The Edgeware Blog

At CommunicAsia 2011 in Singapore BT’s Sean Bergin chided operators for not investing in backhaul to enable mobile networks effectively.  Sean was quite correct but the problem of backhaul and lack of investment in other areas is going to have much more wide reaching effects on the viability of the Internet in general considering the massive expansion of traffic that we covered in The Video Effect Part 1.

Video is going to bring the Internet to it’s knees, the operators who provide the infrastructure cannot invest enough to support the sheer growth of traffic and the politicians are trying to regulate……sounds like a recipe for disaster.

By now everyone is aware of a few basic facts about what video is doing to the Internet. This series of entries doesn’t just look at the fact that video use is going to expand dramatically (because we already know that) or the fact that operators need a new model (because they already know that very well). It does try to follow a logical flow of thought through the whole value chain of Internet services and investment to allow everyone to make money and support the investment needed to support the growth that everyone is predicting.

To say that 2010 has been a hell of a year is the same as saying that a Tsunami might cause a bit of a splash.  Firstly there have been some amazing developments led not in the least by Apple’s release of the iPad.

Do you remember before it was launched how all the techies were pooh-poohing the idea of a tablet. Luckily Apple ignored them and went after their real constituency…actual users. But the implications of the iPad are incredibly far reaching. It changes everything – books, apps, games and especially video.

According to Advanced Television and many other sources, net neutrality may now happen. Only a few months ago, with the changing of the guard after the mid-term elections in the US, net neutrality was being declared dead. The subtle shift though is that it appears that cable and mobile operators will be able to differentiate either based on usage or types of traffic depending on the application or use.

For those of you too young to remember this, the great Onion News Network has produced a video showing how people “used” to access movies before companies like Edgeware made it possible to do from your armchair with nothing more than a remote. Enjoy.