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Just when you thought VoIP and IP fax service could not get cheaper, along comes sipgate, a company offering a similar service to Skype/Vonage but with lower international rates than Skype and lots of free features like a free phone number, free toll-free calling, free inbound calling and free inbound faxes. sipgate one is the name of the service and company CEO Thilo Salmon tells Tom Keating in a scoop mini-review of the service that most users will spend less than $5/month.

To be fair, MagicJack starts at $29.95/year and doesn't offer some of the features of sipgate one. Tom seems impressed with the product and this new offering just shows you that prices on IP communications services can get cheaper indeed.

It seems the common sentiment is the lower amount of venture capital we see today is negative for the US economy. The New York Times even says we are in a VC crisis. Let me give you a contrarian point of view based on my experience in the late nineties. When the Telecom Act of 1996 was passed, VCs flooded the market with billions of dollars to create thousands of CLECS looking to take a piece of the communications market from the handful of incumbents.

What ended up happening was too many investment dollars chased too few sales dollars and the model disintegrated. Similar to what happened in the financial meltdown, the system collapsed under the sheer weight of the collective excess of investment. Do I need to even say the words dotcom crash ?

Did we need the competitive telecom market to increase from a few players to a few hundred in every medium-sized city overnight? Obviously not.

So when I read articles about VCs being cautious and companies spending less money to attain new patents and keep existing ones, I realize this is a good thing because it will become easier for companies with good ideas to become successful.

I would argue if the Telecom Act of 1996 were passed in this economic climate, there would be far fewer CLECs started and each new company would have far greater odds at success.

With the spread of information being so rapid, a good business idea circulates the world in nanoseconds meaning that competition is brutal for any industry which cannot sufficiently build barriers to entry.

I can't even imagine how tough it must be to launch a new green technology company today.

And when 50 companies are launched in the same market and all of them are building barriers to entry, the end-result is none of them really have the barriers they think they have.

Of course I am one of the biggest proponents of marketing your way through a recession. I also believe you need to innovate your way through. But the reality is there will be less spending on both these areas than there should be, which means if you have a good business model and can innovate and market while others are distracted, you could become the next IBM, Google or GE.

Yes we are in a tough economic climate but those that make it through without cutting themselves to the bone will be best positioned for rapid growth in the future.

For nearly 13 years, Greg Galitzine has been a tremendously valuable part of the TMC team. His career started as an editor for CTI Magazine in 1996. Where he reported on the collision of the computer and communications spaces including what we called IP telephony back in the day. In 1997 we convened a meeting with Greg to explore whether it made sense to launch a publication in the IP telephony space. The outcome of the meeting was to launch what we hoped would become a cornerstone of what we hoped would be a new industry - Internet Telephony Magazine.

Greg became the editor of this publication and had the vision to see this is where the industry was going. Many companies in the communications space told us we were nuts for launching this publication as at the time there was no industry, just a few nerds calling each other on softphones.

Lo and behold, over the past decade this nerdy, niche technology revolutionized telecom to the point where business models have changed, new entrants have come into the telecom market and entire industries were transformed through international outsourcing made possible by inexpensive VoIP-based telephony.

In the last few years, Greg did a great job helping transform TMCnet into a major web force in communications and technology news. We are grateful to him for the years he has put in.

I am very happy for Greg as recently he has been given a great opportunity which involves a move to a new industry altogether. Galitzine has accepted a position with ISA, Inc., a prime contractor to the National Nuclear Security Administration and working in about 18 countries through Central and Eastern Europe to identify and interdict the illegal movement of materials for weapons of mass destruction. Greg will be taking his analytical and editorial skills to a higher level, contributing to national-level policy and operational support analysis for these major international nonproliferation undertakings.

While we all selfishly wish Greg wouldn't move on, we are happy for him and are sure he will make a tremendous impact in his new position.

If you look at TMC from the outside and find yourself asking how you can get a job as an intern at this global integrated media company which builds communities online, in print and in person while gaining marketshare regardless of economic climate, I have some great news to share. We are looking for a small army of interns who want to learn what it's like to take on major multibillion dollar media companies with infinite resources and consistently win.

We will teach you how to sell collaboratively - how to listen and to be loved by your customers (well most of them anyway).

We will teach you integrated marketing and online marketing - not theory but ever-evolving practice.

If you love media and want to work at the company that is light years ahead online, contact us ASAP. We are very picky so if you aren't a super-hard worker and collaboration and hat-wearing are not your middle names, let's end our relationship now as friends (it's not you it's me).

One last thought about TMC - our culture is unusual - we have the financial stability of a 37 year-old company with the energy and enthusiasm of a start-up.

Let's just say if you're thinking of contacting us, please don't delay


Here's more:

The Sales & Marketing internship position at TMC is designed to provide hands-on experience that will be mutually beneficial for both the intern and the organization. The internship position is designed to challenge students and provide them with practical experience in the advertising and media industry.

TMC is looking for a dynamic, creative, enthusiastic, high energy professional to support the Sales organization, to help build advertising and marketing presentations for prospects and clients.

• Work with sales & marketing team to assist in the implementation of various campaigns
• Contribute to the creative input in building campaigns and support the campaigns
• Copyediting and proofreading
• Communicate with customers and peers
• Minimum Qualifications:
• Working towards completion of a college degree program in business, marketing or communication
• Excellent communication skills verbal and written
• Proficient in Microsoft Office suite, specifically PowerPoint and Excel
• Excellent communication skills
• Detail Oriented
• Initiative and proactive thinking
• Team player
• Ability to multi-task and work in a fast paced environment meeting deadlines

But what analysts may have missed is the fact that the iPhone is the stickiest phone in the history of the wireless business because of the App Store which enables these devices to be powerful pocket computing devices which run a plethora of applications. Sure, many applications are able to run across other platforms but they generally run less effectively as they other devices don't have the UI Apple does. Regardless, no other device has the plethora of apps that run on the iPhone meaning every day that goes by where new apps are developed, more consumers are effectively locked in.

On the wireline front, voice revenue is down 5.4% but the company added 359,000 broadband customers and 284,000 U-Verse TV customers. Revenue per household is actually up. Business revenue was down 4.4% which is not surprising when you consider the volume of layoffs in the last year.

Although AT&T is in control of its broadband and TV business, it is extremely reliant on Apple for wireless revenue. The company is also a master of marketing. They run ads which tout the quality of their 3G network and how it faster than the competition but it is clear to everyone I know that Verizon has a superior wireless network in virtually all parts of the country.

I have always believed that in marketing, perception is reality but it seems that consumer education is so great that people do not believe the multimillion dollar ad campaign AT&T runs touting its network as the best and fastest in the world.

After all, if people believed the ads, why are they mostly buying iPhones and not other devices? But AT&T has to keep building its wireless brand because if it loses iPhone exclusivity, its wireless unit could be doomed with a capital D.

Years back I stated Verizon made one of the biggest blunders in business history (corporate malpractice really) by not carrying the iPhone. I still believe this to be true. But Verizon has done a marvelous job of making its wireless network better and this is where the profit is to be made.

This morning I was reading an article from Seeking Alpha which compared AT&T and Verizon and in the post which Greg Galitzine summarized, it says the AT&T 3G network is better than Verizon. Here is the amazing part to me... No one ever in my life has told me their experience with AT&T is better than Verizon. And I ask constantly. In fact, people reluctantly switch from Verizon to AT&T in every case I am aware of. And this is in virtually every case because of the Blackberry Bold or iPhone. How is it this isn't common knowledge in the financial community?

Also, I should point out I carry a Verizon device and an iPhone because AT&T service has issues in so many places. I should also mention that on Metro North trains in Grand Central Station and between Connecticut and New York, AT&T is far superior to Verizon Wireless - but that's about it as far as I have seen.

So in the end, AT&T marketing seems to be influencing the influencers but it has to work on its network quickly to be considered a wireless carrier people don't reluctantly use.

And the company really needs to take wireless coverage more seriously because in 3-5 years, Internet TV will become a serious competitor to U-Verse meaning broadband and wireless will be the two areas of growth.

As TMCnet has expanded I have to admit it is tough to keep track of all the sites we have which can help you in your job. To that end I decided to take a moment and list some of them which you may not be aware of. I thought this entry made sense as I have received some comments about how TMC should launch some of the sites listed below. This shows me there are just so many things we do that our 2-3 million unique visitors each month may not be aware of. I hope you find these sites of use:

• Europe
• Asia
• Africa
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Australia

• Mobile site
• iPhone site
• iphone news site

• Information technology
• Cable technology
• Robotics
• Satellite
• Green Solutions

• Jobs Site

Many people in the communications space have asked me recently what TMC's secret is. After all, we are in the toughest media environment of our lifetimes and we produced our best show ever and have more paying customers online than at virtually any other time in our history.

The answer may lie in a bit of luck and some skill. The lucky part is we built our first online community for a customer about a decade ago. And since this time we have invested a small fortune in building our own proprietary technology which allows us to build highly-ranked, viral, news-driven communities for customers. Well over 100 of these sponsored communities live on TMCnet and generally consist of the tabs at the top and down the left of most of our pages.

Moreover TMCnet now houses millions of pages of content which gives the site tremendous prominence. And we have ranked very high on search engines for many years which has generated a tremendous amount of links to the 100+ articles we write a day and other content such as blog entries on the site.

The community product is called a GOC or "gock" and stands for Global Online Community. When we launched the program the term "organic search results" was probably not common but now, these communities help our customers rank extremely high for a variety of keywords which are important to them.

I know what you are going to say. Rich, that is what those click ads are for. Well to be honest the value of an organic search result is much higher to the searcher because it is not blatantly paid for and moreover it is not in a sea of other ads. Most importantly, research shows less that 20% of people even click on search ads. What about the other 80%?

TMC's communities answer the request we have been hearing -- How do you recreate the best part of tradeshows online?(shots from last ITEXPO East February 2009 in Miami)

Finally, unlike search ads, these communities help your own site(s) rank high organically by providing links. Moreover they help companies build their brand and thought leadership.

In addition, as a news-driven entity, GOCs draw traffic from other pages on TMCnet, newsletters, the TMCnet home page, news search engines and traditional search services. They are multimedia in nature, allowing companies to interface with customers via audio, video and of course text.

Example of an IP-PBX GOC (click to see full screen image)

Many of you have told me over the years that there needs to be a way to combine the best part of trade shows online. The GOC program is exactly this as it brings in your potential customers from around the world and gives them a reason to come back and see your message as the news is constantly updated. It is a very busy 24x7 community consisting of the most targeted people available on the web. And it is targeted by the news you find important.

In addition, it is measurable, and includes a wealth of metrics which can be used to analyze your spend and justify it up the chain of command.

For the reader the benefit is clear. They come to the GOC and bookmark it so they can keep up to date on the latest happenings in the space. How many people come? Well our record is over 650,000 pages viewed on a GOC in one month but typical results are between 250,000-500,000 per month. Generally, each GOC will average about 100,000 unique visitors per month - and they are targeted exclusively by content. In other words, you can use this program to build a community of people interested in subjects such as colocation, IP communications, HD voice, next generation communications, fixed mobile convergence or anything else in virtually any field. Click on any of these above links to see how the design is different and mirrors the look and feel of the sponsor.

If you are interested in learning more, here is an updated (4/14/2009) video which describes the program. Feel free to drop me an email for more.

If you are interested in the stories and headlines I find useful, I invite you to bookmark my Google Reader feed which I update fairly regularly. I occasionally will add comments as well. In fact, since I started using this page, I have found myself blogging less. I hope you find this resource useful.

I recently had a chance to sit down with Greg Griffiths the VP of Sales at New Edge Networks to learn more about how the company is helping customers by providing the latest MPLS technology over DSL, T1 and 3G wireless. One of the focus areas for the company is retail where this division of EarthLink has helped these companies transition from dial-up to broadband. One of the impressive parts of our discussion what the company does when it senses a problem with a company's connection. What they do is create a trouble ticket, update the web portal and send an email alerting the customer to the problem... All this is done proactively before the customer notices in some cases.

The following is the result of our part in-person and part email interview:

Please give an overview of your company

New Edge is the business services arm of EarthLink. Our mission is to provide affordable, innovative network services with a high level of personalized care to foster life-long customer relationships. 

A key advantage for New Edge is the breadth of our network. We have network to network (NNI) interfaces in nearly every U.S LATA which allows us to build private MPLS networks using a blend of T1, DSL, and EVDO. 

We are headquartered in Vancouver, Washington (just across the river from Portland, Oregon) and currently employ over 300.

How has your company transformed over the years?

New Edge was one of a handful of companies (Covad, Northpoint, etc..) that built out central offices across the country to sell internet access. New Edge chose a different path to market as it built out in smaller cities and focused only on the business market. New Edge distributed products via wholesale relationships and to this day continues to provide out of region DSL products to the largest carriers in North America.

Over the lat six years, New Edge has transformed into a leading provider of Private MPLS networks through a series of network build outs and product innovations:

• A network build-out branded as "Bigfoot" increased the number of central offices with private connectivity from 800 to over 10,000
• MPLS core upgrade
• NNI bandwidth upgrades and redundancy
• Direct connects into credit card processors and ASP's
• MPLS router infrastructure
• MPLS over DSL
• MyEdge management portal 

Last year we received three product awards:

• Frost and Sullivan service of the year (MPLS DSL with CoS)
• Frost and Sullivan best customer portal
• NPRG most innovative competitive carrier

What about the EarthLink acquisition... What has that done for the company?

EarthLink provided the network investment and operational expertise necessary to develop the products and services that align with today's marketplace.

Tell me about how your company serves retail markets

Over the last five years, New Edge has helped hundreds of "small box" retailers migrate for dial-up to IP networks. A private MPLS network with direct connections into payment processors allows for a more secure transaction environment and positions the retailer for deploying real time applications. Our management portal (MyEdge) allows a retailer to manage their end of the network in a much more efficient manner which saves precious IT resource. Today, we are proposing solutions to "big box" retailers as they look to reduce expense by purchasing MPLS networks with a blend of DSL and T1 access.

Companies are coming to New Edge to reduce expenses by migrating to MPLS networking using a blend of DSL, T1, and EVDO. This includes primary and secondary network solutions.

1. Private versus Internet based VPN aligns with today's real time application deployment and security concerns
2. One size does not fit all. Being able to choose the best access solution (T1, DSL, EVDO) site by site reduces expense
3. We offer a number of options for design, configuration, and installation of the network
4. We become an extension of our customers IT department by providing innovative tools (MyEdge management portal) and resources (we assign a project manager, technician, and account manager to each network)

How does EVDO factor into your solution?

EVDO can be chosen as a primary network element or a secondary (back-up) solution. Either option is "private" and part of the overall network context.

We will continue to listen to our customers and design solutions that make it easier for them to keep up with the growing demand for IP based applications. Our recent announcement on our voice connect product is another example of an innovative way to deliver a better solution. This product allows our customers to pick (not unlike the old days of a long distance carrier PIC) their VoIP provider.