Somedays I am amazed by the fact that people actually pay for research by the so-called research firms. For instance, today I came across a press release from ABI Research, which says set-top boxes might be the crucial factor in the battle between cable and telecom triple play offerings. To that I say, no shit … really! Come one, no one could have guessed that. Only Vonage and Skype have received more attention than set-top boxes. Here are pearls of wisdom from this report.

When it comes to triple-play cable STBs, the industry is still at the standards-defining stage. At present, that’s not the case in the IP STB market: whoever can build a better box and convince service providers of its superiority can enter the market today. It also means that DSL service providers can introduce new technologies and features quickly, given the open standards prevailing in their part of the market.

Oh really – where? The DSL speeds are still deplorable in the US, and lastly the fiber networks are no where near deployed. You can see I am miffed. But when am I not. But read this and weep…

“This could turn out to be a classic Hare vs. Tortoise race, Sistla concludes, “with various factors influencing the outcome of the long term race.”