Casabi (www.casabi.com) doesn’t use the term “purple minutes,” but the broadband digital content and services company clearly understands the concept of adding value to vanilla-style VoIP voice minutes.

“Fundamental to the value of digital telephony is taking advantage of digital,” stated David Weinstein, Casabi co-founder and Vice President of Marketing/Business Development. Casabi will take advantage of home broadband and VoIP by enabling devices around the home to do “much more than voice” as is the perevailing VoIP service model. The current VoIP business model, according to Weinstein, is driving prices down, but not providing much else.

Enter Casabi. The company has built a combination of services and SIP-based hardware to extend SIP to non-voice applications. A parallel SIP user-agent with unique IDs will be used to deliver non-voice related data to in-home web-enabled handsets – and ultimately other devices – from a push-type services center that gathers content, optimizes it for delivery to the home end-user device, and delivers it. Examples of push content include weather reports, calendar alarms, and traffic updates.

“To the cable guys, this is their dream,” said Weinstein, elaborating that cable companies want to move content beyond the settop box and deliver it to alternative devices around the home. Other devices beyond handsets under consideration include an information screen for the kitchen and a “smart” alarm clock that can deliver weather information and overnight sports scores.

Perhaps the most intriguing piece of the puzzle that Casabi offers is their business model. They are targeting carriers and believe that the Casabi smart appliance solution can deliver “stickiness” to VoIP providers, including ILEC carriers. While the company wouldn’t discuss or confirm any of their customer relationships, Casabi will be exhibiting their technology in AT&T’s booth at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

Weinstein says Casabi can work with carriers and VoIP providers in two modes. Initially, they can act as an ASP to deliver content and then migrate the software technology to the carrier for operation on their own. He sees ILECs, cable companies and independent VoIP providers as being potential customers.

Statistics by Web Site Optimization

(PRLEAP.COM) AT&T and BellSouth are lobbying Congress to create a two-tier Internet where their own services would be transmitted faster than their competitors. The battle is largely over video transmission, which requires prioritized delivery for the larger bundles of bits needed for smooth display. Google, Yahoo, and others major sites are fighting the legislation that Congress is considering. In other broadband news some hotels are blocking VoIP, 1 in 10 Xmas cards are sent over the Internet, and broadband penetration in the US rose to 64.89% in November 2005.* (For the full “December 2005 Bandwidth Report” visit Web Site Optimization

Some Broadband Hotels Blocking VoIP

Broadband-enabled hotels will more than triple by 2009, found In-Stat in an October 2005 report. A previous In-Stat survey found that 64% of all guests have used broadband, while business travelers used hotel broadband service on average nearly 80% of the nights they spent in hotels. Nearly 50% of users were either extremely or very satisfied with the service, while 47% were somewhat satisfied. It appears that the early days of guest-room broadband snafus are behind us. All is not well in high-speed hotel land, however. On a trip to London in August, Jeff Pulver was blocked from making an Internet phone call from the broadband connection in his hotel room.

“For £14 ($A32), I could have watched pay per view. Instead I was watching Law and Order,” said Pulver. - “Broadband Battles,” The Age Dec. 16, 2005

Despite these speed bumps, there appear to be opportunities for continued broadband growth in hotel chains. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they would use broadband more in the future, citing the wider availability of broadband. Every hotel chain from Motel 6 to Fairmont Resorts is exploring making broadband available for all guests, regardless of their budget. Perhaps we’ll hear a new tag line like, “We’ll leave the broadband on for you.” (For the full “December 2005 Bandwidth Report” visit Web Site Optimization

Home Connectivity in the US

US broadband penetration grew to 64.89% in November. Narrowband users (56Kbps or less) now comprise 35.11% of active Internet users, down 1.13 percentage points from 36.24% in October 2005 (see Figure 1).

Broadband Growth Trends in the US

In November 2005, broadband penetration in US homes rose 1.13 percentage points to 64.89%, up from 63.76% in October. This increase of 1.13 points is below the average increase in broadband of 1.2 points per month over the last seven months. At the current growth rate of over 1.1 percentage points per month, broadband penetration among active Internet users US homes should break 70% by early March of 2006 (see Figure 2).

Work Connectivity

Most workers in the US enjoy high-speed connections to the Internet. Most use a high-speed line such as a T1 connection, and share bandwidth between computers connected to an Ethernet network. The speed of each connection decreases as more employees hook up to the LAN. As of November of 2005, of those connected to the Internet, 87.35% of US users at work enjoy a high-speed connection, up 0.94 percentage points from the 86.41% share in October. At work, 12.65% connect at 56Kbps or less (see Figure 3).

About The Bandwidth Report

The Bandwidth Report is a monthly roundup of connectivity trends in the US and elsewhere. Each month’s bandwidth report offers the latest statistics in Internet connectivity and broadband trends, including:

* Home Connectivity in the US
* Broadband Growth in the US
* Work Connectivity
* Broadband Trends in the US, Canada, and other countries

The December 2005 Bandwidth Report is available at:
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0512/

- Company Will Leverage Decades of Telecom Experience to Set Future
Strategic Direction -

(http://www.lastmilecoms.com), a developer of software and hardware for the delivery
of wireless location-based information services, has appointed Robert “Hal”
Turner as Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors, effectively
immediately.
As Chairman, Hal takes on the role of lead representative of the
Company’s aims and policies to the outside world, while providing leadership
to the Company’s Board of Directors to ensure its effectiveness in setting and
implementing corporate direction and strategy.
A 28-year telecommunications industry veteran, Hal founded Turner Telecom
Holdings where he utilizes his international executive management experience
to accelerate the growth of his clients, which have included global wireless,
telecommunications, technology and software companies.
“LastMile has a compelling, innovative technology that will truly
leverage the Internet to deliver customized, location-specific information to
the average consumer when and where they are needed,” says Turner. “I’m
looking forward to helping the LastMile team realize the potential of its
WDirect(TM) and MagicBook(R) technologies.”
Hal was most recently as Chief Executive at InfiniRoute Networks Inc.,
the industry’s first carrier-neutral, fully managed service that seamlessly
integrates and manages VoIP routing for wireline, wireless and emerging
carriers, where he was responsible for defining, directing and implementing
the company’s overall business strategy and its finance, operations, sales,
marketing and product development.
Prior to InfiniRoute, Hal served as Chairman, Group Chief Executive and
Managing Director of Davnet Ltd., having initially served as Group Chief
Operating Officer. He has also held executive positions with New World
Telephone Limited, EON Corp., TeleZone Corp., PTT Telecom Netherlands, US,
Inc., and BellSouth Communications, Inc., where he was President and COO. Hal
began his career at AT&T Corporation, where he held senior roles in sales and
marketing.
“Having Hal’s depth of expertise available to us as we move past the
development stage to commercialize our products will be essential to our
success,” says LastMile Communications CEO and joint founder Antony Abell.
“His knowledge of telecommunications and links to potential investors will
bring the company to the next level.”
A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Hal earned his BSc and
MBA and is a Board Member and Advisory Board Member for several technology
companies.

About LastMile Communications (http://www.lastmilecoms.com)
LastMile Communications develops software and hardware that delivers
location-specific, customized content to the average consumer based on
interests, geography and immediate requirements. LastMile’s WDirect(TM) and
MagicBook(R) technologies enable users with wireless devices which operate
across a wide range of standards to easily, quickly and securely access
information and services. The company is working in partnership with
businesses, municipalities, advertisers and other technology vendors to help
realize the goal of delivering information at the “speed of need.”