Will Some Broadband Stimulus Funding Follow Irish Example?

At least some homes in rural Ireland will be supplied with broadband using satellite connections, after a deal was announced between Avanti Communications, the U..K satellite company, and Hutchison 3G Ireland, according to the Financial Times.

Last year the Irish government awarded a contract to Hutchison 3G Ireland to supply broadband to the 10 percent of the population whose locations are remote enough that extending fixed line connections are not feasible. Most of the 220,000 homes are in rural areas, and the majority will connect to the Internet using mobile connections, starting late in April.

Hutchison 3G Ireland could supply Internet access to up to 6,000 Irish homes through satellite connections.

Satellite connections tend to be viewed as too expensive and too slow, compared to wired connections. But sometimes wired connections are financially unworkable. Avanti is using Ka-band spectrum, which allows powerful spot beams to be focused on small areas.

Hughes Network Systems and Wildblue Communications in the United States also use Ka-band technology, offering higher-power signals and bandwidth.

The new broadband satellite services should cost around £20 per month, bringing them into line with prices for fixed-line and mobile connections.

One wonders whether anybody is going to figure out that for the most-isolated locations, satellite might be the most-efficient way to rapidly extend broadband access. Perhaps it won't offer maximum bandwidth equivalent to a fiber to the home connection or VDSL.

But that isn't the point. If you want to get broadband to isolated locations fast and affordably, satellite sometimes is the only option.

http://www.telecomseurope.net/article.php?type=article&id_article=8470&utm_source=lyris&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=telecomseurope

More Full-Time Bloggers than Lawyers?

If I had to pick just one, I'd say the Wall Street Journal is the single best newspaper in the United States. But this story is just wrong in claiming there are more people making a living blogging than lawyers in the United States!

It simply doesn't fit anybody's common sense experience.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124026415808636575.html

Advice for NTIA Broadband Stimulus Applicants

Some would argue "partnerships" are going to be key for winners of broadband stimulus grants under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's program.

You might think this a simple matter of taste or fashion. It isn't. The statutory language favors non-profit groups. But non-profit groups typically do not have the ability to create sustainable communication networks.

There are some possible exceptions. Municipalities might dust off older business plans for municipal Wi-Fi networks. Even there, partnerships would likely be helpful.

http://www.successful.com/msp/snapshot-4-09.pdf

Telcos, Airlines, Newspapers: Structurally Incapable of Making a Profit?

Some businesses, some would argue, are structurally incapable of making a sustained profit. Airlines are the typical example. Others seem to make money only if operated as monopolies. Electrical, water and natural gas services are examples.

This year, we have started to see major U.S. newspapers going out of business. So you would think advertising, a key pillar of the newspaper business model, has migrated elsewhere; to TV or the Internet. Clearly, some has. But migration to Internet venues has slowed.

You might attribute some of that to the recession. But there's a bigger problem right now. As advertising tends to follow eyeballs, you'd think Twitter, Facebook and YouTube would be getting more ad revenue. They aren't getting as much as you might think, or any at all. In fact, some online properties are faring better than print assets, but not by much.

In the first quarter, Yahoo's revenue dropped 13 percent while New York Times Company revenue fell 18 percent, and advertising dropped 27 percent.

So far, nobody has successfully replicated the two-sided revenue stream characteristic of so much of the "old" media in the "new" media space. It has proven largely impossible to monetize content directly.Nor has it proven easy to create stable and large advertising streams.

This is a bigger problem than some realize, as it is not confined to the media, new or old. In telecommunications, all the new fundamental services, IP voice, broadband access and video, are less profitable than older voice services.

Mobility has been key in enabling a transition away from long distance revenue as an industry mainstay. But even that will be under increasing pressure as mobility becomes a broadband access service, with similar margin issues faced by wired network providers.

That's one reason why some of us spend so much time writing about, and thinking about, business models. Right now, some models don't work, while others don't work well.

http://247wallst.com/2009/04/22/the-end-of-%E2%80%9Cnew-media%E2%80%9D-yhoonytgoog/

4.3 Billion Mobile Subscribers This Year

With mobile subscriptions expected to reach 4.3 billion in 2009 and to grow to nearly 5.4 billion by 2013, mobile communications have evolved from “nice-to-have,” to providing utility-like services, say researchers at ABI Research.

The trends driving these capabilities are evolving and include changing distribution models, greater choice of connected devices, faster networks and proliferation of mobile applications. All these choices highlight one of the biggest challenges facing the industry today: mobile services personalization.

“Customers increasingly want a personalized experience with their mobile device and service," says ABI Research Mobile Services practice director Dan Shey. Service personalization involves not only allowing them to find and select the right mobile services and applications but also to control, monitor, and pay for mobile services in a way that best suits their needs."

RCN Rate Hike Raises Ire

I have yet to meet or hear from a video customer who actually was happy about a rate increase, so it is no surprise RCN customers are sqwaking about the latest rate increase they are facing.

Up to this point there have not been many options. The favorite channels most of us watch (a different package for every single viewer) are not available a la carte. In truth, for a package of 10 to 15 channels, especially featuring sports content,  it is doubtful a consumer can save much over current packaged rates.

But it is unlikely distributors can "forever" expect rates to be hiked without something breaking, somewhere.

In my case, two channels plus occasional use of a couple others, justify the entire basic package. But as rates continue to climb, so does the level of irritation.

So far, those two essential channels are not available online, or a la carte.

Of course, distributors aren't dumb. They can assume lots of viewers will be sorely tempted to opt for packages that deliver several channels of most interest, possibly with a "casual viewing" video on demand feature, that might satisfy many current customers.

Nobody knows whether a la carte or expanded VOD options would be revenue neutral. Distributors and networks have reason to fear any change in that direction would not be revenue neutral.

But I don't think some move in the direction of flexibility is avoidable forever. It might be fine positioning for a distributor to say the fees are higher, but so are the variety of channels.

That does not correspond with the way most people watch linear TV, though. Most people do not watch, or even want, most of those channels. And there lies the rub.

There are some precedents, however. Premium channels such as HBO always have been offered a la carte.  But the movie channels, pay per view and VOD always have been fully subscriber-funded formats.

Ad-supported channels have reason to fear the economics of a la carte choice, though. Still, if you look at your on-screen guide, you can see some "natural" packages based around sports, news or entertainment that suggest logical packages that are more targeted than what is possible today. That might be a half step that could work, if most customers do not choose those options.

The system isn't seriously broken yet. But each rate hike increases customer dissatisfaction just a bit more. Someday, it will break.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/RCN-Raises-Rates-Adds-Downgrade-Fee-102035

AT&T Reports Ap 22: What to Look For

AT&T reports first quarter results on April 22. I suspect most of us will be watching for any weakness in wireless net additions or average revenue per user. Everybody expects residential voice lines to decline, so the issue there might be a slowing of the rate of loss. Business customer revenues likely will be considered a success if growth essentially is flat.

A consumer landline loss in the 10 to 12 percent range is probably to be expected, while enterprise segment revenue likely will be off a couple to several points. None of that would be unexpected.

Video entertainment subscribers should grow, but will not likely have a material effect. Broadband net additions will be less robust than in the first quarter of 2008.

Canadians Heavy Online Video Consumers

In February 2009 21 million Canadians viewed more than 3.1 billion videos online, says comScore. The average Canadian online video viewer spent 10 hours viewing videos in February, up 53 percent from their average viewing time last year.

Shift in Unified Communications Value?

By the end of the year, or at least within the next couple of years, we all might have a different perspective on unified communications, traditionally viewed as something involving business phone systems, instant messaging and conferencing apps.

There are several reasons, among them a view that the "value of traditional desk phone and desktop PC is diminishing." Remote workers and mobility might become the lead value proposition for some buyers. For others, there might be an equally strong shift to IP-based conferencing as the lead application, based on "economic uncertainty as companies look to cut cost" in areas such as travel.

Integration of communication functions directly with business applications is an on-going and underlying trend that likewise could shift attention on UC value.

http://horizonwatching.typepad.com/horizonwatching/2009/04/primer-on-unified-communications.html

97% of Business Communications Now is Email

As much as 97 percent of all business communications now occurs using email, says Bakbone. And though some executives would not place much credence on the financial impact of email outages, which some estimate can cost a 500-person enterprise about $1.5 million in lost productivity, the cost of paying employees who cannot use basic business communications such as email has been calculated by multiplying the total hours of downtime per year by $18,000 per hour.

For an enterprise of any size, that cost can range from “up to $100,000” to “up to $500,000,” Bakbone says. Then there is the cost of information technology resources that must be consumed to get email systems back in operation.

Whether one considers such soft costs significant or not, the typical email outage lasts 69 minutes, and annual email outages can total 32.1 hours a year, Bakbone says.

http://www.itbusinessedge.com/offer.aspx?o=03830006em0420

Sampling Works at iPhone App Store

Encouraging potential customers to sample your wares is a time-tested demand stimulation technique, and it seems to work on the Apple App Store as well, an analysis of data by Flurry indicates. Among the strongest marketing plays in the App Store are free trials of a game or application.

There's not much surprise about why this works. Potential buyers unfamiliar with a company or application can see for themselves whether any particular app is useful or entertaining before committing to a purchase.

66 Million U.S. Consumers Now Multi-Task

Over 66 million consumers are using the Internet while camped out on their sofas watching TV, according to market research firm In-Stat. About a third of male respondents to a recent survey say they "sometimes" do so. About 25 percent of female respondents say they use a PC while watching TV.

One-fifth of all respondents reported doing instant messaging while watching TV.

That's both good news and bad news. The good news is it suggests there might be some upside for content, application providers and service providers in the area of integrating PC, mobile or Web features with the TV experience.

The bad news? One reason some people might be time-sharing is because the TV content is not that compelling, compared to alternative pursuits such as using the Internet.

$5 Billion Less Consumer Spending on Mobile, Broadband, TV?

Though first quarter financial results are not yet available to confirm the possible existence of the trend, about 15 percent of respondents say they will cut back spending on subscription-TV, broadband, and mobile services in response to economic pressures, an In-Stat survey finds. Precisely what that means is the question.

If any significant trend of that sort emerges, U.S. consumers could cut spending on mobile, broadband and pay TV services by nearly $5 billion due to economic turmoil, In-Stat says.

Will consumers drop mobile, broadband or multi-channel video subscriptions completely, or simply shift consumption to more-affordable subscriptions? The former would cause a greater hit to revenue and a risk that customers do not return later, the latter might "simply" pressure on average revenue per user.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, a slowing rate of growth could be seen for at least some services, but it was hard to separate purely-economic effects from product maturation. So far, mobile service providers have seen a shift to prepaid services from postpaid.

It wouldn't be unusual to see consumers dropping some premium services or postponing upgrades in the face of a tough recession. What would make news is negative growth for subscription services other than wired voice, which has been declining, at least for some providers, for years.

We'll find out soon enough what is going on.

WeFi, fring expand VoIP over Wi-Fi Options

WeFi Inc, an open global Wi-Fi network, and fring, a leading mobile Internet community and communication service, today launched the WeFi add-on for fring that gives users mobile access to the largest database of 20 million Wi-Fi access points worldwide, said to be growing by over one million a month.

The new WeFi add-on for fring provides users with easy and free access to millions of Wi-Fi hotspots from their mobile devices. The alpha test of this service has been particularly popular with business and pleasure travelers, WeFi says.

The WeFi add-on currently works on hundreds of Symbian and Windows Mobile devices with the latest version of fring which can be downloaded or upgraded from www.fring.com/download/.

A full list of supported handsets is available at www.fring.com/download/default_PC.asp.

To locate and access millions of hotspots from these mobile devices, users simply select the WeFi add-on from the add-ons tab within fring. Users can locate their Wi-Fi hotspot location automatically using their handset’s GPS capability, or manually by typing in any address worldwide.

www.fring.com/download/

Bandwidth Caps a Competitive Disadvantage?

Time Warner Cable has shelved its plans to shift its residential broadband customers to “consumption-based billing”, at least for the moment, as a way of controlling excessive bandwidth use by a small number of really-heavy users and maintaining quality of service for other users who share the network. Short of investing in a higher-capacity access network, it isn't clear how some way of matching consumption to cost is avoidable, long term.

But that points out one advantage Verizon Communications has: it has ample access bandwidth to provide uncapped usage, which could become a marketing weapon wherever it competes with other providers who do impose caps or other sorts of restrictions.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2009/04/20/story5.html?ana=from_rss