Business-Ready VoIP: Cable vs. Wireline

By David Byrd

I have been down on cable for months as a business ready” connection. The fluctuating quality of cable services and the lack of predictability of the upload and downloads speeds made using a cable service for business very risky. Thats right, I used the word made.” Cable service for business VoIP and cloud-based applications is improving. I do not believe it is the equal of metro Ethernet or a wireline offering of SDSL or a T1. However, due to competition, monitoring by the FCC and, possibly, the new Rules for Open Internet (Net Neutrality), the services are improving.

The posting on an FCC blog regarding the improvement in delivery of services by Cablevision is a clear indication:

We are pleased to note that the performance of one company Cablevision markedly improved from earlier this year. As we noted in our report, during March 2011, subscribers to Cablevisions 15 Mbps service were receiving average download speeds during peak hours of only about 50% of the advertised speed During October 2011, the most recent month for which data is available, subscribers to Cablevisions 15 Mbps service were receiving average download speeds during peaks hours at over 90% of the advertised speed.”

This is good. Not that I have any interest in Cablevision, but they did respond to a negative related to their service. Others found guilty” of overpromising and underdelivering will find it difficult to sell in an increasingly competitive market. Comcast, the largest cable provider of VoIP services, needs to keep its focus on offering VoIP to businesses not television services. When I am at work here at Broadvox, I am only impressed by great voice quality and blazing Internet speeds. I have little use for the 150 most in-demand” cable/TV networks.

However, using cable to provide VoIP continues to lag the quality of traditional access and broadband. Consider that Verizon advertises their FiOS-based business phone line service as 99.9 percent reliable. Certainly, not how they previously advertised their wireline/TDM business services. Even more incredible is there is very little cost savings. The Freedom for Business product is more than double our GO! SIP Trunking offering. But I digress. I have had AT&T U-verse (at home) for just over a year and other than not being able to see every NFL game, I am very pleased with the service.

As more peering arrangements are completed between the cable companies and ITSPs to support BYOB and improved QoS, Ill tout using cable for business phone communications. For now, Ill say they are improving.

David Byrd is vice president of marketing and sales for

Broadvox,
and is responsible for marketing and channel sales programs to SMBs, enterprises and carriers as well as defining the product offering. Prior to joining Broadvox, David was the vice president of Channels and Alliances for Eftia and Telcordia. As director of eBusiness Development with i2 Technologies, he developed major partnerships with many of the leaders in Internet eCommerce and supply chain management. As CEO of Planet Hollywood Online he was a pioneer in using early Internet technologies to build a branded entertainment and eCommerce website company partnered with Planet Hollywood. Having over 20 years of telecom sales and marketing experience, he has held executive positions with Hewlett-Packard, Sprint and Ericsson.