The Demand for the Data Pipe

Thursday, 02. 18. 2010  –  Category: T2 Communications

It seems like ages ago when data connections were only available via dial up and our consumption was limited more to a time block than a logistical need.  We couldn’t keep our phone lines tied up, and even when we tried our connection was often broken with regularity.  Even with the latest gear, the process was inefficient, slow and aggravating.  Of course, for most people it really didn’t matter because there wasn’t anything to do online that we couldn’t accomplish by using the postal service or reading a newspaper.

How times have changed.  Now, that data connection has become the equivalent of a morning commute—it is their way into work.  We communicate more via e-mail, text and social media without considering picking up the phone or mailing a letter.  Doing so has allowed many Americans to cut back on phone lines all together, instead choosing to use cell phones and data driven communication tools.

These changes have affected the role of a service provider as well.  Instead of phone providers providing phone, and television providers providing television, each offers an array of services that were once left to someone else.  Our television, internet and phone services are all piped over the same line.

For some, they are losing the business outright.  New providers are making these same services available over an internet connection.  VoIP services like Vonage and Skype have saved consumers a tremendous amount of money while also offering them the flexibility of using the service in nearly any location with a data connection.  Traditional television service too is fighting for its life, as Hulu, YouTube and even niche sites like Funny or Die all provide programming choices that mimic or mirror legacy providers.

Shifting to a more data driven communication package is not only based in wireline networks.  Wireless providers too are seeing the trend.  AT&T and the iPhone, plus Verizon’s recent partnership announcement with Skype, are two examples of how the mobile phone industry may become the mobile data industry.  While some companies may want to fight the change, it is clear that consumers are increasingly demanding a continuity of access.  This means access to their content anytime, anywhere over any network.  To do that, everything has to be on the same platform.  And that platform is a data network.

Driving towards a data only network where the AT&Ts and Comcasts of the world are relegated to data network managers will certainly change how we approach our communication and entertainment needs.  Much like the electricity in our home, we will pay for access and usage of our data connection.  What we hook up to it, and how those devices utilize the network, will be our issue.

This pay per consumption model is already being tested out by wireless and wireline providers alike to curtail the behaviors of the small group of “data hogs” that are taxing their network.  However, as the data trend continues, we will all become data hogs.  And when we do, an all-you-can-eat model for purchasing your data is no longer going to be feasible.

David Fleming works for next-generation service provider T² Communications, a CornerWorld company.

Tags: data connection, David Fleming, digital, internet, phone, service provider, television, VoIP, wireless