Orange Gets 72% TV Growth

France Telecom has grown subscriber take-up by 72 percent over the last 12 months As of September 30, 2008 the Orange-branded service had 1.746 million subscribers compared with 1.017 million just 12 months earlier. 211,000 customers were signed in the third quarter of 2008.

Stats like that are one reason executives at Comcast see AT&T and Verizon as their primary competitors.

Negative Growth in Third Quarter, Commerce Dept. Reports

The Commerce Department has released its preliminary estimate of U.S. third quarter gross domestic product, showing a decline to -0.3 percent. If the fourth quarter follows suit, we will be safe in saying we officially have entered a recession.

Consumer spending fell by -3.1 percent. Business investment fell by -1.0 percent, final sales were down by -0.8 percent. Disposable income came in at -8.7 percent.

The odd thing is that despite the generally-tough tone since perhaps the summer of 2007, growth has been positive through the second quarter of 2008.

Hulu Finds Less is More

Hulu, the online video site, finds that when it comes to advertising, less is more. In contrast to the multiple-ad format used by broadcast TV, only one ad is shown during each segment break on Hulu.

In a customer survey commissioned by Hulu and conducted in July and August, 76 percent of nearly 18,000 respondents said that the site had the right amount of ads given the "no incremental cost to view" format, according to the New York Times.

Just over 17 percent said there was less advertising than they expected. The survey also found a 22 percent increase in advertiser message association and a 28 percent increase in intent to purchase among users.

There might be some "novelty" element driving the findings, so everyone will have to wait and see whether ad effectiveness of this sort continues, on Hulu and other sites that may choose the same format.

Only one finding remains consistently true: consumers tend to say they "hate ads." They also prefer getting free content and will tolerate ads if that is the price of getting the content at no additional charge.

Hulu has another advantage, however. The ads are short, and there is no way to zip past them, as would be the case if viewing on a digital video recorder.

$3 Trillion Global Service Provider Revenue is Forecast

Between now and 2013, a time when global communications service provider revenue will climb from $2 trillion to about $3 trillion, wireless is going to be a key factor.

Whatever else happens, mobility services in developing regions are going to play a big part in that growth.

In developed regions, pressure on landline voice revenues will be the challenge. In developed regions, service providers will have to create new services based on wireless and broadband, especially services that combine formerly-separate experiences such as voice, image, video, audio, text, presence, location independence and devices.

Nothing is certain, in that regard. History suggests that service providers, even those deemed to the most slow-moving, can replace their revenue mainstays. Wired telephone services providers, generally considered the slowest-moving contestants, already have twice done so.

They made a transition from "dial tone" to "long distance" as the revenue mainstay. Then they made a transition from "long distance to wireless." The next transition will be to replace wireless, as inconceivable that might seem. IP services are part of the answer. Video and content are parts of the answer. Software and information technology services are part of the answer. Personal broadband is part of the answer.

It remains unclear whether, in the next iteration of industry business models, there will be a single revenue source that clearly underpins all the others, even though this has been the classic model. The only thing that is clear is that, as important as wireless is, it also will someday fade as the key industry revenue driver.

Global Telecom Capex to Fall in 2009, Accelerate in 2011

Global telecom capital spending will decline in 2009,compared to 2008 levels, say researchers at Insight Research.

Spending will accelerate in 2011, driven in part by wireless and broadband spending in developing regions such as India and China, Insight Research predicts.

Between 2008 and 2013, those investments will drive global revenue from the current $2 trillion level to more than $3 trillion, the company projects.

MDU Developers Turn to Broadband

New research from Parks Associates indicates high-tech amenities like broadband, security, and energy controls positively influence the sale and rental of multifamily properties.

Researchers found nearly 50 percent of multiple-dwelling unit developers are seeking new electronic products and services that will differentiate their properties in an increasingly competitive market.

In particular, in-unit broadband service is becoming a “must-have” feature, with 60 percent of multi-family units offering some form of high-speed Internet. Security systems and monitoring services, electronic locks, and energy/utility management systems are also becoming more common in order to increase the speed of sale or rental of an MDU property.

No Wireless Data Dip

Wireless analyst Chetan Sharma sees no sign yet of any weakening of mobile data revenues from the AT&T and Verizon wireless reporting of the third quarter.

Since the fourth quarter is seasonally strong, we might not see any slowdown in the fourth quarter, either, he suggests. In all likelihood, we'll have to wait for first-quarter 2009 results to see whether economic stringency has negatively affected mobile data.

Personally, I would bet against a dip.