* Continuing our interview with Terry Matthews, founder of Mitel and Newbridge Networks
Today, we’ll conclude our highlights of a recent interview with Sir Terence (Terry) Matthews, founder of Mitel and Newbridge Networks, and now chairman of investor company Wesley Clover (part 1 of the highlights here). When asked about why he was so bullish on convergence, Matthews replied: “It will never go back.”
He observed that when Newbridge was acquired by Alcatel in 2000, the price for a DSL port was about $1,000 while today, based on a recent public tender awarded in Vietnam, the price for that same port is $9. Based in part on the greatly reduced equipment costs, the access and core networks can now deliver services at a similarly reduced price for the broadband services needed to support IP-centric applications.
Matthews believes that the next growth opportunities in a converged network will come from video — both from enterprise video conferencing and from IPTV. Citing the lowered cost of long distance broadband combined with the sharply reduced price of HDTV monitors and the advances in video compression, he contends that an “HD video wall” connecting offices between Asia and New York makes great economic sense and can reduce the cost of doing business without affecting the face-to-face contact needed by global enterprises.
And, saving the best for last Matthews contends that the most easily forgotten but the most important fundamental application traveling IP networks is voice. And, he emphasizes that it must be voice that works well and that is as reliable as the TDM systems that it replaces. Not only must VoIP provide superior quality audio, but it must be equally easy to supply and administer in a headquarters location or in a branch office. Consequently, Matthews is a big believer in the approach used at Mitel which offers the same software and provides the same feature set whether to a 60,000-seat HQ or a 10-person office. And, going back to his main point about the need for robust management, he suggests that the management system will be a determining factor for any VoIP supplier’s success.
Our thanks to Terry Matthews for his insights. Next time: Trade show and conference announcements and highlights.
