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Sunday, June 24, 2007Someday we will look back at the way we handle our business communications today and wonder how we did it, very much the same in way we now wonder how people could work and live without email. Many of us have a desktop phone in the office and carry around a cell phone. Most of us still we have two phone numbers (without counting fax), and two voicemail boxes, which means multiple passwords and keystrokes to remember and, even worse, often causes us to miss a few important calls.
While larger companies are agressively embracing the inevitable convergence of communications services, the vast majority of small and medium businesses in the US still have separate voice, data and cellular service providers. The result? High service costs, administrative complexity and low user productivity.
7:13:02 PM
Friday, March 30, 20079:59:19 AM
Brazil makes muni Wi-Fi more affordable. Anatel, the Brazilian regulator, has passed new regulations that make it easier for cities to provide low-cost wireless broadband access. [MuniWireless.com]
9:58:00 AM
60-Mile Signal in San Francisco. This isn't a contest: Intel is testing software and antennas to eventually bring long-range 802.11 to under-developed nations. [Wi-Fi Planet Wireless News]
9:54:44 AM
Wednesday, February 14, 20072:22:01 PM
Saturday, February 10, 2007Nothing truly ground-breaking in this article on muni-voip, but I could not help but notice that "Kenya and Macedonia are currently operating multi-city or national wireless mesh broadband networks". I hope the San Francisco board of supervisors can soon travel to Macedonia for a crash course on how to get things done.
Also interesting: "Municipal networks are running in cities as diverse as Cittagong, Bangladesh; Moscow, Russia; and Taipei, Taiwan. The Beijing public security bureau is deploying a network in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, with an emphasis on video surveillance. U.S. cities where the technology is in use include Anaheim, Mountain View, and Pasadena, Calif.; Chandler, Gilbert, and Tempe, Ariz.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and Corpus Christi, Texas.".
4:43:59 PM
Monday, January 29, 2007In their noble pursuit of a digitally inclusive city-wide network, EarthLink and
But what is the social benefit of providing a 300kbps service? What can anyone do with 300kbps in today’s world?
Not much: try using it for email (good luck with that 3 meg attachment from aunt Margie), streaming video (distance learning? telemedicine?), Skype (forget cheap long distance). And the list goes on. Using 300 kbps in 2007 is akin to buying a PC with 256 kbytes of RAM and a 20 megabyte hard disk: no matter how desperately low you are in the social totem pole, there really is little use for one.
We are not sure why the City and Earthlink have come up with this brain-dead “low-tier” gimmick. A more reasonable approach would have been to identify those who are truly in need, and provide a subsidized 1-2 mbps service to them. Does the idea seem difficult to implement? It is not. There are solutions available that make it possible.
6:52:46 PM
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
AFP - Malaysia will issue two licenses to telecommunication operators next year to provide fourth generation wireless high speed Internet services, a senior minister has told AFP.
[Yahoo! News: Wireless and Mobile Technology]
10:10:21 AM
Monday, November 06, 2006
AFP - German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom has said it would not participate in the bidding for German high-speed Internet Wimax licences.
[Yahoo! News: Internet News]
9:43:40 AM
Tuesday, October 31, 2006Nokia Simplifies Dual-Mode Phones (PC World). PC World - Seamless network hopping gets closer with software that makes Wi-Fi and cellular phones easier to use. [Yahoo! News: Wireless and Mobile Technology]
"In addition to automatically choosing the proper network, the software also helps Telio provision the service, said Jouni Malinen, director of Nokia's emerging business unit. Once a customer signs up for Telio's service, the customer receives a message on the phone that automatically changes the phone's settings to enable the service. Without the Nokia Service Suite, customers would have to manage multiple potentially complicated configuration changes to enable the service, Malinen said."
10:45:02 AM
Europe Jumps On Wi-Fi Bandwagon. WiFi is experiencing rising popularity in Europe as demonstrated by the considerable increase in the deployment of wireless hotspots in the continent. According to a new study by BroadGroup Tariff Services, the number of hotspots in the region grew by 28 percent from May 2005 to September 2006. Majority of these devices are found in the U.K., Germany and France. The report also noted that two-thirds of all hotspots in Europe are managed by telcos and mobile operators.
10:14:31 AM
T-Mobile Launches Converged Cell/Wi-Fi Voice [Wi-Fi Networking News]
This is the first meaningful UMA launch in the US (though it's only a limited pilot in Seattle, with no release dates announced). The most salient aspects of the plan:
- $20 / month for unlimited minutes over wifi. Subscriber must have a $40 minimum voice plan an can combine offering with T-Mobile's $30/mo GPRS data service
- it requires a t-mobile router at home. "The requirement of a specific router relates to the low-power mode of handsets that needs a particular protocol embedded in the router to work—WMM Power Save. Few routers have this right now, but it’s really a protocol-level feature, not a hardware change. However, it does require Wi-Fi Alliance certification if you want to use the label on the product, and thus adds cost at that level.
9:51:52 AM
MuniWireless.com Estimates $3b in US Spending by 2010 [Wi-Fi Networking News]
9:39:53 AM
Tuesday, October 24, 20069:43:35 PM
Friday, October 20, 2006Analysis of Contract between AT&T and City of
The contract between AT&T and the City of Riverside,CA
is available for public review. There is nothing unusual about the agreement,
other than perhaps the dual 2.4/4.9 Ghz Band (for public safety). Here are the
highlights.
- AT&T designs, builds and owns the network
- Three phases: Pilot (2sq mi, 4 month buildout), Phase 2 (55
square mile, 12 months) and phase 3, expansion to other areas, depending on
population density
- Dual 2.4 and 4.9 Ghz (Public Safety) network
- Free service: 512Kbps/256Kbps – best effort (though AT T has
agreed to add capacity if necessary to keep the system from deteriorating due
to growing customer demand). Free service will be ad-supported though Metro-Fi
- City commits to $1M over 5 years worth of broadband
services, plus another $1M for additional services. It is estimated that the
City would expend total of 4M for new Products and services from ATT (our estimate for the total buildout cost is approx 10 MM, so the city effectively pays for covers almost 1/2 of the cost)
- Minimum of 40 VLANs
- Open network: AT&T can sell direct and must sell
wholesale to service providers. $12/month/account wholesale price, reviewed
annually based on AT&T’s average retail rates (to ensure leveled playing field)
- Portal will allow end-user to select between AT&T and
other Service Providers. AT&T receives preferential position on the portal
- Revenue Share: AT&T pays a share of fee-based services
to SmartRiverside (a non profit organization chartered with Digital Inclusion
services). Resellers must also contribute an unspecified amount to
SmartRiverside
- Back-haul will be the unlicensed 5.8 spectrum. “Potential”
WiMax backhaul
- Online for free service
- Business hours for fee-based
- Resellers provide frontline support
- $3 / month for low-bandwidth devices (90K/90K max)
- $28 month for 1M/512K best effort
- $50 / month for 1m/1m 4.9 Ghz
- $180 /mo for 5.8 Ghz 3mbps
6:53:38 PM
More reasons for adotping FMC: More Consumers See the Benefits of using a Single Integrated Provider than Multiple Providers.
When asked separately to state the benefits of a single integrated communications provider (covering wireline, wireless, cable/tv and internet) versus multiple providers, almost 3 times as many consumers could NOT state a benefit of a multiple provider. The top benefits of a single integrated provider revolve around simplicity (see Fact 4) and money savings. Simplicity translates into one-stop shopping, a single bill per month and a single number & voice mail.
2:21:57 PM
NTT West Plans Wireless Mesh Across 100 Japanese Cities The annoucement is still pretty sketchy, but it does suggest that NTT may believe it can use wireless mesh to bring video to millions of users. Cable companies, take notice?
11:31:46 AM
Is The WiFi Revolution Underway?. ABI Research sees a rise in the demand for consumer electronic products with wireless networking capabilities and an explosive growth for WiFi with a shift in the way entertainment is delivered. The firm expects shipments of WiFi-enabled consumer electronic devices to jump from 40 million this year to 249 million in 2011. The key to this expansion is the bridge between PC and TV and the growing use of mobile telephony but content availability and bandwidth problems could present as challenges to such possibility.
10:20:37 AM
More Wi-Fi Demanded In T-Mobile Poll. A survey by YouGov revealed that WiFi users hope for more hotspots in more locations. Half of the 253 respondents want WiFi access in trains and a quarter on the tube. Some 86 perecent with laptops, however, do not know how useful having such connection during rush hour. The study also showed that 45 percent of those surveyed use the technology to keep in touch with family and friends and 30 percent believed their work/life balance improved due to high-speed wireless connectivity.
10:19:50 AM
Wednesday, October 18, 2006No Longer Just Talk: FMC Is Happening
UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access, a carrier-based implementation of Fixed-Mobile Convergence) is no longer a technology looking for an application; unlike a number of new technologies, UMA applications are already being commercialized on a relatively mass scale. A few sample deployments:
While this is not in the realm of savings that some fixed VoIP services have been able to provide, the single handset concept may be compelling enough for subscribers wishing to combine the benefits of fixed and mobile services. TeliaSonera also hinted at the availability of low-cost calling via participating public WiFi hotspots, although no specifics have been provided at this time.
Source: Pyramid Research
12:24:54 AM
Monday, October 16, 2006Online payment methods for the un-banked
According to some industry forecasts, over 10 million low-income
This mostly means no credit card, debit card or even bank account. What is the benefit of being online if onecannot purchase goods and services, including books, music, clothes, participate in auctions or send money overseas at bargain rates? Municipal governments will soon find out that providing free broadband access to households that don't have means of paying electronically will significantly hinder adoption and effective use of the service. The answer? Prepaid, reloadable cards that do not require credit or even a bank account.
10:05:17 PM
High Fees Holding Back 3G Services (PC World). PC World - Mobile TV and Web browsing too expensive for most users, study finds. [Yahoo! News: Wireless and Mobile Technology]
9:35:35 PM
Are there real savings in VoWiFi?
According to several sources, between 50 and 75% of mobile calls are made at home, the office, a public place or some other indoor location. Considering the current rates of 802.11 penetration in the home, office, restaurant etc, this would imply that somewhere between 20% and 25 % of calls are made within range of an 802.11 access point today. Considering the average cost of a cellular minute vs. the average cost of a VoIP call terminating off-net, we estimate that a hybrid W-Fi / Cellular solution would save operators approximately 15% in costs today. Part of the issue is that Wi-Fi penetration in the home and small business, in spite of the astronomic growth of the last 4 years, is still relatively low (between 10% and 15%). We expect the savings to quickly increase as penetration of Wi-Fi in private and public locations continues to grow at double digit rates.
9:11:24 PM
Municipal Wireless Networks: not a whole lot of room left!
Municipal Wireless Network planners have a harsh reality to contend with: they won't be the first one to claim rights to the contended 2.4 Ghz spectrum. Thousands of Access Point owners have already assessed "squatting rights" to the precious spectrum. The picture below shows a sample taken in the month of April of Wi-Fi access points identified at street level in the downtown area of
8:03:56 PM
Shots Heard in Mobile WiMAX Revolution. Is all the activity at WiMAX World more bang than benefits? [Wi-Fi Planet Wireless News]
Qutes range from "A lot of people ask why we need another network? " to a more optimistic "It's going to take time for this stuff to happen". Not a particularly encouraging perspective for WiMax advocates...
7:18:09 AM
Investors Put $16M in Ruckus. Motorola Ventures and T-Online see investment paying off with wireless home entertainment. [Wi-Fi Planet Wireless News]
7:15:51 AM
Sunday, October 15, 2006It will be interesting to watch how the ISP community's attitude toward social routing networks a la FON will evolve if they actually become a mass phenomenon. One can see how the FONs of the world will welcome Open Networks, as one can view a Fonero as just a micro-instance of a reseller ISP.in a city-wide network.
5:43:53 PM
Update: Winston-Salem, North Carolina chooses IBM-Cisco to deploy network.
Another win by established players at the expenses of startups like Tropos or BelAir. Though late in getting their municipal mesh solution to the market, CISCO is definitely asserting itself as a trusted solution with municial buyers and wireless ISPs.
The WinstonNet Wireless Initiative chose a consortium consisting of IBM, Cisco and Azulstar to build and operate the citywide wireless broadband network that will expand to include outlying communities in Forsyth County. The city will also use the network for municipal applications such as public safety. Contract negotiations will begin this month. WinstonNet issued the [...] By noemail@noemail.org (Esme Vos). [MuniWireless]
5:31:38 PM
West Des Moines, Iowa issues RFP for expansion of wireless network.
Another example of a municipality deciding to use public funds to develop a city-wide network (as opposed to a Public/Private model where the ISP owns the network.). Given San Francisco's and Philadelphia's lackluster tranck record in meeting the project timeline, it seems that public administrations may look at the ownerip model as a quicker way to market.
"West Des Moines, Iowa is looking for a vendor to design and build a wireless broadband network that expands the existing network in the business district. Proposals are due on 29 November 2006. Download the RFP from here (PDF format)."
[MuniWireless]
5:23:44 PM
Tuesday, April 12, 2005Mobile Technology Key To Stopping U.S. Slide From Tech Preeminence, Intel Chief Says.
Another Intel executive playing Cassandra with the future of US technology supremacy. Very good analysis indeed.
"Otellini pointed to the World Economic Forum's Global Information Technology Report 2004-05, which ranks the United States as fifth in terms of "networked readiness," a measurement of the policy, institutional, and structural obstacles that prevent countries from fully benefiting from information and communication technologies. Otellini noted that the United States held the report's top spot the previous year. It now ranks below Singapore, Iceland, Finland, and Denmark. It's not that the U.S. has slowed down, but rather that the rest of the world has accelerated their efforts, Otellini added.
Intel has for years pushed for the adoption of wireless broadband technology as a way for businesses to improve productivity and cut networking costs. Much of this can be achieved through the development of WiMax, a long-distance wireless networking technology designed to replace DSL and cable Internet access. WiMax performs up to six times faster than DSL, Otellini said.
11:12:47 AM
Cisco Targets Mesh Networking (Ziff Davis). Ziff Davis - Building on the strength of its recent acquisition of Airespace, Cisco plans a move into the emerging wireless mesh networking market.
"Motorola Inc. and Nortel Networks Ltd. already offer mesh hardware, but industry observers said that Cisco's entrance into the space should help expedite the passage of 802.11s, a wireless mesh protocol under development at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers."
[Yahoo! News: Wireless and Mobile Technology]
10:49:22 AM
Russia looks to make IT its 'next natural resource'. LONDON -- In an effort to jump-start its economy and diminish its dependence on natural resources like oil, Russia has made local IT development one of its top priorities, with plans for infrastructure growth, regional "technoparks," and industry-friendly legislation.
"telecom is the country's fastest growing sector, and by the end of this month the government expects 100 percent of the Russian Federation to be covered by a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network. However, there are still 46,000 communities that lack a single fixed line. "We need to address this unbalance," Reiman said. "
10:33:41 AM
French may have to buy compulsory biometric ID cards. PARIS -- French citizens will have to pay for new identity cards that hold their biometric information in electronic format -- and carrying the cards will become compulsory, if the minister of the interior gets his way. [InfoWorld: Top News]
10:15:37 AM
Chinese leader predicts 'Asian century' for IT
"On Monday, Wen says the two countries must make use of their complementary IT skills--China's hardware expertise and India's in software--to make the 21st century the "Asian century of the IT industry." "
9:57:37 AM
Monday, April 11, 20055:33:55 PM
Sunday, April 10, 2005 Tuesday, April 05, 2005The number of hotspots in India is expected to grow tenfold with 3,000 active by December: for a country with many times the U.S. and with a vast technically trained population--and extremes of poverty as well--hotspot growth is a given. The government only recently legalized the use of 2.4 GHz and 5.1 GHz devices for this purpose.
Dishnet announced a 6,000-hot spot network this week with 2,000 planned to be active by December; Microsense has 200 now with 1,000 expected by December; other networks have hundreds of locations targeted, too. Prices have plummeted as growth has expanded--but probably not fallen "100 percent" as the article indicates.
[Wi-Fi Networking News]9:40:12 AM
Friday, April 01, 2005Fraud prevention takes a different approach overseas, experts say
More on the subject on international online fraud.
"Address verification procedures common in the U.S., for instance, are not always as effective in other countries, says Ashwini Narayanan, director of product management for CyberSource Corp., a provider of payment processing and fraud prevent services. In the UK, she notes, the password-based Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode systems for entering credit card information are more effective than address verification, because the postal system grants individual residents the flexibility to change their address numbers. "
7:01:42 PM
Fear of fraud is keeping e-retailers out of global sales
Interestng results of a survey among US e-tailers. Fraud ranks number 1 in factors keeping retailers from selling overseas. "The survey further reports that the No. 1 fear is not unfounded: Fraud rates on overseas orders are four times the level of North American orders. "
6:54:36 PM
Cell Phone Makers Hope To Connect In Poor Nations (Investor's Business Daily). Investor's Business Daily - Cell phones with cameras and Internet access are nice, but they're out of reach if you live on $2 a day or less.
"An estimated 3 billion people live within cell coverage areas but have no phone or phone service. A phone that costs $30 or less could mean an additional 700 million customers, says the GSM Association trade group. The cheapest prices today are $60. "
700 million customers! That's enough to warrant the attention of all the big players. An the battle is on between GSM and CDMA (again).
5:41:00 PM
Friday, March 25, 2005Sequans: Breaking Into WiMax. French WiMax startup Sequans Communications is casting itself as David against an industry full of Goliathsand the tiny company has a strong chance in this new and unpredictable market.
"The Koreans' aggressive development of WiBro technology, Aboussouan says, will serve as a test for the rest of the world. "If Korea is a success, then there's a good chance that the rest of the world is going to be a success," he says. "If Korea is a failure, then I don't think we'll be talking about WiMax five years from now." "
8:47:05 PM
ICANN approves .eu Net domain. After months of negotiations, Net domain overseer agrees to create European top-level domain. [CNET News.com]
8:38:39 PM
Wednesday, March 23, 2005Web Usage Growth Flatlines in U.S., Other Mature Markets
More on the Nielsen/Netratings report on changes in average time spent online at home. The classification of Brazil as a "mature" market and Australia as "emerging", considering that Internet household penetration in Australia is far greater than in Brazil, is somewhat questionable. Nevertheless the trend of flattening growth in more developed markets is evident.
9:56:02 PM
In Europe and Asia, publishers weigh their Web options
Very educational article on how different countries experiment with various ways of charging for content. The most interesting example is Apple Daily, which differenciates pricing policies based the reader's location. Simply let price elasticity determine your pricing policies: charge for news where news (in this case in Chinese) are harder to come by (.e. Chinese emigrant workers), but keep it free in the home country, where competition is stronger.
"Apple Daily, one of the largest-circulation Chinese-language newspapers in both Hong Kong and Taiwan, offers free online access to Web visitors from within those territories, but charges overseas visitors about $40 a year.
"We found a profitable model by building advertising domestically and charging subscriptions for overseas readers," said Mark Simon, group advertising director of Apple Daily Newspapers. "We just don't like giving away content that we worked hard to create." Since the newspaper started charging about three years ago, the number of overseas online subscriptions has reached 30,000. Meanwhile, online advertising revenue has reached $2 million annually, with rates charged by the Web site increasing at 5 percent a month." "
6:59:37 PM
Monday, March 21, 2005Net tightens gray-market retail vise (or how multinationals are scrambling to justify international pricing differentials )
Another example of how the Internet is affecting global trade. Companies used to be able to exploit inefficiencies in the international distribution system by adapting local prices to local market conditions, such as supply-demand, presence of local competitors etc. No more. Thanks to search engines and comparative shopping, consumers in price-premium countries will often bypass local distributors in favor of lower prices. This has multinationals scrambling:
"The Internet is where the gray-market problem really exploded," said Marla Briscoe, a member of HP's brand protection team and vice president of AGMA. "With the Internet, we virtually created a borderless distribution system that makes it a lot easier for unauthorized dealers to advertise products, to buy and resell, and makes it more difficult for manufacturers to track down who exactly is selling these products. This is a worldwide issue."
A "borderless distribution system": that's precisely what the Internet is about. Granted, gray market can indeed be a serious threat to brands and consumers alike, as many unscrupulous exporters or importers can profit at the expenses of unaware consumers by shipping products with no warranty, no local support, or even no compliance to local standards. However, the trend toward price equality is definitely a positive one for consumers around the globe, and a great opportunity for companies able to deal with the new rules of the market. Eventually, price differentials across countries should only reflect the different costs of supplying and supporting products in that country.
6:52:47 PM
The World According to eBay
(subscription to Business 2.0 required)
Really interesting article from the January issue of Business 2.0. Several valuable lessons on international expansion for US Internet companies, including the following one:
"And eBay doesn't always triumph. In Japan, eBay was aced out by a joint venture between Yahoo and Softbank. Yahoo had only a five-month head start, but it took control of the field and never let go. Yahoo now sees more than $5 billion in transactions a year in Japan. eBay gave up on the country entirely in 2002. Whitman says the main lesson from that experience was to "go early and go fast." ".
Another interesting tidbit: "As it happens, only 12 percent of eBay's total gross merchandise sales are cross-border transactions. Each country is a self-contained battlefield that must be won by slugging it out with rivals. ". This seemingly minor detail can mean that the company has barely scratched the surface on their biggest opportunity yet: facilitating international trading for small/medium enterprises around the globe.
5:14:53 PM
Sunday, March 20, 2005British Telecom: Who needs HDTV?
I have othen wondered what all the fuzz on HDTV is about: with DSL2 scheduled to bring tens of Mbits/sec to the home, HDTV can be accomplished with a regular media player and content encoded for high definition. My take is that DSL2 will be common long before all the goverments, industry players etc. have fianlly agreed on HDTV standards.
"It also sees delivering TV over broadband as a way of getting high-definition (HD) content to people sooner than they will be able to get it through conventional, regular broadcasts."
6:44:29 PM
Intel, T-Online, push digital home in Europe
T-Online seems to embrace the IPTV philosophy. The only concern is how to protect content providers' digital rights while allowing consumers the flexibility to share content within the household. Hence the partnership with Intel in Europe.
"However, much work still remains to be done to assure movie studios and music companies that their content will be protected while also encouraging consumers with the knowledge that they will still have the ability to use their content on a wide variety of devices in their homes. To that end, Intel is working with a number of industry partners in the Digital Living Network Alliance to make its DTCP/IP (Digital Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) technology an industry standard around the world, Chandrasekher said. "
5:59:56 PM
The future is South Korea - Tech firms try out latest in world's most wired society
Another wake-up call on how other countries are getting ahead of the US in terms of broadband penetration and usage (wired and wireless), South Korea being the most shining example. It seems to me the US is mired in the ideological conviction that government should have limited or no role in creating the infrastructure, and let free markets take care of it. Other countries, SK being one of them, are showing that a combination of competition and state investments can make for a very powerful mix:
"The South Korean government ensured competition by ending state-owned Korea Telecom's monopoly. The government spent billions of dollars building a fiber grid, reaching schools and government buildings, and offered another billion in financial incentives to phone companies that strung broadband links to homes. Tough competition drove prices down, demand surged and the country was on a roll. "
"President Bush has said all Americans should have access to broadband by 2007. To reach that goal, he has promised to remove bureaucratic obstacles. But, unlike the Korean government, his administration is not pumping money into the market."
"The South Korean government ensured competition by ending state-owned Korea Telecom's monopoly. The government spent billions of dollars building a fiber grid, reaching schools and government buildings, and offered another billion in financial incentives to phone companies that strung broadband links to homes. Tough competition drove prices down, demand surged and the country was on a roll. "
"In Korea, competition has been a driving force. In the U.S., you often only have one cable company, and the company is not forced to upgrade its speed," he said. "I have had DSL for three years and I have never been approached about an upgrade. In Korea, you can even watch television on DSL. "
5:30:46 PM
Saturday, March 19, 2005Study: Internet use in U.S. homes dips
US tech marketers, heed the signs of an important shift in priorities: "Americans are spending slightly less time online that they did a year ago, while some of their counterparts in Asia and Europe are logging longer hours on the Net. "
"Acquiring users in markets that are currently in their growth stages will lead to a loyal user base that will pay dividends for Internet companies in the future,"
No consumer-oriented business plan can afford to ignore key international markets from the get-go. The old conventional wisdom of "we'll get it right in the US first and move overseas afterwards" dangerously ignores the unique branding opportunity offered by high-growth markets and provides local competitors with the opportunity to establish themselves. By the time you will be ready to attack their domestic turf, it will be too late or too expensive for you to dislodge them.
8:29:49 AM
Friday, March 18, 200511:33:38 AM
Tuesday, March 15, 2005Self-install WiMax kit comes to Tokyo
Rather bold experimentation with Wi-Max in a broadband-saturated, large urban area. If successful, this may show that Wi-Max is more than just a solution for areas not served by fixed broadband.
"Despite the ready availability of broadband in Tokyo, Yozan will sell the service as a cheap alternative for mobile people who do not want to be tied to a contract for a fixed line. "It will be pitched much cheaper than DSL or fiber, for users who don't have a phone at home," said Paul Senior, vice president of marketing at Airspan. "This is a whole new market for wireless broadband."
5:34:46 PM
Success is all a matter of where you are on the "hype curve". Interesting stuff from Ken Novak's Weblog:
frontline: high stakes in cyberspace: Paul Saffo in 1995 on PBS: Fun to read the old stuff. Paul Saffo is remarkably on-target
, 10 years later. This article mentions "macro-myopia: A pattern where our hopes and our expectations or our fears about the threatened impact of some new technology causes us to overestimate its short term impacts and reality always fails to meet those inflated expectations. And as a result our disappointment then leads us to turn around and underestimate the long term implications and I can guarantee you this time will be no different. The short term impact of this stuff will be less than the hype would suggest but the long term implications will be vastly larger than we can possibly imagine today." I've since encoutered Gartner's Hype Cycle, which they say they started to use also in 1995, with a graphic version of this insight.
I found this when looking for a reference to an aphorism that I think comes from Saffo. The aphorism: Over two years, things change much less than we think they will; but over ten years, they change more than we imagine.
It makes me wonder about the timeframe in between, say 5 to 7 years in the future, when major impacts will be felt from things we know are changing now, despite hype (digital sensors and surveillance) and disillusion (wind and solar power).
[Ken Novak's Weblog]5:25:01 PM
Satellite Takes Broadband to New Heights (NewsFactor).
"Satellite communications provider Inmarsat is delivering on the promise to provide high-speed Internet access to the far reaches of the globe with the launch of its latest spacecraft. "
The event is significant, as it brings two-way, 1/2 Mbits/sec IP connectivity virtually ANYWHERE in the globe. I have personally used the device in BGAN's current incarnation in Europe (RBGAN, 144 kbits/sec) and it delivers what it promises. Latency is obviously an issue, given that the satellites are geo-stationary, but unless you are playing XBox live, the user experience is acceptable where 3G, DSL or cable are not an option. The device is the size of a laptop computer, can be installed by untrained personnel and connects to a PC via a USB cable.
"The two I-4 satellites will then cover 85 percent of the world's land mass, enabling Inmarsat officially to deliver the company's Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN).
BGAN is an IP and circuit-switched service providing connections at speeds of up to 432 Kbps, according to Warehand."
5:13:43 PM
Monday, March 07, 200510:18:24 AM
Wednesday, March 02, 2005Intel CEO Blasts U.S. R&D Policy
Another barb thrown at the US Broadband "policy", vis a vis that of other countries, and the potential long-term damage to our education system and our economy. This time it's from from Craig Barrett
With Verizon buying MCI and SBC buying ATT, don't expect an increase in bitrate anytime soon (but get ready for a sticker-shock when you get your next broadband bill)
3:25:15 PM
In Brief: China tightens surveillance of Internet forums (InfoWorld). InfoWorld - The Chinese government has tightened surveillance of Internet chat rooms and discussion forums ahead of the annual National People's Congress (NPC) meeting, which begins March 5 in Beijing, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The NPC is China's highest legislative body. A major focus of this year's meeting is consideration of a draft antisecession law aimed at curbing Taiwanese moves toward formal independence. Chat rooms and discussion boards on popular Web sites have been assigned security guards responsible for monitoring the content of messages and postings during the NPC session, Xinhua said. Messages submitted by users will be filtered and censored before appearing online. In an effort to boost control over the Internet during the NPC meeting, officials from China's Ministry of Public Security met with executives from local Internet service providers, major Web sites, and Internet cafe chains, Xinhua reported. The report did not specify how long these added Internet control measures will remain in place. [Yahoo! News: Technology - Internet]
3:10:00 PM
Friday, February 25, 20058:49:16 AM
EU Questions Apple's Pricing of iTunes in Britain (Reuters). Reuters - Apple Computer Inc. is under investigation by the European Commission for charging more in Britain for iTunes than it does in France or Germany, a spokesman for the EU executive said Thursday. [Yahoo! News: Technology - Internet]
8:34:56 AM
A quarter of Hong Kong mobile phone owners under 13 (AFP). AFP - Hong Kong's obsession with mobile phones has taken a new turn as a survey found a quarter of all phone owners were under 13 years old, with some as young as six. [Yahoo! News: Wireless and Mobile Technology]
8:23:21 AM
Monday, February 21, 2005Europe Leads the U.S. (Again), This Time in Muni Wi-Fi (Ziff Davis).
This matches my experience in recent trips to the old continent (France and Italy), where I found that 3-4 Mbits/sec at less than $50 / month is becoming common:
"I am in the U.S. quite often (I have dual citizenship and the only reason I live in Amsterdam is that my husband is Dutch) and am shocked to see how slow and expensive broadband is. "
I still remember when the 700 kbits/sec I still get from SBC in the Bay Area felt like cutting edge!
10:25:26 PM
Thursday, February 17, 20057:03:09 PM
Tuesday, February 15, 2005Maybe mesh networks can really play a role in brinnging wireless broadband access to the masses, after all!
1:54:09 PM
U.S. tech leadership to go way of 2004 Dream Team?
Rather alarming report from the AEA. Main reason for the potential loss of technological leadership ? "U.S. federal funding of research and development (R&D) has declined over the past two decades, the report states: "It peaked in 1987 at $75 billion and still was below this peak by 2002 at $71 billion"
Not a positive trend: while venture capital and private R&D investments contribute greatly to creating and maintaining our cherished national techno-leadership, government initiatives (e.g. defense programs, space program etc.) have been the main catalysts for the major technology quantum leaps of the last 60 years.
7:59:42 AM
Sunday, February 13, 2005Mauritius Island To Go Wireless (TechWeb). TechWeb - A 100-square-mile broadband wireless network from Navini Networks will serve some 1.2 million potential users on the island.
"They will be superbly positioned to take advantage of next-generation mobile broadband wireless access, 802.16e-based WiMAX." "
11:30:57 AM
Number of Indian mobile phone users soar (AFP). AFP - The number of Indian subscribers for landline and mobile phone services is soaring, putting the country on track to have 250 million users by 2007.
9:06:44 AM
Saturday, February 12, 2005Wi-fi set to take India by storm
“Currently, unbundling prevents Internet service providers from entering the broadband market. As wi-fi equipment can be deployed quickly, stand alone operators will enter this sector. We see a manifold increase in hotspots,” said Amitab Singhal, president, Internet Service Providers Association of India. "
10:04:10 AM
Skype software coming to Wi-Fi/cell phones. Skype Technologies' VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) software will now come installed on mobile handsets from Carrier Devices' i-mate brand that are equipped with Wi-Fi as well as cellular capability. [InfoWorld: Top News]
9:56:38 AM
Multicast Ruling Muddies Waters. "The FCC won't require cable operators to carry multicast streams from broadcast stations, and that may slow the switch to digital TV. Michael Grebb reports from Washington. [Wired News]"
This is a step back for the industry as a whole, as it virtually blocks out not just real time video or audio broadcasts but also a slew of existing and potential applications riding on the IP multicast protocol.
9:40:33 AM
Ericsson Chief Sees Accelerating Shift to Latest Cellphones. The chief executive of Ericsson said that seven million cellphone users in Europe and Japan switched to high-speed third-generation mobile networks in the last quarter of 2004. By By KEVIN J. O'BRIEN. [NYT > Technology]
9:31:11 AM
Friday, February 11, 2005because of low (and getting lower) receiver and antenna costs (thanks to high-number production), relatively wide footprint extending hundreds of miles off of US coasts, high-speed data channels, relatively low monthly subscriptions (in the $30s) and, last but not least, the ability to combine great weather data with hundreds of music and news channels, XM WX is destined to become a must have on most pleasure crafts, fishing vessels etc. The software interface is pretty neat. It remains to be seen how easy the main purveyors of navigation software (Maptech, Nobletec etc.) will make it to overlay this wealth of WX info into their charting products. Check out one of their sources of numeric model-based weather forecasts.
8:14:47 AM
Satellite Radio Edges Forward in Europe
Doubts persists about the viability of the XM or Sirius Sat Radio business models when applied to the European marketplace. However, the success of Satellite Radio in the US is keeping many in Europe watching. "French broadcast company TDF confirmed at an industry conference here that talks had begun between Alcatel and SES Global over a possible joint venture. "
The issue does not seem to faze WorldSpace, which has been positioning itself as a pan-European SR for sometime (actually, with the planned addition of Latin America, it will have almost global coverage). It operates in the Ku-Band, and receivers are now in the $100-$200.
8:03:25 AM
Wednesday, February 09, 2005Java based Marine Wireless Navigation Server
Anyone who has sailed long passages would appreciate the value of an on-board wireless 802.11 server to enable access to all navigation data from cockpit, nav station, berth etc. This developer seems to have come up with the right architecture: a Unix-based AP that interfaces with a NMEA input. "I started thinking it would be cool to make the data available wirelessly so that any number of handhelds or laptops could access the data on a boat. This becomes more important as you get into larger and larger boats. "
10:12:40 AM
Report: City-run Wi-Fi plans could have 'grave flaws'.
City-run wireless broadband networks, which appear to be gaining popularity in a number of major metropolitan areas, haven't been fully studied and are being touoted with dubious claims about their benefits, according to the New Millennium Research Council.
While the concerns about potential budget overruns and rapid obsolescence may be justified, the source of the analysis is at a minimum suspect "The Washington-based NMRC is an independent subsidiary of Issue Dynamics Inc., a "consulting firm specializing in public affairs and relationship-management services." Its clients include SBC and Verizon, companies that municipalities would be competing with if their plans to provide Wi-Fi service are realized."
The real issue is what organizations - public or private - have the wherewithal to undertake such massive deployments and avoid the typical "standards war" that has so many times in the past hindered rapid adoption of new technologies (and sometime translated into wasted money for consumers that have invested in the wrong standards)
9:26:27 AM
Monday, February 07, 2005Wi-Fi phones don't add up to much
here's a note of skepticism (or realism, one should say) on the advent of Wi-Fi-enabled cellphones:
"But it could take at least until 2009 before the cost of Wi-Fi phones drops enough for a mass market breakthrough, according to Infonetics."
8:30:48 PM
Sunday, February 06, 20056:31:59 PM
Visualize M-Commerce:
Amazon A9 has photo yellow pages: Very cool: search for a service near a zip code, get a map that shows where things are, then see photos of the storefront and neighboring strees. "A9's so-called block view allows users to see storefronts and virtually stroll the streets of 10 cities, including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, where the company has collected more than 20 million photographs. It took a few days in each city to gather the images using trucks equipped with digital cameras, global positioning system receivers and proprietary software. "You can virtually go to an area, see the business and walk around the block," A9.com Chief Executive Udi Manber said of the service in an interview. "You get a feel for the neighborhood." ..
5:51:19 PM
"The founder and chairman of the MIT Media Lab wants to create a $100 portable computer for the developing world. Nicholas Negroponte, author of Being Digital and the Wiesner Professor of Media Technology at MIT, says he has obtained promises of support from a number of major companies, including Advanced Micro Devices, Google, Motorola, Samsung, and News Corp. The low-cost computer will have a 14-inch color screen, AMD chips, and will run Linux software ..
An engineering prototype is nearly ready, with alpha units expected by year’s end and real production around 18 months from now, he said. The portable PCs will be shipped directly to education ministries, with China first on the list. Only orders of 1 million or more units will be accepted.
Mr. Negroponte’s idea is to develop educational software and have the portable personal computer replace textbooks in schools in much the same way that France’s Minitel videotext terminal, which was developed by France Telecom in the 1980s, became a substitute for phone books."
5:46:55 PM
ComTechReview: Winter 2004-2005. Interesting journal of digital divide articles, with recent addition of an international section. This edition includes a profile of the Owerri Digital Village, a project of a recent Reuters Digital Vision Fellow. (The fellowship is accepting applications this year until March 15, 2005).. 10:11:43 AM 
5:45:27 PM
Apparently the controversy is not over. Someone still believes that wi-fi belongs in cell phones, enough to develop a $8 chip for handsets. And, surprisingly, mobile network operators are buying into it. "Mobile-network operators, Collier said, were at first wary about working with his company to spread Wi-Fi. However, the company is now getting requests for quotations from major cell-phone vendors, which are engaged in a delicate dance with mobile-network operators over who owns the customer. "
5:11:07 PM
Broadband penetration to reach 15% worldwide by end of 2005
With 150M users, 15% of Internet users worldwide will be connecting at high speed by the end of 2005. DSL continues dominate the broadband market by a ratio of about 2 to 1. "That disparity is based on the relative ease of converting existing telephone networks into digital subscriber lines in countries that, unlike the U.S., do not have sophisticated cable networks in place."
4:43:46 PM
Gobal Internet Population to pass the 1B threshold in 2005
This means that about 14 out of every 100 persons use the Internet in the world by the end of the year.
Asia continues to lead in the number of surfers with 32% of the world total. Europe comes next with 28% of the total. Northern America is third with 27% of the total.
Internet growth to date since the year 2000 has been 125.2%, or about 25% per year.
4:33:28 PM
Thursday, January 08, 2004Free Wi-Fi at Starbucks in Malaysia
It sounds like Starbucks plans to keep hotspots free in Malaysia. "The company encourages IT companies to use Starbucks coffee shops to hold product launches. A new notebook and Microsoft Office solutions are examples of products that have been launched locally there. It'll be interesting to see how different models for the Wi-Fi business shake out in different markets."
8:31:04 PM
Tuesday, December 16, 20038:11:28 AM
Sunday, December 14, 2003U.S. Tech Firms Protest China Actions on Wi-Fi
"The rules . . . require that wireless networking gear sold in China incorporate a locally developed encryption scheme to which only 11 Chinese companies have access, .."
". . suppliers of Wi-Fi products have expressed confusion about the rules and concern about the impact they might have on developing products, which would need to accommodate the Chinese encryption technology, called WAPI. "
No wonder people are confused: the rules do not even specify the policies with regards to foreigners traveling to China: would we all be required to add WAPI support to our wireless cards before going to China?
It seems like another attempt at controlling what cannot be controlled. Nevertheless, let the government have its way...if WEP is any indication, most APs in China will end up having WAPI turned off as well: this should address the "national security needs"
10:51:54 AM
Hot spots on the rise in Asia-Pacific
"The average revenue per user (ARPU) for public WLAN access and the overall revenue the business generates for telecom companies will be tiny compared with Internet access revenue and will continue to remain so until 2008, IDC said. "
This seems like a disingenuous way to look at the problem: rather than comparing hotspot subs to internet subs (of course we are talking a few orders in magnitude difference!), one should compare the # of hotspot users (or even wi-fi users) to the number of wireless internet users" in the region. That should help local business planners and authorities decide between pushing massive 3G rollouts or supporting a home-grown hotspot phenomenon.
Other interesting data:
"But the country that generates the highest average income from each hot spot is India, as many of its access points are located in business hotels rather than in cafes and restaurants, the report said. "
10:40:35 AM
10:26:52 AM
World Summit on the Information Society: The digital divide begins here.
"African countries support the creation of a special "digital solidarity fund" to pay for extending the Internet into remote villages, but European nations, the United States and Japan have been wary, saying existing development aid money could be used instead and that creating a new fund would lead to bureaucracy, which would hamper its effectiveness."
Anyone who knows how little current development money is going to ITC infrastructure in Africa finds the letter statement very hard to believe.
A better take on the Summit comes from Wired Magazine:
"Toothless Rhetoric . More than 170 countries have approved an ambitious call to extend the Internet and the benefits of information technology to the poorest corners of the world, but dodged some of the difficulties of doing so. In particular, the World Summit on the Information Society put off a decision on whether to set up a special fund to finance the necessary infrastructure, for which African countries have lobbied hard. Instead, the conference wound up three days of lofty speech-making by endorsing a declaration of principles and a 29-point action plan. "
10:21:55 AM
Sunday, November 23, 2003Broadband (almost) to rural areas. No strings attached.
Inmarsat has recently rolled out RBGAN, a 144 Kbits / sec two-way satellite IP service covering Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and part of South Asia. Global availability is scheduled for 2005. The always-on, pay-as-you-go, easy installation aspects are bound to make it a de-facto standard for connectivity in rural areas, where VSAT is too expensive, and landlines are nowhere on the horizon for the next few years.
5:06:31 PM
China's Grip on Info Loosening
"I won't say China is democratic, but you no longer can control information," says Guo Liang, deputy director of the Research Center for Social Development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government-supported think tank in Beijing
Although relatively few Chinese have Net access, government filters aren't very effective and word travels fast. And you can blame the Internet, says one expert.
4:52:31 PM
Kill SMS Spam Where It Starts SMS-based marketing is (some would say unfortunately) coming to this side of the Atlantic. But in Europe, where it has been an annnoying reality for sometime, regulatory bodies are already trying to curtail it. Last month, the European Union enacted new digital privacy rules that require companies to obtain consent before they send e-mail and SMS text messages to mobile phones. Each of the EU's 15 members and 10 countries joining in May will set its own penalties.
4:42:32 PM
Russia Leads Mobile Subs for Region
Russia alone accounts for over 32 million subscribers, overtaking Poland as the largest market in Central and Eastern Europe by 14 million subscribers. Mobile phone provider Nokia forecasts Russian mobile users to exceed 60 million by 2008, and The Yankee Group found that more Russians purchased mobile phones in 2002 than the previous eight years combined, with Moscow leading the way.
3:54:40 PM
Nordic Nations Lead Digital Technology Access
The studies, covering 178 economies, showed that many once poorer states have in recent years invested heavily in digital information and communication technology as a driver for development and established a relatively high rate of access.
3:50:35 PM
Tuesday, October 14, 2003International WLAN spectrum allocations
Remember the concern over foreign countries attempting to block the spread of unlicensed WLANs? Well, the recent ITU conference has dispelled this fear once and for all:
"The international agreement at the WRC effectively opens at least 19 non-interfering 5GHz channels for global WLAN use. "
10:54:55 AM
Monday, October 13, 2003Marketing to the Poor
While businesses struggle with sluggish demand and fierce competition in the developed world, there appear to be opportunities aplenty in nascent markets, at least for those who have mastered the art of selling to the "bottom of the pyramid". Great paper!
10:40:39 PM
ATM in developing countries
The solution employs smart cards and digital fingerprint recognition technology, now implemented in all PRODEM FFP branch offices and Smart ATMs, as well as stand-alone, voice-driven Smart ATMs in local languages with color-coded touch screens
10:32:42 PM
Thursday, October 09, 2003How Wireless LAN technology is bringing the Internet to the poor
The typical rural village set-up comprises a satellite station providing a connection to the Internet backbone. The connection is shared among the community through a local wireless network connecting a number of buildings. The set-up requires an initial investment not greater than $20,000 for the satellite base station equipment, plus a few hundred dollars for each wireless station (typically the school, a government office, electric and water utilities and businesses). The lease of the international satellite channel represents in most cases the largest financial commitment for the community, ranging anywhere from $500 to $2000 a month for a channel serving tens of simultaneous users.
9:51:09 PM
Net Users in Western Europe Seen Jumping
"The biggest growth markets will be in France, Spain, and Italy, growing at 90 percent, 88 percent and 55 percent, respectively, Jupiter said. "
9:39:54 PM
Distribution of IT Skills around the World
Since most entry strategies rely on targeting the early adopters in a new market, the following report provides valuable insigtht on where the IT brain-power is:
"The Brainbench report also examined the distribution of IT skills around the world. Not surprisingly, it found strong technology skills base in India, and that Brazil, Australia, Romania, Israel and South Africa have become regional leaders.
India is the clear leader in South Asia and is second in the world with more than 145,000 IT certifications awarded. Pakistan is a distant second in the region, with just over 8,000 certifications earned, followed by Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Israel leads the Middle East, but the United Arab Emirates ranks second with almost 1,500 certified professionals. Yemen ranks dead last in the region for 2001, while Iran has more than 500 certifications in the same period, placing it No. 6 in the region. "
9:37:50 PM
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