Dogfight: Comcast vs AT&T

By Tim Young

For a number of years now, Pipeline has taken the time to dedicate at least one annual issue to the ongoing competition between cablecos and telcos for various segments of the market. This is a battle that's most furiously pitched in the home.

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The WiFi Front

By Ed-Finegold

Internet cafés were novel a decade ago. Now, it's tough to imagine a café that doesn't have free WiFi access. Sure, you'll find a few WiFi-free hangouts that cater to esoteric luddites, spinning vinyl records amongst shelves of dog eared books, with dusty gas lamps and buggy whips for decor. But for the most part, we expect WiFi with our half-caf soy lattes. WiFi plays a key, bridging role in mobility; a WiFi hotspot can give us freedom to consume higher speed data without fear of overage in a world of capped mobile data plans. And now subscription mobility allows us to tap into our TV content with an app and WiFi. The WiFi front is a battleground for cable operators and telcos as they work to meet consumer demand for unshackled access to entertainment on any device. But who's winning, and how do we decide?

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The Battle for Video

By Jesse Cryderman

A headline in the news in late April read "Will the Royal Wedding Break the Internet?" By press time, we will know answer, but the underlying question is "how many simultaneous video streams can networks handle before they buckle?" This is a question that never would have been asked ten years ago, and one that highlights a dramatic shift in modern video consumption.

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Newswatch

By Jesse Cryderman

Wireless carriers in the United States have made dramatic moves in recent weeks in order to grab diminishing spectrum and expand their mobile broadband footprint. The biggest story is of course the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, which has sent competitors scrambling to devise their own growth strategies, who now have about 12 months of lead time while the government mulls over the deal.

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Pipeline's Guide to The Cable Show

By Ed-Finegold

June is a great month to be in Chicago and The Cable Show will be in town from June 14 to 16 at McCormick Place. The Cable Show typically includes a unique mix of entertainment stars, gadget manufacturers, and complex technology suppliers. Its hands-on exhibits let you try out technology that may never make it into your house. Its educational sessions stick to key issues without getting lost in the weeds. Overall, the Cable Show's program looks both engaging and manageable. Here is Pipeline's guide to the educational sessions, exhibit hours, and fun things to do while visiting Chicago – our home town!

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Cablecos and Telcos Share Challenging Network Future

By Russ Green

While cableco and telco operators originally served completely separate markets, the introduction of IP broadband services has led to a lot of similarity in the communications products and services they now provide. It's likely that their offerings will continue to converge to a more common future. While cableco and telco operators have mostly been separate entities in North America, in other parts of the world there are examples of telcos that are also cablecos (and vice-versa). All of these cable, telco, and hybrid entities share future paths that raise differing and common challenges in making sure that their networks are ready to satisfy the common opportunities ahead over which they now compete.

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Cable Company to Unified Communications Provider

By Drew Rockwell,

By most accounts Cablecos have enjoyed reasonable growth throughout the recent financial downturn. This is in stark contrast to the Telcos that have been forced to downsize operations in the face of shrinking revenues, fierce competition from smaller, more agile Webcos, the rising cost of maintaining legacy systems, and margin erosion.

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The Battle of the Brands

By Chung-Ling Woon

"Cable versus Telco" is an interesting topic, but it begs the question: is anyone really winning? For far too long, Telcos had the luxury of being only game in town. The introduction of cable-broadband was a bit of a threat, but with their DSL offerings, Telcos seemed to be able to all but keep pace. But, let's face facts: They took it on the chin (hard) with the advent of VoIP. Telco's only saving grace has been their explosive mobile business which has kept them swinging in the ring like a doped-up boxer on steroids.

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CSPs and MSOs Compete for Enterprise Business

By Steve Bamberger

Enterprises of all sizes are increasing their demands for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions to empower their businesses. The promise of better-integrated telecommunications and networking with leading-edge services has ignited a battle between Communications Service Providers (CSPs) and Multiple System Operators (MSOs) all vying to win the minds and business of enterprises. The increased competition is putting unprecedented demands on CSPs and MSOs to deliver solutions that meet their customers' needs on time and without errors.

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Letter from the Editor

By Tim Young

This issue marks the fifth installment of what has become an annual feature at Pipeline: The Cableco vs Telco issue. From its first iteration in our fifth issue, back in 2004, this issue theme has been aimed at highlighting the competition between two different access technologies, corporate cultures, and growth strategies. Once wholly separate, cablecos and telcos have gradually converged on the other's core business lines, and that has led to these companies converging on one another.

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