4GWE Preview - Focus on Wireless

Lots going on this week, and my latest Service Provider Views article is running just days after the last one. This column focuses on the 4GWE event - 4G Wireless Evolution - running next week at the TMC IT Expo in Los Angeles.

I've addressed wireless issues in earlier columns, and this one serves as a timely preview for what 4GWE will be covering next week. To do this, I put together a Q&A with Carl Ford, who most of you will know, and he shares his thoughts on the the evolving mobility market as well as what's coming at 4WGE. The interview was published this morning on the 4GWE portal, and you can read it here. Their event runs September 1 - 3, and I'll be dropping by during the 2nd and 3rd days, as I'll be busy running the Smart Grid Summit all day on the 1st. See you there!

Service Provider Views - 4G Outlook with Crossfire Media

My latest Service Provider Views column is running now on TMCnet. For this article, I've focused on one of the strong themes that came out of the IT Expo last month - wireless. Under the Crossfire Media umbrella, Carl Ford and Scott Kargman launched 4G Wireless Evolution at the conference, and by all counts, it was a successful debut.

To keep that momentum going, I recently interviewed Scott and Carl, not just about their thinking behind 4GWE, but also their overall outlook for wireless and operator migration to 4G. You can read the Q&A here, and hopefully, their thoughts will set the stage for a larger event next time around.

VON's Reincarnation

Well, it was just a matter of time, but VON is coming around again. I got wind of the news that Virgo had acquired the remnants of VON during the IT Expo last September, and they've just announced their new show. The name has been updated to keep up with the times and to position the VON brand as part of Virgo, and that's not a simple matter. So, VON no longer means Voice on the Net - the new VON means "the Voice of Network Convergence". Also, Jeff's beloved purple color scheme is gone, replaced with a more staid Navy blue. Nothing really distinctive about the look, but it's definitely not like the VON we've known for so long.

The new VON event takes place Sept. 21-23 in Miami, and is co-located with the Channel Partners conference. Interesting combination there, as this date is close to when the IT Expo is usually held, although next fall, TMC's dates are late October, so there's no clash there. September is hurricane season in Florida - not the ideal time to go there, but I'm sure synching up with the Channels show was the real driver here! To learn more, the VON conference website is now running.

To keep the VON vibe humming, they've also just launched a VON e-newsletter, along with portal-type website, which uses the old VON URL. This just came out yesterday, so it's pretty newsworthy.

No doubt, Virgo has a challenge ahead of itself in making a go of VON again, especially in such a tough economy. Of course it's always good to see a new show on the horizon, and September is a long time away, so lots can happen along the way. I'm not alone is saying the original VON community was pretty special, and any effort to re-capture that will be welcome.

I don't have any direct connection to the new VON, so I can't offer any special insight as to how successful they'll be. However, while I do have your attention, you'll probably enjoy Carl Ford's take on the new VON. If Jeff was the soul of VON, Carl was the heart, and his post is a good read.