Monday, October 10, 2005

CompTel: Day 2

Earl Comstock's coming out party as CEO of CompTel was at the opening today. I was amazed at how many people around me did not seem to know who he was. (Didn't they read his The Internet is the New PSTN in this month's Phone+?) His message was: "Get involved! Take ACTION." There will be a hole at CompTel in the wake of the acquisition of AT&T and MCI by the RBOCs. The industry needs everyone to get involved. We need everyone to speak to Congress with the same message: we need open networks for innovation and economic prosperity, not walled gardens and closed systems. Sherman Henderson, Chairman of the Board of CompTel and CEO of Lightyear, spoke about Bill McGowen (founder of MCI) taking on a true monopoly, AT&T, which owned 100% of the market. Today, we have it easier since VZ, SBC and Comcast only have 80% of the market. More opportunity. "Focus on how we grow and how we win," he stated. Sherm loves the iPod and thinks it should be the new symbol of innovation. Then Jim Crowe of Level3 gave the keynote. He says to bet on trends and to read "The World is Flat" for the trends in the Information Revolution that we are living in.

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