And when you order your copy of Critical success factors for Telecom 2004-2009 - Telecom Services in Vertical Markets you can also claim your FREE copy of Newton's Telecom Dictionary!

Telecommunications services are commodity products by their very nature since they exhibit little or no customization. Telecom providers recognize the commodity nature of their product when they market horizontally?promoting all products to everyone, everywhere. To escape the commodity trap and the attendant pricing competition, carriers must turn to vertical marketing-solutions targeted to user problems within specific industries. The vertical market approach pinpoints telecom spending inclinations by various industries; it is the key to successful business planning, and a necessary ingredient for effective target marketing and sales force deployment.

In its annual review of vertical markets, Insight examines spending patterns on local, long distance, ISP, and wireless services for 14 business classifications including: healthcare, construction, retail trade, wholesale trade, educational services, financial, insurance, real estate, professional business services, hotels and lodging, transportation, communications, utilities, entertainment and media, durable manufacturing, and non-durable manufacturing. Insight quantifies the requirements of each vertical market and their likelihood to increase telecommunications services spending over time.

Report Extract

Telecom profit margins are rapidly deteriorating in the US market, in part, because carrier offerings are perceived as commodities. To dispel this belief and restore the telecommunications industry to sustainable growth, vendors will have to reach deeper into the US market, focusing on specific opportunities and catering to precise communications needs. In this context, a vertical industry opportunity focus can be calculated by:

? evaluating the size and revenue potential of each vertical industry and
? determining the provider?s expertise in each particular market segment.

Failure to respond to the business market?s demand for specialization will allow competitors to capture market share early on, relegating slow-starters to a residential/consumer focus?a market that will tighten under pressure from cable TV operators.

Vertical markets, therefore, represent real opportunities for the telecommunications industry. The objective of this market research report is to examine and quantify these opportunities in various vertical industries for the telecommunications service provider community. INSIGHT examines 14 vertical markets in this report, segmented according to Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) developed by the US Department of Commerce and the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These 14 vertical markets represent nearly 85 percent of the total number of establishments in the US.

Telecommunications products and services are, by their very nature, commodity products, since they exhibit little or no customization.
Telecom providers recognize the commodity nature of their product when they market horizontally?offering everything to everyone, everywhere.
Horizontal marketing provides generic ?one-size-fits-all? offerings.