GigaOM

As the world population continues to grow, making communication available to everyone becomes increasingly important. An infocom ecosystem expanding the reach of the infotech industry to communication holds more promise for our human network than the usual stewards of communication.

Infotech and telecom business models operate at opposite ends of the product vs. services spectrum. So for infotech companies looking to play a greater role in communications — notably to offer more options — they’ll need to do more than just replicate telecom models.

Given that the average talking Hallmark greeting card probably consumes more than a single MIPS and the $600 PC used by a typical 16-year-old to post videos on Facebook sports an Intel Core Duo chip capable of 27,000 MIPS, the tracking of MIPS no longer generates much excitement. While the availability and performance of connectivity represents the primary input gating progress today, the hunt for broadband still lacks an equivalent metric.

Aside from price, the traditional telecom model remains largely unchanged, even with the introduction of VoIP, and a lack of innovation has kept miscommunication a part of our daily lives. The infocom sector needs to move beyond cheap telephone calls.

Consider the recently unveiled “any app, any device” initiative by Verizon Wireless in the context of the company’s latest quarterly results.
The wireless unit of Verizon (VZ) reported year-over-year subscriber growth of 12 percent, but a mere 5 percent rise in voice revenues. Data revenue saved the day, surging 63 percent and lifting the company [...]

If Google’s bid for 700Mhz spectrum materializes in January, it will bring the trillion-dollar infotech and telecom industries into direct competition for the first time in 50 years.