Mantra is for people who don’t like change

We always smirk when we hear folks in the Telco industry talk about which companies are going after Tier 1 operators and which ones aren’t - rather shouldn’t. So this brief news blurb about Alcatel-Lucent being chosen by a “US electrical power distributer” (sounds so very Carlyle Group to us) to provide IPTV solution that will offer TV and other IP-based services to customers in the greater Chattanooga area, well we really get to smirking. (that is Tennessee folks, the STATE of Tennessee and not even the biggest town in the state of Tennessee)

Now, here’s the fun part. All these big companies - Alcatel-Lucent, Thomson, Microsoft, Tandberg and their buddy Ericsson and event the “Laten’s IPTV ecosystem” are all posturing in a very old school establishment kind of way that it’s only the Tier 1’s that they are going after - but in reality, the game is still on. If you look to smaller or rather more independent companies that aren’t trying to offer the kitchen sink, you will see that those companies have been quietly bringing more and more to the table in terms of features that consumers use in their daily lives on the Internet into the IPTV ecosystem (we all that innovation) and they have been pushing the line of business forward to emerging markets in Eastern Europe and for sometime, have been targeting utility companies (Denmark, Slovenia, Sweden, Norway, Germany, US) around the world because that is where the innovation and adoption lies - and where adoption lies means cash money. And, isn’t it better to get your stuff out into the market than wait until a Tier 1 makes up his mind or hires enough early 30-somethings that know a thing or two about what tomorrow’s consumer will want?

It’s all fair game now.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Alcatel-Lucent: Sign of an Industry Malaise
• Alcatel-Lucent CEO and Chairman Out