|
|
article
page | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
The most conspicuous
examples of the strategic importance
of geographic breadth have been the
consolidation of much of the old Bell
System by AT&T and Verizon. The
“new” AT&T has tied
together the former regional incumbents
in the Southwest (SBC), Midwest (Ameritech),
Southeast (BellSouth), West Coast (PacBell),
as well as the backbone network of the
“old” AT&T and former
joint wireless venture (Cingular). Similarly,
Verizon has incorporated the network
assets of the regional LECs in the Northeast
(NYNEX) and Mid-Atlantic (Bell Atlantic),
as well as the long-distance and international
network of former MCI. Prior to the
post-bubble wave of consolidation, trans-regional
enterprises had to rely on one or more
regional LECs for access, an IXC for
long-haul services, and a cellular provider
for wireless services. Increasingly,
the surviving RBOC giants can do it
all.
What really
proves the rule is the activity
that has occurred further down
the dance card. Reacting to
the national strategies of the
top RBOCs, competitive carriers
in 2006 and 2007 have merged
with or acquired similar providers
to create supra-regional networks.
An early mover on this strategy
was Level 3,
which has acquired several regional
access providers in the East
and Southeast to complement
its existing backbone network,
a veritable “lite version”
of the RBOCs’ national
strategies. One Communications joined three carriers (Choice
One, Conversent, and CTC Communications)
into a network stretching from
the Northeast to Wisconsin and
Illinois, thus bridging the
Verizon and AT&T LEC territories.
Similarly, PAETEC,
a predominantly northeastern
carrier, merged with US LEC,
a southeastern CLEC, and recently
announced plans to buy McLeodUSA,
a carrier with operations in
20 states across the Midwest,
Southwest, and West. There are
other examples of comparable
import, and many more among
even smaller carriers.
As end-user demand for faster
wireline access continues to
grow exponentially and the rollout
of broadband wireless services
increases the bandwidth needed
for cell site backhaul, the
strain on backbone networks—and
costs for acquiring this transport
from other carriers—will
also increase significantly.
Providers that provide a given
service, whether wireline or
wireless, while minimizing third-party
expenses, will have a distinct
advantage. Future consolidation
is likely among all types of
competitive carriers and network
operators, and successful providers
will keep up with customers’
demand for on-net access within
a region or major national (and
international) commercial centers.
Dimension
4: Service Customization
The fourth
dimension of the telecommunications
market is customization,
|
|
Symantec reports that 65-70% of
all email is spam, and other sources
estimate the percentage could be
higher still. |
|
which
is exemplified by content as
well as the design of the services
themselves. In a “Web
2.0” world characterized
by dynamic, collaborative applications
and the almost unlimited ability
to modify and share content—even
stubborn Google now offers the
option of using a customizable
“iGoogle” portal—a
one-size-fits-all service portfolio
cannot long survive.
In the
current market, key systems
and PBXs connected to channelized
telecom services are being replaced
by smart routers and dynamically-allocated
bandwidth that optimizes network
access. In place of the rigid structure of the traditional
T-carrier system, business customers
are increasingly turning to scalable
(and more attractively priced) metro
Ethernet solutions. The combination
of Ethernet service level agreements
(SLAs) and MPLS backbones enables class
of service differentiation, guaranteeing
gradations of service levels based on
multiple types of a customer’s
traffic. What’s more, providers
are rolling out bandwidth-on-demand
functionality, enabling customers to
change their service level in hours
or even minutes. Coupled with online
reporting and service management portals,
customers can obtain a level of control
unheard of even a few years ago.
Providers will compete
by offering options to customers on
multiple levels, giving them the power
to employ the services they want, when
they want. Install intervals for many
services are shrinking—which makes
it all the more important that carriers
meet and exceed them. Service providers
are also giving customers the option
to bundle in other services. On the
residential side, this takes the form
of triple- and quad-play services; on
the business side, this can include
managed services, data storage, and
disaster recovery services. Success
will be defined by how well providers
meet a wide variety of needs and how
easily customers can modify services
as their needs change.
Dimension 5:
Security & Availability
Security is a competitive
dimension of increasing interest to
consumers, businesses, and service providers
alike. For consumers, email spam continues
to be a chronic headache—Symantec
reports that 65-70% of all email is
spam, and other sources estimate the
percentage could be higher still—that
leads many users to switch email providers.
Worse, so-called “phishing”
scams that mimic legitimate businesses
have become increasingly sophisticated,
leading to billions of
article
page | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|
|
|
|
