Motive Communications Inc. signed a deal with Cox Communications Inc. to license Motive's xi Smart Service Suite that includes self-activation and auto-provisioning for high-speed Internet service.
The deal, announced in conjunction with the Society of Cable Television Engineers conference in Philadelphia last week, is the first MSO-wide deal for self-activation and provisioning of high-speed data service, according to Motive.
Today, even consumers who purchase a modem at retail and install it in their homes have to call a cable company CSR to complete the install, set-up and authorization process.
The Smart Service Suite will allow Cox subscribers to bring home a store-bought modem, install and provision it themselves via the Web, without any phone call or truck roll from Cox, Motive said.
"This allows consumers to buy a modem and never have to call a service provider," said Sanjay Castelino, director of product marketing at Motive.
As operators move to more retail sales of modems, self-authorization becomes that much more critical, Castelino said, because it saves the MSO money and it creates a better customer experience for the end user.
Motive's SmartActivation software provides new Internet customers an automated service-activation experience covering self-install, problems solving and FAQs.
Motive's software also provides standard integration interfaces with Cox's operational support systems, eliminating the need for manual processing.
Those manual processes include setting up e-mail accounts and adding service levels to a service. Those processes sometimes can lead to excess costs and errors, not to mention complicating the consumer experience. "There is the time between when I want broadband and when it's up and running and that can be measured in days and weeks," Castelino said. "With auto provisioning, we're making sure we connect the point of the subscriber's wont or interest to their ability to get more instantaneous gratification."
"Cox is one of the first to be rolling this out fairly broadly," he said, with a launch that began this month.
In other IP news from SCTE, Incognito Software announced its IP Commander Broadband Edition 4.2 provisioning system, which provides additional security and diagnostic tools.
Stargus announced new additions to its CableEdge product family as well as interoperability agreements for that platform. The new additions, Bandwidth Report and X-Ray, provides reporting on how bandwidth is used and real-time and historical-performance-configuration details down to the individual modem level. Also, Stargus said it's completed inoperability tests with ADC, ARRIS, Juniper Networks and Motorola.
Toshiba American Information Systems Inc. said it will embed Jungo Software Technologies CableHome-based OpenRG residential gateway software into its wireless cable modem router. Toshiba said the new units would start shipping in the third quarter.
Motorola Broadband Communications Sector announced that it's working with Cedar Point Communications to create voice-over-IP-telephony solutions for cable, using Motorola's advanced IP access technology and CedarPoint's integrated class 5 packet switch.
Com21 signed an OEM agreement with ARRIS, allowing ARRIS to rebrand and market Com21's DOXcontroller 1000XB cable modem.
