Results tagged “Keynote” from eComm2009: Emerging Communications Conference
In the Voice 1.0 world -- a trillion dollar business -- the revenues
came from selling minutes and calling features. In future, a very
different business model will drive growth. Value increasingly comes
from managing interactions between businesses and consumers -- getting the right people together on the right medium at the right time; and from transactions during those interactions. Martin shares some of the latest research and ideas on how this will happen.
Last year I talked about the singularity. The emerging power of
software as the key driver of the mobile handset experience. Today the
iPhone is a smashing success, Google is quickly positioning Android as
the OS of choice, and carriers are getting into the game, finally
taking control of their networks and the experiences they offer.
Everything we know now will change. Together we can explore some of
these trends and the implications on the industry and our customers.
Malcolm is leading a project that is well advanced and could result in the
first local telecoms incumbent in the world to abandon the vertically
integrated 'service provider' business model! Depending on the status of
the commercially sensitive project at the time of eComm, Malcolm will either
provide a specific update on this politically sensitive 'world first' or at
least outline the underlying principles and goals.
The project will demonstrate that the greatest local socio-economic benefit from 'abundant bandwidth' in the access infrastructure comes from letting it remain with those who use it, rather than today where primary value is extracted by absent third-party owners. It will demonstrate the transformational benefits of true open access and net neutrality in the local loop. The incumbent telco will be replaced by an open access local 'bit-pipe' (owned and operated through a dedicated local 'non-profit' corporate vehicle) which will not itself provide any services but will be open for every and any content or service provider - wherever they are located. This will be in marked contrast to today, where access to the Internet remains firmly under the control of the telco and cable sectors around a vertically integrated service provider business model (network infrastructure + network operation + services/content). Currently, no city in the world enjoys a ubiquitous local 'net neutral' fiber infrastructure operating on an open access business model as its prime means of connectivity. Rather, end users (private, business and public) are held slave to the local exchange carriers and their 'me-too' ISP competitors (of whatever technology) - all operating like toll booths, and in one way or another, seeking to dictate the terms on which they allow traffic to pass (in either direction).
As with disruptive technologies in earlier ages, it is only a real life 'exemplar' that changes the world and repositions conventional thinking. Without such a radical exemplar in the communications world, we will continue to see public policy around the world supporting the continuation of local exchange carriers wedded to an obsolete business model. The goal of ubiquitous high bandwidth P2P local connectivity will never be realized.
The project will demonstrate that the greatest local socio-economic benefit from 'abundant bandwidth' in the access infrastructure comes from letting it remain with those who use it, rather than today where primary value is extracted by absent third-party owners. It will demonstrate the transformational benefits of true open access and net neutrality in the local loop. The incumbent telco will be replaced by an open access local 'bit-pipe' (owned and operated through a dedicated local 'non-profit' corporate vehicle) which will not itself provide any services but will be open for every and any content or service provider - wherever they are located. This will be in marked contrast to today, where access to the Internet remains firmly under the control of the telco and cable sectors around a vertically integrated service provider business model (network infrastructure + network operation + services/content). Currently, no city in the world enjoys a ubiquitous local 'net neutral' fiber infrastructure operating on an open access business model as its prime means of connectivity. Rather, end users (private, business and public) are held slave to the local exchange carriers and their 'me-too' ISP competitors (of whatever technology) - all operating like toll booths, and in one way or another, seeking to dictate the terms on which they allow traffic to pass (in either direction).
As with disruptive technologies in earlier ages, it is only a real life 'exemplar' that changes the world and repositions conventional thinking. Without such a radical exemplar in the communications world, we will continue to see public policy around the world supporting the continuation of local exchange carriers wedded to an obsolete business model. The goal of ubiquitous high bandwidth P2P local connectivity will never be realized.
