Joan Engebretson
Telcos Outsource Rural Call Completion Reporting
Long-distance service providers that have been complaining about rural call completion reporting requirements may find that task simplified now that vendors have stepped in to address that need.
At least one major network operator has invested in a third-party product that automates rural call completion reporting. Analytics provider TEOCO announced that an unnamed tier one service provider has purchased its Rural Call Completion Analytics Solution. And in an interview TEOCO Executive Director Derek Canfield said the company has other customers for the product as well.
TEOCO’s rural call completion offering is available as an optional module for the company’s Analytics Platform or as an outsourced service. At least one other vendor has an offering that automates rural call completion reporting, but Canfield said TEOCO’s offering is unique in that it also provides root cause analytics.
“Clients have the ability to look at call completion along dimensions such as wholesale customers, vendors they may choose in routing [calls], or their own network equipment,” said Canfield.
Alarm Company Opposes Legislation Targeting TDM-to-IP Transition
AT&T’s plans for TDM-to-IP transition trials are clashing with efforts to de-regulate telecom -- an initiative the company also has been championing.
Consumer advocates and ADT, one of the nation’s largest alarm companies, are asking Kentucky lawmakers to delay passing a telecom deregulation bill until the TDM-to-IP transition trials, to be overseen by the FCC, are completed, reports Public News Service. According to an AT&T proposal, TDM-to-IP transition trials would begin in late 2014 or early 2015 and run into 2017. The Kentucky bill would allow major phone companies to stop providing landline service in parts of the state, Public News Service reports. If the bill were to pass, consumers would have to rely on VoIP over a broadband connection or a cellular service. And if that were to occur, “there is some likelihood that alarm systems and/or medical alert systems may not be able to send signals to ADT’s monitoring centers,” ADT Vice President of Industry Relations Steve Shapiro told Public News Service.
Two Electric Utilities Announce Gigabit Network Plans
Three years after a Tennessee power company kicked off the gigabit network trend with the announcement of a residential gigabit network in Chattanooga, more electric utilities are getting in on the trend.
Missouri electric cooperative Co-Mo Comm said it will launch gigabit service in August. And Habersham EMC, a northeast Georgia electric cooperative, said it is increasing the speed its broadband network will support to a gigabit. Habersham EMC calls the service Trailwave and will charge $99 a month for the service. The company also has a 50 Mbps offering for $49.95.
Stakeholders Debate Rural Broadband Deployment Challenges at FCC Workshop
A Federal Communications Commission workshop was organized with the goal of offering insight on how the FCC should allocate funding for rural broadband trials and ultimately, how a broadband Connect America Fund for rate of return carriers would be structured.
The workshop drew on a wide range of stakeholders and offered a lot of food for thought, but also illustrated that considerable more work will need to be done before the FCC can answer those questions. The total number of entities that have expressed interest in participating in the rural broadband trials has now reached 997, FCC officials said.
A workshop panel on rural broadband build-out strategies included representatives from several types of entities that have expressed interest in participating in the rural broadband trials, including:
- a municipality (Greenlight Community Broadband of Wilson (NC))
- a rural incumbent telco (Golden West Telecommunications)
- a utility co-operative (Co-Mo Comm)
- a wireless Internet service provider (Highspeedlink.net)
- a satellite broadband service provider (Hughes Network Systems)
- a rural cable company (Troy Cablevision)
- a large price cap carrier (AT&T)
- a cellular carrier that has moved into fiber-to-the-home (C Spire)
Startup ASA Networks is Bullish on TV White Spaces Broadband
New York City-based startup company ASA Networks sees great potential for TV white spaces technology.
The wireless Internet service provider is currently trialing the technology in Gallatin, a rural area in upstate New York, and plans to expand service to other communities in the future.
“We have it working and it works for non-line of sight,” said Joe Plotkin, director of marketing for ASA Networks. When Plotkin and colleagues made a presentation about TV white spaces equipment at an upstate event prior to making their white spaces plans “we were swamped by town supervisors and county executives saying ‘help us,’” said Plotkin.
In communities like Gallatin the only way of accessing the Internet until now has been via spotty DSL and cellular service, Plotkin said. Plotkin was apparently talking about the upcoming voluntary TV broadcast spectrum auction which will enable broadcasters to relinquish spectrum in exchange for sharing in the auction proceeds. The band plan for that spectrum band has not yet been determined -- and a key issue is how much of the spectrum will be available for unlicensed use.
AT&T Leverages Landline, Wireless Assets for Free U-verse Promotion
AT&T launched a promotion that many of its competitors will have difficulty matching. The company said it will offer up to one year of free U-verse High-Speed Internet service in parts of several states for small business customers that meet certain criteria.
The offer leverages the company’s landline and wireless networks, making it difficult for cable or wireless competitors other than Verizon to match. The move comes just a week after Verizon also launched a promotion that relies on its landline and wireless assets, suggesting that both companies may be feeling competitive pricing pressure. AT&T’s new free offer is on U-verse broadband speeds of up to 6 Mbps. Business customers will get one year of free service if they meet any of three conditions:
- They are new AT&T wireless business customers adding Mobile Share Value 10GB or higher plans
- They are existing AT&T mobility business customers migrating to AT&T Mobile Share Value 10 GB or higher plans
- They are existing business customers on Mobile Share Value 10 GB or higher plans
Bill Introduced to Address Rural Call Completion Problems
Sen Tim Johnson (D-SD) introduced the Public Safety and Economic Security Communications Act which aims to help prevent long-distance carriers from blocking or disrupting calls to rural areas.
Some people may not realize what a big deal it is when calls don’t go through to rural areas. But the ultimate result is that peoples’ lives are put in danger and companies lose business. That’s a big deal -- and the bill’s name better conveys what a big deal it is.
In a statement included in the Congressional Record, Sen Johnson noted that the rural call completion problem “poses a serious public safety threat, such as when a police dispatcher cannot reach law enforcement or when a doctor cannot call a patient.”
Sen Johnson’s bill would require companies that transport voice calls to register with the Federal Communications Commission and comply with basic service quality standards, which would be established by the commission within 180 days of enactment.
RST Global to Offer Gigabit Broadband Across North Carolina Using Wi-Fi
The latest gigabit network announcement comes from competitive carrier RST Global Communications. And there is a major difference between it and the other dozen or two gigabit network announcements that we’ve seen in the US to date.
While most gigabit offerings are based on fiber-to-the-home, RST hopes to serve the entire state of North Carolina by using gigabit Wi-Fi based on the 802.11ac standard for the final hop to residential customers, said company CEO Dan Limerick in an interview. That standard supports extended range as far as 3,000 meters, as well as symmetrical gigabit speeds, Limerick said.
Additionally RST plans to use a mesh network approach so that “the network perpetuates itself,” Limerick said. “We will put radios all across North Carolina, including rural areas,” said Limerick. RST has completed construction on a 3,100-mile 100 Gbps fiber backbone network across North Carolina and will be adding fiber laterals into individual communities that will provide backhaul connectivity for the gigabit offering. Additionally the company plans to offer service at speeds as high as 100 Gbps over landline infrastructure to business customers.
Verizon on Millennial Content Consumption: Generation Is Three Times More Likely To Watch Online
People in the millennial generation (age 16 to 34) are more likely than those in older generations to abandon an entertainment source if the quality of the experience is poor, according to new research from Verizon Digital Media. And that’s an important issue considering that the research also found that millennials were considerably more likely than older people to consume media on non-traditional devices. Millennials are three times more likely than non- millennials to watch television online, the survey of 800 millennials and 200 non- millennials found. Yet despite their propensity to watch shows online, 46% of millennials said they will give up on watching a show online if the video continues but they can’t hear the audio. Forty-five percent and 44% of millennials, respectively, said they would give up if the audio continues but they can’t see video or if the video screen freezes at times. The Verizon research appears aimed at wooing media company customers for Verizon Digital Media Services -- a unit focused on enhancing content delivery.
Frontier Will Install Fiber to Support New Wavelength Service
A new 10-gigabit wavelength service from Frontier Communications, introduced in Frontier local markets in 25 states, should trigger some new fiber deployments to business locations.
The carrier is prepared to lay fiber to buildings for customers that order the Frontier Optical Transport Service and do not already have fiber connectivity, said Lisa Partridge, Frontier manager of product management.
“If we don’t lay the fiber someone else will,” said Partridge. “We believe it’s necessary because of how quickly bandwidth is doubling and tripling.”
The carrier expects to sell the new 10-gigabit wavelength service to enterprises and to other carriers who will add their own networking equipment. Customers can use IP, Sonet, Ethernet or other protocols, Partridge said, adding that she would expect Ethernet to be the most common choice. The 25 markets where Frontier Optical Transport Service will be available are in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.