Broadband
FREE Email Newsletter
Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Foxtel debuts TV Everywhere app, OTT access
June 13, 2013 1:46 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsFoxtel is providing on demand and catch-up television services, using video processing systems from Elemental Technologies. The Australian service provider is now delivering over-the-top (OTT) content, in addition to roaming access to more than 50 channels through its Foxtel Go app.
Cable Show: creative operational efficiencies
June 13, 2013 1:38 pm | by Craig Kuhl, Contributing Editor | News | CommentsImproving the operational efficiencies of today’s increasingly sophisticated and complex networks requires not only a whole new tool set, but also a different mindset. Operational support has to go beyond simply unifying billing, and workforce management is key, including installation and repair teams.
Live from the Show: Cable Show 2013 Day III
June 12, 2013 10:42 am | by Brian Santo | Videos | CommentsAs we roll into the third day of the NCTA Cable Show 2013, we ponder on what we have learned about X2 and the race to put stuff in the cloud, about high school football in Florida, about CCAP technology, and about life in general. Actually, not so much about life in general.
Cable Show: Tech forums get smart about devices, consumers, Wi-FI
June 12, 2013 9:17 am | by Craig Kuhl | News | CommentsMore devices, more choices and more broadband translate to more intelligence in our home networks, and intelligent gateways will lead the way. That was the key takeaway from the first of Tuesday’s Spring Technical Forums: “Human Touch: The Intersection of Intelligent Devices and Intelligent Consumers.”
Cable Show: Gigabit DOCSIS? Yeah, we can do that
June 11, 2013 5:18 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsIn a 3.0 demo, CableLabs was bonding 128 channels to crank out in excess of 4 Gbps in a total of 768 MHz. In the 3.1 demo, which included OFDM modulation and LDPC error correction, CableLabs was pushing data at a clip in excess of 6 Gbps, but in only 650 MHz, the better to show the spectral efficiency inherent in the move to OFDM.
Cable Show: Mediacom bows home automation service
June 11, 2013 9:41 am | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsMediacom Communications has joined the ranks of cable operators that are offering a home automation service to their subscribers. Mediacom, the eighth-largest cable operator in the nation, has joined Comporium Communications’ security, monitoring and automation (SMA) dealer program to deliver the home automation service across its footprint.
A win/win for Arris with Comcast
June 11, 2013 9:36 am | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsArris nabbed two customer wins with Comcast for its XGI gateway and the vendor’s E6000 Converged Edge Router (CER). The XGI was based on the Comcast Reference Design Kit (RDK), which Comcast developed to speed up the rate of innovation on set-top boxes and gateways.
From the Cable Show: TV Everywhere not a product but a process
June 10, 2013 6:34 pm | by Craig Kuhl, Contributing Editor | News | CommentsBuilding a viable business model for TV Everywhere is a tedious and complicated process, with authentication and measurement issues the leading prerequisites for achieving the ultimate goal of content ubiquity. That was the conventional wisdom shared by panelists during Monday’s Authenticate Me, Baby: Consumer Behavior in the TV Everywhere Era session.
From the Cable Show: "Disruptors" not so disruptive
June 10, 2013 6:25 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsExecutives from Vox Media, Jawbone, Twitter, and Roku were all quite enthusiastic about being complements to the cable industry, but they all wished that cable would innovate a little faster. Tom Rutledge meanwhile essentially admonished programmers to give it up already.
Comcast to turn up millions of Wi-Fi hotspots in neighborhoods
June 10, 2013 11:08 am | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsUsing subscribers’ home gateways, Comcast plans on booting up millions of Wi-Fi access points for its customers through its neighborhood hotspot initiative. After trials last year in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Northern Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metro area, there are currently more than 100,000 hotspots enabled in customers’ neighborhoods.
Cable Show: Cox, Cisco team up on two CCAP trials
June 10, 2013 11:01 am | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsCox Communications and Cisco have taken the cable industry’s converged cable access platform (CCAP) for a test-drive in two trials. In addition to Cox, Comcast and Time Warner Cable have also kicked the tires on CCAP, which will eventually combine edge QAMs and cable modem termination systems into one ultra-dense platform.
Cable Show: Comcast launches Xfinity Home Control
June 10, 2013 10:33 am | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsComcast announced today that it has launched Xfinity Home Control, which allows subscribers to remotely adjust thermostats or lighting without the professional security monitoring that is offered with other Xfinity Home services, which are now called Xfinity Home Secure. Among other features, Xfinity Home Control provides customers with the ability to get real-time text and email alerts when doors and windows open or close.
Obama pushes plan for fast Internet in U.S. schools
June 7, 2013 1:44 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe President is advocating for an initiative that calls on the FCC to use an existing program that funds Internet access in schools and libraries through a surcharge on telephone bills to meet the goal. He also directed the government to do a better job of using existing funds to get Internet connections and educational technology into classrooms, and into the hands of teachers who know how to use it.
Applied Broadband sells IPDR analysis tool
June 7, 2013 1:25 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsGuavus has purchased Applied Broadband’s Pipeline product. Pipeline is used for collecting, analyzing and mediating IPDR (Internet Protocol Detailed Records) data, drawn from cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) to understand bandwidth consumption and network activity.
Liberty Global wraps up deal to buy Virgin Media
June 7, 2013 12:31 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsJohn Malone’s Liberty Global announced this morning that it had completed its $24 billion deal to buy Virgin Media. Denver-based Liberty Global first announced it was buying Virgin Media in a stock and cash deal back in February. Since then Liberty Global has ran the gauntlet of gaining regulatory and stockholder approvals, as well as wrapping up the closing conditions that were associated with the deal.
