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Television: The old chestnut often attributed to comedy pioneer Ernie Kovacs, but most likely first uttered by radio great Paul Allen is, to paraphrase, that television is called a medium because it is neither rare nor well done. In the decades that have passed since the heyday of both men, TV has become far more ubiquitous and, from a technical aspect, still occasionally poorly done... though not for lack of trying on the part of CSPs.

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Hello and welcome to your June NewsWatch. This month, we’re taking a look at HP’s further push into the OSS marketplace. There’s some news on customer wins for and major releases and since it’s almost summer here in North America, it seemed appropriate to daydream a bit about what it would be like if big companies helped out smaller companies. Maybe they’d share innovations or pass off ideas that they didn’t want to the little guys that could really use the help. Actually, that’s not a daydream at all.

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Right at the start of this year’s TMF Management World show in Nice, Keith Willetts of the TMF and Simon Torrance of Telco 2.0 joined together on stage to give the telcos a push in the direction of treating over-the-top service providers as customers instead of competitors. Fundamentally, a sound idea; think how many wars could have been avoided if the participants had only looked for a financial opportunity instead of shooting at each other. There really is an opportunity here. Telcos carry bits – for money.

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From a wireless carrier’s perspective – among others - I am loser. I compare my relationship to my mobile phone to my friend Dan’s with chicken. Dan used to work for a commercial meat wholesaler. He visited chicken farms regularly. He hasn’t eaten a bite of chicken since. Similarly, having studied telecom billing for nearly 15 years, I won’t bite on value-added services. I’ve used an inexpensive pre-paid service for more than two years, since dropping one of the major carriers. And for this reason, I’m a loser. I’m not one of those beloved...

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In approaching the topic of IPTV, it can be all-too-easy to focus primarily and exclusively on the Tier One operators. It's the AT&Ts, BTs, and Verizons of the world that get the telco-TV press (though it's really Free (Iliad Group), FT, and PCCW that should get the press, as they've gotten some serious uptake). Still, there are more than a few Tier 2/3 companies out there providing excellent service to committed subscribers.

One such company is California-based SureWest.

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Last month, OSS/BSS types from around the world made their annual trek to the sunny shores of the Riviera for TM Forum's Management World 2009. The show has, at times, been a bit of a bacchanal, with vendors pouring the drinks heavy, seemingly intent on getting any attention at all, rather than getting specific, focused attention from potential customers. And this year? In the light of all the economic goings-on?

It should be said, for starters, that the entire show...

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Once upon a time, a certain cable company issued a “…request for assistance in building a full service telecommunications network.” What did they mean by full service? This: “traditional CATV services, full VOD with instant access, interactive television, interactive gaming, long distance access, voice, video telephone, and personal communications services.”   The year was 1993, and this RFA was part of what was known in the industry as the Time Warner Cable FSN (full services network) project.

Imagine a group of criminals embarking on a crime spree throughout a city. Using mobile phones, they coordinate their actions from miles away, sharing information to evade law enforcement agencies (LEA) and map out an escape route. But there's a twist. The LEAs are well-coordinated as well, quickly securing a warrant to tap into the criminals' wireless communications. In addition to listening in on their conversations and data transmissions by intercepting them, the law enforcement agency is able to precisely pinpoint the locations ...

Frank Lloyd Wright once said that “television is chewing gum for the eyes.” However, after having enjoyed more than a few sunny afternoons watching the Chicago Cubs play baseball in storied Wrigley Field (a building named after a company built on chewing gum), it occurs to me: Chewing gum can be good business.

And, of course, so can television. That's not news. The medium has usurped market share from a huge variety of other sources of news and entertainment ...

Terry Barnich was remembered on a chilly day in Chicago by approximately 200 friends and colleagues at St. Alphonsus Church on the north side of the city. The cavernous and echoing church may have seemed empty on other days, but on June 3, 2009, most of the pews were full by those who knew Terry, either personally or by reputation, and wanted to say their goodbyes and honor him alongside others that knew him well. The services commenced with the awarding of the Thomas Jefferson Star Award in recognition ...