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Wireless Spectrum

June 2, 2006
Here are the details on the wireless spectrum auction held by the FCC. Some of the winners are JetBlue – yes the airline and AirCell who supplies private jets with wireless broadband equipment at the moment.

Read JetBlue snags license for air-to-ground wireless service for more details.

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Covergence

June 2, 2006
I just received word that Covergence has received $15 million dollars in series C funding. I recently met with them and remain impressed with their approach to VoIP and SIP. I anticipate a flurry of activity at TMC’s IP Communications Business Summit (August 8-9, 2006 in Santa Clara, California) and expect it to be the world’s best location for the venture and analyst community to meet up with the hottest companies in IP communications.
 
I almost forgot – Robins Consulting Group is a strategic partner in this summit and we are looking forward to it being an industry first!

Here is a summary of the news:

-- Series C Funding round led by new investor Globespan Capital Partners and existing investors Highland Capital Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners
-- Covergence will also be adding Globespan's Andy Goldfarb, exec. managing director and co-founder, to its Board of Directors
-- Round will be used to fuel new sales & marketing opportunities, refine channel sales strategy, and expand further into international markets
-- Covergence's total funding to date (incl. this latest round) is now $31M (closed rounds of $10M in June '05 and $6M in Jan. '04)

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The USF Wants You!

June 2, 2006
At this point it is beyond ludicrous to have VoIP providers pay into the USF. VoIP is just an application. It makes much more sense to have broadband providers pay into the USF. I have mentioned this before and feel I must keep mentioning it until someone listens. Increasing taxation on VoIP calling will push people to use services like Skype more quickly. As everyone uses free VoIP packages there will be no revenue left to tax for the USF.

Moreover, if I pay for e-mail service why is that not taxed for the USF? What is it about voice over IP that makes it more taxable? What about instant messaging? What if I start using voice IM? Is that taxable? It is functionally equivalent to VoIP. The FCC doesn’t want to have to deal with nuances of communications mediums to try to figure out what is taxable and what is not.

Instead of exempting broadband providers from paying into the USF they should be flipping the model around altogether.

Broadband costs will not erode as quickly as VoIP and by taxing all broadband equally you don’t push consumers to use one broadband type over another.

That is just my two cents – one of which I will soon have to contribute to the USF.

Reference: FCC Mulls Taxing VOIP Calls

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Bluetooth Review

June 2, 2006
I guess bluetooth is now mainstream as Consumer Reports has begun testing these devices. It is pretty amazing to see technology go from leading edge to mainstream. I saw the same thing happen with call centers and VoIP. Here is an ABC News video on the Consumers Reports article.

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Yellow Stone Cell Phones

June 2, 2006
I have always wanted to go to Yellowstone National Park but haven’t had the chance. It seems that by the time I get there, I will be able to use my cell phone anywhere in the park. Or perhaps not if the anti-cell phone groups have their way.

Here is a story about the controversy over using cell phones in public parks. Does the safety afforded by cell phones make up for the fact that the noise they emit will be annoying to park goers? That is the question that will soon be answered.

My guess is that Yellowstone will allow more cell phone towers in the park.

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