Friday, December 31, 2004
law.com - A Must-Win Situation for the Bells?
VoicePulse Named Best of the Year by PC Magazine
VoicePulse Named Best of the Year by PC Magazine: "Residential and small business VoIP provider review."
Online Video: The Sequel
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Forbes.com: Ruling may hang up phone carriers
Wi-Fi Networking News: Muni Wireless Threatens Control, Not Consumers
InformationWeek > Cell phone services > Sprint's Wholesale Cell Phone Business Gets Popular
InformationWeek > Cell phone services > Sprint's Wholesale Cell Phone Business Gets Popular > December 30, 2004: "The missing piece in the bundles that telecommunications companies offer consumers is typically cell phone service, which may explain why Sprint Corp. is becoming popular as a reseller of its cell phone service."
DenverPost.com - Rivals line up Internet phoning
RedNova News - Bells Dig in to Dominate High-Speed Internet Realm
The New York Times > Coming in '05: AT&T Mobile (Via Sprint)
The Phoenix - VZ FTTP
The Phoenix
Verizon Communications has wired nearly all of the borough with fiber optic lines and plans to directly compete with Comcast for cable television customers.
Verizon Communications has wired nearly all of the borough with fiber optic lines and plans to directly compete with Comcast for cable television customers.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Yahoo! News - Court: Minn. Can't Regulate Internet Calls
The Jeff Pulver Blog: And the Legal Uncertainty Continues: California Appeals the Vonage Order
The Jeff Pulver Blog
Jeff Pulver's Blog reports on CA's challenge to the FCC's recent Vonage Order. Looks like VOIP providers will continue to face a very uncertain regulatory environment. Only took CA 40 days from the FCC decision until filing this appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court.
Jeff Pulver's Blog reports on CA's challenge to the FCC's recent Vonage Order. Looks like VOIP providers will continue to face a very uncertain regulatory environment. Only took CA 40 days from the FCC decision until filing this appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court.
The New York Times > Technology > Digital Goes Mainstream
OK, not an article about broadband per se, but it does point out the explosive growth of online shopping and consumers' appetites for electronic items that use bandwidth.
St. Paul Pioneer Press | 12/29/2004 | Telecom turf war
Rocky Mountain News: State's land-line competition stalls
Rocky Mountain News: Qwest misses deadline, delays launch of Internet-based calling
WSJ.com - Cable Giant Is Close to Scoring Quadruple Play
More on the Rumored Sprint-Time Warner Deal
Article states TW is adding 10,000 telephone customers a month. That should give the Bells something to be concerned about.
Subscription to WSJ required to read this article.
Article states TW is adding 10,000 telephone customers a month. That should give the Bells something to be concerned about.
Subscription to WSJ required to read this article.
AP - Report: Time Warner, Sprint Working on Deal
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Light Reading - 2004 Top Ten: Services Stories
Mobile Register: Fairhope, AL rejects broadband
Fairhope rejects broadband:
"Proposal for $10.23 million city telecommunications network fails in 3-2 vote "
"Proposal for $10.23 million city telecommunications network fails in 3-2 vote "
WSJ.com - The Battle to Be Your Internet Phone Provider
WSJ.com - The Battle to Be Your Internet Phone Provider: "As Major Carriers Jump In, We Test Customer Service; How to Keep Your Old Number"
Points out where the cable guys have an advantage in creating ease of use for the end customer versus the standalone service companies - they will do a truck roll to rewire all the jacks in the home rather than just tell the customer to buy a wireless telephone in order to take advantage of VOIP.
Maybe not economic but certainly better for the customer.
WSJ subscription required to access this article.
Points out where the cable guys have an advantage in creating ease of use for the end customer versus the standalone service companies - they will do a truck roll to rewire all the jacks in the home rather than just tell the customer to buy a wireless telephone in order to take advantage of VOIP.
Maybe not economic but certainly better for the customer.
WSJ subscription required to access this article.
Monday, December 27, 2004
The BroadBand Daily-VoIP's Retail Dilemma
Thoughts on 2005
Jotting down one’s thoughts on various aspects of the upcoming year seems to be nearly mandatory in blogdom, so here are mine on a few on topics of interest to the telecom industry:
VOIP – THE technology story of 2004 likely has a few more surprises in store for 2005. The cablecos have mostly finished installing the technology in their networks, so we can expect a sales and marketing barrage as they attempt to lure telco customers over to them with full triple-play offerings. The telcos will continue to roll out their offerings, but mostly they will be half-hearted actions aimed at forcing additional regulatory decisions by the FCC.
There will certainly be more VOIP start-ups, perhaps a few IPO’s, but there will likely be some failures and consolidation, too. The main challenge that the start-ups are facing is in developing name recognition, which means that their expenditures on sales and marketing efforts will exceed their expenditures on technology for their services platforms. Only a few – Vonage and AT&T – would appear to have the ability to become true national brands.
The second challenge that these firms face is in simplifying the technology even further to increase its appeal to the non-techies of the world. Joint development efforts with consumer electronics firms would go a long way in developing integrated, attractive and simple-to-use products.
Finally, I believe that there is huge potential for “private label” VOIP services that are offered by smaller local and regional ISP’s and carriers – the types of companies that know their customer bases and are looking for add-on revenues to ride the broadband pipes but who can’t afford the investment in their own VOIP infrastructure at this time. Level 3 has taken a good first step in moving that way by putting softswitch functionality into their HomeTone offerings. The next logical step would be to create a “voip in the box” product set for the wholesale market: develop CPE and backoffice systems (ordering, provisioning, billing) that could be sold to multiple companies that can’t or don’t want to develop their own systems needed to support VOIP.
WiMax – The other technology darling of 2004 will move past the hype stage and into real equipment and operation deployments. If it lives up to the claims of its promoters it could become a real competitor to the telco-cableco duopoly, at least in providing 2 of the 3 triple-play services: broadband access and VOIP. And it can become the platform with the reach and economics needed to provide broadband services to customers in sparsely-populated areas where DSL and cable don’t operate.
Political and Regulatory – 2004 was a good year to be an ILEC. The FCC’s decisions on UNEs will put the stake in the heart of many of the non facilities-based CLECs that serve residential and small business customers, which should stabilize the ILEC’s line losses, at least for some time. The key regulatory agenda items include:
FTTx – 2005 will be a good year for telco construction and equipment firms. With Verizon, SBC and BellSouth making massive capital expenditure commitments for their various high-speed network deployments we’ll be hearing a great deal about how their fiber schemes will match up against the cableco networks.
Unfortunately for the Baby Bells the cable guys have pretty much finished their builds. So while the Bells are busy tearing up your streets and lawns the cablecos will be ramping up their sales and marketing campaigns and converting many of the Bell’s existing customers into cable-based triple-play customers. The other challenge that the Bells will face in going up against cable is the development of compelling video offerings. I believe that they underestimate the difficulty in acquiring, packaging and marketing video. In contrast VOIP is a relatively easy service for the cablecos to layer onto their broadband networks. And, if the much-rumored deal between a consortium of cablecos and a wireless provider comes to pass they will have another offering to make their packages more attractive. All-in-all it looks like the cable guys are the winner in these skirmishes in 2005.
What will be interesting to watch is where the telcos will be deploying their new fiber networks. Logic would dictate that it is going to be into the neighborhoods with the most attractive demographics, and where the cablecos are probably taking their best customers. This isn’t good for you as a consumer if you don’t happen to live in one of those markets. You will have to wait longer for the promised offerings to come your way. This concentration of investment that largely bypasses smaller cities will continue to fuel municipal network initiatives as these entities very well understand the need for a first-rate communications networks as a must-have in order to attract new business and investment to their locations.
IXCs – Everyone has pretty much written off the likes of AT&T and MCI. Their former consumer long distance divisions are losing customers to the ILECs, cablecos and VOIP providers, and the local business they built using UNEs will no longer be economically viable when the price increases take effect in 2005. What they are still very good at is providing services to large, multi-location business and government customers. The Bells don’t have the sales, support and network expertise to compete for these types of customers so rather than develop it organically they’ll get it by buying an IXC. Expect that when a move is made on AT&T a similar move for MCI won’t be far behind. Sprint may escape the frenzy, at least for awhile, due to its planned merger with Nextel.
It's going to be another interesting year in the industry.
VOIP – THE technology story of 2004 likely has a few more surprises in store for 2005. The cablecos have mostly finished installing the technology in their networks, so we can expect a sales and marketing barrage as they attempt to lure telco customers over to them with full triple-play offerings. The telcos will continue to roll out their offerings, but mostly they will be half-hearted actions aimed at forcing additional regulatory decisions by the FCC.
There will certainly be more VOIP start-ups, perhaps a few IPO’s, but there will likely be some failures and consolidation, too. The main challenge that the start-ups are facing is in developing name recognition, which means that their expenditures on sales and marketing efforts will exceed their expenditures on technology for their services platforms. Only a few – Vonage and AT&T – would appear to have the ability to become true national brands.
The second challenge that these firms face is in simplifying the technology even further to increase its appeal to the non-techies of the world. Joint development efforts with consumer electronics firms would go a long way in developing integrated, attractive and simple-to-use products.
Finally, I believe that there is huge potential for “private label” VOIP services that are offered by smaller local and regional ISP’s and carriers – the types of companies that know their customer bases and are looking for add-on revenues to ride the broadband pipes but who can’t afford the investment in their own VOIP infrastructure at this time. Level 3 has taken a good first step in moving that way by putting softswitch functionality into their HomeTone offerings. The next logical step would be to create a “voip in the box” product set for the wholesale market: develop CPE and backoffice systems (ordering, provisioning, billing) that could be sold to multiple companies that can’t or don’t want to develop their own systems needed to support VOIP.
WiMax – The other technology darling of 2004 will move past the hype stage and into real equipment and operation deployments. If it lives up to the claims of its promoters it could become a real competitor to the telco-cableco duopoly, at least in providing 2 of the 3 triple-play services: broadband access and VOIP. And it can become the platform with the reach and economics needed to provide broadband services to customers in sparsely-populated areas where DSL and cable don’t operate.
Political and Regulatory – 2004 was a good year to be an ILEC. The FCC’s decisions on UNEs will put the stake in the heart of many of the non facilities-based CLECs that serve residential and small business customers, which should stabilize the ILEC’s line losses, at least for some time. The key regulatory agenda items include:
- Access charge reform – the FCC needs to make changes to the dog’s breakfast of intercarrier compensation. Many groups have put forward proposals, most aimed at greatly reducing or eliminating switched access charges under so-called bill and keep arrangements. Expect that the ILECs will fight this as they won’t win any popularity contests by increasing subscriber line charges to end users, and the charges continue to put pricing pressure on the IXC’s. The biggest decision in this space is what, if any, access charges will apply to VOIP. The ILECs will want interstate access rates while the VOIP providers and their CLEC partners will push for reciprocal compensation rates at the most.
- USF, CALEA and E911 applied to VOIP – all important safety net items, but how do they apply in the VOIP realm?
- Municipal networks – anticipate more battles between municipalities that want to build their own access networks, whether wireless or fiber, and the telcos and cablecos. About 15 states now have laws that prohibit government-owned networks. Expect a flurry of efforts by the telcos and cablecos to introduce similar legislation in other states – but strangely enough don’t expect them to refuse subsidies tossed their way to incent them to accelerate their network builds or modernizations in exchange for the state or municipality foregoing a public network build.
- Franchises fees – will the Bell’s have to pay franchise fees in order to provide video offerings over their new fiber networks?
FTTx – 2005 will be a good year for telco construction and equipment firms. With Verizon, SBC and BellSouth making massive capital expenditure commitments for their various high-speed network deployments we’ll be hearing a great deal about how their fiber schemes will match up against the cableco networks.
Unfortunately for the Baby Bells the cable guys have pretty much finished their builds. So while the Bells are busy tearing up your streets and lawns the cablecos will be ramping up their sales and marketing campaigns and converting many of the Bell’s existing customers into cable-based triple-play customers. The other challenge that the Bells will face in going up against cable is the development of compelling video offerings. I believe that they underestimate the difficulty in acquiring, packaging and marketing video. In contrast VOIP is a relatively easy service for the cablecos to layer onto their broadband networks. And, if the much-rumored deal between a consortium of cablecos and a wireless provider comes to pass they will have another offering to make their packages more attractive. All-in-all it looks like the cable guys are the winner in these skirmishes in 2005.
What will be interesting to watch is where the telcos will be deploying their new fiber networks. Logic would dictate that it is going to be into the neighborhoods with the most attractive demographics, and where the cablecos are probably taking their best customers. This isn’t good for you as a consumer if you don’t happen to live in one of those markets. You will have to wait longer for the promised offerings to come your way. This concentration of investment that largely bypasses smaller cities will continue to fuel municipal network initiatives as these entities very well understand the need for a first-rate communications networks as a must-have in order to attract new business and investment to their locations.
IXCs – Everyone has pretty much written off the likes of AT&T and MCI. Their former consumer long distance divisions are losing customers to the ILECs, cablecos and VOIP providers, and the local business they built using UNEs will no longer be economically viable when the price increases take effect in 2005. What they are still very good at is providing services to large, multi-location business and government customers. The Bells don’t have the sales, support and network expertise to compete for these types of customers so rather than develop it organically they’ll get it by buying an IXC. Expect that when a move is made on AT&T a similar move for MCI won’t be far behind. Sprint may escape the frenzy, at least for awhile, due to its planned merger with Nextel.
It's going to be another interesting year in the industry.
Race Is On for a Single Connection
LA Times: "Once operating in separate markets, cable and phone companies are jumping onto each other's turf so much that they are looking 'more like each other,' said Mark Wegleitner, chief technology officer for Verizon Communications Inc.
Indeed, for the last two years, the West Coast's top-rated telephone service provider in the annual J.D. Power & Associates consumer satisfaction surveys hasn't been a phone company, but a cable company. Cox has picked up more than 40% of SBC's customers in the cable company's south Orange County and San Diego territory."
Indeed, for the last two years, the West Coast's top-rated telephone service provider in the annual J.D. Power & Associates consumer satisfaction surveys hasn't been a phone company, but a cable company. Cox has picked up more than 40% of SBC's customers in the cable company's south Orange County and San Diego territory."
Internet phoning cracks comfort of Qwest's monopoly
Qwest offers Internet phoning
Sunday, December 26, 2004
WSJ.com - Cities Roll Out Free (Or Low-Cost) Wi-Fi
WSJ.com - Cities Roll Out Free (Or Low-Cost) Wi-Fi: "Cities Roll Out Free
(Or Low-Cost) Wi-Fi"
It not only threatens their DSL offerings, it threatens 3G services from their wireless subsidiaries.
WSJ subscription required to read this article.
(Or Low-Cost) Wi-Fi"
It not only threatens their DSL offerings, it threatens 3G services from their wireless subsidiaries.
WSJ subscription required to read this article.
HoustonChronicle.com - SBC risks plenty in its fiber-optic transition
HoustonChronicle.com - SBC risks plenty in its fiber-optic transition
So, what will they be when they grow up?
So, what will they be when they grow up?
HoustonChronicle.com - Perry's vision for Texas includes giant toll network
Fredericksburg.com - Some cities offer low-cost Internet
MercuryNews.com | 12/26/2004 | Bye, competition; hello, high phone bills
Mobile Pipeline | Is Government Your Next Broadband Provider?
Companies cast wide web to offer Internet phoning - billingsgazette.com
Saturday, December 25, 2004
Barron's Online - Comcast
Barron's Online - The Cable Company That Could: "The Cable Company That Could"
Excellent article on Comcast in particular and the upcoming battles between cable and the RBOC's as they square off with triple and quadruple play offerings for consumers.
Subscription to WSJ or Barron's Online required to access the article.
Excellent article on Comcast in particular and the upcoming battles between cable and the RBOC's as they square off with triple and quadruple play offerings for consumers.
Subscription to WSJ or Barron's Online required to access the article.
Friday, December 24, 2004
RedNova News - Verizon Takes Next Big Step Toward VoIP
RED HERRING | Skype expands
RED HERRING | Skype expands: "The peer-to-peer telephony software company targets more traditional phone carrier consumers"
Internet Telephony: VoIP Regulation: What Lessons Can We Learn From Wireless?
Thursday, December 23, 2004
The Jeff Pulver Blog: Municipal and State Governments to VoIP Industry: "Deploy VoIP ... but Give Us All your Money" -- Zen Koan or Catch 22?
The Jeff Pulver Blog: Municipal and State Governments to VoIP Industry: "Deploy VoIP ... but Give Us All your Money" -- Zen Koan or Catch 22?: "Municipal and State Governments to VoIP Industry: 'Deploy VoIP ... but Give Us All your Money'"
Lightwave - Japanese fiber to premises deployments worth watching
Lightwave - Municipals, incumbents battle over fiber to home
Technology News: Networks: Telephony's Future Gets Much Simpler
Screening Your TV Options
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
RED HERRING | Top 10 Trends: The death of distance
RED HERRING | Top 10 Trends: The death of distance: "VoIP is cheap, no doubt. What is more interesting is what it can do."
Muniwireless: Bill to restrict municipal broadband introduced in Ohio Archives
Muniwireless: Bill to restrict municipal broadband introduced in Ohio Archives: "Bill to restrict municipal broadband introduced in Ohio"
Muniwireless: Madison, Wisconsin to offer wireless broadband services
Muniwireless: Madison, Wisconsin to offer wireless broadband service: "Madison, Wisconsin to offer wireless broadband service"
Americas Network - Optimizing Transport/Backhaul Networks
Americas Network - Optimizing Transport/Backhaul Networks: "Optimizing Transport/Backhaul Networks"
Americas Network - SBC'S IP Video Subject to Franchise Rules, Say City Lawyers
Americas Network - SBC'S IP Video Subject to Franchise Rules, Say City Lawyers: "
SBC'S IP Video Subject to Franchise Rules, Say City Lawyers"
SBC'S IP Video Subject to Franchise Rules, Say City Lawyers"
Light Reading - Telecom Industry Capex Trends
Light Reading - Networking the Telecom Industry: "Analyst Sees Shift in Capex Trends"
FCC Reports on Broadband Internet and Local Telephone Competition
Broadband in US jumps 38 pct in latest data-FCC| Reuters.com
Latest News and Financial Information | Reuters.com: "Broadband in US jumps 38 pct in latest data-FCC"
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
100% Of Rural America Now Has Access to Broadband Internet Service
100% Of Rural America Now Has Access to Broadband Internet Service: "100% Of Rural America Now Has Access to Broadband Internet Service"
Resale of Direcway satellite service.
Resale of Direcway satellite service.
The New York Times > AP > Broadband Use Surpasses Dial - Up in U.S.
The New York Times > AP > Technology > Broadband Use Surpasses Dial - Up in U.S.: "Broadband Use Surpasses Dial - Up in U.S."
Note comments late in the article on the problems of one or two providers cotrolling most markets.
Note comments late in the article on the problems of one or two providers cotrolling most markets.
Light Reading - Networking the Telecom Industry
Light Reading - Networking the Telecom Industry: "Service Providers See Growth in 2005"
VOIP - Cablevision's Optimum Voice® Surpasses 250,000 Customers
Cablevision May Sell Satellite TV Unit
Yahoo! News - Telephone Business Gears Up to Deliver TV
heraldtribune.com: Verizon to offer package for TV
Mobile Pipeline | 2004: Mergers,Convergence And Wi-Fi As Sewage
Forbes.com: Liberty Media Swaps Net2Phone Shares
Americas Network - VoIP Market Segments Emerging
Monday, December 20, 2004
Light Reading - Alcatel, Microsoft Tuning IPTV Deal
TechWeb | News | VoIP Pioneer Predicts A Roiling 2005 for IP Telephony
CommsDesign - U.S. lags in broadband adoption despite VoIP demand, says report
CommsDesign - 2004: mergers, convergence, and Wi-Fi as a public utility
Rocky Mountain News: Buzz on phone TV comes in loud, clear
Technology News: Wireless: Got a Cable Network?
Tracking Signs Of a Rebound In Telecom (washingtonpost.com)
Tracking Signs Of a Rebound In Telecom (washingtonpost.com): "Tracking Signs Of a Rebound In Telecom"
The Internet's biggest foe | Perspectives | CNET News.com
The Internet's biggest foe | Perspectives | CNET News.com: "The Internet's biggest foe"
NextWeb Joins The WiMAX Forum(TM)
NextWeb Joins The WiMAX Forum(TM): "California's Largest Fixed Wireless ISP Joins Key Standards Group"
Whole city to get wireless Net
Muniwireless
Muniwireless: "Do-it-yourself anti-municipal broadband kit"
A serious topic: political action to restrict the ability of cities and other governmental entities to provide broadband services.
A serious topic: political action to restrict the ability of cities and other governmental entities to provide broadband services.
Nortel Wins Huge Danish FTTx Contract
Nearly half of European internet households have broadband
MVTimes Online - The Martha's Vineyard Times: Island News Now
MVTimes Online - The Martha's Vineyard Times: Island News Now: "Fiber network could propel Island technology forward"
