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I haven't blogged much about the IP Convergence TV portal lately, but it's time. Our latest update has just gone live, and as usual, there's lots of new and interesting content.

As portal Editor, my role is to keep the content honest and of a high caliber. I'd like to think I'm doing my part as we continue to get great feedback about the portal and traffic continues to be healthy.

So, I'd just like to draw your attention to the new content in our latest update.

We have two Guest Opinion pieces, and I think you'll really enjoy their personal views on convergence technologies. They're from new voices who may be familiar to you, and if not, I hope they will be soon - Garrett Smith and Brady Gilchrist.

On the video front, we have 3 interviews, conducted at recent industy events in Europe. Two focus on the state of IMS - Joe McGarvey of Current Analysis, and Peter Galyas of Tilgin. We also have Intel's John Woodget talking about what's driving WiMax now and how it compares to competing wireless technologies like 4G and LTE.

Finally, we have a really great primer article from Dickel Sooriah of Comverse on femtocells. It's a very timely resource for a technology that's becoming pretty central for FMC, especially SIP-based services.

I should also add that the Convergence Blog serves as my own voice for IPCTV. Sometimes I write exclusive content there, and sometimes I re-post relevant content from this blog. If there's something you'd like to see me blog about there, I'd love to hear from you.

I hope you enjoy the latest content, and to stay up to date with us, it's real easy to sign up for an RSS feed. Just look for it on the ride side of the home page.

Technorati tags:IP Convergence TV, Jon Arnold, J Arnold & Associates

Well, in the wake of Canada Day, you'd think we'd be feeling all good about ourselves. Perfect time to get excited about the iPhone, which has finally come to Canada - legally, that is.

What a golden opportunity for Rogers to bring the gift that keeps giving and endear themselves to the wireless digerati.

We sure have a strange market up here for wireless, not to mention a wildly successful wireless spectrum auction that has been brought in some $4 billion for the government. Can't get enough of a good thing, I guess.

Because Rogers holds so many trump cards, they've chosen to come to market with some pretty expensive and restrictive pricing plans, and the pushback from consumers is really starting to kick in. I'm not going to get into the details, but their pricing plans are in stark contrast to the U.S., and I don't think there has ever been an instance that so baldly shows how different our market is here, and how much more people have to spend to get wireless services.

By nature, we're a polite people and don't complain too much or too loudly. That's why I'm posting about this, especially for those of you not that familiar with the Canadian telecom market. Let's just say that a lot of consumers are speaking out, and in true Web 2.0 fashion are self-organizing, and using all the tools. It's a great example of Internet democracy in action, and it will be interesting to watch how Rogers reacts.

I haven't blogged about this yet, but you can get my take in one of the articles that just ran this morning.

There's lots more out there of course, and I'll steer you next to a feature piece that ran in today's Globe & Mail. It covers the ground pretty well, but what I love the most about online versions of newspaper articles is the commentary from readers. As of this moment, there are 135 comments, and it's a great way to take the pulse of Canadians. Most of them are slamming Rogers, but there are also pro-Rogers voices, explaining that it's a free market, and they have every right to maximize their revenues and profits. After all, they took the risk, so they should gain the rewards. I suppose, but there's not a lot of risk here really, right?

On the blogger front, I'd also urge you to review Kevin Restivo's recent posts - he's been following this pretty closely.

Of particular interest on his latest post is a link to a online petition that has been getting lots of grass roots support. The Web works in strange ways, folks, and his link takes you to a URL that is too obscene to mention here, and you get the "Forbidden" 403 code, so you won't have any luck finding it. I think Kevin's intent was to steer to you to a different website, more appropriately titled "Ruinediphone.com". That makes more sense, but guess what - that URL also comes up "Forbidden" 403. Very interesting, huh? You'd think we were in China, where dissent is not often tolerated. I suspect this website is a bona fide place to rant and rally around a bone fide issue. Am I being blocked from this site because I happen to be a Rogers broadband subscriber? There's a scary thought, huh.

A sidebar thought that I can't figure out. If this website has been set up to organize Canadians against these pricing practices, why is it a .com URL, and not a .ca URL? Is it just me?

To continue this journey, it's always good to pick up on what Mark Evans has to say, and Jim Courtney's take on Skype Journal.

Bottom line - Rogers is behaving as one would expect an oligopoly to behave, and in response, it will mobilize our desire to see a more competitive market. The consumer will ultimately decide and will show Rogers just how much they really want the iPhone. Rogers may take the hint and follow Apple's footsteps by lowering prices, or they may hold their ground and exploit this window where they're the only game in town.

Based on a sample of one, my oldest son Max has gone back to using an iPhone, but I can't print here what he thinks of what Rogers is doing. Let's just say a lot of Canadians are seeing red right now, and I'm not talking about our flag or the Rogers logo.

Technorati tags:Rogers Wireless, Jon Arnold, iPhone, Canada

Here's a noteworthy item that came out on Canada Day. In short, one IPTV middleware company has acquired another IPTV middleware company. It's not a huge story or a huge deal, but still of interest to anyone following this space.

The players involved are Ottawa-based Espial Group and California-based Kassena. It's a very small deal dollar-wise - not even $10 million - but there are a few aspects worth commenting on.

First, it's a Canadian story. I've followed Espial for quite some time, and they went public up here on the TSX a little over a year ago.

Second, you don't often see Canadian companies acquiring U.S. companies in the IP world. Mitel's acquisition of Inter-Tel last year was another example, but on a much larger scale. Aside from not often seeing these kinds of deals, you may well not have heard about it either. In addition to this being a really small deal, the timing is a bit odd. Falling on Canada Day, it didn't really get picked up until today. And coming into the July 4 break, it may not register much in the U.S. this week either. Is it possible the timing was intentional so as not to attract much attention? I'm not close enough to either company to speculate, but I welcome your thoughts.

More importantly, the story is worth noting as a sign of low-level consolidation in the IPTV market, which is taking longer to hit its stride than most of us have expected. This is a natural stage for any emerging sector, and together these companies should be stronger. It's always tough to gauge synergies among like companies, especially when they are of comparable size.

The real problem here is that the IPTV space - especially middleware - remains fragmented, with no dominant player. Well, they're all competing against Microsoft - that's a given - but otherwise, they're all pretty small. As a result, the longer the market takes to mature, the harder it is for the indies to hang in for the payoff. At this stage of the game, revenues are hard to come by, and options for toughing it out another quarter or two are limited. That would explain why the size of this deal is so small. Better to take a small buy-out now than risk getting nothing later on.

I've always liked Espial, and hope this deal takes them to another level. If it does, I'm sure we'll see other roll-ups as the other middleware vendors look for ways to keep pace. I doubt this will be a game-changer for Microsoft, but it sure gives Espial more runway now to ramp up and try to emerge as a leader among the indies.

All I can do here is draw some home-grown attention to the news and hope they can make this work. Go Canada!

Technorati tags:Espial, Jon Arnold, Kasenna, IPTV

Well, it's Canada Day - whoo hoo! Am just getting this post done and then off for the day to enjoy our birthday.

What could be more appropriate than navel-gazing about my Red Sox? I dunno. Well, I planned to post this before the Tampa series in anticipation of a W last night - which would have put us back in first place. That's a much better vantage point for reflecting on the season so far, but come to think of it - now that we're 1.5 games out of first - this is a more appropriate place since 2008 has not been the walk in the park we had in 2007.

So, what's different this year? The team's record is about the same as last year at this point, but in 2007, the Yankees were all but buried and we were miles ahead in first. We were 10.5 games ahead of everyone a year ago today! Hmmm.

A few items from last night's loss go a long way to explaining why the Sox have been losing games they should be winning...

- giving up LOTS of walks and runs with 2 outs

- Chris Smith loading the bases in the 8th on 12 pitches - wow

- the Tampa Bay crowd cheering more loudly for the Rays than the Sox - when was the last time that happened?

- Lugo coming up with tying run at 3rd in the 9th with 2 outs - gee, just the guy you want. Actually Sean Casey was going to pinch hit, but the plans changed. To Lugo's credit, he ran the count full, but, well - clutch hitting isn't quite his thing...

- as a team, they continue to struggle on the road - at this time last year, they actually had more road wins than at home

- the offence waiting too late in the game to wake up - yet again, they almost pulled it out in the dying moments, but those get to be long odds when you're playing with a less-than-full lineup

- losing yet another 1 run game - 3rd loss in a row by a run

Overall, though, the Sox are in pretty good shape, but there's more competition this year. They were so-so for interleague play, compared to last year when they were dominant. As usual, they live and die as a team. When they're all hitting, the Sox are the best team in baseball. But there are lots of nights when they look very ordinary and nobody can hit the ball. Lately, they've been sitting quiet until the late innings, but that's not the way to win over a long season.

Anyhow, there are lots of bright spots to build our hopes for repeating upon....

- Dice K seems to be a bona fide top starter. He's been more effective this year, while Beckett has not gotten run support. Their respective records are basically the reverse of last year, where Beckett was pretty much unbeatbable. Dice K seems to have a knack of pitching poorly but not giving up runs, but in the crunch, I'd still go with Beckett.

- Dustin the Destroyah has been the hottest hitter in baseball lately and is finally hitting a great stride - they really need that

- Manny, Youklis and Lowell are all a bit off from last year, but still being very productive, esp without Ortiz

- JD Drew is no longer JD Who - looks like he's gotten himself together and made the adjustments to AL pitching. No doubt he's been the biggest turnaround for the Sox and that's a must-have with Papi being out of service for the foreseeable future.

- the bench is bit deeper this year - a bit like the Celtics - but still could be stronger. Sean Casey is a great addition, for both his bat and glove.

- starting rotation has great balance between experience and youth as well as types of pitchers. They've adapted very well without Schilling, and I don't think he'll be back. I think the starters were more effective as a group last year, but this battery is only going to get better as the young guys mature. I think Lester is for real, but Bucholz and of course Masterson are still a year away.

- Bartolo Colon is another great dark horse move, and he could turn out to be very valuable down the stretch. I would love to see him be switched out into a middle/late inning reliever - that's where the Sox are weakest and could really use his strong arm.

So, what's not to like? A few things...

- Lugo. Did I say Lugo? In case you missed it - Lugo. Why is it when they acquire NL shortstops they bomb here, but then they blossom again on their next teams? Renteria and Cabrera come to mind here. Lugo - I expected more from him - we all did. We can live with a weak bat in this lineup, but not when his defence is this bad. This would be my #1 priority for making a move. They really have no other notable holes in the lineup.

- Timlin - love the guy, but I really think Mike's time is up. He has been completely ineffective and don't see how this will change. Maybe his DL stint is the answer - we'll see. I'd love to see him pitch well again, but am not optimistic.

- Okijama - not so ok dokey. I can't tell if hitters have finally figured him out, or if he's lacking confidence. He's been a real liability lately, allowing almost all his runners to score. That's been costing us games we would have won last year.

- Ellsbury - a great talent, no doubt. Don't think the Sox have ever had a package like this, and he's definitely earning his keep running the bases. Problem is his lack of hitting and getting on base. Like Johnny Damon, his primary value is being the dangerous leadoff hitter. When he gets on base, things happen and the offence really flows from there. I'll still take him over Crisp any day, and of course he'll only improve with time. But for now, he's not being the leadoff guy they need to have those big innings to blow teams out.

- The Captain has got to be a concern. Defensively, Varitek has no peer in baseball, but his bat speed is gone. He will get the occasional clutch hit, but he's now more like a .240 hitter. Together with Lugo and the light-hitting Crisp, this makes for a fairly weak bottom third of the order. He may only have 2 or 3 decent years left, and replacing him has got to be a top concern for Mr. Epstein.

- Manny - his numbers are respectable, and he's finally got the 500 homer monkey off his back. He's not getting the clutch hits, though, and he's striking out more than he used to. And his behavior lately has been odd and worrisome to say the least. Not sure if Papi's absence is putting more pressure on him to be the Man, but I sense that not all is right in Manny Land. Maybe he's thinking too much about his contract???

- Middle/late relief corps has been the team's Achilles Heel without a doubt. Virtually all the games they're losing are unravelling in the 7th and 8th innings. They just don't have a reliable bridge to hold the lead for Papelbon. This was a real strength last year, esp with Oki being so solid in the 8th as a setup for Pap to close out the 9th. They don't have that 1-2 punch this year, and the guys leading up to Oki have been very inconsistent. Guys like Aardsma, Delcarmen, Lopez - they all have struggled. They'll have good runs, but some real crappy runs. Rarely lights-out. So, unless the Sox have a fat lead - which hasn't been the case very much this year - come the 7th inning, all bets are off.

- Papelbon - last year he was The Guy, but this year he's just elite. I still think he's the best, but the Sox have needed to use him more often this year, and that takes its toll. He has been mortal this year, giving up hits and runs where last year this hardly ever happened at all. Am not sure why, but I'd have to say he's a notch or two below 2007. Still very, very good, but not a sure thing, at least so far.

I think I'll stop now. Wakefield pitches tonight - could go either way with him. They would so love to win these next 2 and leave Tampa Bay back in first place, and then head into Yankee Stadium for what could be a crucial series. This road trip is a huge test for the Sox, and the next 6 games will go a long way to setting the stage for the stretch run. If things go well, they'll return home in first place with the Yankees at a safe distance. If the pitching and hitting collapses and there's another Massacre in NY, we could be looking at a 3 horse race by Monday. Nervous? Uh huh. Papi - please get better soon!

Technorati tags:Boston Red Sox, Jon Arnold, baseball

For long-time VoIP followers, you'll likely know Ari Rabban. I've known Ari from my earliest days of tracking VoIP at Frost & Sullivan. He was with industry pioneer VocalTec for many years, and most recently is the CEO of startup Phone.com.

The company has an interesting pedigree, and I'll leave that for you to discover. My post is more about shining some light on Ari and what the company is up to. They recently launched a corporate blog, and I want to steer you to Ari's latest post.

In this post, Ari talks about trends he's been seeing to support the notion that landline telephony isn't going away as fast as you may think. Sure, there's a strong trend towards wireless substitution, but his point is that much of the landline loss hitting the incumbents is going to cablecos, not wireless operators. Furthermore, he points out to the launch last week of the @Home landline telephony service from T-Mobile. This made a splash not just because of the low price - only $10/month for qualifying customers - but because it's coming from a mobile operator.

Of course, Ari would be remiss not to also mention his own company Phone.com, and in this case it's quite appropos. I've been trialing their Virtual Office service a bit, and it's a great alternative for small businesses, plus they have Home Phone as a residential offering. By all means, you should explore their offerings - they're a great example of how effectively landline services can be provided via the Web.

So, the main takeaway here is that landline telephony isn't going to disappear, and that when packaged right, VoIP can provide a lot of value. I still think voice is still a race to zero, but we're not there yet. As long as that's the case, I agree with Ari that there will still be a viable market for lower priced alternatives for voice service.

We all know how hard it is for any pureplay VoIP provider to make money, so the challenge is to maintain low operating costs and reasonable customer acquisition costs. In that regard, that's where the Web-based model of Phone.com comes into play, allowing them to be a low cost provider. Once that's in place, it's really a marketing issue, and that's where the Phone.com namesake comes into play. In the world of Web marketing, that's a key part of their brand, and from what I'm hearing, it's working pretty well. This is a different model, for sure, but in a Web 2.0 world, it just might work. I for one sure hope so, and to see for yourself, I'd suggest you RSS their blog.

Technorati tags:Phone.com, Jon Arnold, Ari Rabban, VoIP