Success accompanies the XXIII Cable & Broadband Catalonia Congress
“Demand for broadband in the hand of content grows, and standards such as HbbTV will drive this process thanks to the possibilities inherent in interactivity.” In this way he synthesizes Dr. Joan Francesc Fondevila Gascón, director of the Cable Studies Center (CECABLE), the message of the XXIII Cable and Broadband Conference in Catalonia-2018, organized by the CECABLE, Blanquerna-Universitat Ramon Llull and Acotec (Catalan Association d ‘Telecommunication Cable Operators’) on April 10 and 11, 2018 at the Blanquerna Auditorium of the Ramon Llull University, in Barcelona.
“The commitment of big operators, manufacturers and chains for HbbTV makes it the great driver of interactivity, which will demand guaranteed broadband and develop new languages for audiovisual content,” explains Fondevila. The HbbTV polarized the content of Sony and Cellnex. Andrés Román, from Sony, and Xavi Redón, from Cellnex, highlighted the relevant improvements in advertising insertion as interactive television to avoid the program-announcement transition, second-screen features, communication between television applications and second screen, video playlist enhancements (avoid waiting between video clips), switching of audio and video within the same content (to avoid freezing or black screen), broadcast synchronization and broadband content , the simultaneous visualization of two videos (broadcast or broadband) if the receiver has a double decoder and the ability to play an audio clip together with the content of the broadcasts (to insert, for example, audio alerts).
Wifidom presented consolidated cases of Wi-Fi deployments in Catalonia and Spain and D-Link reflected the need to have solid 10 Gigabit Ethernet network equipment. Joan Cervera, from the Open Network of Catalonia, remarked that “the growth of coverage of the Catalan neutral operator continues at the expected pace, and reaches areas that are difficult to access.”
Marc Guadalupi, from Eurona, highlighted the advantages of the 4G virtual fiber, as it “breaks the rules of the game in the fixed connection at home,” and is a solution for rural or depopulated areas. It is an ally against rural depopulation and the growing urban concentration, and the solution to the economic gap in urban areas. Eurona is being overthrown in the future 5G, which will be the basis for the Internet of things, thanks to its licensed 3.5 GHz band (only four operators have this license in Spain). The satellite is also a strategic part of the business of Eurona, which guarantees connectivity in homes without access to broadband with high speed.
“The traditional cable has been and is essential for the territorial technological balance, since numerous rural areas would have been isolated if they had not had these companies”, said Fondevila at the round table “The role of the Catalan historical cable Spanish for territorial equilibrium”. The need to update these networks is being achieved by migrating to FTTH or DOCSIS 3.0 and 3.1. For Xavier Edo, from Acotec,” the proximity factor with the client is the main guarantee of the operators “. The City of Mequinensa (Jesús Llop) defended the decisive role of the cable operators for the economic development of their environments, and a large operator such as BT (Narcís Coll) recognized the dynamic task of the traditional cable for local telecommunications.
The need for broadband for new applications became apparent in the exhibitions of Anxanet, Fibraigua and Guifinet. According to Joan Vilaseca (Fibraigua), the deployments adapt to the demand of each municipality, and allow monitoring in detail the operation of the network to detect possible errors.
At the round table on how to boost competition between operators, Fondevila pointed out that the market for public utility companies and, specifically, telecommunications, “because of its specialized nature, is a market that tends to oligopolism, even to the point that when numerous competitors arise in a demarcation the perception of the consumer is that the service tends to become commodity. For that reason the quality of the service must be prioritized. In addition, the market is drawing two sets, the one of the great ones and the small operators”. Daniel Ollé, of the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), said that the steps taken to liberalize the market are positive, and that in several initiatives, Spain is “an international benchmark”. David Ferrer (Generalitat de Catalunya) stated that the average price for access to the network is much higher in Spain (around 55 euros) than in the European Union (about 36 euros), which reflects It goes without saying that “this scenario does not lead us to what the CNMC considers effective competition.” From Aotec (Xavier Edo), “the local operator has taken advantage of the liberalization process,” and the average price of access for small operators is similar to that of the European Union. The professional school COETTC (Eusebi Gómez) considered that “successful deployments have been made, but there is a lot of redundant infrastructure. We have to compare it with other countries and improve the regulations”. Telecos.cat (Jordi López) admitted the oligopolistic tendency of the sector, pointing out that “quality projects are needed”. XOC (Carles Viladecans) said that “thanks to the neutral operators, competition has grown with the incumbent”, while the Association of Feceminte installers (Guillermo Canal) emphasized that “competition for private users is very much reduced, and often the installers that use the operators are not homologated. “In any case, the dynamism of a market that demonstrates the broadband operator, with the development of the HbbTV, will be required.
The event was supported by several universities, such as the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), the Mediterranean University School of the University of Girona, the University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, the Universidad Camilo José Cela, EAE Business School, Euncet, Cesine and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
In addition, it participated and collaborated Generalitat de Catalunya, Cercle Fiber, Barcelona Marketing Club, College of Graduate Engineers and Industrial Technical Engineers of Barcelona (CETIB), the Catalan Association of Engineers of Catalonia Telecommunications (Telecos.cat), Official College of Telecommunications Technicians of Catalonia (COETTC), College of Technical Engineering and Computer Engineering of Catalonia (COETIC), GrausTIC, National Markets and Competition Commission ( CNMC), Catalan Federation of Telecommunications Installers (Feceminte), Telecommunication Coordinating Federation (FECOTEL), Federation of Telecommunication Installers (Fenitel), Barcelona Digital Technology Center, TIC.CAT, Red.es, Localret, National Association of Telecommunication Operators and Internet Services (AOTEC), Spanish Digital Documentation Association (AEDOC), National Association of Internet Businesses (ANEI), Asociación Nacional de Empresas de Internet or for the Progress of the Directorate (APD), Association Multisectorial of Spanish Companies of Electronics and Communications (Asimelec), Catalan Association of Technology (ACTec), Association of Computer Technicians (ATI), Association of Operating Companies and of Telecommunication Services (Astel), CTecno, Parc Tecnològic del Vallès (PTV), National Center for the Reference of Application of Information Technology and ICT Communication (CENATIC), Ilimit, International Association of Technology, Education and Development ( IATED), Foundation for the Infotechnological Development of Companies and Society (Fundetec), FOTÓNICA Platform21 or Societat Catalana de Tecnologia.
