Video-Over-Copper Gear Rolled Out
www4.zdnet.com:80/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2270141,00.html
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By Joe McGarvey
June 4, 1999 3:17 PM ET
Hoping to attract telecommunications
providers that are seeking to counter the
full-service plans of AT&T and other cable
operators, Newbridge Networks is slated to
introduce Monday hardware and services
designed to enable network operators to
deliver video services, as well as telephone
and Internet access, over a variety of
broadband pipes, including high-speed copper
wire.
Analysts say Newbridge's new offerings, which
leverage existing and emerging technologies,
are likely to be attractive to both new and
incumbent service providers that recognize
future survival is dependent on their ability to
provide multiple services that can be bundled
into a single bill.
"Services are becoming the big differentiator,"
said Christin Flynn, an analyst at The Yankee
Group, based in Boston. "You'll begin to see
competitors offering services to win customers
as opposed to cheaper rates."
Newbridge's new product portfolio is centered
on the 350 Integrated Versatile Services
Node. The 350 IVSN is essentially a
slimmed-down version of the company's
MainstreetXpress 36170 backbone switch,
which is based on Asynchronous Transfer
Mode technology. By moving ATM's
quality-of-service capabilities, which enable
the delivery of time-sensitive data such as
voice and video, from the core of the network
closer to the customer, service providers can
offer a full pallet of reliable services, according
to Flynn.
"By moving ATM closer to the edge, you
provide more control over the end-to-end
connection," Flynn said. "Newbridge is really
playing to its strength in the ATM market."
In addition to shifting intelligence to the
network's end-points, which also makes it
easier for service providers to deploy services,
the 350 IVSN can support a number of
broadband access technologies, including
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL),
wireless and fiber-based links.
Currently, service providers that wish to offer
more than one flavor of high-speed access
must deploy separate equipment for each type
of access technology. By configuring the 350
IVSN with the appropriate add-in module,
service providers can deliver voice, Internet
access and residential video over a variety of
access links, said Tony Jenkins, director of
broadband access at Newbridge.
With AT&T and other cable operators unfolding
their strategies to provide voice and data
services over the same pipe that carries
television programming, telecommunications
providers will need to offer video services to
stay competitive, according to Jenkins.
"Internet plus voice is not going to be
enough," Jenkins said. "What needs to be
added to compete with cable is a broadcast
media mechanism."
In conjunction with the 350 IVSN introduction,
Newbridge is unveiling the Digital Media
Distribution Service (DMDS), an Internet
Protocol-based service designed to enable
service providers to deliver broadcast
programming over ADSL links, which operate at
up to 7 megabits per second.
DMDS couples Newbridge's ATM technology
with emerging, industry-standard multicast
technology, which enables broadcasters to
conserve bandwidth by sending a single
stream of video to multiple recipients.
Multicasting, which adheres to a one-to-many
distribution model, improves on the traditional
one-to-one format of the Internet, in which a
separate stream of video must be generated
for each recipient.
The technology has been adopted by two
Newbridge affiliates, PixStream and iMagicTV.
As many as eight network operators are
evaluating the technology, Jenkins said.
The first release of DMDS focuses on ADSL
technology, according to Jenkins, but
Newbridge eventually will adapt the service to
work with wireless and fiber-based links. "It
will work with any access technology that can
set aside 3 [Mbps] to 6 Mbps for video,"
Jenkins said.
Although Jenkins wasn't clear on the number
of channels of programming residential
customers could receive, he said the
technology enables potential programming
providers to offer more granular services,
allowing customers to select and pay for
service on a program-by-program basis.
While video and other advanced voice and
data services delivered over the 350 IVSN
require Newbridge's ATM gear in the core of
the network, Flynn indicated that the new
hardware and software also will be attractive
to service providers outside Newbridge's
customer base.
"The installed base isn't the only play for
them," Flynn said. "They are also pricing the
technology for new players in the market."
Pricing for the 350 IVSN or DMDS was not set
at press time. Newbridge plans to ship the first
version of the 350 IVSN later this year and to
follow up with slimmer versions that reside on
customer premises.
In related news, Newbridge reported earnings
this week for the fiscal fourth quarter of $33
million, an increase of only $1 million over the
same period for the previous year. |
