November 2, 2006
Today, the Silicon Flatirons Telecommunications Program hosted “Network Convergence” conference covering topics including: 1) the technological and business realities of network convergence. 2) interoperability, open standards, and applications competition, 3) regulatory implications: the end of silos?
The first panel, Technological and Business Realities of Network Convergence, examined technological and business factors affecting network convergence, including those that may be preventing full realization of technical capabilities. This panel additionally discussed the prospects for innovations predicated upon network convergence, and panel gauged the validity of such concerns, and look at countervailing technological and business forces that might mitigate such concerns.
Second panel, Interoperability, Open Standards, and Applications Competition, explored the dynamics between open standards and competition as played out in the application layer of communication networks. First, the panel considered whether the companies that drive private standards can reasonably expect open application developers to create products for their platform. Additionally, the panel will consider what institutions might develop to meet the interoperability challenges presented by the continually evolving technologies of next generation networks.
The final panel, regulatory Implications: The End of Silo? considers whether Congress is likely to move away from its historic and now antiquated silo-based regulatory approach. Moreover, in the arena of broadband, the FCC has continued to adhere to regulatory distinctions based on the underlying delivery platform. The panel will ask how deeply committed the FCC is to silo-based regulation. Additionally, the panel will compare the current regulatory approach, which heavily relies on prescriptive rules, with the alternative of an after-the-fact, antitrust approach to regulation, asking whether such a change in orientation is either desirable or likely.
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| Roger Koenig, of Carrier Access, Stephen Meer, of Intrado, & Dale Hatfield, Colorado Law's adjunct professor in Interdiscplinary telecommunications Program |
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| Tom Wheeler, partner at Core Capital, Tom Moore, co-founder of WildBlue, & Rebecca Arbogast, VP of communications and tech regulatory group of Stifel Nicolaus. |
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| Jennifer Manner, from Mobile Satellite Ventures, Linda Kinney, from EchoStar, Steven Davis, from Qwest, Kathleen Ham, from T-Mobile |
