The transition to VoIP peering will have major effects on the VoIP industry, said TransNexus in a report released Monday (http://bit.ly/1g07Qne). VoIP peering will change the role of wholesale service providers in the interconnection process, and the role of retail service providers for enterprises, the VoIP software company said. “VoIP peering is actually already here,” said President Jim Dalton. “We have customers peering within private networks already using the OSPrey routing server. Direct access will move peering out of private networks and into the public network.” There will still be a need in the short term for CLECs’ physical network facilities connecting to the public switched telephone network, but direct IP-to-IP connections will lessen VoIP providers’ dependency on CLECs, the report said.
IP Captioned Telephone Service providers must maintain the confidentiality of the personal information obtained from consumers through their registration and certification, the FCC said in a public notice Monday (http://bit.ly/18hJXiY). The agency adopted regulations in August requiring consumers to provide personal information in order to guard against fraud and abuse. That information must be kept confidential, it said in the public notice.
Mandatory 10-digit dialing will be coming Feb. 1 to western Kentucky as a result of a new area code, said the Kentucky Public Service Commission in a news release Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1cVdjGy). Mandatory 10-digit dialing begins in two months, when area code 364 is added to the same geographic area as the current area code 270, said the PSC. A six-month “permissive dialing” period began in August under which customers can dial either seven or 10 digits when making local calls in area code 270, said the PSC. The permissive dialing period allows customers to get used to the new dialing pattern and permits telcos to prepare and test equipment in advance of the establishment of the new area code, said the PSC.
Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corp. joined the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, said MBC in a news release Monday (http://yhoo.it/IBjC95). The wholesale open-access network transport provider is joining the alliance to advocate for Virginia to participate in legislative discussions on broadband innovation and engage in TV white space trials to bridge the digital divide in the state, said MBC. MBC has TV white space trials underway with wireless ISPs in Pittsylvania, Greensville and Appomattox counties, it said. TV white space spectrum refers to TV band frequencies unassigned or unused by existing broadcasters or other licenses, said MBC. The alliance advocates for “dynamic spectrum access technologies” that can utilize “unused or inefficiently used” radio frequencies to create various forms of wireless connectivity, said MBC.
Several NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunities Program cities were winners at the 2013 Digital Cities awards, said Laura Breeden, Commerce Department BTOP team leader, in a blog post Monday (http://1.usa.gov/1bb6IbE). The Center for Digital Government, a research and advisory firm for technology in state and local government, gave out the awards at the National League of Cities annual conference in Seattle last month, said Breeden. Boston, which took first place in the “large population” category, received two BTOP grants: to install computers in community anchor institutions and for its Technology Goes Home program to provide digital literacy training, subsidized netbooks and low-cost Internet access to low-income middle and high school students, she said. Chicago was also recognized on the Digital Cities list, and BTOP funds were used in the city to install or upgrade more than 3,000 computers and offer digital literacy training, said Breeden. Chicago received a separate BTOP grant for its Smart Communities program to provide Internet training and computer equipment to local residents and small businesses in five low- to moderate-income neighborhoods, she said. Philadelphia was also near the top of the Digital Cities list, where a citywide partnership called KeySpots established 79 computer centers that offer computer classes and digital literacy training to local youth, the unemployed, people with disabilities and low-income residents, said Breeden. Los Angeles, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; Austin, Texas; Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Lowell, Mass., also benefited from BTOP funding, she said.
The Council for Research Excellence retained GfK, a market research firm, for two ethnographic studies to understand the impact of increased video availability across a growing number of devices and how people think about and consume video, said CRE in a news release Monday. The research teams will seek to determine how audience measurement needs to evolve to account for increased complexity in viewing to include variables by device, usage location, viewing circumstances, demographics and lifestyle factors, said CRE. The studies will encompass viewing via TV sets, PCs and laptops, connected TVs, smartphones, tablets, personal gaming devices and DVRs, it said. In about 150 participating homes, researchers will use a small “fisheye” lens camera to record behavior and later tag interesting video footage, said CRE. Participants will also be provided a video-journal “toolkit” including software to enable them to record their viewing habits, it said.
Comcast and Nielsen are trialing a new advertising product to insert a full ad load into Comcast’s on-demand TV programming, said Matt Strauss, Comcast Cable senior vice president, in a blog post Monday (http://bit.ly/18bi6nE). On Demand Commercial Ratings (ODCR) will change the current C3 ratings model that measures on-demand commercial viewing within three days of the show’s live airing, said Strauss. The C3 model works only with the most recent episode and it doesn’t apply to any of the TV series’ previous on-demand episodes, he said. With ODCR technology, the catch-up viewer will see the same ads as those who watch the show within three days after airing and the programmer could receive C3 advertising credit for viewers who are watching any episode on demand, said Strauss. The ODCR technology is being tested with NBCUniversal and Strauss said Comcast hope to begin working with other major broadcast networks soon.
A Republican Senate bill would change how the FCC’s USF doles money out to rural states. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., introduced the USF Equitable Distribution Act of 2013, S-1766, on Nov. 21, and the text of the bill appeared online last week. Ayotte has on multiple occasions in the past year criticized the USF, in particular the amount of money New Hampshire receives relative to its contributions to the fund. The bill’s purpose, according to its text, is “to provide for the equitable distribution of Universal Service funds to rural States.” The short piece of legislation provides for changes to the Communications Act of 1934, proposing the following language be added: “Not less than 75 percent of all amounts collected by providers of interstate telecommunications from consumers in a rural State for the purpose of making contributions … shall be allocated to the provision of universal service to consumers in that rural State.” An aide to Ayotte told us Friday that New Hampshire is a huge net-donor to the USF, receiving fewer than 40 cents for every dollar it contributes, whereas most other rural states are big net-recipients of the USF. The Ayotte bill won’t increase the size of the USF, the aide added. A rural state is defined as one in which “the total population density is not more than 200 people per square mile,” according to the bill. The FCC declined comment on the legislation. FairPoint applauds Ayotte’s efforts “to raise awareness” of areas that don’t see a good return on their USF contributions as well as the bill’s efforts to “remedy the situation” and help create “a fair distribution of USF-based funds,” a spokeswoman for the telco told us. FairPoint offers service in many rural markets across 17 states and serves New Hampshire. S-1766 lists no co-sponsors and is referred to the Commerce Committee.
LTE-Advanced upgrades and small cell deployments will drive the next round of microwave equipment market growth, Infonetics Research said Wednesday night. The microwave market is set to see an overall decline through the end of 2013, with Q3 representing the second straight quarter of marginal growth in the market, Infonetics Research said. The market totaled $1.16 billion in Q3, up 2 percent from Q2 but down 7 percent from the same period in 2012. Both LTE-Advanced and small cell deployments “require very low latency solutions,” said Richard Webb, Infonetics Research’s directing analyst-microwave and carrier Wi-Fi, in a news release. “This will begin to make an impact from 2014 and boost the market for a few years” (http://bit.ly/1jS0LlP).
The Nov. 28 launch of SES-8 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was aborted. The original Nov. 25 launch date was postponed due to a problem with the liquid oxygen system (CD Nov 27 p16). “Launch aborted by autosequence due to slower than expected thrust ramp,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on his Twitter page. The company will likely wait a few days before attempting to launch the satellite again, he said.