Oddly enough, whether Sprint decides to bid for T-Mobile US, and whether that deal is approved or rejected, the U.S. mobile market is may likely retain its current structure. Only the names might change. Over the longer term, Comcast may…
By: Gary Kim
Telecom Strategy Could See Big Changes From Modern Computing
There is one single thread weaving through cloud computing, network functions virtualization, over the top applications, the Internet of Things and all software defined functions. All are examples of the fundamental architecture of modern computing, which separates applications from the…
Cable vs Telecom Operating Costs: Who’s Really Better?
It has been a rule of thumb that U.S. cable TV operators have operating costs lower than their major telco competitors. But on one metric–revenue per employee–AT&T and Verizon arguably perform much more efficiently than U.S. cable TV operators. Tier…
When Will Cable Start Shifting Bandwidth Away from Video and to Internet Access?
If an ISP’s highest-margin product is projected to have demand growth of an order of magnitude growth, or more, while other products with lower profit margins are declining, should we not expect more bandwidth to allocated to the fast-growing, highest-margin…
In the Coming Gigabit Era, Not All ISPs Can Win
Now that Google Fiber is to be built in three U.S. cities, and given AT&T’s announced intention to counter with a 1-Gbps network of its own in Austin, Texas, new attention will be paid to precisely what has to be…
Google Fiber for Austin, Texas?
By April 9, 2013, we should know whether Austin, Texas will become the second U.S. city to get Google Fiber. And observers still will ask whether Google Fiber is a sustainable commercial proposition. Of all the assumptions necessary for Google…
Is Fixed Broadband Access More Important Than Mobility?
If they had to give up one service (video entertainment, mobile, broadband), U.K. consumers would ditch video (49 percent) or mobile (30 percent) before their fixed network broadband connection (two percent), a survey of more than 10,000 U.K. consumers has…
How Much Change Might “Unlocked Phones” Bring?
Would mandatory rules on sale of “unlocked” phones enhance consumer welfare and competition in the U.S. mobile communications business? Some argue that the benefits to consumers would be significant, as “phone unlocking” would create a competitive situation more analogous to…
Can Wi-Fi Really Compete with Mobile Networks?
As someone who historically has been skeptical about suggestions that widespread Wi-Fi networks would be a viable alternative to mobile networks, recent smart phone and tablet trends are a cause to reexamine those assumptions. The way people now use mobile…
Diminishing Use Predicts Churn: Will that Happen to Access Networks?
In the mobile service provider business, one of the classic signs of potential customer churn is a pattern of diminishing use. But that is but one of scores to hundreds of key performance indicators mobile service providers can monitor when…
Changing “Definitions” Reflect a Changing TV Industry
Traditional and basic metrics that are losing their power to describe financial performance or end user behavior are among the sure signs a market is changing. So it is that the television industry is within three months of creating new…
Apple Has to be Working on a Lower-Cost iPhone
Is Apple working on a lower-cost iPhone? Yes, some say. No, others say. To be sure, Apple tends to stake out the high end, “premium” position in a market, and really does not “chase market share at any cost.” But…
