Telecom Ramblings, founded on May 7, 2008, is a website dedicated to discussing trends and developments in the telecom industry. Primary areas of focus include longhaul, metro, and submarine fiber networks, all varieties of data services, colocation and data centers, networking equipment and technologies, VoIP and unified communications, content delivery networks.
Somewhere after the telecom nuclear winter began in 2000, the passion seemed to dry up. Telecom Ramblings exists to tell the stories of the sector – to give voice to the folks who invest in, build, and operate the communications infrastructure that so many take for granted even as they marvel at how cool their iPhones look. Those stories may be of individuals, corporations, or public groups, but they are all a part of the journey we have all been on since the internet was founded.
We are an independent source of news, commentary and analysis, but not a disinterested one and thus do not pretend to be fully impartial. We love this stuff. That’s why we read about it and write about it and comment about it.
If you would like to contact Telecom Ramblings with suggestions, comments, or corrections, please email us at info@telecomramblings.com.
Our Team:
Robert Powell is the founder, chief editor, and CTO of Telecom Ramblings. He oversees all content and programming for Telecom Ramblings. Rob has a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University.
Lisa Xu is the COO of Telecom Ramblings. She oversees all the daily business operations, including legal, finance, and sales and marketing. Lisa has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from Boston College Law School.
Becky Gao is the Operations Manager at Telecom Ramblings. She handles the daily newswire updates and social media promotion. Becky has a BA in English.
Great idea. I believe there will be enormous interest in your blog.
Best, Steve
Just dropping by to say “hi”. I’ll definitely be watching this blog via RSS. Keep up the good work.
I too will be a regular reader as I am always impressed with your musings.
Rob, welcome to the blogging world! I have added your blog to my blogroll over on the Telecosm blog, at http://www.ikeelliott.com, and I posted about your new blog today. I’ve also added you to my RSS reader. It’s great that you have started a blog, to share your excellent analysis with a wider audience. I’m looking forward to being a regular reader!
Toes: During the great October tanking of LVLT stock, I pretty much bailed out of a considerably large position and subsequently loaded up (over time) into UTStarcom, Inc. I am now having more than a few second thoughts. I sure have enjoyed your LVLT posts over at investor village; but, seeing that you spend lots of time in China, I’d sure appreciate your thoughts, if any, on UTSI’s China (and world) IPTV prospects. TIA, if you have the time and inclination to muse.
Well it looks like XO communications will be laying off again starting tomorrow! This company has single handed ruined so many folks lives over the past year. They lead people on thinking they have a shot to keep their jobs then they pull the rug from under them. Today some manager (who will remain nameless for now) on the east coast sent an email out to the Client Service Team and didn’t notice on the email thread it revealed they would be the ones getting laid off this week….really? Looks like they need to start cutting jobs at the top of the food chain vs. the bottom. On top of the layoffs this week they are raising customers prices by 25%……they just haven’t told the customer yet!! …..more to come.
HAHA, XO cant do anything right, they cant even keep layoffs a secret to those who they are letting go. If they expect to keep customers after raising prices then whatever they are smoking pass it over to me. I do have a question did they keep the Dicks sporting goods and USPS contracts????, If they did I would be shocked and amazed. If I were Santander, Reading Hospital, ETC I would seriously be trying to find another provider, there are better options out there may not be cheaper but more reliable.
i work at XO, 8 yrs now. the rate increase is only hitting TDM services. features on PRI and Intergrated Access. IA has not been sold for about 5 yrs. it’s all IP now. IP Flex pricing is not changing.
Can’t we at least keep these comments on the XO Layoff post that seems to run indefinitely?
New layoffs at XO today. Last day 3/15/12 – however no medical, dental, vision after that date.
Company going down!
Yep a bunch of us were laid off … Last day in March..blah blah,..and you know the rest. the way they did this lay off was horrible…but most of us have our customers info so we all informed them we were leaving. told them about all of the price increases and that BBL’s would be going away or handing them over to another vendor….hahaha that’s a joke. XO is falling apart. I’ve talked to folks that have been there for over 10 years and they all say this is nothing new,…..now that’s sad!
I can’t believe people on here try to defend this company….there is nothing that XO does right…let me see if I can state some true facts:
1. They sell product to a customer; tell them it will install in 60-90 days ( and we all know it’s 120 or longer) and as soon as that first site is installed….their asses start billing the customer.
2. They easily lose customers payments and disconnect them…then want you to not only pay what they said you never sent the first time but whatever the new bill is as well
3. When customers disconnect services…they take their time pulling it out of the billing cycle….so a customer might got months paying for something they don’t have.
4. Orbiting charges…this is a joke….they tell customers they mysteriously found calls that weren’t being billed and now they owe tons of money….
5. XO management allows customers that they know are reselling our services to be counted into their monthly #’s …which always shows that XO made their numbers (at least thats how the East Coast rolls)
XO is the ultimate scam company…the old switch and bait….or bannana in the tail pipe…LOL
Santander should have been left XO ; and I still can’t believe Baylor signed with those fools. A good friend works for Baylor and she stated this may have been a bad choice. I am not sure who’s getting the kick backs from Santander or Baylor at this poing…but I know Santander is hating life and the choice they made…I know because I hear it everyday. Just sit and wait…when they pull out…XO won’t know what hit them….pass the pop corn please.
Customer can leave XO at anytime, I surprised that a mass exodous has not already started. Before I was laid off back in October I made sure to email myself a copy of my customer contact list I had from working on orders from such customers as, Santander, USPS, Dicks Sporting Goods, TARGET, Chipotle Grill. I have a few sales friends that work in the industry, so I figured they could use the revenue for thier companies, sorry XO you fucked me and my family back in October, PAY BACKS ARE A BITCH
Me thinks – if this is a “reputable” blog – such words as the last anonymous’ comments – would be filtered and denied such as “f..k.”
Strange comments – “I,” “me” – means dead weight.
Early in my career I learned it the hard way – either you are a “dead weight” or a producer. In any work capacity that is. Witnessing 300+ people being laid off in 2006 in a wholesale company out of 650 total staff – was not a shocker to anyone as those 300+ were literally carried through by 20% of staff in the company. What is so surprising about it? Nothing.
Now. XO Communications is making headway and hearing this gibberish about layoffs is nothing, but chatty-chat. How many employees does Verizon, AT&T, etc layoff each year due to their lack of performance? That’s a pop-quiz. Once one obtains such knowledge – this waste of painting XO dark colors will be avoided all together.
Here is to 100G service by XO Communications! The FIRST in the market to offer such service and place Google’s 10G to shame.
Am I the only one who is still scratching their head over why Miller at FiberLight so called retired. Rumors inside the company say they treated him poorly even after all he created there. Such a shame for a quality guy. I wish him well. VM
XO let go 400 people TW telecom let go 100 people in jan 2011 from reading it must be hush hush also tw does not have 15,000 buildings on net
Do you ever post news about WOW! Business?
EQT announced purchase of majority ownership of Spirit Communications.
Earlier this year EQT purchased Lumos. Likely that EQT has plans to combine.
Spirit had purchased SCANA Communications in 2015.
You first read about “Pacific Wiretap” as a feature review by editor Kevin Summers in the September 2011 issue of Submarine Telecoms Forum. Now, in the era of Corporate Cybercrime, Political Wiretaps, and Global Surveillance, the book has taken on increased relevance, as multi-referenced in The Undersea Network by Nicole Starosielski, NYU professor (Duke University Press, Durham and London, 2016) .
Take a peek: http://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Wiretap-Patrick-Downey/dp/1450267629/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399040452&sr=8-1&keywords=pacific+wiretap
Give it a try – and be prepared to have your wits tested.
Cheers,
Patrick Downey
AT&T retiree
Asia-Pacific region
High speed trains do not travel on the same rails as our commuter trains in the USA.
Time for optical fiber transformation that not only provides for high speed but also for physical layer security.
Thank you for the space to ramble . . . !