It's nice to see that money is still being spent to promote telecommunications related brands.

 

As official sponsor of the Women's Tennis Association Sony Ericsson marked the start of the Madrid Open with 'Underground Tennis' a marketing promotion designed to draw some attention to the upcoming tournament.

 

Elena Dementieva and Caroline Wozniacki rallied with each other on the tracks of one of Madrid's busiest Metro stations; Chamartin.

 

Dementieva, the Tour's number 3 player commented: "I never thought I'd be playing tennis on an underground track! It was a unique way to prepare for the Madrid Open."

 

Dementieva's opponent, world number 11, Caroline Wozniacki said, "Taking tennis to new audiences is really important in keeping the game alive. Playing tennis while commuters go about their daily business was a new experience and really fun."

 

A specially built court placed on the unused track of the Chamartin Metro station for the players to rally with each other underground gave a once in a lifetime view for all onlookers. A team of workers built the 20 x 6 meter court with layher (a special type of iron) and wood which was painted to look like a real tennis court.

 

It's good to see that there is still marketing at work in the telecom space.

 

 

 

 

 

TMC's Tom Keating referenced that legal action in his blog back in June 2007. And a month later, in July 2007, TMCnet editors were still on the case covering the evolving story, countersuits and all.

 

Well it looks like things have finally been resolved.

 

All's well that ends well.

 

MarketWatch was simply reporting that Tellabs (the subject of a cover story in the next issue of NGN magazine - see here for Rich Tehrani's meeting takeaway)

 

Tellabs gained more than 7% and Alcatel-Lucent rose 4% to lead telecommunications stocks in trading earlier this week based on Tellabs' results indicated a possible recovery in the networking sector and Alcatel-Lucent's announcement of multiyear contracts worth $1.7 billion to supply equipment in China.

The Sunday Times of London has a story about the end of the Internet.

 

Ok, maybe the Internet's not dying, but the report from the UK says that users will begin seeing rolling network slowdowns or "brownouts," which will cause their PCs to "freeze" as "capacity runs out in cyberspace."

 

The culprits? No, not global warming, but rather the increased use of online video services like YouTube and the BBC's iPlayer.

 

The Times reports that in a report, reportedly being prepared by the US's Nemertes Research, experts will claim that "...in 2012, PCs and laptops are likely to operate at a much reduced speed, rendering the Internet an 'unreliable toy.'"

 

 

 

He does it again in his most recent article, titled How Workarounds Drive Telecom and Networking.

 

Kicking off with the premise that "Pretty much everything in the Internet sector owes its existence to some foolish rule or another, either directly or indirectly," Goldstein goes on to enlighten us on the some history of the sector and how we got to where we are today.

 

I urge you to check out this article, and let me know what you think by posting a comment to my blog (see below).

 

I've known Chuck for over a decade, and he has always been a fantastic resource for articles I was working on and he was always ready to present compelling content at the ITEXPO conferences. Most recently Chuck served as the VP of Corporate Marketing at NET, a leading provider of VoIP equipment to enterprise, service providers and the government, where he joined via the acquisition of Quintum Technologies. Chuck had been VP of Marketing and Business Development with Quintum since the firm's early start-up days.

 

Today he is Managing Director at Precise Insights, a high tech marketing consulting company.

 

Please join me in welcoming Chuck to our family of TMCnet bloggers, a family that continues to grow with each passing week. In fact we are fast approaching the 50-contributor milestone on our blogs page.

 

If you are interested in reaching a diverse, highly technical, highly knowledgeable audience of up to 2 million people per month, drop me a line to ggalitzine (at) tmcnet.com and we can discuss setting up a blog for you too.

 

"The Web as I envisaged it, we have not seen it yet. The future is still so much bigger than the past," he said.

 

The ITU report, Measuring the Information Society, The ICT Development Index, finds that only 23% of the global population currently uses the Internet, as compared to over 60% of the world's population that is currently subscribing to mobile cellular phone services.

 

An article on Breitbart quotes Internet co-founder Vinton Cerf who says, "We will have more Internet, larger numbers of users, more mobile access, more speed, more things online and more appliances we can control over the Internet."

 

I for one, think we all can agree that the future of the Web is mobile. As smartphones proliferate and becomes less expensive; as next-generation wireless networks bring Internet access into every far-flung corner of the globe; as more people are able to get access to more information, we will see the truly transformational power of the Internet facilitate a freer exchange of ideas, resulting in new advances in technology, society, etc...

 

Now if only we can do away with e-Mail spam...

 

To start, the article separates AT&T and Verizon from the third place U.S. wireless provider, Sprint.

 

Then, it compares the relative value proposition of both top wireless operators.

 

AT&T's market cap is $150 billion to Verizon's $90 billion.

 

AT&T is considered to have the better 3G network and a partnership with Apple to offer what is considered the hottest smartphone on the market, the iPhone. Verizon however has a "decent" 3G network, according to the article, and through its partnership with and support for several Blackberry models, is riding a positive trend.

 

Verizon's FiOS is considered the wave of the future, delivering "lightning-fast fiber optics" while AT&T's FTTN (fiber to the node) strategy is somewhat wanting. FiOS is also enjoying a much higher rate of adoption than AT&T's U-Verse product.

 

Finally the article compares the two operators' plans for fourth-generation wireless, or 4G. Verizon seems to be better positioned here, with a more aggressive rollout schedule, looking to deploy 4G services by 2010 as opposed to AT&T looking to roll out service two years later.

 

Finally, using a proprietary valuation model, the article by Value Expectations views Verizon as an attractive play, while AT&T looks overpriced.

 

To learn more about 4G and to stay up-to-date on the latest news and trends in the space, visit the 4G-Wireless Evolution homepage.

 

 

TMC's Rich Tehrani is among the judges who will decide who wins the inaugural Dialogic Innovator award.

 

Hand in hand with the new award program, Dialogic is also announcing the Dialogic Exchange Network (DEN), the company's new online social networking community.

 

Below is the official press release that hit the wires today. The release contains links to the application entry form as well as official terms and conditions.

Parsippany, NJ, April 21, 2009 - Dialogic Corporation ("Dialogic"), a global provider of world-class products and technologies for media and signal processing, is inviting application developers worldwide to compete for the first ever Dialogic Innovator Award by submitting their new, innovative applications built on Dialogic^® components. In conjunction with this contest, Dialogic is also announcing the Dialogic Exchange Network (DEN), the company's new online social networking community. This global community has been created for customers, developers, employees and others who create communications solutions to be able to connect, share ideas, learn about industry trends and participate in forums covering a wide range of topics.

 

The Dialogic Innovator Award Contest, which will run from April 20, 2009 through September 30, 2009, is open to application developers worldwide who are ready to trial, go to market with or have recently deployed an exciting new application built on one or more Dialogic components. The judging panel for the Contest will consist of Jim Machi, senior vice president of marketing at Dialogic, Rich Tehrani, President & Group Editor in Chief at Technology Marketing Corporation, Doug Mohney, Editor in Chief, Telecom and Digital Media Group at FierceMarkets and Bertrand Gatellier, President, VMA - International Association for Enhanced Voice Services.

 

"Each year we see so many great new solutions built on Dialogic^® products, so we thought it was time to award application developers who create the 'most innovative' solutions," said Jim Machi. "We'll be judging the submissions based on two main criteria - the most innovative new application, and/or the best application that presents a different way to solve a problem."

 

"We encourage application developers to join the Dialogic Exchange Network today to learn more about the Innovator Award Contest and to connect with thousands of other developers to brainstorm ideas, share best practices, or just chat about the latest emerging technologies," continued Machi. "In addition to corporate blogs, technical forums and media downloads, you can also get up-to-date service and support news from Dialogic and be the first to know about the hottest industry trends."

 

The winner of the Dialogic Innovator Awards Contest will receive:

 

·         A free one-year service and support contract

·         A US$5000 credit towards a future purchase of Dialogic® products

·         Free publicity - special t-shirts, press releases, and the ability to use a unique Innovator logo

·         A special joint marketing opportunity with Dialogic

 

Runner-up prizes may also be awarded at the discretion of the judging panel.

 

Simply fill out the Entry Form and tell us about yourself and your application, making certain to accurately provide all of the requested information. Entries are due by midnight on September 30, 2009. For official contest rules, eligibility requirements and more information about prizes, see the official Terms and Conditions. Please note that nothing within this document in any way varies or modifies the official Terms and Conditions

 

Dialogic's global social networking community, Dialogic Exchange Network (DEN), is a place for customers, developers and others who deliver innovative communications solutions to connect, network, collaborate and learn. In order to foster exciting new solutions as well as business relationships critical to succeeding in the global marketplace, the DEN encourages open interaction among customers, developers and Dialogic employees. To join the DEN, go to www.dialogic.com/den and click on the Sign Up button.

 

 

 

 

 

Nearly 4 years after it acquired Skype for $2.6 billion, eBay has come to terms with the fact that it might not have made the right call with the purchase.

 

I never did get the marriage of the two companies, but I guess at the time, a $3 billion risk was nothing to worry about.

 

I came across the following prediction (based on a JP Morgan analyst's note) on the Business Insider:

 

 

$3.1 billion? I have to wonder if they'll ever get that much for Skype.

 

Still, the company does have a lot to offer. With over 400 million users, Skype is the world's leading Internet phone service, and they did just release a version of Skype for the iPhone and for Blackberry too.

 

They've picked Goldman Sachs to manage the IPO.

 

Rich offers his thoughts about the potential IPO of Skype.

 

I agree with Rich -- this should be an interesting IPO to watch. Not only for what it might mean for tech IPOs in general, but to see if the new Wall Street has the stomach for VoIP.

 

 

 

It was a fun period of my life and I was treated to a pleasant reminder of that time by a news item that came across my desk today, namely that MSM was leveraging distance learning powered by Polycom's HD Telepresence solutions to extend their classrooms to the world. 
 

MSM has reportedly been using distance learning since 1996, allowing approximately 1,700 students around the world to participate in classes, workshops, and clinics to help them master their craft. Currently they are using the Polycom HDX 8000 and HDX 9000 series room telepresence and VSX 8000 series video conferencing systems to reach their audience.

 

As the technology evolved so too did the opportunity to reach more students, more effectively.

 

According to composer/conductor Robert Sirota, president of MSM, "Our use of visual communication has changed the way we do music instruction at this school in a very profound way."

"It's effective because it quickly becomes invisible," added Sirota. "After 10 or 15 minutes of using the system, you're less and less aware that you're engaged in a high-tech video call. You're simply working. You're talking and you're teaching across the world."

 

 

Maybe I have these old-fashioned romatic ideas about doing the right thing, but I find it hard to stomach the decision by the administration to allow U.S. companies to do business with a Castro regime that still incarcerates hundreds of prisoners of conscience, and that continues to engage in human rights violations there.

 

According to the release:

 

 

 

The site organizes the open source projects into a number of different categories, including Communications, Education, Games/Entertainment, Mobile, Multimedia, Office/Business, Scientific/Engineering, Security, Software Development and more. There's even a category listing for Religion and Philosophy, featuring nearly 20 projects dealing with new age spirituality.

 

Of interest to frequent TMCnet visitors, MacForge features thousands of open source projects dealing with communications, including Chat (2552), Conferencing (453), Fax (48), Internet Phone (179), Telephony (423) and more.

 

 

 

 

Of course I love a cool tech toy as much as anyone, but I'm a bit of a laggard when it comes to laying my hands on the latest and greatest.

 
Sometimes I think I'm just on a different schedule, that's all. For example I can't wait to accessorize my aging (banged up, with a cracked screen) KRZR with a new handset accessory, like the one from Novophone (pictured).
 

There is something comforting about that retro look.

 

 

One of the things our team does exceptionally well is organize webinars, and I saw two upcoming events to which I wanted to draw your attention.

 

First on Thursday, April 23rd at 10am PT/1pm ET UTOPY is presenting a real-world case study that will highlight the successful deployment of their speech analytics solution with E-LOAN.

 

In fact, Michael Miller, VP Customer Care, E-LOAN will be presenting his real life experiences, so it's an opportunity to hear firsthand how that firm has seen a 41% improvement in sales conversion and a $2M increase in incremental revenue annually by deploying UTOPY's speech analytics solution.

 

Register now for this interactive and informative session!

 

 

And then on the 28th of April, Tuvox will be presenting a webinar titled 5 Ways To Stop The Flow Of Money Out Of Your Contact Center. In this economy, you just can't miss the chance to get this type of expert advice when it comes to saving money!

 

The webinar will take place on Tuesday, April 28th at 2:00p ET/11:00a PT, and there is no charge for this event.

 

For registration information, please visit http://www.tuvox.com/webcast9/

 

If you are responsible for customer service or customer care, you need to attend these events to see how you might be saving money.