When underdogs rule

Almost everyone can enjoy watching an underdog team upset the favorite. I've joined many college basketball fans in pulling for George Mason University in the NCAA Final Four--except, of course, when they were beating my alma mater, the defending champion, University of North Carolina.

The thing about teams like the Cavaliers and Louisiana State University's very young Tigers is that they are disruptive of our traditional way of thinking, which dictates that teams such as Connecticut and Duke must prevail, based on talent, experience and tradition.

There is little doubt that the dominant players in broadband today--the cable and telephone companies--have the local loop equivalents of talent, experience and tradition, in the form of networks, customers and capitalization. What is interesting to contemplate, however, is whether there are truly disruptive forces lurking in the brackets, so to speak.

Wireless technology seems the most likely to compete directly with telco and cable, in large part because of the way, by its nature, it can be quickly deployed. When--not if--WiMAX hits the market, it will have an impact. Broadband over powerline is often considered a long shot, but it's there as an option.

Municipal wireless networks are popping up all over, and over the course of 2006 are likely to make Wi-Fi even more pervasive than commercial deployments have done to date. And a number of competitive service providers--

If George Mason can win the NCAA basketball title, and it looks like they can, then a lot more things seem possible.

E-mail me at CWilson3@prismb2b.com.