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Internet Business Strategies
by Lisa Melsted and Paul RitterEvent
On March 4, Macromedia announced a new version of its ubiquitous Flash rich media player, Flash Player 6, and a new development tool, Flash MX. Flash MX represents the first of a series of anticipated product upgrades that the company plans throughout the year.
Market Impact
Prior to this upgrade, Flash had been known as a tool that proliferated showy graphics and animations all across the Web. Macromedia's latest release is beginning to mature from a graphics tool to a full-service site-building application. Since more than 98% of online users can view Flash content, the potential market impact is significant. The built-in media player is based on Sorenson Media's Spark codec, which allows video content to be displayed as part of Flash-created Web pages and does not require users to launch external players such as RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. This will result in more users seeing the content that is created. The new development tool provides developers with the ability to create easy-to-use forms on Web sites that will greatly improve user experiences online. Enterprises that have been reluctant to move forward with Web initiatives that incorporate streaming or rich media content due to the high costs involved will see financial benefits from both reduced development costs and increased consumption of content by users, thereby increasing the potential return on investment in such initiatives.
Conclusions
With an estimated 1 million developers already utilizing Flash products to create Web sites and online content, the use of the new development tool and the media player are likely to result in the following:
- Easier site development and rich media integration by Web developers.
- Better online user experience and site navigation—fewer clicks will be required to complete Web-based forms and online tasks.
- Improved capabilities for businesses to integrate multiple types of interactive rich media content for corporate applications such as online advertising, branding and marketing, product launches, corporate communications, and training and education.
- Reduced costs for enterprises looking to deploy rich media content on their Web sites.
The ubiquity of Flash plug-ins on user systems, as well as the existing popularity of Flash among the development and design communities, sets up these new offerings to take the market lead in the development and application tools space.
Application Infrastructure & Software Platforms
by Neal GoldmanEvent Summary
On March 8, Sun Microsystems filed a private antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft seeking: a) damages from what Sun claims is anticompetitive behavior toward Java; b) to have Microsoft ship a current Sun Java Virtual Machine (JVM) in Windows XP; and c) to stop Microsoft from distributing Microsoft's own JVM. Sun claims that it believes it will be able to justify damages in excess of $1 billion.
Market Impact
This lawsuit is primarily a non-issue for enterprises and will have minimal impact on the adoption of Java technology by enterprises and developers in the next 6–12 months. The largest impact will be the extended publicity in the popular press that continues to be a thorn in Microsoft's side. The fact that a JVM is not bundled as part of Windows XP is hardly a barrier to Sun's success with Java. Windows XP is not setting the world afire, and any halfway-savvy consumer, enterprise, or developer who wishes to use Java can easily download a JVM. The significant penetration rates—well in excess of 50%—for popular add-ons such as the RealPlayer, ICQ, AIM, Flash, and Shockwave show that users can and will download extensions that add value. Additionally, client-side Java is a very small percent of Java usage compared to J2EE on the server, and any enterprise that wishes to have a compatible multiclient JVM will not choose Microsoft's.
The Sun/Microsoft settlement agreement of January 2001 currently prohibits Microsoft from shipping current versions of Sun's JVM, even if it wanted to. The Yankee Group expects the lawsuit will ultimately be settled by Sun licensing the Java JVM to Microsoft with a commitment by Microsoft to ship the certified JVM for some period of time.
Recommendations
- Enterprises should not let this lawsuit distract from their technology usage decisions. Those enterprises using client-side Java as part of their public presence should test their applications for compatibility with both Sun's and Microsoft's JVM. Those companies using client-side Java as part of their internal application infrastructures, particularly those with multiclient environments, should limit compatibility issues by ensuring that client devices are using a certified JVM.
- Sun should focus on alternatives beyond Microsoft to getting certified JVMs on users’ desktops. Apple licensed a JVM that it includes as part of Mac OS X and uses this feature as a marketing differentiator compared to other machines. Sun should strike similar bundling deals with IBM, Compaq, Dell, and HP to put its JVM on the vast majority of consumer and enterprise desktops, and head Microsoft's JVM off at the pass.
Wireless/Mobile Europe
by Philip TaylorEvent Summary
On Tuesday, March 5, Sony Ericsson, the joint venture between consumer electronics giant Sony and Swedish telecom equipment vendor Ericsson, announced the first fruits of the companies' collaboration by unveiling six new handset models—three of which target the European market. To be launched commercially the week of March 10, the T68i is MMS-compliant and contains an integrated digital camera. The P800 smartphone, to be launched in the third quarter, is EPOC-enabled and will compete against Nokia's 7650.
Market Impact
Since Sony and Ericsson announced their joint venture in October 2001, the industry has been split as to whether Sony's undoubted consumer design credentials could be successfully married to Ericsson's expertise in wireless telephony. The series of announcements on March 5, which extended beyond device announcements to encompass content offerings, bode well for Sony Ericsson as it attempts to meet some extremely bold profitability targets.
Conclusions
- Sony Ericsson has correctly identified color screens as a crucial component in the replacement phone market and is looking to capitalize on the strong sales of the Ericsson T68 launched in Europe last October. Until Nokia introduces a mid-range color device, we expect it to continue to lose sales to Ericsson from its 8310 and 6310 ranges.
- With Nokia strongly focused upon MMS, the Sony Ericsson announcements reinforce our view that MMS is shaping up to be a major applications category, as vendors and operators push revenue opportunities aggressively to market.
- The announcement that Sony will make services for its new devices—including access to music, movie clips, and games based on Sony-produced films—available through wireless network operators is a potentially market-making move. At a time when operators are increasingly examining strategies by which they can market and monetize the delivery of content, such a package will have undoubted appeal.
Media & Entertainment Strategies
by Adi KishoreEvent Summary
TiVo has announced a string of key initiatives in recent months, capped by an exclusive distribution agreement with leading electronics retailer Best Buy, announced on March 5. The new deal follows a software licensing arrangement with Sony, an increase in the monthly fees for the service, the introduction of the new TiVo-built "Series2" unit, and an agreement that makes TiVo the primary provider of digital video recording services for DIRECTV.
Market Impact
TiVo has been successful in building brand recognition, but not so successful in convincing consumers that digital video recorders (DVRs) offer substantially higher value when compared to the VCR. TiVo currently has 380,000 subscribers. These agreements signal TiVo's recognition of the problems in educating consumers and will provide additional marketing muscle to the push for DVR adoption.
Analysis
- Anticipating rapid consumer adoption, TiVo originally saw itself becoming a virtual TV network, providing time-shifted TV programming to consumers based on their preferences. However, sluggish market response has proven that DVRs will not replicate the steep adoption curves for DVD or DBS. DVRs will gain penetration along a much flatter curve, but will continue to grow incrementally, with the installed base crossing 1 million homes this year. Integration into satellite receivers, set-top boxes, and consumer electronics products will drive DVRs into 18.6 million homes by year-end 2006.
- As a result of slow adoption rates at this time, the company has recognized that licensing its technology to consumer device manufacturers and network operators will help drive market penetration. A small start-up lacks both the marketing budgets and the experience in consumer education that electronics retailers and manufacturers have. In Best Buy and Sony, TiVo has two partners that are leaders in educating U.S. consumers on the benefits of emerging technology products.
- TiVo's new Series2 Platform offers streaming music, video-on-demand, and games, thereby enhancing the value proposition of the device. These features will add further impetus to TiVo's partnership agreements. While DVR adoption will not be explosive this year, TiVo's recent initiatives are a sound approach to addressing market realities and will help spur DVR penetration.
Convergent Communications Asia-Pacific
by Agatha PoonEvent Summary
On March 5, Thai satellite operator Shin Satellite announced that the company has secured a $250 million loan from U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank as part of the financing for its iPSTAR project. The new broadband iPSTAR satellite has been viewed as the company's growth engine, providing high-speed data capacity for Internet and multimedia applications. The satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2003.
Market Impact
The iPSTAR project comes as the concept of broadband begins sweeping the region, and ISPs begin looking for new revenue streams amid increased market competition. The U.S. Ex-Im Bank's approval of $250 million in credit support might not bring about a revolution in Asian broadband circles, but it goes a lot further in guaranteeing that at least one dedicated two-way satellite broadband offering makes it to the market.
Indeed, the idea of bypassing the already congested terrestrial network via two-way broadband satellite has already been accepted by a number of regional and local telecom veterans. Prior to the approval of project financing, Railcom in China and Baycom in Malaysia signed MoUs with Shin Satellite to utilize iPSTAR-1's capacity, offering broadband satellite services to areas where DSL and cable modem deployments are nonexistent.
Recommendations
- While broadband services have yet to become a ubiquitous offering, the growing number of broadband providers suggests that Shin Satellite's iPSTAR will face increasing price pressure going forward. The company will need to be well aware of the market dynamics and implement innovative marketing to offset the effect of price erosion.
- Since Shin Satellite's iPSTAR is a single broadband satellite, systems backup will be a concern among potential customers. As such, the company must demonstrate its back-up capabilities in the event of a system failure.
- Given the financial commitment required to operate broadband networks, broadband service providers will need to coordinate with various parties in the broadband value chain such as suppliers, content providers, and integrators. Therefore, they must adapt to new models of cooperation and profitability.
Communications Network Infrastructure
by Marian StasneyEvent Summary
On March 6, Nortel Networks announced that it was discontinuing development on its photonic core switch, the OPTera Connect PX. The all-optical switch, based on 3-D MEMS technology, was intended for long-haul transport applications along with the OPTera Connect HDX grooming switch. The Connect PX was based on technology obtained through the acquisition of Xros in March 2000 for Nortel Networks common shares of stock equivalent to $3.25 billion.
Market Impact
Nortel is not the first vendor to cease development of an all-optical core switch. On April 5, 2001, Cisco Systems announced it was discontinuing the ONS 15900 due to lack of acceptance from the service providers. Currently available optical switches, such as Lucent's WaveStar LambdaRouter and Corvis's CorWave OS, are massive, consume power, and are expensive to deploy. All of this bodes well for start-up vendors, like Calient and AcceLight, as well as incumbent vendors Alcatel and Tellium—all of which have plans to ship second-generation optical core switches that are an order of magnitude improved due to advances in components and subsystems.
Conclusions/Recommendations
- While the market for these all-optical long-haul switches will not intensify until late 2002 into 2003, there is opportunity for a product that is faster, smaller, less expensive, and more manageable. Service providers would like to be able to switch lightwaves but current offerings cost too much and are difficult to deploy and manage. Most will wait for the next wave of optical switches that are less expensive to employ.
- Vendors are solving existing technical problems in the next iteration of products; but rather than focus on a relatively quiet market, like Nortel Networks they are turning their attention to the more active metropolitan-area network. Larger vendors that need to add these switches to their product portfolio when the market improves will likely turn to acquisitions to get them.
- Manufacturers of the next generation of optical components should be taking advantage of this quiet period. It takes 12 to 18 months to incorporate new technology into a product, so now is the time to be accepting designs and getting into vendor evaluations.
Convergent Communications Europe
by Justin Neville-RolfeIntroduction
Set-top manufacturer Pace Micro halted product shipments to ntl, the UK's largest cable operator, during the week of March 4. Pace, which generates 28% of its annual revenues from ntl, will only resume shipments if the troubled cable operator's credit rating improves. In the same week, the UK's other major cable player, Telewest, pulled out of merger talks with ntl.
In recent weeks, ntl's market capitalization has fallen to a mere $50 million (or just over $10 per subscriber) from its January 2000 peak of $33.5 billion. With $17 billion in debt, it faces a serious threat of insolvency.
The company has responded by attempting to raise average revenue per user (ARPU), with an upgrade of its residential cable modem package from 512 Kbps to 1 Mbps for $70 (£50) per month. All this is in the context (over the last three months) of small-scale disposals, significant redundancies (especially in marketing), and the contracting of financial consultants to advise on future funding possibilities.
Analysis
New customer acquisition would seem very difficult, as is increasing ARPU. Voice revenues are hard to raise in the short term, and dial-up Internet is already provided for free. Cable modem revenues can grow if existing users of the Pace integrated set-top box and cable modem decide to order the broadband access option, which does not require a supplementary truck roll. However, the Yankee Group is skeptical about consumers' willingness to double their cable modem bill for 1-Mbps access without compelling content to leverage this speed.
Recommendations/Conclusions
- A fire sale of ntl assets could attract a number of buyers; the company owns an attractive customer base and a decent business infrastructure.
- Any purchase assuming ntl debts appears unlikely, since it would effectively cost approximately $3,515 per subscriber (our gross calculation being $17 billion in debts plus a $50 million market cap divided by 4.8 million subscribers).
- Even though ntl paid more than $7,500 per subscriber in mid-1999 from Cable & Wireless, it will have difficulty selling these subscribers for half that price. Few companies have the cash or the appetite.
- Creditors are unlikely to see a full return on their investment, and should work with the financial strategists to maximize returns and keep ntl running.
Wholesale Communications Services
by Seth LibbyEvent
On March 4, Dominion Telecom (DT) announced that it has completed a 1,000-route-mile dark-fiber connection between Chicago and Washington, D.C. Along this route, DT will sell both dark fiber and capacity, with the latter expected to be fully available by the end of June. DT, a subsidiary of Dominion (a major U.S. utility), is a super-regional carriers' carrier serving the eastern and mid-Atlantic United States.
Market Impact
Overcapacity, heavy debt loads, and a slowing economy have inflicted substantial pain upon the wholesale telecommunications market. The severity of the pain varies by firm, however, and most industry assessments fail to reflect this fact. While national carriers' carriers like Global Crossing, Williams Communications, and Level 3 fight for survival, regional players like DT, Progress Telecom, Fibertech Networks, Florida Power & Light, and Norlight are faring better. One of the key advantages for these firms is their ability to provide facilities-based services within Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, and to connect them with Tier 1 markets. On the upstream side of the market, DT will benefit from demand for dark fiber and capacity by national carriers, including carriers' carriers and incumbent IXCs, seeking to support off-net connections or to build-in network diversity. On the downstream side, DT will see increased local demand for its services as ILECs, MSOs, and wireless service providers push to introduce wireless, long-distance, and broadband/cable in these typically underserved markets.
Conclusions
- The new route adds depth and diversity to DT's network reach. Consistent with the company's build-out strategy to date, the route serves predominantly Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities but terminates in Tier 1 cities on each end.
- Demand for dark fiber on this route is undoubtedly weaker than it was just a year ago. That said, DT should have no problem selling enough of the fiber over the next three years to cover its investment costs. First, the route's city-pair grouping (Chicago to D.C.) is top-notch and ensures plenty of traffic demand. Second, the route utilizes unique railroad rights-of-way (ROWs) that provide diversity to existing carrier routes between these cities. Third, given that DT has reportedly already sold some of the fiber—no small feat at this point in time—sales efforts should only improve as the economy recovers.
- Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets will enjoy steady upside growth over the next few years. The Yankee Group estimates demand for wholesale services (excluding dark fiber) in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets will increase from $5.43 billion in 2002 to $10.1 billion in 2005.
Convergent Communications Asia-Pacific, Japan Market Strategies
by James WalshEvent Summary
On February 28, MIAKO Net Project—a group consisting of the nonprofit organization Sustainable Community Center Japan as well as various industry and university cooperative bodies and individuals—started trials of a wireless Internet service based on IPv6, in cooperation with the wireless equipment maker Root Inc. The field test is being held in Kyoto Prefecture and is expected to continue through the end of March.
Market Impact
Already, MIAKO Net Project has built about 70 base stations, mostly around "hot spots" such as train stations, conference halls, and universities in Kyoto. The number of base stations is expected to reach at least 100, which will make the experiment the largest-scale implementation of IPv6 in Japan.
Globally, the migration to IPv6 is still in its early stages. However, with strong government mandates, Japan and other Asian countries are leading the way. Several Japanese operators are showing strong commitment and are deploying networks that carry IPv6 and IPv4 traffic.
Also, a number of key trials, which point the way to how the technology may be used in the future, have been conducted. As with similar wireless Internet service deployments at hot spots in other Japanese cities, trials have been carried out that use IPv6 devices in ITS and home-networking applications. A powerful feature of MIAKO Net Project's wireless Internet service is that, because Root's router has a hand-over function based on the Mobile IP standard, users can remain connected while moving between the service areas.
Recommendations/Conclusions
- As the diversity of devices and applications supported by the Internet continues to increase, the migration to IPv6 will become inevitable. It is vital for end users, service providers, and vendors to fully understand the technology and start to establish a deployment strategy.
- There is an opportunity for vendors of software and hardware to lead the way in proactively developing, producing, and marketing IPv6-compliant products. Vendors should also support service providers to drive user interest and demand.
- Wireless access services based on wireless LAN technology are gaining in popularity, and large-scale trials are starting to be conducted. Operators and vendors should work closely with government bodies and organizations such as the MIAKO Net Project to derive business models that will allow commercialization of these services.
Application Infrastructure & Software Platforms
by Robert PerryEvent Summary
Epicentric announced its Foundation Builder on February 19, followed by Plumtree's announcement of its Portal Studio Server on March 4. Plumtree's Studio Server provides an easy way for users to connect applications, and Epicentric's Foundation Builder lets business groups deploy and manage new portal applications to meet the specific needs of their department or constituencies. With these products business users can now meet their changing requirements without competing for scarce IT resources.
Market Impact
Portal frameworks have achieved considerable success as a platform for rapidly creating and deploying Web-based applications. This success has attracted infrastructure providers BEA and Oracle, which now offer portal components with their J2EE application servers. Underlying these moves is the battle for the mind share of the corporate developer. IT developers are comfortable with scripting languages and Visual Basic, and are not system architects writing C++ and Java. These skills are easily applied to ready-built frameworks and tools for basic self-service applications provided by the portals.
BEA WebLogic Workshop and Oracle JDeveloper are designed to bring Java within reach of the corporate developer, enabling IT departments to deliver Java applications that run on J2EE application servers and utilize the new infrastructure components.
As the infrastructure providers have reached out to corporate developers, Plumtree and Epicentric have moved on to the more numerous systems analysts and business users. Portal vendors have succeeded thus far due to their ability to market and sell business value. These agile vendors are now wisely empowering business users to extract the value from their tools themselves.
Recommendations
- Portal buyers must consider their target users and available IT resources, and select a solution that the organization can best use to meet business objectives.
- Pure-play vendors are on the right track toward making their solutions easy to implement, manage, and adapt to current and future business needs. They must also continue up the infrastructure stack and add application capabilities such as knowledge management and collaboration while seeking to leverage the infrastructure platform on which they sit.
- Infrastructure companies have made logical decisions to add basic portal components to the infrastructure, but must recognize that they lack the experience and technology of portal players to deliver business value. They should continue to partner with players higher up the stack to provide the complete solution.
Two recent Yankee Group Application Infrastructure & Software Platforms Reports—"Door Remains Open in Rapidly Maturing Portal Market" (February 2002) and "Where Does the Corporate Portal Go Next?" (November 2001)—explore these and other trends more deeply.
Australasian Market Strategies, Internet Strategies Asia-Pacific
by Rob PadgettEvent Summary
The week of March 4 saw the announcement of a historic solution to the structural problem of too-high content costs, which has plagued Australian pay TV since its inception in 1994. A proposal has been submitted to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to approve the creation of an effective wholesale content purchasing monopoly by FOXTEL (50% Telstra, 25% News Corp., and 25% PBL).
Market Impact
This proposal represents the culmination of eight years of bitter competition fought by unprofitable entities as they duplicated infrastructure, paid high prices to Hollywood studios, and wasted fortunes trying to create unique sports programming (e.g., Murdoch's ill-fated and reputation-damaging "Super League").
Change became likely following SingTel's purchase of Optus (complete with its fixed-cost underperforming multimedia division); easier with the demise of One.Tel, a potential News/PBL telephony competitor via FOXTEL; and certain with the appointment of Sam Chisholm (BSkyB veteran and chairman of FOXTEL) to the Telstra board. Chisholm has catalyzed a solution that apparently solves everyone's problems. FOXTEL, now able to negotiate with higher subscriber numbers, will handle content purchasing for both Optus and FOXTEL. Telstra and Optus will retail the content on their respective cable systems—now bundled with telephony and Internet.
Herein lies the opportunity to boost Australia's flagging broadband fortunes. The offering of attractive service bundles will greatly assist the introduction of broadband Internet access to a wide consumer audience via cable. The timing is perfect given recent efforts by both industry (Broadband Exchange) and government to stimulate broadband takeup beyond Australia's relatively low 2% of households.
Recommendations
- The ACCC should require the cable system operators (Telstra and Optus) to extend the current analog open-access regime to the future digitized systems as a condition of approving the pay TV proposal.
- The government should reexamine the flawed Datacasting rules as part of its broadband stimulus initiative with a view to allowing more entertainment content on nontraditional media (see the March 2001 Yankee Group Australasian Market Strategies Report, "Brakes on Australia's Digital Future—Regulatory Effects and the Protection of Traditional Media Interests").
- Telstra should ensure that the FOXTEL content is made available to as wide an audience as possible through commercial arrangements with competitive broadband players (subject to revision of the Datacasting rules).
Business Applications & Commerce
by Lisa WilliamsEvent Summary
Enterprises are beginning to build rich "content networks" that drive enterprise systems for electronic commerce, supply chain and manufacturing, and distribution:
- Nortel Networks entered into a partnership with data-driven software provider NetFormx, a firm that is creating a rich store of data including attributes and valid configurations of the company's telecommunications products.
- Emerson Electronics, the $15.5 billion diversified manufacturer known for its electronic and electromechanical controls, instituted a "material information network" using i2 software to manage information about commodity purchases across its more than 60 divisions. In purchasing on just one commodity alone—steel bars—Emerson was able to save more than $500 million annually.
- Companies like SOLVOS and Austin-Tetra are creating data stores of supplier information. Austin-Tetra's base of Fortune 500 customers uses its supplier data store to rationalize supplier listings and have the foundation for supplier scorecarding initiatives. SOLVOS is creating a data store of suppliers and contract manufacturers in the Pacific Rim, helping companies identify manufacturing partners.
Market Impact
For enterprises: Most IT and line executives know that their existing applications treat important sources of data pretty badly—cramming all product attributes in a single field and rendering them unsearchable, duplicate, or incorrect. It is difficult to modify those existing applications to provide important reporting functions that inform users of significant business events. With e-commerce as a daily reality, it's also difficult to aggregate product information and then syndicate it to different "stakeholders"—customers, distributors, and even internally to a company's own Web site. The market impact of data-driven applications is to separate the two domains of rich data and task-driven applications so that each can receive its fair share of development resources.
For vendors: Data-driven applications will introduce a new type of enterprise application into the market—one that is concentrated on a large data store with a relatively lightweight application component that enables users to have personalized access to this data and that supports some amount of necessary workflow. For traditional enterprise software vendors, this means having strategic partnership teams sharpen their information about data aggregators and portal/business intelligence solutions.
Conclusions
- Enterprise applications companies that have a data-driven play will be able to open new markets and defend margins against software companies that focus on process automation alone. Important for public companies, data subscriptions can also help even out the often spiky revenue curves of a software vendor by adding more recurring revenue and forward visibility.
- Enterprises should begin to look at data as a "fourth pillar" beyond the core enterprise applications of supply management, ERP, and CRM, and look for ways to centralize and enrich that data.
Small & Medium Business Technologies
by Mike LauricellaTrend Summary
Integrated access service, the combination of voice (8 to 18 voice lines) and data over a single T1, is proving to be the key revenue-driving product for many CLECs that target small and medium businesses (SMBs). We estimate that currently there are 685,000 SMBs that are ideal candidates for an integrated access solution. Allegiance Telecom, XO Communications, NuVox, and ITC^DeltaCom all report strong growth in integrated access sales, and many other CLECs are playing aggressively in this market. Further benefiting from this trend are equipment manufacturers, primarily VINA Technologies and ADTRAN.
Market Impact
The ability of the CLECs to effectively sell and take market share away from the RBOCs in the business market has not gone unnoticed. Recently, Verizon has entered the market with its FlexGrow product (using Alcatel equipment) and VINA Technologies has announced a contract with BellSouth. Integrated access service has great potential in the SMB market, and as CLECs lower the bar on the number of voice lines a customer must have to qualify for the offering, the market opportunity increases dramatically.
Recommendations
- An integrated access solution is a must-have to properly address the SMB market and will prove to be the key product for surviving CLECs.
- CLECs must continue to focus on selling integrated access to new customers and also migrate UNE-based customers to integrated access.
- RBOCs must move swiftly but are disadvantaged in this market. CLECs address SMBs with a direct salesforce, while RBOCs are accustomed to selling only through call centers. For success, the RBOCs will need to pound the pavement.
- RBOCs are faced with a challenge of product conflict between DSL and integrated access on the low end of the business market, and integrated access and a multiple T1 line solution on the high end of the market. A very effective market segmentation strategy is a necessity, and the appropriate incentives for the salesforce must be in place to ensure that the appropriate products are positioned.
2001 High-Speed Internet Year in Review
cmsv6n3, Report, March 2002, by Mark QuigleySS7 Market Update 2002: Signals of Uncertainty
cniv1n7, Report, March 2002, by Mindy HiebertWeb-Based Customer Care: The Gradual Move to Second- and Third-Generation Solutions
crmv4n3, Report, March 2002, by Devon SheaMigrating to IP-Enabling Technologies: Identifying Critical Consumer Applications
ctsv1n5, Report, March 2002, by Aurica YenCable MSOs: Ready to Take Off in the Small and Medium Business Market
smbtv1n4, Report, March 2002, by Michael Lauricella, Michael Speyer, and Lindsay SchrothSecurity Industry Predictions 2002: Where the Money Will Go
sssv2n2, Report, March 2002, by Matthew Kovar, CFA and Anil Phull, CISSPNorth American IP VPN Services: The 22 to Watch
tsv1n3, Report, March 2002, by David Rohde
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On-Demand Content: Building the Business Case for Distributing Audio and Video Online
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