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Helping ensure success for the Class of 2017
By Megan Sexton, email@example.com, 803-777-1421
Eric Moschella, director of USC's Student Success Center, has a simple goal for his office: Find the best ways to help college students be successful in the classroom.
"We know everyone who has been admitted here can do the work. We also know college is hard and it's an adjustment," Moschella says. "We want students to know we are here to help. Don't wait until you are struggling. Don't wait until you are overwhelmed. Let us help make you more efficient."
This year, before first-year students arrive on the USC campus in August, each will receive a personal email from an academic success coach. The 19 professional staff members in Student Success Center will be assigned a group of incoming students who they will contact throughout the semester, checking on their progress, fielding their questions and directing them to appropriate programs such as Supplemental Instruction or Cross-Campus College Advising.
"We want to let students know we are here for them and let them connect a face and a name with the services. We want to make a large class feel a little smaller," Moschella says. "Little things make a huge difference with students. Typically students are shy with academic support. We want to get students comfortable."
The success coaches are part of a new effort by the SSC called Success Connect, an early intervention program for first-year students. Success Connect also features a system that allows faculty members to let the SSC know about undergraduate students who are having academic difficulties. Faculty members will fill out an online, confidential referral form to alert the Student Success Center to students who are missing class, struggling with coursework or experience general academic challenges.
The SSC staff will take it from there – following up with students, learning about the issues and directing them to the proper place for help.
So far, the Student Success Center is working with teachers in University 101, English 101-102, classes where Supplement Instruction is used and with faculty members who have previously worked with the SSC. He called faculty's response to the referral program "great."
"One of the challenges faculty members have, especially with some of the big classes, is knowing what to say to students who are having problems. We're hoping this eases that conversation," he says. "The greatest indicator of retention is a connection with faculty. If we can facilitate that, it's great."
Moschella says the Student Success Center staff is also excited about the new program, saying he's "hoping we'll be overwhelmed" with student requests this fall.
"We will be a little more intrusive than we've been in the past because we have an obligation to help students be successful," he said. "Once students come to the Student Success Center they love to use our services. We are all here because we like students and we want to see them succeed."


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Tessa moves from Ireland to England. She had moved to Ireland when she was 2. When she gets to her flat she is shocked to find that the Niall Horan is her neighbor. Niall doesn't believe in love at first sight but when he bumps into his next door neighbor, everything changes. ||ON HOLD||
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Re: a question about complex variable
ZHU Xiaopeng wrote:
> In my algebra computation, I obtain a expression:
> C = (- I Cos[2 P] - Sin[2 P]) Tan[A]
> P,A are real variables. Apperently, the argument of C is -2(P+Pi/4) and the
> absolute value of C is Tan[A]. But when I use Arg[C] and Abs[C], Mathematica
> tells me:
> Out[41]=Abs[(-I Cos[2 P] - Sin[2 P]) Tan[A]]
> Out[42]=Arg[(-I Cos[2 P] - Sin[2 P]) Tan[A]]
> This problem appeared at beginning of the computation. I have no idea to deal
> with it, so the expressions become longer and longer during the computation.
> Can somebody help me?
In[]= cc = (-I Cos[2 P] - Sin[2 P]) Tan[A]
In[]= FullSimplify[Abs[cc], Element[{A, P}, Reals]] // InputForm
Out[]= Abs[Tan[A]]
Until you don't know the value of A>Pi/2 or not, no one can calculate
the argument.
Hope that helps


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Joined: 07 Jan 2006
Posts: 15768
Location: Southern California
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:44 am
Post subject: Forum Rules And A Helpful Guide for New Posters
Forum Rules Here: Please Read
nickdawg's Helpful Guide for New Posters in the Oakland Forum
With the draft quickly approaching, the entire site is getting more and more posters every day, and the Raider forum has seen alot of new guys as well. While we love having all of the new posters come in, I'd like to give you a few tips to keep the Raider forum to the highest quality and help new guys avoid making some of the mistakes us veterans may have when we were new.
BTW, these tips are credited to
NC SacKing
. This is mostly
work, but he's cool with letting others use it.
NC SacKing
added a good bit to it as well.
When posting on the forums please take the following into consideration.
Check for duplicates.
Try to add your comments to an existing topic if possible. While everyone here is interested in the draft and Free Agency, we have already had many discussions on who to cut, who we should resign, and who we should draft at 1. While I like to try and comment on as many subjects as possible, it can get boring to keep replying to the same topics. So please look on the first page to see if we already have a topic similar to the one you wanted to start, and add your ideas/comments to that.
Please keep the posts on topic
. This is the Oakland Raider forum. Unless your posts are related to the Raiders in some way, please don't post it in here. The best example of this is Free Agency. For instance, say you want to know how we would feel about trading for Kellen Winslow II. Instead of just making a topic asking "
Do you like him?"
, try to make it involved with the Raiders, perhaps by asking "
We know Oakland needs a legitimate TE. Do you think Winslow would be a good fit for us? He seems to have worn out his welcome a bit and I think we could offer CLE a player and a draft pick for him. What do you guys think?"
See the difference there. One is ambigous and hard to really discuss. The other is clear to understand, original, and sparks good discussion. The latter is what members are interested in discussing and help make Football's Future the best draft site around.
Strive for quality
. Avoid starting a topic just to ask a question or something that can be looked up on Google in a few mins. This is an important one if we want this site to be the best on the web. No one here knows everything so don't feel embarassed about that. But rather than asking questions like "Who did Oakland pick in the 2001 draft?" or "How old is LaMont Jordan?", take some time to research it on the web and find your answer. Then, your post will be more insightful rather than asking questions which could be answered yourself.
Proof read your post.
Everyone makes typos and misspell words. But take a minute to proof read and make sure your post makes sense. One of the most annoying things is reading a topic with grammer such as "Yo i HeAr dat wez gunna cut Jurry Pohrtah. Wut up wit dat man? Iz mad stoopid cuz walthaz sux". The more effort you put in your posts, the more effort others will take to reply and the more they will respect you. It's hard to make a valid point when we can't understand what you write, so please do your best to have correct spelling and grammer.
Give your topic a descriptive subject which lets members know what they can expect in the post.
Most people only read and post on topics that interest them. If you post a topic that says "What should we do?" or "OLBs", it's very vague and will not likely capture any attention. This is the case especially to non Raier fans who start a topic in here. A topic that just says "Jordan" will get less looks and responses than one that says "Are the Raiders going to cut Jordan? Why?" Be specific with what you are asking or discussing, it also helps to rid of duplicate threads as well.
Finally, a few extra pieces of advice
We're all here to have fun and talk Oakland Raider football
. The main goal of these forums are to be able to talk about the Raiders in a friendly environment. If you disagree with someone's views, that's fine. Everyone is welcome to their opinion. But never take it to a personal level. Respect your fellow Raider fan. If someone *DOES* end up with "keyboard diarrhea," DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, retailate in any way. PM myself, HiFi, CrapTakula one of the other Global Moderators (Vike Daddy, GrrLacher, S.A.cowboyfan, 2105 yards), or Webmaster. I cannot stress this enough: NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER respond to an attack, personal or general, in any way.
Don't be defensive
If someone gives you negative feedback on your draft or idea, don't get defensive. No one around here is 100% correct about the Raiders, myself included. Take it as the person is trying to help you out to make a better draft/idea and not to cut you down.
Never hesitate to talk to either myself, HiFi, or CrapTakula.
As one of the Raider moderators, it's my responsibility to keep the forum clean of problems. If you have a problem, question, or issue with ANYTHING going on here, please PM me and I will help you. I want everyone to enjoy themselves here, and will do anything to ensure that your experience here is a happy one. If you don't yet have PM priviligaes and have an issue, don't worry about it. I check these forums frequently and will see any potential problems before they get out of hand. Also, if you do have an issue, it's always better to PM me. I don't like airing "dirty laundry" out in public or seeing it: it does the forum no good. PM me and we will get things resolved quicker and much easier.
Realize that I do have to do "dirty work" sometimes
. I will lock threads that are duplicates, off topics, or not in line with any of the rules. I will delete posts that are inappropriate. If you break any of the rules repeatedly, you will get a warning. I don't do these things because I enjoy them or dislike you, it's simply my duty and I take it seriously. While you will come to learn that I'm a cool guy, laid back, approachable, being a Moderator comes first. However, the Raider forum is one of the cleanest on this site, so we usually have very few problems we I need to use my "mod duties"
Please read and understand the rules
Forum Rules
Sig and Avatar rules
And please don't SPAM us. I spot it quickly, delete it quicker, and report it to the Webmaster so he can ban your account before you even get another post in. Don't waste our time or yours by spamming us.
Again, welcome everyone to the forums. I hope to see all you new posters active in here and develop into model posters like our veterans, and continuing to make the Raider forum the best forum on the site
just_win_ty wrote:
How's it going Hifi and Nickdawg? I was wondering, would you guys be willing to make my Oakland Raiders Mock Draft Thread a sticky topic because it seems to be a very popular issue and I know all the Raider fans in this forum have their own opinion about how they would like this year's draft to go for us. I'd really appreciate it if you could. Thanks a lot
I know we had an official "Mock Draft" thread, and in it I said that I would sticky it if a spot became available, but upon further review (and discussion amongst the boss), it has been decided that making an offical Mock Draft thread wouldn't be in the best interest of the site. And here's why:
We try to encourage new posters to be active, and lurkers to become new posters. In an effort to stimulate forum activity, it's generally encouraged that mockers make their own individual threads, because someone new to the forum probably won't be interested in reading through the 6 or 7 + pages in an official mock draft thread. Having a new mock draft thread encourages participation from the less-active users and is therefore more beneficial to the site.
And the reason we promote the idea of multiple mock threads, and not multiple threads on the same subject is because nobody's mock will be exactly the same. Everyone has a different opinion about whom should be taken, and where. Conversely, how many different times can you post that Oakland just picked up Joe Schmo? (I hope I worded that clearly...)
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Stephen Byers
Professor of Oncology, Director, GUMC Shared Resources
Associate Director for Shared Resources
Associate Director for Shared Resources
Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC)
General profile
+1 202-687-1813
Stephen Byers was educated in the UK and Australia. He was a Ford Foundation Scholar and came to the US in 1982 as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow. He has authored more than 140 papers and patents in the areas of, cell adhesion, chemoprevention and the development of anti-cancer drugs. In 2003 with Dr. Aydin Tozeren, he published "New Biology for Engineers and Computer Scientists". This book was amongst the first to recognize that Systems Biology/Medicine would require the efforts of individuals with strong quantitative skills who need to be educated in the fundamentals of "New Biology". His laboratory has three major interests. The first relates to the role of the cadherin/catenin system in carcinogenesis, the second to studies of the anti cancer actions of vitamins A and D and cancer drug development and the third to interactions among NF?b, TGF?, wnt and vitamin D pathways. In the early-mid 1980s as a junior faculty member, with Martin Dym he discovered the role of Matrigel in promoting differentiation and developed the first examples of commercial dual environment culture chambers. He went on the demonstrate the role of E-cadherin and ?-catenin in promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transitions in breast cancer and discovered the role of cadherin-11 in this process. In the mid-late 1990s his group demonstrated that phosphorylation of key residues in ?-catenin promoted its degradation and ubiquitination and resulted in oncogenic transformation. Together with Dr. Shah his laboratory was the first to show the interaction of the vitamin A and D pathways in the regulation of ?-catenin signaling and showed that partial vitamin D antagonists could act as specific anti-cancer agents in cells that express activated ?-catenin. In 2011 his laboratory discovered the long sought after tubulin tyrosine carboxypeptidase and he has resurrected his training in chemistry to become more focused on the development of anticancer drugs, the computational repositioning of existing FDA-approved drugs for alternative targets with Dr. Dakshanamurthy, and metabolomic profiling of serum and urine as a means of predicting cancer patient outcome. Dr. Byers is a Professor and an Associate Director at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University with appointments in the Departments of Oncology and Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology. Currently he is Director of the Lombardi Shared Resources, Director of the Translational Technologies Component of the Georgetown-Howard Universities Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), a member of the Tumor Biology and Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology Programs and is on the boards of Adherex Technologies, Sarfez Pharmaceuticals, Adheron Therapuetics and ScienceExchange.
Download cv.doc
- Postdoc (1984) Georgetown University, Cell Biology
- PhD (1981) University of Queensland, Australia, Endocrinology
- BSc (1975) Liverpool University, UK, Biochemistry


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Physics, the most fundamental physical science, is the study of the basic interactions that govern the behavior of the material universe as we know it. It is the foundation upon which the other sciences are based and it is important in any well-balanced curriculum for the non-scientist as well. Our faculty and staff are dedicated to providing a student-centered educational environment. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in faculty-supervised research projects.
The Physics Department offers a minor in physics and an interdisciplinary program in pre-engineering.
Science Hall 434
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Wayne, NJ 07470-2103
Tel: (973) 720-2195
Fax: (973) 720-2338


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Ukrtelecom, Ukraines sole UMTS-based 3G mobile network operator, had signed up a total of 432,200 subscribers to its W-CDMA/HSPA-based services by the end of January 2010, reports Interfax-Ukraine. The state-run firm launched the 3G network in November 2007 under the Utel brand, and offers pre- and post-paid retail mobile broadband services as well as wholesale connections to other cellcos.
Source: TeleGeography
Madagascar has been connected to the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), AfricaNews.com reports. Fixed line incumbent Telecom Malagasy (Telma) has announced that it has already put in place a national backbone that will allow it to connect its subscribers to the cable, and it is expected that the arrival of the link will allow for the development of outsourcing activities, such as call centres. EASSy will supposedly enable the transfer of data at speeds 40 times faster than dial-up connections, and 27 operators from 22 countries across Africas eastern coast have invested approximately USD260 million in the deployment of the cable so far.The arrival of the EASSy connection is the second significant cable landing reported in Madagascar in the last twelve months; according to TeleGeographys GlobalComms Database, in June 2009 Madagascars largest mobile operator by subscribers, Orange Madagascar, announced the completion of its submarine cable project, LION, connecting the cable at Tamatave in the Toamasina region. Funded by Orange Madagascar, France Telecom and Mauritius Telecom, the 1,800km broadband cable links with the existing SAT3/WASC and SAFE cable and has a capacity of 1.3Tbps, and it also connects Madagascar with the islands of Reunion and Mauritius.
Kyivstar, Ukraines largest mobile network operator by subscribers, is scheduled to launch commercial fixed broadband services for residential customers based on fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) technology this week. Kiev-based newspaper Delo reported on 11 March that the cellco would enter the high speed fixed market in two weeks. The GSM operator began building its FTTB network in Kiev and Odessa in August 2009, whilst earlier this month the companys planned merger with Russias Vimpelcom received Ukrainian antimonopoly clearance, giving rise to the potential for integrating the direct fibre service with Vimpelcoms wholly owned Beeline FTTB services operating in several cities across Ukraine. According to local press Kyivstar has over 250,000 mobile internet laptop/PC subscribers; according to GlobalComms Database it launched a resold 3G mobile internet service in April 2008, via the W-CDMA/HSDPA 'Utel' network of state-owned Ukrtelecom, the countrys only UMTS licensee. Kyivstar does not offer mobile broadband-speed services over its own infrastructure as Ukraine has repeatedly delayed the issuing of UMTS licences to privately owned operators.
The government of Venezuela plans to invest USD11.6 million to open 200 new public internet centres across the country during 2010, reports BNamericas. The government says it currently has 668 internet centres, used by approximately three million people and expects there to be at least five million users by the end of the year. The state also announced it has installed 2,000 satellite aerials for internet use in remote areas of the country to date, using Venezuelas own satellite, Venesat-1. The project stipulates a total deployment of 16,000 satellite aerials.
Turkcell's 3G network ended 2009 with coverage of 72% of the population. We have established more base stations in the first six months since we launched the 3G technology than all the base stations we established for 2G technology over six years, said Ilter Terzioglu, deputy director general at the company. Terzioglu added that his company had sold almost 300,000 3G modems and netbooks/notebooks by year end from a total subscriber base of 35.4 million. As of 31 December 2009 Turkcell had invested USD7.6 billion in its operations, including licences.
Some MYR2.8 billion (USD842.2 million) of Malaysias Universal Service Provision (USP) fund will be spent on a number of National Broadband Initiative (NBI) programmes that are currently being prepared, Bernama reports. As of March 2010 the USP fund totalled MYR4.5 billion, of which MYR1.7 billion has already been earmarked for the construction of 447 telecoms towers, of which two-thirds will be located in Sabah and Sarawak. Under existing legislation all of Malaysias licensed telecoms operators, barring Content Applications Service Provider (CASP) licence holders, contributed 6% of their weighted net revenue to the USP fund last year.As part of its NBI, Malaysia is committed to achieving a broadband penetration level of 50% by the end of 2010. Commenting on the plans for the investment, Tan Sri Khalid Ramli, chairman of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), said: We have already set our target for urban, outskirt and rural penetration and this involves various technologies. In terms of rural broadband penetration, both the government and the private sector should assume an important role. Khalid also revealed that more details of specific NBI programmes will be announced by the Malaysian prime minister on 24 March 2010.
Irelands telecoms regulator the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has published its latest market report for the three months ended 31 December 2009. The report shows that broadband internet penetration in the Republic, including mobile broadband subscriptions, stood at 32.4% by the year end, up from 30.5% at 3Q09. Excluding the impact of mobile broadband however, which is proving to be a popular option, the penetration rate falls to 21.9% - based on data from the Central Statistics Office which gives the population as 4,459,300. The regulator is also mindful that its 32.4% rate could be skewed by double counting of people owning both a fixed and mobile broadband subscription. Nonetheless, household broadband penetration continues to grow, reaching 61% by the start of this year, from 59.4% in the third quarter.The popularity of Wi-Fi hotspots is waning though. ComRegs report says the number of Wi-Fi hotspots dipped to 1,357 at the end of 2009, down 5% year-on-year, even though the total for Wi-Fi access points climbed 8% over the same period to 3,561. Usage of Wi-Fi hotspots is also falling. In the final trimester of last year average usage per hotspot was down 3.4% y-o-y, reflecting the impact of decreased network traffic in the economic downturn. The recession is also evident in terms of overall telecommunications revenues in the Republic in Q409, which dipped 2.3% year-on-year to EUR974 million. Despite this fall, the total amount of voice call minutes in Q409 increased 1.4% to more than 4.8 billion minutes, driven by an 84 million increase in mobile voice call minutes, ComReg said.
Telecommunications Management Group, Inc, (TMG) announces an update to its highly acclaimed A Primer on Mobile Termination Rates. The new report, Mobile Termination Rate Update 2010, features mobile termination rates for 140 economies worldwide. The mobile termination rate (MTR) is the wholesale price that mobile operators charge for terminating calls on their networks. This, in turn, can impact the retail price that consumers pay for their mobile phone service.
The new report finds that MTRs have declined 34% since 2005, with the average global MTR standing at 8.4 U.S. cents in 2009. TMG believes that MTRs will continue to drop due to ongoing regulatory intervention to align interconnection rates with costs, with the world average reaching around 4 U.S. cents in four years (2013). There is great diversity in MTRs between and within regions around the world. The Latin America/Caribbean and European regions have the highest average MTRs at more than 10 U.S. cents per minute. By contrast, the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa regions have the lowest MTRs with an average of around 5 U.S. cents.
The report finds a close link between the MTRs and mobile phone usage. The highest level of usage is found in countries without calling party pays (e.g., where the party receiving the call rather than the calling party pays for call termination and where MTRs are not used) or where MTRs are very low.
The report facilitates wholesale mobile interconnection rate benchmarking between countries by including MTRs in both U.S. dollars and purchasing power parity prices (which adjusts for differences in the level of income between nations). The report also identifies which countries do not use MTRs and includes key mobile market metrics for 40 major economies.
Source: Telecommunications Management Group, Inc.
Omani incumbent fixed line operator Oman Telecommunications (Omantel) has announced the launch of its new fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in parts of Muscat, Zawya reports. Omantel partnered with Huawei Technologies for the rollout of the new infrastructure, which provides broadband internet at download speeds of up to 80Mbps and also supports services such as video on demand (VoD) and high definition (HD) television. The introduction of FTTH using the Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology from Huawei is a remarkable leap in the application of modern communications technology that can provide a comprehensive variety of entertainment options for both the home and business users through a high speed connection network, commented Samy Al Ghassany, Vice President of Integrated Network and Technology at Omantel, adding: Introducing leading edge technology of this nature will help to bring residents together in high speed. The telcos FTTH network is being deployed in the newly developed residential areas of Muscat Hills and The Wave.
The UAEs Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has published its licensing framework for the provision of voice-over-IP (VoIP), announcing that only the Sultanates four licensed telecoms operators Etisalat, Du, and satellite companies Thuraya and Yahsat will be allowed to offer the service. International companies, such as Skype, remain barred from providing internet telephony, although they have the option of joining forces with one of the four local operators to legally offer the service. Mohammed Gheyath, executive director at the TRA, commented: The TRA believes that this regulatory policy will provide opportunities for both licensees and users to benefit from VoIP-based services in keeping with the market demands. The TRA looks forward to seeing the introduction of VoIP services that are responsive to consumer and business needs. Previously, Etisalat and Du were the only companies allowed to provide internal VoIP services within the UAE, which banned international internet-based calls in 2004. With the relevant infrastructure already in place, incumbent Etisalat has been able to immediately launch a VoIP service for enterprise customers.
As at 31 December 2009 France was home to a total of 19.69 million broadband and ultra high speed broadband subscribers, the national regulator Arcep says in its preliminary market review. The watchdogs findings show that the total number of subscriptions increased by 540,000 during the fourth quarter, while the yearly increase was around 1.87 million, or 10% per annum. Of the full total reported at end-2009, 19.40 million were classed as broadband subscriptions, including 18.50 million connections - 95% of the total up 470,000 quarter-on-quarter. Meanwhile, the number of ultra high speed broadband subscriptions was estimated at 290,000 by end-2009, including 70,000 FTTx (mainly fibre-to-the-home) and 220,000 were very high speed broadband access with fibre-optci cable terminated with coaxial. Under the watchdogs classification system ultra-high speed subscriptions are those whose peak download speed is more than 50Mbps and the peak upload rate is greater than 5Mbps.
The Dutch broadband market numbered more than six million subscribers at the end of December 2009, writes Telecompaper. The total number of connections stood at 6.06 million at that date, up 1.3% (or 77.000) quarter-on-quarter. DSL continues to be the most popular access technology, accounting for 3.535 million of the total, albeit that the number of xDSL-based lines dipped 0.2%, or 7,100 lines, in Q4, while the number of cable modem-based subscriptions rose 2.8% to 2.358 million. The net addition of 63,700 cable broadband lines in the period under review helped push the platforms share of the pie up 0.6 percentage points to 38.9% by the year end. Despite the continued dominance of the two technologies, strong uptake was recorded for FTTx connections which doubled to 2.8% of the market by end-2009. By the start of 2010 broadband penetration per household in the Netherlands reached 58.3%, up 2.3% year-on-year, while penetration by population stood at 36.6%, up from 35.4% previously. KPNs retail arm was the largest broadband provider in the country by end-2009, with 1.83 million DSL customers bolstered by the inclusion of former Het Net customers. As at 31 December, KPNs market share was 30.2%, up from 19.4%, ahead of cablecos Zesko Holding (Ziggo) with 1.447 million customers, a market share of 23.9%, and UPC Nederland with 741,700 customers, a 12.2% market share. As a result of the demise of Het Net, Tele2 became the fourth largest broadband ISP in the country by subscribers with 398,500 DSL customers, a market share of 6.6%.
British fixed line incumbent BT Group has at last begun offering triple-play bundles incorporating fixed line voice, high speed internet and IPTV, taking advantage of telecoms regulator Ofcoms decision in September 2009 to lift restrictions that previously prohibited such packages. To celebrate the new range of offers BT has revealed it will discount its new bundles until 23 March 2010, and commenting on the launch John Petter, managing director of BTs Consumer Division, said: Over the last twelve months, 3.6 million of our customers have moved to calls packages, where you dont pay for every call. Offering a bundle of broadband and Anytime calls for this knockdown price will launch us into the bundles market as an unrestricted competitor for the first time. There will be many more bundled offers to come and customers can only benefit. BTs initial top-level triple play package will give customers unlimited fixed geographic calls, internet at speeds of up to 20Mbps and its Vision Gold Value IPTV service for GBP48.99 (USD74.16) per month; under the introductory offer it will reduce this cost to GBP35.99 for the first three months.
Data just released by the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) shows that the country was home to a total of 17.642 million fixed and mobile subscriptions at the end of 2009, up from 13.130 million a year earlier, a combined teledensity of 43% (32%, 2008). Of the total subscriptions recorded at end-2009 17.469 million were cellular connections to one of the countrys leading mobile operators. Market leader Vodacom attracted 1.475 million new users last year for a total of 6.883 million, while second-placed Zain (Celtel) signed up a net 1.048 million new users in the period for a total of 4.910 million. Zain, however, failed to reach its own stated goal of six million customers by the end of last year. Third place operator Tigo boosted its base to 4.178 million by the end of 2009, and Zantel Mobile once the nation's fastest growing cellco added roughly 300,000 net new customers during the period for a total of 1.378 million. Trailing far behind the big four, the mobile arm of fixed line operator TTCL added just 10,000 subscribers for a total of 115,681, and Benson Informatics Limited (BOL), which lost 300 subscribers in 2008, had 3,101 data-only subscribers, up 101 since the start of the year.In the fixed line segment, TCRA reported 172,922 fixed lines in service as at 31 December 2009, up from 123,809 at the start of the year, but only marginally higher than the 163,269 counted at 31 December 2007. National PSTN operator Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd (TTCL) claimed the lion's share with 157,321 lines at end-2009 (its December 2008 figure was 116,265 after it disconnected a number of active lines), with Zanzibar Telecommunications' (Zantel's) fixed line division taking the remainder.
Semi-autonomous Zanzibar is investing upwards of USD150 million in the next two years on power projects to alleviate power outages, but also including USD75 million on an undersea cable that will incorporate fibre-optic cables that will connect the island to an international undersea telecoms network. Funding for the project, which will be completed in April and will connect the smaller Pemba island to power from Tanga region in mainland Tanzania, is being sourced from the Norwegian government, a spokesman said.
The digital divide, like many other economic or social problems, is a global issue.
From the most switched on countries such as Sweden to the poorest nations in Africa there is a widening gap between those with access to technology and those without.
The gap between countries on the same continent is also getting wider.
According to figures from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Sweden has a mere 12% of its population offline compared to 56.5% in Greece.
The scale of a country's digital divide reflects the condition of its economy, says ITU analyst Vanessa Gray.
"In Sweden there is a population that is highly educated and a culture of trying new things whereas in Greece income levels and educational levels are lower," she said.
League tables are important to keep nations on their toes, she thinks.
"Being able to compare gives them the incentive to do better. Governments need to know where they stand and learn from other countries," she says.
Finland, which currently has around 13% of its population offline, is so confident it can solve its digital inclusion problems it has recently declared internet access to be a basic human right.
Its public libraries have moved beyond being places where people can gain their first experiences online to offering laptop doctors who trouble-shoot a wide range of technology issues.
Wi-fi villages
Eastern Europe has traditionally lagged behind its western counterparts in terms of economics but countries such as Hungary are investing heavily in high-speed fibre-optic cables.
According to figures from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Sweden has a mere 12% of its population offline compared to 56.5% in Greece.
The scale of a country's digital divide reflects the condition of its economy, says ITU analyst Vanessa Gray.
"In Sweden there is a population that is highly educated and a culture of trying new things whereas in Greece income levels and educational levels are lower," she said.
League tables are important to keep nations on their toes, she thinks.
"Being able to compare gives them the incentive to do better. Governments need to know where they stand and learn from other countries," she says.
Finland, which currently has around 13% of its population offline, is so confident it can solve its digital inclusion problems it has recently declared internet access to be a basic human right.
Its public libraries have moved beyond being places where people can gain their first experiences online to offering laptop doctors who trouble-shoot a wide range of technology issues.
Wi-fi villages
Eastern Europe has traditionally lagged behind its western counterparts in terms of economics but countries such as Hungary are investing heavily in high-speed fibre-optic cables.
Despite the blue sky thinking on infrastructure, Hungary has no national e-inclusion policy and there are concerns that the networks will be far more sophisticated than citizens' understanding or use of them.
There are some efforts to conquer the problem and a wi-fi village programme is reaching out to those of its population living in rural poverty, 80% of whom are Roma or Gypsies.
So far 115 rural villages have been provided with wi-fi, offering internet access to 2,000 families living below the poverty line. The target for this year is to reach 30,000.
As well as providing the infrastructure, the project also sells recycled PCs to local Roma people for about 80 euros.
The PCs run Linux and users are trained to user Google's web applications such as Gmail and Google Docs.
One villager managed to make contact with an old friend and secured temporary jobs for himself and 20 other villagers on a construction site for a new road.
Others have started e-learning programmes while one resident used his new-found skill to make a movie about Roma culture which is on YouTube and has been watched by 90,000 people.
Barren deserts
Keeping people that are part of minority communities in touch with their culture is an invaluable service that the internet can perform.
As one of the world's most advanced economies, the US is often held up as a weathervane for the state of the internet. While internet access is high in America in general, use among Native Americans stands at less than 10% according to a study conducted by the New America Foundation (NAF).
Even analogue phone lines only reach one in three families in many tribal communities, while less than 10% of respondents to a major NAF survey had universal mobile phone coverage in their community.
"Tribal homelands have stood like barren deserts in pockets across the technology-rich lands of the United States," says report author Sascha Meinrath.
The NAF study drew together views from more than 120 tribes living in 28 states across America.
It found that connected Native Americans paid substantially more for their internet access but those who are connected, use their connection more widely than the national average.
RezKast, the first Native American YouTube is currently sweeping through the community and the internet has had some more life-changing impacts too.
Five clinics in Leech Lake, a reservation with 16 villages and 4,079 residents, is using telemedicine.
It allows individuals from remote communities to access specialised health care
"This is saving peoples' lives," said network director Frank Reese.
Mr Meinrath thinks the example of the Native Americans can be replicated around the world as long as there is a willingness to teach skills alongside making kit and access available.
"It is incredibly rare that broadband connectivity won't improve the lives of those who use it effectively, in much the same way that books improve the lives of the literate. However, providing books to everyone doesn't help those who cannot read in the first place," he said.
It could be time for a major rethink on how to deal with the digital divide he thinks.
"When it comes to broadband connectivity, the era of 'if you build it, they will come', is rapidly drawing to a close in industrialised countries," he said.
"Now we need to begin far more holistic interventions to reach those remaining offline. And if some folks claim to simply not want to be online, that's their choice - though I view it as akin to pridefully claiming that you don't read books."
Source: BBC News
The sub-Saharan Africa telecommunications market will be characterized by regulatory developments and continued investment in broadband infrastructure by various submarine and terrestrial cable operators, according to latest research by IDC, making 2010 a defining year for Africa's telecoms sector. The FIFA 2010 World Cup will be a watershed moment for African infrastructure, determining the robustness and relevance of submarine cable systems, terrestrial backhaul networks, metro networks, and more.
"Despite the poor economic conditions that prevailed in 2009, the African telecommunications market will move another step forward in 2010," says Regional Manager Francis Hook, IDC East Africa, "with further regulatory developments that are already gradually opening up the market for increased competition and advanced services."
The next wave of interest by investors and pan-African operators will be in terrestrial broadband networks in the largely untapped Central Africa region, leading to a further reduction in prices. Africa will still experience broadband access gaps in 2010, however, as operators will tend to go after the low-hanging fruit of the business market before addressing smaller market segments. Thus, satellite connectivity will remain relevant in 2010, particularly in outlying and rural areas.
"Developments in broadband connectivity, triggered by various submarine systems due to go live in 2010, will heavily impact the wider market, although last-mile access and affordability will be key challenges that need to be addressed," says Hook. "Mobile broadband will prevail as fixed-line services continue down the road to a gradual but inevitable demise."
"Despite the poor economic conditions that prevailed in 2009, the African telecommunications market will move another step forward in 2010," says Regional Manager Francis Hook, IDC East Africa, "with further regulatory developments that are already gradually opening up the market for increased competition and advanced services."
The next wave of interest by investors and pan-African operators will be in terrestrial broadband networks in the largely untapped Central Africa region, leading to a further reduction in prices. Africa will still experience broadband access gaps in 2010, however, as operators will tend to go after the low-hanging fruit of the business market before addressing smaller market segments. Thus, satellite connectivity will remain relevant in 2010, particularly in outlying and rural areas.
"Developments in broadband connectivity, triggered by various submarine systems due to go live in 2010, will heavily impact the wider market, although last-mile access and affordability will be key challenges that need to be addressed," says Hook. "Mobile broadband will prevail as fixed-line services continue down the road to a gradual but inevitable demise."
Research for 2009 showed that Africa's telecoms channel accounted for 3-4% of all mobile/portable units shipped. Governments will continue efforts toward higher penetration among citizens, particularly in rural areas, and are likely to see mobile phones as a way of saving money and communicating with citizens. Currently, African mobile penetration rates average 25-45% of the entire population, but the rate for the adult population, with which governments would be interacting, is roughly 70-80%.
As well, operators and vendors will be looking more closely at social networking, news portals, and other content to grow data revenue, which will entail providing relevant content in local languages. As the availability of low-cost devices is an important factor in the adoption of these offerings, telcos will become an increasingly important channel for notebook, netbook, and smartphone vendors.
Source: Cellular News
Telecom Argentina reported revenues of ARS 12.26 billion in 2009, up 15 percent year-on-year. Net income for the period reached ARS 1.4 billion, up by 46 percent versus 2008. Mobile revenues rose 16 percent to ARS 8.06 billion, while fixed-line revenues increased 14 percent to ARS 4.1 billion. OIBDA improved 17 percent to ARS 3.9 billion. The operator's mobile unit Personal gained 1.9 million new customers in the year, for a total of 14.5 million at the end of December. Of the total 69 percent are prepaid and 31 percent are postpaid. Nucleo, the company's mobile unit in Paraguay, had 1.8 million customers at the end of the period, down 1 percent from a year earlier. The fixed division increased the number of lines in service by 2 percent from a year earlier to 4.36 million, and the number of ADSL customers rose 17 percent year-on-year to 1.2 million users at end-December. ARPU for fixed customers climbed 1 percent in 2009 to ARS 40.
Source: TelecomPaper
Polish regulator UKE announced the launch of the project to support broadband networks construction. On 4 March UKE received information that the Ministry of Interior and Administration approving the project to support construction of broadband internet access networks, as part of the Operational Programme Innovative Economy - POIG). UKE will advise on the investments within the Regional Operational Programme, the Operational Programme Development of Eastern Poland and the objectives 8.3 and 8.4 of POIG concerning digital inclusion and last-mile internet access. In the years 2007-2013 Poland can use about EUR 1 billion for local and regional broadband networks. After 30 months only 2 percent of the amount (EUR 18 million) has been spent. The regulator urged that the financing is used efficiently even though there are no tools to pressure investors to focus on particular regions. Although the regulator does not have decision-making powers (relevant ministries do), it wants to provide advice and assist in implementation of investment projects. The UKE chairman also provided information on the status of operational programmes. Within the Regional Operational Programme six contracts were signed and EUR 16.6 million was spent, which represents 3 percent of available resources (EUR 579 million).
Within the measure 8.3 digital inclusion, 50 contracts were signed on co-financing for approximately EUR 21.5 million, which represents 5.9 percent of available resources (EUR 364 million). Within the measure 8.4 last mile, eleven contracts were signed amounting to EUR 1.4 million, which is 0.7 percent of available resources of EUR 200 million. Within the Operational Programme Development of Eastern Poland no contract has been signed yet and the project is at the stage of feasibility assessment. Total available funds are EUR 300 million. For the Rural Development Programme EUR 59 million shall be allocated. Municipalities and their associations shall be the beneficiaries. The measures are available since December 2009.
Telefonica's research and development unit is currently developing a mobile phone that enables users to send SMS, as well as make and receive voice calls in areas without mobile network coverage. Mobile communication is made possible via an application installed on the mobile device. All mobile phone owners using this application form a network in which their phones would serve as signal repeaters, El Mundo reports. The connectivity application would establish direct wireless data connections between two mobile devices that are relatively close to each other. The devices would form a network in which two phones that are 100 meters away from each other could share data and voice calls without requiring coverage.
A U.S.-based organization that promotes the use of the Internet is urging leaders in east Africa to make the Internet accessible and affordable to all of their citizens. The leaders are gathering in Nairobi for a regional summit due to begin Tuesday.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) says by expanding the reach and affordability of the Internet, African countries can vastly help improve the economic future of the people on the continent. Speaking at an ICANN-hosted Internet conference in Nairobi Monday, CEO Rod Beckstrom noted that Africa, which has 15 percent of the world's population, is home to less than seven percent of Internet users worldwide.
"If you look at our vision of 'One world, one Internet, everyone connected,' it finishes with everyone connected," said Beckstrom. "Well, there are a billion people in Africa that need to be on-line for everyone to be connected."According to the figures provided by African Internet providers, Internet usage in east Africa is wildly uneven. For example, more than 10 percent of the 41 million people living in Sudan use the Internet on a regular basis. But less than one-half of one percent of Ethiopia's 85 million people has access.
Sudan and Ethiopia, along with Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda, make up the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Heads of IGAD are due to meet on Tuesday at Nairobi's Kenyatta International Conference Center, where the ICANN conference is also being hosted.Beckstrom urged IGAD countries to take the lead in ending state-run telecommunications monopolies, which he says help keep Internet services unaffordable for many people. He says not having access to the Internet denies citizens the chance to engage in online commerce, a field that is growing in importance as the world becomes increasingly connected through the Internet.
"If you look at our vision of 'One world, one Internet, everyone connected,' it finishes with everyone connected," said Beckstrom. "Well, there are a billion people in Africa that need to be on-line for everyone to be connected."According to the figures provided by African Internet providers, Internet usage in east Africa is wildly uneven. For example, more than 10 percent of the 41 million people living in Sudan use the Internet on a regular basis. But less than one-half of one percent of Ethiopia's 85 million people has access.
Sudan and Ethiopia, along with Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda, make up the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Heads of IGAD are due to meet on Tuesday at Nairobi's Kenyatta International Conference Center, where the ICANN conference is also being hosted.Beckstrom urged IGAD countries to take the lead in ending state-run telecommunications monopolies, which he says help keep Internet services unaffordable for many people. He says not having access to the Internet denies citizens the chance to engage in online commerce, a field that is growing in importance as the world becomes increasingly connected through the Internet.
"We hope the African heads of state of IGAD will walk across the hallway and join our meeting because that is a few small steps for them, but a huge leap for Africa - for more visibility and leadership of the heads of state in the Internet policy area - because the Internet is truly the developmental platform for the future," he added. Last July, a fiber optic cable went live off the Kenyan coast, putting the countries of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda on the global information superhighway for the first time.East Africa had been the only region in the world not connected through fiber optic cables. For years, businesses suffered because they had to rely on expensive satellites to connect to the Internet. Many passed down those costs to consumers, hurting the poor in the region.
This article was originally published by Voice of America.
Source:Cellular News
Paraguay's mobile network operators achieved a 12% year-on-year rise in overall service revenues in 2009 to USD604 million, reports BNamericas quoting figures from the economy ministry. In 2008 mobile firms Claro, Tigo, Personal and Hola billed USD517 million, up 16.6% compared to 2007, according to previous reports.
A number of Burundian telecoms operators have joined forces to build out a national fibre-optic backbone network in the small African country, aided by the World Bank. The so-called Burundi Backbone Systems group, which includes incumbent PTO Onatel, mobile operator Leo (formerly U-Com), Africell (owned by V-Tel and Palestinian Paltel), Econet Burundi and domestic ISP CBI Net. Balancing Act reports that Burundi Backbone Systems will oversee the development of a 1,200km backbone and several international fibre links connecting the country to its neighbours in the next 18 months. The World Bank is contributing money to the scheme which will provide coverage throughout Burundi with cables laid alongside road routes, with 26 different nodes.
Brazilian mobile operator TIM Brasil plans to extend its 3G mobile network coverage to around 60% of the population by 2012, BNamericas quotes the companys chief executive Luca Luciani as saying. In an interview, the CEO went on to say he expects the countrys overall telecoms market to expand by more than 5% per annum, in revenue terms, over the three-year period. According to TeleGeographys GlobalComms Database, TIM Brasil is controlled by European telecoms operator Telecom Italia and ended 2009 with 41.1 million subscribers, up 12.9% from the end of 2008, and representing a market share of 23.6%. Total net additions in the fourth quarter came to 4.7 million lines, or 20.2% of total market net additions. Average revenue per user (ARPU) was BRL27.0 in 4Q09, a growth of 1.7% when compared to the previous quarter. The cellcos GSM network covered 94% of the countrys urban population, serving around 2,958 cities, as at 31 December 2009. As for data coverage, TIM provides GPRS technology to 100% of its footprint, while 77% is covered through EDGE technology, it said. In addition, TIMs 3G coverage included more than 57 cities at the end of 2009 reaching 30% of the urban population in Brazil.
Moroccan operator Wana has launched its GSM mobile services under the name Inwi. The third mobile operator said its network covers three-quarters of the population. Wana, which already offers CDMA fixed wireless and mobile voice and internet services under the name Bayn, was awarded the GSM licence in early 2009. The new mobile services include a prepaid offering with per-second billing as well as four postpaid plans with free on-net calls and a range of corporate offers.
Inwi also offers daily and weekly unlimited SMS plans, BlackBerry services, prepaid and postpaid 3G mobile internet using a USB modem, a Windows Live Messenger service, roaming and a wide range of handsets from Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and Motorola. The company will compete against incumbent Maroc Telecom and Meditel on the GSM market.
Over 71 million Europeans use their mobile phones to access the internet in a typical week. Europeans spend almost an hour a day and 6.4 hours per week going online via their mobile, according to a study by the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA). Almost a quarter (24%) of 16-24 year olds and 21 percent of 25-34 year olds access mobile internet services, spending 7.2 and 6.6 hours on it respectively each week. The internet continues to prove a popular source of entertainment with one quarter of Europeans (25%) gaming or listening to the radio online (25%), and one third watching films, TV or video clips online (32%) at least once a month. Of the overall users of internet-enabled handsets, nearly 49 percent claim to receive video clips, websites or images on their mobile and 80 percent say that they pass on the content they receive. Additionally, over 71 percent of European internet users admit that they stay in touch with friends and relatives more as a result of the internet. Around 16 percent of them communicate using social media via their mobile, while 16 percent also use mobile IM services. The study also found that 36 percent of European use the internet while watching TV. Some 46 percent of European households own at least one laptop and 121 million or 52 percent of Europeans use wireless broadband connections.
According to the Mediascope Europe study from the EIAA, Poland tops the chart of markets that spend the most time on mobile internet with 10.3 hours spent online each week, followed by Italy (7.9 hours), Belgium and Portugal (7.7 hours), and Russia (7.1 hours). There are more mobile internet users in Turkey compared to those that access internet via their PC (21% versus 20%), which indicates that consumers will engage with new platforms if it makes the internet more accessible for their everyday lives.
The European Commission has proposed extending broadband access to the entire EU by 2013 and providing the whole region with access to speeds of at least 30Mbps by 2020. The targets form part of its 'Digital Agenda for Europe'. The EC would also like to see 50 percent or more of European households taking internet at over 100Mbps. In order to realise the goals, the EU will continue to work on encouraging investments in broadband infrastructure and developing an efficient spectrum policy, as well as devoting structural funds to broadband expansion. The EC also wants to create a single market for online content and services, including multi-territorial licences for copyrighted material, a European stake in global internet governance and further digitisation of Europe's cultural heritage. Additional measures may include a reform of research and innovation funds in order to increase support for the ICT sector in key strategic fields, support high-growth SMEs and stimulate ICT innovation across all business sectors.
The EC also wants more work on promoting internet use and digital literacy among Europeans. The proposals are part of the much broader EU 2020 plan presented by the commission, which proposes a range of strategies to get the EU out of the economic crisis and back on a growth path. The EC asked the member states to ensdorse the plans at the spring European Council meeting.
Orange Jordan has launched its 3G+ network, expecting that some two million Jordanians will be covered by the service by the summer of this year. The 3G services will be offered in the market in three phases, Orange Jordan's CEO Nayla Khawam said during the launch in Amman. Under the first phase, the services will initially cover west Amman, Irbid and Zarqa, while in April the network coverage will expand to cover the entire capital. Orange also plans to cover Aqaba with 3G services by late April. During the summer, network coverage will have reached most urban locations in Jordan, delivering services to approximately 70 per cent of populated areas, which translates to around two million people, she said.
In August last year, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission granted the group a JOD 50 million licence to introduce 3G services. The group will enjoy a year of exclusivity from the date when the service becomes commercially operational, after which other mobile operators will be allowed to introduce 3G services should they meet the same conditions met by the group. Khawam said the 3G network will deliver a host of new services, such as video calling, mobile broadband, access to exclusive personalised and live TV - all of which will be reasonably priced in accordance with regional standards.
Japanese mobile operators added 488,600 new subscribers in February to reach a total of 111.52 million mobile subscribers, figures from the Telecommunications Carrier Association (TCA) show. NTT Docomo led in subscriber additions in February as it added 148,300 new customers to bring its total to 55.69 million. Softbank Mobile gained 145,800 new subscribers during the month to reach a total of 21.99 million, while KDDI ended February with 31.57 million subscribers after adding 121,400 new customers. Emobile won 73,100 new customers and ended the month with 2.26 million customers in total. PHS provider Willcom shed 69,600 customers, which brings the company's total to 4.17 million. Willcom recently filed for bankruptcy and has begun a rehabilitation process.
Peru's minister of transport and communications Enrique Cornejo has announced that, for the rest of his term of office, the ministry will focus on laying the foundations for sustained development of data transmission via broadband networks across the country. For this purpose, the minister set up a temporary committee that will develop the National Plan for Broadband Development in Peru. The commission has 120 days to develop the strategy.
The committee will initially assess the level of broadband access in Peru, as well as the technology used and the infrastructure deployed at national level, and will identify the barriers that limit broadband deployments. The group will then propose the guidelines, strategies and actions to be taken to support the development of the national broadband network. At 30 September 2009, Peru had 852,900 broadband connections.
The US Federal Communications Commission has unveiled plans to extend the country's universal service fund to broadband services.
The proposals will form part of the National Broadband Plan, to be presented to Congress on 17 March. The proposal would create a Connect America fund inside the Universal Service programme to subsidize broadband, and a Mobility Fund to expand the reach of 3G mobile networks, Blair Levin, the FCC official overseeing the broadband plan, told a press briefing. The Universal Service Fund currently subsidizes phone service for the poor and in remote areas, funds internet access in schools and libraries and pays for high-speed connections for rural health clinics. Funding for the USD 8-billion-a-year programme comes from a surcharge that businesses and consumers pay on their long-distance bills. The agency's plan will lay out several options to pay for the proposals, including one that would require no additional money from Congress and one that would accelerate the construction of broadband networks if Congress approves a one-time injection of USD 9 billion, AP reported from the briefing. Either way, Levin said, the proposal would not increase the annual size of the Universal Service Fund, but rather would take money from subsidies now used for voice services. The FCC would also seek to save money by subsidizing no more than one broadband provider in an area. Levin said Connect America would not favor one technology over another, be it cable, DSL or wireless.
The FCC proposal also envisions revamping the multibillion-dollar "intercarrier compensation" system for interconnection. Changes to the USF would affect revenues for rural carriers dependent on the funding, so changes would also be needed in the interconnection regime. The operators' industry group USTelecom said it welcomed the progress towards reform and plans to work with the commission on details of the plan.
Telkom Kenya has announced that it will shift its strategic focus in 2010 as it attempts to recover following a net loss of KES10 billion (USD124.6 million) in 2009, reports Business Daily. Telkom Kenya generated revenues of KES11 billion but turned the net loss as higher levels of competition saw industry profit levels plummet as operators dropped their prices to gain market share. Telkom Kenya CEO, Mickael Ghossein, said the company had encountered severe conditions in the last trading year that had affected its ability to generate profits. He added: We are now focusing on providing quality services, innovating and providing value for money. Our grand plan is to move the market towards true broadband connectivity, offering speeds of up to 8Mbps.
Bahrain's telecoms regulator, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has decided that it is time to start regulating the mobile termination rates of both the country's mobile networks. Although Batelco's rates are currently regulated, the rates applied by rival operator, Zain had been untouched.
The TRA said that it considers that it is now time to address this differential treatment between Batelco and Zain, given the significant growth of Zain since its entry 6 years ago, and at a time when the third mobile operator is expected to launch soon. This will provide additional certainty to existing licensed operators as well as the third mobile operator with regards to mobile termination rates.Dr. Mohammed Al Amer TRA's Chairman and Acting General Director said "This determination is not only important to operators who terminate communications on the mobile networks but also to consumers of one network trying to communicate with consumers on other mobile networks. In fact, termination rates are ultimately recovered through retail prices charged to consumers. Regulating termination rates are consistent with TRA's mission to protect the interest of consumers and to promote competition."
Dr. Mohammed went on to say "Regulators have the duty to step in when the normal operation of market forces is deficient. Termination on mobile networks is one such example of market failure. Termination constitutes a bottleneck on which there is structurally limited room for competitive pressures. If left unregulated, mobile termination rates would be set above the competitive level which will be detrimental to consumers. The Determination launched recently will pave the way for equal treatment between Batelco and Zain, and provides clear direction for the third mobile operator."
The Determination on Mobile Termination can be viewed on TRA's website www.tra.org.bh
According to local newspaper JoongAng Daily, citing the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), a bill passed last week by South Koreas National Assembly will pave the way for the entry of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). Any company can pursue such a business if it meets the criteria, said Shin Yong-seop, communications policy director at the KCC. The bill will take effect in September, and we will be drawing up criteria to select new operators. The report says that regulator has been working to reform South Koreas mobile market for some time, criticizing KDDI, SK Telecom and LG Telecom for charging excessively high prices and spending too much on marketing efforts that do not add quality to their services.
Orange Jordan has launched its 3G network and has said that some two million Jordanians will be covered by the network by the end of the summer. The W-CDMA network will be rolled out in three phases, according to Orange Jordan's CEO Nayla Khawam. Under the first phase roll out will include west Amman, Irbid and Zarqa, while in April coverage will be expanded to cover the entire capital and Aqaba. By summer 2010 network coverage will include most urban locations, delivering services to approximately 70% of populated areas, equivalent to around two million people.In August last year the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) granted Orange a JOD50 million (USD70 million) licence to introduce 3G services. The company will enjoy a year of exclusivity, beginning today, after which other mobile operators will be allowed to introduce 3G services should they agree to the same licence conditions.
Bahrain's third mobile network launched commercial services yesterday as Saudi Telecom Company (STC) subsidiary Viva Bahrain opened its doors to customers. Trade Arabia News Service reports that Vivas services are available across Bahrain, and include mobile broadband access at speeds of up to 21Mbps, packaged with unlimited downloads, whilst up to five people can enjoy wireless broadband at peak speeds of 7.2Mbps via a single router. For the next three months, Viva is offering free calls and SMS within its Bahraini network and free calls to STC numbers in Saudi Arabia. It is also offering up to 90% discounts on calls made to 18 popular international destinations. Vivas post-paid handset bundles come with up to 200MB of inclusive data usage per month, whilst its 3G-enabled pre-paid SIM cards are available for BHD2 (USD5.3), with an additional offer of 24% more credit each time the SIM is recharged, the company announced. STC has invested USD200 million in Bahrain to date and expects to spend several hundred million dollars in the next few years. Viva Bahrain CEO Abdulrahman Al Omar commented on the launch: We plan to compete in the Bahraini market by providing innovative services that meet the needs of the market and enrich the level of services, whether voice or data transmission or even high speed broadband.
Portugal Telecom has posted net profit of EUR683.9 million (USD934.3 million) for the year ended 31 December 2009, up 18.7% year-on-year from EUR576.1 million in 2008. Revenues grew from EUR6.72 billion in 2008 to EUR6.78 billion a year later as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed 0.9% from EUR2.48 billion in FY08 to EUR2.5 billion at end-2009. The telco also saw its domestic fixed line customer base grow from 4.29 million at year-end 2008 to 4.58 million a year later as ADSL subscribership topped 862,000 at the same date, up from 710,000 in 2008. The company did however report a continued decline in PSTN connections over the year, down to 2.75 million from 2.84 million in 2008. The companys wireless arm Telecomunicacoes Moveis Nacionais (TMN) added 319,000 net new customers over the twelve-month period, ending 2009 with 7.25 million mobile subscribers in total.
As part of its latest round of service provider benchmarking analysis, TeleGeography has found that 16 leading service providers have grown their revenues by an average of 45% over the last three years, equating to some 13% per annum. As could be expected, those achieving the highest growth have been focused on wireless markets in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, India and China. Leading the growth charge are MTN, Bharti and Zain which have all more than doubled their revenues in the last three years. Despite being substantially larger companies than the top ranked three, America Movil, China Mobile and Vodafone have all recorded growth in the 45%-70% range. Of the companies covered in this research the only other to achieve similar growth is AT&T, which has achieved this via acquisition and reconsolidation of US service providers, rather than organic growth
While it is no surprise that four of the bottom ranked five companies are incumbent operators from four of Western Europes largest markets, the level of their growth (or more accurately the lack of it) will surprise many: in a nutshell all five have stood still for three years. BT and NTT are locked into their highly competitive and low-growth home markets, and are also primarily dependent on wireline markets. Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom have all taken great strides in the past to build businesses beyond their home countries; collectively they now generate over 55% of their revenues from beyond their home markets. However, over the last three years the trio have been held back by tough competition and diminishing growth in the Western European region, and, in the case of Deutsche Telekom, difficulties growing its US operation. The results of their efforts in Latin America and Eastern Europe have not been sufficiently robust to generate substantial revenue growth for the consolidated groups.So why does this matter? Absolute scale remains an important metric, but growth often has a more direct impact on profitability and the strength of a business said TeleGeographys John Dinsdale. The next five years will see the growth rate of telecoms markets drop to less than half of what has been experienced over the last five years. Those companies which are better equipped to meet and beat market growth rates will be more richly rewarded added Dinsdale.
The introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) in India looks set to face further delays, according to the Economic Times, on the back of security concerns raised by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It is understood that the ministrys worries over the MNP proposals have forced the Foreign Investment Promotion Board to defer its earlier approval of MNP Interconnection Solution as one of the two companies selected by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to oversee the introduction of the service. Concerns have been raised over the ownership structure of MNP Interconnection Solutions, with the MHA first voicing its objections in December 2009, with the ministry claiming that a number of shareholders in the company had no experience in running telecom services.Nonetheless, in a separate but related report by Dow Jones Newswires, it was noted that Andimuthu Raja, the Indian communications minister, said that, even with the expected delays, MNP should be launched by the first week of May. The introduction of MNP has seen a number of delays, having first been scheduled for implementation by 31 December 2009 in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai, as well as in the Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu circles. This deadline was subsequently pushed back to 31 March 2010, but again this now looks unlikely to be met.
Angola had a relatively modest total of 303,000 fixed line telephone connections at the end of 2009, but representing significant growth from a figure of 218,000 at end-2008, according to the National Communication Institute (INACOM), which made its statistics available to the Angola Press Agency (ANGOP). Meanwhile, the mobile market in the country continued to grow steadily, with the number of subscriptions reaching 8.7 million at the end of December 2009, up from 6.8 million twelve months previously.
Bangladesh's telecom minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju has told journalists that 3G licences will be awarded via a qualitative beauty contest procedure rather than a straightforward monetary auction, local newspaper The Daily Star reports. The minister said the state did not want to repeat mistakes made in the countrys WiMAX auctions, where licence prices were pushed up too high. Ahmed Abou Doma,CEO of the countrys second largest cellco by subscribers, Banglalink, agreed, saying: We welcome the telecom minister's comment on arranging a beauty contest to award the 3G licence, rather than monetary bidding... [which] ensures fastest and widest 3G coverage along with the highest service levels and quality for the customers. Market leader GrameenPhone, though, raised concerns about the potential for non-transparency when using selection methods other than a highest bidder auction.
A total of 1.141 million Hungarian households were receiving digital TV broadcast signals from one of the countrys 14 leading service providers at the end of 2009, a significant increase on the same time a year earlier, Broadband TV News reports citing data published by the National Communications Authority (NHH). In December alone, more than 23,000 homes signed up to one or other of the main digital TV suppliers, which between them account for 80%-85% of the total domestic market. As at 31 December, UPCs local unit was the leading digital TV provider by subscribers with a 31.9% market share, down from 32.1% in November. Second spot was claimed by Digi with 23.4% (23.9% in November) and Magyar Telekoms T-Home took 21.5% (20.8%). Previously, the watchdog estimated that of the countrys roughly 3.8 million homes with a TV, around three million take some form of television subscription.
Etisalat Afghanistan has celebrated the addition of its three millionth subscriber, and by its own calculation now controls 24% of the market share. With network coverage of 27 provinces, the company claims to have invested USD300 million in the country to date. Kheyal Mohammed, head of the Afghan telecommunications and information technology committee, said: The telecommunications sector of Afghanistan needed a strong player such as Etisalat. Etisalat Afghanistan has been worthy of our confidence. Etisalat has managed to accomplish in a short period of time what took other operators years to achieve. Now we see that the companys network has reached approximately 90% of Afghanistan, despite the security issues and geographical conditions. Without giving details Etisalat said its Afghani operation tripled revenues in 2009. According to TeleGeographys GlobalComms Etisalat competes with Afghan Wireless Communications Company, MTN Afghanistan and Telecom Development Company Afghanistan (Roshan).
Belarusian Telecommunications Network (BeST), which trades under the banner life:), has signed up more than 200,000 3G mobile users and is aiming to increase this to 500,000 by the end of the year, e-Belarus reports citing its CEO Ozcan Ermis as saying. Of the total, between 90,000 and 95,000 subscribers are classed as subscribing to plans which include mobile internet, while the remainder are using 3G services on an ad hoc basis. To date, life:) is the only Belarusian GSM-operator to have deployed a commercial 3G network. It hopes the head start will enable it to secure a roughly 70% market share of the UMTS segment.According to TeleGeographys GlobalComms Database, BeST signed up its one millionth user on 28 December 2009, and reported a fourfold increase in customers over the year to give it around 11% of the overall market by the start of 2010. On 3 November 2009, life:) launched the countrys first 3G network offering high speed internet connectivity at downlink speeds of up to 7.2Mbps and providing new services such as videocalling. The operator, which is 80%-owned by Turkish telecoms company Turkcell, with the remaining 20% in the hands of the Republic of Belarus, said that its 3G/3.5G network was available to residents in the capital Minsk and other major cities at launch.
Researchers at Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a method for mobile phones to convert silent mouth movements into speech. The technology is based on the principle of electromyography, that is the acquisition and recording of electrical potentials generated by muscle activity. This muscle activity is measured in the face and converted into speech.
An example is soundless calling.
The user can speak into the phone soundlessly, but is still understood by the conversation partner on the other end of the line. As a result, it is possible to communicate in silent environments, at the cinema or theater, without disturbing others. Another field of use is the transmission of confidential information.
For the transmission of passwords and PINs, for example, users can change seamlessly to soundless language and, hence, transmit confidential information in a tap-proof manner.
On the web: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Growth in fibre services delivered directly to homes and buildings accelerated n Europe in 2009. According to a report by market researcher Idate for the FTTH Council Europe, the number of FTTH/B subscribers rose 19 percent over the six months to December 2009 to 3.5 million and the number of homes and buildings passed increased 29 percent to over 25 million. The survey covered 36 countries in Europe, including Russia, which accounted for around 1 million of the subscribers. Excluding Russia, the majority of subscribers (77 percent) are concentrated in seven countries, in the following order: Sweden, Italy, France, Lithuania, Norway, The Netherlands and Denmark. Amongst them five countries now have more than 200,000 subscribers connected.
Idate identified 249 FTTH/B projects in Europe, of which 136 are new initiatives since June 2005. Municipalities and utilities are still the main players in FTTH/B deployments, representing 55.7 percent of the total number of projects. Alternative operators represent 28.7 percent of the total number of projects, but over 74 percent of homes/buildings passed. They also account for most of the subscribers, led by FastWeb in Italy, B2 of Sweden, Illiad/Free, Numericable and SFR in France, Orange Slovensko and T2 in Slovenia, which together had 841,500 subscribers, or around 24 percent of Europe's FTTH/B subscriber base (including Russia). Regarding technology deployed, Ethernet is still the first choice and represents 84 percent of total FTTH/B rollouts at end 2009.
The total number of registered SIM cards in Brazil jumped 1.64 million to 175.6 million last month, the second largest January hike ever recorded, as the nations cellcos continue to slug it out for new customers. According to data published by the industry regulator Anatel, the 50/50 joint venture between Telefonica and Portugal Telecom, Vivo Participacoes, maintained its leading position at the end of January with a 29.87% market share, up from 29.75% in December. Second spot was claimed by Telecom Americas (Claro), the local subsidiary of Mexico's America Movil, with 25.52% share, unchanged on the previous month. Third place was taken by TIM Participacoes (TIM Brasil) with 23.63%, also the same as for December, and ahead on Telemar Norte Lestes Oi with 20.61%, down from 20.73%.
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Hello, I am working witha phone i purchased because i know it is vulnerable to the blubug attack, I am following the blubug video tutorial by strome and everything works fine untill i connect with minicom. minicom connects, but the phone prompts the user (me) to accept or reject the connection. If i dont do anything in disconnects. If i select accept it disconnects then too. Any idea why the phone is prompting me and rejecting me?
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Product Description
Chuggington toys and vehicles are based on a popular animated TV series. Your child can recreate favorite Chuggington episodes or imagine new adventures with these characters. All Chuggington die-cast engines feature durable die-cast construction, realistic decoration, and secure front-and-back couplings. Conforms to the safety requirements of ASTM F963 and EN71. Age range: 3 years and up.
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