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| Peter Radizeski of RAD-INFO, Inc. talking telecom, Cloud, VoIP, CLEC, and The Channel.

November 2010

You are browsing the archive for November 2010.

Why You Should Get Certified

November 30, 2010

The Buzz on UC is Over

November 30, 2010

Gary Kim is writing about the buzz on UC being over. Last week, Gartner called UC a scam. Now Gartner is taking UC off the trend list for 2011. So has Frost & Sullivan.

DISH Bought a CLEC

November 30, 2010

Per an FCC filing (WC Docket No. 10-231) DISH Media is acquiring Liberty-Bell Telecom, a Colorado limited liability company, which provides competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) and long distance services in Colorado and has limited operations in New Mexico and Utah. DISH Media, a Colorado corporation, is a wholly owned subsidiary of DISH Network Corporation, a U.S.-based publicly traded holding company that provides pay-TV services nationwide but does not provide telecommunications services. Charles W. Ergen, CEO of DISH, owns 53.6% and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. and GS Investment Strategies, LLC (together, Goldman Sachs Asset Management), Delaware-based investment entities, own 13.4% of DISH Network.

The Certified Agent is a Go!

November 29, 2010

The only non-profit trade association for telecom agents and VAR's, the Technology Channel Association (TCA) has launched a new and voluntary Certified Telecommunications Professional (CTP) program! This program will advance Agent business relationships and energize the indirect sales channel by:

  • Providing industry developed and approved technical training and knowledge
  • Recognizing accepted standards of professional conduct and experience
  • Verifying the CTP understands critical industry fundamentals of the industry and how they apply to the end users and carriers
  • Validating Agent expertise and inspiring customer confidence
  • Differentiating personal professional development and company reputation
  • Furthering the stature and recognition of the industry-at-large

Be one of the first to achieve the CTP designation. Go to the CTP information section of the TCA web site to learn how and to get started.

Comcast Making Waves

November 29, 2010

Big peering fight between Comcast and Level3.

"On November 19, 2010, Comcast informed Level 3 that, for the first time, it will demand a recurring fee from Level 3 to transmit Internet online movies and other content to Comcast’s customers who request such content. By taking this action, Comcast is effectively putting up a toll booth at the borders of its broadband Internet access network, enabling it to unilaterally decide how much to charge for content which competes with its own cable TV and Xfinity delivered content. This action by Comcast threatens the open Internet and is a clear abuse of the dominant control that Comcast exerts in broadband access markets as the nation’s largest cable provider." Level3 is calling this a video surcharge So L3 is pulling out the Net Neutrality card.

UC Won't Last

November 24, 2010

I started working on a post last week I titled UC Won't Work. Today, there's a topic abuzz about how UC is a scam.

Speaking during a debate on unifiec communications at the recent Gartner Symposium in Sydney, analyst, Nick Jones, argued the case that unified communications is the "greatest scam since Ponzi", saying the technology had no clear definition. "I'll give you the real definition: Unified communications is the bundle of things a vendor wants to sell you," he said, according to NetworkWorld.

I have to concur. Everyone calls it something different.

Dear PR People and Constant Contact

November 22, 2010

Dear PR People and Constant Contact, WTH???

First, Constant Contact. Gail Goodman, for goodness sake, please move to an opt-in approach to your service. After being added to anyone's list, the adressee should immediately get an email that asks if they want to be on it.

8 Questions for Cloud Providers

November 22, 2010

I've done a couple of webinars lately for VAR's and Agents about the Cloud. I think that between SAAS and Cloud, vendors are forgetting that they are selling applications.

I think the disconnect right now is that Agents aren't comfortable selling apps. They aren't comfortable with many of the SAAS Providers.

Novell?

November 22, 2010

After a long tenure as a chemist for such companies as Oil of Olay, BIC Corp., Bayer and Glaxo, my shift into IT was through a friend who owned a Novell VAR. At the time, Novell 3.12 was as rock solid as Linux is. (Novell tried to use Linux as a lever against Microsoft. In 1993, Novell acquired Unix System Laboratories from AT&T, securing rights to UNIX.

A New Case of Huh?

November 19, 2010

So back in July, a client asked me to migrate 14 POTS lines from one location to a new office as well as take them back from a CLEC. The CLEC was a rebiller (non-facilities based) and kind of messed up the move. The CLEC continued to be a fly in the ointment through out the process. Ma Bell used every excuse in the book on this one as well.

Satellite Spectrum is Beachfront Property

November 17, 2010

Satellite sprectrum for broadband is a polarizing topic. HughesNet, WIldBlue (ViaSat), Skyway USA, StarBand and others have launched but can't hit scale. Between rain fade and line of sight issues, there is the perception that it is not as dependable as terrestrial modes of transit. But then, not every parcel of land in America has access to terrestrial broadband.

Cloudy With a Chance of Rain

November 17, 2010

The news is filled with Cloud and mergers. Will it Rain?

Rain is revenue. Will all these acquisitions turn into revenue? We'll wait and see, but most big mergers do not see the synergies that were predicted.

What Strategy Will Be Used?

November 16, 2010

Podcast with Jon Arnold on Hosted UC

November 16, 2010

Renewals and Retention

November 15, 2010

As an Agent are you actively working to retain your customers? Are you working on renewals for contracts ending? If not, commissions will end and the account will be taken over by a corporate salesperson.

"When a MetTel account falls into "Renewal Status" or month-to-month rates/terms, unless an Agent can show an active/current role in trying to "renew" a term on the client, MetTel's internal renewal group will begin to do so, which will forfeit the Agent's commission."

Rural ILEC Strategy

November 12, 2010

You have probably read about the unemployment rate. I would love to know how many jobs that the ILEC's have shed in the last 3 years. 75,000? Probably more.

My Take on Stocks

November 10, 2010

So "BroadSoft Inc.(BSFT) shares climbed 43% after the voice-enabling software company reported third-quarter earnings that exceeded estimates," according to MarketWatch. Total revenue increased 22% year-to-year to $22.3 million; up 13% from the second quarter of 2010. License revenue increased 27% year-to-year to $12.9 million; up 22% growth from Q2 2010.

The Buzz around Hosted UC is certainly up, driven by such companies as Polycom and its PR machine.

If Only the Presenters Improved

November 10, 2010



I organize a few events. I present at a few conferences. And I attend about 15 each year. I rarely sit through a whole presentation. Why?

Ask Gives Up (and other news)

November 9, 2010

A bunch of stuff from my twitter feed, which produces all those useless facts in my head (and distracts me all day).

Ask.com gives up on search [RRW] they will just do Q&A (for now).

Twilio raises $12 million to let you call from web apps to phones. [venturebeat] Twilio is a 2x sponosr of StartupCamp Communications.

Big Challenge Selling Hosted PBX

November 9, 2010

On LinkedIn (in the Hosted PBX group), the question was asked, "What's the biggest challenge you face selling your solution to end users and/or channel partners?" Here are some of the answers.

Can the end user trust the service delivery of the provider? This is a big question because there have been some failures in VoIP delivery over the years. VoIP has taken somewhat of a reputation hit.

TV, IPTV and OTT

November 8, 2010

I am hearing so much about cable TV subscriber losses and over-the-top video and cord cutters that I have to weigh in. Rich Tehrani and Gary Kim make some points in their latest blogs, but here's my opinion.

Surveying 2,000 people about cable TV is insignificant. NCTA members pass 127.8 million homes, so 2000 is a pin drop.

What's With Clearwire?

November 7, 2010


What's up with Clearwire? It started out as a McGraw deal with big investors: Top 5 cable companies, Sprint, Intel and Google. (Did you know that Telesphere's CEO Clark Peterson was President of Clearwire and one of Clearwire's founders?)

Clearwire has about 100 MHz of spectrum pretty much nationwide. That's a huge asset.


You Can't Be All Things to All People

November 7, 2010

This morning Seth Godin blogs about alienating the 2%. In short, you can't please everyone. There's more money in trying to please a targeted core. In cliche, You can't please everyone.

Not a Cloud in the Sky - Clear Sailing for M&A

November 4, 2010

The headline is goofy. I know. But another acquisition happened. Windstream grabbed some hosting.

We saw Cbeyond's purchase of both Aretta Communications and MaximumASP for what appears to be 3.5x anual revenue today.

TCA Certified Agent in Beta

November 4, 2010

I Cannot Keep Up. CBEY Maxes Cloud

November 4, 2010

Cbeyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBEY), a leading provider of IT and communications services to 55,000 small businesses across the country, today announced that it has acquired the assets of privately held MaximumASP and its affiliated companies, as well as the outstanding stock of privately held Aretta Communications. MaximumASP provides cloud services such as managed virtual servers and dedicated servers, and Aretta Communications provides cloud services such as cloud PBXs (private branch exchange) and SIP (Session Internet Protocol) trunking. Both companies target small- and medium-sized businesses throughout the U.S.

Want to Buy Some Florida Fiber?

November 4, 2010

Over on Telecom Ramblings, Rob Powell talks about how metro fiber assets are for sale. In Florida, we have some smaller fiber players.

One such player started asTruWave Networks. TruWave was financed by $25M in investor cash and run by former Level3 VP Frank Mambuca.

Geckotech Acquired by M5

November 4, 2010

M6 powered Geckotech out of Chicago was acquired by VoIP pioneer M5 Networks. M5 is based in New York City with offices in Chicago (at least in 2008 when I was working their).

Geckotech made the 2009 and 2010 INC 5000 lists with 2009 revenue of $4.7M, up from $1.9M in 2006. Geckotech was founded in 2003 and has 14 employees.

Little Things To Keep You Informed

November 3, 2010

Food for thought: from @davegirouard: OH at Google event: Fastfood operators know how important speed is to get more customers. Most website operators don't. <-- BINGO!

Dell lost the bidding war for 3PAR to HP.

Basically The Cloud is

November 2, 2010

Basically, the Cloud is here. But then it has been for a while. The Cloud has been around a while. We used to use it to describe the Internet. Then we used it to describe the Frame Relay system when explaining how PVC's worked.

FCC and Broadband Growth

November 1, 2010

Trending on my twitter stream is Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) President Karen Kerrigan's op-ed in the Washington Post about net neutrality and the FCC's proposal to impose Internet "reclassification." Basically, she states: FCC Regulations Would Smother Growing Broadband Sector.

There is nothing I like better than FUD.

Not for nothing but the RBOC's have almost given up on DSL anyway.

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