Excellent article Ken, thanks. I liked the way they treated the powering problem. But I must say, that running separate twisted pair to each unit to support voice did surprise me.
Concerning powering of CATV systems, there is a good article in this month's America's Network Magazine by Charles Mason, at...
americasnetwork.com
...which I'll print below. I think it is worth noting the obvious lag time getting this article to print, since several events in the interim such as T/TCOMA were not mentioned, nor were any of the initiatives that are obviously in store for these two merging entities.
Also, this article reinforces the notion that cell phones will serve to offset the less-than-optimal-power-back-up provisions by the CableCo.
Ray, how does this play with Bellcore's 8-hour requirement? That is to ask, what would the ramifications be for any operator who did not comply? What form of penalty or impediment would they meet up with, if any?
Regards, Frank C.
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Powering CATV into telephony
MSOs wrestle with the eight-hour requirement.
By Charles Mason
For a number of reasons, cable TV (CATV) companies have been slow
to expand beyond their core business of delivering one-way entertainment and
information services.
However, the clock is ticking. Analysts note that the local exchange carriers
(LECs) are finally deploying technology, such as asymmetrical digital subscriber
line (ADSL) services, that will let them offer high-speed data services.
Companies, such as Scientific-Atlanta (Norcross, Ga.) are in the process of
unveiling products that will ease the transition of telcos into video, potentially
allowing them to attack cable's heart and soul.
[[[fac: what,exactly, is the author referring to here? that Scientific Atlanta might be cultivating, that would allow Telcos to jump into Video? does anyone know?]]]
With these factors in mind, most of the larger multiple system operators
(MSOs) are eyeing offering high-speed data services and telephony services. A
few have already entered these businesses in selected markets. Analysts say
that if MSOs proceed quickly, the potential for huge increases in revenues are
very real.
The Strategis Group (Washington), for example, says that in the face of
increased competition from direct broadcast satellite (DBS) and multichannel
multipoint distribution service (MMDS), CATV companies are realizing that
they must be serious about new service offerings. The firm predicts significant
new revenue streams will develop from the provisioning of high-speed Internet
access, among other new services. Cable operator revenues will top $43 billion
in 2002, a $17 billion increase over the 1996 figure of $26 billion, the firm
predicts. Revenue per subscriber per month will leap from $34.90 in 1996 to
$53.90 in 2002.
The Strategis Group projects cable modem subscribers will reach 6.3 million,
and digital cable set-top subscribers will approach 14 million in the United
States in 2002. These two revenue streams will account for $14.4 billion in
operator revenues over the next five years.
Basic CATV subscribers reached 62.8 million in 1996. The Strategis Group
predicts that cable subscribers will increase to 67.9 million by year-end 2002,
an average annual growth rate of only 1.5%. Cable's main competitor, DBS,
will experience a much greater average annual subscriber growth rate of 24%
from 1997 to 2002. MMDS subscribers are forecast to grow from 1.1 million
in 1996 to 3.7 million in 2002.
Basic telephony: how basic?
If MSOs are to be the truly full-service providers that will attract the most
customers, they ultimately will have to offer telephony services. However, to do
so requires a decision. Do you seek to offer second-and third-line services-in
other words, secondary telephony service-while leaving the telcos to continue
providing lifeline service? This, some say, leaves the LECs with both a foot in
the door as well as further solidifying their public image as the most-reliable
telecommunications service providers.
Or, do CATV operators go all the way, meeting the Bellcore standard of eight
hours of backup power to remote terminals? Going all of the way is not as
simple as it sounds. It requires a considerable additional investment in money.
That's because of the power requirements needed.
"When you start talking about lifeline telephony, you have power issues that
must be addressed," says David Reed, vice president of strategic assessments
at CableLabs (Louisville, Colo.) "This requires a significant additional
investment."
Reed has been working on the industry's PacketCable initiative, which uses
Internet protocol as its underlying technology. According to Reed and Steven
Craddock, vice president of New Media Development at Comcast Corp.
(Philadelphia), the system would allow consumers to have public switched
telephone network (PSTN) services, including call waiting, call forwarding and
three-way calling. They could use either existing phones or personal computers
to communicate.
However, regardless of the technology, power is a crux. How do you offer the
eight hours of power during power outages to give people the kind of
lifeline-telephony that they are being provided by the telcos today? Or is it even
really necessary?
A full eight hours?
The cost estimates for CATV companies to provide power for eight hours of
telephony service vary, but everyone agrees they are significant. They are
especially significant when you keep in mind that upgrading the physical plant of
the cable networks is already a major undertaking in an in industry that has
been cash strapped for the past several years.
An MSO wishing to offer full telephony services with lifeline performance must
deploy power nodes throughout a hybrid fiber-coax network (HFC). In these
networks, fiber is taken to a node that usually serves between 500 and 1,500
homes. Coax handles the remaining connections to the homes.
Power must be injected at each of these nodes through generators and
batteries. Since the power input must be distributed, several sites are necessary
to inject the juice for the up to 1,500 homes, further running up the cost.
"You can expect to pay about $30,000 per node," says Rick Marcotte,
director of sales and marketing, for the Communications Systems Group at
Exide Electronics Group Inc. (Raleigh, N.C.).
Marcotte, whose company is a major supplier of uninterruptable power
supplies and related equipment to the CATV industry, says he is seeing fewer
CATV companies interested in this approach. "Many are of the opinion that
providing about an hour backup is adequate," he says. "This strategy can be
very effective and we are seeing the industry moving in that direction at this
point in the development process."
For one, it saves a lot of money. Marcotte says that it can provide a carrier
with an initial upfront savings of about 50%, although those savings are less
over the lifetime of the plant because of necessary battery replacement and
other costs involved in the less costly, one-hour backup approach.
Exide Electronics and market share leader Alpha Technologies Inc.
(Bellingham, Wash.) are offering power products to aid MSOs that want to
expand their networks.
CableLabs' Reed sees a case for providing less than eight hours of backup
service. "If you want to avoid these increased costs for now, then you can still
enter the voice and data telephony market today by offering second- and
third-line options to your customers," Reed notes. "You can still provide
compelling services at advantageous prices."
While this less-than-a-full loaf would seem to offer disadvantages, some note
that it's not necessarily so. Many consumers might be satisfied with this
arrangement if the prices for additional telephony services are compelling.
"How many times do you need more than one hour of backup?" Marcotte
asks.
Others point out that with the growing penetration of wireless phones, many
customers could easily be persuaded to cut their lifeline connection to the local
telco and sign on with their CATV company for normal telephony services,
sans hours of power backup. "In this case, the customer knows that, worse
case, they have their cell phones," Marcotte says.
That view is bolstered by what is happening in Europe in terms of the use of
wireless. Mobile phone adoption in Europe continues to grow with household
penetration levels in France, Germany and the United Kingdom of 12%,14%
and 16%, respectively, according to a study by the Yankee Group (Boston).
The Yankee Group's EuroTAF (technologically advanced family) consumer
survey of 1,800 households in France, Germany and the United Kingdom,
which gives insight into the adoption patterns for new technology products and
services, indicates that mobile subscription is still growing in its own right, but it
is also making in-roads into conventional residential wired or cordless
telephone use.
This substitution effect could facilitate continuing mobile penetration growth
toward the high levels for conventional phones which are found in virtually
every home, according to the survey.
In Europe, many consumers now give out their mobile numbers as a primary
means of contact, and are leaving their mobiles switched on while at home.
Consumers also will make calls from their mobiles when the residential line is
tied up by other family members. In other cases, consumers will exploit the
convenience of a mobile phone in response to some very attractive tariffing for
home use, particularly off-peak use. |
