Telecom or all

The acquisition of Switchboard by Infospace should accelerate consolidation across multiple modalities of the Yellow and White Pages. Switchboard’s wholesale deal with AOL for online local complements InfoSpace’s deal with Verizon Information Services very nicely. InfoSpace’s move into White Pages ownership is interesting in the shadow of wireless listings becoming available. Competing firms will add automated speech and location based services (LBS) to the mix.

In January we mused over what $10 billion in cash would do for Google relative to the rest of the directory ecosystem. Three months later, Google Local shows us what online search can do to drive location-based rich search. As a free service, it is disruptive to alternative services that charge for listings or advertisement.

Verizon’s $3 billion investment in IP network technologies will make VoIP more prominent within the DA ecosystem, both here and in Europe. Stepped up VoIP activity by cable system operators (E.G. Comcast, Time Warner) and IP-based wholesales (E.G. Level 3), will make both 411 and 911 services part of the VoIP value chain.

Automated speech supports telephone company goals for greater differentiation, personalization and customer care. Zelos Group’s proprietary survey of speech implementations reflects geometric growth and accelerated deployment strategies both in the network and customer care centers.

Through its partnership with Yahoo, BT is adding a fourth dimension to its “Triple Play” services (voice, data and broadband) by adding personalization, real-time control of bandwidth consumption and content on demand to the services menu. The partnership shows how an integrated carrier will compete with the rapidly receding AOL for Broadband service.

In its 14th acquisition over the past several years, IBM plugs Product Information Management software play Trigo into its ever-expanding middleware stack. This new kind of PIM touches rich product and features data that can drive pervasive commerce.

Wholesale DA in the US in 2004 is being transformed by AT&T Wireless's transition from MetroOne to Verizon LiveSource and Tellme. The deal is a microcosm of the wholesale DA industry at large. Automation is gaining a stronger foothold in ever-shifting sands. Uncertainty creates opportunity for ASR vendors and database aggregators.