There have been a number of commitments by network operators to new technologies like the cloud, SDN, and NFV. Last week, Metaswitch earned its carrier stripes with a win in Europe, one of the first (of many, I’m sure) non-traditional IMS deployments. Their stuff has been used in at least one NFV PoC. Verizon and … Continue reading Coming Soon: An Open Architecture for Orchestration and Management
I guess it wasn’t hard to figure out what my blog today would be about. Netflix’s CEO has blogged and made some strong comments about the need for a very broad interpretation of “net neutrality”. Netflix in fact wants something even more “neutral” than the FCC order that was overturned on appeal would have provided. … Continue reading The Reality of Neutrality
The announcement that Comcast wants to buy TWC isn’t a surprise to those in the industry, but it’s still raising a lot of hackles because of fears that it would create a giant who would stomp on other competitors and on consumer rights. The fact that Comcast has been a regular sparring partner with public … Continue reading What Should We Do About Comcast/TWC?
The FCC has issued its order regarding the “experimentation” with the evolution of the public network—both from TDM to IP and from wireline to wireless. The details of the process are no surprise. The FCC wants to understand how a modernization trend would impact the four “core values” of public safety, universal service, competition, and … Continue reading Why the Next “Universal Service” has to be Mobile Broadband
We never get much tech news on a Friday, but we do sometimes get business news about tech and today’s no exception. We have Intel’s earnings report, IBM’s new cloud investment, and also a comment by Juniper’s new CEO on the company’s directions. Let’s take a look at each and see what (if anything) we … Continue reading Tale of Three News Items
AT&T has joined Verizon in spinning off some rural phone lines/customers that didn’t present a profit/revenue profile that matched their future requirements. This trend, and others, is what has motivated the FCC to take up the issue of “transition”, and the outcome of the FCC’s review could have major impacts. I noted the FCC’s intentions … Continue reading Will FCC Experiment Delays Hurt Networking?
Cisco turned in a disappointing quarter, one that screams “Networking isn’t what it used to be!” for all with even mediocre ears. Juniper named a new CEO, one that the Street speculates may have been picked to squeeze more value for shareholders by cutting Juniper’s operating expenses. Such a move would seem to echo my … Continue reading Signposts: A Missed Quarter from One, a New CEO from Another
We’re getting some news that suggests that maybe we need to think not more about mobility, but less—in at least one sense. It’s not the mobile user that’s changing things, it’s the migratory user. Mobility means moving, and in terms of devices and services it means stuff directed at someone who is consuming on the … Continue reading The Fast Track and the Waterhole
We can call today the “Tale of Two Quarters” because both IBM and Verizon reported this week, and there’s some interesting parallels…and differences. Verizon is showing semi-expected strength and IBM continues to show strategic and semi-unexpected weakness. I’m seeing signs I never thought I’d see, signs of rust on that iconic IBM logo. IBM’s revenues … Continue reading Rust on the Brand
I noted yesterday in my blog that vendors and operators alike were guilty of what might be called “Oldthink”, the practice of honing in on today’s problems through the mechanisms of past solutions and thus simply reinforcing the past instead of creating a future. We have other examples of that phenomena today, and in other … Continue reading Are Networking’s Revolutions Disintegrating into “Oldthink?”