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June 30, 2004
It's Almost July!
In a few minutes it will be July in New York and the first six months of 2004 will be over.
The past seven months have been some of the most exciting months for the IP Communications Industry that I can remember over the past nine years.
The VoIP Buzz just continues to grow and I'm currently working on the global expansion plans for our VON events in 2005.
I've been on the road for most of the year so far and I'm looking forward to spending some extra time with my family over the next couple of weeks and catching up with the Mets and the 2004 baseball season.
Posted by jeff at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
New York State Ruling on Vonage: Overruled!
While U.S. District Court Judge Eaton's decision today is "temporary" and a follow-up hearing is scheduled for January, 2005, it should help set the stage for other States to defer ruling on similar situations in their States.
My hope is that Judge Eaton will follow the leadership of FCC Chairman Powell and defer any decision on the regulatory treatment of Vonage to the FCC.
Posted by jeff at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Back from Washington, D.C.
Earlier today members of the pulver.com team converged on Washington D.C. for a couple of strategic meetings.
While I don't have anything new to announce at the moment, based on our meetings today my hope is that we will have some interesting news to share in early July. :-)
Posted by jeff at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
NTCA Releases 2004 Broadband Study
The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) recently announced their 2004 study results.
One stat which I find of interest is that in their 2004 study results, "...Less than 1 percent of respondents currently offer voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service, but 42 percent face competitors who do so."
Hopefully this will be a driver to get more NTCA members involved in VoIP offering by 2005/06.
Posted by jeff at 06:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Vonage Customers can now WiSIP!
Starting today, Vonage customers who subscribe to the Vonage Softphone service can now use the pulverInnovations WiSIP phone.
This means, you don't have to carry around your laptop to take advanage of Wi-Fi mobility.
To learn more on how to take advantage of this new voice over Wi-Fi opportunity, please feel free to reach out to:
Stu Milberg - via email: stu@pulver.com.
Posted by jeff at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
June 29, 2004
Another Wednesday Trip to DC...
Tomorrow will make the third week in a row that I spent at least one day during the work week in Washington, D.C.
It's getting to the point that some crew members of the DC/NY Delta Shuttle are starting to look familar...
Posted by jeff at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
My Invitation to Keynote ISPCON Fall 2004
I recently was invited to give a keynote at ISPCON Fall 2004 which will be taking place November 3-5 in Santa Clara.
I am looking forward to sharing my support for this event in November.
Posted by jeff at 08:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Survival of the Fittest: The effects of too many VoBB Service Providers
One of my take aways from Supercomm last week was that there are still quite a number of would-be service providers operating in Stealth mode working out their technology platforms and business plans.
While there are some just focused on the SME/SoHo marketplace and others on the consumer space, it is not clear from my meetings how any of these companies are different than any of the other companies also competing in the same crowded space for what appears to be the same customers.
Back in days of the Softswitch start-ups it became quite clear that not all of the 120+ companies playing in the softswitch space were going to make it. And this wasn't because of a pending dot-com crash or the after effects of living inside of bubble. It was the market reality of too much supply for the depend.
Under this new bubble, while the number of softswitch vendors today more or less represent the realities of the existing marketplace, the number of voice over broadband service providers that already exist, combined with those which have announced intentions of entering the marketplace coupled with those known to be operating in stealth mode will in effect flood the marketplace with their mostly undifferentiated service offerings.
For a short while the consumers will benefit since a price war is inevitable. But in the end, many of the investors will be the losers for being responsible for backing so many new service providers. Many without any real vision.
These days, a dollar and a dream can get you a lottery ticket in New York and with just a little more cash you can launch your own service provider.
Posted by jeff at 08:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Registration is now OPEN for Fall 2004 VON!
Registration for Fall 2004 VON Conference and Expo is now open.
I am expecting Fall 2004 VON to be our largest VON event in our history.
Fall 2004 VON will be taking place at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston October 18th-21st.
Fall 2004 VON is the tradshow for the international IP Communications Industry.
While this is only June 29th, our exhibit floor in Boston is just about sold out.
I have started the process of inviting our speakers and we will have well over 300+ speakers at Fall 2004 VON.
I am looking forward to hosting this event.
Posted by jeff at 12:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 28, 2004
Monday Morning VoIP Buzz
Supercomm 2004 helped increase the worldwide VoIP Buzz.
At the moment, Google shows: 4,540,000 web hits and 3,190 News hits on the term VoIP.
This represents an incremental increase of 60,000 web hits since I last checked on June 14th.
Then again, by comparing today's information to the snapshot I took on January 10th that yielded: 2,080,0000 website hits, and 1,160 news stories it is easy to see how 2004 has been the year that global VoIP awareness happened.
Posted by jeff at 07:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 27, 2004
Bush Broadband Speech from Dept. of Commerce is Online
President Bush's Dept of Commerce speech from June 24th is available online: both a video and transcript.
If you look carefully at the very start of the video, you can see me taking a picture of the President from the 2nd row, a little bit to the right.
Posted by jeff at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
The Primedia Team Blogs Supercomm 2004
It seems that members of the Primedia Team were amongst some of the people who joined the fun at our Supercomm 2004 party. :-)
Hopefully these folks will bring their blogging talents to Fall 2004 VON in October.
Posted by jeff at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 26, 2004
The Week that Was…
And I thought last week was pretty cool after testifying at the US Senate (June 16) and at New York City Hall (June 15th). Little did I know…this past week turned into what was one pretty amazing week.
For me it started on June 20th with Father’s Day with my family in New York.
On Monday, I was in Chicago for the commencement of Supercomm 2004, a keynote at Telephony’s VoIP for Service Providers Conference, and for the commencement of our co-located at Supercomm SIP Summit 2004 and SIPop! 2004.
On Tuesday, I welcomed our delegates to SIP Summit 2004, walked the show floor, said hello to FCC Chairman Powell before his keynote and ended the day by hosting what turned into a great party at the Chicago House of Blues (really one of the best we ever had). On Tuesday I received an invitation by the White House to attend a meeting at the Department of Commerce on Thursday which I didn’t learn about until Wednesday morning.
On Thursday I made a quick trip on Thursday to Washington, DC, listened to a speech by President Bush on his Broadband Policy which was followed by a quick “Meet ‘n Greet!” (For me, words don’t describe how cool it was to just be there.) Commencing Thursday morning in Santa Clara, Supernova 2004 closed out the week and from what I heard, it too was one great event.
On Friday I spent time in Melville with our pulverInnovations team working out our product roadmap for 2005 and 2006 and various strategic directions.
All in all, this has been a pretty busy and amazing week.
Special thanks to everyone who contributed to this great week.
Posted by jeff at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
SkypeOut Launched!
Earlier this week, Skype quitely launched their SkypeOut service which offers very competitive pricing for Skype users to place phone calls to the public switched telephone network around the world.
The SkypeOut Price List is online.
Posted by jeff at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
June 25, 2004
Our Man in Washington: Jonathan Askin
Marketplace ran a story yesterday ("The New Machine: The Little Guy") on Jonathan Askin (our new General Counsel) and his lobbying efforts on behalf of pulver.com and IP Communications. Here is the link to the story: The New Machine: The Little Guy.
According to the report: "It's a strange experience to be a drop in the sea of some 20,000 lobbyists in Washington. And to be a lobbyist without a lot of money who represents an emerging, new technology at that. How does someone like that operate? It takes some faith, as Marketplace's Lisa Napoli discovered after spending a day in The New Machine. . . . The promise of new technology has Jonathan Askin running all over Capitol Hill, the voice of a small start-up business, in a sea of entrenched interests with deep pockets."
Posted by jeff at 07:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
pulver.com @ Supercomm 2004
Special thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of SIP Summit 2004.
Also, special thanks to the 1,000+ people who helped make our party @ Supercomm 2004 one of the best parties we have had in the past eight years.
I am looking forward to being back at Supercomm in 2005.
Below are a few images from Supercomm 2004:
Carl Ford @ SIP Summit 2004
FCC Chairman Powell during Keynote Interview @ Supercomm 2004
Crowd waiting for FCC Chairman Powell
FCC Chairman Powell
pulver.com Party @ House of Blues
House of Blues
Check-in @ House of Blues
Posted by jeff at 07:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Telecom is a 2004 Presidential Platform Issue!
Yesterday's speech by President Bush followed by a speech by Kerry made it official: Telecom has become a platform issue in the 2004 Presidential race!
While I was in Washington, D.C. listening to President Bush, Kerry offered what seemed like similar ideas on Thursday in Silicon Valley.
I liked what the President said regarding his Broadband Policy and I am supportive of it.
I'm not sure how long ago it has been (if ever) since Telecom Policy has been a campaign platform issue but I think it is great that it is, and my hope is that we as a Nation can achieve the President's stated Broadband goals for the United States by 2007.
Posted by jeff at 06:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
June 24, 2004
View from Bayville, Long Island
24-Jun-04: 8:17 PM
Posted by jeff at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Pictures from President Bush's Broadband Briefing @ Dept. of Commerce
Earier today I was an invited guest at President Bush's Broadband Briefing that he gave at the Department of Commerce in Washington, DC at 2pm today.
The President spoke for about 30 minutes and then took the time to greet some of his guests.
Below are some of the pictures I took from the 2nd row.
Posted by jeff at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Just back from President Bush's Briefing on US Broadband Goals
I just returned from DC where I was one of the invited guests at the Department of Commerce where President Bush detailed his Broadband Goals earlier today.
I really appreciated the invitation to be there. Today was a day I will not forget.
The entire experience was a bit surrealistic for me as it was the first time I ever shook the hand of a United States President. I did ask the President for his autograph and I left DC with it. :-)
I managed to sit in the 2nd row and took quite a few pictures. I plan to post some of the photos in the next day or so.
Posted by jeff at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
"Big Brother" Xten Networks is WATCHING you...
One thing that I learned while I was at Supercomm was that each time someone launches their XTen FWD Client, Xten Networks gets a data notification of the event and they have an ability to track on a real-time basis every one of their mutual customers around the world.
This was news to me and while on one hand it is pretty cool that this is possible, I had no idea that the FWD population that choose to use the Xten softphone was being "tracked" by the software publisher.
I wonder how many other software/hardware vendors are tracking the use of their products/services on a real-time basis.
Posted by jeff at 08:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
VoIP REALLY was a Fashion Statement at Supercomm...
Walking around the Supercomm show floor I lost track of the number of vendors who were giving away T-Shirts that included the term "VoIP" on them.
Posted by jeff at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Supernova 2004 Starts Today...
Supernova 2004 will be starting later this morning in Santa Clara, CA.
Delegates attending Supernova will once again be leading the way in the use of interactive real-time communication technologies at a commerical conference event.
Kevin's lineup for his event is nothing less than spectacular.
Supernova is a great way to end what has started as a real super week, which started at Supercomm. :-)
Posted by jeff at 06:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 23, 2004
No COMDEX in 2004!
I just read the news that COMDEX 2004 has been cancelled.
Amazing!
Posted by jeff at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Next Stop: Washington DC
Yesterday I was invited by the White House to attend a meeting tomorrow at the Department of Commerce where President Bush will be addressing technology innovation with an emphasis on broadband.
I was told that the White House invited "150 Tech Executives" to this event and I am honored to be one of the people on their invitation list.
I'm looking forward to my visit tomorrow to Washington and to meeting some of the other Tech Execs who will also be present at the event.
Posted by jeff at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VoIP has become a Fashion Statement
Another sign VoIP has become a telecom fashion statement:
Overheard on the Supercomm show floor yesterday: "I know that VoIP stands for Voice over IP but what does IP stand for?"
Posted by jeff at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Our Best Supercomm Party Ever!
Last night at the House of Blues in Chicago the recently reunited Herding Cats played for 1,000+ people from a recently re-energized positive feeling Telecommunications Industry.
Since becoming the pulver.com house band in 2002, I don't remember the Herding Cats ever sounding better.
The venue, the music, the spirit of the evening and our guests contributed to an evening that brought me back to feeling as if I were at a VON Conference Party back in 2000.
While I'm not sure who won the battle of the Supercomm Parties, last night's pulver.com party was a contender.
Party blogs references from our guests:
Posted by jeff at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
The Buzz Returns to Supercomm!
2004 has been a tipping point for the VoIP Industry and this was reflected once again at Supercomm 2004.
Our SIP Summit 2004 turned into a standing-room only event and the attending delegates have been given a glimpse into the near-term future of where SIP is going and the specific issues facing the industry at the moment.
FCC Chairman Powell spoke yesterday afternoon to a standing-room only crowd in a space that held around 1,800+ people.
The taxi lines at Supercomm have been reminiscent of lines I used to experience in Las Vegas at N+I and COMDEX years ago.
Walking around the busy Supercomm show floor, quite a number of the vendors had the letters V-O-I-P included somewhere in their exhibit space.
While I can't say that I personally saw any breakthrough technology announcements or demos yesterday, one thing is clear: that the spirit of the international telecom industry has been restored.
The year ahead has the potential to be the best 12 months the VoIP Industry has seen since 1996.
Congrats to the TIA/USTA for producing a GREAT event!
Posted by jeff at 08:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 22, 2004
Living in a Broadband World…on Dialup!
Once again I find myself staying in a hotel room where my only access to the internet is via dial-up…except in the hotel lobby where Wi-Fi access is flaky but available. This situation has been all too common during the 2004 pulver.com road tour. This most recently happened couple of weeks ago during VON Europe in London and repeated itself once again when I checked into the one of the Supercomm recommended hotels in downtown Chicago.
I find it real hard to believe that in the year that broadband seems to be happening around the world, many of the world’s business hotels are still not there yet. My hope is that
2005 will be the year that Broadband really happens within the Travel and Leisure industry.
Posted by jeff at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Battle of the Supercomm 2004 Parties
One sure sign that things are getting better inside the world of Telecom is that for the first time in a few years, there are a bunch of parties and social gatherings scheduled around Supercomm.
On Tuesday night, the big party at Supercomm this year will be given by Lucent Technologies. Lucent has tapped the talent of the band Journey to play their party. Lucent's choice is a bit ironic given the magical mystery tour that Lucent has been on during their recent three-year journey.
Tuesday night will also see its share of evening boat cruises, visits to local Chicago Blues Clubs as well as the pulver.com party at the Chicago House of Blues which over 900 have RSVP'ed and which the Herding Cats, one of the best cover bands in the US, will be playing.
May the Battle of the Supercomm 2004 Parties Begin!
Posted by jeff at 01:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
June 21, 2004
Productive Day in Chicago
I arrived in Chicago earlier today and gave what I believe was a well received keynote at Telephony Magazine's VoIP for Service Providers conference.
I've spent the past little bit of time finishing my talk for tomorrow morning for our SIP Summit 2004.
SIP Summit 2004 turned into a pretty cool event. The delegates are from 18 countries, representing 155+ companies and 200+ people are attending.
I'm looking forward to being at the SIP Summit tomorrow and having the time to walk around the Supercomm show floor and check out SIPop! 2004.
Posted by jeff at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
XTen Maps FWD(R) World
I just read a blog entry in Erik Lagerway's blog.
What I found most interesting is that he included a recent map of the worldwide FWDers who use XTen's software.
Posted by jeff at 06:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Getting Ready for Chicago...
In about an hour I will begin my trek to Chicago.
Later today I will be giving one of the keynotes at Telephony's VoIP for Service Providers.
Afterwards I will be dropping by our SIP Summit.
Posted by jeff at 06:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
pulver.com CRTC Comments
I just posted the pulver.com CRTC comments that we filed last week.
Posted by jeff at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 20, 2004
pulverInnovations News from Chicago...
Wi-Fi VoIP Continues to Happen.
pulverInnovation's Wi-Fi SIP phone, the WiSIP, will be on display in several demos on the Supercomm 2004 show floor.
Look for a pending announcement this week regarding the use of the WiSIP and a new service provider pulverInnovations have recently partnered with.
Posted by jeff at 05:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
.tel is not DEAD yet...
Last week we were contacted by ICANN for the next phase of the .tel sTLD application process.
We were given five days to address their laundry list of questions that they had as a follow up to our original application.
My hope is that this is a positive sign in the sTLD process.
Posted by jeff at 02:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VoIP will be the TALK of Supercomm 2004!
Based on the number of PR folks which have been reaching out to members of the pulver.com team leading up to Supercomm 2004 looking to setup meetings at Supercomm 2004 in Chicago, it looks as if the VoIP will be the talk of the show. :-)
Starting tomorrow, pulver.com will be producing in Chicago our SIP Summit 2004 as well as co-locating SIPop! 2004 on the Supercomm 2004 show floor. There will be 16 companies demonstrating commercial SIP interoperability.
On Tuesday night I will be hosting our 3rd annual Pulver Report Party @ Supercomm at the Chicago House of Blues.
I'm looking forward to another great week for VoIP.
Posted by jeff at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Happy Father’s Day!
Happy Father’s Day to everyone who may be celebrating this today.
Posted by jeff at 06:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
June 19, 2004
CRTC Comments due yesterday
June 18th was the last date for comments to be filed with the CRTC for consideration in their VoIP Proceedings in Canada.
pulver.com filed comments at the CRTC with the hope of testifying during the CRTC VoIP Proceeding when it takes place in Ottawa September 21st-22nd.
Posted by jeff at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
pulverRadio will launch in September
One of the projects, which I’ve been working on since the end of last year, is the relaunch of pulverRadio.
pulverRadio is working on a new format, which has not been heard before in the radio industry. Loosely defined by myself as "progressive rock radio" the goal of pulverRadio will be in part to bring a new sound and style to radio and to bring people back in time to the late 60's and early 70's when commercial radio stations experimented with their formats and didn't have to follow a cookie-cutter style to keep up with the corporate look/feel that many radio stations suffer from these days.
One of our goals will be to go deep on tracks when we play an artist. When we develop our play lists and programming segments we will also look to logically put together artists who share something in common - be it influences, background, sound, etc.
In some ways I hope to follow in the pioneering steps WNEW-FM, 102.7, took in the 70s.
I've been in contact with some of the people who used to work at WNEW-FM and I've been encouraged by their reaction to my approach. Once we launch, I hope to be able to get a few of the voices of the past from WNEW-FM to guest voice track a show and provide a stream to share their voice with a new generation of radio listeners.
Posted by jeff at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
How can I dial FWD(R) from Vonage?
If I ever were to put together a personal FAQ list, the number one answer that I would post at the moment would be the answer to the question: "How do I dial Free World Dialup from Vonage?"
The answer is:
As long as you have international dialing enabled with your Vonage account, just dial: 011 0 393 FWD_Number
and,
To dial from Free World Dialup to Vonage: dial **243 1 Area_Code Vonage_Number.
Posted by jeff at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
June 18, 2004
Next week in Chicago @ Supercomm 2004...
I will be speaking at a couple of events and hosting a party the night of June 22nd.
On Monday, June 21st I will be giving one of the afternoon keynotes at Telephony Magazines's VoIP for Service Providers
On Tuesday, June 22nd I will be giving the opening Industry Perspective at our SIP Summit 2004 which is co-located with Supercomm.
I'm looking forward to attending FCC Chairman Powell's keynote Tuesday afternoon.
Tuesday night, I'm hosting our 3rd annual Pulver Report party @ Supercomm at the Chicago House of Blues.
On Wednesday I plan to spend some time catching up with friends and walking around the Supercomm show floor.
Posted by jeff at 07:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 17, 2004
Press Coverage from Yesterday's Senate Hearing
Wired News - Senate Tangles Over VOIP Rules
Converge! Network Digest - U.S. Senate Considers VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act
InfoWorld - VOIP legislation runs into opposition
the INQUIRER - Criminals opt for Voice over IP
Washington Post - Justice Dept. Worries About Internet Calls
Reuters - Wiretaps Should Apply to Net Calls -- Justice Dept
ZDNet - Feds: VoIP a potential haven for terrorists
PCPRO - Feds fight for the right to tap Internet phones
Wall Street Journal - McCain Wants Quick Action On Internet Telephone Bill
Posted by jeff at 06:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Cablevision's Optimum Voice: 100,000 Subscribers and Growing!
Tom Rutledge, COO of Cablevision shared his subscriber numbers during his
testimony in panel 2 at "The VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act" hearing yesterday.
Until other voice over broadband service providers besides Vonage publish their
subscriber numbers, Cablevision is the #2 voice over broadband service provider in the US.
Based on their current traction and customer conversion rates, it is possible that
Cablevision will end up with at least 250,000 customers for their Optimum Voice service by the end of 2004.
Posted by jeff at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
June 16, 2004
Great Day in Washington, D.C.
Today was a great day in Washington, D.C., and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to testify at the Senate Commerce Committee Hearing.
Posted by jeff at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Getting Ready for the Senate Hearing...
I am looking forward to the Senate Hearing that will be starting in just a few hours.
While my Oral Testimony is limited to 5 minutes, I would have needed 20 minutes to speak if I were to share everything included in the written testimony.
Posted by jeff at 06:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
My Testimony at the United States Senate Commerce Committee: “The VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004” Hearing - June 16, 2004
The following are my prepared oral remarks for panel 2 at the US Senate Commerce Committee Meeting on S. 2281, “The VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004”, taking place later today on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify.
I should mention at the outset that I have no formal telecommunications training. I have formed my opinions of communications from my almost 30 years as an Amateur Radio operator, my decade on the Internet, and my life experiences interacting with computers. I like to think that my thought process is not constrained by anything other than my imagination.
This perspective drives my passion for IP communications, generally, and Free World Dialup, in particular. Free World Dialup was the subject of the FCC’s first order on IP communications, the pulver Order, and is, perhaps, the world’s first positive regulatory statement on IP communications.
IP communications is “disruptive” communications in the most positive sense of the word. When I look into the future, end-to-end IP networks are capable of empowering consumers and enterprises to control their own communications experience. Over the next decade, all we’ll really need is fair access to the Internet. The advent of Open Source communications is helping to level the playing field and to put high quality communication software into the hands of communication enthusiasts.
On the Internet, voice is just another application. As much as there are email and web servers, look for communication servers to become part of the Internet experience. The emergence of such servers will empower a new generation of communicators -– people who can “talk” on the Internet without need for an intermediating voice service provider. The future is bright, but we need to ensure that regulation does not get in its way.
Anyone with access to the Internet can deploy new applications and services, from anywhere to anywhere, and no one is beholden to the “one-size-fits all” service provider model of the legacy telecommunications network. But we, the IP communications pioneers, need room to innovate without the threat of regulation.
I agree with what I believe is the intent of S. 2281. The Bill is, no doubt, an effort to ensure that IP communications can grow and evolve in a relatively unregulated environment, particularly peer-to-peer IP communications that do not connect to the Public Switched Telephone Network. To the extent that S. 2281 clarifies the rules going forward and rests authority over IP communications with the Federal government, the legislation provides essential certainty to the market.
I recognize that one goal of the legislation is to ensure that the archaic, kluged intercarrier compensation and universal service regimes that currently plague traditional telecommunications carriers do not extend to, and stifle the growth of, IP communications.
I applaud the Senate Bill for recognizing that, even in the sensitive area of lawful intercept, Congress should not adopt a “one-size-fits-all” approach. I suggest that government need not micromanage a solution for lawful intercept. Rather, the best role for government would be simply to push industry to develop solutions that work best for particular technologies and network configurations while achieving the desired law enforcement goals.
Many of the social goods referenced in the Bill are more readily achieved through the pure play of the competitive market. For instance, I do not believe that the Bill need address IP communications quality of service. Consumers will demand, and providers are going to want to offer, varying levels of service quality. As long as consumers are properly informed of the capabilities of the service, the market should be able to establish appropriate levels of service quality. The role of government would essentially be to ensure that consumers are not misinformed.
I believe the industry is committed, and better suited than government, to working out the various social policy issues at hand. IP technologies can deliver services far superior to what is available today, be they for emergency response or for facilitating communications with individuals with disabilities.
I believe the Bill’s intention is also to promote industry-based solutions rather than to impose cumbersome regulatory obligations. I would like to inform the Committee that pulver.com has established the Global IP Alliance (“IP Alliance”), an international consortium of IP communications providers committed to realizing the promise of interconnecting IP communications and promoting consumer net freedoms and the social good.
I do have some concern about defining “VoIP” in the Bill. VoIP has evolved and will continue to evolve over the years. Any VoIP legislation must recognize the fluid nature of VoIP and ensure that new IP applications are free to evolve over the years.
I would also suggest that S. 2281 avoid singling out voice, as, somehow, qualitatively different than other IP-based applications. Voice, in an IP-based world, is really no different than other applications such as data, video, email, instant messaging, and presence applications. Legislation should logically exclude all IP-based applications, not just voice, from unnecessary government interference.
We do not yet know the full potential and promise of IP communications. Our children will be dreaming that up if we give them the tools and latitude to innovate and evolve the ways we communicate.
In order to realize this potential, it is essential for Congress to set the tone, to lead the way and ensure that it and other governmental bodies around the world do not stunt the growth and viability of IP communications. S. 2281, if implemented consistent with the spirit in which it was introduced, will help further this worthy objective.
I would like to conclude my testimony with a word of caution to the Committee. While I acknowledge the worthy goals of S. 2281, I ask that the Committee ensure that the needs of would-be innovators and consumers of IP communications are fairly represented as the legislation works its way through Congress. For this reason, I am grateful to the Committee for allowing me to speak today.
Thank you.
Testimony from Jeff Pulver, CEO, pulver.com, jeff.pulver@gmail.com - “The VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004” Hearing – June 16, 2004
Note: This is a link to my formal Written Testimony.
Posted by jeff at 06:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
June 15, 2004
In Washington DC - Waiting for Tomorrow...
I'm in DC at the moment and I'm looking forward to testifying tomorrow at the US Senate Commerce Committee Hearing on "The VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004."
Posted by jeff at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Yet Another VoBB Company: Calleveryone.com
I just noticed an ad from CallEveryone.com pop up in a Google Ad word.
Welcome to the VoBB Business. A place with no real barriers to entry and a place where with some money and a dream and you too can offer voice over broadband services.
Posted by jeff at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Another VON Europe Perspective: VoIP Suffers Idenity Crisis
A story published in The Register, written by Rethink Research takes a look at the VON Europe 2004 talks from both Brian Day of Nortel and Nikolas Zennstrom of Skype and compares both of them.
Posted by jeff at 05:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 14, 2004
Monday Morning VoIP BUZZ
Earlier this year, I've started tracking the buzz surrounding VoIP as measured by Google.
This morning there were: 4,480,000 webpage hits on VoIP and 2,970 news stories.
This is an increase of 470,000 website hits since I checked on May 5th.
I expect the VoIP News Buzz to grow this week with the US Senate Hearing focusing on VoIP taking place on Wednesday followed by the commencement of Supercomm 2004 next week.
I expect the VoIP Buzz noise level will reach new heights next week.
Posted by jeff at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
June 13, 2004
The Week Ahead: Testifying in NYC City Hall and in the US Senate!
On Tuesday, June 15th I will be testifying at the New York City Council hearing on VoIP and E911 entitled: "Oversight: Delivering e911 Service Over Internet Telephony."
On Wednesday, June 16th I will be testifying at the US Senate Hearing on VoIP on "The VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act, S. 2281." The US Senate testimony will be webcast live and may also be broadcast on C-SPAN.
Given the high profile nature of both of these events, I expect VoIP to continue to capture headline news this week.
Posted by jeff at 01:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON 2004 Europe - Hanging up on Bakelite Brass and Mahogany Telephony
David Brunnen, Managing Director, ABFL Groupe Intellex, shares some kind words about last week's VON Europe 2004.
Posted by jeff at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
StanaPhone: World's First Free Telephony Service? Nah!
This past week, US based StanaPhone launched making claims that it was the "Word's First Free Telephony Service."
While they should have known better in what they called themselves, early reviews have been mixed.
The StanaPhone announcement didn't go unnoticed, especially on Broadband Report.com.
Posted by jeff at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Dan Gillmor Discovers Global IP Sound
In Dan Gillmor's column, "Give Swedish firm credit for VoIP underlying software", Dan discovers Global IP Sound, a firm better known as GIPS.
While GIPS may have been a secrect to some in Silicon Valley, they have never been a secrect to anyone who has been attending our VON events over the years.
Within the IP Communications industry it has never been a secrect that it is the GIPS "voice engine" that is empowering Skype with it's great sounding audio and resilient qualities when packet loss is introduced. However, it was the genius of the Skype team to: build an application that "just works", simplfy the user experience, have the vision to the use the GIPS technologies, and build their own solutions which can seemlessly traverse NATs and Firewalls.
Posted by jeff at 07:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 12, 2004
Getting ready to Testify: The VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act, S. 2281
I am looking forward to testifying at the next US Senate hearing on VoIP, The VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act, S. 2281.
This will be a Full Committee Hearing scheduled for Wednesday, June 16 2004 at 9:30 AM.
The event will be webcast live and I expect will also be carried on C-SPAN.
Posted by jeff at 06:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 11, 2004
Reminder: pulver.com Party in Chicago - June 22nd
Over 500 people have already sent in their RSVPs for the pulver.com hosted Supercomm party which will be taking place in Chicago on June 22nd at the House of Blues.
Posted by jeff at 11:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
A few more GMail Invites now available!
After waiting just about 30 days since the last time I could invite someone to join the GMail beta testing, this morning my GMail account is authorized once again to invite a few more friends.
During the past month, literally hundreds of people have emailed me requesting to be invited to the GMail beta.
While I would have liked to have helped out everyone who requested an invitation, my hope is that once GMail is formally released, that many of the people who have been waiting to have a GMail account will be given an opportunity to have one.
Posted by jeff at 08:51 AM | Permalink
Fall 2004 VON News: Senator Sununu added to conference agenda!
I'm happy to announce that Senator John E. Sununu (R-NH), has confirmed that he will be joining us in Boston at Fall 2004 VON!
I am looking forward to introducing Senator Sununu to the Fall 2004 VON Community.
Posted by jeff at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Coolest Demo at VON Europe 2004: RADVISION's 3G Videocall
One of the coolest demos I saw Tuesday night on the VON Europe showfloor was the one given to me by Boaz Raviv from RADVISION. Their demo had the effect of showing me a real-life "Dick Tracy" style 2-way video communication.
After experiencing the demo, while conceptually I was there a long time ago, seeing everything live just working drove home the point that we are living in different times.
3G Mobile Video Demo
Eli Orr from RADVISION sent me an email which described the demo:
"Glad you visited our booth for the 3G to VoIP convergence.
Actually this demo is running at DoCoMo as part of FOMA (Freedom of Mobile Access) in Japan for over a year, enabling subscribers base that crossed 3.6 Millions during May with a rapid growth of over 500,000 a month (April) in Japan and now expands to more European 3G Operators.
The demo shows the ability to make video call to your buddies at Home from anywhere using 3G videophone to a Broadband connection at home with a SIP/H.323 Video terminals.
What you saw was a real 3G Video call done from London via H3G network
Connected via RADVISION IP Gateway to an IP Video terminal at Boaz's apartment in Israel to his kids.
You saw how amazing it is to have a video calls with your bodies showing than the exhibition and see the kids having fun at home.
RADVISION solution also enables to stream
(e.g. We have channels such as CNN and Web cams that you can connect to via a press of a button) as well or Join a multiparty video conferencing.
This type of solution can be operate to the rapidly growing number of Millions subscribers (Crossing 5 Millions in May with a rapid growth
of over 1 Million since April).
This shows the amazing power of technologies convergence for that sake of the consumer, SIP, H.323 , 3G-324M operates all together to enable "Any, Any, Any" - Any Where, Any Network, Any Terminal calls a reality for the mass market of mobile users."
Posted by jeff at 06:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Business Week Online: Waiting for Net2Phone to Pick Up
Just read Amey Stone's Street Wise column on Net2Phone, Waiting for Net2Phone to Pick Up.
The story provides an interesting "Street Wise" perspective on the company.
Posted by jeff at 05:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 10, 2004
Next VoIP Hearing @ Senate Commerce Committee: June 16th
I just returned to New York from London and waiting for me was an invitation to testify at the next Senate Commerce Committee hearing on VoIP!
Earlier in the year I had hoped to be invited to participate in such a hearing and today I welcome the opportunity to be one of the voices that will be heard next Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
Posted by jeff at 01:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Virgin Atlantic - One Cool Airline
While Stateside I enjoy flying on jetBlue, when I travel to/from the UK, I do what I can to take Virgin Atlantic.
Compared to most other airlines, the quality of service on VA is just different and better.
For the first time traveling post 9/11, when I went through security this morning I didn't have to take my computer out of my travel case. Seems the folks at Heathrow have deployed some next-generation technologies which eliminates the need to take computers out of the bag. Hopefully this is something that will soon be followed in the US.
Posted by jeff at 03:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
June 09, 2004
Getting Ready to Return to New York
In a couple of hours I will be leaving my hotel room in London to start my journey home to New York.
It has been a rather productive week in London and it was great to see so many people at VON Europe.
Posted by jeff at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2004: VoIP is Happening Now...
After spending the past few days in London at VON Europe 2004, it was hard not to share in the excitement with all of the various Pan-European start-ups that have been in attendance at VON Europe 2004. From the looks of it, the UK will be full of Vonage-like competitors.
Our VON Europe 2004 exhibit hall has had a consistent flow of traffic in it and our conference session rooms have been staying pretty close to capacity.
This was one event where we did live up to where we expected it to perform, and even did a little better than what was expected.
Special thanks to the dedicated pulver.com team for helping to make VON Europe 2004.
Posted by jeff at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Buzz at VON Europe 2004 Increasing...
I'm sitting at one of the networking tables and I can't help but notice the ever-growing noise level in the backbround, a reflection of the on-going business development and real-time social networking taking place at the moment.
Posted by jeff at 05:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
BT has now announced the timetable for the 21C transformation.
Headlines:
* Mass migration of customers from PSTN to IP based network to begin in
2006
* Majority of customers' PSTN services on IP network by 2008
* Trials of voice services on IP network and fibre to the premises
announced
* Increase in customer choice, control and service flexibility
Details posted to: >http://www.btplc.com/News/index.htm
Posted by jeff at 05:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 08, 2004
CNN International @ VON Europe 2004
Earlier today we were contacted by CNN International.
We are expecting a CNN flim crew on-site tomorrow at VON Europe 2004. :-)
Posted by jeff at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The HEAT of VoIP was felt at VON Europe 2004
As things turned out, London has been experiencing a heat wave at the same time that VON Europe 2004 has been taking place. This heat, compounded by the heat generated by the crowds of people at this year's VOn Europe was felt throughout the day at our conference.
I appreciated the candor of Nikolas during the question and answer portion of his keynote this afternoon.
By the time the exhibit hall opened tonight there was at times standing-room only in the aisles in the exhibit hall and there was a loud audible room noise level that can be best described as the sounds associated with "doing business."
Below are some of the images I captured from walking around VON Europe 2004 this afternoon.
Morning Break
slide from: James Ench, Daiwa Securities
VON Lunch
Alistair Woodman, Cisco
VON Lunch
Niklas Zennstrom, CEO, Skype
Henry, Willi & Lawrence3G Mobile Video Demo - RADVISION
Ahal Besora, CEO, Inclarity
18:42 - Exhibit Hall
Jeff, Niklas and Lou Holder, Vonage
Posted by jeff at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Buzz is Back at VON Europe 2004!
As the conference delegates started to gather prior to the commencement of VON Europe and as the seats in the amphitheatre started to fill-up, for those who attended VON Europe 2003, it was proof positive that our conference has seen a 4x growth in size since we got together last year.
At the moment we are pushing the limits at the conference facility given the size of our event.
This morning we heard the perspectives from: AT&T, BT Mobility and the FCC. The pictures
below were taken a little while ago.
8:47 AM - Conference Registration Desk
Morning Session in Ampitheatre
Morning Session in Ampitheatre
9:50 AM - Morning Break
9:52 AM - Morning BreakPosted by jeff at 06:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
A Full Day Ahead at VON Europe 2004
Within about an hour and a half from now, VON Europe 2004 will be fully underway.
I'm looking forward to listening to this morning's Industry Perspectives and getting caught up on the latest issues and trends facing the European IP Communications Industry.
I wonder if anyone else speaking today is worried that VoIP seems to be feeling more like a fashion trend then like a technology platform for innovation.
Posted by jeff at 01:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 07, 2004
Images from VON Europe 2004: June 7th
Today was the "pre-conference" workshop day at VON Europe 2004. The images below were taken during the day today. While we had our opening industry perspectives this evening, for many of the attending delegates, the conference officially commences in the morning.
So far my favorite gadget that I've seen is a mock-up of a new Linksys router that will provide two voice ports for SIP. Henry Sinnreich showed the device during his talk this afternoon. This new device seems to take up the same old footprint as the current models. I would expect the street price for these units to be just incrementally more expensive than the current models.
When this device hits the marketplace it will start to marginalize some of the ATA type devices existing in the marketplace today.
Posted by jeff at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Broadband Parasites on the Rise in Europe
During my first day on-site at VON Europe 2004 I ran across seven different "soon to be launched" voice over broadband service providers.
SIP was the most popular platform of these upstarts but I did meet one start-up using MGCP and another using H.323. I expect some of these service providers will be doing something to take themselves out of "stealth" mode in the near future.
Posted by jeff at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2004 will be Starting Soon...
I'm looking forward to the commencement of VON Europe 2004 in a few hours and the opportunity to start catching up with some of my friends from the European IP Communications Industry.
It looks like this event will be attended by quite a few European Press and European Telecom Analysts. The 2004 rebound of the European VoIP industry will be quite noticeable at VON Europe as the size of our conference community is more than double than what it was just a year ago.
Special thanks to everyone who has contributed to the success of this event, including our: speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and the team of people from pulver.com who have all helped make this happen.
Posted by jeff at 12:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 06, 2004
If an Analog Telephony Adaptor with CD Quality Audio Falls in the Wood...
...Did anybody hear it?
…Did anybody notice?
As wideband codecs become available for Analog Telephone Adaptors which require an analog handset to be connected to it, I wonder if anyone realizes that in many cases the higher sounding fidelity available from these wideband codecs will not be heard. The reason for this is that standard analog handsets have a frequency response which is optimized for human voice and in many cases these handsets have speakers which were designed to have limits to the frequency response they can respond to. In general terms they are just a few thousand hertz. In other words, by design since most telephone handsets are not designed for high fidelity, even if high quality sound were present inside the audio stream, it most likely would go unnoticed.
So buyer beware and be careful when looking at spec sheets for analog telephony adaptors.
A place where the benefits of a wideband codec like G.722 will start to be heard will be softphones on PCs and PDAs. These are both platforms which can deliver CD quality audio and where the speakers can deliver an enhanced audio experience.
Posted by jeff at 07:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
London - June 5th 2004
Some images from yesterday...
Posted by jeff at 06:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 05, 2004
An Accidential Tourist in London...
Earlier today the VON team started to arrive in London. Since our event setup doesn't start until tomorrow, I took the liberty of having a few free hours and made my annual trek to Harrods and spent time walking around Notting Hill.
(pictures will follow)
Posted by jeff at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
June 04, 2004
Getting Ready for VON Europe 2004
I'm looking forward to the commencement of VON Europe 2004. In many ways, VON Europe 2004 is tracking to be one of our best European events ever, very much how Spring 2004 VON was one of our best Stateside events.
While the number of exhibitors is down from VON Europe 2000, (only because we ran out of exhibit space to sell), the total size of the VON Europe 2004 community looks like it will be close to what we were back in 2000 and that is saying a lot.
I'm leaving for London in a few hours from JFK and I am looking forward to being in London.
I look forward to the day that I will be on a flight that provides high-speed Wi-Fi access so I have an alternative to the in-flight movies and musical entertainment.
Posted by jeff at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
New version of YATE available
For those of you who are tracking open source IP Communications, one project that I've recently added to my personal radar screen is YATE.
Diana Cionoiu, the YATE lead developer just emailed me and mentioned that with their latest version, "...We added sip and iax suport, also h323 gatekeeper support and a new framework for codecs with an implementation of gsm."
Their download is available at: http://voip.null.ro/tarballs/yate-0.8.2.tar.gz.
I would appreciate hearing from others what their YATE experiences have been.
Posted by jeff at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
VON Europe 2004: Biggest VoIP Event in Europe since 2000!
I just took another look at the community of people who will be joining us next week in London for VON Europe 2004 and we will be producing the largest VoIP event in Europe since VON Europe 2000.
While we are on-site in London we have an outside chance of breaking our record attendence from back in 2000. It is going to be real close. This is just another sign of the strong recovery of the international VoIP sector.
VON Europe 2004 will be well attended by senior executives representing the pan-European IP Communications Industry. At last count there will be delegates from 38 countries representing over 350 companies.
I'm looking forward to being at the event and being able to take in the buzz. :-)
Posted by jeff at 07:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 03, 2004
Wireless Mess for VoIP...
...Looks to be a cool and real interesting technology.
I'm meeting with a couple of the folks from LocustWorld when I'm in London next week to get a first hand accounting of the LocustWorld System.
Posted by jeff at 04:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
In Search of: VCs who care about Disruptive Communications
At the moment, one of the hot spots in the world of communications is wireless and the social phenomenon known as “landline replacement.”
Back in the summer of 2000 I co-founded WHP Wireless based on the idea that over time more and more people would be giving up their home landline number in favor of using a cell phone inside the home. Based on the reported increasing drop by the US ILECs in home access lines (in the millions) in the US over the past three years, this was one time that we were right about a future trend and the marketplace has validated the need and application for the product WHP Wireless sells known as the CellSocket.
The widespread use of the CellSocket will help fuel the movement for people to use Cellular technologies inside the home which in effect represents a “disruptive technology” for those affected by such change. There are also some interesting related applications for the Enterprise.
Over the years WHP Wireless has proven it’s technology platform and approach and they are in the process of actually generating revenue. All good things as far as I can tell. One thing which they really could use is getting involved with a Venture Capital group who is not scared by “consumer electronics” and is focused on the effects of communications disruption – at least in the converged areas of Wireline, Wireless and Broadband.
I’d appreciate any referrals to Partners at Venture Firms around the world who may be interested in WHP Wireless and their future plans to contribute to this communications disruption. I'm reachable as: jeff.pulver@gmail.com
Posted by jeff at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
pulver.com PARTY at Supercomm 2004: June 22nd in Chicago
For the third year in a row, pulver.com will be hosting a "Pulver Report" party during Supercomm, this time the event takes place the night of June 22nd at the House of Blues in Chicago.
Readers of my blog who are over 21 are invited to attend the party.
Drinks and Live Entertainment will be provided.
Please R.S.V.P by June 18th.
Posted by jeff at 12:07 AM | Permalink
June 02, 2004
10 Questions (and Answers) with CED Magazine
I just read the published interview I recently had with Jeff Baumgartner, Editor, CED (Communications Engineering & Design) Magazine.
For what it's worth, it is a pretty accurate and fast read.
I appreciate the attention from CED Magazine. :-)
Posted by jeff at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Orkut is too busy to play...
It seems the Orkut servers are overloaded at the moment. I've not been able to login for the past hour.
Hopefully the Orkut team will invest in whatever is needed to help scale their websites.
Posted by jeff at 07:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Gphone does NOT work on Treo 600!
It figures.
After I ordered a new Treo 600, a friend just sent me an email from Gphone Customer Support:
"Our current version of the Gphone client for Palm does not function correctly on the Treo 600.
We are investigating what it will take to correct this, and at this point do not have a release date. I will save your contact information and let you know when it is available.
Regards,
--GphoneOnline Support"
So for now, I'm back to waiting for a vendor to deliver a commercial SIP client for the Treo 600.
Posted by jeff at 07:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 01, 2004
194 Documents and Counting...
I just checked and at the moment there are 194 documents filed as comments to FCC Docket 04-36, the FCC's IP NPRM.
Posted by jeff at 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
My Summer Reading: FCC Reply Comments to: Docket Number: 04-36
Last Friday, May 28th was the deadline for comments to be filed to the FCC’s Wireline Docket Number 04-36) in response to the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).
All of the reply comments, including our May 28th reply, will be available for review by clicking here and entering: 04-36 in the Proceeding Box.
At last check there were 71 comments posted which included submissions through May 27th. The May 28th comments should be available in the next day or two.
These comments when fully reviewed will represent a snapshot where the current regulatory sediment is for IP Communications in the US. In any event, I expect the review of these comments to be an enlightening experience. :-)
Posted by jeff at 08:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)