[opendtv] Re: Spectrum is too valuable

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2015 01:06:39 +0000

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

Obviously it would not take much to convert to h.264 and IP,
except for the need to replace a HHUGE number of STBs. Then
again, many devices including some smart TVs could deal with
these streams natively.

Natively? Do smart TVs have DOCSIS inputs, or IP/Ethernet? I assumed Ethernet.
So you need a DOCSIS modem. And it's only the cable companies that created this
problem of their installed base of STBs. Just like ISPs did hesitate to
introduce H.264 back when. Why? Because it was the consumer's responsibility to
buy the receiving equipment, not the ISPs'.

And again, the switch to all IP could be a lot faster if the cable system's
broadcast spectrum was reclaimed. We have the numbers, right? In an existing
900 MHz cable plant, one which now supports legacy broadcast TV streams and a 1
Gb/s GPON, like the article mentioned, you can fully quintuple the broadband
capacity of each PON by eliminating broadcast. That would go a long way to help
support IP streams in that PON, and it can be done very quickly. DOCSIS 3.0 can
use any channel. Let the customers buy their own DOCSIS modems, and begin the
transition any time you please. A few channels at a time.

But he tends to think that incumbent services are unable
to adapt and improve by incorporating them into "the bundle."

"The bundle" is old stuff that was possible when people had no other option.
Now the incumbent services would be better off adapting to 21st century
technologies, rather than hanging on for dear life to legacy, and compete
nationwide, with competitive offerings. Rather than all duplicating the others'
"the bundle."

Nothing new here. The blacksmith that morphed into auto mechanic survived and
thrived. The one who stayed put did not. I think it's shortsighted to ignore
history.

Bert



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