Open Source + wireless=3D big changes for telecom and cable

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[Excerpts from Cringely column.  Thanks to many readers who pointed out =
this
article - BSA]
  =20
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040930.html

One Canadian's Wireless Neighborhood Network Could Someday Serve Us All
By Robert X. Cringely


Somewhere in Andrew's house is a hefty Linux server running many
applications, including an Asterisk Open Source VoIP software PBX. There =
is
no desktop PC in Andrew's house. Instead, he runs a Linux thin client on =
a
Sharp Zaurus SL-6000 Linux PDA. Sitting in its cradle on Andrew's desk =
at
home, the Zaurus (running a special copy of Debian Linux, NOT as shipped =
by
Sharp) connects to a full-size keyboard and VGA display, and runs
applications on the server. Another cradle, monitor and keyboard are at
Andrew's office, where he also doesn't have a PC. Walking around in his
house, the Zaurus (equipped with a tri-mode communications card) is a =
WiFi
VoIP phone running through the Asterisk PBX and connecting to the Vonage
VoIP network. Walking out of his house, the Zaurus automatically =
converts to
the local mobile phone carrier, though with a data connection that still
runs back through Vonage. At Starbucks, it's a Wifi Vonage phone. At
Andrew's office, it is a WiFi extension to the office Asterisk PBX AND =
to
Andrew's home PBX. That's one PDA doing the job of two desktop PCs, a
notebook PC, and three telephones.

Andrew's server runs Myth TV, an Open Source digital video recorder
application, storing on disk in MPEG-4 format (1.5-2 =
megabits-per-second)
more than 30,000 TV episodes, movies and MP3 music files. "As each new =
user
comes online, I add another TV card to the system so they can watch live
TV," says Andrew, "but since there are only so many episodes of =
SpongeBob
SquarePants, nearly everything that isn't news or sports is typically =
served
from disk with full ability to jump forward or back at will. We've =
reached
the point now where the PVR has so much in storage already that it is =
set to
simply record anything that isn't already on disk."

At this point, intellectual property lawyers are supposed to start =
reaching
for their telephones to call Canada, but it won't do any good because =
all
this content is perfectly legal and here's how. With the exception of =
local
channels, which come from an antenna, all of Andrew's video content =
comes
from a C-band (big dish) satellite receiver (receivers, actually), and =
is
fully paid for. "I buy the channels just like a cable system does or a =
motel
that wants to offer HBO, from the National Programming Service," says
Andrew. "And as a result I pay wholesale prices. People don't realize =
how
much of a markup there in is the cable business. The Discovery Networks, =
for
example, cost me $0.26 per customer per month. The IP laws in both the =
U.S.
and Canada say that if I have legal access to this content I can store =
and
use it. And the over-the-air channels, of course, are free."

Starnix is getting ready to take its technology on the road, so to =
speak,
selling and licensing it to all comers. One plan is to create a wireless =
ISP
offering these services, growing it around what Andrew calls "wireless =
sweet
spots." The difference between a "hotspot" and a "sweet spot" is that a
sweet spot is both hot AND cheap. "We were installing a wireless network =
in
a large hospital and showed them that there were economies of scale to =
be
gained from lighting four of the fiber pairs coming-in from their ISP,
rather than two. Their costs go down and we benefit from that lower =
pricing
and pick up the additional bandwidth for wireless service outside the
hospital.

But there is an industrial or commercial side to this, too. Right now, =
OEMs
are lining-up to bring this Starnix model of hardware, software, and
connectivity to the workplace. "It's the six percent solution," says =
Greig.
"Businesses don't want to admit this, but they spend up to 12 percent of
gross revenues on IT including communications. By going to Open Source =
and
thin clients and VoIP we could cover all their needs for half that cost =
--
six percent. No separate hardware, software, bandwidth, or support =
costs,
just a flat six percent. We have large partners right now who are =
getting
ready to take this proposition to market."

What's happening in Andrew Greig's neighborhood is going to happen in =
three
to five years in many neighborhoods. The look will be slightly different
with technologies like WiMax wireless networking playing a role

That's the big lesson here, not that some guys up in Canada can run =
their
own Star Trek marathon, but that Open Source software is leading to =
digital
devices being used in large volumes in ways their designers never
envisioned. This takes control of the network out of the hands of the
providers and into the hands of the users. And the outcome doesn't have =
to
be some socialistic information economy. On the contrary, it means that
whole new business models will appear to take advantage of the fact that =
all
types of communications and all types of content will be able to reach =
all
parts of the market with almost no friction.=20

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