Articles

Up Front - February 2011

January 31, 2011 7:33 pm | by CED Staff | Comments

Up Front - Latest Industry News & Insights... Love can be unconditional but buying NBC is not... IPTV grows, but DSL remains king worldwide... Cisco: Market for hybrid service offerings promising... In-Stat: Residential gateway shipments increase in Q3.

Memory Lane - Numbers Game

January 31, 2011 7:30 pm | by Stewart Schley, Media & Technology Writer, Denver, Colo. | Comments

In creating a direct-dial system, AT&T engineers were determined to replace manually tended circuit boards with a more automated system for connecting calls. In doing so, they faced a big challenge of mathematics...

Ciciora’s Corner - Can You Hear Me?

January 31, 2011 7:25 pm | by Walt S. Ciciora, Expert on Cable and Consumer Electronics Issues | Comments

There are at least four sound issues with the cable television service and the broadcast and network signals that are carried. The first sound issue has motivated regulatory action. Sound levels during commercials appear to be louder to many, if not most, listeners...

Open Mic - Next-gen TV: Calculating the true cost of change

January 31, 2011 7:20 pm | by Stuart McGeechan, Vice President and General Manager of Professional Services at NDS Group | Comments

To state the obvious, smart planning and spending are critical factors for efficient and cost-effective deployment. Having worked closely with many MSOs, we have found several basic market "truths" that play a critical role in the delivery of next-generation video anywhere, anytime, to any device.

Engineering-Wise - Cable Transformed

January 31, 2011 7:15 pm | by Mark Dzuban, President and CEO of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers | Comments

Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Samsung teaming up to stream live TV. New devices from Cisco and Motorola. More relationships for streaming cable content directly to Sony TVs, Apple iPads and Android-based devices.

Capital Currents - The life ... and death ... of MediaFlo

January 31, 2011 7:10 pm | by Jeffrey Krauss, President of Telecommunications and Technology Policy | Comments

MediaFlo will be shut down in March 2011. AT&T probably wants to use this spectrum to ease network congestion caused by iPhone users, but it’s hard to see how they can use this spectrum for that goal.

WEB Extras - February 2011

January 31, 2011 7:00 pm | Comments

WEBINARS: Passive Optical LAN – Latest Shift in LAN Technology... WHITE PAPERS: Refining Media Delivery Intelligent Caching Comes of Age & The Micro Packet ONP... Visit www.CEDmagazine.com every day for news gathered and written specifically for communications service providers and their vendors.

Fearless predictions: Don’t look now, but...

December 31, 2010 7:50 pm | by Brian Santo, Editor-in-Chief | Comments

The future ain’t what it used to be. We were promised underwater cities, we were promised unisex silver jumpsuits, and Jim Cameron has now featured those really cool robotic exoskeletons in two movies.

CED Person of the Year - Bob Miron: Cable Industry Icon

December 31, 2010 7:45 pm | by Mike Robuck, Senior Editor | Comments

The cable industry is chock full of pioneers, mavericks and legends from the early days, but during a 50-year broadcast and cable career, former Bright House Networks Chairman Bob Miron carved his own unique legacy before retiring last month.

Everything is bigger at CES

December 31, 2010 7:40 pm | by Traci Patterson | Comments

Get ready for some technology-infused tweets and Facebook posts from the staff at CEA, from eager bloggers and next-gen journalists, and from giddy CES participants, because this is the show for tech enthusiasts.

Deploying Carrier Ethernet

December 31, 2010 7:35 pm | by Brian Santo, Editor-in-Chief | Comments

A new test methodology for activating carrier Ethernet services is sailing toward imminent ratification by the ITU. Once adopted, this methodology – called Y.156sam – will be a means for service providers to deploy carrier Ethernet services for their business customers...

Mobile Internet - Backhaul Bottleneck

December 31, 2010 7:30 pm | by Tony Tam, Senior Product Manager at Anda Networks | Comments

The rapid growth of video and other rich-content traffic over 3G/4G backhaul networks is a well-known phenomenon. What isn’t generally recognized is that this traffic often comes in unpredictable bursts that are a challenge to manage.

Memory Lane - A Precedent for Consent

December 31, 2010 7:25 pm | by Stewart Schley, Media & Technology Writer, Denver, Colo. | Comments

By transmitting a signal over a physical wire, they reasoned it would be possible to connect distant homes to the originating signal source, allowing them to take part in the new electronic media revolution sweeping the nation’s cities...

Open Mic - How to Prepare for Video Over IP

December 31, 2010 7:20 pm | by Kip Compton General manager of the video and content platforms business for Cisco’s Service Provider Video Technology Group | Comments

Now that online video viewing is trending into the consumer mainstream and beyond early adopters of streaming media services and devices, it’s time to figure out how to assess the readiness of the cable plant for delivering IP video.

Engineering Wise - No Cable Tech Left Behind

December 31, 2010 7:15 pm | by Mark Dzuban, President and CEO of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers | Comments

We’ve come a long way since my pre-teen days, when I helped my father build amplifiers in the basement of our home for Bark Lee Yee’s Twin County system.