The Centre for Internet and Society
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Change is coming, thanks to the mobile
https://cis-india.org/news/change-is-coming-thanks-to-the-mobile
<b>An article by NT Balanarayan in the DNA on August 27th,'09</b>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>"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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/change-is-coming-thanks-to-the-mobile'>https://cis-india.org/news/change-is-coming-thanks-to-the-mobile</a>
</p>
No publisherradhaTelecom2011-04-02T15:09:50ZNews ItemDont hang up on this one
https://cis-india.org/news/dont-hang-up
<b>Is 3G the next twist in the mobile phone growth story? </b>
<p>The ubiquitous mobile phone is the story of the decade that just passed us by. Now with the superfast 3G technology set to storm the market, consumers are eagerly awaiting faster data access and multimedia services, and it isn't time to hang up on the Indian telecom story.</p>
<p>From a clunky walkie-talkie like device that was nearly as exclusive as the landline, to an “anywhere, anytime” device that doubles as your computer, browser, map or even digital cash, the mobile phone has taken rapid strides in recent years.</p>
<p>In early 2000, Karnataka and Maharashtra led the mobile phone growth. However, experts often differ on when exactly the cellphone “explosion” began and what triggered it. Is it low-cost, mass market handsets that made it possible for just about anyone to “be connected” or the sophisticated smart phone that brought hitherto unforeseen experiences onto the mobile? Further, like mobile phone manufacturers, service providers too have been involved in a fierce price war to woo customers.</p>
<h3>Sustained growth</h3>
<p>According to an April 2010 TRAI report, there are 601.22 million wireless phone connections in the country and a teledensity (phones per 100 people) of over 50.98.</p>
<p>While wireless connections are growing by nearly three per cent every
month, wireless connections declined by 0.4 per cent in April.</p>
<p>So what will 3G do that will change the way we connect to our devices?</p>
<p>Currently, our mobile phones are devices that we use to talk, stay connected — even feel safe in this instant connectivity — click or transfer pictures, listen to music or capture videos. “The future will be about livelihood applications.</p>
<p>Services, which have thus far focussed on how to get money from consumers' pockets, will move towards evolving ways to put money back in their pockets,” says S.R. Raja, president and co-founder of Mobile Monday.</p>
<p>Mr. Raja alludes to services in the agricultural sector or existing commerce-based applications that will get a boost once 3G enters.</p>
<p>For instance, he points to a Sasken Technologies pilot initiative in rural Tamil Nadu which helps women's self-help groups sell their produce by providing access to pricing details, thereby eliminating middlemen.</p>
<p>While larger services and societal applications in the field of e-learning and telemedicine are likely to pick up, for the common user it means access to live video and multimedia content. The 3G rollout will transform the way we use our cellphone, experts say.</p>
<p>Scepticism</p>
<p>However, others are sceptical and far less optimistic about this “radical change” and believe that the 3G take-off may not be as smooth as people would like to believe.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“3G may not deliver in the short-term for the ordinary Indian. Smart phones are still expensive. Data services will be expensive as telecom operators will try to recoup what they spent on the spectrum auction,” says Sunil Abraham, researcher and director of the Centre for Internet and Society.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>The Government should start considering spectrum a public good and additionally consider open or shared spectrum to lower costs for projects run by public institutions or non-governmental organisations. Only then will the poor of India transcend SMS, he adds.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Read the original article in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/2010/06/15/stories/2010061565420300.htm">Hindu</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/dont-hang-up'>https://cis-india.org/news/dont-hang-up</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2011-04-02T11:42:41ZNews ItemGovt and BlackBerry firm wait for the other to hang up
https://cis-india.org/news/govt-and-blackberry
<b>Sunil Abraham speaks to Archna Shukla on the stand-off between the Government of India and RIM. The news was published in expressindia.com.</b>
<p><strong>What is the current stand-off between the government and RIM all about? </strong></p>
<p>The current logjam is with regards to BlackBerry messenger, email and web traffic. Around two years ago, the government had asked BlackBerry to allow it to monitor the text messages (SMSes) and phone calls exchanged through its platform. The government has since then been monitoring these services with the help of telecom service providers. It, however, still doesn’t have any means to monitor, intercept or decrypt BlackBerry’s messenger, email and web exchanges. The government wants to put in place a surveillance infrastructure to monitor these services and is asking BlackBerry to cooperate. </p>
<p><strong>What is unique about BlackBerry services? Why doesn’t the government have a similar problem with Nokia or Apple? </strong></p>
<p>Companies such as Apple do not provide email and messenger services in India. They only sell their handsets in the country. Nokia recently started providing such services under the Nokia Messaging Services Platform. The service, which includes enterprise solutions, consumer services and Nokia’s own messaging solution Ovi mail, is still in beta format. Nokia’s India spokesperson said the company will set up servers for its various services inside India whenever it kickstarts the functions in a full fledged manner.</p>
<p>Canadian firm Research in Motion (RIM), makers of BlackBerry, on the other hand, provides all these services alongside selling its handsets. It also manages all its data and traffic on its own without giving the access to anybody. The servers for these services are installed outside India. The government is concerned that keeping servers outside the country will give access to foreign authorities to monitor its local traffic and information. In the US, for instance, this kind of monitoring will be possible under the provisions of the Patriot Act.</p>
<p><strong>Is BlackBerry the only one to use strong encryptions? </strong></p>
<p>The use of strong encryption in information technology is prevalent in both the wireless industry and Internet platforms. BlackBerry, however, uses a superior encryption that is highly reliable and secure and it owes its popularity in the world markets to this feature mainly. According to Sunil Abraham, the Executive Director of Bangalore-based advocacy group Centre for Internet and Society, BlackBerry uses strong encryption with 256 bit keys. In comparison, gmail.com and Citibank.co.in use only 128 bit keys.</p>
<p>“If you have encryption on while visiting citibank.com or when using an offline mail client like MS Outlook Express, the government can identify the encrypted service that you are using and the recipient of your encrypted messages. Then they can launch a targeted brute-force attack to intercept and decrypt specific communications,” he says, adding that with the BlackBerry, the government can only see that you are having an encrypted transaction with the BlackBerry servers. They cannot identify the recipients and web services. This makes the brute-force attack difficult as a lot of time is spent decrypting unimportant messages.</p>
<p><strong>What is the problem that RIM is facing in UAE and Saudi Arabia? </strong></p>
<p>In UAE, it is facing the same problem as in India. In Saudi Arabia, BlackBerry will instal computer servers, which would allow the government some access to user’s data.</p>
<p><strong>Can the Indian government and RIM meet half-way?</strong></p>
<p>Unlikely. Though, as per PTI reports,</p>
<p>BlackBerry has made an attempt to break the logjam by offering metadata and relevant information to security agencies which will enable them in lawful interception, it has has failed to enthuse them. At a meeting between government officials and RIM, company’s representatives said that “they can provide the metadata of the message like the Internet Protocol address of BES and PIN and International Mobile Equipment Identity of the BlackBerry mobile”, sources said. Metadata is loosely defined as data about data. It provides information about a certain item’s content like how large the picture is, the colour depth, the image resolution when the image was created, and other data. A text document’s metadata may contain information about how long the document is, who the author is, when the document was written, and a short summary of the document. However, sources said the RIM, which has nearly one million subscribers across India, failed to enthuse the security agencies who want an uninterrupted access to the messaging services on BlackBerry platform. The security agencies apprehend that BlackBerry services in the present format pose a serious security threat.</p>
<p>The government may argue that if surveillance is allowed in some countries, it should have the same access, too.</p>
<p>So far, RIM’s public stand has been that its security architecture was specifically designed to provide corporate customers with the ability to transmit information wirelessly while providing them with the necessary confidence that no one, including RIM, could access their data.</p>
<p>Abraham of the Centre for Internet and Society says there is a possibility of a compromise behind the doors and the citizens may never get to know that a surveillance regime and infrastructure have been put in place to monitor their communications. </p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Govt-and-BlackBerry-firm-wait-for-the-other-to-hang-up/657828/">Click</a> to read the original.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/govt-and-blackberry'>https://cis-india.org/news/govt-and-blackberry</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2011-04-02T10:46:54ZNews ItemHandy Origins of the winds of change
https://cis-india.org/news/handy-origins-of-the-winds-of-change
<b>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)
</b>
<p>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. <br />“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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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."</p>
<p>Let’s raise our mobile phones to that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/handy-origins-of-the-winds-of-change'>https://cis-india.org/news/handy-origins-of-the-winds-of-change</a>
</p>
No publisherradhaTelecom2011-04-02T14:59:01ZNews ItemIPv6: The promises and challenges
https://cis-india.org/news/ipv6-the-promises-and-challenges
<b>An article by Pranesh Prakash, Programme Manager at the Centre for Internet and Society, in the DNA Mumbai edition (4th Nov '09)</b>
<h2>What is IPv6?</h2>
<p>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.</p>
<h3>Benefits of IPv6</h3>
<ol><li>Greater number of computers on the Internet, as it uses more</li><li>Better reliability and security, as IPSec, a protocol for authenticating and securing all IP data, is built into IPv6 as a default.</li><li>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).</li><li>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.<br /></li></ol>
<h3>What all does the shift to IPv6 require?</h3>
<ol><li>IPv6-capable Internet Service Providers providing consumers IPv6 addresses</li><li>IPv6-capable networking hardware (modems, routers)</li><li>IPv6-capable operating systems on consumer devices (smartphones, computers, etc.)</li><li>IPv6-capable websites, which depends on (1)<br /></li></ol>
<p>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.</p>
<h3>What does all this mean for you?</h3>
<p>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.</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://epaper.dnaindia.com/EpaperImages%5C04112009%5Cwhwhwwhwh-large.jpg">Link to the original article</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/ipv6-the-promises-and-challenges'>https://cis-india.org/news/ipv6-the-promises-and-challenges</a>
</p>
No publisherradhaTelecom2011-04-02T14:45:40ZNews ItemMobile banking set to get a boost from IMPS
https://cis-india.org/news/mobile-banking
<b>Customers will now be able to transfer money from their accounts to any other account in the country using their cellphones, through the National Payment Corporation of India's Inter-bank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS). The facility allows transactions without the need for a computer or an Internet-enabled phone. </b>
<p>Experts say the service introduces a new form of customer-friendliness that a developing ICT nation like India requires. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India records more than 670 million registered mobile subscribers; with the penetration of Internet technologies through mobile phones being higher than the spread of the Internet through broadband connections, the service, they reckon, is expected to boost banking transactions better than Internet banking.</p>
<p>“Though the Internet banking services are user-friendly, they are actually restricted to a limited number of tech-savvy, English-speaking Internet users in the country. With the IMPS, the mobile phone, which is ubiquitous, becomes a handier device for the average user,” says Nishant Shah, director (research), Centre for Internet and Security.</p>
<p>The service provides an inter-operable infrastructure for banks to offer a real-time money transfer facility to customers through mobile phones in seven seconds, says A.P. Hota, CEO and Managing Director of the NPCI. The mobile fund transfers offered by banks and technology providers take 24 hours, and are allowed only if the sender and the receiver hold accounts in the same bank, a hiccup the IMPS seeks to overcome.</p>
<p>With mobile phone-based applications popular and more inclusive in their reach, Mr. Shah says, it might be not only more far-reaching to have banking services available through encrypted SMS systems, because it is a medium that people are familiar with, but also the application-based systems are going to benefit a lot of people, especially who live in areas with inadequate access to banking systems.</p>
<p>Citing South Africa and the Philippines where the IMPS has been successfully launched, experts say the banking and telecom sectors are equipped with the latest security measures for launching the service. With most banks now using a Java-based robust system which works on some kinds of phones and is supported by a limited number of Operating Systems, the system is said to have tried-and-tested security features with double layers of encryption. Hence, the responsibility of caution is more on the side of the user than on technology, experts say, citing cases of sharing of passwords, leaving phones unlocked and sharing of sensitive information with strangers as causes for financial crimes online.</p>
<p>Seven banks have already been offering the IMPS. Seven more are linking up through this network. Gradually, all 50 banks licensed by the RBI are expected to offer the service, which will be free of cost till March 31, 2011. </p>
<p>Read the original in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/article917955.ece">Hindu</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/mobile-banking'>https://cis-india.org/news/mobile-banking</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2011-04-02T07:38:54ZNews ItemNokia eyes GeNext to tap mobile email mkt
https://cis-india.org/news/nokia-eyes-genNext
<b>Finnish handset giant banks on youth to be in the technology race</b>
<p>In a booming market, the rich as well as the poor might like to shrink the Internet--at least while on the go.</p>
<p>To woo 20-something, jet-set executives and the man on the street with no computer, cellphone firm Nokia has begun to boost its mobile email market.</p>
<p>By targeting business users, in competition with other handheld service providers like BlackBerry, Nokia's 'all-new' E63 model has a whole range of business and personal mail and media options built in, said Viral Oza, the Finnish firm's India head of media and online marketing on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Unrelated, earlier mobile operator MTS launched a prepaid service with free surfing for websites like Yahoo and Wikipedia.</p>
<p>Airtel and BSNL also have introduced affordable Internet plans.</p>
<p>Oza said his company targets people aged below 25, a population segment expected to grow from the current share of 47 per cent to 55 per cent by 2016. "It is a generation that has grown with technology, entering professions, at the same time wanting to keep in touch with their friends," he said. So they get corporate mail, personal media and chatting in future. The firm is set to launch its instant messaging, Ovi Chat, in India soon, he added.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, there are also downloadable free email solutions, including 'pushmail', which are compatible with scores of other models, Oza said.</p>
<p>Pushmail that allows real-time delivery without logging in and collecting (pulling) mail manually is a boon to executives on the move. You can get icons for your Microsoft Exchange, Gmail and Yahoo on your handset--and even link your mobile to your office mail server.</p>
<p>At the same time, first-time email user can register with the free Ovi Mail--without using a computer. Ovi--meaning door in Finnish--is Nokia's Internet services brand that covers games, music, maps and messaging.</p>
<p>Observers see this as part of the technology trend in the country. Mobile email users are growing at 96 per cent a year to cross 50 million by 2014, experts note. Only six per cent of the mobile users have email access on their handsets, while 78 per cent would like to have it, Oza pointed out.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"For most of our people mobile phone will be the only way to access the Internet," said Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society here. As opposed to personal computers, cellphones are cheap, sharable, portable and are easily chargeable.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, Abraham noted that Nokia, a pioneer in userfriendly and innovative cellphone interfaces, now has lagged behind in the tech race and has to catch up with better and more creative features.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"You have to make it all simple and accessible," he said.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Growing from its device market, Nokia is now moving more into the Internet arena in direct competition with players like Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and Apple. Experts note that the battle among handset makers, portals and mobile telephony operators will intensify this year as economies are recovering after the slowdown.</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/90589/Nokia+eyes+GeNext+to+tap+mobile+email+mkt.html">Read the original story in India Today</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/nokia-eyes-genNext'>https://cis-india.org/news/nokia-eyes-genNext</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2011-04-02T12:48:01ZNews ItemPushing Buttons
https://cis-india.org/news/pushing-buttons
<b>The coolest device of the decade – From brick-sized to size zero, the cell phone changed our lives forever – an article by Deepa Kurup, The Hindu, 1st Jan, 2010.</b>
<p>Bangalore: Today, it no longer makes news to see your neighbourhood vegetable vendor taking orders on his mobile phone, or for that matter a mason at work as he chatters away on his cellphone.</p>
<p>A decade ago this was unthinkable.</p>
<p>The 10 years which have gone by have found a great leveller in technology, the cell phone being the most ubiquitous of them all. Cellphones crossed over from overpriced, shoebox-sized, upper-class accessory to an affordable easy-to-use gadget for staying connected, getting entertained and, for many, even a way of life. The long queues outside the PCO booth and scrambling for those elusive one-rupee coins is now history. The cellphone is literally in every hand. As of November 2009, India, with the world’s second largest population, registered 506.4 million cellphone connections, (543 million, including landlines), second only to China. Which means half our population has the device.</p>
<h3>Tharoor’s take</h3>
<p>Twitter-politician Shashi Tharoor regaled the audience at a recent conference, TED India, about this story of a coconut vendor in his home state of Kerala. He wanted a tender coconut and called a vendor he knew, only to discover the man was high up on a coconut palm, still connected to his cellphone!</p>
<p>Old timers still talk about the miles of red tape and the years it took to get a basic landline connection.</p>
<p>So while globally the noughties were about crowdsourcing, micro and macro blogging, e-books, file sharing or the “cloud”, in India, even the internet is only barely there. With a staggeringly low penetration, pegged at around seven to eight percent (over 80 million), the web is not a patch on the omnipresent cellphone.</p>
<h3>The next decade</h3>
<p>Sunil Abraham, Director of Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, insists that the cellphone will also define the decade that begins today. And like that clever advertisement, text-to-voice and voice recognition can and will be big in providing access to the unlettered, disabled and forgotten sections, he explains.</p>
<p>“Data services and geographic positioning services (GPS) show great promise in connecting the poor to the state and the market,” he said.</p>
<p>On a more futuristic, and indulgent note, Mr. Abraham says micro-projection systems that will work on walls and mobiles will forefront projects in those rural areas with limited or no electricity. This may be the only way to reach the unbanked with mainstream or community currencies, he adds.</p>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/01/stories/2010010156490100.htm">Link to the original article</a><br /><br /></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/pushing-buttons'>https://cis-india.org/news/pushing-buttons</a>
</p>
No publisherradhaTelecom2011-04-02T13:56:28ZNews ItemPushing the buttons for social change
https://cis-india.org/news/pushing-the-buttons-for-social-change
<b>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</b>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Here is a platform that brings together technology enthusiasts and non-governmental organisations, working in various social sectors, to drive this change.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>It will be held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Mother Tekla Auditorium on Brunton Road.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/pushing-the-buttons-for-social-change'>https://cis-india.org/news/pushing-the-buttons-for-social-change</a>
</p>
No publisherradhaTelecom2011-04-02T15:09:10ZNews ItemAPC starts research into spectrum regulation in Brazil, India, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa
https://cis-india.org/news/research-into-spectrum-regulation
<b>Communication infrastructure is the foundation of the knowledge-based economy and while there has been a boom in the construction of undersea cables bringing potentially terabits of capacity to the African continent, the ability to deliver broadband to consumers is hampered by inefficient telecommunications markets and policies. Wireless connectivity offers tremendous potential to deliver affordable broadband to developing countries but inefficient spectrum policy and regulation means the opportunity to seize the advantages brought about by improvements in wireless broadband technologies are extremely limited. </b>
<h3>Spectrum policy in a nutshell</h3>
<p>Television, mobile phones, wireless networking and amateur radio all transmit their data using radio waves. Different parts of the radio spectrum are used for different radio transmission technologies and applications and ranges of allocated frequencies are often referred to by their provisioned use (for example, wireless spectrum or television spectrum). Spectrum policy around the world focuses on three factors – allocation, assignment and enforcement. </p>
<ul><li>Allocation sets aside spectrum for specific uses such as cell phones at 1.9 GHz, and broadcast TV at 500 Mhz.</li><li>Assignment is most widely carried out through spectrum auctions. In a spectrum auction, those who make the highest bid secure use of the spectrum. </li><li>Enforcement (within nations) is usually split between two institutions – a governmental/ministerial one that overseas spectrum relating to and reserved for national security and a regulatory one for the enforcement of spectrum that fulfils commercial and/or socio-economic objectives.</li></ul>
<p>We are seeing accelerated change in the capacity of wireless technologies to deliver affordable access. According to wireless pioneer Martin Cooper, “every 30 months the amount of information that can be transmitted over a given amount of radio spectrum doubles”. However, without forward-looking policy and regulation that can embrace the rapid change in wireless technologies, African, Asian and Latin American countries will miss the opportunity to allow affordable, pervasive wireless broadband infrastructure to develop in their countries.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, one of the biggest barriers to utilising this opportunity is simply a lack of awareness of global trends and of what policy and regulatory processes exist to manage spectrum.</p>
<p>APC’s new research: Understanding spectrum regulation<br />The overall goal of APC’s new research project is to provide an understanding of spectrum regulation in several countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, not just in terms of making information available, or how spectrum is assigned, but who deals with spectrum and what policy or regulatory framework is currently in use.</p>
<p>The procedures governing spectrum allocation and assignment are often opaque, highly technical and governed by an inner circle of technical experts in the regulators, operators and equipment suppliers in each country. An important dimension of the research will lie in decoding some of this complexity and making the information as transparent and accessible as possible. The research will also seek to examine arguments that proclaim the scarcity of spectrum1.</p>
<p>The research is timely as the rapid growth of wireless and mobile in Asia, Africa and Latin America is raising fresh questions about the use of spectrum and the policies that govern it. Civil society-based alliances such as the Open Spectrum Alliance in South Africa2 and the national broadband campaigns in South Africa3, Ghana and Nigeria are raising spectrum issues. Digital migration and the opportunity it creates to make use of white spaces in frequencies currently allocated for broadcasting for broadband wireless networks has renewed interest by governments in auctioning off blocks of spectrum as a revenue-generating mechanism. The research will feed into this dynamic context of debate and dialogue on spectrum regulation and wireless broadband.</p>
<h3>Indians look beyond the present</h3>
<p>In India the research will go beyond the current status of spectrum regulation and and also will look at the current and potential use of pooled spectrum and infrastructure sharing by mobile operators. Pooled spectrum is an alternative to the open spectrum approach with licensed network/facilities providers and regulated rates/tariffs (because of the rationale of network economies). The Indian study will also explore two additional areas which could also be of value in other parts of the world:</p>
<ul><li>Whether spectrum rights can remain publicly owned/operated by the government, while usage rights are made available for a fee; and, the costs and benefits of larger bands of open spectrum versus the experience-curve benefits of legacy systems, with indicative time frames. <br /></li></ul>
<ul><li>The APC open spectrum for development initiative will be implemented in partnership with the Open Society Institute (OSI), the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Shuttleworth Foundation in South Africa and the Centre for Internet and Society in India. OSI is supporting the research in Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria and IDRC the research in Brazil and India. <br /></li></ul>
<p> Read more about the APC’s <a class="external-link" href="http://www.apc.org/en/projects/open-spectrum-development">Open spectrum project</a></p>
<a class="external-link" href="http://www.apc.org/en/news/apc-starts-research-spectrum-regulation-brazil-ind">Click here</a> for the original article in APC
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/research-into-spectrum-regulation'>https://cis-india.org/news/research-into-spectrum-regulation</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2011-04-02T11:56:04ZNews ItemRIM Offered Security Fixes
https://cis-india.org/news/rim-offered-security-fixes
<b>In India Talks, BlackBerry Maker Said It Could Share Metadata, Notes Show</b>
<p>Research In Motion Ltd. has offered information and tools to help India conduct surveillance of wireless email and messaging services on RIM's popular BlackBerry, say people familiar with the negotiations, illuminating RIM's dealings as it seeks to balance sovereign security concerns with its customers' privacy.</p>
<p>In a series of discussions that intensified this summer, RIM offered to provide crucial information that would help the Indian government track down messages sent via the company's popular and encrypted corporate email service, according to those familiar with the confidential talks and to minutes of meetings reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.</p>
<p>In a July 26 meeting, RIM representatives told Indian officials "they have a setup to help the security agencies in tracking the messages in which security agencies are interested," according to an Indian government summary of the meeting.</p>
<p>The Waterloo, Ontario, company has become an industry leader in part on the strength of a secure technology that offers information privacy to customers. But as RIM seeks to expand, it is grappling with how its promise of user confidentiality is encountering resistance from governments around the globe.</p>
<p>RIM's challenge, along with Google Inc.'s face-off with China over censorship issues, illustrates the growing tensions between Western technology giants, who seek to woo millions of emerging-market consumers with increasingly sophisticated technology, and governments that are trying to maintain security in the face of it.</p>
<p>The stakes are high in India, the world's No. 2 wireless market, behind China, with 635 million subscribers. Emerging economies are vital to RIM as its smartphones face competition in North America from Apple Inc.'s iPhone and devices that run on Google's Android software. RIM's new international subscribers for the first time outnumbered new North American subscribers in the quarter that ended Feb. 27, according to brokerage GMP Securities.</p>
<p>Discussions between RIM and India took a public turn Thursday when India's government threatened to block some BlackBerry services from the country's telecommunications networks unless the services could be opened to surveillance by Aug. 31. On Friday, an Indian government official said RIM had assured India it would meet the deadline.</p>
<p>A spokesman for RIM in India declined to comment on negotiations with India. Sachin Pilot, India's Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology said Friday there are promising signs that the company is willing to cooperate, but there's no deal "until I have something in writing."</p>
<p>RIM has come under scrutiny in recent months amid contentious negotiations with countries including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which have also sought to monitor BlackBerry services for threats to national security.</p>
<p>A person familiar with the negotiations in the U.A.E. said officials in the region believed RIM had been holding back from them technological solutions that had been offered to Western governments, specifically in regards to BlackBerry Messenger.</p>
<p>RIM declines to discuss its negotiations with governments and didn't comment on negotiations in India and other countries.</p>
<p>In a statement issued Thursday, RIM outlined its guidelines for how far it is willing to go in helping carriers meet surveillance needs. RIM said it will only help carriers meet strict national-security rules, won't provide more access than its competitors already do and won't alter the security architecture of its corporate email servers in response to government needs.</p>
<p>"RIM maintains a consistent global standard for lawful access requirements that does not include special deals for specific countries," the statement said.</p>
<p>Governments are pressuring RIM to comply with their demands for information in part because unlike other smartphone vendors, it operates its own network of servers, the biggest of which is in Canada, outside their monitoring reach and jurisdiction.</p>
<p>That contrasts with devices such as the iPhone, which don't operate their own email services. Governments generally have laws that allow them to monitor traffic on mobile and computer networks operating within their own countries.</p>
<p>Talks between RIM and various countries have centered mostly on data routed through the company's system for corporate emails, BlackBerry Enterprise Server, and its instant-messaging service, BlackBerry Messenger, whose high levels of encryption can prevent government monitors from deciphering content or determining sender or recipient. RIM has said that even it can't decrypt BlackBerry corporate emails.</p>
<p>India's security services argue they need access to selected emails to ward off criminal and terrorist threats. "In terms of our issues of national security, any responsible government would not want to compromise," said Mr. Pilot, the communications minister. "I don't think what we are asking is out of the ordinary vis-à-vis other countries."</p>
<p>Security and technology experts say each country has different surveillance needs, technology infrastructures and laws governing how security forces and police can access data. It is generally Internet service providers and telecommunications carriers that must implement the country's monitoring regime, and the kinds of help RIM gives carriers in doing that varies with each nation, says a person familiar with RIM's operations.</p>
<p>According to minutes taken by the Indian side, the parties discussed whether RIM could provide "metadata" from encrypted corporate emails—information such as the email's sender and recipient and the time sent. "After some persuasion, the [RIM] representative agreed that they can provide the metadata of the message," according to an Indian summary of one discussion.</p>
<p>Cyber-security experts say such metadata would give government intelligence services important leads to locate BlackBerry traffic on corporate email servers, where messages are in decrypted form. It wasn't clear under what circumstances RIM would agree to divulge such information.</p>
<p>In the meetings, RIM also promised to develop tools to help Indian authorities tap into third-party Internet chat services, such as Google's Gmail, that run on its handsets, according to the meeting minutes. It isn't clear whether or how RIM has proposed to help security officials decode BlackBerry Messenger.</p>
<ul><li> <a class="external-link" href="http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/08/13/backupberry-options-for-blackberry-addicts/?KEYWORDS=RIM">Just in Case: Backup Options for Addicts</a></li><li><a class="external-link" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703960004575426942856075682.html">RIM Optimistic About India</a></li><li><a class="external-link" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704388504575420050826635826.html">Saudis Await RIM Ruling</a></li></ul>
<p>RIM also appears to have put itself in a role of educating Indian officials over the operation of its network and on network security in general, suggesting to officials that emails that aren't subject to heavy corporate encryption can be viewed with assistance from local carriers.</p>
<p>Governments that have been reviewing their data-access arrangements with RIM have been sharing information with each other, said an official in the region with knowledge of the Indian negotiations.</p>
<p>The U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's largest economies, upped their ante with RIM weeks before India did. Both countries have been negotiating with RIM for the same kinds of access to data that India wants, but people familiar with talks in the Gulf countries say they have been acrimonious.</p>
<p>Government officials say RIM has taken a condescending attitude to developing countries' security demands, and say they believe the company was holding out on solutions to access information, such as on BlackBerry Messenger, that had been offered to other countries.</p>
<p>"They refuse to listen to us," said a person familiar with the negotiations. "It's like we aren't speaking the same language."</p>
<p>Anger boiled over last month with the U.A.E. announcing a ban on BlackBerry email, Internet and instant-messaging services from Oct. 11, citing a lack of progress in more than three years of negotiations. Saudi Arabia followed with a threatened ban on BlackBerry Messenger.</p>
<p>Tensions were fueled when RIM co-CEO Michael Lazaridis said in an interview earlier this month with The Wall Street Journal that many of the nations the company deals with aren't tech-savvy and don't understand the Internet. "We work with these countries to educate them," he said.</p>
<p>Negotiations between the U.A.E. and RIM are ongoing. The government says it remains optimistic of a solution. In Saudi Arabia, telecommunications regulators announced earlier this week that RIM had offered them a technical fix that would let them access data from BlackBerry Messenger.</p>
<p>In RIM's home country of Canada, the U.S. and other countries, police and security agents typically must get a court order to gain access to things like the content of emails.</p>
<p>India's regulations in this area are murky. An 1885 law that has been updated over the years allows the government to intercept Internet traffic "on the occurrence of any public emergency." A 2008 law gives bureaucrats in various agencies the authority to order monitoring of any entity's Web traffic, though the matter can be challenged in court.</p>
<p>It remains unclear whether RIM's promise to provide metadata to corporate messages will be enough to satisfy India's concerns. A more drastic solution, says Sunil Abraham of the Bangalore-based Center for Internet and Society, would be for the government to require RIM to build a BlackBerry data center within India—something that could cost tens of millions of dollars, people familiar with the matter say—and then classify the company as an Indian Internet service provider.</p>
<p>Such a move would put India on stronger legal footing, analysts say, to demand data from RIM as well as companies whose employees use BlackBerrys. Under such a scenario, "the government would be allowed to get a room inside RIM and install whatever machines they want to monitor that traffic," Mr. Abraham said.</p>
<p>It wasn't clear from the government documents summarizing the meetings between RIM and the government whether such an option is being considered. The company would vehemently oppose such a classification, people familiar with the situation say. In the U.A.E, RIM has balked at the government's request that it set up a local data center, people familiar with those negotiations said.</p>
<p>Read the original in <a class="external-link" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703960004575427312899373090.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">Wall Street Journal</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/rim-offered-security-fixes'>https://cis-india.org/news/rim-offered-security-fixes</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2011-04-02T10:24:12ZNews ItemNishant Shah Quoted in Livemint 2011 Tweet-out
https://cis-india.org/news/skinputting-mobile-computing
<b>Livemint, recently did a tweet-out which quoted people about what will be big in 2011. Nishant Shah was also quoted. </b>
<p>#LM_2011 Nishant Shah: Skinputting – Mobile computing that uses human body as interface to net; data projected on skin to go truly mobile.</p>
<p>Read the original tweet in Livemint <a class="external-link" href="http://twitter.com/#!/livemint/status/21824111298748416">here</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/skinputting-mobile-computing'>https://cis-india.org/news/skinputting-mobile-computing</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2011-04-02T00:58:18ZNews ItemWi-Fi Direct promises range, bandwidth higher than Bluetooth
https://cis-india.org/news/wi-fi-direct
<b>Sharing, printing and connecting for Wi-Fi devices is going to be more convenient than ever with soon-to-be-launched technology Wi-Fi Direct, which enables devices to connect to each other without a conventional Wi-Fi hub. This article by Ramkumar Iyer was published in the Hindu on 31 October 2010.</b>
<p>Previously known as Peer-to-Peer Wi-Fi, this new technology will allow the Wi-Fi Direct enabled devices to connect directly to each other anytime, anywhere.</p>
<p>It's much like Bluetooth except that it promises typical Wi-Fi range (up to 200 metres) and bandwidth (up to 250 mbps) much higher than what Bluetooth technology offers.</p>
<p>Moreover, the devices have a quick set-up mechanism, follow the latest security protocols and can easily connect to existing Wi-Fi networks.</p>
<h3>Seamless usage</h3>
<p>It means that the huge variety of existing Wi-Fi applications can be used with the new technology seamlessly.</p>
<p>The Wi-Fi Alliance — a coalition of technology industry giants that does the research and standardisation in Wi-Fi — announced on October 25 that it had begun certifying devices as being compatible with the new technology protocol. </p>
<p>According to the Wi-Fi Alliance Website, the technology can be implemented in any device such as cameras, mobiles, laptops and human interface devices.</p>
<h3>Single-tech solution</h3>
<p>“The Wi-Fi users worldwide will benefit from a single-technology solution to transfer content and share applications quickly and easily among devices, even when a Wi-Fi access point isn't available,” said Wi-Fi Alliance Executive Director Edgar Figueroa in a press release. </p>
<p>The technology is aimed at both consumer and enterprise applications and has a vast range of applications which aim at making gaming, sharing, printing and remote operations simpler and convenient.</p>
<p>While the Wi-Fi Direct's entry into the market may present new opportunities for application developers, it may be argued that such kind of range and speed can be easily misused.</p>
<h3>Security consciousness</h3>
<p>Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT-Madras, agrees: “This technology poses a security risk because if just one device in a group is compromised, almost all the devices in the group are at risk too. And this is especially true of organisations, because unlike in the past, wireless data transfers can now take place without the organisation being able to monitor them and particularly over a larger area. </p>
<p>“People will now have to be more security conscious than ever. Especially, the ones with a previous case of security breach.”</p>
<h3>End of Bluetooth?</h3>
<p>Wi-Fi Direct not only has all the features of Bluetooth, but boasts superior transfer speeds and range. Does this mean the demise of Bluetooth? </p>
<p>Experts speculate that Bluetooth will not be affected much.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“In an existing market where there are millions of Bluetooth-enabled devices, it is unlikely that any manufacturer will retire the technology just because of a new one.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>“Bluetooth will not be affected much; at least in the next couple of years,” said Sunil Abraham, Executive Director of Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Read the original in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/article859680.ece">Hindu</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/news/wi-fi-direct'>https://cis-india.org/news/wi-fi-direct</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaTelecom2011-04-02T08:13:27ZNews ItemThe South African Telecommunications Sector: Poised for Change
https://cis-india.org/events/lecture-tour-by-sagie-chetty
<b>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 by Sagie Chetty from 19th Oct to 30th Oct.</b>
<p>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: <br />“The South African Telecommunications Sector: Poised for Change” By Sagie Chetty, Senior Manager, Eskom, South Africa. <br />It will be our pleasure to have you join us for the talks.</p>
<p>The Co-hosts, Dates and the Venues for the Talk are given below –</p>
<ul><li>Co-Host: Indian Institute of Technology, Madras<br />Date: 19th October, 2009 at 3.30pm<br />Venue – IIT-M, Chennai</li></ul>
<ul><li>Co-Host: Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay<br />Date: 20th October, 2009 at 4.00pm<br />Venue – IIT-B, Mumbai<br /></li></ul>
<ul><li>Co-Host: International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore<br />Date: 23rd October, 2009 at 4.00pm<br />Venue – IIIT-B, Bangalore<br /></li></ul>
<ul><li>Co-Host: Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi<br />Date: 26th October, 2009 at 3.00pm<br />Venue – IGNOU, Delhi<br /></li></ul>
<ul><li>Co-Host: National Institute of Science Technology and Development Studies, Delhi<br />Date: 27th October, 2009 at 3.00pm<br />Venue – NISTADS, Delhi<br /></li></ul>
<ul><li>Co-Host: CCMG - Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi<br />Date: 29th October, 2009 at 2.00pm<br />Venue – CCMG - Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi</li></ul>
<h3>About the Speaker:</h3>
<p>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.</p>
<p><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Sagie%20Chetty..jpg/image_preview" alt="Sagie Chetty" class="image-inline" title="Sagie Chetty" /></p>
<h3>Abstract of the Lecture: The South African Telecommunications Sector: Poised for Change</h3>
<p>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.<br />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.<br />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.<br />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. <br /><br />The talk is open to all and there are no registration or entry fees. <br />Please let us know if you require any further details.<br /><br /></p>
VIDEOS
<iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/AYLRmR8A.html" frameborder="0" height="250" width="250"></iframe><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#AYLRmR8A" style="display:none"></embed>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/events/lecture-tour-by-sagie-chetty'>https://cis-india.org/events/lecture-tour-by-sagie-chetty</a>
</p>
No publisherradhaTelecom2011-10-21T09:59:51ZEventOpening India's Spectrum
https://cis-india.org/events/opening-spectrum
<b>India's Government monopolised the radio spectrum until the mid-1990s and even now, non-governmental use of wireless is more limited than in other democracies. Restrictive policies constrain the growth of mobile telephony, broadcasting, wireless broadband and many other services important to India's social and economic development. Can anything be done to change this? Robert Horvitz, director of Open Spectrum Foundation suggests changes.</b>
<div align="center"><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/RH.jpg/image_thumb" alt="Robert Horowitz" class="image-inline" title="Robert Horowitz" /></div>
<p> </p>
Robert Horvitz, director of the Open Spectrum Foundation (<a href="http://www.openspectrum.info/">http://www.openspectrum.info</a>
<p>), and author of the Local Radio Handbook, is visiting India to study this question and suggest strategies for citizen action to reform radio regulation. On Thursday, 14 January, at 18:00 he will discuss some of his preliminary findings at the Centre for Internet and Society.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<strong> VIDEOS
<br /><br /></strong>
<p> </p>
<embed width="250" height="250" src="http://blip.tv/play/g_dIgcaqCgA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>
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<embed width="250" height="250" src="http://blip.tv/play/g_dIgcbLMgA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>
<embed width="250" height="250" src="http://blip.tv/play/g_dIgcbNTgA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>
<embed width="250" height="250" src="http://blip.tv/play/g_dIgcbsEwA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>
<embed width="250" height="250" src="http://blip.tv/play/g_dIgcbsTwA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/events/opening-spectrum'>https://cis-india.org/events/opening-spectrum</a>
</p>
No publisherpraneshTelecom2012-01-19T11:07:40ZEvent