By Phil Britt

Content and billing issues continued to evolve during the last month as telecom and related companies continued to sort out their pieces of the revenue puzzle in the current landscape and looked ahead to how the market would continue to evolve.

Content Battle Continues

The content wars continued to heat up during the last month. Hulu announced a $9.99 a month service, dubbed Hulu Plus, targeted to users of iPhones, iPads and iTouch devices. If the fee-based service is as popular with customers as Hulu owners hope it will be, it could mean even more pressure on the AT&T network, which has had well-documented volume issues ever since the debut of the popular iPhone.

With its larger form factor, the iPhone will be a major element in the success or failure of the Hulu Plus service. Of course, another critical factor will be the state of the economy. Several economic reports say that consumers are saving more and have cut back on discretionary purchases like subscriptions.

The Hulu Plus announcement came on the heels of the Verizon petition to the Federal Communications Commission to get access to high definition feeds of MSG and MSG+ regional sports programming for its FiOS television subscribers, which it says that content owner Cablevision is illegally withholding. Verizon claimed in its petition that “consumers who would otherwise have FiOS as an alternative to Cablevision do not view FiOS as a competitive option due to the lack of MSG and MSG+ in HD.” Verizon is seeking to maximize the in-demand HD content it offers through its FiOS channel in order to leverage its investment in the fiber technology.

The ability to provide compelling content for consumers isn’t limited to programming like sports from MSG and television programming from Hulu. At the beginning of July, Walt Disney Co. acquired Tapulous Inc., a developer of music-related video games for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad, for an undisclosed amount. Tapulous has 30 million users and is profitable, according to its website.

management firm IMServ to provide connectivity for advanced and smart meters. The contract covering a minimum of 10,000 meters is BT’s first-ever in a market that the firm expects to grow substantially, as public and private sector organizations focus on reducing energy and carbon costs on meeting obligations under the UK’s carbon reduction commitment energy efficiency scheme.

BT will be the primary supplier of meter connectivity to IMServ, part of Invensys Operations Management and a supplier of metering services to customers including energy suppliers and energy users. BT Redcare officials see this initial smart meter contract as an opening into a important emerging market, with good potential for business in fire and security, vending and financial services markets.

As energy conservation becomes more important throughout the globe, the smart metering opportunities could provide an important revenue stream for telecom carriers.