Next week is ITEXPO East 2012 in Miami Beach at the convention center. I arrive around 11 AM on Tuesday for Editor's Day. There are a number of all-day events going on Tuesday like InsightPRM's Sales Management training and the Avaya seminar.

Not surprisingly, most of the buzz around the show is on Startup Camp Comms, which is Thursday at 4 PM with keynote from Sir terry Matthews, founder of MITEL. Four start-ups will be pitching as well.

I have 5 slots this time.

Wed. night on the show floor at the CVX Expo stage, three agents - Dan Vidal, Josh Anderson and myself (fueled with cocktails) will answer questions from Martin Vilaboy, Editor-in-Chief of Channel Vision magazine about issues facing the Channel. Consolidation, Competition, Commissions, Cloud, UC, and the decline of the PSTN. The fun starts at 6:30. Straight from the Shooters: Candid Conversations on Issues Facing the Channel. Details here.

Wed. at 11 AM, I moderate the panel, Social Media Channel Integration, about contact centers integrating social media into the work station in room B210. The discussion will be about business drivers for social media; 4 steps to utilize social media in the enterprise; and hurdles to incorporating SM in the contact center.

At 2:30 on Wed., in room B116, I will be moderating a panel titled Educating the Channel with Industry Standard Certifications. It's a topic that is close to me because the TCA, which I helped found, is all about educating the Channel and rolled out a certification program last year. This will be a good conversation about how we need to education the sales channels as well as the marketplace in order to sell services like UC, Cloud and managed services.

The fun panel will be on Friday morning at 9 AM: Does Your Business Have a Social Media Strategy? Chief Head of Lettuce Antony Francis is an old pal, who likes to get cranky with me, so this panel will rock. You will leave with more info than you thought possible at 9 AM on a Friday in room B210.

At Noon on Friday catch me at the 4GWE session about Fixed Wireless as a wireline replacement (in room A109). Do you think fixed wireless can replace copper?

Look for my tweets from @radinfo and say HI if you see me.

As we head into ITEXPO East 2012 in Miami Beach next week, one topic of discussion will be metering of bandwidth. The carriers must be happy that this is finally being talked about. Apparently, about half of American broadband users already have a cap. Certainly, mobile data is metered and capped. Satellite is definitely capped.

As usage continues to increase and as more data goes to the Cloud, how will network operators keep up with demand not just for capacity, but throughput and latency? Will Metering will bring in the extra dollars to pay for it?

One viewpoint from LogiSense is in this article from Channel Vision magazine.

There are companies now that are just providing the ability to meter services (at least one will be at ITEXPO). It should make for an interesting year as both Cloud and Hosted UC try to take off (so that those service providers who have invested millions in these services can gain revenue) at the same time that broadband access will increase in price (and uncertainty because with metering you don't know what your bill will be month to month).

Peter Radizeski is a telecommunications consultant and analyst with RAD-INFO INC. Service Providers have called on RAD-INFO INC for assistance building a channel, improving sales, managing online marketing efforts, and overall company strategy. Contact RAD-INFO INC at 813-963-5884 or http://rad-info.net

"Concerned about privacy? Maybe you should be concerned about the economy instead. That was the subtext of a keynote speech by Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, at a technology conference in the heart of Europe." [Benton]

Not to get political, but privacy is a ship that has sailed. Google, Facebook and other sites track online activities. Credit card companies and Paypal can track both offline and online activities. CarrierIQ software on cell phones is able to see every keystroke. GPS tracking on devices, including your TomTom. Cellphone and Internet logging by ISP's for government agencies track you.

I'm not suggesting we just give up on privacy. I am suggesting that we take the advice of Sandberg and start focusing on the important stuff. Maybe Security is the Important stuff.

When Wikipedia went dark in the face of SOPA and PIPA bills, it caused many supporters in DC to publicly back away. Privately, however, they will back TransPacific Partnership, ACTA and other bills. Why? Hollywood and content companies want it. Just another example of industry influence over voters or common sense in DC.

In the midst of the privacy talk, why isn't there more talk about security? The latest breach at Zappos affected 24 million. Laptops and cellphones are lost daily. Experts agree that mobile threats and breaches are inevitable. We don't need more rules or laws, we have plenty now, including HIPAA and PCI DSS. We need enforcement and monitoring - or really big fines.

There are simple methods for security available, it might be time to do so. "

""I am angry. There are real problems facing the world, and we, as a society, are not doing enough to address them in the right ways, not the ways we know are possible. The old way isn't working, and we know it." This is the opening paragraph to a new ChangeThis manifesto titled Shift & Reset by Brian Reich. "What might be possible if we were really committed, as individuals and as a society?"

From another ChangeThis manifesto, "The real business opportunity is to become more relevant and meaningful to customers in ways that create sales."