The telecommunications industry has always cast the notion of being composed of few elite companies, leaving very little room for entrepreneurs to innovate. While this is true to an extent, the open source nature of the industry has allowed several smaller companies and entrepreneurs the opportunity to enhance such a rapidly growing field. This TechRepublic article for example gives us an example of software that can be applied to enhance and extend capabilities of Skype, a leading VOIP provider. While this may not prove to be significant to all, especially to non Skype users, there are larger messages that permeate the discussion.
The add-ons list in the article is quite interesting and shows the innovate spirits of some of our best minds. Often times we will be using something and think of a way the service or product can be enhanced. Each of these followed that methodology and can even lead to productivity increases in the business world. The HotRecorder for example allows businesses to record and save normal Skype conversations for later use in quality and training exercises. This free add-on eliminates the need for expensive equipment that would be necessary to record a traditional landline call. While the widespread use of VOIP is yet to be seen, it is growing at a very fast rate. This leaves open the possibilities for independent developers to enhance the product drastically in a way that would boost their bottom line.
Why should Skype be the only product this theory applies to? As we have reported on several occasions, 4G technology may be the fastest emerging trend in the industry. Several efforts are being used to harness the power of the new technology. Sprint's mobile hot spot comes to mind which allows four users to simultaneously connect to the device anywhere a cell signal is available. It delivers the same functionality as wifi but in mobile form. Why should 4g use be limited to smart phones when indeed those with laptops can harness the power of the technology. The products that are developed often directly enhance the original service and push others to innovate and improve as well. This goes to show while most don't have the money to enter the business of telecommunications, that doesn't mean there isn't an opportunity to profit upon it. The cost of infrastructure is no doubt well beyond every entrepreneur's price range, yet the power to harness the technology and translate it into new and exciting products is well within reach.
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6179517.html
I agree with what you are saying. My post is very similar to yours, because it is mostly focused on the difficulty for new companies to introduce themselves into this industry making it sort of an oligopoly. The expenses of creating a new service or a substitute service are most of the times huge and besides that the possibilities to compete with the already existing and stable business are very low. The evidence of this is in the amount of popular service providers for any of the branches of telecom. You can count with one hand the talking and chatting online service providers, such as skype or messenger, that have full control over the customer that use this service; This is because it is very difficult to compete in this market specifically.
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