At the 2009 Emerging Communications Conference in Europe, several different facets of the economy and the telecommunications market are brought together by James Enck and a panel of telecommunication and investing experts. The topics range from telecommunication platforms to monetization of online services and the risks of early stage investing.
Many questions and explanations focus on the Internet's effect on the market. Telecommunications, previously centered on costs and margins of profit, now must shift to lower profits and lower prices for customers: FaceBook and Skype offer free communication and enjoy larger success with smaller net gains. Similarly, online platforms for trading and investing act on very small profit margins, finding money through volume and universal accessibility, that more traditional structures ignore.
The panel also focuses on a global perspective of the history and future of telecommunications. James Enck, in particular, addresses the European perspective of the largely American Internet bubble, and others focus in investing in sub-Saharan Africa or addressing roaming charges in everywhere from the Netherlands to Australia.
Though the panelists focus on different specifics of trading capital markets, investing, and telecommunications, all the questions, explanations, and opinions give hypotheses for the future of the post-meltdown world.
James Enck is a senior partner at mCAPITAL, a European and Asian special situations investment fund. Prior to helping found mCAPITAL, James was responsible for global TMT investments within the Merrill Lynch Principal Credit Group in London. This followed ten years as a sell-side telecom analyst, during which he wrote the first research note on Skype within days of its launch, predicted BSkyB's entry into broadband by eight months (a view the company vehemently disagreed with at the time), and was recognised by Bloomberg as the top stock-picker in telecoms globally in 2006.
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Photo: EuroTelcoBlog