Which service provider group is most on the cutting edge of the voice market? That's what FierceTelecom asked in its most recent web site poll. The answer choices were A) telcos B) cable TV companies C) other types of service providers (Vonage, Google, etc.) and D) It doesn't matter because voice no longer matters as a revenue-generating service.
It wasn't much of a surprise to me that choice C finished strongest with 44 percent of the vote, or that D came in second with 26 percent. Those choosing D reflected the increasingly acceptable notion that voice isn't the center of all things telecom, and that other advanced services and service bundles may matter more. Telcos beat cable TV companies 18 to 12 percent, which probably makes them happy enough, since they may not take the Vonage, etc., camp seriously anyway. If I were ranking service provider groups, however, I'd give cable guys a little more credit.
Now, for the official launch of a brand new poll question (find it in this link, or on the right hand side of our home page).- Dan
