The Internet of Things

The ITU just released the latest in its series of reports on the Internet, The Internet of Things. I have only read the executive summary (available on line at no cost) ... as with many reports like this with catchy titles, they don't explain the title (a pet peeve of mine). What is the relevance of a report like this to you? How does this compare to other academic or government reports? Do you expect this report to have an impact? If so, where and why?

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ITU, Telecommunications, Internet, WSIS

Infrastructure theft and telecommunications

This article is interesting, in that it highlights an aspect of infrastructure that seldom gets attention -- theft. As the article points out, it is hardly a problem isolated to developing countries. The impact of infrastructure theft is perhaps greater in developing countries because the resources are scarcer.

On the CAnet News mailing list, Bill St. Arnaud speculates about whether this phenomenon might turn out to be a driver for technology change. Would fiber or wireless equipment face the same problems? What if the lampposts being stolen contain access points ... how would this affect municipal networks?

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telecommunications

".eu" opens next week

A new top level domain ".eu" opens on 7 December. This press release indicates the protocol ... trade mark holders and public bodies will have first dibs on names for two months, followed by a two month period reserved to holders of "prior rights", before it is open to the public in April. What is the rationale for this approach? What problems is EURid trying to avoid?

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Internet, Europe, EU

Price's Law and the Downside of Network Effects

We have discussed network effects from time to time. Here is an interesting article that gives a little more definition to the phenomenon. Price's law appears to be more focussed on content, with more applicability to the "web 2.0" phenomena. Do you think that Price's Law also applys to the network effects experienced in the telecommunications industry? To think this through, take a look at your own consumption behavior where network effects exist (IM, mobile phones, etc.). You might also revisit the historical access competition era in the US (1892-1912). If Price's Law holds in this domain, what implications would that have on policy, especially for developing countries?

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Network Externalitiest

More on Google (less off-topic)

Recently, I posted a piece speculating on Google's future plans. This post featured a reference to an article by Robert Cringley. Cringley has now posted this article in which he further speculates on Google's plans (in addition to correcting some errors in his previous piece). Om Malik adds weight to Cringley's speculations in this posting on his blog.

So how does this frame Google's competition (and competitive position)? Does Microsoft's investment in the Xbox make more sense in this context? Who else might have an interest in competing here? What about Whitacre and his recent comments? What kind of future do you think is emerging, based on these (and other) speculations and analyses?

And then there is this ....

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Google