Verizon FiOS lifts wireline consumer revenues to $14 billion in 2012

January 22, 2013 | By Sean Buckley

Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) fourth-quarter wireline results may have declined to $10 billion year-over-year, but it saw continued growth in consumer services, particularly FiOS.

Despite the impact of Hurricane Sandy, FiOS continued to dominate Verizon's consumer wireline revenue mix. During the quarter, it added 144,000 net new FiOS Internet connections and 134,000 net new FiOS Video connections.

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Interestingly, Hurricane Sandy, as seen in previous reports, sped up the telco's copper-to-fiber migration plans. Lowell McAdam, Verizon's CEO and chairman said during a recent investor conference that it will accelerate the migration of customers on its copper facilities to fiber in 2013.|

As reported in FierceIPTV, Fran Shammo, Verizon's CFO, said during the earnings webcast this morning that "net adds were greater than the second and third quarters… in spite of the significant disruption caused by the [Superstorm] Sandy restoral efforts.

The telco's Q4 wireline consumer revenues grew 4.1 percent year-over-year over Q4 2011. From a total year perspective, 2012 consumer revenues were $14 billion, up 3.2 percent compared over 2011.

It said this was highest annual revenue growth rate in the consumer wireline segment it has seen since 2003.

Here's a breakdown of Verizon's key wireline metrics:

Landline Losses: Following the wireline industrywide trend, Verizon's traditional landline voice connections overall declined 6.8 percent year-over-year to 22.5 million down from 24.1 million in Q4 2011.

Broadband and video:  As of the end of the quarter, Verizon had a total of 5.4 million FiOS Internet and 4.7 million FiOS video connections, representing year-over-year increases of 12.6 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively. FiOS customer ARPU was more than $150 in the quarter. FiOS Internet penetration was 37.3 percent at the end of fourth-quarter 2012, compared with 35.5 percent at the end of fourth-quarter 2011.

As of the end of 2012, the FiOS network passed 17.6 million premises at year-end 2012. At the end of 2012, broadband connections rose 1.4 percent year-over-year to 8.8 million at year-end 2012. Purchases of higher speed FiOS services drove broadband revenue up 3.1 percent to $3.5 billion for full-year 2012.

Another dynamic of FiOS growth is that more customers are purchasing dual and triple play bundles of voice, video and data.  Shammo said during the Q4 earnings call that "customers who are deciding to upgrade to additional FiOS services, we are seeing a $45 lift in monthly ARPU." Subscriber ARPU was $105.63, up from $103.86 in Q3 and $9.20 higher than Q4 2011.

Business Services: Due to economic issues in Europe and the United States, global enterprise revenues declined 2.1 percent year-over-year to $3.8 billion in the quarter. Despite the overall decline, the sale of strategic services, including Terremark cloud and data center services, security and IT solutions, and Ethernet, increased 5.3 percent compared with Q4 2011 and represented 54 percent of global enterprise revenues.

From an overall financial perspective, Verizon reported a loss of $1.48 in earnings per share (EPS), compared with a loss of 71 cents per share in Q4 2011. The telco said the results were impacted by "non-cash pension items in both quarters and additional non-operational debt retirement and other restructuring items in 4Q 2012." It also reported a 7-cent-per-share impact due to Superstorm Sandy yielded 38 cents per share in adjusted EPS (non-GAAP), compared with 52 cents in adjusted EPS in Q4 2011.

For the year, Verizon reported 31 cents in 2012 EPS, compared with 85 cents per share in 2011, while adjusted annual EPS (non-GAAP) was $2.24 in 2012, compared with $2.15 in 2011.

AT&T to acquire Alltel's spectrum, remaining customers for $780M

January 22, 2013 | By Phil Goldstein

AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) said it will acquire Atlantic Tele-Network's retail wireless business, which still operates under the Alltel brand, for $780 million, in a deal that could give AT&T more spectrum holdings in key bands.

Under the deal, AT&T will get wireless properties including licenses, network assets, retail stores and approximately 585,000 subscribers. The Alltel network covers around 4.6 million people in primarily rural areas across Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina. In 2010, ATN purchased for $200 million Alltel assets divested by Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) as part of Verizon's larger deal for Alltel.

AT&T's acquisition includes spectrum in the 700 MHz, 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands and is largely complementary to AT&T's existing network. ATN also currently operates a retail CDMA network for its subscribers in these areas; AT&T is a GSM carrier so it will need to convert these customers to its network. AT&T said it expects that as it upgrades the network, the Alltel customers and existing AT&T customers who roam in these areas will enjoy enhanced mobile data service.

The companies noted that the FCC and Department of Justice need to approve the deal; they said they expected it to close in the second half of 2013.

For AT&T, the deal represents its latest move to acquire pieces of spectrum to enhance its LTE network and other mobile data services following its failed bid to acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. AT&T last year received approval from the FCC to acquire a trove of new spectrum in the AWS and 2.3 GHz WCS bands, which it intends to use for LTE service in the years ahead. AT&T got spectrum from NextWave Wireless as well as from Comcast, Horizon Wi-Com and San Diego Gas & Electric Company.

AT&T's deal for ATN also represents the last bit of Alltel being absorbed into a Tier 1 carrier. ATN had maintained the Alltel brand and many of the company's well-known products, including the My Circle group calling plan. Verizon's $28.1 billion acquisition of Alltel closed in January 2009.

AT&T, Verizon and CenturyLink embroiled in ADSL patent fight with Brandywine

January 3, 2013 | By Sean Buckley

AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL)--three of the largest U.S. incumbent telcos--are in the midst of a patent war with Brandywine Communications Technologies, a patent holding company.

In a number of U.S. court complaints, Brandywine claims that a number of telcos and CLECs have infringed on seven different DSL-related patents that it says it owns.

At issue are patents that relate to various DSL-related techniques, from "detecting loss of echo cancellation" (U.S. patent number 5,206,854) to "predistortion technique for communications systems" (U.S. patent number 5,251,328).

To date, Brandywine has sued over 39 different service providers.

In addition to filing a lawsuit against AT&T, Verizon and Centurylink last year, the company has sued Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN), IKANO, and Megapath. It is also currently trying to settle one of its cases with EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK).

Brandywine's moves are familiar to anyone who's been following the string of patent infringement claims--some apparently legitimate, others somewhat sketchy--that have plagued providers across the industry.

Last May, a group of eight service providers and vendors, including Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), EarthLink (Nasdaq: ELNK), and Metro PCS, entered into separate patent agreements with visual voicemail provider Klausner Technologies for its consumer and enterprise visual voicemail products. 

However, three of the other 12 defendants, including Toshiba America, Primus Telecommunications, and Paetec--which at that time had just been acquired by Windstream, now also defending a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Klausner, did not settle.

While Brandywine is the latest so-called "patent troll" to emerge, they likely won't be the last as patent disputes have been an ongoing issue in both the wireline and wireless segments of the telecom industry. A recent report found that patent infringement lawsuits have increased over the past five years from 22 percent of all patent lawsuits filed to 40 percent.

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Microsoft Office 365 Features and Benefits

Moving to the Office 365 cloud comes with some key features and benefits.
Namely, your organization gets to continue to use the software you have been
using for years, but you now get to shift the burden onto Microsoft. In addition to shifting
the burden to Microsoft, there are some other key benefits.
To learn more about how Office 365 can assist your business, contact LKC at 252-290-5210
Generate greater productivity with Office 365
Access from anywhere with Office 365
Work with what you know with Office 365
Robust security and reliability
IT control and efficiency
Here are some of the product packages available
HOSTED EMAIL
( Exchange Online )
Complete integration with Outlook* and web access to email, calendars, and contacts
Cloud-based email using your own domain name
Shared calendars
Configurable anti-spamfiltering
Active Directorysynchronization
25GB user mailboxes and ability to send attachments up to 25 MB
Live 24 x 7 IT-level phone support
SMALL BUSINESS
( Plan P1 )
Cloud-based email using your own domain name
Shared calendars
Instant messaging, PC-to-PC calling, and video conferencing
Web-based viewing and editing of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote files
Team site for sharing files
Public website
Anti-malware and anti-spamfiltering
Microsoft communitysupport
MIDSIZE BUSINESS & ENTERPRISE
( Plan E1 )
Everything in Small Business, P1*, plus:
Active Directorysynchronization
Configurable anti-spamfiltering
SharePoint intranet supporting up to 300 site collections
Live 24 x 7 IT-level phone support
MIDSIZE BUSINESS & ENTERPRISE
( Plan E3 )
Office Professional Plus 2010 desktop version subscription (for up to 5 devices per user)
Email archiving and unlimited email storage
Hosted voicemail support
Connection to line-of-business applications
Dashboards with Excel Services

Imagine a cell phone charger that recharges your phone remotely without even knowing where it is; a device that targets and destroys tumors, wherever they are in the body; or a security field that can disable electronics, even a listening device hiding in a prosthetic toe, without knowing where it is. Share This: 187 See Also: Matter & Energy Physics Medical Technology Technology Quantum Physics Thermodynamics Engineering Reference Electric power Radar Mobile phone Mobile phone radiation and health While these applications remain only dreams, researchers at the University of Maryland have come up with a sci-fi seeming technology that one day could make them real. Using a "time-reversal" technique, the team has discovered how to transmit power, sound or images to a "nonlinear object" without knowing the object's exact location or affecting objects around it. "That's the magic of time reversal," says Steven Anlage, a university physics professor involved in the project. "When you reverse the waveform's direction in space and time, it follows the same path it took coming out and finds its way exactly back to the source." Play It Backwards The time-reversal process is less like living the last five minutes over and more like playing a record backwards, explains Matthew Frazier, a postdoctoral research fellow in the university's physics department. When a signal travels through the air, its waveforms scatter before an antenna picks it up. Recording the received signal and transmitting it backwards reverses the scatter and sends it back as a focused beam in space and time. "If you go toward a secure building, they won't let you take cell phones," Frazier says, so instead of checking everyone, they could detect the cell phone and send a lot of energy to it to jam it." What differentiates this research from other time-reversal projects, such as underwater communication, is that it focuses on nonlinear objects such as a cellphone, diode or even a rusty piece of metal --when a waveform bounces off them, the frequency changes. Most components electrical engineers work with are linear -- capacitors, wire, antennas -- because they do not change the frequency. With nonlinear objects, however, when the altered, nonlinear frequency is recorded, time-reversed and retransmitted, it creates a private communication channel because other objects cannot "understand" the signal. "Time reversal has been around for 10 to 20 years but it requires some pretty sophisticated technology to make it work," Anlage says. "Technology is now catching up to where we are able to use it in some new and interesting ways." Not only could this nonlinear characteristic secure a wireless communication line, it could prevent transmitted energy from affecting any object but its target. For example, Frazier says, if scientists find a way to tag tumors with chemicals or nanoparticles that react to microwaves in a nonlinear way, doctors could use the technology to direct destructive heat to the errant cells -- much like ultrasound is used to break down kidney stones. But unlike an ultrasound, that is directed to a specific location, doctors would not need to know where the tumors were and the heat treatment would not affect surrounding cells. Bouncing Off the Walls To study the phenomenon, the researchers sent a microwave pulse into an enclosed area where waveforms scattered and bounced around inside, as well as off a nonlinear and a linear port. A transceiver then recorded and time-reversed the frequencies the nonlinear port had altered and broadcast them back into the space. The nonlinear port picked up the time-reversed signal but the linear port did not. "Everything we have done has been in very controlled conditions in labs," Frazier says. "It will take more research to figure out how to develop treatments," Frazier says. "I'm sure there are other uses we haven't thought of." The team has submitted an invention disclosure to the university's Office of Technology Commercialization.

Imagine a cell phone charger that recharges your phone remotely without even knowing where it is; a device that targets and destroys tumors, wherever they are in the body; or a security field that can disable electronics, even a listening device hiding in a prosthetic toe, without knowing where it is.

---

While these applications remain only dreams, researchers at the University of Maryland have come up with a sci-fi seeming technology that one day could make them real. Using a "time-reversal" technique, the team has discovered how to transmit power, sound or images to a "nonlinear object" without knowing the object's exact location or affecting objects around it.

"That's the magic of time reversal," says Steven Anlage, a university physics professor involved in the project. "When you reverse the waveform's direction in space and time, it follows the same path it took coming out and finds its way exactly back to the source."

Play It Backwards

The time-reversal process is less like living the last five minutes over and more like playing a record backwards, explains Matthew Frazier, a postdoctoral research fellow in the university's physics department. When a signal travels through the air, its waveforms scatter before an antenna picks it up. Recording the received signal and transmitting it backwards reverses the scatter and sends it back as a focused beam in space and time.

"If you go toward a secure building, they won't let you take cell phones," Frazier says, so instead of checking everyone, they could detect the cell phone and send a lot of energy to it to jam it."

What differentiates this research from other time-reversal projects, such as underwater communication, is that it focuses on nonlinear objects such as a cellphone, diode or even a rusty piece of metal --when a waveform bounces off them, the frequency changes.

Most components electrical engineers work with are linear -- capacitors, wire, antennas -- because they do not change the frequency. With nonlinear objects, however, when the altered, nonlinear frequency is recorded, time-reversed and retransmitted, it creates a private communication channel because other objects cannot "understand" the signal.

"Time reversal has been around for 10 to 20 years but it requires some pretty sophisticated technology to make it work," Anlage says. "Technology is now catching up to where we are able to use it in some new and interesting ways."

Not only could this nonlinear characteristic secure a wireless communication line, it could prevent transmitted energy from affecting any object but its target. For example, Frazier says, if scientists find a way to tag tumors with chemicals or nanoparticles that react to microwaves in a nonlinear way, doctors could use the technology to direct destructive heat to the errant cells -- much like ultrasound is used to break down kidney stones. But unlike an ultrasound, that is directed to a specific location, doctors would not need to know where the tumors were and the heat treatment would not affect surrounding cells.

Bouncing Off the Walls

To study the phenomenon, the researchers sent a microwave pulse into an enclosed area where waveforms scattered and bounced around inside, as well as off a nonlinear and a linear port. A transceiver then recorded and time-reversed the frequencies the nonlinear port had altered and broadcast them back into the space. The nonlinear port picked up the time-reversed signal but the linear port did not.

"Everything we have done has been in very controlled conditions in labs," Frazier says. "It will take more research to figure out how to develop treatments," Frazier says. "I'm sure there are other uses we haven't thought of."

The team has submitted an invention disclosure to the university's Office of Technology Commercialization.

Google to Rein In Free Version of Software

The Wall Street Journal 

• TECHNOLOGY

• Updated December 6, 2012, 7:29 p.m. ET

By AMIR EFRATI

Google Inc. said it stopped offering its suite of Web-based software for businesses—known as Google Apps—free of charge to groups of 10 or fewer users, as it moves to generate revenue from previously free services.

The move shows a renewed focus by Google on serving small businesses, which have long been the sweet spot for Google Apps. The Web-based software competes with Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT -0.94% Office software and Exchange email service.

Sundar Pichai, Google's senior vice president in charge of Google Apps, said Google wants to provide small businesses that use the free version of the software with dedicated customer support—something only paying customers currently get. "We're not serving them well," he said of the free users.

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Mr. Pichai added that the millions of people who already use the free version will continue to get it free.

Google Apps, part of a technology trend known as cloud computing, includes a custom email address, Google Docs and Google Drive online storage as well as customer support for paying customers.

For the past year, any business with more than 10 software users paid $50 per person a year for the service. Before 2011, only companies with more than 50 users were required to pay.

Over the past year Google generated around $1 billion from the sale of Google Apps and separate mapping software to businesses and governments, said people familiar with the matter. Google said more than five million businesses use Google Apps, though the vast majority have fewer than 10 users and thus use the free version. In total, Google has said more than 40 million people use the free and paid versions of Google Apps.

Paul Davison, co-founder of a popular mobile app called Highlight that launched this year, said he and his six colleagues have been using the free version of Google Apps for email, calendars, storage and to collaborate on documents and spreadsheets. "We would definitely be willing to pay," he said.

Google has made other moves to generate revenue from businesses that used its services for free. Last year, Google began charging businesses such as mobile app makers that access Google Maps more than 25,000 times per day. This year, Google began charging retailers seeking to be included in its Google Shopping service.

Dave Girouard, who ran the Google Apps unit before leaving Google earlier this year, said Google's recent moves to charge a fee to more business customers were partly influenced by Apple Inc.'s business model for its services, such as iCloud online software.

Apple "doesn't give anything away for free, and that's had some influence on how Google thinks about enterprise," said Mr. Girouard, who now runs Upstart Network Inc., which helps college graduates raise money to launch businesses.

Since it began selling Google Apps in 2007, Google has had occasional success at signing up big companies such as Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA BBVA.MC +0.71% and government agencies such as the U.S. Interior Department. Google Apps late last year signed a deal with General Motors Co. GM -2.25% to provide email and online-collaboration software to more than 100,000 employees, but the deal later fell apart, said people familiar with the matter.

In recent years, Google has pushed further into selling software services to businesses, surprising Web-industry observers who expected Google Chief Executive Larry Page to scale back the efforts after taking the job in early 2011. Most recently, Google launched the Google Compute Engine, allowing companies to run their applications and store data on computers managed by the Internet giant.

FCC unveils technology transition task force

Group will be jointly led by Sean Lev and Rebekah Goodheart

December 11, 2012 | By Sean Buckley

The FCC on Monday formed the agency-wide Technology Transitions Policy Task Force to address the issue of service providers moving away from TDM to all-IP networks.

This group will be co-led by Sean Lev, the regulator's general counsel, who will serve as interim director, and Rebekah Goodheart, associate chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau, who will serve as deputy director.

"The Technology Transitions Policy Task Force will play a critical role in answering the fundamental policy question for communications in the 21st century: In a broadband world, how can we best ensure that our nation's communications policies continue to drive a virtuous cycle of innovation and investment, promote competition, and protect consumers?" said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in a prepared statement about the new task force.

The new task force will coordinate efforts on various issues surrounding IP interconnection, resiliency of 21st century communications networks, business broadband competition and consumer protection with a particular focus on voice services. In addition, the task force will take recommendations from the Technological Advisory Committee on the PSTN Transition, coordinate with the NARUC Presidential Task Force on Federalism and Telecommunications and evaluate the feedback from the Commission's pending field hearings on Superstorm Sandy.

What's interesting about this new task force is it comes at a time when AT&T (NYSE: T), one of the U.S. market's largest telcos, is asking for regulatory relief on its aging TDM-based networks.

During a recent discussion at the Brookings Institution, AT&T, which has asked the FCC for regulatory relief on its TDM-based networks, said the rules that governed the once voice-centric TDM world don't apply to the growing IP-based network deployments.

Last month, AT&T pledged $14 billion to upgrade its wireline and wireless networks to all-IP in both its large markets and in rural markets. 

"We have to be able to start this transition from the old to the new," Jim Cicconi, AT&T senior executive vice president, said in a Nov. 27 Brookings Institution discussion. "The underlying statutes really aren't designed for the current situation."

One element that the major telcos would like relief from is the Provider of Last Resort (POLR) regulations. Unlike cable operators such as Comcast that provide circuit switched and IP-based voice service, telcos like AT&T and Verizon have to ensure that they can provide traditional POTS service to every residence and meet standards to ensure that phone service remains operational during storms and power outages.

The regulator's efforts, not surprisingly, are drawing different reactions from industry pundits and competitive groups.

Anna-Maria Kovacs, visiting senior policy scholar at Georgetown University's Center for Business and Public Policy, wrote in a FierceTelecom column that the task force could help streamline the TDM-to-IP transition process.

"A coordinated effort by the FCC to examine the issue of network migration from TDM-based networks to IP-based networks should result in a smoother migration to the IP-based broadband networks that consumers and businesses need and that Congress and the Administration consider a national priority," wrote Kovacs.

However, industry groups like COMPTEL say the FCC needs to ensure that any changes won't affect competitive providers such as tw telecom (Nasdaq: TWTC) from getting access to the telco's last mile facilities to deliver business services.

"COMPTEL believes that the top priority for the Task Force should be to preserve and promote competition by ensuring that competitive carriers continue to have access to last mile facilities and interconnection on just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms and conditions as required by the Communications Act, so that consumers and businesses of all sizes continue to have a choice of services and service providers," said Jerry James, CEO of COMPTEL, in a statement about the new Task Force. "Access to copper, wireless and fiber network technologies should be available on a wholesale basis to enable competitive choice for end users and support the administration's goals of expanding broadband across the country."

Time Reversal' Research May Open Doors to Future Tech

Dec. 6, 2012

Imagine a cell phone charger that recharges your phone remotely without even knowing where it is; a device that targets and destroys tumors, wherever they are in the body; or a security field that can disable electronics, even a listening device hiding in a prosthetic toe, without knowing where it is.

While these applications remain only dreams, researchers at the University of Maryland have come up with a sci-fi seeming technology that one day could make them real. Using a "time-reversal" technique, the team has discovered how to transmit power, sound or images to a "nonlinear object" without knowing the object's exact location or affecting objects around it.

"That's the magic of time reversal," says Steven Anlage, a university physics professor involved in the project. "When you reverse the waveform's direction in space and time, it follows the same path it took coming out and finds its way exactly back to the source."

Play It Backwards

The time-reversal process is less like living the last five minutes over and more like playing a record backwards, explains Matthew Frazier, a postdoctoral research fellow in the university's physics department. When a signal travels through the air, its waveforms scatter before an antenna picks it up. Recording the received signal and transmitting it backwards reverses the scatter and sends it back as a focused beam in space and time.

"If you go toward a secure building, they won't let you take cell phones," Frazier says, so instead of checking everyone, they could detect the cell phone and send a lot of energy to it to jam it."

What differentiates this research from other time-reversal projects, such as underwater communication, is that it focuses on nonlinear objects such as a cellphone, diode or even a rusty piece of metal --when a waveform bounces off them, the frequency changes.

Most components electrical engineers work with are linear -- capacitors, wire, antennas -- because they do not change the frequency. With nonlinear objects, however, when the altered, nonlinear frequency is recorded, time-reversed and retransmitted, it creates a private communication channel because other objects cannot "understand" the signal.

"Time reversal has been around for 10 to 20 years but it requires some pretty sophisticated technology to make it work," Anlage says. "Technology is now catching up to where we are able to use it in some new and interesting ways."

Not only could this nonlinear characteristic secure a wireless communication line, it could prevent transmitted energy from affecting any object but its target. For example, Frazier says, if scientists find a way to tag tumors with chemicals or nanoparticles that react to microwaves in a nonlinear way, doctors could use the technology to direct destructive heat to the errant cells -- much like ultrasound is used to break down kidney stones. But unlike an ultrasound, that is directed to a specific location, doctors would not need to know where the tumors were and the heat treatment would not affect surrounding cells.

Bouncing Off the Walls

To study the phenomenon, the researchers sent a microwave pulse into an enclosed area where waveforms scattered and bounced around inside, as well as off a nonlinear and a linear port. A transceiver then recorded and time-reversed the frequencies the nonlinear port had altered and broadcast them back into the space. The nonlinear port picked up the time-reversed signal but the linear port did not.

"Everything we have done has been in very controlled conditions in labs," Frazier says. "It will take more research to figure out how to develop treatments," Frazier says. "I'm sure there are other uses we haven't thought of."

The team has submitted an invention disclosure to the university's Office of Technology Commercialization.

Motorola Mobility to exit South Korean market

December 10, 2012 | By Phil Goldstein

Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Motorola Mobility unit said it will shut down its mobile development and operations in South Korea and will cut most of its staff in the country next year. The action is Google's latest effort to slim down Motorola after acquiring the company earlier this year.

Around 10 percent of Motorola's South Korean staff will remain there in order to continue the company's iDEN and set-top box businesses. However, the company will slash 500 jobs as it stops marketing and selling mobile devices in the country. Motorola is not the first OEM to exit the home market of Samsung and LG; HTC announced plans this summer to leave South Korea.

"On Dec. 10, we began communicating to staff in Korea our plans to close most of our operations in Korea, including our research and development and consumer mobile device marketing organization," Motorola said in a statement, according to ZDNet. "The changes in Korea reflect our plans to consolidate our global research and development efforts to foster collaboration, and to focus more attention on markets where we are best positioned to compete effectively."

Google said in August it would slash around 4,000 jobs at Motorola, or 20 percent of the unit's workforce, and said that two-thirds of those cuts would come from outside the United States. And in October Google warned it expects additional job cuts.

Google purchased Motorola in May for $12.5 billion, primarily for Motorola's 17,000 patents. But that has done little so far to stem patent litigation among Android handset makers and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).

Google has said Motorola will make fewer devices than it used to as its focuses on more innovative designs (though a slimmer portfolio is also one way to cut costs).

You can choose between digital and analog calls or switch to a Voice over IP (VoIP)

Contact LKC if you would like to receive the 10 Golden Rules to help you choose a new telephony system. 

lkccaresaboutyourbusiness@lkconsulting.net

Until recently, organizations had very few choices when it came to telephony services if they required more than one or two phone extensions. Now you can choose between digital and analog calls or switch to a Voice over IP (VoIP). Like any business-critical system, a telephony system is a major deployment that should be undertaken only after learning both your existing infrastructure and user's needs. Use this checklist of 10 golden rules to help you choose a new telephony system that will match your organization and user's needs. 

IBM: 61 percent of IT professionals see security as the top barrier to enterprise mobility

December 6, 2012 | By Fred Donovan

A full 61 percent of IT professionals see security as the top barrier to adoption of mobile technology in the enterprise, according to a survey of more than 1,200 IT and business decision makers conducted by IBM (NYSE: IBM).

Other barriers to mobile technology adoption include integration of mobile with existing infrastructure and data (44 percent) and difficulty in extending applications to mobile (38 percent).

Yet, nearly 70 percent of respondents said their enterprises plan to increase investment in mobile technology over the next two years, according to the 2012 IBM Tech Trends Report.

Security is also the number one barrier to cloud and social business technology adoption, and the number two barrier to business analytics technology adoption, according to the survey.

"Security concerns consistently rank as the most significant barrier to adoption across mobile, cloud computing and social business. Even in business analytics, where data typically stays inside an organization's firewall, securing and controlling access to data still places as the number-two barrier to adoption," according to the IBM report.

The report also identified major IT skills gaps in the technologies examined: mobile, cloud, social, and analytics.

Dan Hauenstein, manager for academic initiative strategy at IBM, told FierceMobileIT that "there is a skills gap around these technologies and it is growing to the point where there is concern it could threaten innovation and growth."

"When you look across the technology spaces, security is far and away the top barrier to adoption cited," Hauenstein said.

To address these gaps, IBM has launched a number of initiatives to improve IT skills training. "We are making the most significant expansion to our academic initiative program since its launch in 2004. One key area where we are taking action is around security and helping students get cybersecurity skills that are marketable," he explained.

IBM's new cybersecurity offerings include a curriculum that brings real-world technology security scenarios into the classroom, helping students understand enterprise security challenges, as well as access to security software that professors can use in the classroom to teach students how to test applications for bugs and check network and virtualized servers for vulnerabilities.

"What is going to hold us back from applying these technologies is the security barrier that was cited in the report," Hauenstein concluded.

3 Steps Toward Brand-Worthy Customer Service

Google “customer service horror story” and you have 24,300,000 results to choose from. On the more positive side of customer service, here’s one easy link to “11 of the Best Customer Service Stories Ever, (http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/120126) compiled by Stacy Conradt for Mental Floss, with samples that will inspire you and show the brand value of going beyond just meeting customer expectations to delighting them.

You can click over to that site for the moving story of a grandparent who missed the flight he needed to make to see his dying grandson alive, but arrived at the airport to find a Southwest Airlines pilot holding the plane for him. However, not every story has to be this spectacular or heart wrenching to merit viral online notice – also read the account of how a hungry traveler sent a general email to Morton’s Steakhouse, begging for food upon landing: “Hey, @Mortons – can you meet me at newark airport with a porterhouse when I land in two hours? K, thanks.  ”. The hungry traveler was stunned to then be met at the gate and handed a bag with a 24-ounce steak, shrimp, potatoes, bread, napkins and silverware, courtesy of the nearest Morton’s Steakhouse establishment, more than 23 miles away.

Because “delighted customer” moments (and the easy availability of cell phone cameras to record such delightful encounters) have brand marketing power, you’ll see more campaigns in the future like Zappo’s 2010 campaign “Happy People Making People Happy”. Branding itself as “a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes”, Zappos recently showcased real conversations with customers and then parlayed those interactions into an integrated (TV, digital, social, experimental and print) campaign.

The result? Site visits increased 40% and Zappos saw a 44% increase in new customers, with a 40% increase in sales overall. Revenue per media spend increased 488%. We marketers are interested in such data, but regardless of your business background, sales is sales is sales. That’s what creates jobs in the real world. And the real measurement of Zappos’ success is growth from $1 million to $1 billion in 10 years.

1. Customer service is a top-down value, branded and trained into every staff position. The 2011 NRF Foundation’s list of Top 10 retailers (selected by shoppers) for holiday shopping is now available: (1) Amazon.com; (2) JCPenney; (3) Kohl’s Department Stores; (4) Lands’ End; (5) L.L. Bean; (6) Newegg; (7) Nordstrom; (8) Overstock.com; (9) QVC; and (10) Zappos. In each case, winning companies’ top executives interject how important customer service is to their core business when interviewed about divergent topics.

2. Employee empowerment: Ritz-Carton adopted the easy-to-understand motto, “We are Ladies and Gentlemen servicing Ladies and Gentlemen,” and has since empowered every employee to spend up to $2,000 making any single guest satisfied. They’ve become the industry icon for customer service standards.

3. Tell the story and encourage others to tell your story. Ritz-Carlton also has committed to a daily 15-minute lineup of all employees worldwide. One agenda item is the “Wow Story” which calls out and reinforces a customer service success story, positively motivating employees to be part of a similar story at the next meeting.

Telecommuting increases productivity. Is it for you?

Studies show it helps increase employee productivity. Plus, it saves employers and employees time and money. And, it leads to greenhouse gas reductions.

Let’s start with productivity. In 2009, Cisco announced the findings of their survey, an in-depth study of about 2,000 employees, and found that productivity due to telecommuting generated about $277 million in annual savings for the company. Employees also reported improved quality of life, improved collaboration, and greater timeliness of work.

Moving on to saving time and money, an area where employees report fewer distractions and only attending meetings critical to their job. And, with fewer office-based employees, you need less office space. Plus, when hiring new employees, you can eliminate re-location expenses. According to Global Workplace Analytics, IBM slashed real estate costs by $50 million and Nortel saves about $100,000 per employee they don’t have to re-locate.

Lastly, telecommuting helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It’s great for our earth, and that means it’s good for all of us. Maybe you’re wondering how letting employees telecommute reduces the carbon dioxide in the air. It’s based on the number of miles one drives (or doesn’t because they’re telecommuting). I save an estimated $2,800 a year by telecommuting one day a week and reduce greenhouse gases by about 2,200 pounds.