I Love Ooma (or, How to Make a Great VoIP ATA)
Today marks the end of my third week as an Ooma White Rabbit (that’s Ooma’s euphemistic term for guinea pig). And while I generally avoid commenting on VoIP gadgets or services, I feel compelled to make an exception in this case to give praise where it is due. I don’t know whether Ooma [...]
Google vs. the Telcos – a Timeline
Tomorrow, July 31, the FCC will vote on the bidding rules to be employed for the upcoming 700Mhz wireless frequency auction. The outcome is of paramount importance to the future of the Internet in the United States. At issue is whether the bidding rules will be designed to thwart the monopolistic tendencies [...]
WSJ on Wireless Network Neutrality
Today’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting article (subscription required) on the current state of the wireless walled garden. It cites several recent clashes between handset vendors and cellcos over the extent to which consumers can use their phones to access non cellco content. Says the Journal:
At stake for consumers are what [...]
Femptocells Pull Ahead in FMC Horserace
There are two recent events worth noting in the ongoing technology race between competing standards for fixed-mobile convergence (FMC).
While there are many strategies being employed to allow mobile phones to “roam” onto broadband IP networks, one of the unanswered questions has been whether it is feasible to use unlicensed radio frequencies – referred to as [...]
EU Tackles the Dumb Pipe Dilemma
Viviane Reding, the European Union telecoms commissioner, has a plan to hasten the adoption of next generation networking services. In an interview with the Financial Times, Ms. Reding stated that the Commission will consider the introduction of “functional separation” as a possible remedy for competition problems when it meets in July to review the telecom [...]
Suspense Grows over Sealed Verizon VoIP Decision
It seems like my phone hasn’t stopped ringing since Friday. Mostly, it is Solegy customers asking how the Verizon patent infringement suit against Vonage might affect them. Speculation abounds, especially in blogs, and VoIP service providers are trying to figure out where they stand. For reasons that are completely unfounded, my [...]
Verizon VoIP Litigation, Win Creates Uncertainty
A jury decision by a U.S. District Court in Virginia has cast a cloud of uncertainty over the status of VoIP service providers operating in the United States. Finding that Vonage had infringed on 3 Verizon patents, the March 8, 2007 decision requires Vonage to pay Verizon US$58 Million, representing 5.5% of its [...]
Apple Rocks with iPhone and iTV
Steve Jobs pulled a two-fer in announcing the availability of two products that, if they work as promised (and knowing Apple, they should), will do as much to hasten the Third Screen evolution as anything else we have seen so far: the long awaited iPhone and iTV.
Stories of the iPhone are quickly proliferating throughout [...]
Mobile Vendors’ Embrace of PC Tells a Story About Convergence
Both Nokia and Ericsson recently announced plans that highlight different approaches to the complexity of convergence. Nokia’s announcement addresses IMS-like fixed mobile convergence (FMC) with the novel approach of routing mobile voice calls over a user’s broadband connection, while Ericsson is pushing other IMS services using the laptop PC format as its preferred mobile [...]
Mobile 2.0, And the Walls Come Tumbling Down
Well, maybe tumbling down is a little premature. But there are certainly signs that the Walled Garden business model, adhered to by almost every mobile network operator, is in trouble.
The past couple weeks have seen two substantial announcements from Cingular and UK mobile carrier 3. First came the news that Cingular subscribers will [...]