Enabling
New Content with High Speed Internet Access
by Jody Baram
You've
probably already read about it. DSL, Cable modems. Set top boxes. Broadband. Big Pipes. Slowly but
surely, enhanced television is coming to your neighborhood. It's been a long
time coming.
Over
the years cable companies have succeeded in providing niche- oriented
programming that has become entrenched in our popular culture. For instance,
viewers know that if they want the latest news they turn on CNN. With the
Internet, however, subscribers can get the immediacy of TV with the in-depth
analysis of a daily newspaper. Indeed, TV watching, in
general, has declined with the rise of the Internet.
The
telecos have finally responded with a competitive
offering of DSL, digital subscriber line. In a little over 24 months, DSL has
indeed surpassed the cable companies in terms of subscribers. Deployment has
been limited because of a lack of physical space in Central Offices and
personnel needed for installations.
An
overwhelming success, broadband technology has been a proven must have for
those who depend on the Internet. "From a marketing perspective, people
are accustomed to paying for cable. They add their Internet costs to their
cable costs, and it seems it's easier for them to justify. It turns out that
the high-speed Internet access you can get with a cable modem is very compelling,"says Paul Ashcraft, senior partner for the
Envision Group in
Cable
Modem Installed Base
Cable
modems have quickly become a must have for Internet saavy
One
of the first services available with cable modems was @Home which includes
AT&T as a major influencer by virtue of its acquisition of TCI. Providing
cable modems users with daily cover features, lifestyle, finance, pop arts,
shopping and chat; they have been quite successful to date in connection with
other cable companies and have been tapped as a software developer for
TCI’s cable systems. Other cable modem concerns like Worldgate,
ICTV, and On-set are also offering channels on various cable systems and
pricing. ACTV, available on TCI systems, provides individualized TV sports
viewing. And the list continues to grow.
With
competition mounting and digital technology maturing, the race is on among
cable operators to implement two-way digital systems. While some operators are
currently using a telephone return path many are upgrading to a completely
digital solution. Two factors give cable operators excellent advantages:
Television has quickly become the focal point for the convergence of digital
entertainment, and cable companies’ network architectures have become
reliable and flexible enough to accommodate new services.
What
is a cable modem?
The
term cable "modem" is a relatively new term which refers to a box
that acts as a bridge or router connected to a computer and operates over
ordinary coaxial cable TV lines. Most cable modems are based on the standard
--MCNS (Multimedia Cable Network Systems) in the
Architecture
Cable
TV operates on a hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) broadband network. HFC is acknowledged
as the optimal network architecture with the bandwidth and flexibility to
seamlessly support a full range of analog and digital services, as well as both
data and video, on one platform. Cable modems attach to the network using a
common computer network protocol called Ethernet. The "modem"
attaches to the TV outlet for your cable TV, and the cable TV operator connects
a Cable Modem Termination System (CTMS) in his end (the Head End). Unlike a
regular phone modem which is a private point to point connection, the cable
"modem" network is a shared local area Ethernet network like those
used in businesses. If two modems on the system want to talk to each other,
they must go through the CTMS. In the past, the cable network architecture
looked like a tree with roots and branches, the consequence of which was that
if one part of the network went down, the whole network stopped working. New
architectures like the Cox Ring in Ring implementation offer 100% reliability
and a new kind of flexibility for future services like Internet Protocol (IP)
telephony.
Benefits
and Concerns
The
benefits of cable modem access are dramatic. Speeds ranging from 25 to 1000
times today's current dialup modems are possible. With the use of proxy servers
which store frequently accessed information and websites locally, you get the
information you need even faster. The cost is dramatically less than that of a
T1 line with the potential for the same speeds. The connection is always on, so
you don't have to dial anything. Last, but not least, you don't have to tie up
a telephone line in order to have access.
There
are two drawbacks of the current networks, which are characteristic of any
Ethernet network: privacy and performance degradation. The first is of concern
if you are doing transactions over the net. Using a first generation cable
modem is like using a party line. If one of your neighbors on the same node
wants to listen in, they can. Unless you have file sharing off; are on a secure
server; and using encryption or have one of the MCNS modems, technically savvy
co-users of the network have the ability to intercept the data stream with
devices called sniffers. The second concern is
quality of service and inconsistent performance levels. All ISPs, if they are
successful, experience growing pains. AOL, for instance, was sued because some
irate users had trouble connecting to their network. Cable companies like Cox,
Time Warner, and Media One have made outstanding progress in both customer service
and network upgrades. Time will tell if they keep pace with a large influx of
customers.
What
it is like to have one installed.
As
a former cable subscriber and fairly adept Internet surfer with two ISP's, I
was very excited when I saw the ads for MediaOne's
Express High Speed Data Service. While I had to wait three weeks for MediaOne to install "the node"in
my neighborhood-- equivalent to an ISP's POP-- , it
was well worth the wait. The service saves me hours of wasted time and
frustration waiting for information on the Web.
I
was pleasantly surprised when the service people called the day before to
confirm and again on my scheduled installation day to ask if they could come
early. They also threw a bunch of networking jargon at me hoping to intimidate
me--it didn't. Because I was one of the first ones on my block to get the
service, I got special treatment. When the installers arrived, there were four
of them (there are usually two). MediaOne did not
have any of their regular cable installers do the job, but rather used
contractors who evidently had installed Time Warner's Road Runner service prior
to this. Before they commenced work, they required me to sign a 13 page Service
agreement stating among other things that the service was for a single computer
and IP connection and that I agree not to resell or redistribute access or run
a Web server off the system.
The
work was divided so that two of the men installed the cable and the other two
installed the software on my computer. In the building complex where I live, we
have an ancient satellite dish system as well as CATV access. Because all the
coax cable boxes look alike, they had trouble finding the right box (if MediaOne had sent a regular cable installer who was
familiar with the building, this could have been avoided.) They took four hours
to do the actual installation and did a pretty good job.
Although
I asked them not to touch my satellite connection, they disconnected it from the
wall anyway. They also broke off a plastic covering for the old cable enclosure
outside, exposing the new one to the elements. In addition, they placed a
"High Speed Data Do Not Filter" label on the cable. My computers and
TV sets are not in the same room. I had the installers diagonally wire the
length my home with the cable so I could move the modem from room to room (like
a roll-about VideoConferencing system). From the
cable modem box there is another connection that looks like a thick telephone
wire with a wide phone jack on both ends. This 10BaseT (twisted pair) wire is
called category 5 cabling and is very common in LAN's. The modem box itself
needs to be connected both to the coax cable and to the electricity all the
time. It has two green lights that let you know if you are connected. Your
computer needs to have an Ethernet card or they will install one for you. While
they say only certain cards will work, if you know how to do it, you can
save a few dollars by installing the card yourself. The server software at the
cable company's head end uses the media access control (MAC) address of your
Ethernet card to authenticate you as a user.
Advantages:
Broadband
pipes mean that not only can you download large files in a fraction of the
time, but you can experience new kinds of choice in your entertainment. One of
the coolest uses of the broadband pipes is the Intertainer
service. Offered initially in
Who
are the companies involved?
Two
dominant groups in the set top box arena are the Scientific Atlanta, Media One,
Cox, TimeWarner, and Comcast camp and the General
Instrument, TCI, Microsoft, Sun group. While the GI group has been quite vocal,
it is the other camp that is actually delivering.
To
capitalize on their advantages, most of the largest cable operators are
deploying their first two-way digital systems in 1998. The first two-way
digital set-top currently shipping to cable operators for 1998 deployment is
the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2000 advanced digital set-top.
This
new consumer appliance has capabilities similar to a local area network, yet
remains as easy to use as a TV. While it can start out primarily as a digital
video entertainment device, the Explorer set-top is also designed to act as a
TV Web browser or high speed cable modem for seamless support of both video
applications and Internet access via the TV or PC -- at cable modem speeds.
Implications
Wider
pipes and computer smarts mean different content. With new versions of software
like Real Player Plus, Microsoft's NetShow, and Apple's Quicktime
streaming video in your computer can actually rival television. Brian Hurst,
President of Tandem Intermedia, a new media strategic
planning firm, says there are only a few applications that viewers want to be
interactive: sports, news, edutainment, commerce, and games.
Be
prepared for a new kind of video game. What about High Definition video
backgrounds where you become immersed in a Holadeck-type
of experience. You pick a story line, the characters, and the amount of time
you want to play. Macromedia’s tools or something similar provide the
interaction, and your actions influence your experience of the story.
With
the convergence of high speed data and communications, larger hard drives,
holographic memory chips, and blazing CPU’s, [along with HDTV] lots of
interesting things will be happening according to Robert Berzins
Grand Webmaster for Interplay, a game developer.
Predictions
Ideally
the cable companies would like cable modems to be as easy to install as phone
modems. Consumers could buy them at CompUSA and install them themselves. This
could bring prices down. "It's somewhat ironic that in the beginning, the
Internet and the digital cable set-top box were seen as competitors. Now, we
see the Internet and high-speed cable modems driving the consumer demand for the
set-top box." says Paul Ashcraft, senior partner for the Envision Group in
Get
It
If
you are lucky enough to live in an area with a CATV service which is offering
data services and if you use the Internet over 5 hours a month, do yourself a
big favor by signing up for the broadband service. With the convenience,
enhanced value-added services, and new levels of enjoyable entertainment, we
will wonder how we ever got along without it.
You
can email Jody Baram at jb@jab.com
Copyright 2003 Jody A Baram