This announcement from MCI appeared not long ago via our news feeds:
MCI, Inc. said today that its Board of Directors met today to review the latest Qwest proposal presented on March 16th. MCI's Board has determined to continue its discussions with Qwest and has instructed its advisors and management to begin this process promptly. Verizon has consented to MCI's request for a waiver permitting these discussions.
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AB -- 3/23/05
We asked attorney Martha Buyer to comment on today's appointment of Kevin Martin as chairman of the FCC. Buyer practices telecommunications law and consulting.
Following are her comments on Martin:
I am cautiously optimistic about Kevin Martin's appointment to chair the FCC. For starters, he has shown an independent streak which has made him his own person, and which I think is worthy of respect. I also think that his proven ability as a deal-maker also bodes well for the direction of the FCC. I think that his willingness to side with the Democratic commissioners on some critical issues affecting the abilities of the CLECs to do business is encouraging, although my understanding is that he has made peace with the Bell Operating companies to such an extent that he was their first choice.
Additionally, it is important to note that because Mr. Martin was already a member of the FCC, his appointment as chair will not require Senate confirmation. This is a plus for all because of the thorny process of judicial confirmations which has become increasingly politicized. As the FCC and Congress tackle issues relating to Voice over IP, intercarrier compensation and a rewrite of the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996, a full commission benefits all.
I remain optimistic about Commissioner Martin's ability to consider all opposing positions before making decisions. His dealmaking skills will no doubt come in handy as he assumes this new role in this very challenging time in the industry.
Marth Buyer practices telecommunications law and consulting.
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AB -- 3/16/05
Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee today and told them that the planned combination of Verizon and MCI will bring together complementary organizations that together will benefit enterprise customers, national security and consumers, and will create an effective competitor to AT&T in the large-business and government markets.
Following are selected quotes from Seidenberg's testimony:
"Verizon and MCI will be a national, full-service company with the financial strength and technology resources to deliver the broadband, multi-media world of tomorrow to customers and create economic growth for America today."
"Enterprise customers will benefit because we will create a strong, stable and secure strategic partner for national and global businesses as they prepare for the broadband future."
"National security will benefit because we will continue to invest in and strengthen the national and international communications systems, including those used by the departments of Defense and Homeland Security."
Speaking of the consumer market, Seidenberg said: "Competition from wireless, cable telephony, e-mail, instant messaging and VoIP will continue to drive pricing, with or without this transaction. The consumer marketplace will continue to become less concentrated over time -- with or without this transaction -- as new platforms vie for the broadband household."
"Consumers will benefit because MCI's IP network and products, combined with our deployment of fiber directly to homes and businesses, will be the most advanced platform in the country."
These quotes came from today's release from Verizon, which also said that Verizon Communications has over $71 billion in annual revenues and 210,000 employees in four business units:
AB -- 3/15/05
Numerous sources are reporting that Bernard Ebbers, former WorldCom CEO, has been found guilty on all nine counts in his indictment by a federal jury in New York.
Ebbers was known as a star in the telecommunications industry until the meltdown of WorldCom (now MCI) in the midst of an account scandal that cost investors billions. Ebbers was charged with securities fraud and lying to regulators. In his defense, he claimed that he never knew enough about the company's finances to be materially involved in accounting regularities that led to the company's failure and Ebbers's indictment.
Reports say that Ebbers will be sentenced in June.
AB -- 3/15/05
Merrill Lynch analysts are warning investors against overvaluing traditional wireline companies, such as Lucent, Tellabs, Ciena, Alcatel and Adtran. In spite of new capital expenditures for initiatives like fiber, broadband, VoIP and 3G, ML feels that these companies are not yet good growth or value plays.
The reasons cited by the financial advisory firm include:
AB -- 3/3/05
A study by ATLANTIC-ACM, a research and consulting firm, says that the CLEC industry will contract from $31.3B revenue in 2004 to $25B in 2009. This news report gives further details:
Competitive Local Exchange Industry to Shrink to $25 Billion by 2009, Reveals ATLANTIC-ACM
The study, called "CLECs 2005-2009: Market Sizing, Opportunities and Players in a Rapidly Evolving Industry," cites the recent UNE-P regulatory changes with putting the brakes on a business that has almost continually grown since the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
AB -- 3/3/05
Several times now we've received article contributions from Bercut, a communications technology firm based in the beautiful city of St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. Bercut has gone to considerable trouble to create some valuable, insightful articles and translate them into English for publishing on TMCnet.
Their most recent article is:
Authored by Sergey Ermilov of Bercut, with Konstantin Severin and Kirill Safonov of Inform Mobile, this article provides great insights into the management of Cell Broadcast Services (CBS) based on SMS, which is very popular in Russia.
AB -- 3/2/05
One of the communications experts who has stepped forward to contribute content to the TMCnet Web site is Robert Messinger, of Vector Resources, who is serving as TMCnet's Network Management columnist.
Robert's latest article is of particular interest:
The article explains how wireless communications are helping hospitals and other healthcare organizations to reduce response times; it sets out the important considerations and questions hospital IT managers need to ask when planning wireless communications.
Ever curious about the user experience, I did a quick check and found that Vocera is one of the manufacturers creating wireless communications devices for health care. Here is a picture of a wireless communications badge they make:
AB -- 3/1/05
ABI Research has released a study identifying the top prospective server vendors for telco video-on-demand (VOD). The study is called "Telco TV Infrastructure & Service Integrator Opportunities.
Incumbent telcos are rushing to develop video capabilities to compete for triple-play market share against cable operators. A key capability for VOD, according to ABI, is a server that can "receive orders, process them, and deliver the product to the consumer."
ABI names ICTV, nCUBE and Microsoft as the top-ranked server vendors in its study. A release from ABI says the following about these three:
ICTV: ICTV is number one: they have announced deployments that are significant, and they appear to have an aggressive sales force that is doing a good job. Their ICTV technology isn't as good as the runner-up's, but they hit all of the main requirements of a VOD system, and their product scales well to provide a cost-effective solution to any size service provider." (Quoting analyst Michael Arden.)
nCUBE: "The company has a strong record in the CATV industry and should be able to draw on past customers for future sales. It also has a proven technology, giving it a strong score on the Innovation side of the equation."
Microsoft: "It has the benefit of the brand name and a huge sales organization. 'Their technology/innovation aspect is not as proven, because they are new to the market,' says Arden. "However, they have announced some big customers and are teamed up with strong companies, so their future in the market is promising.'"
The table of contents of the ABI report names other companies operating in this space. These two lists are of particular interest:
Video On Demand Platform Matrices:
Systems Integration Platform Matrices:
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