Centre for Internet and Society

IPv6: The promises and challenges

radha — 2011-04-02T14:45:40Z

An article by Pranesh Prakash, Programme Manager at the Centre for Internet and Society, in the DNA Mumbai edition (4th Nov '09)

What is IPv6?

Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is a standard defined in 1981, which is central to the Internet, allowing vastly different computers on vastly different kinds of networks to communicate with each other. (Think of how diplomatic protocols enables diplomats from vastly different cultures to communicate effectively by agreement on certain common minimums (such as a handshake, etc.).) IPv4 was defined when there were relatively few computers, and even fewer connected to networks. Many things have changed since then, with one of the most important change being the burgeoning of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Each computer on the Internet has something known as an IP address. Each 'packet' of data transmitted over the Internet must have associated from and to IP addresses (which can sometimes be ranges of addresses). IPv4 can accommodate 4,294,967,296 (2^32) unique IP addresses, whereas IPv6 can handle 340 undecillion (2^128) unique addresses. When you consider that every device with Internet connectivity has an IP address (from laptops to Blackberries to even alarm clocks), a lot of IP addresses are required. Since the early 1990s, people have been talking about some of the limitations of IPv4, the primary one being the lack of expandability of IPv4.

Benefits of IPv6

Greater number of computers on the Internet, as it uses more
Better reliability and security, as IPSec, a protocol for authenticating and securing all IP data, is built into IPv6 as a default.
More efficient and thus faster than IPv4. Despite carrying much more data, IPv6 packets are simpler to route (just as addresses with pincodes are easier for post offices to handle).
More features can be added more easily. If at a later point of time more features are required, those can be added without a whole new protocol being designed.

What all does the shift to IPv6 require?

IPv6-capable Internet Service Providers providing consumers IPv6 addresses
IPv6-capable networking hardware (modems, routers)
IPv6-capable operating systems on consumer devices (smartphones, computers, etc.)
IPv6-capable websites, which depends on (1)

Apart from IPv6 capability, at some point the shift to IPv6 must happen, since IPv4 and IPv6 are not compatible. Translators, which allow an IPv6 address to be understood by a computer using IPv4, do exist, but they are quite expensive to deploy. Currently, it is estimated that around 1% of the world's Internet traffic is conducted using IPv6. The most successful example of IPv6 being used on a large scale was the 2008 Olympics where all network operations (from security camera transmissions to a special IPv6 website). So why haven't more ISPs shifted to IPv6? Because of network externalities. While telephones make sense, being the only person in the world with a telephone doesn't. Similarly, while IPv6 is the way for the future, it only makes economic sense for ISPs to shift (or even prepare for the shift, by using translators) when there are plenty of others using IPv6. While some ISPs (like Sify) are already prepared for the shift, others need to gear up. Importantly, the government step in to encourage (and, perhaps, at some point, mandate) this transition. Following the governments of the US, EU, and China, the Indian government too sees the immensity of this shift, and has tasked the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) of the Department of Telecommunications to take the lead in this. The TEC has convened meetings with experts, and thus India seems to be on the right track.

What does all this mean for you?

Perhaps a lot or not very much, depending on how you look at things. Most modern modems and routers (which are usually provided by your ISP) support IPv6, but are, by default, configured for IPv4. Many smartphones don't work on IPv6, but generally phones have a shorter shelf life and chances are that market forces will goad manufacturers to support IPv6 by the time the IPv6 Internet becomes more popular. Thus, while IPv4 addresses might be find themselves near the end of their natural life within one to three years, they will live on thanks to various mechanisms that translate IPv4 to IPv6 (which won't work well with certain applications such as peer-to-peer file-sharing). Eventually, even those translators will have to be abandoned if we are to embrace a brave new Internet.

Link to the original article

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/ipv6-the-promises-and-challenges

The South African Telecommunications Sector: Poised for Change

radha — 2011-10-21T09:59:51Z

CIS in collaboration with the LINK Centre, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and in association with different institutions across India is organizing a Lecture Tour on:
“The South African Telecommunications Sector: Poised for Change” By Sagie Chetty, Senior Manager, Eskom, South Africa.
It will be our pleasure to have you join us for the talks.

The Co-hosts, Dates and the Venues for the Talk are given below –

Co-Host: Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Date: 19th October, 2009 at 3.30pm
Venue – IIT-M, Chennai

Co-Host: Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Date: 20th October, 2009 at 4.00pm
Venue – IIT-B, Mumbai

Co-Host: International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore
Date: 23rd October, 2009 at 4.00pm
Venue – IIIT-B, Bangalore

Co-Host: Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi
Date: 26th October, 2009 at 3.00pm
Venue – IGNOU, Delhi

Co-Host: National Institute of Science Technology and Development Studies, Delhi
Date: 27th October, 2009 at 3.00pm
Venue – NISTADS, Delhi

Co-Host: CCMG - Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Date: 29th October, 2009 at 2.00pm
Venue – CCMG - Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

About the Speaker:

Sagie Chetty is a Senior Manager in Eskom, South Africa’s largest electricity utility. Sagie spent the first part of his career at Eskom as Information Manager in the Generation Division. In that time he was responsible for information systems strategy development and implementation. Some of the key projects he has been involved in are the implementation of SAP Plant Maintenance, Business Intelligence systems and other bespoke Information Systems for Generation Power Stations.

Abstract of the Lecture: The South African Telecommunications Sector: Poised for Change

With a gross domestic product of over $506 billion (PPP, 2008) South Africa is one of the leading economies on the African continent. Only Nigeria with a GDP of $328 billion and Egypt with a GDP of $453 billion currently rival the South African economy. The economy is strong in manufacturing and agriculture, but is still based significantly on mining of gold, diamonds, platinum, coal and iron ore. Its main trading partner is the European Union. Bilateral trade with India amounts to $6, 2 billion (2008) with the balance of trade in South Africa’s favour to the value of about $1 billion.
Although one of the leading economies in Africa, South Africa’s Information and Communications (ICT) sector has not shown the concomitant level of development that reflects its economic position in Africa. ICT usage – telephony and Internet – has historically been low, and electronic transactions are utilised largely by business. There are a number of reasons for this; however the high cost of telecommunications is certainly a contributing factor. The high cost is attributed largely to policy and regulatory failure in the telecommunications sector. The sector is characterized by powerful incumbent telecoms operators that thwart competition and further entrench their dominant market positions. The consequence is that the high telecommunications costs impact access, affordability and the cost of doing business for the region.
Recent developments in the telecommunications sector, however could spell the end to high costs if policy and regulatory actions do not hinder competition. South African consumers can in the very near future look forward to lower telecommunications prices with the laying of new undersea cables, a new national backbone to compete with the existing one, new satellite ventures to provide the backhaul between cellular and broadband towers, a landmark court decision allowing value added network service providers (VANS) to build their own networks and the imminent entry of the incumbent telecommunications fixed line operator into the mobile arena. It is an opportune time for policy makers and regulators to take bold steps to free up the sector and open it up for true competition.
Lines that historically demarcated fixed, mobile, voice, data are blurring, causing shifts in market structures. However, currently the market is structured around the incumbent Telkom for fixed lines services and Vodacom and MTN for mobile services. A second PSTN, Neotel has been licensed but is only offering limited services. A third mobile operator, Cell C is operating but has yet to gain any significant market share.

The talk is open to all and there are no registration or entry fees.
Please let us know if you require any further details.

VIDEOS

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/lecture-tour-by-sagie-chetty

Handy Origins of the winds of change

radha — 2011-04-02T14:59:01Z

A seminar in Bangalore revealed how mobile technology is being harnessed across India to bring about development and social change, reports Shrabonti Bagchi - DNA (6th Sept, 2009)

The Internet, for all the celebrated changes it has made in our lives, still had limited penetration in our country with about 80 million, largely urban and prosperous users. This severely limits its viability as a vehicle of development and social change. The mobile phone, on the other hand, has 400 million users in the country, and has undoubtedly become the first mode of communication in India to gain almost universal reach, cutting across barriers of location, region, community and social classes.
“The mobile phone has unprecedented penetration into classes of society that were largely unconnected with the outside world till now,” said Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society, which along with Mobile Monday Bangalore, the Bangalore chapter of a global community of wireless industry professionals, organised a seminar, “Mobile Technology 4 Social Change”, in the city recently.
The idea for the event came from one of the co-organizers, Mobileactive.org, which is a network of NGOs interested in taking advantage of the mobile telephony revolution to bring about changes, informed Abraham.
Attended by NGOs, non-profit organisations, researchers, donors, and of course, mobile application developers, the seminar intended to throw open doors of communication between these varied groups of people.
Take the case of IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL), for instance. This farmers’ co-operative formed under the aegis of fertiliser manufacturer IFFCO has tied up with cellular service provider Airtel to develop a special SIM card which enables users to receive voice and text messages everyday containing nuggets of information about various farming practices. It has around 2,75,000 subscribers in Karnataka alone, informs IKSL state manager G Raghunatha, and has made a huge difference to the lives of farmers.
A similar case is related by Subbaih Arunachalam who is involved with the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, which has tied up with Tata Tele-services and Qualcomm and telecom developer Astute to create special GPS-enabled mobile phones (costing less than Rs.3, 000) that helps fishermen track weather reports, send out emergency messages in case they are lost at sea, etc., and also engage in price-point discussions with local wholesalers.
Several NGOs have also been quick to utilise the advantage of the versatility and ease-of-use of the mobile phone to disseminate vital information. Sreekanth Rameshaiah, director of Bangalore-based NGO Mahiti, spoke of an endeavour started by his group in Calcutta called My SME News which targets small and micro enterprises, sending out customised information for 11 micro-industries through text messages in the local language. They also plan to launch a voice platform soon.
Mobile payments brand mChek started an initiative on similar lines in Bangalore. The company uses its SMS-based mobile payment technology, which is embedded on all new Airtel and Docomo SIM cards, to enable slum dwellers to access banking and explore micro-finance options through micro-finance institution Grameen Koota.
Valerie Rozycki, head of strategic initiatives at mChek, said, “Access to low-cost banking over the mobile and being enabled with safe ways to save and convenient ways to make payments is life-changing for these customers. This is a sustainable business model to serve the un-banked and under-banked. So, these services will continue to thrive."

Let’s raise our mobile phones to that.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/handy-origins-of-the-winds-of-change

Pushing the buttons for social change

radha — 2011-04-02T15:09:10Z

IMMENSE POTENTIAL: With its myriad applications, a mobile phone can be used as an instrument of social change. Meet on how mobile technology can be a power tool to this end - An article in The Hindu on 01st September 2009

BANGALORE: We have all seen the popular television advertisement that claims that mobile phone technology can be much more than a communication device and be used as a powerful tool for social change.

Here is a platform that brings together technology enthusiasts and non-governmental organisations, working in various social sectors, to drive this change.

The one-day camp, Mobile Tech 4 Social Change, to be held on September 4, aims at exploring the power of mobile technology to advance social change goals.

Organised by the Centre for Internet and Studies, in collaboration with Women’s Learning Partnership, Mobile Monday and Mobile Active, it will include informative and interactive sessions on the subject.

It will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Mother Tekla Auditorium on Brunton Road.

Participating NGOs will discuss problems and different ways to use, deploy, develop and promote mobile technology in health, advocacy, economic development, environment, human rights, and citizen media to name a few areas.

According to the Cellular Operators’ Association of India, there has been a growth in the number of subscribers by 1.86 per cent in July 2009 in the metros alone.

“A report on the impact of mobile phones in India reveals that Indian States with high mobile penetration can be expected to grow faster than those with lower mobile penetration rates, namely, 1.2 percentage points for every 10 per cent increase in the penetration rate.

This conference is a step in understanding how this can be taken forward,” says Sunil Abraham of the Centre for Internet and Studies. Participants for Mobile Tech 4 Social Change bar camps will include nonprofits, mobile applications developers, researchers, donors, intermediary organisations, and mobile operators.

While NGOs can gain information on various mobile applications and collaborate with those working in the core field of mobile technologies, enterprises can align their social responsibilities and use this potentially powerful medium.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/pushing-the-buttons-for-social-change

Change is coming, thanks to the mobile

radha — 2011-04-02T15:09:50Z

An article by NT Balanarayan in the DNA on August 27th,'09

Bangalore: A simple mobile can do much more than all your friends or send you cricket alerts, this is not me saying it, this is what a bunch of mobile enthusiasts organised under the banner of different societies are trying to say with the upcoming unconference Mobile tech for Social Change.

The event which will be held in unconference style - read: casual atmosphere - will try to focus on mobile technology and applications which can help not just connect human beings, but also improve their lives. The event is being organised by Centre for Internet Society (CIS) in collaboration with Women's Learning Partnership, Mobile Monday Bangalore and MobileActive.org and will be held on September 1.

Sunil Abraham, executive director of CIS says that the event will bring together two groups of people and provide them a platform to interact and work on ideas.

"On one side, there are the NGOs and social entrepreneurs and on the other side there are the people who develop technology for mobile phones, the geeks and the hackers etc. So if this event works out like expected, there may be a mailing list in the future so that these people can keep in touch and help develop mobile technology that will help uplift the lives of people," he says.

So how important are mobile phones as a technology? According to Abraham, it might be the easiest way for an Indian to access the internet. "There are around 400 million mobile users in India against 80 million people who have occasional access to the internet. The mobile users end up using internet technology a lot in India through GRPS, EDGE and at times indirectly through SMS gateway. This platform however, needs more work so that much more can be provided to mobile users," he says.

The Mobile Monday initiative headed by Kesav Reddy, will be helping CIS to organise the event. "We are expecting not just NGOs and developers, but also, researchers, donors, intermediary organisations and mobile operators; all in all we are expecting 100-200 participants," he says.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/change-is-coming-thanks-to-the-mobile

Payal Malik

praskrishna — 2012-10-12T05:50:30Z

Payal Malik is currently, Advisor to the Competition Commission of India. She has years of research experience in issues of competition and regulation in network industries like power, telecommunication and water. Her research collaborations have involved TRAI, Competition Commission of India, OECD, World Bank, and many others.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/knowledge-repository-on-internet-access/payal-malik

Sagie Chetty- Report

radha — 2011-08-23T03:30:41Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/publications/SC%20Study%20Tour%20Report%202009-11-08%20_2_.pdf

TRAI response

radha — 2011-08-23T03:32:08Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/publications/TRAI%20CP%20Response-Nov%2012%202009.pdf

TRAI - consultation Q 1- 57

radha — 2009-11-23T08:53:00Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/publications/TRAI%20CP-Q%201-57-Nov%2012%202009.pdf

TRAI

radha — 2009-11-23T08:51:35Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/telecom/publications/TRAI%20consultation.jpg