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It’s getting mighty crowded out there. 

I don’t mean crowded with people (though I’m sure any US citizen who was foolish enough to set out on post-Thanksgiving shopping trips would SWEAR that the world population had quintupled since the day before), as that would be another conversation for another time and another publication. 

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Let the Year-End Predictions Begin!

As the year comes to an end, analyst reports are examining the telecom expenditures for the year and using those as the basis for forecasting the growth – or lack thereof – of various portions of the telecom market for 2010.

Even though there are some reports predicting only tepid technology spending growth for 2010,..

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For many of us the New Year signals the kick off of new initiatives and, in many cases, fresh IT budgets. It’s to time build new capabilities and decide whether to keep, consolidate or eliminate the old. Often we resolve to do things better and to try harder, forgetting that by mid-February our cynicism will return as we endure endless conference calls on the long road to March Madness. We must, however, embrace the now and allow ourselves a bit of excitement as we seek ways to clean up those nasty architecture diagrams in search of ...

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Availability of network bandwidth has become a very hot topic of conversation amongst wireless providers.  With valuable data subscription customers experiencing spotty service, operators are having to answer the question about how much bandwidth is available, how much is needed and how to leverage existing bandwidth to provide better service and postpone additional CAPEX to maximize available bandwidth for optimal profit.

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Over the years, Communications Service Providers (CSPs) have come to expect a steady growth in services and sales—and a corresponding growth in revenue. They have sold more phones and taken on more subscribers; use of services increased, and revenues and profits subsequently grew. But, now the spell seems to have been broken. In mature markets, it’s getting harder and more expensive to add new subscribers. Furthermore, while broadband traffic has surged, and costs to add capacity to meet that demand have also rapidly ...

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A Complete View of the Network is the Key to Effectively Maximizing Bandwidth and Revenue

With the ever increasing diversity of data applications, bandwidth capacity is a major concern for both fixed and mobile service providers.  The recent explosion of video and other bandwidth hungry applications, and their increased popularity on both fixed and mobile networks, has translated into a huge surge in the use of broadband.  In addition, the introduction ...

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It’s not the same as voice

We have seen the enormous growth and takeup in unlimited voice plans in recent years.  Just like all-you-can-eat diners, these plans are naturally limited by how much any individual can consume in the time available. Most people simply aren’t able to talk for more than a certain amount of time per day, and even if they did, they might run out of friends to call if they repeated this too often.

Are you challenged to satisfy the growing demands of your enterprise customers? Is lack of automation impacting your profitability? Are you struggling to deliver and manage complex and virtualized service offerings such as Virtual Ethernet LANs?

While true for all services, these challenges are especially significant for enterprise services. Let us explore each of these challenges.

As I write this, the TM Forum’s Management World Americas event is just a few weeks away from getting underway (and, indeed, may be in progress by the time you read this).  Though very much the Forum’s “junior” event, after its flagship show in Nice, Management World Americas will be an interesting event to watch unfold.  Last year’s numbers were a step down from the show’s heyday in Dallas and elsewhere, but in an era in which the trade show is being buffered by the economy, the Forum’s events retain a level of cachet that few in the segment can match.

“Well, it's floodin' down in Texas
All of the telephone lines are down”

There is, I think, a flood going on.  It’s not responsible for downing telephone lines, however.  It’s taking place over those lines, and over the wireless spectrum, and over the cable and fiber networks.