Tag Archives: BBC
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Twitter, Iran and the ability to control information
Twitter postpones scheduled maintenance to keep service available for Iranian users. Journalists request video on twitter and get deluged with responses.
The BBC’s Persian-language television channel said that for a time on Tuesday, it was receiving about five videos a minute from amateurs, even though the channel is largely blocked within Iran. One showed pro-government militia members firing weapons at a rally.
“We’ve been struck by the amount of video and eyewitness testimony,” said Jon Williams, the BBC world news editor. “The days when regimes can control the flow of information are over.”
What does this say about the ability of governments to block info? If the mobile networks and the Internet are shut down, what will happen? What are the costs to government?
Internet through mobile networks (not really mobile Internet)
BBC should have checked the numbers for Indonesia and Sri Lanka (corrected for overall population/subscriber numbers) and they would have found that these countries are ahead of Europe on the use if mobile dongles on computers to connect to the Internet.
Customers’ appetite for mobile data shows no sign of abating, if you look at figures supplied by network operator Orange.
It now has 3.8 million users on 3G phones or with 3G dongles that plug into your computer and give you broadband access over the cellular data networks.
According to Orange, 12,877 gigabytes of data travel over its network to 3G phones and dongles each day. That sounds a lot – but it’s actually only about 3.3 megabyes per user.
It’s why Paul Jevons, director of products, portals and services, told me: “The 3G dongle market is in the early stages of development; it only kicked off last year.”
Our first home made satellite is for Telecom and Research – Iran
Iran has launched its first domestically made satellite into orbit, state media reports.
TV commentary said Monday’s night-time launch from a Safir-2 rocket was “another achievement for Iranian scientists under sanctions”.
The satellite was designed for research and telecommunications purposes, the television report said.
Iran is subject to UN sanctions as some Western powers think it is trying to build a nuclear bomb, which it denies.
Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are limited to the production of energy, and has emphasised its satellite project is entirely peaceful.
The launch of the Omid (Hope) satellite had been expected and was clearly timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Iranian revolution, says the BBC’s Jon Leyne in Tehran.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the satellite was launched to spread “monotheism, peace and justice” in the world.
Read the full story in BBC here.
UK: Broadband in every home by 2012 ?
All UK homes should have access to broadband and faster download speeds by 2012, the government has said.
An interim report on the UK’s digital future also looked at plans for public service broadcasting.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said digital technology was as important today as “roads, bridges and trains were in the 20th Century”.
But the Conservatives said the report promised “no new action”. The Lib Dems said it was a “complete damp squib”.
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham told MPs it would help Britain secure a competitive low carbon economy in the next five to 10 years, adding the country “led the world in content creation”.
The report called for everyone in the UK to have access to a broadband speed of up to two megabits per second (Mbps).
Read the full story in BBC here.
UK: Broadbad speed rules come into force tomorrow
The Ofcom-backed code of practice has won pledges from net firms to give more information about line speeds.
Net firms covering 95% of the UK’s broadband users have signed up to the voluntary scheme which comes into force on 5 December.
Over the next six months Ofcom will monitor net firms to ensure they live up to their promises.
The code of conduct was drawn up in response to research that suggested consumers were confused by adverts that promised broadband speeds that few consumers could achieve.
Almost a quarter of people do not get the speed they expect, according to early results from Ofcom research, which is due to be published in full in 2009.
The code requires net firms to:
Give new customers an accurate estimate of the maximum speed their line can support. Explain how technical issues could slow speeds and give advice about how to combat these problems. Downgrade a customers deal, at no penalty, if line speeds are a lot lower than the original estimate.Read the full story in BBC here.
Mobile internet usage on the rise
Mobile internet use is growing while the number of people going online via a PC is slowing, analyst firm Nielsen Online has found.
Some 7.3m people accessed the net via their mobile phones, during the second and third quarters of 2008.
This is an increase of 25% compared to a growth of just 3% for the PC-based net audience – now more than 35m.
It also found that the mobile net audience was younger and searched for different things.
While Google remains the most popular site for those logging on via the desktop, on mobile internet BBC News is the most visited site, with nearly a quarter of mobile internet consumers using it.
Other popular sites include BBC Weather and Sky Sports.
“This highlights the advantage of mobile when it comes to immediacy: people often need fast, instant access to weather or sports news and mobile can obviously satisfy this,” said Kent Ferguson, a senior analyst with Nielsen Online.
Read the full story in BBC here.
Europe backs mobile roaming cap
European telecoms chiefs have backed plans to make it cheaper to access data while on a mobile phone abroad.
The measures will slash the cost of sending a text while abroad and reform the way phone operators charge for data calls made when customers roam.
The changes to charges are due to come in to force across the EU’s 27 member nations from July 2009.
Some nations and industry groups said the changes could mean higher charges for other services.
“We want to avoid so-called bill shock, when someone gets back from a holiday and gets a nasty surprise,” said Luc Chatel, French minister for industry and consumer affairs.
Read the full story in BBC here.
European Union to slash mobile charges
Proposals to slash the cost of using mobile phones abroad, for text, data and voice calls, could become law next July following a vote in Brussels.
The European Parliament is to vote on whether roaming costs for text messages should be capped.
The cost of sending a message is expected to eventually fall by 60% from an average of 23 pence to 9 pence.
Voice calls would fall from 36 to 27 pence a minute and customers would be able to set limits on data downloads.
A reluctant mobile phone industry first had limits on its roaming charges imposed by the EU in September 2007.
However, those applied only to voice calls, not those for texting or browsing the internet.
Mobile phone companies were limited to charging a maximum of around 34 pence a minute for making calls, and 17 pence to receive a call.
This is now set to be cut again, if EU Commissioner for telecommunications Viviane Reding’s plans go through.
Customers downloading data would then be able to set a maximum cost level before their service cuts out.
Read the fully story in BBC here.
New Orleaners asked to evacuate as Hurricane Gustav nears
One key difference between natural hazards happening in Asian countries and similar hits in the West is the possibilities of them turning to disasters. While in west the timely issue of early warnings and evaluations lead to the reduction in casualties, many Asian countries still suffer from the lack of such arrangements.
We hope the early warning in New Orleans will reduce the damage by Hurricane Gustav – a luxury unthinkable by the vast majority of the people of Burma and rural China.
This is from BBC:
The mayor of New Orleans has issued a mandatory evacuation order for the entire city, as Hurricane Gustav bears down on the US Gulf Coast.
Ray Nagin said residents of the city’s West Bank should begin moving out at 0800 (1300 GMT) on Sunday, with the East Bank leaving at midday (1700 GMT).
He called it “the storm of the century” and added: “You need to be scared”.
Gustav, which is forecast to strengthen to a Category 5 storm over the Gulf, powered through western Cuba overnight.
Gustav ploughed through Cuba’s Isla de la Juventud, or Isle of Youth, overnight on Saturday before hitting the mainland in Pinar del Rio ..read more
Dialog prompts for mobile re-registration: A solution?…may be, may not be.
It is literally a child’s play getting a false UK passport, Frederick Forsyth said in 1972. In his bestselling thriller, The Day of the Jackal the protagonist used the birth certificate of a dead child to obtain a fake passport. Thirty two years later, BBC was not sure the loophole was plugged or not. Not sure how many mercenaries still benefit.
The UK passport cannot be the only document an interested party can manipulate. This issue is particularly interesting to Sri Lankan mobile owners, as the regulator now wants users to prove mobile ownership at omnipresent checkpoints to ensure ‘National Security’
While Tigo will be issuing a loyalty card bundled with an ownership certificate, Dialog GSM today announced a more tech-savvy approach. As claimed by a full page advertisement in Lankadeepa (see above) instead of issuing ‘paper certificates’ Dialog offers a way to check the owner of a phone. Dial #132# and pronto, you get all information needed; customers name, National Identity Card Number, Mobile Number and certificate code.
Great. This is not different from what we suggested earlier. It saves money, time and of course, trees. Use technology to its best. (But please remember to ..read more
BT and Virgin fight over Broadband speed
A complaint lodged by BT about the speeds of Virgin Media’s broadband service has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.
The challenge centred around its advertisement “Hate to Wait?”, which ran in the national media and featured download times for songs and TV shows.
BT argued that Virgin’s usage caps meant that downloads during peak times would be slower than advertised.
The ASA has agreed and ordered Virgin to make it clear that speeds will vary.
Read the fullt story in BBC here.
South Asian Natural Disasters Blamed on Leaders
Government failures across South Asia are the key factor that can turn natural disasters into humanitarian crises, a UK-based aid agency says. Political inaction, poor decisions and bad management are more to blame than nature for the humanitarian effects of disasters, Oxfam claims in a report.
IT firms to leave India?
Blueshift is one of the currently India based companies looking to move to neighbouring countries like Malaysia or Singapore where they believe it would be cheaper to operate.
“The corporate tax regime in this country is a tough 33% whereas when I look at neighbouring country Singapore it is only 18% at the highest level,” says Blueshift’s chairman Sankaran P Raghunathan.
“In fact, most of us have to pay only 7.5%. That’s a huge difference.”
Mr Raghunathan is also concerned at the way costs are rising in Chennai.
“Some 10% of our revenues are spent on rentals here,” he says.
“We pay more than $1 for a square foot of office space here. In Kuala Lumpur the same costs us less than $1 and I get class A infrastructure.”
Read the full story in BBC here.
Cuba lifts mobile phone ban
Cubans are to be allowed unrestricted access to mobile phones for the first time, in the latest reform announced under new President Raul Castro. In a statement in official newspaper Granma, state telecom monopoly ETECSA said it would offer mobile services to the public in the next few days.
Some Cubans already own mobile phones, but they have had to acquire them via a third party, often foreigners.
Cuba’s rate of cell phone usage remains among the lowest in Latin America.
Now Cubans will be able to subscribe to pre-paid mobile services under their own names, instead of going through foreigners or in some cases their work places. However, the new service must be paid for in foreign currency, which will restrict access to wealthier Cubans.
Read the full story in BBC here.
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