Today's Top Stories George Cope, the CEO of Bell Canada (NYSE: BCE), on Monday announced that the telco will launch its own "made in Canada" online video service as part of its pending $3.4 billion acquisition of Astral Media. Like Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), the service would allow consumers to access various pieces of content, including Canadian and international movies from Astral's pay TV services, such as HBO Canada and The Movie Network, in addition to traditional news, sports and entertainment that its Bell Media unit currently offers. The announcement was made during a public hearing with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which is reviewing the Astral Media deal. Cope said the service would be available "to all Canadians" via any cable, satellite or IPTV provider, according to an article in The Telegram. While he did not reveal when the service would go live, Cope emphasized during the hearing that Canada needs a way to effectively compete with foreign OTT video providers like Netflix, to which an estimated 10 percent of Canadian consumers currently subscribe. "The Canadian system needs companies with the scale to compete against foreign content companies like Netflix, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN)," he said. "With scale, Canadian companies can make the investments in Canadian content and technology required to go head-to-head with these well-financed global competitors." Despite Cope's contention that Canadian operators need to stay competitive, Bell rival Telus said in a filing with the CRTC last month that if the deal were to be approved it would give BCE a "monopoly advantage" of 37.6 percent of Canada's viewing audience. BCE countered Telus' claims, saying that it would have only 33.5 percent of the English language market, which is under CRTC's 35 percent threshold. Telus, of course, is not the only service provider opposed to the Bell/Astral Media merger. The Say No to Bell colation consisting of Quebecor, Cogeco and Eastlink have also been outspoken about their concerns on the new marriage. For more:
- The Telegram has this article Related articles:
Bell Canada wants to fight U.S. OTT invasion with 'made in Canada' service
Telus protests Bell Canada's Astral Media acquisition
Bell Canada's net earnings rise 31%
Bell Canada's Astral Media acquisition gets green light from shareholders Read more about: Bell Canada
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TDS (NYSE: TDS) Hosted and Managed Services (TDS HMS) on Wednesday announced that it's now offering its ReliaCloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud solution to Minnesota businesses. Offered through its VISI TDS HMS unit, the ReliaCloud solution, which leverages Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), EMC and VMware platforms, is located in the telco's Tier III data centers in Eden Prairie, Minn., Madison, Wis., and Des Moines, Iowa. ReliaCloud allows customers to configure their cloud services in a public, private, or hybrid environment. The new service also complies with various vertical market segment regulations, including PCI, HIPAA, and GLBA. Designed to support businesses that want to embrace the cloud but be nearby to see and touch their data, Terry Swanson, CEO of VISI, said that "They can then back up their data via private connectivity to ReliaCloud infrastructure in Madison or Des Moines." Managed services, which are delivered through VISI and its other cloud service units, have been a big growth engine for the telco. In Q2 2012, TDS reported that managedIP connections, including both ILEC and CLEC, grew 91 percent to 74,600 from 39,000. Part of the managedIP connections growth is due to the ongoing build out of its solutions set via organic growth initiatives and targeted acquisitions including Vital Support Systems. For more:
- see the release Special report: Wireline in the second quarter of 2012 Download our eBook: The New Data Center Related articles:
TDS Telecom sees Q2 gains in managedIP, triple play service adoption
TDS asks for bids for its NH broadband stimulus projects
TDS Telecom Q1 revenue gets lift from broadband bundles, managedIP services
TDS launches IPTV service in La Vergne, Tenn.
TDS promotes Joseph Hanley to SVP of technology, services and strategy Read more about: hosted services, TDS
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Cable operators may finally get more freedom to acquire CLECs to expand their business service capabilities, according to a Stifel Nicolaus report, which said that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may relax rules that govern these deals. In the report, analyst Christopher C. King wrote that the regulator will soon give cable operators relief from a provision in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 known as Section 652 restricts a cable operator's ownership in a local exchange carrier (LEC) to 10 percent. If the regulations were to be relaxed, cable operators like Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Cox, or Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), arguably three of the most aggressive cable operators offering business services, could either buy or merge with CLECs such as tw telecom (Nasdaq: TWTC) or XO Communications. This report follows a petition that the National Telecommunications & Cable Association (NTCA) made last August with the FCC that said CLECs and cable operators should not be subject to the Telecom Act's cross-ownership prohibitions. King wrote that it's likely the FCC will approve the NCTA's request for forbearance request from Section 652, adding that the FCC and state regulators would examine deal to see if they are in the public interest. "We can't rule out that some critic would challenge the FCC's decision in court," the analyst wrote, "but our sense is the prospects would be uphill, leaving cable and the CLECs with a less-stringent review process." Cable operators in recent years have gained increased market share in the business services market, offering a suite of their traditional HFC-based data and voice services to SMBs and offering Ethernet to larger businesses that are located inside of their cable footprint. One of the advantages that cable operators have in the business market is that they don't have to cannibalize existing T1 or TDM-based voice revenues as they offer IP-based SIP Trunking and Ethernet. Comcast Business, a newcomer to the business services market that immediately enhanced its business service play by acquiring both Cimco and NGT Telecom in addition to its own fiber builds, continues to find a strong audience for its Ethernet and SIP Trunking services with a growing base of school districts and other medium-sized businesses in its territory. While Comcast is a relatively new player in the business market, fellow cable operators Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable, through its Time Warner Business Class division, have found a growing niche in the lucrative Ethernet services market. Both of these MSOs have, for a number of years, maintained a spot in the top seven Ethernet service providers on Vertical Systems Group's mid-year Business Ethernet Leaderboard, a report that measures port shares sold. For more:
- Vision2Mobile has this article Related articles:
Cable industry wants more freedom to buy CLECs
Comcast wraps acquisition of Cimco
Comcast's Bill Stemper leads journey into the enterprise market
2010 Year in Review: CLECs bulk up on fiber and services Read more about: FCC
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China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) on Tuesday named Alcatel-Lucent's (NYSE: ALU) Shanghai Bell, the Paris-based vendor's China unit, as its key converged optical transport network (OTN) and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology supplier. The vendor said that it won "70 percent market share in the 10G sector in China Telecom's most recent central bidding process," one that's focused on increasing the capacity and reach of the service provider's optical transport network. This latest optical build out is focused on fulfilling two of China Telecom's key requirements: increasing the reach of its wireline broadband access network, and increasing the availability of its 3G and WiFi-based broadband services. With this capacity increase, the service provider said it will more effectively handle the shifting data patterns seen on its wireless and wireline networks. In this network build out, which provides a foundation for 100G transport capabilities, China Telecom will leverage Alcatel-Lucent's converged OTN/WDM technology that's incorporated in its 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) and the Photonic Service Engine (PSE) chip. On one fiber pair, China Telecom will be able to support a mix of 10G, 40G and 100G channels on the same fiber pair, meaning it can reuse its embedded optical network infrastructure and expand capacity as needed. Besides combining the OTN and WDM technology onto one platform, the 1830 incorporates GMPLS (Generalized Multiprotocol Label Switching) control plane intelligence to ensure network restoration and automating circuit turn up. OTN continues to be at the top of the service provider community's optical priorities. According to a recent Infonetics Research report, OTN transport and switching market is forecast to grow at a 17 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) between 2011 and 2016, surpassing the 5.5 percent CAGR of the overall optical equipment market. Alcatel-Lucent, which has cited China as a big growth market, now can cite this latest win with China Telecom as evidence that its bet on the region is gaining real momentum. For more:
- see the release Special Report: In detail: Tracking the 100G path Related articles:
Alcatel-Lucent cuts 5K jobs amid Q2 2012 loss
Earnings preview: Verizon seen doing well; ALU to miss guidance
Switching and routing market to grow 4.4% in 2012, breaking stagnant Q1
BT Ireland chooses Alcatel-Lucent for its IP/VPN Ethernet initiative Read more about: WDM, China Telecom
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CrossFiber, an emerging developer of photonic switches targeting both data center and service provider networks, on Tuesday announced it secured $13.4 million in Series D funding. The San Diego-based vendor said that most of the funds will be used to expand its manufacturing capacity to address customer demand for its LiteSwitch photonic switch line. Southern Cross Venture Partners, the lead investor in this round, was joined by new investors New Venture Partners, Arsenal Venture Partners and existing investors Back Bay Management and PacifiCap. CrossFiber focus on the data center and next-gen optical services--two key areas of growth in the telecom industry that require continuing innovations. The vendor has been responding to these needs with a line of ROADM subsystems, automated fiber cross-connects that can scale up to 512 x 512 ports for automated fiber patch panel applications, and test and measurement subsystems. In the data center, the advent of cloud services and initiatives by enterprises to offload various functions to a third party--such as a data center provider like Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) or a traditional service provider like CenturyLink's (NYSE: CTL) Savvis or Verizon (NYSE: VZ)--is creating opportunities for vendors to supply high speed optical and lower power devices to interconnect data center sites and tie together equipment at each site. Likewise, the drive in the service provider community to move toward 100G optical in their core long-haul and metro networks means they will need more efficient ROADM and wavelength cross-connects (WXCs) to power these systems during this transition. For more:
- see the release Special Report: In detail: Tracking the 100G path Related articles:
Infonetics: OTN poised for growth, while P-OTS vendors battle for top spot
In detail: Following the Packet Optical Transport Systems (P-OTS) evolution
Use cases define future shape of Software Defined Networking Read more about: Roadm
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