Traditional telcos are showing healthy appetite for Web calling start-ups. European carrier O2 is in talks to acquire Jajah for $200 million, according to reports. The acquisition comes on the heels of Google's November acquisition of Gizmo5 and British Telecom's 2008 purchase of Ribbit for $105 million. So, what does this mean for Skype?
The recent slew of deals may offer insight into where the largest Web-calling outfit in the world, Skype, is heading. Earlier this fall, Skype regained its independence from eBay, and is now the largest stand-alone Web-calling provider. While its private equity investors have told me in the past that they are in no hurry to offload Skype, they'll need to exit their investment at some point, either through an Initial Public Offering, or a sale. The Jajah deal, if it goes through, would indicate that the world's traditional telecom players want in on the Web-calling game. One of these telcos may want to purchase Skype in the future. Jajah didn't return a request for comment.
By purchasing Skype, a telco would gain the service's 521 million registered users as well as global presence: Anyone, anywhere with an Internet connection can make Skype calls. A U.S. telco may be able to compete with carriers in Europe and Asia. It may also be able to expand its portfolio of services, and to provide them for less. BT's Ribbit, for instance, lets users of Google Wave to participate in live conference sessions, and to leave each other audio messages. It's easy to imagine a traditional telco selling such a service as part of its video offerings for corporate customers.
That said, Skype's value is in the billions, so not many telcos can afford to take it on. Having acquired Web-calling start-ups already, BT and O2 are less likely to be in the running. Still, there are lots of other service providers out there with deep pockets.
Now that the Obama Administration has named the person who will be charge of national cyber-security issues, the question will now turn to what that person will need to do to ensure that the nation's digital infrastructure is protected.
President Obama today named Howard A. Schmidt, a former chief security officer at Microsoft and a former chief information security officer at eBay to the position of Cybersecurity Coordinator. The position was recommended after a 60-day review of the nation's computer and network security needs.
That review produced a report finding that the nation was "at a crossroads," where digital information permeates national life, but using infrastructure that is inherently vulnerable to disruptive attacks. The report also called for creating "public-private partnerships" intended to bring government agencies and the private sector together in cooperation to share information and resources to fend off attacks before they happen, and coordinate responses when they occur.
That will be Schmidt's job. Computer security industry experts said Schmidt has the unique combination of experience in law enforcement, government administration and private industry to navigate the job. Currently president and CEO of the Information Security Forum, a nonprofit computer security industry organization based in London, he served as vice chairman of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Board and as a special advisor for cyberspace security under President George W. Bush. He's also a former agent with the Federal Bureau of investigation, where he led the Computer Exploitation Team at the National Drug Intelligence Center. He also served in the US Air Force, working in its Office of Special Investigation Computer Forensics Lab.
"Howard knows how Washington works, he has a strong career in the information security arena, and understands firsthand the issues involved," says Richard Forno, principal consultant at KRvW Associates, an information consulting and training firm based in Alexandria, Va.
Forno, who has lectured at the National Defense University on information security, says he's skeptical about the ability of anyone in the new position to carry out the job given. "While I remain cautiously optimistic about the ability of any cybersecurity coordinator to meet their mandate given the historic nature of the position, Howard's appointment certainly gives an opportunity for a well-qualified person to try and make a real difference and bring us one step closer towards a meaningful and more importantly, effective, national cybersecurity posture."
That sentiment was echoed by others in the security field. Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer at BT, and a widely sought expert on information security, has criticized the idea of appointing a "cybersecurity czar." As he wrote on his blog: "Schmidt is good, but I don't know if anyone can do well in a job with lots of responsibility but no actual authority. But maybe Obama will imbue the position with authority -- I don't know." In a Dec. 11 blog post, Scheier criticized the concept of a cybersecurity czar position: "If you're going to appoint a cybersecurity czar, you have to give him actual budgetary authority -- otherwise he won't be able to get anything done."
Ken Silva, CTO at Verisign, the company that operates much of the infrastructure that underpins the Internet, praised Schmidt, saying the White House "Couldn't have picked a better man for the job than Howard."
"Security has to be a top-of-mind issue, both in the private sector and in government, from the board of directors level all the way down to the level of individual contributors," Silva said. "Howard knows the issues, and now he's going to have to go about tackling them."
Schmidt recorded a short video message for the White House Web site after his appointment was announced. I've embedded it below.
No comments:
Post a Comment