May 5 2008 12:54PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
Carrier Ethernet,
Metro Ethernet,
PBT
Vendors and the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) are working to correct an Ethernet omission that may or may not have much relevance to customer interest or service success—the inter-provider NNI. Ethernet standards have not addressed this issue fully because there has been relatively little interest in using Ethernet for long-haul connections, but some believe that the BT interest in PBT for leased-line and frame relay replacement indicate that Ethernet could have a future at a national/international level. This may also spark more interest in pan-provider service management work being done by the IPsphere Forum.
May 3 2008 11:33AM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
cloud computing
We have added a cloud computing project dimension to ExperiaSphere, a CIMI Corporation open source software activity in the service logic and service management logic area. The enhancement will permit ExperiaSphere to be used to link to cloud computing applications, to support the development of those applications, and to use cloud computing as a platform for service and service management logic. See our ExperiaSphere wiki for details.
May 2 2008 2:55PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
software-as-a-service,
IP services,
Telecom
Network operators at a UK software event talked about more aggressive plans to focus on software-driven network services and features, and included goals of delivering software modules as elements or units of basic service functionality. This vision mirrors what we have heard in private dialogs and public presentations alike, beginning almost 18 months ago, but there are more public articulations of the view today than there have been in the past. Some operators are reportedly avid supporters of Web 2.0 (BT included) and others (like Telstra) are more skeptical. We believe that despite all of the talk here, there is actually relatively little real progress in transforming operator business models to a more software-driven, partner-developer-focused, form.
Apr 29 2008 6:02PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
cloud computing,
IBM,
Cisco
Cloud computing may be heading for a major role in the marketing plans of major vendors like Sun, HP, IBM, and Microsoft. Since the Internet is really an information network, it is really as much or more about storage and software as about network routers and other bit-moving gear, and IBM’s recent announcement of cloud computing support shows that the big IT players want to formalize their participation in and control of the server side. We believe that cloud computing activity will also push out into enterprise computing, and that it is a major part of IBM’s strategy to wrestle control of networking away from Cisco and its competitors.
Apr 4 2008 4:55PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
Open source,
Networking,
Telecom
We have launched an open source project to develop service logic execution environments (SLEEs) and service management execution environments (SMEEs) for NGN services. The initiative is called “ExperiaSphere,” and we are now actively seeking contributors and partners in the process. We’ve established a website wiki (www.experiasphere.wikispaces.com) for this new venture, and we invite our clients and those who read this blog to review the material there from time to time as the concept develops. Some coding is already started for this activity, and we expect to be making media announcements in May.
Apr 3 2008 12:54PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
Comcast,
Broadband,
Cable
Comcast will be rolling out a DOCSIS 3.0 trial in Minnesota, with the top download speed 50 Mbps (5 Mbps upload). The service will be the first deployment of the faster cable modem standard, and the interest level will be high since DOCSIS 3.0 is the only architecture that can rival FTTH in performance. However, it’s interesting that Comcast is deploying in Qwest’s territory; the operator has only DSL in contrast to its eastern rival Verizon, whose FiOS can also offer 50 Mbps in some areas. We note that DOCSIS 3.0 is still a shared-media technology with less capacity available per user than FTTH can support, and the upload speed for cable is much lower than for FiOS (which now offers 20/20 symmetrical and 30/20 asymmetrical in some areas).
Apr 2 2008 12:32PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
mobile Internet devices,
Intel,
Integrated devices,
WiMax
In what may well be a key announcement for the industry, Intel revealed that it had 25 partners working with it on portable Internet devices, or “mobile Internet devices” (MIDs) in the new-speak. These boxes will be designed for use while away from home or work but not mobile as the driver of a vehicle, and are larger than a cellphone but smaller than even the smallest laptops. Intel and others believe that the future of wireless non-voice services will lie in these devices, whose screens are large enough to deliver a credible viewing experience. Intel hopes these will jumpstart the WiMAX market, a key market sector for Intel and also one that has seen recent rumors of partnerships involving Intel, Sprint, Clearwire and Comcast.
Apr 1 2008 1:39PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
FTTH,
Cable,
Triple play services,
Video
The cable companies are taking the threat of FiOS seriously and promoting technologies that are more suitable for deep fiber and FTTH in their own plants. The activity is concentrated in what is called “RFoG” or RF over Glass, meaning mechanisms to perform the opto-electrical transformation from optical delivery of multicast RF to the CATV plant that already wires the homes. We are hearing that the idea is not to go with fiber to the home despite reports to the contrary, but rather to take more of a fiber-to-the-curb approach, wiring perhaps a dozen homes at the maximum into a CATV span off an RFoG fiber plant. Verizon has been looking at a similar notion of using a remote and MoCA to run cable into the home to reduce fiber provisioning costs in areas where the ARPU won’t justify true FTTH. We believe that there will be more and more outside plant “wiring” using a combination of fiber and coax, even among the carriers.
Mar 28 2008 1:24PM GMT
Posted by: Tom Nolle
Comcast,
Peer2Peer,
Verizon
Comcast today announced it would change how it imposes traffic management constraints on Internet usage, discontinuing its focus on P2P applications and focusing instead on traffic management of “hogs” or users who create the largest amount of traffic. As a practical matter, the move will likely have the same impact when the cable spans are congested, since P2P is the most significant source of upload traffic, but the new move might also impact any users who act as servers or who generate significant video traffic. The FCC has asked the company to commit to a date for the change, in what we believe is a simple PR move on the part of the FCC. We do not believe the FCC would have ordered a change, and that the current move by Comcast is a response to a competitive campaign largely by Verizon.
