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

January 2014

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ITEXPO Update

January 30, 2014

In Miami Beach, at ITEXPO, Dr. Satwant Kaur's keynote this morning centered on how technology, especially nanotech, is transforming healthcare. Robotics, sperm and magnets combine to improve conception. I wonder what that procedure is like (and how much it costs).

Nextiva hired Ira Feuerstein to run its channel.

There's No Such Thing as Free

January 29, 2014

There are costs to delivering service. There really isn't a free. I get asked a lot about WebRTC. It's a free client for video conferencing. In a way, yes it is.

Are CLECs Capable of Cloud Services?

January 24, 2014

Many CLECs - XO, Cbeyond, EarthLink, TelePacific and MegaPath - are in cloud services. EarthLink and Cbeyond would especially like to be known as cloud providers going forward. My question is: is it possible?

If as a CLEC you can't reliably deliver a T1, can a customer trust you with something more complex than that?

Peak10 For Sale

January 24, 2014

WSJ is reporting that data center company, Peak10, has put itself up for sale. I guess the investors want there money now - and aren't shy about saying so. Even though thre was a "$215 million dividend to its owners, according to Moody's Investors Service" in 2012. The owners include investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, which owns 80%.

Why Don't You Market Your Business?

January 22, 2014

It's Good to Know Your VoIP Numbers

January 20, 2014

8x8 and RingCentral presented at the Needham conference last week. 8x8 has its investor prezo available for a look see (HERE). I wish RC and others did. Not just so I could examine the numbers in order to rank the Hosted VoIP/UC players but to get a detailed view of the industry after ten years of slogging VoIP.

Telecom Tidbits Part 133

January 16, 2014

Master Agency Telephony Partners has re-branded as Acuity Technologies. Why the re-brand? More than just the shift to cloud, the industry will be just one - IT and telecom - "a comprehensive technology infrastructure company that can provide solutions covering the entire spectrum of technology." That's what Acuity CEO Josh Anderson is delivering and the name change is just a way to showcase that.

Panterra Networks will be unveiling a new data storage service at ITEXPO.

The Internet Economy Took a Shot Yesterday

January 15, 2014

When the DC Circuit ruled yesterday against the FCC and its rules for open INternet or Net Neutrality, it basically gave the 10 top ISPs even more power than they had.

In 2001, households paid $20 for dial-up access to the Internet, $30 for a phone line and $48 for cable TV. Today, they pay on average $150 for triple-play PLUS at least $58 for a mobile plan. In many cases, much higher.

Don't Be Lazy in VoIP Sales

January 15, 2014

Things must be tough over at RC, because I received an email from an RC account exec titled, "Looking for best contact". The copy was "I am doing some research on your company to determine if there is any interest in a cloud business phone system. Your business will benefit from more control, more features and 50-70% lower telecommunications costs." There's a few things wrong here.

One: spamming just pisses me off.

Where Is the Money in IT

January 15, 2014

Forbes has a great chart that summarizes a survey of CIOs main issues in 2014. Mainly, it is a lack of skills/staff coupled with a fixed budget to handle an expansion of business and of responsibilities. The responsibilities being foisted on the CIO include BYOD, WLAN, security, Big Data, storage, and migration to cloud.

BYOD means supporting a myriad array of devices (laptops, tablets, phones) on a number of platforms (Win7, Win8, iOS, Android, Blackberry) across time zones.

Just Plain Craziness - and Charter-TWC

January 14, 2014

I reside in Tampa, where a retired police office shot a man to death in a movie theater at a matinee over the man texting during the movie. Then a Georgia sheriff holds a kid at gunpoint because the line was moving too slow at McDonalds. The world is going crazy.

I expect the DC circuit to side with Corporations like Comcast (in 2010) and Verizon (today).

Net Neutrality Loses

January 14, 2014

As expected Verizon won, "the DC circuit, in which the appeals court struck down the FCC's net neutrality rules because the the FCC had no mandate under the rules it used to issue that ruling." TechDirt has a good look at how both sides - carriers and net neutrality.

In 2005, with the Brand-X case and the FCC, this ruling was written. "Given that the Commission has chosen to classify broadband providers in a manner that exempts them from treatment as common carriers, the Communications Act expressly prohibits the Commission from nonetheless regulating them as such. Because the Commission has failed to establish that the anti-discrimination and anti-blocking rules do not impose per se common carrier obligations, we vacate those portions of the Open Internet Order." [ARS]

4 Moves in January

January 9, 2014

Colocation provider, FiberMedia Group, combined with Bay Area Internet Services under the new name: vXchnge. BAIC was acquired by the Stephens Group, which also owns FiberMedia.

FYI, a nice chart of the top retail colocation companies. Equinix is at about $2B of annual revenue at the top of this space and Savvis is second at approximately $1 Billion.

Coolest Thing about 3-D Printing

January 8, 2014

WCS Buys Alteva Subsidiary

January 8, 2014

From an email from WCS (Wholesale Carrier Services, Inc.) today. "WCS announced that it acquired substantially all the assets and infrastructure of USADatanet, a subsidiary of Alteva Communications, Inc. in all-cash transaction. This key addition to WCS' network and engineering/IT assets marks a major milestone in WCS' strategic evolution to a true next-generation global facilities-based carrier that delivers converged voice and data communications services through a patented software-as-a-service supply chain platform."

This statement confuses me: "The acquisition brings new capabilities to WCS including state-of-the-art hosted PBX/IP Centrex platform and full ACS/call enter functionality; integrated audio conferencing bridge and voice platform with an integrated T.38 IP Fax platform.

AT&T Buying Customers from T-Mobile

January 6, 2014

The Marketing to One

January 6, 2014

Whether it is wearable tech or consumer electronics, are we entering a time of marketing to one?

The Verge has an article about the impact of Kickstarter on CES in Vegas this week. The most telling quote, "If Sony sold 85,000 watches, we'd call it a failure. When Pebble does it, it's a rousing success." Think about that.

Pay to Play

January 3, 2014

One common question, "How do you get listed in a research study?" My answer: It's pay to play. And people look at me, thinking, "What a cynic." Well, I am rather cynical, but that doesn't mean what I said wasn't true.

Take a look at any research study about UCaaS or some other buzzword service. Is it a comprehensive list of the true players in the space?

Are You Missing the Point?

January 3, 2014

As we enter the trade show season - all 11.5 months of it - here's something to think about: what are you doing with your marketing? You spend here and there on this and that, maybe you track it (maybe you don't), maybe you just look at the sales numbers to see if IT is working or not.

In my RSS feed, many (many) bloggers have given up. They haven't written anything in over a year.

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