No Doubt: ISPCON is Cool Again

One insider says there's plenty to see this year at ISPCON—and, more importantly, much to talk about in a fast changing ISP industry.

by Mike Cassidy of ISP-Market [October 28, 2004]

The show's block of discounted hotel rooms sold out three weeks prior to the show and it looks like there is a 20 percent increase in the number of exhibitors on the floor. There are some newcomers to the exhibit floor and parties (3 that I know of) have been reintroduced to the nightlife activities.

Microsoft is back and a Credit Card company is Exhibiting. Tucows is back and we also have the long awaited return of Big Iron. There's not doubt, he buzz is back around ISPCON.

VoIP, Value Added Services, VoIP Security, Web Services, WiMax, SenderID, the "Triple Play", Selling to the Small Business, Live Hack and Crack, HotZones, Wi-Fi, Spam, Acceleration, and Outsourcing. Try talking to your neighbor about any of these subjects and your are guaranteed the "deer in the headlights" stare. These are the subjects that the ISP community is eager to research, discuss and implement. That's why there is ISPCON.

No RIAA, FCC or Powell. That's for the East Coast, every Spring, when ISPCON motors right into D.C. and it feels like there's an FCC person or ISP activist speaking every hour of the day, and even on into the night.

I have been talking with quite a few ISP operators, vendors, wholesalers, etc. over the last month or so and everyone seems to be more excited about attending the Fall ISPCON than in years past. The analysts have, every year since 1997, declared the ISP market dead. But here we are in the fall of 2004 with the DotCom bust behind us.

Google just had a great IPO, the first since the bubble [ed. note: check out the chart for ISP-Planet's parent company, Jupitermedia]. There are still reportedly still over 4000 ISPs in North America. New exciting technologies are emerging like VoIP, Blogging (ISPCON has a blog now), and WiMax. Add Acceleration, HotSpots, Broadband Wireless, OSS, Outsourcing and Tech Support, and you've got plenty to talk about!.

Session highlights:
WiMAX Roadmaps, Realities and Rumors
With Intel and McCall's latest news this WiMAX session gets more interesting

The Sender ID Framework, Record Publishing and PRA Implementation
There is a lot of news around this technology

Realities of the Triple Play Vision
Is the Triple Play really in Play for traditional ISPs?

How to Benchmark Dialup Web Acceleration Performance
Acceleration, Engineering and entertainment. David Murray of Propel always makes sessions interesting.

Doug McDonald in general
'Nuff said.

Live ISP Network Hack-n-Crack
Which ISP will he crack? Sounds like houdini

Gaining Additional Revenue with Security Offerings Security Workshop—Part 3
Can you say "Managed Service Provider" (MSP)?

Avoiding the Pitfalls of VoIP Deployment
You have two real ISP panelists for great insights.

Private Label vs. Roll-your-own VoIP
Should you just outsource your VoIP offering?

Traversing HotZones, PtMP and WiMAX with Mesh Networks
There's a lot going on here. You might say there's a whole mesh of topics, or many nodes, or just that it's a real hot zone. Wireless is so wired, not tired.

Exhibitor Highlights:
Barbedwire Technologies
Family of security appliances (Intrusion Detection & Prevention, VPN/Firewall, Vulnerability Assessment, Antivirus / Antispam, URL & Web Access Control , Wireless Security, Security Event Management System (SEMS), IPS Application Security, Secure Office)

Caleris Inc.
Outsource to Iowa not India. Best marketing line of this year's show so far.

CIENA
Big Iron is back at ISPCON.

ClickTracks
Web analytics software. WebTrends on steroids?

Hula Networks
Booth babes return to ISPCON with free beer. What does Hula sell again?

i3 micro
i3 micro technology develops, markets and sells IP products for TV—and video streaming and telephony for use in IP based networks.

IRUN Corp.
Private label website building solution ideal for ISPs, web hosts, registrars and other resellers. "Getting a professional web site is now as easy as sending an Email and more affordable than your home phone bill!"

Motorola Canopy™ Wireless Broadband
Check out The New Canopy Advantage Platform and their Migration Path to Unlicensed WiMAX. "No CPE will be Left Behind"

Netpia
Native Language Internet Address (NLIA) system. Can wait to see what these guys are up to and what the revenue model is.

Ranch Networks
Security products for VoIP and managed security services. Very interesting combination should be interesting to take a look at.

Stata Labs Inc.
Was just purchased by Yahoo. You have to see what the Yahoo their up to.

Tekelec
Tekelec provides a single-box solution to help ISPs save costs by eliminating expensive PRIs. More Iron.

Web Host Industry Review
They have a new magazine seen it? It's nice to have a magazine for our market again.

Wireless Tech Radio
Very cool show by Jim Sutton, Marlon Schafer, and Steve Stroh.

Here are some of the most interesting people you'll see at ISPCON:
Donny Smith, President and CEO, Jaguar Communications
Donny has been around and can always share some interesting insight to running an ISP

Doug McDonald, Principal, Branch Run Communications
Doug this year has 3 sessions focusing on selling to SMB

Hank Carabelli, President and CEO, Pac-West Telecomm Inc.
Look at his BIO, he pretty much seen it all.

David Murray, EVP, Propel Software
David was one of the most entertaining speakers from the spring 2004 show

Peter Christy, Principal, NetsEdge Research Group
Peter previously was vice president of Internet Research Group and with caching.com always has good insight

Rich Bader, President and CEO, EasyStreet Online Services
Another ISP Operator that has been around and can always share some interesting insight to running an ISP

Steve Goldberg, PhD, CEO, Arcwave Inc.
Steve was with CoWave one of the first BBW companies that emerged out of the valley. It will be interesting to hear his views on hotspots. Ron Sege, CEO, Tropos Networks is also on the panel. Should be good stuff.

Tim Sanders, Founder, The Final Mile
One of the nicest guys you will meet in the WISP market and always a good source of information.

Tom DeReggi, President, RapidDSL & Wireless Inc.
Tom has "done it in DC". In 2002, he launched "Intairnet," a high-capacity transport network interconnecting key locations throughout the Washington DC metropolitan area.

I look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. Discussing new technologies and business models. Discussing, arguing, disagreeing and agreeing, thinking, learning, meeting, partying, thinking, but not in that order. I have enjoyed this show since 1997 and look forward to a great fall 2004 ISPCON and what I will take away from the sessions, exhibitors and mostly the feedback from the ISPs.

— End