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Viodi View Menu<\/strong><\/p>\n Current Issue<\/a> Youth are the Future. No, the Present<\/strong><\/strong><\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/p>\n Previous Issue<\/a> <\/p>\n Viodi View Subscribe<\/a> <\/p>\n Viodi Forums<\/strong> Club Viodi<\/a> Local Content<\/a> <\/p>\n Multimedia Search <\/a> <\/p>\n Viodi Workshops<\/strong> Local Content<\/a> Telco Video 101<\/a> Incremona Training<\/a> <\/p>\n Industry<\/strong> Industry Calendar<\/a> Favorite Links<\/a><\/p>\n About Viodi<\/a> Contact<\/a> Biographies<\/a> <\/p>\n Interested in Sponsoring the Viodi View? 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Viodi View Newsletter – June 8th, 2005 <\/strong> <\/p>\n Youth are the Future.\u00a0 No, the Present<\/p>\n by Ken Pyle, Viodi, LLC <\/p>\n [note, an edited version of this article was published in the latest issue of Telephony’s Independent Magazine].<\/p>\n Independent Telcos have historically led their larger industry cousins in the deployment of new technologies and services.\u00a0 Today, they continue to innovate as evidenced by the 100+ deployments of last-mile, IP and ATM networks. \u00a0While others have studied, analyzed and theorized, independent telcos have empirically proven that the triple, quadruple and, even, quintuple play supports the investment required to implement these expensive networks.\u00a0 There are numerous examples of independent telcos that have expanded beyond their incumbent exchange area, effectively growing their subscriber base by fifty, seventy five and, sometimes, over hundred percent since the 2001 downturn.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Despite this success, the outlook for independent telcos remains uncertain.\u00a0 With pressures on the Universal Service Fund and changes afoot with Intercarrier Compensation, Independent Telcos can clearly no longer rely on the stable regulatory environment that used to assure a return on investment.\u00a0 The rapid technological changes in the communications industry are forcing Independent Telcos to deploy networks with a much shorter time horizon, as compared to years past.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n One of these technologies, Internet Protocol, is effectively causing a disintermediation between the content producer and the content consumer.\u00a0 With new ways of communicating, like Session Initiation Protocol, more of the intelligence is in the end points as compared to traditional networks, rendering the independent telcos\u2019 networks a potential commodity.\u00a0 As the network becomes commoditized, even the most rural independent telco will face the specter of global competition.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n By global, the competition will not only come from domestic and international telecom carriers, but, as discussed in an earlier column, from entirely different business segments.\u00a0 For instance, AOL is now offering Voice over IP, while Google is seriously dabbling in video storage and distribution.\u00a0 Companies, such as Virgin Mobile, have already proven that a well established brand and a well executed marketing plan are perhaps more important than the network itself.\u00a0 The potential entry into the wireless business by hip-hop moguls, such as Sean Combs (aka P-Diddy) and Russell Simmons, indicate that fashion and fads will have an ever increasing role in telecom.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Talking About Their Generation:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n I hate to sound like such a prophet of doomsday.\u00a0 In fact, I believe that most independent telcos will successfully make the shift from being regulatory and technology focused to becoming market-driven organizations.\u00a0 By combining new product features together with soft attributes, such as a strong brand, superior customer service and reliability, Independent Telcos will continue to grow into the 21st century.\u00a0 The question is how will Independent Telcos get the feedback from customers that they need to help them make the necessary changes to their service; in a word, youth.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It is said that youth are the future, but in today\u2019s rapidly changing environment, youth are really the present.\u00a0 Youth can play a big role in a telco\u2019s evolution to a market-driven organization.\u00a0 Kids today are doing some amazing things.\u00a0 I run a web board written by a 16 year old and supported by 13 year olds.\u00a0 A decade ago, the development of such a complex software package would have required a team of highly paid professionals. \u00a0In my definition of youth, I would consider the young at heart, as well.\u00a0 There is nothing more exciting than seeing a seasoned citizen, freed from shackles of a lifelong, creative crushing, corporate career, embark upon a new passion.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The youth are signposts for the future and their behavior today points to where a telco\u2019s service has to evolve.\u00a0 Some of the ways independent telcos can incorporate youth into their present include:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Telcos also need to tap the young adults in their communities; those in their 20s and 30s.\u00a0 Chip Arn, an expert on Church growth, suggests that a characteristic of a growing Church is that twenty percent of a Church Council will consist of new members (i.e. people who have been members for less than one year).\u00a0 Similarly, I would suggest that for an Independent Telco to grow, its board should include one or two members who are relatively young.\u00a0 Young adults will provide energy and a new perspective to an independent telcos\u2019 board.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n These ideas just scratch the service of what can be done.\u00a0 Exploring these and other ways to involve youth in a telco\u2019s fabric might be a bit uncomfortable, as it could mean having to consider fashion when deciding service feature sets.\u00a0 It also might mean taking the telco in a new direction on an uncertain path.\u00a0 This approach may seem risky, but it, in the end, you might just find the kids are all right.\u00a0<\/p>\n Back to Top<\/a><\/p>\n Previous Issue<\/a><\/p>\n Viodi View Subscribe<\/strong><\/p>\n IP Video @ Supercomm Pictures <\/strong><\/p>\n Success Cases Panel <\/p>\n Regulatory Panel<\/p>\n Charlie Barnes, Insight<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 Viodi View Menu Current Issue Youth are the Future. 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Send an email to: sponsor@viodi.com […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":875,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions\/875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/viodi.com\/classic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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