Hi KB,
First, I would never be the CEO of a narrowband ISP. _g_
"Your stock is in the tank and you need a cable story. Your cable story can't include building out infrastructure to begin providing cable broadband"
Fine, but that doesn't necessarily "entitle" me to anyone's facilities, just because I'm on the balls of my arse and I want my subscribers to enjoy the benefits of hi-speed video, telemedicine, live porn, or whatever! Uh oh, I think I've just opened the door to a discussion on the merits of monopoly franchise status, again. Let's skip that for now.
If I'm the CEO I deal with reality. If I want to go for the brass ring I'd better have a business plan and get some financial backing, or a partner with deep ones. I don't automatically come to expect that someone is going to grease the skids for me and give it away. Now, if I know that that "someone" you are referring to has the necessary platform to fulfill my subscribers next generation Internet expectations, then I would consider it very seriously. But what does that mean, really?
If, as CEO, I listen to my engineers who tell me that once factnet.net goes on line with 7600 other mom'n'pops there is guaranteed to be sheer bedlam for all who participate, then I might think about taking another route. Then again, many other CEOs might not feel this way, as long as they can get onto "the" shared pipe, and wait their turn in the windowing scheme, for better or for worse.
"No way you get away with that."
I think I've already demonstrated that I agree with that stance by stating that I am to a large degree accountable for my own outcome (business plan, raise cash, partner, lobby, call in markers, break fingers/hands/legs <oops!>, etc.).
"Your only option is to strike a deal with the MSO who in-turn will engage ATHM in facilitating the access."
It's "an" option, but not my only one. Albeit, at the present time it's being viewed as a most likely one by many, granted.
"Backbone, HA servers, caching, DHCP, news, mail, autoprovisioning or only parts of those services."
I'm not following you here. Are you suggesting that I would continue to use my own, or that I would outsource these services to the dominant carrier who I would also lease physical lines from?
"That and content distribution via ATHM Optimized is where the munnee is at right now."
If that's where the revenue is, and that's where it ends, then it's because they don't have the capacity or the right kind of architecture to do VoD full blown, which is where the other piles of real money reside. Although I realize, as we've stated many times before on the other home thread, there would be a natural conflict between Home and the MSO who will be providing VoD over the Set Top Box, if Home were to take up VoD over the cable modem path, such as other ISPs will be doing soon, over other physical media.
"In the future ATHM should move away from one last mile option. Just like you said. One vendor solution is no place to be. I've lived that way and I don't like it."
Oi. Why didn't you say that in the first place? <s>
FAC |
