Communications Breakdown

Stop SOPA: which are the proper arguments against it?

2012-01-18T23:05:00.000+01:00

There's a lot of resistance to SOPA and PIPA, but good argumentation is rather scarce. Look at these links to find useful explanations about what is actually wrong with these bills: Five reasons the Internet’s still protesting SOPA and PIPA Killing the Internet to save Hollywood SOPA, Internet regulation, and the economics of piracy Even without DNS provisions, SOPA and PIPA remain fatally

KPN is reversing its position versus the OTT market

2011-12-16T10:44:00.000+01:00

A very disappointing turn of events is taking place at KPN. KPN has been a champion of the European incumbents for a long time, with an open view to the realities of the over-the-top market and open access networks. Ad Scheepbouwer himself developed in a very positive way, during his 10 years at KPN. Back in 2003, he was quoted saying that companies such as Tele2 are "like parasites on our

Dish Network goes OTT and LTE

2011-12-14T00:02:00.002+01:00

Dish Network has an interesting strategy, further expanded under its new CEO Joe Clayton. Since it doesn't have a fixed-line network, it apparently needs a work-around. This comes in two forms: LTE. The company owns 40 MHz of nationwide spectrum (and some). There are TD-LTE plans (probably for a fixed-wireless solution), but a cooperation seems more logical - such as making an offer for

Wireless solutions help maintain the digital divide

2011-12-12T22:56:00.000+01:00

Can wireless replace wireline? The obvious answer is 'no', but it is remarkable to see that a growing number of companies is trying to answer 'yes'. Some instances: Vodafone Germany: migrating DSL subs to LTE. Verizon will not expand FiOS beyond the currently planned 18 million homes, instead relying on LTE and the new spectrum it is buying from cable companies (and perhaps also to safeguard

The thin line between following the market leader and collusion

2011-12-06T18:52:00.001+01:00

The offices of the three Dutch MNOs, KPN, Vodafone NL and T-Mobile NL, were raided by the antitrust authority NMa on suspicion of price arrangements (collusion) and carving out distribution (retail) channels. The three aren't denying, but guaranteeing full cooperation. KPN stated that five employees have been singled out for the investigation. The NMa stated that they have official statements

B4RN is a go - Gigabit fiber coming to Lancashire

2011-12-02T00:30:00.001+01:00

Lindsey Annison kindly allowed us the scoop on B4RN reaching its first target. Wonderful news, and Lancashire will likely be connected to gigabit fiber over the next few years. Here is the entire press release: B4RN (Broadband 4 the Rural North) has passed its target, in a mere three months, to gain enough interest to proceed with the project to connect 8 parishes in rural Lancashire to a

How to reduce incumbents' power: ban all domestic takeovers

2011-11-24T22:50:00.001+01:00

KPN made several dozen acquisitions over the past few years. I count 51 (and probably missed a few) since early 2005 in just about every category, mainly in the Netherlands, but abroad as well. Small companies and bigger ones, such as Telfort, Tiscali NL, Getronics, Reggefiber and iBasis. Fixed and mobile, consumer, business and wholesale. Some assets were sold on, but generally the

Tablets eliminate one premise of connected TV

2011-11-17T12:34:00.001+01:00

Connected TV suffered several blows recently: Broadcom and Intel abandoned the TV market. Logitech abandons the Google TV ecosystem. So far, connected TV was all about: More content: internet-to-TV, multiple VOD, apps (widgets) Better content discovery: UI/menus, EPG/IPG, remote control, keyboard, recommendations, search, browser, social, personalisation, voice control, gesture-based

KPN's broadband market share is down, not up

2011-10-26T10:18:00.002+02:00

After assessing the KPN Q3 results, Below expectations, guidance maintained. Hit by regulation and restructuring. Performace analysis by division. Guidance and other targets. the question remains: were they good or bad? The organic performance was solid in Mobile International, and weak in the Netherlands. Cable is forcing KPN's broadband market share down. VDSL is no cure, not even interim.

KPN: what to look for in the Q3 results?

2011-10-24T16:36:00.001+02:00

KPN will report on 11Q3 tomorrow. First, see what the Q2 report looked like: Job cuts at Getronics. Revenues down in NL, up at Mobile International, EBITDA down. Weak in NL, solid abroad. But maybe not so bad as to warrant a profit warning. Next: guidance: 2011: EBITDA > EUR 5.3bn, Capex < EUR 2bn, FCF: up (2010: EUR 2428m), DPS: > EUR 0.85 2012: FCF EUR 2.4bn, DPS EUR 0.90 2013: DPS EUR

Google Fiber coming to Europe

2011-10-24T11:05:00.001+02:00

Google is considering building fiber in a European country, expanding its infrastructure assets base. This would be a follow-up to the Google Fiber project in the Kansas Cities in Kansas and Missouri and at Stanford University. It's a bit too early to start guessing where Google Fiber might land. The first questions would be: Are we talking FTTH here, or perhaps a middle mile strategy?

Implications of a Google/Yahoo! deal

2011-10-23T23:37:00.001+02:00

Yahoo!'s days as an independent company appear to be numbered. Following Carol Bartz' removal as CEO, more than one investor has shown interest in acquiring it: Jerry Yang, Peter Chernin Andreessen Horowitz, Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment board, Hellman & Friedman, DST, Bain Capital, Providence, Blackstone News Corp, Walt Disney Glam Media, Alibaba, AOL Microsoft, and now

VDSL doesn't stop Tele2 NL bleeding broadband subs

2011-10-22T17:02:00.000+02:00

VDSL (FTTC) may be an interesting technology option for underserved areas (no cable, but telco street cabinets availaible), as inexio is proving in Germany. But in the Dutch market, it is less convincing. In theory, it could be an answer to cable's Docsis 3 by more or less matching its capabilities. However, Ziggo's growth reached a record level recently, while Tele2's results show another loss

VDSL as an interim solution isn't going to save KPN

2011-10-15T00:39:00.000+02:00

The Netherlands isn't the first place to see wide VDSL deployment, but it will be an interesting test case to see how VDSL holds up against cable and FTTH. The current situation in a nutshell: ADSL: available nationwide, but with very low bandwidths in rural areas (which could number as many as 500k on a household total of 7.3m). ADSL2+: available to around 60%. VDSL2: roll-out by Tele2

HKBN: "we like being a very fat and dumb pipe"

2011-10-11T14:05:00.000+02:00

City Telecom (HKBN) was present at the recent Broadband World Forum in Paris. The CEO and CTO talks were put online and gave some background on the company's strategy, the bottom line of which is to provide 1 Gb/s at EUR 18 (USD 26) per month. They have stated before that they are "out to commoditise bandwidth". The new catch phrase could be: "we like being a very fat and dumb pipe". Some of

Netflix: can growth be restored?

2011-09-21T23:15:00.002+02:00

Will Netflix spiral downward, or will it find the way back up? That is the question, after its latest not very well received step. Let's first look at what is going on over the recent past: Decoupling the pricing for the Watch Instantly (streaming) and the DVD-by-mail service to 8 $/mo each. This effectively amounted to a price hike (from 10 to 16 $/mo) for the people taking both, roughly

How to sell the highest speed tier

2011-09-14T00:42:00.000+02:00

RCN says it sees limited demand for higher speed tiers, such as 60 Mb/s. If you check pricing, you will see that 5 Mb/s comes at 30 $/mo, 15 Mb/s at 40 $/mo, 25 Mb/s at 50 $/mo and 60 Mb/s at 80 $/mo. Basically, the situation is the same at most ISPs. More speed, higher prices. They are addicted to this business model. Profitability of the higher tiers is ridiculous, because costs are hardly

Motorola adds OTT exposure through Ooyala

2011-09-13T22:01:00.001+02:00

Motorola Mobility Ventures invests in Ooyala ('more than 1,000 customers delivering over one billion streams to over 100 million consumers per month'). Customers include Telegraph Media Group, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Dell, General Mills, ESPN and TechCrunch. Ooyala Social is to be used by Miramax, Warner Brothers, and Netflix. So it's not Google, but looking at it as a Google takeover

Connected TV boosted by IFA

2011-09-05T11:16:00.000+02:00

Short overview of recent (IFA) developments around 'Next-generation TV', which encompasses: Connected TV, hybrid TV; Multiscreen, second screen, companion screen; TV everywhere, place shifting; Social TV, companion screen, interactivity; Personalisation, targeted ads, t-commerce. (A comprehensive primer is available here.) The easy conclusions: OTT TV is finding serious adoption.

Come meet the Fiber Ring: October 12 in The Hague

2011-09-05T01:26:00.000+02:00

Our next conference, Broadband 2011, is taking shape. In fact, just a single slot is pending. The program is quite interesting. It contains international speakers and has execs from several real-world initiatives, as well as from start-ups. It is light on incumbents and heavy on challengers. Focus is on rural FTTH and cloud services. Block 1: General introduction/Rural fiber In-home

KPN's iTV Online is best described by what it is not

2011-08-25T10:23:00.005+02:00

KPN's iTV Online app for laptop or iPad, although very sleek and simple to use, can best be described by what it is NOT: 1. TV Everywhere: access is restricted to in and around the home. 2. Companion screen: it is a second screen, but it doesn't complement whatever is watched on TV. 3. Connected TV: instead of bringing broadband content to the TV, all it does is liberate TV content

B4RN wants to bring customer-owned Gigabit to Lancashire

2011-08-15T00:34:00.004+02:00

Another Gigabit initiative has launched: B4RN (Broadband for Rural North), in Lancashire, England. They are currently assessing demand and at a 50 percent take-up rate, the project will go ahead. B4RN wants to know by October 2011. In Phase 1, the network is to connect 8 parishes with 1,300 properties: Arkholme, Wennington, Melling, Wray, Tatham, Roeburndale, Over Wyresdale, Quernmore and Caton

TMG hiring Bain & Co to justify something dramatic

2011-08-13T19:07:00.017+02:00

Telegraaf Media Group (TMG) has hired Bain & Co to assist in developing a strategy. It should be presented early 2012. So what is that, is the 100+ years old TMG hiring an outside firm to tell them how to run their company? In fact, it is really quite commendable. TMG is a more or less diversified consumer-oriented local media firm, that is being squeezed on all sides: dwindling circulation,

Versatel's Mesch brothers reappear at CityFibre

2011-08-12T17:20:00.004+02:00

Here's a reprint of an earlier background article to be found here: http://goo.gl/149hN Versatel founders pop up at UK's CityFibre The founders of Versatel, Greg and Gary Mesch, have started CityFibre in the UK to roll out FTTH. Time for a short analysis of the power of challengers on the telecom market. The telecom sector is dominated worldwide by incumbents, and only in mobile telephony has

KPN's new mobile tariffs bode ill for market share

2011-07-21T23:40:00.005+02:00

KPN has announced new tariffs (from September 5) for its KPN and Hi brands on the Dutch mobile market (Telfort will follow at a later date), in response to the new Net Neutrality laws and decreasing revenues from voice and SMS. For our views on NN, see this post and this commentary.It appears as though the new tariffs may need some tweaking:There is one bundle for voice, SMS and data. This is not