September 2005

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Finding Nemo

September 30, 2005

I'm betting that I will not be the only one to use that headline to draw attention to the fact that Cisco purchased another company today.� Up next,� P. Sherman Enterprises in Sydney...

Cisco Systems today announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Nemo Systems of Los Altos, Calif. Nemo Systems has developed leading-edge technology in the network memory space that will offer enhanced performance on Cisco's core switching platforms and service modules.

CopperCom Launches Comprehensive CLEC Transition Program

September 29, 2005

I just got off the phone with Chuck Harris, VP of marketing at CopperCom who told me about their recently announced comprehensive transition program for CLECs faced with the need to migrate from UNE-P to a facilities–based model.

The program consists of a three major elements, including a rental program, which is essentially a “try before you buy” offering, allowing carriers to rent a CopperCom CSX softswitch, deploy it into their network, and eventually buy the CSX outright. Harris told me that in general, service providers stay in the rental program for about a year before making the decision to purchase the equipment.

The next element comprises CopperCom’s comprehensive operations consulting services, whereby trained personnel will help customers wade through the swamp of agreements and requirements and regulatory concerns as the carrier transitions to a new business model.

The FCC Blinks

September 27, 2005

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So it appears that putting forth a good faith effort turned out to be enough this time. This time.

According to a report from the AP the Federal Communications Commission has backed off the deadline they had set for VoIP providers to shut off their customers’ service.

The report cited Commission statements saying that the status reports required from every Internet phone company last week showed that by "repeatedly prompting subscribers through a variety of means, the majority of providers ....

NY POST: Microsoft To Buy AOL Stake

September 15, 2005

I� plucked this one� off the wire....

Time Warner Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are in advanced talks over Microsoft buying a stake in Time Warner's America Online unit, the New York Post reported on Thursday.

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Citing two unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the Post said the talks concern Microsoft acquiring an AOL stake and then combining it with Microsoft's Web unit MSN.

Comments on Skype, eBay

September 14, 2005

I've received quite a bit of response to my humble musings on the significance of the eBay Skype marriage, but nothing so good as the reponse I'm about to share with you from John Farmer.

First off, however, a big thanks to everyone who not only reads my blog, but takes the time to e-mail me their thoughts as well.

Now John Farmer writes:

2 Comments

iSupply Spies 3x Growth of VoIP Equipment Revenue

September 14, 2005

According to published reports, residential VoIP subscribers are expected to dramatically increase in number spurring revenues for VoIP equipment to more than triple between 2004 and 2010. This prediction comes to us courtesy of iSuppli.

According to the El Segundo-based research firm, “the number of residential VoIP subscribers worldwide will rise to 197.2 million in 2010, up more than 40-fold from 4.8 million in 2004. The significant jump will help drive worldwide wireline VoIP equipment revenues to $24.5 billion in 2010, more than three times the $8.04 billion in 2004 sales.

ABC News Teams With ViseonMedia

September 13, 2005

ViseonMedia, a subsidiary of Viseon, Inc., and exclusive source of TV-quality interactive programming to VisiFone Multimedia digital home telephones, today announced that ABC News Now has agreed to provide content in a VisiFone consumer pilot slated for 2006. ViseonMedia will receive selected programming from ABC News Now and will format and broadcast to VisiFone installed homes throughout the United States.

ViseonMedia will deliver news, sports, shopping, weather, information, and entertainment programming to VisiFone users around the globe. Consumers can choose to view personally customized content as well as control the features of their VoIP services directly on the screen of their VisiFone. ViseonMedia interactive programming on the VisiFone is not designed to replace the television or the web portal experience. Instead, it is a dedicated third screen within the home where consumers can automatically view personalized information on their preferred schedule in a TV-quality like experience.

eBay & Skype: A Done Deal

September 12, 2005

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Looks like eBay is going ahead with their plans to buy VoIP service provider Skype in a move purported to add free Web telephone calls to its online auctions and fuel growth.

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According to news reports, eBay said it plans to pay $1.3 billion in cash and $1.3 billion in stock for the Web communications company. It would make a further payout of up to $1.5 billion by 2008 or 2009 if financial targets are met, giving the deal a total value of up to $4.1 billion, executives of the two companies said.

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$4.1 Billion?

3 Comments

WSJ: EBay, Skype In Merger Talks

September 8, 2005

Reuters is reporting on a WSJ story today that has online auction site EBay Inc. in talks to acquire Internet-telephone company Skype for between $2 billion and $3 billion.

Skype has been rumored to be in discussions with other technology companies, but so far this summer there has been no deal.

While I understand the desire for even a leading company to maintain growth and identify new sources of revenue, but I don’t quite get the marriage of EBay and Skype. One of the unnamed sources in the Journal story said that “eBay was keen on adding services that make it easier to buy and sell goods online, as it did when it acquired the electronic-payment processing service PayPal in 2002.”

Does EBay want to enable buyers to talk to sellers?

IPTV Set For Growth, China To Lead

September 7, 2005

According to a report coming from DigitalMediaAsia this morning, IPTV is poised for tremendous growth. Not surprisingly, China is predicted to be the runaway leader with nearly 5 million subscribers expected by 2010.

And, according to Telecom Web, Hong Kong telco PCCW profits recently soared by over 40 percent,� because of the carriers’ leading edge deployment of IPTV.

1 Comments

Macromedia, HP in Deal

September 6, 2005

Macromedia, Inc. has announced an agreement with HP to jointly integrate, market, and sell solutions that unite Macromedia’s Flash Platform and HP’s Service Delivery Platform (SDP). Together, Macromedia and HP will enable carriers, network equipment providers, and telecommunication ISVs to streamline the creation of new communications, messaging, and collaboration solutions, and securely deploy rich multimedia services that leverage the ubiquity of Macromedia Flash Player and the depth of the HP SDP across fixed, mobile, and broadband networks.

According to William Stofega, senior research analyst, VoIP Services at IDC, "The Flash Platform combined with the HP SDP creates a robust, multiplatform solution for the enterprise that is suitable for stringent, mission-critical environments across the telecommunications network."

In Light of Higher Gas Prices, Consider This

September 2, 2005

I received a pitch this morning to speak with a company in the Web conferencing space, and unfortunately I’m facing a whole series of cascading deadlines, and I will have to pass. However, it was still a successful pitch (IMHO) chock full of interesting stats regarding the Web conferencing market. Also it was couched in terms of the recent increase in fuel prices, i.e., “As gas prices continue to rise, people are looking for alternatives to business travel and long commutes.”

In the interest of sharing, I thought I’d include the statistics, which are compelling enough on their own, but really paint a picture when grouped together.� Thanks to Courtney Riley over at Ogilvy for reaching out to me, and sorry I can’t take the briefing with your client.

Here are the stats:

Web Conferencing
~ According to a 2004 study by Frost and Sullivan, Web Conferencing revenues will exceed $2 billion in 2009, up from $1 billion in 2005.

Report Sees Increase in M&A

September 1, 2005

A new report from Paul Budde Communication (an independent telecommunications research and consultancy company based in Australia) was released today. The report, Global Telecoms Analyses and Forecasts for 2006 and Beyond takes a look at the telecom industry and comes with several interesting observations.

Budde believes that incumbents will continue to dominate the industry, and that we will see a series of “very interesting” mergers and acquisitions in the period 2005-2008.

Check out a more detailed article on the matter here.

Greg Galitzine's VoIP Authority Blog

September 2005