Cisco Study Says IT Policies Hamper Mobile Workers

Cisco's most recent study of global communications finds that security concerns are slowing adoption of mobile enterprise capabilities.

Telcos Poised to Grab Bigger Role in IT Services Business?

Look for signs of growing channel disruption as cloud-based managed services start to gain traction. The reason is that technology suppliers historically reliant on some channel partners, seem to be shifting to alternate channels, especially the large telcos.

Technology vendors are in many cases favoring distribution by the large telcos, the analysts say. For example, Microsoft is making its Windows Azure Platform Appliance and Office 365 available only to select telcos. Cisco Systems likewise is relying on telco partners to sell its managed service products.

The big potential issue is that many of the new managed services products might be more suitable for delivery by telco partners than by the historic channel partners such as  value-added resellers, system integrators, managed service providers, resellers and other partners, say Tim Harmon and Peter O’Neill, Forrester Research analysts.

Forrester Research estimates that more than 60 percent of technology product revenues are generated through channel partners including . But cloud technology options, including software-as-a-service (SaaS), therefore are poised to significantly alter channel structures.

HGTV, Food Network Back on AT&T U-Verse

AT&T Inc. and Scripps Networks Interactive have reached an agreement to bring back several cable channels, including HGTV and Food Network, that had temporarily gone dark on U-Verse due to a contract dispute.

The cable channels, which also include DIY and the Cooke Channel, went dark on U-Verse for the same reason other channels have gone dark on other distribution platforms: disagreements about the programming fees distributors pay to carry the networks.

News Corp.'s Fox Networks and Cablevision Corp. recently came to an agreement to end a high-profile blackout of several Fox channels, including the national network.

All of those spats provide evidence of growing stresses in the multichannel video business between distributors and programming owners, each attempting to maximize revenue and profit at a time when price resistance by consumers appears to be growing.

AT&T, Scripps Networks Reach Deal For HGTV, Food Network - WSJ.com (subscription required)

Time Warner Cable to Launch "Look Back"

Time Warner Cable is launching a service called "Look Back" that allows its subscribers to watch some of their favorite shows three days after they've originally aired. The move is a way of adding more "on demand" features offered by over-the-top providers such as Netflix and Hulu.

The new service also will provide differentiation from satellite providers DirecTV and Dish Network, as well as video services from the phone companies Verizon Communications and AT&T. The satellite providers cannot easily match the service because of bandwidth issues, while the telcos likely could match the offer, but haven't done so, so far.

Time Warner Cable targets rivals, Hulu with Look Back | Reuters

Europe Debates Neutrality issues

Though it appears there is little to no chance of significant network neutrality legislation or regulation in the U.S. market over the next couple of years, the subject still is being looked at in the European Community, which has largely seen this as a U.S. issue, for the most part.

A Sept. 30 report by the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, the European Union’s telecommunications advisory group, has concluded that there was no new need for new regulation of this type, at this point.

The group, which is made up of the bloc’s national telecommunications regulators, said operators in more than a dozen countries — Austria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, France, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Britain — had either blocked or throttled services like Skype or file-sharing Web sites.

But most blocking stopped after being reported to local media or regulators. Some might be more comfortable with regulations, but the EREC points to those instances as examples of problems working themselves out quickly, without the need for regulatory action.

 read the full report here

Who Buys Metro Bandwidth, What Do They Buy?

Zayo Group recently closed its deal to buy American Fiber Systems, which provides metro bandwidth services in Boise, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville, Reno, and Salt Lake City.

So what types of firms buy metro bandwidth products in those cities? As you might expect, communications carriers and Internet access providers, especially the large carriers, represent 40 percent of sales. Enterprises or large public organizations represent 27 percent of sales.

But mobile companies account for 15 percent of sales as well. Education organizations represent seven percent of demand while content companies represent six percent of sales. Healthcare organizations represent five percent of sales.

About 33 percent of sales volume is dark fiber and 29 percent of sales are for private line services.

Ethernet now represents 16 percent of sales while Internet access contributes 13 percent of revenue. Optical wave sales contribute another eight percent of revenue.

Zayo Group Closes Its Acquisition of American Fiber Systems

Facebook Rapidly Gains Display Ad Share

You'll note that neither Google nor Apple shows up among the share leaders, at least, not yet.