TV over IP: it's an application, and it's the next VoIP

Jeff Pulver says that Vonage (and, by association, Skype) shocked the world because they consider voice an application, something that you could monetize without owning the underlying network. Wall Street, however, doesn't get it. "While it is easy for analysts to try to put unaffiliated Voice over Broadband companies inside a telecom box, comparing them to a standard telecom services company that has CapEx and OpEx just doesn't compute," he writes, noting that the monies typically spent on burying lines and buying ever-more-impressive switches are instead spent on building a brand.

What's next, then? Pulver insists that TV will soon be placed over the internet protocol (TVoIP? TVIP?) thanks to the vision of "a next-gen TV broadcasting mogul whose customers pay for their own connectivity and whose content is licensed from third parties." He doesn't know who, but here are my predictions: eBay, whose radio "enterprise" just expanded today; or either Sirius or XM Satellite Radio. Whichever of these companies jumps first is certain to have a number of imitators.

But, will it make money? I think Apple's iTunes is the best example of something equally fantastic, and if the financials prove to be similar, the answer to the profit question is yes.