Triple Play Comes to ILECs and RLECs

April 1, 2005

OK. So I am here at the VOIP Possibilities Show in Dallas this week and I have a few observations. First, I am thrilled that I am seeing such well run and targeted trade show alternatives to the normal line-up of VON (Spring/Fall/Europe/Canada/Asia/CES), SuperComm, etc. Shows such as VOIP Possibilities (ILECs/RLECS/CLECs) and Digital Cities (municipalities) next week in DC are very well tailored to the needs and interests of those particular markets, without the hype, cost, and "vendors staring at each other" that you may find with some of the bigger shows. As a Marketing guy trying to spread a marketing budget across several different markets, it is refreshing to have these shows as an avenue to get the message out.

The other observation I have is how quickly IPTV is spreading in the ILEC market. It is cool to see a market dominated by many "mom and pop" telcos being so progressive and aggressive in their roll-outs of Telco TV. My hats off to all of them. It bodes well for us providers of integrated triple play solutions that this trend is occuring in the farthest reaches of telco land (can someone say Alaska?). Of course, adopting a video strategy for telcos is a necessity for these guys, as next-gen carriers, CLECs, and MSOs come knocking on their doors.

One other totally unrelated thing: have you noticed how violent the online Vonage ads are? Especially the one with the snowmobile guy flying across the road and crashing in what was surely a seriously injurious or even deadly crash? I hope that doesn't become a metaphor for Voice over Broadband providers like Vonage who are a little weak when it comes to a video offering. He-he, couldn't help myself. :-)

-Brian

Brian Mahony, VP Marketing, NetCentrex