Communications Crossroads - Fall 2007 - (Page 8)

telebites NEXT GEN NETWORKS HIT SPENDING TIPPING POINTS IN 2010 Enterprise spending on next generation networks—IP and Ethernet—will eclipse legacy services in 2010. Enterprises will spend $24.3 billion on wireline data services in the U.S. in 2007, and lead overall spending for U.S. business wireline data services, accounting for more than 60% of the U.S. business market for wireline data services in 2007, reports In-Stat. (www.in-stat.com) COUPONS ON THE GO! Tired of cutting coupons on Sundays, hoping that something relevant to you is in that colorful stack of paper? Well, imagine that as you walk across your favorite store, your cell beeps. It’s a 25%-off coupon for something from that store—available through your phone. Cellfire (www.cellfire.com) is bringing that fantasy to life. Already, more than 161 million cell phone users can access mobile coupons on more than 600 different types of handsets—and more than 2,000 merchants are onboard, as well. In the past year, consumers received more than 4 million offers. Goodbye scissors! STOP, THIEF! According to news reports, there is a growing problem of theft—but quite an unusual item is up for grabs. Apparently, the rising price of copper—almost a 600% increase since 2002—has made those copper lines mighty attractive to thieves, who then sell it for scrap. HERE COMES THE SUN… PHONE Motorola has patented new technology that it says will allow cell phones to recharge by using solar cells in the phone’s LCD. Although the idea isn’t new, Motorola says its version solves the problem of getting enough light to the cells themselves. So get ready to throw away those phone chargers. TELECOMS TO SPEND $41 BILLION ON NETWORKS THIS YEAR According to iSuppli Corp, telecom companies will spend more than $41 billion this year just on network equipment. Of that, $9 billion will be spent on IPTV-related communications equipment in 2007; a market that could grow to 105.8 million subscribers worldwide by 2011. (www.isuppli.com) 450 Cable 400 350 Millions of subscribers Digital-to-home IPTV Source: iSuppli Corp. HAVE HDTV SET, WILL NOT PAY FOR HDTV More than half of the households that have HDTVs (30 % of U.S. households) do not receive HDTV content because it’s too expensive, or the owners just aren’t interested. Of those who do get HDTV? According to the Consumer Electronics Association, two thirds get it from the cable company; 27% get it via satellite; 8% get free over the air; 3% get it via fiber optic (presumably telecom companies); and 3% from the Internet. With consumers expected to buy 16 million new HDTVs in 2007, it’s clear this market is only going to grow. 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Figure 1: Growth of pay TV delivery medium, 2006 - 2011. 8 COMMUNICATIONS CROSSROADS www.ustelecom.org http://www.cellfire.com http://www.in-stat.com http://www.isuppli.com 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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