Cable Operators Explore Joint VoIP-Wireless Offering
Cable-Tec Expo Speakers See Potential for Combining Two Phone Services
JULY 01, 2004
By Alan Breznick, Editor,
Cable Datacom News
cabledatacomnews.com
Seeking a fresh competitive opening against the phone companies, cable operators are eyeing ways to extend their voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) offerings into such promising new areas as wireless and commercial services. But they're worried about doing it right and reaching the market in time.
Speaking at the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers' (SCTE) annual Cable-Tec Expo in Orlando last month, senior MSO executives and cable engineers stressed that they see strong potential for incorporating cellular phone service in their fledgling VoIP offerings. In particular, they envision creating a "seamless handoff" scheme that would let a consumer's cell phone switch from a cellular tower connection to a PacketCable over DOCSIS connection if the user made the call at home.
Kenneth Wright, CTO of C-COR, said his company is looking to develop a roaming technology that would support such a hybrid service. Appearing on one general session panel, Wright said C-COR is now talking to others about pursuing the idea.
Christopher Bowick, CTO and senior vice president of engineering for Cox Communications, said Cox already has a team examining possible wireless service strategies. Appearing on the same panel as Wright, he said cable's options range from simply acting as a reseller of a cell phone provider's service to developing and running its own mobile phone service.
"I've got to believe that mobility for our services will be very important," he said. "We do need to make our systems more ubiquitous and mobile."
Bowick also reiterated Cox's intentions to launch VoIP service in three more, undisclosed markets around the U.S. later this year. Cox introduced VoIP in its initial market, Roanoke, Virg., last December after relying strictly on circuit-switched technology in nearly a dozen markets before that. "I'm sure there'll be much more [VoIP] to follow" in 2005, he noted.
Senior executives and engineers from three other leading MSOs -- Charter Communications, Adelphia Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications -- all seconded the notion of cable operators moving into the wireless space as a competitive edge. Sitting on back-to-back panels at Cable-Tec Expo, they and other speakers argued that cable operators could trump the phone companies and boost their bundling strategies by adding a strong wireless component. |
