 broadband backsideSame-old same-old at Paul Kagan's Streaming Media Summit in New York, as everyone agreed that streaming wasn't quite ready for prime time, but when it is, everyone's solution will be the right one, continued to pander to the insecure TV industry by stating that broadcasters would be well-positioned to make power plays because they already make lots of compelling content (huh?), and ended with everybody joining together for a poignant rendition of Kumbaya (okay, not that last one - but they may as well have). Pick a number, any number: The Yankee Group expects that the number of broadband subscribers in Asia Pacific will surge from 452,000 at 1999's end to 11.3 million by the end of 2003. Their expected high-speed access choices, like the U.S., are cable modem and ADSL (46% and 42% respectively.) Yup, all that adoption leading to a traffic glut, just like in the U.S. too.1 It's an AOL content kinda week, as both Marketwatch.com's financial and business content and House of Blues' music content will meet AOL Plus, hopefully manifesting in some kind of meaningful consumer experience. AOL is everywhere, just like AOL customers (who are still spending less than 10 minutes a week on AOL properties.) Meanwhile, AOL continued its mating mania, announcing plans with Gateway to create three Internet appliances to connect AOL customers to the Internet. The devices include a "kitchen countertop" appliance, a hand-held, wireless Web pad and a desktop machine (in case anyone still wants to use one.). Now, if they could just keep AOL customers on their own sites. Another entry in the broadband content provider community studio space, anteye.com. Nice site design, but I hate having to upgrade plugins - especially Real, because they always default you to the ones you have to pay for. Pay for plugins? I don't think so. If you want to target ads at me to make revenue, go ahead, but I'm not paying for plugins I'd rather not have to download, especially when I can get them for free. I mean, really - where else but in the Net world would you be asked to pay for something you hate? All of this, of course, has nothing to do with anteye.com directly, except for the fact that, rather than download yet another Real Player so I could evaluate their content, I chose to leave the site. This one squeaked by us last week: PanAmSat charged into the broadband arena with the unveiling of its NET/36 broadcast network last week, alongside alliances with US West and RealNetworks. NET/36 aims to alleviate terrestrial congestion by providing an overlay that delivers satellite broadcast of Internet content to last-mile providers worldwide. The network can broadcast IP video, audio and data simultaneously, natch, to DSL providers, cable headends, ISPS and broadband wireless providers, using PanAmSat's global in-orbit satellite fleet. The concept is an interesting one, and just may provide a stopgap solution to terrestrial bandwidth congestion - but we'll wait for the rollout to decide. Apparently, the company has allocated 24 Ku-band transponders for the network, with trial transmissions to a US West DSL site set to begin during the 2nd quarter of 2000, and a full rollout in the 3rd quarter. Stay tuned (and quit thinking about Iridium)…. |
1. Yadda yadda yadda. digital mogul 2-6, July, 1999. Our annual convergence and broadband report. |
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