Penton Media announced the launch of Connected Planet, a publication that will replace Telephony magazine. The publication will launch in September and will target service providers and enterprise users of advanced telecommunications, IT, and mobile networking services and will bring focus to the technologies and real-world examples that demonstrate how the combination of IT and pervasive networking technologies is transforming the way the world communicates, collaborates, shares/stores information, manages resources, and is entertained.
Telephony magazine has been published since 1901 and will cease publication with its July/August issue, mailing in late July. The team which has produced Telephony will now focus on producing the Connected Planet brand. “We’re excited to bring the expertise our editorial staff has in understanding networking technologies and services to a broader audience, with a much broader focus,” said Carol Wilson, editor-in-chief of Connected Planet. “We are convinced telecom technologies are central to solving many of the economic, environmental and enterprise problems we face today and look forward to highlighting real-world solutions to real-world problems.”
TelephonyOnline.com, with more than 160,000 unique visitors each month and with its vast depth of coverage well beyond that of Telephony magazine, will continue to serve as the online home for Penton’s ongoing coverage of the communications marketplace and the home of the new Connected Planet content.
“We believe that the launch of Connected Planet dovetails with a significant and very real shift in the future of our industry,” said Wayne Madden, Penton’s Digital Media and Communications Division market leader. “While there is still infrastructure to build, the industry is driven more and more by the solutions that are completely changing the way we interact as people and businesses. Going forward, communications is about being connected to interact immediately, manage processes and transactions, gain efficiencies that were previously not possible, and truly build a connected planet.”
Q – Isn’t it just a renaming/rebranding?
No, this is not a renaming/rebranding of Telephony magazine. This new publication marks a clear dividing line between our coverage of this market in the past and our new coverage of an expanded market in the future.. This is not just widening of the audience and of the beats. We are getting out of the (commodity) news business and focusing our efforts exclusively on finding and sharing with our readers the solutions that telecom can bring to improve health care, education, energy management, etc. along with the overall infrastructure requirements, technologies, and business strategies that drive the market.
Q – Will the website presence be TelephonyOnline or Connected Planet?
TelephonyOnline is recognized as a valuable resource for our industry and stands independently as our online home to the market. TelephonyOnline will serve as the home of the new Connected Planet publication. At the right time, we will re-launch the website under a new name that matches our mission, activities, and community. The timing of any change to the name and functionality of TelephonyOnline will be carefully planned and organized to bring continuity and additional value to the market.
Q – Will there be a print publication? If so, what is the frequency?
Connected Planet is a print publication, as stated.
Q – What about the editors and their beats? How will that evolve/change?
The people remain the same, but, as noted above, what they write about will change dramatically. In addition to the new focus on solutions and solving business and technical problems, the staff will take on new coverage territory. Carol Wilson will be covering telemedicine, connected homes and some education coverage; Ed Gubbins will head up the municipal networks and education coverage; Sarah Reedy will add energy and utilities to her mobile beat covering smart grid technology and remote energy management, as well as some connected home issues; Kevin Fitchard adds machine-to-machine communications; and Rich Karpinski will be covering Telco 2.0 technology and also manufacturing (supply chain management, etc.) Rich Karpinski is very much involved in a couple of ways. He will continue his work in online development, working with both the Connected Planet and TelephonyOnline editorial and sales teams to develop new online content and content models, but he will also be contributing as a writer on the Telco 2.0 beat he had previously covered for Telephony, providing his insights on major technology shifts and new applications and application delivery models with our readers as well as with our staff.