Before the bloom wore off the economy, the Strategis Group released a forecast on the growth of cable telephony lines and subscribers. Since then, the cable MSOs that deployed circuit-switched gear have decided to forego expansions into new systems, preferring instead to concentrate their efforts on getting all they can out of their existing telephony markets. We ll probably get more bang for our buck by doing it this way, rather than going shallower and wider in other markets, said James Robbins, Cox s president and CEO in a recent Wall Street Journal interview. Cox had some financial success with their cable telephony product. That means the first certified 1.1 product could be announced early this fall.
Some vendors don t want operators to wait that long.
And that leads to the IP world. When you re ready to move to the full IP, you have the ability to do so without another truck roll. While large operators may have the wherewithal to negotiate the purchase of switches, others could form partnerships to use someone else s switch. The main difference, says Manor, is that for a small operator, he could partner with a third-party CLEC to gain access to a Class 5 switch. Auster Mitch Auster, director of product management and marketing for ADC s Cable Systems Division, agrees the CLEC alliance has its appeal, whether it s for a switched IP or traditional HFC circuit- switched approach.