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Greg Galitzine

January 2005

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Public Policy Group Rings In On SBC/AT&T

January 31, 2005

I just received this Media Advisory from the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Somewhere in between my cascading deadlines, I thought I'd share. Here goes:

SBC Buyout of AT&T Helps Consumers

Washington, D.C., January 31, 2005 — Statement of Braden Cox, Technology Counsel, Competitive Enterprise Institute:

SBC Communication Inc.’s offer to buy AT&T, announced today, is a pro-competitive development in a rapidly changing industry. In an environment where cable, telephone and wireless companies all compete against each other, the combination of these two providers is the natural progression of a communications market working for consumers.

Sylantro Fosters UNE-P To VoIP Migration

January 31, 2005

Sylantro Systems Corporation has announced that VoEx, Inc., a VoIP services and enhanced managed services provider based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and STS Telecom a South Florida-based telecommunications service provider have integrated Sylantro's applications feature server and hosted communications applications as part of their comprehensive new service strategies to deliver richer, differentiated alternatives to Unbundled Network Element Platform (UNE-P) service offerings. UNE-P has been the foundation for many competitive providers' offerings over much of the past decade; however, recent rulings have brought major changes to the UNE-P program.

Today’s announced deployments represent Sylantro's growing base of U.S. customers that are shedding the restrictions of UNE-P by offering highly scalable Voice over IP (VoIP) services for their consumer and business customers.

Enterprise VoIP Continues To Grow

January 28, 2005

Niagara Falls!

Slowly I turn… step by step… inch by inch….

VoIP!

Slowly I grow… step by step… inch by inch…

A newly published report from Dell'Oro Group reveals that IP PBX shipments will reach 28 million lines in 2006, surpassing TDM shipments.

Volo Sweeps In With Offer To Level 3 Customers

January 27, 2005

Speed. A hallmark of a truly successful competitive company is the speed with which it can innovate and take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.

Volo Communications, a carrier's carrier that offers wholesale broadband voice, advanced hosted application services, and a whole lot more, is stepping into the freshly created void formed by Level 3’s announcement this week that it is retreating from the hosted IP Telephony space.

Level 3 announced they were ceasing to offer their (3)Tone Business, its wholesale hosted-PBX service.

Dear John,

January 27, 2005

In a recent column, The Problem With VoIP Phones , PC Magazine’s resident ‘technopinionist’ John Dvorak has his way with VoIP. He points to the quality of service issues that still exist, and that one solution is the traditional “throw-bandwidth-at-it-and-it’ll-work” approach. I have no argument with Dvorak on this point: With a T1’s worth of bandwidth you can pretty much guarantee good quality voice. And you can keep the squirrels at bay.

Deloitte's Asmundson: Thoughts on VoIP, Michael Powell, and The Outlook for 2005

January 26, 2005

I recently had the chance to chat with Philip Asmundson, who was recently promoted to national managing partner of Deloitte’s U.S. Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) industry practice.

GG: Please describe the role of Deloitte’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group.
PA: The TMT Group is composed of service professionals who have a wealth of experience serving technology, media and telecommunications companies throughout the world in areas including cable, communications providers, computers and peripherals, entertainment, media and publishing, networking, semiconductors, software, wireless, and related industries. These specialists understand the challenges that these companies face throughout all stages of their business growth cycle and are committed to helping them succeed.

VoIP Performance Management Goes Continental

January 25, 2005

In Moldova’s never-ending quest for truth, justice, and VoIP performance management solutions, today is a good day. You see, Brix Networks just announced an expansion of its international distribution channels with new value-added reseller agreements with BCT Group of Moscow and Schoeller Network Control (SNC) of Vienna.

Under the terms of the agreements, BCT Group and SNC are authorized to offer the Brix family of hardware and software products, collectively called the Brix System, to carriers and enterprises in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and Austria and Hungary, respectively.

Nations in the CIS include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Merrill Lynch Lists Top 10 Telecom Surprises

January 24, 2005

This week’s Telecom update from Merrill Lynch features a list of potential surprises that the analyst firm thinks might potentially impact telecom services stocks. The report carries the usual disclaimers about investing based on this information, and frankly anyone risking their money in the markets has to realize that the key word there is “risk.”

The list is being billed as low probability/high impact, which I guess is a suitable and appropriate hedge. After all, who knows what lies around the bend?

Anyhow, here are the predictions.

Powell Out; VoIP Industry Reacts (Part 5)

January 21, 2005

CompTel/ASCENT CEO H. Russell Frisby Jr. had this to say on the occasion of Michael Powell's resignation:

“We wish Chairman Powell well in his future endeavors. The Chairman has been a strong advocate for the principles in which he believed.

"CompTel/ASCENT looks forward to working with Chairman Powell’s successor. The year ahead is filled with many critical issues that must be addressed promptly and appropriately to ensure that competition between all types of telecom service providers is allowed to flourish.

Powell Out; VoIP Industry Reacts (Part 4)

January 21, 2005

Shawn Lewis, CEO of Volo Communications comments on the departure of Chairman Powell:

"Chairman Powell has been a great advocator for VoIP and the associated technologies. He has been a catalyst with his forward-thinking views and he has put the U.S. consumer at the forefront of why the United States needs a competitive telecom market.

"Although unpopular at times, he has maintained his convictions about the future of the telecommunications industry and what it will take to make the latest technologies available to the U.S. consumer.

"We can only hope these views remain within the FCC, as the future for the consumer will rely heavily upon the advancements in this technology."

Powell Out; VoIP Industry Reacts (Part 3)

January 21, 2005

It's being widely reported today that FCC Chairman Michael Powell will step down from his post.

As promised, here is yet another comment from an industry thought leader regarding this news.

William Wilhelm, partner in the legal firm Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, LLP and Regulation Watch columnist for Internet Telephony magazine weighed in regarding the Chairman's departure from the FCC:

"Most VoIP providers will be quite sad to see the Chairman leave. It was under his leadership that the FCC issued its unanimous Vonage Order as well as the other key decisions.

Powell Out; VoIP Industry Reacts (Part 2)

January 21, 2005

FCC Chairman Michael Powell is set to announce that he will step down from his post today.

As promised, I will continue to publish comments from industry thought leaders regarding this news.

Here's what Neal Shact, CEO of CommuniTech had to say regarding Powell's resignation.

"Chairman Powell has been a shining beacon of government restraint and has been very supportive of the government nurturing a young VoIP industry that challenges the status quo.

Who Will Replace Michael Powell?

January 21, 2005

In 2004, Michael Powell emerged as the leading voice in government against the regulation of IP telephony. With the news that he may be stepping down today, you can bet that the pundits will begin prognosticating as to who will replace the outgoing Chairman.

Of the many names already being bandied about as a possible replacement for Powell, several stick out as legitimate possibilities. While too early to call, as far as I can see it, one name that jumps off the page is that of former chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) Rebecca Klein.

Powell Out; VoIP Industry Reacts (Part 1)

January 21, 2005

This morning's report from The Wall Street Journal, that FCC Chairman Michael Powell was set to step down from his post today, set off a flurry of activity throughout the blogosphere (here) (here) and the online community.

As a service to my readers, I plan to publish observations from the leading voices in our industry as they respond to my call for commentary.

First up, Michael Khalilian, chairman and president of the International Packet Communications Consoritum, a leading VoIP forum, checks in with his thoughts:

“Chairman Powell leaves behind a positive legacy. As a proponent of competition, Michael Powell’s FCC rulings were encouraging for both ILECs and CLECs. Perhaps most important was Chairman Powell’s initiatives to ‘leave VoIP alone’ allowing service providers to focus on deploying the technology and allowing it to mature rather than get bogged down focusing on the regulatory issues at hand.

Endavo Tackles Last Mile

January 20, 2005

I received this news earlier today, and having just put the wraps on our February issue I thought I’d share. You see, the February issue features a cover story on Triple Play. And so, with that in mind, I offer today’s news from Endavo.

Endavo, a digital services aggregator, enables small IP-service providers (voice, data, video) to diversify their offerings to their clients by plugging into the Endavo EcoSystem. Not only does the EcoSystem provide the technology for Endavo partners to add those services, but it also handles billing and account management.

Comcast VoIP: Looking Beyond Price

January 11, 2005

In an article for TMCnet.com yesterday, our own Johanne Torres reported on Comcast’s announcement that the company will launch an Internet telephony service by the end of this year. According to Johanne, Comcast is targeting residential customers with what seems to be the priciest of all VoIP-enabled calling service plans.

It’s interesting to me that VoIP remains extremely price-sensitive. Or rather that people remain very sensitive to VoIP's pricing.

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