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Verizon Puts the Move on Video

February 6, 2012

After Verizon's CFO sais that FiOS was a poor economic decision for the company, I would think video would not be on the VZ radar. The FiOS TV service is so expensive to deliver that Frontier raised rates over 70% when it took over former VZ FiOS territory -- and then decided to switch all the TV over to DBS.

Comcast buying NBCU was a little different, but cablecos have owned channels before, especially sports channels (MSG, YES, BayNews9).

Maybe the TV-cord-cutting crowd is scaring the cablecos, despite the rhetoric to The Street. Content is expensive to license and to deliver. And getting more expensive all the time.

Posted in cableco, cellular, duopoly, satellite, spectrum, telco, video, wireless, wireline

Day 1 at ITEXPO

February 1, 2012

I had a couple of good conversations today. One was with Greg Plum who has embarked on a new chapter in his career at StartMeeting.com. Plum is exciting about building the channel for this start-up conferencing company for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that he believes that StartMeeting.com will be a disruptor, a serious game changer in the conference space. They offer conferencing - audio and web - like so many others, right? It is HD audio though.

Posted in Marketing, PBX, VAR, agents, channel, conferencing, expo, sales and selling, training, video

The Whole Content System

January 9, 2012

Yes the whole content system is a mess. Newspapers, magazines, book publishing, music, movies and now TV - all are old school content business models that are in a state of upheaval. Unfortunately, the people in charge of these content systems are fighting the change that is happening - happening in large part because of the Internet - instead of trying to start making changes NOW.

The Arab Spring of 2011 was a similar model: change was coming in the form of popular protests, furthered by social networks and the Internet, fought bitterly and fatally by the regimes in place, but to what end? Many dead and injured BUT CHANGE HAPPENED ANYWAY!

Many thought that after Napster, the music industry would stop being stupid and embrace the new music distribution models evolving. The Industry didn't, but the artists who did - like OAR, Dave Matthews Band and Pearl Jam (to name a few of my favorites) - have been hugely successful and profitable.

Why can't the rest of the Industry see that?

Radio is one way to listen to music, but let's face it, listening to the same 100 songs plus the syndicated DJ's is annoying.

Posted in Internet, Marketing, books, economy, technology, video

L3 Sells Coal Mine

November 28, 2011

Not many people knew that Level3 owned a coal mining operation. It was sold off last week. I do not know if L3 still owns the software integration business. (I can't find any indications in the earnings reports.)

According to the earnings, it looks like L3 is bringing less than $4B in revenue at $927M in 3Q2011 and $913M in 2Q2011.

Posted in channel, fiber, mergers, video, voip

It's Monday So Lots Happened

October 17, 2011

Polycom bought Vivu, a video collaboration company, to help Polycom push it's Presence gear. Video, video, video. Yet I never have video calls or video call requests. To me, I wish you would work on the phone part.

Posted in FCC, Marketing, PBX, broadband, broadsoft, cellular, conferencing, expo, hosted uc, privacy, sip trunking, unified communications, video, voip, wimax, wireless

3 Reasons that Video Conferencing is Better than Travel

August 23, 2011

I write this from an hour delayed American Air flight to Chicago. I started my 75 day travel schedule last week and sitting on this plane makes me wish I could afford NetJets! The screaming kids in the aisle next to me and the one behind me. (My fault for not buying noise canceling headphones.)

The guy with body odor in front of me.

The hour long delay for no apparent reason.

The tiny ass seat.

The long lines to board as people carry EVERYTHING on the plane which results in the delay in exiting the plane.

Did I say just 3? Sorry. There is also the expense (financial and health) and the carbon footprint worry.

Unfortunately, video conferencing can't really replace a trade show, the face-to-face networking, and the bonding over a meal, coffee or cocktail.

Video conferencing would eliminate most of the expense account for meals, cocktails, strippers, cabs and other conference related receipts.

Video conferencing would allow for a more intimate face-to-face conversation than email, text or voice - the primary means of communications by everyone younger than me.

Posted in conferencing, video

Ethernet is Spreading

July 18, 2011

So many notices this week about Ethernet. It's the preferred protocol for most businesses. (No one wants to buy a DS3 card and configure it, I guess). Ethernet is becoming more and more available as the delivery protocol for Internet bandwidth, MPLS, IP/VPN, and Private Line.

The M&A targets are all fiber guys like FiberLight, AboveNet, Zayo, Sidera, Fibertower, Fibertech and XO. All are Ethernet players.

AT&T announced that come August 1st it is almost doubling the Metro Ethernet rates in the 9-state BLS region.

Posted in Internet, agents, bandwidth, channel, data center, ethernet, fiber, mpls, saas, technology, telecommunications, video, xo

DISH Grabs Spectrum, Cable Goes South

June 28, 2011

So Charter has purchased the "cable television systems from US Cable of Coastal Texas, LP serving, in aggregate, approximately 16,000 customers in Missouri, including the communities of Hannibal, Moberly and Mexico," according to The Mexico Ledger.

TDS parent, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. announced it will acquire OneNeck IT Services for $95 million. OneNeck, generated revenues of $37 million in 2010, will be a subsidiary of TDS Hosted & Managed Services, LLC (TDS HMS). OneNeck is a hosted application management and managed IT hosting services provider, specializing in ERP apps.

Meanwhile, DISH scoops up TerreStar Networks operations and spectrum for about $1.4B out of bankruptcy court.

Posted in mergers, satellite, spectrum, video, wireless

DISHing Up a Blockbuster

April 6, 2011

DISH Networks has bought Blockbuster video from bankruptcy for a bid of $320M, according to USA Today. DISH with 14 million satellite TV subscribers has rolled out Google TV enhancements and TV Everywhere, including on Android tablets. This purchase, if the BK Court approves it, might give DISH brick-and-mortar stores to sell more DISH services and Slingboxes.

This is the second asset purchase for DISH as they bought DBSD North America, Inc., a hybrid satellite and terrestrial communications company, for approximately $1 billion in February.

Looks like

DISH's parent company, ECHOSTAR, purchased Hughes Communications (NASDAQ: HUGH) for about $2 billion.

Posted in mergers, satellite, video

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