[CAnet - news] Some telcos "Get it"

For more information on this item please visit my blog at 
http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/
-------------------------------------------

 [Excerpts from my post on Internet Evolution -- BSA]

http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=506&doc_id=136710&

Although many telcos are treated as the popular whipping boys for all that's
wrong with today's telecom environment, there's a small number that are
starting to understand the dynamics of the new marketplace. 

A good example is Netherlands-based KPN Telecom NV (NYSE: KPN), which
recently announced that it's joining forces with Reggefiber to speed up the
rollout of FTTH (fiber to the home) in Almere, the fifth largest city in the
Netherlands. Reggefiber already owns some networks in smaller towns and in
parts of cities, including the project in Amsterdam.
[..]

KPN, like many other telcos, is losing many customers to the local cable
companies. Cablecos can offer full triple-play services -- high-speed
Internet access, television, and telephone -- quite easily, whereas most
telcos can only deliver Internet and telephony. Telcos are positioning
themselves to take advantage of IPTV, but it's still an open question
whether this technology will succeed over DSL networks. The rollout in
Almere is likely to spur more cooperation between Reggefiber and KPN in
other parts of The Netherlands.

Swedish telco Telia came to the same conclusion that municipal open access
networks may not be such a bad thing.  Telia used to be a vociferous
opponent of municipal open networks.  But over time, many municipal networks
are discovering that they don't have the necessary skills and financing to
manage an open network. Many municipal networks in Sweden have issued calls
for proposals from third parties to operate their open access networks.
Guess who won most of these deals? 
[..]

What's even more surprising is that some telcos are also starting to realize
that peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, and other nefarious applications, are
actually good services that should be encouraged by their customers rather
than penalized.  Currently, most telcos treat P2P users as costly parasites
on their networks, because only a small number of users consume most of the
bandwidth. Their knee-jerk response has been to block such traffic with
Layer 7 filters from companies like Sandvine Inc. (London: SAND) or, in
extreme cases, to disconnect these power users entirely. 

More advanced telcos are starting to deploy technologies from a number of
P2P companies, such as BitTorrent Inc. and Joost , which enhance P2P traffic
experience for their customers rather than try to block it.  By distributing
super node servers throughout the network, Telcos can reduce unbalanced P2P
traffic loads and provide a much better P2P experience for their customers.
Increasingly, when P2P companies obtain licensing arrangements with the
music and film industry, the threat of legal action and charges of abetting
and aiding piracy become less of a concern.

As more telcos understand that their own survivability is at stake, the
smarter ones will realize that new business models and relationships are
critical to their success. 
[..]


-------------------------------------
To SUBSCRIBE:
send a blank e-mail message to
[email protected]

To UNSUBSCRIBE:
send a blank email message to
[email protected]
-------------------------------------

These news items and comments are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect
those  of the CANARIE board or management.
-----------
[email protected]
[email protected]
web: www.canarie.ca/~bstarn
skype: pocketpro
blog: http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/


_______________________________________________
news mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.canarie.ca/mailman/listinfo/news