Michael's Insight

Just as I thought...give 'em as much as they use!

I mentioned yesterday that I was suspicious of Robb Topolski's definition of acceptable network management practices.  Well, just as I suspected, Robb justified my concern right here in a comment to my post yesterday.

Yes, I approve of Network Management – the old fashioned kind – the kind that says you stay ahead of demand by upgrading your networks on time and you don’t oversell your bandwidth beyond all reasonableness. 

Willner's epic distortions? Hardly the case.

In a recent post, I mentioned to you that I was in Washington last week.  Little did I know that my efforts would cause a Defcon 5 call-to-action by the P2P Defense League.

I met with officials at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to discuss the issue of network management.  One aspect of that discussion included the impact today's peer-to-peer applications have on network resources. After reading the ex parte letter that was filed by the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) on my behalf, Karl at Broadband Reports took issue with some of the comments I made during those meetings.

If you want to read the whole thing, you can download a copy of the ex parte letter.

You can read for yourself what Karl wrote in its entirety but first, here's a longish summary of what NCTA reported that I said...

Wednesday article links

It appears that quite a few of you enjoyed the variety of subjects in yesterday's links, so I'm going to continue to post these short subject links to other articles.  I will continue to write the longer form pieces that delve more deeply into a given subject and is reflective of my own point view.  The links are simply articles of interest, whether or not I agree with their point of view.

Today's links are focused primarily on public policy issues - there's a hearing on Capitol Hill today regarding behavior-based web advertising and FastCompany.tv has posted an video interview with Kyle McSlarrow, CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

Enjoy.

If telcos can promote their hybrid-fiber-coax as fiber, why can't cable operators do the same?

Over at Broadband Reports, Karl is taking aim at a couple of cable operators that are promoting their broadband Internet service as a "fiber optics" connection. Karl claims that these cable operators aren't being honest when they promote their hybrid-fiber-coax (HFC) networks as a "fiber optics" connection.

The operators that Karl highlights are in direct competition with telephone companies selling fiber-to-the-home Internet service.

P2P applications use 44% of network bandwidth in North America

Multichannel News reported recently that 44% of all network traffic on North American Internet service providers is peer-to-peer file sharing traffic, up from 41% last year.

That statistic was the result of a survey of major ISPs by Sandvine, a company that sells network management systems. I note, in light of the dicussion for more openness in network management practices, that the survey results were posted on Sandvine's website for everyone to read.

Customers want more HD

Argo mentioned in a comment about more high definition channels.

I look forward to Insight continuing to roll out new HD channels and especially HD On Demand content here in NKY. I have gotten to the point where I actually watch very little programming that isn't in high def!

And Steve mentioned it too.

Hi, Just wanted to know when Insight will be upgrading it's HDTV channels, I really enjoy HD TV and hope you can add alot more HD service soon.

Blazing Speeds with DOCSIS 3.0

Most of us take our broadband connection for granted.  Thanks to cable modems, turn on your computer and, in a matter of seconds, you're surfing.

A lot of thought went into designing cable modems.  The core software that all cable companies use in them is called DOCSIS.  In order to keep up with the Internet's breakneck pace of change, CableLabs has developed the next generation of DOCSIS (DOCSIS 3.0) that will enable cable operators to increase speeds dramatically.

Usage Caps and Notification

Terry asked the following question:

I would like to know how people are going to be notified if they are close to their cap? It would be nice if I received an email saying I was close and needed to stop (downloading) for a while, rather than getting a large extra charge on my bill.

I think that's a very fair point.  As I've said in previous posts, we don't have any specific plans at this moment to implement caps.  But I also said that we are watching developments on that subject where Bend Broadband and Time Warner have announced their specific policies.

Because usage patterns are growing so rapidly, most ISP's are forced to consider an alternative policy to the one-size-fits-all charges. 

Leaders in Learning Awards and then on to our first Insight DTV forum in LaGrange, KY

Short post today as I am traveling to Washington for Cable in the Classroom's Leaders in Learning Awards Gala.  I get to present one of the awards to one of our very own customers, Diane Downs of the Louisville Leopard Percussionists, a music education and community-building program that seeks to educate 7-to12-year-olds.  Congratulations Diane!  I'll see you in DC!

Then, it's on to Louisville for our first Digital Transition Forum for our customers in LaGrange, KY.  It will be held on Thursday night.

Why can't we all just get along?

I received this question recently:

Would it be possible for you to explain why there has been an ongoing issue between Sony and cable companies?

Good question.  I believe you are referring to the recently settled disagreement between Sony (and some other consumer electronic manufacturers) and the cable industry over tru2way. 

My personal view is that the consumer electronics industry has a long history of having some very strong opposing viewpoints when it comes to major technological advancements.

Denver Post profiles the Cable Center

Broadband Reports profiled an interview in last Saturday's Denver Post with Larry Satkowiak the CEO of the Cable Center in Denver. The Cable Center is an educational non-profit and museum that showcases the programming technological achievements that have been developed by the cable industry.

Full disclosure: I currently serve as the chairman of the Cable Center's Board of Directors.

Testing tru2way and failing

Lots of news in the Blogosphere yesterday about a failed tru2way certification test at CableLabs when IP Democracy's Cynthia Brumfield reported that Panasonic's first attempt at certification uncovered multiple flaws.  Quoting an unnamed source close to the testing,

the first certification test of the technology is a "disaster of spectacular proportions."

I'm told by the folks at CableLabs that it's not unusual for new technology testing to uncover multiple significant flaws.  That's what testing is all about. 

Issue with the Motorola HD set-top box

Cypherstream read my post last week about the way we transmit HD signals and commented that:

The only problem is the Motorola HD boxes convert everything to one specified resolution set in the obscure (power off, menu) screen. So you can only pick 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i... not a combination of them.
...
I'd like to see MSO's push Motorola as hard as they can to release a firmware update that allows native HD resolution selection, without powering the box off.

Good point and I admit that this was the first I heard of this issue.  So I checked with Patrick, our Vice President of Engineering and Video Systems, and got the scoop. Here's what Patrick says:

Customers comment on Broadband caps and metering

Dualsub2006 expressed a concern about usage caps:

Any thoughts of a 40GB cap in Insight land will NOT go over very well.

I hear you and as I have previously mentioned, we currently are not planning any changes in the way we charge customers for their Internet usage. Did I leave the door open to changing that in the future?  Yes I did.  We are keeping a watchful eye on increasing usage patterns and regulatory, legislative and business movements affecting these issues. 

How we transmit HD signals

Someone over on the Insight forum on Broadband Reports had this question about how we transmit our HD signals:

[CATV] HD resolution I know that networks such as ABC broadcast in 720p and others such as CBS send 1080i. My question is; how does Insight send that signal to us? Do they pass it through or convert everything to 720p? Specifically, I live in the Columbus, Ohio area and have a Motorola DCT6412 III DVR box.

Telcos figure out the answer is coax

Broadband Reports pointed me to a new and interesting product the other day. Turns out some telcos want to use existing coaxial cable in fiber-to-the-home deployments, avoiding more costly Cat-5 wiring. Yes, that's coaxial cable originally installed for cable television.

In a world of super high-speed connections, isn't it ironic that the time-tested technology that delivers your cable services is "discovered" by the telcos to be the best way to connect to your home devices?  Cable operators have known for years that a hybrid-fiber-coax network (HFC) is the best and most efficient way to deliver voice, video and data services to customers' devices. 

Bloggers say set-top boxes likely to be around for a while

With the news that Sony has agreed to include the cable industry's Tru2Way platform in new televisions coming to market, some news outlets and blogs predicted the "death of the cable box." Not so fast, say IP Democracy and The Bauminator.

Cynthia Brumfield at IP Democracy lists four reasons why she thinks that cable set-top boxes won't disappear overnight.

Sony Signs Up for Cable's Tru2Way

In a major breakthrough, Sony has agreed to include the cable industry's Tru2Way platform in some of their new digital televisions.

Multichannel News yesterday reported,

The binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) reached by Sony and the six operators addresses how two-way, cable-ready products will be brought to market with interactive services like video-on-demand, digital video recording and interactive programming guides.

The deal also provides new ways for content providers, consumer-electronics manufacturers, information-technology companies and cable operators to cooperate in “evolving the tru2way technology” at CableLabs, the cable industry's research and development arm.

According to NCTA and Sony, key elements of the agreement relate to the deployment of a platform for "write once, run anywhere" applications and to the incorporation of secure digital interfaces that protect consumers' home recording rights along with copyright owners' rights to secure their digital content.

Convention update: Want television interactivity? Meet tru2way

The CableNet showcase on the exhibition floor here in New Orleans is displaying examples of a plethora of new technologies. It's a good opportunity to see what's coming next in cable television and broadband.

In my post last Friday, I said that I was looking forward to seeing the true2way

Convention Buzz: Strong Results and WiMax

The Cable Show opened on Sunday in New Orleans.  I've been to around 30 of these annual events and the mood of the industry is usually quite clear.  Coming off a string of very strong Q1 results by all reporting companies, the mood is good.  We reported last Thursday record increases in basic, broadband and phone customers.  We had a great quarter, adding over 15,000 basic customers and increasing our revenue by 17% and operating income (the financial guys call it OIBTDA) by 22%. 

So, here in New Orleans, there's a sense of optimism

Confessions of a Network Manager (Part 1)

Okay, I confess.  It's true.  I'm a network manager.  I manage networks.  Not directly, but I approve policies that authorize our technical people to do just that.  I can't help myself.  There, I said it.

What is network management?

Simply put, network management is a series of rules that network managers put in place to ensure the smooth operation of their networks, thus maximizing customers' experiences.  I'm not sure why, but network management has become a debate. 

Why do we do this?

Cable providers invest in wireless broadband network

The New York Times reports this morning that a consortium of Sprint Nextel, Google, Intel, Comcast, Time Warner, Bright House and Clearwire are set to announce today a $12 billion deal to build the nation's first wireless 4G network. The proposed wireless network speeds would be comparable to current home broadband speeds.

House of Representatives hearing on net neutrality

The U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet is holding a hearing today on a bill that would regulate certain aspects of net neutrality.

I believe deeply in the principle of free access to all legal Internet destinations. What I want to make sure of is that we don't confuse net neutrality with