Customers are increasingly installing home networks to connect not only multiple home computers, but also gaming consoles and television sets. For service providers that are trying to prepare for increasing demands on their networks, it is important to understand and anticipate the ways consumers are and will be using home networks. In analyzing the results of a recently concluded nationwide survey on this topic, Pike & Fischer has identified a number of demographic and behavioral trends in home networkin. We found, for example, that networked homes are less interested in social networking compared to the average Internet user, but are considerably more likely to use other forms of rich online media. This report outlines all of our findings and provides a forecast of the growth in home networks over the next five years. Seventeen charts and tables are included.

This recurring report details the pricing and marketing strategies of residential VoIP services. Companies covered include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, AT&T, Vonage, and Skype.

This is our third annual survey of communications industry executives, engineers, and consultants, along with government officials, journalists, and academicians who focus on the communications industry. This year’s survey centers on reactions, attitudes, and concerns related to the National Broadband Plan that the FCC released in March. We’ve found that industry professionals generally believe all forms of broadband technology should be given equal support in the implementation of the broadband plan, altough sizeable chunks of professionals view fiber networks and WiMAX as the most important platforms. Meanwhile, a slight majority of professionals support the FCC’s proposal to collect and publicize market-by-market information on broadband pricing and competition, according to our findings. Details on these and other results are illustrated in 15 charts and graphs.

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As demand for bandwidth increases, operators must decide on which technologies, tools, and techniques to use in order to optimize existing network bandwidth or to increase the total amount of capacity available on their networks. Part of this process involves anticipating the ways consumers are using broadband access, and how they’re likely to do so in the future. Pike & Fischer has conducted a nationwide consumer survey to find out what types of demands customers are putting on broadband networks already and to forecast how those demands will expand in the coming years. We’ve found that the heavy toll on bandwidth that providers have been fearing has yet to fully materialize. But we also found signals of a forthcoming onslaught on broadband wireline connections. This report also covers the typical bandwidth requirements of popular services and applications, and provides a forecast on the demand that will be placed on broadband networks over the next five years. Includes 19 tables and charts.

In this annual report, we closely examine the video/multimedia offerings and pricing schemes among the top wireless service providers: AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless. We rate each provider’s offerings on ease of use, price, value and variety of content. Verizon Wireless gets the highest overall ratings. The report also provides some guidance and qualitative projections on the mobile broadband market.

There is profound promise for the upgrade of the national electrical grid, especially in the wake of the Obama administration's $3.4 billion in dedicated stimulus funding. Given the additional current government emphasis on broadband expansion, it would seem that timing, technological symbiosis, and an influx of funds have created enormous potential for energy transformation fueled by broadband integration. The important role of broadband service providers in smart-grid technology is already being demonsrated in several parts of the United States, where power companies are connecting with legacy broadband networks in order to establish metering solutions. In this report, we detail a variety of broadband-related smart-grid initiatives, and offer projections on smart-grid spending and what it means for broadband service providers. Companies covered in the report include AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, Qwest, Clearwire, Qualcomm, and Cisco.

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High-definition TV sets are fast becoming a standard in U.S. households, driving further demand for HD content. HDTV providers are faced with a delicate balancing act of delivering the highest quality of video over finite bandwidth. Increasingly, multichannel video providers are facing the escalating burden of delivering multiple HD streams into the home. Our latest consumer research reveals the percentage of U.S. homes that actually have multiple HD sets, and how much HD programming they are watching. Ths report details our findings from that survey. We also provide forecasts on multi-HDTV households over the next five years and discuss how that will affect bandwidth optimization efforts and competitive dynamics in the multichannel video market. Eleven tables and charts are included.

As competition for residential and commercial bundled customers intensifies, customer satisfaction is becoming an increasingly critical differentiator for cable operators, satellite TV providers, and telcos seeking to gain share and retain existing customers. But with a few notable exceptions, consumers have ranked service providers poorly when it comes to quality of customer care. In this mature and competitive market, neither price leadership, technology nor content are viable long-term differentiators or service providers, making customer service a critical area of focus and investment. This report provides an in-depth analysis of the growing demands for quality of customer care. We provide details on various service providers’ rankings on customer satisfaction studies, and deliver actionable guidance on moving customer service from a cost center to a significant contributor to ongoing profitability.

WiFi is no longer just a way to wirelessly connect a laptop to the Internet in coffee shops and airports. Today, WiFi has become so entrenched in vendor and service provider strategies that it is being embedded into every type of device with the remotest reason to connect to the Internet. It is showing up in smartphones, cameras, home entertainment devices, and even refrigerators. And it is becoming a vital way to offload excess traffic on mobile networks. This report examines the evolution of WiFi, and details the devices and services that will emerge over the next two to three years.

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Broadband connectivity has enabled more and more consumers to engage in multiplayer gaming, which could lead to annual subscription revenues of more than $5 billion within the next five years. And even free-to-play games create significant opportunity for the generation of revenue through digital goods sales. The increasing richness, complexity, and bandwidth intensity of online gaming provides broadband service providers with an opportunity to attract a growing base of gaming enthusiasts to higher-speed(and higher-priced) Internet tiers, resulting in a boost to average revenue per unit. This report examines the U.S market opportunity that online gaming provides broadband service providers, and includes projections on users and annual gaming subscription revenues through 2014. Six tables and charts are included.

Cable and telephone companies could see some new customer growth in 2010 as home sales begin to pick up. But with the jobless rate expected to remain above 10%, consumers will continue to look for ways to cut their spending, which could mean lower ARPU for service providers. In this report, we offer more details on these trends and provide our forecasts on customer growth for new multichannel video services, residential high-speed Internet, IP telephony, and the features and applications that ride on those technologies. Among our projections is a forecast of 77 million or more U.S. broadband-connected homes by yearend, representing 65.5% of total households.

With the backing of several top cable operators and technology partners, Clearwire is aiming to build out a nationwide, data-focused fixed-mobile wireless broadband network using WiMAX technology. But the company faces a variety of challenges, including a lack of device subsidies and the coming competition from the alternative 4G standard, LTE. This report examines Clearwire’s services and device strategy, its partnerships, and its financial status. We also provide a forecast on Clearwire’s subscriber base and revenues, and an outlook on the impact that LTE’s emergence will have on Clearwire’s competitive strength and on WiMAX as a whole. Five tables and charts are included.

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While residential high-speed Internet pricing has been relatively stable in 2009, the race to deliver faster data rates to customers continues to heat up. The expansion of telco fiber-optic network deployments has pushed cable operators to step up their broadband speeds--increasingly via the new DOCSIS 3.0 technology that can enable downstream data rates of up to 100 Mbps. Cablevision’s new 101-Mbps service tier is delivering the most throughput for the dollar, according to our annual analysis of high-speed Internet pricing and promotions. This report includes in-depth examinations of the broadband pricing, bundling, and marketing strategies of the top service providers, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Cablevision, Charter, Bright House, Qwest, AT&T, and Verizon. The report ranks each provider by maximum speeds provided and by price points, and includes more than 20 tables and charts of data and analysis.

The cable industry has positioned advanced advertising as a key growth story as traditional services mature and revenue growth slows. But cable operators have struggled to launch their advanced advertising initiatives, largely because of various technology and business challenges but also because the recession has prompted advertisers to scale back on spending. These factors will delay the contribution of advanced advertising to bottom lines for the foreseeable future. In this report, we update our analyis of the market, examine recent activity, and provide our adjusted forecast for U.S. cable operator advertising revenue through 2014.

The Obama administration has earmarked billions of dollars from the economic stimulus initiative for telemedicine-related programs. And telehealth technology figures prominently in President Obama’s vision of a reformed national healthcare system. These factors stand to establish 2010 as an unprecedented year for telehealth investment and development, which will create a market landscape of opportunity and innovation. In this report, Pike & Fischer provides descriptions on the latest solutions offered b the top U.S. wireless carriers, mobile virtual network operators, cable operators, and application developers as they apply to both professional and consumer end-users. Additionally, we offer 5-year annual revenue forecasts on telemedicine-related spending.

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The iPhone partnership between Apple and AT&T has sparked a federal inquiry into exclusive partnerships between carriers and mobile device manufacturers. Public interest groups argue and rural carriers say the exclusive alliances are anti-competitive, while the big carriers say such arrangements foster innovations and keep hardware prices low. In this analysis, Pike & Fischer concludes that wireless carriers and handset manufacturers need to prepare for a market environment that--at the very least--imits exclusive handset agreements. Reliance on hardware as a primary differentiating factor within a service- and content-driven industry weakens a competitive platform over time. This report provides in-depth analysis of the handset exclusivity debate and our predictions and recommendations on carrier-manufacturer partnerships.

This recurring report details the pricing and marketing strategies of residential VoIP services. Companies covered include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, AT&T, Vonage, and Lingo.

Bandwidth is a precious commodity these days, and that’s prompting the cable industry to assess the evolution of its network infrastructure. Cable operators are confronting the need to support hundreds of channels of high-definition TV content and the explosion of high bit rate applications such as Internet video streaming and peer-to-peer applications. As demand for bandwidth increases, operators must decide on which technologies, tools and techniques to use in order to optimize existing network bandwidh or to increase the total amount of capacity available on their networks. This report provides a forward-looking overview of the key issues related to the most-high-profile of the bandwidth expansion and optimization technologies in use or under evaluation by U.S. cable MSOs.

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Commercial services, especially those delivered to small- and medium-sized enterprises, are an increasingly critical imperative for U.S. cable operators. The revenue and margins delivered by these services will be the main growth engine for the industry over the next few years. In this report, we update our forecast of cable commercial services revenues. We also provide an overview of the commercial services strategies of the leading operators, and analyze their existing and emerging capabilities. Fnally, we detail the critical success factors for the cable industry in targeting the SMB opportunity.

Rural telephone company CenturyTel’s $11.6 billion acquisition of Embarq, completed July 1, creates the fourth largest incumbent local exchange carrier in the country. The newly formed company, CenturyLink, serves 33 states, with 7.5 million phone lines, and 2.1 million high-speed Internet subscribers. The combined company will also serve roughly 440,000 video customers — most of them receiving satellite TV service through DISH Network as part of a co-marketing partnership. Pike & Fischer believes the newy formed company will gain minimal market traction in the consumer space and could very well suffer from a shrinking customer base and pricing pressure that will threaten its long-term sustainability. In this report, we provide details on our conclusions, along with a forecast on CenturyLink customer growth over the next several quarters.

This is our second annual survey of communications industry executives, engineers and consultants, along with government officials, journalists, and academicians who focus on the communications industry. This year’s survey centers on the impact that the recession is having on the communications industry, and on sentiments about the way the Obama administration and Congress are working to expand broadband availability across the country. More than half of respondents say they expect, with the federal government now providing grants to fuel broadband deployment, that the nation will achieve universal broadband availability within the next five to 10 years. But one-fourth of participants believe it will take more than a decade to reach that benchmark. And WiMAX is by far considered the emerging technology that will generate the biggest change in communications market dynamics over the course of the year. Details on these and other results are illustrated in more than 20 charts and graphs.

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IPTV as a broad consumer solution is at a very early and arguably primitive stage in its development. Standards need to be developed, interoperability addressed and capital costs investigated. Dense urban areas or regions with an established fiber footprint will experience an earlier deployment—perhaps in the three-to-five-year range. In the meantime, a number of over-the-top video providers will latch onto available broadband networks with proprietary solutions that will promise to be “disruptive” to both legacy and IPTV offerings. However, P&F contends that proprietary solutions risk eventual obsolescence or buyout as fiber network and IPTV deployments manifest on a widespread scale. This report provides an outlook on the network buildouts, customer demand and opportunities in the IPTV-enabled world.

This report compares the business-class VoIP offers from six carriers, detailing both the services for large enterprises and SMBs. We then project the market opportunity out to 2013, forecasting both numbers of business-class VoIP lines and resulting revenues. We predict that AT&T, Verizon and Qwest will capture the biggest share of large enterprises as VoIP customers, but will face competition in the SMB space from a variety of new entrants. Fourteen tables and charts are included.

Cutbacks in home communications and entertainment services have yet to emerge as a measurable trend, despite the ongoing recession. This nationwide survey indicates that most consumers are spending the same amount on phone, Internet and multichannel video as they’ve spent in the past. Respondents say they would rather keep Internet, video and voice services in their budgets than any other type of expense, including gym memberships, personal care products and apparel. But the results also point to customers becoming more aware of ways to spend less on those services, such as converting to lower-priced Internet service tiers or watching TV shows online for free. This report provides details on our survey findings, including a rich array of demographic variables and predictions about customer behavior over the remainder of 2009. Thirty-nine charts are included.

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A deepening recession has raised questions concerning the fate of the multichannel video market, as free and low-priced online content is hyped as a major threat to linear television programming and cable operators' video-on-demand and DVR services. In a just-completed consumer survey, Pike & Fischer has found that consumers have no plans to cut back their spending on multichannel video services this year, although many are opting against buying premium packages or VOD movies. Households that reported watching Web-based video on a regular basis were in fact the most likely respondents to say they will keep their traditional multichannel video service. This report details our survey findings, including a variety of demographic information about Web video usage, and provides an outlook on how cable operators are responding to the rise of online video. Twenty-one tables and charts are included.

As cable operators prepare their networks for both rapidly increasing bandwidth demands and competition from telephone company fiber builds, they are upgrading to the DOCSIS 3.0 standard, which adds a number of features to the industry's existing high-speed-data capabilities. This report examines the current state of this DOCSIS 3.0 upgrade and provides a forecast of the pace at which cable operators in the United States will deploy DOCSIS 3.0 services. We conclude that the top cable operators will have DOCSIS 3.0 covering 100% of homes passed by the end of 2013, and that MSOs can significantly shorten the time to achieve a return on their DOCSIS 3.0 investments by aggressively targeting business customers. Five tables and charts are included.

Suffering from financial losses stemming from a stalled WiFi strategy, a failed stake in a mobile virtual network operator, and an inability to expand its broadband subscriber base, EarthLink is left with few viable options for growth. In order to maintain any amount of business sustainability, the company has been forced to trim costs and focus on retaining its remaining customer base. In this analysis, we examine EarthLink’s recent operational performance and its future strategic options, with an emphasis on its potential in the commercial services arena. Four charts and tables are included.

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Over the past five years multichannel video providers have been increasingly competing on the breadth of their high-definition content, as more and more consumers buy HD-capable televisions. So far, DirecTV has held a distinct advantage over its rivals in terms of its number of HD channels, but that is quickly changing. Some providers have clearly assembled both the physical plant and the contracts with content owners to provide more HD content than their competitors. But in a new analysis, we find that the HD content and pricing varies significantly from provider to provider, and from region to region. In this report we analyze the HD packaging and pricing strategies in a representative sample of markets. Providers covered in this study include DirecTV, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Cox Communications and more. We include 20 charts and tables.

The next generation of the World Wide Web will evolve rapidly and dynamically over the next few years as the Internet infrastructure develops and expands. New technologies and applications such as intelligent search, cloud computing and ubiquitous connectivity will dramatically impact the business practices of broadband service providers. The time for investigation into so-called “Web 3.0” applications is now. This report provides forward-looking insights and analysis of the next-generation Web to arm the reader with greater situational awareness. We also identify some of the companies and individuals who will be key players in the new Web environment, including Google, IBM, Microsoft, Apple and AT&T.

The cable industry and telephone companies are facing some unsettling prospects in terms of customer growth and revenue increases – all the result of the economic downturn. Consumers are spending less as their job security becomes more tenuous and their discretionary income plummets. This stands to put a damper on spending for communications products and services in 2009. In this report, we offer more details on these trends and provide our forecasts on customer growth for new multichannel video services, high-speed Internet, IP telephony, and the features and applications that ride on those technologies. Among our projections is a forecast of 5.7 million new broadband households - down 12% from 2008 levels. The report includes 11 charts and tables.

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Cable operators have continued keeping broadband prices relatively stable while steadily increasing data rates, and are using short-term discounting and entry-level tiers to attract price-sensitive customers and compete with generally lower DSL prices. But Verizon’s FiOS service, which operates over a fiber-to-the-home network, is delivering the most speed for the dollar on both the downstream and upstream, according to our annual analysis of high-speed Internet pricing and promotions. This report icludes in-depth examinations of the broadband pricing, bundling and marketing strategies of the top service providers, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox,Cablevision, Charter, Bright House, Qwest, AT&T and Verizon. The report ranks each provider by maximum speeds provided and by price points, and includes 20 tables and charts of data and analysis.

Residential subscriptions to VoIP service have been growing dramatically in the past few quarters, even as the growth in uptake of other advanced home communications services slows down. We are forecasting that VoIP-connected households should exceed 25 million by the end of the decade, and will grow at about 14% annually over the next few years. In this report, we offer more detailed forecasts plus an analysis of the various residential VoIP services on the market.

The level of quality, realism and interactivity of online games has improved considerably in recent years, resulting in richly detailed worlds that feature virtual communities. We believe the evolution of online gaming presents an opportunity for some broadband service providers to tailor packages toward a growing customer base and thus benefit from service premiums and the resulting boost in ARPU. We forecast that the online gaming market will generate annual revenues nearing $2 billion by the end of the decade. In this report, we provide a detailed overview of the online gaming industry and project revenues and global market share out to 2013. We also provide a case study of a popular online game, and detail the opportunities and risks such games create for service providers.

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The cable industry hopes to increase its advertising revenue to as much as $15 billion a year once it has effectively deployed standardized advanced advertising technology capable of supporting addressable, interactive advertising on a wide scale. A number of the largest cable MSOs have invested in Canoe Ventures, a joint venture focused on the development of advanced advertising capabilities to enable marketers to reach very specific subsets of viewers with their messages. But the ultimate value of theinvestments in these advertising technologies will be significantly less than the industry is hoping. In this detailed analysis we examine cable’s new advertising initiatives, and provide a forecast of advertising revenue growth over the next five years.

Femtocells, mobile network base stations for residential or small business environments, pose a technology conundrum for the telecommunications industry. Optimistically, hundreds of thousands or millions of the devices could be built and installed in consumer residences and small businesses within the next several years, fueling the widespread adoption of 3G broadband over mobile devices. On the other hand, femtos could end up being simply niche home antennas that boost in-building mobile signals ad offload backhaul traffic onto the incumbent broadband network. In this report, we outline the market opportunities and technical hurdles involved in femtocell deployments, detail the femto plans among the nation’s top mobile and wireline carriers, and explore the role that femtos will play in 4G network deployments.

Mobile technology is proving to be a major cost and time saver in the medical environment, and as a result, represents a significant evolutionary step in the field of modern medical treatment and preventive care. This technology allows specialists to triage, diagnose and monitor remote medical cases by viewing data and images conveyed wirelessly to their location. We project this market for health-related mobile services and devices will exceed $1.8 billion by 2013. In this report, we examine the current market environment, the applications offered by the top U.S. wireless carriers and MVNOs, as well as those applications provided by dedicated third-party developers. Furthermore, we examine some of the risks and implications associated with telemedicine, and the robust opportunities available to new entrants to the market.

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Cable, satellite TV and now even telephone companies have been heavily promoting a variety of new video services, ranging from high-definition TV to movies on demand. But communications industry leaders believe the best way to attract and keep customers is by providing the fastest Internet speeds, according to this survey of executives, engineers, consultants, academics, and regulators. The study also discloses what communications executives are planning this year in terms of marketing and sales, capital expenditures, pricing and more. The survey also sheds light on the industry's biggest regulatory concerns as the Bush Administration winds down, and which of the presidential candidates is winning the most favor from the industry. The report includes 28 charts and graphs.

This recurring report details the pricing and marketing strategies of residential VoIP services. Companies covered include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Verizon, AT&T, Vonage, and Lingo.

This report compares the business-class VoIP offers from six carriers, detailing both the services for large enterprises and SMBs. We then project the market opportunity out to 2012, forecasting both numbers of business-class VoIP lines and resulting revenues. We predict that AT&T, Verizon and Qwest will capture the biggest share of large enterprises as VoIP customers, but will face competition in the SMB space from a variety of new entrants. Nine tables and charts are included.

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Multichannel service providers are looking for various ways to monetize high-definition TV, including premium HD channels, on-demand HD movies, and HD DVR rentals. In this report, we examine how the advent of HD service has helped service providers with customer growth and retention, and how those providers plan to employ HD in their marketing strategies in 2008 and beyond. And we offer our forecast for the multichannel HDTV market. As part of our forecast, we conclude that annual revenues from HD services could top $2.6 billion by 2012.

In this report we closely examine the video/multimedia offerings and pricing schemes among the top wireless service providers, including AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel. We rate each provider’s offerings on ease of use, price, value and variety of content. AT&T and Verizon Wireless get the highest overall ratings.

This report outlines our recently completed research examining the market for mobile device management among North American enterprises. More than 90% of enterprise mobile applications spending is now focused on mobile email and messaging, but the percentage of spending on mobilizing other critical enterprise applications -- many of them broadband-optimized -- will increase rapidly over the next five years, according to our forecast. We predict that by 2012, spending on mobilizing such applications as customer-relations management and sales-force automation will exceed $10 billion annually.

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Apple’s introduction of an online movie rental service through iTunes will enable consumers to view Web-based video on their televisions. The service uses the Apple TV set-top box, which the company hopes will heat up what so far have been lackluster sales of the device. In this competitor profile, we assess the opportunities and risks that Apple faces with the new iTunes venture -- especially its chances of competing against growing ibraries of video-on-demand services from multichannel video providers.

With many rural locations still unable to receive DSL or cable modem service, satellite broadband provides a higher-speed alternative to dial-up services. This report examines the market opportunity for satellite broadband providers as the demand for dial-up alternatives expands in rural markets. In our analysis, we project that the satellite broadband market should reach fewer than 1.3 million subscribers by 2011. We also examine the revenue potential of satellite-based services. The report includes 9 charts and graphs.

This report offers up Pike & Fischer's projections for the coming year on competitive developments in the broadband services market. It includes forecasts on subscriber growth for various services and qualitative analysis of the impact that new applications such as mobile broadband applications, high-definition TV and VoIP will have on the marketplace. We also provide an outlook on how service providers will tailor their marketing messages this year to consumers worried about the economy. Eight bar and pie charts are included.

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With the recent resignation of Sprint Nextel CEO Gary Forsee raising speculation as to the long term prospects of Sprint Nextel’s WiMAX effort, Xohm, and news that Clearwire has delayed its WiMAX rollout in at least one market, we take a look at how these developments, along with the demise of the Sprint Nextel/Clearwire WiMAX partnership, could affect the future of services riding on the next-generation wireless technology. We provide our views of the likely success factors and challenges for WiMAX initiatives over the next 12 – 18 months.

BitTorrent has begun licensing its file distribution technology to third-party content distributors under the service name BitTorrent DNA (Delivery Network Accelerator.) This allows the distributed downloading of broadband content via a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol. This Competitor Profile examines BitTorrent’s strategy aimed at shedding its reputation as a popular tool for illegal sharing of proprietary content, and what challenges the company faces in communicating the value of its service.

This report provides a detailed and up-to-date analysis of the high-speed Internet pricing, bundling and marketing strategies of the top providers, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Cablevision, Charter, Insight, Mediacom, Qwest, AT&T and Verizon. The report ranks each provider by maximum speeds provided and by price points, and includes 18 tables of data and analysis. It will also examine the impact that the emergence of telco fiber-optic services, mainly Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-vrse, are having on cable offerings and strategies.

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Nokia has recently made a series of strategic moves aimed at stretching beyond its hardware focus into the consumer services market. Recent acquisitions and partnerships are enabling the company to offer consumers a robust suite of music, video, gaming, content-sharing and location-based services. Furthermore, the company’s introduction of new phones designed to fully exploit the mobile broadband multimedia experience makes it a prime competitor to the AT&T/Apple iPhone alliance. In this Competitor Profie, we examine the opportunities and risks behind Nokia’s new strategy.

This is the first in a series of brief, actionable reviews of strategic initiatives and business models among key players in the advanced communications market. Here, we examine the opportunities and risks that Sprint Nextel faces in its aggressive WiMAX deployment initiative, and what steps the company must make to get a solid return on its investment in the technology.

In this report, we discuss the current state of the telco-DBS partnerships, examine their historic and forecasted impact on subscriber growth for both industries, and analyze the likely long-term strategic moves that DBS providers will make to offset a declining contribution from the telco partnerships moving forward. Five charts and tables are included.

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Service providers are now eager to develop new business models for on-demand services. Comcast, for example, has had talks with some Hollywood studios about the possibility of delivering movies on demand on the same day they are released in theaters. Some executives project that multichannel video will eventually become all on-demand. This Market Intelligence Brief provides some current statistics on VOD usage, outlines the VOD strategies of the top multichannel video providers, and projects the growth of video-on-demand consumption over the next five years – and what that will mean in terms of revenue opportunities.

Comcast says the new federal ban on integrated set-top boxes will limit its ability to develop or introduce new, advanced services. The company is going to court to challenge the FCC’s refusal to grant a waiver on the requirement. This market intelligence brief assesses Comcast’s ultimate chances for success in its appeal, and the impact this may have on the company’s digital cable pricing.

The integration of GPS navigation services with social networking applications, rich media, and user-generated content will create a host of easily monetized location-based services (LBS). But the top five U.S. wireless carriers have yet to implement a comprehensive and value-added LBS strategy. Nevertheless, our forecasts suggest that by 1Q 08, the market will witness the widespread use of applications that allow users to locate points of interest based upon customized profiles, as well as track and intract with other like-minded users. This market brief will analyze the current LBS strategies of the top five US mobile carriers, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint-Nextel, T-Mobile, and Alltel; as well as emerging LBS technologies, Mobile Web 2.0 integration, and industry standards. Lastly, this brief will examine prospective LBS service models and provide relevant competitive, revenue, and market analysis.

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A number of emerging mobile applications will be significant drivers of revenue growth in the wireless services market. Many of these applications – particularly those that rely on mobile broadband technology -- will redefine the competitive position and strength of key players in the market. This analysis discusses the content, services, and applications employed and planned by the key players in the U.S. wireless market, and assesses the strengths, weaknesses, and potential for success of each. The report also includes predictions on the competitive dynamics that will result from the emergence of mobile broadband services. AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Verizon, T-Mobile, Alltel, and others are covered.

In this follow-up to our recently published report, Cable Commercial-Services Strategies, Pike & Fischer provides its preliminary forecast of U.S. Cable MSO commercial services revenue m small and medium-sized businesses through 2012. It includes forecast for each of the top cable operators as well as an overall total. Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Insight, Mediacom, TWC, & others are included.

In this report we explore the economics, prospects and potential impacts of Verizon’s FiOS deployment. Our analysis includes comparisons with Verizon’s chief cable competitors. We also look into the future of FiOS by considering the potential expansion of availability, subscriber growth, ARPU, revenue and EBITDA, and how these are likely to impact overall revenues. We then consider these revenue-side factors in relation to FiOS capital costs, to explore potential payback scenarios and the key factors lkely to determine which of these scenarios become a reality. Potential competitive impacts of FiOS on cable customer counts and revenue are also included.

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In this report, we offer details on developments in the broadband services market and provide our updated year-end forecasts on customer growth for new multichannel video services, high-speed Internet, IP telephony, and the features and applications that ride on those technologies. Influencing factors that we examine include the growth of telco-delivered television service, the cable industry’s pursuit of commercial business, the impact of the Verizon/Vonage litigation over VoIP patents and the growing array of mobile multimedia and converged services. Included are eight bar and pie charts showing projected subscriber numbers and market share in various service categories.

The nation's top cable operators are launching a long-anticipated push to develop and deploy a commercial services portfolio focused on the small and mid-sized business (SMB) segment. In attacking this multibillion dollar opportunity, cable companies have fundamental decisions to make regarding technology solutions, the types of customers to target, the channel partners they will leverage in reaching those customers, and service portfolios to market through those channels. This 30+ page report provides an overview of the commercial services strategies of the leading operators, analyzes their existing and emerging capabilities, and details the critical success factors for the cable industry in targeting the SMB opportunity.

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The FCC is in the final stages of deciding if and how to authorize use of the TV broadcast "white space," which it could make available by early 2009. In this first-of-its-kind paradigm, we propose a detailed white space policy designed to maximize the amount of spectrum made available for “community” broadband networks. We highlight the federal government's historic opportunity to directly and fully serve the public interest. And as a final exercise, we consider the potential impact that our proposed free public networks would have on incumbents’ revenues.

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Purchase Helio: EarthLink's Jinxed Mobile Play; Joost: The Good and the Not So Good; and The TiVo Brand: Life Beyond the DVR as a package and save.

This Market Intelligence Brief details our forecasts on the chances of Helio, EarthLink's joint venture with SK Telecom, surviving in the tenuous MVNO market. The report specifically examines EarthLink's ability to continue absorbing Helio losses.

In this Market Intelligence Brief, we detail the features available in the beta version of this online video entertainment service, and recommend steps the venture should take to differentiate itself from traditional TV. A list of the channels available on Joost beta is included.

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This market intelligence brief examines TiVo’s latest efforts to alter its business model and product offerings as its signature DVR hardware succumbs to increased competition. The report takes a specific look at the Amazon Unbox on TiVo, and deals with Verizon Wireless and AT&T to provide the first services that allow customers to peruse TV listings and program their home TiVo boxes from their cell phones.

The proliferation of user-generated online video has had a significant impact on Internet marketing methods, business models and copyright law. This report provides a snapshot of the current players in the user-generated video market and examines them onthe basis of their respective content type, ownership and business model. We examine how various social media Web sites are differentiating their content and features. The analysis supports Pike & Fischer's conclusion that the market for user-generated content is approaching the glut stage and will undergo significant consolidation within the next three years.

On March 8th, A federal jury found that Vonage Holdings infringed on three Verizon patents, fueling speculation that the company could have to shut down its VoIP service. This report analyzes the impact that this case will have on Vonage as well as otherindependent VoIP providers, and explains why the jury verdict will generate increased adoption of cable phone service.

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Yahoo's expansion into mobile content delivery and broadband video -- as well as a number of other initiatives -- may better position the company to compete with Google, AOL and other established and burgeoning Web sites vying for advertising dollars. This report explores a number of factors that will play a role in Yahoo's success in its strategic plan. Ten charts and tables are included.

This analysis examines the status of AT&T’s new U-verse rollout, including the company’s pricing, technology and regulatory strategies for expanding the new service. The report includes initial customer metrics and outlines systems-integration challengesthat the company faces as it builds the network that will carry U-verse services. We conclude that AT&T will be forced to significantly increase its investment in network infrastructure as U-verse scales. The report includes valuable qualitative forecasts, our recommendations to the company regarding its overall strategy for the service, and AT&T's responses to our conclusions.

The new Apple TV and forthcoming iPhone stand to have a revolutionary impact on the consumer electronics and communications industries. This report provides a concise, actionable analysis of the impact those products will have on the markets for consumerelectronics, home networking services and mobile broadband services. Our SWOT analysis examines the role that these devices will play in the evolution of Apple Inc.’s highly popular iTunes store; and the competition they pose to cable operators, telcos,wireless service providers, and other CE vendors.

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This report provides an in-depth examination of bundled-service market dynamics as they have unfolded in the residential telecommunications market, with forecasts on how those dynamics will evolve. We compare both the cable and telephone carrier sectorson their marketing and pricing strategies in deploying triple-play service bundles over the last few years, and how the addition of wireless services is affecting the competition. The report documents why the major phone carriers will need to continue investing in major network upgrades to compete against cable in the delivery of multichannel video and future video-capable “converged” services. The report includes more than 25 charts and tables.

This report offers up Pike & Fischer's projections for the coming year on developments in the broadband services market. It includes forecasts on subscriber growth for various services and qualitative analysis of the impact that new applications such as user-generated content, mobile video technology and IP telephony will have on the marketplace. Ten bar and pie charts are included.

This report provides a detailed and up-to-date analysis of the high-speed Internet pricing strategies of the top U.S. cable operators, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Cablevision, Charter, Insight, Mediacom, Bright House and Cable One. The report provides detailed charts and tables on each provider's pricing structure, speed tiers and special promotions.

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This report provides a detailed and up-to-date analysis of the DSL pricing and marketing strategies of the top telcos, including AT&T, Verizon, BellSouth, Qwest, Embarq and Windstream. The report compares each provider on price, number of service tiers and special promotions. Seven tables and charts of data and analysis are included.

The widespread adoption of high-speed Internet services has allowed for the leveraging of rich online media content as a sales and marketing delivery system. And the popularity of social networking sites such as MySpace, Friendster and Facebook and others has proved a boon to interactive marketing. This report analyzes the demographics of such Web destinations as MySpace and Facebook, the various rich-media advertising methods being employed on those sites, and the long-term prospects for online advertising in the social-networking space. Eight tables and charts are included.

Click-to-talk (CTT) incorporates Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology into e-Commerce sites and Web portals, providing online shoppers with a way to immediately connect to sales or customer-service representatives. But will consumers embrace it? This report examines the potential impact that CTT communications will have on electronic commerce as the number of residential broadband connections expands. The analysis examines companies like eBay, Google and Amazon, all of whom are integrating CTT srvices into their Web sites. Five charts are included.

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The FCC's auction of advanced wireless services spectrum ended in September, with 104 bidders winning 1,087 licenses. In this report we review in detail those AWS licenses and the winning bidders, including rankings using various metrics. We include a variety of charts, tables and maps to lay out the new landscape of wireless spectrum licenses.

This report provides a detailed and up-to-date analysis of the high-speed Internet pricing, bundling and marketing strategies of the top providers, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Cablevision, Charter, Insight, Mediacom, Bright House, Cable One, BellSouth, Qwest, AT&T and Verizon. The report ranks each provider by maximum speeds provided and by price points, and includes 18 tables of data and analysis.

Virginia-based overbuilder RCN announced is thought to be exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sell-out. RCN's low debt and position in key markets make it a likely acquisition target. In this report, we explore the company's financialstatus, and the benefits and challenges that a potential buyer would encounter. Six tables and charts are included.

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Following on Verizon's latest data on subscriptions to its new FiOS product, this report projects unit growth and market penetration for the fiber-to-the-premises service over the next several years. This concise analysis also offers insight on how legislation and technology developments could affect the long-term success of FiOS. Five charts are included.

Wireless broadband upstart Clearwire has a new $900 million investment from Intel and Motorola and plans to participate in the FCC auction of Advanced Wireless Services licenses. In this report, we examine the evolution of Clearwire, its market deployments, and its spectrum, sales and VoIP rollout strategies. We also explore the possibility of Clearwire allying with DirecTV and EchoStar. Included are 15 tables and charts.

Local governments across the country are launching their own broadband services for consumers and businesses. In the near term, these municipal networks don't appear to pose much of a threat to commercial providers. But if cities achieve even modest success in delivering broadband, it could make Wall Street nervous about the long-term prospects for incumbent providers. This in-depth report examines the muni-broadband movement, including current deployments and initiatives, policy issues, and the potential impact that various muni-broadband models could have on commercial providers' revenues. The analysis includes 15 tables and charts.

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This broadband phone company's financial status, long-term business prospects, and plans for an IPO are examined in-depth. We explore the escalating competition that Vonage faces from facilities-based providers and ISPs, and whether its business model can survive the evolution of the residential VoIP market. The report includes updated financial and operational data on the company.

This report examines the maximum broadband speeds available throughout the world, and includes a region-by-region comparison of the prices that consumers pay for that throughput. Our analysis identifies the regions where consumers are receiving the fastest speeds at the lowest price. Four tables and charts are included.

An emerging broadband technology, IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystems), promises to dramatically simplify advanced communications services for consumers. As envisioned, IMS will allow IP-based services to transfer seamlessly from fixed to mobile networks. To service providers, this means giving users unlimited access to voice, video and data across multiple networks. But IMS faces a variety of technical challenges. This report examines the technology’s potential and its obstacles, and details the IMS businessplans of service providers and vendors. It includes a comprehensive primer on the technology and the applications it will enable.

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Electric utilities control the only other third wire into American homes after cable and phone service. But can utilities effectively use their lines to deliver broadband service reliably and cost-effectively? In this report, we consider key aspects of BPL's evolution, current status and likely future development. We provide an overview of BPL technology and a comparative review of its vendors. We also examine BPL business models, trials and commercial deployments; utility attitudes and motivations with regard to BPL; and BPL regulation at the federal and state levels. Cinergy, Current Communications, TXU Electric, Consumer’s Energy, Lighthouse Broadband, ComTek and Lebanon Utilities are among those companies profiled.

AT&T's March 5th acquisition announcement has industry-wide ramifications. AT&T stands to become the largest U.S. provider of high-speed Internet service. What does it mean for other providers, such as Verizon and Time Warner? How will it affect the rollout of advanced services such as IPTV and VoIP? These questions and more are examined in our in-depth analysis. Seven charts and graphs are included.

EarthLink's plan to evolve from a typical ISP to a multi-faceted communications company is examined in-depth. We conclude that the company's best prospects are in the mesh Wi-Fi market. The report includes detailed financial and operational data.

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This broadband phone company's financial status, long-term business prospects, and plans for an IPO are examined in-depth. We explore the escalating competition that Vonage faces from facilities-based providers and ISPs, and whether its business model can survive the evolution of the residential VoIP market. The report includes financial and operational data on the company.

This report details the state of the market for mobile wireless broadband services, also referred to as third-generation (3G) wireless. Data points include pricing, projected growth in the number of households using mobile broadband and an overview of mobile services, including over-the-air video and music downloads and streaming. Companies profiled include Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Cingular and Motorola.

This report details the state of the market for Wi-Fi connectivity, both in the form of home networks and at public hotspots. Data points include projected growth in the number of home Wi-Fi units, plus hotspot market share. Companies covered in the report include T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, Wayport and Boingo.

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This report details the state of the market for wireless broadband services, including 3G, Wi-Fi and WiMAX. Data points include projected growth in the number of mobile broadband homes, an overview of mobile video services, barriers to entry and trends regarding consumer adoption. Included are profiles of over a dozen companies, including T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and SK EarthLink.

This report provides a detailed and up to date analysis of the broadband service pricing, bundling and marketing strategies of the top providers, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Cablevision, Charter, Adelphia, Insight, Mediacom, Bright House, Cable One, RCN, BellSouth, Qwest, SBC and Verizon. 18 tables of data and analysis are included.

This report outlines the current statistics on VOD viewing, provides overviews of deployments and content offerings from top multichannel service providers, and offers some projections on the growth of video on demand consumption – and what that will mean in terms of revenues for service providers.

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This five page brief presents a tabular comparison and overview of the regulatory structures governing multichannel video programming provision by cable television companies and by satellite video programming providers.

This three page brief provides a concise descriptive overview of the projected growth of residential VoIP subscriber for the next five years. Among the projections presented are total number of VoIP-enabled households and total number of VoIP-enabled households by service type (cable, telco, access industry).

This report provides an overview of the initiatives by broadband providers to extend their Internet and video services beyond their primary platforms to multiple devices around the home.

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This report status outlines the status of digital copyright law, including the landmark U.S. Supreme Court MGM vs. Grokster decision, and examines the efforts by technology companies, broadband service providers and content owners to secure the rich media that they deliver to customers. The report offers service providers and content owners insights on how laws are being updated to protect creative works, and what technologies and business models are being employed to prevent or minimize illegal copying a copying a copying a copying a copying a copying a copying and distribution of that intellectual property.

This report examines the heated competition between phone companies and cable operators to include high-speed Internet access, landline phone service, mobile voice service and multichannel video into their bundled service offerings.

This report examines the various delivery technologies being deployed or under development to deliver advanced video services over the Internet. The analysis covers such delivery options as FTTx, future versions of DSL, advanced codecs, wireless technologies and security solutions. It also profiles video-over-IP initiatives being undertaken by telcos and cable operators.

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Detailed examination of the status of on-demand programming initiatives. The report covers traditional video-on-demand, digital video recording and web-based delivery of video entertainment.

Examines the current status of FTTP deployments and analyzes the strategies, costs and market prospects of FTTP and other fiber-rich architectures being developed and deployed by ILECs.

This report examines the expanding deployments and evolving business models in the Wi-Fi and wireless ISP sectors, and the competitive significance of these sectors in the wider broadband market.

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Detailed analyses of customer growth, capital spending, cash flow and debt levels of the top cable and telephone companies. Over 25 tables of analysis are included.

Overview of the complex trends shaping the rise and future of wireless and mobile broadband, including latest activities in the market and how the competing wireless technologies are lining up.

Detailed analysis of broadband service pricing, bundling and marketing strategies of the top providers. Based on analysis of 25 high-speed Internet options offered by 14 top broadband providers.

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Examination of the deployments and strategies of leading companies in key industry sectors targeting the nascent VoIP market. Both new VoIP-centric players and traditional incumbents are covered.

Overview of complex trends feeding the rise of this new medium, including how major players are bringing video and interactive programming to the web and a review of the obstacles that these players face.

A detailed guide to understanding VoIP technologies, economics and potential and current state-of-play. Includes an overview of what VoIP is, what it can do and how it is emerging in the marketplace. Regulatory issues and snapshots of the deployment of services by the top corporate players is also covered.

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