More Government != Better Broadband

There is a groundswell of public opinion that government intervention is going to increase the availability and decrease the price of broadband. Read this sentence again. See the problem?
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Lucent’s Secret Weapon - Accountants

Lucent (LU) attracts some attention in today’s WSJ Article that highlights why it pays to be a big company with a big pension fund in a rising market environment. From the article…
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IPTV and the Rising Sun

Two recent announcements of IPTV ‘networks’ in Japan present a possible model for the unbundling of content from traditional networks and the emergence of true IPTV. While the press and media here in the US are chattering about, and trying to predict whether Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tivo, Comcast etc. will enable this model - there is a #1 ISP in Japan that is actually doing it. Continue reading

Ciena Sees Red at BT

Two things happened today. Ciena (CIEN) inked their contract with British Telecom for the BT’s 21CN project. And Marconi shareholders approved the sale of the company to Ericsson. Many readers know these two minor events have a bellwether common denominator - a willingness to meet the new price targets set by Chinese competition.

Just as Vietnam and Afghanistan were proxy wars for the 20th century superpowers, BT’s 21CN will be the first full-blown encounter between incumbent and Chinese research, customer service, accounting practices, and cost structures.
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Satellite Radio - Why Bother?

I’m getting ribbed by a few folks about my lack of enthusiasm for satelite radio. It looks like I am not alone.
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Verizon Debt Downgrade

Verizon’s debt rating was cut today by Moody’s. They cited cash flow pressures from upgrading local wireline networks.
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The Industrial Accident

Its nuts. People are talking about whether we have too much bandwidth to the home?
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AMCC GPON SERDES

AMCC (AMCC) announced today that they have a SERDES for GPON ONU equipment. This isn’t really that spectacular given that these 2.5G components are typically just re-branded SONET/SDH components priced with lower margins and tested to lower standards. Even the burst mode support required at the OLT isn’t a big challenge for the CDR (keeping the analog front end linear is another story). It is a good way for a company to make waves about FTTH without doing a lot of work. Rumor has it that AMCC is also working on a GPON MAC device, which would be much more interesting news.
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XM vs. Sirius Valuation

Jeff Matthews has a quick and dirty analysis of XM (XMSR) vs. Sirius (SIRI)valuation and makes a very simple but surprising observation - Sirius subscribers are valued 3x more than XM subscribers. Satelite radio gets him excited but I think the iPod/subscription music approach will kill it off. However, his analysis does create a classic ‘convergence’ hedging opportunity. Continue reading

New Telecom Legislation on the horizon

There is a new Senate Bill in committee - (S.1504) Broadband Investment and Consumer Choice Act

Interestingly, John McCain is a co-sponsor. The dissected proposal does not seem consistent with his public policy.

Here are the highlights (or lowlights, depending on your outlook):
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Passave IPO Delay - More Details

Here’s a good article on what happened to Passave’s (PSVE) IPO plans.

Based on this article, other information, as well as personal experience, here’s my take on what probably (READ: SPECULATION) happened. Anyone who has worked for a semiconductor company and developed silicon based on a new standard won’t find anything remarkable in my analysis. You’ve seen this movie before and you already know how it ends.
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FiOS Roadmap Info

Good article in the latest Telephony on Verizon’s (VZ) roadmap for Video and GPON.

Items to note:

• Looks like Verizon is planning on using MOCA (Multimedia over Coax) as a method of creating an in-home network. If true, this is a huge endorsement of this technology.
• The weaknesses of AT&Ts (SBC Project Lightspeed) VDSL approach are highlighted, specifically their requirement for set top boxes everywhere and limted HD. This is a bit unfair as Verizon only plans 20 or so channels of analog TV - any more and you still need the set top box.
• Something new called ‘widgets’ that sound much like Tivo’s (TIVO) new applications they have partnered with Yahoo! on.

This was from a Verizon press event. It is obviously very one sided.
Hat tip to Broadband Reports.

FiOS Marketing Madness

From my Inbox… You heard about the multicolor Humvee’s, the pizza boxes emblazoned with FiOS. Here’s the latest Verizon marketing trick - dry cleaning bags. Ah, the broadband wars have crept from your den to the living room to your kitchen and now, your closet.

Looks like we can credit the DRAFT marketing agency with this idea.

Photo submitted by a reader….

Sun wants to “Change the Planet”

Last week it was open source, this week Sun (SUNW) wants to change the planet. Unfortunately, doing so will require a street fight with Intel.
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Verizon milks another cash cow

WSJ reports Verizon (VZ) is mulling a sale of their yellow pages for than $17 billion. Those that feel that Verizon is plowing money into the ground by laying fiber can take comfort in the fact this sale will finance the equivalent of wiring around 9 million households. What would you rather own - the yellow pages or connections to 9 million households with 21st century infrastructure that you no longer have to lease to someone else?

FiOS FTTH Install (w/Photos)

I had the Verizon FiOS 15Mb/s FTTH service installed at my home in September. These are my notes from conversations with the techs. If anything here is inaccurate, or you have more interesting data to add, please make a comment.

My home was originally built in 1925 and was undergoing extensive renovations, including landscaping, and as a result the entire front yard was dirt. My copper POTS service and Comcast cable were connected aerially to my home (ugly) and I figured this would be an excellent time to bury the connections in the front yard.

The copper from the pole to my home was still original. I still find it remarkable that the infrastructure installed in 1930 (manually switched phone service) could support nearly 1Mb/s DSL. I wonder if the fiber that Verizon installed will still be in use 75 years from today.
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Sun - The Internet- No the Software- No the Hardware Company

Sun Microsystems (SUNW) CEO Scott McNealy has a short but sweet interview with Businessweek outlining Sun’s new business strategy - sell hardware (and services) and give the software away for free.

If it wasn’t for the occasional communication from McNealy everyone would agree their company crossed the event horizon of the Intel/Microsoft black hole long ago.
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