Verizon Files Suit Challenging Net Neutrality

read more hereVerizon Communications Inc. is suing the Federal Communications Commission over the Commission's network neutrality order.

"We believe this assertion of authority goes well beyond any authority provided by Congress, and creates uncertainty for the communications industry, innovators, investors and consumers," Verizon senior vice president and deputy general counsel Michael E. Glover said in a written statement

Verizon filed the appeal Thursday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, arguing that the FCC's order oversteps the Commission's authority.

The court challenge probably is not the last to be filed. The Verizon challenge is essentially jurisdictional. But other parties might want to challenge the policy on other grounds.

T-Mobile Might Divest Tower Network, Take Other Steps to Grow Faster

T-Mobile says it will consider divesting its entire tower network and then lease back capacity, as a way of optimizing its operating cost structure.

T-Mobile USA has converted about half its tower sites in the United States to optical fiber backhaul, the company noted at the Deutsche Telekom annual meeting. Of T-Mobile USA's 49,000 cell sites, 23,000 are outfitted with fiber backhaul.

But steps more profound than that likely will be evaluated. The company says it will "evaluate shareholder-value  ƒ
enhancing strategic alternatives." That normally signals merger, sales or other similar actions. The company, in fact, says it must reduce its scale disadvantages long term. That means T-Mobile USA must get bigger.

The company also will be changing its marketing pitch. Where it has targeted the "value conscious family," in 2011 it will focus on "affordable data services." Where in the past it has focused on "consumers," in 2011 it will target both consumers and business users.

The company reported that 39 percent of current customers use smartphones.

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Where Do Tablets Fit in Computing Devices Spectrum?

Ever since the iPad launched, lots of us have been trying to figure out where the tablet device fits in the spectrum of computing devices. Nobody has trouble with iPods, though the iPod "touch" causes questions. People understand PCs, notebooks and even netbooks. People have no trouble figuring out where smartphones fit.

Tablets are harder to categorize. They seem to be "content consumption" devices, but it now appears that is the case both for business and consumer applications. Content consumption in the former case means access to email, instant messaging and other Web-based applications. In the latter case, though email is helpful, video and gaming seem to be the drivers.

But it probably won't be the case that tablets are clearly distinguishable by type of user or mode: business or consumer.

Deloitte predicts that in 2011 more than 50 percent of computing devices sold globally will not be PCs. While PC sales are likely to reach almost 400 million units, Deloitte’s estimate for combined sales of smartphones, tablets and non-PC netbooks is well over 400 million.

Unlike the 2009 netbook phenomenon, where buyers chose machines that were essentially less powerful versions of traditional PCs, the 2011 computing market will be dominated by devices that use different processing chips and operating systems than those used for PCs over the past 30 years.

Deloitte’s view is that traditional PCs will still be the workhorse computing platform for most of the globe in 2011. PC unit sales are expected to rise by more than 15 percent year-over-year, and the global installed base of PCs stands at over 1.5 billion units. At the end of 2011, non-PC computers will still represent only about 25 percent of all computing devices.

However, when looking at the future of computing devices, 2011 may well mark the tipping point as we move from a world of mostly standardized PC-like devices, containing standardized chips and software, to a far more heterogeneous environment.

In 2011, buyers of computing functionality, whether in the enterprise or consumer sector, will face some interesting choices. In this new era where more than half of all new computing devices sold are non-PCs, the ranges of price, performance, form factor and other variable will be at least an order of magnitude wider. Choosing will take longer, and will need to be done more carefully.

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Role of the PC Has Changed, Says Deloitte

Google Realigns Top Ranks

Google says CEO Eric Schmidt will take the role of executive chairman, while co-founder Larry Page will become CEO.

Sergey Brin, whose new title will be "Co-Founder," will work on "strategic projects," Google said.

Schmidt will focus on external partnerships and business deals starting on April 4, when Page will take over the day-to-day management role.

"Larry will now lead product development and technology strategy, his greatest strengths," says Schmidt. "Sergey has decided to devote his time and energy to strategic projects, in particular working on new products."

Official Google Blog: An update from the Chairman

"As I think about Google's strategic initiatives in 2011, I realize they're all about mobile," says Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Google needs to do some serious spade­work on three fronts, he says. First, Google has to help foster use of under­lying fast networks, especially Long Term Evolution.

Second, "we must attend to the development of mobile money," says Schmidt. "Phones, as we know, are used as banks in many poorer parts of the world—and modern technology means that their use as financial tools can go much further than that."

Third, we want to increase the availability of inexpensive smartphones in the poorest parts of the world.

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Isis Launch in June 2012?

Isis, the mobile payments venture launched by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, "is expected to be in the market in the next year and half," says David Nelms, Discover Financial Chairman and CEO. So make the target June 2012.

"We believe mobile commerce will be an important element of the future of the payments industry, as it could provide significant enhancements to how consumers manage and spend money with new options at the point-of-sale," says David Nelms,

Discover Financial CEO Discusses Isis

T-Mobile USA Churn: 10% Caused by Apple iPhone

About 10 percent of total customer churn at T-Mobile USA is caused by customers migrating to the iPhone, according to company CEO Philipp Humm. T-Mobile USA says it will respond by getting more aggressive about supplying Android devices, presumably devices that offer a similar look, feel and experience to the iPhone.

T-Mobile CEO Humm unveils turnaround plan, says 10% of churn caused by iPhone - FierceWireless

In the US Market, iPhone Outperforms Other Mobile Platforms in User Loyalty by a Wide Margin, Android is Second, Blackberry Fourth

The Apple iPhone scores 84 percent higher in loyalty ratings than the nearest competitor, Google Android. Among non-iPhone users, the number one preference for the next smartphone is iPhone.

The benchmark results by Zokem also show that older Windows Mobile devices and Nokia’s Symbian devices have already lost the game in the United States.

Both Microsoft and Nokia are, however, coming back with new offerings and trying to challenge the top three platforms – iPhone, Android and Blackberry – when measured by user loyalty.

During 2010 Android emerged as the single best selling mobile platform in the United States.

In the US Market, iPhone Outperforms Other Mobile Platforms in User Loyalty by a Wide Margin, Android is Second, Blackberry Fourth

Software as a Service: $13 Billion Revenue in 2014

Cloud computing and managed hosting spending by U.S. businesses will surpass $13 billion in 2014, up from less than $3 billion.

“Although spending across all sectors and size of business is projected to grow, there are some segments where growth will be staggering,” says Greg Potter, Research Analyst. “The professional services and healthcare verticals will see the largest growth in spending on cloud computing services, growing over 124 percent between 2010 and 2014.

In-Stat - Press Release

Accedian Networks Release 5.1 Now Available

Accedian Networks Release 5.1 of its High Performance Service Assurance platform for the Company’s MetroNID and MetroNODE 10GE demarcation units.

Accedian Networks is the number one provider of High Performance Service Assurance solutions for Carrier Ethernet mobile backhaul networks.  Release 5.1 contains several key features that enhance the synchronization and clock distribution capabilities of the NIDs, including support for new GPS and Synchronous Ethernet options in the MetroNID demarcation devices.

MetroNID GPS is designed to assure real-time services with an embedded GPS receiver that provides highly accurate clock synchronization for 1-way measurements of delay and delay variation of Ethernet links.

E-Book Content Revenue $1.4 Billion in 2011

By 2013, U.S. consumers will purchase 381 million e-books, roughly four times the amount they purchased in 2010, according to Yankee Group forecasts.

E-books will bring in substantial revenues. Over the next three years alone, e-book sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 72 percent to reach nearly U.S.$2.7 billion by 2013. In 2011, e-book content sales will be about $1.4 billion, Yankee Group estimates.

Average selling prices of e-books will plummet. In 2010, consumers saw e-book prices fall 50 cents. This trend will continue. By 2013, the average e-book retail price will fall to $7, down from an average of more than $9 in 2009.

Yankee Group Research Report

Global Cloud Computing Revenue Forecast

The Yankee Group global forecast for cloud computing revenue includes some key definitions.

Yankee Group defines midsize to large enterprises as 249 or more employees. The forecast also includes SMBs, which the firm defines as organizations with 2 to 250 employees. The forecast excludes consumer cloud services but does allow that small businesses will often adopt consumer cloud services for business use. Yankee Group excludes sole proprietors from infrastructure as a service and platform as a service because analysts do not believe the typical small business has a need for those services.

The forecast likely understates demand in the small business segment to the extent that many small software firms will have high incentives to buy platform and infrastructure services "as a service."

To forecast revenue, the analysts start with the concept of average revenue per employee per month. Yankee Group calculates ARPE for SaaS, IaaS and PaaS as $4, $2 and $1, respectively.

For example, a typical enterprise will spend $4 per employee per month on SaaS. This is equivalent to $48 per year per employee, or what a small business or sole proprietor might pay for an online backup service such as Mozy or Carbonite and simple collaboration software like Evernote or Dropbox.

Yankee Group Research Report

Rackspace Bullish on Cloud Computing, Of Course

Cloud computing implies data centers and good connectivity. That's good for Rackspace, and for capacity suppliers alike.

Starbucks Rolls Out Mobile Payments at 7500 Locations

Starbucks is launching its mobile payment system nationwide, to 6,800 of owned stores, plus more than 1,000 outlets inside Target stores. The Starbucks mobile payment system will work initially on iPhones, BlackBerries and iPod "Touch" devices, with an Android version in the works.

To use the system, Starbucks cardholders load an application onto their iPhone or BlackBerry smartphones. The application displays a barcode that's scanned at the register to pay for drinks. Users can also manage Starbucks accounts and find nearby stores with the application.

One in five Starbucks transactions is now made with the store cards, and mobile payments "will extend the way our customers experience and use their Starbucks Card," says Brady Brewer, vice president of card and brand loyalty. 

Customers apparently like using Starbucks Cards. They loaded more than $1.5 billion onto the cards last year, up 21 percent over 2009.

Starbucks said more than a third of its U.S. customers use the devices, and nearly three fourths of the smartphone-toting Starbucks customers have either an iPhone or a BlackBerry.

http://www.starbucks.com/coffeehouse/mobile-apps/starbucks-card-mobile