There is an old saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” That is what Stephen Colbert, from the The Colbert Report has to say about the recent merger activity in the telecom industry. Now of course the difference is telecommunication carriers today are facing far greater competition from cable, satellite, and data providers, along with peer-to=peer and services like Skype
.
APA Cables and Networks, a company that creates fiber management equipment for over 1100 local independent telephone companies, just announced a new fiber management upgrade kit that will allow local fiber distribution networks to meet higher bandwidth demands. Local phone companies can now carry voice, video, and data across fiber lines.
This is a clear indication that we are moving towards a more converged world, as local companies are provided with the technology to meet increased bandwidth needs. Much of the success and failure of the Internet’s capabilities will be based on the ability to boost bandwidth to support interactive media.
Cisco has a vision, to create the ultimate Human Network that simplifies communications between voice, video, and data coupled with mobile devices. John Chambers, CEO of Cisco unveiled Cisco’s new vision at the CES show in Las Vegas. This is really a logical progression of communications convergence, but on a more personal level.
As social networking sites dominated much of the media’s attention, the next hurdle is to enable easier communication between different platforms – which is what Cisco wants to do. The days of the copper wire have come a long way, as Chambers gives us a glimpse of what the future will look like. Listening to music on your PC and easily moving it to your cell phone as you walk out the door, starting a chat session with your buddies as you watch Sunday’s football games, or loading pictures on your home network to be viewed in the family room. Indeed, the world of “converged” communications is going to move very fast over the next few months and years.
The introduction of new technologies has a profound impact on how corporations manage and deal with these services throughout the organization. What was used in the past, does not mean it will work in today’s environment, especially when dealing with multiple forms of communication (VoIP, wireless, instant messaging, etc).
This is one reason why last year marked a paradigm shift in the way companies manage telecommunications. An increasingly more complicated mix of telecom services has made it imperative that an organization go beyond spreadsheets or standalone software to manage invoices telecom and track inventory. The introduction of next generation telecom expense management solutions now provide companies with a solution that allows companies to manage services from procure to pay through an automated system. But perhaps even more important is what companies can do with the data.
The data that is accumulated provides a blueprint for conducting advanced analytics associated with Business Intelligence solutions. The data is proving to be a goldmine in terms of forecasting and budgeting that give organizations a better idea of the impact of what is needed with regard to network migrations and overall costs for services. Indeed as the types of telecom services increases in sophistication, so do the solutions used to manage them.
It has been in the news for quite some time, but it appears all systems are go for San Francisco to become the first city to have a Wi-Fi network cover the entire city. Google and Earthink have reached an agreement where Google will provide the free Wi-Fi service, generating revenue through advertising. EarthLink would handle the faster, paid service, which would cost about $20 a month.
The impact will have far reaching results. For one, it will provide competition to cable and traditional carriers that offer Internet access. This will also give rise to Wi-Fi enabled phones that theoretically will allow people to make free calls through services like Skype.
We at the Copper Wire apologize for the slow couple of weeks, but the batteries have been recharged and we are now excited about the arrival of 2007. The new innovations hitting the market, along with more widespread adoption of IP technologies promise to make 2007 a year of advancement in telecommunication technologies.
What would the New Year be without some early predictions:
1. There is bound to be a sharp increase in technologies like Skype and VoIP. The adoption rate for these services are hitting a growth stage and as one collegue said to me, “It is not too long before everybody has this peer-to-peer chat on their computers.” This also means companies are going to have to pay closer attention on how to monitor this activity, similar to instant messagining.
2. It will also be the year we see an increase in video as more prevalent form of communication. Suddenly the Jetsons does not seem so far fetched.
3. Finally while 2006 was the Year of the Blog and social networking sites, we think 2007 promises to be the Year of the Podcast, taking blogging to a more interactive (and spontaneous) level. Now sure Podcasting as been around for awhile, but much like blogging, the explosion is Podcasting is right around the corner.
Check in as the Copper Wire continues to cover the changing world of how we communicate.