Siriusly... I knew it!

Yeah, I called it. Now I know it's not that special, but now I'm thinking about buying into satellite radio... maybe.

Variety is reporting that XM and Sirius have agreed to merge. This makes total sense for the reasons I pointed out early last Summer.

>> But the thing holding up satellite radio is the “format” battle.
>> Do you want XM or Sirius. Sirius has Howard Stern and
>> Martha Stewart. XM has Opie & Anthony and Oprah. It
>> may sound like deciding between satellite-TV providers,
>> but it’s not. The difference is Dish Network, DirecTV and
>> Cable all show the same channels (Food Network, Bravo,
>> FX, local affiliates…); subscribers are paying for the content
>> delivery. Satellite radio is both different content and delivery.
>> At some point XM and Sirius are going to get together. One’s
>> going to buy the other, or there’ll be some crazy merger or
>> synergistic alliance where subscribers to either can listen to
>> content from both. Then it’ll work just like the cable TV and
>> we won’t think about it.
-- Why Radio will never go away from Fej July 28, 2006.

Now all they have to do is figure out how to get local stations incorporated and we're cruisin'.

Fiber-to-the-Future

How much data do you need to move? Or more accurately, how fast do you want to get at your digital stuff? Whether it’s music, video or PowerPoint presentations, the trend is to access your digital files from anywhere, and to be able to download anything at the drop of a hat. The trend is fiber optic cable.

But this new technology requires a new physical network. And not just of fiber optics spread across the globe, but fiber stretched to every individual house, a.k.a. “Fiber-To-The-Home”. Construction of these networks will likely to represent the largest communications infrastructure upgrade in decades and Alpha Technologies is set to play a significant role.

But how much difference can a fiber network make? Consider that downloading a 5-megabyte MP3 with dial-up access - the original Internet technology - can take 10 minutes. DSL may take 30 seconds. Cable is pretty fast at 10 seconds. But, fiber? One second. That’s it. Snap your fingers.

And it’s not just for data. Opting for fiber service means you’ll not only get access to incredibly high-speed Internet access, but recently announced TV and telephone service. All of it… now…

An optical fiber network can reach millions of homes and everyone one of those home requires a power conversion and back-up system. That’s where Alpha comes in. Unlike cable networks, you only need power solutions at the front and the end, not the middle. And because of these power solution needs, customers include telephone companies and cable providers, and municipalities, property developers and even homeowners impatient for someone else to bring the technology around.

The use of dial-up Internet connections is waning. It is nearly impossible – well, maybe just unbearable – to try browsing the Internet with anything other than a high-speed connection. And with more and more people interested in seeing what a broadband connection has to offer, today’s technologies are being tested. As more people leave behind the painfully slow download speeds of a dial-up connection, some may be disappointed in the crowded realm of other broadband technologies.

Coax cable is reaching the upper limits of its data capacity. And telephone companies are doing everything possible to squeeze as much bandwidth as possible from their existing copper-based networks, much of which is at or near end of life.

And while those networks are being tested, many rural and remote communities have been left behind by the broadband train altogether. In order to get broadband access, many have been limited to satellite Internet technology, which is spotty at best. Pressed by community and business leaders many municipalities have taken control of their destiny and have followed the lead of cities like Bristol, Virginia, the first municipal utility to offer voice, video and data over a fiber-to-the-home network. Taking on the cost of bringing high speed data access to your town is not cheap, so most are looking toward the most forward-looking option available: Fiber. Today the number of municipalities currently fielding or planning FTTh networks is in the hundreds.

Over the last 24-months Alpha Technologies has been working on a full complement of telecommunications-grade primary and standby power solutions for home and business, as well as headend power solutions like AC Uninterruptible Power Supplies, inverters, rectifiers, batteries and large generator sets.

It’s units like these that help make bringing fiber to the home a reality. After all, high-speed on the information superhighway is no good if there’s no exit ramp to your house.