As corny as it may sound, there was a greater sense of industry togetherness at this year’s NXTcomm08 that I have noticed in recent years, based at least on the keynote sessions that drew both attendees and exhibitors by the thousands at the event...
I’ll admit, that somewhat inflammatory headline was meant to draw you into reading this story. But the provocative question comes not from me, but from Sun Microsystems chairman and co-founder Scott McNealy, who expressed that concern at a lunch meeting this week at NXTComm08...
Every month, throngs of people are connecting to the Internet via broadband for the first time ever. And according to Dave Caputo, CEO of Sandvine, about half of them call their provider that first month to report that their connection “seems slow.” Providers don’t know what to tell them, Caputo said at a panel discussion this week...
Talks of the quad play, heightened by the downfall of Pivot -- Sprint's joint venture with the leading cable companies to offer subscribers wireless services -- have been replaced with talks of the flex play at this year’s conference...
One of the real challenges of a telecom trade show is making technology look sexy. That’s one reason why video images and IPTV will appear to dominate the NXTcomm08 show floor ...
NXTcomm typically isn’t the first trade show that comes to mind for wireless news and announcements, but that is starting to change as it becomes harder to talk about any part of the telecom industry without wireless creeping into the discussion...
Fixed/mobile convergence (FMC) is another one of telecom’s victims of the hype cycle. The technology gets promoted, marketed and heralded as game changing; the buzz wears off; the benefits emerge followed quickly by the return of a second wave of hype; reality sets in and the hype dies down yet again. ...
At NXTcomm08, you’re likely to hear a lot of talk about making Ethernet more sophisticated, more discerning, and most of all, “more intelligent.” Of course, stressing the need for a more intelligent brand of Ethernet isn’t very flattering to the plain-vanilla kind. But let’s face it, Ethernet has always been in some ways like the Forrest Gump of the networking world...
The past few weeks, I’ve spent time talking with vendors and service providers about a number of next-generation network topics, including the transition to IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS); the role of QOS and SLAs in next-generation carrier offerings; and more. One theme seems consistent: service providers have to balance the ideal of the next-generation network vision with the reality of delivering revenue-generating services in the here and now...
Just a few years ago, we would never have suspected that in the middle of 2008, we’d still be trying to figure out how bundled telecom services work. For most carriers, the business cases underlying bundles, especially regarding mobile service, depend largely on each carriers’ specific circumstances. And there’s no rule book but the one they write themselves....
If every there was a year to wake up and taste the technology -- 2008 might be it. There is almost nothing about the communications sphere that isn’t in flux -- and we haven’t even started talking about regulation yet...
The long-rumored deal is done. Sprint and Clearwire have formally combined their WiMAX businesses, aided by investments from Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. Here’s what you need to know...
It's interesting to watch AT&T and Verizon try to balance the need to tout new technology with the practicality of delivering a new service as they enter the video market. Both companies are trying to be more innovative and much more local in their marketing...
I’ve been a proponent of the femtocell concept since the first rumblings of the concept came out of the startup community. We like femtocells -- everything about the topic. And really, what’s not to like about something that gives you a “five bar” wireless experience inside your home? ...
The Way Carrier Ethernet equipment is sold today, we tend to see vendors in one of two camps: the Sonet-replacement, claw-your-way-up-from-the-bottom-of-the-network guys or the enterprise-services, claw-your-way-down-from-the-top guys. But operators I've talked to aren't particularly interested in either one of those two guys. They're looking for a third guy ...
Five global forces drive growth and transformation. They are at work everywhere, albeit at varying levels of intensity, and they will change the telecommunications world. Here's what they are...
Public speakers often like to poll their audience on a topic to keep people engaged and to gauge how to tailor comments to match the needs and sympathies of the audience. But as a journalist who often attends telecom industry speeches, I sometimes pick up some useful information by jotting down the results of these informal polls...
