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The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, 
in collaboration with IDATE, France 
Annual Conference on the State of Telecom

From the Internet of Science to the Internet of Next Generation Entertainment 
Implications for Content, Technology and Industry Consolidation

September 19th 2014
9:00am-5:30pm
Columbia Club 
15 W. 43rd Street 
New York NY 10036

With technology progressing at the speed of Moore's Law, it is not too early to think about the next generation of television (NGV) - super sharp, interactive, communicative, immersive, global, personalized. It is not too early to think about technology, public policy issues, economics, and impact. And to ask how things will be progressing over the next few years, and how to assure that such a media system will move in the right direction.
The goal of the early Internet was to connect research institutions. Yet today 71% of all Internet traffic consists of video, games, and music, and that number is growing. This transition raises issues for media content, technology, industry consolidation, business strategy, and regulatory policy. Media companies, academics, policy makers, and technologists must think ahead. 
Join the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information as it hosts a Trans-Atlantic dialogue with France's IDATE on the implications of this evolution. 
 
9:00am Welcome and Introduction of Topic
Eli Noam, Columbia University
Yves Gassot, IDATE
 9:15am Session 1- Technology and business drivers of the transformation of the Internet

This session deals with new technology applications and approaches that lead into the next generation of entertainment video, Cloud TV, and Wireless. How are media firms and ISPs are adapting to that technology? How much spectrum would be needed for next generation video? Will spectrum need to be repurposed, and if so, where should it come from? What are the technology issues of multi-platformed TV? What are technology elements of immersive video,' and how will the next generation of video feature them? What are recent R&D efforts in various countries that are relevant to cloud based video? 

Moderator: Robert Zitter, former CTO, HBO
John Carey, Director of the Center for Communication, Fordham University
Greg Harper, President, Harpervision
Kien Hua, Professor, University of Central Florida*
Yael Maguire, Director, Connectivity Labs, Facebook

10:25am Session 2- Emerging business, marketing, and transaction models for Next Generation Video (NGV)

This session deals with the business dimensions of the emerging online video system. What are the investment and cost issues for next-generation video, both for infrastructure and for content? What do we expect in consumer prices and penetration? What will be the role of startups and of established companies? Will the current flat-rate model continue to be dominant, or will it give way to tiered plans? What are the content, licensing, and monetization issues of multi-platform distribution TV? What will be the role of intermediary cloud providers? What are the factors that explain the high market shares, respectively, of Netflix, Google/YouTube, Amazon.com, Apple iStore, Facebook? What is the business potential for peer-to-peer and user-generated for-profit video? Can we estimate consumer demand for cloud-based video? What are the business and technological issues for individualized advertising?

Moderator: Robert Atkinson, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information
Jeffrey Ulin, General Counsel, Irdeto*
Benjamin Swinburne, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Research Division
Raul Katz, Columbia University
Horst Stipp, EVP, Global Business Strategy, Advertising Research Foundation
Brent Olson, VP Public Policy, AT&T

11:35am Coffee Break

11:50am Session 3- Public Interest Dimensions in Next-Generation Video and Networks

The new online and cloud-based video and infrastructure environment will be scrutinized for its impact on traditional public interest concerns -- content diversity, gatekeeping power, inclusion, affordability, ownership, localism, rural availability, public service media, consumer choice, and more. Which of the traditional issues are resolved? What new issues can be predicted? And how will the political system address them?

Moderator: Darcy Gerbarg, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information
Howard Homonoff, President, Homonoff Media 
Bruce Lincoln, Urban Cyberspace 
Dave Burstein, DSL Reports 
Heather Hudson, Professor of Public Policy, University of Alaska Anchorage

12:50pm Lunch 

A Transatlantic Perspective on Telecom and Video Evolution (CITI-IDATE)

1:50pm Session 4 - Consolidation in the network platform industry: drivers and impacts

This session explores trends of market concentration in the network platform industry across the Atlantic and around the world. It will examine business drivers for providers, the consumers' interests, and the policy issues. What are the impacts of horizontal and vertical integration? What is the impact of market power in and on next generation video? Will competitive forces deal with it? Will the future of media be one of domination by large, vertically integrated, media conglomerates? Are there constraints on innovation and investment by infrastructure providers that encourage a pro-consolidation policy in Europe? What are the implications? 

Moderator: Yves Gassot, IDATE
Eli Noam, Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia University
Vianney Hennes SVP European and Internat. Regulation, Orange
Harold Feld, Senior Vice President, Public Knowledge
Lorenzo Pupillo, Executive Director Public & Regulatory Affairs, Telecom Italia
Richard Knowlton, Managing Director, Societe Generale (Invited) 

3:00pm Coffee Break
3:10pm Session 5 - New TV and (video) OTT issues for telecom and media policy

This session explores the policy issues that will be present in the next generation of entertainment video. How will rules that were specific to countries and media types be designed for a much wider reach and scope? What are financial consequences, and how does Wall Street view these new issues? Given several scenarios for the demand for online video, what are the infrastructure implications for network providers? ISPs? In a world with different laws concerning content, how can content providers and providers of interactive content comply with these rules? Which governmental agency should have regulatory authority in the NGV environment? Is there a role for supranational harmonization and what should be its limits? What are the issues of interoperability among NGV producers and clouds? What are the issues of net neutrality' that affect cloud providers and content providers? What are the copyright and licensing issues associated with global online video? What are the issues of privacy and security in an online video world, and what can be the role of cloud providers to deal with them? What is the role of public service broadcasters in an online video world? In cloud provision? Do policy issues include: Taxation? Trade? Interoperability? 



Moderator: Franois Barrault, Chairman of IDATE and former CEO of BT Global Services
Michael Nathanson, Senior Research Analyst MoffettNathanson LLC
Richard Feasey, former Public Director Vodafone 
Nihar Shah, VP Strategic Planning and Marketing Intelligence, SES
Terry Denson,VP FiOS Content Strategy & Applications, Verizon

4:20pm Session 6 - Defining the future: initiatives to lead the next generation of internet video

This session will look at active initiatives to move to a next-generation video world in platforms and content. It will contribute forward-looking thoughts on how to deal with the implications. Governments are considering steps to encourage infrastructure, reach technical standards, and integrate regulations. This session will examine these initiatives and their merits. What are the recent international efforts at technological harmonization and standards relevant to NGV? Is international/national uniformity necessary or desirable, and are there alternative bridging and translation arrangements possible? What is the economic impact of an active cloud-TV system? What is the cost of delay due to regulatory gridlock? What are the implications for national culture' production? For content and viewpoint pluralism? Who will be potential losers? 

Moderator: Henning Schulzrinne Professor of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University , and Chief Technology Officer, FCC
Robert Pepper, Vice President, Global Technology Policy, Cisco
Blair Levin, Communications & Society Fellow, Aspen Institute
Len Waverman, Dean, DeGroote School of Business
Bernd Holznagel Professor of Law University of Mnster

5:30 Closing remarks and reception

To Be Confirmed
* Appearing via Webex