re: A Welcome Message to Jeff Pulver and pulver.com
Hello Jeff,
Please allow me to speak on behalf of myself and the others here, and offer
you a warm welcome to the board. We're both pleased and honored that
you could find some time to reply to my request to entertain some questions
here concerning this still nascent, yet growing, area known as the trading
and swaps of:
Telecom Commodities, Minutes, Bandwidth Futures, and Derivatives.
And, of course, whatever you can bring to the table and disclose about your
pulver.com Min-x, or Minutes (of use) Exchange, as it is now
constituted and where it is going, would likewise be highly appreciated, as
well.
It happens that your message appears here at a time when I was preparing
a reply to several other posters concerning the strategies that the
exchanges must employ in order to remain competitive, as they grow
during a time when the dollar value of a transmitted bit continues to drop.
I've also been contemplating posting what I perceive to be the taxonomy of
this nascent space, as I understand it to date. I would appreciate your
commenting on this and other aspects of the sector when I post them, as
well. Or, better yet, you might want to enumerate on those issues on your
own.
One question, specifically, that I have spent some time researching has to do
with a point that was brought up by Jay Lowe, upstream. Jay asked how
the exchanges might differentiate themselves in the future when bandwidth,
alone, loses most of its dollar value. The same has occurred to me, as I'm
almost certain that it has to you.
Once most of the arbitrage effect is gone (which will happen eventually,
agree?), what must the exchanges do in order to add value to their offerings?
One way that we all know about is to be able to provide differentiated services,
which usually means the ability to throttle at will between delivering higher
quality service and, well... not so high quality service. I see some problems
with this because at some point it may be more costly for the provider to
degrade services in order to have a comparative selection than just letting it
fly. Could happen. Or, will the mere element of a "guarantee" as the
operative condition, be the key?
But how about beyond QoS? At what point do the exchanges themselves
cease to be intermediaries and begin implementing and deploying services
of their own? I know that to some extent this is already the case, but there
is still that veil that exists.
I know that you touched on this briefly in your post, but the intermediaries,
as they are called, are still generally regarded as third party at this point. At
what point do they cross the line, so to speak? That's what I'm getting at.
When does the veil get lifted. Or do such distinctions between intermediaries
and service providers become moot by that time? Or, are they already there?
Also, if you could briefly describe the existing competing players and
sectors in this and related fields (exchanges, settlement firms,
clearinghouses) with a bit more detail, or comment on my attempts at same
at some point, it would be greatly appreciated.
Enough already ! concerning such questions directed at you on your maiden
visit to FCTF. I wouldn't want to discourage your returning. -g-
--------
On another note, I understand that you've had a book published, recently.
Congratulations!
Please provide us with a brief synopsis of its contents, if you will, and the
details for anyone interested in reviewing or purchasing it (title, pub., pp.,
ISBN, price, etc., the works).
Hope that you'll stick around and keep us honest as we attempt to break
this area down, further. I think that we all need to understand its impact
better, both now, and what it portends, going forward. Thanks again.
Regards, Frank Coluccio |
