Dallas Clement
Senior VP, Strategy & Development, Cox Communications

As usual, the new year will start with a bang, and I don't mean the falling ball in Times Square. For those of us in cable and telecom, the true celebration of what 2006 portends actually comes a few days later with the start of the Consumer Electronics Show.

The Vegas show has become required attendance for cable execs and their teams, and there certainly will be a bevy of reps from our industry looking for the latest and greatest on display at CES. Fortunately, my schedule and overall experience in Vegas are well managed by CableLabs, helping filter out some of the overwhelming sensory overload – but not so much so that I won't get at least a small dose of the raucous, madhouse atmosphere that makes CES… well, CES.

My “wish list” for the show is a long one, but here are four of the main devices, technologies, platforms and enablers of increased convergence that I look forward to seeing in action at CES:

Verizon is targeting consumers with emotional grassroots appeals in its apparent no-expenses-spared campaign to change franchising rules for video service providers. In addition to its stealth backing of a consumer “coalition” employing emotional gimmicks and misleading arguments to advance its agenda, Verizon actually puts its name on another campaign. But this one is no less misleading.

Verizon still implies that cable competition won’t happen unless its statewide franchising demands are met. The fact is that cable competition already exists and nothing is stopping Verizon from providing TV service today.

Following last week's first installment, we continue with our series on the myths and misconceptions about cable's high-speed Internet vs. DSL.

Paul Cronin, Vice President and Region Manager
Cox Communications New England

Several weeks ago, Cox Communications surveyed some 400 Rhode Islanders about their feelings on fair competition. We did so in light of the fact that across the country, the nation's big telephone companies are asserting that they need special favors from legislators and regulators in order to enter the local video business.

Don’t touch that dial! If so, you probably missed the radio ad that AT&T (formerly known as SBC) brought to the airwaves of Oklahoma City this week. That’s right, in an attempt to push the limits of truthful advertising, the telco unleashed some rather blatant fallacies on the local airwaves. Fortunately for consumers, AT&T apparently reckoned with reality and removed the ads that falsely characterized Cox Digital Telephone, the largest cable telephony service in the nation with more than 1.5 million subscribers.

Anne Cowan, Senior Vice President, Communications
Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM)

Consumers are bombarded with messages about cable vs. DSL broadband services, making it hard to separate the truth from the tall tales. The reality is that broadband is a term used loosely, often referring to any high-speed Internet access service that isn’t plain old “dial-up.” But I suspect most consumers would like to be better informed.

While generally adept at modern technology, we GenXers and Baby Boomers at DST admit we really weren’t raised on the stuff (unless you count the first-generation Atari!). So we turn to our college correspondent, Rachel, to provide a front-line report on how completely technology is ingrained 24/7 into the lives of her contemporaries. Here’s Rachel’s first in a series of posts educating us old fogies on Technology and the Gen Y set.

I can remember my first cell phone in all its bulky glory. It was 2000 and cell phones were still very much a novelty in the world of high school students. Calls were made in emergency situations only, and airtime was kept to a strict minimum.

Cox Communications introduced telephone service in Southern Nevada in true Vegas fashion. The city’s (figuratively) colorful mayor, Oscar Goodman, center, flanked by a (literally) colorful Vegas showgirl, was on hand to place the first official call using Cox Digital Telephone. Las Vegas marks the 22nd phone market for Cox, the nation's largest cable telephony provider, with 1.5 million customers. Cox first launched telephone service in 1997 in Orange County, Calif. In the West region, Cox's telephone service has received J.D. Power and Associates' highest honors for overall customer satisfaction for three consecutive years. Pictured at the Vegas launch: seated L-R: David Blau, vice president and general manager, Cox Business Services; Leo Brennan, regional vice president and general manager; and Steve Schorr, vice president of public and government affairs, both of Cox Communications, Las Vegas.

A lot of debate ensued from the Senate Commerce Committee's Open Forum on Decency last week. Much of the discussion has been on FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's renewed calls for cable channels to be offered a la carte and the promised report that should shed more light on the FCC's current thinking. Like the rest of the industry, we await the study. In the meantime, in case you didn't tune in on C-SPAN, here's a transcript of remarks delviered by NCTA President & CEO Kyle McSlarrow: Download McSlarrow Remarks.

Anyone who’s researched ISPs has seen a million variations of comparison charts, bar graphs and analogies. There’s no shortage of information comparing ISPs; however, myths still exist about cable technology. In this first in a series of posts, we'll dispell some of the most common myths and misconceptions about cable's high-speed Internet vs. DSL.