Will telcos ever embrace open source?

TalkBack 1 of 13:

Next »

• Thread View
• Flat View

You're not really discussing open source here.

You're talking about the business model for the delivery of information.

So when you write:

The Internet itself grew up in defiance of the telcos. Its business model is anathema to them. Thus telcos and cable operators do all they can to undermine the Internet, running proprietary wireless networks and seeking to wall-off online access to shows.

[End quote.]

... there's some confusion, because the Internet, dial-up or broadband, has always reached people's homes through cable or telco.

Whatever you may wish to argue about business models for sales through the Internet, that's different from sales of the Internet.

And as a reminder, the feds at one time insisted that the telcos resources be made available to all comers. People could buy the physical resource at comparatively low rates (insert argument about what "cost" means) and sell to all.

This kind of piggy-backing failed.

Cable and telcos brought access to the Internet. So the Internet did not grow "in defiance" of them. You can argue they gouged, but not that any other business model was in long-term use.


You also argue:

Non-Bell owners of the wires would gladly wholesale their capacity, not just retail it, because they would be looking to make money, not maintain control of the customer. They would use open source to innovate and cut costs, without having to run everything past a committee.

[End quote]

Here you're arguing that other companies would not try to maximize the value of an asset essential to buyers. And that these philanthropic companies would do so in order to maximize profits.

That contradiction makes the statement confusing.

Also, if the telcos and cable could increase profits by using open source, are you certain they would not do so? That only other companies would use that means to increase profits?

My best guess about your intent is that these other companies, inheritors of the cable and telco assets, would sell content in addition to access. And so could mark access as a lower part of the total bill.

If that's true, it's the sort of mindset which looks at a bill for $1,500 in services for a piece of software and considers the software free.

I suspect, though, that I'm missing a broader point than the ones I'm considering. Could you clarify please?

Posted by: Anton Philidor   Posted on: 02/23/09 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• A Formal Performance Tuning Methodology: Wait-based Tuning Quest Software Are you effectively testing an application's performance BEFORE it reaches ... Download Now
• Get top-ranked Novell support for Red Hat when you switch Novell If Linux is going to power your mission-critical applications, you'd ... Download Now
• Invest in Smarter Collaboration - Early Benefits of Enterprise Social Software IBM Discover the true business value of enterprise social software plus hear about best practices from industry experts during this live interactive webcast. (Sponsored by IBM) Download Now