Blog: John Myers

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June 29, 2007

iPhone obsolete already?

Ok... Ok... I'll bite... Here's my mass-media dictated/obligatory iPhone note for the week....

Brian Caulfield's article talks about how the version of the iPhone that is zooming off the shelves could in fact be obsolete before Groundhog's Day.

I like the fact that Caufield points out that Steve Jobs is always searching for new ways to improve iPods and now the iPhone. Most of the rumors about iPhone 2.0 in the article sound really good. However, most people view the lifespan on their phones to be longer than 6 months.... ;)

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, Brian Caulfield, iPhone, Apple, Steve Jobs

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June 27, 2007

Nokia Breaking "Locked" Phones

Yesterday, Dan Jones had a good article about Nokia's efforts to go around US wireless providers who require "adjustments" to the connectivity features of their phones (ie my Cingular... errr.... AT&T supported Nokia E62).

I applaud Nokia's attempts to provide full functionality to power users, but I agree with the point made in Jones' article - this is a tough row to hoe. Many US users are going to ask:

Is it worth the extra $200-300 for a phone to have full functionality for WiFi, etc or is that provider subsidy worth the limitations?

Personally, I like the opportunity to make that choice... However, I might not opt for a more expensive phone.... Which shows the lengths that Nokia will have to go, to show that additional value.

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, Nokia, Dan Jones, WiFi Smartphone

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June 25, 2007

How are Smartphones being used?

Late last night (ok.... early this morning), I found an interesting survey. It shows the top destinations of US and UK smartphone users.

The fact that Google and Yahoo are tops among Americans is probably no surprise. However the distribution of on-deck content providers (ie Cingular/AT&T, Sprint for US and Orange, Vodafone for UK) appears to be "flipped" between US and UK users. According to the data, UK users spend more time with their service providers than their US counterparts.

It asks the question: Are US smartphone users more free to use off-deck services? Or are UK on-deck services better than those provided by US providers?

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, Smartphone Usage, On-Deck, Off-Deck

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June 22, 2007

Killing the Golden Goose?

I found an interesting article this morning. In it, Chris Taylor talks about how Internet radio stations face some daunting challenges relating to new government and royalty fees.

It raises an interesting counter point to an issue that I raised in a recent article. While telcos and cableco hope to avoid regulation on IPTV and VoIP by claiming they are different from their traditional counterparts, the web radio providers in Taylor's article are truly different from their "broadcast" brethren. It shows that the new applications of telecommunications, whether it be IPTV, VoIP, satellite or web radio, need to be mindful of how their new positioning fit within the existing regulation and royalty frameworks.

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, Web Radio, Chris Taylor, Regulation, Taxation

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June 20, 2007

Top Telecom CIOs

Allan Alter has an interesting list of the Top 100 CIOs in business.

As I looked down the list, I found it interesting that traditional telecoms were not well represented. British Telecom and Time Warner Cable were the top traditional telecoms, but not in the top 25. Google and MySpace represented the budding telecoms on the list.

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, Top CIOs, British Telecom, Time Warner Cable, Google, MySpace, Allan Alter

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June 18, 2007

Cult of the Amateur???

Everyonce in a while, I have what NPR likes to call a "driveway moment". And everyonce in a while, I have what I like to call as an "NPR drive off the highway moment".... Today, NPR provided an interesting interview with the author of a book that says the evolution of the Internet into Web 2.0 is threatening the underpinnings of society.

Andrew Keen feels that the amateur status of many Web 2.0 offerings like YouTube and Wikipedia threaten to make professional institutions like NBC and the Encyclopedia Britannica go by the wayside and with them the standards of our society. It seems that Mr Keen wants to place a barrier to entry on the Internet content than can only be met by professionals and the ethics that they provide.

While I agree with certain parts of Mr Keen's argument, I disagree with his concept that the Internet and the content of its applications should have gatekeepers. Traditional media and telecommunications ownership has been concentrated in hands of a few organizations. Right or wrong that level of concentration has a negative impact on diversity and innovation. The Internet, and Web 2.0 in particular, have been providing an innovative stimulus for traditional outlets to follow. SMS, IM and VoIP have all had positive and negative impacts on business, but most people would agree that the proper use of each make people more effective at their jobs at less cost. The same can be said for the content in Web 2.0 applications.

Perhaps the cautionary tale of Preston Tucker ( yes taken from wikipedia instead of the professional, mainstream media version from Hollywood ) and the professional automotive industry should be used when people think that innovation is bad for society.... Or that barriers to entry for innovation should be raised instead of lowered.

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, NPR, Web 2.0, Preston Tucker, Andrew Keen, Innovation

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June 15, 2007

Servco vs Netco

I found an interesting article from Michelle Donegan about potential splits for UK wireless telecommunication service providers. The splits would have the services and the network operations moving to separate organizations. The article even talks about the merging of some network operations between service providers.

This concept takes some of the concepts that I wrote about in my first article to a new level. Not just separating the telecom industry into manufacturers and providers, but splitting the provider into service provider (Servco) and network provider (Netco). I like the forward thinking!

However, lets see if the new AT&T could or would be interested in splitting up the new company into a servco and netco model so soon after they merged it back together again... :)

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, Michelle Donegan, Servco, Netco

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June 13, 2007

Targeting BAM and Performance Efforts

In one of those articles that only an auditor or a risk management professional could love, Sarah Johnson talks about how the Sarbanes-Oxley rules are being adjusted. With the new emphasis on a risk based approach, BAM and performance management efforts can have a sharpened focus.

While this might seem like a reduction of BAM efforts for some, it is actually a great opportunity for BAM implementers. With the focus on areas that "only" impact material misstatements, BAM implementers can have high profile and high value targets rather than a wide variety of regulatory mandated targets.

Technorati Tags: Business Activity Monitoring, BAM

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June 11, 2007

Follow up on SaaS

If you took a look at my article on SaaS as it relates to business intelligence for telecoms, you might like Galen Gruman's look at SaaS. It gives a higher level view on the broad range of SaaS offerings and positioning.

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, SaaS, Software as a Service, Glen Gruman

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June 8, 2007

Going Private

I don't usually like to comment on network equipment manufactures, but I thought that news that Avaya was going private was interesting. It appears that whether you are an equipment maker or a service provider that going private is the "rage".

However notice that most of these changes are happening outside of the top-3 in each category. In my opinion, "smaller" players are seeking the "haven" of private equity to make adjustments to their business models and/or structures to either make revolutionary changes and leap into that top-3 or be sold to a member of the top-3 at a premium for the private equity.... :)

Just like the venture capitalists of the late 1990's and early 2000's, the private equity firms are not on this type of buying spree as a favor to Alltel, Avaya, etc. They expect to be well compensated for their efforts.

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, Private Equity, Avaya, Alltel

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June 6, 2007

YouTube vs VCast; iPhone is awating...

There is an interesting report out that claims that mobile video is going to have to break past the early adopters to go main stream. It was also interesting to see that YouTube may get to that main stream audience before technologies like VCast can....

However, if you consider the new iPhone commercials that I have seen recently, it is entirely possible that Apple will do for mobile video what they did for mobile music. Their new ad campaigns might just get to the mainstream user. I don't usually go "wow", but those Apple adds make me go "WOW".... Then again the Cingular...errr.... AT&T wireless connection displayed on that phone must vastly different than the connection on my Nokia..... It takes ESPN.com a looooooooooooooooooooot longer to load than those neat NY Times pages.... :)

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, YouTube, VCast, iPhone

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June 4, 2007

IMS meet CORBA and SmallTalk....

According the a note from Craig Matsumoto, IMS may not be the white knight that telecom gurus have claimed.

Just like many different technologies from the past, it appears that IMS may have been too slow to market and too complex to implement to be effective. Less elegant, but faster to market technologies often times beat out the "Cadillac" of technologies.

Technorati Tags: Telecommunications, Telecom, IMS, Web 2.0, Craig Matsumoto

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