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Editor's letter July/August 2010
It has been a big month for the Australian telecoms market. After a long period of indecision, the direction the market is going to take is becoming clear. The Australian government announced the creation of the National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co) on April 7 2009 but the project took a step forward this June with the signing of an agreement with Telstra worth approximately A$11 billion ($9.5 billion). If the deal is completed Telstra will progressively migrate its voice and broadband traffic from its copper and cable networks to NBN Co’s network as it is rolled out. The A$11 billion will include payment for the decommissioning of Telstra’s copper network and cable broadband service as well as the use of Telstra’s infrastructure.
Download file
Editor's letter June 2010
After Suboptic 2010 and the build-up to International Telecoms Week, the month of May has reassured me that the most interesting and dynamic challenges in the telecoms market remain how the industry will connect the unconnected. This discussion is as old as telegraph wires and universal service funds, but it is becoming more pressing because the digital divide will widen as those countries locked into the information economy will show exponential growth. Download file
Editor's letter May 2010
Carriers have continued to balance the old with the new in the first half of 2010, meeting the challenges of legacy infrastructure as new services emerge. In this special ITW issue Capacity looks at the dynamic between services and infrastructure as carrier businesses evolve. Download file
Editor's letter April 2010
In this special issue focussed on cloud computing, we look at the strategies and challenges that carriers face in offering cloud-based services. Defining “the cloud” appears to be the first challenge with many of us asking if it’s really a new concept. Download file
Editor's letter March 2010
2009 results in the telecoms sector have largely been flat. AT&T’s overall revenue shows little change from 2008 while Global Crossing’s revenue has declined. The recession has influenced 2009 results in a predictable way but has not slowed subscriber additions. Download file
Editor's letter February 2010
2010 is making good on the prediction that reorganising and the reasserting of M&A goals will define the year. While economic turmoil fostered a wait-and-see approach in 2009, 2010 already looks like a time of consolidation amongst industry players and of internal operations as well. Carriers in both emerging and mature markets are no longer sitting on the fence but putting their strategies into play. Fewer players are willing to risk waiting and getting left behind. Download file
Editor's letter January 2010
There was a flurry of undersea cable activity at the end of 2009. In Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Mediterranean cable builds were announced or cables came online. Huawei Marine Networks completed its first turnkey undersea cable, Hannibal, connecting Tunisia to a landing station in Sicily. And on the same day that Huawei Marine announced the completion of Hannibal, it also announced a turnkey contract with PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia to build the “Mataram-Kupang” undersea cable system. This 1,200km system will connect five islands off the east of Indonesia and have an initial capacity of 4×10Gbps. The project is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2010. Download file
Editor's letter December 2009
In the March 2009 issue of Capacity, we looked at carrier Ethernet adoption and asked what challenges carriers face in migrating to the technology. Carriers were concerned about interconnections locally as well as across borders. Standards were also an issue with carriers looking to the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) to help smooth their transition to Ethernet. These issues are still being discussed in the industry but as 2009 draws to a close, there have been some steps towards a more pervasive Ethernet service.
Editor's letter November 2009
There is a long list of overused terms in telecoms. Some fade away and out of use while others ring hollow when used in a conversation. The term “Tier 1” however has maintained its
role in describing telecoms carriers.
Editor's letter October 2009
In this month’s cover story we discuss the challenges of supply and demand and how each is influencing pricing trends. Price erosion is causing carriers in mature markets to tighten up their businesses while emerging markets continue to offer high prices and with it the possibility of steeper price declines. On the bright side of price declines, demand is increasing and in some cases prices are coming down because of higher volume commitments. Irrational pricing still
occurs but catastrophic overbuilds appear to be a thing of the past.
Editor's letter September 2009
Telecoms is developing at a rapid pace but the bedrock of the industry is still basic voice services. In this issue Capacity examines the voice market and the factors shaping it as the industry moves forward. While IP dominates conversations about the future of telecoms, TDM is going to have a role to play for some time to come. All eyes are on IP but revenue from TDM-based services is
still growing.
Editor's letter July/August 2009
International Telecoms Week (ITW) in Washington DC in June brought together 4,379 delegates from around the world and yielded fruitful discussions on a variety of issues facing the industry. With a cross section of companies present, many deals were struck and possible future directions
were discussed.
Editor's letter June 2009
Telecoms companies in 2009 have been focussing on the fundamentals. In this adverse economic climate, carriers have seen an even greater demand for quality of service, competitive pricing and efficiency. While maintaining these aspects of the business remains a high priority, they’re also
looking for innovation as a way to stimulate growth, as many of the reports in this issue demonstrate.
Editor's letter May 2009
In this month's Spotlight on German internet exchange De-Cix, Yankee Group VP and Capacity columnist Camille Mendler notes that the new telecoms opportunities are increasingly further afield. While this is certainly the case for telcos in western Europe, it is also true that carriers all around the world are expanding their business in new geographic and strategic areas.
Editor's letter April 2009
There are pockets of development in the undersea cable market that are shaping the telecoms landscape. While the once booming transatlantic route remains quiet, cable builds and upgrades continue in the Mediterranean Sea and across the Pacific. In this month’s cover story Around the Med, we see that for the diversity-hungry undersea cable market, the Mediterranean’s central location between Europe, Africa and Asia makes for congestion and reduced options for multiple
routes. The cover story highlights pinch points that affect Mediterranean cables and how carriers can reduce risk in their undersea cable operations.
Editor's letter March 2009
Discussion of last December’s Mediterranean cable cuts is still echoing around the telecoms industry and has even caught the attention of the mainstream media. Publications like
The Economist covered the cable cuts and this coverage is helping to shape the public’s understanding and appreciation for undersea cable systems. This has also led to
much speculation about what caused the cuts and some colourful conspiracy theories
have emerged.
Editor's letter February 2009
In February’s cover story “Living the Dream”, Capacity looks at service oriented architectures (SOAs) and how telcos are re-evaluating their processes and building networks that are able to go live with new services in days and weeks rather than months and years. Although complex in design, the goal of a SOA is to create simplicity for both users and operators. A SOA should also improve efficiency and allow telcos to keep pace with their Web 2.0 counterparts, and enable telcos to adjust more easily to meet their future needs.
Editor's letter January 2009
As we begin 2009, change is coming to many telecoms markets. In the Canadian market, we can see a struggle for supremacy playing out over the coming year. Rogers Communications is using its Rogers Business Solutions business to reposition itself in wholesale telecoms. The company believes it has the size and balance sheet to attract international carriers (see profile on p22). As Rogers reaffirms its wholesale strategy, Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) has seen its privatisation deal with a group led by the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan fall through. The $27.8 billion deal’s failure does not shine a kind light on Bell Canada as Rogers and Telus stalk the coveted number one spot in the Canadian telecoms market.
Editor's letter December 08
At Capacity Europe 2008 in Amsterdam, keynote panellists approached the topic of recession with humour and confidence. It was refreshing to see the panel members acknowledge that
times are uncertain but there are a lot of reasons to be confident in the telecoms industry.
Editor's letter November 08
In this month’s Insight on p48, researcher Juniper Research refers to Brazil, Russia, India and China as the BRIC economies, separating these countries out and telling us that this is where
the action is. The BRIC economies have large populations, large land masses and are ripe for large-scale growth and Juniper anticipates that they will be among the six largest economies in
the world by 2050.
Editor's letter October 08
Throughout the telecoms industry executives are anxious about how the turmoil in the financial markets will affect their businesses in the long term. Warren Buffet has called the financial
situation in the US an “economic Pearl Harbor” while US treasury secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke have proposed a $700 billion plan to bail out the US
economy with taxpayer funds. To most of us, $700 billion is hard to comprehend, the number
is unreal.
Editor's letter September 08
As pricing for traditional wholesale services comes down, carriers are adapting. Over the summer, we saw AT&T renew its interest in content delivery networks and the media industry.
Content delivery is an enticing way for carriers to add new revenue streams to their businesses and play in a space that has tremendous potential for the future. As the Beijing Olympics showed us broadcasting on the internet is a viable way for consumers to access content. Youtube has caused internet usage to change but the success of live streaming shows there is still room to evolve. With the approaching US presidential election, customer demand for live streaming is only going to grow and carriers must step up to serve this demand.
Editor's letter July August 08
Activity among Asian carriers is heating up as we move into the summer. China’s telecoms market has streamlined with the consolidation of six carriers into three, paving the way for
infrastructure investments. This restructuring is meant to bring more of China’s 1.3 billion population online and is sure to stimulate the development of new mobile and internet services.
Editor's letter June 08
The IP world is with us and carriers are preparing for the new realities that it is ushering in. IP’s eventual future ubiquity is in view and the industry is making an effort to meet the challenges that the transition to IP offers. 128-bit IPv6 is allowing for trillions of IP addresses to be assigned to each person in the world or even to every square inch of the earth’s surface, according to the US Department of Commerce.
Editor's letter May 08
The Beijing Olympics is an opportunity for China to develop and prove its infrastructure under some extreme conditions. Chinese officials have already seen unwanted attention colour
the rest of the world’s perspective of this summer’s Games.
Editor's letter April 08
Trust is hard to win. Mobile operators believe it is the most important element of their relationships with wholesale carriers, and countries dependent on undersea cable connectivity have
to trust cable operators to deliver the service that their economies need.
Editor's letter March 08
Economies in the Middle East are booming and telecoms infrastructure is facilitating the region’s phenomenal growth. The construction cranes that dot the skyline of Dubai are a testament to the opportunities rising out of the desert.
Editor's letter February 08
The spectre of recession is casting a long shadow across the US and western Europe. Speculation is rampant on how these first-world economies will fair as they face an economic
downturn. The first wave of opinion predicted that signs were worse than we had imagined – but when the wave washed back the columnists said it wasn’t as bad as it looked.
Editor's letter January 08
In 2007 the foundations were laid for the wholesale market to grow in uncharted directions. Carriers are now having to come to terms with the possible future shape of the industry
as new customers and new demands enter the market, though the changes made to business models are as different as each carrier’s own history. The ideas discussed and debated in 2007 are the foundation for carriers to make their own decisive moves in 2008. Download file
Editor's letter December 07
There was much talk at the start of the year about the industry finding a new level of maturity – and 12 months on the bandwidth glut has disappeared, the use of the internet and social media continues to rise, and the focus on metro markets has continued – all as expected. Download file
Editor's letter November 07
Eight big acquisitions in the space of two years is an awful lot to digest, and Level 3’s
recent third quarter results leave you wondering whether the company didn’t perhaps
bite off more than it can chew. Download file
Editor's letter October 07
If you thought the days of bright technology ideas without an accompanying foolproof
business plan were things of the distant past, think again. Ebay has at last admitted
what most commentators thought at the time – it paid too much for Skype. Download file
Editor's letter September 07
The mixed messages about the potential for Wimax continue to be broadcast.
Although many analysts were predicting the death of Wimax earlier in the year, a spate
of recent announcements demonstrate that, more than ever, operators need to
continue to hedge their bets. Download file
Editor's letter July August 07
The private equity boom and interest in telecoms businesses shows no sign currently
of diminishing, with the latest company falling to private equity interests being Bell
Canada Enterprises (BCE). Download file
Editor's letter June 07
The rest of the world has watched the development of telecom in the Middle East in
the last few years with a huge amount of interest and more than a little envy. As the
markets in the region gradually opened up to competition and infrastructure and
international links developed, it became apparent that there was a real opportunity and
possibility that this time at least operators could bypass many of the problems and
mistakes that accompanied market development elsewhere in the world. Download file
Editor's letter May 07
At the end of April the UK markets got very excited by the prospect that Cable and
Wireless might be considering a break-up as a result of rumours that private equity
groups were interested in its international business and that there were European
incumbents looking at its UK operations. The rumours were widely reported on the
financial pages of many newspapers and sent the company’s share price to its highest
level for five years. Download file
Editor's letter April 07
Ericsson's recent admission that it has pulled the plug on its Wimax development
and manufacturing unit because it fails to see what advantages Wimax can offer over
3G technologies has only added to the rumblings and uncertainties being voiced over
the future of Wimax technology. Some analysts have commented that the Ericsson
decision is a big blow for Wimax champion Intel and said that they expect other
equipment vendors to follow suit. Download file
Editor's letter March 07
At Capacity we’ve just closed our second conference on the Middle East. It was a very vibrant and busy event, but wholly different in tone from our Middle East event ayear ago. Download file
Editor's letter February 07
The giant is back. AT&T’s annual results, published at the end of January, showed that in 2006 AT&T had earnings of $7.3 billion with revenues of $63 billion – up 53% and 44%, respectively. The results narrowly beat analyst estimates. The company reported savings of $1.1 billion for 2006 and is looking to further improve its cost structure. Download file
Editor's letter January 07
2006 was a year of consolidation for the telecoms industry, with businesses starting
the year with a feeling that the worst of times were behind them and with a cautious
optimism about the future. Download file
Editor's letter December 06
I’ve just returned from Capacity Europe in Amsterdam, and a very lively and optimistic event it proved to be.
Editor's letter November 06
As all eyes watch the consolidation moves being worked out among the top-end
telecoms players, it’s all too easy to ignore the strategies, successful or otherwise,
among other companies in the market.
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Editor's letter September 06
As all eyes watch the consolidation moves being worked out among the top-end
telecoms players, it’s all too easy to ignore the strategies, successful or otherwise,
among other companies in the market.
<!--[endif]--> Download file
Editor's letter October 06
As all eyes watch the consolidation moves being worked out among the top-end
telecoms players, it’s all too easy to ignore the strategies, successful or otherwise,
among other companies in the market.
<!--[if !vml]--> Download file
Editor's letter July/August 06
As all eyes watch the consolidation moves being worked out among the top-end
telecoms players, it’s all too easy to ignore the strategies, successful or otherwise,
among other companies in the market.
<!--[if !vml]--> Download file
Editor's letter June 06
As all eyes watch the consolidation moves being worked out among the top-end
telecoms players, it’s all too easy to ignore the strategies, successful or otherwise,
among other companies in the market.
<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--> Download file
Editor's letter May 06
As all eyes watch the consolidation moves being worked out among the top-end
telecoms players, it’s all too easy to ignore the strategies, successful or otherwise,
among other companies in the market.
Editor's letter April 06
As all eyes watch the consolidation moves being worked out among the top-end
telecoms players, it’s all too easy to ignore the strategies, successful or otherwise,
among other companies in the market.
<!--[if !vml]--> Download file
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