Telecommuters Use UC, Not Backup

Nearly one in three telecommuters say they never back up their data, according to a recent survey from Staples Advantage, the business-to-business division of Staples Inc.

Telecommuters say they rely on email (96 percent), instant messaging (68 percent), video conferencing (44 percent) and unified communications technologies (25 percent) to stay connected. While more than two thirds of telecommuters said they didn’t receive IT security training in preparation for home office work, many are applying good judgment and security best practices. About 95 percent say they install operating system updates right away and 84 percent don’t store personal data on their machines.

Telecommuters Rely on Unified Communications

DSL "Obsolete?" Nuances are Important

Nuances are important. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told an audience at a meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners that copper-based DSL broadband technology is “obsolete.” That's an unexpected quip, but likely has to be put into context.

Stephenson apparently was answering a question from an audience member about how state regulators should think about new technology cycles when they are considering things like the universal service fund, and Stephenson undoubtedly was emphasizing faster technology cycles these days, where five years is about the useful life of a new access technology.

Consider wireless networks, where 3G networks are being replaced by 4G networks. The point is that access providers often cannot make investments that are amortized over 10 to 15 years. Digital Subscriber Line is not the same thing as the latest version of U-verse, nor is cable modem access of a decade ago the same thing as DOCSIS 3.0.

AT&T’s CEO calls DSL obsolete

FTC Chief: Consumers Should Control Their Data on Social Sites

"We think generally people ought to have control over their data," says David Vladeck, head of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "If you wanted to leave a social-networking site at some point, you ought to be able to." That would mean the ability of a social network user to port his or her own data to another site. But Vladeck does not think that is required by law.

In fact, under U.S. law, it is a hard thing to determine who actually owns social network data. The FTC is one of the agencies that could ultimately be called upon to settle issues of data portability between social networking sites, an important issue for Facebook, Google and all other social networks as well.

Consumers Should Control Their Data on Social Sites

A New Kind of "Network" for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint

If you ask Trevor Healey, new CEO of Amobee, what role mobile operators or telcos can play in the mobile advertising business, you have to understand that there are segments within the market. Local and small businesses will use different tools, and run different types of campaigns, from the largest brands that traditionally have used "Madison Avenue" agencies. Telcos might not have natural advantages in the "small account" portion of the mobile ad market.

But large telcos are Fortune 500 companies. That means telco CEOs have opportunities to "hang out" with other Fortune 500 CEOs, the ones whose firms spend the most money advertising and running very-large campaigns. So re-imagine the CEOs of large, global service providers as the linchpins of the relationship selling needed to generate business from the largest and most-sophisticated accounts.

Of course, the platform has to be in place. The skills and capabilities have to be there. But that done, mobile operators, especially, could have an important and substantial role to play in mobile advertising campaigns used by the largest brands and firms. Someday, people might think of Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint as "networks" in a new way. Networks of the NBC, Fox Network, Discovery Channel sort, with scores of millions of people engaging with their screens every day, everywhere they are, all day long.

Verizon to dominate Q2 wireless growth

Verizon Wireless is expected to far outstrip its biggest rivals AT&T Inc and Sprint Nextel in subscriber growth for its first full quarter selling the Apple Inc iPhone. That's the other contributing element related to Apple's record third quarter results.

Verizon Wireless is expected to add about 930,000 net subscribers in its second-quarter results to be issued July 22, according to the average of estimates from seven analysts contacted by Reuters.

Verizon to dominate Q2 wireless growth

Apple Posts Record Results

Apple posted record quarterly revenue of $28.57 billion in its fiscal 2011 third quarter ended June 25, 2011. These results compare to revenue of $15.70 billion in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 41.7 percent compared to 39.1 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 62 percent of the quarter’s revenue. Apple Reports Third Quarter Results 

The company sold 20.34 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 142 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 9.25 million iPads during the quarter, a 183 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 3.95 million Macs during the quarter, a 14 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter.

Apple sold 7.54 million iPods, a 20 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

Just a couple of quick observations: iPad now is the second biggest revenue contributor for Apple, and Apple continues to show it is a "mobile device" company. Read more here.

With Cable Seemingly Winning the Consumer Market, How Much More Investment Should Telcos Make in Fixed Infrastructure?

The current discussion within the European Community about the investment impact of “net neutrality” rules is not a new debate. In the wake of the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, dominant U.S. fixed-line providers argued, successfully, that mandatory wholesale rules, providing deeply-discounted rates for wholesale customers, would severely discourage investment in optical facilities. And, in fact, Verizon's FiOS effort did not get into high gear until after the Federal Communications Commission approved such rules.

These days, the EC argument revolves to a great extent around the impact “network neutrality” rules could have on incentives for broadband investment. Specifically, operators argue that restriction of services to “best effort only,” without the ability to create differentiated service plans involving quality of service measures, will be a significant disincentive to the high rates of investment EC officials would prefer to see.

Some will say the carriers are bluffing about requiring some path to revenue when investing in 100-Mbps or 1-Gbps access facilities. Some of us would disagree. The alternative is to invest in mobile facilities and applications instead. In fact, some recent global estimates of market share suggest telcos globally are losing the consumer market share battle to cable companies. In fact, looking just at triple-play accounts, it appears cable operators have roughly 66 percent market share. In other words, telcos arguably are losing the market share battle in the consumer market. http://www.digitaltvresearch.com/ugc/press/14.pdf

EC 'Broadband Investment Implications' Discussion is Not New