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Continuous Computing Problems

At the last Internet Telephony show I heard a bunch of complaining about Continuous Computing. Complaints about service levels, responsiveness, etc. In addition I overheard a conversation of an irate Continuous Computing partner.

I am sure every company has a customer or two that that feels this way about them from time to time. In my position I get to hear many customer complaints… Perhaps too many. I usually disregard the first one or two but when get many in a row that is a sure sign of potential problems.

Until recently I never heard anything bad or good about the company and they have an A+ list of investors behind them.

That is why I was surprised when I was faced with similar comments at other industry events – I have been on the road for many weeks now -- but no one wanted to go on record. Apparently there is some abrasiveness in the company’s ranks but insiders felt uncomfortable with me revealing the details.

I have calls into Brian Wood the company’s VP of Marketing who I know. As soon as I can connect with Continuous Computing I will let you know the details of my conversation.

Consider this story developing.

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A Competitive Telecom Proof

While it’s been decades since my last geometry class here is the first proof I have written since high school. After rereading this a few times it is obviously not a proof but still reminds me enough of one for me to post it. Hope you enjoy it.

1) Phone companies don’t support net neutrality
2) The argument goes, why should they have to subsidize competitors if they own the pipes?
3) The nature of the Internet will be changed worldwide as phone companies convince the US government that net neutrality is bad
4) They argue they cannot afford to build out their networks if companies like Google can ride for free and make money
5) Although they promise not to interfere with the Internet and imply they will only add a high-speed lane they charge for, most experts expect them to enforce their monopoly positions by extracting royalties from companies they compete with
6) Industry experts argue net neutrality is fair
6A) Phone companies are about making money for shareholders and not about being fair (which they are legally bound to do)
7) Recently phone companies have started to complain that cable companies will not run their ads
8) Cable companies argue that they shouldn’t run ads from their competitors
9) AT&T, filed a complaint yesterday with the FCC claiming that cable companies are trying to thwart competition.
10) The phone companies argue the cable companies aren’t fair
10A) #6A applies to cable companies as well
11) While broadband policy in the US centers around who has the best lobbyists and lawyers, other countries continue to surpass the US in broadband access because they have real broadband competition or because those countries have decided that real broadband access is a priority
12) Over 1.1 million French subscribers pay as low as €29.99 ($36) monthly for a "triple play" package called Free from Iliad that includes 81 TV channels, unlimited phone calls within France and to 14 countries, and high-speed Internet.
12A) For now France lags behind the US in broadband penetration
13) Iliad has created intense competition in France, and that has resulted in faster broadband speeds. Free offers download speeds of up to 24 megabits per second. In the U.S., the average broadband connection offered by telephone and cable companies is about 1.5 megabits per second, although a few companies offer speeds comparable with Free's or even faster.
14) Free spends $49.08 in marketing for each new customer it adds, compared with France Telecom's $82.32, according to market research firm Secodip
15) Some 40% of France's overall market for traditional fixed-line phone calls will switch to calling using VoIP this year from about 15% in 2005, according to France Telecom CEO Didier Lombard.
16) French regulators are hoping to increase the number of broadband connections in France, which currently trails many other countries. In June, 12.8% of the French were broadband subscribers, compared with 14.5% in the U.S. and 25.5% in Korea
17) With consumer triple-play pricing so low in France while the price of everything else in France is so expensive, one wonders how long it may take France to surpass the US in broadband penetration
18) France seems to have figured out how to keep the CLEC market working
18A) US policy makers have decided the CLEC experiment will never work again
19) The CLEC model is what makes broadband and triple-play serves so affordable in France
20) An upstart triple-play provider has shaken up the market the way Southwest Airlines has done in the airline business
21) The US will never be able to compete effectively without a market that ensures competition from a healthy field of new broadband upstarts

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Wireless Disruption

The following is a portion of my April 2006 Internet Telephony Magazine Publisher's Outlook:

I think this year will see serious wireless disruption. In my life, I have witnessed many a technology look to replace Ethernet only to find out that Ethernet was an evolving standard that kept changing with the times.

So, instead of replacing Ethernet, we just kept upgrading it. No matter what new technology came onto the scene, it never gained traction.

History repeats itself and, if you picture WiFi as the wireless equivalent of Ethernet, then you can figure the technology will keep evolving as well to fight off the replacement technologies.

In this case, I think WiMAX may be the technology that gets hurt by WiFi. Technology already exists to extend the reach of WiFi, but I anticipate this will be the year where we see a technology emerge that extends the range of WiFi in such ways that WiMAX loses its edge in many applications. Mesh networking may be this technology, but I imagine that WiFi's range can be extended to a few miles without too much effort, and mesh networks, coupled with long-range WiFi might eliminate the need for WiMAX in areas where it is feasible to pepper your access points.

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