Doldrums

It’s still hard out there and I read on a weekly basis of some asset write down problem for a telco or manufacturer failing to sell it’s gear. MCI are suffering again and have written down more of it’s voice assets as the big telco’s are realising that VOIP is coming and it’s going to kill off the traditional consumer market. Nortel are still having problems and I read only the other day that C&W could be split up with the sale of it’s UK business. Om has a post of 17.4 billion dollars worth of asset write downs in the states…that’s a lot of investment to say pooof too!

Not that I know much about sailing, except a little bit of dinghy sailing, I think we’re in the Doldrums.

Tungsten

My T3 is upto scratch now and it works a treat. Bluetoothing to my new Z700i works a dream and get’s me onto the net real easy. I’ve got most of the key software onto it, but there’s some missing which i’ll fix over the next few days…so I’m more than happy with both purchases!

Week – Catch up

Another busy week, I’ve had a meeting with BT at IBM Warwick yesterday and we have a new Global account Director. It was interesting to listen to their pitch about the being a global player, behind AT&T and Equant.

I have a new North Region PTSL lead, somebody has been appointed to my old role. I’m sure they’ll do a great job…won’t you Russ!

I’ve been down to London today, I collected my Thinkpad back from DSIS. It’s had a whizzy new network connection app installed on it, which is great. SO it’ll manage my wireless connection and will no longer need to insert another wireless card to get onto my home wireless network.

BT Retail chief rattles board

The post below comes from Primetrica

The UK broadsheets The Times and The Telegraph are both reporting that tensions in the BT boardroom are rising, after the outspoken head of the group’s retail division, Pierre Danon, went public with plans for his division, BT Retail, to invest millions in the group’s telephone exchanges. In what has been described as a ‘virtual declaration of independence’, Danon has proposed a break from tradition which will allow Retail to install its own equipment in BT exchanges on the same basis as rivals such as Cable & Wireless. At present all of BT’s network infrastructure is owned by BT Wholesale, which in turn is responsible for the sale of voice and broadband services not only to Retail but to competitors as well. Danon fears that such unbundling could put his division at a competitive disadvantage unless it is allowed to invest on the same basis.

If Danon’s plans are approved by the board, the requirement of BT Retail to buy services from BT Wholesale will be vastly reduced – creating a potential huge loss in revenue for the Wholesale division. BT Retail is currently BT Wholesale’s main customer and accounted for most of the arm’s GBP10.9 billion of revenues in the 2003/04 trading year.

That’s interesting news for the market, but bad news for BT wholesale. I think this show’s the BT are obviously rattled and are arguing over how they are going to fight for customers as unbundling continues to gather pace.

Nokia profits drop following price cuts

The world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia of Finland, has seen a sharp fall in its third-quarter profits while revenues remained stagnant. The company has been cutting the price of some models in an effort to win back market share, and though the move has worked, with Nokia’s share of the handset market rising from 31% to 33% in the three months to the end of September, it has impacted pre-tax profits, which were down 18% to EUR1 billion. The company saw sales of EUR6.94 billion, up just 1% on the same period last year.

Network outsourcing sees huge growth

Gartner – Continued Growth Forecast for IT Outsourcing Segments
The worldwide IT outsourcing market will grow from $180.5 billion in
revenue in 2003 to $253.1 billion in 2008 at a compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of 7.2 percent. Network outsourcing is the fastest-growing segment
of IT outsourcing, with a 9.5 percent CAGR in the forecast period, followed
by desktop outsourcing with a 7.9 percent CAGR.

O2 looks at i-mode

UK-based mobile operator mmO2 is reportedly looking at adopting NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode mobile internet technology which brings internet, e-mail and gaming applications to phones.

C&W

Caught a short article on the possible break up of C&W yesterday. Their shares went up with the news broke but C&W denied it so their shares fell again. But fell lower than prior to the news as the report was pretty damning of the business model ..not good news then for C and W.

Deal in Nordics

Just spent two 16 hour days working between teams in EMEA and the US to drive approval for a deal in the Nordics. To one VP and then back to another VP. But it looks like it’s done which is great.

In amongst this, my laptop blew up! My T30 went bang, blue screen of death every team it booted. So it’s in for a refresh and it’ll come back like new. As my Treo had gone I’d lost my calendar I can’t believe it all happended like this. I ended up calling my assistant and asking her to read me my calendar and emails!

Treo 600 for sale – SOLD

I’ve sold the Treo and ordered a Tungsten T3 and I’ve ordered a new mobile too, an SE K700i, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow as it all turns up!