World Telecommunication Industry Updater in desi style

First Commercial 3G offerings in India - BSNL chennai

2009-12-02T09:42:02Z

Last November 22nd marked the new era of digital communication in India. Government owned mobile operator BSNL has launched countries first commercial 3G network in Chennai. BSNL chennai circle has been chosen in view of customer diversity, technical expertise etc. Company has invested about 2700 crores on 3G. Next generation in mobile telephone technology 3G promises to offer speeds up to 3.6 Mbps, video calling, mobile TV and a host of other applications.

The Chennai Telephones has installed about 200 nobe Bs that are equivalent to base stations. About 540 node Bs will be installed in the next two months, said A Subramanian, chief general manager, Chennai Telephones."The company has partnered with Huawei to offer the services. The delay happened because we wanted to offer 2G to 3G migration to existing customers without the need to change their mobile numbers," he added.

D. Varadarajan, CGM, BSNL Tamil Nadu Circle, said 3G services would be launched in 38 cities over the next two months. It would be initially launched in Coimbatore and to begin with the Chennai-Coimbatore rail route would be provided seamless 3G connectivity.

BSNL has introduced inaugural offers for both pre-paid and post-paid users for voice and video calls at 30 paise a minute, which is lower than 2G calls. As a promotional offer, 50 free local video calls and 25 MB free data usage will be allowed up to December 31. Incoming video calls will be given to all 2G customers possessing 3G handsets.The SIM card comes at Rs 59 for both post- and pre-paid. Migration from pre-paid 2G to 3G will be done free of cost and without change in number. Post-paid users can choose from four plans starting from Rs 225 to Rs 2,500. BSNL has partnered with data card providers including Micromax and Huawei to offer speed up to 3.6 Mbps.With its one-year introductory offer of tariffs lower than 2G call charges, Chennai Telephones hopes to net 1.5 lakh users over the next couple of months.

Though india lags far behind many countries interms of launch date, i am sure 3G will be a big success in india considering the low penetration of broadbad to home. High end mobile phones are a big hit in recent time, all of them are coming up with 3G enabled. especially HSDPA which promises 3.6 Mbps downlink speed . Looking forward to 3G and BWA specturm auction.

3G and BWA Auction pre-bid conference

2009-11-30T11:12:28Z

Pre-bid conference held in delhi on Nov 16th marks an important event in spectrum auction process. Huge interest has been shown by different operators varied to different segments. Slides of the event for your reference,

Auction Briefing Presentation for Pre-bid Conference_16Nov09 Auction Rules Presentation for Pre-bid Conference_16Nov09

Public and Private Participation Investments in NGN Framework by European Countries

2009-10-14T04:38:44Z

PPP - A famous protocol for reliable customer access, control, and maintenance has another meaning with EC announcements on NGN investment framework. Public Private Participation is a welcome idea for rapid roll out on upcoming technologies. Collaboration is a well known concepts in Telecommunication industry, Operators have to share available infrastructure, Route servers have to share inter continent routes, Internet exchanges have to share traffic. collaboration is the base for Internet and hence telecom network as a whole. This has an added advantage when it comes to creating a fibre infrastructure, Infinite bandwidth that fibre offer is inevitable in Next Generation Network (NGN) roll out. Voice, Video, and Data tripe play offerings need more bandwidth, Upcoming technologies like LTE, WiMax, LTE advanced, and WiMax advanced base stations need a reliable high bandwidth interconnection. Having a fibre optic infrastructure and latest technology access network is inevitable in NGN.

Europe is well behind in FTTH

Today there are signs that Western Europe is falling behind the rest of the world in FTTH deployment, which worries Europes equipment manufacturers. Idate in a report published earlier this year said the Asian market accounted for 80% of the worlds 28.2 million FTTx subscribers last year. There were a total of 22.5 million fibre subscribers in Asia by the end of June 2008, with Japan leading the way with 13 million. Europe took a 7.4% share of global FTTH/B subscribers and the US 5.2% said Idate.
The government in Singapore asked operators to bid for contracts to provide a passive dark fibre network, and a separate active network which would be open to multiple service providers.Singtel, the national incumbent, was part of a four-party consortium that last year won the national dark fibre contract, thereby giving the consortium access to Singtels ducts.

Regulatory Positions in Europe:

ECTA accepts the principle that operators should share investments in joint ventures, but it doesnt trust incumbents to create a competitive environment. If competition and choice for consumers and businesses are guaranteed through this arrangement then regulation could be removed. But we have seen no signs that incumbents are seriously interested in negotiating in good faith with their rivals, except as a means to delay and confuse the process, it says in a statement.

The reality is there are n't that many substantive build these networks. There is a bit of a view in some parts of telecoms that we have an automatic right to participate without any investment. That is not reasonable.Current European regulation is geared to promote infrastructure-based competition by providing a relatively low cost of market entry through wholesale access to former incumbents copper networks. That has allowed fixed alternative operators to acquire customers before investing in partial and full un-bundling. The ECs current draft recognizes that NGAs change the ground rules and will need new regulatory models. Any operator that combined an infrastructure monopoly with service provisioning would likely face long-term regulation. Do not expect European governments building open access networks with substantial public funds as planned in Australia and New Zealand. The Australian government, for example, in April said it will oversee the construction of an A$43 billion nationwide fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network through a company in which it will hold a minimum 51% stake. In Europe there wont be that level of state financing. Most of it will be built with private money, says Feasey.

Certainly, some government funding plans are receiving a mixed response. In the UK, the government reportedly is considering going against the politically sensitive recommendation in the June Digital Britain report to tax phone services in order to part-fund next-generation access networks in rural areas. And in the US, the three largest operators have chosen not to apply for funding from the first round of the broadband stimulus package to roll out services in un-served and under served regions. Whatever approach is taken, Shared investment mode can maintain competition and protect consumer interests. There isn't a trade-off between competition and investment. Minimum number of players is needed. The mobile market is the only one where we have seen significant network investment and where there is what most regulators would regard as acceptable levels of competition. Mobile networks are not perfectly competitive as there are not thousands of service providers. There are three or four.

Collaborations so far in Europe:

Mobile operators, and notably Vodafone, already share passive infrastructure in some European countries. In Sweden, Tele2 and Telenor this year went a step further and agreed to share active mobile infrastructure for LTE networks, reflecting a move to focus on the branding and distribution of services rather than exclusive control of the underlying networks.Its all about branding and really understanding customer needs and distribution, says Lars-Ake Norling, CEO of Telenor Sweden, explaining the decision to share with Tele2 both the RAN and spectrum of their future 4G networks.

Vodafone already has struck a deal for fixed network sharing. Last December Vodafone Germany and Deutsche Telekom announced they would provide each other with wholesale access to VDSL networks to be built in Heilbronn by Vodafone and in Wurzburg by Deutsche Telekom.

The UK has taken a different approach to opening up infrastructure, introducing structural separation of the copper loop. But in many countries structural separation has proven unpalatable.

3G and BWA Stiff Base Pricing adn Reactions

2009-10-09T12:28:11Z

3G and BWA Wireless spectrum auction base price announced, as usual government has exceeded all predictions, My prediction too. Do read my previous analysis on expected revenue to government Here. As usual reaction from industry is totally against high price. Government is looking at money and not affordability, some strong reaction from Industry icons.

Pan-india 3G spectrum base price is 35 Billion INR.
3 nos of 20MHz spectrum total base price is 17.5 Billion
2 nos of 1.25MHz slot of EV-DO spectrum base price is 8.75 Billion

Stated by one of the popular Telecom journal in India tele.net. COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India) expressed concerns about huge difference between base price of 3G spectrum adn BWA. COAI is very much concerned about WiMax operators backdoor entry in to 3G, they further explained that since WiMax and 3G can offer similar type of services and availability operators will choose WiMax and get in to 3G customer base with less spectrum cost. AUSPI (Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India) also expressed concerns over price difference and limiting the number of spectrum to 2 in case of CDMA. They have also criticized about government policy of increasing the competition in auction by reducing the number of participating band. On the other hand ISPAI (Internet Service Providers Association of India) expressed concerns about huge base price and further limitation in roll out obligations.

In my view government intention to gain as much as 250 Billion in revenue is met. This huge difference between competing technologies enable big muscle players to hold all possible spectrum and hence technology monopoly in Indian Telecommunication industry. Internet service providers will have huge problem in terms of keeping their present customer and gaining new customers. Mobile operators will easily meet coverage and roll out obligations by using their available passive and back bone infrastructure where as Internet service providers can not. On the other hand ISP stron hold of IP back bone will leverage more managed services business opportunity. Government should use alternate mechanisms to bridge digital divide, allowing operators to use 700MHz spectrum to meet rural coverage obligations is one such solutions.

Per Second Phone billing - Indian Mobile Industry Wakeup call

2009-10-07T07:22:35Z

I went to a near by prepaid card and mobile peripheral reseller few months back. Out of curiosity asked him a question about which mobile connection sells faster. He said "TATA DOCOMO is the fast mover, all 500 connection cards of his quota soled out in 2 Hrs and waiting for next dispatch, If you want a new connection book in advance with RS 100 payment." And to my question why ? his answer is 1 sec billing. TATA DOCOMO simple USP is "PER SECOND BILLING". To an end customer it saves lot of money, since so long one minute billing from other operators are charging a same amount for 1 sec as well as 59secs of call duration. Those mobile operators billing is technically wrong. Phone usage should be billed based upon ERLANGS. A unit to measure Hrs of traffic used in an hr. It is a statistical measure of offered load. With this every second will have big difference on required link capacity and hence investment. Docomo's strategy of per second billing is in either way does good thing for indian mobile communication industry. Soon all the other operators may have to follow similar frame work. TATA GSM has become number one in terms of user addition Thanks to per second billing. BSNL has started billing as per sec pulse. Recently TRAI's chairman suggested similar norms.

We may ask all the operators to consider per-second pulse as a mandatory tariff option along with their other tariff plans, Even there (in per-second tariff plan), they must ensure to bring out clearly all the riders and caveats" Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman J S Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of the International Telecommunication Union conference in Geneva.

Expected revenue by 3G and BWA auction

2009-09-30T05:08:27Z

Auction of 3G spectrum and BWA is expected to complete by January 2010. Big mobile operators are well planned to kick start implementation as soon as possible. Who ever owns the spectrum, what is in it for the government? Like sea, land, and minerals WIRELESS SPECTRUM is considered to be a key national resource. Every technology can not operate in every possible spectrum, It has limitation in terms of Radio propagation, coverage, expected quality and so on. So allocating a spectrum becomes a critical activity of the government with incremental revenue generating opportunity. Since the number of operator want to participate in this telecommunication business is high, like any other opportunistic business environment, Auction process increments expected revenue.

The Government expects to get over Rs 25,000 crore from 3G spectrum allocation alone. "From the five players, we expect Rs 20,000 crore and another Rs 5,000 crore would come from bidding process. It can even be higher," From BWA auction government is expected to generate minimum of 10000 crore additional revenue.

Even before spectrum allocation decision, Bharati airtel has announced it's participation in 3G auction. "If everything goes well on time with regard to spectrum auction, by February or March we will have spectrum allocation. By next Diwali (2010), we will have commercial launch of 3G services in India," Bharti Airtel CEO Manoj Kohli.

It would be interesting to see how far the fight for spectrum goes. More the intensity more will be the revenue to government. But considering the low price high volume indian telecommunication market. 25k crore is gettable in few years time. Looking forward to spectrum war. Once more put off will definitely bring down the interest on customers. Let see how indian Telecom market react to DATA intensive 3G (W-CDMA, and EVDO) and BWA (Mobile WiMax, LTE, WiMax advanced) technologies.

3G and BWA spectrum auction timeline - Indian Telecom

2009-09-26T09:09:17Z

Much awaited 3G and BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) wireless spectrum auction time lines are announced by Telecommunication ministry of India. Revised information memorandum will get released in few days from now on. It will be interesting to see, who will win the rights to operate in what spectrum. A high level GOM (Group of Ministers) team is controlling the whole process. Indian government is expecting a huge sum from telecom payers. Spectrum action will mark the beginning of an era of information exchange. Bridging the communication gap is the main agenda behind this. Both 3G and BWA aiming at increased throughput and hence more value added services (VAS). More number of internet enabled terminals, internet enabled government functions, internet enabled future rely on this auction.
Major fight is expected between big players from mobile operators like reliance, Airtel, TATA, Vodafone, and idea. It is very evident that Government is so keen to grab as much as money they can. 3G market have been a big failure in western countries largely because of the way internet penetration by means of cable and other means. Indian telecom story is entirely different from other countries. When mobile communication market kicked off in india way back late 90's, the whole world was not in a optimist look about Indian telecom market. But the present situation is so different that, late comer india is expected to by pass US very soon. Indian telecom growth story in voice market (2G) will help to achieve greater heights with 3G as well.
BWA action is the only option for many of the categoryA ISPs in India. Except Airtel, MTNL, and BSNL, All the other internet service providers have challenges in implementing the last mile internet access. Cable theft, environmental condition, too large distance to cover are some of the problems. Wirelss seems to be the only way out. New bound challenge, Mobile internet against traditional internet access is another big thread. Mobile WiMax promises to bridge the difference, but investment is huge. Available spectrum is another big challenge. ISPs are left out with 2.3GHz and 2.5GHz. Out of available 5 player options, Companies like Sify, Net4India, Tulip, TATA VSNL, Airtel, Reliance, Shyam, you telecom and etc have to fight for the 4 spots.
BSNL, and MTNL are enjoying the clear advantage as a early winners in both 3G and BWA auction. We keep hearing that nothing seems to be going well for BSNL and MTNL, there are speculations that Bharati and Reliance may catchup so easily with their implementation capability. Lets see how this 3G and BWA auction comes out.

ISRO - Extra airwaves for WiMax

2009-09-04T07:13:39Z

WiMax - Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access, had many road blocks worldwide. On its part ISRO makes its stand clear with chairman's statement. Mobile WiMax deployments is delayed due to repeated delays in BWA spectrum auction. It is decided to auction 3 blocks of 2.5GHz and 2 blocks of 2.3GHz in view of BWA growth. State owned operators like BSNL and MTNL were given permission to start deployment. Remaining private operators gonna fight for 4 Blocks across india. ISRO statement places a big bottle neck that no more spectrum will be available from globally used 2.5GHz band for BWA i.e Mobile WiMax.

G Madhavan Nair has told the nine-member empowered group of ministers (EGoM) -- headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee -- that the department of space (DoS) could not spare any further airwaves for WiMax services. The EGoM was constituted to settle all outstanding issues associated with the auction of third-generation (3G) airwaves. The DoS has already parted with 40 MHz of airwaves for WiMax services in the 2.5 GHz band, and Mr Nair said that interference from the WiMax services offered in this band in the future could "severely affect the very sensitive satellite services in the adjacent band". The EGoM will take a final call on the reserve price for 3G and WiMax spectrums, as well as decide on the number of players to be allowed to offer these high-end services in every circle. Mr Nair has said that after parting with 40 MHz of airwaves in the 2.5 GHz band, the DoS is left with only 150 MHz of airwaves in this band, the bare minimum requirement for satellite services. He also added that this band was of strategic importance to India as it was largely used for meeting strategic communication needs by defence, Indian railways and Safety of Life Services. "Hence, the operation of WiMax system in the proposed (2.5 GHz band) should be restricted within these band portions in such a way that it will not be interred into mobile satellite service," Mr Nair's communication added. In another note to the EGoM, the DoS said: "The rights for frequency band 2.5-2.69 GHz have been registered with Isro after prolonged negotiations with other countries and registered with International Telecommunication Union. International registration of this frequency band for Indian satellites requires for a long coordination process that is extremely difficult." Link to actual news

This means after totally 6 players will do BWA implementations in india. In every place 5 operators will will provide service. 4 operators will be decided from major players like Reliance, Airtel, Tata communications, Sify, Youtelecom, Shyam, vodafone and much more. It would be interesting to see who can utilize the best of Shanon's theorem and give larger coverage with better bit rate. DOT should find other available spectrum for other players.

Digital reader goes wireless(3G) way - Sony Daily edition

2009-08-26T11:54:35Z

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NEW YORK, August 25, 2009 ¾ Delivering on its promise to give consumers a variety of choices, Sony today announced the third member of its new Reader family - the Reader Daily Edition™, a highly-anticipated wireless model with 3G connectivity. The Daily Edition caps its new line of Reader products, joining the Reader Pocket Edition™ and the Reader Touch Edition™ which were announced earlier this month. The Reader Pocket Edition and the Reader Touch Edition are available immediately, and the Reader Daily Edition will be available this December in time for the holidays at SonyStyle stores and SonyStyle.com.

"We firmly believe consumers should have choice in every aspect of their digital reading experience," said Steve Haber, president of Sony's Digital Reading Business Division. "Today, we take another large stride to deliver on that promise. We now have the most affordable devices on the market, the greatest access to free and affordable eBooks through The eBook Store from Sony and our affiliated ecosystem, and now round out our Reader offering with a wireless device that lets consumer purchase and download content on the go."

A Family of Three Readers

The Reader Pocket Edition sports a five-inch electronic paper display packaged in a stylish chassis and is available in a variety of colors, including navy blue, rose and silver. It is available for the ground-breaking price of $199, making it the most affordable dedicated reading device on the market.

The Reader Touch Edition features a responsive, menu-driven six-inch touch screen panel that enables quick, intuitive navigation, page turning, highlighting and note taking with the swipe of a finger or by using the included stylus pen. It comes in red, black or silver and retails for about $299.

The Reader Daily Edition gives consumers wireless access via AT&T's 3G mobile broadband network to Sony's eBook store from just about anywhere in the U.S. Book lovers will be able to browse, purchase and download books as well as select newspapers and magazines when and where they want. There are no monthly fees or transaction charges for the basic wireless connectivity and users still have the option to side load personal documents or content from other compatible sites via USB.

The seven-inch wide, touch screen display provides for intuitive navigation and comfortable layout of content, including newspapers and magazines, whether you're reading in portrait or landscape orientation. In portrait mode, about 30-35 lines of text are visible, making the experience very similar to that of a printed paperback book. A high contrast ratio with 16 levels of grayscale ensures that text and images are crisp and easy to read. The Daily Edition also boasts an attractive aluminum body with an integrated cover for durability. It has enough internal memory to hold more than one thousand standard eBooks and expansion slots for memory cards to hold even more. It will sell for about $399.

All three models feature Sony's award-winning industrial design and an E Ink® Vizplex™ electronic paper display that emulates the look of ink on paper. Sony's eBook Library software 3.0, which now includes support for many Apple® Macintosh® computers as well as PCs, makes it easy to transfer and read any Adobe® PDF (with reflow capability), EPUB, Microsoft® Word®, BBeB® files, or other text file formats on the Reader.

Access to Even More Content at the eBook Store by Sony

In addition to announcing a new family of Readers, Sony has also made several changes and improvements to its eBook Store to provide better access to an even greater variety of ebooks. Earlier this summer Sony announced the availability of more than one million free public domain books from Google, and the company made new releases and New York Times bestseller titles available for $9.99. Today also marks the launch of Sony's Library Finder application. Sony, working with OverDrive (www.overdrive.com), the leading global digital distributor of eBooks and to libraries, will now offer visitors to the eBook Store by Sony easy access to their local library's collection of eBooks. Thousands of libraries in the OverDrive network offer eBooks optimized for the Sony Reader, and visitors can now find these libraries by typing their zip code into the Library Finder. Through the selected library's download website, visitors can check out eBooks with a valid library card, download them to a PC and transfer to their Reader. At the end of the library's lending period, eBooks simply expire, so there are never any late fees. The Reader Pocket and Touch Editions, as well as available accessories such as AC adaptors, cases and covers with reading lights, are available now at SonyStyle.com and SonyStyle stores. Book lovers interested in trying out a Reader in person will also be able to find them for sale at Best Buy, BJs, Borders, Sam's Club, Staples, Target, Toys"R"Us, Wal-Mart and other authorized retailers nationwide.

WiMax Next generation networks 2010 forecast

2009-08-22T18:19:32Z

As per wimax forum press release, WiMAX Service Providers now offer networks covering 430 million people, or POPS, globally and are on a path to nearly double to 800 million people by end of 2010. In addition, global WiMAX network deployments are approaching 460 in more than 135 countries for fixed, portable, and mobile networks. The WiMAX Forum also met key milestones with the first Mobile WiMAX™ 3.5GHz products receiving the WiMAX Forum Certified™ seal of approval.

"WiMAX coverage is here now and is the catalyst in the global marketplace to deliver 4G broadband Internet access to countries that don't want to wait," said Ron Resnick, president and chairman of the WiMAX Forum. "These new deployment numbers reveal the mobile Internet WiMAX ecosystem has achieved strong growth and will continue to satisfy the market demand to deliver high-speed broadband services in 2009. Certified products in the 3.5 GHz band will now give more operators access to the equipment and devices needed to deliver mobile broadband services."
With more than 430 million POPS already covered by WiMAX services, and new spectrum licenses anticipated to be allocated in countries such as Brazil and India, WiMAX Forum expects to see accelerated growth of WiMAX's global footprint in 2009. And, the ecosystem can expect to see continued subscriber growth as consumers and enterprises recognize the availability of WiMAX as a high-speed low-cost alternative to other Internet technologies.
During a teleconference today, Intel highlighted the WiMAX Forum findings, as well as additional global WiMAX news and momentum.

"After several years in development, 2008 was the year that WiMAX became a global reality," said Sean Maloney, executive vice president, Intel. "In both emerging markets and mature countries, companies and governments are deploying 4G WiMAX networks to help bridge the digital divide and bring affordable, super-fast mobile broadband to their citizens. As countries look to accelerate broadband in 2009 to address economic recovery, WiMAX is ready - it's the right technology at the right time. There is no need to wait - WiMAX is a reality today."

WiMAX Forum Certifies First 3.5 GHz Products
Signaling continued WiMAX momentum, the WiMAX Forum today announced that Samsung and ZTE Corporation received the WiMAX Forum Certified seal of approval for products for the 3.5 GHz spectrum band. This milestone also marks the first of many certified products to come out of the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) lab in Korea, one of six global WiMAX Forum Designated Certifcation Laboratories (WFDCL).

Samsung's 3.5GHz base station, the U-RAS Flexible, is a new addition to Samsung's WiMAX Forum Certified products in 2.3GHz and 2.5GHz bands. This base station is now being deployed for Lithuania's first WiMAX commercial service. U-RAS Flexible is separated into two parts, including the digital unit and remote radio head. The optic interface between digital unit and remote radio head minimizes cable loss. Its powerful RF output effectively covers macro network areas. It adopts Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology and is ready for Beamforming, ensuring consistent quality service for years to come.

ZTE's 9100+R9100 base stations also achieved certification. These add a new frequency band to ZTE's resume, which already includes WiMAX Forum Certified products in the 2.6 GHz and 2.3 GHz bands. ZTE B9100+R9100 are distributed base station systems developed on MicroTCA hardware platform equipped with features such as easy upgrade path, compact design, and low total cost of ownership (TCO). It supports advanced MIMO technology, which enhances the signal transmission quality of single base station. ZTE's most recent products were certified at the Taiwan WFDCL Bureau Veritas ADT.

More than 50 Mobile WiMAX Certified products achieved certification in 2008. Currently, more than 35 WiMAX Forum member companies manufacture WiMAX base stations, 30 companies provide PC Cards, USB modems, MIDs, and other personal devices, 25 companies produce chipsets and reference designs, and six of the top seven global device manufacturers develop WiMAX products. The WiMAX Forum estimates that by 2011 there will be more than 1,000 Mobile WiMAX Forum Certified™ products found throughout the world.

Source article, http://wimaxforum.org/node/644

Mobile numbering system and UID(unique Identification Number) - Indian Telecom

2009-08-22T17:34:08Z

Indian mobile telecommunication companies growth over the past two years have been really commendable. Double digit growth results were observed in most of them. Present customer base has reached more than 44 crores. In just 12 years Airtel has achieved about 40 million mobile customer base. In the past two months reliance communication GSM division has added about 1.1 million customers. It is expected than indian mobile customer base will cross 70 crore mark much ahead of previously planned 2030.
A new problem has cropped up now, existing 10 digit mobile number scheme will get exhausted. DOT is in full swing to work on next level, 11 or 12 digit mobile numbering system is unavoidable. TRAI has been doing feasibility study and workout plans for the same. UPA governments agenda of creating UID (Unique identification number) also in full swing. Having a common numbering for UID and mobile number is something DOT should think of, As per industry sources work is in progress.
one IP address to everyone, and hence your identity is your voip number is another interesting option for UID. Since the whole world is working towards IPV6, Indian government UID project can play a lead role. IP address can act as a place identifier too.
Vehement leader like nandhan nilekani must be interested to implement something common for Mobile numbering and UID. Social security number system has been a big flop in india, even legacy government system took so long to implement. Now the project is almost dropped. UID is expected to bring in a new revolution with the way citizens are identified in india.

In summary, number choices to UID are many like IPV6, Mobile number, combination of both. Very eager to see the implementation stage of it.

Telecom companies go Socialmedia way

2009-08-18T05:22:36Z

Ideal tool for online brand management "SOCIAL MEDIA" gained traction among telecom companies. More and more companies and organization opened up an exclusive websites for social media itself. Companies understand the potential of Twitter, Facebook, Book marking sites. They just dont work on user aggregation called crowd sourcing, also on Online branding.

In today's world of information overload, there is a fundamental paradigm shift going on. As people try to sift through the vast array of news around them, they are moving away from placing their trust solely in "traditional media" and are migrating toward content created by online communities such as Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, digg, the blogosphere, etc. This shift has many people asking how they can tap
into this new form of media and the large and influential audiences that power it. Social media marketing is an ideal tool for marketing in a broad range of industries, but nowhere is it more relevant than in the technology-driven, early adopter environment of the telecom industry. Leaders in the telecom sector succeed and thrive based on how innovative they are--not just in the technologies, applications and services they produce, but also in the tools they use to communicate that innovation to the world.

Many businesses that sell their products solely to other businesses hesitate to get involved in social media because they don't understand the value that it can bring to their marketing trategies. However, online business communities can enhance a company's marketing strategy by providing a more focused audience that is interested in what you have to offer. In the highly interactive, tech-savvy B2B telecom sector, it is critical for marketers to fully engage with the online communities and networks that exist if they want their products and services to be perceived as innovative and relevant. Companies are catching on. A 2007 report by Forrester6 found that nearly 40 percent of B2B marketers surveyed used blogs, social networks, or user-generated content in their efforts. Social media makes sense for B2B companies because their business is all about relationships.

While B2C companies are usually broadcasting their message to large, relatively anonymous groups of people that they have no prior relationship with, in most B2B situations, the company knows exactly who their customers and prospective customers are. Social media gives them a channel to have conversations that they'd like to have one-on-one with every customer and prospect but just aren't able to. B2B firms can use social media platforms as an innovation tool to help them bring better products and services to a market interested in buying them. It is also important to use social media as a listening tool to gather intelligence by discovering where your customers are looking online and where they are going on the Internet to find out information about you.

Very recently Wimax forum has launched a new social media site called WiMaxtimes.

Super speed USB 3.0 5Gbps from Fujitsu

2009-07-28T04:33:43Z

Sunnyvale, Calif. , July 27, 2009 -- Fujitsu Microelectronics America, Inc. (FMA) is now shipping its first generation USB 3.0-Serial ATA (SATA) bridge IC, built with Fujitsu's own physical layer device (PHY). The new MB86C30A supports the ultra-fast 5Gbps maximum data-transfer rate of USB 3.0, and incorporates an encryption/decryption engine. Samples are being built using Fujitsu's 65-nanometer low-power process technology, and are available now.

Compared with USB 2.0 connections, the MB86C30A bridge IC provides an order of magnitude increase in data transfer rates from external storage devices such as hard disk drives to PCs. The new bridge IC incorporates on a single chip the USB communication control circuits, SATA communication control circuits, and protocol control and command control circuits. These circuits are required to construct an external USB storage device and to realize 5Gbps data transfer to a host PC. (For an example of a system using the MB86C30A, visit this URL: http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/MICRO/fma/pdf/USB30_SysEx.pdf.)

The MB86C30A IC also contains an embedded Advanced Encryption Standard (AES engine to protect confidential data from being stolen, unintentionally leaked or lost, and to protect data following the disposal of storage devices. Hardware encryption does not burden the CPU of the host PC, and provides optimal protection for data. The encryption/decryption engine enables data to be easily encrypted for secure storage in external devices such as hard disk drives without impairing the performance of USB 3.0.

"The new USB 3.0-SATA bridge IC provides customers with an innovative, reliable, optimized chip design in a small package. Pricing is competitive because we are using our own PHY and process technology," said Davy Yoshida, director of business development of the Embedded Platform Solutions business group of Fujitsu Microelectronics America. "We expect our chip to be embedded in devices to be released by the end of this year."

"Fujitsu has applied its extensive expertise in low-power CMOS technologies for high-speed interfaces including Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, PCI-express, SATA and IEEE 1394. This IC is the first in the MB86C30 series, which was jointly developed with Fujitsu Laboratories Limited, utilizing their high-speed serial interface technologies, and Fujitsu LSI Solution Limited. Fujitsu Microelectronics plans to strengthen and expand its lineup of USB 3.0 standard products for storage devices."

Features Full USB 3.0 Performance with Encryption Capabilities

Today, PCs and audio-visual equipment handle an expanding volume of data from digital photos to audio and video files, requiring storage devices to have increased volumes and speeds. The USB 2.0 interface, which is used widely in external hard drives and memory sticks, has had a maximum data transfer rate of 480Mbps. To provide faster speeds for reading and writing high volumes of data the USB 3.0 specification was ratified in November 2008. USB 3.0 supplies as much as 10 times the data transfer rate of USB 2.0, along with improved protocol efficiency and power management techniques. The maximum transfer rate of 5Gbps of USB 3.0 allows 10 to 30 GBytes of video data to be copied to a 3.5-inch hard disk drive in one-third to one-fourth the time USB 2.0 needs.

The MB86C30A bridge IC supports two AES operation modes: Cipher Block Chaining (CBC), a mode for encrypting block data, and XTS, the XEX encryption mode with tweak and ciphertext stealing. Both modes are ideal for hard disks in terms of security, strength and speed of encryption/decryption. Three key lengths are supported - 128bit, 192bit and 256bit. High-speed encryption and decryption processing at a maximum of 300 MByte/sec. provides throughput without impairing the performance of USB 3.0.

Availability

Samples of the MB86C30A manufactured in 65nm CMOS process technology are available now in LQFP 64-pin 7mm x 7mm (0.4mm pitch) packages. Volume pricing is available upon request.

Reference Material

The Fujitsu MB86C30A USB 3.0-SATA bridge IC fact sheet:
http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/MICRO/fma/pdf/USB30_MB86C30.pdf
High-resolution device photo:
http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/MICRO/fma/imagelib/USB/USB30_MB86C30.zip
Example of system using the MB86C30A bridge IC:
http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/MICRO/fma/pdf/USB30_SysEx.pdf

Sify Techologies wins Best Telecom Data center

2009-07-27T12:53:05Z

Chennai, Monday, 27^th July, 2009: Sify Technologies Limited (Nasdaq National market: SIFY), a leader in enterprise data telecom services and consumer Internet with global delivery capabilities, won the award for the 'Best Telecom Data Center' at the INFOCOM CMAI National Telecom Awards 2009 function in New Delhi on Friday 24^th July 09 for its next-generation data center at Airoli, Mumbai.

INFOCOM along with CMAI, Communications and Manufacturing Association of India, an apex trade and business promotion body with over 28 international MoU partners and representative offices in eight countries, jointly announce the National Telecom Awards 2009. The National Telecom Awards are held annually to recognize and encourage Technology players for their contribution in building a robust and advanced national telecom network and infrastructure.

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On receiving the award from Shri Gurudas Kamat, Honourable Minister of State for Communications and IT, Mr. Raju Vegesna, CEO and Managing Director, Sify Technologies, said, "The Airoli data centre is a key facet of our strategy to develop the most sophisticated network and data centre infrastructure in the country to facilitate the evolution and demand for highly dependable and secure services for ecommerce, online banking, mission critical applications for enterprises such as ERPs, media and entertainment content, stock trading, unified communications and disaster recovery. This award is recognition of this state of the art data center, and Sify's capabilities in designing, developing and managing world class data centers. I would like to thank the Government, the Department of Communications and IT and our customers, without whom this would not have been possible. I would also like to thank the Sify team, on whose behalf I receive this award, who made this possible."

This year, in addition to Shri Gurudas Kamat, Honourable Minister of State for Communications and IT, Shri Siddharth Behura, IAS, Secretary Telecom; Shri R Chandrashekhar, IAS, Secretary IT; Dr. J S Sarma, IAS, Chairman Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI); and Hon'ble Justice Mr. Arun Kumar, Chairman Telecom Disputes Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) graced the awards ceremony with their presence.

Sify launched India's first Level 3 data center at Vashi, Mumbai, in September 2000. Since then the company has continually pioneered the standards, facilities and services in the data center space in the country. Over the last 8 years, Sify has invested in centers in Chennai and Bangalore with increasing levels of sophistication and capability. In August 2008, Sify launched its fourth state-of-the-art data center at Airoli near Mumbai. While the Airoli Data Center entailed an investment of about $36 million, Sify's total investment in data centers over the next two years is likely to be about $100 million. Sify is also developing cutting-edge 'Green' initiatives for its data centers. ]]>

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Wi5 - Wireless Broad band service in chennai from zylog

2009-06-14T18:04:07Z

Information Technology solutions company Zylog Systems announced the launch of its wireless broadband service Wi5 in Chennai on Sunday. The company plans to invest Rs 200 crore over the next two years to promote the new service across India.
It has created a separate division Zylog India for the business. The company expects about 100,000 subscribers in the first year. The launch also spells the first step of diversification for the company, said S Rajagopal, director of Zylog. The company has entered the internet service provider (ISP) business with a category A licence to operate in all the telecom circles. The service will be available in metros including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata in the near future, he added. It is presently available in select pockets of Chennai including Adyar, Besant Nagar and T Nagar.
Ramanujam Sesharath-nam, managing director and chief operating officer of Zylog, said, "With the new services operational, we are expecting revenue of Rs 500 crore over the next five years from this business. With 250 Wi5-enabled nodes already installed across the city, 4,000 more nodes will be operational in Chennai over the next 12 to 15 months. We expect to complete the citywide Wi5 project by the middle of 2010."

Zylog has been operating in the telecom vertical for the past eight years and the services that were offered to enterprises have now been extended to consumers, he added. The company has arrangements with all major service providers for bandwidth and Wi5 will reduce the problems of last-mile connectivity, he said. The company has launched three monthly plans priced at Rs 550 [one megabit per second (Mbps)], Rs 1,000 (two Mbps) and Rs 1,750 (four Mbps). Subscribers can opt for the service and pay through the internet (Zylog Wi5 portal) or through the company's distributors employed in the select locations where service is available.
The overall Indian Wi-Fi market is expected to be $744 million by 2012 from the present $41.57 million growing at over 60 per cent every year [including wireless local area networking (WLAN) hardware, systems integration and software services, not including embedded devices and laptops].

The wireless broadband services are operational in parts of Chennai. And soon to be expanded to the entire city of Chennai. The Mega Talk services are available in Punjab, Tamilnadu and Kerala at the moment. Apart from these consumer services, we offer Enterprise Services to corporates in wireless broadband and VoIP solutions and managed services.

Company Background

Wi5 is a part of Zylog Systems India Limited (ZSIL). ZSIL is a state-of-the-art principal offshore development centre for Zylog Systems Limited (ZSL), a leading provider of technology solutions and services to enterprises & technology companies across the globe. ZSL is headquartered in Edison, NJ, with employees and offices that span the globe - North America, Europe and Asia.

ZSIl is a 'Category A' national ISP license holder in India. ZSIL has adopted next generation Wi-FI technology to deliver hi-speed, hi-mobility, highly secure and affordable wireless broadband to the Indian customer under the brand name of Wi5.