35:00.000-05:002014-01-06T18:06:42.933-05:00Set-top Box Energy Efficiency Standard Goes Into Effect<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 7.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 7.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Validates Greywale Service Provider Energy Strategy Business Drivers!</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 7.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">(go to<b> </b></span><a href="http://greywale.com/greywale-communiques" style="line-height: 14.4pt;">http://greywale.com/greywale-communiques</a> for additional information)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 7.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-outline-level: 2; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">KEY POINTS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">1.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <b>It was a voluntary agreement.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 61.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">a.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Agreement was made between the US
Department of Energy (DOE), </span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Natural Resources Defense Council, the
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the Appliance Standards
Awareness Project, the Consumer Electronics Association and the National Cable
and Telecommunications Association (NCTA)</span><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX9T6DZ-Y47v58lie0AWJqlaU6ABr1DB9GXPPUtk4ocJPtpq3dkwMV7rQ47yI0uNLGvpMFr_e67yR9GCfIBF1WJqtPDsej_hyphenhyphents_Jbe01x4w721xyaux4e62PyLtFv4uEHb0GVygVC2OiF/s1600/GW+Biz+drivers.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX9T6DZ-Y47v58lie0AWJqlaU6ABr1DB9GXPPUtk4ocJPtpq3dkwMV7rQ47yI0uNLGvpMFr_e67yR9GCfIBF1WJqtPDsej_hyphenhyphents_Jbe01x4w721xyaux4e62PyLtFv4uEHb0GVygVC2OiF/s1600/GW+Biz+drivers.png" height="103" width="200" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"> 2.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">It is a
“Non-regulatory” standard</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 61.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"> a.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">The non-regulatory agreement provides a
framework for the DOE and pay-TV industry
to work together on efficient, high-performing set-top boxes that leverage
technological improvements. It achieves
what would <u>otherwise</u> be done through regulatory standards. </span><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">3.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">It sets numerical targets</span></b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 61.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">a.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span></b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">The target
improvement in STB efficiency is <b>10 to
45</b> percent, depending on the class of the STB device, by 2017.</span><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">4.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">It requires reporting and auditing </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 61.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">a.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">The
agreement requires the industry <b><u>publicly
report specific set-top box energy use</u></b> and requires an <b>annual audit</b> of service providers by an
independent auditor to ensure boxes are performing at the efficiency levels
specified in the agreement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">5.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Originated from non-traditional telecom
agencies. </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 61.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">a.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The impetus for this came from the U.S.
Department of Energy not the F.C.C.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 25.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">6.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">It has
wide industry support </span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 23.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 61.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">a.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"> From the U.S. Department of Energy <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 97.5pt; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 3.75pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level3 lfo1; mso-outline-level: 2; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -97.5pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span>i.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">“Agreement signatories include
pay-TV providers (listed according to number of customers) Comcast, DIRECTV,
DISH Network, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Verizon, Cox Communications, Charter
Communications, Cablevision Systems Corp., Bright House Networks and
CenturyLink; and manufacturers Cisco, ARRIS (including Motorola), and EchoStar
Technologies. Energy efficiency advocates Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC), the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), and the
Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP) are also signatories to the
agreement.”</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-indent: 0px;">(go to<b> </b></span><a href="http://greywale.com/greywale-communiques" style="line-height: 14.4pt; text-indent: 0px;">http://greywale.com/greywale-communiques</a><span style="text-indent: 0px;"> for additional information)</span></div>
Greg Whelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07200003488293065661noreply@blogger.com0