Ooredoo in Arabic means “I Want.”

More than 80 percent of homes in Qatar now receive fiber optic broadband at speeds up to 100Mbps and the country is on track to becoming one of the best-connected nations in the world.

According to the Fiber to the Home Council, Qatar is the world leader for fastest deployment of fiber-based Internet access, as the country moves away from copper-based ADSL broadband at record speed.

Ooredoo, formerly known as Qatar Telecom (Qtel), has been constructing the fiber network to help the country develop its knowledge-based economy and offer an infrastructure platform for high-tech business to launch new online products and services. The Emirate has the world’s fastest-growing economy, forecast to have grown by 6.5% in 2013. It also has the world’s highest GDP per capita at $106,000.

With that economic success, the government is accelerating its ambitious reform program designed to move Qatar away from dependence on its gas and oil economy into the digital age. In 2008, the government launched Qatar National Vision 2030, which includes major infrastructure projects including fiber broadband, new roads, railways, airports, bridges, hospitals, libraries and museums.

Fiber broadband is not cheap in Qatar, but neither is the cost of living there, something compensated for in the average Qatari salary. A 100Mbps account costs $178.50 a month, although adding television and telephone service only adds $13.75 a month to the bill.

Time Warner Cable lost another 215,000 video subscribers during the fourth quarter of 2013, leaving the company with 825,000 fewer subscribers than it had one year ago.

Customers are dropping service with the cable company because of rate increases, programming disputes, competition with AT&T and Verizon, and cord cutting.

Despite the video losses, Time Warner attracted 55,000 new broadband customers, many defecting from DSL, and 15,000 new landline customers signing up for phone service as part of a larger bundle.

Time Warner Cable’s poor results are fueling speculation that takeover offers promising increased shareholder value are potentially days away. Dr. John Malone’s Liberty Media and Charter Communications are expected to formally offer $62 billion for Time Warner as early as this week.

Malone has spent the last six weeks lining up Wall Street banks to help finance the transaction with loans that would leave a larger Charter Cable with substantial debt.

SaskTel is raising prices … and broadband speeds. (Image: CBC)

Internet access on the prairie is getting more expensive as provincial-owned phone company SaskTel notifies its Saskatchewan customers it is raising certain DSL and fiber broadband prices by $5 a month — a 14% rate hike.

Effective Feb. 1, prices for High Speed Classic DSL and fiber service will rise to at least $39.95 a month. For DSL customers, that means nearly $40 a month for 1.5Mbps service.

SaskTel, a crown corporation, is telling customers it needs the money to upgrade its network and maintain customer support.

The phone company has a bold plan to replace copper wire infrastructure with fiber to the home service in each of Saskatchewan’s nine largest communities: Saskatoon, Regina, Moose Jaw, Weyburn, Estevan, Swift Current, Yorkton, North Battleford, and Prince Albert. The fiber network, dubbed infiNET, is already operational in parts of Moose Jaw and will be introduced in Prince Albert this spring.

SaskTel has a range of price points for its fiber network ranging from $39.95 a month for 2/1Mbps service to 260/30Mbps service for $139.95 a month.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/SaskTel – Building the future with infiNET 5-30-13.mp4[/flv]

Sasktel’s $800 million fiber to the home project is Canada’s most ambitious, because it will blanker urban, suburban, and near-rural customers. This video explores innovations Sasktel is finding to deal with Saskatchewan’s harsh climate, including fiber cables that stay flexible at -40 degrees and directional boring to quickly and inexpensively install underground fiber to homes. (3:28)

Just months after starting to rollout a new generation of Comcast’s X1 “entertainment operating system” set-top boxes, the cable company is preparing to upgrade the cable television experience with X2.

Comcast, like many other cable operators, is gradually moving to IP and cloud capable set-top equipment as television transitions towards an all-digital platform. The traditional set-top box has proved expensive, cumbersome, and often annoying for customers trying to navigate through hundreds of cable television channels with a less-than-ideal on-screen program guide.

X2 hopes to change that perception with a customizable dashboard that learns viewer preferences over time and makes intelligent suggestions for customers looking for something to watch. Using a cloud based platform also means much easier upgrades. X2 also erases the line dividing traditional cable channels and streaming online video, which would allow Comcast to use its broadband network to distribute video programming and integrate social media.

X2 has, so far, been largely a “by-invitation” affair, with customers invited to preview the new interface on their current X1 equipment by pressing this key sequence with their remote control: EXIT-EXIT-EXIT-X-T-W-O

In addition to improving TV viewing, X2 also sets the stage for a cloud-based DVR being tested in Boston and Philadelphia and live-streaming Comcast’s TV lineup direct to wireless devices in the home.

A Comcast spokesperson tells us the X1 (and X2) platforms will be available to a substantial number of customers this year.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Comcast The Making of X2 8-2-13.mp4[/flv]

Comcast produced this video showcasing the development of the X2 platform. (3:07)

CenturyLink has launched an aggressive new marketing campaign to promote its fiber to the neighborhood service in the greater Omaha area.

Prism TV is CenturyLink’s equivalent of AT&T’s U-verse — a fiber-copper network that delivers video, phone, and broadband service to customers over their existing copper phone lines.

Currently available to about one-third of Omaha homes, CenturyLink plans to expand Prism TV to the entire area by early 2016.

CenturyLink has not broadly promoted the service in Omaha because so few homes could buy the service when it soft launched around six months ago. The earliest customers were company employees and those in selected neighborhoods where it was sold door-to-door.

CenturyLink says their early experience with the service proves customers are unhappy with the dominant cable company in the area — Cox Communications.

Like AT&T, CenturyLink has put its DVR front and center in its marketing efforts. Most cable company DVRs allow two simultaneous recordings — Prism TV supports up to four. The service also introduces the “whole house DVR” concept to customers without an expensive add-on. This feature lets customers pick up watching recorded shows where they left off when switching rooms.

Cox has responded to the competitive threat by beefing up its own services. The cable company recently introduced a DVR that can record six shows at once, as well as the Cox Contour smartphone/tablet app to watch cable programming on personal devices.

“We’ve been competing with other communications providers for decades and aggressively invest in our infrastructure and technology to ensure that our products are superior,” Cox spokeswoman Gail Graeve told the Omaha World-Herald. “Our customers are looking for viewing options that are both personal and portable, and Contour meets those needs.”

CenturyLink has already upgraded its own viewing app, which now includes more channels and an expansion of live and on-demand content. The newest version allows Prism TV customers to watch two dozen networks while traveling and up to 100 channels while streaming from home. There are versions of the TV Everywhere app for iOS, Android tablets and smartphones, and Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet.

Prism TV is now available in selected neighborhoods in the city of Omaha, as well as in Belle­vue, Ralston, Papillion, La Vista, Springfield, Gretna, the Elkhorn area and in unincorporated Douglas and Sarpy Counties.

Nationwide, CenturyLink ended the third quarter of 2013 with 149,000 Prism TV subscribers in the following areas: La Crosse, Wis.; Columbia and Jefferson City, Mo.; Tallahassee, Fla., various communities in central and southwest Florida where CenturyLink is the local telephone company; Las Vegas; central North Carolina; Phoenix; Colorado Springs and Highlands Ranch, Colo.

Channels Available for Viewing Outside the Home:

CenturyLink offers a $300 rebate to new customers.

• AWE
• Bloomberg
• Cars
• Comedy
• CSPAN
• CSPAN-2
• FearNET
• FOX Business Network
• Fox News Channel
• Justice Central
• MAVTV
• PAC 12 Arizona
• PAC 12 Mountain
• PAC 12 National
• Pets
• Pixl
• Recipes
• Shorts East
• Sony Movie Channel
• Sportsman
• STARZ – East
• STARZ – West
• Travel
• Universal Sports
• World Fishing Network

In-home Viewing Only:

• A&E
• AMC
• Animal Planet
• Aspire
• AWE
• BBC America
• BBC World
• Big Ten National
• Biography
• Bloomberg
• Boomerang
• Bravo
• Cars
• Cartoon Network
• Chiller
• Cloo
• CNBC
• CNN en Espanol
• CNN
• CNN International
• Comedy
• CSPAN
• CSPAN-2
• Discovery
• E!
• ENCORE – East
• ENCORE – West
• Encore Action
• Encore Español
• Encore Suspense
• Esquire TV
• FearNET
• FOX Business Network
• Fox News Channel
• Fox Sports 1
• Fox Sports AZ (Phoenix)
• Fox Sports AZ Plus (Phoenix)
• Fuse
• FX
• FX Movies
• FXX
• G4
• Golf Channel
• H2
• Hallmark Channel
• Hallmark Movie Channel
• HeadLine News
• History
• HRTV
• IFC East
• Indiplex
• Inspiration Network
• Justice Central
• Lifetime
• Lifetime Movie Network
• Lifetime Real Woman
• MAVTV
• MGM
• Movieplex
• MSNBC
• Mun2 West
• National Geographic Channel
• National Geographic Wild
• Oprah Winfrey Network
• Outside
• Oxygen
• PAC 12 Arizona
• PAC 12 Mountain
• PAC 12 National
• Pets
• Pixl
• Recipes
• Retroplex
• Science
• Shorts
• Smithsonian – East
• Smithsonian – West
• Sony Movie Channel
• Sportsman
• Sprout
• STARZ – East
• STARZ – West
• Starz Black
• Starz Cinema
• Starz Edge
• Starz Kids & Family
• SYFY
• TBN
• TBS
• The Weather Channel
• TLC
• Travel
• TRUTV
• Turner Classic Movies
• Universal HD
• Universal Sports
• UP
• USA
• WGN
• Women’s Entertainment
• World Fishing Network

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/CenturyLink Prism Demo Overview 1-6-14.flv[/flv]

CenturyLink Prism: An introduction and demonstration. (2:25)