Internet, phone system partially paralysed
July 26, 2008
MULTAN (July 18 2008): On-line banking, ATM services and fixed phone services were partially paralysed in Multan after a fault appeared in the telecom system. No worker was available to rectify the fault and restore the telecom system due to strikes by PTCL employees. [Read more]
Untethering the Internet: Nokia unveils new converged devices and Internet services that encourage collaboration, creativity and sharing
February 13, 2008
New maps and personal media sharing services pave the way for context aware Internet services
Mobile World Congress 2008, Barcelona, Spain, Finland - Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo reinforced the company’s vision of combining the benefits and opportunities of the Internet by unveiling a new line up of converged devices and services that promote collaboration and sharing. The company also revealed the next step towards its Ovi Internet service environment by introducing ‘Share on Ovi’, a personal media sharing service that makes it easy to upload, manage and share personal media.
Wateen Launches WiMAX Nationwide for Consumers!
December 15, 2007
Wateen Telecom, an Abu Dhabi Group venture in Pakistan, launches its WiMAX and HFC services for the consumer markets tomorrow, December 16, 2007. The launch will allow Wateen customers to have voice, telephony and broadband internet.
Wateen Telecom has been working on establishing a wireless network infrastructure since early 2006, and installed the network in early 2007. Their WiMAX service is a major breakthrough in the Pakistani broadband market as it will be a fast and cost-effective alternative to existing broadband services.
The development of the network has been carried out by Motorola, and is the largest WiMAX network ever installed. The project is a milestone for both the companies, as well as the nation, as it is expected to herald a broadband revolution in Pakistan, catering to more than one million users.
Tariq Malik, CEO, Wateen Telecom, “We are providing Pakistani consumers with complete communication solutions. Services such as high speed broadband internet and voice telephony will have a direct impact on the number of broadband users online. We are contributing to the growing market.”
Wateen Telecom’s launch is Pakistan’s first and the world’s largest WiMAX deployment. The team is confident of the market’s growth and of the long term benefits these services and solutions will bring to Pakistan.
For more details, please log onto www.wateen.com
About Wateen Telecom
Wateen Telecom is the Abu Dhabi Group’s latest venture in Pakistan. After the successful launch of Warid Telecom in Pakistan, which has a subscriber base of over 10 million customers in 145 cities, Wateen Telecom has been set up to become the leading “Carrier’s Carrier” providing services based on quality, reliability and affordability in the communication and media sector. Wateen is committed to bring Next Generation services to your doorstep… today.
Content carve up of net begins
November 29, 2007
Internet law professor Michael Geist looks at the way that cable firms are starting to shackle the net access they offer.
Ethernet cable, Eyewire
Some cable firms are treating net access like they do TV scheduling
When cable companies began promoting high-speed internet services nearly a decade ago, many branded them “the internet on cable”.
Years later, those services are gradually morphing into “the internet as cable” as broadcasters and service providers steadily move toward the delivery of content online that bears a striking resemblance to the conventional cable model.
Cable television has its virtues - some consumer choice, the ability to time shift programs by recording them with a VCR or PVR, and video on-demand - but it is largely built around limiting consumer control.
Cable distributors determine channel choices, geographic distribution, and commercial substitution (typically with input from a broadcast regulator), offer only limited interactivity, and quietly even possess the ability to stop consumers from recording some programs.
Until recently, the internet was precisely the opposite, offering unlimited user choice, continuous interactivity, and technological capabilities to copy and remix content.
That is gradually changing as broadcasters seek to re-assert greater geographic control over their content and service providers experiment with cable-like models for prioritised content delivery.
Prof Michael Geist (Michael Geist)
…if broadcasters and service providers are left to their own devices, it appears that they are increasingly ready to redefine the internet on cable to the internet as cable.
Michael Geist
The re-emergence of geographic borders on the internet coincides with broadcasters finally jumping on the internet bandwagon, as they race to make their content freely available online.
Some US broadcasters are selling downloads through services such as Apple iTunes or Amazon.com, yet the unmistakable trend is toward free, ad-supported streaming of content mere hours after it first appears on commercial television.
Each major US broadcaster already offers a handful of shows in this manner with ambitious plans to expand their services in the months ahead.
NBC and Fox recently unveiled Hulu.com to some critical acclaim, while Comedy Central created a new site for the popular Daily Show that features a complete archive of eight years of programming.
Non-Americans, alas, are generally locked out of these sites due to licensing restrictions.
Foreign broadcasters have been scrambling to buy the internet rights to US programming, both to protect their local broadcasts and to beef up their online presence.
US broadcasters may eventually decide it is more profitable to stream their content on a worldwide basis and to remove longstanding geographic restrictions, however, for the moment they are parceling up the internet as they would a broadcast destined for multiple cable markets.
Jon Stewart, AP
The Daily Show has proved popular on net video sites
This geographic bordering extends beyond just blocking streamed content. For example, the new Daily Show site is off-limits for Canadians since the US-based Comedy Central recently took the unprecedented step of redirecting Canadian visitors to the Canadian-owned Comedy Network site.
Broadcasters are not alone in working to bring the cable model of control to the internet.
Large net service firms are engaged in similar activities, with a history of blocking access to contentious content, limiting bandwidth for alternative content delivery channels, and raising the prospect of levying fees for priority content delivery.
While these issues had been perceived to be predominantly North American concerns, they are beginning to surface elsewhere.
For example, when earlier this year the BBC launched its internet-based iPlayer, several broadband providers floated the prospect of charging the BBC for delivering its content on their networks.
These issues may ultimately sort themselves out.
Users have many easily-obtainable tools to defeat geographic blocking and net firms may find themselves subject to net neutrality legislation if they continue to abuse the public’s trust by failing to maintain their networks in a transparent, neutral fashion.
Yet if broadcasters and service providers are left to their own devices, it appears that they are increasingly ready to redefine the internet on cable to the internet as cable.
Cisco Acquires Navini Networks: What’s the impact going to be in Pakistan?
November 16, 2007
Cisco has acquired Navini Networks, which is a pioneer and leader in the Mobile WiMAX 802.16e-2005 broadband wireless industry. The acquisition of Navini will help expand Cisco’s “Connected Life” vision to deliver any service to any device over any network. Cisco hardware, software, and service offerings are used to create the Internet solutions that make networks possible-providing easy access to information anywhere, at any time, and the acquisition is one firm step towards that commitment.
Cisco’s WiMAX technologies want to provide broadband connection to consumers and businesses in developing countries. This will result in many more internet users who can use economically high speed internet. And with Pakistan’s economy growing to [Read more]
Cisco Adds Internet Streaming to Content Delivery System
November 11, 2007
Enables Providers to Deploy Next-Generation Video Entertainment Services
In May 2007, Cisco announced a significant enhancement to its Content Delivery System (CDS), adding Internet streaming media capabilities that allow service providers to offer an ever-expanding scope of online content to help meet their customers’ expectations of accessing any content, anywhere, anytime and on any device.
The enhanced Cisco CDS offers much more than other video-on-demand and streaming systems. The Cisco CDS Internet Streaming solution incorporates applications for delivering video to digital televisions and set-top boxes as well as delivering video, voice, music and data to a wide range of Internet Protocol (IP) devices such as personal computers, Wi-Fi-connected mobile phones and personal digital assistants.
“With the media expansion that
This solution is part of the Cisco Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN), an architecture based on international standards and industry best practice. The Cisco IP NGN is a converged network designed to deliver next-generation video, voice, data services while adding mobility to all services. The IP NGN design for video service delivery is a flexible platform for the delivery of a wide array of traditional and emerging video applications. The Cisco CDS uniquely delivers personalized services to both set-top boxes and IP devices; it empowers service providers to transform themselves into experience providers that can deliver “The Connected Life” to their customers. [Read more]
Is Your Band Broad?
September 7, 2007
All right, so those who know Shakespeare would know what the real question was. But in the case of simple folks who just want to have an internet connection that’s reliable, fast and always connected, along with offering some added fringe benefits, the question becomes that of the Broadband. Unfortunately in Pakistan the question never is ‘which offers more?’, but is rather more appropriately ‘which is the lesser of the evils’. The question can be asked in relations to many of the services that are offered to us Pakistanis, but that would require book of many volumes! So we will talk about broadband.
The first query in this regards really ought to be, is it really worth it? The answer depends on the users’ needs. For someone who just needs the Internet to surf and email, then a simple dial up would do, but for others who want to have added services of value, and also play online games, perhaps a broadband or a DSL would be ideal. Looking logically, broadband should be the quickest and most reliable internet available. It should offer continuous connectivity, hyper downloading speeds, and a service that would leave a smile on your face. Rather sadly for us, the leader in broadband services, WorldCall leaves a lot to be desired. For many consumers, Cyber Net’s DSL still remains a more viable option. Unfortunately for the DSL, it doesn’t offer what WorldCall offers. [Read more]
ICT Pakistan: Finding your niche
November 9, 2006
Considering the success made within the field of ICT in Pakistan, especially in the light of the country’s track record of progress in all other fields of economic interest, it is obvious that this particular industry has seen gargantuan growth within a relatively small span of time. Within the space of less than a decade, ICT has become the profession of choice for over half of the country’s emerging workforce. Where there were only a handful of technology companies in Pakistan back in the 1970’s, Pakistan is today an IT crazy country, with the technology having permeated into almost every sphere of our everyday lives as well. Pakistan has emerged as one of the regions most technologically enhanced nations. For a nation that started quite late in it’s journey on the technology trail, as recently as the early nineties to be exact, the leaps and bounds that the country and its professionals have made in that ensuing period speaks volumes for the resilience and adaptability within the local industry. One of the most visible changes that have come about have been over the last six years, with the present government having managed to turn around the economy and make it based more along the lines of tech oriented industries rather than conventional industries of yore. But considering all the competition there is, where exactly should an organization entering the local market aim to fit in? [Read more]
The Music Revolution: It’s coming to you from everywhere!
July 4, 2006
by Umair Naeem
It’s been said that music can soothe the most savage of animals. The adage stands largely proven, as man, arguably the most violent of God’s creations, has continued to get pleasure from a variety of music through the ages. Whether it is the classical symphonies of Mozart, or the ghazals of Mehdi Hasan; the glorious compositions of U2 or the crooning glory of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; music is here to stay. What does change, however, is the means of delivering the music to the people. Long gone are the days of gramophones and long playing records, as music continues to enjoy a renaissance of sorts through technology via smaller and sleeker digital mp3 players and cell phones… and of course, the magic of the internet. [Read more]