Communications and Technology Blog - Tehrani.com - Optical Archives

The Need for More Fiber is Very Real

2012-04-03T22:29:18Z

As the mobile revolution has grown, the one constant has been the need for faster connections and/or fiber to cell towers. For years TMC has interviewed Hunter Newby and Jason Cohen of Allied Fiber about the need for fiber throughout the US. Their company is building a network of ducted fiber through a wide swath of the US and is selling it unlit meaning that whoever decides to purchase the fiber has the rights to improve the equipment on the fiber allowing for faster interconnections as technology improves.

TMC’s Paula Bernier Interviews Jason Cohen of Allied Fiber

But there have been many skeptics along the way remembering that the fiber glut from the late nineties is still with us. Anton Troianovski wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal today about the need for new fiber to be laid and mentioned that one reason there are skeptics is regulation of high frequency trading could in fact reduce demand for fiber.

Hunter Newby the Founder of Allied Fiber is quoted in the piece and I reached out to him because I didn’t see the article mention one of the reasons for new fiber is that the old fiber is well, old. In fact Newby explains that new fiber is like a new car or new cell phone – basically more efficient and subsequently better.

Moreover, much of the fiber glut is aerial cable which is OK for short runs but not for long runs where ducted fiber is preferable. And much of the old fiber doesn’t have physical intermediate access points – he points out his company has them every 3,000 feet. The reason he explains is that old fiber didn’t have these access points because the need from schools, hospitals, towers and everything along the way didn’t exist over a decade ago.

Finally he points it that his company provides neutral colos every 60 miles – similar to the meet me room at the Telx facility at 60 Hudson or 56 Marietta. The reason this is important is most of the “glut fiber” is owned by telcos who compete with other telcos meaning they may or may not play nice with one another.

While the potential for HFC regulation could have major impact on the need for fiber and the prices paid for it, it is unknown how the government could even regulate such a market. Will they propose some mechanism which slows the speed of trades and if so won’t this make the US uncompetitive with other parts of the world meaning capital could potentially flee our shores? Moreover, what about unintended consequences? New York City, Connecticut and other states desperately need the state income taxes generated on trader salaries – would super restrictive HFC regulation make states less solvent?

Admittedly I am far afield from my starting point which is that the need for more bandwidth spurred by every faster devices and desire to watch more and higher-quality video as well as cloud-based applications will drive the need for more bandwidth and subsequently more fiber, for years to come.

Why Windstream Bought PAETEC

2011-08-01T14:35:08Z

Broadband and communications provider Windstream Corp just agreed to purchase communications conglomerate PAETEC for $2.3 billion in order to add scale and drive growth. PAETEC is an interesting company as it not only provides broadband and IP communications services; it also has data center services, is a large telecom reseller/interconnect, provider of telecom expense management (TEM) solutions and more.

Earlier this year I reported that PAETEC CEO Arunis Chesonis was looking for potential acquisition targets in India and elsewhere and in fact the company did just pick up XETA Technologies to boost its cloud-based service offerings. Interestingly his own company may have been in play while PAETEC itself was exploring more acquisition targets. Keep reading to learn more about other potential acquirers.

Large companies getting larger

Carriers are getting larger – and not just the largest, AT&T and T-Mobile (if it closes), Verizon purchased Terremark and CenturyLink recently picked up Savvis. In order to compete in commoditized business like broadband and voice, scale matters. Peter Radizeski has important comments about this very issue worth reading on his TMCnet blog. Here is an excerpt:

All that unused fiber. The owners of the VAR's - of Quagga, XETA and USEP - who now have to feel slighted. Are probably asking themselves the same thing that I am: WTH???

But if you look at the acquisitions being all over the map - and that Arunas was in India recently where he was rumored to be trying to sell to Tata - then you have to figure the runway ran out on Wall Street for PAETEC. Meaning that organic growth just was not happening.

With everything that is going on in the economy an out industry, sustaining growth is almost impossible. Revenues can not go up when prices are dropping. (This is why the cellcos are going metered -- it's the only way to bring in much needed revenue in a flat market.)

Strong stock prices low interest rate environment

Tech and telecom companies are trading at fair to optimistic valuations and relative to other spaces, these areas are generally good places for investors to be. Moreover, borrowing costs are low, making it a good time for sellers and buyers to be exploring options.

Cloud, cloud and more cloud

A big part of the growth strategies of virtually all telecom companies is data centers and the cloud and PAETEC has been investing in this space making this an important reason for the company to be acquired.

Fiber is in strong demand

With the massive need for bandwidth for things like wireless backhaul, the combined company with 100,000 fiber route miles is in a great position to cash in on the future need for broadband speed.

This deal positions Windstream as a major force in the communications space and it will be worth watching what it decides to do with the various businesses PAETEC is in. Will it choose to invest and growth them – selling TEM services to its current customers or will it make sense to focus just on cloud-based services for the future and divest some businesses which may be considered non-core.

Will AT&T, T-Mobile Merger Slow Wireless Innovation?

2011-07-25T18:46:59Z

AT&T has done an incredible job of getting special interest group after group to endorse its merger with T-Mobile, saying it will provide better broadband access for minorities, rural subscribers and just about any group of people you can think of. The broader gay community too has endorsed the merger - apparently transgender-Americans have been hoping for the day when there was one less GSM provider to choose from.

Here is how the system works - AT&T has hundreds of thousands of workers and inevitably large numbers of them in myriad groups. This in turn coupled with large contributions to various organizations and associations is rewarded with the reciprocal endorsing of anything AT&T requests.

To help grease the wheels even further, AT&T has further upped its lobbying budget by 58% according to PC Magazine.

AT&T is doing the smart thing by getting rid of its sole GSM provider allowing it better negotiating leverage in its roaming agreements with foreign carriers and gaining the ability to raise rates with one less major competitor to depress market pricing. It will also gain more leverage when negotiating with hardware and software companies.

An anti-merger video by the Free Press Action Fund

If the US government blocks the deal it will be because the remaining major companies AT&T and Verizon will have so much share that they are effectively a duopoly at about 80% - allowing them to raise prices at will.

Again, if you are an AT&T or Verizon shareholder, you likely want this merger to happen and AT&T is serving its short-term shareholders well by seeking this transaction.

But the challenge I see is that with one less major telecom carrier in the US it becomes that much more difficult for innovative start-ups to launch, get funding and hold their breath long enough for a carrier to buy from them. Sprint and T-Mobile have been fairly aggressive working with smaller companies that provide FMC solutions for example and because of this, funding has flowed into a bunch of companies serving the needs of the telcos. To make matters worse, Alcatel-Lucent has struggled for years to make money in this new landscape of shrinking carriers and NSN is really having problems making profit. Moreover, Nortel well bankrupt largely because of a single wireless contract it missed out on so obviously the challenge here is for the telecom hardware and software ecosystem as a whole.

So with less competition there will be less need to innovate and subsequently telecom equipment providers will have more trouble making money, getting funded and spending on R&D. This in-turn will cause a negative feedback loop where there are less companies innovating and Verizon, AT&T and a host of other carriers have less advanced services to offer. This in turn will eventually reduce revenues for carriers.

But this outcome will take a while to happen because investors aren't thinking about these issues, they are still licking their lips trying to take part in a telecom deal like the one where Skype sold to Microsoft for $8.5B.

AT&T should know these dangers and they probably do - but it is possible they are giving up on services. After all, IMS was supposed to unleash a wave of new applications and the carriers were going to share in the profit. Well the the app store quickly brought an end to that hope.

But then again, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam is set on bringing what he calls the innovation from wireless, into the wireline side of the business. But if Verizon really wants an environemnt where there is lots of innovation, one would imagine it would be very vocal in opposing the AT&T, T-Mobile deal. To date they haven't said much.

So for AT&T, Verizon and a host of other larger carriers in the global market, this merger could make it more difficult for them to find the next killer service like SMS. But then again, if you own one of the two major wireless superhighways, you may not have to offer anything in exchange for increasing your toll prices.

PSTN Death is Near

2011-07-07T14:13:04Z

I vividly remember driving my car in 1999 – two years after the company where I am CEO, TMC decided to launch Internet Telephony Magazine and thinking VoIP was going to change the way communications works and eventually kill the PSTN. It seemed to me that within five years most of the world would make the transition as the cost disparity at the time was quite large between the PSTN and VoIP connections. Moreover, there were a myriad of free calling services using VoIP such as Dialpad which were ad supported, putting even more pressure on traditional telecom networks.

Within a few years the dotcom and telecom bubbles burst (we collectively said goodbye (details) to Dialpad and its competitors) and the cost for using the PSTN dropped substantially in order to better compete with IP communications alternatives. So my internal projections which I am not sure I ever wrote about before turned out to be too optimistic.

The period between 2001-2004 could easily be referred to us the nuclear winter of VoIP – well communications in general is more like it – not to mention tech. But the last six years has seen continuing evolution in IP communications with VoIP peering and SIP trunking just some of the latest solutions to make a cost savings and productivity–boosting technology even better.

And from the consumer standpoint – they all know about Vonage, Skype – have cell phones and use IM and social networking to communicate. So it will come as little surprise to you that according to an article from TMCnet’s Peter Bernstein:

As of May 2010, 23% of respondents lived in a mobile-only household
37% of adults in the 18-24 and 30-34 age groups lived in a mobile-only household
Only 6% of the US population will still be served by the public switched telephone network (which is defined as TDM access line service) by the end of 2018

Simply stated, the PSTN is dying.

Industry leader and past TMC conference speaker Tom Evslin a person who I couldn’t respect more, even suggests the government needs to get involved to ensure there is universal access as we enter a transitionary period. Specifically he explains that USF dollars help maintain the network and as more high-value customers leave it, there are fewer dollars to maintain service in areas which are expensive/hard to reach and potentially devoid of alternatives.

Specifically he says:

Although it offends my free market sensibilities, I think government also must be involved in assuring that everyone who now has PSTN service has access to either a broadband or cellular communication alternative.

BTW – it is always tough to argue with free-market sensibilities – my confidence in the government doing anything right beyond putting out fires, enforcing contracts, and keeping us safe through the military and police force is pretty low. Of course this is in part because I see the law of unintended consequences rearing its ugly head virtually every time the government acts. See Net Neutrality: More Unintended Consequences and Dear Government, Please Stop "Helping" Us for details. Want more? Google effectiveness of Obama stimulus.

But getting back to the discussion on the PSTN – Bernstein suggests a separation between the pipe and service business. But are we to rely on the government or a separate monopoly to upgrade these pipes for us or is it better to allow a combined service/pipes company provide both? In the latter situation, the combined entity has increased incentive to upgrade the pipes quickly so as to provide value-added services over the connection.

Of course in my example I assume that one company will be responsible for maintaining both a copper and fiber network – would it make sense to have multiple companies maintain networks which are unprofitable for one company to maintain?

Moreover, would it be better to wait for Congress, the Senate and White House to come to an agreement on which fiber pairs should be run to our homes? Or will a separate company manage these networks and if so, who runs that? Will the FCC decide? By the way, is the new company regulated? Will it be forced to dig up and replace the technology from time to time? And finally, who pays for it?

Of course this situation is far from simple to solve and I wonder if satellite providers may not be a missing puzzle piece requiring more study. Then there are new technologies such as white spaces/super WiFi which could theoretically work in a meshed capacity to solve some of the remote access issues we now face.

I’d love to hear from you if you have some thoughts on how to resolve the situation and bridge the gap.

Be sure to check out TMC’s Super WiFi Summit, September 13-15 in Austin, Texas to learn more about this promising technology and how it could could be part of the solution to sunsetting the PSTN.

Ericsson Telcordia Acquisition Analysis

2011-06-14T21:38:04Z

TMCnet's latest addition to our writing team is Peter Bernstein and he has some excellent analysis of the acquisition of Telcordia by Ericsson. He believes in general the deal is a good move for Ericsson but as always, there are potential pitfalls which he details.

His intimate knowledge of the companies and space mean he mentions a number of points the financial analysts missed.

A Future Made of Glass?

2011-03-17T22:30:56Z

I don't often write about glass, but this is the second post in a row (here is the first) on the topic. Obviously this must be pretty good for me to be so repetitive. Corning has a new video about the future of glass and technology in our lives and it is awesome. It has received over nine million views in a few weeks and when people ask me what the future of tech will look like I should just point them to this post.

Electronic Warfare is the Future. Are You Ready?

2011-02-14T15:16:46Z

Stuxnet is Victory at Entebbe 2.0

The Stuxnet worm alleged to be the work of Israel and the US was designed to target and disable Iranian centrifuges by increasing their speeds to dangerous levels while reporting to operators that all was well. The latest report from the New York Times shows this worm has also hit five industrial sites in the land of Ahmadinejad.

It’s no secret most of the world does not want Iran to get nuclear weapons and the best weapon being used to deter the country’s nuclear program was sanctions and if they are working it would be tough to know it as the country are prospering greatly as the price of oil is much higher than what Iran has budgeted.

So electronic warfare is a nice and neat way to disable a portion of the country’s operations without the need to go to war, risk lives, etc.

Because of the nature of this attack some predict the Iranian nuclear program has been set back by two years, making this attack historic in its ingenuity. It is really Victory at Entebbe 2.0. As you may recall, Operation Entebbe was a daring hostage rescue mission pulled off by the Israel Defense Forces in 1976.

Cyberattacks are not new by any means but the level of sophistication and damage created by this attack make it something bad guys everywhere will be trying to emulate. And this means as we interconnect more systems from smart grids to smart homes… From automobiles to transit systems and full cities, we need to understand the stakes are higher than ever. Rogue countries and terrorist organizations have a new standard to try to beat and it is not out of the question to see countries engaging in more frequent cyberwars in the future. This could be in conjunction with conventional wars like when Russia and Georgia had their recent conflict or full out cyberwars like Stuxnet or when Russia targeted Estonian web servers with DDoS attacks.

For the tech industry this means massive new budgets will be allocated to not only defending against such attacks but developing ingenious new ways of disabling enemies.

And while cyberwar sounds less ominous than having bombs dropped on your head, there is no telling what sorts of damage citizens of the future will be facing if cyberterrorism and cyberwar escalates.

ITEXPO East 2011 Schedule

2011-01-28T02:04:24Z

Dear ITEXPO attendees - thanks again for registering and we look forward to hosting you next week. My team just sent out this email of schedules and happenings from the show and it is so detailed and explains so much that I decided to pass it along. I hope you find it worthy of keeping on hand at the event.

ITEXPO

February 2-4, 2011

Miami Beach Convention Center

As you know, ITEXPO is next week at the Miami Beach Convention Center, February 2-4. Save time and money by sourcing products and services from hundreds of companies and gain industry knowledge through the conference program in one convenient location.

Below are some details and information that make your experience at ITEXPO great. As always, if you have any questions, please check the event site or contact Frank Coppola or 203.852.6800 x131 to register.

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REGISTRATION INFO

When you arrive at the Miami Beach Convention Center, please go to the Hall B Lobby and proceed to the registration counter to register and/or receive your badge. (You will need a photo ID.) Stop by the registration counter to pick up a badge and your conference bag, and you're ready to go.

REGISTRATION / KEYNOTES / EXHIBIT HALL HOURS

Wednesday, February 2

Registration: 7:00 - 5:00pm
Conference: 9:00 - 5:30pm
Keynotes: 3:30 - 5:30pm

**Kevin Martin (Former Chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Board of Directors, AirWalk Communications) Keynote Added at 5:00pm! Don't Miss It!

Keynote Giveaways: 5:30pm

**Exhibit Hall Grand Opening: 5:30-7:30pm (**NEW TIME) **Welcome Networking Reception: 5:30pm, Sponsored by Aculab (**NEW TIME)

Thursday, February 3

Registration: 7:00 - 4:00pm
Conference: 9:00 - 5:00pm
Keynotes: 10:00 - 11:00am
Keynote Giveaways: 11:00am
Exhibits Open: 11:00 - 4:00pm

International Networking Reception: 4:00pm, Sponsored by Rackspace Hosting ITEXPO Conference Party on South Beach at Mango's Tropical Café: 9:00pm (Visit Website for complete details) Sponsored by AudioCodes, DIDx, Eaton, Lockheed Martin

Friday, Friday 4

Registration: 7:30 - 3:00pm
Conference: 9:00 - 12:45pm
Exhibits Open: 11:00 - 3:00pm

WIN A JEEP! Jeep Giveaway at 2:45pm - Must Be Present to Win

See below for a complete, updated schedule or visit www.itexpo.com

Keynote Schedule: (Open to all attendees - Room B217/218)

Wednesday, February 2

3:30pm: Danny Windham, CEO, Digium
4:00pm: Charles D. Vogt, President & CEO, GENBAND
4:30pm: Pritham Shetty, VP of Product Management and Engineering for Rich Media Solutions, Adobe Systems, Inc.
5:00pm: Kevin Martin, Former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Board of Directors, AirWalk Communications

5:30pm: Keynote Giveaways

(1) 32GB iPad with 3G
(1) Sony Dash

Thursday, February 3:

10:00am: Alan Pound, Managing Director, Aculab
10:30am: Aaron McCormack, CEO, BT Technologies

11:00am: Keynote Giveaways

(1) 32GB iPad with 3G
(1) Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device

WORKSHOPS at ITEXPO - Open to All Attendees

Ingate's SIP Trunking Workshop-Begins One Day Prior to ITEXPO-Free Workshop Tuesday, February 1 - Friday, February 4

Learn how SIP trunking can expand your marketshare at the free pre-conference workshop, "The Case for SIP Trunking," a half-day seminar series at ITEXPO tailored specifically to service providers - focusing on the issues you need to address now.

Presented by Ingate Systems and their partners, this workshop will be held on February 1, 2011 - one day before the ITEXPO opens - to give you in-depth information and one-on-one access to the experts.

Reseller Week-Free Workshop

Wednesday, February 2 - Thursday, February 3 - 2-day Workshop open to all Resellers and Agents

This two-day seminar teaches attendees how to effectively sell IP Communications equipment & services, with proven tips and best practices for addressing the challenges resellers face in today's economy.

Reseller Week provides you with a forum for you to learn about cutting edge new solutions you can represent, to meet with many new potential partners, and to study proven sales techniques to help improve your team's performance.

StartupCamp 3: Comms Edition-Free Reception and Networking Event Thursday, February 3

StartupCamp 3: Comms Edition spotlights early-stage entrepreneurs and innovators in communication technology. Industry leaders, investors, developers and media to network and validate entrepreneur pitches in this energetic, unique setting.

MPLS University Session-Free Workshop

Thursday, February 3

Sessions at MPLS University are targeted to IT and business professionals to learn more about secure networking including connectivity and managed security options, regulatory requirements, and security standards.

Join us for two FREE training sessions--Learn how to improve the utilization and security of your network.

IMPORTANT LINKS

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OFFICIAL SHOW HOTEL - The Doubletree Surfcomber Hotel has been added, with a special rate for ITEXPO attendees until the room block is filled

SHOW LOCATION

Miami Beach Convention Center

1901 Convention Center Drive

Miami Beach, FL 33139

305.673.7311

QUESTIONS?

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I look forward to seeing you in Miami at ITEXPO and know you will have a great experience. Thanks!

Rich Tehrani

Conference Chairman

ITEXPO

ITEXPO EVENT AGENDA-PRINT THIS OUT AND BRING WITH YOU!

Tuesday, February 1

1:00pm - Ingate's SIP Trunking Workshop
2:00pm - Telecom One-on-One, a JS&A Power Networking Event
4:45pm - Interactive Intelligence presents Cloud-Based Communications, an interactive event at the Gansevoort Hotel (registration)

Wednesday, February 2

7:00am - Registration Opens
8:00am - Conference Breakfast (Paid Attendees - Room B214/215)
9:00am - Enterprise
9:00am - The Mobile Workforce
9:00am - Digium|Asterisk World
9:00am - 4G Wireless Evolution Conference
9:00am - Smart Grid Summit
9:00am - Business Video Expo
9:00am - M2M Evolution Conference
9:00am - VIPeering Conference
9:00am - Super WiFi Summit
9:00am - Ingate's SIP Trunking Workshop
12:00pm - Conference Luncheon (Paid Attendees - Pickup Ticket at ITEXPO Business Office in Exhibit)
3:30pm - KEYNOTE: Danny Windham, CEO, Digium (Open to all attendees - Room B217/218)
4:00pm - KEYNOTE: Charles D. Vogt, President & CEO, GENBAND (Open to all attendees - Room B217/218)
4:30pm - KEYNOTE: Pritham Shetty, VP of Product Management and Engineering for Rich Media Solutions, Adobe Systems, Inc. (Open to all attendees - Room B217/218)
5:00pm - KEYNOTE: Kevin Martin, Former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Board of Directors, AirWalk Communications (Open to all attendees - Room B217/218)
5:30pm - Keynote Giveaways: (1) 32GB iPad with 3G & (1) Sony Dash
5:30pm - Exhibit Hall Grand Opening
5:30pm - Welcome Networking Reception, Sponsored by Aculab
5:45pm - Reseller Week: Part 1: Reseller Sales Sessions

Thursday, February 3:

7:00am - Registration Opens
8:00am - Continental Breakfast Served (Paid Attendees - Room B214/215)
9:00am - Unified Communications
9:00am - Conferencing / Collaboration
9:00am - Service Provider
9:00am - Digium|Asterisk World
9:00am - 4G Wireless Evolution Conference
9:00am - Smart Grid Summit
9:00am - Cloud Communications Summit
9:00am - Business Video Expo
9:00am - M2M Evolution Conference
9:00am - Super WiFi Summit
9:00am - Ingate's SIP Trunking Workshop
10:00am - KEYNOTE: Alan Pound, Managing Director, Aculab (Open to all attendees - Room B217/218)
10:30am - KEYNOTE: Aaron McCormack, CEO, BT Technologies (Open to all attendees - Room B217/218)
11:00am - Keynote Giveaways: (1) 32GB iPad with 3G / (1) Kindle DX Wireless Reading Device
11:00am - Exhibit Hall Opens
11:00am - Reseller Week: Part 2: Reseller Focused Presentations
11:15am - ChannelVision Expo (CVx)
12:45pm - Conference Luncheon (Paid Attendees - Room B214/215)
2:00pm - MPLS University Workshop
4:00pm - International Networking Reception, Sponsored by Rackspace Hosting
4:00pm - EEVA Awards Reception
4:45pm - StartupCamp 3: Comms Edition Reception & Networking Event
9:00pm - ITEXPO Conference Party on South Beach at Mango's Tropical Cafe (Visit Website for complete details) Sponsored by AudioCodes, DIDx, Eaton, Lockheed Martin

Friday, February 4:

7:30am - Registration Opens
8:00am - Conference Breakfast (Paid Attendees - Room B214/215)
9:00am - VoIP Essentials
9:00am - Call Center
9:00am - Service Provider
9:00am - Digium|Asterisk World
9:00am - 4G Wireless Evolution Conference
9:00am - Smart Grid Summit
9:00am - Cloud Communications Summit
9:00am - Ingate's SIP Trunking Workshop
9:00am - Regulatory 2.0 Workshop
9:00am - SIP Tutorial 2.0: Bringing SIP to the Web
9:00am - Aculab to host AMS Server 'test drive' for application developers (registration)
11:00am - Exhibit Hall Opens (Hall closes at 3:00 pm)
11:15am - ChannelVision Expo (CVx)
1:30pm - How To Sellecom Hosted PBX session?
2:45pm - WIN A JEEP! Jeep Giveaway-Must Be Present to Win

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Visit ITEXPO Sponsors in the Exhibit Hall!

Diamond Sponsors

Aculab: Booth 617
Digium The Asterisk Company: Booth 901

Platinum Sponsors

Interactive Intelligence: Booth 607
AudioCodes: Booth 507
Ditech Networks: Booth 501
Sansay: Booth 516
BridgeWave Communications: Booth 211
Commilogik: Booth 801
Dialogic: Booth 806
Sonus Networks: Booth 634
NEXTUSA: Booth 534
Applianx by Aculab: Booth 617

Gold Sponsors

MegaPath: Booth 706
888VOIP STORE: Booth 701
Speedflow: Booth 422
ADTRAN: Booth 300
ABP Tech: Booth 322
Sangoma: Booth 401
tw telecom: Booth 328
Kutenda: Booth 716

Complete Sponsor Listing

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Getting to Know ITEXPO Participants

2011-01-25T01:33:48Z

AT TMC, we painstakingly attempt to ensure you know as much about the participating companies at our events as possible before the conference so you can get a sense of who is there, where there expertise lies and if they may have something of value to offer you as you look to make purchasing decisions in the world of technology and communications. As a result we survey ITEXPO speakers and exhibitors before the event and ask questions which can help you connect with thought leaders you believe might be of assistance at the event.

Not everyone answers but we do send the questions to hundreds of companies and they seem to trickle in each day. Here is the list of people and companies who responded to my questions and links to their answers. I truly hope you find it useful.

Oh and one note you should know... Many of these interviews are with speakers and/or exhibitors from the 13 collated events with ITEXPO such as Smart Grid Summit, Etc.

NAME	COMPANY
Mike Ross	4PSA
SANDRA XIMENA DIAZ HOYOS	SMART NETWORK SOLUTIONS
Mark Armentrout	Texas Institute
Alon Cohen	Phone.com
Jim Machi	Dialogic
Nathan McNeill	Bomgar
Mike Coffee	Commetrex
Jonathan Fuld	SIP Print
Alex Ferdman	Telinta
Ian Colville	Aculab
Christine Holley	ININ
Dina Vance	Ulysses
Matt Larsen	WISPA
Shawn Tsetsilas	Cellular Specialties
Ryan Lynn	Qwest Communications
Carl KS Teo	Ecocarrier Inc.
Bill Prout	Astaro
Tim Titus	PathSolutions
Aidan Connolly	Idiro
Andy Huckridge	VSS Monitoring, Inc.
Mark Ricca	IntelliCom Analytics
Michael Oeth	Junction Networks, Inc.
Michael Wheeler	NTT America
Tim Whittington	Aastra USA
Toby Holmes	WORKTANK
Doug Mohney	HD Voice News
Greg Maudsley	Juniper Networks
Steve Johnson	Ingate

-50F With Wind Chill. Escape to ITEXPO in Miami

2011-01-24T20:01:54Z

You know I would never stoop to reminding you about the weather to persuade you to attend what I believe to the be the best tech and telecom conference in the world - OK, maybe I would.

So I was driving along this morning on the way to work and noticed I couldn't feel any of my fingers. I decided to check to make sure I was wearing gloves. I was. Then I realized I couldn't feel any of my toes and yes I had shoes on.

I then looked at the temperature reading and it said one degree. I decided to risk my life to take the picture above while driving - I could have pulled over but hey, I was late for my first meeting and I would do just about anything for you, my faithful reader. Attention law enforcement professionals - some elements of this blog post may have been overly sensationalized in order to provide dramatic effect.

But getting back to Connecticut where TMC is based - one coworker who lives in Danbury, CT said it was -11 degrees when she left her house this morning. And that's nothing. If you can believe it... CBS News reports temperatures with wind chill hit as cold as -50 degrees F!

BTW, in AP biology back in high school we learned that -40F is the same temperature as -40C - this little bit of trivia courtesy of Mrs. Beers my 11th grade teacher. Hope I spelled her name right.

Oh, but back to the point of this meandering post... It is freezing out. There is one show in Miami next week where you can go to network with those who matter in the world of tech and telecom. Almost forgot to mention it is called ITEXPO East 2011. Every important topic is to be discussed from super WiFi to SIP to open source to virtualization and cloud computing. It is all there - in Miami under a single roof where you will also get to hear keynotes from former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin as well as executives from BT, Adobe, Aculab, GENBAND and Digium - the creators of Asterisk. Its the only industry event with a networking party at Mangos, one of the hottest spots on South Beach. Yes, there are other places to network as well.

So I hope to see you there and I look forward to greeting you in person.

Here is the ITEXPO show site, collocated events, free workshops, exhibitor list and giveaways you can win such as a new Jeep.

tw telecom Sponsors ITEXPO in Miami

2011-01-19T16:52:00Z

I just learned that managed networking solutions provider will be a gold sponsor of ITEXPO February 2-4 in the Miami Beach Convention Center.

tw telecom’s national fiber network spans 27,000 route miles, and directly connects more than 11,000 commercial buildings. tw telecom also provides co-location services to enterprise customers and service providers across the country.

We are thrilled to have them add to the momentum of the world's leading communications and technology conference which takes place in about two weeks.

Adtran, IBM, Apple Blow Out Earnings

2011-01-19T13:53:29Z

ITEXPO gold sponsor and TMC Global Online Community customer Adtran just announced blowout earnings – fourth quarter profit doubled and sales grew 33%. Net income was $35.96 million or $0.56 per share. Broadband growth was 75% over the previous year led by sales of the Total Access 5000 platform while internetworking grew 37% and optical grew 24%.

Some of this growth was likely due to the Government’s Broadband Stimulus rollout but the declaration of a 9 cent per share dividend shows there is strong confidence that the company sees a bright future even as the program has ended.

Moreover, this news comes on the heels of blowout earnings from both Apple and IBM and this tells us that tech continues to be a very bright beacon of light for the global economy. As always, I look forward to watching the tremendous opportunities in tech and telecom translate into large amounts of real business getting done at ITEXPO, Feb 2-4 in Miami, FL.

What The Peep (Wireless) is Going On?

2011-01-04T21:50:35Z

A company which claims to do the impossible. What can’t this thing do?

I love to hear aggressive new companies break onto the scene full on huge ambitions but the recent news that Peep Wireless will be able to take a smartphone or telematics-based bluetooth system and use software to recreate the PSTN has me baffled just a bit. OK, baffled a lot. It seems impossible really.

As TMCnet reported earlier today, the wireless company will allow all sorts of devices to interconnect in a repercussive, P2P fashion to form a Peep mesh which will use WiFi, bluetooth, optical, GSM, CDMA or walkie-talkie channels in a manner which will allow a few users in a city to call the entire world for free.

OK, looks like if you have a job in telecom, now may be a good time to start working on that resume.

Yes, disruptive tech is awesome and can change the world overnight – but we seem to be in everything including the kitchen sink territory.

The company further states that their app turns every phone into a client/server viral transmitter/receiver. Those phones, in turn, capture every device with bluetooth, WiFi or other spectrum points and cause the Peep Mesh to grow and grow and grow around the world.

All this and a data spraying technique which duplicates transmissions allowing the fastest segments to be used and the others discarded. And of course there is AES encryption and the company claims no cell towers are needed.

Look, if this thing works as advertised the entire telecom space will be turned on its head but it is worth noting that you should have some salt on-hand as you digest the company’s marketing information.

A call to the company for more information was not immediately returned and sending a message to the company via its online form was not an easy task.

Ixia Shows Testing Not a Bad Place to be

2010-11-13T23:59:11Z

The tech and communications markets have been generally stable and if anything a beacon of light in the turbulent waters of the general global economy. Specifically though the testing market is doing fairly well – if you are in the right segments of course. Let’s just say circuit switched testing isn’t going to be a hotbed of growth anytime soon.

One of the players in the market Ixia, has been aggressively consolidating the space and looking to become very well-rounded in the last few years acquiring the Catapult and Agilent N2X Data Line.

Last year I explained I would watch the test vendors more closely so as to scope out future trends. You see, these companies are always on the leading edge because carriers and equipment providers need to test the new products and services they roll out. As you may recall, this past January I wrote that Ixia was raising its forecast for the quarter – and it seems this news did turn out to be a fairly accurate barometer for a good portion of the communications and technology space this year.

You may know Cisco’s gloomy outlook hammered its stock this week – and it is unclear at this point whether this news is an industry hiccup or the start of a downward trend. Some of the good tech news of the week is that Google has increased salaries across the board 10% and is giving all 23,000 employees a $1,000 after-tax bonus and Intel had good earnings and declared a dividend.

One could argue the above news is tech-neutral and for more let’s look at Ixia who just released record revenue of $70.9M for the third quarter of 2010. This is a 53% increase over the prior year and a 7% increase over the prior quarter.

This corresponds to a GAAP 7 cent loss per diluted share last year compared to a dime per share in profit per diluted share this year.

I spoke with company CEO Atul Bhatnagar yesterday and he was quite excited about the results and said demand was strong in Asia and North America and they are seeing strong demand for a variety of their testing solutions and now half of their business is outside the US.

Other reasons for the company’s growth have to do with a network upgrade cycle which is taking place in the core and edge where 10GbE is becoming 40 and 100GbE. Other drivers are multimedia applications, P2P traffic, storage over Ethernet, virtualization and the converged data center.

Asian equipment manufacturers are becoming larger customers as well since they are looking to deliver products with bullet-proof quality and as Bhatnagar says, “Need bulletproof testing tools.” Other interesting highlights are that there is strong demand for LTE testing tools but not so much for WiMAX.

Moreover, he says, “Asia is still growing, Europe is holding up and North America is inching up every quarter.”

Sone of the biggest industry challenges he says are the massive levels of convergence taking place – in the core, application space, as well as wired and wireless networks and the data center. Another important point he made was, “Every vendor must transition their networks in a methodic manner and must make sure convergence brings the proper benefits to customers.” He went on to say, “Technologies will coexist and testing tools and network architectures must evolve to allow graceful transitions.”

Perhaps the best news for Ixia and those hoping for tech innovation are the following statements from the dynamic CEO. “Ixia sells pre-deployment testing tools to engineers and these guys are creating the new products of the future. The companies we serve understand that if they don’t design the products of the future as the market completely rebounds and the strong growth starts, they could be left with a road map which is very anemic.” He continued to say that even though there are some soft spots in the market; people are still investing in the creation of new products.

Alcatel-Lucent Turning the Corner?

2010-11-05T21:56:03Z

After a number of years and some challenging times after the merger - Alcatel-Lucent the combination of New Jersey-based Lucent and Paris-based Alcatel is turning the corner making a quarterly profit and displaying more confidence about its future. Kevin O'Brien at the New York Times explains the company reported its first profitable quarter of the year, posting €25 million, or $35.3 million, in earnings compared to a €182 million loss in the third quarter a year earlier. Moreover sales rose 10.5 percent to €4.1 billion.

Although Asian competition from ZTE and Huawei is strong, the company certainly benefited from the implosion of Nortel and we'll see if they can ride this momentum out and keep the profits coming.

TMCnet's Ed Silverstein has more and The Motley Fool suggests Alcatel-Lucent is the next Nortel - waiting to implode.