Commercial WiFi hotspots face a dim future in South Africa – at least among corporate workers on the move, a new research study by World Wide Worx reveals. The report shows that the corporate use of WiFi – small networks that allow wireless access to the Internet – has fallen back after a steady rise in the previous three years. By contrast, the use of 3G – wireless broadband provided by the mobile networks – has rocketed. “We have been warning for several years that commercial WiFi hotspots, especially in hotels and conference centres, are in danger of pricing themselves out of the market,” says World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck, who led the research. “And, now that a monthly subscription to a basic 3G service is cheaper than a few hours on most commercial hotspots, the chickens have come home to roost.
The Malaysian government will withdraw some WiMAX licenses “as the market is too crowded.” Earlier this year, the government gave licenses to four companies to operate WiMAX. But they have failed to perform, the country’s concerned minister has alleged. And that’s why the Malaysian government has now decided to revoke the licenses. Read more.
Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) has launched per-second billing on its GSM network. In a press briefing at its Kabul headquarters, AWCC Managing Director, Amin Ramin said: ” We have ensured Microwave connectivity, widest coverage in the country, simple call rates, amazing call quality, superb connectivity even on highways, and today we are announcing the Per Second Billing PLUS for the entire Afghan Wireless family.” Afghan Wireless is the largest private investor in Afghanistan. It is also the country’s largest employer, having nearly 3,000 people directly in the payroll and another 30,000 indirectly.
The US policymakers overseeing universal service fund (USF) have recommended for the first time that it be used specifically to help offset costs of deploying broadband Internet services in rural and poor parts of the country. The board said the FCC should limit the USF’s largest part to $4.5 billion and also recommended a more specific limit on subsidies for wireless service in those areas. The $4.5 billion figure represents the current size of the rural subsidies.
Governments need to pay more attention to the costs of false warnings. It’s not that this has not been said before. But now we have real evidence from the region. Gulfnews: Cyclone victims ignored repeated warnings A false tsunami alert two months ago led thousands of Bangladeshis to ignore warnings as Cyclone Sidr approached, costing many lives, villagers and officials said on Tuesday. “This time we did not take the number 10 danger signal seriously because the government has been issuing these warnings quite often.
Broadband industry leaders are to meet ministers to discuss how to stop the UK dropping into the internet “slow lane”. More than half of all UK homes now have a broadband connection, at an average speed of four megabits a second (Mbps). But the broadband summit will hear other countries are moving more quickly to build ultra-fast networks that can deliver speeds of as much as 100 Mbps. Ministers say ultra-fast broadband will be a key to helping UK businesses “innovate, grow and create wealth”. Read the full story in BBC
On Monday, November 19th, Rohan Samarajiva, Nuwan Waidyanatha, and Natasha Udu-gama of LIRNEasia, along with Menake Wijesinghe of Sarvodaya‘s Community Disaster Management Centre went to New Delhi, India for the second in a series of workshops on the “Evaluating Last-Mile Hazard Information Dissemination” (HazInfo) entitled “Sharing Knowledge on Disaster Warning: Community-Based Last-Mile Warning Systems” at the India Habitat Centre in conjunction with the All India Disaster Management Centre (AIDMI). The workshop included a variety of stakeholders from Indian government, civil society, international organizations, private sector, and NGOs. Mr. Mihir Bhatt, Honorary Director of AIDMI, along with Mr. Mehul Pandya, Risk Reduction Transfer Initiative Coordinator and Ms.
Mobile Web: So Close Yet So Far – New York Times ON the surface, the mobile Web is a happening place. There’s the iPhone in all its glory. More than 30 companies have signed up for the Open Handset Alliance from Google, which aims to bring the wide-open development environment of the Internet to mobile devices. Nokia, which owns nearly 40 percent of the world market for cellphones, is snapping up Web technology companies and has made an eye-popping $8.1 billion bid for Navteq, a digital mapping service.
With global agreement reached on clearing the 700 MHz band of analog broadcasting so it can be used for wireless broadband, the equipment will start coming to market soon. Unless the regional spectrum regulators clear the band in time, it will not be possible to reap the benefits. After Global Agreement, Companies May Bid Higher at Wireless Auction in U.S. – New York Times Because the conference elicited a global consensus, that confidence should extend worldwide.
10000 is too many. But it does look like lots of lives were saved by the early warning system that is one of the major achievements of Bangladesh. Yes, if it worked better, fewer people would have died. But which other country which is in the path of cyclones like Sidr has cyclone shelters for 1.5 million people?
At a roundtable over the weekend as part of the Bangkok International ICT Expo, independent ICT expert Dr Anuparp Teeralarp said that Thailand has already wasted 10 years talking about convergence without doing anything, and warned that plans for a merged broadcasting and telecoms regulator, the proposed National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), would not change fundamental problems. This was because the NBTC would be divided internally into a telecommunications arm and a broadcasting arm, similar to the past, rather than having an infrastructure division and a content division, he said. As a result, he concluded that there are many grey areas where nobody is willing to take responsibility. “Who regulates pictures broadcast over the Internet like the Camfrog web site or clips sent between mobile phones? The NTC says it’s not my problem as it is a matter for broadcasting.
Though not focused on the BOP like the LIRNEasia teleuse@BOP survey, this interesting survey appears to have reached similar conclusions. Pulse Asia Inc. – About Us Thirty-four percent of Filipinos use a cellular phone, while 66% do not. Cellphone usage is higher in urban areas (48%) than in rural areas (19%), with the highest level of usage in Metro Manila (51%). (See Table 1) As may be expected, cellphone use is proportionately higher among the upper Class ABC (63%) than among the poorest Class E (17%).
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Chennai Telephones has launched ‘TV on mobile’ (through GSM mobile handsets). At present, NDTV, Aajtak, CNBC, Cartoon Network, Times Now, Zoom, Bindass and CNN-Mobile were among the channels available. More channels would be available soon, a press release said. To avail themselves of this service, customers using GPRS-enabled handsets need to send the text message ‘MYTV’ to 55447 and follow the response. Watching one channel for 24 hours would cost Rs.
Indonesia’s largest telecommunications company, Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), said Wednesday it has asked unit Telkomsel to appeal a ruling that Telkomsel has broken the anti-monopoly law.Indonesia’s competition watchdog (KPPU) ruled on Monday that Telkomsel, the largest cellphone carrier here, has broken the competition law. The KPPU fined it 25 billion rupiah (2.7 million dollars) and ordered Telkomsel to lower its tariff by a minimum of 15 percent. “As the majority and controlling shareholder of Telkomsel, Telkom has requested Telkomsel to immediately carry out a legal review in accordance with its own internal processes and governance practices,” Telkom said.
By this time next year, LIRNEasia will have much to say on this subject. Western Union Empire Moves Migrant Cash Home – New York Times With five times as many locations worldwide as McDonald’s, Starbucks, Burger King and Wal-Mart combined, Western Union is the lone behemoth among hundreds of money transfer companies. Little noticed by the public and seldom studied by scholars, these businesses form the infrastructure of global migration, a force remaking economics, politics and cultures across the world. Last year migrants from poor countries sent home $300 billion, nearly three times the world’s foreign aid budgets combined. Powered by ScribeFire.
The Jakarta Post [PDF version] Indonesia is striving to maintain its commitment to information and communication technology (ICT) for the education system, a top government official said. “Seventy percent of our vocational high schools, 30 percent of senior high schools and 20 percent of junior high schools are equipped with computer laboratories,” Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo announced at the opening of the sixth International Symposium on Open, Distance and E-Learning in Kuta, Bali, on Wednesday. The government has also distributed television-based Televisi Edukasi equipment to some 35,198 junior high schools, and has developed thousands of programs comprising on and offline learning activities, TV broadcast materials and audio programs throughout Indonesia. “Globalization has pushed the development and utilization of information and communication technology in the education sector,” Bambang said.