FROM GAME BOX TO INTERNET MACHINE

Got your kid one of those new gaming consoles for Christmas? You're not the only one. Companies such as Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo banked on holiday sales of their next-gen gaming platforms. And the entertainment isn't confined to your living room. A lot of those boxes have built-in or peripheral Ethernet cards or 56 kb/s analog modems — Internet conduits. The game console industry sees these little black boxes as the next Internet device. After all, console penetration is enormous: Almost 59 million U.S. households have gaming systems, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. Gaming has exceeded Hollywood in gross revenues, and online gaming is gaining momentum. The only thing holding back the console online revolution, according to Jupiter, is the current low level of broadband penetration in the U.S.
— Kevin Fitchard

Figure 1: Taking game consoles online

Figure 2: Making money on connectivity

Figure 3: PC gaming vs. console gaming

Figure 4: The catch: Broadband penetration is still too low

GLOBALLY WIRELESS

According to TeleGeography, a dark side is emerging in the wireless industry as mobile operators take advantage of the worldliness of their customers. Traffic volumes in international calls made and terminated from mobile phones have skyrocketed in recent years, but mobile operators have kept interconnection fees high. And international long-distance carriers pass these high rates on to their customers. TeleGeography estimates that 31% of incoming international calls in Europe are made to mobile phones, but those calls account for nearly 80% of international carriers' termination costs for the region.

Figure 1: International calls over mobile phones in 2000