Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog

Informa Telecoms and Media has just issued a report stating that the number of 3.5G mobile broadband subscribers worldwide will boom more than ten-fold from 2.5 million in 2006 to more than 300 million in 2011.

However, market growth in the coming year will likely be restrained by a lack of devices and content, according to the report Future Mobile Broadband: HSPA, EV-DO, WiMAX & LTE.

"A lack of compelling devices and content led to delayed launches and slow take-up of WCDMA and EV-DO services, and early HSDPA and EV-DO Revision A services are expected to suffer from the very same problems," says Malik Saadi, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media and co-author of the Future Mobile Broadband Strategic Report.

According to the AP, archeologists today unveiled the first tomb discovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in over 80 years, and cracked open the last of seven sarcophagi inside to reveal embalming materials and jewelry.   Known by the acronym KV63 — the 63rd tomb found in the Valley — it was discovered accidentally last year by U.S. archaeologists working on the neighboring tomb of Amenmeses, a late 19th Dynasty pharaoh.   The tomb is believed to be more than 3,000 years old.   Aside from the fact that I think the word sarcophagi is “really cool,”  I find this discovery fascinating. It’s remarkable how much of the past world is still out there waiting to be discovered. And perhaps it’s a shame that so much will likely never be found.   The last tomb discovered in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings was that of King Tut, in 1922.

So, I guess it’s fair to say “I’m back.”   It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged regularly, and I’m glad to be able to readjust the schedule and get back to it.   Friday I made mention of the fact that PacWest was in the process of laying a bunch of people off, and while comments to my blog indicate that there is some truth to the matter, I’m still waiting to hear from the folks at PacWest before proceeding any further. I did receive a voicemail from someone there who offered to fill me in on what’s happening.   As they say, watch this space.   This morning, our friends at Quintum Technologies announced they are partnering with Microsoft to “…deliver unified communications solutions built on Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, a robust, flexible, SIP standards-based real-time communication platform that enables presence-based VoIP call management, Web/audio/video conferencing, and instant messaging communication within and across existing software applications, services and devices.”   Quintum Tenor gateways and switches are the HW platform of choice at the center of this announcement.   This is great news for Quintum. All the years of hard work continue to pay off for the Eatontown, NJ-based company. Congrats!   This week also marks the return to some sense of normalcy.

According to the recent Infonetics survey, Service Provider Plans for IP Triple Play, service providers from the North American, European, and Asia Pacific geographic regions report that on average nearly 40% of their capital expenditures were spent on triple play network equipment in 2005.   The study reports that the majority of service providers in the study plan to further increase capex spending in the next 12 months on IPTV equipment, broadband CPE, broadband aggregation equipment, and voice over broadband equipment, and they expect revenue growth in all areas of triple play services in the next 12 months.   Jeff Heynen, directing analyst at Infonetics Research, said "With nearly 40% of their capex budgets going to triple play service infrastructure, service providers are sending a clear message that the combination of voice, data, and video services is a long-term differentiator for them."   Sample Findings from the Infonetics research include:  

• The top two drivers for respondent service providers deploying triple play services are:
  • 1) increased broadband revenue per user and
  • 2) new revenue streams
• 58% of respondents rate vendor interoperability a key technical challenge when rolling out triple play services
• The most pressing business challenge triple play service providers face is securing broadcast and on-demand video content; acquiring content is also a challenge
• Though more respondents currently use Cisco for their triple play aggregation, when it comes to unaided brand awareness for triple play infrastructure providers, Alcatel leads Cisco, and Microsoft is third

  Netcentrex is putting together their annual Triple Play Symposium, a three-city roadshow examining how triple play can be deployed to maximize business success. The dates of the Symposium are as follows:  

• 13th June: Dallas, TX
• 15th June: Boston, MA
• 21st June: Paris, France

  If you are a service provider looking to deploy a triple play or quad play strategy, you simply need to attend this symposium in any of the three cities convenient to you.