Some Cloud-Based Video Rentals Raise Issues

Cablevision Systems Corp. ran into an awful lot of opposition when it originally proposed to use a hosted, remote digital video recorder approach rather than putting hard disk drives into consumer homes. Cablevision ultimately won the right to conduct such operations on a remote basis, though the case had to go to the Supreme Court for resolution.

With remote storage, TV shows are kept on the cable operator's servers instead of a machine inside the customer's home, as systems offered by TiVo Inc. and cable operators currently do. See http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090629/FREE/906299979.

Another test of an alternative approach to online-delivered video entertainment likely is coming. A company named Zediva buys physical DVD copies of new-release movies , and plays them one-at-a-time on physical DVD players located at the company’s servers; customers rent a player for $2, and the user’s computer acts as the remote.

Only one customer can watch a given DVD at a time, which the company says gives them legal cover since it makes them not really different from a traditional video rental store or Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/03/is-zedivas-new-release-movie-streaming-service-legal.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

The service works with PCs, Macs and Google TV users with Adobe Flash. The issue is that content owners are likely to sue to kill the service. In the past, studios have sued to prevent the sale of videocassette recorders, for example, so the attempt to block new delivery systems is not new.

About Us | Zediva

France Telecom Facing Significant Challenges

France Telecom remains significantly challenged by decelerating trends in its wireline voice business, which is shrinking at a greater pace than its major European peers, as recession-hit customers terminate landline phones, analysts at Seeking Alpha say.

However, the company’s deleveraging balance sheet, healthy dividend payout and the combination of T-mobile and Orange’s network assets make the stock attractive for investment.

France Telecom reported strong fiscal 2010 earnings that were well above the Zacks Consensus Estimate and the year-ago earnings, Seeking Alpha says. Revenues improved slightly as the second half of 2010 was strong, particularly driven by growth in mobile services. But it arguably is international investments which will power much of France Telecom's future earnings growth.

France Telecom Facing Significant Challenges - Seeking Alpha

iPads and iPhones as "Cable Boxes"?

Apple Inc. is weighing an expansion of its AirPlay audio service to include streaming video from an iPhone or iPad to television sets, according to a Bloomberg report.

Under the plan, Apple would license its "AirPlay" software to consumer-electronics makers that could use it in devices for streaming movies, TV shows and other video content, Bloomberg reports.

So that would, theoretically, make an iPad or iPhone the equivalent of a cable TV, satellite TV or telco TV set-top box, for purposes of conditional access. So if you are a content executive, and you are evaluating the potential role of direct-to-consumer video, and you think you can add this feature without cannibalizing existing cable, satellite and telco TV revenue streams, you have a consumer-provided conditional access terminal, and the functional equivalent of the "remote control," ready to go.

Most executives are far from concluding that sort of over-the-top, direct to consumer service is worth the risk. But the supporting infrastructure to do so keeps getting better. Sooner or later, that will make a difference.

Apple Is Said to Weigh Expanding AirPlay for Streaming Video on Devices - Bloomberg

Mobile Consolidation Won't Stop

No matter how the AT&T purchase of T-Mobile USA ultimately is resolved, and AT&T is betting it will get regulatory approval, consolidation in the mobile and fixed-line telecom business is not going to stop. That is what happens in a maturing business with huge scale economies.

U.S. Mobile Revenue: Apps 2X Value of Access

One subject that always raises the ire of mobile service provider executives is the amount of revenue that now accrues to application providers, as compared to revenues earned by access providers.

That does not seem likely to change much. While Yankee Group forecasts global mobile service provider connectivity revenue will exceed $1 trillion by 2012, the global opportunity for experience providers (some combination of device, connectivity and content) will be bigger, reaching more than $2 trillion by 2014.

That is not to say that over-the-top app revenue is necessarily already bigger than "access" revenue, but that it soon will be. That points up a key challenge for mobile service providers.

Can mobile service providers insert themselves meaningfully and centrally into the "experience" equation, to capture more of the new revenue? Keep in mind that the bulk of current revenues are built on voice services (second generation) and moderate-speed data access revenues (3G data services).

In the United States, 4G wireless networks will garner more than 30 million subscribers by mid-2012, about 10 percent of the more than 300 million subscribers. Take those 30 million customers, multiply them by the U.S. average revenue per user of $43 a month, and there will be a $15 billion market for 4G connectivity services in 2012, about $18 billion globally. But the big question is how big applications and services provided by third parties might be, in 2012.

Yankee Group predicts revenue from enterprise cloud services will surpass $22 billion in 2014, for example, and the issue is how much of that will be in the form of "access" and how much in terms of application and subscription revenue. One would predict that most of that amount will be earned by application providers, not access providers.

The Yankee Group also predicts that more than $26 billion will be earned by sales of software and applications from mobile app stores in in 2014. Assume developers get 70 percent of that amount and app store suppliers about 30 percent. Almost none at all will be earned by mobile service providers.

"Experiences" increasingly are the "products" around which business models are built. For mobile service providers, the issue is to embed themselves more centrally into the creation of such "products."

That might not be directly related to the regulatory and antitrust review of AT&T's effort to buy T-Mobile USA. But it is nevertheless true that more of the value of mobile experiences, and the amount of innovation, now is delivered by multiple other providers in the ecosystem.

Yankee Group :: Research Report

Mobiles Increasingly Used as E-Commerce Devices

Some 48 percent of all U.S. consumers are using their mobile devices to research and browse products and services, and those numbers have grown steadily compared to two previous consumer surveys commissioned by ATG since late 2009, Oracle reports.

About 29 percent of consumers have made at least one purchase using a mobile phone, the ATG survey of 1,054 U.S. consumers found. In 2009, just 13 percent of survey respondents reported doing so.  read more here.

Consumers across all age groups are using their mobile devices to receive product information
while in a store. Some 20 percent of consumers aged 18 to 34, 13 percent of those 35 to 54, and 10
percent of those 55 and older use their mobile device to get product information while in a
store.

Across all age groups, 28 percent of consumers have used their mobile device for shopping activities while in a store. About 16 percent reported using their mobile device to compare prices with another brand or store. About 10 percent checked out a  brand’s or store’s website to get more information about a product or service.

Also, seven percent reported looking  for coupons or discounts for a brand or store; six percent check to see if a product is in stock at a particular store; six percent sought ratings or reviews on a product or service; five percent collected rewards for visiting a store and four percent requested feedback or share an update on something they were considering purchasing.

Consumers saying they would be “very interested,” “interested,” or “somewhat interested” in checking out on their mobile phone while in a store, instead of paying at the cashier, included 56 percent of consumers aged 18 to 34;  43 percent of consumers aged 35 to 54 and 19 percent of consumers aged 55 and older, Oracle says.

Mobiles Increasingly Used as E-Commerce Devices

Some 48 percent of all U.S. consumers are using their mobile devices to research and browse products and services, and those numbers have grown steadily compared to two previous consumer surveys commissioned by ATG since late 2009, Oracle reports.

About 29 percent of consumers have made at least one purchase using a mobile phone, the ATG survey of 1,054 U.S. consumers found. In 2009, just 13 percent of survey respondents reported doing so.  read more here.

Consumers across all age groups are using their mobile devices to receive product information
while in a store. Some 20 percent of consumers aged 18 to 34, 13 percent of those 35 to 54, and 10
percent of those 55 and older use their mobile device to get product information while in a
store.

Across all age groups, 28 percent of consumers have used their mobile device for shopping activities while in a store. About 16 percent reported using their mobile device to compare prices with another brand or store. About 10 percent checked out a  brand’s or store’s website to get more information about a product or service.

Also, seven percent reported looking  for coupons or discounts for a brand or store; six percent check to see if a product is in stock at a particular store; six percent sought ratings or reviews on a product or service; five percent collected rewards for visiting a store and four percent requested feedback or share an update on something they were considering purchasing.

Consumers saying they would be “very interested,” “interested,” or “somewhat interested” in checking out on their mobile phone while in a store, instead of paying at the cashier, included 56 percent of consumers aged 18 to 34;  43 percent of consumers aged 35 to 54 and 19 percent of consumers aged 55 and older, Oracle says.

BroadSoft Expands Tablet, Smartphone Real-Time Services Support

These days, new device ecosystems are arising, lead first by Apple and now by other platforms and manufacturers, typically by creating product families around smartphones and tablets, as well as PCs in some cases. One key effort typically is to ensure a consistent application experience across the platforms. BroadSoft, for example, has expanded its interoperability program to include mobile device manufacturers and SIP voice and video clients.

The whole idea is to help ensure that BroadSoft features work seamlessly across the range of devices its business customers will want to use.

BroadSoft Expands Interoperability Program to Include Mobile Smartphones and Tablets Powering a Superior User Experience for the Delivery of Mobile Voice Over IP and Video Solutions

Lady Gaga, Marissa Mayer, the Power of YouTube

Okay, admit it, you just can't resist watching.

4G Policy Diverging in U.K., U.S. Markets?

Regulatory policies in different nations and regions often take different directions. Right now, U.K. policy for fourth-generation networks and U.S. policy might be headed in different directions. Preparing to auction off new spectrum, Ofcom, the U.K. regulator, has established a framework where four national operators will be allowed to acquire spectrum, the thinking being that the top-four existing 3G providers also each will win spectrum to support 4G.

In the United States, policymakers have to grapple with the immediate issue of a reduction in leading national wireless providers from four to three, if AT&T is allowed to complete its merger with T-Mobile USA. Verizon Wireless has said it is not interested in buying Sprint, but industry analysts are not convinced the market will not boil down to a two-player national market, sooner or later.

Of course, there can be no assurances the number of contestants in the United Kingdom will not consolidate as well, at some point. But the The 4G auction is not expected to be the driver for any such consolidation.

If fact, Ofcom's spectrum auction will be explicitly designed to maintain the existing competitive landscape. There are provisions for regional providesrs to acquire a pair of 10MHz bands at 2.6GHz.

The auction, in principle, could have been designed in other ways. Where regulators want to encourage more entrants, policies can be designed to prevent existing market leaders from acquiring too much spectrum. In other cases they can simply be barred from bidding. In this case, the spectrum auction is designed to maintain the status quo of four national providers.

The U.S. market might  be headed the other way, towards a consolidation many have expected to see. AT&T obviously argues the move is "pro--consumer." Doubtless many will discount that claim. The big issue that now may develop is whether the broadband mobile ecosystem is developing so robustly that value, revenue and innovation are, in fact, moving away from the mobile service providers, and into the hands of other ecosystem partners, including device, application and platform providers.

If so, the issue of how many national access providers can exist will  become less important.

Will Retail Prices Climb or Fall If AT&T Acuires T-Mobile USA?

Observers disagree about whether consumer retail prices would climb or perhaps even drop as a result of AT&T's possible acquisition of T-Mobile USA.

Tower Companies Seen as Losers if AT&T Acquires T-Mobile USA

With the caveat that momentary, short-term swings in equity prices are common, investors seem to be concluding, at least for the moment, that AT&T's bid to buy T-Mobile USA will be a negative for companies that rent tower space to mobile providers. The logic is that, if the deal is approved by regulators, there will be reduced demand for tower space.

"This is bad news for tower companies as it would likely lead to cell site decommissioning and possibly lowerfuture demand, with three major wireless carriers rather than four," equity analysts at Benchmark said.

American Tower, which draws over a fourth of its consolidated operating revenue from the two operators, said about four percent of its revenue came T-Mobile contracts at 3,100 sites, which were also being used by AT&T.

Crown Castle International, which has 4,000 towers in the United States used by both carriers, said about six percent of its consolidated revenue in 2010 came from rental payments by T-mobile at overlapping sites.

One might also conclude that a successful acquisition also would be a negative for companies that sell backhaul capacity to mobile providers, as AT&T will shift as much traffic as possible onto its owned network, where T-Mobile USA leased virtually all, if not all, of its backhaul capacity.

Tower companies fall on telecom consolidation | Reuters

Mobile Search Leans to Commerce

Of people who use the mobile Web at least weekly, about 49 percent made a mobile purchase within the last six months, according to Performics, the performance marketing agency owned by Publicis Groupe. Mobile search also has pronounced e-commerce and local information angles.

The study also found that 84 percent look for local retailer information (phone, address, hours), 82 percent search to find online retailers and 73 percent find a specific manufacturer or product website.

Search Engine Marketing News - Press Releases

How Extensive is Enterprise Use of Video Collaboration?

Some 68 percent of respondents to a survey by Voice Report and BizTechReports report they already use video collaboration. For about half of organizations (51 percent), video-enabled collaboration currently accounts for less than 10 percent of their inter-office communications.

However, over the next year 56.8 percent plan to deploy this technology to more locations in their enterprise, and 58.5 percent have indicated that they will increase their video-enabled collaboration budgets over the next twelve months.

The survey of 125 executives across different industries suggests that video collaboration quite often now is used by workers in many parts of the organizations, not only the "C" suite. That is the issue with such studies, equivalent to asking whether an organization uses private jets. That's a legitimate question, but is qualitatively different than asking the extent to which that particular tool is used within an organization.

What might be more telling is the extent to which video collaboration is used "at the desk," and how widespread a practice that is. A majority of respondents (56 percent) also reports that their organizations will deploy video-enabled collaboration to more locations during 2011. On that score, many organizations seem to be using video collaboration quite extensively.

More than half (56 percent) report using desktop sharing features, while 43 percent say their organizations use video-enabled collaboration for training purposes (Fig. 9). Only 31 percent report using video-enabled collaboration for presence functions and 28 percent for instant messaging. Currently, only 10 percent of respondents say their organizations support mobile device access for video-enabled collaboration, and only 6 percent say they currently use it to support contact center operations.

Almost 70 percent of respondents believe that the interactive features offered by video-enabled collaboration services are a significant benefit over legacy tele-conferencing. Among the other major benefits respondents identify are improvements in user productivity (60 percent), utilization of IP networks (53 percent), greater end-user satisfaction (52 percent), and cost savings (51 percent).

Some 30 percent cite more efficient administration, while 27 percent perceive the customer service/support they receive from video-enabled collaboration service providers as a benefit. The caveat is that such comments deal only with "perceptions," rather than more-quantitative measures that are less subjective. That is not to say there are not such benefits, merely to note that belief there is a benefit is not the same thing as demonstrating there is a benefit.

While 67 percent of respondents report some use of video-enabled collaboration, utilization within their enterprises is far from pervasive. Half of respondents report that video-enabled collaboration accounts for less than 10 percent of their organizations’ inter-office communications.

Some 22 percent report using video-enabled collaboration 10 percent to 19 percent of the time for inter-office communications, and four percent report using it 30 percent to 49 percent of the time.

While more than half of all respondents cite cost savings as a major benefit that video-enabled collaboration offers over legacy tele-conferencing, 40 percent report saving less than 10 percent over their previous travel and meeting costs. Some 31 percent report costs savings greater than 10 percent. Some 19 percent report savings of 10 percent to 29 percent, and eight percent report saving 30 percent to 49 percent. About three percent of respondents found savings of 50 percent to 75 percent over their previous costs.

Of course, much of the impact will be hard to quantify. Better quality decisions, better customer support and so forth are harder to measure, and where measurable are hard to attribute specifically to just one change in organizational practice, if many changes are underway.

When asked about the challenges their organizations experience using video-enabled collaboration, more than one third (36 percent) report issues with video quality. Some 33 percent cite issues with reliability, while 31 percent experience issues with administration. One quarter of respondents (25 percent) report experiencing issues with user satisfaction and sound quality, while 21 percent found issues with technical delays.

View Telecom Management White Papers from The Voice Report

Online Will Claim 25% of Local Business Ads in 2015

Online advertising by local businesses will account for almost a quarter of all local ad spend by 2015, says local media research and consulting firm BIA/Kelsey. The company's new U.S. Local Media Forecast points to channels such as daily deals offers as increasingly popular with consumers, and thus a market ripe for local advertising dollars.

According to BIA/Kelsey, local online ad spending by small and medium-sized businesses will represent 23.6 percent of all local ad spending by 2015, growing from $21.7 billion last year to $42.5 billion by 2015. The economic downturn has tempered the company's predictions, previously more bullish. Back in 2006, the firm predicted local search and online classified spending alone would hit $31.1 billion in 2010.

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/stats/2035870/web-ads-draw-nearly-local-spend-2015?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+clickzstats+%28ClickZ+-+Stats%29