A world without Net Neutrality:
Five major telecom-equipment vendors are set to announce today major changes to their next-generation network technology to help telecom operators accelerate their introduction of features that combine phone, television and Internet services.
The companies — Cisco Systems Inc., Lucent Technologies Inc., Motorola Corp., Nortel Networks Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. — have been working for the past year to revise their systems to meet Verizon Wireless’s requirements. But they are planning to sell the new technology to other carriers as well.
Carriers rolling out new multimedia features are expected to spend billions of dollars in coming years on new Internet-based technology, known as IMS, for Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem. It is essentially the brains of a telecom network that directs services such as gaming or Internet TV to consumers, whether they are working in front of a computer, using a cellphone or watching TV. While existing networks can offer some of these services, IMS is designed to transfer voice, data or video signals as customers move, say, from using a cellphone network to a wired home phone or wireless hot spots, like those in airports.
Verizon Wireless also asked the equipment vendors to revise the next-generation technology to handle new services that haven’t been anticipated. “It’s like a reservation system that allows restaurants to plan for diners who show up at the door,” said Larry Lang, vice president of Cisco’s Mobile Wireless Group.
They don’t plan on putting Internet on those fiber lines they’re installing at all. Each telco will be selling private subscriptions to proprietary or licensed content. And it will cost you. Our only hope is that customers reject these services and just ask for plain old Internet instead. But of course, judging by the way people actually pay for ringtones and other silly things for their cellphones, that hope may be too much to hope for.
So, are you ready for your cable modem to become as locked down and proprietary as your cell phone? Thank Cisco.
Read more here.
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2 Responses to “A Glimpse At The Future…”
July 27th, 2006 at 10:56 am
This is an attempt to get those multimedia ads sent to your cellphone and at the same time make the internet and your speed more congested and slower so that these companies can sell ads. I blame our elected officials, who should never allow this crap.
July 27th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Rob, I used to work at Corporate for one of the afore-mentioned companies. Which had 4, I mean 4, ways to transcribe your cellphone service. CDMA, TDMA, Digital, Analog, etc. All for your ‘pay more and get blanked in the behind’ pleasure.
Trust me. They all had their heads up their ass and the consumer was the last thing they thought of. I had my HAM radio license and I was like, “isn’t this satellite phone antenna a bit big?” and the answer was “shhh, yeah, it emits a bit of radiation but don’t tell anyone.” Needless to say, the phone and the location where it was built went by the wayside. Yah can’t use a satellite phone in your hotel room and you can’t carry it in your pocket.
Frankly, I was in an R&D facility where they were doing all of the stuff you mention and it all looks good on paper.
Until you get some geeky engineer trying to proggie it to a consumer w/out a liason in between. And you get a black ugly cellphone with lots of good features but not sell-able to the teenaged market. Or even us older types, no offense.
That’s where we are f*cked as Americans. Because Europeans have got that bit down pat, but we don’t. They are not only great at technology, they are hip to the market.
By the way, I use a Verizon cellphone, I believe it’s a Motorola V-phone (i.e., not a flip-phone), and the service up here sucks ass. They’re kicking out the analog in the next year or so, so my brother’s bagphone is gonna die, and this one just cuts in and out like no tomorrow. So much for worldwide coverage. I was damned lucky to get a signal when my car overheated last week, and that was turning my head.j
Verizon can suck my behind, as far as I’m concerned.
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