| This week's sponsor is Elemental. |  | Webinar: What Operators Can Learn from Multiscreen Distribution of the 2012 Olympics
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Today's Top Stories
1. AT&T, Verizon, others reportedly considering move to shift games into MVPD cloud space
2. Sportsmanship a problem as Google Fiber prepares its video lineup
3. FiOS settlements cost Verizon more than $500 million
4. Frontier uses ETI to upgrade FiOS back office systems
5. Verizon and two wireline unions reach tentative accord Editor's Corner: Oh the games MVPDs play now Also Noted: Spotlight On... Connected Home Academy joins Open IPTV Forum
Aurora expands FTTH technology; Cisco exec predicts end of set-tops and much more...  Tying the data center and WAN worlds: Dennis Brouwer, Savvis
Following CenturyLink's acquisition of Savvis last year, Dennis Brouwer, General Manager, Converged Cloud and Global Network Solutions for Savvis, was tasked with tying together the data center world of Savvis with the WAN world of CenturyLink. Sean Buckley, FierceTelecom's Senior Editor, talks with Brouwer about the integration and the trends taking place in the data center and cloud services market segment. Article  Follow @FierceIPTV on Twitter!
News From the Fierce Network:
1. Time Warner Cable close to signing NFL Network carriage deal
2. Will Dish Network settle Voom dispute with AMC Networks?
3. Netflix, A&E relationship falls apart at deadline
| Webinar: Telco-OTT: the Good, the Fast and the Nimble
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Service providers have been in a perennial battle with "over-the-top" internet vendors who leverage bandwidth but often do not play by the same regulatory or financial rules. Does it need to be a battle of us vs. them? Register Today! |
Oh the games MVPDs play now
 It's pretty obvious to anyone but the most obtuse of newsletter editors that Joe South, who died Sept. 5 at the age of 72, was not singing about the MVPD space when he crooned "The Games People Play."
This newsletter editor, though, can see correlations between some of the song's lyrics and today's MVPD space: "Oh the games people play now/Every night and every day now." Just fire up that ol' set-top--or just connect the telly to the Internet--and you'll see the games people play now. They include soccer and football and baseball and bicycling and hockey (OK, not hockey) and basketball and badminton and bowling and… you get the idea. Games, or as some are wont to call them, sports, are big business...Continued  More
Read more about: local sports, regional sports networks
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Sponsor: Overture FierceLive! Webinars > Webinar: Beyond the Cable: The Move to Mobility by MSOs - October 9th, 11:00 am EST/ 8:00 am PST
> The 1000x challenge; Small cells everywhere! - Wednesday, October 17, 12pm ET / 9am PT Events > 2012 FTTH Conference & Expo - September 23-27 - Dallas, TX
> ITEXPO 2012 - October 2-5 - Austin, TX
> TelcoTV 2012 - October 24-26 - Las Vegas, NV
> Content and Communications World (CCW) - November 14-15 - New York, NY Marketplace > Research: LTE: a real disruptive technology and business opportunity?
> Whitepaper: Case Study: 4G Operator Maximizes Revenue with Flexibile, and Discovery-driven Audit Capabilities
> EBook: The New Data Center
> EBook: Finding New Gold in Copper
> Whitepaper: Kabel Deutschland Uses Lavastorm Analytics' Flexibility to Optimize Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management Processes
> EBook: Dodd-Frank: The Key to Compliance Success Jobs > Public Safety DAS Engineer - Houston, TX - Connectivity Wireless Solutions
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* General ad info: Click here | Today's Top News 1. AT&T, Verizon, others reportedly considering move to shift games into MVPD cloud space
MVPDs are ready to turn the tables on video-enabled gaming consoles such as the Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox, Sony (NYSE: SNE) PS3 and even the upcoming Nintendo Wii U and deliver their own cloud-based games on their own networks. According to a story in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, MVPDs will begin gaming services trials later this year, and wider deployments could stretch through 2013 and 2014. AT&T (NYSE: T) U-verse, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) FiOS, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) are among those listed in the story as participants in a move that could shift games away from consoles and into the MVPD cloud. The MVPDs would reportedly use technology from such companies as Playcast Media Systems, CiiNOW and Agawi, all of which confirmed they have been in talks with MVPDs but declined to name names. Time Warner Cable and Comcast declined to comment. AT&T was more forthcoming, with spokeswoman Jan Rasmussen admitting that the company is "exploring unique ways to offer cloud gaming services to our TV and broadband customers." Verizon's spokeswoman, Deidre Hart, didn't offer up much more than to say what is already known: Verizon doesn't "offer anything regarding HD cloud gaming." MVPDs would have to license virtualization technology, incorporate "powerful graphics processors" into their data centers and attract an audience willing to pay for the experience. That's not necessarily a slam dunk. The story cited the case of the OnLine Live start-up backed by AT&T and Time Warner that failed to get an audience for its $9.99 a month service and also mentioned Gaikai, another competitor that agreed to be bought by Sony. Still, there are plenty of reasons why MVPDs would want to play in the lucrative games business. The potential to make a lot of money is huge and the potential to grab and hold a generation of gamers who are drifting away to OTT is even bigger. "It makes perfect sense why they would want to go after this market," Mitch Lasky, a partner at Benchmark Capital and an early investor in Gaikai, told the publication. "Streaming games use a ton of bandwidth and really benefit from good networks. But it's a gnarly execution problem they're trying to solve." It's also an expensive proposition, suggested Nvidia's Senior Vice President Tony Tamasi, who said his company is working on it. "It's a substantial investment of both hardware and software," Tamasi said. "We've put stuff into our chips specifically to enable this kind of functionality." Games publishers have to like the idea as well. If the MVPDs can get together and come up with a common platform, a game would only have to be written once rather than multiple times for multiple gaming platforms. This is not only a U.S. phenomenon. Cloud gaming is already happening in Portugal, France, Singapore and South Korea, with Playcast and CiiNOW providing help. "If there was ever a service that fit network providers, it's this one," CiiNOW CEO Ron Haberman told BusinessWeek. "2013 is going to be when we see big commercial offerings." For more:
- see this story in Bloomberg BusinessWeek Related articles:
Online video part of the game for Nintendo Wii U
Microsoft hires entertainment exec to develop Xbox video content
Angelakis: Comcast would support competing user interfaces Read more about: cloud-based video games
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| This week's sponsor is Overture. |  | eBook: Finding New Gold in Copper This eBook from FierceTelecom will explore the ever-changing dynamics of service providers' copper networks and how they are using these new technologies to deliver a wider set of services to consumers and businesses. Download for free today. |
2. Sportsmanship a problem as Google Fiber prepares its video lineup
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is fast learning something that's been hammered into other MVPDs for quite some time: The MVPD that holds the rights to broadcast the local sports teams holds a sometimes unbeatable ace in its hand. Thus, while Google Fiber has an admittedly attractive triple play offer that includes a nice TV lineup and blazing Internet speeds for the residents of approved "fiberhoods" in Kansas City--Kansas and Missouri--it may be running into the center field wall when it comes to providing all the programming that those local markets want. According to a story in Deadline Hollywood, Google execs have discussed "the importance of being able to provide customers with access to must-have live regional sports programming and the difficulty of obtaining this programming" with the FCC, which is the final arbiter of what can and can't be kept in an MVPD pocket. Google thinks the feds should alter rules that cover how cable companies that also own cable channels make those channels available to competitors from the satellite and telco space--and now from the Google Fiber space. The rules are about to "sunset," the story said, unless the FCC moves to keep them alive. And that's an idea that has the support of Verizon (NYSE: VZ), among others. The FiOS operator told the Commission that "at a minimum this protection should be retained with respect to must-have, non-replicable programming, such as regional sports networks (RSNs). The telco said cable operators "control roughly half" of RSNs. Of course, the cablecos don't want to hear about any changes with the way things work--especially when it comes to local programming. Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), which is fending off the Google Fiber invasion in the Kansas City markets, is also big on acquiring the rights to RSNs--at sometimes astronomical costs--because it believes these will keep the market "competitive," the story continued. "For example, a programmer may wish to keep a non-competitively significant local news channel exclusive in order to provide a unique local voice, and may forego creating the service altogether if prohibited from preserving the channel's uniqueness through exclusive distribution," Time Warner Cable reportedly told the FCC. For more:
- Deadline Hollywood has this story Related articles:
Without more TV content, Google Fiber could be hurting
Time Warner Cable challenges News Corp. with launch of regional sports channels in California Read more about: Time Warner Cable
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3. FiOS settlements cost Verizon more than $500 million
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) will pay out more than $500 million ($510 million and change, to be exact) to settle a pair of lawsuits filed against its FiOS TV service. The deep-pocketed telco will pay TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO) more than $250.4 million in a DVR dispute and cloud TV developer ActiveVideo more than $260 million in a VoD spat. Although it's tough to believe anyone would be happy about paying out that much money, Verizon spokesman Ed McFadden issued a statement to Bloomberg saying the carrier is "pleased to have reached settlements with both TiVo and ActiveVideo in these two matters." There were alternatives to paying the money, but they weren't pleasant. A loss in court to TiVo could have meant Verizon would need to remove DVR capabilities from its FiOS service. Something similar happened to Dish in a previous court battle. In ActiveVideo's case, the two had already gone to court and agreed to a patent cross-license after an appeals court ruled that a jury got it right when it ordered Verizon to pay ActiveVideo $2.74 a month for each FiOS subscriber as remuneration for using ActiveVideo's cloud-based service. That left only the specific amount of money to be determined, and, while ActiveVideo declined to say exactly how much that would be, it did confirm Verizon would have to shell out more than $250 million to the closely-held California company whose biggest cable customer is Verizon archenemy Cablevision (NYSE: CVC). "[W]e can confirm that the parties agreed to cross-license their patents, agreed not to sue each other for a period of years, and Verizon agreed to pay the $260 million previously ordered by the district court and an additional unspecified amount of money," ActiveVideo President-CEO Jeff Miller said in his company's statement. "In the end our technology and its value have been recognized." TiVo is hardly finished sweeping through the MVPD and MVPD vendor space. The DVR pioneer "will now focus their legal efforts on potentially larger infringement claims against Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC)," Kevin Stadtler, principal of Stadtler Capital Management, told Bloomberg. TiVo's patent actions against Motorola Mobility (still the set-top box maker for Google) and Cisco involve set-top boxes made for and used by Time Warner Cable. Moto's case is slated to head to trial in May 2013; Cisco is going to court in 2014. For more:
- Bloomberg has this story
- AdvancedTelevision has this story
- and ActiveVideo issued this statement Related articles:
Verizon to pay $510 million to settle ActiveVideo, TiVo patent suits
Appeals court tells Verizon to pay up in ActiveVideo patent infringement case
Dish settlement pushes TiVo to quarterly profit Read more about: Time Warner Cable
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4. Frontier uses ETI to upgrade FiOS back office systems
Frontier (Nasdaq: FTR) has consolidated and updated its Billing and Operational Support Systems (B/OSS) in FiOS FTTH systems in Oregon, Washington, South Carolina and Indiana using Enhanced Telecommunications Software Solutions' (ETI) technology. The reasoning behind the move is simple--literally, Frontier's IT Manager said in a news release. "Due to the multiple devices involved, we needed a solution to simplify integration, improve the customer experience and facilitate the roll-out of new services and technologies--and we needed it efficiently and fast," said Jesse J. Ross. "It was important to Frontier to have all operations on one set of systems to simplify employee procedures, streamline processes and improve customer satisfaction." ETI was charged with stepping in and using its Triad technology to take control of Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) FTTH platforms, a Motorola DAC and SeaChange International (Nasdaq: SEAC) RF video technologies, the ETI news release said. "Over the last 15 years, we've amassed one of the richest inventories of OSS technology integrations available. This project stayed under budget and on time because of ETI's pre-integration of all major technologies that deliver FTTH, data, video and voice services," ETI Chairman-CEO Pete Pifer said in the news release. In addition to the aforementioned integrations, ETI said it would add interfaces to support Tellabs BPON and Juniper service router interface. it also implemented audit capabilities to Alcatel and Motorola FTTH networks "to identify mismatches between the billing data and the current provision state of the ONTs," the news release said. The action "streamlines our internal processes, makes us more efficient, closes revenue leaks and ensures our customer statements are accurate and services uninterrupted," Ross added. For more:
- ETI issued this news release Related articles:
Frontier selects ETI's BSS/OSS software to support its FTTH network
Frontier loses 7K FiOS subs in Q2 2012, reports strong sales of Dish's Hopper DVR
Frontier nixes national IPTV launch; hints at FiOS modifications Read more about: FiOS, frontier
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5. Verizon and two wireline unions reach tentative accord
Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has reached tentative three-year contract agreements with its two primary wireline unions--the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA). More than 40,000 East Coast union workers are impacted by the two deals which were accomplished during a year-long process that included the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). If approved by the full membership, the agreement will run through Aug. 1, 2015. In a news release, Verizon Chief Administrative Officer Marc Reed called the agreements "fair and balanced" and "good for our employees as well as for the future of the wireline business," noting that they provide "competitive wages, valuable benefits and affordable quality health care while giving the company the new flexibility to better serve customers and become more efficient." The unions, not ones to easily forget a year of rancor and discord which even resulted in walkouts last year, were a bit more pragmatic about the new agreements. "We don't agree with everything in it, but it allows us to move forward and continue to fight for good middle-class jobs at Verizon in the years to come," IBEW International President Edwin Hill, who represents about 6,500 members in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and upstate New York, said in the union's news release. The IBEW agreement, he said, showed the "strong unity of the members at the bargaining table and in the workplace—along with the impartial hand of [FMCS] Director [George] Cohen and his staff" that, in the end, "forced the company to back off its original proposal which would have gutted nearly all the gains won by previous generations of telecommunications workers." The agreement with the CWA beat back the "most sweeping and intensive attack on our standard of living and bargaining rights in the history of the telecommunications industry," according to a statement by Chris Shelton, vice president for CWA District One, who pointed to "the unity and determination of 34,000 CWA members since bargaining began in June 2011" to produce an agreement "that preserves intact our members' pension and job security, provides for a substantial wage increase, and preserves a high quality health plan." Shelton praised the assistance of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who, he said in a CWA news release, "intervened on several occasions to break logjams in the negotiations" along with Cohen, "who determinedly worked with the company and the unions for seven weeks to bridge the gaps that separated the parties and find a path to the contract." For more:
- Verizon issued this news release
- IBEW issued this news release
- CWA issued this news release Related articles:
Verizon unions threaten walkout
Verizon walkout looms if mediation fails; mediator says 'significant key issues' remain
Verizon rejects unions' request for federal mediation in protracted labor talks Read more about: FiOS
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Also Noted SPOTLIGHT ON... Connected Home Academy joins Open IPTV Forum The Connected Home Academy, a professional certification organization with individual courses for broadcast, telco and connected home professionals, has joined the Open IPTV Forum (OIPF) and will participate in that organization's ongoing connected TV work as it pertains to IPTV. "We aim to work with the OIPF membership to enable a certified education program for the IPTV/OTT industry, delivering knowledge of OIPF specifications and related technology in both practical and theoretical contexts via the Connected Home Academy," said IPTV Learning Program Director Sam Hurrell in a release. Article More news gathered from around the World Wide Web: > Aurora Networks is using the FTTH Conference and Expo to introduce "significant additions" to its PON portfolio, the company said in a news release. > The standalone set-top box will be dead in a decade, Martin de Beer, vice president of Cisco's Video & Collaboration Group, predicted, according to a story in Multichannel News. > MRG, however, produced a study which concludes that "the global set-top box market keeps gaining momentum." News release > The emergence of IPTV and its potential to impact local over-the-air sports programming is at least part of the reason why Australian pay television holding company Consolidated Media apparently favors a $2 billion takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Story > A panel at CTAM EuroSummit 2012 concluded that pay TV operators are best suited to offer TV Everywhere. Story > O2 Wireless is not only going to support a triple play IPTV, broadband and voice-over-wireless service for a South American MSO, but it's also "taking an ownership stake" in the unnamed pay TV provider as well. Story > Liberty Global, meanwhile, has bid to acquire the 49.6 percent of Belgian pay TV provider Telnet it doesn't already own. Story And finally… BT said it will offer a free YouView box to new subscribers to its high-speed broadband service. Story > Webinar: Beyond the Cable: The Move to Mobility by MSOs - October 9th, 11:00 am EST/ 8:00 am PST The best immediate prospects for MSOs may lie on using Wi-Fi to harvest data from mobile operators for backhaul over MSO HFC networks. Wi-Fi networks provide a huge differentiation and opportunities for cable operators. This webinar will explore how MSOs are integrating Wi-Fi into their existing network architectures and examine the economics behind Wi-Fi for cable operators. Register Now! > The 1000x challenge; Small cells everywhere! - Wednesday, October 17, 12pm ET / 9am PT To solve the 1000x mobile data challenge, we need more small cells, actually, much more, and everywhere - But, isn't interference a limiting factor? How dense can we deploy them? What are the future enhancements that takes HetNets to the next level? Find out the answers at this Qualcomm webinar. Register Today!
| > 2012 FTTH Conference & Expo - September 23-27 - Dallas, TX The future of unlimited innovation in commerce, education, entertainment and health care –made possible by virtually unlimited bandwidth – is finally here and now. Come be a part of it at the 2012 FTTH Conference & Expo. Hear from FTTH industry leaders, see and experience the latest fiber access technologies and learn from the companies and service providers that are building the ultra-fast networks of tomorrow. More than 2000 decision makers will gather in Dallas for the latest developments in FTTH products, solutions, technology and best practices in the industry - 35 track sessions, panels, keynotes and 130 exhibitors in the most comprehensive EXPO in the industry. Learn more. > ITEXPO 2012 - October 2-5 - Austin, TX The world's largest communications & tech event - discover more new insights, new products and networking to keep you and your company ahead of the curve. Join industry powerhouses for a week of business-building and researching today’s most powerful communications solutions. Register today. > TelcoTV 2012 - October 24-26 - Las Vegas, NV TelcoTV 2012 is devoted to telecom service providers and their development of profitable video services. Its unique program attracts more than 2,000 attendees, including telcos, OTT video providers, content and technology companies all focused on multi-screen video services and next-gen broadband applications. Register Today! FierceBroadWireless and FierceIPTV Customers Save $300. Enter Priority Code TTV12FIERCE to get your discount. > Content and Communications World (CCW) - November 14-15 - New York, NY Thousands of attendees and exhibitors alike participate in the ever-changing conversation surrounding content creation, management and distribution/delivery. Join them! Register today with VIP Code CCEY8 to receive your free pass!
| > Research: LTE: a real disruptive technology and business opportunity? WiTech's latest Report "LTE: a disruptive technology and business opportunity" presents an in-depth analysis about the promising technology LTE by taking into account not only technology aspects but also business aspects. It points out the key drivers that are continuously changing the Telecom Market. Download this report today! > Whitepaper: Case Study: 4G Operator Maximizes Revenue with Flexibile, and Discovery-driven Audit Capabilities A US 4G operator was perfectly suited to handle the predicted annual doubling of global mobile data traffic. But as the company faced exponential subscriber and network usage growth, they realized they needed to better monitor that usage. Learn how this US 4G operator realized 13x ROI for its retail business in the first six months. Download Today! > EBook: The New Data Center In this FierceTelecom eBook we'll discuss the strategies service providers are taking to build a sustainable and profitable data center business. To read more click here to download. > EBook: Finding New Gold in Copper This eBook from FierceTelecom will explore the ever-changing dynamics of service providers' copper networks and how they are using these new technologies to deliver a wider set of services to consumers and businesses. Download for free today. > Whitepaper: Kabel Deutschland Uses Lavastorm Analytics' Flexibility to Optimize Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management Processes Learn how Kabel Deutschland achieved quantifiable ROI in less than one year, accelerated detection of fraudulent activity by more than 2000 percent, and improved customer satisfaction. Download this case study today. > EBook: Dodd-Frank: The Key to Compliance Success Driven by a never-ending appetite for bandwidth from businesses and consumers, service providers are in the process of upgrading their backbone and core networks. This eBook discusses the strategies, emerging standards, and technological advancements beyond 100G. Click here to download today.
| > Public Safety DAS Engineer - Houston, TX - Connectivity Wireless Solutions Connectivity Wireless Solutions delivers best in class consulting, engineering, project management, installation, and staffing services to wireless carrier and enterprise customers. The Public Safety DAS Engineer is tasked with collecting and analyzing RF data typically with tools such as test phones and needs analysis equipment such as ZK Celltest and spectrum analyzers. Learn More! > Project Manager - Washington, D.C. – IT WORKS! IT WORKS! is looking for mid-level, hands on professional with a balanced mix of technology and project management experience to support the development and implementation of a Wi-Fi project within a transportation environment in the Northeast United States. Learn more! > Project Coordinator Job - Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ, USA – Yoh Yoh has a contract opportunity for a Project Coordinator to join our client located in Parsippany, NJ. The Project Coordinator is needed for a multi-department project. Primary functions include support of Project Manager by maintaining document control and tracking project activities within project timelines. Excellent computer skills are desired...Learn more. > Project / Construction Coordinator Job - St. Louis, MO, USA – Yoh Yoh has a contract opportunity for a Project / Construction Coordinator to join our client Located in St. Louis, MO. This role will work in cooperation with the Project Manager in Coordinating and managing construction schedules, providing Job in progress and QC / QA Reports. One to two years of experience in wireless telecom construction, equipment installation, testing and field operations preferred...Learn more. > Telecommunications Project Coordinator Job - Overland Park, KS, USA – Yoh Yoh has a contract opportunity for a Project Coordinator to join our client in Overland Park, KS. Job Responsibilities include creating and maintaining program/project reports as well as supporting ad-hoc reporting requests of multiple organizations. Must have previous telecommunications experience...Learn more. > Network Test Engineer Job - Overland Park, KS, USA – Yoh Network Implementation Test Engineer (mid shift) will work remotely with field personnel to conduct hardware and software testing and upgrades on customer Wireless Network. The engineer will follow proven methods of procedures to ensure implementation work does not negatively affect our customers. Candidate must be proficient with UNIX and the use of text editors...Learn more. > Need a job? Need to hire? Visit FierceWirelessJobs | ©2012 FierceMarkets This email was sent to ignoble.experiment@arconati.us as part of the FierceIPTV email list which is administered by FierceMarkets, 1900 L Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 628-8778.
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