[jamaica gleaner] LIME has confirmed that it struck a deal with Telecomunicaciones Gran Caribe (TGC), the Venezuelan/Cuban conglomerate granted a licence last year to build a fibre-optic link from Jamaica to Cuba.
Three telecoms, LIME Jamaica, its arch-rival Digicel Group, and operators of the Flow network Columbus Communications, said then they were negotiating a partnership with TGC on its US$70 million project.
"There's been speculation about a Cuban deal for months but nothing had been agreed. Well now, it's a done deal ...," said LIME in a teaser for an announcement to be made Thursday.
Reports that the Latin American operation had settled on LIME Jamaica began to surface after press reports out of London said its ultimate parent Cable and Wireless Plc had secured a contract to build out a fibre link between Jamaica and Cuba.
LIME kept denying that it had struck a deal with TGC, but insiders now say the company did so because it was wary of upsetting the Cubans, were the details to leak out prematurely.
LIME executives, Geoff Houston, country manager for Jamaica and Cayman Islands, and Caribbean head David Shaw will join TGC executives - president Wilfredo Morales, and vice president Waldo Reboredo Arroyo - to announce their partnership over lunch in Kingston.
The licence granted to TGC in December allows the company to complete a submarine fibre optic cable link for telecommunications traffic between Caracas, Havana, and Kingston.
TGC was the sole bidder for the Jamaica-Cuba submarine cable, which includes a spur to Haiti, which lies just west of the two countries.
Gran Caribe, which is owned 60 per cent by the state-owned Telecom Venezuela and 40 per cent by Cuba's Telco Transbit, also plans to run nearly 1,000 miles of cable from Maiquetia, in northern Venezuela, to Siboney, in Cuba's eastern province of Santiago de Cuba.
The Cuba/Venezuela leg is expected to link to Trinidad and Tobago and the Dutch territory of Curaçao.
LIME lands fibre link partnership
Friday, April 23, 2010
Mauritania connected to submarine cable linking Europe to Africa
[afrique jet] Mauritania was Wednesday connected to the submarine optical fiber between Europe and Africa, the Mauritanian Information Agency (AMI) reported on Thursday, quoting the Minister of Vocational Training and new Technologies, Mohamed Ould Khouna.
The new connection, among other things, is expected to open up Mauritanian telec ommunications with a possible cost reduction, better access to high-speed Internet and more competitiveness.
About 15 African countries are connected to Europe by the submarine optical fiber cable.
Mauritania connected to submarine cable linking Europe to Africa
The new connection, among other things, is expected to open up Mauritanian telec ommunications with a possible cost reduction, better access to high-speed Internet and more competitiveness.
About 15 African countries are connected to Europe by the submarine optical fiber cable.
Mauritania connected to submarine cable linking Europe to Africa
Infonetics Research - Femtocell market growth modest, but beginning to pick up
[marketwire] "2009 was heralded by many as 'the year of the femtocell.' In short, it wasn't. Progress was made, though: the Iu-h interface was established, the Femto Forum initiated an interoperability test (IOT) program, femtocell prices came down, and most major mobile operators were engaged in some sort of trial. Femtocell adoption will remain modest in 2010, and then in 2011-2012 we expect the femtocell segment to begin to prove itself, and in so doing, drive the rest of the FMC market," predicts Richard Webb, directing analyst for WiMAX, microwave, and mobile devices at Infonetics Research and co-author of the report.
Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure at Infonetics Research and co-author of the report, adds: "Universal mobile access and voice call continuity are essentially dead. UMA is morphing into an app and the GSMA endorsement of the OneVoice initiative, quickly renamed VoLTE (voice over Long Term Evolution), sealed VCC's fate and declared IMS the long-term universal voice service delivery platform."
FMC AND FEMTOCELL MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
* Combined, sales of FMC network elements and femtocells are forecast to grow at a rapid 86% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2009 to 2014
* Worldwide revenue from 2G and 3G femtocells sold for use in GSM/GPRS, CDMA, W-CDMA/HSPA and CDMA2000/EV-DO networks increased 154% in 2009 over 2008, from a small base
* The number of femtocells sold is expected to pick up significantly next year, topping 2.5 million in 2011
* AT&T, China Unicom, CSL, Network Norway, Optimus, SFR, Sprint, StarHub, Verizon and Vodafone have launched commercial femtocell services, while the majority of 3G operators are expected to postpone femtocell launches until late 2010 or 2011
* The need for mobile data off-load will drive strong growth in the FMC security gateway segment starting in 2010, with manufacturer revenue more than doubling between 2010 and 2011
* The rise to power of the iPhone propelled Apple into first place in the massive dual-mode cellular/WiFi phone market in the fourth quarter of 2009, pushing Nokia out of the leadership position for the first time
* Revenue from seamless FMC phones with embedded IMS technology and dual-mode WiFi and cellular functionality grew 51% in 2009 over 2008
* The number of worldwide seamless FMC subscribers is forecast to top 64 million by 2014, with IMS-based FMC subscribers increasing and UMA-based subscribers decreasing
Infonetics Research: Femtocell market up 154%; Apple overtakes Nokia in fixed-mobile convergence phones
Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure at Infonetics Research and co-author of the report, adds: "Universal mobile access and voice call continuity are essentially dead. UMA is morphing into an app and the GSMA endorsement of the OneVoice initiative, quickly renamed VoLTE (voice over Long Term Evolution), sealed VCC's fate and declared IMS the long-term universal voice service delivery platform."
FMC AND FEMTOCELL MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
* Combined, sales of FMC network elements and femtocells are forecast to grow at a rapid 86% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2009 to 2014
* Worldwide revenue from 2G and 3G femtocells sold for use in GSM/GPRS, CDMA, W-CDMA/HSPA and CDMA2000/EV-DO networks increased 154% in 2009 over 2008, from a small base
* The number of femtocells sold is expected to pick up significantly next year, topping 2.5 million in 2011
* AT&T, China Unicom, CSL, Network Norway, Optimus, SFR, Sprint, StarHub, Verizon and Vodafone have launched commercial femtocell services, while the majority of 3G operators are expected to postpone femtocell launches until late 2010 or 2011
* The need for mobile data off-load will drive strong growth in the FMC security gateway segment starting in 2010, with manufacturer revenue more than doubling between 2010 and 2011
* The rise to power of the iPhone propelled Apple into first place in the massive dual-mode cellular/WiFi phone market in the fourth quarter of 2009, pushing Nokia out of the leadership position for the first time
* Revenue from seamless FMC phones with embedded IMS technology and dual-mode WiFi and cellular functionality grew 51% in 2009 over 2008
* The number of worldwide seamless FMC subscribers is forecast to top 64 million by 2014, with IMS-based FMC subscribers increasing and UMA-based subscribers decreasing
Infonetics Research: Femtocell market up 154%; Apple overtakes Nokia in fixed-mobile convergence phones
USA - CenturyTel to Acquire Qwest in $10.6 Billion Deal
[ny times] In one of the largest telecommunications deals in years, CenturyTel, a provider of local phone and Internet services, said Thursday that it would acquire Qwest Communications in a $10.6 billion stock swap.
Both companies, which have large landline operations, have sought to increase their businesses in the shadow of bigger competitors like AT&T and Verizon, which offer both landline and cellphone services. The telecommunications industry has been ripe for further consolidation, which might resemble the wave of deals that swept the sector in the 1990s, analysts said.
The combined company will serve local markets in 37 states with about five million broadband customers, 17 million wirelines and 850,000 wireless consumers, the companies said in a statement.
The merger is also indicative of the broader struggles facing phone companies that are dependent on revenue from customers with landline phones, said Craig Moffett, an analyst with Bernstein Research. More consumers are disconnecting their home phone lines in favor of their cellphones or Internet telephone service. “This is a business that is in inexorable secular decline,” he said. “The wireline phone companies are doing their best to find synergies to preserve the economics of their business.”
Philip Cusick, an analyst at Macquarie Research, said: “All the wireline telecom companies understand their business is shrinking. The wireless industry is not a growth space either. This roll-up attitude could continue for a few more years.”
AT&T said Wednesday that it added only 512,000 wireless customers under contract, also known as postpaid subscribers, during the first quarter — down 43 percent from a year ago. Verizon Wireless said Thursday that it added only 423,000 customers under contract during the first quarter, down 55 percent from the period a year earlier.
Combining with Qwest would make CenturyTel the third-largest supplier of landline phone lines, trailing AT&T, which has 46.5 million wireline subscribers and Verizon Wireless, which has 32.6 million wireline subscribers.
But that number is expected to continue to contract, especially as consumers increasingly rely on cable companies for home phone service, said Roger Entner, an analyst with Nielsen Mobile. Comcast, for example, has 7.6 million residential and business phone subscribers, making it the fourth-largest landline provider in the United States.
“The idea is that consolidating the old telecommunications companies will help them better compete against cable,” Mr. Entner said.
The two companies began exploring a merger in the fall, Glen F. Post III, CenturyTel’s chief executive, said in an interview. He and his counterpart at Qwest, Edward A. Mueller, quickly decided that, with competition growing rapidly, combining their companies made sense.
“You’re going to see a lot more players in this space,” Mr. Post said. “This transaction really positions this new company to compete and withstand the challenges of this industry.”
Mr. Post said that while he was focused on integrating Embarq, which CenturyTel bought in 2008, and now Qwest, the company would continue to look at potential smaller transactions over the next few years. Among possible targets are companies that provide data-hosting or data-security services, he said.
With the Qwest transaction, CenturyTel will double its size through a deal for the fourth time. The third was Embarq, a landline services spinoff of Sprint Nextel. (After acquiring Embarq, the combined company rebranded itself as CenturyLink, though it is still legally CenturyTel.)
“The biggest challenge now for CenturyTel is figuring out how to compete against the cable companies,” Mr. Entner said. “They started offering their customers a full bundle of voice, wireline, Internet and television but obviously the cable companies are further ahead because that’s their core business.”
CenturyTel to Acquire Qwest in $10.6 Billion Deal
Both companies, which have large landline operations, have sought to increase their businesses in the shadow of bigger competitors like AT&T and Verizon, which offer both landline and cellphone services. The telecommunications industry has been ripe for further consolidation, which might resemble the wave of deals that swept the sector in the 1990s, analysts said.
The combined company will serve local markets in 37 states with about five million broadband customers, 17 million wirelines and 850,000 wireless consumers, the companies said in a statement.
The merger is also indicative of the broader struggles facing phone companies that are dependent on revenue from customers with landline phones, said Craig Moffett, an analyst with Bernstein Research. More consumers are disconnecting their home phone lines in favor of their cellphones or Internet telephone service. “This is a business that is in inexorable secular decline,” he said. “The wireline phone companies are doing their best to find synergies to preserve the economics of their business.”
Philip Cusick, an analyst at Macquarie Research, said: “All the wireline telecom companies understand their business is shrinking. The wireless industry is not a growth space either. This roll-up attitude could continue for a few more years.”
AT&T said Wednesday that it added only 512,000 wireless customers under contract, also known as postpaid subscribers, during the first quarter — down 43 percent from a year ago. Verizon Wireless said Thursday that it added only 423,000 customers under contract during the first quarter, down 55 percent from the period a year earlier.
Combining with Qwest would make CenturyTel the third-largest supplier of landline phone lines, trailing AT&T, which has 46.5 million wireline subscribers and Verizon Wireless, which has 32.6 million wireline subscribers.
But that number is expected to continue to contract, especially as consumers increasingly rely on cable companies for home phone service, said Roger Entner, an analyst with Nielsen Mobile. Comcast, for example, has 7.6 million residential and business phone subscribers, making it the fourth-largest landline provider in the United States.
“The idea is that consolidating the old telecommunications companies will help them better compete against cable,” Mr. Entner said.
The two companies began exploring a merger in the fall, Glen F. Post III, CenturyTel’s chief executive, said in an interview. He and his counterpart at Qwest, Edward A. Mueller, quickly decided that, with competition growing rapidly, combining their companies made sense.
“You’re going to see a lot more players in this space,” Mr. Post said. “This transaction really positions this new company to compete and withstand the challenges of this industry.”
Mr. Post said that while he was focused on integrating Embarq, which CenturyTel bought in 2008, and now Qwest, the company would continue to look at potential smaller transactions over the next few years. Among possible targets are companies that provide data-hosting or data-security services, he said.
With the Qwest transaction, CenturyTel will double its size through a deal for the fourth time. The third was Embarq, a landline services spinoff of Sprint Nextel. (After acquiring Embarq, the combined company rebranded itself as CenturyLink, though it is still legally CenturyTel.)
“The biggest challenge now for CenturyTel is figuring out how to compete against the cable companies,” Mr. Entner said. “They started offering their customers a full bundle of voice, wireline, Internet and television but obviously the cable companies are further ahead because that’s their core business.”
CenturyTel to Acquire Qwest in $10.6 Billion Deal
UK - BT plea on mobile charges rejected
[ft] A court has rejected BT’s plea that it should get a payment potentially worth hundreds of millions of pounds from mobile phone operators.
The court of appeal on Tuesday issued a ruling that found in favour of the mobile operators rather than the UK’s leading fixed-line phone company.
BT has been campaigning for reductions in the wholesale charges that mobile operators levy for connecting calls to their networks.
In 2007, Ofcom, the telecommunications regulator, outlined plans under which the operators would reduce the charges over four years to 2011.
Ofcom’s decision was challenged by BT, and a tribunal concluded in April last year that the regulator should have insisted on steeper cuts in the charges compared with those proposed in 2007.
The tribunal told Ofcom that steeper cuts outlined by the Competition Commission should take effect from April 2009, but BT argued that the harsher reductions should apply retrospectively from 2007.
The court of appeal indicated that if BT’s argument was accepted, the sum of money due to the company from the mobile operators might amount to “hundreds of millions of pounds”.
However, the court concluded that the tribunal had no power to order Ofcom to apply the April 2009 ruling on a retrospective basis.
The court found in favour of Telefónica’s O2 UK, Vodafone’s British business, France Telecom’s Orange UK and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile UK.
BT has been a vocal champion of cuts in the charges mobile operators levy for connecting calls to their networks.
This is because BT pays the operators large sums of money for connecting calls made by its fixed-line customers. BT gets smaller sums for connecting calls to its network because its charges are lower.
BT is not expected to appeal. It said: “We are disappointed to have lost the case but it does not affect our financial guidance.”
This month, Ofcom outlined plans under which the mobile operators would further reduce their charges for connecting calls over the four years to 2015.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
BT plea on mobile charges rejected
The court of appeal on Tuesday issued a ruling that found in favour of the mobile operators rather than the UK’s leading fixed-line phone company.
BT has been campaigning for reductions in the wholesale charges that mobile operators levy for connecting calls to their networks.
In 2007, Ofcom, the telecommunications regulator, outlined plans under which the operators would reduce the charges over four years to 2011.
Ofcom’s decision was challenged by BT, and a tribunal concluded in April last year that the regulator should have insisted on steeper cuts in the charges compared with those proposed in 2007.
The tribunal told Ofcom that steeper cuts outlined by the Competition Commission should take effect from April 2009, but BT argued that the harsher reductions should apply retrospectively from 2007.
The court of appeal indicated that if BT’s argument was accepted, the sum of money due to the company from the mobile operators might amount to “hundreds of millions of pounds”.
However, the court concluded that the tribunal had no power to order Ofcom to apply the April 2009 ruling on a retrospective basis.
The court found in favour of Telefónica’s O2 UK, Vodafone’s British business, France Telecom’s Orange UK and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile UK.
BT has been a vocal champion of cuts in the charges mobile operators levy for connecting calls to their networks.
This is because BT pays the operators large sums of money for connecting calls made by its fixed-line customers. BT gets smaller sums for connecting calls to its network because its charges are lower.
BT is not expected to appeal. It said: “We are disappointed to have lost the case but it does not affect our financial guidance.”
This month, Ofcom outlined plans under which the mobile operators would further reduce their charges for connecting calls over the four years to 2015.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
BT plea on mobile charges rejected
Organisations question ROI of social networks
[itwire] By the end of the year 71 per cent of Australian organisations intend to conduct some form of social media activity – even though few know how to measure the return on investment from such initiatives.
According to the 2010 Social Media Business Benchmarking Survey, conducted by market analyst Nielsen on behalf of specialist social network developer Community Engine, half of all Australian businesses believe they will lose touch with customers if they do not use social media. Already 27 per cent of businesses have a Facebook presence, 17 per cent are on Twitter, 10 percent on YouTube, 5 per cent on MySpace and 2 percent on Linked In.
Even so, 30 percent of organisations would prefer to use their own social media network if one was available, because they feel it is important to own the information they capture, and believe it is risky to have customer data held on a third party’s platform. Most cited lack of skills and resources as the reason for not building their own social networking system, and instead piggybacked on well established social networks such as Facebook.
The number one reason for using social media remains brand-building with half of all Australian businesses acknowledging that they could risk losing touch with customers if they did not link to them using social networks.
At present 15 per cent of organisations have formal social media marketing strategies in place and 9 per cent have staff dedicated to social media marketing. Of those organisations involved in social media 37 per cent said that they were spending 5-20 per cent of their overall marketing budget on social media marketing – funds which had mainly been carved off the traditional marketing budget, rather than representing additional spending.
The big losers as a result of this shift in marketing spend were print, direct marketing and traditional digital marketing spend on websites.
In spite of the apparent enthusiasm for social networks, barriers were still evident. Measuring return on investment was nominated as a key barrier by 28 per cent of organisations polled. Achieving senior management buy-in was also still challenging – particularly in large organisations.
Organisations question ROI of social networks
According to the 2010 Social Media Business Benchmarking Survey, conducted by market analyst Nielsen on behalf of specialist social network developer Community Engine, half of all Australian businesses believe they will lose touch with customers if they do not use social media. Already 27 per cent of businesses have a Facebook presence, 17 per cent are on Twitter, 10 percent on YouTube, 5 per cent on MySpace and 2 percent on Linked In.
Even so, 30 percent of organisations would prefer to use their own social media network if one was available, because they feel it is important to own the information they capture, and believe it is risky to have customer data held on a third party’s platform. Most cited lack of skills and resources as the reason for not building their own social networking system, and instead piggybacked on well established social networks such as Facebook.
The number one reason for using social media remains brand-building with half of all Australian businesses acknowledging that they could risk losing touch with customers if they did not link to them using social networks.
At present 15 per cent of organisations have formal social media marketing strategies in place and 9 per cent have staff dedicated to social media marketing. Of those organisations involved in social media 37 per cent said that they were spending 5-20 per cent of their overall marketing budget on social media marketing – funds which had mainly been carved off the traditional marketing budget, rather than representing additional spending.
The big losers as a result of this shift in marketing spend were print, direct marketing and traditional digital marketing spend on websites.
In spite of the apparent enthusiasm for social networks, barriers were still evident. Measuring return on investment was nominated as a key barrier by 28 per cent of organisations polled. Achieving senior management buy-in was also still challenging – particularly in large organisations.
Organisations question ROI of social networks
UK - Top ten broadband towns and cities announced
[eurocomms] A new survey by comparison website Top 10 Broadband has placed Bournemouth at number one in its list of the fastest broadband towns and cities in the UK. The seaside town in Dorset, reknowned as one of the UK's top retirement locations, was reported to have an average download speed of 8.06Mbps - almost double Ofcom's July 2009 national UK average of 4.1Mbps.
Steve Powell, product manager for connectivity services at Viatel, stated: "While it is great to see some positive news about broadband speeds, there is still some way to go before the rest of the UK has such fast connections. The high speeds recorded in Bournemouth only serve to highlight the disparity in broadband performance currently exhibited in the UK, the lowest of which still come in well under the Government's 2Mbps goal."
Unfortunately as we begin to transition to Next Generation Access (NGA) technologies the UK looks set to continue in the slow lane. Powell continued:
"The UK is currently ranked outside of the European Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) Council's top ten fibre nations and looks set to stay there. This is due in part to efforts being made to wring the last drop of performance from first generation access technologies - DSL services. While these traditional solutions can currently deliver relatively fast connection speeds to users close to the serving exchange, FTTP (Fibre to the premises) can help the rest of us that are not so fortunate. Plus, with more and more applications being run over the internet, it is vitally important we begin to step up the move to these new services as legacy networks won't cope with these increases. FTTP can also provide significant economic and social benefits, and with the UK still waiting to exit the recession, superfast broadband could provide local enterprise with the means to succeed in challenging times."
Top ten UK broadband towns and cities announced
Steve Powell, product manager for connectivity services at Viatel, stated: "While it is great to see some positive news about broadband speeds, there is still some way to go before the rest of the UK has such fast connections. The high speeds recorded in Bournemouth only serve to highlight the disparity in broadband performance currently exhibited in the UK, the lowest of which still come in well under the Government's 2Mbps goal."
Unfortunately as we begin to transition to Next Generation Access (NGA) technologies the UK looks set to continue in the slow lane. Powell continued:
"The UK is currently ranked outside of the European Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) Council's top ten fibre nations and looks set to stay there. This is due in part to efforts being made to wring the last drop of performance from first generation access technologies - DSL services. While these traditional solutions can currently deliver relatively fast connection speeds to users close to the serving exchange, FTTP (Fibre to the premises) can help the rest of us that are not so fortunate. Plus, with more and more applications being run over the internet, it is vitally important we begin to step up the move to these new services as legacy networks won't cope with these increases. FTTP can also provide significant economic and social benefits, and with the UK still waiting to exit the recession, superfast broadband could provide local enterprise with the means to succeed in challenging times."
Top ten UK broadband towns and cities announced
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Europe - Digital Agenda: Kroes welcomes Ministerial support
[ec] European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes welcomed Ministers' support for the European Digital Agenda at the informal meeting of EU Telecoms and Information Society Ministers which took place by videoconference on 19 April 2010. Vice-President Kroes welcomed in particular the Ministerial Declaration on Digital Europe, which she described as "a milestone, a crucial building block for a truly European Digital Agenda". The Ministerial Declaration will be taken into account by the Commission in its forthcoming Communication on a European Digital Agenda, one of the pillars of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
Digital Agenda: Kroes welcomes Ministerial support
Digital Agenda: Kroes welcomes Ministerial support
Retailers to Drive Mobile Advertising to $12 Billion U.S. by 2015
[prweb] According to new report, Mobile Marketing & Retail Strategies by Juniper Research, the mobile retail market will be worth a whopping $12 billion in the U.S. by 2015. The report states that the current mobile retail marketing is $4.1 billion and is expected to grow by 24% annually over the next five years.
Mobile offers retailers a fantastic way to stay in touch with consumers when they are on the go with opportunities ranging from SMS coupons to mobile ecommerce. Mobile coupons and advertising will comprise of the majority of the revenues generated.
Retailers are currently testing out the various mobile ad platforms with ad-hoc campaigns that fall into two categories: mobile web and SMS marketing. Howard Wilcox, report author and senior analyst from Juniper Research says, "as digital ad spend is increasingly transferred into the mobile space, then mobile advertising will gradually reel in and overhaul coupons."
The future of mobile marketing will be coupons that drive consumers to ecommerce sites to make a purchase. "Everything that can be done on the Internet, can now be done on the cell phone, says Sheri Wells, mobile marketing expert and CEO of SMS Media Group. This represents an exciting opportunity for merchants looking to engage consumers and drive retail sales.
Through SMS marketing, retailers can communicate with their customers on a regular basis offering coupons, promotions and sale announcements. Retailers need to catch up to the existing mobile technologies and opportunities available to them. The majority of online retailers do not have a mobile e-commerce site yet, which represents a huge opportunity for developers. Most retailers also are still not capitalizing on the text messaging trend of building an opt-in mobile subscriber database that they can send offers to.
The opt-in database is an asset that retailers cannot afford to miss out on. SMS coupon broadcasts to a retailers' customer database can generate extremely high response rates ranging from 5% to 25%. When an SMS broadcast is used in parallel with a mobile ecommerce site, recipients can click right on over to make a purchase with their mobile device.
Retailers can easily launch an SMS list for their customers to opt-in to by leveraging existing SMS platforms. One such service is SMS Media Group's SMSdelivery Hosted Platform. It provides an easy-to-use, web-based interface that manages lists, subscribers, broadcasts and reporting of SMS campaigns. The platform also has a mobile web design tool for creating mobile web sites that really brings the entire mobile strategy together using a single service.
Retailers to Drive Mobile Advertising to $12 Billion U.S. by 2015
Mobile offers retailers a fantastic way to stay in touch with consumers when they are on the go with opportunities ranging from SMS coupons to mobile ecommerce. Mobile coupons and advertising will comprise of the majority of the revenues generated.
Retailers are currently testing out the various mobile ad platforms with ad-hoc campaigns that fall into two categories: mobile web and SMS marketing. Howard Wilcox, report author and senior analyst from Juniper Research says, "as digital ad spend is increasingly transferred into the mobile space, then mobile advertising will gradually reel in and overhaul coupons."
The future of mobile marketing will be coupons that drive consumers to ecommerce sites to make a purchase. "Everything that can be done on the Internet, can now be done on the cell phone, says Sheri Wells, mobile marketing expert and CEO of SMS Media Group. This represents an exciting opportunity for merchants looking to engage consumers and drive retail sales.
Through SMS marketing, retailers can communicate with their customers on a regular basis offering coupons, promotions and sale announcements. Retailers need to catch up to the existing mobile technologies and opportunities available to them. The majority of online retailers do not have a mobile e-commerce site yet, which represents a huge opportunity for developers. Most retailers also are still not capitalizing on the text messaging trend of building an opt-in mobile subscriber database that they can send offers to.
The opt-in database is an asset that retailers cannot afford to miss out on. SMS coupon broadcasts to a retailers' customer database can generate extremely high response rates ranging from 5% to 25%. When an SMS broadcast is used in parallel with a mobile ecommerce site, recipients can click right on over to make a purchase with their mobile device.
Retailers can easily launch an SMS list for their customers to opt-in to by leveraging existing SMS platforms. One such service is SMS Media Group's SMSdelivery Hosted Platform. It provides an easy-to-use, web-based interface that manages lists, subscribers, broadcasts and reporting of SMS campaigns. The platform also has a mobile web design tool for creating mobile web sites that really brings the entire mobile strategy together using a single service.
Retailers to Drive Mobile Advertising to $12 Billion U.S. by 2015
Nearly Half of Mobile Phone Users Worldwide to Make Mobile Payments by 2014
[prweb] A new study by Juniper Research has forecast that nearly half of all mobile phone users worldwide will pay by mobile for digital and physical goods by 2014, representing growth of nearly a billion users compared to 2010.
The new Mobile Payments for Digital and Physical Goods report found that segments such as ticketing and payments for physical goods are being spurred by the phenomenal take-up of apps coupled with the availability of multi-lingual versions of platforms such as eBay. Mobile payments are now becoming integrated into a wider mobile web shopping experience that includes browsing, coupons and advertising.
Report author Howard Wilcox explained: “Since our last report a recent trend we’re seeing is the launch of mobile storefronts and malls, as well as new Smartphone apps and mobile payments services from companies such as eBay, Amazon and Digby. Based on the take-up figures we’ve seen, users appreciate the convenience.”
However, the Juniper report also warns that the user experience needs to be enjoyable, easy and consistent: lack of user support and help could threaten the spread of mobile payments.
Further key research from the mobile payments report shows:
* In-app billing will play a key role in developing on-going revenue streams for payments operators;
* Growth will not be restricted to the developed regions: in excess of 500 million users in the Indian Sub Continent for example will be making a mobile payment in 2014.
The report uses an innovative new quadrant approach to compare the positioning of mobile payments vendors. The forecasts provide detailed five year regional data for mobile payments for digital & physical goods, showing key parameters including subscriber take-up, transaction sizes and volumes. The report also reveals the strategies that are being used to enable users to pay by mobile through case studies from companies such as 1-800Flowers.com and Skane Traffic.
Nearly Half of Mobile Phone Users Worldwide to Make Mobile Payments by 2014, according to Juniper Research
The new Mobile Payments for Digital and Physical Goods report found that segments such as ticketing and payments for physical goods are being spurred by the phenomenal take-up of apps coupled with the availability of multi-lingual versions of platforms such as eBay. Mobile payments are now becoming integrated into a wider mobile web shopping experience that includes browsing, coupons and advertising.
Report author Howard Wilcox explained: “Since our last report a recent trend we’re seeing is the launch of mobile storefronts and malls, as well as new Smartphone apps and mobile payments services from companies such as eBay, Amazon and Digby. Based on the take-up figures we’ve seen, users appreciate the convenience.”
However, the Juniper report also warns that the user experience needs to be enjoyable, easy and consistent: lack of user support and help could threaten the spread of mobile payments.
Further key research from the mobile payments report shows:
* In-app billing will play a key role in developing on-going revenue streams for payments operators;
* Growth will not be restricted to the developed regions: in excess of 500 million users in the Indian Sub Continent for example will be making a mobile payment in 2014.
The report uses an innovative new quadrant approach to compare the positioning of mobile payments vendors. The forecasts provide detailed five year regional data for mobile payments for digital & physical goods, showing key parameters including subscriber take-up, transaction sizes and volumes. The report also reveals the strategies that are being used to enable users to pay by mobile through case studies from companies such as 1-800Flowers.com and Skane Traffic.
Nearly Half of Mobile Phone Users Worldwide to Make Mobile Payments by 2014, according to Juniper Research
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Thailand - Telcos fail disabled customers
[bangkokpost] A survey has shown that telecom services in Thailand are still providing an inadequate service for disabled people, especially the visually impaired, as there are no braille bills or prepaid cards.
Prawit Leesatapornwongsa, Director of the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Institute (TCI) under the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), announced that a study in co-operation with the Thailand Productivity Institute into telecoms consumer awareness and satisfaction, with 8,000 respondents - both disabled and able-bodied - across 39 provinces found that only 36 percent of disabled people use public telephones due to a lack of availability of phones equipped to serve wheelchair users or hearing-impaired customers.
As for the mobile phone service,78 percent of visually disabled users face service problems, especially in refilling credit on prepaid services, while 21 percent claimed devices and/or software tailored to disabilities were too expensive, and 13 percent said they don't know how to use these special devices anyway. Furthermore, 10 percent said they had no way of checking their bills.
Meanwhile 31 percent of those with hearing disabilities claimed that they cannot send or receive SMS and that mobile phones for disabled people are expensive.
Regarding Internet service, the survey found that websites do not typically support disabled users, despite 12 percent of this group access the Internet at home, which is higher than the national average of around 9 percent.
"Another concern is that the study found 47 of respondents do not check their [phone] billing details," Prawit said.
He continued that that digital divide is another issue for both disabled and able-bodied users, as in the survey almost 50 percent said there are not enough public telephones, especially in the Northeastern region.
Eighty-four percent of respondents complained about slow response to fix problems with public telephones, and 49 percent have experienced phones swallowing coins without adding credit to the call.
Only 29 percent of the Thai population has a fixed telephone line at home, with this figure lower still in the Northeastern region, compared with Singapore which has 96 percent of households connected to a fixed line.
The digital divide is most present in rural areas and especially with tribal people, with 70 percent of this group claiming public telephones are not available in their communities.
Mobile phone take-up among this group is also below the average, with 86 percent owing handsets, compared with the national average of 98 percent.
Mobile network coverage can also be a concern, as a recent complaint from a user in Chiang Rai to the TCI detailed how he had to carry three separate phones from different operators to ensure he could find a signal if ever he experienced an emergency.
Telcos fail disabled customers
Prawit Leesatapornwongsa, Director of the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Institute (TCI) under the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), announced that a study in co-operation with the Thailand Productivity Institute into telecoms consumer awareness and satisfaction, with 8,000 respondents - both disabled and able-bodied - across 39 provinces found that only 36 percent of disabled people use public telephones due to a lack of availability of phones equipped to serve wheelchair users or hearing-impaired customers.
As for the mobile phone service,78 percent of visually disabled users face service problems, especially in refilling credit on prepaid services, while 21 percent claimed devices and/or software tailored to disabilities were too expensive, and 13 percent said they don't know how to use these special devices anyway. Furthermore, 10 percent said they had no way of checking their bills.
Meanwhile 31 percent of those with hearing disabilities claimed that they cannot send or receive SMS and that mobile phones for disabled people are expensive.
Regarding Internet service, the survey found that websites do not typically support disabled users, despite 12 percent of this group access the Internet at home, which is higher than the national average of around 9 percent.
"Another concern is that the study found 47 of respondents do not check their [phone] billing details," Prawit said.
He continued that that digital divide is another issue for both disabled and able-bodied users, as in the survey almost 50 percent said there are not enough public telephones, especially in the Northeastern region.
Eighty-four percent of respondents complained about slow response to fix problems with public telephones, and 49 percent have experienced phones swallowing coins without adding credit to the call.
Only 29 percent of the Thai population has a fixed telephone line at home, with this figure lower still in the Northeastern region, compared with Singapore which has 96 percent of households connected to a fixed line.
The digital divide is most present in rural areas and especially with tribal people, with 70 percent of this group claiming public telephones are not available in their communities.
Mobile phone take-up among this group is also below the average, with 86 percent owing handsets, compared with the national average of 98 percent.
Mobile network coverage can also be a concern, as a recent complaint from a user in Chiang Rai to the TCI detailed how he had to carry three separate phones from different operators to ensure he could find a signal if ever he experienced an emergency.
Telcos fail disabled customers
Liberia - LTA, Communication Service Providers On ECOWAS ICT Supplementary Acts
[the inquirer] The Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) is holding a three-day stakeholders' workshop aimed at validating the action plan of the Economic of West African States (ECOWAS) regarding the transposition of its six Information Communication Technology (ICT) supplementary Acts. ECOWAS Legal Advisor at the Commission, Yaouza Ouro-Sama, informed the Conference that only five of ECOWAS States have incorporated the Acts into their laws eventhough harmonization of key issues have become a serious challenge.
The six instruments of ECOWAS Supplementary Acts validated at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex in Monrovia are the ICT Policy; Interconnection Framework; Legal Regime; Frequency Principles; Numbering Program and Universal Access. Postal Affairs Minister Jeremiah Sulunteh said ECOWAS' priority in the context of regional infrastructure and service provision is to work with its member states to harmonize the ICT Supplementary Acts into their respective national laws.
Min. Sulunteh praised the ICT experts from member states for their commitment and productive capacity who worked with the Commission in translating the leadership's vision to reality noting that ECOWAS is committed to improving the living standard of its people. LTA's Chairperson Angelique Weeks said the process ongoing in Monrovia is due to Liberia's slow pace taken in harmonizing the instrument into its national laws. She reminded that Liberia has already lagged behind in adhering to the guidelines established by the working groups at the session.
She said the workshop is intended to give cross section of the Liberian stakeholders their say in the harmonization of the ICT Supplementary Acts which when ratified would boost the support policy creation to attract investment in the country. The Senate Chairperson on Post and Telecommunications, Gbezongar Findley called on the participants and stakeholders to seriously consider results that would emerge from the meeting because it must have the imput of all if it is to be ratified.
The ECOWAS ICT Supplementary Acts seek to create a common market in the region in which universal access is promoted and entry barriers are removed with low cost of entry. Areas currently being validated at the ongoing workshop are the fundamentals of the Acts; the supplement provisions and regulations; incorporating the Supplementary Acts on ICT Policy; Universal Access; Interconnection; frequency and numbering as well as the transposition process.
The presenters are LTA's legal consultants Cllrs. Lavalla Supuwood and Richard Klah while between feedbacks from stakeholders, LTA Director Zayzay Howard would lead the section on the strategy and implementation plan. At the 31st session of the Authority of Heads of States and government of ECOWAS on January 19, 2007, members of the 15 ECOWAS States were mandated to enact national laws that will develop, modernize, coordinate and standardize their Telecommunications networks in order to provide reliable interconnection within the region.
During the session in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the member States were mandated to also coordinate efforts to mobilize national and international financial resources aimed at attracting private sector participation in the provision of telecommunication services among other things.
LTA, Communication Service Providers On ECOWAS ICT Supplementary Acts
The six instruments of ECOWAS Supplementary Acts validated at the Samuel K. Doe Sports Complex in Monrovia are the ICT Policy; Interconnection Framework; Legal Regime; Frequency Principles; Numbering Program and Universal Access. Postal Affairs Minister Jeremiah Sulunteh said ECOWAS' priority in the context of regional infrastructure and service provision is to work with its member states to harmonize the ICT Supplementary Acts into their respective national laws.
Min. Sulunteh praised the ICT experts from member states for their commitment and productive capacity who worked with the Commission in translating the leadership's vision to reality noting that ECOWAS is committed to improving the living standard of its people. LTA's Chairperson Angelique Weeks said the process ongoing in Monrovia is due to Liberia's slow pace taken in harmonizing the instrument into its national laws. She reminded that Liberia has already lagged behind in adhering to the guidelines established by the working groups at the session.
She said the workshop is intended to give cross section of the Liberian stakeholders their say in the harmonization of the ICT Supplementary Acts which when ratified would boost the support policy creation to attract investment in the country. The Senate Chairperson on Post and Telecommunications, Gbezongar Findley called on the participants and stakeholders to seriously consider results that would emerge from the meeting because it must have the imput of all if it is to be ratified.
The ECOWAS ICT Supplementary Acts seek to create a common market in the region in which universal access is promoted and entry barriers are removed with low cost of entry. Areas currently being validated at the ongoing workshop are the fundamentals of the Acts; the supplement provisions and regulations; incorporating the Supplementary Acts on ICT Policy; Universal Access; Interconnection; frequency and numbering as well as the transposition process.
The presenters are LTA's legal consultants Cllrs. Lavalla Supuwood and Richard Klah while between feedbacks from stakeholders, LTA Director Zayzay Howard would lead the section on the strategy and implementation plan. At the 31st session of the Authority of Heads of States and government of ECOWAS on January 19, 2007, members of the 15 ECOWAS States were mandated to enact national laws that will develop, modernize, coordinate and standardize their Telecommunications networks in order to provide reliable interconnection within the region.
During the session in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the member States were mandated to also coordinate efforts to mobilize national and international financial resources aimed at attracting private sector participation in the provision of telecommunication services among other things.
LTA, Communication Service Providers On ECOWAS ICT Supplementary Acts
South Africa - minister to present new laws on telecommunications
[itweb] Communication minister Siphiwe Nyanda will present at least three new laws to Parliament for debate this year, and a number of policy directives will be issued to the communication regulator to unbundle the local loop.
Speaking during his Parliamentary budget vote speech yesterday, Nyanda said the new draft laws would be an Electronic Communications Amendment Bill that will seek to align it with ministerial directives and clear up ambiguity on some definitions, and to include the creation of strategic support structures, such as a Tariff Advisory Council.
He said the law governing the telecommunications and broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), would also be amended with the aim of “further strengthening the governance framework of the regulator”.
The third law would be a Public Service Broadcasting Bill, which would seek to align the public broadcasting system to the development goals of the country and to provide an optimum funding model for the public broadcaster, the SA Broadcasting Corporation.
Nyanda went on to say that the Local Content Strategy would be finalised once the South African Local Content Advisory Council had been appointed. “The purpose of the strategy is to promote the development of local content, as well as identification of niche economic opportunities in the sector,” he said.
Soccer safety
In his speech, Nyanda said the major telecommunications companies would supply 80 000 “mobile units” to the police and other emergency services to be used at the 2010 Soccer World Cup stadiums.
“Additional beneficiaries of the other obligations will be identified in the course of the year. This is line with the department's contribution to government priority on ensuring safety for the public,” he said.
Nyanda also called on all the major telecommunications operators to complete their social delivery obligations that came with their licences as soon as possible.
He pointed out that ICASA had followed the directive he had issued last year to reduce the cost of mobile termination rates (also known as the interconnection rates) that saw the cost drop from 125c per minute to 89c per minute.
Nyanda said the next phase of cost cutting measures should involve the retail market that supplies services directly to consumers, adding: “...Cabinet has adopted the department's programmes of action on initiatives to reduce cost to communicate (sic).”
A stable regulatory regime is necessary to address key ICT developmental challenges, he added.
“ICASA will, therefore, need to focus critically on the following: regulatory certainty, liberalisation, promotion of ICT sector; aligning its structure, leadership and culture with the strategy of licensing for new services, and achieving universal service and access,” he concluded.
Nyanda to present new laws
Speaking during his Parliamentary budget vote speech yesterday, Nyanda said the new draft laws would be an Electronic Communications Amendment Bill that will seek to align it with ministerial directives and clear up ambiguity on some definitions, and to include the creation of strategic support structures, such as a Tariff Advisory Council.
He said the law governing the telecommunications and broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), would also be amended with the aim of “further strengthening the governance framework of the regulator”.
The third law would be a Public Service Broadcasting Bill, which would seek to align the public broadcasting system to the development goals of the country and to provide an optimum funding model for the public broadcaster, the SA Broadcasting Corporation.
Nyanda went on to say that the Local Content Strategy would be finalised once the South African Local Content Advisory Council had been appointed. “The purpose of the strategy is to promote the development of local content, as well as identification of niche economic opportunities in the sector,” he said.
Soccer safety
In his speech, Nyanda said the major telecommunications companies would supply 80 000 “mobile units” to the police and other emergency services to be used at the 2010 Soccer World Cup stadiums.
“Additional beneficiaries of the other obligations will be identified in the course of the year. This is line with the department's contribution to government priority on ensuring safety for the public,” he said.
Nyanda also called on all the major telecommunications operators to complete their social delivery obligations that came with their licences as soon as possible.
He pointed out that ICASA had followed the directive he had issued last year to reduce the cost of mobile termination rates (also known as the interconnection rates) that saw the cost drop from 125c per minute to 89c per minute.
Nyanda said the next phase of cost cutting measures should involve the retail market that supplies services directly to consumers, adding: “...Cabinet has adopted the department's programmes of action on initiatives to reduce cost to communicate (sic).”
A stable regulatory regime is necessary to address key ICT developmental challenges, he added.
“ICASA will, therefore, need to focus critically on the following: regulatory certainty, liberalisation, promotion of ICT sector; aligning its structure, leadership and culture with the strategy of licensing for new services, and achieving universal service and access,” he concluded.
Nyanda to present new laws
Akamai Announces Fourth Quarter 2009 State of the Internet Report
[prnewswire] Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKAM), the leader in powering video, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, today announced the release of its 4th Quarter, 2009 State of the Internet report available for download at www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet. Leveraging information gathered from its network, the Akamai report provides insight into key Internet statistics such as origin of attack traffic and broadband connectivity levels across the globe.
Highlights from Akamai's quarterly report follow:
100 Fastest Cities
Following the initial review published in the 3rd Quarter, 2009 State of the Internet report, Akamai once again examined the average measured connection speeds at a city level. In an effort to filter out particularly small cities that may have been included in the previous report, the fourth quarter report analyzes cities with at least 50,000 unique IP addresses connecting to Akamai. Reviewing the top 100 fastest cities around the world in the fourth quarter of 2009 reveals the following patterns:
* Nearly half (48) of the top cities are in Japan, and 62 of them are in Asia
* The 15 top cities that are located in Europe are spread across six countries
* Over a fifth (21) of the top cities are in the United States, and 23 of them are in North America
Fastest U.S. States
Quarterly changes in average measured connection speeds within the United States were mixed in the fourth quarter. Five of the top 10 states saw a quarterly increase, and five saw a decrease. Delaware again topped the list with an average connection speed of 7.6 Mbps, a 4 percent increase year over year.
Overall, 31 states saw average connection speeds increase in the fourth quarter – up from 25 in the prior quarter. Notable gains included South Dakota's 18 percent jump to 4.5 Mbps. Fourth quarter decreases in average connection speeds were seen in 19 states and the District of Columbia, and included Virginia's 13 percent drop to 4.0 Mbps. Akamai believes that the significant decline in Virginia was likely due, in part, to increased traffic seen from lower-speed mobile connections that entered the Internet through gateways within those states.
Increased speeds year over year were seen in 29 states, with Hawaii growing 33 percent to 4.7 Mbps.
Global Average Connection Speeds
Based on average measured connection speeds around the globe, eight of the top 10 countries saw quarterly increases in connection speeds. Eight of the top 10 also had higher average measured speeds at the end of 2009 than they did a year earlier.
South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan provided the highest average measured connection speed by country. These countries were the only three to surpass 7.5 Mbps average connection speed in the fourth quarter.
During the fourth quarter, 96 countries had average connection speeds below 1 Mbps, down from 103 countries in the prior quarter. Akamai measured average connection speeds below 100 Kbps in only three countries in the fourth quarter – less than half as many as in the third quarter.
Current highlights and historical trends for average connection speeds on a global basis can be found in Akamai's "Broadband Adoption Trends" data visualization tool, available at http://www.akamai.com/dv5.
Internet Connectivity
The number of unique IP addresses connecting to the Akamai network increased 4.7 percent quarter over quarter. Ending 2009 at 465 million connected unique IPs from 234 countries, the metric has grown 16 percent from the 401 million unique IP addresses observed at the end of 2008, and nearly 54 percent from the 312 million unique IP addresses observed at the end of 2007.
For the seventh consecutive quarter, the United States and China continued to account for nearly 40 percent of the observed IP addresses. Looking at the 'long tail' of IP addresses, there were 186 countries with fewer than one million unique IP addresses connecting to Akamai in the fourth quarter of 2009; 145 with fewer than 100,000 unique IP addresses; and 32 with fewer than 1,000 unique IP addresses.
In comparing the unique IPs per capita figures for countries in the fourth quarter, Norway topped the list with an Internet penetration of 49 percent. Globally, 35 countries once again had Internet penetration levels of 25 percent or greater (0.25 or more unique IPs per capita).
Mobile Connectivity
In response to the growing amount of Internet content being accessed through mobile devices, such as smartphones and laptops equipped with mobile broadband connection technologies, Akamai is publishing its second quarter of insights into metrics collected from connections to its network associated with mobile providers.
In examining the data, Akamai reports a fairly wide range in average measured connection speeds, ranging from 3.2 Mbps on an Austrian mobile provider, down to 106 Kbps on a mobile provider in Slovakia. It is important to note that connection speeds on mobile networks can vary based on a number of factors, including device distance from mobile towers, device design (internal vs. external antennae), and ground speed of the devices (use in a moving vehicle vs. stationary use), as well as wireless data standards used (LTE, HSDPA, EV-DO, etc.).
Of the 109 mobile providers analyzed in the report, more than 40 had average measured connection speeds of over 1 Mbps in the fourth quarter, while 11 had broadband-level connectivity (connections to Akamai at speeds of 2 Mbps or greater).
Attack Traffic
During the fourth quarter of 2009, Akamai observed attack traffic originating from 198 unique countries, down slightly from 207 unique countries in the third quarter. Russia remained the top attack traffic source, accounting for 13 percent of observed attack traffic in total. The United States and China returned to the second and third place spots, respectively, accounting for nearly 20 percent of observed attack traffic. Brazil moved back down into fourth place.
Akamai observed attack traffic targeted at more than 10,000 unique ports, with the top 10 ports once again seeing nearly 92 percent of the observed attack traffic. Port 445 remained the most-targeted port for the seventh consecutive quarter, and continued to be overwhelmingly responsible for the highest percentage of attacks.
Akamai Announces Fourth Quarter 2009 State of the Internet Report
Highlights from Akamai's quarterly report follow:
100 Fastest Cities
Following the initial review published in the 3rd Quarter, 2009 State of the Internet report, Akamai once again examined the average measured connection speeds at a city level. In an effort to filter out particularly small cities that may have been included in the previous report, the fourth quarter report analyzes cities with at least 50,000 unique IP addresses connecting to Akamai. Reviewing the top 100 fastest cities around the world in the fourth quarter of 2009 reveals the following patterns:
* Nearly half (48) of the top cities are in Japan, and 62 of them are in Asia
* The 15 top cities that are located in Europe are spread across six countries
* Over a fifth (21) of the top cities are in the United States, and 23 of them are in North America
Fastest U.S. States
Quarterly changes in average measured connection speeds within the United States were mixed in the fourth quarter. Five of the top 10 states saw a quarterly increase, and five saw a decrease. Delaware again topped the list with an average connection speed of 7.6 Mbps, a 4 percent increase year over year.
Overall, 31 states saw average connection speeds increase in the fourth quarter – up from 25 in the prior quarter. Notable gains included South Dakota's 18 percent jump to 4.5 Mbps. Fourth quarter decreases in average connection speeds were seen in 19 states and the District of Columbia, and included Virginia's 13 percent drop to 4.0 Mbps. Akamai believes that the significant decline in Virginia was likely due, in part, to increased traffic seen from lower-speed mobile connections that entered the Internet through gateways within those states.
Increased speeds year over year were seen in 29 states, with Hawaii growing 33 percent to 4.7 Mbps.
Global Average Connection Speeds
Based on average measured connection speeds around the globe, eight of the top 10 countries saw quarterly increases in connection speeds. Eight of the top 10 also had higher average measured speeds at the end of 2009 than they did a year earlier.
South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan provided the highest average measured connection speed by country. These countries were the only three to surpass 7.5 Mbps average connection speed in the fourth quarter.
During the fourth quarter, 96 countries had average connection speeds below 1 Mbps, down from 103 countries in the prior quarter. Akamai measured average connection speeds below 100 Kbps in only three countries in the fourth quarter – less than half as many as in the third quarter.
Current highlights and historical trends for average connection speeds on a global basis can be found in Akamai's "Broadband Adoption Trends" data visualization tool, available at http://www.akamai.com/dv5.
Internet Connectivity
The number of unique IP addresses connecting to the Akamai network increased 4.7 percent quarter over quarter. Ending 2009 at 465 million connected unique IPs from 234 countries, the metric has grown 16 percent from the 401 million unique IP addresses observed at the end of 2008, and nearly 54 percent from the 312 million unique IP addresses observed at the end of 2007.
For the seventh consecutive quarter, the United States and China continued to account for nearly 40 percent of the observed IP addresses. Looking at the 'long tail' of IP addresses, there were 186 countries with fewer than one million unique IP addresses connecting to Akamai in the fourth quarter of 2009; 145 with fewer than 100,000 unique IP addresses; and 32 with fewer than 1,000 unique IP addresses.
In comparing the unique IPs per capita figures for countries in the fourth quarter, Norway topped the list with an Internet penetration of 49 percent. Globally, 35 countries once again had Internet penetration levels of 25 percent or greater (0.25 or more unique IPs per capita).
Mobile Connectivity
In response to the growing amount of Internet content being accessed through mobile devices, such as smartphones and laptops equipped with mobile broadband connection technologies, Akamai is publishing its second quarter of insights into metrics collected from connections to its network associated with mobile providers.
In examining the data, Akamai reports a fairly wide range in average measured connection speeds, ranging from 3.2 Mbps on an Austrian mobile provider, down to 106 Kbps on a mobile provider in Slovakia. It is important to note that connection speeds on mobile networks can vary based on a number of factors, including device distance from mobile towers, device design (internal vs. external antennae), and ground speed of the devices (use in a moving vehicle vs. stationary use), as well as wireless data standards used (LTE, HSDPA, EV-DO, etc.).
Of the 109 mobile providers analyzed in the report, more than 40 had average measured connection speeds of over 1 Mbps in the fourth quarter, while 11 had broadband-level connectivity (connections to Akamai at speeds of 2 Mbps or greater).
Attack Traffic
During the fourth quarter of 2009, Akamai observed attack traffic originating from 198 unique countries, down slightly from 207 unique countries in the third quarter. Russia remained the top attack traffic source, accounting for 13 percent of observed attack traffic in total. The United States and China returned to the second and third place spots, respectively, accounting for nearly 20 percent of observed attack traffic. Brazil moved back down into fourth place.
Akamai observed attack traffic targeted at more than 10,000 unique ports, with the top 10 ports once again seeing nearly 92 percent of the observed attack traffic. Port 445 remained the most-targeted port for the seventh consecutive quarter, and continued to be overwhelmingly responsible for the highest percentage of attacks.
Akamai Announces Fourth Quarter 2009 State of the Internet Report
Australia - ACMA launches inquiry into telco complaints
[the australian] THE communications regulator will launch an inquiry into the telecommunications industry following the rising cacophony of customer complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman over recent years.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority will shortly launch the formal inquiry into customer protection in the telecommunications industry with the aim of addressing poor industry response to customer service complaints.
The inquiry will determine whether more direct regulation of complaint handling needs to be introduced and if standards should be established.
It could also include legislative changes to the telecoms regulatory regime that could see ACMA given new powers to issue multi-million dollar infringement notices on the spot.
"The poor complaint handling of the industry is legendary," ACMA chairman Chris Chapman told attendees at a telecoms conference in Sydney today.
“What spurred this increase is a matter of conjecture -- overly aggressive smartphone plans, an inevitable Wild West mentality when new opportunities spring up, outsourced offshore help desks, and perhaps greater customer scrutiny of their bills as they became more cautious in the economic downturn."
Last year the TIO recorded a 130 per cent rise in complaints related to complaint handling and a 118 per cent increase in complaints about customer service. In the same period complaints from consumers and small businesses about phone and internet providers rose 54 per cent.
“Many would share the ACMA’s concern about whether the current arrangements which underpin telecommunications consumer protection are really effective in dealing with the issues that concern consumers most," Mr Chapman said.
“The trend-line growth and sheer quantum of complaints about complaint handling and customer service -- up to 900 every working day -- reflects poorly on the entire industry.
“Whether this is evidence of a failing regulatory system or just a perception of that failure, I now believe this issue has to be confronted directly and urgently otherwise we will be talking about these same issues for years to come."
Mr Chapman said it was vital that expectations of customer service be satisfied prior to completion of the government’s $43 billion national broadband network.
He said he would be seeking the collective agreement from the nation’s largest telcos on enforceable strategies for lowering the number of complaints to the industry ombudsman.
Telstra -- which since the appointment of David Thodey as its chief executive has been fervently working to polish its tarnished customer service record -- welcomed the initiative to improve customer service across the industry and said it would work constructively with regulator on the inquiry.
"Complaint levels are still too high and must be reduced. We have set aggressive targets to do this and take responsibility for resolving all customer complaints directly with our customers," Telstra customer service and satisfaction director, Jules Scarlett, said.
ACMA launches inquiry into telco complaints
The Australian Communications and Media Authority will shortly launch the formal inquiry into customer protection in the telecommunications industry with the aim of addressing poor industry response to customer service complaints.
The inquiry will determine whether more direct regulation of complaint handling needs to be introduced and if standards should be established.
It could also include legislative changes to the telecoms regulatory regime that could see ACMA given new powers to issue multi-million dollar infringement notices on the spot.
"The poor complaint handling of the industry is legendary," ACMA chairman Chris Chapman told attendees at a telecoms conference in Sydney today.
“What spurred this increase is a matter of conjecture -- overly aggressive smartphone plans, an inevitable Wild West mentality when new opportunities spring up, outsourced offshore help desks, and perhaps greater customer scrutiny of their bills as they became more cautious in the economic downturn."
Last year the TIO recorded a 130 per cent rise in complaints related to complaint handling and a 118 per cent increase in complaints about customer service. In the same period complaints from consumers and small businesses about phone and internet providers rose 54 per cent.
“Many would share the ACMA’s concern about whether the current arrangements which underpin telecommunications consumer protection are really effective in dealing with the issues that concern consumers most," Mr Chapman said.
“The trend-line growth and sheer quantum of complaints about complaint handling and customer service -- up to 900 every working day -- reflects poorly on the entire industry.
“Whether this is evidence of a failing regulatory system or just a perception of that failure, I now believe this issue has to be confronted directly and urgently otherwise we will be talking about these same issues for years to come."
Mr Chapman said it was vital that expectations of customer service be satisfied prior to completion of the government’s $43 billion national broadband network.
He said he would be seeking the collective agreement from the nation’s largest telcos on enforceable strategies for lowering the number of complaints to the industry ombudsman.
Telstra -- which since the appointment of David Thodey as its chief executive has been fervently working to polish its tarnished customer service record -- welcomed the initiative to improve customer service across the industry and said it would work constructively with regulator on the inquiry.
"Complaint levels are still too high and must be reduced. We have set aggressive targets to do this and take responsibility for resolving all customer complaints directly with our customers," Telstra customer service and satisfaction director, Jules Scarlett, said.
ACMA launches inquiry into telco complaints
Rise of the virtual conference
[bbc] Virtual conferences are set to explode and steal a slice of the action away from real-life trade shows.
A report last month by Market Research Media said the marketplace will grow to $18.6bn over the next five years.
One of the big players in the field, ON24 said their survey showed 87% of 10,000 executives ready to go virtual.
"It is still an evangelical market, but the recession has helped businesses see the value of virtual environments," said ON24 founder Sharat Sharan.
"Think about all those savings from hotel rooms to airfares for attendees to meals and conference space. One of our biggest technology clients had a sales meeting earlier this year where they generally spend $5m (£3.2m). They spent a tenth of that by holding a virtual conference," Mr Sharat told BBC News.
Rise of the virtual conference
A report last month by Market Research Media said the marketplace will grow to $18.6bn over the next five years.
One of the big players in the field, ON24 said their survey showed 87% of 10,000 executives ready to go virtual.
"It is still an evangelical market, but the recession has helped businesses see the value of virtual environments," said ON24 founder Sharat Sharan.
"Think about all those savings from hotel rooms to airfares for attendees to meals and conference space. One of our biggest technology clients had a sales meeting earlier this year where they generally spend $5m (£3.2m). They spent a tenth of that by holding a virtual conference," Mr Sharat told BBC News.
Rise of the virtual conference
Tyco to Settle Class Action Suit Over Undersea Cable Venture for $79M
[law.com] A $79 million settlement has been reached in a long-running class action suit that accuses Tyco International Ltd. of misleading investors in its undersea cable subsidiary, TyCom Ltd.
The parties reached a deal on April 13 that would end the 7-year-old suit, and the plaintiffs moved on Monday for preliminary approval from U.S. District Judge Garrett Brown Jr. in Trenton, N.J. He has set a May 6 hearing date.
The settlement, if approved, calls for class counsel to petition the court for attorney fees, to be paid out of the settlement amount.
The plaintiffs' compensation will depend on how many class members make claims, says co-lead counsel Gregory Keller of Chitwood Harley Harnes in Atlanta.
The suit, In re Tycom Ltd. Securities Litigation, 03-cv-3540, was filed on behalf of investors who bought 70 million shares of Tycom at $32 each in an initial public offering from July 2000 and through December 2001.
They claim the prospectus overstated the demand for undersea transmission of voice and data communications and failed to disclose that bandwidth was in oversupply.
Before the public offering, Tycom's main business was building and repairing underseas communications networks for other companies. In 1999, the company decided to build its own transoceanic cable network, with funding from the sale of stock. But the supply of undersea bandwidth far exceeded the demand, the plaintiffs claimed.
Princeton, N.J.-based Tyco repurchased the shares for $17 each a few years later.
The suit also named as defendants three underwriters -- Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Salomon Smith Barney -- who allegedly included false statements about the demand for bandwidth in the IPO registration statement.
The underwriters moved for summary judgment, claiming any misrepresentations about the bandwidth market are immaterial under the "bespeaks caution" doctrine, which says that forecasts or projections in a disclosure statement are not misleading when accompanied by cautionary language.
Tyco and Tycom also moved for summary judgment, raising the statute of limitations. Both motions are pending.
The underwriter defendants are included in the proposed settlement.
The plaintiffs did not reach a deal with two individual defendants, former Tyco International chief executive officer L. Dennis Kozlowski and former chief financial officer Mark Swartz. The suit would continue against them.
The suit, filed in July 2003 in Trenton, was transferred that October by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to the District of New Hampshire, where it was consolidated with other Tyco securities and ERISA litigation because of Tyco's disclosure in 2002 that Kozlowski and Swartz received multimillion-dollar bonuses in connection with the Tycom offering.
The New Hampshire court granted the plaintiffs' motion to certify in June 2007. The defendants moved for leave to appeal that order to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied the petition in September 2007.
The Tycom case was sent back to New Jersey in March 2009 after the JPML determined that all pretrial matters on common issues had been resolved.
Tyco to Settle Class Action Suit Over Undersea Cable Venture for $79M
The parties reached a deal on April 13 that would end the 7-year-old suit, and the plaintiffs moved on Monday for preliminary approval from U.S. District Judge Garrett Brown Jr. in Trenton, N.J. He has set a May 6 hearing date.
The settlement, if approved, calls for class counsel to petition the court for attorney fees, to be paid out of the settlement amount.
The plaintiffs' compensation will depend on how many class members make claims, says co-lead counsel Gregory Keller of Chitwood Harley Harnes in Atlanta.
The suit, In re Tycom Ltd. Securities Litigation, 03-cv-3540, was filed on behalf of investors who bought 70 million shares of Tycom at $32 each in an initial public offering from July 2000 and through December 2001.
They claim the prospectus overstated the demand for undersea transmission of voice and data communications and failed to disclose that bandwidth was in oversupply.
Before the public offering, Tycom's main business was building and repairing underseas communications networks for other companies. In 1999, the company decided to build its own transoceanic cable network, with funding from the sale of stock. But the supply of undersea bandwidth far exceeded the demand, the plaintiffs claimed.
Princeton, N.J.-based Tyco repurchased the shares for $17 each a few years later.
The suit also named as defendants three underwriters -- Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Salomon Smith Barney -- who allegedly included false statements about the demand for bandwidth in the IPO registration statement.
The underwriters moved for summary judgment, claiming any misrepresentations about the bandwidth market are immaterial under the "bespeaks caution" doctrine, which says that forecasts or projections in a disclosure statement are not misleading when accompanied by cautionary language.
Tyco and Tycom also moved for summary judgment, raising the statute of limitations. Both motions are pending.
The underwriter defendants are included in the proposed settlement.
The plaintiffs did not reach a deal with two individual defendants, former Tyco International chief executive officer L. Dennis Kozlowski and former chief financial officer Mark Swartz. The suit would continue against them.
The suit, filed in July 2003 in Trenton, was transferred that October by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to the District of New Hampshire, where it was consolidated with other Tyco securities and ERISA litigation because of Tyco's disclosure in 2002 that Kozlowski and Swartz received multimillion-dollar bonuses in connection with the Tycom offering.
The New Hampshire court granted the plaintiffs' motion to certify in June 2007. The defendants moved for leave to appeal that order to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied the petition in September 2007.
The Tycom case was sent back to New Jersey in March 2009 after the JPML determined that all pretrial matters on common issues had been resolved.
Tyco to Settle Class Action Suit Over Undersea Cable Venture for $79M
Google discloses government requests for user data
[marketwatch] Google Inc. on Tuesday disclosed information about requests from governments around the world for data on the company's users.
The information, which covers the period between July 2009 and Dec. 2009, also includes requests for the removal of certain content. It was disclosed as part of Google's unveiling of its "Government Requests tool."
Jessica Vascellaro and Julia Angwin talk to Simon Constable about the letter issued by 10 countries demanding that Google build more privacy protections into its services.
Google said in a posting on a company Web site that it plans to update the information in six-month increments.
According to the information disclosed Tuesday, Brazil made the most data requests during the period, with 3,663. The U.S. followed close behind, with 3,580 requests. The U.K. was a distant third, with 1,166 requests, followed by India at 1,061 data requests.
Brazil also topped the list of those countries making removal requests, with 291. Germany was second, with 188 removal requests, followed by India, with 142 requests. The U.S. made 123 removal requests during the period, Google disclosed.
No information was offered for removal requests or data requests made by the Chinese government.
Google has been at odds with the Chinese government over local political censorship of Internet search results, and recently began routing visitors to its Chinese site to an unfiltered search service based in Hong Kong.
Google's move also comes as legislation has been introduced in the U.S. which could compel Internet companies doing business abroad to disclose whenever they receive user data requests from foreign authorities. See related story.
In the past, Google rival Yahoo Inc. has found itself embroiled in controversy after information about its users in China was given to local authorities, leading to the users' imprisonment and torture.
Google said it was disclosing the information "in the spirit" of principles laid out by the Global Network Initiative, a group that promotes freedom of expression online and also includes Yahoo and Microsoft Corp.
Google acknowledged that the information is not comprehensive, however, and noted that there may have been some doubling-up - with multiple requests potentially coming in for one specific action.
The information does not disclose whether Google complied with or challenged any of the data requests.
Google discloses government requests for user data
The information, which covers the period between July 2009 and Dec. 2009, also includes requests for the removal of certain content. It was disclosed as part of Google's unveiling of its "Government Requests tool."
Jessica Vascellaro and Julia Angwin talk to Simon Constable about the letter issued by 10 countries demanding that Google build more privacy protections into its services.
Google said in a posting on a company Web site that it plans to update the information in six-month increments.
According to the information disclosed Tuesday, Brazil made the most data requests during the period, with 3,663. The U.S. followed close behind, with 3,580 requests. The U.K. was a distant third, with 1,166 requests, followed by India at 1,061 data requests.
Brazil also topped the list of those countries making removal requests, with 291. Germany was second, with 188 removal requests, followed by India, with 142 requests. The U.S. made 123 removal requests during the period, Google disclosed.
No information was offered for removal requests or data requests made by the Chinese government.
Google has been at odds with the Chinese government over local political censorship of Internet search results, and recently began routing visitors to its Chinese site to an unfiltered search service based in Hong Kong.
Google's move also comes as legislation has been introduced in the U.S. which could compel Internet companies doing business abroad to disclose whenever they receive user data requests from foreign authorities. See related story.
In the past, Google rival Yahoo Inc. has found itself embroiled in controversy after information about its users in China was given to local authorities, leading to the users' imprisonment and torture.
Google said it was disclosing the information "in the spirit" of principles laid out by the Global Network Initiative, a group that promotes freedom of expression online and also includes Yahoo and Microsoft Corp.
Google acknowledged that the information is not comprehensive, however, and noted that there may have been some doubling-up - with multiple requests potentially coming in for one specific action.
The information does not disclose whether Google complied with or challenged any of the data requests.
Google discloses government requests for user data
USA - Who needs high-speed broadband?
[sci am] On paper, the main crux of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) recently released National Broadband Plan is fairly straightforward: help 100 million rural, underprivileged and otherwise underserved households across the U.S. get access to the Internet at speeds of at least 100 megabits per second over the next decade. The reality of the country's efforts to expand broadband access is much more complicated, according to a roundtable discussion hosted Monday by New York Law School in New York City.
Roundtable participants, including Blair Levin, executive director of the FCC Omnibus Broadband Initiative, addressed the plan from a number of angles, including how high-speed broadband would be used and the factors that go into delivering the consistently high speeds the government is promising.
The 400-page plan (the first draft was 2,300 pages), introduced on March 16, attempts to address issues that will be relevant to broadband access over the next several years, said Levin, who served as chief of staff for FCC Chairman Reed Hundt from 1993 to 1997.
One of the most important reasons for the U.S. to scale-up its broadband capabilities is so its telecommunications infrastructure can handle new applications that will require high speeds such as 100 megabits per second. "Apps are something we're very good at and something we want to continue to be very good at," Levin said. For this to happen, U.S. developers need access to the highest speeds available.
Levin acknowledged, however, that there is little demand outside of businesses for speeds anywhere near 100 megabits per second. "It could be that cloud computing is one of the things that drives the demand for 100 megabits, but I'm not seeing that right now," he said, later adding that there is nothing to suggest that smart electrical grids or Internet-based learning resources for children will require 100 megabits per second anytime soon either.
Another key component of the National Broadband Plan is the government's effort to get broadband providers to quote realistic data-transmission speeds when marketing their services. Often, telecommunications companies and cable providers say they can offer particular high speeds but do not typically deliver on those speeds, Levin said, although he clarified that he was not accusing anyone of committing fraud.
Delivering high-speed broadband data flow consistently is not as simple as it would seem and is an area where the National Broadband Plan "got it wrong," Comcast Senior Director for Public Policy David Don said during a roundtable discussion that took place after Levin had departed. The plan suggests that Internet service providers (ISPs), this would include Comcast, are to blame for Internet connections that are slower than peak performance, he said.
Comcast can calculate what its networks are providing, he added, but actual speeds depend significantly on a variety of different factors, include the quality of the computer the consumer is using to access the Internet, the operating system running on that computer and the speed of the servers hosting the Web sites that a consumer is trying to access. "We can talk about what our network is capable of doing," Don said, "but the actual user experience is not something within our control entirely."
Who needs high-speed broadband?
Roundtable participants, including Blair Levin, executive director of the FCC Omnibus Broadband Initiative, addressed the plan from a number of angles, including how high-speed broadband would be used and the factors that go into delivering the consistently high speeds the government is promising.
The 400-page plan (the first draft was 2,300 pages), introduced on March 16, attempts to address issues that will be relevant to broadband access over the next several years, said Levin, who served as chief of staff for FCC Chairman Reed Hundt from 1993 to 1997.
One of the most important reasons for the U.S. to scale-up its broadband capabilities is so its telecommunications infrastructure can handle new applications that will require high speeds such as 100 megabits per second. "Apps are something we're very good at and something we want to continue to be very good at," Levin said. For this to happen, U.S. developers need access to the highest speeds available.
Levin acknowledged, however, that there is little demand outside of businesses for speeds anywhere near 100 megabits per second. "It could be that cloud computing is one of the things that drives the demand for 100 megabits, but I'm not seeing that right now," he said, later adding that there is nothing to suggest that smart electrical grids or Internet-based learning resources for children will require 100 megabits per second anytime soon either.
Another key component of the National Broadband Plan is the government's effort to get broadband providers to quote realistic data-transmission speeds when marketing their services. Often, telecommunications companies and cable providers say they can offer particular high speeds but do not typically deliver on those speeds, Levin said, although he clarified that he was not accusing anyone of committing fraud.
Delivering high-speed broadband data flow consistently is not as simple as it would seem and is an area where the National Broadband Plan "got it wrong," Comcast Senior Director for Public Policy David Don said during a roundtable discussion that took place after Levin had departed. The plan suggests that Internet service providers (ISPs), this would include Comcast, are to blame for Internet connections that are slower than peak performance, he said.
Comcast can calculate what its networks are providing, he added, but actual speeds depend significantly on a variety of different factors, include the quality of the computer the consumer is using to access the Internet, the operating system running on that computer and the speed of the servers hosting the Web sites that a consumer is trying to access. "We can talk about what our network is capable of doing," Don said, "but the actual user experience is not something within our control entirely."
Who needs high-speed broadband?
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
China aims at over 80 million FTTx users in 2011, says MIIT
[digitimes] The China government plans to invest more than 150 billion yuan (US$22.0 billion) in 2010-2011 to establish fiber-optic networks around the country, with aims to increase the number of FTTx subscribers by over 50 million to more than 80 million by the end of next year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The average FTTx download speed is expected to be 8Mbps and 2Mbps for home subscribers in cities and rural areas respectively as well as 100Mbps for business users, MIIT said.
China aims at over 80 million FTTx users in 2011, says MIIT
The average FTTx download speed is expected to be 8Mbps and 2Mbps for home subscribers in cities and rural areas respectively as well as 100Mbps for business users, MIIT said.
China aims at over 80 million FTTx users in 2011, says MIIT
USA - Reality check on 'reclassifying' broadband
[cnet] Even before the D.C. Circuit's decision in Comcast v. FCC, a great deal of ink has been spilled over speculation that the FCC will rescue its marooned Net neutrality rulemaking by "reclassifying" broadband Internet access as a "telecommunications service" under Title II of the Communications Act. (Some of that ink has been my own.)
Earlier last week, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski refused to rule out that possibility, telling a Senate Committee that "we haven't settled on a path forward."
But regulating Internet access after leaving it largely alone all these years would be much more difficult than most people think. There are serious legal obstacles to overcome, some of them substantial. Along the way, lawmakers, courts, and consumers are likely to oppose the FCC's means, even if they support the goal of enacting the proposed Net neutrality rules.
That's in part because regulating Internet access under Title II opens it to a wide range of possible regulation and plenty of unintended consequences. Under Title II, for starters, the FCC would have the power to subject Internet access to the full set of common-carrier provisions. These include federal, state, and even municipal oversight on rates, forced sharing of equipment (with any competitor who asks) at fees refereed by the FCC, and new taxes collected on behalf of the Universal Service Fund, which today is used to provide basic phone service to those who cannot otherwise afford it.
Reality check on 'reclassifying' broadband
Earlier last week, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski refused to rule out that possibility, telling a Senate Committee that "we haven't settled on a path forward."
But regulating Internet access after leaving it largely alone all these years would be much more difficult than most people think. There are serious legal obstacles to overcome, some of them substantial. Along the way, lawmakers, courts, and consumers are likely to oppose the FCC's means, even if they support the goal of enacting the proposed Net neutrality rules.
That's in part because regulating Internet access under Title II opens it to a wide range of possible regulation and plenty of unintended consequences. Under Title II, for starters, the FCC would have the power to subject Internet access to the full set of common-carrier provisions. These include federal, state, and even municipal oversight on rates, forced sharing of equipment (with any competitor who asks) at fees refereed by the FCC, and new taxes collected on behalf of the Universal Service Fund, which today is used to provide basic phone service to those who cannot otherwise afford it.
Reality check on 'reclassifying' broadband
USA - Supreme Court Justices Consider Privacy Issues in Text Messaging Case
[law.com] The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday wrestled with the privacy expectations of public employees in a case involving workplace monitoring of text messages.
By the end of arguments in City of Ontario, Calif. v. Quon, some justices, unfamiliar at first with the ins and outs of text technology, appeared better informed, but Jeffrey Quon's expectation of victory appeared to decline.
The city is asking the justices to overturn a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (pdf), holding that it violated the Fourth Amendment privacy rights of Quon, a member of the Ontario police department's SWAT team, when it reviewed transcripts of his and another officer's text messages on their department pagers. The city contends it reviewed the messages to determine whether it needed to increase the character allotment for all pagers.
The city's counsel, Kent Richland, a partner in Los Angeles firm Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland, told the justices that Quon had no reasonable expectation of privacy given that he had signed a written city policy that explicitly stated there were no privacy rights in the use of city computers and related equipment. He also said Quon and other SWAT team members were told when they subsequently received pagers that the e-mail and Internet use policy covered the pagers as well. And, he added, despite a supervisor's statement that the text messages would not be audited if the officers paid for any overages, that did not undermine the no-privacy policy.
"But we're dealing with Quon's reasonable expectations," interjected Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. "Now, most people will say, well, if you're paying for them, they are yours. And it particularly covered messages off-duty. Now, can't you sort of put all those together and say that it would be reasonable for him to assume that private messages were his business? They said he can do it. They said you have got to pay for it. He used it off-duty. They said they are not going to audit it."
Richland responded, "Not when he was told at the same time that these text messages were considered e-mail and could be audited, and that they were considered public records and could be audited at any time."
Richland received support during the argument from Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, who told the justices, "Millions of employees today use technologies of their employers under policies established by those employers. When a government employer has a no-privacy policy in place that governs the use of those technologies, ad hoc statements by a nonpolicy member cannot create a reasonable expectation of privacy.
"Put most simply, the computer help desk cannot supplant the chief's desk. That simple, clear rule should have decided this case."
He cautioned the Court about generalizing Fourth Amendment rules in this area because the technologies are "rapidly in flux" and expectations of privacy have not been as clearly formed as in traditional Fourth Amendment areas, such as homeowners putting trash to their curbs.
Quon's counsel, Dieter Dammeier of Lackie, Dammeier & McGill in Upland, Calif., told the justices that the department's computer policy did not apply to pagers as written and only came into play much later at a meeting with the SWAT team when the lower-level supervisor modified it.
But the computer policy did apply to associated equipment, said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, adding, "And if an employee is told, ‘Now e-mails aren't private, so we are warning you, we can monitor them,' wouldn't such an employee expect the same thing to apply to the pager?"
The city writes the rules, answered Dammeier, and it is the city's responsibility to make clear to employees to what the rules apply. Here, he added, the supervisor gave the privacy guarantee to Quon: if you pay the overages, we're not going to look at the messages.
Justice John Paul Stevens also pressed Dammeier about the "basic background of a reasonable expectation of privacy." He said these officers were SWAT team members. Suppose they were answering 911 calls.
"Isn't there sort of a background expectation that sooner or later, somebody might have to look at communications for this particular kind of law enforcement officer?" he asked.
Dammeier said that while there may be circumstances that allow the public employer to look at those communications, they do not destroy the employee's reasonable expectation of privacy.
Dammeier and his opponent, Richland, also disagreed on whether the review of the messages by the city was reasonable even if Quon had a reasonable expectation. The 9th Circuit found the search "excessively intrusive."
Richland said the review was reasonable because when the personal messages were discovered, they were redacted. The department only wanted to count the number of on-duty messages to determine whether the character allotment was appropriate. Dammeier insisted there were less intrusive ways to search, such as allowing the officers to count their own messages or to redact those that were not work-related.
High Court Justices Consider Privacy Issues in Text Messaging Case
By the end of arguments in City of Ontario, Calif. v. Quon, some justices, unfamiliar at first with the ins and outs of text technology, appeared better informed, but Jeffrey Quon's expectation of victory appeared to decline.
The city is asking the justices to overturn a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (pdf), holding that it violated the Fourth Amendment privacy rights of Quon, a member of the Ontario police department's SWAT team, when it reviewed transcripts of his and another officer's text messages on their department pagers. The city contends it reviewed the messages to determine whether it needed to increase the character allotment for all pagers.
The city's counsel, Kent Richland, a partner in Los Angeles firm Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland, told the justices that Quon had no reasonable expectation of privacy given that he had signed a written city policy that explicitly stated there were no privacy rights in the use of city computers and related equipment. He also said Quon and other SWAT team members were told when they subsequently received pagers that the e-mail and Internet use policy covered the pagers as well. And, he added, despite a supervisor's statement that the text messages would not be audited if the officers paid for any overages, that did not undermine the no-privacy policy.
"But we're dealing with Quon's reasonable expectations," interjected Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. "Now, most people will say, well, if you're paying for them, they are yours. And it particularly covered messages off-duty. Now, can't you sort of put all those together and say that it would be reasonable for him to assume that private messages were his business? They said he can do it. They said you have got to pay for it. He used it off-duty. They said they are not going to audit it."
Richland responded, "Not when he was told at the same time that these text messages were considered e-mail and could be audited, and that they were considered public records and could be audited at any time."
Richland received support during the argument from Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal, who told the justices, "Millions of employees today use technologies of their employers under policies established by those employers. When a government employer has a no-privacy policy in place that governs the use of those technologies, ad hoc statements by a nonpolicy member cannot create a reasonable expectation of privacy.
"Put most simply, the computer help desk cannot supplant the chief's desk. That simple, clear rule should have decided this case."
He cautioned the Court about generalizing Fourth Amendment rules in this area because the technologies are "rapidly in flux" and expectations of privacy have not been as clearly formed as in traditional Fourth Amendment areas, such as homeowners putting trash to their curbs.
Quon's counsel, Dieter Dammeier of Lackie, Dammeier & McGill in Upland, Calif., told the justices that the department's computer policy did not apply to pagers as written and only came into play much later at a meeting with the SWAT team when the lower-level supervisor modified it.
But the computer policy did apply to associated equipment, said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, adding, "And if an employee is told, ‘Now e-mails aren't private, so we are warning you, we can monitor them,' wouldn't such an employee expect the same thing to apply to the pager?"
The city writes the rules, answered Dammeier, and it is the city's responsibility to make clear to employees to what the rules apply. Here, he added, the supervisor gave the privacy guarantee to Quon: if you pay the overages, we're not going to look at the messages.
Justice John Paul Stevens also pressed Dammeier about the "basic background of a reasonable expectation of privacy." He said these officers were SWAT team members. Suppose they were answering 911 calls.
"Isn't there sort of a background expectation that sooner or later, somebody might have to look at communications for this particular kind of law enforcement officer?" he asked.
Dammeier said that while there may be circumstances that allow the public employer to look at those communications, they do not destroy the employee's reasonable expectation of privacy.
Dammeier and his opponent, Richland, also disagreed on whether the review of the messages by the city was reasonable even if Quon had a reasonable expectation. The 9th Circuit found the search "excessively intrusive."
Richland said the review was reasonable because when the personal messages were discovered, they were redacted. The department only wanted to count the number of on-duty messages to determine whether the character allotment was appropriate. Dammeier insisted there were less intrusive ways to search, such as allowing the officers to count their own messages or to redact those that were not work-related.
High Court Justices Consider Privacy Issues in Text Messaging Case
ALU, EADS partner to optimize LTE for public safety
[connected planet online] Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) and EADS Defence and Security are joining forces to develop new public safety technologies by combining the standards in both the land mobile radio and commercial wireless realms into a single joint solution. The two companies today said they have signed an agreement of principle to jointly develop an emergency communications platform based on long-term evolution and the Project 25 standards, designed to fuel interoperability between disparate local, state and federal agencies.
Alcatel Lucent will provide the LTE radio access infrastructure, data packet core, service delivery architecture and backhaul elements — all based on the 3GPP standards but optimized for the frequencies used by public safety agencies. Meanwhile EADS will integrate its existing LMR technology with the 4G platform, creating what amounts to an emergency radio network with an all-IP mobile broadband overlay. EADS will also supply the radio/LTE terminals and optimize its public safety applications for the LTE network. The two plan to target the platform first at 700 MHz, the band occupied by both digital LMR systems and the first U.S. LTE networks.
Regulators have been trying to align the efforts and technologies of commercial and public safety operators for some time. The 700 MHz auction was intended to create the first nationwide band accessible to any emergency agency from the federal level all the way down to the smallest town's police force. The FCC’s goal was to create a public-private partnership that would allow commercial operations and public safety to occupy the same airwaves, but the D-block failed to attract much interest from commercial operators, garnering only a single bid in 261 rounds. The FCC has made plans to re-auction the D-block spectrum this year, but last week a consortium of local and state government organizations sent a letter to federal lawmakers and regulators asking that the D-block be allocated directly to the public safety community, rather than seek a commercial operator middleman.
If the federal government were to reallocate the spectrum, that would place the responsibility of building a nationwide mobile broadband network in the hands of public agencies, which like a commercial operator might seek to deploy some version of LTE in that band. Converging around LTE would not only ensure interoperability among the different agencies, but it would allow the first responders to tap into the ecosystem developing around the 700 MHz band, creating a cheap supply of handsets, connected laptops, and data cards and other devices that are already configured for the network.
ALU, EADS partner to optimize LTE for public safety
Alcatel Lucent will provide the LTE radio access infrastructure, data packet core, service delivery architecture and backhaul elements — all based on the 3GPP standards but optimized for the frequencies used by public safety agencies. Meanwhile EADS will integrate its existing LMR technology with the 4G platform, creating what amounts to an emergency radio network with an all-IP mobile broadband overlay. EADS will also supply the radio/LTE terminals and optimize its public safety applications for the LTE network. The two plan to target the platform first at 700 MHz, the band occupied by both digital LMR systems and the first U.S. LTE networks.
Regulators have been trying to align the efforts and technologies of commercial and public safety operators for some time. The 700 MHz auction was intended to create the first nationwide band accessible to any emergency agency from the federal level all the way down to the smallest town's police force. The FCC’s goal was to create a public-private partnership that would allow commercial operations and public safety to occupy the same airwaves, but the D-block failed to attract much interest from commercial operators, garnering only a single bid in 261 rounds. The FCC has made plans to re-auction the D-block spectrum this year, but last week a consortium of local and state government organizations sent a letter to federal lawmakers and regulators asking that the D-block be allocated directly to the public safety community, rather than seek a commercial operator middleman.
If the federal government were to reallocate the spectrum, that would place the responsibility of building a nationwide mobile broadband network in the hands of public agencies, which like a commercial operator might seek to deploy some version of LTE in that band. Converging around LTE would not only ensure interoperability among the different agencies, but it would allow the first responders to tap into the ecosystem developing around the 700 MHz band, creating a cheap supply of handsets, connected laptops, and data cards and other devices that are already configured for the network.
ALU, EADS partner to optimize LTE for public safety
Cybercrime’s Financial and Geographic Growth Shows No Slowdown during the Global Economic Crisis
[prwire] Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today released its new Internet Security Threat Report volume XV, which highlights key trends in cybercrime from Jan.1, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2009. In a year bookended by two very prominent Cyber attacks – Conficker in the opening months of the year and Hydraq at the very end – Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report reveals continued growth in both the volume and sophistication of cybercrime attacks.
“Attackers have evolved from simple scams to highly sophisticated espionage campaigns targeting some of the world’s largest corporations and government entities,” said Stephen Trilling, senior vice president, Security Technology and Response, Symantec. “The scale of these attacks and the fact that they originate from across the world, makes this a truly international problem requiring the cooperation of both the private sector and world governments.”
Notable trends highlighted in this year’s report include:
* An increase in the number of targeted threats focused on enterprises. Given the potential for monetary gain from compromised corporate intellectual property (IP), cybercriminals have turned their attention toward enterprises. The report found that attackers are leveraging the abundance of personal information openly available on social networking sites to synthesise socially engineered attacks on key individuals within targeted companies. Hydraq gained a great deal of notoriety at the beginning of 2010, but was only the latest in a long line of such targeted attacks including Shadow Network in 2009 and Ghostnet in 2008.
* Attack toolkits make cybercrime easier than ever. Cybercrime attack toolkits have lowered the bar to entry for new cybercriminals, making it easy for unskilled attackers to compromise computers and steal information. One such toolkit called Zeus (Zbot), which can be purchased for as little as $700, automates the process of creating customised malware capable of stealing personal information. Using kits like Zeus, attackers created literally millions of new malicious code variants in an effort to evade detection by security software.
* Web-based attacks continued to grow unabated. Today’s attackers leverage social engineering techniques to lure unsuspecting users to malicious websites. These websites then attack the victim’s Web browser and vulnerable plug-ins normally used to view video or document files. In particular, 2009 saw dramatic growth in the number of Web-based attacks targeted at PDF viewers; this accounted for 49 per cent of observed Web-based attacks. This is a sizeable increase from the 11 per cent reported in 2008.
* Malicious activity takes root in emerging countries. The report saw firm signs that malicious activity is now taking root in countries with an emerging broadband infrastructure, such as Brazil, India, Poland, Vietnam and Russia. In 2009, these countries moved up the rankings as a source and target of malicious activity by cybercriminals. The findings from the report suggest that government crackdowns in developed countries have led cybercriminals to launch their attacks from the developing world, where they are less likely to be prosecuted.
Other ISTR Highlights:
* Malicious code is more rampant than ever. In 2009, Symantec identified more than 240 million distinct new malicious programs, a 100 per cent increase over 2008.
* Top threats. The Sality.AE virus, the Brisv Trojan and the SillyFDC worm were the threats most frequently blocked by Symantec security software in 2009.
* Downadup (Conficker) still very prevalent. It was estimated that Downadup was on more than 6.5 million PCs worldwide at the end of 2009. Thus far, machines still infected with Downadup/Conficker have not been utilised for any significant criminal activity, but the threat remains a viable one.
* Compromised identity information continues to grow. Sixty per cent of all data breaches that exposed identities were the result of hacking. In a sign that this issue is not limited to a few larger enterprises, the Symantec State of Enterprise Security Report 2010 reported that 75 per cent of enterprises surveyed experienced some form of cyber attack in 2009.
* Another turbulent year for spam. In 2009, spam made up 88 per cent of all e-mail observed by Symantec, with a high of 90.4 per cent in May and a low of 73.7 per cent in February. Of the 107 billion spam messages distributed globally per day on average, 85 per cent were from botnets. The 10 major bot networks, including Cutwail, Rustock and Mega-D now control at least 5 million compromised computers. Throughout 2009, Symantec saw botnet infected computers being advertised in the underground economy for as little as 3 cents per computer.
* Applying security patches continues to be a challenge for many users. The report found that maintaining a secure, patched system became more challenging than ever in 2009. Moreover, many users are failing to patch even very old vulnerabilities. For example, the Microsoft Internet Explorer ADODB.Stream Object File Installation Weakness was published on August 23, 2003, and fixes have been available since July 2, 2004, yet it was the second-most attacked Web-based vulnerability in 2009.
Cybercrime’s Financial and Geographic Growth Shows No Slowdown during the Global Economic Crisis
“Attackers have evolved from simple scams to highly sophisticated espionage campaigns targeting some of the world’s largest corporations and government entities,” said Stephen Trilling, senior vice president, Security Technology and Response, Symantec. “The scale of these attacks and the fact that they originate from across the world, makes this a truly international problem requiring the cooperation of both the private sector and world governments.”
Notable trends highlighted in this year’s report include:
* An increase in the number of targeted threats focused on enterprises. Given the potential for monetary gain from compromised corporate intellectual property (IP), cybercriminals have turned their attention toward enterprises. The report found that attackers are leveraging the abundance of personal information openly available on social networking sites to synthesise socially engineered attacks on key individuals within targeted companies. Hydraq gained a great deal of notoriety at the beginning of 2010, but was only the latest in a long line of such targeted attacks including Shadow Network in 2009 and Ghostnet in 2008.
* Attack toolkits make cybercrime easier than ever. Cybercrime attack toolkits have lowered the bar to entry for new cybercriminals, making it easy for unskilled attackers to compromise computers and steal information. One such toolkit called Zeus (Zbot), which can be purchased for as little as $700, automates the process of creating customised malware capable of stealing personal information. Using kits like Zeus, attackers created literally millions of new malicious code variants in an effort to evade detection by security software.
* Web-based attacks continued to grow unabated. Today’s attackers leverage social engineering techniques to lure unsuspecting users to malicious websites. These websites then attack the victim’s Web browser and vulnerable plug-ins normally used to view video or document files. In particular, 2009 saw dramatic growth in the number of Web-based attacks targeted at PDF viewers; this accounted for 49 per cent of observed Web-based attacks. This is a sizeable increase from the 11 per cent reported in 2008.
* Malicious activity takes root in emerging countries. The report saw firm signs that malicious activity is now taking root in countries with an emerging broadband infrastructure, such as Brazil, India, Poland, Vietnam and Russia. In 2009, these countries moved up the rankings as a source and target of malicious activity by cybercriminals. The findings from the report suggest that government crackdowns in developed countries have led cybercriminals to launch their attacks from the developing world, where they are less likely to be prosecuted.
Other ISTR Highlights:
* Malicious code is more rampant than ever. In 2009, Symantec identified more than 240 million distinct new malicious programs, a 100 per cent increase over 2008.
* Top threats. The Sality.AE virus, the Brisv Trojan and the SillyFDC worm were the threats most frequently blocked by Symantec security software in 2009.
* Downadup (Conficker) still very prevalent. It was estimated that Downadup was on more than 6.5 million PCs worldwide at the end of 2009. Thus far, machines still infected with Downadup/Conficker have not been utilised for any significant criminal activity, but the threat remains a viable one.
* Compromised identity information continues to grow. Sixty per cent of all data breaches that exposed identities were the result of hacking. In a sign that this issue is not limited to a few larger enterprises, the Symantec State of Enterprise Security Report 2010 reported that 75 per cent of enterprises surveyed experienced some form of cyber attack in 2009.
* Another turbulent year for spam. In 2009, spam made up 88 per cent of all e-mail observed by Symantec, with a high of 90.4 per cent in May and a low of 73.7 per cent in February. Of the 107 billion spam messages distributed globally per day on average, 85 per cent were from botnets. The 10 major bot networks, including Cutwail, Rustock and Mega-D now control at least 5 million compromised computers. Throughout 2009, Symantec saw botnet infected computers being advertised in the underground economy for as little as 3 cents per computer.
* Applying security patches continues to be a challenge for many users. The report found that maintaining a secure, patched system became more challenging than ever in 2009. Moreover, many users are failing to patch even very old vulnerabilities. For example, the Microsoft Internet Explorer ADODB.Stream Object File Installation Weakness was published on August 23, 2003, and fixes have been available since July 2, 2004, yet it was the second-most attacked Web-based vulnerability in 2009.
Cybercrime’s Financial and Geographic Growth Shows No Slowdown during the Global Economic Crisis
Monday, April 19, 2010
N.Korea - Rapid rise in mobile phone use
[afp] Mobile phone subscriptions are spreading fast in North Korea and could number 600,000 by the end of this year, a report said Monday.
The number of mobile phone subscribers in the communist state stood at over 120,000 in April, said the Chosun Sinbo, a pro-North Korean newspaper published in Tokyo.
Equipment for mobile service has been set up in more than half of North Korean cities and counties, it said.
The regime is expanding its wireless telecom network to accommodate about 600,000 subscribers before the end of this year, the paper said.
North Korea has strictly controlled access to outside information and fixes the tuning controls of radios and televisions to official stations.
It began a mobile phone service in November 2002 but shut it down without explanation 18 months later and began recalling handsets.
But in December 2008, the country introduced a 3G mobile phone network in a joint venture with Cairo-based Orascom Telecom.
Mobile phones in use in Pyongyang are made in neighbouring China.
The paper quoted Choe Un, head of the North's mobile telecom department, as saying the country plans to produce its own phones in six months.
Rapid rise in N.Korea mobile phone use: report
The number of mobile phone subscribers in the communist state stood at over 120,000 in April, said the Chosun Sinbo, a pro-North Korean newspaper published in Tokyo.
Equipment for mobile service has been set up in more than half of North Korean cities and counties, it said.
The regime is expanding its wireless telecom network to accommodate about 600,000 subscribers before the end of this year, the paper said.
North Korea has strictly controlled access to outside information and fixes the tuning controls of radios and televisions to official stations.
It began a mobile phone service in November 2002 but shut it down without explanation 18 months later and began recalling handsets.
But in December 2008, the country introduced a 3G mobile phone network in a joint venture with Cairo-based Orascom Telecom.
Mobile phones in use in Pyongyang are made in neighbouring China.
The paper quoted Choe Un, head of the North's mobile telecom department, as saying the country plans to produce its own phones in six months.
Rapid rise in N.Korea mobile phone use: report
Australia - Telstra ready to fight deceptive conduct fine
[the australian] TELSTRA will today try to convince the Federal Court that it should not be fined up to $300 million despite admitting it engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and breached the conditions of its carrier licence.
Nine days of hearings have been set for the Federal Court in Victoria.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission began the proceedings against Telstra in March 2009, alleging the telco denied wholesale customers such as Optus and iiNet space on equipment in seven lucrative metropolitan telephony exchanges.
Under standard obligations, Telstra is legally required to allow access to its telephone exchanges so that competitors can install equipment to provide new voice and broadband offerings for customers.
Telstra admitted the charges on July 31. In its filing, the telco admitted it had failed to comply with its access obligations under the Telecommunications Act 1997, contravening a condition of its carrier licence.
"At a time of rapid growth in broadband uptake, we made some mistakes evaluating requests from wholesale customers wanting access to our exchanges. We changed our processes two years ago to ensure it wouldn't happen again," Telstra spokesman Andrew Butcher said.
"I don't want to make excuses for what happened, but the mistakes we made involved less than 1 per cent of all requests. Still, 99 per cent or so isn't good enough."
The Telecommunications Act allows for fines of up to $10m per breach. Thirty breaches have been alleged, but it is unclear how many of these Telstra has admitted. The ACCC is seeking declarations, fines and injunctions.
Telstra has assembled an army of lawyers to help plead its case for a lesser fine, including the $10,000-a-day Melbourne silk Alan Archibald QC.
Industry commentators, referring to the lengthy nine-day hearing, believe Telstra is trying to put as much distance as possible between the impending judgment and the government's controversial telecoms reforms.
"This is another example of the so-called New Telstra using the same old tactics as the Old Telstra, using it financial muscle to string every dispute and debate out for as long as it possibly can, maximising the disruption and delaying justice, even when it admits it is in the wrong," Competitive Carriers' Coalition executive director David Forman said.
Telstra, however, maintains that it was the court that set the trial dates, not the telco. Both sides have submitted evidence from a number of witnesses for the case.
The impending telecoms legislation threatens to force Telstra to split its network.
Telstra ready to fight deceptive conduct fine
Nine days of hearings have been set for the Federal Court in Victoria.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission began the proceedings against Telstra in March 2009, alleging the telco denied wholesale customers such as Optus and iiNet space on equipment in seven lucrative metropolitan telephony exchanges.
Under standard obligations, Telstra is legally required to allow access to its telephone exchanges so that competitors can install equipment to provide new voice and broadband offerings for customers.
Telstra admitted the charges on July 31. In its filing, the telco admitted it had failed to comply with its access obligations under the Telecommunications Act 1997, contravening a condition of its carrier licence.
"At a time of rapid growth in broadband uptake, we made some mistakes evaluating requests from wholesale customers wanting access to our exchanges. We changed our processes two years ago to ensure it wouldn't happen again," Telstra spokesman Andrew Butcher said.
"I don't want to make excuses for what happened, but the mistakes we made involved less than 1 per cent of all requests. Still, 99 per cent or so isn't good enough."
The Telecommunications Act allows for fines of up to $10m per breach. Thirty breaches have been alleged, but it is unclear how many of these Telstra has admitted. The ACCC is seeking declarations, fines and injunctions.
Telstra has assembled an army of lawyers to help plead its case for a lesser fine, including the $10,000-a-day Melbourne silk Alan Archibald QC.
Industry commentators, referring to the lengthy nine-day hearing, believe Telstra is trying to put as much distance as possible between the impending judgment and the government's controversial telecoms reforms.
"This is another example of the so-called New Telstra using the same old tactics as the Old Telstra, using it financial muscle to string every dispute and debate out for as long as it possibly can, maximising the disruption and delaying justice, even when it admits it is in the wrong," Competitive Carriers' Coalition executive director David Forman said.
Telstra, however, maintains that it was the court that set the trial dates, not the telco. Both sides have submitted evidence from a number of witnesses for the case.
The impending telecoms legislation threatens to force Telstra to split its network.
Telstra ready to fight deceptive conduct fine
China - Telecommunications Restored in Quake-hit Region
[cri] Telecommunications in the quake-hit northwest China region have been restored, the Qinghai provincial government said Thursday.
Both fixed-line and mobile phone links in the region had been available since early Thursday, said Liu Yougui, director of the government information office, at a press conference.
The 7.1-magnitude quake, which struck the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in southern Qinghai early Wednesday, has left 617 dead, 9,110 injured and 313 missing.
The deadly quake also toppled 15,000 residential buildings and forced 100,000 residents to be relocated, according to the rescue headquarters.
Thousands of rescuers have been fighting altitude sickness, chilly weather, strong winds and frequent aftershocks to dig through rubble to reach survivors.
The earthquake has damaged roads, disrupted telecommunications and knocked out power.
Roads to the quake-hit Yushu County from Xining City, the provincial capital, were passable for the increasing numbers of rescuers and relief materials rushing to the region from all over the country, said Liu.
Roads linking the airport and Gyegu, the hardest-hit, had been repaired after being blocked by quake-triggered landslide.
The provincial government had mobilized 294 passenger buses from transport companies and travel agencies to support the quake relief operations, he added.
Meanwhile, 484 trucks with a total capacity of 5,955 tonnes were on call 24 hours a day.
Telecommunications Restored in Quake-hit Region
Both fixed-line and mobile phone links in the region had been available since early Thursday, said Liu Yougui, director of the government information office, at a press conference.
The 7.1-magnitude quake, which struck the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu in southern Qinghai early Wednesday, has left 617 dead, 9,110 injured and 313 missing.
The deadly quake also toppled 15,000 residential buildings and forced 100,000 residents to be relocated, according to the rescue headquarters.
Thousands of rescuers have been fighting altitude sickness, chilly weather, strong winds and frequent aftershocks to dig through rubble to reach survivors.
The earthquake has damaged roads, disrupted telecommunications and knocked out power.
Roads to the quake-hit Yushu County from Xining City, the provincial capital, were passable for the increasing numbers of rescuers and relief materials rushing to the region from all over the country, said Liu.
Roads linking the airport and Gyegu, the hardest-hit, had been repaired after being blocked by quake-triggered landslide.
The provincial government had mobilized 294 passenger buses from transport companies and travel agencies to support the quake relief operations, he added.
Meanwhile, 484 trucks with a total capacity of 5,955 tonnes were on call 24 hours a day.
Telecommunications Restored in Quake-hit Region
Australia - Minister clarifies greenfields FTTH legislation
[itwire] Communications minister, senator Stephen Conroy, has released a position paper on the subordinate legislation that will give operational effect to the fibre in greenfields Bill. In particular it clarifies the development threshold that will determine which projects are captured when the legislation comes into effect.
According to Conroy, "the position paper…takes a sensible, targeted and measured approach to the implementation of this [fibre in greenfield developments] policy. It allows us to target those estates where it is possible to have fibre now, while ensuring others have fibre-ready infrastructure installed so it is easier and cheaper to connect them later."
The paper has been provided to the Senate Environment, Communications and the Arts Committee, which is conducting and enquiry into the bill, "to assist it in its deliberations on the Bill, and subsequently the debate of the Bill in the upcoming parliamentary sittings." The bill is also the subject of its own Senate enquiry, which is holding a public hearing in Sydney, today 19 April.
This paper outlines the proposed approach to be taken in four key areas: geographical coverage; the types of developments to be captured, including thresholds and exemptions; the practical date of effect; and specifications.
The greenfields bill, the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Fibre Deployment) Bill 2010, will insert a new part 20A into the Telecommunications Act 1997. This part will require the minister to make subordinate legislation on a range of matters to "ensure requirements can be specified in sufficient detail and provide flexibility, particularly to allow for the targeting and phasing in of requirements."
Conroy clarifies greenfields FTTH legislation
According to Conroy, "the position paper…takes a sensible, targeted and measured approach to the implementation of this [fibre in greenfield developments] policy. It allows us to target those estates where it is possible to have fibre now, while ensuring others have fibre-ready infrastructure installed so it is easier and cheaper to connect them later."
The paper has been provided to the Senate Environment, Communications and the Arts Committee, which is conducting and enquiry into the bill, "to assist it in its deliberations on the Bill, and subsequently the debate of the Bill in the upcoming parliamentary sittings." The bill is also the subject of its own Senate enquiry, which is holding a public hearing in Sydney, today 19 April.
This paper outlines the proposed approach to be taken in four key areas: geographical coverage; the types of developments to be captured, including thresholds and exemptions; the practical date of effect; and specifications.
The greenfields bill, the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Fibre Deployment) Bill 2010, will insert a new part 20A into the Telecommunications Act 1997. This part will require the minister to make subordinate legislation on a range of matters to "ensure requirements can be specified in sufficient detail and provide flexibility, particularly to allow for the targeting and phasing in of requirements."
Conroy clarifies greenfields FTTH legislation
Canada - CRTC becoming 'outdated': chairman
[vancouver sun] Konrad von Finckenstein, the head of Canada's broadcasting and communications regulator, is calling for massive reforms to the country's media and telecom rules, but remains staunchly against opening the market to foreign takeovers.
As access to Internet and digital content increases, the chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission told a parliamentary committee Tuesday that his commission's powers were becoming "outdated."
The convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications is now a "fact of life," the chairman said, as the country's major phone and cable firms offer services and content that historically were provided by broadcasters. He suggested the old framework that split regulation under the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Acts should be merged into a single law.
"Technological convergence has led to corporate convergence," he said.
Yet the hot-button issue for industry watchers was how von Finckenstein would address foreign-ownership rules.
True to the CRTC's long-held position, von Finckenstein said he was against foreign companies owning a majority stake in Canadian carriers, warning that throwing open the gates would result in a "branch plant" communications sector that would serve as nothing more than a "training ground for young executives from other countries."
If the federal government removes foreign ownership rules, "there is no way you can go back," he warned.
However, the chairman said he did support more foreign investment, saying that the commission would be comfortable with companies from other countries holding 49- per-cent control in a Canadian firm, up from about 47 per cent currently.
The "control in fact" provisions also remain critical in guarding the sector, he said, referring to rules addressing board, shareholder agreement thresholds among other measures.
He said if foreign firms wanted a presence in the Canadian communications market, they must "bet" on a Canadian to bring them returns.
"That's the way it works, and that's the way it should be," von Finckenstein said.
Tuesday's hearing followed a break between the federal government and and the CRTC last December, when the cabinet overturned a decision by the commission to bar Globalive Wireless Management Corp. from entering the market.
The CRTC ruled at the time that Globalive's partnership with Egypt's Orascom Telecom gave the foreign firm too much power: that control "in fact" was in the hands of the Cairo-based company.
CRTC becoming 'outdated': chairman
As access to Internet and digital content increases, the chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission told a parliamentary committee Tuesday that his commission's powers were becoming "outdated."
The convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications is now a "fact of life," the chairman said, as the country's major phone and cable firms offer services and content that historically were provided by broadcasters. He suggested the old framework that split regulation under the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Acts should be merged into a single law.
"Technological convergence has led to corporate convergence," he said.
Yet the hot-button issue for industry watchers was how von Finckenstein would address foreign-ownership rules.
True to the CRTC's long-held position, von Finckenstein said he was against foreign companies owning a majority stake in Canadian carriers, warning that throwing open the gates would result in a "branch plant" communications sector that would serve as nothing more than a "training ground for young executives from other countries."
If the federal government removes foreign ownership rules, "there is no way you can go back," he warned.
However, the chairman said he did support more foreign investment, saying that the commission would be comfortable with companies from other countries holding 49- per-cent control in a Canadian firm, up from about 47 per cent currently.
The "control in fact" provisions also remain critical in guarding the sector, he said, referring to rules addressing board, shareholder agreement thresholds among other measures.
He said if foreign firms wanted a presence in the Canadian communications market, they must "bet" on a Canadian to bring them returns.
"That's the way it works, and that's the way it should be," von Finckenstein said.
Tuesday's hearing followed a break between the federal government and and the CRTC last December, when the cabinet overturned a decision by the commission to bar Globalive Wireless Management Corp. from entering the market.
The CRTC ruled at the time that Globalive's partnership with Egypt's Orascom Telecom gave the foreign firm too much power: that control "in fact" was in the hands of the Cairo-based company.
CRTC becoming 'outdated': chairman
Sunday, April 18, 2010
LTE - Global presence on the rise - 31 countries committed
[digitimes] As of April 2010, 64 mobile telecom carriers in 31 countries have decided to adopt the LTE (long term evolution) standard and another 24 in 11 countries are evaluating and/or testing LTE, according to GSA (the Global Mobile Suppliers Association) figures.
There will be up to 22 LTE networks in operation around the world by the end of 2010 and up to 39 by the end of 2012, according to GSA prediction.
Global presence of LTE on the rise, GSA statistics show
There will be up to 22 LTE networks in operation around the world by the end of 2010 and up to 39 by the end of 2012, according to GSA prediction.
Global presence of LTE on the rise, GSA statistics show
Europe - Kroes champions interoperability in draft 'digital agenda'
[euractiv] As Commissioner Neelie Kroes prepares to unveil proposals for an EU digital agenda by the end of April, tensions have emerged around the issues of interoperability and open standards for ICT systems. EurActiv France reports.
Serving citizens' interests has been the driving force behind the EU's digital agenda since Kroes started with her new mandate earlier this year.
''My priority is to work together at the heart of Europe to ensure that information technology improves our daily lives – for citizens as well as businesses,'' she stressed.
One of her main tasks is to implement a digital strategy with key sector guidelines for 2010-2015. The agenda will be featured as one of the 'flagship initiatives' under the Commission's proposed 'Europe 2020' strategy, aimed at lifting the EU out of recession.
Providing all European citizens with high-speed Internet access, creating a single digital market, reinforcing online security, fostering research and innovation – these are all part of the agenda.
According to the Commission, the text should be unveiled at the end of April or the beginning of May. For now, the EU executive is not giving any indications about its content.
Kroes champions interoperability in draft 'digital agenda'
Serving citizens' interests has been the driving force behind the EU's digital agenda since Kroes started with her new mandate earlier this year.
''My priority is to work together at the heart of Europe to ensure that information technology improves our daily lives – for citizens as well as businesses,'' she stressed.
One of her main tasks is to implement a digital strategy with key sector guidelines for 2010-2015. The agenda will be featured as one of the 'flagship initiatives' under the Commission's proposed 'Europe 2020' strategy, aimed at lifting the EU out of recession.
Providing all European citizens with high-speed Internet access, creating a single digital market, reinforcing online security, fostering research and innovation – these are all part of the agenda.
According to the Commission, the text should be unveiled at the end of April or the beginning of May. For now, the EU executive is not giving any indications about its content.
Kroes champions interoperability in draft 'digital agenda'
More Rural Chinese Surf the Web by Mobile PhoneMore Rural Chinese Surf the Web by Mobile Phone
[pcworld] Mobile phones are an increasingly popular way to surf the Internet in rural China, but a "digital divide" is still growing between the country's rural and urban areas, a survey found.
Rural China had over 100 million Internet users at the end of last year, accounting for just 15 percent of the rural population, according to a report put online Thursday by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the government-controlled overseer of Internet domain names in the country. That compares to 45 percent of people online in bigger cities, a gap that has widened for the last two years, the report said.
China is home to everything from extremely poor farming villages to super-developed metropolises like Shanghai and Beijing. China's mobile carriers and state media have trumpeted the rollout of 3G mobile services in the last year, but much of the country's population of 1.3 billion people remains beyond the reach of advanced communication technology. CNNIC counts more than 384 million Internet users in China, the most in any country but still less than one-third of China's population.
The CNNIC report blamed lack of knowledge, low incomes and poor infrastructure for the slower growth of Internet use in rural China. Rural Chinese Internet users are more likely than urban ones to be poorly educated, the report said. They use the Internet to get music and play online games, but they are less likely than urban users to use it for commercial services like online shopping or online payment, it said.
The numbers present a mixed picture for China's mobile carriers as they try to extend their reach further into rural areas and persuade more users to pay for 3G data services. Two in three rural Chinese Internet users got online by mobile phone last year, a significant rise from a year earlier. But rural users also remain poorly connected and lack high spending power.
More Rural Chinese Surf the Web by Mobile Phone
Rural China had over 100 million Internet users at the end of last year, accounting for just 15 percent of the rural population, according to a report put online Thursday by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the government-controlled overseer of Internet domain names in the country. That compares to 45 percent of people online in bigger cities, a gap that has widened for the last two years, the report said.
China is home to everything from extremely poor farming villages to super-developed metropolises like Shanghai and Beijing. China's mobile carriers and state media have trumpeted the rollout of 3G mobile services in the last year, but much of the country's population of 1.3 billion people remains beyond the reach of advanced communication technology. CNNIC counts more than 384 million Internet users in China, the most in any country but still less than one-third of China's population.
The CNNIC report blamed lack of knowledge, low incomes and poor infrastructure for the slower growth of Internet use in rural China. Rural Chinese Internet users are more likely than urban ones to be poorly educated, the report said. They use the Internet to get music and play online games, but they are less likely than urban users to use it for commercial services like online shopping or online payment, it said.
The numbers present a mixed picture for China's mobile carriers as they try to extend their reach further into rural areas and persuade more users to pay for 3G data services. Two in three rural Chinese Internet users got online by mobile phone last year, a significant rise from a year earlier. But rural users also remain poorly connected and lack high spending power.
More Rural Chinese Surf the Web by Mobile Phone
Germany - 4G mobile phone frequencies go under hammer
[afp] Europe's first auction of "fourth generation" frequencies got underway in Germany on Monday, technology that promises to revolutionise what mobile phones are capable of.
The auction, which began in the western city of Mainz and is likely to last several weeks, may raise only a fraction of the 50 billion euros generated from the sale of third generation UMTS licenses in 2000.
But unlike UMTS, fourth generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks are expected to be up and running soon and experts are confident that the new technology will not disappoint.
"Demand is well ahead of supply," said Matthias Kurth, head of the German telecoms agency running the auction, with "severe competition" among operators Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2 and E-Plus, owned by Dutch operator KPN.
A large part of what is up for grabs is the so-called "digital dividend," a chunk of frequencies left unwanted by television companies following their switch from analogue to digital broadcasting.
The new technology will mean users will be able to view high-definition videos on mobile phones, and to transfer data at much higher speeds.
It may also pose competition to broadband and cable operators since computers will be able to use 4G networks to access the Internet.
German '4G' mobile phone frequencies go under hammer
The auction, which began in the western city of Mainz and is likely to last several weeks, may raise only a fraction of the 50 billion euros generated from the sale of third generation UMTS licenses in 2000.
But unlike UMTS, fourth generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks are expected to be up and running soon and experts are confident that the new technology will not disappoint.
"Demand is well ahead of supply," said Matthias Kurth, head of the German telecoms agency running the auction, with "severe competition" among operators Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2 and E-Plus, owned by Dutch operator KPN.
A large part of what is up for grabs is the so-called "digital dividend," a chunk of frequencies left unwanted by television companies following their switch from analogue to digital broadcasting.
The new technology will mean users will be able to view high-definition videos on mobile phones, and to transfer data at much higher speeds.
It may also pose competition to broadband and cable operators since computers will be able to use 4G networks to access the Internet.
German '4G' mobile phone frequencies go under hammer
Gartner Says Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 5.3 Percent in 2010
[prwire] Worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach US$3.4 trillion in 2010, a 5.3 percent increase from IT spending of US$3.2 trillion in 2009, according to Gartner, Inc. The IT industry will continue to show steady growth with IT spending in 2011 projected to surpass US$3.5 trillion, a 4.2 percent increase from 2010. In Asia Pacific, IT spending is forecast to reach US$549 billion, up 8.7 percent over 2009 levels.
"Following strong fourth quarter sales, an unseasonably robust hardware supply chain in the first quarter of 2010, combined with continued improvement in the global economy, sets up 2010 for solid IT spending growth," said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner. "However, it's important to note that nearly 4 percentage points of the global growth figure will be the result of a projected decline in the value of the dollar relative to last year. IT spending in exchange-rate-adjusted dollars will still grow 1.6 percent this year, after declining 1.4 percent in 2009."
Worldwide computing hardware spending is forecast to reach US$353 billion in 2010, a 5.7 percent increase from 2009 (see Table 1). Robust consumer spending on mobile PCs will drive hardware spending in 2010. Enterprise hardware spending will grow again in 2010, but it will remain below its 2008 level through 2014. Spending on storage will enjoy the fastest growth in terms of enterprise spending as the volume of enterprise data that needs to be stored continues to increase. Near-term spending on servers will be concentrated on lower-end servers; longer-term, server spending will be curtailed by virtualization, consolidation and, potentially, cloud computing.
"Computing hardware suffered the steepest spending decline of the four major IT spending category segments in 2009. However, it is now forecast to enjoy the joint strongest rebound in 2010," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner. "Consumer PC spending will contribute nearly 4 percentage points of hardware spending growth in 2010, powered by strong consumer spending on mobile PCs. Additionally, professional PC spending will contribute just over 1 percentage point of spending growth in 2010 as organizations begin their migration to Windows 7 toward the end of the year."
Gartner Says Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 5.3 Percent in 2010
see also YouTube
"Following strong fourth quarter sales, an unseasonably robust hardware supply chain in the first quarter of 2010, combined with continued improvement in the global economy, sets up 2010 for solid IT spending growth," said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner. "However, it's important to note that nearly 4 percentage points of the global growth figure will be the result of a projected decline in the value of the dollar relative to last year. IT spending in exchange-rate-adjusted dollars will still grow 1.6 percent this year, after declining 1.4 percent in 2009."
Worldwide computing hardware spending is forecast to reach US$353 billion in 2010, a 5.7 percent increase from 2009 (see Table 1). Robust consumer spending on mobile PCs will drive hardware spending in 2010. Enterprise hardware spending will grow again in 2010, but it will remain below its 2008 level through 2014. Spending on storage will enjoy the fastest growth in terms of enterprise spending as the volume of enterprise data that needs to be stored continues to increase. Near-term spending on servers will be concentrated on lower-end servers; longer-term, server spending will be curtailed by virtualization, consolidation and, potentially, cloud computing.
"Computing hardware suffered the steepest spending decline of the four major IT spending category segments in 2009. However, it is now forecast to enjoy the joint strongest rebound in 2010," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner. "Consumer PC spending will contribute nearly 4 percentage points of hardware spending growth in 2010, powered by strong consumer spending on mobile PCs. Additionally, professional PC spending will contribute just over 1 percentage point of spending growth in 2010 as organizations begin their migration to Windows 7 toward the end of the year."
Gartner Says Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 5.3 Percent in 2010
see also YouTube
Telecom NZ ready to compromise in pursuit of $1.5b broadband deal
[smh]
TELECOM NEW ZEALAND has caved in to government pressure and will consider splitting into two companies, making it more likely the NZ government's $1.5 billion plan to roll out ultrafast broadband to three-quarters of homes will get off the ground.
Falling revenue from mobile and fixed line services have forced Telecom to issue an earnings downgrade, as management continue to spruik their Australian subsidiary, AAPT.
The chief executive, Paul Reynolds, said the company was open to working with the government on a ''full range of approaches'' to its broadband initiative, after slashing its profit forecast by hundreds of millions over three years. Telecom also announced it would axe 200 management jobs by July.
A split would likely see Telecom's fixed-line network separated from its retail business, allowing its 23,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable to become the nucleus of the new home and business fibre network, which the government hopes will revitalise the country's economic fortunes and help catch up with living standards in Australia.
Officials speculated in January that Telecom would blink first in its game of chicken with the government over its broadband plan by considering structural separation. However, this was downplayed by Mr Reynolds at the time, who said there had been no change in the company's stance on structural separation, which was a ''costly and complex exercise'' that had not stacked up elsewhere.
The NZ Communications Minister, Steven Joyce, said he did not have the power to influence Telecom's future moves.
Telecom NZ ready to compromise in pursuit of $1.5b broadband deal
TELECOM NEW ZEALAND has caved in to government pressure and will consider splitting into two companies, making it more likely the NZ government's $1.5 billion plan to roll out ultrafast broadband to three-quarters of homes will get off the ground.
Falling revenue from mobile and fixed line services have forced Telecom to issue an earnings downgrade, as management continue to spruik their Australian subsidiary, AAPT.
The chief executive, Paul Reynolds, said the company was open to working with the government on a ''full range of approaches'' to its broadband initiative, after slashing its profit forecast by hundreds of millions over three years. Telecom also announced it would axe 200 management jobs by July.
A split would likely see Telecom's fixed-line network separated from its retail business, allowing its 23,000 kilometres of fibre-optic cable to become the nucleus of the new home and business fibre network, which the government hopes will revitalise the country's economic fortunes and help catch up with living standards in Australia.
Officials speculated in January that Telecom would blink first in its game of chicken with the government over its broadband plan by considering structural separation. However, this was downplayed by Mr Reynolds at the time, who said there had been no change in the company's stance on structural separation, which was a ''costly and complex exercise'' that had not stacked up elsewhere.
The NZ Communications Minister, Steven Joyce, said he did not have the power to influence Telecom's future moves.
Telecom NZ ready to compromise in pursuit of $1.5b broadband deal
New Zealand - Broadband numbers 'through the roof'
[NZ Herald] More than one million New Zealand homes used broadband to connect to the internet in 2009, double the number from three years ago.
The Household Use of Information and Communication Technology Survey from Statistics New Zealand shows 80 per cent of people now use the internet and that of those only 12 per cent now use dial-up, compared with 31 per cent in 2006.
Homes in rural areas were less likely to have broadband than those in urban areas, with half of those who use dial-up citing cost as the main reason for remaining on their current connection.
However numbers are rising, with one in two rural homes now having a broadband connection, compared with just one in five in 2006.
The three-yearly report compiled from a survey of 15,000 New Zealand households also showed that three-quarters of New Zealand households have access to the internet at home, up 38 per cent on 2001.
Sending or receiving emails was the most common internet activity (72 per cent), while 37 per cent said they used the internet for social networking.
Meanwhile those in the 25-44 year age group were most likely to make an online purchase.
The report also showed more than 60 per cent of all households had a digital television connection, a statistic which was not gathered in the last report.
Mobile phone use has also increased during the last three years from 80 per cent in 2006 to 85 per cent in 2009.
Interestingly, the largest increase was seen in individuals aged between 65 and 74 of nine percentage points to 67 per cent.
Broadband numbers 'through the roof'
The Household Use of Information and Communication Technology Survey from Statistics New Zealand shows 80 per cent of people now use the internet and that of those only 12 per cent now use dial-up, compared with 31 per cent in 2006.
Homes in rural areas were less likely to have broadband than those in urban areas, with half of those who use dial-up citing cost as the main reason for remaining on their current connection.
However numbers are rising, with one in two rural homes now having a broadband connection, compared with just one in five in 2006.
The three-yearly report compiled from a survey of 15,000 New Zealand households also showed that three-quarters of New Zealand households have access to the internet at home, up 38 per cent on 2001.
Sending or receiving emails was the most common internet activity (72 per cent), while 37 per cent said they used the internet for social networking.
Meanwhile those in the 25-44 year age group were most likely to make an online purchase.
The report also showed more than 60 per cent of all households had a digital television connection, a statistic which was not gathered in the last report.
Mobile phone use has also increased during the last three years from 80 per cent in 2006 to 85 per cent in 2009.
Interestingly, the largest increase was seen in individuals aged between 65 and 74 of nine percentage points to 67 per cent.
Broadband numbers 'through the roof'
USA - FCC to collect data US broadband performance data
[afterdawn] The FCC will, for the first time ever, be collecting data about the performance of consumer broadband internet connections across the US.
In the past data has been provided by ISPs, and FCC officials have admitted it was worthless while still releasing reports based on it.
In order to get some real world data the FCC has contracted with SamKnows, a company who has worked with UK telecom regulators at Ofcom for similar purposes. Their most recent work showed that users of the most popular UK broadband services were only getting about half the speed advertised.
After soliciting volunteers who have broadband internet service from across the US, SamKnows will be providing specially modified routers which will analyze various aspects of each user's connection. In addition to providing the data and analysis to the FCC, SamKnows will allow participants to view data about their individual connections.
Details on the methodology to be used for the study will be released by the FCC within the next few days.
FCC to collect data US broadband performance data
In the past data has been provided by ISPs, and FCC officials have admitted it was worthless while still releasing reports based on it.
In order to get some real world data the FCC has contracted with SamKnows, a company who has worked with UK telecom regulators at Ofcom for similar purposes. Their most recent work showed that users of the most popular UK broadband services were only getting about half the speed advertised.
After soliciting volunteers who have broadband internet service from across the US, SamKnows will be providing specially modified routers which will analyze various aspects of each user's connection. In addition to providing the data and analysis to the FCC, SamKnows will allow participants to view data about their individual connections.
Details on the methodology to be used for the study will be released by the FCC within the next few days.
FCC to collect data US broadband performance data
UK - Most Consumers Dissatisfied with their Broadband ISP Speeds
[isp review] The results from 957 respondents to our latest monthly survey have revealed that 56% of people are not happy with the real-world speed they receive from their broadband ISP. On the flip side this means that 44% are happy, which is not a small proportion.
Are you happy with the real-world service speed received?
No - 56.1%
Yes - 43.8%
Dissatisfaction with real-world broadband speeds is nothing new. Part of the problem stems from the fact that existing broadband services are complicated, with speed being negatively impacted by many factors such as the length of your telephone line, electrical interference and poor home wiring. Providers must also take some of the blame for failing to deliver on what they promise.
When Ofcom used fake consumers to test compliance with its Code of Practice (CoP) on broadband speeds (here) it found that 85% of callers were provided with an estimate of the maximum speed available on their broadband line before signing up with an ISP. However 42% had to prompt the ISP for their speed late in the sales process and 74% were not informed that their actual speed was likely to be below their maximum line speed.
The survey also found that broadband packages with an 'ADVERTISED' speed of around 8Mbps remain the most common, with 59% of respondents connected to one. Faster 16-24Mbps packages have gained ground to reach 25% and just 9% remain on slower 512Kbps (0.5Mbps) to 2Mbps packages.
Most Consumers Dissatisfied with their UK Broadband ISP Speeds
Are you happy with the real-world service speed received?
No - 56.1%
Yes - 43.8%
Dissatisfaction with real-world broadband speeds is nothing new. Part of the problem stems from the fact that existing broadband services are complicated, with speed being negatively impacted by many factors such as the length of your telephone line, electrical interference and poor home wiring. Providers must also take some of the blame for failing to deliver on what they promise.
When Ofcom used fake consumers to test compliance with its Code of Practice (CoP) on broadband speeds (here) it found that 85% of callers were provided with an estimate of the maximum speed available on their broadband line before signing up with an ISP. However 42% had to prompt the ISP for their speed late in the sales process and 74% were not informed that their actual speed was likely to be below their maximum line speed.
The survey also found that broadband packages with an 'ADVERTISED' speed of around 8Mbps remain the most common, with 59% of respondents connected to one. Faster 16-24Mbps packages have gained ground to reach 25% and just 9% remain on slower 512Kbps (0.5Mbps) to 2Mbps packages.
Most Consumers Dissatisfied with their UK Broadband ISP Speeds
Australia - Speed of Mobile Broadband Discovered to be about 50% claims
[topnews] As has been revealed by Broadband Expert, a consumer research group, speeds of mobile broadband across Australia, on an average, are a mere 50% of the speeds that end up reaching homes.
To reach at the conclusion, the study looked at data collected through as many as 1724 broadband speed tests which were conducted nationwide from July to December 2009. The average speed of mobile broadband in the tests came out to be an average of 1.88Mbps, which is much less when compared to the average speed of 3.5Mbps offered by home broadband.
Vodafone emerged as the best performing wireless Internet Service Provider, clocking an average speed of 2.2Mbps.
"Mobile broadband is often used to browse Web sites and send e-mails when people don't have access to a fixed broadband connection. The average mobile broadband speeds currently being delivered are more than adequate for this type of use", said Broadband Expert Commercial Director Rob Webber, while stressing that despite the low speeds, the number of mobile broadband users is rapidly increasing.
Mr. Webber strongly believes that although mobile broadband would never be able to replace home broadband, it is being used much widely and will continue to have a strong user base.
Speed of Mobile Broadband Discovered to be about 50% that of Home Connections
To reach at the conclusion, the study looked at data collected through as many as 1724 broadband speed tests which were conducted nationwide from July to December 2009. The average speed of mobile broadband in the tests came out to be an average of 1.88Mbps, which is much less when compared to the average speed of 3.5Mbps offered by home broadband.
Vodafone emerged as the best performing wireless Internet Service Provider, clocking an average speed of 2.2Mbps.
"Mobile broadband is often used to browse Web sites and send e-mails when people don't have access to a fixed broadband connection. The average mobile broadband speeds currently being delivered are more than adequate for this type of use", said Broadband Expert Commercial Director Rob Webber, while stressing that despite the low speeds, the number of mobile broadband users is rapidly increasing.
Mr. Webber strongly believes that although mobile broadband would never be able to replace home broadband, it is being used much widely and will continue to have a strong user base.
Speed of Mobile Broadband Discovered to be about 50% that of Home Connections
Ireland - ComReg consults on its draft Strategy Statement for 2010-2012
[comreg] The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) today published its draft Strategy Statement for the electronic communications sector for 2010 – 2012, as required under the 2002 Communications Regulation Act. Comments are invited by 14 May, 2010. Please see the documents below for further information.
ComReg consults on its draft Strategy Statement for 2010-2012
ComReg consults on its draft Strategy Statement for 2010-2012
Europe - Kroes to urge support for Digital Agenda
[ec] European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes will be urging EU Telecoms Ministers at their informal Telecoms Council in Granada on 18-20 April 2010 to work together with the Commission and the European Parliament to implement an ambitious strategy to ensure that Europe's digital economy delivers maximum benefits to citizens and business and contributes to sustainable prosperity for Europe. Vice-President Kroes will welcome the Declaration on a Digital Europe due to be adopted by the Ministers, which will be taken into account by the Commission in its forthcoming Communication on a European Digital Agenda. The European Digital Agenda is one of the pillars of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
Kroes to urge support for Digital Agenda at informal meeting of EU Telecoms Ministers, 18-20 April 2010, Granada
Kroes to urge support for Digital Agenda at informal meeting of EU Telecoms Ministers, 18-20 April 2010, Granada
Afghanistan - Creation of a Telecommunication Operators' Association
[prnewswire] The telecommunications operators of Afghanistan, Afghan Telecom, Afghan Wireless Communications Company, Etisalat, MTN and Roshan, today announced the launch of the Afghanistan Telecommunication Operators' Social Association (ATOSA), a forum through which operators can collectively work together to provide the people of Afghanistan with high-quality and reliable telecommunications services. The Association will collaborate closely with the Government of Afghanistan to ensure the continued growth and success of the telecommunications sector in the country.
"The launch of ATOSA is an important development for the telecommunications sector. The mobile market in Afghanistan is one of the fastest growing in the world. Such growth is predicated on a public-private partnership and framework between the Government of Afghanistan and its private sector partners that should set an example for encouraging investment, private sector participation and ultimately delivery for our citizens in other sectors of the economy," said His Excellency Amirzai Sangin, Minister of Communications and Information Technology.
The telecommunications industry is one of Afghanistan's major success stories, providing vital services to the Afghan people. Today, over 10 million Afghans have access to telecommunication services compared to 20,000 in 2001; service reaches more than 80% of the population, approximately 23 million people. The telecommunications industry has spurred growth in a number of industries, including the financial, trade, agriculture, health, security and technology sectors.
ATOSA will also provide a forum through which operators can constructively raise and address issues of common concern, including security and predictability in the policy environment. In addition, the Association will work to improve relations with other industries and sectors in Afghanistan to encourage a cooperative reconstruction effort.
"The telecommunication operators of Afghanistan are committed to building on growth in the sector in a manner which is transparent and conducive to creating an enabling environment for the private sector throughout Afghanistan. We will work with the Government of Afghanistan, Parliament and the Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA), to continue to play a significant role in developing the country. The telecommunications sector has and will continue to be a catalyst, enabling people to access information, pricing, conduct business, but most of all talk to each other. ATOSA looks forward to supporting growth in the years ahead as we focus on extending coverage into rural areas," said Najibullah Kamali, President, ATOSA.
Since 2001, the industry has played a significant role in developing the country, creating over 100,000 indirect jobs and investing over USD $1.2 billion in building a national telephone network for the first time in Afghanistan's history. The industry is the largest tax paying sector in Afghanistan with an estimated USD $500 million paid in taxes, duties and fees to the Government of Afghanistan since 2003, representing over 10% of all domestically generated Government revenues in the same period.
Telecommunication Operators Launch Afghanistan Telecommunication Operators' Association
"The launch of ATOSA is an important development for the telecommunications sector. The mobile market in Afghanistan is one of the fastest growing in the world. Such growth is predicated on a public-private partnership and framework between the Government of Afghanistan and its private sector partners that should set an example for encouraging investment, private sector participation and ultimately delivery for our citizens in other sectors of the economy," said His Excellency Amirzai Sangin, Minister of Communications and Information Technology.
The telecommunications industry is one of Afghanistan's major success stories, providing vital services to the Afghan people. Today, over 10 million Afghans have access to telecommunication services compared to 20,000 in 2001; service reaches more than 80% of the population, approximately 23 million people. The telecommunications industry has spurred growth in a number of industries, including the financial, trade, agriculture, health, security and technology sectors.
ATOSA will also provide a forum through which operators can constructively raise and address issues of common concern, including security and predictability in the policy environment. In addition, the Association will work to improve relations with other industries and sectors in Afghanistan to encourage a cooperative reconstruction effort.
"The telecommunication operators of Afghanistan are committed to building on growth in the sector in a manner which is transparent and conducive to creating an enabling environment for the private sector throughout Afghanistan. We will work with the Government of Afghanistan, Parliament and the Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA), to continue to play a significant role in developing the country. The telecommunications sector has and will continue to be a catalyst, enabling people to access information, pricing, conduct business, but most of all talk to each other. ATOSA looks forward to supporting growth in the years ahead as we focus on extending coverage into rural areas," said Najibullah Kamali, President, ATOSA.
Since 2001, the industry has played a significant role in developing the country, creating over 100,000 indirect jobs and investing over USD $1.2 billion in building a national telephone network for the first time in Afghanistan's history. The industry is the largest tax paying sector in Afghanistan with an estimated USD $500 million paid in taxes, duties and fees to the Government of Afghanistan since 2003, representing over 10% of all domestically generated Government revenues in the same period.
Telecommunication Operators Launch Afghanistan Telecommunication Operators' Association
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
