Twitter Boosts D.C. Policy Representation

Twitter is taking a highly profile in the Washington, D.C. lobbying scene by hiring of telecom policy veteran Colin Crowell, on top of earlier moves to bulk up its regulatory and legislative staff inside the Beltway. Twitter expands its D.C. presence 


In doing so, Twitter joins other technology firms that in recent years have discovered the importance of regulatory and legislative influence, something telecom and cable firms always have understood.

But the importance of policy is new for the technology industry, a matter of basic importance for telecom and cable companies. Look at Google's various entanglements. Google has faced  a broad U.S. antitrust probe of the company's practices.


Last week, federal prosecutors who had investigated Google's practice of allowing ads from illegal online pharmacies on its Web search engine between 2003 and 2009 singled out Mr. Page. They said he had personal knowledge of the alleged crime and failed to prevent it. The federal prosecutors made their comments after Google paid $500 million last week to avoid criminal charges.


In April 2011, the government approved Google's purchase of ITA Software. In past years, Google has advocated for changes in spectrum policy as well. 

Google faces numerous policy challenges

Will U.S. Telecom Service Revenue Double in Five Years?

Is it possible that U.S. service provider revenue could double in just the next five years? Insight Research Corp. thinks so. The firm reports that predicts that, between 2011 and 2016,, North American carrier revenue will rise from $287 billion to $662 billion, representing 11 percent compound annual revenue growth.

That rapid growth, on a compound basis, would lead to a doubling of industry revenue in five years. That doesn't mean providers in every segment will benefit equally. But a forecast that large would have to assume that most of the growth would have to occur at the largest firms, which represent 80 percent of total industry revenue.

The smaller providers cannot reasonably contribute enough aggregate revenue to tip the needle at such a large scale, even with even-higher rates of growth than 11 percent, compounded. 

Global carrier revenue is expected to achieve a nine percent compound annual growth rate from 2011 to 2016, growing to a total of $5.13 trillion, according to Insight Research Corp. 

The forecast explicitly assumes that North American service providers successfully will grow new revenues at a rate fast enough to compensate for weakening voice revenues, for example. Insight Research findings here 

 In terms of segment revenue, the latest forecast projects a 45 percent CAGR for global wireless broadband revenue, 14 percent for fixed-line broadband, about six percent growth for narrowband wireless services and negative three percent revenue change for fixed network narrowband services. 

One way to look at the structure of the global market is to note that, by 2016, wireless broadband will account for about 28 percent of all communications service revenue. 

Narrowband wireless services will account for 38 percent of global revenue. Altogether, wireless will represent 66 percent of total industry revenue. 

Fixed-line broadband will account for 11 percent of global revenue, while fixed-line narrowband services will represent 23 percent of total revenue. In aggregate, fixed line revenue will account for 34 percent of total service provider revenue, on a global basis.

Google+, Facebook "Searchers" are "Different"

Google+ is moving from early adopter to mainstream use, but the demographics of Google+ searchers still suggest its "early" stage of adoption.

When comparing the demographics of Facebook searchers, and Google+ searchers, the most striking differences between Google searchers and Facebook searchers are in age and income.

Google searchers overwhelmingly skew towards 18 to 34 year olds. Since Facebook is a much more mature brand in the social networking space, their search audience falls closely in line with the search population at large.

The income skews are even more distinct, essentially polar opposites of each other. More than 32 percent of Google searchers have a household income of $100,000 or greater, compared to 23 percent of Facebook searchers. Google is definitely off to a fast start in reaching the most desirable income segments, which may make it more attractive to advertisers and content marketers.

Searcher Demographics

Time Warner Cable Offers Slingbox to Wideband Customers

Time Warner Cable plans to allow its customers subsidized prices on purchases of the Slingbox, which will allow Time Warner Cable users to watch their paid-for video on any broadband connection at a remote location. The Slingbox is priced at $300 but will be available to the subscribers of Time Warner Cable who buy the $99 a month "Wideband" service plan essentially for free, as Time Warner will offer a $300 rebate to customers who buy the Slingbox units. Time Warner Cable Offers Slingbox

The move is part of the growing conflict between content owners and video distributors about what rights are conferred to cable operators as distributors. Time Warner says its current contracts allow it to provide streaming access. Content providers want to be paid extra for such capabilities. The Slingbox capability is one way of giving subscribers remote access on Internet-connected devices while side-stepping such contractual disputes.

Ecosystems Are In, Vertical Integration Out

The content and communications businesses these days are fundamentally different from those same businesses of 30 years ago in one fundamental way. Unlike the situation several decades ago, when value almost completely could be controlled by vertically-integrated providers, value now is derived from loosely coupled ecosystems.

In other words, where a telco in the past could control and vertically integrate every part of the “voice delivery” business, these days network-delivered applications with high value can be delivered to end users (both business and consumer) without any formal business relationship with an access provider.

Much the same is becoming true for just about every other type of content or application you can think of, the phrase “over the top” nicely capturing the dynamics.

These days, telcos, cable companies and media firms alike operate in markets where value is supplied by many different partners. “Telecom ecosystems were easier to define in the days of monopolies and nationalized postal, telegraph and telephone organizations (PTTs),” says Jörgen Lantto, who works with systems management within multimedia at Ericsson. “Nowadays, they include everything from developers and devices to Google and billing systems.” Partners are key.

Razorsight | Corporate Blog:

Cablevision Expands Optimum Business to Include Mobile Service

"In a recent survey of more than 500 small businesses in our area we found that they are often overwhelmed by selecting the right mobile service for their business," said Stephanie Anderson, Vice President of Commercial Marketing for Cablevision. "We have formed a strategic alliance with Sprint to bring our Optimum small business customers a unique package to simplify the process of selecting a wireless service."

The move is an example of the growing importance wireless services play in the small business market.

Cablevision To Include Wireless Service From Sprint

How Google Wants to Change TV

And Google isn't the only company working on this. Apple wants to reshape television as well.

While TV programming is limited by time and the number of TV networks, the Internet provides the possibility of a near-infinite amount of content to choose from.

And, given the on-demand way that viewers are increasingly viewing content — through prerecorded shows on their DVRs, video-on-demand selections through their cable provider or streaming on the Internet — there needs to be a way to sort through those content choices.

For years broadcasters have largely tried to control viewer choices with lead-ins and other editorial hooks, but the vast number of content choices calls for a new way of discovering content. We’ve long argued that personalized recommendations will be vital to the way that viewers discover video in the future.

TV is about choice