I was San Diego last week at the 2012 NTCA meeting and Expo.  We’ve been to the OPASTCO Winter meeting for years, but it’s been awhile since we’ve been to the NTCA event. With a new diagnostics solution in the works for DSL, we decided to do both shows that cater to rural telcos this year. Now it looks like we won’t have to do that next year. The two organizations plan on merging, and the first combined show for OPASTCO and NTCA will take place February 3rd – 6th in Lake Buena Vista, FL.  It will be billed as the “Rural Telecom Industry Meeting and Expo”. We heard mostly positive comments about the two organizations joining forces. Having one show will certainly be easier from an exhibitor perspective.

As we heard at OPASTCO, there is a lot of discussion and anxiety over what will be the long-term impact from pending regulatory changes, including changes to the Universal Service Fund and Intercarrier Compensation.  These two items represent a revenue stream that is now in serious jeopardy, all at a time when phone companies are struggling to maintain revenue from their core landline business.

Another thing that was apparent for me is the growth in the number of service providers that are using multiple broadband technologies to reach their subscribers, including HFC, DSL, Fiber and Wireless.  The days of a relying on single methodology is over, as more and more providers branch out in existing and new territories.

Challenges often present opportunities, and these two developments are actually good for our business.  Before the Expo began we had an opportunity to do a thirty-minute presentation of TruVizion, which is a broadband diagnostics application we developed that currently serves the cable market.  It was well received by the telcos at our presentation, as well as those who visited our booth. You see, we’re in the process of adding DSL diagnostics for telcos, and other technologies will follow close behind.  It will be a perfect fit for the growing number of providers that have a mixture of broadband technologies. With TruVizion, they’ll have a single diagnostic platform to help them troubleshoot subscriber issues no matter how they’re connected.

In addition to handling multiple last-mile technologies, TruVizion will help alleviate the telco revenue problem by providing the opportunity for significant savings on the cost side. If telcos are to survive, they have to find ways to reduce their operating and support costs to balance out lost revenues. TruVizion will help them do just that, by reducing the number of truck rolls and time spent in the field, decreasing talk-time in the call center, and eliminating the need to open and connect every DSL modem prior to deployment.  These are just a few of the ways we’ll help telcos become more efficient.

We’ve had a busy few months with trade shows, and that’s continuing this week. Today and tomorrow my colleagues Arthur Skinner and Alex Rivera are in Austin, TX for the NCTC Winter Educational Conference, where they’ll be demonstrating TruVizion to independent cable operators. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Neal Grillot will be in Macon showing TruVizion to Georgia telephone companies at the annual Georgia Telecommunications Association vendor showcase.

If you’re a cable operator or telephone company and would like your own demonstration of TruVizion, give us a call at 800-909-9441. We’d love to show you what it can do.