Consumers Willing to Upgrade, but Slow to Embrace Super-Fast Broadband Access

Consumers are willing to pay a large amount to upgrade their Internet access speeds from slow to fast, but are more reluctant to upgrade from fast to super-fast, according to Gregory Rosston of Stanford University.

That probably would come as no surprise to any service providers offering 50 Gbps or faster service as a commercial offering.

Consumers are as greatly interested in reliability as they are in speed, Rosston said. The research also found that experienced users are much more willing to pay for higher speeds while inexperienced users are willing to pay for basic access.

Additionally, consumers are willing to pay for high-speed access but demand reliability over a super-fast speed connection.

BroadbandBreakfast.com: Consumers Willing to Upgrade, but Slow to Embrace Super-Fast Technology

Are Mobile Ad Campaigns "Communications" or "Media"?

T-Mobile USA and EZ Texting apparently have settled their differences without going to court in a case about whether it is legal for T-Mobile USA to exercise discretion over mobile marketing campaigns.

That is the practical thing to have done, but does prevent an examination of the legal issues here, which will grow more common as common carrier communications and "unregulated" media start to become, at times, parts of a single business.

The issue is more complicated than might first appear. Texting might be considered a "simple" extension of common carrier voice services. Using that logic, T-Mobile USA would not be able to exercise editorial functions.

But the specific way EZ Texting is using SMS makes it an "ad campaign." So the messages clearly are "advertising." The thing about advertising is that publishers do have the right to choose what advertising they will accept or reject, since they operate under First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution rules protecting freedom of speech and press.

T-Mobile USA had been sued by EZ Texting after T-Mobile objected to its “short code” messages about medical marijuana.

In a related sort of way, Apple or Google or Nokia can choose which applications to accept and reject for their mobile app stores, again because even though a "common carrier" facility is used, the app stores are "free speech" zones because content and data applications are being published.

These issues are going to get much more complicated, going forward. Though it makes clear business sense for both parties to settle without a court test, that approach does not help us clarify how the bigger issue of common carrier or media models will apply to new industries and applications that cross the boundaries between communications and media.

T-Mobile Claims Right to Censor Text Messages

Reduced cost (65 percent), scalability (62 percent), and rapid implementation (50 percent) are seen as primary benefits to cloud computing, according to a survey of more than 300 information technology professionals surveyed by PhoneFactor.

Some 87 percent of respondents indicated that they were planning to at least evaluate the use of cloud services.

Click on the image for a larger view.

You can download the full survey results here: http://www.phonefactor.com/two-factor-resources/whitepapers/download-cloud-security-survey.

20% of Video Views Abandoned After 10 secondes; 60% after 2 Minutes

Online videos lose 20 percent of their viewers after just ten seconds, according to data from Visible Measures. About 60 percent are done watching after two minutes.

CHART OF THE DAY: 20% Of Online Video Viewers Give Up After 10 Seconds

Smoothstone on Cloud Computing Business

Verizon Wireless could refund up to $90 million to its customers

Verizon Wireless could pay out up to $90million in refunds to cell phone customers who were improperly charged for inadvertent Web access or data usage over the past several years.

The Federal Communications Commission  had asked Verizon Wireless last year about $1.99-a-megabyte data access fees that appeared on the bills of customers who didn't have data plans but who accidentally initiated data or Web access by pressing a button on their phones.

In a statement on its website Sunday, Verizon Wireless said most of the 15 million customers affected will receive credits of $2 to $6 on their October or November bills. Some will receive larger sums. Customers no longer with the New York-based carrier will get refund checks.

Verizon Wireless could refund up to $90 million to its customers - LA Daily News

Groupon Disappoints 40% of Retailers

A study of retailers using Groupon found 66 percent of the 150 merchants saying it was a profitable exercise, while 32 percent said their Groupon campaigns were unprofitable, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Forty percent of the respondents said they would not run such a promotion again, the study by Rice University’s  Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business found.

The point is that any mobile, web or transaction service can work well only when retail partners find the application or service profitable, easy to use and desired by end user customers. So far, Groupon might need to work on that a bit.