analysis & commentaryCOMMENTARY FROM OUR STAFFHopeful signs on the cost vs. consumption curveTelecom carriers have struggled for years with contradictions between their cost structure and their revenue streams. Life would be easier for carriers if their customers would pay more according to what they consume, though how could they ever be convinced to do that?... Bumps in the wireless road2007 ended with such momentum in the wireless market: Google announcing Android, the iPhone approaching 4 million users (confirmed today by Apple), the 700 MHz auction kicking off and every company from Verizon to AT&T and beyond jumping on the open bandwagon. So what’s this: a few bumps in the road?... A refreshing changeMetaSwitch made its name in the early days by being a good supplier to second- and third-tier telephone companies, including many rural operators. The company was employee-owned until just recently, when it decided to seek outside funding to enable a global expansion. To be sure, this is a risk ... The riddle of the convergence gatewayTo answer subscribers’ cravings for communications and entertainment services that will flow across any type of access network and display on any type of device, carriers need to reconstruct the edges of their networks to perform the session management acrobatics required to fulfill these end user expectations... The end of all-you-can eat?A number of reports have surfaced recently that claim Internet traffic will increase by 5 times over the next several years driven largely by a massive increase in video traffic. We can always quibble over the actually amount that traffic will increase, but suffice it to say it’s going to get extremely busy in the Ether... Net neutrality nervousThe new Net neutrality legislation from Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass) seems, on the surface, to be un-objectionable. Markey isn’t asking for a law that banishes tiered services with stiff penalties for violators. He isn’t trying to codify a limited set of behaviors for broadband Internet service providers, he’s only asking for additional policy statement which hardly seem that onerous... MWC: Fighting the good fight, but is it the right fight?BARCELONA--The GSM Association has always been an activist organization. It pushes all sorts of industry initiatives from pushing 3G connectivity in laptops to launching Third World wireless penetration projects to producing short films for the mobile phone. The association is always on the lookout for a way to make wireless more prevalent, useful and ultimately more profitable for its carrier clientele... Wireless access -- What a concept!Quiet, low-key events often can have a big impact. Two weeks ago, TDS Telecom announced new WiMAX-based Internet high-speed data and voice services to 65,000 customers in Madison, Wis.... Scavenger Hunt: BarcelonaBARCELONA--If you’re reading this from somewhere other than Barcelona, there are only three possible explanations. (1) You’re not in the wireless industry; good for you. (2) You are in wireless, but following the show from afar; good for you. (3) You missed the memo about 3GSM changing its name to Mobile World Congress (MWC); you might want to start looking for a new job... The Independent beatWhen the chance to edit The Independent came up at the beginning of the year, I jumped at it. In the 15 years that I've been reporting on the telecom industry, one of my favorite focus areas -- or what journalists call "beats" -- has always been Independent telcos... Getting on the same pageI recently participated in a focus group with marketing directors from several Independent operating carriers. Our goal was to discuss and brainstorm how carriers need to adapt in these competitive times and become more market-focused... A wireless wasteIn case you missed the buzzword train, everyone in the telecom industry is going green. Now it's just a matter of getting consumers to realize it... Jeff Citron, here's your answerI briefly met with Vonage at the Consumer Electronics Show, and I talked to the nice, smart people in your booth. They were demonstrating some good-looking equipment that could do neat new things, and I even gave them a few good ideas to take it a step further... Cable concernsThe Internet didn't invent conspiracy theories, but it has given them a more powerful voice and the ability to go global in hours if not minutes. When the first speculation surrounding cuts in two undersea fiber optic cables connecting India to Europe ran to thoughts of sabotage, paranoia seemed to be in full flower... DSL declineThere’s been a lot of talk lately about efforts to pump more power and speed into DSL. Whether its bonding VDSL2 pairs, bonding ADSL with cable, reallocating upstream and downstream bandwidth, reducing noise on the line or just giving the signal a little boost, everyone’s interested in squeezing more speed out of DSL... Open mobile Web: Progress and delaysIssuing press releases and releasing beta code was the easy part. Actually delivering products and sorting out the power relationships in a new, more “open” mobile universe – that’s hard... Video compensates for broadband declines at AT&T and VerizonAt this stage, it is hard to escape news about a weakening economy in the United States. However, judging by the earnings calls from both AT&T and Verizon, everything is great. So why are they so confident when all the signs point in a different direction? ... Ask Steve: Our new monthly Q&A columnWelcome to our monthly column, Ask Steve. We’re going to tackle small and medium business-focused questions every month. We’ve received some great questions so far and will try to get to all of them. This month we’re going to look at smart phone applications and broadband connectivity. Keep those great questions coming!... No tough times for telecom?It seems inevitable that the slowing U.S. economy will begin to spill over onto the sales of the voice, video, data and wireless bundles that telecom service providers are now peddling. Or it did to me. But that’s not necessarily the case, according to some of the industry analysts I polled for this column... 700 MHz: Will the D block lie dormant?There’s still a long way to go before the 700 MHz auction concludes, but after 11 straight rounds with no bids on the public-safety/commercial shared license, it’s only fair to start asking the obvious question: What happens if the no one else bids on the D-block license?... A whole new worldThe many facets of digital TV have turned the traditional advertising model on its head, and according to the many experts we interviewed for this issue's special report on advertising, no one truly knows what the new business model is going to be... A whole new usWelcome to Telephony’s new Web site. I’m confident you’ll immediately notice a lot of changes to www.telephonyonline.com, but I wanted to point out several that I think are significant... Can home control services be the next wave for telcos?Telcos still have a long ways to go to perfect their triple/quadruple play services. IPTV is improving, but it’s still not there. And the long talked about IMS-driven integration of content across three (or more) screens isn’t yet a reality. OK – so all of these things need to be progressed. Work remains to be done... Video: Becoming increasingly clearContinued improvements in video display technology highlighted the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Several manufacturers showed 100+-inch displays, with Panasonic’s 150-inch prototype (more than 6 feet high and almost 11 feet wide) winning the prize... Video's future becomes clearerContinued improvements in video display technology highlighted the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. Several manufacturers showed 100-plus-inch displays,... Mobile TV gets sportyConsumers have been pretty clear that if they are going to take their television viewing experience mobile, they want the same content and the same quality as they can get on their living room television sets. As to what content will become the most coveted, it is safe to bet that U.S. consumers will follow the lead of their overseas' counterparts in demanding access to sporting events live and on-the-go. Especially this year, with the summer Olympics coming up in China... Q&A: Gillis Cashman, MC Venture PartnersAfter eight years at MC Venture Partners, Gillis Cashman made partner this month at the venture capital firm, which focuses on technology and communications startups. Cashman, who sits on the boards of Cavalier Telephone, Zayo Bandwidth and cable player Baja Broadband, spoke with Telephony’s Ed Gubbins about the future of CLECs and current economic trends shaping the telecom service provider space and investment in it... Hopeful signs on the cost vs. consumption curveTelecom carriers have struggled for years with contradictions between their cost structure and their revenue streams. Life would be easier for carriers if their customers would pay more according to what they consume, though how could they ever be convinced to do that?... Bumps in the wireless road2007 ended with such momentum in the wireless market: Google announcing Android, the iPhone approaching 4 million users (confirmed today by Apple), the 700 MHz auction kicking off and every company from Verizon to AT&T and beyond jumping on the open bandwagon. So what’s this: a few bumps in the road?... A refreshing changeMetaSwitch made its name in the early days by being a good supplier to second- and third-tier telephone companies, including many rural operators. The company was employee-owned until just recently, when it decided to seek outside funding to enable a global expansion. To be sure, this is a risk ... CES: And the twain shall meet?The Consumer Electronics Show this year seemed all about bigger and better home video services and devices, and smaller video that can go mobile... The mobile DVRWe’re witnessing the advent of the mobile DVR, an innovation that could possibly -- it just might -- breath a little life into the lackluster mobile TV industry. Yes, I know it’s still early days... Anybody game?A year after Microsoft first said it would integrate its IPTV platform and its Xbox 360 Live game system, the first of the software giant's customers -- BT -- has announced it will sell the game consoles, which double as IPTV set-tops boxes... |
advertisement CONTRIBUTED ANALYSISThe riddle of the convergence gatewayTo answer subscribers’ cravings for communications and entertainment services that will flow across any type of access network and display on any type of device, carriers need to reconstruct the edges of their networks to perform the session management acrobatics required to fulfill these end user expectations... The end of all-you-can eat?A number of reports have surfaced recently that claim Internet traffic will increase by 5 times over the next several years driven largely by a massive increase in video traffic. We can always quibble over the actually amount that traffic will increase, but suffice it to say it’s going to get extremely busy in the Ether... The new digital divideThough I applaud Verizon for making fiber to the home a cornerstone of its future -- the FiOS network has reduced operating costs significantly while giving consumers faster speeds, higher quality, and unique services and features -- in reality, it poses a problem that highlights the potential for a new type of digital divide: fiber vs. copper... It's an upstream worldForget what you know about network engineering because it's worthless... Our IPTV wish list's Top 10Operators offering IPTV are going to find it increasingly hard to convince users that pretty TV guides and 10,000 video-on-demand titles are enough to switch from cable and satellite offerings... Broadband before its timeAlmost 20 years ago, I helped write Probe Research's landmark study, “The End of the RBOCs,” in which we argued that one of the then-seven Bell companies would sell its outside plant in exchange for regulatory freedom to offer any service. This was a novel concept, and it made perfect sense. But it was totally premature... Moving up the IT value stackAs the U.S. business communications market continues to consolidate, service providers need to constantly evaluate new potential revenue sources... Keeping an open mindIn the upcoming 700 MHz auction, the FCC is mandating that 22 MHz of spectrum be allocated to allow, with certain constraints, open access to applications and devices... |
