CMCSA
Telecom, Meet Web 2.0
Google (GOOG) appears to be buying GrandCentral, a company that merges VoIP and advanced calling features. They provide you with a single phone number and web/mobile interfaces to manage call redirection, voicemail, address books, etc. Think of it as VoIP on steroids and EPO, simultaneously. Click over to their Features page for a better description and familiarize yourself with how outdated a plain landline has become.
Sprint: Cable vs. Private Equity
The market has allowed Comcast (CMCSA) the luxury of waiting to take out Sprint (S ). But the recent purchase of Alltel has increased outside interest in Sprint, as investors anticipate the company crossing over the event horizon of the private equity black hole. This sets up an interesting situation, as the strategic value of this asset to Cablecos could exceed the private valuations attached to it.
Cablecos need an independent wireless company to partner with as their voice deployments become commoditized. I argue that Sprint is vital to the long term survival of the Cablecos (see “Someone Tell the Cablecos Fixed Line is Dead“). Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, is on the record saying he has no interest in Sprint. But what the hell would you expect him to say? “Yes, we need an independent wireless carrier like Sprint to survive and hope to buy it one day!”.
Comcast or a consortium of Cablecos needs to move now in order to avoid having more bidders at the table.
Author is long Sprint and short Comcast
Enterprise Access Capex – A Ray of Hope?
Only one half of Verizon’s wireline (VZ) revenue comes from consumers; the rest comes from business connectivity and services. Verizon, as well as other carriers, have been spending money to deliver better broadband services to consumers. What will happen when they spray this capex hose in the direction of their long neglected business customers? Which equipment companies will benefit?
Home PCs and Home Theater Don’t Mix
Anandtech has an absolutely horrifying review detailing the trials and tribulations of setting up a Windows Vista home theater PC (HTPC) with the first HD capable TV tuner from ATI (AMD). Even with the on-site assistance of Dell (DELL) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) (with promptness and technical expertise you or I could never hope to see) it took two days to get the Windows Vista PC, external HDTV cable tuner, and Time Warner Network integrated and up and running. The resulting experience was great, though most consumers would have never had the patience or technical fortitude to get it up and running. It makes one wonder why anyone would bother to do this at all.
OFC 2007 – Carriers Speak Out On Peer to Peer
I’ve got 9 pages of notes from yesterday’s OSA Executive Forum that I will distill and distribute this evening. Craig Matsumoto from Lightreading captured and blogged my fastball question to the Carrier panel composed of BT, Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon. My question was:
There has been a lot of discussion today about Video and the explosion of bandwidth needed to carry it but Peer to Peer traffic is now the largest consumer of bandwidth on your networks. Do you view P2P technology as an opportunity or threat and why?
Who Pays for the Online Video Boom?
Everyone talks about the explosion in Video traffic. Everyone talks about the explosion in the bandwidth required to carry it. No one talks about who is going to pay for it. There is one likely source: transit bandwidth inflation.
Comcast: Party Like it’s 1999
Big surprise from Comcast (CMCSA) today in the capex department. Barrons has a nice summary of the results. Revenue, subscribers, operating cash flow all met the expectations of the frothing massess, except Capex projections for next year were $1B higher than anticipated. Yes, 20% higher. Updated w/Chart
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Nyquist Predictions For 2007
Prediction is an entertaining activity better suited for stimulating discussion than providing an absolute outlook on the future. Therefore, the bolder and more controversial, the better. Keep that in mind as you read and respond.
Squirrels Ate My FiOS
It’s not just a catchy title. I lost my FiOS connectivity Saturday morning, rendering my Verizon tripe-play package of voice, data, and television inoperative. The culprit? Squirrels. Continue reading
Fun With Market Caps
Quick, rank the 10 following companies by market capitalization from large to small. If pressed for time, try picking the three biggest and three smallest.
