FEATURE STORY
CableConnects Battle Cries: Demystify HD and Think Beyond IP Voice

Your subs are mystified by the high definition TV information they're getting in retail stores. The upside of that is cable can gain an immediate advantage over DBS by showing itself as the industry with the answers.

How? Offer your subs the education materials available at ce.org, and point them to HD programming info at http://www.titantv.com , advised CEA Spokesperson Jim Barry at CableConnects in San Antonio last week. He warned that cable's HD lead over satellite will last no longer than two years, and "eight of 10 HDTV set buyers would likely switch between cable and satellite in order to get HD."

Educating HD subs is the biggest challenge, NCTA's (http://www.ncta.com) Paul Rodriguez agreed: "Lots of customers think digital cable is HDTV. They're not bothering to sign up for HD because they think they're already getting it," he said.

All that tied in neatly with Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt's earlier keynote. "Innovation is part of cable's birthright," Britt said. "We need to lead, and let our competition react."

IP on Everything -- And Britt wasn't just talking HD. As enthusiasm boils around VoIP, he called for cable to ready itself for the services beyond plain old voice that an IP platform enables.

Rick Cimerman, senior director at NCTA, echoed that idea at a CableConnects VoIP panel. "All VoIP, all the time," he said. "VoIP is not just about voice. It's a platform that enables a number of services."

ENGINEERING NEWS
Where There's a Will, There's a Triple Play

We got a lot of response to our question, "Do RBOCs have the skills to do the triple play?" Below are some of those letters. If you'd like to comment, send an email to . All letters may be published and edited for style or length."

Sooner Than Later -- "The main issue with the RBOCs and other telephony providers around the world is how do they cost effectively provide IP connectivity to the last mile, while leveraging their huge investment in older switching architectures?

"Without a doubt, the RBOCs have an advantage in that they have been playing with IP connectivity for decades and have a great deal of experience in creating, operating and maintaining packet-based networks. The cable industry has relied almost solely on the broadcasting model, only recently investigating the most efficient way to carry IP traffic over coax.

"The cable modem, and its universal specification have gone a long way to move the cable operator into the IP world. The ease in which new services can be added to a cable system, not to mention the 870 MHz rebuilds, have allowed cable operators to stay a couple of steps ahead of the RBOCs, while they consider rebuilding millions of miles of copper.

"There also is another factor on the horizon, and that is Internet telephony. No one is currently considering what effect this will have on the cable industry and RBOC strategies.

"Packet-based networks are really the only way to efficiently carry triple-play services. As technology brings fiber closer to the premises, last-mile strategies will be developed that will begin to eclipse the advantage that cable operators currently enjoy. The only way to keep the RBOCs at bay is to leverage the existing HFC networks to roll out high-quality services, push fiber deeper into the network and maximize it with CWDM and DWDM, and over time, move away from the broadcast model and adapt a more "client-server" approach. Once the cable industry begins providing native IP connectivity, they will be able to effectively compete for the long term.

"This competition between RBOCs and cable has already been taking place in many developing countries around the world. Recent privatizations and market deregulation in Latin America have opened up the opportunity for telephony, cable and wireless operators to compete head to head for triple-play services. Since many of these countries have an underdeveloped telecommunications infrastructure, new technologies can be implemented from the very beginning, avoiding many of the problems faced by RBOCs in the United States.

"The main reason why triple play has not surged is due to the relative economic instability of the region. This affects all service providers equally. It will be interesting to see what technologies take hold and perhaps will be an insight into how things will develop in the United States." -- Steven C. Traynor, VP, Engineering and Technical Services, JAL & Associates

Don't Underestimate Deep Pockets -- "The RBOCs no doubt have the skills to do triple play, and new technologies, such as MPEG4, MPLS, and IPv6 definitely will help them do it. RBOCs such as SBC, (PacBell, AT&T and others that rest in peace) were entering the triple play much before many cable operators started getting serious about doing the same.

"From 1996-1998, my old employer, United International Holdings, was partners with SBC in Chilean MSO VTR. Although the majority of the SBC folks couldn't tell RG-59 from twin-lead, their know-how of IT systems was a big help in VTRs triple play deployment. That, and a willingness to do things right allowed us to engineer a solid network that today delivers over a million lines of cable telephony, data, and video.

"SBC has had forays into the video business through Hausser Communications, PacBell's gold-plated HFC network in San Ramon, CA, VTR and Ameritech (to name the few I know), yet it has always backed out. Sprint Broadband recently bailed out of their wireless video plays, and the wireless operators are too busy with each other to bother with the multichannel video business at this time.

"We should not underestimate what sheer size and deep pockets can accomplish, but the RBOCs have had the chance to wipe out entire MSOs numerous times, yet their culture and guts have had them run away time and time again. The question now is not whether they have the skills and technology, it's whether they have the will." -- Max Morales, President, HFCNET

Vets With the Skills -- "Some ex-broadband (the REAL broadband) folks have the smarts to triple play if not already doing it. A good example is Glyndell Moore of Bell South, and there are many more from SCTE ranks." - Jim Emerson

Location, Location, Location - "How can a company that has issues with serviceability be competitively bundled with another company that oftentimes faces the same issue as well? This triple-play response is to compete for the customers who currently have one of the cable or RBOCs services and are in the market to purchase another service.

"If I am a customer that has high-speed Internet through cable, and I am in the market to purchase voice and/or video services, which choice is more logical? Sign up with a telco who is bundled with satellite and requires a new dish be installed on my home (along with the telco verifying I live within service distance for their broadband), or sign up with cable who can send someone out to my home to professionally install my video and voice by one technician?

"Notice that if I already have a cable service, there is no question as to whether or not I am serviceable. With RBOCs teaming with satellite, just because you have one service does not indicate that ordering the other is without problems or just impossible." -- Jason Moga, Associate Field Engineer, Comcast of Fort Wayne, IN

The Big FTTH Play -- "I have heard the nay-sayers for what seems like years state how FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) will never happen because of the high construction costs and the inability of business plans to support them. Thus, cable is the most cost-effective solution for the last mile.

"Well, apparently Verizon is now ready to step up and bet the farm on this architecture, and in doing so, if successful, will change the face of the entire cable industry. Unless we are willing to sit back and watch our customer base shrink to the point we are eliminated from competing, or evolve as Verizon is being forced to for survival." -- Tom Freeman Cox Communications, New Orleans

CAREER ENGINEER
Why Wi-Fi?

Telestrategies is hosting a Wi-Fi conference April 20-22 in McLean, VA. The three-day event kicks off with a pre-conference seminar that explores Wi-Fi technologies and industry dynamics. Topics to be discussed include standards and infrastructure basics, public Wi-Fi business models, Wi-Fi BSS/OSS, security developments and future directions.

Days one and two of the conference include discussions on business opportunities, hotspot economics, Wi-Fi wholesales, roaming and clearinghouses, voice over Wi-Fi, dual-mode 3G/Wi-Fi, securing Wi-Fi with VPN and Wi-Fi billing and OSS. For information on pricing, speaker updates or to register, visit http://www.telestrategies.com .

BROADBAND SOAPBOX
P2P: Big Headache or Big Revenue?

Peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic is the dominant traffic on your data network, but you're not getting revenue from it. If you do nothing about P2P, you're setting yourself up for increased bandwidth and equipment costs. Many solutions are available to minimize costs while gaining P2P revenues. What are you looking to deploy and why?

Share your opinions by sending an email to . All letters may be published and edited for style or length.

SCTE ANNOUNCEMENTS
SCTE Board Election 2004 Enters Final Month

Vote online. It's simple. Use your member ID and ballot control number, which SCTE sent you. Or use your paper ballot. Deadline: March 26. Don't know the candidates? Biographies available. http://www.scte.org/membership/index.cfm?pID=126

Register for CLC by Friday -- A reminder for all chapter leaders -- join us for the 2004 SCTE Chapter Leadership Conference (CLC) in New Orleans April 1-2. Sign up at http://www.scte.org/events/index.cfm?pID=279 by March 5.

Have You Checked out the SCTE Career Center Lately? Employers -- use one great Society resource and benefit another one. Your ads with the Center support CLC. Job hunters -- streamline your search. http://scte.broadbandcareers.com/Default.asp

SCTE Membership Directory 35th Anniversary Edition in the Works

• Update your member profile by March 15. It's a snap. Simply log in to the Members Only section and click on User Profile. https://www.scte.org/membersonly/login.cfm
• Get your company noticed. Advertise. Sustaining members -- enjoy discounts. Contact Wade Pierce at , ext. 4, or .

Tap Into the SCTE Scholarship Fund -- Apply a scholarship toward most any professional development opportunity, including Cable-Tec Expo 2004, June 15-18 in Orlando. http://www.scte.org/documents/pdf/SCTE%20Scholarship%20Application.pdf

IDEAS AND INNOVATIONS
Need Engineering, Design and Construction Services?

Welcome to a new section of "Pipeline" -- a virtual trade show floor where you can check out the latest broadband products and services that help you drive revenues and reduce costs in the operation of your HFC nets. Our first focus is on engineering, design and construction services, which we'll discuss over the next couple weeks.

Fiber/Coax Services -- A.C. D. Inc. (http://www.acdpa.com) engineers, designs and lays out new generation fiber-optic or coax networks. It offers digital strand drafting, fiber mapping, design, coaxial design, field surveying and hand drafting. A.C.D. uses AutoCad/Lode Data. To check out sample maps from projects completed by A.C.D., visit http://www.acdpa.com/samples.html . Click on a map, and you'll see an animation demonstrating how the map was drawn.

Slash Inefficiencies -- "Subscriber expectations are at an all time high, competition is fierce, the race to deploy advanced services is moving at warp speed, and every network inefficiency causes your profits to plummet," says GFC (http://www.generalfiber.com). To help the cable industry take on these challenges, GFC offers a suite of end-to-end services including installation, construction, maintenance, equipment testing and certification, forward and reverse sweep, system design and upgrades. The company boasts 25,000 miles of cable construction/upgrade work completed, 50,000 homes passed per week, and 50 points of presence in the U.S.

Data Deployment Help -- Looking for high-speed data service initial turnup to full-scale broadband services deployment? Integrated Broadband Services (http://www.ibbsonline.com) offers solutions ranging from hardware specifications and configuration to complete back-office support, including real-time provisioning and technical support help desk. IBBS's customer management tools are "designed from a cable operator's perspective -- rather than from a data networking perspective," according to the company. IBBS also offers 24/7 installation and field support, and network monitoring and management. To reduce costs associated with managing bandwidth, the company actively monitors your bandwidth utilization and works with you to optimize it.

TCS Communications LLC (http://www.tcscomm.com), established in 1978, provides engineering and construction services for cable systems. The company can provide overall project management, including planning, scheduling, engineering, permitting, materials management and cost control. For a list of completed projects since 1990, visit http://www.tcscomm.com/projects.html .

If you're a vendor/service provider and want to be included in this section, or if you're a system engineer who'd like to share success stories while working with them, send an email to .

If you find CT's Pipeline to be a valuable resource, e-mail this issue to your colleagues and tell them it's just one of the many exclusive benefits of SCTE membership--only a click away at http://www.scte.org/membership/index.cfm?pID=27.

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