[kwlug-disc] Internet, Phone lines, TV. There can be only one?

[chaslinux at gmail.com]

Actually they have fallen for us, twice over the past couple of years with Teksavvy DSL. First there was a price drop then a drop on the dry loop fee. All told we pay about 9 bucks less than we did 2 years ago.


Blog: http://www.charlesmccolm.com/
Sent from my cell phone.

-----Original Message-----
From: unsolicited <unsolicited at swiz.ca>
Sender: "kwlug-disc" <kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org>
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 23:41:55 
To: KWLUG discussion<kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
Reply-To: KWLUG discussion <kwlug-disc at kwlug.org>
Subject: Re: [kwlug-disc] Internet, Phone lines, TV. There can be only one?

Yes, the concept has been going on for years now - it's called convergence.

Much like the paperless office.

It's why the carriers have been buying content - you need a reason to 
have to buy them, and not merely compete on price for the pipe. (As 
having to compete for only the pipe, based on price, will seriously 
erode their margins. And it has been. Thus their media campaigns and 
fighting tooth and nail every step of the way. Notice we're not much 
talking about tiered price range internet consumption any more - 
ultimately, eventually, and after everyone was exhausted with the issue, 
they lost their battle at the CRTC. So the real danger here is that they 
exhaust everyone, someone like Geist drops the ball / falls asleep at 
the wheel, people stop paying attention, and the incumbents squeak 
something through. And if they do, that squeak will become an 
ear-splitting cacophony. Their squeaks seem based in really big 'go big 
or go home' battles.)

The other battleground is the idea of a 4th national cell/data carrier. 
Solution: Let the newcomer drown, then buy them. Other solution: Buy the 
content so consumers can only mobilely scratch that itch via a long term 
cell/data contract. Note roaming rates dropped, not cell or data costs, 
and price increases happened across the board earlier this year.)

Digital TV and VoIP has made all of this 'just data'. Delivered via the 
internet.

The whole idea of HomePhone / FibeTV is nefarious - they use dedicated 
bandwidth off the same pipe. So much for the arguments that the pipes 
are only so big, or that there's not enough bandwidth for everyone.

Stop the nonsense - just give me my pipe, the WHOLE pipe, at the same or 
lesser cost. I'll worry about what goes over it, myself, thank you very 
much.

Yet, what about those who want a turnkey solution - the traditional TV 
remote they've always had. Not having to worry about whether that signal 
is coming in via satellite, cable, or internet?

I think the outstanding challenge is someone (FOSS, that is) bundling it 
all into a single cohesive, coherent, interface. Which is where Google 
may well come in. Control the interface, control the revenue stream, and 
the advertising opportunities. Thus Google will still have a choke hold 
on what succeeds and what doesn't. You can't be successful if you don't 
get carried.

Prices haven't fallen for TV or phone. Nor do I expect they ever will. 
(But they might not go up as fast as they might otherwise have.) Prices 
for long distance have fallen - due to competition.

I'm not too hopeful about lots of competition in this converged world.

Paperless Office? Still waiting. Convergence? Still waiting. My lifetime 
... probably not.


On 14-03-26 03:26 PM, Colin Mackay wrote:
> So the recent thread about voicemail got me wondering about the big three
> 'communications' portals in our lives.
>
> The recent upstarts of IPTV, the voip options and all the radio online...
> is this the beginning of the traditional models starting to coalesce into
> one?  It was always thought, or at least *I* always thought, that we'd
> eventually have a single service come into the home and provide all
> communications, be it one way or two way.
>
> Until recently, I never really thought about it.  Makes me wonder what the
> big guys will do when all they offer is internet services and we have the
> ability to get our TV, phone and radio all through 3rd parties.
>
> Does anyone think prices for TV will fall, as they have for phone?


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