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

Research

Oh My! We're Doomed!

April 30, 2009

The Web: The Best is Yet to Come

April 23, 2009

If you think the Internet's a crowded place today, guess what? One of the Internets founders (insert Al Gore jokes here) Tim Berners-Lee, keynoting at the 18th Annual World Wide Web conference in Madrid this week, believes that the best of the Internet is yet to come.   "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...

Stock Blog Compares AT&T, Verizon

April 22, 2009

This morning, over at Seeking Alpha, there's a nice article from ValueExpectations (a stock blog and investment newsletter that provides institutional quality equity research) on the difference between AT&T and Verizon. ValueExpectations.com is run by the founders of The Applied Finance Group and Toreador Research and Trading.   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.

DIRECTV Tops for Would-Be TV Service Switchers... Really?

March 26, 2009

Seeking Alpha has an article titled, Who's Winning the Cable Service Provider Wars? that discusses a recent ChangeWave survey.   While some of the results make perfect sense, other results may surprise you as they did me.   ChangeWave surveyed 2,830 respondents and found that price is now the key issue when consumers decide to switch TV service providers. Given the state of the economy, that's not too surprising. Apparently 48% of respondents who plan to switch their cable, satellite or fiber-optic TV provider in the next six months say price is the primary reason.   Slightly more surprising, but perhaps understandable is the fact that when asked how satisfied they were with their current TV service provider, respondents overwhelmingly gave fiber-optic TV services high marks.   According to the research, Verizon's FiOS service tops the list in terms of having the highest percentage of customers who say they are Very or Somewhat Satisfied with their provider. AT&T's U-Verse service is second.

Microsoft Surveys SMBs to Identify Business Priorities

March 25, 2009

   Microsoft today released its first-ever Microsoft SMB Insight Report, which is planned as an annual study of the business challenges and technology priorities facing SMBs.

The report identified virtualization, IT consolidation, business intelligence, software as a service (SaaS) and support of remote workers as the top technology investment priorities for SMBs in 2009.   The authors surveyed over 600 Microsoft Small Business Specialists in five countries.   The following are some of Microsoft's key findings on the technologies most likely to drive growth and profitability for SMBs in 2009:   ·         50% identified virtualization or IT consolidation through a small or midsize server as the technology most likely to reduce operating costs. ·         The Small Business Specialists expect a 20 % increase this year in the number of SMBs that use software as a service. ·         More than 50 % of the Small Business Specialists considered customer relationship management (CRM), virtualization or IT consolidation through a small or midsize server as the best investment for maximizing business growth in a down economy. ·         Nearly 40 % expect an increased interest in business intelligence and identified it as a critical tool for helping improve a customer's experience and increase loyalty. ·         More than half of the surveyed Small Business Specialists anticipate an increase in the number of SMB remote workers, and nearly 60 % expect that the shift to more remote workers also will lead to bigger roles and more responsibilities for those individuals working remotely.   A complete version of the 2009 Microsoft SMB Insight Report is available online.    

Infonetics: Carrier VoIP Market Down

March 3, 2009

Infonetics Research has released the Q4 2008 edition of its Service Provider VoIP Equipment and Subscribers report.   And the news is not good.   According to Infonetics' Diane Myers, Directing Analyst, Service Provider VoIP and IMS: "The fourth quarter of 2008 confirmed what we started seeing in the previous two quarters in North America, with signs in Western Europe and some parts of Asia as well: the market for carrier VoIP equipment has stalled due to large deployments nearing completion and shifting strategic priorities. The global economic downturn will likely exacerbate the drop in VoIP equipment sales."   According to the report, the streak of double-digit annual revenue growth, which has characterized the worldwide carrier VoIP equipment market since 2002, has come to a close.   In fact, the market declined for the first time ever in 2008, dropping 6%.   According to Infonetics, large RBOCs and ILECs are putting the brakes on VoIP as major projects are (or have been) completed. Furthermore, the economic downturn is forcing operators to move their capital expenditures to other strategic priorities.   There were some bright spots in the report. On the plus side, the Infonetics research bears out the following:   ·         The number of residential and SOHO VoIP subscribers worldwide increased at a steady clip, topping 107 million in 2008, driven mostly by EMEA and Asia Pacific; ·         Nortel increased softswitch and trunk media gateway revenue, gaining share in both categories; ·         Sonus increased its trunk media gateway revenue 45% in 4Q08 from 3Q08.

ITU Says One-Fourth of World is Online

March 3, 2009

Out of context, it's a funny pull quote: "Internet usage is up due to an increase in job searches." A sad commentary on the state of the times.   However, in context, it makes for a good example of one small element of usage behavior that is driving increased Internet traffic, in the face of a global economic crunch.    The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) says that that nearly a quarter of the world's 6.7 billion people use the Internet, with use more than doubling from 11% in 2002.   Jonathan Wright, Director of Wholesale Products at Interoute, owner operator of Europe's largest next-generation network, had this to say:   "Internet usage is simply reflective of global demographics. Whilst the digital divide is ever present, demands on telecom providers are from both sides. On the one hand, established Internet users are demanding higher capacity connectivity due to their engagement with more sophisticated uses of the internet applications like peer to peer and social networking sites that require higher bandwidth support from access technologies. And, on the other hand, the entry of new users driving initially less sophisticated demands for internet access from economies like China and India is exploding.   "The Internet explosion will not be interrupted by the economic downturn in the developed world.

Infonetics' Enterprise Telephony Report: Winners and Prognostications

February 26, 2009

I was on the road yesterday, a quick jaunt to Chicago for an interview with Tellabs. Rich blogged about it and posted a bunch of images from the trip, including one picture that so eloquently captured my thoughts on how busy O'Hare was.

 

The Tellabs facility is a beautiful. Modern, spacious, everything a corporate headquarters should be.

 

Watch for the interview with president and CEO Robert Pullen to be published soon in NGN magazine.

 

While I was winging my way back home, Infonetics Research announced its Q4 (2008) Enterprise Telephony report.

 

The headline of the release suns it up quite nicely: "Cisco takes lead in 2008 enterprise telephony market; Alcatel-Lucent, ShoreTel sole 4Q08 winners"

 

So amid the gloom:

 

·         The worldwide enterprise telephony market dropped 14% sequentially in 4Q08 to $2.3 billion, with vendor revenue down for all types of equipment including pure IP PBX, hybrid PBX, and TDM PBX

·         The main cause of the decline is the lack of new business creation and business expansion due to the difficult economic climate worldwide

 

There were some bright spots as well:

 

·         Year-over-year, the overall PBX market is up 1.1%, with the IP PBX segments up and the TDM segment down as the market continues switching over from TDM to IP equipment

·         Pure IP PBX revenue grew 25% worldwide in 2008, sustained by new product introductions

 

On the vendor front, the Infonetics report found that Alcatel-Lucent and ShoreTel -- alone among their competitors -- realized PBX equipment revenue gains in Q4, with Alcatel-Lucent's revenue up 13% sequentially and ShoreTel's revenue up 1%.

 

And despite a quarterly revenue loss, Cisco maintained the first spot in overall PBX/KTS revenue market share in 4Q08. According to the report, 2008 saw Cisco "grab the lead" for the entire year for the first time as well.

 

Matthias Machowinski, Directing Analyst, Enterprise Voice and Data, Infonetics Research had this to say:

 

Because of the significantly deteriorating worldwide economic conditions, we expect the overall enterprise telephony market to contract fairly significantly in 2009.

Siemens Announces Results of Communications Survey

February 24, 2009

Siemens Communications announced the results of a global survey conducted by SIS Research that uncovered the top five pain points in communication for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The survey found that companies with 100 employees could be losing more than $5,000 per employee per year by not addressing common communication issues.   Among the key findings:   ·         68% of respondents have trouble coordinating communications among team members, affecting their ability to respond quickly to time-sensitive requests. ·         68% of respondents said they experience work delays while waiting for information from others. ·         77% of respondents receive unwanted communications that disrupt workflow and decrease productivity.       The complete text of the release as I received it follows:     Companies with 100 Employees Could Be Losing More Than $5,000 Per Employee Per Year by Not Addressing Inefficient Communication Issues   Communications barriers and latencies can cost small and medium businesses up to 40 percent of their productive time, according to a Siemens-sponsored global study     On average, 70 percent of employee respondents of small and medium businesses (SMBs) with up to 400 employees said they spend 17.5 hours each week addressing the pain points caused by communications barriers and latencies, according to a global study sponsored by Siemens Enterprise Communications and conducted by SIS International Research. The research also showed that while SMB awareness of unified communications as a solution is rising, nearly 60 percent of SMBs do not currently employ one based on the sampling.   In addition, researchers at SIS International Research determined that the time spent per week dealing with communications issues was more than 50 percent higher in companies with more than 20 workers. In hard costs, the study concluded, companies of 100 employees could be losing more than $500,000 each year by not addressing their employees' most painful communications issues.   Key Findings.

Dittberner Data Shows Increase in Router Revenue

February 18, 2009

According to DITTBERNER's "Service Provider Switch and Router Market Analysis", overall carrier grade market router revenue posted a 21% annual increase for 2008, surpassing $11 B.

The top five router vendors in order were: Cisco, Juniper, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson.   Here's what the report authors had to say:   Even with the expectation of a decline in fixed line broadband access shipments this year, Dittberner had originally expected a 30% increase in router revenue for 2008. This was because flat growth in new broadband subscribers would be offset by an increase in bandwidth per user due to the growth in video traffic. Router revenue came in at $11.3 B, a 21% annual increase, which was less than the forecast, but a healthy increase none-the-less.   Dittberner expects 10% revenue growth for CY 2009, based on forecasts of higher fixed broadband port shipments than in 2008, and a definite increase in bandwidth per user.
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