SP's “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”
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Boy oh boy, just when you just don’t think technology can get any
better you hear that Cablevision is offering live streaming online
Yankees’ games. First Manny getting benched and now this announcement.
Folks, does baseball get any more exciting than this? Initially, these
games will only be available in the team's home market, and, yeah, I
know I won’t be able to take a break from toiling over my research to
watch online, but a man can dream can’t he? Who knows, eventually,
given end users’ expectation of on-demand services, all fans scattered
globally may be able to grab their phone, laptop or any other gadget
and watch every game online. Just think, never missing a Yankees’ game
because it wasn’t nationally televised, sigh! I know some of you
envious Red Sox fans are shaking your head and asking, “Ray, Ray, Ray,
what’s your point?” Well, isn’t it obvious? Pickoff, of course.
Pickoff,
to explain to nonbaseball fans — although I can’t imagine there being
any — is a play that catches a runner off base. As end users continue
to up the stakes in the types of services they expect coupled with the
proliferation of next-gen mobile devices, high-speed connectivity, and
data-intensive Web 2.0 applications, service providers’ networks cannot
afford to be in a pickoff situation. SPs must ensure that their
management tools, operating systems, middleware, databases, server
platforms, network cabling storage arrays can accommodate the QoS and
rate requirements of applications such as wireless broadband access,
multimedia messaging service, video chat, mobile TV, HDTV content,
digital video broadcasting, voice and data, and other streaming
services for anytime, anywhere, and on any device delivery.
Meeting
these requirements will be especially crucial when 4G, with
infrastructure only packet-based, is eventually rolled out. With each
user requiring bandwidths ranging from 100Mbps to 1Gbps, carriers will
need even larger backhaul solutions. Successful pitching of new
services will require specific equipment options to meet the coverage
and capacity needs of different environments as well as allow SPs to
continue addressing existing services.
Although there
currently are no specific standards that define a 4G service, network
or technology, groups are working on these specifications and plan to
announce universal standards by next year. However, one thing is for
sure right now: customers are consuming more band-intensive services
and expect grand slam classes of service on par with business-grade IP
services. Combine 4G with mobile phones equipped with high definition
capabilities, well, it’s “Take me online to the ball game” — music to
my ears!
Tags: Ray Mota
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