|
The Insider
-
I’ve just read a heart-wrenching story about a Somali man robbed of $200 then shot dead by his assailants, no doubt a common story in a country racked by over 19 years of anarchy. However, a new mobile money transfer and banking system being introduced by mobile operator Hormuud Telecom could have saved this one life and is set to save many others. Hormuud Telecom is the biggest network in Somalia with more than a million subscribers. It designed the software for its SAAD money transfer service,...
-
You know times are a’changing when the CEO of Microsoft announces that 90 per cent of his staff will be working on cloud platforms by next year. Steve Ballmer even went one step further when he said he was "betting the company" on the Windows Azure cloud platform. These are serious announcements and demonstrate how seriously he is taking threats from the likes of Amazon, Google and other cloud services vendors. Ballmer was presenting at the University of Washington's Computer Science...
-
Revenue is largely disconnected from the cost model. This was a recurring theme at this week’s Management World Middle East, held in Dubai. Mobile subscribers, in particular, had been encouraged to take up ‘all you can eat’ data plans in order to stimulate data traffic. Along comes the HSPA network with acceptable connection speeds, ‘dongles’ (USB modems), throw in the iPhone and bang, suddenly everyone wants to connect. The idea of being able to connect anywhere/anytime has caught on big with users...
-
After a round of binge drinking it is normal procedure to go through a recovery phase of teetotaling, lots of rest and lots of vitamin supplements.The same process can be applied to attendees of the annual cellular bingefest held in Barcelona, otherwise known as the Mobile World Congress. But for many the overdose of hospitality, tapas, iPhone wannabes, bold keynotes, hype, self-adulation and inclement weather was followed by a week of stark reality and introspection. If the GSMA’s premier event...
-
Heard the one about Britain’s Prime minister, Gordon Brown, beating up his staff? (allegedly!). Apparently he flew into a rage and grabbed some hapless official by the lapels when told that one of his equally hapless departments had lost a disc containing the personal information of 20 million British subjects. Poor Gordon – it’s very frustrating being responsible for something but having little actual visibility or control over it. So spare a though for the Telecom New Zealand CEO, Paul Reynolds...
-
I’m really going to try not to be cynical about goings on at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but it’s going to be hard. The GSMA's premier event seems to break some record or other every year. Last year it was the number of PC thefts and pick-pocketings, which appear to have been kept in check this year. The one notable exception was Google boss, Eric Schmidt, who was reportedly ‘mugged’ by hostile questions after his keynote presentation. This year’s record, confirmed by almost...
-
Big drop in fixed-line revenues Australians are dumping their fixed-lines at an alarming rate, 10% in the last six months to be exact. Local call volumes are down 13% for the same period and total PSTN revenues dropped by 6.9%. The decline was far greater than that forecast by CEO, David Thodey, only six months ago and could be indicative of what is certainly becoming a trend in most developed markets. Pure fixed-line service providers are likely to be hardest hit as customers consolidate on mobile...
-
Imagine sitting in a rural health clinic, streaming three-dimensional medical imaging over the web and discussing a unique condition with a specialist in New York. Or downloading a high-definition, full-length feature film in less than five minutes. Or collaborating with classmates around the world while watching live 3-D video of a university lecture. Sounds like an advertisement for a fibre-based ISP, NBN or existing infrastructure operator, doesn’t it? Well, if that’s what you thought, you’d be...
-
Mondays are usually quiet news days but this week it’s definitely ‘bad news day’ with a number of stories highlighting security issues. You can never be sure that it’s because there are more security glitches happening these days or because we are being more open about them. The first was an announcement by European Commission (EC) following a phishing attack which allowed cyber criminals to steal account data, and perform a number of fraudulent transactions. Individual emails were sent to users...
-
In a story that almost mirrors the biblical tale a puny (in terms of size and muscle) Australian ISP has battled with, and beaten, the burly media and content rights holders of Hollywood and beyond. And the battle, played out in the Australian Supreme Court, could have massive repercussions worldwide. Presiding judge Justice Cowdroy cleared the ISP , iiNet of allegations that it had authorised subscribers to violate copyright laws and ordered the applicants, 34 rights owners represented by the Australian...
|
|
|
 |
| Copyright © 1988-2009, TeleManagement Forum. All Rights Reserved |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|