IN THIS ISSUE
Most executives at most service provider firms justifiably are fixated on "business
model transformation." They are right to do so. Consider that from 1997 to
2007, the percentage of U.S. provider revenue earned by long distance dropped from
47 percent of revenue to 18 percent. What took its place? Wireless. Wireless was
16 percent of revenue in 1997 and 49 percent of revenue by 2007.
That shift required a business model transformation. But wireless voice is nearing
saturation as well. So there will be another round of transformation that could,
in 10 years, change the revenue pie chart in equally new ways. It isn't clear there
is any single application that will, in 10 years, represent half of all revenues.
What is clear is that wireless will not represent half of all revenues in 10 years.
Instead, some combination of new services will hold that position. And that's why
new services platforms are so crucial. We have another transformation coming.
Gary Kim
Following our recent press release about Metaswitch expanding support facilities
to better support our Asian Pacific customers, Archie Massey, head of support in
Sydney, sat down ("live via satellite!") with Cory Boller, managing editor
of Metaswitch eNews, to discuss overseas expansion, the challenges that telcos face
in other countries and life in Australia.
Question: Before we talk about the Metaswitch office in Sydney, I'd like
to hear a little about life in Australia. How is it different than living in the
US?
Actually, the lifestyle is very similar in Sydney and San Francisco. Both have sun
and water on their doorstep and the locals generally live active lifestyles. The
principal difference, if anything, is that in America the British are still a quaint
source of interest, whereas in Australia we're everywhere!
Question: Have you had to do much business travel to exotic destinations?
What about personal travel around the region?
Not yet, but where Jeff Lattomus, our Pacific Region Sales Manager treads, I hope
to follow six months down the line. I know he's been travelling far and wide recently,
including Sydney, Auckland, Tokyo and Guam to name a few.
Question: Where are the customers located that you talk to on a daily basis?
Our principal focus today is on our customers in Guam, Hawaii and Pago Pago (American
Samoa for those of you who aren't familiar with this tiny little island in the South
Pacific). Although we occasionally provide out-of-hours support to the mainland
United States, we don't yet have the resources to provide a full out-of-hours service
from Australia.
Question: Why did Metaswitch decide to open an office in Australia?
With expanding operations in the Pacific region, our support team needs to evolve
in order to meet the needs of our customers. Although we could have established
ourselves anywhere in the same time zone, Sydney was a popular choice for Metaswitch
employees.
Read more about Archie Massey and Metaswitch's Sydney office
Metaswitch blogs are open forums for the exchange of ideas about the telecom / high-tech
industry, the social impact of new communications technologies, and life in general.
We encourage you to add your own comments, link to our articles, and become part
of the broad Metaswitch community.
Check what Gary Kim, Andy Randall and Martin Taylor are blogging about - http://blogs.metaswitch.com/blogs/
By Gary Kim
"Voice is the killer app for broadband," it used to be said, as it once
was true that email was the killer app for dial-up access. It may still be true,
in many global markets. About 56 percent of the value-added service revenues generated
worldwide broadband access networks come from the combination of VoIP and security.
They are followed, in order of global revenue generated, by online gaming, home
networks, music downloads and video over broadband.
"The success story of 2007 has been VoIP," says John Bosnell, Point Topic
senior analyst. "Overall revenue has very nearly doubled, average revenue per
user is up and take-up in major markets - particularly North America and Western
Europe - is growing quickly," says Bosnell.
According to the latest data from Point Topic broadband value added services generated
$25.7 billion worldwide in 2007, an increase of 62 percent over 2006. "Value
added services are growing strongly and are increasingly significant in overall
revenue terms," says Bosnell.
"We estimate that value added services were 10 percent of total broadband revenues,
which includes subscriptions, in 2003 but by the end of 2007 that has increased
to over 30 percent. As it gets harder to make a profit in the hyper-competitive
line rental market the operators and suppliers have to look to add value, and revenue,
with their service offerings," he says.
Read more about VoIP and Broadband
Transforming Puerto Rico Through Next-generation Communications: Worldnet And Metaswitch
Versión en Español
(PDF 449 KB)
Puerto Rico is one of the Caribbean's fastest growing communications services markets
thanks to increasing need and demand for traditional and advanced telecommunications
services. To address this trend, WorldNet Telecommunications decided to evolve its
successful business model from a reseller to a facilities-based competitive local
exchange carrier (CLEC) and become the standard for leading communications services
on the island.
With a strong cash flow based on its history of success and without a legacy infrastructure,
WorldNet could take the time to consider the merits of legacy vs. IP and is ultimately
developing a state-of-the art Next-Generation Network using leading technology and
products from best-in-breed vendors. WorldNet elected to use its capital carefully
by investing in key aspects of the network that made sense, while leasing other
aspects (its "smart build" strategy). Recognizing the switch to be the
"brains" of a network, WorldNet chose carefully and ultimately selected
Metaswitch as the source of providing the range of existing and next-generation
services to its existing SMB market and government and emerging residential markets.
This strategy has proven successful as WorldNet has experienced excellent on-net
margins, a 20% improvement in Operating Expense, and 100% year over year growth
in advanced IP services. It is well poised to grow revenues through new converged
communications services and in new markets, leveraging the advanced capabilities
of the Metaswitch platform.
In regard to maintaining a sustainable competitive edge, Lawrence Freedman, President
and CEO of WorldNet, says, "Of course we compete in part on price, but by offering
value to the customer, we know that we will be paid for providing that value - affording
us continued healthy margins. Service packages offering high-quality, premium solutions
that make our customers more productive are how we ultimately need to distinguish
ourselves. With Metaswitch we have a key differentiator."
To read the complete case study, follow this link to download the WorldNet Telecommunications Case Study as a PDF (416KB).
Metaswitch Infrastructure Continues To Be Solution Of Choice For Competitive Carriers
More than 125 competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) are now among Metaswitch
customers. The four latest CLECs, NTS Communications, Dialogix Telecom, Nevada Comstock
Communications and FastTrack Communications, have all selected Metaswitch to enable
the deployment of advanced services to meet the rapidly increasing demands of their
customer bases.
Read the press release
Our customers at home and abroad can both benefit from our new brochures! These
are available in both English and Spanish.
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