10-14-97
Cable Explores IP Telephony
Jupiter Telecom Reports 20% Penetration in Japan
Hunan PTA to Deploy Motorola's Telephony Network
Cable Plus Chooses CableData for Telephony Billing
Tellabs Invites Vendors to Develop Technology to be Integrated with CableSpan
Adelphia Offering Long Distance Service in Pennsylvania
In September, cable finally expressed a serious interest in pursuing IP telephony as a technology that cable operators could employ to deliver local and long distance telephony services. Cablelabs introduced a senior level task force led by Cablelabs' Jerry Bennington, slated to explore an IP telephony standard that would allow services to be offeblack free of latency and that could also be deliveblack cooperatively with the MCNS' DOCSIS standard for transporting data over hybrid fiber/coax networks.
The Cablelabs' group is investigating other IP telephony standards efforts including H.323, which utilizes a low bit rate CODEC known as G.723. Though this emerging standard is highly regarded, portions of the specification utilize proprietary technology. Since Cablelabs intends to avoid specifying technology that requires licensing agreements, it is likely that it will pursue a variation of H.323. With the abundance of bandwidth available on a HFC network, it is possible that Cablelabs will consider license free CODECs that operate at 32 Kbps and 64 Kbps.
The new task force must also face difficulties in defining LEC interconnections and determining the need for client-side hardware devices. If operators want to avoid LEC interconnections, an A/D translator would have to be installed at the customer premises. Other LEC interconnection issues arrive if a standard supports not only PC to phone support but also phone to phone support.
In cooperation with VDOnet, MediaOne is already working independently on a telephony solution. The MSO has conducted a set of trials using the technology and demonstrated its capabilities at an IP telephony conference held last month in Boston.
Cablelabs has also created a task force to work on a development agreement that would establish a national cable backbone.
Cablelabs
http://www.cablelabs.com
MediaOne
http://www.mediaone.com
VDOnet
http://www.vdonet.com
Jupiter Telecom Reports 20% Penetration in Japan
Jupiter Telecommunications has announced that 20% or 1,425 of its 6,500 cable subscribers in Suginami have signed up for cable telephony services. The cable system offers 15% to 39% discounts over NTT's rates. Further, the service is offeblack at a lower base rate and there are no subscription fees. Telephony services have been offeblack since July.
Hunan PTA to Deploy Motorola's Telephony Network
China's Posts and Telecommunications Administration for the Hunan Province [Hunan PTA] has enteblack into an agreement with Motorola for the company's CableComm cable telephony system and CyberSURFR cable modems. Hunan PTA plans to commercially deploy the equipment within a 750 MHz cable system in the southern region of China.
Motorola
http://www.mot.com/multimedia/
Cable Plus Chooses CableData for Telephony Billing
Cable Plus has chosen CableData's Intelecable customer management and billing system for billing voice, video and security customers at 25,000 MDUs in 18 states. The billing system will be implemented in 1998. The agreement represents the first use of Intelecable for telephony billing in the U.S.
Cable Plus
http://www.cableplus.com
CableData
http://www.cabledata.com
Tellabs Invites Vendors to Develop Technology to be Integrated with CableSpan
Tellabs is inviting vendors to develop technology that can be integrated with the company's existing CableSpan 2300 Universal Telephony Distribution System through an initiative known as the Broadband Media Group [BMG]. The creation of BMG allows new technology developers to quickly become a part of an end to end broadband delivery solution. Members of the group have not been disclosed.
Tellabs
http://www.tellabs.com
Adelphia Offering Long Distance Service in Pennsylvania
Adelphia has announced that it is offering long distance telephone services in Pennsylvania through an agreement with IXC Communications. For a $4.95 monthly fee, subscribers can make interstate calls for 10 cents a minute. Subscribers that opt to pass on the monthly fee are paying 14 cents a minute.
Adelphia, a MSO operating in 12 states offers a plethora of voice, video and data services including local and long distance service, mobile phone service, high speed Internet access, and home security.
Adelphia
http://www.adelphia.net
© Copyright 2000 Gecko Research & Publishing
The Broadband Bob Report is a weekly take of the latest news regarding data over cable, 2-way HFC networks and related applications and services.
Subscribers to Broadband Bob’s Cable Modem Mailing List receive the Broadband Bob Report via E-Mail each Monday. For info on joining the mailing
list, visit
http://www.hfc.net/mailinglist
Information on corporate sponsorship of this newsletter is available at
/siteinfo/advertising.html