Peter : On Rad's Radar?
Peter
| Peter Radizeski of RAD-INFO, Inc. talking telecom, Cloud, VoIP, CLEC, and The Channel.

September 2008

You are browsing the archive for September 2008.

Pandora Wins Support

September 29, 2008

Bandwidth isn't free

September 28, 2008

"The leaders of three of Australia's largest ISP's have declared the Net neutrality debate as solely a U.S. problem--and further, that the nation that pioneered the Internet might want to study the Australian market for clues as to how to solve the dilemma..... "The (Net neutrality) problem isn't about running out of capacity. It's a business model that's about to explode due to stress." [CNET]
Basically they are saying that someone has to pay for the plumbing, which is exactly what Verizon's Ivan and AT&T's CEO were saying last year (but a lot less diplomatically).

How Come VoIP isn't Killing It?

September 28, 2008

Jon Arnold makes a point: "Voice is a double-edged sword for service providers - most of their businesses are built around it, but with the advent of VoIP, it's become a commodity, and in many cases, a race to zero."

One point I make is that voice is just one app that we sell. Voice and email together are the key killer apps. But why isn't VoIP making more inroads?

I talk to many VoIP Providers and few are anywhere near where they want their numbers to be. And they are in a quandary to figure out how to increase sales. 

One reason is that their isn't really a problem to fix for some people.





Where's the growth?

September 28, 2008

"Global Wireless Penetration to Hit 80% in 2013, Says Portio Research" [via teleclick]  If all the growth will be in Africa, China, and India, what does that mean for European and US carriers? Cellular penetration is now more than 50%.

Looking at the ARPU stat: "Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) declines to $15.80 in 2013, down from $23.20 in 2005." With debt piling up from building out 3G and now 4G networks, how do you pay it back with declining ARPU? As more folks use the network (and use more of it), upgrades are needed to meet capacity demand, including in tower backhaul. Not to mention that the cellular folks have to pay inter-carrier comp for dropping traffic on the ILEC networks.

Politics on the Internet

September 28, 2008

The first presidential debate was streamed live, which just shows you that the Internet is becoming a mainstream news and entertainment outlet. YouTube has channels for both candidates. Both parties are working the websites, forums, "social networks", etc. to get the message out and spread the word.

Jazinga

September 28, 2008

Jazinga launched its entry into the SMB PBX space after winning the Best of Show Award at Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO.  Jazinga's box is about the size of a D-Link router, but is more that a wireless access point and QOS router. It is a full fledged, SIP-capable  IP-PBX that can use IP Phones or Plain old RJ11 phones. (You know those ugly ones on your desk now).

One big selling point is the easy configuration, which comes from a consumer focus that means you don't need an IT gal or a PBX guy to set it up or manage it.

FTC Red Flag Rules

September 26, 2008

As businesses increasingly rely on technology to store and maintain data, including customer records, the risk of identity theft also is increasing. The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"), together with federal banking regulatory agencies and the National Credit Union Administration, has adopted new regulations intended to combat identity theft. Known as the Red Flag Rules, these new regulations require financial institutions and creditors to develop and implement a written identity theft prevention program to identify and combat identity theft in connection with new and existing customer accounts.

If you are an operator that provides service in advance of payment, then your company is a "creditor" because your company regularly extends, renews or continues credit or defers payment for goods or services.

Keynoting for ADTRAN & XO

September 25, 2008

Dialogic Partner event

September 25, 2008

 Jeff Dworkin, Enterprise Segment Manager at Dialogic, sat down with me at IT Expo West to talk about Dialogic's re-focus on the channel. There are two groups that Dialogic is reaching out to: the system integrators and the development community.

Dialogic is launching a new Reseller Program in January 2009, which they will build a community around (in the social media sense with blogs). I guess you could say that the partner event on Oct. 20-21, 2008 at The Hotel Coronado near San Diego will be the start of the launch.

Invitations Noise

September 25, 2008

I don't know how many of you are on LinkedIn or Facebook but it has been a strange couple of weeks. Before I left for IT Expo West, I was getting duplicate invites from several people that I did not know. The unusual part was the duplicates. So I replied to each invite asking for information about what list my email address was on.

Best Kept Sprint Secret

September 23, 2008

Here's something to do: surf over to Sprint.com and try to find any wireline services. After 5 minutes of searching Business Services, navigation takes you to Nextel.com for Sprint's MPLS offering. On that page, you can find info about MPLS, VPN, IP Convergence, and Internet Access. Yesterday, Sprint gave a presentation to re-affirm to agents that Sprint was still in the wireline game.

Cisco is Jabbering

September 20, 2008

Congrats to Thomas Howe

September 18, 2008

Art of Peering

September 17, 2008

IT Expo Update I

September 17, 2008

Largest Press Room Ever

September 16, 2008

Social Networking Blundering

September 15, 2008

What a Crazy Wall St. Monday

September 15, 2008

As we start Monday, we learn that Lehman Bros. filed for BK, AIG needs to re-structure (and needs another $40B! after raising $20B) and Merrill Lynch gets bought by BoA for $50B. This follows on the heels of last week's Freddie Mac and Fannie May take over by the Fed.

Interesting note from USA Today, " When Bank of America balked at buying Lehman, the government urged it to buy Merrill instead."

Oh, and Ike smashed much of Houston, but oil still dropped below $100 per barrel.

Yesterday, Greenspan, on ABC's This Week with George, said that this is "by far" the worst economic crisis he has ever seen.





Newber

September 12, 2008

FreedomVoice unvieled Newber at CTIA. It is the beta version of the first location-aware business number. Newber Beta is an application that resides in the iPhone as a fully functional second line and uses positioning technology to locate and seamlessly transfer calls to nearby landlines, even during an in-progress call.

Newber Beta delivers an independent number that can be assigned to any phone, sparing the caller the task of dialing multiple numbers for mobile, home, work, etc.

Click to Give

September 11, 2008

I was reminded this week about a few websites to click to give:
  1. The Animal Rescue site, where you click to have sponsors pay to feed a rescued animal.
  2. The Red Cross spends about $50M per Hurricane. We are on Ike, so they have spend a few hundred million. Help out by giving $10, especially with Ike about to batter Texas.
  3. The Breast Cancer site lets you click to have a sponsor pay for a Mammogram.   Also, the fine folks (like my wife) who have spent 3 days walking 60 miles in the Susan B. Komen's 3 Day Cancer Walk could use $10 also.
These are feel good things and half of them don't cost you anything but a click.

iPhone

September 11, 2008

FCC Grants Reporting Forbearance

September 10, 2008

SERVICE QUALITY, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATING DATA GATHERING. Granted forbearance from legacy reporting and accounting requirements. Seeks comment on industry - wide reporting. (Dkt No. 07-21, 07-139 , 07-204).

Best Use of the Internet

September 9, 2008

Yammering about Tweet

September 9, 2008

I don't get the whole Twitter thing. Maybe its the folks I am connected to. Most just puke all day. By puke, I mean they just spray out stuff that is usually inconsequential.

Tele-Presence versus Video Conferencing

September 8, 2008

Andy Abramson writes about how video conferencing from a client company like SightSpeed is better than Cisco's Tele-Presence. On Sept. 22, Brian Carroll is having a tele-seminar on "Email vs. Phone vs. In-Person Meeting".

Creating Telecom Union

September 5, 2008

A handful of telecom agents got together in Vegas in Feb. at the Channel Partner Expo to discuss the formation of an association by and for agents. Little did we know the trouble we would cause. You see, there are already three agent associations. All of the For-Profit.

Network Management, DPI, Whatever

September 4, 2008

Here's the thing that most folks don't understand. The main responsibility, duty, and sanction of Congress and any Federal Agency (like the FTC and FCC) is to protect the Consumer. The end user. Remember it is By and For the People.

Intro to Peering

September 3, 2008

Travel or Virtual?

September 3, 2008

Fake FCC Sites

September 2, 2008

Bad enough the FCC makes bonehead decisions, but now you have to worry that you may be getting a fake site set up by phishers. (Maybe they would do a better job ?)

Dear Members: As I am sure you are aware, FY 2008 Regulatory Fees must be paid to the FCC no later than September 25, 2008. Coincidentally, someone has set up 2 fake FCC websites to intercept financial data from companies paying FCC fees.

I want to add that the FCC form 477 for Broadband counst is due, um, today.

I hate this guy

September 2, 2008

Do You Work on Encrypted VoIP?

September 2, 2008

I am on Peter Shankman's HARO list. This morning there is a UK reporter from Future Intelligence looking for anyone working on Encrypted VoIP in Europe. (Deadline is 9/15). The Editor, Peter Warren, is looking for: "I am looking for any companies that are working in this area and would be very interested in talking to them about why and what they think the opportunities are."

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