Over the next few years, packet data will take over circuit-switched data on the mobile network as the main data platform, and this will enable a number of new applications to be made available to users both in the business sectors and for consumers. WAP will initially be the main driver of mobile data as more operators launch and promote their services. Some operators have already taken the lead and are targeting the youth market with prepaid WAP phones. This method will see the fastest uptake of WAP technology. Business users will initially be interested in the high-speed data services that will begin to be launched in the third and fourth quarter of 2000 — although widespread usage is not forecast until at least 2001.
WAP has been criticized and labelled an interim technology, and this is the case. In the same way a Pentium 300 processor or Windows 95 are interim technologies. WAP will develop into something greater than it is now, but at the moment it is the only option available to deliver Web or interactive content to mobile phones, so it cannot be ignored or dismissed, argues IDC's report, Mobile data in Western Europe: applications on the move — Analysis and forecast, 1999-2004.
Mobile commerce services will remain a niche market for a few more years until secure and reliable transactions can be enabled. However, this market will potentially be huge, with IDC forecasting the value of mobile commerce transactions in Western Europe to top USD 37 billion in 2004. The report states that these services are one of the real killer applications for mobile data and that mobile commerce will continue the trend that we have seen with e-commerce, to move more transactions out of the real world into the virtual one. Although clearly limited by the screen and input mechanism, mobile commerce has the ability to bring the buyer and seller together at the time that the service is required — not when they are behind the PC or in the shop, the report says. — IDC.
ECI Telecom was awarded the USD 37 million frame contract through its distributor in Argentina, PLANEX S.A., following a competitive bidding process. — ECI Telecom.
DVB-RCS is an international open standard for multimedia satellite networks, which defines return channel via satellite using low-cost user terminals capable of return data rates in excess of 2 Mbit/s. The forward-link data transmission rate is up to 40 Mbit/s.
This new technology features broadband connectivity for user uplinks at speeds of up to 35 times the current 56.6 kbit/s of terrestrial modems, downlink speeds of up to 40 Mbit/s, and the ability to support multiple numbers of subscribers per satellite transponder.
EMS also formalized the schedule to supply a full DVB-RCS demonstration system by the end of June 2000 to (Société européenne des satellites — SES), the Luxembourg-based operator of ASTRA, Europe's satellite system for direct-to-home transmission of television, radio and multimedia. This is a precursor to the delivery of a fully operational system by the end of 2000. EMS will supply the critical hub technologies as well as the end-user terminals under the agreement with SES. Neither SES nor EMS are releasing financial terms of the contract. — EMS.
The report, Next generation networks: delivering services for SMEs, forecasts that growth in delivering data services to SMEs will far outstrip the growth in delivering similar services to large corporates. Analysys estimates that data revenues from SMEs will rise from their current USD 8 billion in 2000 to 19 billion by 2005, while the corporate market will remain relatively static, increasing from 18 to 22 billion over the same period.
This dramatic increase will come as operators and service providers take advantage of the opportunities provided by the new Internet Protocol (IP) technologies. These enable operators to deliver a range of services that previously have been available to corporate users but unaffordable by most SMEs.
The report identifies Internet service providers (ISP), application service providers (ASP), competitive local exchange carriers (CLEC) and data value-added resellers (VAR) as key new suppliers. They will be able to use new local access technologies such as digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable modems to break the access bottleneck and offer far more cost-effective high bandwidth than the current ISDN or leased line solutions currently on offer from traditional telecommunication operators. Analysys estimates that by 2005, DSL and cable modems will overtake the slow and expensive ISDN or dial-up technologies that currently account for almost 90 per cent of SME connections. — Analysys.
This will mean that all 3000 of the bank's United Kingdom sites can deliver services and products via the Internet and is a significant step towards Barclays achieving its wider strategic goal of designing a single Internet-enabled platform for the entire retail bank.
Over the next 21 months, BT's Business-to-business Division, BT Syncordia Solutions, will migrate Barclays multiple networks to a single, company-wide IP structure.
At the heart of this network, BT will be integrating leading edge e-commerce technology. As a result, Barclays customers will be able to access banking products and services by mobile telephony through WAP, the Internet, cash machines and digital television. — BT/Barclays.
Successful cooperation in the past within the EUREKA framework has enabled three of Europe's large microelectronics companies to move into the world's top ten in the sector. EUREKA's role is one of supporting the expansion of the public and private sector partnerships which foster the innovation necessary to meet Europe's scientific and technological challenges in the 21st century.
The series of successful EUREKA projects such as JESSI, its successor project MEDEA and others, may be followed up with another strategic effort that the European microelectronics industry has recently submitted to EUREKA. Called "MEDEA+, system innovation on silicon for the e-economy", this new cooperative R&D project aims to strengthen microelectronics in Europe by developing enabling technologies for the Information Society. The new project is estimated to cost around EURO 4 billion. — EUREKA.
Reacting to this announcement, Motorola, Inc. said that it would maintain the Iridium satellite system for a limited period of time, while the de-orbiting plan is being finalized. During this period, Motorola will continue to work with subscribers in remote locations to obtain alternative communications. However, the continuation of limited Iridium service during this time will depend on whether the individual gateway companies, which are separate operating companies, remain open.
Motorola is extremely disappointed that Iridium LLC has not succeeded in its effort to emerge from voluntary bankruptcy. Motorola and other Iridium investors have worked very hard to support Iridium LLC's efforts to reorganize and continue operating the business. Unfortunately, that has not happened.
Iridium is an example of a proven, pioneering technology. Many of Motorola's finest people worked together worldwide to implement a global communications system that was, from a technology standpoint, an extraordinary achievement. Going forward, Motorola will continue to look for new opportunities that will provide a path to the future. But, as in the case of Iridium, Motorola will continue to absorb the risk through a conservative management of its balance sheet.
In order to support those cus tomers who purchased Iridium service and equipment directly from Motorola, customer support call centres and a website that are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week have been established by Motorola. Included in the information for customers is a list of alternative satellite communications services. — Motorola.
With more than 30 million mobile users by the end of 2000, Germany is one of the most innovative and dynamic mobile communication markets in Europe. — Alcatel.
The Europe*Star system will combine features from both regional direct broadcast by satellite and intercontinental communication satellites to offer service innovation — broadcast-quality IP and digital service connectivity between regions as far apart as the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Through the use of advanced computer design and modelling techniques, very precisely shaped footprint contours have been placed around Europe, Southern Africa, the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, and South-East Asia.
Europe*Star-FM1, is a high-powered Ku-band geostationary satellite, equipped with 30 transponders, placed into orbit at 45° E. The Europe*Star system will have transponder-by-transponder connectivity, thereby covering and connecting each of the coverage areas while providing highly flexible services for a wide variety of IP and digital applications delivered to smaller dishes.
Europe*Star has chosen the European launch service provider, Arianespace, to launch its satellite on either an Ariane-5 or an Ariane-44 LP. The launch will take place from the French Guiana Space Centre in Kourou in the third quarter of 2000. A second satellite, Europe*Star-FM2, will be co-located at 45° E, providing the system with 30 additional transponders. — Europe*Star.
The centres will be directly connected to a worldwide Internet Protocol (IP) backbone.
This global platform will include the 14 Internet data centres already "open for business" in New York (two centres), Middletown, San Diego (two centres), San Francisco and Phoenix (United States), and in Birmingham, Cardiff, Bletchley and St Albans (United Kingdom) as well as in Madrid (Spain), Milan (Italy) and Zurich (Switzerland).
Eleven additional Internet data centres will be opened in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Japan, by the end of 2000.
The remaining 19 Internet data centres will begin opening in 2001 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Hongkong, Belgium, Portugal, and Sweden and will be completed within two years.
Beyond their existing base, the three companies are targeting customers for Web hosting services in a global market forecasted to grow from nearly USD 4 billion in 2000 to more than 16 billion by 2004. More than half of this growth will occur outside the United States. — BT.
It is debatable whether ordinary consumers are actually demanding mobile e-commerce services right now. It is more a case of suppliers sensing an opportunity to make money, and pushing the idea at them. In fact there is not much, if any, money to be made in the short term, according to the report. Business users, rather than the mass market, will be the first serious adopters, but even they will not pay a premium for existing services which are easier and cheaper to access using the phone or a PC. So if suppliers are to survive and prosper in the long term, their early offerings will have to be very targeted, and very compelling. Consumers will not pay for services just because they are wireless, Ovum warns suppliers.
The current climate has all the frenzy, uncertainty and ill-preparedness of a gold rush, according to the report. To avoid investing in applications which sound impressive on paper but do not attract user take-up, the report has this advice to offer. "Potential mobile e-commerce players have to realize that at this point in time, good substitutes for their services already exist — it is only the delivery method that has changed". Old habits die hard!
Until the mobile networks are upgraded to allow higher bandwidth applications, Ovum advises potential mobile Internet merchants to concentrate on "killer applications" which play to the strengths of mobile: convenience, location and personalization.
The barrage of operator marketing and press articles hyping technologies such as WAP has left many believing that shopping via the mobile will be a reality within the year. It is far more complicated than that. The industry has not even agreed a framework for trusted and secure payments yet, let alone standardized its technology. It is just not going to happen until these big questions are answered.
In fact, the fledgling mobile e-commerce industry will need a complete transformation to deliver true mobile e-commerce: lots of content, a sound financial infrastructure with guarantees, compelling applications, and a first-rate mobile network.
There is no doubt that the market has enormous potential, argues the report. The number of mobile devices is widely expected to exceed the magic one billion mark by 2003, with a large proportion technically capable of mobile e-commerce. If the market fulfils its promises, Ovum predicts that the end-user spend on services will rise to more than USD 200 billion in 2005. — Ovum.
EBU has signed eight short-term leases with Telstra on the Intelsat-804 satellite at 64° E and on the Intelsat-704 satellite at 66° E for the broadcasting of the Olympic Games. The deal was announced at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Las Vegas (Nevada) in April 2000.
The EBU transmissions will include more than 25 full-time programme channels to over 30 broadcasters, and will be received at 42 locations. These broadcasters include the BBC of the United Kingdom, TVE of Spain, ZDF of Germany, and RAI of Italy. — INTELSAT/Telstra.
Under the agreement, the Department of Telecommunications of Bhutan will have all rights to distribute and market Thuraya's products in the country, including user terminals and SIM cards, as well as billing customer care services.
The Department of Telecommunications of Bhutan is the latest company to join Thuraya's service provider consortium which comprises Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (ETISALAT), Qatar Telecom, Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd, Sudan Telecom Company Limited, Libya's General Post and Telecommunications Company, Silki La Silki of Saudi Arabia, ALKAN of Egypt, Kuwait's Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC), Next Destination Limited of the United Kingdom, ZAJEL of Jordan and the Syrian Telecommunications Establishment (STE). — Thuraya.
Based on wireless connectivity, Bluetooth will be the smart and ultimate link between GSM phones, notebooks and other peripherals. After an initial take-off for business users, Bluetooth technology is expected to enter the high volume consumer market by mid-2001. — COM One/Alcatel.
The agreement will aim to leverage the technological strengths of both companies and maximize development efficiency and economies of scale to compete in the third generation (3G) mobile communications market.
The joint venture will concentrate on product definition and marketing, research and development and manufacturing policy for high-quality mobile communications and radio infrastructure, including GSM, its different evolutions including GPRS and EDGE, and 3G (also known as IMT-2000), which should be ready for deployment by the first half of 2001. — Alcatel/Fujitsu.
The satellite, which contains 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders, was rocketed into space from the French Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, aboard an Ariane-4 launch vehicle on 18 April 2000.
Galaxy-IVR, an HS 601 HP model spacecraft built by Hughes Space and Communications Co., will operate at 99° W, taking over from Galaxy-XI, which will now transition to its final orbital location at 91° W. Among the services on Galaxy-IVR will be the delivery of AOL Plus via DirecPC, the United States direct-to-consumer service offered by Hughes Network Systems. The satellite will also serve as the digital platform for the transmission of AT&T's Headend in the Sky (HITS) digital cable service, offering up to 140 channels of programming throughout the United States.
In addition, the newly launched satellite will be the new platform for PanAmSat's Galaxy-3D service, a bundled domestic digital delivery package offering television broadcasters, programmers and business network managers a one-stop shopping resource for end-to-end digital video, audio and data transmission services in more than a dozen North American cities. — PanAmSat.
TRW is building the digital, packet-switched payloads for ASTROLINK International LLC satellites poised to provide the world's first global broadband access, with service beginning in 2003.
ASTROLINK has raised more than USD 1.3 billion in equity from four venture partners: Liberty Media Group, Lockheed Martin Corporation, TRW, and Telespazio S.p.A., a subsidiary of Telecom Italia SpA. ASTRO LINK began construction of its first-phase constellation of four geostationary satellites in 1999. — EMS.
Telfort runs fixed and mobile services in the Netherlands to businesses and consumers. It launched its mobile service in October 1998, and now has more than 500 000 customers. By the early summer 2000, Telfort will be among the first of BT's European ventures to launch Genie, Europe's leading mobile portal and Internet service provider. — BT.
The architecture supports a range of telephony-related services and capabilities, including the ones currently provided over the switched circuit network across multiple administrative domains.
IP telephony systems will be based both on the H.323 series of standards from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) from the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
This protocol independence is a major breakthrough in a telecommunications industry characterized by increasing complexity and heterogeneity. Project TIPHON brings a unique perspective to IP telephony standardization efforts: a focus on scalability, reliability and performance requirements for worldwide deployment by major national and international carriers.
Project TIPHON's H.323/SIP activities will include close cooperation with other industry groups like the International Multimedia Teleconferencing Consortium, as well as coordinated contributions to the ITU and IETF standardization processes. — ETSI.
One of the barriers for IP service providers to roll out next-generation IP services has been the absence of proven scalability in key business functions such as billing and customer care systems. The completion of this testing proves that IP billing, using comprehensive customer usage information taken off the network in real time, is not only possible but scalable to the carrier-class needs of IP service providers that are addressing mass-market, usage-based Internet services. — Convergys.
The new programme will bring together the multiple products and services that EUTELSAT has developed over the last thirty months and which are already available in the market, including Internet backbone connections, "cache" services, two-way Internet and consumer Internet products, as well as bandwidth-on-demand and mobile services. It will also provide a platform for a new generation of broadband solutions that are already under development at EUTELSAT and that will use both Ku- and Ka-band frequencies in order to lower the threshold of entry into the market and increase the range of solutions available for full satellite interactivity. — EUTELSAT.
HALEs would be huge helium-filled airships with an aerodynamic shape like a cigar, roughly 220 m long and 55 m wide. They could carry useful loads of about 1000 kg. Unlike Zeppelins, which they closely resemble seen from the outside, HALEs require no rigid internal structure. The envelope is made of high-tech flexible materials, impermeable to helium and ultraviolet-resistant, while the rigidity of the shell is assured by pressurization. Only a few rigid reinforcements would be needed for the engine and payload mounting brackets.
Earth observation is a sector where HALEs could play an important role and provide permanent or specific services such as environmental surveillance and disaster management. Once a problem is detected by a satellite system, a HALE could be sent to the affected area to transmit back precise and continuously updated information. These craft could be used to conduct rescue operations in floods or earthquakes, where the local telephone connections, including land-based mobiles, have been put out of action and local observation of the stricken areas is urgently required.
In the telecommunication sector, several types of application are conceivable. For example, HALE airships could be used to provide future multimedia mobile services (voice, Internet, radio and television) to heavily populated areas, without the need to install networks of antennas and relay stations on the ground. Remote reading of gas, water and electricity meters is another possible application. Traffic control authorities could henceforth obtain rapid access to observation data and local information.
This initiative parallels similar projects being carried out in Japan (Sky-Net) and the United States (Sky Station International), which are also attracting European companies in the space sector as well as constructors of aerostats. — ESA.
BIHTEL 2000
Telecommunication networks
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Sarajevo will organize the Third International Conference on Telecommunications (BIHTEL 2000), on the theme "Telecommunication networks".
BIHTEL 2000 will be held in Sarajevo from 23 to 25 October, under the high patronage of Alija Izetbegovic, the Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Conference themes
Convergence of stationary and mobile networks
Terrestrial and satellite systems of mobile radiocommunications
IP telephony
New telecommunication services (CATV, in-service and Internet).
Deadlines
15 July: submission of final papers
15 September: acceptance of papers
10 October: printing of the proceedings of the conference.
Venue of the conference and contacts
The conference will take place at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Sarajevo, Zmaja od Bosne, 4.
Participants in the conference wishing to be accommodated in the same hotel will be granted a special discount.
For booking, please contact the hotel directly: Tel.: +387 71 664 273. Fax: +387 71 663 862.
Registration and hotel reservation forms will be available on the organizer's website: etf.unsa.ba.
For all other information, please contact the organiser: "Faculty of Electrical Engineering, BIHTEL 2000, Skenderija 70, 71000 Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Tel./fax: +387 71 654 976. E-mail: bihtel@etf.uns.ba".
Contact persons at the Faculty: Dragoljub Milatovic, for conference papers and Fatih Imamovic for other issues.
in Russia: The Ministry for Communications and Informatization of Russia is the successsor in law of the State Committee for Telecommunications.
in Austria: Mr Michael Schmid has been appointed Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Tech nology.
in Burundi: Mr Nestor Misigaro has been appointed Director-General, Agence de régulaton et de contrôle des télécommunications (ARCT).
in the Dominican Rep.: Messrs José Guillermo Sued and Francisco Frías Lara have been appointed Chairman and Executive Director, Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (INDOTEL), respectively.
in Ecuador: Mr José Pileggi Veliz has been appointed Chairman, Consejo Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL).
in Guatemala: Mr José R. Orellana Mendizabal has been appointed Superintendent of Telecommunications, Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones.
in India: Mr Shyamal Ghosh has been appointed Chairman, Telecommunications Commission, and Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications.
in Korea (Republic of): Mr Byong-Yub Ahn has been appointed Minister of Information and Communication.
in Mauritius: Mr Rajesh Unnuth has been appointed Chairman, Mauritius Telecommunications Authority.
in Nepal: Mr Ram Chandra Paudel has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information and Communications.
in New Zealand: Mr Paul Swain has been appointed Minister of Commerce, Minister of Communications and Minister for Information Technology.
in Panama: Mr Alex Anel Arroyo has been appointed Director and Chairman, Ente Regulador de los Servicios Públicos.
in Papua New Guinea: Mr Thomas Waim has been appointed Director-General, Papua New Guinea Telecommunication Authority (PANGTEL).
in Peru: Mr Alberto Pandolfi Arbulú has been appointed Minister of Transports, Communications, Housing and Building. Mr Julio García Torres has been appointed Vice-Minister of Communications, Ministry of Transports, Communications, Housing and Building.
in the Philippines: Mr Augustin R. Bengzon has been appointed Under-Secretary, Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
in Portugal: Mr Jorge Coelho has been appointed Minister of Social Equipment.
in Russia: Mr Leonid Reyman has been appointed Minister for Communications and Informatization. Mr Yury Grin has been appointed Director-General, Department for International Cooperation, Ministry for Communications and Informatization.
in Rwanda: Mr Jean de Dieu Ntiruhungwa has been appointed Minister of Works, Transports and Communications.
in San Marino: Mr Clelio Galassi has been appointed Minister of Finance, Budget, Posts and Telecommunications.
in Senegal: Mr Mamadou Diop has been appointed Minister of Culture and Communication.
in Syria: Mr Makram Obeid has been appointed Minister of Transport.
in Uruguay: Mr Fernando Pérez Tabo has been appointed National Director of Communications, Dirección Nacional de Comunicaciones.
in Venezuela: Mr Alberto Esqueda Torres has been appointed Minister of Infrastructure. — ITU Notification Nos. 1388 and 1389.