Market Changes

Here is my observation so far on the beginning of 2009 for telecom. Once again there are going to be failed CLECs and changes in the ILECs. This happens every few years anyway so the economy is not the driving factor. What will really change are the ways these telecom companies handle evolving customer needs. Customers are getting smarter and often in such a way they know more than their providers do.

What this means for telecom is that there needs to be a larger ear to the ground. I see a larger and larger need for customers to justify getting more than dumb bandwidth. If a customer is going to invest money for services it should be about time they get something else out of it. I disagree with comments from some providers that IP is a commodity and prices will continue to erode. This works well until usage outpaces capacity and someone has to front the next wave of build outs. So customers will want to ask carriers what else will this do for us? It makes more sense invest in quality that has more benefits than to buy whatever is cheapest.

The future seems to be paved in not just combined solutions or managed services; but rather open architectures that let customers evolve their usage as needed. A connection to a carrier should mean having a chance to grow and shift. This goes against the traditional bandwidth = X price. The model should be usage of any products (voice, data, storage, managed, private lines, security, etc) are Y price without being locked into one product. Use what you need when you need it. Let the customers choose their environment no differently then loading software on a cell phone.

In fact I have found in my own job that is quite possible for carriers to do just this. Hopefully we will see some progression and make telecom more of a business asset than a monthly charge.