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Things will go a lot smoother once the carriers realize that all they are IS bandwidth. Unlike Cable, they didn't offer valuable content to begin with, and don

Things will go a lot smoother once the carriers realize that all they are IS bandwidth. Unlike Cable, they didn't offer valuable content to begin with, and don't have the same leverage to delay the inevitable. Charge users an acceptable price for bandwidth based on infrastructure costs, and call it a day. It is a fantasy of theirs that they can generate revenue in other ways at this point. They don't know how, otherwise they would make their own phones and app markets. It seems corporate executives with dying business models often resort to delusional flailing strategies. I'm just not sure if they believe this is the correct route, or have to appear to be doing 'something' for the investor's sake.

ajross 14y ago
This is largely true, but I think it paints the telcos as more irrational than they are. They're using their "delusional flailing strategies" to "delay the inevitable" because those strategies are going to make them more money, at least in the short term. Long term, yes, running a network is not going to afford them the kind of lock-in revenue they are accustomed to. I"m sure they know this. But still, they have a duty to their shareholders to produce revenue now. They're only irrational if you see an obvious course to a future of greater profits. But you don't provide one, and frankly I don't see one either. The phone industry is going to need to shrink, revenue-wise.
- com 14y ago
  The carriers have "delusional flailing strategies" because they really are delusional and flailing, at least in the parts of the organisations that are capable to driving structural change. The cost structures, swivel-chair automation, arthritic processes, lack of an ability to rationalise their portfolios (many decision-makers on the infrastructure side don't even know what a portfolio is, let alone what rationalisation means, and why this might just help) lead them to panic every time people start cutting their cords (first copper, but soon anything that can be replaced by OTT services) and that is visible to their investors. As someone (occasionally) on the inside, they are irrational, they are flailing, and yet they have no real sense of urgency as their escape paths from likely commoditisation are colonised by nimbler players. [edit: I read the phrase "delusional flailing" as "delusional failing", but the essence is similar enough]
  - AdamFernandez 14y ago
    I actually meant 'flailing' but obviously 'failing' applies as well.
guccimane 14y ago
Not quite, they also control the point of sale, for the most part. (For phones, that is. For tablets they are indeed a dumb pipe.)

ajross 14y ago

This is largely true, but I think it paints the telcos as more irrational than they are. They're using their "delusional flailing strategies" to "delay the inevitable" because those strategies are going to make them more money, at least in the short term. Long term, yes, running a network is not going to afford them the kind of lock-in revenue they are accustomed to. I"m sure they know this. But still, they have a duty to their shareholders to produce revenue now. They're only irrational if you see an obvious course to a future of greater profits. But you don't provide one, and frankly I don't see one either. The phone industry is going to need to shrink, revenue-wise.

com 14y ago
The carriers have "delusional flailing strategies" because they really are delusional and flailing, at least in the parts of the organisations that are capable to driving structural change. The cost structures, swivel-chair automation, arthritic processes, lack of an ability to rationalise their portfolios (many decision-makers on the infrastructure side don't even know what a portfolio is, let alone what rationalisation means, and why this might just help) lead them to panic every time people start cutting their cords (first copper, but soon anything that can be replaced by OTT services) and that is visible to their investors. As someone (occasionally) on the inside, they are irrational, they are flailing, and yet they have no real sense of urgency as their escape paths from likely commoditisation are colonised by nimbler players. [edit: I read the phrase "delusional flailing" as "delusional failing", but the essence is similar enough]
- AdamFernandez 14y ago
  I actually meant 'flailing' but obviously 'failing' applies as well.

guccimane 14y ago

Not quite, they also control the point of sale, for the most part. (For phones, that is. For tablets they are indeed a dumb pipe.)