Residential Gateways

Set-top box market destined to decline

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:31:52 -0500

The global market for set-top boxes (STBs) for IPTV and other services may still have a few years of growth left, but after 2012, annual STB shipments probably will begin to decline, according to a new report from ABI Research. Sales of basic STBs are already sliding, and with more functions, such as ad insertion, likely to be embedded in network gear, the STB may gradually--and rightly--lose its center of power over digital TV services.

Possible evolving alternatives to traditional STBs include residential gateways and highly-functional gaming devices like the Xbox 360. Also, the funneling of Internet video directly to TVs out-fitted with Internet access also may play a role in the STB's demise.

For more:
- Telephony has this report

Telus chooses CopperGate for HPNA 3.1

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:36:50 -0400

Canadian telco Telus tapped chipset vendor CopperGate to support the telco's rollout of HomePNA 3.1 as its technology standard for in-home wiring for its Telus TV service, the companies announced today. The solution, which works over both coaxial cables and copper telephone wires, will be integrated into set-top boxes and residential gateways.

HPNA 3.1 is the latest iteration of the HPNA standard, which holds a piece of the fragmented home networking market, along with Multimedia over Coax and other solutions. The 3.1 spec supports guaranteed levels of service, among other features. Telus joins AT&T and other telcos that have deployed the technology.

Spotlight: Two rural telcos tap Comtrend

Dan O'Shea — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:43:27 -0400

Two rural telcos have separately chosen Comtrend to deliver ADSL2+ bonded residential gateways to support the rollout of IPTV services. The bonded aspect allows the gateways to support up to 48 Mbps downstream bandwidth. The vendor's Nexuslink gateways also will help the telcos--Bayland Telephone of Wisconsin and Rural Telephone of Kansas--support HDTV services.

For more:
- check out this coverage at IPTV News

Residential Gateways

Set-top box market destined to decline

Telus chooses CopperGate for HPNA 3.1

More home networking solutions arrive

Spotlight: Two rural telcos tap Comtrend