One issue lost amid the the huge-ness of AT&T's $65-billion acquisition of BellSouth is the potential to jump-start CallVantage's growth in the VoIP market. With AT&T and BellSouth combining forces in VoIP, what does this mean for Vonage and 8X8, which has a partnership with BellSouth? An analyst told me earlier today that time isn't on Vonage's side because "there are too many things going on in the wrong direction". That sounds like the right sentiment to me.

Although all the details won't come out until a press conference tomorrow, Toronto Hydro apparently plans to launch a Wi-fi network later this year - putting the city-owned utility in competition with private sector players such as Bell, Telus, Rogers and TeraGo. Toronto Hydro Telecom already operates a no-frills enterprise connectivity business to leverage the fiber optic technology it has installed in recent years. This Wi-fi network, however, appears to be focused on consumers and modelled along the lines of networks being operated in Philadelphia and New Orleans.
Update: My story in the National Post can be found here.

Dave Winer has an excellent post/essay on how to create a better conference - something close to my heart these days as we work to put together our event in Toronto in May. Winer talks about how an "unconference" needs to engage its "participants" (not attendees) by getting them involved in the process - whether it's asking lots of questions or even bringin them on stage to sit on a panel (now, how cool would that be!) His thinking is based on the idea that you leverage the expertise in the audience rather than just broadcast to them. In other words, it's a anti-Powerpoint, anti-three, slightly-overweight white guys sitting behind a table, anti-sales pitch masqueraded as a presentation conference. Maybe, it's just me but the conferences that I've attended recently seem far from inspiring. The audience usually sits there with a glazed look on their faces (too much coffee, not enough coffee?) until the presentation is over and a few lively folks ask a handful of questions. The value of these kind of traditional conference is clearly not the panels or even the keynotes but the maybe the opportunity to meet other people and/or an excuse to get out of the office/go on a trip for a few days. As Winer suggests, there has to be a better way to run a conference said it's a conversation.