FiOS TV - Hook Me Up

I have never bought a TV. After college I was one of those weird people who didn’t have one. I came into joint ownership of an ancient Sony when I got married. After 14 years of service we have decided to euthanize it. Simultaneously, I discover that Verizon now offers Versus, the channel previously known as OLN that broadcasts the Tour de France each summer.

This convergence of events has stirred me into capex mode. I signed up for Verizon FiOS TV service (not the el cheapo basic Comcast cable I had previously) and will have it installed in a week. And I have promised to perform my masculine tech-hunting duties by securing a new TV by then.

The Tivo DVR does not yet know that it too, will be put out to pasture. I’m about to discover what sort of competitive advantage their software and infrastructure brings.

7 Responses to “FiOS TV - Hook Me Up”


  1. 1 John Francis Oct 21st, 2006 at 3:47 pm

    Interesting, it was channels like Venus that got me moving into expanded TV exposure and flat screens , FIOS and the stock MRVC which should make me very rich.

  2. 2 Andrew Schmitt Oct 21st, 2006 at 9:22 pm

    Good Luck. Blog comments like this are a great sell signal.

  3. 3 John Francis Oct 22nd, 2006 at 9:43 pm

    We’ll see,but don’t knock the stock just because your puritanical roots got shacken a bit. MRV reports earnings on October 25 and it could take a hit but most likely not for long. If you bought FIOS you bought MRVC who is the leading supplier of triplexers to the project and if ATT moves to FTTH , MRVC will likely be the leading supplier of triplexers for that project too.
    V’s network is designed to upgrade to GPON ,AL has the contract for the upgrade and gets its transcievers from MRVC.FranceTel is also running tests and AL does the work for them………and it goes on ……..If Luminent is spun off this should unlock some value for shareholders concidering recient valuation has been 300Mil…ETC.

    Sell signal? hmmmmmmm

  4. 4 Andrew Schmitt Oct 23rd, 2006 at 11:41 am

    And exactly how long do you expect Verizon to single source ONUs from Tellabs, and correspondingly single source from MRVC? Can you provide some detail why you believe MRV will continue to own 100% market share?

  5. 5 John Francis Oct 23rd, 2006 at 12:55 pm

    Odds are they won’t be but don’t you think that the demand for fatter pipes is a growing one and at the beginning of a cycle? And maybe endless one? Empty space always seems to get filled.And MRV seems to have the volume to keep production costs down. An earnings CC is due on 10 25 06 :

    http://ir.mrv.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=103858&p=irol-irhome

  6. 6 olsen Oct 24th, 2006 at 6:34 am

    Enablence is readying it’s integrated PLC transceiver line.
    This article has a closing point which is relevant to your discussion:

    http://www.investmentexecutive.com/client/en/News/DetailNews.asp?id=36001&IdSection=23&cat=23&BImageCI=1

  7. 7 Dave Niles Oct 24th, 2006 at 7:12 pm

    Odds are they just might.

    MRV’s Luminent division is the primary supplier to Tellabs, Alcatel and Motorola (among others) for B-PON and G-PON triplexer trancievers. VZ is sourcing all 3 for their next gen G-PON access boxes. Unless VZ decides to switch to a fourth access supplier that doesn’t source Luminent (not likely after they just announced ALA, MOT and TLAB as the winners of their recent RFP), MRV looks to have at least 85%-90% of that business going forward (with about 10% or so going to EMKR).

    Secondly, from what I understand, Enablence’s CEO has publically stated that their PLC technology will be aimed initially at the Asian FTTP market where it will target the GE-PON space. He is talking about PLC diplexers there. Triplexers and overlay RF technology are a different story altogether. It will be interesting to see if Enablence can pull off with their PLC trancievers what Luminent has with their to-can devices in mass production in a North American FSAN deployment. Will the PLC triplexers eventually be cheaper than the current devices? Sure. When production quantities are high enough. But is a carrier like VZ ready to take that gamble? My guess is not anytime soon.

    Also, after the squashed HG deal, MRV just may be setting their sites on a PLC tranciever manufacturer like Xponent for example. If they don’t decide to spin off Luminent first and concentrate solely on their networking business, that is.

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