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May 6 2009   4:32PM GMT

Telco-versus-cable: An upload/download competition?



Posted by: Tom Nolle
DOCSIS 3.0, high-speed cable, FiOS, Verizon, Cox Cable, P2P

Cox is moving its DOCSIS 3.0 50 Mbps service into two areas where FiOS is available, creating another face-off between fast cable and FiOS. The two are priced similarly (cable is a bit cheaper), but FiOS has four times the upload speed. This creates an interesting dynamic. Verizon might find itself a promoter of the “no-caps” position simply because P2P hurts it far less than it does cable.

There is even some talk that telcos in general will be talking up unlimited access because it favors their architecture, just as higher download speeds favor cable over DSL. The question now is whether both parties will play chicken on capital infrastructure issues, hoping to force the other side into a costly investment they’d just as soon not make, or whether there is actually a longer-term division of customers ahead, where upload-centric users migrate to telcos and traditional downloaders move to cable.

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Nov 26 2008   5:06PM GMT

Cable advertising standards and programs



Posted by: Tom Nolle
Comcast, IP advertising, Cox Cable, cable

Cable companies’ efforts to create a uniform national ad market are moving forward even as some in the industry hope for an Obama FCC decision to permit further mergers and acquisitions. At the moment, the market share cap imposed on cable prevents further consolidation, and cable operators feel that this may be limiting cable’s potential to create a uniform ad strategy.

The “Canoe” initiative is being supplemented by the SCTE 130 ad platform standard that is likely to be the common mechanism for interactive advertising in cable from 2009 onward. The move is seen as essential in making cable TV more competitive with the Internet, but it will also likely put pressure on the telcos.

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Jun 23 2008   2:21PM GMT

Cox cable considers FTTH model



Posted by: Tom Nolle
Cabling, FTTH, Verizon, Cox Cable

Cox Cable has issued an RFI that includes requests for PON/RF distribution with high-speed broadband, very similar to the FiOS model of Verizon. The RFI leaked last week at NXTcomm but had been rumored even before that show.  It is apparently a true RFI, meaning that there is no immediate expectation of an equipment order. We hear that Cox is simply preparing an internal position paper on alternatives for plant modernization, given the current war between cable and telcos that provide video.

The question cable operators must answer is not only whether they can deploy FTTH, but how widespread telco FTTH could become. A cable industry study previously showed that the cable plant, even DOCSIS 3.0, could not compete with full FTTH should it be deployed. Our own modeling shows that Verizon could expect to reach about 70% of its customers with FTTH, that AT&T could reach perhaps 26%, and that Qwest could reach only 11% without significant shortfalls in ROI or significant improvements in cost or revenue.

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