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Analyst: Competitors in Broadband Need to Focus on Strengths and NichesAnalyst for Frost & Sullivan says cable modems and DSL will continue to dominate the broadband landscape. By TED GLANZER TMCnet Communications and Broadband Columnist Cable modems and DSL will continue to dominate the broadband landscape, although alternative services can find their own niches within the market, an industry analyst said during a briefing today. Max Engel, industry analyst for Frost & Sullivan’s Telecom Service Group, addressed what services other than cable or DSL, i.e., fiber optics, wireless systems, satellite and broadband over power line) will solve last-mile problems for individual homes and small businesses that seek access to broadband. Citing FCC figures, Engel said that the advanced service broadband market was tied up primarily in two areas: cable (78.9 percent) and DSL (19.1 percent). The remainder of the market (if you can call it that) is left to fiber optics, broadband over power line (BPL), satellite and wireless systems (such as Wi-Fi and WiMAX). “There will not be a single winner but, instead, [there will be] a complex telecommunications ecology in which different technologies will find favorable niches,” said Engel in a prepared statement. Success for these services can be achieved through exploiting their niches and special strengths, Engel said. For example, in order to survive, all services must provide integrated product services such as triple play. The issue there is that every provider must, like cable and DSL, deliver high quality of service in the telephone and video realms. “That doesn’t mean every provider has to be the content providers or aggregator,” Engel said. “If they fail, then they can fall back and allow others to use their pipes [to deliver those services.” Additionally, Engel said that each service must focus on their particular strengths, such as satellite services honing in on their ability to reach the “Outback” market, like Wyoming; BPL would be perfect for apartment buildings and hotels where someone can access broadband by plugging into an electrical outlets. “People don’t care about the technology, they want the service,” Engel said. While BPL, satellite and wireless systems all have their own unique qualities, they also have their own challenges as well. For example, Engel said that BPL needs a uniform standard, in addition to overcoming a potential public relations disaster if complaints of interference from ham radio operators can’t be quelled. Satellite broadband service is relatively slow (2 Mbps vs. 8 to 30 Mbps with other services) and expensive compared to other services, Engel said. “Satellite spectrum over the air is limited in capacity and quantity,” Engel said. Wireless systems don’t have a unified standard, either. Regardless, these technologies must be fostered to create competition, considering recent FCC policy statements and the Brand X decision has all but reduced broadband service to a cable/telco duopoly. “The FCC’s actions may produce competition in three pipes, where the demand is strong,” Engel said. “But limiting content competition to just two pipes is a poor choice.” ----- Ted Glanzer is assistant editor for TMCnet. For more articles by Ted Glanzer, please visit: http://www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/columnists/columnist.aspx?id=100033&nm=Ted%20Gl anzer |