Access vendors have stake in living room battle

For the past several years, the consumer electronics industry and service providers (that includes telcos, cable operators and to a lesser extent ISPs) have had an uneasy and mutually dependent alliance. CE giants made the really cool toys that everyone wants to find under the Christmas tree and service providers ran those big broadband pipes that connected the toys to each other or the wider world.

As the devices and the pipes have become more dependent on each other, though, a battle is developing over what brand consumers will see in their advance services. In many ways, it's reminiscent of the relationship between wireless carriers and their handset vendors. Only brands like Sony and Microsoft would survive just fine without the likes of Verizon, SBC and BellSouth.

Access vendors clearly have a stake in this fight that rests on the side of broadband operators. As the vendors whose names will appear as primary suppliers of the IP-based video platforms, companies like Alcatel, Motorola, Tellabs (via AFC), Adtran and Calix (and yes I know there are dozens of others) will also be supplying the equipment that could either work with or supplant current CE. The problem of course is that there are more than a dozen iterations of the equipment.

IP set-top boxes, once thought to be the logical device in the home, may evolve quickly to residential gateways that act as routers, DSL modems, video traffic cop and IP voice translator. Perhaps it's a stretch to think that integrating a DVD player or gaming device is in the offing. Regardless, the end device that sits in the home will play a key role in the branding of major service providers' triple-play bundles. The question now facing the vendor community is how to position that device with service providers and what brand it will carry for consumers.

E-mail me at vvittore@primediabusiness.com.