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?

Full story.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

Vascular surgeon David Nott helped the 16-year-old while working 24-hour shifts with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Rutshuru.

The boy’s left arm had been ripped off and was badly infected and gangrenous.

Mr Nott, 52, had never performed the operation but followed instructions from a colleague who had.

The surgeon, who is based at Charing Cross Hospital in west London, said: “He was dying. He had about two or three days to live when I saw him.”

Mr Nott knew he needed to perform a forequarter amputation, which requires the surgeon to remove the collar bone and shoulder blade.

He contacted a colleague who had performed the operation before.

“I texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it,” he said.

Read the full story in BBC here.

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.

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.

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.

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 province, home to Cuba’s lucrative tobacco plantations.

Read the full story in BBC here.

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 regularly charge your battery. A low battery signal might land you in jail because you are not be unable to prove ownership)

The bigger questions are with the proposed ‘Re-registration’ process. (Though not applicable for everybody) The request by Dialog for customer with ‘incorrect’ information to re-register indicates that their database is incomplete. Isn’t it possible for anyone to manipulate the process? Cannot somebody use a forged NIC to re-register? What guarantee Dialog has that somebody does not re-register a stolen SIM to his/her name because its present customer database is incomplete?

Far bigger questions. Is TRC happy with operators selecting their own modes to comply with its new regulation? Are policemen/women properly instructed about these different modes? Will they insist on certificates when operator does not provide any? Can the police differentiate between a loyalty card (which doubles as a mobile ownership certificate) and any other plastic card (which has the customer name). What guarantee does the TRC have that these certificates cannot be forged, particularly if it is a plastic card with no high security features? (Cannot assume operators want to issue sophisticated cards for millions of customers on their account, for something they do not benefit from)

The fictitious mercenary in Forsyth’s novel was able to reach France on a false passport and almost succeed in assassinating Charles De Gaulle. Agreed, that is fiction. With a system with so many loopholes can the outcome be far different?

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.

BBC News | S Asian Crises Blamed on Leaders

“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.

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.