Quick Jump Menu to this Month’s ArticlesOctober, 20th 2003 OverviewRural America Wireless Panel – Intel and Microsoft Want to Help YouDeath of DistanceImplications for Independent Telcos
THE VIODI VIEW
In this Issue: Viva Las Vegas, Cut the Cord, Camera Phones Banned
October 20, 2003 Issue
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Fall, iTVcc Details
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Viva Las Vegas – USTA’s Telecom ’03 and Viodi’s iTVcc Overview:
Last week was a whirlwind of activity as Viodi produced the Fall, independent telco video content conference (iTVcc) in conjunction with USTA’s Telecom ’03. I greatly appreciate the efforts of the speakers, sponsors and attendees, as well as the quiet, but invaluable support from friends and family to create a positive experience for all of those involved. I wish it would have been a little longer, as it went by much too fast. I will provide updates over the course of the next few weeks and look forward to any feedback from the attendees. In the meantime, suffice it to say that it was tough to compete with FCC Chairman, Michael Powell (he was on from 12 to 2 PM, while the iTVcc started at 1:45), but you might say that I “beat the drum for telcos.”
Cut the Cord – An Overview of NTCA’s IOC 2003 Wireless Symposium:
Talk about ironic – so, I am on a bus traveling to the airport fresh from NTCA’s IOC 2003 wireless symposium, when I overhear two people discussing how “management” is considering dropping the employees’ landline service and relying strictly on cell phone service. This kind of conversation is taking place all over America today, as evidenced by the decline in the number of primary and secondary telephone lines due to competition from both high-speed Internet and wireless offerings.
NTCA’s Tech Net briefing, the IOC 2003 Wireless Symposium, provided a comprehensive look at the threats and opportunities presented to IOCs by wireless. Over 30 speakers provided insight into regulation, marketing, deployments, technology and the overall trends in wireless. Many of these speakers discussed approaches that could either be complementary or competitive to telcos.
One of the takeaways was that many of the wireless offerings that companies are trying to productize will, in the long-term, become features of other products. The implication is that many of these “products” will not really be new revenue sources, but will be features included in other products and will be used to reduce churn on those products.
I am producing an interactive CD-ROM for NTCA documenting this conference, so I had a chance to sit in on many of the sessions. This week I am editing the audio for the conference, so I have the chance to listen to the sessions I missed. To read some of my observations, please click on any of the links below. To learn more about the CD-ROM, contact Bernardin Arnason of NTCA at [email protected].
To see the articles in this issue, please click on any of the following links:
Rural America Wireless Panel – Intel and Microsoft Want to Help You
Implications for Independent Telcos (available only to club.viodi.com members)
As long as we are on the subject of wireless, does anybody out there have some benchmarks for valuing a potential cell site location? My Church has been approached by a cellular carrier about using our property for a cell site. My first inclination is to approach other cell carriers and see if we might be able to get multiple carriers on our site. Our challenge is how to set a fair value for our site. We are going to try to get pricing for comparable sites. If anyone has any suggestions for me on this subject, please email me at [email protected].
The Korner:
So, ask me a week from now what I learned from NTCA’s IOC Wireless Conference and I will probably have a blank look on my face. One of the reasons I write these “trip reports” is to jog my memory. Jane, my wife, is always quick to point out that I have difficulty remembering the important things, but I always manage to remember the trash (and not the kind that I am supposed to take out on Tuesday nights).
Along these lines, one of the tidbits I picked up from Dr. Morgan’s talk was a little bit of Britney Spears trivia. According to Dr. Morgan, Ms. Spears has banned the use of camera-phones in her back-stage parties. I pressed Dr. Morgan on this important issue, as I was extremely interested in his sources (curious if he uses the same grocery store, tabloid sources that I use for my biting articles). As it turns out, this bit of gossip was courtesy of a Wall Street Journal article.
Lastly, happy birthday, Dutch!
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Mission of the Viodi View:
In this on-line publication, we share our analysis, opinions and direction on the interactive television news and views that we believe will be of interest and use to our friends associated directly or indirectly with independent telephone companies. For more information on Viodi’s efforts to unite the independent telephone company’s interactive television efforts, please send an email to [email protected].
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The Viodi View [Viodi, LLC] and its associates used their best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, the Viodi View [Viodi, LLC] does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.
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