Residential subscriptions to broadband Internet services surged 20 percent in 2006 to exceed 50 million U.S. households, according to Digital Lifestyles: 2007 Outlook, a new study from Parks Associates. The report estimates U.S. residential broadband subscriptions will surpass 60 million households by year-end 2007, accounting for 55 percent of all U.S. households.

"The foundations of digital lifestyle applications and products are built on access services, including broadband Internet and television," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates. "With the penetration of high-speed Internet exceeding 50 percent in 2007, we're also witnessing shifts in the way companies are positioning their communications, entertainment, and information services as home technology solutions."

Digital Lifestyles: 2007 Outlook reveals providers are delivering both broadband and television services with greater emphasis on the value-added services they enable, rather than just the services themselves. The report also finds that, in recent years, service providers have been partnering more closely with equipment vendors to strengthen the linkages between digital lifestyle services and the end-user products that enable them, including set-top boxes, home computers, home networks, gaming consoles, and other fixed and portable consumer electronics devices.

"With the demarcation points in access services migrating closer to the customers, service providers can provide much more in the way of personalized and enhanced communications, entertainment, and information services," Scherf said. "A key trend is the tightening of the value chains that enable end-to-end and seamless services. These stronger linkages will lead to greater choice and convenience in the ways customers interact with digital lifestyle amenities."

For more information, check out the press release U.S. Residential Broadband Penetration to Exceed 50% in 2007.

AT&T Inc. announced last week that it is supporting of the new Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), which was born out of the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) with an enhanced mission of protecting children from potentially harmful materials while preserving free expression on the Internet. AT&T, previously a member of the ICRA, will continue its leadership role in FOSI working with other companies and organizations on this global cooperative effort to increase the safety of children when they are online.

"The rapid evolution of the Internet and entertainment technology and the increasing availability of inappropriate content that can be accessed over multiple devices reinforce the importance of effectively educating parents and children to promote safe experiences online," said Dorothy Attwood, senior vice president of Regulatory Planning and Policy for AT&T. "AT&T applauds FOSI's leadership role in these education efforts and looks forward to continuing its active participation in this unique forum that encourages leaders in technology, public policy and government to collaborate on online safety issues."

The FOSI launch event today in Washington, D.C., features executives from technology and communications companies, academics, government officials and leaders from nongovernment organizations discussing how to best protect children online in a post-convergence world. Attwood is participating in a roundtable discussion titled, "The Chicken or the Egg - Which Comes First: Technology or Policy?" The launch event also includes remarks from FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate, Amanda Lenhart of the Pew Internet and American Life Project and other leaders in this arena.

"Having the support of a company like AT&T, which places the same importance on protecting children online as we do, is invaluable," said Stephen Balkam, CEO for FOSI. "AT&T and the other FOSI participants recognize the benefits of industry collaboration as a means to identify the best practices and tools to keep families safe online. We look forward to continuing our partnership with AT&T and are eager to see what solutions we can develop together."

FOSI's primary vision is to increase the safety, decrease the fear and expand the benefits of the digitally connected society, particularly for children, while protecting freedom of speech and expression. The institute will incorporate the work and mission of ICRA, becoming an umbrella body that promotes dialogue and discussion among leaders in government and technology on issues concerning family online safety.

Read more in the AT&T press release.

BigBand Networks Inc., a provider of broadband multimedia infrastructure for video, voice and data, announced that it has signed a five-year agreement with Suddenlink Communications. The cable operator is using the BigBand FastFlow® Broadband Provisioning Manager (BPM) to provision and manage DOCSIS® services such as High-Speed Data (HSD) and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) across a geographically dispersed, multi-vendor network environment.

Last May, Suddenlink closed an acquisition of cable systems that serve approximately 900,000 subscribers in parts of eight states from Cox Communications. Suddenlink closed an additional acquisition in July of cable systems that serve approximately 240,000 customers in parts of four states from Charter Communications. Cox had been using FastFlow to provision its systems, and the new agreement extends FastFlow's coverage to the balance of Suddenlink's cable systems. Suddenlink also uses BigBand's Broadband Multimedia-Services Router (BMR®) and Cuda® cable modem termination system (CMTS) platform for video, voice and data services in multiple locations.

"Suddenlink has very quickly grown into one of the larger cable operators in the U.S., and BigBand's FastFlow made that transition much easier," said Jeff Strout, Suddenlink's vice president of IP engineering and operations. "FastFlow's intuitive user interface gave us extensive visibility into service delivery on our new, multi-vendor networks and made service deployment much easier than we anticipated. The platform is also designed to scale well to support additional growth."

FastFlow and other provisioning management software applications have become increasingly popular for service provisioning as cable networks have evolved from the closed systems of the past to the standards-based, multi-vendor environments of today. FastFlow is interoperable with a wide range of devices from multiple vendors, including cable modems, set-top boxes, multimedia terminal adaptors, and CMTS. Though FastFlow is adept at provisioning widely distributed networks, such as Suddenlink's, the product also performs well in centralized networks.

"Suddenlink's decision to use BigBand's FastFlow BPM in the systems it acquired from Cox, and to expand its use of the product to its other systems is a powerful testament to the solution's scalability and multi-vendor capabilities," said Pirjo Tuomi, senior vice president of worldwide sales for BigBand Networks. "FastFlow is designed to allow cable operators like Suddenlink to make service deployment seamless, and maintain subscriber satisfaction as new services are installed."

For more information, check out the press release BigBand Networks Announces Five-Year Contract with Suddenlink Communications.

As part of Verizon's continuing commitment to provide Spanish-speaking customers with in-language support, the company recently began offering an updated version of the installation kit for the company's high-speed Internet access service that includes the option to select instructions in Spanish.

Customers now can select either English or Spanish as their language of preference when they install and register Verizon High Speed Internet. For example, once customers insert the installation kit's CD into their PC, they can select "Espanol" on the first screen to upload the software and go through the entire installation process in Spanish.

"Through market research, we've found that Spanish-speaking broadband users feel more comfortable with an end-to-end in-language experience," said Jeff McFarland, director of multicultural marketing for Verizon. "The new Spanish-language installation kit offers consumers an added-value service when installing Verizon High Speed Internet."

Alejandra Martinez, senior manager of Hispanic marketing and communications for Verizon, said, "We are providing content in Spanish because we understand that it's easier to follow technical instructions in-language."

Verizon has launched a series of Spanish-language Web sites to better communicate with Hispanic consumers, including a redesign of its first bilingual Web site to recognize Hispanic achievements and to enable U.S. Hispanics to experience and express their passions about their culture.

Verizon has been a strong supporter of the Hispanic community and joined the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and Scholastic Inc. to launch Lee y seras® (Read and You Will Be), a national Latino early literacy initiative that engages parents and communities in the literacy development of their children. Since 2004, the Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, has provided more than $24 million to programs and organizations that support the Hispanic community.

Broadband Internet access is gradually becoming a defining characteristic of advanced industrialized economies. In the latest update to ABI Research's online Broadband Subscribers Database, ABI forecasts that the total number of DSL and cable broadband users in the world will grow by an average of 9 percent annually over the next five years to reach 480 million subscribers by 2012.

"The Asia-Pacific region offers a potentially huge market to tap into," says broadband research analyst Serene Fong, of ABI Research's Asia bureau. "In terms of statistical benchmarking, the subscriber base in the Asia-Pacific region will grow substantially over the next five years, and is expected to outperform other areas. Much of the Asia-Pacific growth is expected to be fueled by the flourishing Chinese broadband market."

Broadband DSL will continue to be the fastest growing sector in the industry, as opposed to cable broadband. Asia-Pacific research director and general manager Jake Saunders comments, "DSL is set for stronger growth than cable across the globe mainly because it is able to leverage existing telecommunications infrastructure, leading to lower prices and greater ease of deployment."

ABI Research's "Broadband Subscribers Database", which is updated twice each year, profiles subscriber trends categorized by operator, by country, and by technology. To read more about this research, check out the press release Broadband to Reach Almost Half a Billion Subscribers Worldwide by 2012.

Verizon is warning customers to watch out for a new wave of e-mails that ask consumers to supply personal information on fake Web sites designed to look like legitimate Web sites of Verizon and other major companies.

The personal information—for example, social security numbers, driver's license numbers and credit card numbers—can then be used to commit identity theft. The scam is often referred to as "phishing," and recently it has been on the increase.

"Verizon never sends e-mail messages asking for this type of information," said Jim Matteo, Verizon Security team leader for cyber security. "This is an old scam, but lately we've seen more of it with more sophisticated phony Web pages that consumers could take to be legitimate."

Verizon security personnel take quick action against the bogus Web sites as soon as possible after becoming aware of them. The company also works to educate consumers on how to avoid being victimized by these scams.

"Through our own fraud investigation team, we're constantly on the lookout for illegal Web sites and phishing scams." Matteo said. "In addition, there are a number of ways a consumer can check to see if an e-mail is legitimate. One way is to look for misspelled words in the original e-mail. Second, if the Web site reached via the e-mail link asks for personal information, such as your mother's maiden name or bank account information, it's probably a fake. Verizon does not ask for that type of information in that situation."

For more on protecting yourself online, check out our article Avoiding Identity Theft.

GameRail recently announced that it has completed a direct connection to the Charter high-speed Internet service network. The new connection bypasses the Internet and allows Charter high-speed Internet subscribers in Missouri, St. Louis, and St. Louis Metro East to decrease ping times to online game servers throughout the country by 25 to 75 percent. GameRail's nationwide network directly connects gamers to game servers. Online gamers with broadband Internet service from Charter now have the shortest and fastest path to performance game servers offering the popular titles.

Charter customers can see for themselves the improved performance by simply registering at www.gamerail.com. "The GameRail network is further expanded with Charter Communications' Midwestern footprint. Our network's reach today covers most major peering points with partners servicing broadband subscribers from as far as Fairbanks, Alaska and as near as Chesterfield, Missouri. Access providers and game server hosts continue to jump on the rail in order to offer their customers the best online gaming experience possible" said Blake Ashby, GameRails' President.

For more information, check out the press release Charter High-Speed Internet Customers Gain Direct Access to GameRail.

A broad array of technology companies, media organizations, trade associations and nonprofits recently announced their collaboration in launching Project Online Safety, an educational campaign focused on promoting Internet safety for children. The initiative provides parents and children with a centralized online resource of Internet safety tools and educational materials at www.ProjectOnlineSafety.com, and supports and encourages the broadcast of a series of related national public service advertisements (PSAs) being sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Ad Council.

Project Online Safety is part of an ongoing, industry-wide effort working with leading advocacy organizations to educate parents and children about the importance of online safety. The partners of the initiative that are investing resources to support online safety programs are AT&T, BlogSafety.com, Cable in the Classroom (CIC), Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, Facebook, Fox Interactive Media (MySpace), Internet Education Foundation, National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), Network Solutions, News Corp., Qwest Communications, Time Warner Cable and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

"Charter is proud to join this industry-wide effort to help make online safety information available to our nation's youth," said Jay Carlson, senior vice president of information technology for Charter Communications. "With the provision of powerful communication tools comes responsibility, and Charter takes the responsibility of raising awareness and education very seriously."

This educational campaign addresses concerns regarding abuse of the Internet to victimize children online. Many companies are currently taking important measures to reduce the potential threats posed by Internet predators and to prosecute individuals who utilize the Internet to prey upon children. For example, companies participating in Project Online Safety are conducting a variety of activities, including national traveling education programs; conducting extensive law enforcement training sessions; and designating specific online locations where parents, guardians and children can learn how they can have safer and more rewarding experiences on the Internet.

In conjunction with the initiative, a new online portal at www.ProjectOnlineSafety.com serves as a central repository where parents, guardians, teachers and children can access numerous Internet safety tools and educational materials, which are made available by the participating companies and organizations. The site serves as a portal through which users may access resources on specific topic areas of interest, such as parental control technologies, ways to report trouble online, cyberbullying, and safe web sites for children. In addition, users can also click on a participating technology company or advocacy organization web page to review their online safety materials and read more about their efforts to help protect children's online experiences.

For more information on this project, read the National Cable & Telecommunications Association press release.