TelcoTV: Pannaway says monetize P2P by jamming

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Wicked-cool jam sessions and virtual LAN parties are just two of the revenue-generating opportunities that can arise when operators open up their networks to peer-to-peer (P2P) activities, according to Mark Carpenter, president of Pannaway Networks. In the same way features like caller ID and call waiting added incremental revenue to the traditional telephony business, digital media can do the same for video services, he told TelcoTV attendees in today’s keynote address.

“The challenge is how to use voice, video and data to maximize access capacity on the network,” Carpenter said, noting that video margins are already under attack. “Entertainment convergence is the key….If we focus our efforts and take advantage of peer-to-peer, you can find new revenue streams.”

To illustrate his point, Carpenter displayed a picture of the world’s largest virtual LAN party held in Sweden last year. The event attracted more than 10,000 consumers, who met with their laptops in the same room for gaming, albeit without facing or listening to anyone around them. Gatherings like this are happening on a smaller scale as well, he said, with his son as the prime example. Since the Internet creates too much lag time, his son takes his laptop on the go to convene with friends. It’s a new form of social networking the network owners must respond to.

“Social networking requires a population and an interest,” Carpenter said. “We have to deliver something to that interest with a network to support it that you can provision on the fly.”

The network is the most strategic asset an operator has, he added. Through focused dynamic services over the access network, carriers can monetize it. For example, they could have the network be provisional for a four-hour period and offer a virtual LAN party at the time. Only for this window, they could provision the network to jack up bandwidth, lower latency and deliver a no-lag service, he advised. “If we try to do it over the Internet, game over,” Carpenter said. “But if you do it on your network, game on. If you have peering networks with other telcos, game on even more.”

Virtual jamming sessions present another opportunity to leverage the network. More than 50% of households have at least one musician, according to Gail Kantor, chief executive officer of eJamming, who joined Pannaway in the keynote presentation. Through her eJamming Audio technology, the service can provide musicians who can’t meet in the garage a virtual studio for a low-latency, high-bandwidth rocking experience.

eJamming Audio focuses on a core technology of live audio synchronization over the Internet for music collaboration, recording and transferring of tracks. Jamcast, a related service, then lets the musicians broadcast their live recordings. Kantor estimated there are 129 million musicians worldwide with broadband access. Partners like Pannaway and telecom service providers can connect these musicians in a mutually beneficial way.

“Telcos make sense because we are benefiting your products too, Pannaway’s products for sure,” Kantor said. “We look forward to speeding up the Internet as increasing the bandwidth in a territory makes the jam session that much better. People will pay for that. People have a passion for music.”

Carpenter wrapped up the keynote by asking attending telcos if their business and network were ready to embrace P2P-related new revenue opportunities. The DSLAM vendor, acquired by Enablence this month, supplies Ethernet/IP multi-service access platforms to North American telcos. As a part of Enablence, Pannaway’s customers will move from its ADSL2+ equipment toward fiber access gear, including ONTs, from Wave7, also acquired by Enablence in the spring.

“I very much believe virtual LAN parties can be very beneficial, and virtual jam sessions are emerging that allow you to embrace and control peer-to-peer in a way that you can control it and monetize it,” he said. “The same way you make money from caller ID, you can on peer-to-peer.”