Communications Unusual: Heteromorphic Communications

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Communications Unusual Heteromorphic
Communications

• Jeff Pulver, President, pulver.com
• jeffp_at_pulver.com
• September 23, 2003

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Good Morning!

• Its Great to be in Boston Again!
• 1997 was the last VON in Boston
• Back then we discovered Selius which is now
  better known as Ciscos Call Manager
• Right before VON the team gave me a demo of their
  IP Phone with its ethernet connection right at my
  home. It was the first time I saw a phone with a
  RJ-45 connection.
• Sonus was funded the day after Fall VON 97 closed
  as were others.
• I know there are entrepreneurs in our collective
  residence that will leave here with the next big
  idea!

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A Quick Biology Lesson

• Homomorphic Telephony vs. Heteromorphic
  Communications

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Homomorphic Telephony vs.Heteromorphic
Communications

• Homomorphic and Heteromorphic Defined and
  Described
• Homomorphic - Similarity of external form or
  appearance but not of structure or origin.
• Example Babies to Adults in Humans!
• Heteromorphic Occurs when the organism changes
  in form and function at various stages.
• Example Larva to Caterpillars to Chrysalis to
  Butterflies!

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Homomorphic Telephony

• Homomorphic life forms mature but they do not
  morph into something else.
• The PSTN has matured but after all these years is
  more or less the same.
• Stepper, Electronic, and Digital Switches were
  more of the same.
• Softswitches without an open interface will just
  be one more version of our past.
• Many ITSPs and Broadband IP Voice Service
  Providers fall into the Homomorphic Telephony
  Definitions.
• (Similar telephony services, just competing on
  price.)

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Heteromorphic Communications

• Ultimately IP Communications will evolve as if
  the PSTN never existed.
• Moores Law is driving this, not the Telecom
  Industry
• Fiber effected the network core
• Silicon effects the edge
• I believe we are in the 3rd stage of the
  Internets multi stage process.

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Homomorphic Music

• If every one uses the same beat and the same
  melody the lyrics are tiring.
• Many bands do covers to start, but as they grow
  they make their own music. (An artists
  transition from Homomorphic to Heteromorphic
  helps define musical style.)
• And not everyone likes the same music so the more
  variety the better for everyone.
• The goal is to enable variety and to be different!

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Some Good News

• Incrementally more VoIP minutes are happening
  around the world.
• Xbox Live, Skype, Wireless push-to-talk, Free
  World Dialup, Yahoo! BB, MSN, AOL, SIPPhone, etc.
• More people are communicating with better network
  ubiquity and they are starting to engage in
  multimodal communications.
• Wireline traffic continues to shifting onto other
  networks. PSTN not going away but look for a 40
  shift in the next 5-7 years.
• IP usage continues to grow and will for the
  foreseeable future.

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Current IP Communication Trends

• Look for more ILECS to convert pay phones to WiFi
  hot spots. This is a game of real estate
•  BT just following what Verizon and Bell Canada
  are already doing. More will follow.
• It is a logical enhancement to bolster the DSL
  based services. Look for Hotspots numbers to grow
  fast.
• Wireless ISPs WISPs are expanding including
  FreeNets.
• Rural WISPs have started servicing communities
  via Mountain tops and provide services better
  than their rural service providers.

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Current IP Communication Trends

• Universal Service can be better served using
  and leveraging IP Communication Technologies.
• As an Industry we need to stop using the term
  Internet Telephony. Use IP Communications
  instead.
• Turns out that some people are even more literal
  than myself and this is starting to become a
  problem on a regulatory level.
• ITSPs should now be called IPCSPs.
• IP Communication Service Providers.

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Folksa News Flash!
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Voice is the Killer App
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And will continue to be part of the killer
application
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Voice makes cool things even cooler
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Sometimes we just dont see the things that are
hiding in plain sight!
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Like the First Snow of Winter

• In 1997 VoIP was a lot like the first snow fall.
• It caused havoc,
• but it did not stick.
• Its not that the snow was not cold enough, but
  the environment was not right yet.
• The earth was still too warm
• The storm doesnt drop fast enough to make the
  change last.

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The Second Snow Storm of a Season

• The environment is generally right for the snow
  to accumulate.
• The air and the ground are cold enough
• No dramatic changes.
• The snow can be disruptive for some but creates
  immediate opportunities for others.

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The Snow Usually Sticks!
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TodayVoIP is Sticking!

• Driven by the critical mass adoption of the
  Broadband by both Consumers and Enterprises.
• Provides an end - to - end environment.
• Smart devices have been designed for data
  networks.
• VoIP is moving to the edge from the core.
• IP Phones are on the rise with over 2M phones
  sold.
• IP Communication Providers are growing (Hosted,
  Managed, iCentrex or iPBX).
• And VoIP is being integrated in data applications
  in a way that is not being tracked as telecom
  nor should it be.

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Video is Sticking, too!

• Science Project of 1939
• Worlds Fair ATTs Promise of 1964
• Im part of the Jetsons Generation
• Intels ISDN solution of 1990s
• Video is now in the mix
• IM
• End to End
• Conference - based solutions
• Apple is helping to make this happen for consumers

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How Has VoIP Changed?

• Then 1997 the first snow
• Hype about threat to carriers
• Dial-up
• High Settlements Cost
• H.323
• Internet Telephony Service Providers
• Two Stage Dialing
• Arbitrage Termination Bypass
• Third World Regulations

• Now 2003 the second snow
• Hype about threat to Universal Service
• Broadband
• Accounting rate parity
• SIP
• IP Communication Service Providers
• IP Direct Inward Dialing
• New Arbitrage Origination Bypass
• Stateside Regulations

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And how has it remained the same?
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 We suffer from too much hype AGAIN!

• First in 1996 with ACTA and threat to the LD
  Companies ,
• IP Telephony was banned in some countries around
  the world.
• ACTA asked the FCC US to ban sale and use of IP
  phone software and regulate software companies as
  telecom service providers.
• 100,000 Voice over broadband subscribers vs. 150
  Million Access Lines 
• REALITY? At best we are 1 tenth of 1 percent of
  the market. And thats making some strong
  assumptions.

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déjà vu at the FCC

• How I spent my summer vacation
• Meetings _at_ DOJ/FBI, FCC, NARUC, NTIA the
  Whitehouse
• Recognizing the pattern I tried to preempt the
  ban Internet Telephony petition
• Free World Dialup 03-45
• Pure end to end IP Communication is not
  telecommunications
• Free has helped on the service side but has
  allowed some regulators to punt
• ATT 02-346
• Interconnection to the PSTN is a given
• This is about the future of services using the
  Internet and not direct links

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US State Regulators may have a point

• If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck
  maybe you are a duck.
• If all we do is emulate what is, why shouldnt
  we have the same regulatory requirements, one
  would ask.
• However regulation based on form factors makes no
  sense.
• Confusing the Dial Tone played on the computer
  as network generated is equally bizarre.
• We could be an ugly duckling or a beautiful swan
• The Communications network of the future is not
  about PSTN interconnection.
• 2003 State Hot List includes AL, CO, FL, IL, OH,
  MI, MN, NC, PA, WA, WI ????

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How Can You Fight Regulation?
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Change the LandscapeThink outside the Box!Live
outside the Box!Deliver Services outside the
Box!Being Different is OK.
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Replication Regulation

• If all you do is telephony like services, the
  odds are likely you are going to have to play by
  telephony rules by both the regulators and the
  marketplace.
• Telephony is a term that will be like the
  telegraph two generations from now. Forget
  about Internet Telephony
• Think Sessions, not Minutes
• Think Heteromorphic Communications. Do the kind
  of things never before possible or practical. Be
  different!

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But it is an uphill battle

• In the US there are 100 years of legacy
  regulations in place that assume a monopoly is in
  control.
• How can you be held responsible to provide 9-1-1
  if the Access and Service is not provided by the
  same company?
• Bottom line We need Telecom Policy Reform that
  takes into account IP Communications.
• Hopefully this will translate into less
  regulations for everyone.
• This may have to become a political platform
  issue in order to see real change. So we need to
  deal with these issues today before it is too
  late.

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Because if you dont
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Replication Will Be Regulation!
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Help Us Invent the Future

• We dont know what the future wants
• But we can make an open enough interface and
  allow the kids to experiment and explore.
• They will make mistakes but the will create new
  things as well.
• Regulation should not get in the way of
  innovation!

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Advise to Startup Voice over Broadband Service
Providers

• Start to move from Homomorphic to Heteromorphic
  much like music artists do.
• Create a gray area for yourself.
• Bundle IP Communications services with Mobile IP
  Devices.
• Add soft clients support on PDAs and PCs.
• Disrupt everyone!

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So what is this all about?

• Its about all OUR kids
• My kids are 9 1/2 now and in the 4th Grade.
• They expect a visual display and navigation
  buttons like a Gameboy
• They navigate intuitively on a GameBoy and on the
  web. There is nothing intuitive about a keypad
• Start building the Heteromorphic Communication
  Solutions that the kids of tomorrow will be
  demanding when they become consumers.

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What Does this mean?
20
30
25
33.3
50
Percentageof life using
Commerical Internet
Note Someof us have been on theInternet
before it wascommercial
Radio
TV
Internet
Think Young! You are serving the always on
generation!
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Dont Trust Product Managers over 30!

• The Internet became commercial in 1993 so we have
  lots of teenagers who grew up as netizens. Their
  perspective of the Internet and communication is
  free and clear of a dialtone and a phone form
  factor.
• No offense, but you are no longer to be trusted
  in your innovative abilities.
• Too many years on the PSTN
• You are not connected to the future requirements
• Your best effort should be on giving kids your
  interface and so they can design features.

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Dont Build for anyone over 30!

• The younger the customer,the longer the product
  life cycle.
• My kids are use to having a screen not a dial pad
  to work with. And they intuitively get it.
• Lose the old thinking. Gather data from children
  playing with your stuff.
• Remember it was kids that turned chat into
  Instant Messaging.

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Remember the Killer Application isVoice

• We need to build communication companies, not
  Telephone Companies. Think Heteromorphic.
• Using Presence, Text, Video, with other Internet
  enabled tools like vXML and SOAP are cool,but
  usually voice is the best direct realtime
  communication method.
• I suffer from too much asynchronous communication
  today and I think we all do, or will, in some
  ways. And the answer is real time multi-modal
  heteromorphic communications.

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What can we do?

• Drop the term Internet Telephony from our
  vocabulary.
• Time for the ask the US States for a 5 Year
  Moratorium. Leave the Internet Tax free.
• It would be nice if the FCC could preempt the
  States from making mistakes. States should
  petition the FCC for action.

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What can we do?

• We need to worry about International Impact of
  Domestic US Policy.
• Lets all agree to watch this evolution /
  revolution and work together.
• Maybe self-regulation like Wireless might be the
  way to go.
• Maybe this is an issue for Consumer
  Advocatesmaybe something for the FTC rather than
  FCC to worry about.

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The Future is Unwritten!(The Clash circa 1978)

• Heteromorphic Communication is exciting.
• Many of you are making this future possible.
• Onward thru the Fog!

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Thank You!