VoIP Equipment gets expensive so when you can win $25,000 worth of it it makes sense to slow down and pay attention. TMC teamed up with Quintum to sponsor this giveaway. We sent this e-mail today on how you can win:

This is your last chance to have Quintum Technologies, Inc. and TMC's INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine make your VoIP project a $25,000 reality!

The possibilities are endless - imagine how many offices, call centers or Internet cafes you can VoIP-enable with $25,000 worth of Tenor MultiPath switches!

All entries must be postmarked no later than January 31, 2005.

It is obvious that telecom pricing is in a declining state. Credit VoIP and wireless carriers for this. Many analysts say consolidation is necessary in a market with declining pricing. Motley Fool has an interesting article about why the SBC/AT&T merger doesn't make sense.

Many in the VoIP industry are sick and tired of having to deal with every state wanting to tax, regulate, and/or kill VoIP. It is ridiculous. Really. I have long advocated taxing all broadband connections and not discriminating between what applications run on such pipes.

VoIP Inc. is a conglomerate in VoIP. They are in retail, wholesale, wireless and business communications systems. If you really want insight into the future of VoIP, you would do well to get these insights from the CEO of such a company.

Mesh networks make a great deal of sense to me. The ability to drop wireless nodes into any environment and set up a fully functioning network is something that seems so logical that  I can't imagine doing it any other way. Here is a release from a company that claims to have made a mesh networking breakthrough via the use of three radios.

Release:

I just learned about this from Cybertelecom. May be of interest.

FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FY 2005

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name: National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP)

Announcement Type: Initial Announcement-Notice of Availability of Funds

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 11.550. Public Telecommunications Facilities Program

Program Authority: 47 U.S.C.

Nothing like a little controversy to make life interesting. In this case the controversy comes courtesy of John Dvorak of PC Magazine. Dvorak was a keynoter at a TMC event a few years back. He is wise and entertaining and is brimming with enthusiasm.

Who wrote the checks for the 2005 inauguration fund? According to the Public Citizen's Congress Watch, these companies in the communications space contributed. A number of lobbying firms did as well and Piper Rudnick is the only one I recognize in telecom although there could be others. Pretty interesting reading.

Om writes about Ebbers on trial in his Blog today. He sums up nicely how the trial will look and reiterates what is on the line... 30 years in jail if found guilty.

I for one and happy to see a CEO being held responsible for corporate fraud. As an outsider I find it impossible to beleive he didn't know about what was going on. I wonder what a CEO does if not understand the numbers in a company end ensure sales booked are being made. Sure a fraudulent salesperson can fudge a number or two... But billions? Lets see how this plays out.

I got to thinking lately that one of the very suggestions I made to service providers has been successfully implemented and sold by Packet8 for over a year. I have been encouraging service providers to strive to provide consumer electronic devices such as cool new WiFi phones as differentiators. What an amazingly sticky way of providing service if these devices don’t work with other VoIP providers. Of course I am in no way discouraging SIP and open standards but I am a realist.

I'm on my way to Las Vegas for the Vonexus connection keynote I am doing tomorrow and I can tell you JFK is the last place you want to be if like clean sidewalks and calm. It is pandemonium here. Thankfully, I found a quiet nook where I can type and spy on my gate as there is some sort of delay. I am not sure how much longer I will have to wait but I picked up some magazines and Jon Stewart's "America" for the flight.

I think this is the harshest press Michael Powell has received and it comes via a Wall Street Journal poll that as of January 23, 2005 at 11:00 PM EST shows most people who took the poll gave him an F on an A-F scale. The grades are as follows:

A    18%

B    14%

I wanted to get some outside perspective on the FCC and Powell stepping down. I noticed Greg Galitzine had a bunch of interviews about Powell and they make for interesting reading. So I also decided to join the party. I asked Jason Talley, President and CEO of Nuvio Corporation, a VoIP service provider for his opinions about the industry and Michael Powell stepping down.

Lots of M&A activity in the IP PBX market with the recent acquisition of Lake Communications by Inter-Tel. On the surface this looks like a good strategic move for Inter-Tel as it it allows them greater access to Europe as well as some interesting new SMB products to add to their arsenal. If nothing more, this acquisition and the acquisition of Vertical Networks by Artisoft show even more optimism in the communications market.

Connecticut is being slammed by a snow storm otherwise known as a nor'easter as I write this entry. In case you aren't familiar with the term, here is a definition from the weather channel:

A cyclonic storm occurring off the east coast of North America. These winter weather events are notorious for producing heavy snow, rain, and tremendous waves that crash onto Atlantic beaches, often causing beach erosion and structural damage.

LA Times article on Powell resigning. Not too VoIP focused but interesting nonetheless.

Exerpt:

WASHINGTON — Michael K. Powell, the controversial head of the Federal Communications Commission who championed speedier Internet connections, tougher enforcement of broadcast indecency rules and greater consumer protection from telemarketers, announced today that he is leaving the agency in March.

Powell, a 41-year-old former Army officer and antitrust lawyer who was appointed chairman in 2001 by President Bush, sent a letter to Bush today indicating his intentions to leave.

Here is a WSJ article on this matter. Whether Michael Powell was good for the VoIP market or not is a question we will debate forever but what we know for sure is that a  duopoly of cable companies and and ILECs remains as he steps down meaning the FCC is a VoIP champion but has instituted policies where ILECS, the companies that pretty much crippled or killed competitive DSL offerings and the CLEC market are now in the position to do the same with VoIP providers.

Michael Powell Steps Down

Big news in the CLEC market.

Broadvox Limited LLC and Metropolitan Telecommunications (MetTel) today announced a one-year agreement that will enable MetTel, an integrated communications provider, to offer Broadvox's Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) broadband services with a suite of local and long distance service packages. MetTel currently serves customers in 14 states and will expand its coverage area to 30 states by the end of 2005.

MetTel will now have the ability to offer Broadvox VoIP broadband services through MetTel's Internet T-1 or DSL Service or through an Internet connection provided by the customer.

The USA Today have a great article about rural wireless carriers and the Universal Service Find.

Excerpt:

The $3.5 billion fund, financed by a 10.7% fee on every long-distance bill, goes mostly to rural phone incumbents to keep basic home service affordable. That's because it's costly for companies to string wires to rural areas with few customers.

So while we're sitting around in the US trying to figure out if VoIP providers need to be regulated, taxed, contribute to the Universal Service Fund, etc... We sometimes forget that other countries are going through similar regulatory debates. Case in point is the Philippines where the debate rages on how to legally define VoIP, etc.

Here is an excerpt of an article discussing the issue:

Interesting VoIP report over at Tom Keating's blog.

Excerpt:

As more cable providers turn to VoIP over the next few years, total worldwide cable telephony subscribers will pass the 14 million mark by late 2005, and grow to over 22 million by year-end 2008.

Mike Scheele has started and raised capital four telecommunications companies in the past decade including RateXchange, New Global Telecom and IP Deliver. Most recently he started TalkFree Telecom and he is the co-founder and president of the company. I decided to interview him to get his perspective on why he started  a new VoIP company and how he plans on competing in this high-growth and highly competitive market

Tell me about the companies you started in the past. Give us a history of your past in telecom.

I recently had a chance to interview Sangoma's CEO David Mandelstam... His company makes boards for open source telephony systems. Open source PBXs are all the rage these days so I decided it would be useful to get the perspective on this market from a company that makes its living selling hardware that is intimately tied to Linux telephony. Here is the Interview with David Mandelstan:

You don't to be a genius to understand how much ad revenue is going to the web. It is quite amazing and is seems like most dotcom predictions are coming true just like the VoIP predictions are. The one interesting point in all of this is that the earnings of the two industries are intertwined as telecom and more specifically VoIP ad dollars are pouring into the web at an astonishing rate. Here is a release about Yahoo's record earnings.

One day 800 numbers won't mean anything as we will all have VoIP and cell phones with unlimited calling plans. In the present, 800 numbers are enhanced service offerings that VoIP service providers use to lure customers. I suppose toll-free numbers are about as commoditized as  a service as there is so I am not surprised to see it as a victim of a price war. Whereas Vonage will charge you $4.99/month for this service with 60 minutes of free long-distance bundled in, BroadVoice charges you $1.95/month for the same service.

A local CLEC (to TMC anyway ) becomes a VoIP service provider.

excerpt:

eLEC's VoX Deploys Packet Telephony Technology and Begins Offering VoIP Services Nationwide

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2005--eLEC Communications Corp. (OTCBB:ELEC), a local telecommunications company in White Plains, NY, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary VoX Communications has successfully deployed its packet telephony technology, and is now offering local and long-distance residential and business Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service nationwide.

In addition, Chairman and President of the International Packet Communications Consortium (IPCC) Michael Khalilian welcomed participation and membership of eLEC to the IPCC saying, "eLEC has a unique status among CLECs by having traditional TDM networks in addition to VoIP platforms and service offerings." The IPCC is the industry's leading international association dedicated to advancing the deployment of VoIP and packet communications technology.

Dial Thru International to provide VoIP service to US soldiers in Iraq.

Andy Abramson points out today that telecom companies will be spending more and more ad dollars online. One of the reasons for this is the rise of the do-not-call list which has made it less effective to use the the telephone to sell. Companies such as service providers need to find new marketing mediums and the web becomes the beneficiary. What is more interesting to me is the rise of the affiliate program. These sorts of offers by service providers were hot in the nineties and then fizzled. It is once again a good move to become a telecom affiliate.

A good overview of what is happening in telecom, this telecom trends report is quick read and focuses on VoIP, WiMAX, and RFID.

Excerpts:

Deloitte's Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) industry group today announced its predictions for the global telecommunications industry in 2005, forecasting a year of significant milestones, as well as difficult questions. "Fixed operators will continue to reap the benefits of superior voice quality and reliability in 2005, generating billions of profitable voice minutes over the course of the year. However, they will face increasing challenges from low-cost operators, mobile operators and Voice over IP (VoIP).

Please book your ITEXPO Miami hotel room now if you plan on attending. This is not a sales pitch. I don't want to sound like I am giving a shameless plug for the show. We have filled our block and the hotel wants to raise the rates. We are doing our best to negotiate in your favor -- to save you money. The hotel will sell out soon so please book now if you plan on coming to the show.

Kontron announces new ATCA and AMC boards:

Kontron AT8001

AT8001 – flexibility of dual AMC support
The Kontron AT8001 ATCA processor board significantly increases the design options for wireless, telecom applications with its support for two AMC module slots. Powered by a low voltage, high performance Intelâ Xeonâ processor up to 2.8 GHz, the AT8001 provides high interconnect performance, ideally suited to support any number of high throughput I/O communications modules.

The AT8001 feature-set includes dual Gigabit Ethernet and dual Fiber Channel on fabric interface, dual Gigabit Ethernet base interface, 8 GB of DDR-II 400 SDRAM, plus MontaVista Linux Carrier Grade Edition (CGE) and IPMI v1.5 support.

AM4001 – superior processing and flexible interconnect topologies
The Kontron AM4001 AMC module features the low power, high performance of an Intel Pentium M processor up to 2 GHz and the Intel E7320 chipset.

Broadsoft scored a win selling a hosted VoIP solution to InTechnology in the UK. Using their own network and adding IP Centrex to an array of offerings from VPNs to backups, InTechnology sees hosted VoIP as just another managed service.

Excerpt:

AlwaysOn launched a similar service last year, and Dimension Data has also signed a deal with Broadsoft. Vonage, a US VoIP service with a strong consumer and single-user bias, launched in the UK in late December last year.

"In Europe there could be up to 45 million broadband lines," said Gareth Williams, market analyst at InClarity. "If hosted VoIP is only a small percentage of that total, you're still looking at a very healthy market."

GigaBeam and Stealth Communications Expand VoIP and IP Services in the New York City Area. Excerpt:

HERNDON, Va., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- GigaBeam Corporation (BULLETIN BOARD: GGBM) , announces an agreement with Stealth Communications(R) for installation of its ultra high speed WiFiber(SM),(TM) wireless fiber solution. GigaBeam's WiFiber provides communications access with the capacity of fiber but with significantly less latency than fiber to enhance Stealth's unique communications services offerings. Stealth is New York City's largest Internet gateway and offers Internet & Ethernet access, VoIP, and data services to service providers, financial institutions, enterprises and government agencies.

Joe Staples, an old friend and industry veteran joins Interactive Intelligence.

Will Spam over Internet Telephony or SPIT hurt VoIP? Here is an article with an interview with Altigen CEO, Gilbert Hu. This piece is well written and discusses some of the potential pitfalls of VoIP deployment as well as solutions to keep you protected.

VoIP peering is assisting wireless carriers as well as those of the wired variety.

Here is a link to a good VoIP peering article.

Here is an excerpt from a related release:

InfiniRoute Networks Launches First VoIP Peering Service for Wireless Carriers

InfiniRoute Networks Inc.
(http://www.infiniroute.com) has announced the availability of its Voice over IP
(VoIP) peering service for Wireless Carriers. InfiniRoute's Managed VoIP
Peering (MVP) service, launched in 2004, was the industry's first carrier-
neutral VoIP Peering service to integrate and manage voice and IP routing for
wireline, wireless and emerging carriers.
 

InfiniRoute's MVP service now provides mobile carriers with the ability
to terminate and receive international traffic using cost-effective, high
quality VoIP technology.

Hitachi Cable has a new WiFi telephony phone: The IP-5000. Epygi and Intertex catch SIP fever and ABP distributes it all.

ABP will present new products at the Internet Telephony Show in Miami!

ABP Technology today announced they will have their latest VoIP products including Hitachi Cable’s Wireless IP Phone, SIPURA Analog Telephony Adapters, Epygi IPBXs which now support SIP phones, and Intertex’s new SIPswitch on display at TMC™’s INTERNET TELEPHONY® Conference & EXPO Miami 2005, February 22-25, 2005 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Miami, Florida. INTERNET TELEPHONY® Conference & EXPO is the nation’s premier event for showcasing leading cost-saving and cutting-edge IP telephony products and services.

“ABP’s participation at INTERNET TELEPHONY® Conference & EXPO is a primary reason why this show is widely recognized as the industry’s #1 venue to test, compare, and learn about the benefits and cost-savings inherent in IP telephony products and services,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC President and conference chairman.

I get this question a lot. Where would you invest in the VoIP space? How would you position yourself to profit from the hyper-growth of the voice over IP market? I figured a column on the topic made senses so I could share my thoughts with hundreds of thousands of people instead of just a few at a time.

Alan Clark, the President and CEO of Telchemy has done a lot for VoIP. First off he runs a site called VoIPTroubleshooter.com which is a great help to developers and IT people. More recently he came out with a document called Six Steps To Getting Your Network Ready For Voice over IP. The document is a good reference if you are looking to get started with the VoIP deployment process.

Tom Keating made some great VoIP predictions in his blog recently and one of them came to mind this AM when I happened upon a new product, the mNode300 from Telabria, a ruggedized WiFi access point with a separate radio for backhauling network traffic. This device is aimed at students and other public sector locations. Tom's prediction about this topic is below:

7) Colleges ramp up on VoIP
When I was in college 11 years ago they just added Ethernet to the dorm rooms.

Today's hot topic is VoIP security and while there haven't been any huge break-ins into VoIP systems that I am aware of I am aware that according to the WSJ, T-Mobile recently had their computers broken into and customer names and social security numbers were accessed. The bold section below doesn't sound too good but I must admit I slept through much of history class so if there was a day we went over "mutual assistance legal treaties," I was either dreaming or absent.

Nonetheless we seem to have one of these with Russia. Who would have guessed?

There was a time in 1998-2000 that Cisco's Peter Alexander would walk TMC expos looking for acquisition targets. Cisco acquired a number of telecom companies at the time -- from unified messaging to contact center players. I lost touch with Peter around the time the bubble burst and don't know who handles telecom acquisitions these days. Whoever is in charge...