Focus: Telecom

By John Quale, Brian Weimer, and Mick Tuesley With the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) set to expire on December 31, 2004, it is time again for Congress to address the many challenging issues raised by satellite carriage of broadcast signals. SHVIA had its genesis in a 1988 congressional rewrite of trademark and copyright...

by Peter J. Brown Given what is at stake and the magnitude of what is unfolding at the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) with respect to the ongoing standardization process involving the Windows Media 9 Series, in early February we posed some questions to Peter Symes, SMPTE engineering vice president. Will SMPTE...

Benjamin Franklin once said, in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes. If he were alive today, he may have added that nothing is certain but death, taxes and the astounding growth of Internet data traffic. For proof, consider trans-Atlantic traffic totals between Europe and North America. According to Telegeography Research, trans-Atlantic Internet...

by Owen D. Kurtin In the resurgent economy, the satellite sector has a chance to take off as never before, as investment capital that has stayed on the sidelines for three years moves back into play. The space industry must refinance itself from the expected capital influx, with higher-grade investment than the industry has historically...

For those of you thinking your current communications network is operating at its optimal state, think again. As the corporate environment becomes more competitive and the current economic malaise begins to diminish, new company strategies for increasing market share will be vital for any corporation wishing to stay in business. Now ask any successful executive...

The American Red Cross responds to a disaster every eight minutes, around the clock, 365 days a year. This quick response is due in great part to satellite technology. Founded in 1881, this independent, volunteer-led organization is dedicated to helping people in need throughout the United States and the world. Each year the Red Cross...

By Peter J. Brown Beaming Internet Protocol (IP) video via satellite either live or via the store-and-forward method for both fixed and mobile services is no longer a rare event. While the desktop PC may still be the primary destination for video streaming over IP, the range of destinations for video over IP rapidly is...

Question and Answer Keven Cahoon, vice president, Enterprise Services, GlobeCast March 09, 2004 Why should network managers consider satellite vs. terrestrial Webcasting for training networks? Network managers responsible for building wide-area video-based training networks typically think of Webcasting as a solution. For companies needing to deliver full-motion video to more than a dozen sites, satellite...

By Nick Mitsis As 2003 began, executives at Viasat Inc. were holding their collective breath. Wrapping up one of the most economically negative years since the company’s inception in 1986, cautious optimism enveloped their future business initiatives. But when all the numbers were tallied, 2003 proved to be one of the strongest years for Viasat’s...

As any CTO or network manager will tell you, one of the biggest business challenges is finding a way to maintain a strong corporate network that continually provides a live link throughout the entire company. Likewise, it does not matter if a corporation has 100 or 1,000 geographically dispersed regional offices, the element of interconnectivity...