Telephony/VoIP/Convergence/Broadband blog for ZDNet in addition to being the author of TMCnet’s Regulations, Statutes and Standards (RSS) blog. I spoke with Shaw and asked him to elaborate a bit on the trends currently happening in the IP communications space and what attendees to next week’s ITEXPO (News - Alert) should be aware of as far as the sessions he will be moderating.

RT: What trends are you noticing in the communications market?

RS: Deployment of triple and quadruple play services, and of third-party solutions to deploy, secure, integrate, and back-end service these offerings; Also, the migration to mobile of so many formerly land-based services.

RT: Is 2008 going to be a better year than 2007?

RS: Perhaps, if we find a way out of the credit crunch and weak dollar.

RT: What technologies have altered the market the most?

RS: More of a services than a tech issue... the rise of social networks.

RT: How has Skype changed the telecom market?

RS: IP phone providers can’t compete on just price anymore. Sadly, not all of them seem to realize this as of yet.

RT: How will Apple, Google and Microsoft (News - Alert) each change the telecom space?

RS: iPhone mods and hacks will increase the usability and platform applicability of iPhone. Microsoft will compete strongly in Unified Communications (News - Alert). Google will need to decide if and how it might integrate Google Talk with its own phone platform.

RT: Do you have predictions about the 700 MHz auction?

RS: None specifically, although I do see alliances forming- many of them stealth.

RT: What will conferees learn from your ITEXPO conference session this month?

RS: I am moderating two sessions: “Triple/QUAD Play Double Session” — takeaways should be that it is not only the service providers that need to make these offerings work, but their equipment suppliers and other allies. “Improving Performance By Using Advanced Speech Technologies: once again, the enablers, what they are hearing from the marketplace, stuff they have going on in labs, etc.

RT: Who should attend?

RS: Potential customers, stakeholders, suppliers, users and competitors in the fields my panels will concentrate on.

RT: What unique perspectives will you offer?

RS: As moderator of mentioned panels, will try to establish a nexus between these products and how they push the (triple-quad, advanced speech) offerings forward.

RT: What is the most exciting market change we can expect in communications in technology in 2008 and beyond?

RS: As 3G

becomes the defacto mobile standard, and mobile devices ride chipset improvements, formerly desk-based apps will expand into mobile.

RT: Please make one surprising prediction for 2008.

RS: Formerly IM-centered IP phone providers will up-migrate with more Cisco/Avaya-like management tools; Skype will be sold with eBay (News - Alert) retaining a partial stake; Vonage may go the way of SunRocket or be subsumed by SprintNextel as a branded offering within a bundle.

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Rich Tehrani is President and Group Editor in Chief at TMC. In addition he is the Chairman of the world’s best attended IP Communications event, Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO.

Mark your calendars! Internet Telephony Conference & EXPO — the first major IP communications event of the year — is just days away. It’s not too late to register for the event, which takes place in Miami Beach, FL, January 23–25, 2008. The EXPO will feature three valuable days of exhibits, conferences and networking that you won’t want to miss. So what are you waiting for? Sign up now!

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