Telecom Monthly – April Newsletter: Springing Forward

April showers bring cloud manifestos; at least they do this year as industry players attempt to work out a framework for an open cloud computing network. But “manifesto” is such a loaded word; couldn’t we just have light fluffy clouds without all the revolutionary rhetoric? Perhaps the soon to be new FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski will have something to add to the conversation. We may have a hard time spelling his name, but word on the street is good. If we’re lucky, we’ll actually see an FCC that cares about competition and which will help prevent companies from getting “too big to fail” while helping small companies and innovators succeed.

Speaking of failure, some companies just don’t know how to recognize it. Take Sprint for example: they lost nearly 3 billion dollars last year and still rewarded their CEO with a compensation package worth an estimated 14 million dollars. Of course, thousands of laid off Sprint Nextel workers can’t count on being rewarded so richly. But they can look forward to lowered phone bills with a couple interesting new options.

Google has finally done something with their GrandCentral purchase and has launched the very promising “Google Voice.” Once Google Voice is out of beta, you’ll be able to place free phone calls and SMS in the US, along with conference calls and free voice mail transcription. Pretty cool. Not to be outdone, Skype is on the move as well, launching a fancy new desktop client, SIP Trunking for Small Businesses, and a new iPhone app all within the last couple of weeks!

Everything eventually turns to the iPhone these days, and so will we. Apple teased us in March with oodles of soon to be released new features in the iPhone 3.0 software due this summer. Yes, we’ll finally be able to cut and paste like crazy this summer, but we’ll also be able to search across the device for words and phrases, type in landscape mode, and receive multi-media messages. Perhaps these are all features which should have been included in the first version of the phone, but they will go a long way toward cementing the iPhone as a transformative force in the telecom industry.

It was a busy month in telecom. Times may be tough, but people still need to communicate. And that means the dollars will keep flowing into telecom, if not quite as fast. And for those companies hurting for new subscribers, there is always the hope of getting a slice of President Obama’s broadband stimulus – over 7 billion dollars worth. Welcome indeed, and very good for underserved customers in rural and urban areas.

Sure, there may be a few storm clouds in our update, but without periodic trouble to shake the debt from the balance sheet (are you listening Charter Communications?), we’d never be able to sort the winners from the losers. We’ve got a long way to go before the pain is over, but there is much to be hopeful for in telecom these days. We can see a bright spot on the horizon and it brings with it a greener telecommunications landscape.

Did you miss these hot stories in March?:

1. Julius Genachowski nominated to chair FCC
2. The Great Broadband Cash Giveaway
3. Google Voice Too Cool For Comfort
4. iPhone 3.0 Wishes Granted
5. Stormy Weather – The Open Cloud Manifesto

Also featured in March:

• Rewarding Failure The Sprint Nextel Way
• Skype Surging Forward
• Loading The Future – The Journey From 3G to 4G

-iTodd