-
Electric Grid Powering Broadband
Talking about and understanding needs of utilities will be critical in order for telecom companies to be able to serve utilities in developing the so-called smart-grid. In this video interview, Randy Young, the Minnesota Telecom Alliance president, suggests that it is incumbent on telephone companies and their associations to proactively open discussions with electric utilities…
-
The Connected Home – Remote Healthcare & Smart Grid
In this ViodiTV at MTA interview. Steve Klein of Allied Telesis, discusses emerging broadband applications around telemedicine and remote healthcare and the value they can provide to rural households and communities. He points out how the telco's broadband network can power smart grid opportunities. ViodiTV at the MTA 2010 annual convention was sponsored by the…
-
Independent Cable and Telcos – More Alike than Not
Matt Polka of the American Cable Association gave the keynote speech at the 2010 MTA Convention. He emphasized the commonalities between independent telcos and independent cable operators. Some 40% of the ACA membership consists of independent telcos. In his talk, he likened ACA members to David and big media to Goliath and that ACA has…
-
Batter Up at MTA
The MTA Associate Committee hit a homerun by selecting baseball as the theme for its 2010 exhibits. In this brief video, Cliff Albertson explains some of the clever things the MTA Associate Committee devised to draw people to the show floor. This approach worked as seen in this brief video. One of the other things…
-
What Do a Telephone Tech and a Deputy Sheriff Have in Common?
Brent Christensen, Vice President of the Minnesota Telecom Alliance, brings a fresh perspective to telecommunications. Although born of a telecom family, he followed his father’s footsteps in that his first career was outside of telecom. Starting at the birth of the 1996 deregulation, Brent started as a technician and progressed to the role of general…
-
Keeping Customers by Selling Less
The Smart Grid was the basis of a Parks Associates conference last week in Austin. Unfortunately, ViodiTV was not at that conference, but we did get a preview of some of the challenges and opportunities that suppliers of electricity face. In this interview, filmed at the 2010 CES, Chris Deutschen of Direct Energy explains the…
