Greg Galitzine : Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog
Greg Galitzine

IP Communications

Femtocells in the News

January 28, 2009

The femtocell is indicative of much in the technology world these days.   Analysts are generally in agreement that the market opportunity is large, and yet fits and starts - typical of early days in any sector -- abound. Verizon's newly released Network Extender has met with mixed results. T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service was well received, but ran into a bit of a patent issue late last year. And Ars Technica is reporting today that AT&T slipped up and released details of their offering into the space:   The new offering will be called 3G MicroCell, supports voice and 3G data, and allows 4 simultaneous calls or data sessions.   The product details reported on a new AT&T page, since pulled, were discovered by Engadget and SlipperyBrick.   Adding to the femtocell conversation, IntelliNet Technologies today announced the development of a new integrated femtocell gateway, which combines a femtocell access point controller with a carrier grade security gateway in an industry standard AdvancedTCA platform.   The idea behind this offering is to give service providers and wireless operators the ability to manage thousands of femtocells at once.   Anjan Ghosal, president and CEO of IntelliNet Technologies said:   Cellular phone service is now in line with traditional wireline as a subscriber's primary mode of communication.

Digital TV Transition Put on Hold

January 26, 2009

Analyst: Netbooks to Surge

January 26, 2009

I bought a netbook, then I returned it without even opening it. It was a good deal, but even still the price was so close to the cost of a full-fledged laptop (with optical drive, bigger hard drive, bigger screen, etc...) that I thought I would either continue to live without or simply wait until the next generation of netbooks arrived.   I have always believed that the holidays are the worst time to buy technology as the stuff they announce at CES a month later is always more exciting. (I take buyer's remorse to extreme levels when it comes to gadgets and tech...)   Maybe waiting was a good thing.   ABI Research just released its forecast for a "market explosion" of netbooks, estimating that in 2009 we can expect to see 35 million netbooks shipped, growing to 139 million by 2013.   ABI Research Practice Director Kevin Burden describes the evolution of the portable computing tool, from the PDAs of "old" to the latest ultra-mobile PCs or UMPCs:   PDA's began our reliance on instant accessible data while traveling. When PDA functionality converged with cellular voice, smartphones became the new darling of mobile professional technology that many expected to evolve into the hub for all data and communication needs for travelling professionals.

SIP Trunking Podcast: Avaya's Alan Klein

January 26, 2009

With only one week to go before ITEXPO, it's an exciting time as we make the final preparations ahead of "The World's Communications Conference."   One of the elements of the show that has been very successful in the past is the SIP Trunking seminar, organized by Ingate Systems with sponsorship from the likes of Avaya, BandTel and others. The seminar is taking place at this year's ITEXPO as well.   Last week we ran a couple of interviews with BandTel's Joel Maloff, including a Q&A and a podcast.   We also published an interview with Avaya's Alan Klein.   Well we just posted the podcast interview with Alan. Give it a listen.   And when you're done, please cruise on over to the ITEXPO site and sign up for the SIP Trunking workshop. You'll be glad you did!      

Rich on Microsoft's Response Point

January 23, 2009

TMC Blogs: The Week in Review

January 23, 2009

What was the big story this week? No doubt it was the inauguration of Barack Obama, as the 44th President of the United States and the first African-American to hold that post. Truly a historic day for our nation: a day when many people put politics aside to welcome our newest leader to his job, and judging by the crowds in Washington, D.C. this past Tuesday it was quite a welcome indeed.   Rich is excited.

SIP Trunking Podcast: BandTel's Joel Maloff

January 23, 2009

Last Friday I published an interview with Joel Maloff, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at BandTel, the SIP Trunking provider.   Working together with Ingate, BandTel is a Platinum Sponsor of the "SIP Trunking: Everything You Need to Know" seminars at ITEXPO East 2009, which take place February 2-4, 2009 in Miami Beach, Florida.   Well I just concluded a podcast interview with Joel, and so I invite you to listen to that audio interview as well, to get some more information ahead of the seminars.   The seminars have traditionally been a big draw at ITEXPO and all forecasts point to another successful installment at the show, which takes place in Miami Beach in just 9 days.   Sponsors of the SIP Trunking: Everything You Need to Know workshop include:   Platinum Sponsors: Avaya, BandTel Gold Sponsor: Cbeyond Sponsors: AireSpring, BBTelesys, Bandwidth.com, Digium, Iwatsu, J Arnold & Associates, ShoreTel, SIP Forum, and VOIPSA.   For more information, or to register for the show, please visit the ITEXPO home page.

Copps Named Acting FCC Chair

January 22, 2009

President Obama has named FCC commissioner Michael J. Copps Acting Chairman of the FCC.

  In a written statement, Copps expressed his gratitude and pledged to serve:   I thank President Obama for his confidence in me and for this opportunity to serve. I know that I have a truly gifted and terrific team to work with. I pledge every effort I am capable of to help steer the Commission through its current transition to new leadership.   Copps, who has been on the Commission since 2001, previously served as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development at the U.S. Department of Commerce from 1998 until January 2001.   His colleague, Commissioner Robert M. McDowell shared his thoughts in a statement as well. McDowell, a former FCC lobbyist was previously Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of COMPTEL, an industry organization.   According to McDowell:   I am pleased that President Obama has announced that my friend and colleague, Mike Copps, will serve as acting chairman of the Commission. I appreciate the sacrifices Beth, Mike and the Copps family have made during his distinguished public service career. I look forward to continuing to work with him at this unique time.

Even Microsoft Gets the Blues

January 22, 2009

Add Microsoft to the ranks of companies forced to cut jobs due to the state of the economy.   According to a story by our own Michael Dinan, the software maker today announced major year-over-year earnings dips and a plan to cut 5,000 jobs.   Microsoft reportedly saw a net income decline of 11 percent, to $4.17 billion, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, as well as a 6 percent drop in earnings per share, to 47 cents.   About 1,400 of the 5,000 job cuts -- across R&D, marketing, sales, finance, legal, HR and IT -- will occur today, with the rest coming over the next 18 months. The layoffs are expected to help reduce operating expenses by about $1.5 billion.   Ever the optimist, Steve Ballmer commented:   While we are not immune to the effects of the economy, I am confident in the strength of our product portfolio and soundness of our approach. We will continue to manage expenses and invest in long-term opportunities to deliver value to customers and shareholders, and we will emerge an even stronger industry leader than we are today.   Investors apparently need some time to digest the news.   Microsoft's shares fell in the wake of the announcement, (down 10.5% at 2pm EST).   I had hoped I was mistaken when I blogged here about industry job losses.   In addition to Microsoft, Ericsson this week announced plans to expand its restructuring, cutting about 5,000 jobs. This is on top of an announcement last year that the firm would eliminate 4,000 positions.    

Genesys Acquires Conseros, SDE

January 22, 2009

Featured Events