In This Issue
Industry Insight
4G Webinar Coming Soon
Need a Laugh?
Message from Richard McFarlane
Meet Our Staff
Quick Links
 

Industry Insight: Non-phone data additions
exceed phones
The majority of new additions to AT&T and Verizon Wireless are now non-phone devices such as tablets, e-readers, netbooks, and machine-to-machine units. With mobile penetration over 100%, carriers need new revenue sources to finance 3G and 4G expansions. Read more.
Alliance 4G webinar
We've all heard the increased bandwidth 4G will deliver.  Next month, Alliance will deliver a two-part webinar with our partner Extropy focusing on leveraging new network capabilities to provide better customer experiences.  Watch for registration information!
 
Need a Laugh? Kids Leaving for School?
Dear Dad,
$chool i$ really great. I am making lot$ of friend$ and $tudying very hard. With all my $tuff, I $imply can`t think of anything I need. $o if you would like, you can ju$t $end me a card, a$ I would love to hear from you.
Love,
Your $on

The Reply:
Dear Son,
I kNOw that astroNOmy, ecoNOmics, and oceaNOgraphy are eNOugh to keep even an hoNOr student busy. Do NOt forget that the pursuit of kNOwledge is a NOble task, and you can never study eNOugh.
Love,
Dad
Please contact us any time with questions, feedback, or just to exchange ideas about telecom industry issues.  You can reach us at 847-782-1500 or info@atswireless.com.  For the latest information, visit us at www.atswireless.com
 
Sincerely,
 
Richard McFarlane
Alliance Telecom Solutions
Message from Richard McFarlane, President


I want to touch on trends and innovation in this letter.  It really is an interesting period in our business. There are several real inflexion points in technology occurring and there are trends that have yet to be shown as real or more ephemeral.

One inflexion point is the next wave of technology in our business.  LTE will happen.  It will be achieved on different timetables with different intermediate steps, but we may finally get to a global common technology. 

Two other areas that are both challenges and opportunities are how BSS & OSS platforms will change in coming years, and how broadband that reaches a majority of the population impacts the way we live and work?  The US currently ranks 15th in broadband penetration at 26.4 percent (broadband subscribers per 100 inhabitants) as of December 2009, according to a survey by the OECD. (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development)  The US ranks 22nd in broadband speeds worldwide at 3.8 Mbps. Most of Europe is around 6Mbps (Latvia is at 6.2) and most of Asia around 10 Mbps.  South Korea remains the world leader at 11.7 (now that's smokin'!).   Advanced level broadband that would allow high skill work from rural areas could transform the US far more than countries with smaller land mass.

Alliance is well positioned to help the new broadband operators moving into this space. Our 16 years of experience helping clients monetize their networks through business process development and the deployment of OSS & BSS systems to support those processes will make us a good partner in the process. 

I also want to share something I hope you enjoy as much as I did.  In these economic times, we hear talk that America is falling behind; we don't make anything here, or we are not creating new ideas.  Well, we are.  Nanotechnology could be a game changer in medicine, in computing and many other areas.  Click here to read a brief article about an American pioneering this technology and concept for its use.  I think you will be surprised, and delighted. Let me know what you think.  Enjoy your summer!

  Meet Our Staff: Bret Godwin
Featured Consultant:Bret Godwin, Solutions Architect
Bret
Bret has 22 years of telecom industry experience.

TT: How did you get into telecom?
BG: I started in Telecom back in 1988 when I had the opportunity to join Northern Telecom - Nortel - in the Denver regional sales office.  I was originally in the IT department and later transferred into a Product Marketing group where I specialized in switched digital data like ISDN and Switched digital 56K.  I grew into packet services and Frame Relay and eventually was working on the Optical transport technologies from OC-1 to OC-48, at the time using the Northern Telecom Transport Node products.
 
From Nortel I moved to US West where I was a Metropolitan Network Data Engineer for several years.  I then had the opportunity to move into SS7 signaling where I was a network engineer and planner for two years before moving to Evolving Systems.
 
It was at Evolving Systems where I was exposed to AIN services and worked with GTE to develop AIN provisioning systems for GTE AIN services for several years.  I leveraged my AIN background to help Evolving Systems launch into Local Number Portability where I helped architect the NPAC system and Evolving Systems Local Number Portability product suite.

 
TT: What is your subject matter expertise?
BG: My expertise in telecom was originally heavily oriented around data and migrated into Optical transport and eventually broadband data and AIN services and LNP.  My most recent expertise has been in VoIP switch provisioning systems for Comcast.
 
TT: What do you feel is the biggest contribution you've made to a client?
BG: My largest contribution to a client was developing a set of web services that enabled their order management system to interact over the web to provision the VoIP switches.  My largest contribution to an employer was the development of the Local Number portability product strategy and product architecture for Evolving Systems.

TT: What is the most interesting project you've worked on?
BG: Local Number Portability has been my most interesting career opportunity to-date.  I also had a great Service Oriented Architecture success at Jeppesen for a system that delivered electronic flight charts to commercial pilots.

TT: What is your favorite city/country to work in?
BG: I have lived in Denver for over 30 years and I would be hard pressed to live anywhere else.  The climate is great and I love outdoor activities.

TT: What do you like best about working with Alliance? 
BG: I really enjoy the Alliance team members. I interact with them on a regular basis and the other consultants are great to work with.  That fact that Richard reads my weekly status reports is pretty cool too.

TT: What hobbies do you enjoy in your free time?
BG: I'm a private pilot and I like to fly when I can find the time.  In the summer I hike, mountain bike, and cycle on bike paths.  I'm a big movie watcher and usually in the theaters once or twice a month.
 
To request Bret for your next project or to view his full profile, please visit
our web site.