Kenya: Interconnectivity Charges Will Not Be Regulated
Hopes for a substantial drop in telephone bills have diminished with the regulator, Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), saying it will not impose ceilings on the money operators charge each other to terminate calls.
The levies between mobile and fixed line service providers determine the cost of calls across networks and, in some cases, within a network when one service is used to prop up the other.
CCK director competition, tariffs and market analysis, Mr Charles Njoroge, said the operators should reduced the interconnection charges. However, he said the regulator would not insist on a maximum rate.
"CCK expects the operators to file with it the agreed prices, which should be lower than those agreed last year," Mr Njoroge said. That means the operators have to negotiate with each other on the charges.
During the first phase of interconnection cuts implemented last year CCK imposed a maximum interconnection rate of Sh30 across all networks.
Prior to a Telecommunication Networks Cost Study conducted in 2006, mobile charges across networks were as high as Sh50. The CCK director general, Mr John Waweru, said the cap had a great impact in the market.
"There were notable improvements in gross subscriber base additions , incoming and outgoing interconnect traffics and decreasing retail tariffs in the sector" said Mr Waweru.
According to the Safaricom chief executive officer, Mr Michael Joseph, the implementation of the second phase of the interconnection may not directly result to immediate tariff reduction on cross network calls.
Mr Joseph says an interconnectivity rate is just one component of what determines the tariff levied by mobile operators. Other factors include the tax levied by the government which stands at 27.6 per cent.
It is broken down into 16 per cent for Value Added Tax and 10 per cent in excise duty.
Safaricom's cheapest rate to other networks is Sh20 on its Super Taifa tariff for the first two minutes after which the charge reduces to Sh10 per minute. The average call time per subscriber is less than one minute. Safaricom does not levy the call set up fee.
Presently; Celtel charges Sh16 across all networks on its Uhuru Kwa Umoja tariff at all times. On Mambo Six it charges Sh6 across all networks between 11pm and 6 am.
Ms Claire Ruto, Celtel's corporate and regulatory director, says the company has already began implementing the second phase on interconnection.
However, there is a discernible trend in the market where operators keep the interconnection charges high in order to lock in their subscribers.
Celtel has, for instance, reduced the charges of the Pamoja tariff from Sh16 to Sh4 on calls made within its Network.
But there is a catch. The charge is limited to the four preferred Celtel numbers that the subscriber frequently calls. The subscribers, however, have to bare a call set-up fee of Sh2.50 on top of the first minute charge. This means a subscriber on pamoja tariff will be charged Sh6.40 in the first minute and thereafter four shillings.
Mr Waweru sees the tariff charges coming down under pressure from more players who have been licensed but are yet to roll out services.
One of them, Econet Wireless Kenya, has given a tentative date of end of July while Telkom Kenya which also paid Sh3.9 million for a GSM licence last year is yet to announce its when to rollout.
Mr Waweru says that with increased choice operators, rivals will need to become more customer oriented in order to retain old, and attract new, business.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Kenya - role of the NRA
Is the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) Regulator Or Player?
CCK involvement in a multi-billion shilling fibre optic cable project is causing discomfort in the burgeoning telecommunication sector where it is mandated to play the role of watchdog, writes James Anyanzwa.
Riding on the back of the technology bubble that has swept across the globe, the country's telecommunication market regulator is torn between being a referee and a player.
What is at stake here is the vast business opportunities worth billions of shillings presented by the information technology boom.
As huge consumer demand and a need for continuous innovation that has seen upstarts secure a niche in this fast growing market, the Communication Commission of Kenya's (CCK) insatiable appetite has tempted it into real time business in contravention of its role as a regulator.
The current state of affairs has awkwardly placed it in a compromising situation owing to its involvement in the Sh6.5 billion The East Africa Marine System (Teams ) Ltd, a government-owned special purpose vehicle created to lay a fibre-optic sea cable connecting the East African region to the world's communications backbone.
But despite the clearly identifiable conflict of interest in the project, CCK's action is still seen as noble by some quarters that interpret it as perfect intervention that is designed to fast track the country's technological revolution.
But the question now being asked is if CCK had bitten off more than it could chew?
Already, concerns have emerged that CCK is frustrating a rival cable venture sponsored by Seacom from landing its cable at the Kenyan coast.
Seacom, a privately funded outfit, is 77 per cent African owned, including the Kenyan Government. It seeks to assist communication carriers in the South and East Africa through the sale of wholesale international capacity to global networks through India and Europe.
The row over landing rights puts Seacom on a collision course with CCK in addition to raising questions over the Government's involvement in two related projects.
The FS has reliably learnt that the industry regulator, among whose duties is to ensure free and fair play in the market for telecommunication services, has inexplicably introduced a new category of licence for fibre-optic sea cable developers.
The new licence, however, renders irrelevant an earlier one - Data Carrier Network Operator (DCNO) licence - already acquired by Seacom to carry out its business.
The CCK move is quickly raising eyebrows within the industry with market observers reading sinister motives geared to frustrating certain operators in the heavily competitive high-speed Internet market.
The decision could particularly prove to be a bitter pill for the high capacity bandwidth provider - Seacom - whose application for a DCNO licence, even if successful, may not grant it the much needed landing rights.
A cross-check by FS has, however, revealed that a section of the controversial DCNO licence read in part: "The licensed system comprises Satellite, Marine and/or Terrestrial telecommunication systems for the transmission and reception of data and video traffic from a point(s) in the Republic of Kenya to within or outside Kenya. In the case of use of satellite communication network, the Network Control Centre shall be situated in the Republic of Kenya."
Dr Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communication.
It is understood that this part of the provisions of the DCNO licence unequivocally allows the licensee (in this case Seacom) to construct, install, operate and own a licensed system comprising of satellite, marine and terrestrial telecommunication systems for the transmission and reception of data and video traffic from point(s) in the Republic of Kenya to within or outside Kenya.
However, although interpretations by the legal fraternity and industry players all point to the fact that the DCNO licence provides for landing rights, it is understood that the market regulator has recently come up with a contrary view.
CCK's new licence is said to be priced at a massive Sh62 million ($1 million).
This means under the new arrangements, Seacom will have to make fresh applications for its landing rights within the framework of the new class of licenses, exposing it to a loss of Sh16 million it already paid for its DCNO licence.
The mystery surrounding the new category of licences are yet to be explained, as it is also understood that they have never been gazetted and therefore the terms are unknown.
The urgency under which CCK rushed to introduce the new class of licences a couple of weeks ago has become a bone of contention, drawing serious concerns in the industry circles.
The sudden turn of events is set to spark off uncertainty over the planned provision of low cost Internet services in the country.
But when contacted for comment, CCK said it had not received any formal applications from any firm on landing rights.
"CCK has not received any request for landing rights from anyone, including Seacom," said Mr Mutua Muthusi, an assistant Director/Communication and Public Relations and personal assistant to CCK Director General, Mr John Waweru.
But efforts by FS to obtain comments from Seacom proved futile as the firm's officials were said to have flown out of the country.
As a result of the unfolding saga, speculation is rife that some insiders in the State-funded fibre-optic operator - Teams Ltd - are keen to delay progress of its rival, given that it remains to be a big threat to their vested interests.
FS has also reliably learnt that a senior official at CCK will be retiring from the organisation and is likely to take over the management of the Teams project, thus laying the foundation for what is expected to be a lucrative money-minting business.
The elaborate scheming could also be detected in the shareholding structure of Teams, which also comprises a number of unknown entities. Shares have been allotted to private companies in a manner that raises serious procurement issues, as there has been no tendering undertaken to auction the stakes.
Under the new procurement rules disposal of any public asset has to be through an open tender or auction.
"The issue is on what basis were people allotted shares in a government project without an open tender system," a source who declined to be mentioned due to the sensitivity of the matter told FS.
The regulator's foray in the business world became evident in January when Treasury authorised it to deposit Sh1 billion ($15.2 million) in an interest bearing account to kick start the Teams project.
The amount, Treasury says, should be built up with a monthly deposit of Sh100 million ($1.5 million) to guarantee Teams Ltd to borrow $60 million (Sh4 billion) to pay for the building and construction of the cable.
It's argued that CCK is holding the project in trust for local telecommunication operators who will be brought onboard once the projects take off.
The lion's share of the company has been allocated to Safaricom Ltd - a 20 per cent stake. In the second category are Econet Wireless Kenya Ltd, France Telecom, Kenya Data Networks, Wananchi Telecom Ltd and Telkom Kenya, with a 10 per cent each. Jamii Telecom has 3.75 per cent and Gilat Satcom 1.25 per cent.
The last category includes little known names - Equip Ltd (1.25 per cent) and Inhand Ltd (1.25 per cent).
However, the unusual request by Treasury has only helped complicate the role of CCK as both a regulator and a player, with observers accusing it of harbouring partisan interests.
It raised fundamental questions, more critically: Why is CCK guaranteeing the investment and whether this was consistent with its regulatory role in the telecommunication sector.
Ironically, part 111 of the Kenya Communications Act (No.2 of 1998) mandates CCK to inter alia, (a) maintain and protect effective competition between persons engaged in commercial activities connected with telecommunication services; and (b) encourage private investment in the telecommunication sector.
This means that CCK's mandate is to create a level playing field for sector players.
But guaranteeing investment in the Teams cable, CCK would until the expiry of the guarantee become a player in the submarine cable industry that has also attracted The East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) project co-owned by a number of telecommunication companies operating in Eastern Africa.
According to Dr Bitange Ndemo, Information and Communications PS, Teams Ltd, which has entered into an agreement with Alcatel-Lucent, the contractor of the cable, was registered under instructions from CCK.
In both instances, by posting the guarantee, CCK would be contravening its mandate as per the Communications Act.
Alcatel-Lucent won the tender to construct the 4,500 kilometres cable for $82 million. The cable is to connect the region with UAE through the Indian Ocean.
Seacom's investors include Industrial Promotion Services (26.25 per cent), an arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, Venfin Limited (25 per cent), Herakles Telecom LLC (23.75 per cent), Convergence Partners (12.5 per cent) and Shanduka Group (12.5 per cent).
The system will provide African retail carriers with equal and open access to inexpensive bandwidth, removing the international infrastructure bottleneck and supporting East and South African economic growth.
The Internet market is expected to drive economic growth in Kenya and the region with the entry of three fibre optic submarine cables.
Seacom is seeking to become a full service provider of international fibre bandwidth along the East Coast of Africa to Southern Africa, Europe and Asia. It intends to provide high capacity bandwidth linking business and communities in these regions.
The company has already procured a nod to land its undersea cable in South Africa through a joint venture with a South African company - Noetel.
Teams project is considered to be less extensive compared to Seacom, which extends beyond Fujairah to Europe and India. It is therefore unlikely that the Teams project will be able to reduce bandwidth costs much lower than Seacom.
It is understood that Teams will be forced to buy onward capacities for its cable that ends at Fujairah, thus incurring additional costs that will have to be passed over to consumers.
Recent media reports attributed to Seacom indicate that the company was due to start rolling down its cable by August and that it would reduce bandwidth costs in the country by as much as 80 per cent.
The price for Internet connectivity remains high in Africa with most players paying up to $300 a month. The cost of doing business is anticipated will come down with the rollout of the undersea cables.
The Teams project promises to offer bandwidth at $500 per month per mega bit.
Apart from Seacom and Teams project, the EASSy project co-owned by a number of telecommunication companies in Eastern Africa states is also expected to lay an under sea cable running from South Africa to Sudan through Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Somali and Djibouti.
The Kenya Government also plans to sponsor the Fibre Optic National Network (FONN) set to cover 4,300km by December.
Three companies have already been contracted by the Government to construct the FONN cable - French company, Sagem, will cover 1,800km running through North Eastern and the Coastal regions. Chinese company, Huawei, will construct 1,100km through central Kenya and ZTN, also Chinese, will lay about 1,400km covering between Nairobi, Isebania, Eldoret and Lokichoggio.
CCK involvement in a multi-billion shilling fibre optic cable project is causing discomfort in the burgeoning telecommunication sector where it is mandated to play the role of watchdog, writes James Anyanzwa.
Riding on the back of the technology bubble that has swept across the globe, the country's telecommunication market regulator is torn between being a referee and a player.
What is at stake here is the vast business opportunities worth billions of shillings presented by the information technology boom.
As huge consumer demand and a need for continuous innovation that has seen upstarts secure a niche in this fast growing market, the Communication Commission of Kenya's (CCK) insatiable appetite has tempted it into real time business in contravention of its role as a regulator.
The current state of affairs has awkwardly placed it in a compromising situation owing to its involvement in the Sh6.5 billion The East Africa Marine System (Teams ) Ltd, a government-owned special purpose vehicle created to lay a fibre-optic sea cable connecting the East African region to the world's communications backbone.
But despite the clearly identifiable conflict of interest in the project, CCK's action is still seen as noble by some quarters that interpret it as perfect intervention that is designed to fast track the country's technological revolution.
But the question now being asked is if CCK had bitten off more than it could chew?
Already, concerns have emerged that CCK is frustrating a rival cable venture sponsored by Seacom from landing its cable at the Kenyan coast.
Seacom, a privately funded outfit, is 77 per cent African owned, including the Kenyan Government. It seeks to assist communication carriers in the South and East Africa through the sale of wholesale international capacity to global networks through India and Europe.
The row over landing rights puts Seacom on a collision course with CCK in addition to raising questions over the Government's involvement in two related projects.
The FS has reliably learnt that the industry regulator, among whose duties is to ensure free and fair play in the market for telecommunication services, has inexplicably introduced a new category of licence for fibre-optic sea cable developers.
The new licence, however, renders irrelevant an earlier one - Data Carrier Network Operator (DCNO) licence - already acquired by Seacom to carry out its business.
The CCK move is quickly raising eyebrows within the industry with market observers reading sinister motives geared to frustrating certain operators in the heavily competitive high-speed Internet market.
The decision could particularly prove to be a bitter pill for the high capacity bandwidth provider - Seacom - whose application for a DCNO licence, even if successful, may not grant it the much needed landing rights.
A cross-check by FS has, however, revealed that a section of the controversial DCNO licence read in part: "The licensed system comprises Satellite, Marine and/or Terrestrial telecommunication systems for the transmission and reception of data and video traffic from a point(s) in the Republic of Kenya to within or outside Kenya. In the case of use of satellite communication network, the Network Control Centre shall be situated in the Republic of Kenya."
Dr Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communication.
It is understood that this part of the provisions of the DCNO licence unequivocally allows the licensee (in this case Seacom) to construct, install, operate and own a licensed system comprising of satellite, marine and terrestrial telecommunication systems for the transmission and reception of data and video traffic from point(s) in the Republic of Kenya to within or outside Kenya.
However, although interpretations by the legal fraternity and industry players all point to the fact that the DCNO licence provides for landing rights, it is understood that the market regulator has recently come up with a contrary view.
CCK's new licence is said to be priced at a massive Sh62 million ($1 million).
This means under the new arrangements, Seacom will have to make fresh applications for its landing rights within the framework of the new class of licenses, exposing it to a loss of Sh16 million it already paid for its DCNO licence.
The mystery surrounding the new category of licences are yet to be explained, as it is also understood that they have never been gazetted and therefore the terms are unknown.
The urgency under which CCK rushed to introduce the new class of licences a couple of weeks ago has become a bone of contention, drawing serious concerns in the industry circles.
The sudden turn of events is set to spark off uncertainty over the planned provision of low cost Internet services in the country.
But when contacted for comment, CCK said it had not received any formal applications from any firm on landing rights.
"CCK has not received any request for landing rights from anyone, including Seacom," said Mr Mutua Muthusi, an assistant Director/Communication and Public Relations and personal assistant to CCK Director General, Mr John Waweru.
But efforts by FS to obtain comments from Seacom proved futile as the firm's officials were said to have flown out of the country.
As a result of the unfolding saga, speculation is rife that some insiders in the State-funded fibre-optic operator - Teams Ltd - are keen to delay progress of its rival, given that it remains to be a big threat to their vested interests.
FS has also reliably learnt that a senior official at CCK will be retiring from the organisation and is likely to take over the management of the Teams project, thus laying the foundation for what is expected to be a lucrative money-minting business.
The elaborate scheming could also be detected in the shareholding structure of Teams, which also comprises a number of unknown entities. Shares have been allotted to private companies in a manner that raises serious procurement issues, as there has been no tendering undertaken to auction the stakes.
Under the new procurement rules disposal of any public asset has to be through an open tender or auction.
"The issue is on what basis were people allotted shares in a government project without an open tender system," a source who declined to be mentioned due to the sensitivity of the matter told FS.
The regulator's foray in the business world became evident in January when Treasury authorised it to deposit Sh1 billion ($15.2 million) in an interest bearing account to kick start the Teams project.
The amount, Treasury says, should be built up with a monthly deposit of Sh100 million ($1.5 million) to guarantee Teams Ltd to borrow $60 million (Sh4 billion) to pay for the building and construction of the cable.
It's argued that CCK is holding the project in trust for local telecommunication operators who will be brought onboard once the projects take off.
The lion's share of the company has been allocated to Safaricom Ltd - a 20 per cent stake. In the second category are Econet Wireless Kenya Ltd, France Telecom, Kenya Data Networks, Wananchi Telecom Ltd and Telkom Kenya, with a 10 per cent each. Jamii Telecom has 3.75 per cent and Gilat Satcom 1.25 per cent.
The last category includes little known names - Equip Ltd (1.25 per cent) and Inhand Ltd (1.25 per cent).
However, the unusual request by Treasury has only helped complicate the role of CCK as both a regulator and a player, with observers accusing it of harbouring partisan interests.
It raised fundamental questions, more critically: Why is CCK guaranteeing the investment and whether this was consistent with its regulatory role in the telecommunication sector.
Ironically, part 111 of the Kenya Communications Act (No.2 of 1998) mandates CCK to inter alia, (a) maintain and protect effective competition between persons engaged in commercial activities connected with telecommunication services; and (b) encourage private investment in the telecommunication sector.
This means that CCK's mandate is to create a level playing field for sector players.
But guaranteeing investment in the Teams cable, CCK would until the expiry of the guarantee become a player in the submarine cable industry that has also attracted The East Africa Submarine System (EASSy) project co-owned by a number of telecommunication companies operating in Eastern Africa.
According to Dr Bitange Ndemo, Information and Communications PS, Teams Ltd, which has entered into an agreement with Alcatel-Lucent, the contractor of the cable, was registered under instructions from CCK.
In both instances, by posting the guarantee, CCK would be contravening its mandate as per the Communications Act.
Alcatel-Lucent won the tender to construct the 4,500 kilometres cable for $82 million. The cable is to connect the region with UAE through the Indian Ocean.
Seacom's investors include Industrial Promotion Services (26.25 per cent), an arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, Venfin Limited (25 per cent), Herakles Telecom LLC (23.75 per cent), Convergence Partners (12.5 per cent) and Shanduka Group (12.5 per cent).
The system will provide African retail carriers with equal and open access to inexpensive bandwidth, removing the international infrastructure bottleneck and supporting East and South African economic growth.
The Internet market is expected to drive economic growth in Kenya and the region with the entry of three fibre optic submarine cables.
Seacom is seeking to become a full service provider of international fibre bandwidth along the East Coast of Africa to Southern Africa, Europe and Asia. It intends to provide high capacity bandwidth linking business and communities in these regions.
The company has already procured a nod to land its undersea cable in South Africa through a joint venture with a South African company - Noetel.
Teams project is considered to be less extensive compared to Seacom, which extends beyond Fujairah to Europe and India. It is therefore unlikely that the Teams project will be able to reduce bandwidth costs much lower than Seacom.
It is understood that Teams will be forced to buy onward capacities for its cable that ends at Fujairah, thus incurring additional costs that will have to be passed over to consumers.
Recent media reports attributed to Seacom indicate that the company was due to start rolling down its cable by August and that it would reduce bandwidth costs in the country by as much as 80 per cent.
The price for Internet connectivity remains high in Africa with most players paying up to $300 a month. The cost of doing business is anticipated will come down with the rollout of the undersea cables.
The Teams project promises to offer bandwidth at $500 per month per mega bit.
Apart from Seacom and Teams project, the EASSy project co-owned by a number of telecommunication companies in Eastern Africa states is also expected to lay an under sea cable running from South Africa to Sudan through Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, Kenya, Somali and Djibouti.
The Kenya Government also plans to sponsor the Fibre Optic National Network (FONN) set to cover 4,300km by December.
Three companies have already been contracted by the Government to construct the FONN cable - French company, Sagem, will cover 1,800km running through North Eastern and the Coastal regions. Chinese company, Huawei, will construct 1,100km through central Kenya and ZTN, also Chinese, will lay about 1,400km covering between Nairobi, Isebania, Eldoret and Lokichoggio.
USA - lobbying for indemnity votes
Telcos Spent $10K Per Telecom Amnesty Vote, Sunshine Group Says
Political action committees for telecoms being sued for privacy violations gave more than $10,000 on average to each Congress member who voted to give amnesty to telecoms being sued for illegally helping the government spy on Americans, according to an analysis done by MapLight.org, an organization devoted to using new technology to show the influence of money on government.
The analysis found that from January 2005 to September 2007 AT&T, Sprint and Verizon PAC donations favored legislators who subsequently voted in March 2008 to help the companies escape their legal woes.
AT&T is being sued for massive invasions of its customers' privacy, and gives money to legislators who voted both for and against telecom amnesty.
That raises interesting questions, according to Daniel Newman, Maplight.org's executive director.
"Who are members of Congress listening to, the people voting for them or the telecoms companies that give them money?," Newman asks. "That's an open question. There's no way to tell but its a question constituents should be asking?"
But even those who voted against immunity got quite a bit of money from the telecom PACs, an average of $7000.
That's not a big difference, especially since MapLight.org analyzed contributions from January 2005 to September 2007 to House members. Legislators were broken down into pro and anit-amnesty based on their March 14 votes on H.R. 3773, the House's alternative to a Bush administration-approved Senate bill.
Newman's take?
"I don't think money is the only thing that determines how someone votes," Newman said. "It does determine who has access. So many members of Congress get significant amounts of money from these PACs, so these companies have a seat at the table, as opposed to one voter who is a subscriber to AT&T's phone service and is concerned about wiretapping issues."
"It's a huge imbalance. Congress is supposed to be doing things for the country as whole."
The leading suit against the telecoms, Hepting vs. AT&T, accuses the company of helping the NSA wiretap the internet in company switching hubs around the country. The government wants that suit, and about 40 others, to be thrown on on the grounds they endanger national security.
A federal appeals court has yet to rule whether the suits can proceed. In the meantime, amnesty has become a central obsession of President Bush. He is threatening to veto any bill that expands his domestic spying powers -- power he claims are crucial to national security -- if the bill doesn't also have retroactive amnesty in it.
The House's recently passed spying expansion bill does not have immunity, though it creates a way for telecoms to defend themselves in court by letting them show their legal paperwork to a judge in secret. Government lawyers have so far objected to this, saying federal judges can not be trusted. The Senate's version contains a broad retroactive amnesty provision.
Maplight.org did not look at the entire communications industry, nor contributions from industry groups such as the Telecommunications Industry Association.
Also left out were personal contributions by top employees at telecoms.
In the fall, THREAT LEVEL noticed that Verizon and AT&T honchos recently began giving money to Sen. Jay Rockefeller (West Virginia), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who is a supporter of telecom amnesty.
Political action committees for telecoms being sued for privacy violations gave more than $10,000 on average to each Congress member who voted to give amnesty to telecoms being sued for illegally helping the government spy on Americans, according to an analysis done by MapLight.org, an organization devoted to using new technology to show the influence of money on government.
The analysis found that from January 2005 to September 2007 AT&T, Sprint and Verizon PAC donations favored legislators who subsequently voted in March 2008 to help the companies escape their legal woes.
AT&T is being sued for massive invasions of its customers' privacy, and gives money to legislators who voted both for and against telecom amnesty.
That raises interesting questions, according to Daniel Newman, Maplight.org's executive director.
"Who are members of Congress listening to, the people voting for them or the telecoms companies that give them money?," Newman asks. "That's an open question. There's no way to tell but its a question constituents should be asking?"
But even those who voted against immunity got quite a bit of money from the telecom PACs, an average of $7000.
That's not a big difference, especially since MapLight.org analyzed contributions from January 2005 to September 2007 to House members. Legislators were broken down into pro and anit-amnesty based on their March 14 votes on H.R. 3773, the House's alternative to a Bush administration-approved Senate bill.
Newman's take?
"I don't think money is the only thing that determines how someone votes," Newman said. "It does determine who has access. So many members of Congress get significant amounts of money from these PACs, so these companies have a seat at the table, as opposed to one voter who is a subscriber to AT&T's phone service and is concerned about wiretapping issues."
"It's a huge imbalance. Congress is supposed to be doing things for the country as whole."
The leading suit against the telecoms, Hepting vs. AT&T, accuses the company of helping the NSA wiretap the internet in company switching hubs around the country. The government wants that suit, and about 40 others, to be thrown on on the grounds they endanger national security.
A federal appeals court has yet to rule whether the suits can proceed. In the meantime, amnesty has become a central obsession of President Bush. He is threatening to veto any bill that expands his domestic spying powers -- power he claims are crucial to national security -- if the bill doesn't also have retroactive amnesty in it.
The House's recently passed spying expansion bill does not have immunity, though it creates a way for telecoms to defend themselves in court by letting them show their legal paperwork to a judge in secret. Government lawyers have so far objected to this, saying federal judges can not be trusted. The Senate's version contains a broad retroactive amnesty provision.
Maplight.org did not look at the entire communications industry, nor contributions from industry groups such as the Telecommunications Industry Association.
Also left out were personal contributions by top employees at telecoms.
In the fall, THREAT LEVEL noticed that Verizon and AT&T honchos recently began giving money to Sen. Jay Rockefeller (West Virginia), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee who is a supporter of telecom amnesty.
Saudi Arabia - market growth
Saudi Arabia's telecom sector growing rapidly
The telecom sector in Saudi Arabia is growing rapidly. Telecom service revenues have been steadily increasing at a cumulative average rate of around 15 per cent annually, increasing from SR19.8 billion in 2001 to around SR40 billion in 2006. In the same period mobile revenues represented around 75 per cent of all sector revenues (which is in line with trends in other countries).
As per Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC formed in 2001) data .fixed telephone lines reached 3.95 million at the end of 2006, of which 3 million (75 per cent) were residential lines.
This represents a population tele-density of 16.68 per cent and a household tele-density (percentage of households with a telephone) of around 70 per cent, or 70 residential phones for every 100 households. Currently, the wire-line market is a virtual monopoly with STC being the only fixed line services provider in the Kingdom. The monopoly of STC is being scrapped as the Kingdom has awarded licenses to Batelco (Bahrain), PCCW (Hong Kong) and Verizon (US).
In the mobile market, the start of competition in 2005 has resulted in major developments in terms of subscriber growth, service offerings, quality of service, customer care and reduced prices. The number of subscribers has more than doubled in just two years from 9.2 million in 2004 (40 per cent penetration) to around 19.6 million (over 81 per cent penetration) in 2006. The cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) during the last five years (2001-2006) amounted to around 51 per cent annually.
In 2006, Saudi Arabia became the first Arab country to implement mobile number portability, when MNP service was launched at no-cost to all mobile subscribers in the Kingdom.
Internet users grew from around 1 million in 2001 to an estimated 4.65 million by the end of 2006 (a penetration rate of around 19.6 per cent). This corresponds to a cumulative average growth rate of around 36 per cent annually. Broadband subscribers have grown from 14 thousand in 2001, to around 220 thousand at the end of 2006, representing a growth rate of around 85 per cent annually, with 2006 witnessing a big jump of 240 per cent.
Despite the high growth, however, broadband penetration rate of around 1 per cent is still very low compared to both the world average of around 5 per cent, and the developed countries' average of around 20 per cent. As a result, there is still a huge growth potential for broadband service in the Kingdom. A large unmet demand exists because of supply side limitations. This demand is forecast to grow at a fast rate, offering attractive opportunities for broadband network and service expansion in the Kingdom.
According to CITC and Global Research data, since its establishment in 1998, the government owned Saudi Telecom Company (STC) had been the sole provider of telecommunication services in Saudi Arabia. But recent accord of the Kingdom to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) led the government of Saudi Arabia to approve the opening up of the telecommunication sector to competition in 2002. Following the liberalisation decision, the Saudi government invited international operators to bid for the Kingdom's second GSM licence with a requirement that the licensed operator should have at least five local companies as partners.
With the liberalisation of fixed services in 2007, three fixed-line licences were allocated., and MTC (Zain) won the third mobile licence
Earlier, in July 2004, a consortium headed by Etihad Etisalat — Mobily — of the UAE won the Saudi second GSM licence outbidding seven other operators with an offer of $3.62 billion. The 20-year licence was complemented in August 2004 with a 3G concession for $200 million. Mobily launched operations in Saudi Arabia on May 24, 2005. In July 2005, STC was awarded the second 3G licence for $201 million to start offering 3G services by December 2006.
STC is reportedly planning to spend about $15 billion acquiring firms and licences outside its home market during the year. It has invested $6.1 billion and will also target mobile phone licences in Bahrain and Lebanon.
Moreover, the company has started procedures to secure licences for the third mobile phone operator in Bahrain and the second land-phone provider in Egypt.
The telecom sector in Saudi Arabia is growing rapidly. Telecom service revenues have been steadily increasing at a cumulative average rate of around 15 per cent annually, increasing from SR19.8 billion in 2001 to around SR40 billion in 2006. In the same period mobile revenues represented around 75 per cent of all sector revenues (which is in line with trends in other countries).
As per Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC formed in 2001) data .fixed telephone lines reached 3.95 million at the end of 2006, of which 3 million (75 per cent) were residential lines.
This represents a population tele-density of 16.68 per cent and a household tele-density (percentage of households with a telephone) of around 70 per cent, or 70 residential phones for every 100 households. Currently, the wire-line market is a virtual monopoly with STC being the only fixed line services provider in the Kingdom. The monopoly of STC is being scrapped as the Kingdom has awarded licenses to Batelco (Bahrain), PCCW (Hong Kong) and Verizon (US).
In the mobile market, the start of competition in 2005 has resulted in major developments in terms of subscriber growth, service offerings, quality of service, customer care and reduced prices. The number of subscribers has more than doubled in just two years from 9.2 million in 2004 (40 per cent penetration) to around 19.6 million (over 81 per cent penetration) in 2006. The cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) during the last five years (2001-2006) amounted to around 51 per cent annually.
In 2006, Saudi Arabia became the first Arab country to implement mobile number portability, when MNP service was launched at no-cost to all mobile subscribers in the Kingdom.
Internet users grew from around 1 million in 2001 to an estimated 4.65 million by the end of 2006 (a penetration rate of around 19.6 per cent). This corresponds to a cumulative average growth rate of around 36 per cent annually. Broadband subscribers have grown from 14 thousand in 2001, to around 220 thousand at the end of 2006, representing a growth rate of around 85 per cent annually, with 2006 witnessing a big jump of 240 per cent.
Despite the high growth, however, broadband penetration rate of around 1 per cent is still very low compared to both the world average of around 5 per cent, and the developed countries' average of around 20 per cent. As a result, there is still a huge growth potential for broadband service in the Kingdom. A large unmet demand exists because of supply side limitations. This demand is forecast to grow at a fast rate, offering attractive opportunities for broadband network and service expansion in the Kingdom.
According to CITC and Global Research data, since its establishment in 1998, the government owned Saudi Telecom Company (STC) had been the sole provider of telecommunication services in Saudi Arabia. But recent accord of the Kingdom to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) led the government of Saudi Arabia to approve the opening up of the telecommunication sector to competition in 2002. Following the liberalisation decision, the Saudi government invited international operators to bid for the Kingdom's second GSM licence with a requirement that the licensed operator should have at least five local companies as partners.
With the liberalisation of fixed services in 2007, three fixed-line licences were allocated., and MTC (Zain) won the third mobile licence
Earlier, in July 2004, a consortium headed by Etihad Etisalat — Mobily — of the UAE won the Saudi second GSM licence outbidding seven other operators with an offer of $3.62 billion. The 20-year licence was complemented in August 2004 with a 3G concession for $200 million. Mobily launched operations in Saudi Arabia on May 24, 2005. In July 2005, STC was awarded the second 3G licence for $201 million to start offering 3G services by December 2006.
STC is reportedly planning to spend about $15 billion acquiring firms and licences outside its home market during the year. It has invested $6.1 billion and will also target mobile phone licences in Bahrain and Lebanon.
Moreover, the company has started procedures to secure licences for the third mobile phone operator in Bahrain and the second land-phone provider in Egypt.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Vietnam - broadband and competition
Broadband makes connections in rural Vietnam
Remote villagers are benefting from a free pilot project as providers angle for business - demonstrating that broadband can be a profitable business but also a way for Vietnam's most remote regions to leapfrog straight to the most advanced form of telecommunications.
Sitting next to an open hearth, Le Anh Phuong is updating her internet blog, which she has called "girl with a changing star", as well as downloading music from Super Junior, a Korean boy band.
The 14-year-old blogger spends about two hours a day on one of the 11 computers that have been installed with a Wi-Max internet connection in Ta Van, a remote mountain village in north-western Vietnam.
One might expect such an initiative to be driven by philanthropic motives. But Intel, the US chip maker, together with VDC, a state-controlled domestic telecommunications operator, are hoping to demonstrate not only that broadband can be a profitable business but also a way for Vietnam's most remote regions to leapfrog straight to the most advanced form of telecommunications.
First fixed phone only installed in 2004
Five months after its launch, the Ta Van pilot project - which is free to the villager's users - still faces challenges. For a start, Ms Phuong's enthusiasm for the internet does not seem to have spread like wildfire in Ta Van, which is home to about 3,000 people from three Vietnamese ethnic minorities. Many seem to be still adjusting to much more basic technology in a village where the first fixed phone was installed at the post office in 2004 and which was only hooked up to the regional electricity grid in 2005.
"My parents have no idea or interest in the internet, but I guess that's normal because they're just old people," says Ms Phuong.
In a communist country such as Vietnam, telecom companies can only proceed with full government backing
Still, Intel says that it selected Ta Van precisely because it wanted to test the technology in a difficult location as well as gauge interest among remote users. And such is Intel's conviction that broadband can be turned into a rural success story that it plans to install high-speed internet in several other remote communities across the country this year.
It is also looking to team up with local operators on similar projects in several other Asian countries, including Malaysia, the Philippines and India.
Andrew Allison, an Intel executive, says: "Some of this technology really sounds like a James Bond movie and would not have been possible 10 to 15 years ago. With something like Wi-Max, you can aggregate demand over a wide area from multiple stakeholders, which makes the operating cost a lot more manageable. We are now finally down to the level where this is affordable."
Intel is not alone in its conclusions. "We expect markets like Vietnam to be booming this year,'' says Nicolas Van Den Abeele, president for south and south-east Asia of Alcatel-Lucent, the Franco-American equipment provider. "And broadband connectivity to rural areas is going to be key".
Foreign companies not expected to directly take part in auctions
Hanoi is expected to hold auctions for both third-generation and Wi-Max licences this year. While foreign companies are not expected to be allowed to take part directly, Mr Van Den Abeele predicts that "some overseas operators or investment groups" will get involved as partners or backers of local bids.
Wi-Max is not the only broadband technology suited to rural areas, with most executives predicting that countries such as Vietnam will end up with a mix of wireless and fixed infrastructure. But wireless offers some advantages, not least the ability to reach mountainous terrain such as Ta Van by beaming straight from IPStar, the Asia-Pacific satellite controlled by Shin Corp of Thailand.
About 5 per cent of Vietnam's population of 85m has access to fixed lines, while mobile coverage has climbed to almost 30 per cent. For broadband, coverage is about 2 per cent, but the number of high-speed ADSL subscribers tripled last year to 1.2m.
Furthermore, the existing copper infrastructure is often of poor quality or corroded because of the humid weather. The loops used in Vietnam are also often excessively long to support DSL technology.
Vietnam has the size and youth to make rural broadband a success
More than 70 per cent of Vietnamese live outside urban centres, according to the World Bank. But with a population bigger than Germany's and an average age of 26 (about six years below that of neighbouring China), Vietnam combines the size and youth required to make rural broadband a success, argue telecom executives.
A literacy rate above 90 per cent is another advantage, as are the family ties that link urban and rural dwellers, as well as overseas Vietnamese who send back about $6bn in remittances a year. Finally, an Alcatel-led survey last year identified 650,000 micro-businesses that were interested in internet access, most of them in the countryside. Their average expenditure on communications is about twice that of households. "This makes the business case definitely a lot more appealing for both operators and vendors,'' says Mr Van Den Abeele.
In a communist country such as Vietnam, telecom companies can only proceed with full government backing. Recently, Hanoi not only indicated it would proceed with the sale of licences but said it would also divert more state subsidies to broadband, with the goal of extending coverage to about a quarter of the population.
There is also awareness in Hanoi that local operators need to embrace broadband before an opening of the country's telecom sector, in line with commitments made when Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation.
Tran Manh Dung, a director in the ministry of information and communications, says: "Competition is not top of my mind now. But eventually we will be ready to open our doors wide open to [foreign operators]."
Remote villagers are benefting from a free pilot project as providers angle for business - demonstrating that broadband can be a profitable business but also a way for Vietnam's most remote regions to leapfrog straight to the most advanced form of telecommunications.
Sitting next to an open hearth, Le Anh Phuong is updating her internet blog, which she has called "girl with a changing star", as well as downloading music from Super Junior, a Korean boy band.
The 14-year-old blogger spends about two hours a day on one of the 11 computers that have been installed with a Wi-Max internet connection in Ta Van, a remote mountain village in north-western Vietnam.
One might expect such an initiative to be driven by philanthropic motives. But Intel, the US chip maker, together with VDC, a state-controlled domestic telecommunications operator, are hoping to demonstrate not only that broadband can be a profitable business but also a way for Vietnam's most remote regions to leapfrog straight to the most advanced form of telecommunications.
First fixed phone only installed in 2004
Five months after its launch, the Ta Van pilot project - which is free to the villager's users - still faces challenges. For a start, Ms Phuong's enthusiasm for the internet does not seem to have spread like wildfire in Ta Van, which is home to about 3,000 people from three Vietnamese ethnic minorities. Many seem to be still adjusting to much more basic technology in a village where the first fixed phone was installed at the post office in 2004 and which was only hooked up to the regional electricity grid in 2005.
"My parents have no idea or interest in the internet, but I guess that's normal because they're just old people," says Ms Phuong.
In a communist country such as Vietnam, telecom companies can only proceed with full government backing
Still, Intel says that it selected Ta Van precisely because it wanted to test the technology in a difficult location as well as gauge interest among remote users. And such is Intel's conviction that broadband can be turned into a rural success story that it plans to install high-speed internet in several other remote communities across the country this year.
It is also looking to team up with local operators on similar projects in several other Asian countries, including Malaysia, the Philippines and India.
Andrew Allison, an Intel executive, says: "Some of this technology really sounds like a James Bond movie and would not have been possible 10 to 15 years ago. With something like Wi-Max, you can aggregate demand over a wide area from multiple stakeholders, which makes the operating cost a lot more manageable. We are now finally down to the level where this is affordable."
Intel is not alone in its conclusions. "We expect markets like Vietnam to be booming this year,'' says Nicolas Van Den Abeele, president for south and south-east Asia of Alcatel-Lucent, the Franco-American equipment provider. "And broadband connectivity to rural areas is going to be key".
Foreign companies not expected to directly take part in auctions
Hanoi is expected to hold auctions for both third-generation and Wi-Max licences this year. While foreign companies are not expected to be allowed to take part directly, Mr Van Den Abeele predicts that "some overseas operators or investment groups" will get involved as partners or backers of local bids.
Wi-Max is not the only broadband technology suited to rural areas, with most executives predicting that countries such as Vietnam will end up with a mix of wireless and fixed infrastructure. But wireless offers some advantages, not least the ability to reach mountainous terrain such as Ta Van by beaming straight from IPStar, the Asia-Pacific satellite controlled by Shin Corp of Thailand.
About 5 per cent of Vietnam's population of 85m has access to fixed lines, while mobile coverage has climbed to almost 30 per cent. For broadband, coverage is about 2 per cent, but the number of high-speed ADSL subscribers tripled last year to 1.2m.
Furthermore, the existing copper infrastructure is often of poor quality or corroded because of the humid weather. The loops used in Vietnam are also often excessively long to support DSL technology.
Vietnam has the size and youth to make rural broadband a success
More than 70 per cent of Vietnamese live outside urban centres, according to the World Bank. But with a population bigger than Germany's and an average age of 26 (about six years below that of neighbouring China), Vietnam combines the size and youth required to make rural broadband a success, argue telecom executives.
A literacy rate above 90 per cent is another advantage, as are the family ties that link urban and rural dwellers, as well as overseas Vietnamese who send back about $6bn in remittances a year. Finally, an Alcatel-led survey last year identified 650,000 micro-businesses that were interested in internet access, most of them in the countryside. Their average expenditure on communications is about twice that of households. "This makes the business case definitely a lot more appealing for both operators and vendors,'' says Mr Van Den Abeele.
In a communist country such as Vietnam, telecom companies can only proceed with full government backing. Recently, Hanoi not only indicated it would proceed with the sale of licences but said it would also divert more state subsidies to broadband, with the goal of extending coverage to about a quarter of the population.
There is also awareness in Hanoi that local operators need to embrace broadband before an opening of the country's telecom sector, in line with commitments made when Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation.
Tran Manh Dung, a director in the ministry of information and communications, says: "Competition is not top of my mind now. But eventually we will be ready to open our doors wide open to [foreign operators]."
Nigeria - compensation for poor QoS
Nigeria: Compensation - Court Strikes Out GSM Operators' Suit
A Federal High Court yesterday struck out the suit brought by two GSM operators, MTN and Celtel, to evade payment of compensation to subscribers over poor quality service, imposed on them by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The Court, sitting in Lagos, struck out the case for lack of merit and insufficient grounds. The two operators had last year, requested for an interlocutory injunction to restrain
NCC from implementing its earlier direction mandating the operators to pay compensation to subscribers for poor quality of service.
Justice D. Abutu of Court three, Federal High Court, in his judgment, reiterated that the Plaintiffs/Applicants had not shown special circumstances to grant the relief sought from the court, and therefore, dismissed the motion.
The Commission, which recently directed the two operators to pay N175 per subscriber for the month ended January 2008, for not meeting key performance indicators on quality of service as set by the regulator, had on January 9, 2008, won the case earlier instituted against it by MTN and Celtel, protesting notices on payment of the compensation to subscribers issued to them on September 19 and 20, 2007.
Following the ruling of the court in favour of the NCC, the Commission on February 28, 2008, finally issued a direction to both operators to pay compensation of N175.00 per subscriber for the month ended January 31, 2008.
The Commission reiterated that it arrived at the determination for compensation, because the two operators failed to meet the requirement to achieve Traffic Channel Congestion (TCH), below 10 per cent levels for the month of January 2008, in line with the Key Performance Indicators published by it, and issued to the operators late last year.
A Federal High Court yesterday struck out the suit brought by two GSM operators, MTN and Celtel, to evade payment of compensation to subscribers over poor quality service, imposed on them by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The Court, sitting in Lagos, struck out the case for lack of merit and insufficient grounds. The two operators had last year, requested for an interlocutory injunction to restrain
NCC from implementing its earlier direction mandating the operators to pay compensation to subscribers for poor quality of service.
Justice D. Abutu of Court three, Federal High Court, in his judgment, reiterated that the Plaintiffs/Applicants had not shown special circumstances to grant the relief sought from the court, and therefore, dismissed the motion.
The Commission, which recently directed the two operators to pay N175 per subscriber for the month ended January 2008, for not meeting key performance indicators on quality of service as set by the regulator, had on January 9, 2008, won the case earlier instituted against it by MTN and Celtel, protesting notices on payment of the compensation to subscribers issued to them on September 19 and 20, 2007.
Following the ruling of the court in favour of the NCC, the Commission on February 28, 2008, finally issued a direction to both operators to pay compensation of N175.00 per subscriber for the month ended January 31, 2008.
The Commission reiterated that it arrived at the determination for compensation, because the two operators failed to meet the requirement to achieve Traffic Channel Congestion (TCH), below 10 per cent levels for the month of January 2008, in line with the Key Performance Indicators published by it, and issued to the operators late last year.
India - broadband in Gujarat
All Gujarat villages now connected to the net by broadband
Gandhinagar, March 22 (IANS) Gujarat has brought broadband connectivity to all village bodies so that “every household can avail the advantages of information technology”. At a meeting Friday to discuss the progress of “e-gram-vishwa-gram society” (e-village, global village) - a special purpose vehicle set up by the state government for the purpose - Chief Minister Narendra Modi congratulated officials of the panchayat and rural development department for the feat.
Each of the 13,693 village panchayats in the state is now connected to the worldwide web at a speed of 256 kilobytes per second.
This feat came about in two years at an expenditure of Rs.1.50 billion for installing computers, tying up with Internet service providers and training villagers, particularly local body officials.
Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala, presenting the budget for 2008-09, had said that after successfully providing electricity to villages under the Jyotigram scheme, the government had planned for the first time in the country to connect the villages through the broadband network so that “every household can avail the advantages of modern science and information technology”.
With this, Vala said the Gujarat villages would become “e-gram-vishwa-gram” since the connectivity would make education, telemedicine, veterinary services and market linkage in agriculture production easily accessible to the masses.
He said through e-connectivity, village councils would be provided with facilities of Internet, video conferencing and multi-casting.
All village bodies will be able to communicate with one another with the help of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).
Gujarat this week bagged the Scrotch Challengers-2008 Award for effectively implementing rural empowerment by e-governance. C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the prime minister, handed over the award to Panchayat Secretary Varesh Sinha at the Scrotch Challengers summit organised in New Delhi March 18-19.
Gandhinagar, March 22 (IANS) Gujarat has brought broadband connectivity to all village bodies so that “every household can avail the advantages of information technology”. At a meeting Friday to discuss the progress of “e-gram-vishwa-gram society” (e-village, global village) - a special purpose vehicle set up by the state government for the purpose - Chief Minister Narendra Modi congratulated officials of the panchayat and rural development department for the feat.
Each of the 13,693 village panchayats in the state is now connected to the worldwide web at a speed of 256 kilobytes per second.
This feat came about in two years at an expenditure of Rs.1.50 billion for installing computers, tying up with Internet service providers and training villagers, particularly local body officials.
Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala, presenting the budget for 2008-09, had said that after successfully providing electricity to villages under the Jyotigram scheme, the government had planned for the first time in the country to connect the villages through the broadband network so that “every household can avail the advantages of modern science and information technology”.
With this, Vala said the Gujarat villages would become “e-gram-vishwa-gram” since the connectivity would make education, telemedicine, veterinary services and market linkage in agriculture production easily accessible to the masses.
He said through e-connectivity, village councils would be provided with facilities of Internet, video conferencing and multi-casting.
All village bodies will be able to communicate with one another with the help of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).
Gujarat this week bagged the Scrotch Challengers-2008 Award for effectively implementing rural empowerment by e-governance. C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the prime minister, handed over the award to Panchayat Secretary Varesh Sinha at the Scrotch Challengers summit organised in New Delhi March 18-19.
Afghanistan - privatisation
Afghanistan to privatise national telephone firm
Afghanistan said Sunday it planned to sell up to 80 percent of its telecommunications arm in one of the most ambitious parts of the country's ongoing privatisation programme.
Bidders must register their interest in purchasing part of Afghan Telecom by April 4 and the tender process was expected to be completed in three months, Telecommunications Minister Amirzai Sangin told reporters.
The fixed line and wireless system had about 100,000 clients, he said. This compares to about five million for the booming mobile phone sector, which includes four providers and had investment of nearly one billion dollars, Sangin said.
Afghan Telecom would be worth about 190 million dollars after a network of fibre optic cables is put in place, an improvement which is due by year's end, his ministry said.
The sell-off is one of "the most ambitious privatisation projects in Afghanistan to date," it said in a statement on its website.
Asked about Taliban attacks on mobile phone towers, Sangin dismissed the insurgents' claims that cell phones were being used by the military to pinpoint their hideouts.
The Taliban extremist movement warned nearly a month ago it would target mobile antennae that were not switched off at night because they were being used to trace their bases.
About a dozen have been attacked since then, most of them in the volatile south where the insurgency is most active.
Troops had other means at their disposal to tackle the Taliban besides the mobile phone system, the minister said.
"Telephones are not a military target. Anyone attacking such installations is attacking people's interests," he said.
The Afghan government is trying to rebuild a country left in tatters after the 1996-2001 Taliban regime was forced out and following decades of war including a period of Soviet rule that left behind a lumbering bureaucracy.
Afghanistan said Sunday it planned to sell up to 80 percent of its telecommunications arm in one of the most ambitious parts of the country's ongoing privatisation programme.
Bidders must register their interest in purchasing part of Afghan Telecom by April 4 and the tender process was expected to be completed in three months, Telecommunications Minister Amirzai Sangin told reporters.
The fixed line and wireless system had about 100,000 clients, he said. This compares to about five million for the booming mobile phone sector, which includes four providers and had investment of nearly one billion dollars, Sangin said.
Afghan Telecom would be worth about 190 million dollars after a network of fibre optic cables is put in place, an improvement which is due by year's end, his ministry said.
The sell-off is one of "the most ambitious privatisation projects in Afghanistan to date," it said in a statement on its website.
Asked about Taliban attacks on mobile phone towers, Sangin dismissed the insurgents' claims that cell phones were being used by the military to pinpoint their hideouts.
The Taliban extremist movement warned nearly a month ago it would target mobile antennae that were not switched off at night because they were being used to trace their bases.
About a dozen have been attacked since then, most of them in the volatile south where the insurgency is most active.
Troops had other means at their disposal to tackle the Taliban besides the mobile phone system, the minister said.
"Telephones are not a military target. Anyone attacking such installations is attacking people's interests," he said.
The Afghan government is trying to rebuild a country left in tatters after the 1996-2001 Taliban regime was forced out and following decades of war including a period of Soviet rule that left behind a lumbering bureaucracy.
Friday, March 21, 2008
China - ZTE revenues up 50%
ZTE Announces 2007 Annual Results
ZTE Corporation ("ZTE" or the "Group") today announced its audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2007.
Based on HKAS, ZTE recorded a revenue of approximately RMB34,777 million in 2007, representing an increase of 49.8% against 2006. Net profit was RMB1,252 million.Basic earnings per share were RMB1.30.
Applying PRC GAAP, for the year under review, the Group's revenue from principal operations was approximately RMB34,777 million. Net profit was RMB1,252 million. Earnings per share amounted to RMB1.30.
The Board of Directors recommended payment of a final dividend of RMB2.5 （including tax）per 10 shares and the Group proposed to increase issued capital by Reserve on a basis of 4 shares for every 10 shares for the year ended 2007.
During the year, the Group's revenue from domestic operations amounted to RMB14,687 million, representing a year-on-year growth of 13.8%. The Group continued to implement the strategies of product differentiation and cost leadership heeding development trends in the domestic communications market. At the same time, it strengthened ties with domestic mainstream carriers in China by providing them with quality products and services.
The Group's revenue from international principal operations grew 94.8% to RMB20,091 million and accounted for 57.8% of its total revenue, which was 13.4 percentage points higher compared with the previous year. The revenue growth was driven by continued growth of income from emerging markets and increased sales in developed countries.
Mr. Hou Weigui, Chairman of ZTE, said, "Wireless communications business continues to be our main income source. Sales of the Group's wireless communications products grew rapidly in 2007. As for GSM products, their sales saw significant year-on-year growth, keeping overall market dominance and extending reach to new markets and carrier-customers. The segment broke grounds with high-end operators and quickly gained market share. On the 3G business front, our TD-SCDMA wireless network and core network products secured significant shares of the tenders for the construction of extended trial network for TD-SCDMA large-scale network technology application of carriers. Our WCDMA products also gained grounds in the international market and assumed a more premium market position. Our CDMA products continued to register sales growth. As for the Group at large, it strived to seize opportunities bred by growing broadband services around the world to develop its optical communications business with the aim of improving market coverage."
Mr. Hou concluded, "In the coming year, there will be opportunities as well as challenges in the domestic communications market as carriers transform their businesses and competition in the global market intensifies. The Group will step up effort to grow itself into a mainstream global operator, to develop new products and also tighten ties with major domestic carriers in China. It will seek to ride on the China 3G market, the booming handset and optical communications market as well as the strong global market to sustain fast growth."
ZTE Corporation ("ZTE" or the "Group") today announced its audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2007.
Based on HKAS, ZTE recorded a revenue of approximately RMB34,777 million in 2007, representing an increase of 49.8% against 2006. Net profit was RMB1,252 million.Basic earnings per share were RMB1.30.
Applying PRC GAAP, for the year under review, the Group's revenue from principal operations was approximately RMB34,777 million. Net profit was RMB1,252 million. Earnings per share amounted to RMB1.30.
The Board of Directors recommended payment of a final dividend of RMB2.5 （including tax）per 10 shares and the Group proposed to increase issued capital by Reserve on a basis of 4 shares for every 10 shares for the year ended 2007.
During the year, the Group's revenue from domestic operations amounted to RMB14,687 million, representing a year-on-year growth of 13.8%. The Group continued to implement the strategies of product differentiation and cost leadership heeding development trends in the domestic communications market. At the same time, it strengthened ties with domestic mainstream carriers in China by providing them with quality products and services.
The Group's revenue from international principal operations grew 94.8% to RMB20,091 million and accounted for 57.8% of its total revenue, which was 13.4 percentage points higher compared with the previous year. The revenue growth was driven by continued growth of income from emerging markets and increased sales in developed countries.
Mr. Hou Weigui, Chairman of ZTE, said, "Wireless communications business continues to be our main income source. Sales of the Group's wireless communications products grew rapidly in 2007. As for GSM products, their sales saw significant year-on-year growth, keeping overall market dominance and extending reach to new markets and carrier-customers. The segment broke grounds with high-end operators and quickly gained market share. On the 3G business front, our TD-SCDMA wireless network and core network products secured significant shares of the tenders for the construction of extended trial network for TD-SCDMA large-scale network technology application of carriers. Our WCDMA products also gained grounds in the international market and assumed a more premium market position. Our CDMA products continued to register sales growth. As for the Group at large, it strived to seize opportunities bred by growing broadband services around the world to develop its optical communications business with the aim of improving market coverage."
Mr. Hou concluded, "In the coming year, there will be opportunities as well as challenges in the domestic communications market as carriers transform their businesses and competition in the global market intensifies. The Group will step up effort to grow itself into a mainstream global operator, to develop new products and also tighten ties with major domestic carriers in China. It will seek to ride on the China 3G market, the booming handset and optical communications market as well as the strong global market to sustain fast growth."
Wi-Fi and Wimax together, not in competition
WiMAX Is Well Suited For Wide Area Networks, Wi-Fi Is Cost-Effective For a Wide Range of Local Clients
Sunnyvale, CA, March 20, 2008 - Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN), a global leader in wireless LANs and secure unified mobility solutions, today announced the availability of a new white paper on Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) that explores the strengths and weaknesses of this technology for delivering broadband wireless services to fixed and mobile clients. The widespread availability of WiMAX has for years been just around the corner but non-interoperable implementations and frequency spectrum licensing issues have hindered deployments. The situation for enterprises is different, however. The white paper notes that WiMAX is a convenient alternative to wired backhaul for remote or personal access points, and combined with Wi-Fi can help an enterprise cost-effectively accommodate diverse backhaul requirements and extend wireless LAN services to hard-to-wire locations. Ease-of-use is further enhanced when both WiMAX and Wi-Fi networks are managed from a common console using a multi-vendor wireless network management platform.
"Proponents of WiMAX make claims about in-process trials but there are few, if any, large-scale commercial networks," said Peter Thornycroft, author of the Aruba white paper. "As a technology WiMAX is ready for takeoff, but it is the non-technical obstacles that have conspired to keep it grounded. In this paper I discuss the misconceptions that have arisen over the capabilities and timelines of WiMAX technology, analyze the utility of using licensed versus unlicensed bands, and explain how WiMAX's cutting-edge wireless performance on licensed bands can be complemented with a Wi-Fi deployment on unlicensed bands to provide WWAN-to-WLAN broadband coverage."
Wi-Fi and WiMAX do not inhabit discrete segments of the market but instead overlap, and represent two of many competing ways to deliver broadband wireless services to fixed and mobile clients. While the two share common underlying technologies, each has strengths and weaknesses associated with transmit power, channel bandwidth, spectral bands, antenna gain, and management regimes. The white paper reviews the capabilities of each technology, notes where they are complementary, and makes a case for using them together to achieve a robust broadband solution.
Sunnyvale, CA, March 20, 2008 - Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN), a global leader in wireless LANs and secure unified mobility solutions, today announced the availability of a new white paper on Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) that explores the strengths and weaknesses of this technology for delivering broadband wireless services to fixed and mobile clients. The widespread availability of WiMAX has for years been just around the corner but non-interoperable implementations and frequency spectrum licensing issues have hindered deployments. The situation for enterprises is different, however. The white paper notes that WiMAX is a convenient alternative to wired backhaul for remote or personal access points, and combined with Wi-Fi can help an enterprise cost-effectively accommodate diverse backhaul requirements and extend wireless LAN services to hard-to-wire locations. Ease-of-use is further enhanced when both WiMAX and Wi-Fi networks are managed from a common console using a multi-vendor wireless network management platform.
"Proponents of WiMAX make claims about in-process trials but there are few, if any, large-scale commercial networks," said Peter Thornycroft, author of the Aruba white paper. "As a technology WiMAX is ready for takeoff, but it is the non-technical obstacles that have conspired to keep it grounded. In this paper I discuss the misconceptions that have arisen over the capabilities and timelines of WiMAX technology, analyze the utility of using licensed versus unlicensed bands, and explain how WiMAX's cutting-edge wireless performance on licensed bands can be complemented with a Wi-Fi deployment on unlicensed bands to provide WWAN-to-WLAN broadband coverage."
Wi-Fi and WiMAX do not inhabit discrete segments of the market but instead overlap, and represent two of many competing ways to deliver broadband wireless services to fixed and mobile clients. While the two share common underlying technologies, each has strengths and weaknesses associated with transmit power, channel bandwidth, spectral bands, antenna gain, and management regimes. The white paper reviews the capabilities of each technology, notes where they are complementary, and makes a case for using them together to achieve a robust broadband solution.
Iran - telecom trade embargo
Company's plan for Iran trade brings guilty plea
Allied Telesis Labs, a telecommunications research company with offices on NC State's Centennial Campus, entered a guilty plea today to conspiring to trade illegally with Iran.
According to a federal court press release, the company conspired to land and carry out a $95 million contract to rebuild telecommunications systems in Iranian cities including Teheran. The guilty plea followed a written plea agreement and required the defendant to pay a fine of $500,000.
The plea came in federal court in Raleigh to charges of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Powers Act, federal court officials said.
Attorneys for Allied did not comment during the hearing, but said in a news release that the employees involved in the conspiracy have been fired.
According to the court's news release, the company designed telecommunication equipment and systems including high-capacity "multiservice access platforms," known as iMAPs, and related items that could route a large volume of messages/information/data.
The plea acknowledged that the corporation conspired with another to trade with Iran in violation of the law.
"The iMAPS developed in the Triangle were to be a central component of this system," the news release said. "Preparation for the execution of the contract went as far as the manufacture of approximately $2 million worth of iMAPS at ... facilities in Singapore.
"The contract negotiations eventually collapsed, the telecommunications system was not installed and the iMAPs were sold elsewhere at a loss."
The company, formerly known as Allied Telesyn Network is a subsidiary of Washington State-based Allied Telesis, Inc., itself a subsidiary of Allied Telesis Kabushi Kaisha, a Tokyo-based global holding company.
Allied Telesis Labs, a telecommunications research company with offices on NC State's Centennial Campus, entered a guilty plea today to conspiring to trade illegally with Iran.
According to a federal court press release, the company conspired to land and carry out a $95 million contract to rebuild telecommunications systems in Iranian cities including Teheran. The guilty plea followed a written plea agreement and required the defendant to pay a fine of $500,000.
The plea came in federal court in Raleigh to charges of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Powers Act, federal court officials said.
Attorneys for Allied did not comment during the hearing, but said in a news release that the employees involved in the conspiracy have been fired.
According to the court's news release, the company designed telecommunication equipment and systems including high-capacity "multiservice access platforms," known as iMAPs, and related items that could route a large volume of messages/information/data.
The plea acknowledged that the corporation conspired with another to trade with Iran in violation of the law.
"The iMAPS developed in the Triangle were to be a central component of this system," the news release said. "Preparation for the execution of the contract went as far as the manufacture of approximately $2 million worth of iMAPS at ... facilities in Singapore.
"The contract negotiations eventually collapsed, the telecommunications system was not installed and the iMAPs were sold elsewhere at a loss."
The company, formerly known as Allied Telesyn Network is a subsidiary of Washington State-based Allied Telesis, Inc., itself a subsidiary of Allied Telesis Kabushi Kaisha, a Tokyo-based global holding company.
India - broadband policy and statistics
broadband connectivity
Government is very much aware that broadband connectivity is very essential for the development of the country as knowledge based society. Some of the major steps taken and proposed to be taken by the Government to proliferate broadband in the country are given below:
Broadband policy has been announced by the Government during 2004 for accelerated growth of Broadband applications, contributing growth of GDP and enhancement in quality of life through societal applications including tele-education, tele-medicine, e-governance, entertainment as well as employment generation.
In order to bring provisioning of broadband connectivity to rural areas under the purview of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), the Indian Telegraph Rules have been amended, stream IV has been added under the title “Provision of broadband connectivity to villages in a phased manner”. The USOF is working on a scheme for providing financial assistance by way of subsidy for the broadband active infrastructure such as BTS (Base Transceiver Station) and by utilizing the existing passive infrastructure available with the Telecom service providers.
State owned Public Sector Unit, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has identified around 25,576 rural exchanges and has placed order of 1.6 million ports for deployment of broadband services and rural areas.
The Government has approved a Common Services Centres (CSCs) Scheme for providing support for establishing 100,000 Common Services Centers in 600,000 villages of India. The Scheme, as approved by the Government of India, envisions CSCs as the front-end delivery points for Government, private and social sector services to rural citizens of India , in an integrated manner. The objective is to develop a platform that can enable Government, private and social sector organizations to align their social and commercial goals for the benefit of the rural population in the remotest corners of the country through a combination of IT-based as well as non-IT-based services.
It is proposed to setup a National Knowledge Network for providing broadband connectivity to knowledge Institutions in the country.
Department of Information Technology (DIT) has been promoting research and development in the area of Convergence, Communication and Broadband Technology as one of its major activities. Under this programme during the last three years, eight projects covering the area of Broadband Technologies have been funded.
Various exemptions in duties and taxes have been proposed in the Budget 2008-09 for Electronics/ IT Industry.
There were 3,019,521 broadband subscribers as on 31st December 2007.
Details of State-wise Broadband Subscribers as on 31st December 2007.
State-Telecom Circle Broadband Subscribers
1 Andaman & Nicobar 964
2 Andhra Pradesh 234099
3 Assam 12475
4 Bihar (including Jharkhand) 37278
5 Delhi* 409057
6 Gujarat 188628
7 Haryana 40218
8 Himachal Pradesh 6693
9 Jammu & Kashmir 9597
10 Karnataka 331937
11 Kerala 140306
12 Maharashtra (including Goa) 654308
13 Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh) 80738
14 North East** 4856
15 Orissa 20973
16 Punjab 106892
17 Rajasthan 57934
18 Tamilnadu 406654
19 Uttar Pradesh (including Uttaranchal) 110641
20 West Bengal 165273
TOTAL 3,019,521
* includes Noida, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Faridabad
** includes Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland & Tripura
Government is very much aware that broadband connectivity is very essential for the development of the country as knowledge based society. Some of the major steps taken and proposed to be taken by the Government to proliferate broadband in the country are given below:
Broadband policy has been announced by the Government during 2004 for accelerated growth of Broadband applications, contributing growth of GDP and enhancement in quality of life through societal applications including tele-education, tele-medicine, e-governance, entertainment as well as employment generation.
In order to bring provisioning of broadband connectivity to rural areas under the purview of Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), the Indian Telegraph Rules have been amended, stream IV has been added under the title “Provision of broadband connectivity to villages in a phased manner”. The USOF is working on a scheme for providing financial assistance by way of subsidy for the broadband active infrastructure such as BTS (Base Transceiver Station) and by utilizing the existing passive infrastructure available with the Telecom service providers.
State owned Public Sector Unit, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has identified around 25,576 rural exchanges and has placed order of 1.6 million ports for deployment of broadband services and rural areas.
The Government has approved a Common Services Centres (CSCs) Scheme for providing support for establishing 100,000 Common Services Centers in 600,000 villages of India. The Scheme, as approved by the Government of India, envisions CSCs as the front-end delivery points for Government, private and social sector services to rural citizens of India , in an integrated manner. The objective is to develop a platform that can enable Government, private and social sector organizations to align their social and commercial goals for the benefit of the rural population in the remotest corners of the country through a combination of IT-based as well as non-IT-based services.
It is proposed to setup a National Knowledge Network for providing broadband connectivity to knowledge Institutions in the country.
Department of Information Technology (DIT) has been promoting research and development in the area of Convergence, Communication and Broadband Technology as one of its major activities. Under this programme during the last three years, eight projects covering the area of Broadband Technologies have been funded.
Various exemptions in duties and taxes have been proposed in the Budget 2008-09 for Electronics/ IT Industry.
There were 3,019,521 broadband subscribers as on 31st December 2007.
Details of State-wise Broadband Subscribers as on 31st December 2007.
State-Telecom Circle Broadband Subscribers
1 Andaman & Nicobar 964
2 Andhra Pradesh 234099
3 Assam 12475
4 Bihar (including Jharkhand) 37278
5 Delhi* 409057
6 Gujarat 188628
7 Haryana 40218
8 Himachal Pradesh 6693
9 Jammu & Kashmir 9597
10 Karnataka 331937
11 Kerala 140306
12 Maharashtra (including Goa) 654308
13 Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh) 80738
14 North East** 4856
15 Orissa 20973
16 Punjab 106892
17 Rajasthan 57934
18 Tamilnadu 406654
19 Uttar Pradesh (including Uttaranchal) 110641
20 West Bengal 165273
TOTAL 3,019,521
* includes Noida, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Faridabad
** includes Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland & Tripura
UK - functional separation terms toughened
New incentives for Openreach to deliver customer service improvements
see also statement
Ofcom today confirmed a new package of incentives for Openreach to offer a high quality of service to other communications providers. The measures will affect the way Openreach products are provided, supported, repaired and maintained.
The new rules require Openreach to compensate all communications providers (including BT’s own retail divisions) where it fails to provide and repair services according to agreed targets. Ofcom has also simplified the process for claiming such compensation.
The rules require Openreach to:
* pay compensation proactively without any need for Openreach customers to make a claim should a fault be fixed late or a line provided late;
* pay every time service or quality falls below the contractual threshold instead of paying out against performance stated as an ‘average over time’;
* continue to pay compensation each time problems persist up to a capped limit; and
* for local loop unbundling, pay additional levels of compensation for failure to activate ‘live’ lines at double the current amount.
Telecoms companies use a range of Openreach products to allow them to offer retail services to business and residential consumers. As these products are only available from Openreach, Ofcom regulates their price and how they are supplied.
Openreach is required to provide these products on an equal basis, with the same prices, sales and support processes to the entire telecoms industry. Specifically, Openreach should not provide services to other parts of the BT Group on more favourable terms or practices.
The package of measures follows concerns raised by telecoms companies that Openreach was not sufficiently focused on meeting the needs of all of its wholesale customers. In particular, other communications providers were concerned about the time and complexity involved in claiming compensation resulting from a service failure.
These new measures will relate to most of Openreach’s products including:
* wholesale line rental – used by communications providers to offer telephone services to consumers over the BT network;
* local loop unbundling – allowing communications providers to install their own equipment in telephone exchanges to offer their own retail services including broadband; and
* wholesale Ethernet services – where communications providers use these products to build their own retail services for the business and enterprise market or to extend their own networks.
Ofcom Chief Executive, Ed Richards, said: “Openreach’s role is to sell products to any communications company wishing to provide services to UK customers. The new incentives will encourage Openreach to ensure that a high quality of service is delivered to industry and ultimately consumers”.
The new rules will take full effect from 20 June 2008.
Ofcom will review the impact of the service guarantees six months after their implementation. Ofcom will also be considering quality of service issues in its review of the Openreach Financial Framework in spring 2008.
see also statement
Ofcom today confirmed a new package of incentives for Openreach to offer a high quality of service to other communications providers. The measures will affect the way Openreach products are provided, supported, repaired and maintained.
The new rules require Openreach to compensate all communications providers (including BT’s own retail divisions) where it fails to provide and repair services according to agreed targets. Ofcom has also simplified the process for claiming such compensation.
The rules require Openreach to:
* pay compensation proactively without any need for Openreach customers to make a claim should a fault be fixed late or a line provided late;
* pay every time service or quality falls below the contractual threshold instead of paying out against performance stated as an ‘average over time’;
* continue to pay compensation each time problems persist up to a capped limit; and
* for local loop unbundling, pay additional levels of compensation for failure to activate ‘live’ lines at double the current amount.
Telecoms companies use a range of Openreach products to allow them to offer retail services to business and residential consumers. As these products are only available from Openreach, Ofcom regulates their price and how they are supplied.
Openreach is required to provide these products on an equal basis, with the same prices, sales and support processes to the entire telecoms industry. Specifically, Openreach should not provide services to other parts of the BT Group on more favourable terms or practices.
The package of measures follows concerns raised by telecoms companies that Openreach was not sufficiently focused on meeting the needs of all of its wholesale customers. In particular, other communications providers were concerned about the time and complexity involved in claiming compensation resulting from a service failure.
These new measures will relate to most of Openreach’s products including:
* wholesale line rental – used by communications providers to offer telephone services to consumers over the BT network;
* local loop unbundling – allowing communications providers to install their own equipment in telephone exchanges to offer their own retail services including broadband; and
* wholesale Ethernet services – where communications providers use these products to build their own retail services for the business and enterprise market or to extend their own networks.
Ofcom Chief Executive, Ed Richards, said: “Openreach’s role is to sell products to any communications company wishing to provide services to UK customers. The new incentives will encourage Openreach to ensure that a high quality of service is delivered to industry and ultimately consumers”.
The new rules will take full effect from 20 June 2008.
Ofcom will review the impact of the service guarantees six months after their implementation. Ofcom will also be considering quality of service issues in its review of the Openreach Financial Framework in spring 2008.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Bulgaria - poor quality
Bulgarian telecom services quality poorest in EU, highest prices - EC report
Last year, Bulgaria ranked the poorest EU-wide in terms of quality of telecom services, the European Commission (EC) said in a report on the progress of telecom services released on March 19.
Bulgaria and Romania are the only EU member states without number portability, the EC said.
Despite mobile penetration rate being higher than the EU average, at 123 per cent, mobile telecommunications services are the most expensive in Europe. Calls to alternative cell phone operators and calls from fixed line to mobile phones cost 0.19 euro a minute whereas the EU tariff averages at 0.09 a minute.
Of concern was also the poor competition on the fixed-line market. So was the poor performance of the country's regulator, which the EC believed was neither independent nor efficient. The report “identified a conflict of interest where the Chairperson of the State Agency responsible for telecoms was also a board member of the incumbent operator”, referring to the Commission for Telecommunications Regulation and the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company.
Bulgaria is yet to build the infrastructure for the emergency phone number 112, the EC said. The EC started proceedings against Bulgaria on the issue back in October 2007.
The report also notes that the EU broadband penetration in Bulgaria is the lowest in the EU, at 7.6 per cent whereas the average for the EU was at 20 per cent.
The EC rebuked Bulgaria over the absence of market analyses, which is a must under EU telecom rules and a “main instrument for improving competition”.
Last year, Bulgaria ranked the poorest EU-wide in terms of quality of telecom services, the European Commission (EC) said in a report on the progress of telecom services released on March 19.
Bulgaria and Romania are the only EU member states without number portability, the EC said.
Despite mobile penetration rate being higher than the EU average, at 123 per cent, mobile telecommunications services are the most expensive in Europe. Calls to alternative cell phone operators and calls from fixed line to mobile phones cost 0.19 euro a minute whereas the EU tariff averages at 0.09 a minute.
Of concern was also the poor competition on the fixed-line market. So was the poor performance of the country's regulator, which the EC believed was neither independent nor efficient. The report “identified a conflict of interest where the Chairperson of the State Agency responsible for telecoms was also a board member of the incumbent operator”, referring to the Commission for Telecommunications Regulation and the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company.
Bulgaria is yet to build the infrastructure for the emergency phone number 112, the EC said. The EC started proceedings against Bulgaria on the issue back in October 2007.
The report also notes that the EU broadband penetration in Bulgaria is the lowest in the EU, at 7.6 per cent whereas the average for the EU was at 20 per cent.
The EC rebuked Bulgaria over the absence of market analyses, which is a must under EU telecom rules and a “main instrument for improving competition”.
De-peering
Cogent and TeliaSonera's Peering Dispute
On 14 March 2008, Cogent Communications depeered TeliaSonera, a European carrier with a primary customer base in the Nordic region and a significant Internet bandwidth business. In this context, "peering" refers to the settlement-free direct exchange of Internet traffic between two Internet service providers (ISPs).
Cogent, which sells aggressively priced Internet connectivity to businesses, including large content providers, has been involved in high-profile peering disputes in the past. The most notable of these was in 2005, when Level 3 depeered Cogent; pressure from its own customers was significant in forcing Level 3 to restore the peer and negotiate an agreement with Cogent. More recently, Cogent has been depeering other networks, most notably content delivery network (CDN) provider Limelight Networks.
Peering disputes are almost always over traffic imbalances. Ideally, when two ISPs peer with each other, the bilateral flow of traffic across the peer is approximately equal - each ISP sends the other about as much traffic as it receives from the other. If this ratio becomes overly imbalanced, one provider is likely to feel that the other should be purchasing connectivity, not obtaining it for free.
However, it seems likely that Cogent's recent depeering moves are not about traffic imbalances with the network that is being depeered. Rather, these are more likely attempts to balance its traffic ratios with other network service providers, and thus make it more attractive as a peering partner. Cogent has far more outbound traffic than it does inbound traffic, so moves that concentrate inbound traffic over valued peers are beneficial to it. For instance, when Cogent stopped peering directly with Limelight Networks, Limelight's traffic ended up flowing to Cogent via other service providers. This likely helped Cogent's traffic ratios with some of its other peered networks.
The situation with TeliaSonera, however, is exceptional because Cogent has reportedly been trying to get more effective peering in Europe. While Cogent's extensive peers include many European providers, the peering locations are primarily in the United States. We speculate that this move may be Cogent's heavy-handed attempt to negotiate European peering with TeliaSonera.
This kind of dispute is not good for either Cogent's customers or TeliaSonera's. TeliaSonera is advising its customers to purchase Internet access from an additional ISP that does have connectivity to Cogent. In general, Gartner strongly advises multihomed (multi-ISP) connectivity for reliability, and disputes such as this, which make networks unreachable for days at a time, are a particularly clear instance of the benefits of such. Cogent customers in particular are strongly encouraged to have a backup ISP, because we anticipate that Cogent's peering disputes are likely to continue, as it rationalizes its peering arrangements.
On 14 March 2008, Cogent Communications depeered TeliaSonera, a European carrier with a primary customer base in the Nordic region and a significant Internet bandwidth business. In this context, "peering" refers to the settlement-free direct exchange of Internet traffic between two Internet service providers (ISPs).
Cogent, which sells aggressively priced Internet connectivity to businesses, including large content providers, has been involved in high-profile peering disputes in the past. The most notable of these was in 2005, when Level 3 depeered Cogent; pressure from its own customers was significant in forcing Level 3 to restore the peer and negotiate an agreement with Cogent. More recently, Cogent has been depeering other networks, most notably content delivery network (CDN) provider Limelight Networks.
Peering disputes are almost always over traffic imbalances. Ideally, when two ISPs peer with each other, the bilateral flow of traffic across the peer is approximately equal - each ISP sends the other about as much traffic as it receives from the other. If this ratio becomes overly imbalanced, one provider is likely to feel that the other should be purchasing connectivity, not obtaining it for free.
However, it seems likely that Cogent's recent depeering moves are not about traffic imbalances with the network that is being depeered. Rather, these are more likely attempts to balance its traffic ratios with other network service providers, and thus make it more attractive as a peering partner. Cogent has far more outbound traffic than it does inbound traffic, so moves that concentrate inbound traffic over valued peers are beneficial to it. For instance, when Cogent stopped peering directly with Limelight Networks, Limelight's traffic ended up flowing to Cogent via other service providers. This likely helped Cogent's traffic ratios with some of its other peered networks.
The situation with TeliaSonera, however, is exceptional because Cogent has reportedly been trying to get more effective peering in Europe. While Cogent's extensive peers include many European providers, the peering locations are primarily in the United States. We speculate that this move may be Cogent's heavy-handed attempt to negotiate European peering with TeliaSonera.
This kind of dispute is not good for either Cogent's customers or TeliaSonera's. TeliaSonera is advising its customers to purchase Internet access from an additional ISP that does have connectivity to Cogent. In general, Gartner strongly advises multihomed (multi-ISP) connectivity for reliability, and disputes such as this, which make networks unreachable for days at a time, are a particularly clear instance of the benefits of such. Cogent customers in particular are strongly encouraged to have a backup ISP, because we anticipate that Cogent's peering disputes are likely to continue, as it rationalizes its peering arrangements.
Thailand - 3G within a year
Minister prioritises 3G wireless: Public and private firms to link up
Thailand will aim to establish a nationwide, third-generation wireless broadband network within one year, according to Mun Patanotai,minister of Information and Communications Technology.
He said the state-owned TOT Corp and CAT Telecom would invite the three main cellular operators to participate in a joint project to establish a High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) system with the aim of becoming operational within one year.
The venture could be structured with private firms acting as strategic partners with the two state enterprises. This would avoid a lengthy review under the 1992 public-private joint-venture law.
"I want both the TOT and CAT to hold talks with Advanced Info Service, DTAC and True Move about a joint wireless broadband system," Mr Mun said.
HSDPA technology can be quickly deployed by leveraging the existing GSM system infrastructure, the technology used by all three main mobile operators.
Upgrading the current GSM systems to third-generation high-speed wireless technology would also eliminate the need to secure new licences from the National Telecommunications Commission, which has been slow to approve new 3G and wireless broadband technologies.
Mr Mun said a co-operative approach would help break the long-standing deadlock that has hindered technological development of the telecom sector.
He claimed that the private operators were prepared to invest heavily in the new system, which involves cost upgrades of around two million baht per GSM base station cell site.
The three largest cellular operators have around 27,000 cell sites nationwide.
"If we just let things go on as they are now and wait for the existing concessions to expire, it will be too late and significantly affect both the TOT and CAT," Mr Mun said. "The day the concessions expire, their value will be zero. And we will have lost all opportunities to develop the sector and the overall economy."
AIS operates mobile services under a revenue-sharing concession with TOT Plc, while DTAC and True Move have a similar concession with CAT Telecom.
Efforts to introduce new technologies have been long hindered by legal conflicts over existing concessions, regulatory delays and policy uncertainties.
Previous governments have supported converting the existing concessions into new licences, with the network assets now owned by the state but operated by the private sector to be sold off to existing operators for a fee.
But concession conversion has made zero progress due to conflicts regarding how the assets should be valued and the compensation that should be paid to the state enterprises. Both the TOT and CAT derive the bulk of their revenues from their concession-sharing arrangements.
Mr Mun said that allowing the concessions to expire over the next decade would be costly for the country's economy and consumers alike.
HSDPA technology is used by 154 network operators in 71 countries. The protocol is part of the GSM family, which dominates the world's mobile systems with a market share of 86 percent.
Mr Mun, 67, has degrees in economics, political science and law. He said he also wanted to improve not just the country's ICT infrastructure, but also digital content available to the public.
He plans to also push forward with legal reforms to certify the use of electronic signatures and contracts in commercial transactions to eventually support the full development of a digital and paperless economy.
Software development, a 50-billion-baht per year business, also could be expanded significantly, particularly in terms of local development.
"We need to establish quality tool centres in the country for the industry to grow," Mr Mun said.
"I will co-ordinate closely with the National Telecommunications Commission and the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center to eliminate existing development obstacles and establish a clear policy going forward."
A shift to HSDPA technology would be a major policy reversal. CAT Telecom now offers cellular service in 25 provinces under the CDMA system, a protocol incompatible with GSM networks, through Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia.
CAT has commissioned China's Huawei Technology to expand the CDMA system to another 51 provinces, although the project has been mired in legal conflicts over delays in meeting the contract terms.But CDMA currently claims only around 980,000 users nationwide, compared to a combined 53 million cellular subscribers for AIS, DTAC and True Move.
"Even Hutchison agrees that there is no point in moving forward with CDMA. Establishing a new network altogether would be more effective," said one senior CAT Telecom executive.
A CAT group looking into the possibility of a joint public-private venture into HSDPA third-generation technology concluded that the best model would be to leverage existing contracts between the private operators and the state.
DTAC and True Move would transform their build-transfer-operate concessions into a lease agreement for 850Mhz network assets already transferred to CAT. Hutch, meanwhile, would have its marketing contract for CDMA scrapped and instead be directed to network assets now used by True Move and Hutch for 3G services.
AIS would undergo a similar transformation, switching its concession into a lease agreement for the 900 and 1900Mhz frequencies with TOT.
Thailand will aim to establish a nationwide, third-generation wireless broadband network within one year, according to Mun Patanotai,minister of Information and Communications Technology.
He said the state-owned TOT Corp and CAT Telecom would invite the three main cellular operators to participate in a joint project to establish a High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) system with the aim of becoming operational within one year.
The venture could be structured with private firms acting as strategic partners with the two state enterprises. This would avoid a lengthy review under the 1992 public-private joint-venture law.
"I want both the TOT and CAT to hold talks with Advanced Info Service, DTAC and True Move about a joint wireless broadband system," Mr Mun said.
HSDPA technology can be quickly deployed by leveraging the existing GSM system infrastructure, the technology used by all three main mobile operators.
Upgrading the current GSM systems to third-generation high-speed wireless technology would also eliminate the need to secure new licences from the National Telecommunications Commission, which has been slow to approve new 3G and wireless broadband technologies.
Mr Mun said a co-operative approach would help break the long-standing deadlock that has hindered technological development of the telecom sector.
He claimed that the private operators were prepared to invest heavily in the new system, which involves cost upgrades of around two million baht per GSM base station cell site.
The three largest cellular operators have around 27,000 cell sites nationwide.
"If we just let things go on as they are now and wait for the existing concessions to expire, it will be too late and significantly affect both the TOT and CAT," Mr Mun said. "The day the concessions expire, their value will be zero. And we will have lost all opportunities to develop the sector and the overall economy."
AIS operates mobile services under a revenue-sharing concession with TOT Plc, while DTAC and True Move have a similar concession with CAT Telecom.
Efforts to introduce new technologies have been long hindered by legal conflicts over existing concessions, regulatory delays and policy uncertainties.
Previous governments have supported converting the existing concessions into new licences, with the network assets now owned by the state but operated by the private sector to be sold off to existing operators for a fee.
But concession conversion has made zero progress due to conflicts regarding how the assets should be valued and the compensation that should be paid to the state enterprises. Both the TOT and CAT derive the bulk of their revenues from their concession-sharing arrangements.
Mr Mun said that allowing the concessions to expire over the next decade would be costly for the country's economy and consumers alike.
HSDPA technology is used by 154 network operators in 71 countries. The protocol is part of the GSM family, which dominates the world's mobile systems with a market share of 86 percent.
Mr Mun, 67, has degrees in economics, political science and law. He said he also wanted to improve not just the country's ICT infrastructure, but also digital content available to the public.
He plans to also push forward with legal reforms to certify the use of electronic signatures and contracts in commercial transactions to eventually support the full development of a digital and paperless economy.
Software development, a 50-billion-baht per year business, also could be expanded significantly, particularly in terms of local development.
"We need to establish quality tool centres in the country for the industry to grow," Mr Mun said.
"I will co-ordinate closely with the National Telecommunications Commission and the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center to eliminate existing development obstacles and establish a clear policy going forward."
A shift to HSDPA technology would be a major policy reversal. CAT Telecom now offers cellular service in 25 provinces under the CDMA system, a protocol incompatible with GSM networks, through Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia.
CAT has commissioned China's Huawei Technology to expand the CDMA system to another 51 provinces, although the project has been mired in legal conflicts over delays in meeting the contract terms.But CDMA currently claims only around 980,000 users nationwide, compared to a combined 53 million cellular subscribers for AIS, DTAC and True Move.
"Even Hutchison agrees that there is no point in moving forward with CDMA. Establishing a new network altogether would be more effective," said one senior CAT Telecom executive.
A CAT group looking into the possibility of a joint public-private venture into HSDPA third-generation technology concluded that the best model would be to leverage existing contracts between the private operators and the state.
DTAC and True Move would transform their build-transfer-operate concessions into a lease agreement for 850Mhz network assets already transferred to CAT. Hutch, meanwhile, would have its marketing contract for CDMA scrapped and instead be directed to network assets now used by True Move and Hutch for 3G services.
AIS would undergo a similar transformation, switching its concession into a lease agreement for the 900 and 1900Mhz frequencies with TOT.
USA - spectrum auction for US$ 19 billions
US raises record 19 bln dlrs in wireless broadband auction
The US government has announced it had raised a record 19.6 billion dollars in an auction as bidders sought a prime segment of the US wireless spectrum.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement late on Tuesday that the 700 MHz auction that began on January 24 had closed Tuesday after 261 rounds of bidding.
Martin did not identify the companies that had bid for the licenses for the 1,099 frequencies in the 700 MHz spectrum being abandoned as television broadcasters complete a federally mandated switchover from analog to digital by early next year.
These high-speed, broadband frequencies, capable of rapidly delivering massive amounts of data easily through walls, are ideal for mobile Internet applications.
More than 200 companies were in the bidding, including telecommunications operators and industrial companies.
Martin said that the 19.6 billion dollars raised was nearly double congressional estimates of 10.2 billion and that all other 68 FCC auctions in the past 15 years combined had generated only 19.1 billion dollars.
The proceeds will be used to support public safety and digital television transition initiatives, he said. All US television broadcasting will be digital after February 17, 2009.
"This auction provided an opportunity to have a significant effect on the next phase of wireless broadband innovation. With the open platform requirements on one-third of the spectrum, consumers will be able to use the wireless device of their choice on those networks and download whatever software or applications they want on it," Martin said.
Nearly all the bids were made during the first week of the auction, particularly for the sought-after C-block, the only chunk of frequencies that covers the entire US territory, and by far the most expensive.
One bidder offered 4.71 billion dollars for the C-block, where only three major players have shown interest, according to analysts: telecom giants Verizon and AT&T, and Internet giant Google.
The other blocks on the auction block cover zones ranging from major portions of territory to small rural areas.
"Wireless broadband will be able to reach unserved areas of the country, and it will bring increased competition to the broadband sector that is currently dominated by DSL and cable providers," Martin said.
Acquisition of the C-block will allow a newcomer to telecommunications, like Google, to launch a new nationwide telecom network or provide an existing operator to strengthen its coverage.
Google last July said it would bid the government's minimum bid of 4.6 billion dollars for the C-block if the FCC ensured the winners would allow all companies access.
Google and public interest groups successfully lobbied the FCC to change the rules of the auction to ensure that the winners must allow their customers to download any software application they want on their mobile device, and to use any mobile devices they want on that wireless network.
That will mean a revolution for American consumers, who generally have been forced to use the handsets and the applications offered by wireless operators, which "block" their cellphones from use on others' networks.
After the auction, any cellphone maker, such as Apple and its iPhone, or any wireless software manucturer, like Google, can team up with other manufacturers that would automatically have access to the network.
Despite the overall success of the auction, the D-block, dedicated to create a nationwide public-safety network, failed to receive a bid that met the 1.3-billion-dollar reserve price, the FCC said.
"The FCC is now evaluating its options for this spectrum," Martin said, adding that the FCC remained committed to trying to solve "public safety's interoperability challenges."
The US government has announced it had raised a record 19.6 billion dollars in an auction as bidders sought a prime segment of the US wireless spectrum.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement late on Tuesday that the 700 MHz auction that began on January 24 had closed Tuesday after 261 rounds of bidding.
Martin did not identify the companies that had bid for the licenses for the 1,099 frequencies in the 700 MHz spectrum being abandoned as television broadcasters complete a federally mandated switchover from analog to digital by early next year.
These high-speed, broadband frequencies, capable of rapidly delivering massive amounts of data easily through walls, are ideal for mobile Internet applications.
More than 200 companies were in the bidding, including telecommunications operators and industrial companies.
Martin said that the 19.6 billion dollars raised was nearly double congressional estimates of 10.2 billion and that all other 68 FCC auctions in the past 15 years combined had generated only 19.1 billion dollars.
The proceeds will be used to support public safety and digital television transition initiatives, he said. All US television broadcasting will be digital after February 17, 2009.
"This auction provided an opportunity to have a significant effect on the next phase of wireless broadband innovation. With the open platform requirements on one-third of the spectrum, consumers will be able to use the wireless device of their choice on those networks and download whatever software or applications they want on it," Martin said.
Nearly all the bids were made during the first week of the auction, particularly for the sought-after C-block, the only chunk of frequencies that covers the entire US territory, and by far the most expensive.
One bidder offered 4.71 billion dollars for the C-block, where only three major players have shown interest, according to analysts: telecom giants Verizon and AT&T, and Internet giant Google.
The other blocks on the auction block cover zones ranging from major portions of territory to small rural areas.
"Wireless broadband will be able to reach unserved areas of the country, and it will bring increased competition to the broadband sector that is currently dominated by DSL and cable providers," Martin said.
Acquisition of the C-block will allow a newcomer to telecommunications, like Google, to launch a new nationwide telecom network or provide an existing operator to strengthen its coverage.
Google last July said it would bid the government's minimum bid of 4.6 billion dollars for the C-block if the FCC ensured the winners would allow all companies access.
Google and public interest groups successfully lobbied the FCC to change the rules of the auction to ensure that the winners must allow their customers to download any software application they want on their mobile device, and to use any mobile devices they want on that wireless network.
That will mean a revolution for American consumers, who generally have been forced to use the handsets and the applications offered by wireless operators, which "block" their cellphones from use on others' networks.
After the auction, any cellphone maker, such as Apple and its iPhone, or any wireless software manucturer, like Google, can team up with other manufacturers that would automatically have access to the network.
Despite the overall success of the auction, the D-block, dedicated to create a nationwide public-safety network, failed to receive a bid that met the 1.3-billion-dollar reserve price, the FCC said.
"The FCC is now evaluating its options for this spectrum," Martin said, adding that the FCC remained committed to trying to solve "public safety's interoperability challenges."
Sweden - broadband
Sweden proposes law, seeks open broadband market
Sweden proposed on Tuesday its telecom regulator be given extra powers to ensure the country's broadband market was open, legislation that could require TeliaSonera (TLSN.ST: Quote, Profile, Research) to make structural changes.
The legislation is aimed at making sure that former monopoly provider TeliaSonera does not discriminate in providing access to its copper wire network.
Last autumn, not long after draft legislation was proposed, TeliaSonera created a separate company for its copper and fibre networks with a requirement that the unit sell access to them on equal terms to all wholesale companies.
The move pre-empted government legislation, but the bill announced on Tuesday could give the regulator power to ask for further changes if it believes the broadband market is not open.
The bill allows for National Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) to request TeliaSonera administer its copper network separately -- as it now does -- and that it provides access to so-called bitstream equipment via a separate subsidiary.
A bitstream is a stream of information used on a network, essentially a bit of code within the software that allows the network to run.
A PTS official said that without access to this equipment, it was not commercially viable for other operators to supply services in areas with low population densities, which account for about 3 million of Sweden's 9 million population.
"We are giving the PTS another tool to increase competition," Minister for Communications Asa Torstensson said in a statement.
Any decision calling on TeliaSonera to separate parts of its business must be preceded by an investigation and the European Commission needs to approve of any actions requested.
The legislation is due to come into force on July 1.
Niclas Palmstierna, chief executive for the Nordic region at Tele2, said the legislation was necessary to ensure TeliaSonera was open.
He said TeliaSonera was increasing its market share whereas other former monopolies tended to lose market share over time.
"We still have more than 50 percent of the population that will only be able to have one choice of broadband supplier," he said.
If companies have to supply their own bitstream equipment in order to compete with Telia, it would be like building a highway next to an existing one, he said.
TeliaSonera officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Sweden proposed on Tuesday its telecom regulator be given extra powers to ensure the country's broadband market was open, legislation that could require TeliaSonera (TLSN.ST: Quote, Profile, Research) to make structural changes.
The legislation is aimed at making sure that former monopoly provider TeliaSonera does not discriminate in providing access to its copper wire network.
Last autumn, not long after draft legislation was proposed, TeliaSonera created a separate company for its copper and fibre networks with a requirement that the unit sell access to them on equal terms to all wholesale companies.
The move pre-empted government legislation, but the bill announced on Tuesday could give the regulator power to ask for further changes if it believes the broadband market is not open.
The bill allows for National Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) to request TeliaSonera administer its copper network separately -- as it now does -- and that it provides access to so-called bitstream equipment via a separate subsidiary.
A bitstream is a stream of information used on a network, essentially a bit of code within the software that allows the network to run.
A PTS official said that without access to this equipment, it was not commercially viable for other operators to supply services in areas with low population densities, which account for about 3 million of Sweden's 9 million population.
"We are giving the PTS another tool to increase competition," Minister for Communications Asa Torstensson said in a statement.
Any decision calling on TeliaSonera to separate parts of its business must be preceded by an investigation and the European Commission needs to approve of any actions requested.
The legislation is due to come into force on July 1.
Niclas Palmstierna, chief executive for the Nordic region at Tele2, said the legislation was necessary to ensure TeliaSonera was open.
He said TeliaSonera was increasing its market share whereas other former monopolies tended to lose market share over time.
"We still have more than 50 percent of the population that will only be able to have one choice of broadband supplier," he said.
If companies have to supply their own bitstream equipment in order to compete with Telia, it would be like building a highway next to an existing one, he said.
TeliaSonera officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Australia - the expense of broadband
Broadband is too expensive, says minister
COMMUNICATIONS Minister Stephen Conroy has acknowledged Australians pay too much for broadband, but says measures to introduce free, unlimited downloading are unlikely to be part of the Federal Budget in May.
Mr Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, said a Senate inquiry to be held later this year would examine the nation's high metered downloading prices and the previous government's reluctance to introduce free, unlimited downloading.
Business and private broadband users have urged the government to introduce changes to reduce constraints, including the high cost of downloading.
Mr Conroy said today the Senate inquiry would discuss competing claims about broadband capacity, following comments by Google which recently said Australia was constrained.
"There are people who say we have got plenty of capacity, people make these arguments," Mr Conroy said today.
"I have my views, but I am going to be guided by the information that comes through (the Senate inquiry). Yes, on the surface there appears to be bottlenecks. Prices are higher than they should be.
"If you look at the prices we pay for the internet in Australia, they're clearly higher than overseas, so we're about creating competition, we're about getting to the bottom of what's causing this international bottleneck."
A commitment to spend $4.7 billion of public money to fund a new high-speed broadband network, including the rollout of the ADSL2+ network and a pledge to build a national high-speed fibre to the node network, was central to Labor's election strategy last year.
But Mr Conroy today stopped short of outlining a Budget commitment to implement free national unlimited downloading.
"Our whole broadband plan is about driving competition," he said.
"The national broadband network is going to be an open access network that will ensure that everybody has a chance to get online.
"Australia is one of the very few countries in the world to have these download limits."
Mr Conroy said Australia was constrained by international capacity.
"We'll be holding a Senate inquiry over the course of this year to try and look at these capacity constraints," he said.
"What (Prime Minister) Kevin (Rudd) has said is that our election commitment was to deliver our election promises in this coming Budget, so that is our priority."
Federal Parliament will break tomorrow for seven weeks before the May Budget.
COMMUNICATIONS Minister Stephen Conroy has acknowledged Australians pay too much for broadband, but says measures to introduce free, unlimited downloading are unlikely to be part of the Federal Budget in May.
Mr Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, said a Senate inquiry to be held later this year would examine the nation's high metered downloading prices and the previous government's reluctance to introduce free, unlimited downloading.
Business and private broadband users have urged the government to introduce changes to reduce constraints, including the high cost of downloading.
Mr Conroy said today the Senate inquiry would discuss competing claims about broadband capacity, following comments by Google which recently said Australia was constrained.
"There are people who say we have got plenty of capacity, people make these arguments," Mr Conroy said today.
"I have my views, but I am going to be guided by the information that comes through (the Senate inquiry). Yes, on the surface there appears to be bottlenecks. Prices are higher than they should be.
"If you look at the prices we pay for the internet in Australia, they're clearly higher than overseas, so we're about creating competition, we're about getting to the bottom of what's causing this international bottleneck."
A commitment to spend $4.7 billion of public money to fund a new high-speed broadband network, including the rollout of the ADSL2+ network and a pledge to build a national high-speed fibre to the node network, was central to Labor's election strategy last year.
But Mr Conroy today stopped short of outlining a Budget commitment to implement free national unlimited downloading.
"Our whole broadband plan is about driving competition," he said.
"The national broadband network is going to be an open access network that will ensure that everybody has a chance to get online.
"Australia is one of the very few countries in the world to have these download limits."
Mr Conroy said Australia was constrained by international capacity.
"We'll be holding a Senate inquiry over the course of this year to try and look at these capacity constraints," he said.
"What (Prime Minister) Kevin (Rudd) has said is that our election commitment was to deliver our election promises in this coming Budget, so that is our priority."
Federal Parliament will break tomorrow for seven weeks before the May Budget.
USA - broadband
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RELEASES DATA ON HIGH-SPEED SERVICES FOR INTERNET ACCESS
see also detailed report
High-Speed Connections to the Internet Increased by 22% in the First Half of 2007
Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released
new data on high-speed connections to the Internet in the United States. Twice a year, all
facilities-based broadband providers are required to report to the Commission basic information
about their service offerings and types of customers pursuant to the FCC’s local telephone
competition and broadband data gathering program (FCC Form 477). Statistics released today
reflect data as of June 30, 2007.
High-speed lines increased by 22% during the first half of 2007, from 82.8 million to
100.9 million lines in service, following a 27% increase, from 65.3 million to 82.8
million lines, during the second half of 2006. For the full twelve-month period
ending June 30, 2007, high-speed lines increased by 55% from 65.3 million to 100.9
million (or 35.7 million lines) compared to a 54% increase, from 42.5 million to 65.3
million lines (or 22.8 million lines), in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2006.
Of the 100.9 million total high-speed lines reported as of June 30, 2007, 65.9 million
served primarily residential end users. Cable modem service represented 50.6% of
these lines while 37.5% were asymmetric DSL (ADSL) connections, 0.2% were
symmetric DSL (SDSL) or traditional wireline connections, 1.7% were fiber
connections to the end user premises, and 10.0% used other types of technology
including satellite, terrestrial fixed or mobile wireless (on a licensed or unlicensed
basis), and electric power line.
High-speed ADSL increased by 2.1 million lines during the first half of 2007, fiber
connections increased by 0.4 million lines, and cable modem service increased by 2.4
million lines. For the full twelve-month period ending June 30, 2007, ADSL
increased by 4.9 million lines, fiber connections increased by 0.7 million lines, and
cable modem service increased by 5.2 million lines.
see also detailed report
High-Speed Connections to the Internet Increased by 22% in the First Half of 2007
Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released
new data on high-speed connections to the Internet in the United States. Twice a year, all
facilities-based broadband providers are required to report to the Commission basic information
about their service offerings and types of customers pursuant to the FCC’s local telephone
competition and broadband data gathering program (FCC Form 477). Statistics released today
reflect data as of June 30, 2007.
High-speed lines increased by 22% during the first half of 2007, from 82.8 million to
100.9 million lines in service, following a 27% increase, from 65.3 million to 82.8
million lines, during the second half of 2006. For the full twelve-month period
ending June 30, 2007, high-speed lines increased by 55% from 65.3 million to 100.9
million (or 35.7 million lines) compared to a 54% increase, from 42.5 million to 65.3
million lines (or 22.8 million lines), in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2006.
Of the 100.9 million total high-speed lines reported as of June 30, 2007, 65.9 million
served primarily residential end users. Cable modem service represented 50.6% of
these lines while 37.5% were asymmetric DSL (ADSL) connections, 0.2% were
symmetric DSL (SDSL) or traditional wireline connections, 1.7% were fiber
connections to the end user premises, and 10.0% used other types of technology
including satellite, terrestrial fixed or mobile wireless (on a licensed or unlicensed
basis), and electric power line.
High-speed ADSL increased by 2.1 million lines during the first half of 2007, fiber
connections increased by 0.4 million lines, and cable modem service increased by 2.4
million lines. For the full twelve-month period ending June 30, 2007, ADSL
increased by 4.9 million lines, fiber connections increased by 0.7 million lines, and
cable modem service increased by 5.2 million lines.
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