Jinfo: Communications industry resources on a budget

Communications industry resources on a budget
Jinfo Blog

1st November 2011

Abstract

With the influence of social media changing attitudes to the sharing of data and having a positive impact on the availability of free information, the resources providing data and analysis on the communications industry are having to evolve. As Heidi Longaberger describes, these changes mean that finding data on a budget is becoming easier.

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My first job as a business researcher was for a company with a $2 million corporate library budget. Oh, those heady days of the mid 90s! Then the 2000s were upon us and things changed, including budgets. I found myself as part of the due diligence team at a venture capital firm, where expenditures on research were in inverse proportion to the ageing of the decade. So, time to buck up and stop depending on $50,000 databases. I have, over the years, put together a sizeable list of “go-to” online resources with a focus on the communications industry. Resources abound for many sub-sectors of communications such as digital media but, for the purpose of this article, I will stick with telecommunications and technology research.

The times they are a-changin’

There is some good news these days for us “research dumpster divers”, as I proudly refer to myself. Not to infer that the research I find is trash, but I think the visual adequately conveys the information treasure dive I often find myself on. We may be in the midst of some fundamental changes in the market and online research world:

The business models of some of the traditional tech market research providers are changing due to the influence of social media.
Some interesting upstarts in the research space realise that the economic environment, not to mention changing expectations, are having an impact on the information user and buyer.
I’m starting to see a bit more relaxation on charging for everything online, for which I partially credit the social media revolution/evolution. Social communication is stimulating the exchange of immediate, real-time data and ideas.

There are many different options to explore for valuable communications industry data. I will concentrate on government, associations, market research and “The Upstarts”, or the new breed of information provider.

Government

I often rely on government databases for down and dirty statistics. I think of them as a great place for counts such as broadband subscribers or access line totals. They are also a good source of competitive intelligence including SEC filings, broadband maps and licence databases to name a few areas. The following tables highlight some of my favourite selections for free research:

Name	Description	Free	Features
International
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)	Data on its 34 member countries, who are mostly developed countries in Europe and North America.	The Broadband Portal covers penetration, usage, density, pricing and speeds by developed country in Excel format. The Key ICT Indicators provides internet, mobile, cable TV and high speed data stats in Excel.	Reasonably priced publications such as the OECD Communications Outlook 2011 for $83.
ITU (International Telecommunication Union)	The United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies.	The World Telecommunications Indicators Database for over 200 economies.	Includes emerging and developing countries.
Europe
Eurostat	Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union. The Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) section tracks detailed statistics on the EU and candidate countries.	Data on telecommunications services, eCommerce, internet, broadband and mobile phones. Figure 1 provides a listing of some of the dozens of available data points.	Display is available via a variety of customisable charts and maps, which is impressive for a government entity.
US
FCC (Federal Communications Commission)	Regulates interstate and international communications in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and US territories.	Spectrum Dashboard – how spectrum is being used, who owns licences and availability by county. FCC Databases – over 40 specialised databases, including cable, antenna and universal licensing. Maps – include auction data and licensing maps.	The National Broadband Map was created at the direction of Congress and has data from thousands of providers. The FCC also has an active blog.
UK
Ofcom	The independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries	The Communications Market Report – details telecoms, internet, TV and radio by country in the UK.	Most data are in comprehensive reports with downloading to PDF or CSV.

This example illustrates some of the many available data points for broadband, eCommerce, internet, mobile and telecom services from Eurostat.

Figure 1: Eurostat examples

Market research

Although we are most familiar with having to purchase market research, there is some data and analysis from those providers that can be found for free. Those profiled below are considered “The Big Three” in technology research and offer a similar type of competing report and analysis tool that positions and compares communications companies within specific market sectors. These reports are great for determining competitors. Although these reports are for purchase, featured companies often get the rights to display the entire report on their website. A simple Google search on the report title will bring up a number of companies that have got the rights to publish the report. Please be sure to abide by each market research provider’s Rights Statement that is included at the end of every report, usually instructing not to reproduce or distribute the report. Market research vendors have also increased their social network presence and offerings via blogs and forums.

Gartner has been around since 1979 and focuses on information technology (IT).

Magic Quadrant ($1,995): Dozens of market sectors are covered, such as corporate telephony and cloud infrastructure software
Hype Cycle
Gartner Insight
Blog Network

Figure 2: Google search on Magic Quadrant

IDC has been in business for 47 years and covers IT, telecommunications and consumer technology markets.

IDC Marketscape
IDC Insights Community

Forrester Research provides research for the technology leaders, by professional role.

The Forrester Wave (TM) ($2,495): Their vendor and technology assessment tool includes an Excel spreadsheet for easy product comparison.
Forrester Communities: Forrester also is promoting analyst interaction with their forums. However, they do offer more content to their registered clients than the public user.

The upstarts

These providers are more focused on delivering the most current news in more of a social media, blog-like style. They also appeal to the innovator, entrepreneur and consultant because they are cost effective or free, and realise that most of the folks that need the information don’t have big wallets.

GigaOm provides both news and analysis in a blog style format. It also offers up a professional version for only $299 per year, with more detailed reports along with analyst interaction.
TechCrunch describes itself as a media property and was acquired by AOL in 2010. Its focus is on profiling start-ups, reviewing

Associations

Associations are often good starting points for the data hunt. The following are a few telecommunications centric associations:

The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) provides a number of free publications, including the annual Playbook with data on information, communications, and technology industry economic trends and policies.

This is just a sampling of available data on the telecommunications industry. Hopefully some of these resources will provide insights that won’t require you to take out a second mortgage.

Related resources

FUMSI Report: Folio on Creative Approaches to Finding Information:
http://web.freepint.com/go/shop/report/1749

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