September 2006 Archives

Whatever you call EEStor's new ceramic power source/ultra capacitor, just don't call it a battery, according to Ian Clifford, CEO of Feel Good Cars, an electric car company based in Toronto that plans to incorporate the technology in its cars.

Although EEStor is still operating in a sort of stealth mode, a patent issued in April for the device indicates that it's made of a ceramic powder coated with aluminum oxide and glass, and doesn't contain any hazardous materials or chemicals, so it technically really isn't a battery.

The patented device, however, is designed to store electricity -- and boy what a storage device it is! If reports can be believed, the device is designed to be charged up in 5 minutes, and provide enough juice to drive 500 miles on about 9 bucks of electricity -- or the equivalent of 45 cents a gallon. At today's gas prices, it would cost around $60 for the same trip. An electric engine incorporating the device is expected to cost around $5,200 -- a slight premium over gasoline-powered engines. And according to reports, the device can deliver Ferrari-like horsepower.

EEStor has some heavy financial hitters backing it, including VC firm Kleiner Perkin Caufield & Byers -- a firm that is going green in more ways than just financially.

If the technology lives up to the hype, and keeps from being bought out and buried under piles of record-keeping boxes in some warehouse in remote Montana, expect major disruption to the oil companies and carmakers that don't embrace it.

O' Loyal Blog Readers,

Here's another sneak peek at an upcoming column in Internet Telephony magazine.

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A great deal has been written about the concept of “Web 2.0” – with much of it in search of a workable definition. The term has certainly become wildly popular, with more than 56 million citations in Google. But there is also much disagreement about what it means – while some dismiss it as a creation of marketing and PR hypesters, others embrace it as the new model for Web-based businesses and services.

According to Tim O’Reilly in his seminal piece “What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software,” he writes that the concept of “Web 2.0” “got its start during a brainstorming session between O'Reilly Media and MediaLive International a few years ago, when Web pioneer and O’Reilly VP Dale Dougherty noted that far from having "crashed", the Web was more important than ever, with exciting new applications and sites popping up with surprising regularity.”

Indeed, it’s clear that the rise of “Web 2.0” has created a dazzling array of new companies, business models and services. But it is also creating vast new opportunities for Web-based IP communications services, allowing service providers to leverage a toolkit of Web 2.0 technologies, including XML, SIP, RSS, REST, and AJAX, that allows them to integrate their communications services with other Web-based services so that they can interoperate in seamless and quite powerful ways.

So what is a “Web 2.0” application? While it means many things to many people, we can safely say that at the most basic level it involves the use of a variety of Web-based technologies to provide highly flexible, feature-rich, personalized services delivered to end users. To make it all happen, these applications rely on a high-degree of integration and interoperability among an “ecosystem” of Web sites that allow them to share applications and data. The term “mash-up” was conceived as a way to illustrate the way APIs and data are combined to create brand new applications and services (for example, mashing up Google Earth satellite maps with specialized databases to create maps of home values (homevalues.com), or crime rates in specific Chicago neighborhoods (chicagocrime.org).

In his definitive piece mentioned above, Tim O’Reilly envisions the “Web 2.0” concept being bounded by seven guiding principles that are demonstrated in part or in total by true Web 2.0 applications. These include “The Web as Platform”, the “Harnessing of Collective Intelligence”, “Data is the Next Intel Inside”, “End of the Software Release Cycle”, “Lightweight Programming Models”, “Software Above the Level of a Single Device”, and “Rich User Experiences.” It is no accident that many of the breakthrough Web-based IP communications services in operation today garner check marks for many of these principles.

VoIP 2.0, a term championed by TMC, hints at the convergence of Web 2.0-based technologies and real-time IP communications services. It makes perfect sense, since in a pure IP environment like the Web, IP Voice and video are treated like just another network application. Therefore, the possibilities for innovative Web 2.0/VoIP/IP video mash-ups are endless.

Recently, there have been a number of early-stage VoIP mash-ups. tglo, the VoIP division of theglobe.com, announced a few months ago the availability of its tglophone for users of Monster.com. Job seekers at Monster.com will easily be able to enable their resumes and accounts with "click to call" capabilities. Recruiters can review resumes and immediately connect with job seekers for free around the world. In another tglo “mash-up, Craigslist.com "phone icons" will appear next to product listings allowing for a click-to-call connections between buyers and sellers. The eBay/Skype combination aims for the same synergies.

In the longer term, look for voice and video to be further integrated into our online existence – click-to-talk buttons that are part of the standard feature set of all software applications, Second-Life avatars that speak, rather than text chat, to each other; the spread of podcast-infused reviews of products and services…The list can go on and on.

With the new Core 2 Duo processor line setting new benchmarks and achieving the mantle of the fastest-ramping product in the company’s history, with 5 million units shipped since it was introduced less than 60 days ago, Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced the company's plans today at the Intel Developer Forum to deliver the industry’s first quad core processors for PCs and high-volume servers.

The first processor, targeted at gamers and content creators, will be shipped in November and be called the Intel® Core™2 Extreme quad-core processor. It supposedly will feature a dramatic 70 percent performance improvement over today’s Intel Core 2 Extreme processor. The company’s mainstream quad-core processor will be shipped in the first quarter of 2007 and will be called the Intel® Core™2 Quad processor. For servers, the Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® processor 5300 series brand for dual processor servers will be shipped this year, and a new low-power 50-watt Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® processor L5310 for blade servers that will be shipped in the first quarter of 2007.

According to Otellini, Intel was the first to implement advanced 65nm silicon manufacturing technology in 2005, integrating power-saving features into the process that was critical to delivering power-efficiency at the transistor level. Looking ahead, Intel’s next-generation 45nm technology is on track for production in the second half of 2007 as planned, and Otellini disclosed for the first time that the company has 15 45nm products already in development across desktop, mobile, and enterprise segments. The first of these products is on track to complete its design in the fourth quarter of this year. He described the company’s extensive 45-nm factory network with more than 500,000 square feet of clean room space and more than $9 billion invested.

Otellini estimated that the “cadence” of these new manufacturing process technologies which follow Moore’s Law, coupled with Intel’s plans to introduce new micro-architectures about every 2 years, will result in significant performance-per-watt improvements over today’s Core micro-architecture products by 2010. He showed a chart that mapped out new micro-architectures coming in 2008 (code-named Nehalem and targeted at 45nm) followed by another in 2010 (code-named Gesher and targeted at 32nm). These new micro architectures will be developed by separate teams working in parallel, and targeted for intersection with specific future process technologies.

“By the end of the decade we will deliver a 300 percent increase in performance per watt over today’s processors,” he said. “This improved power and performance will enable developers and manufacturers to develop systems with incredibly exciting new capabilities.”

To demonstrate how Moore’s Law will continue well into the future with amazing potential, Otellini showed a new research prototype processor that has 80 floating point cores on a single die. The tiny silicon die on this experimental chip, just 300mm², is capable of achieving a Teraflop of performance, or 1 trillion floating point operations per second. He contrasted this with Intel’s historic breakthrough 11 years ago with the world’s first Teraflop supercomputer, a massive machine powered by nearly 10,000 Pentium Pro processors in more than 85 large cabinets occupying about 2,000 square feet.

Managed Service Provider (MSP) Whaleback Systems just completed a $7.5 million Series B round of financing, led by Castile Ventures with participation from new investor Egan-Managed Capital and existing investor Ascent Venture Partners. The financing will be used to expand Whaleback's channel and geographic market coverage and to fund aggressive feature development for Whaleback's CrystalBlue SMB Voice Service.

Unlike traditional systems, the Whaleback CrystalBlue Voice Service is 100 percent premises- based and software-driven. It includes an IP PBX with Key System Unit features and Road Warrior Functionality, and features an all-inclusive, unlimited nationwide calling package for SMBs that need between 5 and 1500 stations.

Castile Ventures is investing its third fund in innovative enterprises developing future generations of enterprise, mass market and service provider information technology.
Founded in 1998, Castile Ventures is a top- performing early stage venture capital firm investing in innovative enterprises developing future generations of information technology for enterprises, service providers and the mass market. Currently managing three funds, Castile’s investments include Ahura Corp, Brix Networks, GeoTrust (acquired by VeriSign), Neah Power (NPWS), Network Intelligence (acquired by EMC), Quantiva (acquired by NetScout Systems), Sandbridge Technologies, SilverStorm Technologies, Sonus Networks (NASDAQ: SONS), Stargus (acquired by C-COR), and Trapeze Networks.

Tom Keating's been following the launch festivities for the Zune, and I thought I'd add my 1 cent with a recent blog posting by James Kim from Cnet.com., where he writes about speculation that Microsoft might significantly subsidize the Zune to generate music subscription services revenue (similar to the Msoft Xbox strategy re: console pricing and game sales). Interesting and potentially quite disrupting if true!

Here's a link to Msoft's Zune Virtual Pressroom, for what it's worth...

While profitable domestic U.S. arbitrage scenarios are hard to come by today, with all the cutthroat competition for transport and termination and resulting price pressure, the International marketplace still holds a number of intriging opportunities.

George Dinsdale,  a VoIP industry vet and principal at IGP (Internet Global Phone), a small but fast-growing ITSP that sells minutes between the US and a number of international POPs (including the Phillipines and South America), recently told me about how IGP is completing local Brazilian calls by routing them through New York. He said it's simply cheaper to do it that way!

Indeed, there are many other scenarios -- and I've love to hear from anyone who has an interesting "arbitrage anecdote" to share!

OK, I know what you're thinking: Doesn't Marc have anything better to do on a Saturday evening than post a blog entry? Well, yes...and no...

You see, I just bought a new PC today, and I felt I just had to share my experience b/4 details started to fade -- and to illustrate why I believe Dell is still a fearsome competitor and should not by any means be counted out of the game despite all the hubbub regarding exploding batteries, spotty customer service, and accounting irregularities.

I was initially looking for a mainstream system that had to incorporate the lastest technology like a Core 2 Duo processor, fast memory, 250 Gb hard drive and a number of other bells and whistles, like a flat panel monitor and a double-layer DVD burner. I didn't need the fastest screamer game system available -- just something relatively fast and capable of supporting Vista down the road. The system will be used mostly for business, but also sometimes for entertainment and various multimedia endeavors. And if it didn't have all the options I wanted out of the box, the system needed to be relatively expandable so I could perform upgrades.

I also wanted a real bargain. So I looked at the much touted Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition, as well as HP. I also first counted Dell out since the XPS systems I read about seemed a bit too pricey. Anyway, I've been intrigued by Velocity Micro, and the system certainly belongs in  the Core 2 Duo bargain category with specs that looked like they fit the bill. So I placed an order.

Here's the specific configuration and price I decided on:

Vector™ GX Campus Edition
Price: 1219.00

• Case: GX Black - Velocity Micro Classic Case - Pure Aluminum, matching aluminum drive covers, 2 x 120mm fans
• Power Supply: 500 Watt Velocity Micro™ Power Supply with Dual Blue Lighted Fans
• Motherboard: Genuine Intel® 965X Chipset Motherboard with DDR2, PCI Express
• Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor E6300, dual 1.86GHz cores
• CPU Cooling: Intel® Certified Oversized Heatsink/Fan with Arctic Silver™ 5 Thermal Compound, Thermal Controlled Variable Speed Fan
• DDR2 Memory: 1024MB Corsair™ DDR2 PC5300 DDR667 (1x1024)
• PCX Video: 256MB eVGA™ NVIDIA® GeForce™ 7600 GS, Dual Heads 
• Monitor: 17" LCD Display, 1280 x 1024 resolution - Black (+$100)
• Audio Creative Labs SoundBlaster® Audigy™ 4, high performance 7.1 channel sound (+$69)
• Speakers: Creative Labs SBS380 2.1 Channel Stereo Speaker System with Compact Subwoofer - Black
• Hard Drive: 250GB Western Digital WD2500JD 7200rpm SATA/150, 8MB Cache
• Optical Drive 1: 16x Lite On® DVD+/-RW/CD-RW Dual Layer, Black Bezel
• Optical Drive 2: 16x/48x Lite On® DVD-ROM, Black Bezel
• Floppy Drive & Media Reader: 8-in-1 Floppy Drive & Media Reader Combo, Black Bezel (+$25.00)
• Network Adapter:Integrated 10/100/1000MBps Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter
• Network Adapter 2 or WiFi Adapter: NetGear® WG311 802.11 B+G WiFi Wireless Adapter with antenna, 11MBps/54MBps (+$59.00)
• Modem: None
• FireWire: 2 Integrated IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports, 1 front & 1 rear
• USB 2.0 Ports: 8 USB 2.0 Ports, 2 front & 6 rear
• Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home w/Service Pack 2, complete with original CD
• Productivity Software: None
• Software Bundle Nero Digital Creation Suite - Capture, Edit, and Author Video with immersive Dolby 5.1 Surround, plus Photo Editing Suite
• Security Software McAfee® VirusScan® 2006 Antivirus - Pre-installed, with full 12 month subscription
• Keyboard: Velocity Micro™ Deluxe Multimedia & Internet Keyboard with volume control, custom made by Creative Labs - Black
• Mouse: Genuine Microsoft® USB Optical Wheel Mouse - Black
• Warranty: 1 Yr Standard Parts & Labor Ltd Warranty, 1 Yr Regular Business Hours Support, and Depot Repair Service
• Shipping: $69

As you can see, the system is a good one -- with lots of great features -- at a great price.

After the order was placed, I then hit the Dell site out of curiousity.

And low and behold, the midrange Dell XPS 410 system hit me in the face: Here's the configuration I priced out:

Dell XPS 410
$1,365

Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (2.4GHz, 1066 FSB)
Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD $1,260.00 1 $1,260.00
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
Keyboard: Dell USB Keyboard
Monitor: 19 inch Ultrasharp™ 1907FP Digital Flat Panel
Video Card: 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
Hard Drive: 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Floppy Drive and Media Reader: 13 in 1 Media Card Reader
Mouse: Dell Optical USB Mouse
Modem: 56K PCI Data Fax Modem
USB 2.0 Ports: 10
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
Sound Cards: Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Speakers: No speakers
Microsoft Works 8
Security Software PC-cillin Internet Security with AntiVirus and Spyware removal 15-months
Warranty and Service: 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo
Shipping: Free
Sales Tax: $105.55

For the additional $146, I got a much more powerful processor -- the E6600 vs the E6300, an award-winning digital 19" LCD monitor, XP Media Center, a modem (not bad to have as a little insurance in case broadband goes down), and a better warranty.  The system is much more powerful, and future proof.

And just to be sure I was doing the right thing, and to give Velocity Micro a second chance, I priced a similar configuration as Dell's, but it came in over $500 more.

Granted, I gave up speakers, the wireless adapter, enhanced keyboard, Creative Sound Card, floppy drive and a couple of Firewire ports. But the speakers and adapter I can "borrow" from an older system, I'll probably replace the keyboard and mouse with a Logitech MX 3000 combo, and Firewire (when and if I need it) is a $20 board. Who uses a floppy drive any more? And since the XPS 410 has built-in 7.1 sound, I didn't feel I needed to spring for a separate soundcard.

And to top it off, I also got no interest for 18 months on the system through Dell's Preferred Account offer -- a great deal if you're confident you can pay the system off in that timeframe.

So, I called Velocity Micro to cancel my order with them -- and was candid with the agent about why I was backing out. His response: "Remember: The one big difference between Dell and us is that we 'build' PCs and Dell 'manufactures' them."

Hmmmm...

 

ClearSight Networks, a company that specializes in VoIP monitoring and analysis products, has enhanced the newest version of its ClearSight Network Analyzer to provide Triple Play/IPTV support in real time.

The new Version 6.0 adds Triple Play network monitoring to the standard product at no additional cost. Administrators can now track and troubleshoot the full-breadth of network resources, including data, telephony and entertainment/IPTV resources. Other enhancements include additional reporting capabilities and patent-pending algorithms for measuring the video quality being delivered over the network.

According to Masaru Gomi, ClearSight's CEO, "Version 6.0 of ClearSight Analyzer significantly raises the bar for real-time monitoring and analysis tools. In today's networking environments, the ability to effectively and consistently manage multiple environments has become critical. ClearSight Analyzer now incorporates Triple Play in real time, including patent-pending video analysis and support for IPTV flows and analysis. This is a tremendous leap for those charged with supporting provider or enterprise networks."

ClearSight Analyzer provides real-time information about the application, network and physical layers of the network to help users accurately identify the source of network bottlenecks and service impairments. And a simple GUI helps network administrators monitor network activity to solve problems quickly and intuitively.

ClearSight's Analyzer has garnered broad attention from industry-leading organizations and publications, including Network Computing magazine's Well-Connected Award, Frost & Sullivan's 2006 Technology Innovation of the Year Award and Network World magazine's "Best of the Tested."

Version 6.0 will be available in mid-November.

I recently met up with Donovan Jones and Jason Fischl, CounterPath's President/COO and CTO respectively, and they told me that revenues are growing around 20% per quarter -- a very nice clip even if Donovan does say so himself! Given that almost every service provider and hardware vendor I met up with at the last VON show that had a softphone product was licensing it from CounterPath, this number is perfectly believable -- and in my view set to grow even larger.

CounterPath Solutions is without question one of, if not THE leading provider of VoIP and Video over IP SIP softphones (with over 191 customers and more than 6 million IP endpoints deployed), and they recently announced an alliance with Intrado Inc., the leading provider of VoIP E911 services to develop new functionality within CounterPath’s softphone to support automatic location identification on mobile VoIP 911 calls. For most prospective large corporate and government users of VoIP, this is a very important development, as access to emergency services is actually a mandated policy that in many cases severely restricts the use of softphones.

The technology will enable the softphone to integrate directly with Intrado’s systems in order to detect and send location information automatically when a 911 call is made from a wireless VoIP end-user device. This means that calls made from a softphone on a laptop or smartphone, for example, will be directed to the appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP) and that emergency operators can link the caller's current physical location with the phone number used to dial for help. As a result, service providers deploying a CounterPath softphone with their VoIP service will be able to provide E911 services to customers.

This past August, CounterPath and Intrado’s VoIP location technology was tested successfully in a joint E911 trial throughout New York City. The results proved the technology’s consistent location identification ability.

Thomson just unveiled a new GE DECT 6.0™ (Digital Enhanced Cordless Technology) wireless handset, Thomson’s first product with integrated Skype™ capabilities. The new device, GE Model 28300EE2, supports both landline and Skype calling, as well as Internet and traditional line conferencing. The phone will be available this fall at a suggested retail price of $149, and up to 6 handsets can be linked together to provide Skype calling in multiple rooms of a house.

DECT 6.0 is a wireless technology built into Thomson’s new wireless handset offerings, and is widely used throughout Europe and Asia. The GE 28300EE2 features speakerphone capability built right into the handset, and a color LCD screen makes for easy viewing of colorful Skype messaging as well as regular caller IDs. The handset comes with a 100 name capacity address book, including separate call “logs” for traditional and Internet contacts. Melody ring tones permit easy identification of favorite incoming callers such as friends and relatives, and the phone boasts up to 120 hour standby time and 10 hour talk time.

Other key features of the GE 28300EE2 DECT 6.0 Wireless Handset for Skype include:

• PC compatibility

• Call waiting support

• One-touch link for wireless home networking capabilities

• No signal deterioration -- digital signal processors ensure high call quality even when multiple handsets are running simultaneously

• Voice encryption for high security

• Skype & land-line conferencing capability of up to four users simultaneously from the handset

• Comes with two handsets (and additional accessory handsets, GE 28301EE1, are available)

• USB PC connectivity and software

• Mute / hold button

• Intercom function

• Integrated Skype caller ID (and support for traditional phone company caller ID services)

• Ringer off -on switch

• Convenient four-way navigation button for screen

• Headset jack

Packet Island Inc., a provider of VoIP lifecycle management solutions for the SME VoIP market, received its first round of venture funding from a group of venture capital firms led by Startup Capital Ventures. The other VCs participating in the Series A round are Garage Technology Ventures and Rincon Ventures.

According to Andy Aczel and Preveen Kumar, co-founders of Packet Island, “We took two years to build a solid SaaS platform that had the architecture to support the deployment model and economic sensitivity of the SME market. By focusing our SaaS platform to solve the VoIP management needs of the IP Centrex market, we’ve been able to address a burning problem in a fast growing space, and gain industry recognition by means of key industry awards. We wanted investors who had the breadth and depth in the markets we were going after, and that’s exactly what we got with our VC syndicate led by Dr. John Davidson from Startup Capital Ventures.”

Dr. John Davidson, co-founder and CTO of LAN pioneer, Ungermann-Bass, and General Partner of Startup Capital Ventures, says  “As a long time participant in the networking industry, I have seen the remarkable scaling down of the price and size of enterprise networking gear without seeing an attendant reduction in complexity. Small companies can now cost-effectively deploy all the networking functionality of a large company, but typically must rely on a Managed Service Provider to insure its smooth operation. Service Providers in turn need a scalable solution to manage and control client networks from a distance. Packet Island has architected a remote network analysis platform which it deploys in a Software as a Service (SaaS) model to meet the needs of MSPs. The company has correctly aimed its first service modules at the Perfect Storm in which a total absence of management tools for Voice over IP systems is met by the ready availability of these mission critical systems for small and medium sized businesses. With more than 17 million traditional Centrex lines converting to VoIP in the next few years and with over 7 million SMEs in the US eligible to participate in this conversion, Packet Island has chosen a fertile space in which to make its initial product thrust.”

Founded in 2004, Packet Island Inc. is located in Silicon Valley. Since its founding, Packet Island has pioneered the development of SaaS-based solutions for the remote management of SME networks. Packet Island’s core technology is based on a highly scalable SaaS platform called PacketSmart, and small 4”x4” plug-and-play micro-appliances that are used for deep packet inspection. The PacketSmart platform consists of a scalable cluster of software application servers that have been built from the ground up to deliver remote network management services to hundreds of thousands of SMEs from a single hardware infrastructure. The first set of network management service modules that Packet Island has launched on PacketSmart is targeted at the fast growing IP Centrex market. These service modules enable VoIP service providers to offer VoIP network assessment, VoIP installation verification, VoIP troubleshooting, and VoIP SLA Management services to the SME market without any truck rolls.

Congrats are due to Steve Guthrie, all around good guy and a VoIP industry veteran, on his recent appointment as Director of Global Product Marketing for the IP telephony business unit at Integrated Research. Steve was formerly with Xelor Software as VP of Marketing.

In his new job, Steve will play a broad marketing role across the company’s Americas, Europe and PacAsia regions. One key initiative is to help lead the company from its Cisco-only focus to a multi-vendor strategy where the company's PROGNOSIS VoIP management solutions integrate into Cisco, Avaya, Nortel and Alcatel environments and provide a single view for these disparate systems that so many large enterprises have deployed across their global operations.

Since joining IR last month, Steve has already been in front of a half-dozen prospects and customers, on site with a customer where IR is managing 22,000 IPT nodes, and together with several MSPs that have end-users ranging from several hundred nodes to many thousand nodes.

Steve's new business contact details are below.


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Steven Guthrie
Director, Global Product Marketing, IP Telephony
PROGNOSIS -- precise performance monitoring

(m) +781-248-6956
(f) +781-662-9166
(im) steven_Guthrie@hotmail.com
(e) steve.guthrie@prognosis.com
(w) www.prognosis.com

Global telecommunications and information technology consulting firm Detecon, has been featured by the International Engineering Consortium's "Analyst Corner" to discuss key
business and technology issues for IPTV. For this engagement, the firm has produced a short, special report entitled "IPTV: Technology and Development Predictions", which details the state of this emerging technology, and covers IPTV architecture, middleware issues, video on demand and other key aspects of IPTV.

According to Detecon, IPTV is ready for prime time. The technology of most IPTV components is mature and the cost of equipment is far more reasonable than it was previously. Content providers understand that TV is changing and emerging digital media has created new ways to distribute video content. And cable MSOs have built formidable networks to support voice, video, and data.

Visit www.iec.org/newsletter/aug06_2/index.html for a copy of the IEC's Analyst Corner report.

As Rich Tehrani wrote recently, IP peering was one of the main themes to emerge at this past VON event in Boston. Another peering trend, SIP Trunking, which involves the direct IP connection of a SIP-enabled IP-PBX and SIP-compliant VoIP service provider, was also evident at the show and generated a few notable announcements.

First and foremost, the SIP Forum formally announced their embrace and ownership of SIPconnect -- a SIP trunking specification originally pioneered by Cbeyond Communications, Broadsoft, Cisco, and other vendors.

Another announcement from Bandwidth.com entailed their recent roll out of a SIP trunking solution aimed at the SMB and enterprise business market. They announced distribution deals for that product with Mitel and VoIP Supply, both of which will bundle the offering with their hardware solutions for business looking to maximize the value of their IP PBX systems.

According to research firm TeleGeography, over the past five years wholesale international Internet service providers have experienced demand increases that are virtually unprecedented in other industries. At the same time, equally stunning price declines eroded much of the benefit of this traffic growth. According to the latest research in TeleGeography's Global Internet Geography 2007, these trends continued through the 12 months from Q2 2005 to Q2 2006, but with a significant twist: International IP traffic growth actually accelerated over the past 12 months, while the pace of price erosion abated noticeably in many of the world's most competitive markets.

According to Eric Schoonover, Senior Research Analyst with TeleGeography, "Carriers should not become too optimistic," adding, "At the moment, nearly all markets have growth rates that more than compensate for the steady decline in wholesale prices, providing opportunities for carriers to increase return on investment. This is particularly true in high growth markets, including Latin America and Asia."  For example; in Buenos Aires, the average price for STM-1 access to Internet networks (known as "IP Transit") fell only 11 percent to $187 per Mbps in 2006; at the same time, average Internet traffic from Buenos Aires increased by 119 percent.

For carriers, investors, and hardware/software vendors, such trends are a welcome change of pace from earlier years, when demand could barely keep up with price declines. However, TeleGeography's data also strike a cautionary note. Residential broadband markets, one of the chief drivers of Internet traffic, are already becoming saturated.