Dane DeValcourt

I happen to be reading the latest “Independent” today and came across an article about the whole LUS fiber project.  LUS is still being very silent about the whole architecture and service offerings and what not.  I have to admit this is a bit upsetting to me as a geek and a citizen.  I hate when government hides stuff from the people and isn’t transparent about things.  Apparently they get to do this some how because of some stupid law that excludes them for some reason.

Anyway, the article sums it all up and is a decent read if you have any interest in this project at all.  I warn you though its going to leave you wanting more and so I started looking for more based on the little bit we know about the project.

First here is the link to the article - http://www.theind.com/content/view/3592/1/

Ok, so we know LUS is using an Alcatel-Lucent solution.  I have already posted a few things about that and what I suspect they will be using.  We also know they plan to have the “triple play” as every service provider wants to call it these days.  We also know that the box that will be in the subscribers home will have the ability to surf the internet on the TV, and that caller ID will be able to show up on the TV.

So, I started googling and checking out the Alcatel-Lucent site to see what I could find.  It’s important to note that this is purely done in my own interest to better understand what LUS has cookin.  I am fascinated with all things related to networking and particularly this project since its happening in my backyard and affects me as does everyone else in Lafayette.  Also, I do not know with any certainty any actual specifics other than what I have previously mentioned in this post.

Ok, first stop is this page about the Alcatel-Lucent Triple Play Service Delievery Architecture.  Good info but not what I am really looking for.

Well what are you looking for?  I think for me the most intriguing part of the whole LUS project has to be the set top box that they will be using?  This is to me is going to be the most significant part of the whole thing.  I know I know.. everyone else is talking about the bandwidth and especially the peer to peer aspect but really for me I am a bit underwhelmed with all that.  I know that I simply have no need for it.  I rarely download movies or music to be honest.  And there just isn’t an application “yet” that would push me to really need it.  I am quite content with what I have strangely enough.

Back to this set top box.  Why I think this box will be important is that its going to have an integrated web browser.  My understanding is that subscribers who simply sign up for TV service would still be able to surf the internet on this thing for free.  Sure it will be pretty limited in what it can do for an integrated appliance browser.  But this can be a huge deal in that it may introduce people to the internet who have never before had the opportunity or the need to justify paying for a computer and internet access.

This would go a long way towards bridging that digital divide and would be a significant advantage over the various competitors.

There are so many set top manufactures that one cannot really even begin to guess what has been selected.

I started out by googling “alcatel ftth set top web browser” and well I guickly realized that it does not appear that Alcatel currently makes a set top box.  There was some info though about a company “ANT Software Limited” that they seem to partner with on this vary topic.  Seems this ANT Software makes a browser for set top boxes that utilize the Alcatel-Lucent solution.

http://www.antlimited.com/ant_galio_browser.asp?menu=153

http://www.antlimited.com/pr_061005.asp

As I kept digging I also came across something that was simply interesting and new to me.  I was looking at various Motorola set top boxes for IPTV solutions and learned about this “Microsoft Mediaroom”  http://www.microsoftmediaroom.com  which until now I hadn’t heard about.

Apparently the Microsoft Mediaroom is what is driving the AT&T U-verse boxes.  It’s pretty cool to say the least but nothing in the demos show anything about a web browser which I found to be absurd for Microsoft.   They again they did miss the boat early on when it came to the internet so it figures they would miss it on this too.  I kid I kid

The ironic part about the Microsoft Mediaroom and it lacking a web browser it seems is when you read a whitepaper MS put out back in 2004 about IP Set Top boxes.  In that paper they even talk about “superior browsing capabilities” on a set top box back in 2004!  They never cease to surprise me.

So with all this I still am no where closer to knowing anything about the set top box in question.  Maybe I should go stake out the LUS headend and possibly do some dumpster diving!  They did mention in the article about boxes in dumpster, seems the Independent was almost asking someone to do this very thing.  If the dumpster is within a caged area might have to wait for the dump truck to come empty it and follow the dump truck. 

Who am I kidding, I am to old and tired to do that anymore.  :-)