| This week's sponsor is Adtran. |  | Webinar: The Transition from FTTC to FTTH — The Role of Vectoring?
Wednesday, May 22nd, 10am ET/ 7am PT
The pressure is rising for service providers to offer Gigabit services. This webinar will discuss market drivers for the FTTC to FTTH conversion. Register Today! |
Also Noted: Pegasystems
Spotlight On... CBS credits Showtime and 62% jump in retransmission-consent fees for Q1 revenue gain
Cox Business launches cloud-based phone system; GCI drops 300 basic video subs and much more... GENBAND's Perspectives13: Continuing coverage from Orlando
 Industry executives are converging in Orlando, Fla., this week to discuss the communications landscape at the GENBAND Perspectives13 conference. Jim Barthold, editor of FierceIPTV, is on site covering all of the news, announcements, and keynotes from this three-day event. For continued covered, check back here often.  Follow @FierceCable on Twitter!
News From the Fierce Network:
1. Windstream voice outages mostly resolved; technology upgrade blamed
2. AT&T, CWA West ratify new wireline union agreement
3. CTIA: U.S. wireless network traffic reaches 1.468 trillion MB in 2012
This week's sponsor is Coveo. |  | eBook:
How to Get a Return on Knowledge in a Big Data World
Learn how to get put your organization's collective knowledge in the hands of your service reps using advanced enterprise search technology - and watch your service performance improve and customer satisfaction soar. Download Now! |
Today's Top News 1. Comcast to double recording capabilities on X1 gateway
Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) said it will double the recording capabilities later this month on its X1 home video gateways to allow subscribers to record four TV shows or movies simultaneously while watching a fifth program. While the X1 set-tops that Comcast began deploying last May contain six tuners, it has only allowed subscribers to record a maximum of two programs at the same time. Comcast will send software updates to the X1 devices later this month which will expand the recording capabilities, Marcien Jenckes, SVP and GM of video services, wrote in a blog post Wednesday. Comcast hasn't yet said what it will do with the sixth tuner in the X1, which is manufactured by Pace (LSE: PIC.L). "We don't have plans to activate the sixth tuner right now, as we continue product development efforts on the X1 platform," Comcast spokesman Peter Dobrow told FierceCable. Comcast has been working with partners Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) and Samsung on ways to deliver Xfinity programming to other IP-connected devices in subscriber homes. It's possible the MSO could use the sixth tuner to deliver programming to connected TVs, tablets and smartphones. Activating additional tuners on the X1 could also help Comcast compete with the DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) Genie DVR, which can record five programs simultaneously, and Dish Network's (Nasdaq: DISH) Hopper, which can record six programs at the same time. Comcast has launched X1 in 10 markets, including Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sacramento and New Jersey. Executives said on its first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that Comcast will expand the X1 rollout to half of its cable systems by the end of June, and that it'll be available nationwide by the end of 2013. CEO Brian Roberts said he plans to unveil the next generation of the X1 platform at The Cable Show convention next month in D.C. For more:
- see the video promo for X1
- see Comcast blog post Related articles:
Comcast investing in advanced services for Xfinity Home and X1 platforms
Comcast to launch Xfinity X1 in Philadelphia
Comcast launches X1 in Atlanta; reports 65% increase in Q2 cable self-installs
Comcast Cable CEO Smit offers sneak peek at X1 service Read more about: Comcast
back to top |
| This week's sponsor is Oracle. |  | eBook: Smarter Service: The Contact Center of the Future
This eBook explores the challenges facing traditional contact centers and the benefits of deploying the contact center of the future. You'll find links to further resources on the final page. Download today.
|
2. Verizon authentication deal drives 22% surge in Synacor stock
Synacor stock jumped about 22 percent Wednesday after it announced a deal to provide TV Everywhere authentication for Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) FiOS TV subscribers. The Verizon pact is one of the biggest yet for Synacor, whose customers include Charter Communications (Nasdaq: CHTR), WideOpenWest, Atlantic Broadband, Cable One, Buckeye CableSystem, CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL), Grande Communications, Blue Ridge Communications and other small and mid-sized cable MSOs. Synacor built a TV Everywhere portal for Verizon that lets FiOS subscribers use a single login to access programming from premium and expanded basic cable programmers, including HBO, Showtime and USA Network, as well as Golf Channel and other networks owned by Comcast's (Nasdaq: CMCSA) NBCUniversal subsidiary. Buffalo, N.Y.-based Synacor recently announced that Midcontinent Communications would deploy its Cloud ID Social Login product, which lets subscribers use their Facebook, Twitter or Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) account logins to access TV Everywhere content. Synacor went public in February 2012. Its stock closed at $3.55 on Wednesday following the Verizon announcement, which was an increase of 64 cents, or 22 percent, for the day. Synacor stock gained another 12 cents Thursday morning and was trading at $3.67 at 11:48 a.m. ET. For more:
- see the release Related articles:
Midcontinent launches TV Everywhere authentication via Facebook, Twitter, Google
Synacor takes TV Everywhere platform to China
Synacor posts 11 percent gain in revenue for Q4 2012
Synacor scores Zynga games for TV Everywhere portals
Synacor recruits former SeaChange CTO Steve Davi Read more about: Midcontinent, Synacor
back to top |
3. Comcast promotes Cathy Avgiris to CFO of cable division
Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) said Thursday that it promoted Cathy Avgiris to CFO of its cable division, effective July 1, and that she'll succeed Dave Scott, who is retiring after 20 years at the company.  | Avgiris | Avgiris, who led Comcast's joint marketing efforts with Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ) and its Xfinity Voice and Internet products, had been EVP and GM of data and communications services. Comcast hasn't yet said who will take the position Avgiris held. "Cathy has a deep bench and a great team," a Comcast spokeswoman said. The company said Avgiris, who had been reporting to Comcast Cable Communications EVP and COO Dave Watson, will now report to Neil Smit, CEO of the cable division. Avgiris, 53, is the first woman to hold the position of EVP at Comcast's cable division. "Cathy brings broad operational expertise, a strong financial background and a deep understanding of our company and our industry to her new role," Smit said in Thursday's announcement. For more:
- see the release Related articles:
Comcast promotes Avgiris to EVP and GM of data and communications services
Comcast to relaunch phone product; trademarks 'Voice2Go' brand
Comcast promotes Daley and McCue to assistant treasurers Read more about: Comcast
back to top |
4. FCC chairman nominee Tom Wheeler welcomed by cable industry
Top cable executives and industry lobbyists rolled out the welcome mat for Tom Wheeler, a former National Cable & Telecommunications Association chief whom President Obama nominated Wednesday to be the next chairman of the FCC. "We applaud President Obama's nomination and we look forward to working with the commission under Tom's leadership," Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) CEO Brian Roberts said in a prepared statement. Comcast sued the FCC last August, after the commission ordered it to expand its distribution of Tennis Channel. Attorneys for the FCC and Comcast are litigating the case at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Former FCC chairman Michael Powell, who was named CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association in 2011, also cheered the nomination of Wheeler, who ran NCTA from 1979 to 1984. Wheeler was head of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association from 1992 to 2003. "With his significant experience in both the private and public sector, Tom is an exceptional choice to lead the commission during a time when the telecommunications marketplace is experiencing significant innovation and incredible change," Powell said in a statement. Some of the key issues Powell will likely focus on in his meetings with Wheeler are usage-based broadband billing and data caps that cable MSOs and other broadband providers are beginning to implement. Wheeler, who was named managing director of Core Capital in 2005, is also a co-founder of SmartBrief, which compiles electronic newsletters covering several industries. Its portfolio includes CTAM SmartBrief, which focuses on cable marketing and technology stories. Obama introduced Wheeler as the nominee to succeed current FCC chairman Julius Genachowski at the White House Wednesday afternoon. "Tom is the only member of both the cable television and the wireless industry hall of fame. So he's like the Jim Brown of telecom, or the Bo Jackson of telecom. And that's because for more than 30 years, Tom has been at the forefront of some of the very dramatic changes that we've seen in the way we communicate and how we live our lives," Obama said, according to a copy of his address that was released by the White House. Officials at the National Association of Broadcasters and the Consumer Electronics Association also cheered Wheeler's nomination. Obama announced that FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn will serve as interim chairwoman until Wheeler is confirmed by the Senate. For more:
- see the Comcast statement
- see NAB's statement
- see CEA's statement
- see NCTA's statement Industry Voice: Powell: Cable is on cusp of innovation that will revolutionize the industry Related articles:
Tennis Channel vs. Comcast - Worst Programming Disputes of All Time
FCC chairman launches Gigabit City Challenge Read more about: Tom Wheeler, Ncta
back to top |
5. Liberty Global's video business driven by speed, simplicity
Liberty Global (Nasdaq: LBTYA) generally follows two business mantras: speed matters, and simplicity is core to the user experience. Both tenets, though, are stressed by a telecommunications space that is increasingly complex and, at times, frustratingly slow.  | Nair (Image source: Liberty Global) | "Our industry needs to move at a much faster pace than we have been," said Balan Nair, Liberty Global's CTO during a keynote presentation at GENBAND's Perspectives13 in Orlando. That speed includes both the development of new products and the broadband data throughput for subscribers. On the product front, Nair said, "When you build something it's got to be brilliant. People have to love it." On the broadband side, small incremental increases mean nothing, he said. "If you're going to have a speed increase, it has to be from 50 (Mbps) to 100," he said, noting that this is exactly what Liberty will do this year in Europe. While some have questioned the need for that much speed, Nair was more philosophical, pointing out that today's networks are carrying an increasingly heavy load of video traffic--estimated at 90 percent of all traffic across Liberty Global--that is providing "a lot more (stress) than it used to." This problem is only bound to accelerate even if networks get faster because "the traffic on video is going to grow dramatically," he said. Liberty is handling demand for higher speeds and better throughputs by adopting DOCSIS 3.0 now and planning for DOCSIS 3.1 when it comes on the scene with a "greater spectral efficiency" and an understanding of the stresses that video, including adaptive bit rate encoded video, place on a broadband network. The move to DOCSIS 3.1, he said, will solve the network portion of the speed dilemma. The big consideration after that will be what to do in the home where a number of devices demand bandwidth from what are generally limited Wi-Fi connections. Liberty, which operates cable systems throughout Europe, is working to move bandwidth around the home via a Horizon box that maximizes the Wi-Fi and DLNA connections to deliver contents to multiple devices attached to the broadband network. While the home network has to be complex to handle multiple tasks, the user interface must be simple, Nair said. "All the software we build in the home has to run off seven buttons," he said. Simplicity is also part of the network operations that deliver content to the home. Liberty is collapsing multiple headends into a Pan-European headend that, in addition to simplifying operations, will provide "a huge amount of savings for us," he said. The carrier is also leaning towards "virtual applications and processing storage" in the cloud as a way to facilitate simpler in-home connections for video content being fed by Liberty and, increasingly, competition that is taking advantage of the broadband networks Liberty has built. That outside competition from streaming video providers, Nair admitted, has the company worried. YouTube, for instance, is the top app being accessed by consumers on the Horizon platform. That's good news, in a way, but it's also disconcerting because, even as an app on the Liberty platform, YouTube is an outsider. "We're extremely concerned about it," he said, calling it "a medium and format that shouldn't be underestimated." While Nair said Liberty's goal is to continue to be a wireline provider, the company is necessarily moving into wireless with a modified MVNO model in which Liberty builds and maintains a core but leases or rents spectrum and infrastructure to feed wireless clients connected to its other offerings. The model is modified because Liberty is building and maintaining a core rather than going full-scale into an MVNO. "You want control of the SIM cards; that's why you build the core," he said. Liberty won't build the external infrastructure and other peripherals because, he said, "It's really hard to build a wireless network and be the fourth operator or the fifth operator. I think we found our sweet spot here." The sweet spot, not just for mobile but for every facet of the Liberty Global business, is to deliver a quality subscriber experience and that at the same time rewards investors. Unlike some operators who concentrate on investors but neglect consumers, Liberty sees a dual-edged initiative, Nair said. "When you build something beautiful … you'll sell a lot of it," he said. Show Coverage: GENBAND's Perspectives13: Continuing coverage from Orlando Related articles:
Media server demand expected to boost Pace revenues
Liberty Global CEO: Netflix has 'no shot'
Liberty Global to 'redomicile' after Virgin Media acquisition
DOCSIS 3.1: Engineers finding a way to continue using HFC Read more about: Broadband
back to top |
Also Noted This week's sponsor is Pegasystems. |  | Webinar: The Power of Color:
How Decisioning & Analytics Creates Vibrant Customer Interactions
Monday, May 7th, 11 am ET / 8am PT
Tune-in to this webinar by Pegasystems, to hear how Cox Communications is leveraging real-time decisioning and analytics to deliver exceptional value to both customers and the business. Register Today! |
SPOTLIGHT ON... CBS credits Showtime and 62% jump in retransmission-consent fees for Q1 revenue gain CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) said it saw first-quarter revenue jump 6 percent to $4.04 billion, attributing much of the gains to the performance of premium network Showtime and increased retransmission-consent fees collected from cable operators and satellite TV providers. Read more Cable industry news from across the Web: > Alaskan cable operator GCI said it counted 122,000 basic video subscribers at the end of the first quarter, down 300 subscribers from the fourth quarter and a decrease of 2,200 subscribers compared to the first quarter of 2012. News release > Cox Business launched a cloud-based phone system called VoiceManager IP Centrex. News release > WWE posted $124 million in revenue in the first quarter, up $900,000 compared to the same period last year. News release > Scripps Networks Interactive said it saw first-quarter revenue jump 11 percent to $594 million News release Telecom News > AT&T's Western division has ratified a four-year agreement with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 9 covering more than 17,000 wireline employees in California and Nevada. Read more > Windstream reported Wednesday evening that the majority of the network outages that left business customers across as many as 23 states without voice service have been fixed, though isolated issues remain. Read more Wireless News > LG Electronics used to be a top player in the U.S. market, but its star has been eclipsed by Apple, Samsung Electronics, HTC and others as the smartphone race has heated up. Read more > HTC executives sidled past the company's record-low profit for the first quarter and instead looked ahead to the future, predicting sales will rise almost two-thirds sequentially in the second quarter thanks to sales of the company's new flagship smartphone, the One. Read more And finally… JustSync Entertainment is pitching a delivery system to restaurants, bars, nightclubs, fitness centers and airports that could allow patrons to access audio from TV screens through apps on the iPhone or Android phones. News release > CTIA 2013 - MAY 21 - 23 - LAS VEGAS, NV CTIA 2013—North America’s largest mobile event—will bring together 40,000 of the best and brightest mobile professionals, 1,000 exhibitors showcasing 6 football fields of innovation; feature amazing keynotes; and host premium programming produced by the major thought leaders in the industry. REGISTER NOW! > Join Us for The Cable Show 2013 - June 10-12 - Washington, D.C. Register to learn, network and do business in the multi-billion dollar cable telecommunications industry. You'll see the latest industry innovations, hear from world-renowned speakers, tour the industry's most comprehensive exhibit floor and cultivate lasting business relationships. Register today! > Fierce Innovation Awards 2012 Live Announcement of this Year's Winners - Now Available On-Demand Please join Jason Nelson, Publisher of FierceWireless, FierceTelecom, and FierceCable as we announce the winners of the Fierce Innovation Awards 2012. Click here to RSVP today.
| > eBook: Advanced Advertising Revenue Set to Soar Despite expanding advertising options, cable spots still remain the most popular. This eBook explores the growth and potential of new ad platforms, citing specific real-world examples. Download for free today. > Whitepaper: Cisco Small Cell Solution: Reduce Costs, Improve Coverage Address the challenge of mobile service coverage and expand network capacity with the Cisco Licensed Small Cell Solution. Using small cells, service providers extend voice and data services to mobile subscribers while offloading traffic. Read this whitepaper today. > The Future of Telecom: Wholesale Voice Buyer Survey An Atlantic ACM Research Survey of U.S. wholesale voice buyers predicts a coming change in how providers will offer (and how end-users will consume) communication services. Learn key findings driving market-changing conclusions. Download the Executive Summary for the latest research available on the changing face of voice and messaging.
| > Instructional Developer II - Denver, CO - Cricket Communications Cricket Communications, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, is the pioneer and leader in delivering innovative value-rich prepaid wireless with no long-term contracts. Responsibilities include developing eLearning content and managing all training rollouts. 5 years' experience in eLearning and training content development required. Telecommunications experience preferred...Learn More. > Sales Director - Groton, CT - Thames Valley Communications Thames Valley Communications is looking for a Sales Director to hire, train and manage all field sales. Responsibilities include overseeing inside sales in coordination with Customer Service Director and setting and exceeding quotas. 5 years of Sales management experience in a Cable TV business and strong product knowledge of cable TV and internet preferred. Very competitive pay and bonus...Learn More. > Manager, Sales Compensation - Greenwood Village, CO - Cricket Communications Cricket Communications, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, is the pioneer and leader in delivering innovative value-rich prepaid wireless services with no long-term contracts. The Manager, Sales Compensation is responsible for managing the Company's Dealer Compensation system in an effort to maximize sales, minimize cost and ensure dealer satisfaction. 6+ year's experience in compensation or accounts payable management required...Learn More. > Applications Engineer II - Greenwood Village, CO - Cricket Communications Cricket Communications, a subsidiary of Leap Wireless, is the pioneer and leader in delivering innovative value-rich prepaid wireless services with no long-term contracts. The Applications Engineer II is responsible for designing and developing technology road maps to be aligned with the company's business goals and product vision. Wireless or IP networking experience required. MS in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science preferred...Learn More. > Need a job? Need to hire? Visit FierceWirelessJobs | |
Editor: 
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.