A number of other groups have added their voices to the conversation in the aftermath of yesterday’s FCC decision to make it easier for competitors, such as traditional telcos, to offer TV/video services.   Here are a couple of comments I’ve received over the past 12 hours or so:   Joe Savage, President of the FTTH Council, stated, “The FCC is to be applauded for today’s action streamlining the outmoded and detrimental video franchising process. This action caps a year in which state legislators and governors in eight states joined Texas in enacting new laws facilitating new video entry over fiber-to-the-home and other advanced broadband networks. As a result, American consumers will have more choice, lower rates, and access to much higher-speed broadband networks.”   Savage also praised the FCC for initiating a new proceeding to deregulate incumbent cable providers. “We feel that where competition exists, it is important to extend deregulation to all participants.”     According to Cindy Christy, President North America, Alcatel-Lucent: “This is a victory for both consumers and for the advancement of next-generation broadband networks across the U.S.

The consolidation continues…   Swedish telecom gear-maker Ericsson is buying data networking equipment vendor Redback Networks Inc. for $2.1 billion in cash, the companies announced late Tuesday. The deal will be internally funded by Ericsson. Redback will maintain its current leadership team and will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Ericsson.   Following on the heels of the recently completed merger between Alcatel and Lucent, which formed the world’s largest telecom equipment maker, this new deal marks further consolidation in the telecom industry.   It appears that Ericsson is positioning itself to better compete with Alcatel-Lucent and Nortel, among others.

  Cisco’s Linksys group has announced the most-awaited product of the year. Sort of. Linksys today unveiled its iPhone family of VoIP solutions, which comprises seven solutions:   iPhone Cordless Internet Telephony Kit — CIT200 iPhone Dual-Mode Internet Telephony Kit — CIT300 iPhone Dual-Mode Cordless Phone for Yahoo! Messenger with Voice — CIT310 iPhone Dual-Mode Internet Telephony Kit for Skype — CIT400 iPhone Wireless-G IP Phone — WIP300 iPhone Wireless-G IP Phone with Web Browser — WIP330 iPhone Wireless-G Phone for Skype — WIP320   Response as expected has been underwhelming, which is a shame. Rather than focus on the innovation or the practicality of this newly launched product line, the press — and subsequently the masses — will simply focus on what the iPhone isn’t, namely the long-awaited, much ballyhooed marketing blockbuster from Steve Jobs and Co.   And if as the reports are true that Cisco has had this name copyrighted since the late 90’s, why did they not release something with this name sooner? Engadget for one surmises that Cisco may have waited to release products with this name because they were working to sell the name to Apple.   Slashgear reports that Gizmodo (who made the claim last Friday that iPhone would be released Monday — but it wouldn’t be what we all thought…) is receiving a barrage of strongly worded sentiment from sensitive Apple enthusiasts who “don’t take too kindly to having their emotions played with.”   I’m sure this isn’t exactly the kind of response the marketing folks at Cisco/Linksys had in mind, but then again who knows? It’s long been said that there’s no such thing as bad press, and it will take some time for the consumer masses to catch on to what’s happened to their dream of the iPhone.

IP Unity, the provider of carrier-grade media servers, application servers, and real-time multimedia applications, is hooking up with Glenayre Messaging, a division of Glenayre Technologies.   This is how the official language read: “the parties have entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement for the consolidation of the two entities.”   The resulting company, to be called IP Unity Glenayre will be one of the larger independent suppliers of carrier-class, rich media messaging systems and advanced IP multimedia solutions serving both wireline and wireless carriers.   This move looks good for a number of reasons. According to a company statement, the two firms have no common customers and basically play in different geographies and networks. Also, researchers believe that IMS is set to explode.   A recent study from ABI Research predicts that telecom carriers around the world will spend $10.1 billion in IMS infrastructure over the next five years.

Hey folks, just a reminder…   This Friday, December 15 is the deadline for ITEXPO Early-Bird rates. Savings range from $200–$1,000 based on the plan you select, so if you’re planning on attending the conference this January 23–26, now is the time to act!   To register for the event, simply click here.   I look forward to seeing you in Ft. Lauderdale this January!
Who knows, you might also drive away in one of these fancy rigs...

So I too have been tagged.   If I traced it back correctly, it goes like this: Jeff to Andy to Peter and Ken who both tagged Leanne to Garrett to me. If I had the time, I would find Kevin Bacon’s blog and link us all once and forever within the six degrees.   5 things you don’t know about me?   Let’s see….   1.) I’m a huge fan of the greatest things to ever come from Canada: Beer, Hockey and Mrs.

As part of the never-ending quest to bring value to our readers, I thought I would direct you to have a look at our growing White Paper Library.   TMCnet has created this service to help interested parties with the tasks of research and analysis, whether you’re looking to increase your productivity or make a more-informed purchasing decision.   The library offers a simple user interface with which to enter search criteria, putting the most relevant information affecting the IP Communications world at your fingertips.   Currently our White Paper Library features content on a wide variety of subjects including SIP, VoIP, CRM/Call center and a number of other compelling topics.   Two of the whitepapers I’ve recently looked at were on the following subjects:   Building Next Generation Network Services - The Data Management Infrastructure   and   Building Highly Available Application Servers - The Network Infrastructure   I suggest you check it out. If you’re in the process of learning about any of the relevant areas that we feature in our White Paper Library, then this service is perfect for you.   Best part is, it’s FREE.   As always, we at TMCnet believe our goal is to bring you the best Internet experience possible, by providing not only the most content, but the most relevant content.  

OK, ok… I’m back. I realize that you missed me, but I had a couple of things to take care of these past few days.   I spent some time in Ottawa visiting with the fine folks from Mitel as well as several other companies including Natural Convergence, DragonWave, NewHeights, Solace Systems, and TalkSwitch, who incidentally announced a deal with Covad today.   I mentioned Ottawa, but really all the time was spent in Kanata, the telecom corridor du Nord. There are a huge number of fascinating companies that all play in our space — the IP Communications space that is — and a fair number of them have roots in three places: Nortel, Newbridge, and Bell Canada. It should not escape notice that many of these companies share something else as well: the leadership, wisdom, energy, and financial backing of a man named Terry Matthews.