1. Gary Kim's Thoughts on Carrier Evolution

    1. Verizon is Going Over the Top, So is T-Mobile USA

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (4 hours, 36 min ago) Applications
      by Gary Kim (Garykim)

      The Verizon and Coinstar joint venture to create a streaming version of Redbox is part of a pattern at Verizon and elsewhere, namely that over the top services increasingly are being viewed as a way to sell services to “non-customers.”In essence, the new streaming service will reach beyond the footprint of Verizon fixed network customers and appeal to all 30 million Redbox customers who have been renting DVDs from the Redbox kiosks. According to ... (Read Full Article)

      Mentions:   Verizon Communications   Cox Communications   Comcast

    2. Is Unified Communications a Glass Half Full, or Half Empty?

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (12 hours, 49 min ago) Applications , Unified communications
      by Gary Kim (Garykim)

      It never is terribly easy to quantify the size of the unified communications market, embracing as it does so many different communications and collaboration solutions. A new study by CompTIA of 500 executives has found that “collaboration” tools already are highly used by respondent firms, and well understood. About 59 percent of respondents say the concept is well defined, while 80 percent think unified communications has high or moderate value. With the exception of social ... (Read Full Article)

    3. How Robust is Planned Spending on Unified Communications?

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (13 hours, 41 min ago) Applications , Unified communications
      by Gary Kim (Garykim)

      Unified communications has in some ways been a “fuzzy” concept, entailing as it does the unification of devices, applications, network access modes and media types. A new study by CompTIA of 500 executives has found that “collaboration” tools already are highly used by respondent firms. With the exception of social tools, at 36 percent adoption, most constituent forms of unified communications are used by 60 percent to 94 percent of respondent firms. About 33 percent ... (Read Full Article)

    4. Mobile Signaling Load Growing Faster than Bearer Traffic

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (16 hours, 18 min ago)
      by Gary Kim (Garykim)

      While data traffic is growing, signaling traffic is outpacing actual mobile data traffic by 30 to 50 percent, if not higher, 4G Americas says. Mobile network engineers began encountering that problem some years ago, when investigating cases of congestion on cell sites that seemed not to be experiencing especially-heavy demand. As it turned out, signaling operations were causing the congestion, not the bearer traffic. Since then, the problem has grown as more apps aim to ... (Read Full Article)

      Mentions:   Nielsen

    5. Verizon Sees U.S. Economy Flat for Balance of Year

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (May 16 2012) Marketing
      by Gary Kim (Garykim)

      "I think the economy is still just kind of moseying along; it is not going down," says Verizon CFO Fran Shammo. "I don't see it increasing and we have predicted that it will just be stable through this year." So, at least at the moment, Verizon does not see any particular economic trends that would affect its business in a positive or negative way. It will just motor along about as it has been ... (Read Full Article)

    6. Twilio Adds Android Support for its OTT App

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (May 16 2012)
      by Gary Kim (Garykim)

      Twilio, the over the top voice and messsaging application, now is offered in 12 countries, including 10 in Europe as well as the United States and Canada. WhatsApp, the voice and messaging app that seems to be rapidly eroding mobile service provider revenues in Europe, operates in even more markets. Up to this point, Twilio has focused on iOS apps, but now has launched an Android client. A Windows Phone may be next in line ... (Read Full Article)

      Mentions:   Telefonica   Twilio

    7. See all Thoughts on Carrier Evolution articles >>

  5. About the Editor

    Gary Kim
    Gary Kim

    Gary Kim has been writing about communications for nearly 30 years and recently was cited by Forbes as a global "Power Mobile Influencer"; in fact, was ranked number two globally on that score. 

    Carrier Evolution is about the business application ...


    Full profile>>

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  1. Industry News

    1. AT&T Sees Billion-Dollar Opportunity in Mobile Home Management

      Explore Razorsight (May 16 2012) Business Models

      One of the biggest strategic issues for any tier-one service provider is how to select potential new businesses to drive revenue growth. To be sure, service providers in all segments have to prioritize their investment capital and human capital choices. But the largest providers in any nation have an additional challenge, namely their sheer scale. When making decisions about potential investments (Read Full Article)

      Mentions:   AT&T   Comcast   Glenn Lurie

    2. Smart Phone Sales Decline: Related to Economy, or Not?

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (May 16 2012) Marketing

      To the extent that smart phone sales are correlated with economic conditions, it is conceivable that economic conditions again are taking a toll on consumer spending. According to Gartner, global  sales of mobile phones to end users reached 419.1 million units in the first quarter of 2012, a two percent decline from the first quarter of 2011.Also, AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson recently noted that traditional economic indicators have become less reliable. “I’ve never seen it like this,” Stephenson said. The AT&T CEO means that the indicators are contradictory. “Small business starts are still negative,” he said. “That used to be the early warning indicator.” That suggests there are key economic constraints. But there is strength in some parts of the consumer market. And new home construction is picking up, after a four to five year lull. But he real driver is businesses “hiring and putting people on payroll; that’s when our business catches leverage and starts to take off,” Stephenson said. “We ...

      (Read Full Article)

      Mentions:   AT&T   Randall Stephenson

    3. See all articles >>

  2. Recent Articles

    1. Verizon Wireless Expects Slight Revenue Dilution From Family Mobile Data Plans

      Explore IP Carrier (May 16 2012) Business Models , Mobility

      One major reason Verizon Wireless is launching family or multi-device mobile data plans in the summer of 2012 is that “we have kind of constrained the marketplace now around connecting more devices because everybody thinks, well, if I connect that device, I now have to buy an additional data plan with that that has its own tiered pricing with it,” Fran Shammo, Verizon Communications CFO says. “If I can add as many devices as I ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Verizon Wireless   Fran Shammo

    2. 1/3 of New Netflix Customers are Returning Subscribers

      Explore IP Carrier (May 16 2012)

      Netflix CFO David Wells says about a third of "new" subscribers joining Netflix actually are former subscribers who are returning.  "Rejoined or folks rejoining the service still remain about a third of our new subscribers that are coming in," Wells says. "We've said before that the brand hit will take years to recover from and I think that's still true, with the bulk of the recovery coming in the full year and I ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   David Wells

    3. See all articles >>