$377 Billion VoIP, UC Services Spending, Over 5 Years ($75 Billion a Year, Average)

A cumulative $377 billion will be spent by consumers and businesses on VoIP services and unified communications over the five years from 2012 to 2016, driven primarily by SIP trunking and hosted VoIP and UC services.

If sales volume were equal in all years (and they are not), then you might say about $75 billion a year is the global revenue for all consumer and  business VoIP and UC-related services. 

The global telecommunications industry represents about $2.1 trillion in annual revenue, according to The Insight Research Corporation. 

Insight Research expects global revenue will grow from $2.1 trillion in 2012 to $2.7 trillion in 2017 at a combined average growth rate of 5.3 percent. 

NTT,  leader of residential VoIP market, topped 14 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2012, according to Infonetics Research.

Roughly 15 percent to 20 percent of all new IP PBX lines sold are part of a managed service or outsourced contract, making managed IP PBX the largest segment of business VoIP services.

SIP trunking revenue grew 23 percent in the first half of 2012 compared to the second half of 2011, led by strong activity in North America, Infonetics Research estimates. 

Consumer Reports Says Apple iPhone 5 is "Best Yet"

The Apple iPhone 5 is among the best smart phones in the market by Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports also says the device is the "best" iPhone yet.

State of the Open Source Cloud Computing Business

Open source cloud computing services are seen by most members of the Zenoss community as immature, but they expect those issues to be resolved. You can get a copy of the full report here.

Dish Scraps Blockbuster Plans

Dish Network once hoped to turn Blockbuster and some new re-purposed satellite spectrum into a mobile video service. The plan, in April 2011, was to retain some of the Blockbuster retail locations to sell mobile devices supporting the new proposed service.

Those plans floundered when the Federal Communications Commission didn’t quickly approve a waiver allowing Dish to use its satellite spectrum for terrestrial data and voice transmission.

Dish indicates it has other plans for the Blockbuster assets, says Bloomberg.

Perhaps the mobile streaming plan was a high stakes gambit, but it was a gamble with small to negligible downside, with big potential upside.

When Dish acquired Blockbuster last year, the company had about $100 million in cash on the balance sheet. Shuttering and selling all 1,700 Blockbuster stores that Dish purchased would make Ergen’s company about $300 million, turning Dish a profit without using the brand for anything, Charlie Ergen, Dish CEO,  said.
The abandoned plan shows the growing importance of spectrum issues in creating, shaping or changing a number of communications and entertainment markets. LightSquared, for example, has so far been unable to launch its new wholesale Long Term Evolution network.
AT&T wanted to buy T-Mobile USA in large part for its spectrum assets. Sprint's board considered, then rejected, an early 2012 bid to buy MetroPCS. 
T-Mobile USA now wants to buy MetroPCS in part for its spectrum assets. 
Verizon has gotten approval to buy mobile frequencies from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Bright House Networks. 
AT&T is waiting for clearance of its purchase of more spectrum from NextWave.
The FCC now is trying to entice U.S. broadcasters to part with abandoned TV broadcast spectrum so it can be auctioned off to support U.S. Long Term Evolution networks.
And a new business based on use of "white spaces" spectrum might start in 2013 as commercial radios become available as well.

T-Mobile USA Has Lost $13 Billion Since Failed AT&T Merger

T-Mobile USA's equity value has dropped by $13 billion since the failed sale to AT&T in 2011.
T-Mobile USA is worth about $26 billion including debt, based on MetroPCS’s share price and analyst estimates, according to Bloomberg.

Deutsche Telekom had intended to sell T-Mobile USA for $39 billion.

Top Mobile Service Providers Globally

China’s three mobile operators all recorded double-digit subscriber growth over the last year, strengthening their respective standings in the latest Wireless Intelligence Wireless Intelligence ‘Scoreboard’ operator ranking.

China Mobile extended its lead as the world’s largest operator group, growing connections by 11 percent year-on-year to 683.1 million. Its two domestic rivals both moved up the ranking compared to a year ago - and all three now feature in the top ten for the first time.

China Unicom moved up one place on the back of a 21 percent increase connections to 219.3 million, while China Telecom climbed two places as connections increased 33 percent to 144.2 million.

China as a whole surpassed the one billion milestone earlier in the year. 

Rank	Operator-group	Connections (millions) 1	YoY Growth, connections	YoY Growth, rank	Mobile Revenue (US$ billion)
1	China Mobile	683.08	11%	-	22.05
2	Vodafone Group	386.88	5%	-	13.92
3	América Móvil Group	251.83	7%	-	7.98
4	Bharti Airtel Group	250.04	13%	+1	3.04
5	Telefónica Group	243.51	7%	-1	11.40
6	China Unicom	219.25	21%	+1	4.95
7	VimpelCom Group 2	205.05	7%	-1	4.58
8	Reliance Communications	154.60	8%	-	0.48
9	Telenor Group	152.74	24%	-	2.55
10	China Telecom	144.18	33%	+2	3.37
11	MTN Group	136.59	14%	-1	3.85
12	France Telecom Group	133.38	57%	+9	7.18
13	Telkomsel Group	117.24	15%	+2	1.43
14	Idea Cellular	117.16	23%	+3	1.00
15	Sistema Group 3	114.51	3%	-4	2.54
16	Verizon Wireless	111.37	5%	-3	15.78
17	Deutsche Telekom Group	107.86	2%	-3	8.38
18	AT&T	105.21	7%	-2	14.77
19	Telecom Italia	101.10	16%	+1	4.10
20	BSNL	98.28	5%	-2	0.44

Sprint Weighs MetroPCS Bid

Sprint is in the early stages of evaluating a counter offer for MetroPCS Communications Inc. (PCS) to top Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE)’s bid to combine it with T-Mobile USA, BusinessWeek reports.  

Should that happen, it would appear the Sprint board of directors made a bad decision in overruling CEO Dan Hesse's proposal that Sprint should buy MetroPCS, made earlier in 2012.