NTCA's The New Edge » Voice

ATIS PSTN Transition Team in Place and More

Steve Fravel — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:32:25 +0000

ATIS last week announced the launch of its Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) Transition Landscape Team. According to ATIS, this unit will be making high-level assessments of issues associated with the transition from the PSTN to IP-based networks.

In addition to extensive evaluation of replacement network architecture and engineering, the group said the transition team will provide documentation detailing requirements for telecommunications services and new networks along with answering the question of whether new standards should be developed to accommodate IP telephony as the successor to PSTN. The team will look at regulatory implications concerning the proliferation of voice-over-IP (VoIP) and over-the-top (OTT) content provision along with security and implications and goals for the public.

According to the announcement, the transition team will work closely with the Technological Advisory Council Task Force and Critical Legacy Transition Working Group at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

ATIS also announced the release of a new specification that will provide identification and authentication to computers, television sets and mobile devices that connect to the Internet. ATIS advises that the new specification provides the format and syntax to create both a unique device identifier and user authentication to allow for and create secure connections to IPTV networks. According to ATIS, the new specification architecture creates a bond between the subscriber and device under unique and strong cryptography. The specification was developed by the IPTV Interoperability Forum at ATIS and uses the Extensive Authentication Protocol (EAP).

For additional information on PSTN transition team and the new specification, see the ATIS press room.

Windstream Makes Improvements

Steve Fravel — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:37:20 +0000

Due in part to an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant of $2.3 million, Windstream Corp. has announced the implementation of its first broadband stimulus construction project near Stilwell, OK.

The project will include a 56-mile fiber optic cable and electronics upgrade to the existing Windstream network. The improvement will allow 1,360 potential customers access to an improved high-speed Internet connection. The construction should conclude in March, with the new service available to customers in late June.

The Stilwell project represents only a fraction of the planned 13-state infrastructure improvement for which Windstream has stimulus grant money. The company announced that it has been awarded a total of $181.3 million making it the largest recipient of stimulus grant money in the country. Scott Morris, a spokesman for Windstream, is quoted as saying that all of the planned stimulus improvement work will be completed under the established terms of the grant program, making June 2015 the completion date. Windstream has indicated that it will contribute $760,000 in capital towards the completion of the Stilwell project.

Windstream stimulus projects are planned for Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.

Live from CES 2012

Kevin McGuire — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:37:59 +0000

The following is a guest post from Kevin McGuire, vice president of wireless operations for Enhanced Telecommunications Corp., in Sunman, Indiana.

Another year, another CES is upon us. My sense is that it is much larger than last year’s event. The first day on the show floor I was unable to have a conversation with a vendor because so many people were there. Like in years past, I wanted to write a guest post to offer some insight into items I feel might be of importance to the rural telecom industry. Of course the show is so big that it is impossible to get to everything, so apologies if I missed something.

TVs and Video

I don’t even know where to begin here. There was so much going on in the way of TVs that I really question who’s buying all of these things. Here are a few key trends:

Attendees at CES evaluate Sharp's new 8K TV.

Ultra Definition TVs: Think HDTV was the end of resolution? Think again. Nearly every manufacturer had an Ultra Definition TV (UDTV) to showcase (although technically I think a UHDTV needs to have 8K resolution). Also known as 4K TVs , they are roughly 4,000 horizontal lines of definition, or 4x the resolution of current HDTV televisions. Sharp even had a prototype 8K TV, which is 16x the resolution of current HDTVs. I’ll tell you that they looked absolutely stunning next to a current 1080p set. I’d even go so far as to say it is nearly as impressive as going from SD to HD. Now, I’m guessing we’re still a year or two away from 4K becoming mainstream, but think of the bandwidth implications for providers.

3DTVs: I had hoped that 3D was going away, but alas, it was still in every manufacturer’s booth. There’s a movement away from active glasses, with most having both non-powered glasses and even glasses-free 3D. I’ll be honest though and admit that I couldn’t tell that the images were in 3D. Maybe it’s just my eyes, but I was not impressed. The best glasses-free TV I saw came from TCL (The Creative Life) and while it had limited content (just a few commercials), it was very obvious it was 3D, and it didn’t give me eye fatigue.

Set-Top Box Replacement: I have long suggested that I have a Sony PlayStation 3 at home, so there is no reason I should need another set-top box. I also have a GoogleTV, and would suggest the same thing. Looks like things are starting to happen to make that more of a reality. Samsung’s Smart TVs now have apps that work with DirecTV, Xfinity, Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS. While there was some effort around this last year, the DirecTV app is actually shipping with new smart sets.

Video Everywhere: Gone are the shackles of sharing video content between every device you own. Want to watch live TV on your IPad? Done. Want to stream a video you took on your phone to the TV? No problem. Want to wirelessly transfer content from your laptop to a large screen? Intel’s WiDi technology is now being built into TVs. The technology is there to do some really cool things. It’s now up to the content owners to allow it to happen.

Connected TVs: This was all the rage last year, and there’s no shortage of facebook, photo sharing or Web content on TVs. My big concern is that there doesn’t seem to be any standard (someone please correct me if I am wrong). Every manufacturer had their own way of doing/displaying things, all with their own UI and system. I can’t see app developers working with every nuance of disparate systems, and I can’t see manufacturers continuing to support and release their own middleware. There’s something to connected TVs, but I think we’re still a ways off from its potential. Regardless, I’m going to guess that about every new TV your consumers buy will be able to hook up to the Internet — so get those DSL packages updated.

Cameras and Microphones: Cameras and microphones now are being built into TVs. While video conferencing is an obvious application, some of the 3DTV manufacturers suggest that the TV will recognize where people are sitting and adjust the picture accordingly. Also, voice recognition is now on its way to TVs, allowing you to change channels with your voice. Finally, taking a note from Microsoft, some manufactures are working to enable gesture control on their sets.

Haier's transparent TV

The Future (maybe): TCL also had a holographic TV which I can’t even begin to describe. It looked like some heads-up display from a futuristic space ship or something. Maybe more on that next year. They also had a pretty cool set that displayed two programs at once. By using special glasses, each viewer could see only their program. I didn’t get a chance to ask how they handled audio. Also, Haier had a transparent TV. No kidding. I was able to look at my hand behind the display. I asked why anyone would want that and they said it was more for retail applications. Good thing I am not in retail because other than the coolness factor, I just don’t see it. Finally, there was a product called Brain Wave TV where you wore this headset type device and could change channels and control the TV. I didn’t get to try it out, but I have a hard enough keeping track of my remote, let alone this thing.

Ultrabooks

Ultrabooks on display at CES.

With all of the hype over Ultrabooks, I have to say that while much needed in the laptop space (as I type on my beefy Dell laptop), I am not overwhelmed by something that Apple did back in 2008. By definition, they are half the weight and width of existing laptops. And with most base models coming in at 4G of RAM and a 128G SSD, it’s likely more than enough power to do what you need on the road.

Don’t get me wrong — I think they are going to sell like crazy (who wants to lug around a heavy laptop if they don’t have to), but nothing earth shattering to see here, IMHO. If I were in the market for a laptop, I’d probably wait a bit for the release of Intel’s Ivy Bridge and Windows 8.

Connected Vehicles

As if smartphones aren’t putting enough bandwidth pressure on mobile networks, soon all cars will be connected as well. Why? In the labs there are a whole bunch of ideas.

With embedded chips, they can act as WiFi hotspots for passengers, provide more accurate mapping and location information, and even stream media. In the near term, it appears that the old radio will look and act more like a tablet or smartphone. More futuristic will be the sending of live traffic data between vehicles, braking information to warn drivers of potential issues ahead, and even vehicles that drive and park themselves, the latter of which can happen with the driver outside of the car.

The new Audi connected dashboard.

Heads up displays are also making a resurgence, enabling drivers to place a phone call and receive information about traffic and other items without needing to look away from the road. Couple that with advances in voice recognition and I’m anxious to see new products and services in this field.

There was no indication as to how much bandwidth the media streaming would take. One nice thing is that since it appears that your car will be a network hotspot, you will be able to share media between devices. So if you have a movie on your iPad, you can now send it to the vehicle’s screen to share with everyone. That may help cut down on some of the bandwidth, but I think it’s safe to say that we’re talking about a pretty monumental shift in mobile data usage.

Connected Home

Once again, companies were showcasing ways to unlock doors remotely, monitor security cameras from your smartphone, smart thermostats, etc. But to be honest, I felt like I walked through the exact same booths in this category as last year.

I was unable to locate a fully-integrated system that could handle everything from A-Z. There are different protocols, different implementations and I just don’t know that the average consumer is going to want to install and maintain their own system. I think what is honestly going to take the connected home to the next level is service provider support, and that starts with AT&T and Verizon.

Verizon was the only one I saw at CES, and I think they have something. Working with Motorola, there will be a gateway that bridges all of the connected devices in your home (appliances, IP cameras, TVs, lighting) and provides control of them via browsers or tablets and smartphone apps. I may be wrong, but if you offer security monitoring as a service today, this concept is something that you should really be looking into.

Health Tech

Similar to the connected home, there was a whole section of the exhibits devoted to health technology. From a service provider perspective, there is a movement to place a home health gateway in the home. This device will connect to blood pressure monitors, scales and a whole host of other devices. This information can then be sent securely to a doctor’s office where they can monitor a patient’s progress. I’m unclear how this will all shake out, but again we’re talking more bandwidth, and perhaps a reason for an older demographic to get broadband. I wonder if broadband will be covered by health insurance?

So that about wraps it up. If you were there, I’d be interested in your comments.

Dish Answers

Steve Fravel — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:09:05 +0000

Answering its opponents as much as filing reply comments in IB dockets 11-149 and 11-150, Dish Network made its case with the FCC and asked that the concerns raised by the various parties who had filed in opposition to its LTE plans be dismissed.

Briefly, this is what Dish Network has filed applications to do. (1) Approve the company’s applications to transfer control of DBSD and Terrestar spectrum licenses to Dish Network. (2) Grant Dish’s requested waiver and allow the modified ancillary terrestrial component authority, which will allow the company to only provide terrestrial service. (3) Waive the integrated service requirement and allow single-mode terrestrial devices on its proposed network. (4) Waive the FCC’s spare satellite mandate. (5) ”Harmonize” the TerreStar and DBSD regime to extend to the 2MHz MSS allocations previously granted to DBSD — in other words transfer DBSD’s allocations to Dish Network.

Dish Network indicates that all of these elements will allow for efficient and consistent use of the spectrum involved in support of a next- generation mobile broadband service, i.e. Dish’s plans for a 4G LTE network.

In earlier comments filed with the FCC, several organizations had indicated concerns, stating that Dish’s proposed network might cause interference to PCS (personal communications service) networks. They each had asked that the commission consider reviewing the issue in a rulemaking proceeding. Dish Networks responded that following this suggested course of action would only add unnecessary delay in rolling out “broadband networks to every American.” In addition, Dish Network believes that the commission has the authority to act now rather than wait.

Globalstar Inc. and the U.S. GPS Industry Council filed in favor of the Dish Network plan, stating ”not a single party contends that the transaction would have anticompetitive effects, and no one disputes the competitive forces that a hybrid satellite/terrestrial service across the entire 2MHz MSS band would bring to mobile broadband.”

Dish noted that comments filed by T-Mobile USA and CTIA-The Wireless Association, which requested a rulemaking procedure, also would add unnecessary delay, proving costly.

Dish also responded to speculation that it intends to “flip” the spectrum involved, maintaining that its intent is to invest in and launch a new nationwide satellite/terrestrial network. In the same manner, Dish dismissed as unnecessary and self-serving requests for restrictions and conditions on its build-out plans.

Report: Cable Leads in Phone Satisfaction

Jesse Ward — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:35:22 +0000

Service outages due to severe winter weather have had a notable negative impact on customer satisfaction with telephone service performance and reliability, according to the J.D. Power and Associates “2011 U.S. Residential Telephone Customer Satisfaction Study” released last week.

The study measures customer satisfaction with both local and long-distance telephone service in four regions throughout the United States, based upon five factors: (1) performance and reliability; (2) cost of service; (3) billing; (4) offerings and promotions; and (5) customer service.

In 2011, satisfaction with performance and reliability—the most important factor—declined by 6% to 7.4 out of a 10-point scale.

“The brutal winter weather that plagued much of the country clearly took a toll on service levels,” said Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications at J.D. Power and Associates. “In fact, the proportion of customers who contacted customer service to report an outage jumped to 21% in 2011, from 12% in 2010.” According to the study, a key driver for mitigating losses in satisfaction is effectively managing customer expectations regarding service restoration.

Also of note, the study found that the use of Internet calling services—such as Skype or Vonage—increased from 16% in 2010, to 21% in 2011. Customers who use Internet calling services are “significantly less satisfied” with their telephone provider (622 on average, which is 14 index points below the industry average of 636) and are more likely to switch telephone providers (23% vs. the industry average of 16%).

Here are the provider results by region:

East Region: Cox Communications ranks highest with a score of 659, Optimum Voice by Cablevision follows in the region with 647, and Verizon ranks third with 640.
South Region: Bright House Networks ranks highest in the region with a score of 704, followed by Cox Communications with a score of 680.
North Central Region: WideOpenWest (WOW!) ranks highest with 721, Cincinnati Bell follows in the region with 665, and AT&T ranks third with 631.
West Region: Cox Communications ranks highest in the region with a score of 669. CenturyLink (639) and Xfinity by Comcast (634) follow in the regional rankings.

The “2011 U.S. Residential Telephone Customer Satisfaction Study” is based on responses from 20,761 customers nationwide who receive their local and long-distance telephone service from one provider. The study was fielded in four waves: November 2010, January 2011, April 2011 and July 2011.

For more, see this release.

Skype Launches Home Phone Adapter

Jesse Ward — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:31:35 +0000

Skype is enabling users to turn their home phone into a VoIP calling platform with its new Freetalk ConnectMe adapter.

The adapter, which can store up to 100 speed dials/Skype contacts, also includes a switch that allows users to jump between their landline and VoIP connections.

It requires a PC for the initial set up. However, to use it, all a consumer needs is a broadband Internet connection and a home phone. This means that once the adapter is set up, users don’t have to turn on their computers to connect with friends and family through Skype – an advantage over its competitor MagicJack.“Our mission is to make Skype available everywhere so consumers can enjoy conversations whenever and wherever they are,” said Neil Stevens, Skype’s vice president and general manager for product and marketing. “We are delighted to have partners that help us deliver on this mission through the introduction of new products such as the Connect•Me Home Phone Adapter. Now, using Skype at home is as simple as picking up a handset and dialing.”

As part of the launch, Skype announced the availability of a new cordless phone. The GE Digital Cordless Expandable Telephone with Skype (GE 31591) is the latest in a line of Skype-ready handsets. Skype also introduced bundled service packages:

$39.99, for 60 minutes of complimentary free calls to landlines and mobiles
$59.99, for 12 months of calls to landlines and mobile phones in the U.S. and Canada, and 200 minutes of calls to international landlines and mobiles
$59.99 for three-months of unlimited world calls

In the fine print of its service offering, Skype notes that the adapter is not a replacement for a landline and it cannot make emergency 911 calls. That being said, the VoIP company is clearly positioning Freetalk ConnectMe as a home phone service.

For more, see this release.

Dish Lifts the Veil on Broadband Plan

Steve Fravel — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:58:28 +0000

In an effort to capitalize on the court approved purchase of TerreStar and DBSD from bankruptcy, Dish Network has petitioned the FCC to allow consolidation and transfer of its satellite licenses along with a waiver of the integrated service requirement. Dish intends to take the combined satellite spectrum and begin offering a hybrid-terrestrial satellite broadband service.

The service Dish has in mind is similar to the service LightSquared had been pursuing, with a few major exceptions: Dish will use S-band licenses which do not create interference problems with GPS, and the Dish brand will be offered directly to subscribers. In contrast, LightSquared intends to provide a wholesale service that can be re-branded by its service partners.

Dish will use the satellite spectrum to deliver its signals to terrestrial-only receivers. Dish stated in its filing, “This transaction represents an important first step in obtaining spectrum necessary to establish Dish as a viable provider of mobile broadband services. Although still modest in comparison to the holdings of many incumbent mobile broadband providers, the spectrum assignments contemplated by the TerreStar and DBSD transactions, taken together, provide an essential foundation for Dish’s ability to complete against them.”

The Dish plan calls for the combined licenses to be used to provide integrated mobile, portable and fixed broadband. Dish will manage the new network under a subsidiary called Gamma.

Skype to Acquire Group Text-Messaging Service

Jesse Ward — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:02:53 +0000

Skype announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire GroupMe, a provider of mobile group messaging services. GroupMe was founded in 2010 at the Techcrunch Disrupt Hackathon and is headquartered in New York City. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, however media reports state that Skype paid up to $85 million for the start-up company.

GroupMe’s application lets users text and make conference calls with circles of friends or colleagues. It works across mobile devices and platforms including Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry and phones equipped with Google’s Android operating system. The company also recently rolled out an in-browser chat feature. The service has a few million users who send about 100 million texts per month. The company has secured $11.5 million in funding to date.

“This acquisition is another step towards our vision to provide a global multi-modal and multi-platform communications experience,” Skype’s Chief Executive Tony Bates said. “It complements our existing leadership in voice and video communications by providing best in class mobile text-based communications and innovative features around group messaging that enable users to connect, share locations and photos and make plans with their closest ties.”

Skye said the two companies will operate separately. “The major difference will be that we will now have access to Skype’s 175 million monthly connected users,” GroupMe said in its blog post.

For more, see this release.

Charter and Comcast Echo TWC Sub Losses

Steve Fravel — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:15:39 +0000

Charter and Comcast released second-quarter results, and like Time Warner Cable (TWC), both lost residential cable subscribers. The subscriber loss, as with that reported by TWC, was offset by gains in nonvideo subscribers.

For Charter, which is aggressively marketing broadband and telephone packages with direct broadcast satellite operator Dish Network, the second quarter closed with 673,500 nonvideo subscribers, for an increase of 40,000 from the first quarter. Charter notes that this is a 26% increase over the same period last year. Charter forged an agreement with Dish earlier this year to offer high-speed data and voice to satellite TV customers in specific markets. But Charter indicated that residential video customer totals reflected a loss of 93,100 from the same period in 2010.

Comcast reported a loss of 238,000 basic cable subscribers, or 27,000 fewer than the same period last year. In the second quarter, Comcast realized an increase of 144,000 high-speed Internet customers and 193,000 voice customers.

Charter and Comcast, like TWC, report that revenues are up. Charter reported a 2.2% bump for the quarter, while Comcast noted an increase of 5.6% for its cable systems during the same period.

Facebook, Skype Partner on Video Calling

Jesse Ward — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:21:36 +0000

Last week via a press conference, Facebook announced that it has partnered with Skype to integrate video chatting into the world’s largest social network.

The goal of the integration was simplicity. “This is by far the easiest way to get connected by video,” Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, said during the launch. “If it was any easier, it would be like reading your mind.”

According to Facebook, video chatting is just two clicks away. To get started, users click on a video icon within Facebook’s chat window. If a user doesn’t have the Skype app already enabled, he can download it within 30 seconds and be up and running, executives said. Likewise, the recipient is then sent a chat invite and accepts the request to start the session.

Also of note, Skype executives revealed in post-mortem media interviews that the service will soon interface with the PSTN, allowing Facebook users to call any phone for a fee — although the PSTN capability is not part of this initial offering.

Facebook is launching the new Skype-powered video chat service via a soft rollout. It will be available to all of its 750 million active users over the next few weeks. Yes, you read that right, 750 million – or nearly one in seven people. This is significantly more than recent estimates, which had pegged Facebook’s user base at 600 million.

For Skype, the integration expands the the company’s user base and its social media presence. The VoIP provider currently has 663 million registered users, although only about 145 million are active on a monthly basis.

Reacting to the news, the tech trade press was underwhelmed by the Facebook-Skype integration announcement. In preparation for the press conference, Zuckerberg told reporters that his company was set to “launch something awesome.” Reporters and Facebook fans were expecting something revolutionary.

Instead, many bloggers noted that the new Facebook-Skype service pails in comparison to Google’s recently launched Google+ social media site and its Hangouts feature — browser-based video chat with up to 10 people. The Wall Street Journal has more below.

Skype and Facebook first partnered together last year, meshing the Facebook News Feed and Phonebook contact list with the Skype VoIP interface. This new announcement is a logical extension of their existing business relationship.