T1 and MPLS.com

Lynch tells FTTH Council broadband metering is inevitable to fund Internet expansion

Caution: Pricing paradigm shift ahead.

Verizon Communications Chief Technology Officer Richard Lynch told a 2009 FTTH Conference & Expo press conference today that the broadband industry “will see a pricing paradigm shift” because Internet service providers “cannot continue to grow the Internet without passing the cost on to someone.” His comments are believed to mark the first time a Verizon executive had publicly supported metered billing at some point in the future.

It’s Verizon’s hope that the FCC’s current pursuit of net neutrality as part of a national broadband policy doesn’t result in rules that limit ISPs’ ability to offer premium bandwidth offerings, while maintaining open access to the public Internet, Lynch said. When asked how Verizon would meet the burgeoning demand for bandwidth for Internet video and other services, Lynch admitted “the concept of a flat-rated infinitely expanding service for everyone just won’t work.”

“We are going to reach a point where we will sell packages of bytes,” Lynch said. “Now I’m not announcing a new pricing plan. But we have already gone this way in wireless because that is where the resource is most constrained.”

The other half of FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s speech a week ago, laying out expansion of the agency’s Internet principles, dealt with transparency of network management, and Lynch said Verizon has no problem with that, as long as requirements are reasonable.

“If someone wants to know the location of every router in my network, and its capacity and parameters of every router, then I have a problem,” Lynch said. “People do have a right to an understanding of what they can expect. But they can’t be engineering the network for us or with us.”

Verizon wants to be able to offer levels of service via private IP options for which customers will pay a premium, Lynch said. “We don’t want to be in a position to offer a public Internet service only. Customers would have to pay for premium services, but it would allow us to differentiate based on the type of service, time of day, etc.”

“I think this is the first time I’ve heard someone from Verizon say there is a need for metered billing,” said Vince Vittore, an analyst with The Yankee Group. “They were the one holdout, and certainly they are not going to move to it immediately. But their cost structure is certainly different, as a tier-one [carrier], their transport costs are a fraction of the smaller operators.”

Lynch said Verizon is not considering a wholesale option for its FiOS fiber-to-the-premises network at this time, but he didn’t completely rule it out.

“We would consider [wholesaling], but I don’t think we’ve seen any logical business plan that makes sense,” Lynch said. “Verizon has seen a movement in the public as a whole to want more open options, more openness in general. We’ve moved to open development on the wireless side, and we are doing the same thing with our software development kit for FiOS, inviting third-party developers to participate.”

Lynch’s primary concerns with Genachowski’s recent net neutrality push is that the FCC may be creating regulatory burdens that won’t improve things for consumers.LET’S HOPE IT DOESN’T COME TO THIS!

WASHINGTON — AT&T Inc. alleged Friday that Google Inc.’s Google Voice service is improperly preventing consumers from calling certain phone numbers, in violation of federal call-blocking rules.

In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, the phone giant accused Google of violating rules designed to ensure phone companies connect all calls. AT&T also accused Google of violating “net neutrality” principles, which are designed to ensure consumers can use any legal Internet services they want.

Google Voice is an Internet call-forwarding system that allows consumers to sign up for a free phone number that, when called, simultaneously rings all of a consumer’s other phones.

Google acknowledged it restricts outgoing calls to some phone numbers, including adult chat lines and conference-call centers, which charge higher access fees to carriers. Blocking such calls reduces Google’s expenses for the service.

An FCC spokeswoman said the agency had received the letter and was reviewing it, but didn’t have any comment about whether it might investigate

The FCC “cannot, through inaction or otherwise, give Google a special privilege to play by its own rules,” AT&T said in the letter.

Traditional phone companies can’t legally reject phone calls, but the rules are fuzzier for Internet phone services like Google’s.

Google executives said in a blog post Friday that Google Voice isn’t a traditional phone service and is therefore exempt from rules that bind phone carriers because consumers can use it only if they already have phone service.

The FCC’s net-neutrality guidelines require companies to allow consumers to use the Internet as they please. They also say that “consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and service providers and content providers.”

AT&T said that Google is violating net-neutrality principles by “flaunting the call blocking prohibition that applies to its competitors.”

In the blog posting, Google said the FCC’s net-neutrality principles “apply only to broadband carriers — not Web-based software applications. Even though the FCC does not have jurisdiction over software applications, AT&T apparently wants to use the regulatory process to undermine Web-based competition and innovation.”

Google and other Internet companies have been fighting AT&T and other Internet-service providers over what rules the FCC should impose on network-management practices.

NuVox, a leading competitive communications provider serving businesses across the Southeast and Midwest, announced today that its data centers achieved a Statement of Auditing Standard Number 70 (SAS 70) Type I certification. Developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), SAS 70 is one of the most widely recognized standards for service organizations, like NuVox, to evaluate the effectiveness of internal controls based on control objectives. To receive SAS 70 Type I certification, a third-party auditing firm assessed NuVox’s processes, safeguards, and controls associated with the physical security of its data centers.

The NuVox® VoxDCSM data center product (VoxDC) offers fortified, stand-alone facilities designed to house networking equipment for small to medium sized business customers. With uninterrupted power, 24×7 video surveillance, and redundant Internet capability, businesses greatly benefit from storing their mission-critical information and equipment in a secure environment.

“With a focus on disaster recovery and security, VoxDC offers a cost-effective solution to any business looking for a Telco-grade facility with network redundancy and experienced engineering support,” stated Jim Jones, Director of Product Management for NuVox. “Achieving SAS 70 Type I certification aligns perfectly with our data center product strategy and effectively illustrates NuVox’s continued commitment to delivering the highest quality products to our business customers.”
Earlier this year, NuVox opened dedicated VoxDC facilities in Jacksonville, FL, Nashville, TN, and Atlanta, GA. Plans are underway to open a South Florida center in early 2010.

About NuVox:
NuVox delivers customized managed communications services, information technology, data, security, and voice solutions designed specifically for business customers. NuVox serves approximately 90,000 customers in the Southeast and Midwest, and provides select services throughout the United States. NuVox delivers services via its industry-leading MPLS-based wide area private IP network. NuVox has been certified by Cisco and is a member of the Cisco Powered Program for VoxNET, the company’s MPLS wide-area networking solution. In addition to retail solutions, NuVox also provides services to government and wholesale customers.

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of a copper-wire system dating back 100 years, and they came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by New Yorkers, in the weeks  that followed, California scientists dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, headlines in the LA Times newspaper read:
“California archaeologists have found traces of a 200 year old copper-wire system and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech  communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers.”

One week later, “The Redneck Rebel Gazette” in Alabama reported the following:  After digging as deep as 30 feet in a corn field, Bubba Ray Johnson, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Alabama had already gone wireless!  

That means that for up to 43 minutes each month, Google and Microsoft (which surprise also has a huge and growing customer base for hosted email) could have unavailable email service and be in compliance with their service level agreements with paying business customers.

Now naturally, they’d lose customers in droves if that were to happen. But other than a few errant months in the past few years, Gmail has usually been well above 99.9% availability each month. The point here is that businesses using Gmail and Exchange Online do not view email as mission critical. Therefore, email doesn’t have to be up 99.99%, 99.999%, and certainly not 100% of the time. And, in turn, these businesses get a pretty cheap email service.

CIOs know they’re agreeing to an imperfect world when they sign contracts with Google and Microsoft for online email. And if Microsoft and Google wanted to make their email 99.999% available, they would build more hardware and redundancy into the infrastructure. But, in their cost analyses, they’ve weighed how much to put into the infrastructure versus how much customers are willing to tolerate for cheap monthly email service. Believe me; if the world starts clamoring for “five nines” on monthly email subscriptions, they’re going to cost a lot more.

No, this isn’t so much about whether cloud computing is ready. It’s about tradeoffs, weighing the cost and management benefits of onsite versus offsite, and whether the world comes to an end if we can’t check our email for several hours each year.

NuVox is highlighted in the September issue of GSA Business in a section titled “Book of Experts.”   The article highlights VP of Marketing Sid Earley as he discusses the power of the NuVox product suite. Here’s an excerpt from the write-up:

 ”Sid Earley came to NuVox three years ago on a mission: to improve NuVox’s product portfolio and show customers that NuVox service will reduce total costs and bring value to their business.  Recently the vice president of marketing helped launch NuVox Business Apps – powered by Google, one of the latest tools to accomplish this goal.

He says that by leveraging the power, innovation, and security of Google’s infrastructure, this comprehensive product suite gives businesses better management and flexibility with email, internal websites, document sharing, and more.

Earley points out, ‘Many times customers must look beyond their core telecom services to increase productivity and efficiency in their business.’ By evaluating email providers, consulting organizations, or even their own IT departments (rather than simply focusing on phone systems and the data network), the true cost of doing business comes to light. And Google’s brand muscle only strengthens the value proposition.”

Sid goes on to talk about the rest of the NuVox product suite and the strength of our network.  Click here to read the article in its entireity. Or you may click here to read the entire “Book of Experts.” Sales reps!  This is a great article to add to your toolkits.

We have launched our 2009 United Way campaign with our annual Palmetto Society breakfast. NuVox is an annual supporter of United Way Fundraising Efforts. To learn more about what NuVox does visit www.t1andmpls.com or www.nuvox.com