The Invicible Triumvirate

The answer to this question probably captures the vision of

our future communications–a single screen that connects us with the rest of

the world so that we can talk, see and send / receive e-mail whilst watching

movies and surfing the web at the same time.

Cable Telephony

Cable

Telephony enables users to receive telephone services over the cable network

instead of the traditional twisted pair copper telephone network. The

communication networks owned by cable companies, called hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC),

are composed of fibre optics that run up to the head-end stations and coaxial

for the last mile to the customer’s premises. HFC networks offer increased

bandwidth to the user and with slight network alterations, they can provide

cable, telephony and high speed access to the subscriber's homes. Upgrades to

the network increase the upstream bandwidth so that the network can operate

'two-way'. In the upstream traffic, 330MHz-450MHz is used for the cable and the

5-42 MHz band is used to carry telephony and data signals, while in the

downstream traffic, 50-750 MHz channels are allocated for telephony and data.

Cable modems at the head-end stations and the customer’s premises communicate

through these channels allocated for data and telephony.

Cable telephony may be either circuit switched or, more

recently, IP cable telephony. Circuit-switched cable telephony implementation

requires the multiple service operators to build another logical network over

the same physical cable infrastructure (high-speed data architecture). The

disadvantages of such an implementation are clear: operational, economical and

technological (spectrum) inefficiencies; cable operators are required to

allocate separate upstream and downstream bandwidth to each service, and

maintain & operate two technologically distinct operating support systems

and platforms.

In IP cable telephony, telephone audio signals are digitized,

formatted into packets, transmitted over data networks, received and decoded at

the other end in the receiver’s telephone handset. Mobile Service Operators (MSOs)

can carry such telephone signal packets over their existing networks, without

major changes, once the networks have been upgraded to support two-way data

traffic and the appropriate modems are installed at the subscriber's premises.

With cable IP telephony, cable operators will be able to

offer multiple services over one platform. The services will include voice data

enhancements for cable TV services and value added features, such as integrated

voice mail, e-mail messaging and real time provisioning of additional telephone

lines, without having to rewire a home. Technological challenges to offering

toll-quality telephone service seem to be the only obstacle. The cable market

offers opportunities for software vendors, computer component manufacturers,

telephone equipment suppliers, cable operators & Internet service providers.

Mergers, acquisitions and strategic agreements have drastically changed the

competitive landscape, which is expected to change even more. Cable operators,

instead of offering cable telephony and data services directly, have responded

to the demand for high-speed Internet services by selling cable modems. North

American MSO's serve 550,000 cable modem subscribers, outpacing telephone

companies in the race to offer broadband Internet access. Cable modem services

have been available to more than 20 million homes or 20% of all cable homes in

North America. More than 85% of these subscribers receive service with two-way

cable modems and the remaining with telco return products. As a group, North

American cable operators are currently adding more than 2000 cable modem

subscribers per day. The potential revenues are expected to be enormous.

Internet telephony may cause telcos an $8 billion loss by 2002, and reduce the

US telephone traffic that the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) are

currently handling by 6%.

Internet Television

Internet Television is perceived as a single product that

combines Internet access and television programming. In reality, this product

may have technologically two forms: intercast technology and streaming video.

Intercast technology is the result of the combination of the programming of

television, the global connectivity of the Internet and the interactivity of the

PC. The intercast standard has been developed and promoted by the intercast

industry group (IIG), which is a consortium of computer hardware & software

manufacturers, on-line service providers and television programming networks,

including industry leaders such as: AOL, CNN, Intel, Compaq, Netscape and Time

Warner Communications.

How does it work? Content providers, such as television

stations, enhance their interactive programming and provide interactive content,

which is 'pushed' via the cable TV wires, along with the TV signal, to a PC that

is upgraded with an intercast receiver card and software. Intercast content is

cached in the computer's hard drive and users can see the intercast programming

on their PCs at any time. To receive an intercast broadcast, a PC should be

connected to a television antenna, have a cable TV or TV-satellite dish

connection. To access the hyperlinks featured in the intercast broadcast, the PC

should be connected to the Internet via a traditional modem.

Intercast applications are currently limited to complementing

existing product offerings. An intercast broadcast, for instance, can include

extended interviews and video clips to supplement a nightly news program, or

interactive video games added to a children's television show. Intercast

technology redefines, in its own way, interactive multimedia. The chief

producers of intercasting are only available in some areas. Streaming video is a

live or prerecorded video broadcast that is transmitted over a network or the

Internet and presented in real time on the computer screen. Streaming video can

also be stored on a hard drive or some other storage device to be replayed at a

later time. A PC, with a modem and a standard Internet connection, is adequate

to receive and view streaming video players available on the Internet. Such

videos are found at news and entertainment related web sites. By combining

television programming, the global connectivity of the Internet and the

interactivity of the PC, Internet TV technology develops a new series of

services for the home and the office. Such services involve digital TV

entertainment, data enhanced TV programming and video enhanced multimedia

magazines. This can be used for entertainment, business and educational

purposes. The potential applications range–from the obvious: users can scan

the biography of an actor, while watching the movie in which he is the star;–to

the fantastic: users can watch a featured program whenever they have the time,

instead of when it is broadcast.

Additionally, Internet TV enables non-profit organizations

and special interest groups to produce their own news programmes to counter the

mass media. Equally, entrepreneurs may easily start their own Internet

television station, broadcasting programmes to and from anywhere in the world.

Nowadays, Internet TV is a novelty that offers only a few practical benefits for

the average individual or business. There are only a few applications available

- which appear to be redundant, unimpressive and very narrowly focused at best.

For instance, most of the features of CNBC's intercasts are available on the

Internet or are of interest to a very limited number of people. Due to the

generally poor quality of streaming video and the narrow market for producing

intercast programming, very few businesses and individuals are producing

programmes for Internet TV. Those who are, tend to include a) high-income

businesses and individuals who want to be on the cutting edge of technology, b)

entrepreneurs who see Internet TV as a potentially lucrative investment and c)

television stations that have the resources to explore technology.

In a few instances however, Internet TV has been and is being

used in an exceptional manner. For example, when Mars Pathfinder videotaped the

surface of Mars, the videos were displayed through streaming video feeds on the

Internet. Such a case shows the capabilities of Internet TV. It seems that the

only thing that is currently limiting the capabilities of Internet TV is

technology. A lack of bandwidth and poor video quality leaves it lagging behind

the television and computer markets. As soon as a universal high bandwidth

solution prevails, such limitations will no longer exist.

Internet Telephony Integration

Telephone calls via the Internet have already become

commonplace. They have been very popular, mainly because of their low cost

compared to the long distance or international call prices offered by telcos.

Most PCs on the market currently have sufficient multimedia hardware that can be

effectively used for Internet telephony and Internet telephony software is

available for free or at a very low cost. Additionally, the sound quality has

significantly improved and the existing customer base of Internet telephony

products is significant, especially in groups such as university communities.

There is a wide range of phoneware products that allow

PC-to-PC communication, though the most recent industry activities in this area

involve PC-to-conventional telephones Internet communication. For instance,

IDT's Net2phone direct service allows users to place international calls at much

lower prices than the ones offered by conventional long distance telephone

companies. IDTs deploys its main telephone switches to handle calls placed by

PCs and routes them to conventional telephone sets. Software installed on the PC

simply initiates the telephone call. In this implementation, there is no need to

establish an Internet connection between two PCs that have the same phoneware

software in order to set up an 'Internet telephone line'. IDT is currently

improving its Net2PhoneDirect telephone-to-telephone service and is installing

servers in the countries that have been selected to receive such calls. Quality

is still not at toll level and the product is primarily expected to be used by

residential consumers, rather than businesses. In the arena of PC-to-PC Internet

telephony, Microsoft and Netscape are offering Internet telephony as part of the

software platforms. Finally, in this area where computer software companies have

traditionally shown interest, traditional telephone companies are also starting

to participate. AT&T WorldNet, for example, is planning to offer an

Internet-based long distance telephone service.

Computer Telephony Integration

Although, CTI seems to have had significant growth, its

application area seems to have been narrowed down mainly to call centre

implementation or integrated in other equipment such as PBXs, instead of being a

separate technology. Its growth has been mainly supported by demands in the work

environment of very large businesses, with increased customer support functions.

CTI provides the way to apply the power of a computer to the functions of the

telephone. Major communication leaders, such as Lucent and Nortel, are

continuously employing their resources and enhancing their business in this

area. CTI functions are expected to be integrated in even more devices in the

future. The CTI industry is only beginning to take advantage of the integration

of Voice & Data communications within the LAN environment. The benefits of

the integrated Voice & Data communication networks involve the ability to

treat voice messages and electronic messages in a unified way and edit a

document with voice annotations.

Internet, Television and Telephony Convergence–A Composite Unit?

During the second quarter of 1999, US West announced an

innovative 'convergence' product. Initially named AtTV and later christened Web

Vision, this product is about the original integration of telephone, television

and Internet services. This service will allow users to send and receive e-mail,

place and answer telephone calls, surf the web & TV channels at the same

time - on their televisions. One will be able to check e-mail messages between

one's favorite sit-coms or view caller identification rights on the TV screen

before answering the telephone during a crucial twist in the plot. The

technology deployed comprises a television set equipped with speakerphone and

proprietary software to receive / make telephone calls and access Internet based

features. Some of these features include programming guides, electronic

commerce, news and electronic mail. In addition to access over conventional

connections & support for high-speed digital subscriber lines (xDSL, VDSL

and ADSL), technologies will be provided to offer data-transmission speeds up to

200 times more than the conventional dial up connections. The product aims to

offer the benefits of internet access to households that do not own PCs, through

the user friendliness of one of our most familiar household devices–the

television. Anyone who seeks the convenience of an 'all in one' communications

medium will be delighted by this product offering.

With the advent of this and other similar products, it seems

that we are not far away from the day when the web tone would be as common as

the dial tone.

Mohd. Amir