CITI Workshop: "Business Implications of VoIP"


CITI Workshop
on
Business Implications of VoIP
Identifying the Winners and Losers
Of Voice Over Internet Protocol

Room 107L Warren Hall

Columbia University

Amsterdam Avenue at 115th Street

New York, NY

[ Agenda and Presentations ]
[ Participant Bios ]

Voice over Internet Protocol (or VoIP) is the “hot issue” in telecommunications today because it holds the prospect of using broadband connections to the Internet for low cost, highly featured substitutes for traditional telephone services. Such substitution, if widely and rapidly practiced, could have a significant impact on the traditional telephone companies, cable TV companies, independent providers of VoIP services and their suppliers. Some have suggested that VoIP might be the “killer app” that drives the deployment of broadband connections to most homes and business and, as such, ignite a new “hi-tech” boom. Others have suggested that VoIP might be a “killer app” in the sense that it will undermine the traditional telephone industry.

CITI’s workshop will assess the business prospects and impacts of VoIP. (Following the CITI workshop, the Telecommunications Committee of the Bar Association of the City of New York will hold a companion program on the legal and regulatory implications of VoIP from 6:00 – 8:00pm at the Bar Association’s facility on West 44th Street.)

1. How Does VoIP Work? A short scene-setting tutorial.

2. VoIP Technology: How mature is the technology and what are expectations for future developments and improvements?

3. VoIP Costs: How do VoIP costs (capex, opex) compare with costs for providing conventional telephone service? What are the “costs” of a Vonage-type of service (where the customer rather than the service provider pays for use of the Internet)? What are the “costs” of circuit-switched telephone service (where, presumably, the service provider has infrastructure costs…but sunk costs)?

4. VoIP Performance, Features and Quality: How does VoIP compare with conventional telephone service from a user's perception?

5. What Can VoIP Do That POTS Can't? Is POTS technically capable of matching VoIP (IP Telephony) features and functions? If so, is it cost-prohibitive to do so?

6. Who Has the Best Infrastructure for VoIP?: Is any infrastructure platform (telco, cable, wireless, satellite) particularly "better" or "worse" as the VoIP infrastructure for "mass market" numbers of customers? Are telcos or cable companies therefore inherently advantaged or disadvantaged by their infrastructures if VoIP becomes a "big" application.

7. How Will VoIP Impact Traditional "Telcos"?: Is VoIP a revolution that is a mortal threat to conventional telephone companies... or is it just the latest evolution in the provisioning of telephone service that will be seamlessly incorporated into telco systems? How will “VoIP over WiFi” (or WiMax) affect cellular telephone service providers?

8. Can Any Service Provider Actually Make Money with VoIP? If capital and technology barriers to entry are very low (are they?), and if some service providers' are willing to "give away" telephone service as part of a strategic bundle of services or to preserve market share (will they?), can anyone make money with VoIP (or any "telephone" service) for a sustained period? Is there any pricing power in VoIP? Where?

9. Is VoIP Global?: Can U.S. telecom companies "go global" with VoIP? Can foreign telecom companies operate in the U.S. with VoIP? Even if they could, is there a business case for doing so? Will U.S. companies have a competitive advantage in the global market?

10. Long-term, Will VoIP Encourage a Highly Competitive, Entrepreneurial Market for “Telephone” Service? Or a Will “Telephone” Service Be Dominated by a Few Big Players? This is a key factor for regulatory policy: will someone exert enough “market power” to justify some sort of regulation?

11. Will “Telephone” Service Simply Become an Internet “Application” and Cease Being a Distinct Service? If so, will there be distinct revenues and expenses associated with the application?

12. Will VoIP influence who be the ultimate “winners” and “losers” among consumers, investors, equipment suppliers and service providers? Who are those winners and losers likely to be?

 

SPEAKERS  will include:

 

Confirmed:

 

Dr. Henning Schulzrinne             - Professor, Columbia Engineering School

Jeffery Citron                      - Chairman & CEO, Vonage Holdings Inc.

Dr. Robert Pepper              - Chief, Policy Development, FCC

Prof. Jim Alleman               - University of Colorado and CITI

Prof. Paul Rappoport        - Temple University and CITI

Jay Rolls                               - VP, Telephone & Data Engineering, Cox

Michael Frendo                   - VP, Voice Systems Engineering, Cisco

James Allen                         - Principal Consultant, Analysys Consulting

Jeff Pulver                            - Pulver.com

Kevin Werbach                   - Supernova Group

Michael Sisselman             - MES Global, LLC

Raul Martynek                     - President & CEO, Eureka Networks

Stagg Newman                   - Senior Practice Expert, McKinsey & Company

Frank Governali                  - Goldman Sachs

Lawson Hunter                   - Executive VP, Bell Canada Enterprises

Glen Campbell                    - Merrill Lynch

Clayton Lockhart               - VP, Global Network Planning, AT&T Labs

Yves Gassot                        - CEO, IDATE (France)

 

 

Noted VoIP experts from the FCC, industry and academia will be speaking on panels dealing with the issues outlined above. Registration for the CITI event is now closed. Please contact Ben Bloom at bb2125@columbia.edu or 212-854-4222 for special registration arrangements, including members of the press.