World Telecommunication Industry Updater in desi style

The most unique identity of Telecommunication sector is "Diverse" and it can be debated to the core. Telecom is placed in too many sectors,

Infrastructure sector - your physical links to hook up end customers and in turn to internet points is your primary investment. too many elements goes here physical ground cable infra, tower infra, tower room, server/switching/routing space - typically a Data Center all of these are Infrastructure element. Irrespective of your mode of operation like CAPEX or OPEX investment as infrastructure is inevitable.

IT Sector - Technology competency is the brain. Your investment in investment can result in profit only when you can right technology in place. I have witnessed various key changes in this area, Your ROI should be within 5 years other wise you are dead not just cos of depreciation cos of technology change. When Iphone 4 is out you can not sell iphone 3G volumes will decrease and end up in  zero. you have to be very watchful to travel ahead of technology, every major telecom companies participate in creating technologyu group that helps them in positioning themselves ahead of competition at the worst case in sync with competition.

Service Sector - Why not end of the day what you offer is service "Connectivity" Pay for what you use.  Your whole business should aim at improving the service capabilities and improving the value additions. Companies who could not understand this reality are going no where, One of the over hyped telecom company saw a big dip couple of years agao only cos they did not relaize the importance of service.

Marketing Sector - Its a kind of flip-flop argument, No one can sustain without marketing - Golden lines in business. But Telecom is so simple to pitch-in with idea and complex for many cos of inability in sustaining with key marketing mantras.

Innovation Sector - Over the past 15 years our globe have witnessed 100 different telecommunication technologies. The one who can not innovate is dead man here. You gotta be dynamic.

So, where should i place telecommunication industry? This is not just part. Each legs are so vital to keep going. I personally call it as  "MANAGEMENT SECTOR" those who can strike balance of all the above field only can sustain here. You need to outsource work irrespective of your size and ability, You have to be in sync with technology hubs, Your theme should reflect the mood of the people. When it is summer your product need to be so cool, If it is cricket season you need be with instant access to score. Irrespective of who is governing the country, state, city or panchayat who gotta keep your physical cable safe, Be a diplomat. Learn to be a master in controlling the game. 

After long time of time of isolation from desitelecom.in, I have a  perfect debatable topic to discuss with you all. This snippet is from ITU secretary general's announcement,

ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun Touré today challenged global leaders to ensure that more than half of all the world's people have access to broadband networks by 2015, and make access to high-speed networks a basic civil right.

How many of really agree with such a high level statement from bureaucrat like ITU secretary.  There is a need to bridge digital divide, We live in a world were fundamental needs like roti (Food), Kapda (Dress), and makan (shelter) to every living being is not even take care.

How global leaders can make high-speed network a basic civil right?
Isn't too early to talk about basic civil right?

Above questions are only from a lament perspective, a deep insight in to the idea behind ITU official will let you see the benefits. Today larger population create their own food by farming, what they get out of it by selling them to mandi wallas (distributors) is too less. In most cases farming community not even aware of the real sold price. This leads to low price selling and high price buying, in between distributors eat the big pie. Imagine a situation where high speed networks to remote places help them to decide best price? Most of the farming has deep routed traditional practices with change in weather condition farmers are left in dark. Imagine  a high speed network infrastructure which carries on-the fly information about weather updates, and farming instructions to the community.

A internet TV, Video conferencing, tele presence   are the way forward to minimize the digital divide. Don't look at it as a luxury, see the better part of it in supporting the community and helping the needy people.

Snippets from news release,
"Broadband is the next tipping point, the next truly transformational technology. It can generate jobs, drive growth and productivity, and underpin long-term economic competitiveness. It is also the most powerful tool we have at our disposal in our race to meet the Millennium Development Goals, which are now just five years away," said Dr Touré.

'Broadband Inclusion for All', comprises a detailed framework for broadband deployment and ten Action Points aimed at mobilizing all stakeholders and convincing government leaders to prioritize the roll-out of broadband networks to their citizens.

link between broadband penetration and economic growth. "In the 21st century, affordable, ubiquitous broadband networks will be as critical to social and economic prosperity as networks like transport, water and power. Broadband will serve as tomorrow's fountain of innovation. It represents the ripening of the digital revolution, the fruits of which have yet to be invented or even imagined."

"Information and communication technologies are playing an increasingly important role as drivers of social and economic development, but it will take partnerships such as the Broadband Commission to ensure that those technologies live up to their extraordinary potential," said Mr Ban. "The Commission's report is an important contribution to our efforts to ensure that the benefits of information and communication technology can further the United Nations goals of peace, security or development for all."


It also asks: "What price will be paid in the brave new world of digital opportunity by those who fail to embrace broadband inclusion for their citizens?" - a stark warning in light of huge disparities in broadband affordability worldwide, which means that those who can least afford it pay the most for access, relative to average national monthly income.

While subscribers in the developed world - for example the UK, US, Canada or Australia - pay under 1% of average national monthly income for a fast broadband connection, in many of the world's UN-designated Least Developed Countries, such as Ethiopia, Malawi or Niger, even a relatively slow broadband connection costs many times an average monthly salary.

Affordability has a clear and direct correlation to take-up, so that while fixed broadband penetration stands at around 30% in many of the highly 'wired' countries of Western Europe, Oceania and North America, it is closer to 10% in BRIC countries, and under 1% in the world's poorest nations.

The Commission outcome report stresses the importance of promoting cultural diversity and multilingualism in the online world. It urges governments not to limit market entry nor tax broadband and related services too heavily, and to ensure ample availability of spectrum to support mobile broadband growth. ITU forecasts a total of 900 million broadband subscriptions by 2010 - and predicts that mobile broadband will be the access technology of choice for millions in the developing world, where fixed link infrastructure is sparse and expensive to deploy.

"The new realities and opportunities for digital development must be firmly fixed in the minds of world leaders as a leadership imperative," says the report, urging leaders to replicate the 'mobile miracle' of the first decade of the 21st century in a 'broadband boom' that will created shared high-speed resources accessible and beneficial to all.

http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2010/33.aspx

In a recent press release ITU has clarified decision regarding the platform for the next generations of mobile broadband telecommunications known as IMT-Advanced. It is official now, so far only two base technologies are streamlined to be part of IMT-advanced "LTE-Advanced" and "WirelessMAN-Advanced (802.16m)". These technologies are designed to offer high mobility, and high spectral efficiency. Specific set of frequencies have been chosen to use these technologies as well.

Following a detailed evaluation against stringent technical and operational criteria, ITU has determined that "LTE-Advanced" and "WirelessMAN-Advanced" should be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced. As the most advanced technologies currently defined for global wireless mobile broadband communications, IMT-Advanced is considered as "4G", although it is recognized that this term, while undefined, may also be applied to the forerunners of these technologies, LTE and WiMax, and to other evolved 3G technologies providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed. The detailed specifications of the IMT-Advanced technologies will be provided in a new ITU-R Recommendation expected in early 2012.

What it clarifies?

There has been much recent news in the media regarding the use of the term "4G," and as a result of certain communications from the ITU WiMAX's status as a 4G technology has been brought into question. We at WiMAX Forum would like to make certain that you remain updated on this activity, and we have good news. The ITU issued a press release on Monday, December 6th, in which it clarified its recent decision regarding the platform for the next generations of mobile broadband telecommunications known as IMT-Advanced.

Prior to yesterday's press release the ITU had publicized that only IMT-Advanced technologies such as 802.16m are considered to be 4G. This more recent announcement is positive news as it gives the WiMAX industry an official ITU position to reference when asked to define "4G" in the market place.

Press release link from ITU:

http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2010/48.aspx

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

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.