Waiting for IP: Cable Telephony on Hold

For most cable TV operators, their telephony business is on hold while traditional circuit-switched technology migrates to VoIP-based telephony. Many of those same operators are also addressing a myriad of unfamiliar operational, marketing, and business questions posed by the provisioning of voice services. For a select few operators, however, laying down a telephony footprint now remains a key component to their long-term telephony business model.

This report examines telephony services over hybrid fiber coaxial networks. It covers the issues surrounding the introduction of cable telephony service, including the development of standards, the different voice architectures/technologies available, and cable telephony service challenges. In addition, it profiles cable telephony equipment vendors and cable MSOs in order to highlight their service strategies.

The report provides forecasts for worldwide cable telephony subscribers, IP cable telephony subscribers, and worldwide installed cable telephony lines through the year 2005. It also forecasts cable telephony service revenues for the next five years.

In addition, it also presents the results of a survey of cable operators in the U.S., inquiring about their plans to provision cable telephony over the next two years.

• Executive Summary
  
• Methodology
  
• Overview: Cable Telephony
  
  
  
  
  
  • The Current Landscape
    
  
  
  • The AT&T/Comcast Situation
    
  • Market Drivers
    
  • The Progression of Voice over Cable
    
  
  
• Network Architecture: Circuit-Switched to IP
  
  
  
  • The Circuit-Switched Network
    
  • The Hybrid Network Architecture
    
  • The IP Network
    
    
    
    • The Telephone System vs. the Internet
      
    • IP Enters the Picture
      
    • Different Networks
      
    • Types of IP Telephony
      
    • IP Network Architecture
      
    • IP Cable Telephony Trials
      
    
    
  
  
• Cable Telephony Technology Standards
  
  
  
  • DOCSIS and Cable Modem Standards
    
    
    
    • DOCSIS 1.1
      
    • PacketCable
      
    • IPCablecom
      
    
    
  
  
• U.S. Cable MSO Survey: The Availability of Cable Telephony
  
  
  
  • 6 MHz Channels Used for Voice Services
    
  • 6 MHz Channels Used for Voice Services in 12 Months
    
  • 6 MHz Channels Used for Voice Services in 24 Months
    
  • Cable Telephony Service Technology: Circuit-Switched or VoIP?
    
  
  
  
• Key Service Issue: Cable Telephony Activation Costs
  
• Cable Operators
  
  
  
  • North America
    
    
    
    • AT&T
      
    • Comcast Communications
      
    • Cox Communications
      
    • AOL Time Warner
      
    • Charter Communications
      
    • Videotron
      
    
    
  • Europe
    
    
    
    • NTL
      
    • UPC
      
    • Telewest
      
    
    
  • Rest of World
    
    
    
    • Optus
      
    
    
  
  
• Cable Telephony Equipment Manufacturers
  
  
  
  
  
  • ADC Telecommunications
    
  • Arris
    
  • Cisco
    
  • Lucent
    
  • Motorola
    
  • Nortel
    
  • Tellabs
    
  • TollBridge
    
  • Voice Gateway Vendors
    
  
  
  
  
  
• Cable Telephony Forecasts
  
• The Next 12 Months
  

• Table 1. Cable Telephony Market Drivers
  
• Table 2. Telephone Service Prices in Phoenix: Cox vs. Qwest
  
• Table 3. Timeline: The Progression of Cable Telephony Technology
  
• Table 4. 6 MHz Channels Used for Voice Services
  
• Table 5. 6MHz Channels for Voice Services in 12 Months
  
• Table 6. 6 MHz Channels for Voice Services in 24 Months
  
• Table 7. Telephony Services: Using Circuit Switched or VoIP Technology
  
• Table 8. U.S. Cable Telephony Subscribers by MSO (July 2001)
  
• Table 9. UPC: Cable Telephony Subscribers by Country
  
• Table 10. Worldwide Cable Telephony Subscribers (000s)
  
• Table 11. Worldwide IP Cable Telephony Subscribers (000s)
  
• Table 12. Worldwide Cable Telephony Installed Lines (000s)
  
• Table 13. Cable Telephony Penetration of Existing Cable TV Subscribers (000s)
  
• Table 14. Worldwide Cable Telephony Service Revenues ($ in millions)
  

• Figure 1. Circuit-Switched Network Diagram
  
• Figure 2. Hybrid Circuit-Switched/IP Network Diagram
  
• Figure 3. IP Network Diagram
  
• Figure 4. 6 MHz Channels Used for Voice Services
  
• Figure 5. 6 MHz Channels for Voice Services in 12 Months
  
• Figure 6. 6 MHz Channels for Voice Services in 24 Months
  
• Figure 7. Telephony Services: Using Circuit-Switched or VoIP Technology
  
• Figure 8. Circuit-Switched Customer Costs: Before and After Cable Infrastructure Upgrade
  
• Figure 9. VoIP Cable Telephony Customer Cost Estimate
  
• Figure 10. Worldwide Cable Telephony Subscribers (000s)
  
• Figure 11. Worldwide Cable Telephony Service Revenues ($ in millions)