Saturday, February 5, 2011

Olive Telecom to launch India’s First HSPA+ Android Handset

Olive Telecom Logo
If rumors are to be believed then India could see launch of first HSPA+ handset running on Android mobile OS. The handset is slated to be launched by Olive Telecom on February 9 and according to Olive Telecom’s CEO Arun Khanna, the company is planning to launch smartphones running on Android 2.2 Froyo by the end of March 2011.

Fast Connection Speed

Handset equipped with HSPA+ standard will provide fast data connection speed with download speed measuring up to 14.4 Mbps and upload speed measuring approximately 5.76 Mbps. It is also expected that the phone will be equipped with a staggering 12 MP camera and provide 720 p video recording.
The launch of the phone has come at a right time considering the fact that that several mobile carriers in the country will be rolling out 3G services. The roll out of the 3G services will enhance connectivity and networking of the device. source

Mobile Money Services by Ericsson


Ericsson had decided to go compete in the mobile banking service by offering platform named Ericsson Money Services and will be introduced at Mobile World Congress event coming weeks. Ericsson’s launch of new businesses is the result of research and proof of concept that has been implemented in Europe and Asia. As part of services, Ericsson has developed a service solution end-to-end and the related business and operational models, to meet the requirements of regulators, law and security, in cooperation with the customer service and innovative companies in the financial sector.
Mobile operators, financial institutions and other service providers, hoping Ericsson Money Services and Money Interconnect Service to expand the money supply in the mobile service. They hope that will be connected in real-time, without boundaries, and without limit currency.
A new market has been opened, consumers will take over cell phone banking. They are the people most of whom never had a credit card. People who have never set foot into a bank now has the opportunity to use a virtual bank. They will also get the advantage of ease of transaction, even to transfer service.
Particularly in emerging markets, many people do not own bank account, but could pay on their cell phones and take payments contrary. Market experts expect that the development of mobile phone payment within the next three years in many countries the most important mobile applications.
The technical solution from Ericsson enables operators and financial institutions, their services in real time, across national boundaries and across different currencies, to offer mobile.
The system complies with regulatory and safety requirements. Money Services also includes different business and operating models and can thus adapt to the conditions in different markets.source

Disney XD shows hop on to mobile & data service platforms in India


Disney XD, the multi-platform entertainment offering from the Disney network of Television Channels, has launched its popular shows on all leading mobile networks via a deal with Apalya TV.

Disney XD shows such as Kick Buttowski-Suburban Daredevil, Aaron Stone, Legend of Tarzan and Zeke and  Luther can now be viewed on their mobile handsets or through their data card connection starting today, anywhere, anytime.

Apalya TV services are available over all mobile networks including Idea, Vodafone, Airtel, Aircel, BSNL, MTNL, Reliance, Docomo, Tata Indicom, Tata Photon Plus, Virgin VFlash, Reliance Net Connect.

Disney Media Distribution India general manager Raju Venkataraman said, “By adding popular Disney XD programs to the Disney Channel shows already available on Apalya TV, we offer kids and families in one of the largest and fastest growing mobile markets in the world more opportunity to watch their favorite Disney characters. With telecom players launching 3G services in India, mobile TV services promise to only get bigger and more popular with audiences in the coming years.”

Apalya TV founder Vamshi Reddy added, “We at Apalya are focused on offering quality TV content on mobile phones to our users. Disney is one of most viewed channel bouquet in India. Disney is watched not only by children but also their parents and elders who enjoy the family entertainment provided on the channel. With this partnership we are now reaching out to a much wider audience, especially children who are one of the top users of mobile phones today.”source

Mobile Service For Doctors And Patients

Telecommunications company Orange introduces new service in the UK Health Gateway, designed for doctors and patients. This service uses text messages that can communicate with each other owners of mobile phones.

With the help of Health Gateway hospitals and doctors working in them, as well as pharmacies will send each other various information (eg test results) as well as straighten the patients with SMS reminders on the dates they had previously planned visits to doctors and the need to take prescription drugs. In addition, when an emergency situation medical institutions will be able to notify the employees via SMS.

Service Health Gateway has a modular architecture, and each medical institution will be able to choose those functions that it needs. Estimated to Orange, only one module of reminders on the dates previously planned visits to the doctors allow medical institutions included in the National Health Service, annual savings of up to 300 million pounds.

These savings will be achieved by providing patients the ability to manage the time their visits to the doctor to confirm or cancel the previously scheduled visit. For example, if the patient through the service will notify the Health Gateway medical establishment that he can not visit the doctor, he can accept other people without forcing them and ourselves to lose time waiting in vain.

Note that the Orange previously brought to market a mobile service for physicians and patients another service - Smartnumbers. Its users can dial directly from your mobile phone to doctors who are willing to provide them with professional advice on the interests of the patient subject.source

Speak To Tweet Service By Google

Speak To Tweet Service By Google
Google Inc's service allows people in Egypt to dial a phone number and leave a voicemail, which will then be turned into a tweet.

"Like many people we've been glued to the news unfolding in Egypt and thinking of what we could do to help people on the ground. Over the weekend we came up with the idea of a speak-to-tweet service-the ability for anyone to tweet using just a voice connection," wrote Ujjwal Singh, co-founder of SayNow and AbdelKarim Mardini, product manager, Google Middle East & North Africa.
Google worked with a small team of engineers from Twitter, Google and SayNow, a company it purchased last week, to create speak-to-tweet.
"It's already live and anyone can tweet by simply leaving a voicemail on one of these international phone numbers (+16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855) and the service will instantly tweet the message using the hashtag #egypt. No Internet connection is required. People can listen to the messages by dialing the same phone numbers or going to twitter.com/speak2tweet," the blog post said.
The phone numbers are being rapidly spread across Twitter as people learn about Google's speak-to-tweet.source

TRAI wants GREEN TELECOMMUNICATIONS


The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today released a consultation paper on “Green Telecommunications”
1.Change in the world’s climate and the ensuing natural calamities like floods and typhoons are attributed to increased greenhouse gas emissions(GHG), mainly that of Carbon Dioxide, resulting from increased consumption of energy by manufacturing and service sectors. With more and more subscribers being added to the telecommunication networks, energy consumption and contribution of the telecom sector, to the global greenhouse gas emissions, is increasing. The total carbon footprint of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) industry is about 860 million tonnes or 2% of global emissions and that of telecommunication network and devices about 0.7% of the global emissions.

2. There is a growing concern about GHG emissions in India. To cater to its large subscriber base, there are about 3,10,000 telecom towers of which about 70% are in rural areas. Many of these areas have deficient power supply and, according to some rports, about 40% of the power requirement of these towers is being met by grid electricity and 60% by diesel generators. According to industry estimates, the total consumption of diesel, for telecom tower equipment powering and cooling, is about 2 billion litres which produces about 5.3 million litres of CO2 annually. With the continued growth of the subscriber base these numbers are only going to increase. This is bringing into focus the need for energy efficient equipment and use of renewable sources of energy. In this context TRAI has issued a consultation paper today to collectively discuss, debate and take further action or recommend suitable measures.
3. The consultation paper takes up the following important issues for deliberations:
  • Estimation of the carbon footprint of the telecom sector in India.
  • Need and framework of carbon credit policy for the Indian telecom sector.
  • Measures to reduce the telecom sector carbon footprint.
  • Promoting use of energy efficient devices and renewable sources of energy.
  • Standards, testing and certification products and services as green.
  • e-waste management.

48k Crores of VAS Revenue is possible with 3G

With the mobile operators all set to usher in the 3G services in India, the mobile vendors are hopeful that value added service (VAS) revenue will touch Rs 48,000 crore mark by 2015.

Some of the telecom operators and technology firms that took part in a VAS conference in Mumbai on Thursday also shared their perspectives on the rollout and VAS landscape in the post-3G era. A portal on VAS called portal 'Insight VAS' was also launched on this occasion.

Sharing their perspective, the speakers brought to light some of the issues and opportunities hidden in this game.

"After 3 years, 3G is finally here. While other countries experimented and expanded with time, India already has a base. It is going to grow here faster than any other place. What will however drive the market are non-messaging services, primarily video and multimedia services," said Prashant Gokarn, head of 3G, Reliance Communications.

"Operators need to strategically decide where to invest and what their business approach should be. There is huge range of applications available and only the unique applications can be charged at a premium. Analytics will help convert data into useful information for better decisions," he added.

Commenting on the advertising potential, Shashi Sinha CEO Loadestar said, "With the advent of 3G, advertising potential is big. But the trick is to personalise the content that is being dished out. More competition is sure to drive down prices but the need of the hour is not to be restrictive but have an aggregate. Advertising and content is surely set to integrate from 3 to 5 years from now".source

3million 3G users for BSNL in 2011

 State-run telecom entity, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) expects its 3G (third generation) mobile services subscriber base to touch 3-million mark by March, a senior company official said.

"We will be adding two-million subscribers in the 3G services this fiscal," BSNL Principal General Manager (Value Added Services) N K Yadav told reporters on the sidelines of 9th VAS International Conferences held here today.

"one million customers were using these services last fiscal," he said.

BSNL was the first telecom firm to roll out 3G mobile services in the country and currently it covers 650 cities across four zones.

"The switch over from 2G to 3G needs to be taken care of. The customer experience cannot be spoilt on any cost. BSNL has been an early starter and the pick up is just getting better and better," Yadav said.

Data usage has increased six times and the number of post-paid customers has gone up since the rolling out of 3G services, Yadav said adding now there is a need to focus on the network and handset related issues.source
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What George Clooney and telecom security have in common??

A hacker is no longer just a grungy guy in his mom’s basement who takes down websites to impress his friends. Cybercrime has become more like Ocean’s Eleven — organized, sophisticated and money-hungry crooks going after high-profile targets. They probably don’t all look like George Clooney and Brad Pitt, however, so be on the lookout for more than dashing good looks.


These thugs aren’t so much after you as they are your customers. But because carriers operate data centers for managed hosting, cloud or other managed IT services, service providers are once again caught in the crossfire.

Hackers are dishing out more frequent and ferocious distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against service providers — reaching the 100 Gbps DDoS attack barrier last year — according to a recent telecom security study we picked apart this week, which revealed some pretty scary stuff.
Half of the carriers surveyed conceded that their firewalls and intrusion prevention systems (IPS) — the very infrastructure there to protect data — had themselves been targeted and were taken offline due to DDoS attacks. An eye-popping 55% of mobile carriers reported outages in 2010 due to security incidents, and 59% confessed that they had limited or no visibility into packet core security threats. Eek. Wish we could say this was our April Fool’s edition, but unfortunately this telecom security bulletin is all too real.source