The CLEC show, COMPTEL, is in Dallas this week. Stupidly, COMPTEL had their show overlap the Channel Partners Expo. Hello! Same exhibitors and people can't be in 2 places at once.  But it's this exact kind of planning that has led to the troubles that the CLEC's are experiencing.

Has COMPTEL ever won a major battle at the FCC? Nope.

Yet COMPTEL is a lobbying organization. And its insulated. Where's the outreach?

Anyway... COMPTEL never pushed their members to cooperate in the marketplace even after the TRRO ruling went against them. By now, CLEC's should primarily buying transport and transit from other CLEC's. There should be a COMPTEL database of lit buildings, of fiber routes, and of central office collocation, so that members can easily propose solutions and wholesale to other CLEC's.

At the fall 2009 show, Verizon, Level3 and XO didn't exhibit. (I didn't attend but this is what I was told). That means that two of your vendors don't care that much about you - Level3 who many buy transit from and VZ who with AT&T and Qwest make up the bulk of the cost of services to COMPTEL.

As Tara Seals writes here, lines are moving to VoIP and cellular. While CLEC's are moving to SIP trunking, the majority have no cellular component. Why hasn't that been a priority for COMPTEL? Did they think that cellular was a fad that would fade?

There isn't much reason for the CLEC's to start screaming SIP because in the majority of cases, SIP Trunking is just a PRI replacement - and while the marketing is about cost savings, there is any cost savings to the CLEC. Net sum is that SIP Trunking means less revenue and lower margin.

The MVNO model has proven itself to a road to failure. Maybe Verizon's Wholesale Partner plan for Mobility will work. (But I wouldn't bet on it).

Landline replacement to cellular has been increasing with the market dip. That will likely continue, especially with T-Mobile's new $50 plan as well as the Sprint Everything Plan at $99. Garrett Smith thinks this will kill VoIP. WIthout fiber and without cellular, CLEC's are stuck as a NxT1 pipe pusher.

Where's the innovation?  CableLabs and AT&T Labs pumped out some good stuff like DOCSIS, cablecard and DSL. Where's the COMPTEL Lab or at least the COMPTEL Think Tank?

Is Integrated T1 it? Now to be replaced with SIP Trunk? Wow! Unified communications didn't come out of the CLEC world either. Re-invent or die.