BuddeBlog

Effective October 2005, Chinese telcos can set their own tariff structure. China wants to liberalise the tariff structure to boost competition among the telcos. The decision was made by the MII and the National Development and Reform Commission, which is China’s main economic planning agency and a price regulator. The only restriction will be a maximum fee per minute, which will be set by the government.

See also:
China;
China – Regulatory Environment.

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Negotiations for a Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Andean Countries and the USA began in May 2004. Countries involved in the negotiations include: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and the USA. Bolivia is participating as an observer.

Despite delays, negotiators are aiming to complete the talks by end-2005, in order to allow the respective congresses to approve the agreement before upcoming elections in all three Andean countries.

The FTA is an international treaty that, once implemented, would regulate the trade and investment relationship between the parties in a comprehensive manner, with the aim of increasing trade and investment flows and contributing to the economic and social development of the signatory countries.

The FTA could have significant consequences for the Colombian telecom industry. The USA may seek to gain access to the provision of long distance telecom services, which would hit domestic long distance carriers. US companies may also offer aggressive tariffs in other value-added services, such as data transmission.

Colombian operators are concerned that if the FTA authorises local loop unbundling, US operators would be able to lease components of private networks in Colombia and concentrate their services in the more attractive market segments, that is to say high income and corporate segments. If such clients were to migrate away from local operators, the profitability of Colombian telcos may be at risk. Operators have therefore asked the government to ensure that, should the entrance of foreign companies be permitted, the regulatory framework will be the same for all national and international firms. For example, local operators are obliged by law to offer coverage in the entire territory.

In March 2005, US mobile operators AT&T, Sprint Corporation, MCI and NII Holding, as well as Colombian trunking operator Avantel, asked that mobile telephony be included in the FTA negotiations. The companies want mobile telephony to be subject to all rights and obligations included in the FTA for the telecom sector. This could both open the door for US mobile operators to offer services in Colombia, and for Colombian mobile operators to export their services to the USA.

See also:
Colombia – Key Statistics Telecom Market and Regulatory Overview;
Colombia – Fixed-Line Market and Infrastructure – Overview and Statistics;
Colombia – Mobile Market – Overview and Statistics.

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Statistics Canada has revealed that wireless telecom revenues grew 16%, to $2.5 billion, in Q1 2005. By the end of the first quarter Canada had over 15 million wireless subscribers, a penetration rate of 47%. Wireless generated nearly one-third of total telecom revenues in Canada. The adoption rate of wireless telecommunications in Canada still lags behind that of the United States by nearly three years. Wireline revenue fell 1.2% to $5.6 billion, and wireline network access lines fell by 1.2%, which was the thirteenth consecutive quarterly decline.

See also:
Canada – Major Telcos – Overview & Statistics.
Canada – Broadband Market Overview & Statistics

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In September 2005 ISP CallPlus had began a WiMAX trial at Gulf Harbour. The project follows a WiFi voice and data trial undertaken by Kiwi-fi, a business that had been integrated into CallPlus earlier in 2005. CallPlus will conduct the trial for 6 to 12 months. The trial involves installing base stations and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) into business and consumer environments.

See also:
New Zealand – Broadband Market – Overview and Providers;
New Zealand – Broadband Market – Wireless Broadband;
New Zealand – Broadband Market – Analysis.

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WiMAX was greeted enthusiastically in Colombia, where companies started to develop this technology already in 2004. By mid-2005, WiMAX antennae had been installed in Bucaramanga, Ibagué, Santa Marta and Bogotá.

The first company to launch WiMAX services in Colombia was S3 Wireless, in April 2005, when it rolled out its ‘WiMAX-Ready’ product in Bogotá, targeting corporate customers.

Avantel has shown a decided interest in developing WiMAX services, which it offers in Bogotá, Ibagué and Santa Marta since around mid-2005.

In May 2005, ETB contracted US technology vendor Intel to implement a WiMAX pilot network in Bogotá.

But the most impressive development was the transformation of Bucaramanga into one of the first cities in the world to be fully covered by a wireless WiMAX network. The leading local telephony provider, Telecom subsidiary Telebucaramanga, launched the service in June 2005, offering Internet speeds of up to 75Mb/s at very reasonable rates (approximately US$25 per month). Customers who own a laptop or PDA can access the Internet anywhere in the city, not only in their home or office.

The Bucaramanga high-speed wireless system combines WiFi, ADSL and WiMAX technologies. Two WiMAX antennae with a radius of 20km are bolstered by 16 WiFi antennae, each with a radius of 1km. Telebucaramanga invested about Col$12,000 million (US$5 million) on the wireless platform.

WiMAX operates on three bands: 2.4GHz, 3.5GHz and 5.8GHz. The MOC issued a decree in April 2004, allowing WiMAX providers the free use of bands 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz. However, the government did not allow the use of the 3.5Ghz band, which offers better quality for WiMAX. An auction is expected and eagerly awaited by companies, which are keen to continue with their WiMAX expansion plans.

See also:
Colombia – Fixed-Line Market and Infrastructure – Overview and Statistics;
Colombia – Convergence, Broadband and Internet market.

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BT has set out its vision for nationwide next generation TV as it announced that Philips has been selected to supply the set top box to deliver a range of unique services.

Every set top box will include a personal video recorder (PVR) capable of storing up to 80 hours of programming and capable of delivering High Definition content. The BT-Philips partnership builds on the alliance with Microsoft, which will provide Microsoft TV IPTV Edition as the software platform for British Telecom’s TV over broadband service.

BT’s service will be a world-first, combining access to digital terrestrial channels, an extensive video-on-demand library, ‘catch-up’ TV and a range of interactive services. The unique combination of these services will provide BT customers with choice, convenience and control over their home entertainment.

BT is planning to offer these services across the UK from mid-2006. BT is the only company in the UK committed to providing such a nationwide service and trials will begin from about April next year.

BT’s next generation TV service will be available to BT customers without the need for a subscription fee. Services available at launch or shortly afterwards will include:
Entertainment on demand – an extensive library of movies, TV and music all available instantly;
Catch-up TV – programmes from the previous seven days broadcast schedule will be available on demand without the need to record;
Flexible payment – no mandatory subscriptions;
Pay-per-view options;
Personal Video Recorder – simple to use recording function capable of storing up to 80 hours of programming;
More than 30 digital terrestrial TV channels;
Communication services – instant messaging, chat and video telephony on TV;
Interactive services – online games, retail opportunities and community services.

BT customers will be able to benefit from the combination of television, communications and the Internet. For example, football fans across the country will be able to chat using video telephony while watching a match.

See also:
BT Group plc – UK;
United Kingdom – Convergence – Triple Play & Digital TV;
Technology – IP 5 – Video On Demand.

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BT has set out its vision for nationwide next generation TV as it announced that Philips has been selected to supply the set top box to deliver a range of unique services.

Every set top box will include a personal video recorder (PVR) capable of storing up to 80 hours of programming and capable of delivering High Definition content. The BT-Philips partnership builds on the alliance with Microsoft, which will provide Microsoft TV IPTV Edition as the software platform for British Telecom’s TV over broadband service.

BT’s service will be a world-first, combining access to digital terrestrial channels, an extensive video-on-demand library, ‘catch-up’ TV and a range of interactive services. The unique combination of these services will provide BT customers with choice, convenience and control over their home entertainment.

BT is planning to offer these services across the UK from mid-2006. BT is the only company in the UK committed to providing such a nationwide service and trials will begin from about April next year.

BT’s next generation TV service will be available to BT customers without the need for a subscription fee. Services available at launch or shortly afterwards will include:
Entertainment on demand – an extensive library of movies, TV and music all available instantly;
Catch-up TV – programmes from the previous seven days broadcast schedule will be available on demand without the need to record;
Flexible payment – no mandatory subscriptions;
Pay-per-view options;
Personal Video Recorder – simple to use recording function capable of storing up to 80 hours of programming;
More than 30 digital terrestrial TV channels;
Communication services – instant messaging, chat and video telephony on TV;
Interactive services – online games, retail opportunities and community services.

BT customers will be able to benefit from the combination of television, communications and the Internet. For example, football fans across the country will be able to chat using video telephony while watching a match.

See also:
BT Group plc – UK;
United Kingdom – Convergence – Triple Play & Digital TV;
Technology – IP 5 – Video On Demand.

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The fortunes of BSkyB vary according to the conditions prevailing in each country. In the UK and Ireland it is the default provider of satellite services, and in recent years it has rapidly become the third force in the broadcasting market, after ITV and the BBC. The company developed its own PVR product, Sky+, rather than a pure VoD service, which would require a partnership with a telecoms operator to deliver the service. Earlier this year, it announced its target to have 25% of subscribers on Sky+ by 2010, and by mid-2005 it had sold nearly 900,000 Sky+ PVRs. Its new-look PVR, scheduled to be in the shops in early 2006 to coincide with the launch of its HDTV service, will include a significantly larger hard-drive. BSkyB also signed an agreement with SES Astra in September 2005, renewing the lease on four of its transponders, which brings it total portfolio to 30 transponders. It has over 490 channels listed in its Electronic Program Guide, while the planned revamp of the Sky Guide will take its potential capacity to almost 2,000 channels.

All well and good. Yet the next growth area for the delivery of TV in the UK is through IP, and so it was only a matter of time before BSkyB should secure itself a foothold in the broadband market, and with its hybrid satellite/terrestrial broadband delivery platform place it in direct competition with BT. BSkyB has jus raised £1 billion pounds by selling a three-part bond, and some of the cash went on the purchase of Easynet.

Why Easynet? The company is young and had a struggle to get established initially. Yet during the last few months it has become a proven player. Its consumer arm UK Online has an affordable 8Mb/s service, and planned a 24Mb/s service by the end of 2005 through ADSL2+ technology, which it has been trialling since April. It only had 21,000 broadband subscribers in August 2005, but it reported a 12% increase in profits for the first half year, which is commendable given the cut-throat competitive pricing in the UK. Perhaps the crucial factor for BSkyB is that Easynet has installed its own equipment in 250 BT exchanges in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol, as well as other smaller towns. It was scheduled to extend its local loop footprint to 350 exchanges by mid-2006, covering about 5.8 million households and 850,000 businesses. LLU is important because it offers an operator independence from BT.

In addition to the purchase of Easynet, BSkyB has sufficient funds left (£200 has been rumoured) to expand the LLU footprint further by installing its own equipment in local exchanges. The company’s current Set-top Boxes use a dial up connection to the Internet, which can be upgraded to a broadband connection. This would then enable it to provide the full triple play of IPTV, VoD and straight broadband to its satellite TV customers. Interactive TV, particularly gambling, is a cash cow for BSkyB (£209 million in the last financial year) and the offer of the service through broadband as well as satellite is a sound commercial consideration.

BSkyB’s ambitions would radically change the broadband landscape in the UK. At present, only about 1% of digital lines are unbundled – which does not even appear on the radar compared to countries such as France and Italy – since most competitors have opted to pay a fee to use BT’s exchange equipment. If BSkyB has the money and temperament to get LLU snowballing, as has happened in France within just the last 18 months, then triple play could be much more readily available through DSL within two or three years, so breaking the dominance of the cable operators ntl/Telewest, which can access homes without recourse to British Telecom’s lines.

See also:
British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB);
BT Group plc – UK;
Europe – Broadband – Fixed Network Overview and Analysis;
Europe – Broadcasting – Market Overview and TV Content;
Global – Convergence – Broadband TV (IPTV);
Technology – IP 5 – Video On Demand.

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Last Saturday the Budde family spent a leisurely day at Pete’s waterhole in Botswana, thanks to National Geographic’s live WildCam Africa, via their Internet video camera from one of the most remote locations in southern Africa.

I had linked the laptop to the plasma screen and during the day we followed the elephants bathing in the pool, the zebras taking a casual walk, the ostriches having a quiet drink, as well as many antelopes and gnus.

We saw a crocodile catch a large catfish (a few metres long) followed by the rather gruesome killing process.

This is what I call broadband TV! We kept the picture on in the background, which allowed us to follow the wildlife in Botswana for a long time, in a relaxed fashion.

The following information comes from the National Geographic info on their website. The signal is sent from the waterhole to a satellite hovering 22,500 miles (36,200 kilometres) above the Earth’s equator. The heart of the system is a desktop computer that processes images from a high-powered wide-angle video camera. The high-resolution camera is on all the time, ready to capture any movement it sees and record 20 to 25 images a second. That’s fast enough to display the realistic movement of the animals without the jerkiness that sometimes accompanies Web broadcasts.

A switching device that sends the video data to a network router is attached to the computer. The router transfers the data to an antenna pointed north (see figure 1 in illustration) where a satellite picks up the signal and relays it to a server. From there, the video is streamed to the Internet through National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.

The link to the satellite was the only way to obtain enough bandwidth to carry the huge data stream required by the video array. This provides a dedicated bandwidth connection from the pond to the satellite to a terminal hub in Sweden. From there, it goes to the Internet. It’s point to point. They only communicate with each other. That’s why they can provide this high-quality live experience.

A curious creature, however, could interrupt all the electronic wizardry. The perimeter of the array is fortified with high-strength wire and electrified fencing, while the computer and camera apparatus are secured in tight cabinetry. It’s harmless to the wildlife and discourages their attempts to get in. But even with protection, anything can happen.

So the following Web site comes to you with the recommendation of the Budde family: www9.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/wildcamafrica/wildcam.html

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KT plans to offer 100Mb/s FttH services as part of its plan to convert its infrastructure to a completely IP-based broadband convergence network by 2008.

Finding an economic way of deploying FttH has been a major issue in the NGN BcN project. However, as of late 2005, researchers at the government-run Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) were close to completing a project to develop a 1 Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (E-PON) that could open the way for rapid FttH deployment. ETRI was in the process of looking for a private local or even foreign company to commercialise the technology. E-PON is already in service in Japan. The Korean E-PON system could cost less than half of the WDM-PON based-system developed by KT.

By late 2005, KT was trialing 20,000 E-PON service lines. Because ADSL/VDSL was already a prevalent and popular broadband solution for apartment buildings by 2005, KT plans to start its FttH deployment in 2006 to single dwellings.

Meanwhile, Hanaro Telecom is trialing both gigabit E-PON and Wavelength Division Multiplexing PON (WDM-PON) solutions. This included the test, which began in August 2005, of a hybrid FttH service that uses Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) LAN cables to connect from the street to homes. This service also targets single dwellings. Both Hanaro and Dacom have also been using Active Optical Network (AON) technology in some services.

There are some concerns in the market over the success of fibre-based broadband in the immediate future. Hot-copper VSAT looks to be the next step in the market, rather than fibre. VDSL is cheaper, fast enough to handle most desired applications, and has gained momentum and mindshare in the South Korean market. Having said this, the South Korean market is known for pushing the limits of technology’s capabilities, and it would come as no surprise if fibre ramped up quickly as a broadband solution for killer applications.

See also:
South Korea;
South Korea – Infrastructure – FttH, NGNs & IP.

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