SNG is not only thrilled to be asked to participate in this year’s Broadband Communities Summit in Dallas from April 24th through April 26th, but we’re also able to offer our Bandwidth Subscribers a 2/3 off discount to the event. This offer is good only for those who have not already registered and the code can be transferred to your colleagues. Register here, click the first radio button for VIP Code Holders, then enter the code SNGVIP300 for a discounted full pass.
Stop by and see Doug Adams and Michael Curri at our booth and see a demo of DEAP – the industry’s first and only hands-on, comparative database. Digital Economy Analytics Platform (DEAP) from SNG enables our clients to compare regions and industries to uncover actionable information and insights. With this new solution, regional leaders can leverage the best practices from each region and industry across their territory. Learn More>>
On April 24th at 4:10, Michael Curri will be moderating a panel entitled Winning Strategies for the Emerging Knowledge Economy. And on April 26th at 10:30, Michael will be on the panel for Alternative Rural Futures: Emerging Opportunities.
Look for live blogs on the SNG site from the Summit and a recap in April’s Bandwidth.
SNG and its partners in Illinois are employing our industry-leading broadband utilization survey to build a foundation of understanding, from which we will develop broadband infrastructure planning and programs. Good data is at the heart of all good decision-making and planning as it provides insights for all that’s required to truly leverage broadband as a transformative regional initiative.
It speaks to just how important Illinois sees broadband expansion and upgrades as part of their future that Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon has taken a leadership position with the survey project recently deployed by Broadband Illinois/Partnership for a Connected Illinois. Drawing on SNG’s vast store of knowledge already acquired through similar work across the U.S., a team comprised of members of state agencies, universities, and SNG has been assembled. This team is undertaking an outreach communications program which has identified thousands of community organizations statewide and engaged dozens of Community Anchor Institutions to help “get the word out.”
Thousands of households and organizations have already submitted their responses. Broadband Illinois is so enthusiastic about the potential engendered by the household and organizations data they’ve extended response time and expanded sponsorship of participation to several other state agencies.
It’s thanks to these extensive efforts that participation rates are on the rise.
Even a Tech Firm Finds it Hard to Drive e-Solutions
by Doug Adams
The other day I was speaking with a colleague who is the Director of Marketing for a Tech Firm. This is a company filled with what most would consider “early adopters” and tech enthusiasts. In other words, a group of individuals who embrace broadband and e-solutions every day, in a myriad of ways.
She was struggling with a decision of when to roll out a new e-solution to her sales team. It’s an online database/prospecting tool that provides invaluable information about the company’s prospects. She knows it is a great investment… a tool that will help her sales team grow their individual account base – and drive corporate sales… but, she is hesitant.
You see, my colleague is a pragmatist. While her company is a tech firm, sales people are notoriously tech laggards… and very slow to change their routine. Getting them to change or adopt new behaviors can be tough, and right now she’s fighting the uphill battle of getting them all connected – and using – a new CRM program.
So she’s resisting the internal pressure (and the pressure from her friendly sales person) to adopt this technology right now because, in her words, “I only get one chance to launch this, and I need to get it right… otherwise no one will use it.”
Whether she realizes it or not, she’s preaching the SNG story – adoption is great… utilization is what really matters.
And so she has a plan to come as close as she can to ensuring success. She will roll out this new solution after CRM has been adopted. She will provide this prospecting tool in a month where sales opportunities are down and sales people are more open to creative ways to find opportunities. And she will assign a few champions on the sales team to communicate the benefits and convey success stories.
While regions and communities chase expanding broadband availability and bridging the digital divide, we could learn a lot from my friend… make sure you have a strategy to drive utilization. Change can be seen as scary and daunting… line up the pieces and players in a manner that is most likely to produce utilization. SNG can help. Find out how we can provide you with that plan, a roadmap for each organization in your region, and champions to show the way to realize broadband’s transformative economic impacts.
by John de Ridder
In the never ending quest for the “killer apps” that drive the uptake of broadband, one that we seem to have overlooked is digitization – which I’d call the ‘killer enabler’ of applications that undermines traditional carrier and regulatory models.
The following are some key insights on how digitization has changed the rules of the telecommunications industry. The impact the roll-out of broadband networks has had on key stakeholders is detailed in my update of the regulatory tool-kit for infoDev and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) [1].
Digitization
Networks used to be built vertically around specific applications (e.g. voice or PayTV) but digitization ‘de-layers’ networks so that content or applications are no longer network specific. Next Generation Networks can support all applications over a single all-IP data network.
As data protocols are application agnostic, they create a problem for traditional operator business models which use applications and content services (e.g. calls) to subsidise carriage (i.e. the line rental or mobile handset). Digitization separates carriage and content services allowing ‘over-the-top’ (OTT) content and application services (e.g. Skype and Netflix).
Broadband
As policy makers and regulators focus on getting more broadband, there has been a shift in access policy. Traditionally, the focus has been on opening legacy copper networks to competition from new entrants. Unsurprisingly, incumbents complained that cost-based access-pricing was too low. They claimed this made them reluctant to invest in fibre access networks to improve broadband services. That made it a policy issue.
There is no clear best practice yet. It is too early to say which approaches work best and how country-specific circumstances might affect outcomes. Some countries have allowed ‘regulatory holidays’ so that the terms of access are determined commercially (e.g. USA). Many countries are determined to see ‘open access’ carried forward from copper to fibre networks; especially when they are supported by public investment.
Open access on fibre does not allow the same unbundling options that are available on copper networks (e.g. full or partial line-sharing). With the few exceptions where point-to-point fibre is deployed, the most common form of access will be bitstream.
Broadband networks displace switched interconnection with IP interconnection which makes the regulator’s task lighter because the access bottle-neck is removed.
Access Pricing
Access pricing for fibre based fixed access networks poses a dilemma for regulators. If they apply traditional cost based approaches to the large investments made in pushing fibre deeper into access networks, regulated prices will hinder the migration of customers from existing copper-based networks, which are largely written-down. Again, there is no clear best-practice on how to adapt existing costing methods and manage the transition.
Of course, with digitization service providers can go ‘over the top’ to deliver content and services to end customers. IP interconnection will be sufficient [2].
IP interconnection has existed in the internet system for many years with no regulation of ‘peering and transit’ arrangements. Many of these are similar to the ‘bill and keep’ (also known as ‘sender-keeps-all’) arrangements that apply to Receiving Party Network Pays mobile regimes; so for RPNP the transition is simple. For the more common situation in mobile and fixed networks, the transition is helped where termination rates are low. Again, the regulator’s task should become easier; once transitional issues are resolved.
The switched PSTN model is dying and there is divergence in regulatory approaches to the emerging world of next generation networks. Many regulators (rightly) hesitate to act too swiftly as whatever they do will shape the market. Operators of broadband networks will have to move swiftly to shift their business models towards charging for traffic.
End Notes
[1] Digitization is a key theme in the update of Module 2 (Competition and Pricing) of the infoDev/ITU tool kit for regulators at http://www.infodev.org/en/Publication.1140.html
[2] Control of the access line was important when carriage and content were joint in supply and demand; but with de-layering any provider can supply content and application services. However, bitstream access may confer a quality advantage in delivering managed services (e.g. IPTV) relative to over-the-top ‘best efforts’ content and applications (e.g. internet television).
