Though the immediate change has been the creation of truly-unlimited calling plans by all the major carriers, the byproduct might be that the first quarter of 2008 was the time when the mobile Web really got going.

That is to take nothing away from the introduction of the Apple iPhone, which so far is demonstrating unprecedented rates of mobile Web use. But that is a one-carrier innovation. Unlimited calling plans are an industry phenomenon.

Still, despite fears by many in the financial industry that the new plans would simply ignite a broader price war, nothing of that sort has happened.

The carriers seem to have had a very clear view of how many “$100 or more” customers might downgrade plans, compared to how many users on lower-priced plans might decide to trade up a bit. So why might it be a turning point?

It appears there is a real chance the unlimited plans will lead to lower-cost data plans that encourage users to sample and grow accustomed to mobile Web applications. Sprint, with its Simply Everything plan, is the best example of this, but similar sorts of moves probably will start to make sense, even if packaged in different ways, for the other major carriers as well.

Sprint’s plan really “throws in the kitchen sink”. It includes unlimited voice, data, text, personal or hosted BlackBerry email, Web surfing, TV, music, GPS navigation, Direct Connect and Group Connect for $99.99 per month.

Many observers had worried that Sprint would counterattack with unlimited calling at even-steeper discounted rates. But Sprint didn’t do that. Instead, it simply put together a plan that changes the value equation, offering every service for one flat fee. If Sprint is successful, it will have changed the notion of what a “bucket” is, and what it ought to contain.

Essentially, Sprint has “changed the tables,” argues Kathryn Weldon, Current Analysis principal analyst, and William Ho, Current Analysis research director. That arguably is true in both consumer and business segments.

The Simply Everything plan, for example, offers every feature of the Verizon Wireless Nationwide Premium plan, which also includes unlimited voice, messaging, email, web access, VZ Navigator and V CAST Video. But the Verizon offer is priced at $140.

So Sprint now also has the lowest priced business email plans for BlackBerry enterprise users. BES, enterprise-grade email, is a $20 add-on. Personal email and BIS are bundled in at no additional charge.

That might make the Simply Everything plan attractive to small and medium-sized businesses as well.

And that might just wind up being the big change: by removing “cost of usage” barriers to all sorts of audio, video, Web and messaging services that have been facing uphill sledding now can start sliding downhill. Think of it as a way to encourage massive sampling. Over a period of time, users will create new habits based on that initial sampling.

The wireless industry experienced a voice price war in 2005 and really didn’t gain much. Industry executives presumably have learned from that experience.

One can argue that since relatively few users spend $100 a month, the sampling effect will be limited. And that might be the case if a slow, gradual extension of data features does not similarly find its way into new plans offered at lower price points. In fact, precisely that sort of migration is going to happen.
As it does, more users will be able to sample new services and create new habits.

“Competitors should be on the lookout for further changes in the Sprint plan portfolio to see if the carrier will do similar value up-sells at lower price points to enhance its overall image,” say Weldon and Ho.

There is another possible impact as well. The rich suite of features bundled with a Simply Everything account might be just enough to push some business users over the edge in terms of wireless substitution. IP

If you wanted an example of a good that is a complete commodity, you might point to sugar or salt. But “bandwidth” and “a minute of voice use” might be pretty close to either of those commodities.

So the issue is how a communications service provider can create an experience and a product that incorporates things like bandwidth and voice to create a product that is more personal, more customizable and therefore more valuable.

And keep in mind, it isn’t the building blocks that matter. iPods and iPhones are built of commodity plastic, chipsets, power supplies and batteries. Perfumes are built out of chemicals that arguably are difficult to distinguish from other chemicals. But a fragrance isn’t a bunch of chemicals, and an iPhone isn’t a particular arrangement of plastic and metal parts.

A fragrance can be an indicator of “identity.” An iPhone can be that, and also a “fashion” statement. And that’s key. Up to this point, service providers have had a hard time creating brands and identities that are as personal as one’s choices of perfume or golf clubs.

The iPhone, and other devices, are important because they are the closest thing service providers yet have come to offering a “product” that is bought in the same way as perfume, golf clubs or certain brands of clothing or automobiles. That is to say, products purchased because they are a statement about a user’s identity.

Exclusive mobile handset deals and cool handsets therefore are very important for a couple of reasons. They spur phone upgrades, which sometimes also create new contract terms. More important, though, is the fact that some devices create a “personal,” “affective” relationship with a service that has not been possible until now.

And that is important because it is one of the ways service providers can get out of the commodity trap. This is a very big deal, indeed.

If you are tired of running a “commodity” business, then don’t. Change the experience. iPhone and other smart phones show it can be done. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it is the applications, features and personality of the devices, not the network, that users are bonding with.

But that’s about as good as it is going to get. Better a bond created by a partner than a lack of bond that leads to a commodity business. People are showing they will bond with their devices in a way they probably never will bond with a “network.” Like it or not, devices—and the applications they support—now are the way forward.

“What we see IMS as, is a platform to roll out new services while maintaining a foot in both worlds if you have to, both Web services and communications services,” says Ed Camarena, Veraz general manager.

“Where you look is Web services,” says Camarena. “That's really where the innovation will be.”

Business models are more important as well. If more development takes place in a Web context rather than the subscription framework, then new business models one can create are essential.

“It's about voice-enabled Web services; that's where the value lies,” Camarena says. “The administration and back office is where you get the advantages.”

Fixed mobile convergence, often considered the lead candidate for popularization because of  IMS, could be done outside IMS,” Camarena says. That’s not the point.

“You don't want proprietary back office,” he says. SIP is used by IMS, but IMS adds capabilities to more effectively manage and bill and deploy for a service.

It takes care of hooks to manage and bill services and apps, Camarena says. IMS supports roaming and interconnection agreements and makes the services operator-based than PC-based.

“There is an IP purist group that wants IMS not to happen because it takes away the purity of SIP, but operators need lots more on the back end to make the business models work,” Camarena says.

In some sense, IMS is part of creating the last operations support system a service provider ever will need, perhaps.

Generally gone is a “rip and replace mentality,” says Veraz VP Dawn Hog. These days the emphasis more often is on what IMS can do to drive revenue rather than control costs, even though in principle IMS will help control costs.

“Operating cost reductions used to be seen as the justification,” she says. “These days the interconnection of legacy and IP traffic as part of one network is more the interest.”

The places where IMS also makes clear sense is where new networks must be built, in a green field environment out of territory, or where new services based on soft clients and Web portals must be implemented.

In many ways, the softswitch, and the evolution of softswitch technology, drives IMS, he says. IMS these days might be less about replacing Class 4 or Class 5switches and more about developing new multimedia services.

These days, a “softswitch” is also about interconnecting IP networks and services. “To us, the softswitch becomes a piece of session border controller in terms of interconnection. In the early days there was a very specific softswitch need, but now that function is more a part of the overall IMS solution.

The new managed services offering is based on a multi-level approach, combining firewall, intrusion detection and prevention, gateway anti-virus protection, Web site filtering, Web browsing anti-virus protection and secure access virtual private networks.

TelePacific VP Dave Zahn says the offer is a logical extension of what TelePacific already offers customers, but also avoids getting the company ensnared in "desktop" issues. Although available to small as well as medium-sized businesses and branch offices of enterprises, Zahn suspects the highest take rates ultimately will come from the medium-sized business segment, multi-site organizations or enterprise branch office customer segments.

Aside from the cost issues, small businesses often aren't as aware of the need for multi-level security, may not believe they need it or make simply buy "shrink wrapped" solutions from a local software retailer. Zahn suspects he'll get early data on the actual customer profile from his direct sales force, rather than channel partners. "That's typically what happens" when TelePacific rolls out a new service, he says.

Aside from the fact that security has become an important business imperative, and that OneSecure adds to the suite of products TelePacific can sell its business customers, the interesting angle here is how far a communications service provider of moderate size can go in providing software services to its core clientele.

As Zahn says, TelePacific does not have the people or skills to support desk top devices and end user software. On the other hand, neither does TelePacific want to miss out on the increasing role "value-added" services and applications have in the market. In many ways, the eSecurity offer addresses those issues.

Now, however, SuddenLink is putting "a consistent focus on the business," says Brown. "Our target market is any wireline or wireless carrier or cable company that has traffic to traverse our tier three markets," says Brown.

SuddenLink has access to more than 2,000 on-net commercial buildings in its footprint, and more than 300 ILEC collocations. Generally speaking, SuddenLink is interested in being a terminating access provider, but will consider transit deals where a customer does not have a local collocation agreement with the needed point of presence, says Brown.

"We are the alternate special access provider to the LEC in our markets," says Brown. "Also, we are big on wireless backhaul, essentially replacing the wireless carrier's service from a LEC or tying fiber to cell sites."

"There isn't a lot of choice in our markets," Brown notes. "We are positioned well for end-to-end Ethernet service or SONET access." Nor does SuddenLink seem to have any interest in wholesale voice. For SuddenLink, as for other providers of metro access, broadband termination is the name of the game.

The outsourcing arrangement is expected to generate approximately $80 million in new annual revenue for iBasis. TDC will become a preferred partner for terminating iBasis traffic into the Nordic region.

As part of the deal, iBasis also will acquire the voice-related assets, contracts, office rental and employees of TDC subsidiary TDC Carrier Services U.S., which will be fully integrated into iBasis.

Approximately 130 non-Nordic international wholesale voice customers, as well as all of TDC’s interconnection and bilateral agreements for inbound and outbound international phone calls will be transferred to iBasis.

The agreement affects approximately two billion international voice minutes annually including captive outbound traffic from TDC’s retail services to non-Nordic destinations and inbound and transit traffic from non-Nordic countries. According to Telegeography 2007, approximately eight billion minutes of international voice traffic flow in and out of the Nordic region annually.

The merger will extend Covista’s VoIP offerings and will increase its network footprint to include a nationwide fiber network and seven regional data centers. General Telecom started out life as a provider of partitioned switch services and now offers softswitch services and protocol conversion between IP and TDM traffic.

General Telecom is an IP service provider to over 50 major telecommunications companies and transmits over 10 million voice minutes a day over an all-IP access network.

ClearEnd is a provider in the hosted IP-PBX (Private Branch Exchange) and unified communications market. By acquiring ClearEnd, Covista Communications plans to accelerate and strengthen its position in the hosted IP-PBX space.

Paetec has deployed the Alcatel-Lucent back-up in Illinois and New York. The platform consists of the Alcatel-Lucent Network Controller, Signaling Gateway (SG) and Network Gateway (NG). This solution allows Paetec to activate the back-up signaling gateway or network controller without dropping existing calls. The transitions to a geographically redundant component can either be automated or performed manually by an administrator when necessary.