| issue
highlights |
May 12, 2008 | A Penton
Media, Inc. Publication |
editor's perspective
Learning by walking around
May 12, 2008, by Joan Engebretson
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. At the National
Telecommunications Cooperative Association’s IP Possibilities
conference in Chicago last month, for example, I learned that
Independent telcos in the audience paid between $32 and $100 per
megabit
per month for their Internet backbone connections--a useful piece of
information to know as policymakers consider subsidies for such
connections.
The opportunity to have a roomful of potential sources just a
handshake away is a great reason to attend a good industry conference.
I’ve written numerous news stories based on asking everyone I met at
an event about a hot issue. And although most attendees aren’t there
as journalists, they often tell me that the interchange at a
well-organized event is one of their biggest reasons for attending.
Often the most targeted conferences can be the most valuable, as
they tend to have a smaller number of highly focused people. This tends
to create a community vibe that’s very conducive to informal, yet
valuable, conversation. If you’ve all listened to some compelling
presentations, there’s no shortage of topics to talk about.
That’s why I’m really looking forward to the Insights
for
Next-Generation ILECs conference that Telephony is putting
on in Las Vegas on June 16. If you’re an Independent telco planning
to
attend NXTcomm, you’ll want to consider adding the Insights
conference
to your plans.
Check out the list of speakers and you’ll find many names that
you’ve seen at
Telephony's
Independent
One-Stop and in
Telephony’s Independent print supplement. Scott Meier of TDS
Telecom, whom we recently interviewed about that company’s WiMAX deployment, will be
exchanging experiences with other WiMAX experts. Bernie Arnason of
Pivot
Media, a consultant and frequent contributor who focuses on Independent
telcos, is one of several industry stakeholders who will discuss the
quad-play opportunity. And I’ll be moderating a panel about
consolidation issues comprising Yankee Group program manager Vince
Vittore, whom I’ve known for years as a sharp and entertaining
commentator, and three equally sharp industry observers whom I’ve
previously met only by phone. These include Bill King of JSI Capital
Advisors, Kevin McGuire of the NTCA and Francis Gallagher of Stifel
Nicolaus.
Some executives are strong believers in what is sometimes called
“management by walking around.” I like to think of conferences such
as Insights as “learning by walking around.” What I’ve mentioned
is just a portion of the events planned. Be sure to take a look at the
complete agenda. Hope to see you there.
I haven’t decided what I’m going to poll the audience about
yet. But I’m thinking about it. Let me know if you have a good idea.
E-mail me at JoanEngebretson@cs.com. Read more
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Today's service providers are facing well-known challenges: ARPU
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Occam Networks’ recent contract to supply a broadband access
rollout by Fairpoint Communications could yield $125 million in
revenue,
according to an estimate by Andrew Schmitt, an analyst with Nyquist
Capital. And $80 million of that could come in the next 18 to 24
months.
|
For the second time in its history, NextWave Wireless is engaging
in
a massive spectrum sale, clearing out its stores of broadband wireless
and mobile licenses in the U.S. Some of the spectrum it's offering up
has commanded high prices in recent auctions -- notably its Advanced
Wireless Service properties -- but other pieces may not be so
valuable.
|
MetroPCS has turned up its service in Jacksonville, Fla.,
transitioning the former PTA and Cleartalk PCS networks into its own
footprint. MetroPCS bought 10 MHz of PCS spectrum from PTA, along with
PTA and Cleartalk’s infrastructure and customers in January, allowing
it to expand its growing Florida footprint.
|
Towerstream is taking a page from Cogent Communications’ book,
announcing today that it is providing a gigabit broadband capacity to
the General Motors building in midtown Manhattan, marking the first
time
it has provided service to an entire building rather than an individual
business.
|
The notion that fiber-to-the-premises is economically prohibitive
in
rural areas is a myth, according to Dr. Timothy Nulty, director of
ValleyFiber, a nonprofit organization focused on bringing municipal
fiber to towns in Vermont’s Upper Valley.
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Fairpoint Communications held its first conference call as the
country’s eighth-largest telco, three weeks after closing its
acquisition of Verizon’s local access business in three states. The
company offered an unusual amount of detail about its financial
expectations for the near future, though some key strategic questions
remain unanswered.
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Towerstream is officially embracing WiMAX, shifting its technology
in the nation’s largest markets away from propriety broadband
wireless
gear to the new 4G standard going forward. Towerstream said it has
completed WiMAX trials in an unnamed metro market using Alvarion gear
and plans to use that technology going forward in all new
deployments.
|
Research shows Ethernet market revenue will grow to $16 billion in
2010. How will you cash in? Read Telephony's Guide to Carrier
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|
Municipalities participating in Utah's 11-city wholesale
fiber-to-the-premises project, Utopia, are being asked to “double
down” on that investment in the face of its current financial
shortfalls.
|
In “Future of the FTTH Technologies” on June 19th in Las Vegas,
NXTcomm08 will review larger carriers’ efforts in selecting Gigabit
Passive Optical Networking (GPON) as the basis of their Fiber to the
Home deployments and prospects for helping move service providers
beyond
delivering voice, video and data. The session will also give an
overview
of different approaches from various equipment vendors.
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Analyst on
Occam's Fairpoint deal
