With a new U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman in place, new policy proposals are emerging. The U.S. has always been a bit of a laggard compared to other developed economies when it comes to the availability of suitably fast “broadband” connections. But there has been recent progress in upping those speeds—now from 4Mbps downloads […]
Archive | Broadband
Capped America
Failed presidential candidate John Edwards once spoke of “two Americas.” While Edwards was making an economic pitch, his message, with a little temporal updating, could just as easily apply to the market for data. In one America—that of residential broadband—most users enjoyed unlimited data and zero restrictions. In another America, mobile broadband users faced tight […]
Is UHD Blu-ray The Last Gasp of Packaged Media?
It’s not exactly a secret: UHD TV sales are on the rise. Duh. According to DTC, sales of UHD sets are due to rise 142% this year, and are projected to reach 43.6 million units and 60% of the total market by 2020. What’s puzzling is why UHD TVs are selling well, considering the dearth […]
The Dumb Pipe Era Advances
Cable and telecommunications multi-system operators (MSOs) have had one overriding objective since the dawn of the digital era: to avoid becoming a “dumb pipe” — i.e. infrastructure, a mere purveyor of another’s bits. Today, that fate appears increasingly inevitable, with a twist. MSOs have fought the dumbing down of their networks largely through the promise […]
Terrestrial TV Still in the Picture
Worldwide Over-the-Air (OTA) TV broadcasters have been taking it on the chin the last few years as a significant amount of TV broadcast spectrum has been reallocated for mobile broadband services. The chipping away of broadcasters’ spectral real estate slowed down momentarily when the ITU’s World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) recently decided to keep the status […]
Can 4K OTT Survive the Data Cap Era?
Comcast is no stranger to Internet-driven controversy. Last year, the company was dealing with the fallout of a customer service call gone horribly wrong. Now, it’s dealing with the leak of internal emails that vindicate a charge that has long been leveled at broadband providers—that data caps of the kind being rolled out by Comcast […]
Can Google Fiber Change the TV Game?
Google has a reputation for being somewhat flighty with its technological forays (you would be too if you were sitting atop a mountain of cash). Apps and services come and go. There’s a self-driving car, a pair of futuristic glasses, a mobile operating system, tablets, a social network – all circling tenuously around the company’s […]
The Battle to Save Netflix Moves to Washington
The future of over the top video (at least in the United States) is increasingly moving into the hands of the U.S. federal government. On June 16, the New York Times reported that the Justice Department was investigating whether cable companies were discriminating against video providers such as YouTube and Netflix by treating their data […]
The Economics of OTT
Is the future of video delivery over the top? At the Connected TV World Summit in London, Nagra’s Thomas Decieu, noted that the economics of over the top delivery are getting particularly enticing for satellite operators, who could trade transponder space for a content delivery network (CDN) and reap significant cost-savings. The attitude of broadcasters […]
The Broadband and Broadcast TV Wedding: Don’t Look for the Invitation Just Yet
Monday March 22, 2010 – Myra Moore Broadband internet is undeniably the most popular kid in the “hybrid TV” school these days. With terrestrial, satellite, and cable platforms flirting with the idea of letting broadband Internet access join their clubs, it’s no wonder hybrid TV was a prominent topic at the DVB World conference earlier […]