Communications Crossroads - Fall 2007 - (Page 22)

BROADBAND ISN’T A LUXURY ANYMORE; IT’S A NECESSITY FOR THE HOME AND THE OFFICE. “The results of these efforts,” he went on to say, “include the development of free-bending optical ﬁber cord that can be bent, folded, and even knotted, making it as easy to use as metallic cable and the development of opticalﬁber connection and enclosure technologies for enhancing our responsiveness to ever growing needs. “We have also been working to eliminate the ‘digital divide’ by developing a wireless IP (Internet protocol) access system that can provide high-speed Internet access by wireless means instead of by optical ﬁber within a range of about one kilometer from a base station. This development has made a great contribution to eliminating differences in access services between urban and rural areas.” Fueling this hunger for broadband—both abroad and in the U.S—is the explosive growth of online video. “Thanks to bandwidth-hungry services such as YouTube, global Internet traffic from 2003 to 2006 grew at a compounded annual rate of 75% a year, according to TeleGeography,” says a recent Business Week cover story. Broadband isn’t a luxury anymore; it’s a necessity for the home and the ofﬁce. Getting that service to customers will continue to be an important challenge worldwide. IT system streamlining and outsourcing where appropriate. “These initiatives are shaping carrier transformation roadmaps to deliver significant improvements in bottom-line results,” Mitchell said. He said this often results in 15% to 25% improvements in overall cost structure “while improving operating efficiency, flexibility, customer loyalty and satisfaction.” Companies such as KPN in the Netherlands, Cesky Telecom in the Czech Republic, Magyar Telekom Group in Hungary, Telefonica in Spain and BT in the United Kingdom are ahead of the curve in automating business processes— sometimes because, ironically, they were far behind technologically and thus had less legacy infrastructure to deal with as the newest tech waves came along. Clearly, telecoms around the world are facing the same challenges found here in the U.S.—so when you’re looking for great ideas to steal, be sure to check the international business sections, too. Rethinking Business Design and Operations L.C. “Mitch” Mitchell, who leads the converged communications practice for major consulting ﬁrm Oliver Wyman in North America, notes that European telecoms, particularly mid-sized carriers, are aggressively pursuing a number of major changes in organizational structure, business design, operations models and cost structures to be more customer-centric. Among the highlights from the recently completed Oliver Wyman International Benchmarking Study of telecom cost-efﬁciency parameters and productivity metrics: aggressive product portfolio simpliﬁcation, end-to-end process simpliﬁcation, centralization of non-customer facing activities, 310326 Walker & Assoc. 1/3h 7129 Old Hwy 52 Welcome, NC 27374 www.walker rst.com 800.WALKER1 info@walker rst.com Products and services from industry-leading manufacturers that support leading-edge telecommunications technologies. COMMUNICATIONS 1 22310326_Walker.inddCROSSROADS www.ustelecom.org 12/5/06 12:05:50 AM http://www.ustelecom.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Communications Crossroads - Fall 2007

Up Front Contents TeleBites Cover Story: The World at Your Doorstep Business Advantages: Reaching Out to the Fast-Growing Hispanic Market Technology Today: Ideas from Foreign Telecoms You Should Consider Industry Calendar Index to Advertisers People Straight Talk

Communications Crossroads - Fall 2007

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