Services, such as Caller ID on the TV and local content, that are addictive are what independent telcos need to provide if they want to gain and retain broadband subscribers. Horizon Telecom’s Ed McKell talks of these services in this brief video interview. McKell, who spoke at the IP Possibilities Conference, discusses how partnerships have helped them provide new and better services to their
Posts Tagged telco
Introductory pricing for telecom services has caused this author extreme frustration. Warren Lee, President and CEO of NeoNova, explains how one cable operator gradually gets their customers to pay more for services they might not have ordered in the first place. The operator has something like an 88% retention rate of its customers using this technique. Lee also implores telcos to look at bundles as more than just speed and to shape bundles to meet customers’ lifestyles and needs.
ViodiTV at IP Possibilities 2008 is being brought to you by Entone. 
David Lewis of TCA , a prominent consulting firm to independent telcos, discusses the importance of broadband for an independent telco to retain its subscriber base. He recommends that independent telcos find services to add value to the broadband pipe; before someone else does.
This program at IP Possibilities 2008 is brought to you by Entone.
ViodiTV at IP Possibilities 2008 is being brought to you by Entone.
Do you have loads of old analog tapes that you need to convert to digital or need a way to bring analog video into your iPod? The Pinnacle Video Transfer [PVT] may be just the device you need. The PVT converts composite or S-Video and stereo audio inputs into highly compressed MPEG-4 files. There are three levels of encoding quality available with resolutions ranging from 320×240 to 720×480.
This device is about simplicity, as a computer is not required. Composite or S-Video is input one side of the device, while a USB 2.0 port interfaces to an external flash drive, hard-drive, iPod, or PSP on the other side of this unit. LEDS indicate recording status, signal presence and encoding quality. The output is MPEG-4 file, encoded from 512 Kbs to 1.5 Mbs, depending upon the quality selected.
I was able to edit the files in both Sony Vegas 6.0 and Pinnacle’s VideoSpin video editor. The above video includes clips digitized by the PVT (indicated by the time stamp in the upper left hand corner of the video). I found no problems in uploading the MPEG-4 files to YouTube.
Operation of the PVT was straightforward, although there were some recording issues, which were resolved with an updated driver. A scene detection feature would be nice, such that it automatically would split files into one large file. Another interesting feature would be if it had a Firewire interface, such that it would be possible to convert digital feeds directly into MPEG-4 files.
Although I cannot really think of how an independent telco might use this, the quality is amazing for a consumer-grade device. This is a cost-effective way to convert analog video to digital, in lieu of more expensive video capture devices. Others in this class that bear a closer look, that may have more features, but also come with more complexity include the SanDisk V-Mate and the Neuros MPEG4 Recorder 2.
The biggest news from day one of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance’s 99th Annual Convention is the Minnesota Telecom Alliance (MTA). By unanimous votes of their respective memberships, the MTA and MART (Minnesota Association for Rural Telecom) agreed yesterday morning to merge into a combined organization that will retain the MTA moniker. This is significant for several reasons, as their merger reflects the ongoing industry consolidation of independent telcos. In this brief video, we interview the current President/CEO of MART and the soon-to-be President of the new MTA.
The catalyst for bringing these organizations together was the departure of a large member company from MTA. This merger is fundamentally not about cost savings, but providing better service for the independent telco members. Mike Nowick, the current President of MTA, will be responsible for Membership Services for the new organization. And yes, the MTA convention will continue to be of significant national and regional importance.
Brought to you by Innovative Systems
Roger Nishi makes another memorable entrance to an OPASTCO meeting at this week’s 2008 Winter Conference in Phoenix. Nishi suggested that declining OPASTCO membership, due to consolidation, as well as the plethora of competing educational opportunities present challenges to OPASTCO. (continued below video window).
He cited the web site improvements and the changes in content at its meetings as evidence of OPASTCO’s adaptation to a changing environment. And he was right, as most of the content at the 2008 Winter Conference was oriented towards broadband, video and marketing. He also talked of the increasing importance of strategic partnerships and relationships between OPASTCO and other groups.
The self-deprecating Nishi downplayed the important role he had in helping set this direction. Roger personifies why I like working with independent telcos. Humble to the core, Nishi thanked everyone for allowing him to serve. I have to thank Roger for his support of ViodiTV. Thanks Roger!
Our interview with Paul Freude, of Paul Bunyan Telephone, is an example of ViodiTV coverage at RICA/RTG. The RICA/RTG conference featured cutting-edge rural independent operartors talking about their experience as competitive providers. In the case of Paul Bunyan, Freude discusses how this 100+ year old telco has grown by more than 250% this decade. With systems in over 100 jurisdictions, they probably have more networks implementing the little-used FCC rules for Open Video Systems than any other operator.
RICA/RTG Fall Forum Coverage Brought to you by RICA.
New Local Content Workshops Are Forming
The following full-length episode of the Office is an example of what web sites can do with NBC Universal/Fox’s new online video service, Hulu. Hulu is an online video destination site, which includes current, such as the Office, and classic television series, such as the Bob Newhart show. Some interesting features of this site include (continues below video):
- Content from Hulu may be embedded in 3rd party sites (as is the case here)
- The site features both clips and full episodes
- Users may create their own clips and send them to their friends
This particular episode should be amusing to independent telcos that are thinking about or are currently involved in local ad production.
The theme of the Viodi-produced reception at TelcoTV was local content by independent telcos and we were fortunate to have Terry McGregor and Kim Correll of Ringgold Telephone providing insight as to how to create local content. They emphasized the need for telcos to be resourceful and look for talent hidden in their communities and within their own organizations. Watch the entire video to see who won the iPod Nanos we raffled away. Thanks again to the sponsors: Accedo Broadband | Conklin-Intracom | Latens | MoCA
|
The report and video, available below, provide commentary and the responses to a survey regarding communication trends among today’s American rural youth. The purpose of this survey was to understand how rural youth from OPASTCO-member (or equivalent) communities consume media and technology. Sharing of some of the results from this survey took place during the panel, Youth Are Our Present, at OPASTCO’s 44th Annual Summer Convention. |
|
Donate and half the money (after credit card expenses) will be sent to the FRED Foundation and the other half will go to the Tony Atwater Memorial. Donations are optional and are commensurate with what your perceived value of this bundle is. As a point of reference, this type of report would typically be priced from several hundred to several thousand dollars. This particular report required the combined efforts of more than 20 people, who are involved in some form with the independent telco industry, spending more than 100 hours of their time to devise, administer and report on the results. Feel free to donate via credit card, or directly to FRED or Tony Atwater’s Memorial Fund by sending a check to either of the following addresses (Please note: "Youth Survey" on the memo section of the check): 21 Dupont Circle NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20036 Elizabeth Q. Atwater f.b.o. Antonio Atwater Memorial Fund c/o Great Western Bank, |
Youth Are Our Present – Executive Summary
This document provides commentary and the responses to a survey regarding communication trends among today’s American rural youth. The purpose of this survey was to understand how rural youth from OPASTCO-member (or equivalent) communities consume media and technology. Sharing of some of the results from this survey took place during the panel, Youth Are Our Present, at OPASTCO’s 44th Annual Summer Convention.
The results of the survey reinforce the idea that younger people are among the first to embrace new approaches to communications and entertainment, such as text messaging, social communities and mobility. Still, like people of all ages, things such as ease of use and value resonate with the younger generation. Some other key points from this survey include:
- Two-thirds (2/3) of the rural youth consider themselves or their siblings to be the most tech-savvy in their household.
- TV still consumes the most amount of a youth’s time, although they spend a significant portion of their waking hours using computer and texting via mobile phones. The landline telephone consumes the least amount of a youth’s time.
- Youth tend to be most willing to pay for cell phone service, in part, because they perceive it to offer the best value and utility for the money.
- Social communities are just behind cell phones as ways to communicate with their peers. The popularity of these two forms of communication will probably lead to increased intertwining of social communities with mobile services.
- Despite all of the messaging and marketing that the youth are bombarded with, friends and family remain the biggest influences on the adoption of new technology and associated services.
- Ease of use is the most important factor in the selection of a cell phone, while the basic feature of being able to make a call is the most important.
- The sources of the video the youth watch are definitely different from previous generations, as broadcast television ranked fourth behind, cable television, video stores and the Internet.
- Youth are producers of video content, as 46% have uploaded or plan to upload videos to the Internet, which has long-term implications for the upstream bandwidth requirements.
Youth Are Our Present – Full Report (PDF)
To see the full contents of this 45 page PDF report, click on the following link (right-click to download – left-click to open in a new window.
The Password to open this document is 44opastco
