April 2006 Archives

Carriers Spending Big Bucks on Triple Play

April 28, 2006 8:34 AM

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.

Visa, Nokia in Mobile Credit Card Payment Trial

April 27, 2006 8:41 AM

Visa and Nokia are rolling out a credit card payment pilot system in Malaysia, which would enable consumers to shop and pay using their mobile phones.

This reminds me of some initiatives whereby wireless phones were being used to make purchases from vending machines back in the late 90’s.

The system is based on the Visa Wave smart card technology that uses radio frequencies to eliminate the need to swipe credit cards into a reader. Customers wave cards in front of the reader to make payments, much like the Mobil Speedpass that has become prevalent, at least here in the Northeastern U.S., for speeding gasoline purchases.

Although at today’s prices I’m inclined to stay at the pump as long as possible and get the most “experience for my money.”

During the four-month trial period, 200 Visa Wave cardholders in Malaysia will be given a specially designed Nokia phone that can be used to make payments in 2,500 outlets nationwide that have Visa Wave readers.

If the trial is successful, the phone could be made available for commercial use as early as next year.

Global Warming, Earth Day &... IPTV?

April 18, 2006 8:04 AM |

1 Comment

So it seems that global warming is responsible for much of what ails us. In fact Global Warming is getting worse and worse every day, and the best thing that we can do about it — aside from selling off our SUVs and moving to a warmer climate — is to go watch Al Gore’s new movie where he tells us that he was once the next president of the United States and that a vast right-wing conspiracy is responsible for the ill effects of carbon…

Or something like that.

Right as they might be — and the science has become so politicized it’s no longer possible to tell who’s right and who’s frankly LESS right — the shrill voices from both sides of the this argument are polarizing the fanatics and losing many people who regardless of their political viewpoints want to leave behind a better planet for their kids to inhabit.

I mean, who actually maintains as a goal on their ‘To-Do’ list to leave this place worse off for future generations?

Let me point out that for whatever reason — humanity-induced global warming or natural warming/cooling cycles of the Earth — I recognize that there is a lot wrong with our planet: We’ve overfished our oceans, polluted our water, misunderstood so much about nature and exacerbated the situation with greed, and so on. Humans are an odd bunch. We cause all this mischief, we do all this damage, and yet we are infinitely capable of coming up with a solution to right most of our wrongs. It’s within or abilities and to be honest it’s our responsibility. I still have hope for humanity — I’ve lost all hope for cod.

Didn’t mean to sail off on that tangent… what brings all of this up is actually something closer to our day-to-day tech lives.

The Earth Day Network and COMTek plan to announce the largest-ever simultaneous two-way Internet-protocol television (IPTV) broadcast that will take place this Friday. The two groups are preparing for a live video/chat presentation on global warming to 16,000 science classrooms across the United States on Friday (April 21, 2006).

I wonder if Gore will pull out his old VP joke, where he revels in his status as “Visiting Professor.” For a guy who came up with the whole Internet thing, you think he could simply Google up some new material…

Introducing the IP Communications Business Summit

April 17, 2006 3:05 PM

TMC and Robins Consulting Group are teaming up on a brand-new initative aimed at bringing together the industry's best and brightest vendors and service providers with investors and members of the media.

I asked Marc Robins, Chief Evangelism Officer at RCG to describe the new entity. Here's what Marc had to say:

Developed as an integral part of the upcoming VoIP Demo show, slated for August 8-10, 2006 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Santa Clara, CA, TMC and RCG are partnering on a new event designed to bring members of the financial and investment community together with vendors and service providers developing innovative IP communications products and services.

The IP Communications Business Summit is geared to VCs, investment bankers, financial industry analysts and angel investors interested in evaluating the leading trends and technologies in the IP communications marketplace. In addition, the IP Communications Business Summit will also provide a unique opportunity for attendees to see firsthand demonstrations of industry-leading products and services, meet and network with top executives from IP communications companies seeking investment, and gain invaluable insight from leading independent industry analysts and professionals.

For more information, e-mail inquiries to Marc Robins at summitinfo@robinsconsult.com.

Siemens, Motorola Next to Pair Up?

April 17, 2006 8:06 AM

So, over the weekend, a German newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (sunday edition) reported that Siemens and Motorola were engaged in talks, one possible result of which is the complete takeover of Siemens COM, the german giant's telecom division.

Certainly the rumor mill has been rife with potential mergers and takeover targets since before the whole Lucent/Alcatel "merger of equals" affair began.

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. Motorola defintiely brings a wireless pedigree to the relationship, but Siemens Mobile networks division is the leading group at COM.

The paper said a meeting of Siemens' board of supervisors could occur as soon as April 24.

ABI's New Quad Play Report Available

April 12, 2006 9:29 AM

Triple play services — bundled offerings of TV, phone and Internet—have proven effective for operators and service providers in reducing customer churn and delivering operational economies. According to a new study from ABI Research, some operators believe that adding a fourth element — wireless — will improve the equation still further.

According to the release announcing the new offering from ABI Research, “In the United States, Sprint Nextel has announced that it will partner with several of the big North American MSOs to offer this ‘quadruple play.’ In the UK, cable operator NTL is buying Virgin Mobile. Verizon is rolling out its FIOS (Fiber Optic Services) and expects that, with a wireless division already part of the company, consolidation of services and networks will be that much easier.”

Michael Arden, Principal Analyst, Broadband and Multimedia at ABI Research, says that in many cases “the marketing of triple or quadruple-play services to customers will precede integration of the networks and their equipment. True network integration takes time. Our study examines the networks themselves, not services.” So far only British Telecom among the major operators has committed to complete integration of all its networks into one IP-based system.

The new ABI Research study, “Triple-Play Network Equipment and Systems," provides an overview of the technologies that enable triple- and quadruple-play services. It is divided into equipment and software sections, and addresses issues such as subscriber growth rates, emerging technologies, Quality of Service and the role of mobile services.

The timing of this report ties in well with the upcoming Triple Play Symposium, an event being sponsored by Netcentrex, which this week announced it was being acquired by Comverse.

The Triple Play Symposium, a multi-city event with venues in Dallas, Boston, and Paris, was launched in 2005 as a forum for triple play executives and technologists to learn and share best practices for successful triple play deployments.

For registration details or more information on the 2006 Triple Play Symposium, please click here.

Netcentrex Announces Second Annual Triple Play Symposium

April 6, 2006 11:51 AM

Netcentrex today announced that it is again the lead sponsor for the 2nd Annual Triple Play Symposium.

Registration details and other information can be found by following this link.

Rick Thompson from Heavy Reading, Light Reading’s market research division, will serve as the host and moderator and provide an overview of the evolving triple/quad play market.

TMC, publishers of Internet Telephony magazine and producers of the successful Internet Telephony Expo trade shows, will help to provide maximum visibility for the Triple Play Symposium and ensure successful event logistics.

And I will have the honor of anchoring a panel of triple play experts.

The agenda for the Triple Play Symposium covers topics important to service providers seeking to offer triple play and quad play services to their subscribers including: VoIP, IPTV, IP-VoD, IP-Video Middleware, OSS, FMC, and IMS. Attendees will explore triple play business models, participate in service provider executive round-tables, see the latest available market research from industry experts, view innovative triple play demonstrations, and attend a networking cocktail reception.

Triple play is the driving competitive force behind the current and future plans of service providers of all types — incumbent Telcos, ISPs, Cable MSOs, Mobile Carriers, and CLECs all realize that the service provider who provides the most compelling and cost-effective bundle of voice/video/data will win the war. In short, triple play can reduce customer churn, improve ARPU, reduce operational costs, and ultimately will be the lynchpin for service provider survival during this hyper-competitive era.

For more information on Triple Play, be sure to check out TMC’s Triple Play Channel, which features articles, white papers, a triple play blog and more. The channel is sponsored by Netcentrex.

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April 2006 Archives

Carriers Spending Big Bucks on Triple Play

Visa, Nokia in Mobile Credit Card Payment Trial

Global Warming, Earth Day &... IPTV?

Introducing the IP Communications Business Summit

Siemens, Motorola Next to Pair Up?

ABI's New Quad Play Report Available

Netcentrex Announces Second Annual Triple Play Symposium

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