Telecommunications Industry Association

Emerson: Power conservation needs comprehensive approach

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:23:47 -0400

Network operators increasingly are leaning how to think green, by initiating projects that conserve power, lowering their carbon footprint, re-using materials, and even helping their customers do the same. Still, power equipment vendor Emerson Network Power says carriers need to take a more comprehensive approach to energy conservation efforts. Not surprisingly, Emerson has developed a broad plan to help network operators make the transition from piecemeal efforts to more comprehensive practices.

For more:
- see this report at Telephony

SUPERCOMM: What's old is new again

Dan O'Shea — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:02:57 -0400

SUPERCOMM is back, or at least it will be next June in Chicago. The Telecommunications Industry Association and USTelecom last week took another sharp turn in their colorful history of producing this event, deciding after two years of calling their show NXTcomm that perhaps what's super is better than what's next. But, it won't be the old SUPERCOMM, of course. It will be a brand new one, reflecting the radical transformation of the traditional telecom industry in recent years from wireline, narrowband and voice-centric, to wireless, broadband and data-and-video-centric.

That's also what NXTcomm was supposed be all about, but for some people, the NXTcomm identity never quite became second nature. Some attendees could be overheard even this year calling the show SUPERCOMM, or cracking jokes about how maybe the name had changed again in the last 30 seconds. Maybe the NXTcomm identity wasn't given enough time. Maybe it was cursed by the poor timing and location of this year's show--June in Las Vegas.

As show organizers get to work on re-casting SUPERCOMM in a new light (an effort which starts today with an informational webinar), they have much work ahead of them. U.S. and international events that originated in the wireless industry have moved to center stage in the last few years, and throngs of event companies and media companies (such as FierceMarkets and others) continue to flood the annual event schedule with conferences of all kinds.

I have no doubt that SUPERCOMM can be refreshed into a dynamic new event with a familiar name. Whether that is enough to make this event the center of the industry's trade show calendar again remains to be seen. In a much consolidated industry being affected by growing macro-economic pressures, it would not be surprising if the service providers and vendors that are considering attending this show and others, eventually decide that they have bigger concerns.

-Dan

SUPERCOMM comes back to life

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:39:41 -0400

After two years producing their trade show under the NXTcomm brand, the Telecommunications Industry Association and USTelecom have decided to revive the SUPERCOMM show name they used during the 1990s and earlier this decade before briefly ending their partnership to produce their own shows for one year. SUPERCOMM 2009 will be June 8-11 in Chicago--until today, that event had been slated as NXTcomm 2009 (Around 9 a.m. ET this morning, if you visited www.nxtcommshow.com --the Web home of this year's show, a NXTcomm event page would come up briefly before being redirected to the new SUPERCOMM event page, www.supercomm2009.com.)

A few vendors previously had announced events and marketing programs that mentioned "NXTcomm 2009," but the brand change is happening early enough in the preparation for next year's event that it should not introduce much unexpected cost--if any--into anyone's promotional campaigns. It is likely that the return to the SUPERCOMM brand will be embraced by show exhibitors and attendees who may have been confused and a bit agitated by the event's numerous name changes in the last few years. The show was produced by the TIA and USTelecom for 18 years as SUPERCOMM, but after the partners split in 2005, each agency produced its own show--Globalcomm and TelecomNEXT, respectively, in 2006. The groups reunited for NXTcomm 2007 and NXTcomm 2008.

Both Telephony and Light Reading also are reporting that Wayne Crawford, the executive director for NXTcomm, has stepped down. The new interim lead for the show is Jim Forlenza, who was director of public relations and business development for NXTcomm. The TIA and USTelecom are planning to discuss further details of the name change in an informational conference planned for next Monday, Sept. 15.

For more:
- Check out www.supercomm2009.com
- see this story at Telephony
- read this report at Light Reading

Millenials hold market gold

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:36:41 -0400

By Grant Seiffert

Who cares about speed and mobility when it comes to connecting?

Who cares about accessing the latest YouTube videos, playing video games, and connecting with friends (but hardly ever by phone)?

If you're reading this column, chances are you're a business person who needs continuous, reliable access, speed and mobility to do your job. But many of the companies making it all happen are chasing the loyalties of the largest market driver--the Millennial Generation.

Why are Millennials in the driver's seat? There are 75 million reasons why. That's how many were born between 1982 and 2003 in the United States alone--the largest generation--and the largest market--in U.S. history. To put it into a global perspective, in India, there are more than 360 million people ages 14 and under--more than the entire population of the United States.

If you aren't a Millennial yourself, chances are you have some in your household. Use the opportunity to observe and learn. Millennials were born into a silicon reality. They are the first generation whose entire lives have been encoded on silicon chips ... from Day One. These kids were born wired and have gone wireless already, demanding connectivity, anywhere, anytime.

The worldwide video gaming market alone is projected to be worth $48.9 billion by 2011, according to PriceWaterhouseCooper's "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook" report, with Asia/Pacific logging the highest spending at $18.8 billion in 2011. Video game sales surpassed music sales last year, having already surpassed the movie sales.

Mobile phones can exploit new ad platforms and provide viewing opportunities that TV simply can't. NBC is closely tracking mobile viewing of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. Global mobile video revenue will grow to $15 billion in 2012, from $3.5 billion this year, according to MultiMedia Intelligence.

Unfortunately, Millennials have no brand loyalty. If they're having a bad user experience, they move on and don't look back. So, the company brand is only as good as the last experience, a concept that's turning brand marketing on its head.

On the other end, Millennials thrive on change, so if something is always the same, predictable experience, they will jump to the next big thing. And, if it's not downloadable, forget it. That's a harsh reality for content providers. It's a never-abating hunger for more--more speed, more bandwidth, more freedom, more creativity.

Millennials want everything personalized--it's all about them. Millennials are the Soc-Net (Social Networking) generation, living in an alternate universe in which avatars and alter egos are real. Facebook and MySpace are already passé for our Millennial generation, as we--their parents--join LinkedIn and feel cool.

So, how do we position ourselves to serve our new masters?

Connectivity is the backbone of information and communications technology (ICT) industry, as well as the network that supports it and where it's heading. The network can be fixed, wireless, satellite, cable, in short, anything that moves bits around from one place to another. As the network evolves, new and rewarding opportunities are created. With the viability of builds to remote locations and the versatility of IP, convergence is finally becoming reality.

For the ICT industry--forecast to reach $5 trillion in revenue by 2011--to continue its unprecedented growth, broadband deployment must also become a reality--everywhere.

In 2006, more than 1.1 billion handset units were sold globally, according to Yankee Group. The forecast for 2012 is expected to near 1.5 billion units. India alone is adding more than 7 million wireless subscribers a month.To keep up with Millennials' demands for services and data apps, we need to push to bring 3G and 4G networks online.

And we must invest in long-term R&D for the United States to maintain an edge in a hyper-competitive global market, in which some players receive government subsidization. We have to keep pace. As you look to invest in R&D in your company, remember the Millennial Generation. The new mantra as we move forward is "Youth is the mother of invention!" (a maxim I just created)

To help you face the challenges ahead, TIA is inviting industry leaders to participate in development of a new market intelligence initiative, "ICT2020" reports that will define the best practices for service providers in the year 2020 and highlight companies today that are making significant progress along this path. We're looking for vision, and we hope you'll share yours.

Grant Seiffert is President of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). The TIA represents thousands of information and communications technology (ICT) professionals in standards, government affairs, market intelligence and product-oriented environmental compliance.

Obama vs. McCain: Who is telecom's favorite?

Dan O'Shea — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:30:15 -0400

Last week during NXTcomm, I had the chance to ask Grant Seiffert, NXTcomm co-host and president of the Telecommunications Industry Association, whether the TIA favored John McCain or Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race. It was a loaded question for Seiffert, a former McCain staffer, but he did his own constituents--hundreds of telecom vendors--right by saying the TIA would be evaluating both candidates' stances on various issues in the months to come before picking a side.

As the TIA and many in the telecom industry try to determine which candidate is the better one for telecom, one of the issues that is sure to determine their positions is Net Neutrality. Obama is for Net Neutrality legislation, and McCain against it, according to The Wall Street Journal. Obama seems to get points for his campaign's aggressive use of the Internet and the number of Internet big-wigs who support him, but it sounds like there is still much more we need to hear from both candidates before telecom's favorite becomes clear.

For more:
- read this story at The Wall Street Journal

Related articles:
Telecom industry execs so far have not had a good read on either candidate Telecom industry report
Obama dominates mobile web searches Obama report

NXTcomm: TIA think green thoughts with EIATRACK

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 05:18:59 -0400

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), which along with USTelecom is co-hosting NXTcomm this week in Las Vegas, is like a growing number of its constituents joining the green movement. TIA president Grant Seiffert this week said the agency is "aggressively investing" in external and internal green initiatives. The external moves include EIATRACK, a global environmental intelligence and regulatory tracking service for product-oriented electronics companies that keeps them informed about environmental standards and mandates in more than 110 jurisdictions worldwide. EIATRACK has more than 150 companies subscribing, at least half of them TIA members and the rest companies from other sectors.

"From a cost standpoint, vendors need to know what the rules of the road are in various parts of the world where compliance is concerned," Seiffert told FierceTelecom this week. As telecom companies increasingly factor power consumption and carbon footprints into their deployment decisions, the rest of the industry needs to respond, he said. The TIA also has launched an E-cycling Central website, with database information on more than 2,000 electronics recycling locations in the U.S. Seiffert also said the TIA is internally "taking inventory of how green we are and how green our standards programs are, and what we can do better."

Elsewhere at NXTcomm this week, we've seen a Green Village on the exhibit floor, green-themed conference panels, and Alcatel-Lucent talked about a smart metering application, the type of application that many telecom companies are likely to support in the months and years ahead

Related articles:
Green technology thoughts are taking over telecom Green technology report
BT is offer customers carbon output reduction advice BT report

Tellabs' Pullen talks TIA, Net neutrality

Dan O'Shea — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:15:52 -0400

Rob Pullen, who became CEO of Tellabs earlier this year and is also chairman of the Telecommunications Industry Association, one of your co-hosts for NXTcomm next week in Las Vegas, will head a press conference at the show intended to outline how the TIA is leading the telecom industry in new directions. Will the TIA be leading members down a greener, more energy-efficient path? Stay tuned.

Pullen primed the industry for this address by chatting with Light Reading about it, though in the resulting story, LR highlights Pullen's position on Net neutrality--that the Internet should be lightly regulated and that service providers (the primary customers of Tellabs and most TIA members) should be able to offer tiered services or service level agreements for a price. It's a predictable position, but with tiered service experiments and metered Internet trials going on, this version of the future is looking more likely day by day.

For more:
- read this report at Light Reading

Related articles:
Pullen became CEO of Tellabs earlier this year Tellabs report
Have your heard that green is the new black Green report