Atomico Venture Fund - Implications for Carriers

Last week, Atomico's latest venture fund was launched. If you don't know them, this isn't just any venture fund - it's where Skype's founders are putting their money - along with others - into funding promising European startups.

While many of these startups are focused outside of telecom, they are all Web-based, and in time, I'm sure quite a few will find their way into the ecosystem of service providers. My thinking is that Atomico is the kind of fund that will help re-define the service provider landscape as well as the business operators are actually in.

This is the focus of my latest Service Provider Views column on TMCnet, and I hope you stop by and read the rest of the story.

Cisco Has a Message for Carriers - the Future is Video, not Telephony

Cisco made a lot of noise this week announcing the CRS-3 router, and I took part in the webinar briefing. I'm not an expert on routers, but I got some pretty strong takeaways about the bigger picture implications for carriers. In short, their future is about video and the Internet, not telephony. It sounds like strong medicine, and what you'd expect to hear from Cisco, but I happen to agree.

I've put my thoughts together on this for my latest Service Provider Views column, which runs on TMCnet. It's running now, and you can read it here.

You don't have to look far for coverage of Cisco's announcement in the press and blogs, and I'll just steer you to one from here in Canada - ITBusiness.ca - where I contributed some commentary. Just as the carriers face a lot of risk adapting to new technologies and changing customer preferences, Cisco has its own set of challenges, some self-created, and others stemming from general market conditions.

Nobody has a free ride here, so it's an interesting story that goes way beyond the current state of router technology. I'm sure I'll be revisiting this theme soon, but would love to hear your thoughts any time.

Skype/Verizon News - My Take

Tuesday's news about Skype and Verizon Wireless was a pretty big deal. I wasn't at MWC to see the press conference, and other things kept me from blogging about it until now, but I wanted to share my thoughts in some form. The uber bloggers have covered all the news angles by now, so let's not go there.

The next best thing is to write about the bigger picture, and I've done that in my latest Service Provider Views column, which is running now on TMCnet. So, if this story is still of interest to you - and it should be - you can read my take here, and by all means, you're welcome to keep the conversation going.

Service Provider Views - Why Life is getting harder, not easier

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. Having just come back from the ITExpo, a few things struck me there that would work well for my next article. This would have been enough material, but on top of that, the last week or so has been full of news that pose new challenges and raise new questions for service providers. Not the least of which is the iPad launch, Jajah's acquisition by Telefonica, and the latest earnings news from AT&T and Verizon.

I could probably squeeze a few more columns out of this morass - and I just might do that - but for now, I've managed to hit the high points in today's column, and you can read that here.

Any way you look at it, January has had more than its share of news that impacts service providers, and could be an ominous way to kick start the new decade. I can't wait to see what February holds in store.

Google and China - What it means for telcos

This is the Google mega-story of the day, and I think it's a big one for all kinds of reasons. Have you ever seen a company get so much global attention over such a short period of time across so many unrelated businesses? That's a story unto itself, and the irony isn't lost on me when I think about their name.

Google's differences with the great firewall of China are all over the news, and I'm here with a bit of a different take. In my latest Service Provider Views column on TMCnet, I'm more concerned with what all this means for privacy and how that impacts service providers.

Up until recently, service providers were in a very different business than Google, but today that line sure is blurry. So, it seems to me that whatever challenges Google is facing - especially with China - is going to matter to service providers. Pretty fertile ground here, and I'm sure I'll be revisiting it soon.

You can read the article here, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Looking Ahead - 2010 Thoughts on Service Providers and Privacy

As per my last post, I have a lot of thoughts about what's transpired over the past decade in our space, as well as what might be in store for 2010. Since the future hasn't happened yet, I have a bit more poetic license to write about what's coming, and I plan to do that in the coming weeks.

For now, though, my latest Service Provier Views column on TMCnet will have to do. The column ran earlier this week, and you can read it here.

My premise is that the concept of a service provider is becoming quite fluid, and is being driven as much by Web 2.0 as much as conventional telephony. In many ways, I think Google is being more than disruptive and will have a lot to do with this evolution - whether we like it or not.

Most of this will not be news to you, but what I'm not hearing much about is the price we're paying along the way. Call me old school, but the efficiencies we're getting from targeted advertising, smart browsing, semantic web, etc. are being offset by the erosion of privacy and even our sense of personal identity.

Lots to explore here, and I hope you keep the dialog going, as I plan to write more about this in the New Year. Until then, Happy New Year, and we'll connect again in the next decade.

Service Provider Views - How can they provide value?

My latest Service Provider Views article is running now on TMCnet. I'm focusing on a big topic - how can service providers add value? - and am really setting the stage for an ongoing exploration of this theme in 2010. I think it's going to be big deal going forward, and am hoping you'll follow my musings.

This article was basically triggered by my impressions from recent analyst events, and how I see vendor solutions getting stronger and stronger. Combine this with what Google is doing now with their own handset, and it's getting harder to see where/how carriers can add real value. Of course there are lots of ways they can do this, and I'll speak to those in future articles. However, it seems to me like the vendors have most of the momentum right now, and that puts the pressure on operators to be more innovative.

As an aside, Canada is going through its own convulsions in the mobile market with the recent turn of events with Globalive. That's a whole topic unto itself, but I can't get into that right now. I've been speaking to the media about it, but haven't had time yet to write something.

Back to the main story - the article is posted now, and you can read it here. As always, comments are welcome!

Packet Island Interview, Part 2

Well, it's taken some time, but Part 2 of my Packet Island interview is running now on TMCnet. This is part of my bi-monthly Service Provider Views column, and continues the conversation I had with Praveen Kumar at BroadSoft Connections back in October. Part 1 of the interview ran last week, and now you can read the rest here.

As with Part 1, if you're interested in the challenges around multimedia QoS for hosted services, you'll find this a good read. And by all means, your comments are welcome.

Service Provider Views Article - Packet Island Interview

My two November Service Provider Views articles were based on a long interview I conducted with Praveen Kumar, CEO of Packet Island. They were recently acquired by BroadSoft, and I see that as a great addition to make their hosted offering more secure.

The interview isn't so much about the acquisition or what Packet Island is doing - rather, having met up with Praveen at the recent BroadSoft Connections event, I found it a great opportutnity for some first-hand learning about why QoS and QoE are so important, especially for a hosted offering to businesses.

The interview is broken up in Parts 1 and 2, and both were ready to go for publishing on TMCnet last week. Unfortunately with the short week and frantic schedule everyone seemed to be on - myself included - the articles are just coming out now. Part 1 ran yesterday, and having been in transit enroute to Adtran's event, this is my first chance to post. So, you can read the interview here, and am hoping Part 2 will be ready to go later today. I'll also be posting about Adtran as time allows, and from what I've seen so far, it should be a great event.

Service Providers - Be Careful What You Wish For

I was at Supercomm last week, and came away with some distinct impressions about the challenges facing carriers, especially mobile operators. I've summarized those thoughts in my latest Service Provider Views column on TMCnet.

I've titled the article "Be Careful What You Wish For", and it was posted today on TMCnet. I hope you read it, and would love to hear your thoughts.

Why Skype For Business is Good for Carriers

In my last Service Provider Views column on TMCnet, I wrote about why I think Skype has a lot to offer carriers, and explored the idea of them trying to be a channel play to develop these partnerships. That column focused mainly on the mobility market, which plays well for both consumer and business subscribers.

I've followed that up with Part 2, this time focusing on the business market opportunity for Skype. This scenario is broader and offers more opportunities, and as Skype followers know, they've made some strong moves recently to make themselves more of a solution partner than a telephony adjunct. I think they have a lot to offer service providers, and if I've done my job, hopefully you'll reach the same conclusion. Have a read for yourself, and let me know what you think!

Why Skype Could Be Good News For Carriers

Last week I posted about Skype's keynote VON, given by their CSO, Christopher Dean. It was a pretty interesting talk, and it's clear that Skype is taking some big steps forward to serve the business market - not just by themselves, but in partnership with carriers.

It's an intriguing proposition, and I mentioned I'd write further about it in my Service Provider Views column. There's a fair bit to explore, and while putting this together, I decided to make it a 2 part writeup. So, Part 1 is running now on TMCnet, and you can read it here.

If you want to follow this to completion, I'll have Part 2 ready in early October, so watch for it then.

What Service Providers Can Learn From Utilities

My latest Service Provider Views article is posted now on TMCnet. With the above title, it's no surprise that they've featured the article on our Smart Grid portal, and you can read it here.

In short, my article talks about ways that service providers could apply Demand Response principles to their business. The ideas may not be that obvious, as the dynamics of the energy business are very different, but not entirely off the table.

I'm also doing this to show that utilities aren't the only ones who could stand to learn from others in the Smart Grid space - telcos have far greater competitive pressures, and should be willing to take good ideas from wherever they come.

Smart Grid - Where Service Providers Meet Utilities

My latest article for Service Provider Views is running now on TMCnet. Not surprisingly, the focus is Smart Grid. With the Smart Grid Summit being a week away, that's what's on my mind right now.

With this article, I'm adding another dimension to my focus on the service provider space. The Smart Grid Summit is all about where energy meets communications, and with every passing day, we're convinced this is going to be a major trend in 2010. If you're not there yet, this article is a good place to start, and as you'll see, TMC has published it on our Smart Grid portal, so hopefully it will serve as a jumping off point to explore all the other content we're putting up there.

With all this being so new, I'd love to hear your thoughts or suggestions, and if you're coming out to the IT Expo next week, I sure hope to see you there. The summit runs only on the Tuesday, and we're starting at 9am sharp.

Getting Hosted Services Right - BroadSoft, Microsoft and Chinook

My latest Service Provider Views column on TMCnet is running now, and if you're following the hosted space, especially for serving SMBs, I think you'll enjoy this column.

The focus is on a recent announcement about how BroadSoft, Microsoft and Chinook Hosting are working together on an integrated offering that delivers Unified Communciations on a turnkey basis for SMBs (enterprises too). Hosted is a great solution for SMBs, but it's remained a tough sell for a variety of reasons. I think this offering gets it right, and my article explores the reasons why. If you give it a read, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I've been meaning to post this since Monday, but our new Smart Grid venture has taken priority big time the past few days! That's another story, and for some of you, it's a space you'll want to get closer to.

Google Wave - Good News or Bad News for Carriers?

My current Service Provider Views column on TMCnet is running now. I've had some exposure to Google Wave recently, and it sure has a lot of possibilities. I've taken a first cut at this in the column, especially in terms of what it could mean for service providers. There's a lot to consider, and I have some follow up pieces in mind for future columns, so this won't be the end of it.

It's very early days yet, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on Wave - so please give the column a read, and let me know.

Q&A with Telanetix - a Different Kind of Service Provider

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. This time my focus is on Telanetix, a pretty interesting hybrid that's doing just fine servicing SMBs with IP telephony and beyond.

The article is based on a Q&A I did with their CEO/Chairman, Doug Johnson, and has two main themes. First is the overall trend toward hosted services, and second is what makes Telanetix's approach different as well as effective.

In the spirit of my column, I'm focusing on Telanetix as an example of a new/different kind of service provider, and with today's technology, showing how they can compete very nicely against the incumbents. This is just one of many ways the status quo is changing in the service provider space, and to learn more, please give my article a read.

What Service Providers and Auto Makers Can Learn From Each Other

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet, and if you see parallels between telecom and the auto sector, you should find this a good read.

The article builds on an auto industry event I recently attended and subsequently wrote about for The Mark, a Web-based news/opinion portal. I've expanded my thinking in the TMCnet column, and you can read it here.

These two sectors have more in common than you might think, and both are at a crossroads for their respective futures. I think they have a lot to learn from each other, and hope you read the article to see why I feel that way. As always, your comments are welcome!

What Service Providers Can Learn From MetaSwitch

My current Service Provider Views column on TMCnet is running now. It's the third in my series of takeaways from last month's MetaSwitch Forum in terms of service provider implications. This time it's the company itself - MetaSwitch - who I think offers a pretty good template for doing the kind of things that service providers need to do to be competitive.

To understand why I say that, please read the article, which you can access here, and as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What Service Providers Can Learn From CSI

What does a television show like CSI have to do with telecom?

Not much, really, but I recently got a chance to hear a keynote from Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the mega-popular CSI franchise. It's a great show, no doubt, but more importantly Anthony is very much part of how the experience of watching television is evolving. He calls it multi-platform story telling, and this is really about the overall entertainment experience which of course intersects big time with communications technologies, so here we are.

That's the topic of my latest Service Provider Views column that runs on TMCnet, and it's running live now. I think his ideas are very relevant for service providers, and once you read the column, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

April Media Roundup

April was a modest month in terms of media citings, but for the record, here's a summary of where I turned up. First, I was cited in a few articles...

- IT World Canada - Cisco's WebEx/security announcements

- Tech Media Reports - Skype's impact on Canada if they become independent

- BBC News - Any takers for Skype?


I was interviewed for a podcast with TechTarget about trends in SIP. We did a second podcast as well, but it won't run until May...

- TechTarget - 5 things you should know about SIP


Finally, my regular bi-monthly column for TMCnet, Service Provider Views...

- MetaSwitch Forum Takeaways - What Big Carriers can Learn from Small Carriers

- Innovation - It's Out There if You Look

Service Provider Views Article - Learning from Tier 3 Carriers

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet.

It's the first of a series I'm writing based on my learning from the MetaSwitch Forum, which I was involved with earlier this month.

This article is my take on what big carriers can learn from small carriers, and there were a lot of small carriers at the Forum. MetaSwitch has done a great job tapping into this market, and their customers are doing some pretty impressive things. I got some first hand exposure to this there, and my article provides some examples about how they're using IP communications to stay competitive in a difficult market. You can download the article here, and if this is your cup of tea, then I'm sure you'll like my next couple of articles which will continue on this theme.

Service Provider Views - Latest Column - Innovation

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. This is my second column picking up on some key themes from eComm 2009, and the focus here in on innovation.

It's a nebulous term, but we all know it when we see it. There was a lot of great innovation on tap at eComm, and there's no shortage of opportunity for service providers willing to make this a core part of their modus operandi. My column looks at some promising examples being deployed today as well as some of the more futuristic possibilities that were so effectively demonstrated at eComm. It's a big topic, and hopefully I make the case that there's more to innovation than just making your network faster or smarter.

You can read the column here, and as always, your comments are welcome.

Service Provider Views - Surviving in the New World of Telecom

The latest TMCnet article for my Service Provider Views column was posted today, and I hope you give it a read.

This article is the first of two on high level service provider themes that came out of eComm 2009 earlier this month. There is a lot to talk about that I think is relevant for service providers, and while the new world that's emerging in telecom poses all kinds of threats, I saw lots of opportunities at eComm.

A lot of ground was covered in three days there, and my intent is to provide a taste of what the possibilities look like for operators ready, willing and able to embrace what many are calling Telecom 2.0.

Service Provider Views - 4G Outlook with Crossfire Media

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. For this article, I've focused on one of the strong themes that came out of the IT Expo last month - wireless. Under the Crossfire Media umbrella, Carl Ford and Scott Kargman launched 4G Wireless Evolution at the conference, and by all counts, it was a successful debut.

To keep that momentum going, I recently interviewed Scott and Carl, not just about their thinking behind 4GWE, but also their overall outlook for wireless and operator migration to 4G. You can read the Q&A here, and hopefully, their thoughts will set the stage for a larger event next time around.

Service Provider Views - SIP Trunking, Part 2

My latest Service Provider Views column is now running on TMCnet.

This article focuses on the "6C's of Communications Evolution" that I talked about at Ingate's SIP Trunking session during the IT Expo earlier this month. It's also a follow up to my last column that explored the benefits of SIP Trunking for service providers.

You can read the article here, and as always, I welcome your thoughts or comments.

Service Provider Views - the case for SIP Trunking

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. The focus is on the benefits of SIP Trunking for service providers, and builds on the presentations I gave at TMC's IT Expo during Ingate's SIP Trunking sessions. Given how well the sessions were attended, I thought a follow-on article would be of interest to those who weren't there. I could probably produce a few more articles on these themes, and I'll leave that for you to decide.

You can start by reading today's article. If you like what you see, and want me to explore some other SIP Trunking themes from my presentations, please let me know, and I can do that in future columns.

Service Provider Views - Q&A with Jaduka

Just in time for next week's TMC IT Expo, my latest Service Provider Views column was posted this morning.

I've been big on the platform play theme in my column, and Jaduka is another company doing some great things here, especially for enterprise applications. For this column, I did a Q&A with Jaduka's President, Jack Rynes, so for a change you get to hear about platform plays first hand from a leading practitioner. You can read the column here, and if you like it, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Jack too!

And if you haven't made plans to attend the Expo - or the 4G wireless show running next door - there's still time. Aside from the extensive content and exhibitor presence, it sounds like hotel space is available and the weather is getting warmer. When it's snowing like it is today in Toronto, these things all add up to a pretty good idea. Hope to see you there.

Is VoIP Dead? The Sequel - My Latest TMC Article

For some of you, this issue is dead and gone, and beaten to death. Maybe so, but I still believe the flavor of VoIP that I'm seeing a lot of is very much alive and kicking in 2009. Some of this may just be arguing semantics, but the dialog that flowed from my last TMCnet article back on December 29 sure was interesting, and I've since felt obliged to follow this up and clarify things.

My latest Service Provider Views article ran today on TMCnet, and all that's left for me to do here is steer you to the link.

Give it a read, and tell me whether this changes your thinking or not. My position hasn't changed, and in fact, I've updated it with some developments that have come since my last article. Let's see where this goes...

My Take on 2008 - VoIP's Not Dead Yet

Everyone's doing their year-end review thing now, and in true fashion, I'm late to the party. All the mainstream pubs did their thing last week - year in review, top 10 stories, 2009 predictions, etc. I'm not a news guy, so I don't have much to add there, so I don't bother. Besides, I have to make a living doing these things, so I'm not going to spend all day blogging about where I think things are going.

However, I do have a few things coming this week. I have a year-in-photos review in the works so you'll know where I've been in 2008, and this has a lot to do with what I'm seeing in the IP communications space for 2009.

I've also just published my latest Service Provider Views article, and that will serve as a pretty good proxy for my contribution to the year that was. If you're a Monty Python fan, I think you'll like it. More importantly, if VoIP is in your lexicon, you should find this of interest.

Basically, I think VoIP is going to be huge in 2009, but not for reasons you may think. I'm trying to draw attention to smart companies doing cool things, like Voxbone, Fonolo, Jazinga, Vayyoo, Phone.com, Calliflower, Mobivox, Jajah, Vidtel and Truphone. They're taking VoIP to the next level, and if you're not watching them now, you better be in 2009.

The article went live on TMCnet this morning, and fellow blogger Andy Abramson has posted a nice piece about it already. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Service Provider Views - Microsoft and the Telcos, Part 2

My latest Service Provider Views column on TMCnet is now running. This article continues the theme from my previous article which explores why I believe Microsoft and service providers need each other.

Things got a bit complicated while writing Part 2, given Microsoft's recent announcement they are abandoning their Connected Services Framework initiative. That certainly changes the equation, but I still contend there's an important symbiotic relationship for both parties.

You'll just have to read it for yourself and let me know if I'm on or off target!