Capacity Wholesalers Expect Revenue Growth

The providers of global capacity expect revenue growth over the next two years, a finding that cannot surprise many observers, given the perpetual growth of Internet capacity demands, now seemingly driven by mobile network upgrades, growing smart phone Internet usage and content.

Even given price declines on a per-bit basis, when capacity requirements grow roughly 60 percent a year, nominal revenue growth is virtually inevitable.

Still, just 44 percent of respondents to a Yankee Group survey think revenue growth over the next two years will be "significant."

Verizon has 33% U.S. iPhone Share

A little less than five months after Verizon Wireless began selling Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 4, the carrier has claimed 32 percent of the U.S. iPhone 4 market, according to Localytics. Read more here.

While the report noted that AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) still commands 68 percent of the iPhone 4 market, Verizon’s share has been steadily growing since the February launch of the Verizon iPhone, despite Verizon launching the phone eight months after AT&T did.

Moreover, according to Localytics, the growth has been accelerating, with Verizon capturing seven percent of the market in May and June 2011 alone. Verizon’s share started at around 20 percent in February and grew to 25 percent in April and around 26 percent in May.

Verizon commands one-third of U.S. iPhone 4 market share

Netflix to Restructure Pricing

Netflix is changing its retail service plans, launching separate "rent DVD" and "streaming" plans. Among the new plans are "DVD only" plans, offering the lowest prices ever for unlimited DVD rentals and priced at $7.99 a month for the "one DVD out at-a-time" plan and $11.99 a month for the "two DVDs out at-a-time" plan.

Netflix also is  separating "unlimited DVDs by mail" and "unlimited streaming" plans, allowing users to choose a streaming-only or a DVD-only package, or subscribe to both.

At the same time, Netflix is ending its current plans that offer both unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs by mail.

The current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans, plan one offering unlimited streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month, and Plan two offering unlimited DVDs, one out at-a-time (no streaming), for $7.99 a month.

The price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99). For new members, these changes are effective immediately; for existing members, the new pricing will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011.

Netflix says the plans reflect a new understanding that some subscribers want DVD-only access, while others want streaming-only or mixed access. Most significantly, DVD-only customers seem to be a significant percentage of the customer base.

"Reflecting our confidence that DVDs by mail is a long-term business for us, we are also establishing a separate and distinct management team solely focused on DVDs by mail, led by Andy Rendich, our Chief Service and Operations Officer and an 11 year veteran of Netflix," the company says.

People generally are not happy about the change, but you could have guessed that reaction. Some 1800 comments so far on the post, here: http://blog.netflix.com/.

The issue is whether the changes have any noticeable effect on subscriber acquisition or retention.

Deutsche Telekom, Vivendi Argue for New Business Models

European telecom companies should be free to develop new business models, including charging online content providers for delivering their material to consumers, a new report by the chief executives of Deutshe Telekom, Vivendi and Alcatel-Lucent will suggest, the Financial Times reports.

The position paper comes as the European Commission is looking into broadband investment policies in the EC, with some suggesting investment will lag because of inadequate profit potential from “commodity” Internet access.

The ability to create and sell various flavors of broadband access, not simply plans differentiated by price and usage allowance, is seen by many as a necessary precondition for continued investment in higher-capacity access services.

It also is viewed as a requirement for “quality of service” as more users in the future pay for Web-delivered entertainment video, for example.

The outcome of the EC rule-making could have implications for policy in other regions as well. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has been intent on imposing “network neutrality” rules that prohibit Internet access providers from prioritizing some traffic over others, allowing “best effort only” access by fixed-line providers, with so far indeterminate rules for mobile providers.

A decision by the EC to allow priority features or services would prove a challenge to U.S. rule-makers, as the arguments about investment and revenue to support investment are the same in the EC and the United States.

Rent Movies, Buy Books on Android Market

Google has released a new version of Android Market (Android 2.2 and higher) supporting movie rentals and book purchases. In the U.S. market, consumers will be able to rent thousands of movies, starting at $1.99, right from Android Market on their phones, using the "Video" app.

Users sign into Android Market with their Google account, and can rent movies from anywhere--the web, Android phone or tablet--and start watching instantly. Users also can download movies for offline viewing.

U.S. users also can now purchase books from Android Market on their phones. Like movie rentals, books are linked to your Google account, so they’re instantly available across all of your devices – computer, phone, or tablet – without the need for wires or downloads.

A new Android Market for phones, with books and movies - Official Google Mobile Blog:

More than Half of Users 18 to 29 Own Smart Phones

Smart phone penetration has reached more than half (52 percent) of 18-to-29-year-old U.S. adults, according to a July 2011 study from the Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project.

The study also reveals that 45 percent of 30-to-49-year-olds own smart phones, and this figure then drops by almost half to 24 percent among 50-to-64-year-olds.

More than Half of 18-29-Yr-Olds Own Smartphones

Google Estimated To Surge Past 10 Million Users

It’s only been two weeks since the launch of Google+ , but already there are “millions” of users, according to chairman Eric Schmidt. Beyond that ballpark figure, Google has not disclosed any user or usage numbers.

But Ancestry.com founder Paul Allen has been publishing his own estimates of the growth of Google+. His latest estimate is that Google will surpass 10 million users on July 12, 2011. That estimate is up from 4.5 million on July 9, 2011 and 1.7 million on July 4, 2011.

Google Estimated To Surge Past 10 Million Users (Chart) | TechCrunch