With DSL wholesalers on the decline, will cable wholesalers arrive on the broadband scene in time to help independent service providers provision coaxial lines? What's preventing open access today—right now?

by Patricia Fusco ISP-Planet Managing Editor [April 6, 2001]

What's preventing open access to the cable systems of some coax incumbents, while network over-builders have their non-discriminatory services up and running right now? Is there automatic-provision technology for allowing shared access to multiple ISPs? Do we need to establish service management systems, or is IP pooling a problem in search of a solution?

These are the questions that a three-man panel of cable experts pondered at ISPCON in Baltimore this week, and the answers varied greatly.

IP addressing barriers
Founded in August 1998, Emperative, Inc. is the leading provider of on-demand, multi-vendor network and service provisioning products for access and core optical, DSL, cable, and wireless networks. Randy Fuller, Emperative vice president of marketing, said that open access to cable networks is important to ISPs because it could help get the revenue flowing faster.

"DSL and cable broadband access are similar in speed and cost, but installations with cable need to be instant, to leverage DSL's 30-day-plus delays," Fuller said. "Cable access needs to move toward self-provisioning and automatic installation as soon as possible, and shared access creates a problem for ISPs and MSOs alike."

Because cable networks are just one big Wide Area Network (WAN) operating like a neighborhood Local Area Network (LAN), Internet Protocol (IP) addressing needs to be pooled. It still operates as an Ethernet-based shared medium employing DHCP servers for IP address management. Cable connections are set up to assign static, but not common, IP addresses per user session.

IP addressing is therefore the key to routing cable users to the ISP of their choice, so source-based routing as a subset of policy-based routing creates some issues for multiple providers on the same cable network.

Fuller explained that in order to allow shared access to a cable system, ISPs have to bring a block of IP addresses to the cable provider so they can be divvied up into sections for different ISPs on the network. This creates a multitude of problems for self-provisioning users, as well as adding to routing complexity and other issues that Emperative is working to sort out.

While IPv6 could solve the current IP address shortage, adoption is not important for most ISPs at the moment. But ISPs that want play in the cable service space may need to implement the IPv4 upgrade, just to be considered a business partner for cable companies.

COX Communications recently signed up to use Emperative's software as the heart of its automated cable activation program for subscribers. Specifically, in its middle-America cable systems, COX has deployed Emperative's ProvEn provisioning engine and Cable Modem Express applications. Naturally, Emperative plans to be a big part for providing provisioning solutions for cable companies as they slowly move to embrace shared cable access.

Service management barriers
Alopa Networks is focused on providing state-of-the-art Subscriber Service Solutions for Broadband Service Providers (BSPs) of all flavors—cable, DSL, and wireless. Alopa was founded in September 1999 and is located in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Alopa's Bruce Bahlmann contends that service management is one of three key preconditions for shared cable access. The other two key areas are connectivity management and Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) management.

Bahlmann said that current open access service management systems facilitate open access, but that this is just the beginning.

"This is first generation open access where cable operators handpick the ISPs that will be allowed to sell Internet services to their customers and then manage the selection process," Bahlmann said. "AT&T has spent $20 million to develop its billing and account maintenance with Operational Support Systems (OSS) support just to complete its first trials of shared access in Boulder, Colorado."

"ISPs need to remember that open access is a business agreement and they will need to bring something to the table," Bahlmann added. "The upshot is that cable operators are looking for a few good ISPs, but ISPs need to remember, this is a business agreement—not a freebie."

While the results of AT&T's tests have not been released to date, Bahlmann cautioned that this is this first stab at open access and both cable companies and ISPs have a lot to learn about supporting the system.

"First generation open access is well on its way" Bahlmann said. "The next generation goes beyond the today's pseudo Open Access to provide truly shared data services to all broadband customers. This next generation will bring together ISP, wholesalers, and BSPs allowing cable users to mix and match services from various service providers."

Along with this vision of next generation open access comes a slew of new requirements for OSS vendors and some complex questions.

Bahlmann contends that the OSS of the near future must provide intelligent selection, handling, mediation, and provisioning enabling broadband operators to offer customers access to an array of service providers.

No open access barriers
Meanwhile, WideOpenWest is operating a cable network on an open platform and providing users with its own brand of high-speed Internet service, as well as rival ISPs services. The Colorado-based cable over-builder brought its first 400 subscribers online last week, allowing EarthLink users and Front Range Internet subscribers online with them.

James Higgins, WOW senior vice president of business development, said that the cable company embraces an open access business model because it makes sense for WOW to share its systems with national, regional and local ISPs.

"Our theory is, if the customer is happy with their ISP, there's no reason to slam WOW down their throats," Higgins explained. "We've been reaching out to ISPs for over a year now, asking them to join us. Granted we're only serving 400 users in Denver right now, but that will change. We expect that in five or six years there will be as many as 8 million subscribers on our network."

Higgins said that independent ISPs that want to provide cable access need to allocate resources to make cable access a priority.

"We've successfully connected with two other ISPs so far and the only obstacle for other ISPs to join us, is if cable services are a priority for their operation," Higgins said. "There are no barriers to open access on our network, anything else is just delay tactics—adding layers of complexity to services that are not yet deployed."

WOW is likely the first real cable access wholesaler offering ISPs access at a flat rate of around $35 a month per user for 500 Mbps residential Internet access. Other speed options are available.

Each ISP has a dedicated service representative to streamline communication between WOW and its ISP affiliates.

Higgins said open access contracts are a private business matter and any ISP that wants to start negotiation its wholesale price should contact the cable firm directly for details. In the meantime, Higgins said its ISP partners are helping WOW meet its market objectives.

"We need cable access partners because WOW needs market penetration," Higgins said. "That's why we adopted a wholesale business model. But we have the luxury of building a spanking new network, no retooling a legacy cable operation, which is why we're able to offer residential broadband cable access from several service providers."

Parting shots
When will potential problems and shared cable access be resolved and independent ISPs be able to offer coax-based broadband services on an open access platform nationwide?

WOW's Higgins said, "don't hold your breath, maybe three years, maybe not even then."

Alopa's Bruce Bahlmann added that open access is not moving as fast as it could.

AOL-TW is the only cable company with an incentive to employ open access, courtesy of the Federal Communications Commission, Bahlmann said. "MSOs are very decentralized, so every other cable company is watching what AOL-TW does to set standards. Right now, MSOs are saying 'here's my deal, take it or leave it.' It will take regulations for them to open up and share their cable systems."

The real barrier to embracing a ubiquitous open access platform nationwide is cable companies' mindset.

If a cable firm is forward thinking, like WOW, then its executive leadership understands that wholesale services must be offered to rival ISPs in order to maximize market penetration, accelerate profitability, and provide users with a choice of service providers.

If a cable company is backward thinking, like AT&T and AOL-TW, then it will give every appearance of embracing open access, sign non-disclosure agreements with independent ISPs, and erect barriers in the form of back office system development, auto-provisioning, and other service management issues.

If a cable company is not thinking, it won't employ open access as a means to grow.

Such is the state of open access in the U.S. at this time.

— End