Bresnan Communications accelerating voip launch; ntop partner
bresnan.com
gigaom.com
CED
5/6/05
“Bresnan Communications is pushing VoIP deeper into its markets as well, and has accelerated its launch schedule to include 50 percent of its customers by 2006, explained Katherine Kirchner, Bresnan’s director of telephony operations.”
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Panel: Scale, automation, integration among top VoIP priorities
Craig Kuhl, CED
Denver -- With VoIP installs gaining momentum, the need for widespread automation and integration, along with savvy business models for both residential and commercial markets, are assuming higher priorities at cable MSOs, voiced panelists here at the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) VoIP Symposium.
Thursday’s panel, dubbed “What We Found,” featured executives from four MSOs who updated attendees on their VoIP plans, and outlined the real world pros and cons and potential future of IP-based voice services.
“We’re trying to equip 50 percent of our footprint and will add 15 new markets, including Chicago. Our goal in 2005 is to get coverage in key markets, get our platform in place and scale up next year. We’re encouraged with the market demand and response,” said Rian Wren, senior vice president and general manager of telephone for Comcast Cable.
Panelists concurred that getting to scale and integrating myriad technologies and equipment, while automating key processes, are the next big hurdles facing the full-out deployment of VoIP service.
“Automation is critical. The need to get the portal further developed and automated is key. And now that the service is out there, we’re focusing on performance and interoperability,” said Mark Barber, vice president of telephony for Charter Communications.
Bresnan Communications is pushing VoIP deeper into its markets as well, and has accelerated its launch schedule to include 50 percent of its customers by 2006, explained Katherine Kirchner, Bresnan’s director of telephony operations.
Time Warner Cable, arguably the most aggressive VoIP provider among the cable MSOs, has 500,000 lines up for its digital phone service, and is adding 15,000 lines a week, according to Gerry Campbell, the MSO’s senior vice president of voice.
It’s taking some effort, however. Cautions Campbell: “This is not just VoIP, which is a technology, but a full service company. It can’t be run like a cable business. Maintenance and back office issues are big, and we have to turn it up a notch to be better than our competition.”
The commercial market, long considered a potentially lucrative business for cable, is also on the cable’s VoIP radar screen. Yet it remains a work in progress. “Before we roll out to several businesses, we have to be confident in the technology and service. So, we’ll do the one-to-four lines first to get comfortable with the service,” Barber noted.
Voice services based on SIP (session initiation protocol) technology also are destined to become a valuable component of cable’s strategy, as well, Wren added. “It allows you to use the Internet to make calls at a very low cost. There [are] tremendous savings, and it’s hard for the competition to match. We want to get to integration with other cable operators for SIP.” |
