* Where are the free calls?
Today, we’ll finish our retrospective to see how we did a year ago in predicting what would happen with convergence in 2006.
7. We predicted that the VoIP strategies of Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, eBay, and AOL would finally become clear.
End of year (EOY) update: They have certainly become clearer, with the exception of Yahoo – more on this in January.
8. We predicted that convergence’s newest problem – conditional access with digital rights management (DRM), and oldest problem – network-to-network interfaces, would be brought to the table again as applications management adds complexity between multiple provider networks. (A repeat of 2005’s predictions.)
EOY update: DRM is indeed an issue but service providers haven’t become sophisticated enough to grant conditional access based on user profiles — except for standard security information measures and parental controls on video services.
9. We predicted that a tier-one network service provider would offer unlimited domestic local- and long-distance calls “for free” with the purchase of the provider’s broadband service – including inbound and outbound off-net calling.
EOY update: Unless you count SkypeOut as a tier-one service, we aren’t there yet with free calls but we’re getting close. Cable companies have offered unlimited local- and long-distance promotions for a little as $2.50 per month when competing against Verizon’s FiOS offer.
10. We predicted that regulatory agencies in most countries will continue to encourage competition, especially in the consumer markets.
EOY update: Credit goes to European regulators and certain U.S. state agencies. But the U.S. federal legislative and regulatory progress in 2006 to encourage competition seem more about words than action based the lack of progress on universal (video) franchising and ‘Net neutrality.
We take a break next week for the holidays. We’ll be back on Wednesday, Jan. 3 when we make our predictions for 2007.
