Thursday, September 30, 2010

Wifi

It is a misconception that the term Wi-Fi stands for “wireless fidelity”. Wi-Fi is simply a trademarked term by the Wi-Fi Alliance, the organization that owns the Wi-Fi.The organization defines Wi- Fi as any "wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards.
Initially, Wi-Fi was used in place of only the 2.4GHz 802.11b standard, however the Wi-Fi Alliance has expanded the generic use of the Wi-Fi term to include any type of network or WLAN product based on any of the 802.11 standards, including 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, and so on, in an attempt to stop confusion about wireless LAN interoperability.
Wi-Fi works with no physical wired connection between sender and receiver by using radio frequency (RF) technology, a frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supplied to an antenna, an electromagnetic field is created that then is able to propagate through space. The cornerstone of any wireless network is an access point (AP). The primary job of an access point is to broadcast a wireless signal  that computers can detect and "tune" into. In order to connect to an access point and join a wireless network, computers and devices must be equipped with wireless network adapters

Wi-Fi  is supported by many applications and devices including video game consoles, home networks, PDAs, mobile phones, major operating systems, and other types of consumer electronics.  Any products that are tested and approved as "Wi-Fi Certified" (a registered trademark) by the Wi-Fi Alliance are certified as interoperable with each other, even if they are from different manufacturers. For example, a user with a Wi-Fi Certified product can use any brand of access point with any other brand of client hardware that also is also "Wi-Fi Certified". Products that pass this certification are required to carry an identifying seal on their packaging that states "Wi-Fi Certified" and indicates the radio frequency band used (2.5GHz for 802.11b 802.11g, or 802.11n, and 5GHz for 802.11a).

Features of Wi-Fi

High mobility and elasticity

Wi-Fi, is allowing new intensity of connectivity without giving up functions. Wi-Fi introduced various types of utilities such as music streamers that transmit your music to speakers without any wire you can also play music from the remote computer or any other attached to the network. 

Fortress Technology

Wi-Fi providing secure wireless solutions support the growth and release of a prototype mobile ad hoc wireless network for use in the wireless strategic skirmish.

Support an entire age bracket.

WiFi technology has several advantages it support an entire age bracket and create a connection between components on the same network and have ability to transfer data between the devices and enable different kind of devices such as game, MP3 player, PDA’s and much more!

It's convenient and every where

WiFi is a convenient technology and where the range station exists you are online during travel you can equip with a Wi-Fi network and set up shop anyplace. You will automatically connect with internet if you are near hotspot. These days WiFi exist every where with all its wonders.

More faster and secure

With WiFi you can get high speed of internet because it is very fast than DSL and Cable connection you can establish a Wifi network in small space now you don’t need any professional installation just connect to a power outlet with an Ethernet cord, and start browsing. WiFi security system for Threats makes it more renewable and its tool protect your VPN and secure web page. You can easily configure the device to take better performance. The standard devices, embedded systems and network security make it more powerful.


Limitations of Wi-Fi
Security concerns

It is simple to set Wi-Fi network but keeping it secure takes much more effort, Access points of Wi-Fi do not deploy encryption methods. It is required to be done as network is enabled. Secure Wi-Fi network can be easily attacked by hackers to steal private information.
Guests who are not potentially harmful can still utilize the network resources and minimize the performance.


Interference from other devices

Wi-Fi transmits data at 2.4 GHz making susceptible to interfere Bluetooth enabled devices, mobile phones, cordless, Microwaves and other communication devices, closer the interfering devices are the poor communication will be and vice versa.


Lacking high-quality media streaming 

Today’s fastest Wi-Fi standards are pushed beyond their limit when trying to view high end media.High definition video and audios cannot be viewed flawlessly because of lower transfer rate; things can be much more worst if other clients are accessing the same access points.
Even the fastest current Wi-Fi standards are pushed beyond their limit when trying to handle some of today's high-end media. High-definition audio and video files are timely-delivery-intensive, and typical wireless networks have neither the transfer speeds nor the consistency to transfer them flawlessly. This problem is further compounded if there are multiple devices connected to the same because the bandwidth must be divided between all of the equipment.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

3G ENABLED MOBILE PHONES IN INDIA

After the successful auction of 3G spectrum in India the telecom operators are looking forward to start the 3G operations as soon as possible.In India Smart phone constitute of 20-30% of the total mobile market but only few of them support 3G. Here is the list of  mobile devices that supports 3G in india.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/itslideshow/5975770.cms

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

MOBILE CAN BE CHARGED THROUGH SOLAR POWER NOW

In the month of june last year SAMSUNG had launched the world first solar powered mobile phone,the “Solar guru” ( Guru E1107 ) in the Indian Market.This device of SAMSUNG can solve the problem of unavailable or unstable electric supply,basically in rural areas. The phone has the capacity to provide around 5 - 10 minutes of talk time with one hour of solar charging.


The phone also supports dual GSM bands (900/1800MHz) and includes a 1.52-inches 65K CSTN screen, FM Radio, MP3 ringtones, torch, Mobile Tracker, Fake Call and a 800mAh battery.The intial cost was kept  Rs 2799/-
Recently vodafone has also Launched its solar power enabled handset VF247, specifically to the indian customers.The phone can be charged using the sun light and has inbuilt sun boost hardware and software.It will take 8 hours to charge by solar power under standard condition.

Vodafone VF247 Features

    • GSM Tri-band
    • 1.44 inch 65k colour display
    • Solar charging
    • Torch
    • FM Radio
    • Prepaid Balance Indicator
    • Eco/friendly packaging
    • 8 day standby
    • 4 hours talktime
    The handset will cost Rs. 1500 in indian market.      
LG is also one the latest entrant in this segement with its model LG POP GD510 ,it is a slim phone and can charge enough for 2.25 min talk time after 10 mins exposure in sun light.

In future we may see several other mobile manufacturer may come in this market as Electricity problem is quite evident in most part of the country and Solar power enabled mobile seems to be only feasible solution right now.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

CLOUD COMPUTING

Definition:

Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.

Concept:

Let’s try to understand cloud computing with the help of an example. Consider a large organization having large number of employees. Suppose that for each of these employees, the organization will provide a desktop at workplace consisting of the required hardware and software. The company will have to purchase the requisite software licenses, requiring huge investments. Now consider that there is a server that hosts all the required applications and softwares. All the employees of the company can then log on to this web – based service and access applications required to perform his or her job. The server, or the remote machines owned by another company would run everything from e-mail to word processing to complex data analysis programs. This is what cloud computing is basically all about.

Applications:

Many forms of cloud computing may already be used in our day-to-day lives. If you have an e-mail account with a Web-based e-mail service like Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail or Gmail, then you've had some experience with cloud computing. Instead of running an e-mail program on your computer, you log in to a Web e-mail account remotely. The software and storage for your account doesn't exist on your computer -- it's on the service's computer cloud. Similarly, usage of google docs provided by Google can be considered as an application of Cloud computing.

Cloud Computing Types:

Saas: It stands for software as a service. As the name suggests, software applications are provided as a service to the customer. Applications are hosted by the provider and will be accessible to the customer via the web.
Example: Google Apps, Sales Force (CRM)

Iaas: Computer infrastructure as a service called as ‘Infrastructure as a service’ ,can be provided to the customer via the web.
Example: Amazon web services, Rackspace cloud.

Paas:
‘Platform as a service’ such as the Operating System is also a variant of cloud computing.
Example: Microsoft Azure, Google App Engine

Advantages:

The company can focus on its core competency rather than focusing on managing the required hardware and software infrastructure.
All the processing will take place at the remote machines or server provided by the service provider thus saving a lot of processing power on the local machines.
Cloud computing generally works on the concept of pay-per-use. The service provider will charge the customer on the basis of number of applications used and the time period for which the service is used. This can be beneficial especially for smaller organizations who cannot bear costs of having their own hardware or software infrastructure.
Cloud computing can provide a lot of flexibility in a way that you do not get tied up with a particular hardware or software. The customer can subscribe to a given service for specified period of time after which he may discontinue the service if required.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

ASIAN TELECOM SEMINAR

The idea behind this seminar is to bring stalwarts of the industry on a neutral platform in order to reach a consensus on some of the contemporary issues confronting the industry. It also unveils the practical aspects, prevailing trends, and the expected route of the industry by providing a common platform for the students and the industry experts to interact.
Asian Telecom Seminar is a valuable place to see, and be seen by, decision makers and influencers throughout the telecom landscape, across both the Asia-Pacific region and the globe.
We at Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management, Pune bring to you a summit that is the most sought after conclave of industry stalwarts to share a common ground and project their vision for Telecom India, the most Lucrative, Dynamic and Techno-centric business in the world.
This year Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management, Pune is organizing Communiqué 10-Asian Telecom Seminar on 24-25th September 2010. The theme that we have chosen this time is “Telecom at Crossroads : Exploring New Paradigms”. The panel discussion includes topics covering areas like Managed Services, Unraveling the next generation mobile devices, Digital dividend, Broadband in India, Strategies to harness synergies between the mobile marketing value chain and modern advertising media for effective customer targeting.

Details of Some Speakers -

Mr. S. Janakiraman ,President & Group CEO ,MindTree
Mr. Naveen Chaddha, CIO Vodafone India
Mr. Kumar Apoorv, CEO, ValueFirst
Sandeep Agarwal, General Manager, R&D Services, Mindtree
Mr. Anil Prakash, Secretary General, ITU-APT, IPTV Forum India, TUG-I
Mr. Arvind Vohra, MD, Wynn Telecom
Mr. Ed Cutrell, Head Techlogy for emerging markets group, Microsoft Research
Mr. Ajay Madan, Independent Consultant and Ex- CEO, TTSL
Mr. K.F. Lai, Co-founder and CEO, BuzzCity, Singapore
Dr. C.S Rao, Chairman, WiMAX forum and MD, Intel for mobile wireless group
Mr. Abraham Punnose, VP Marketing and Business developement, Roamware
Mr. Debashis Chaterjee, CEO, Netxcell
Mr. Kapil Chawla, Director, ACTO
Mr. Sandip Biswas, Head Managed Services, Reliance Communication
Mr. Ray Neval, CEO, JIGSEE Canada.
Mr. Deepak Maira, MD India-SAARC, Pacnet
Mr.Vikram Shanbhag, VP Messaging Service, Comviva

Sponsors -

1) ValueFirst
2) Radio Mirchi
3) Sayaji Hotels Ltd
4) Sterlite Technologies Pvt Ltd
5) Buisness Standard
6) Kingston
7) Pagalguy.com
8) Dare 2 Compete
9) eRegNow
10) Amdocs

Topics For Discussion -

1. Managed Services: A business trend for commensuration with the needs of the
enterprise/service provider
2. Unraveling the next generation mobile devices: Combining Innovation and Functionality.
3. Digital Dividend: Harnessing Spectral Efficiencies
4. Broadband in India: Opening new frontiers through connectivity
5. Strategies to harness synergies between the mobile marketing value chain and modern
advertising media for effective customer targeting: An Indian Perspective .


For more details visit www.seminar.sitm.ac.in

Mergers & Acquisition in Indian Telecom Industry( Last 5 years)

Bharti- Zain Merger

India’s biggest telecom company by both revenues and subscribers, Bharti Airtel Ltd, on 30 march 2010 announced a deal with Kuwait-based Zain Group for the acquisition of the latter’s African operations.The total worth of the deal is $10.7 billion (Rs48,043 crore), Bharti will acquire Zain’s mobile services operations in 15 countries with a combined strength of 42 million customers. The deal includes a $9 billion cash component. This is the third attempt by Bharti Airtel to enter the African market, after two failed bids earlier to acquire MTN Group Ltd of South Africa. After this deal Bharti has entered into the league of the top five telecom operators in the world with more than 180 million subscriber base spread across 18 countries.

RCOM-GTL Merger-

In june 2010 The flagship company of the Anil Ambani group, Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom),combine its telecom towers business with GTL Infrastructure Ltd in a deal that will create a transmission network valued at Rs50,000 crore.

Reliance -Infotel Merger-
Reliance Industries has bought 95% stake in Infotel Broadband Services for Rs.4,800 Cr. Infotel will issue fresh equity shares to RIL.Recently Infotel Broadband Services has won pan India Broadband Wireless Access spectrum license for 22 circles for around Rs 12,848 crore ($2.7 billion).

Telenor -Unitech Merger

Telenor-Norwegian telecom operator completed the acquisition of 49% stake in Unitech Wireless Ltd, the telecom arm of the realty firm, Unitech Ltd, by infusing additional investment of Rs. 1,130 crore for an additional 15.5%. Telenor had earlier invested Rs. 1,250 crore in the telco for a 33.5%.


Swan Telecom - Etisalat Merger-

Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat), largest operator in the Arab world, on 23 sep 2008 announced it has signed a deal to acquire 45 per cent stake in recently-licensed Indian telecom firm Swan Telecom Private Limited (Swan Telecom) for $900 million.

Bahrain Telecom -S Tel Merger-

Gulf-based Bahrain Telecommunications Co bought 49% stake in Indian mobile operator S Tel Ltd for $225 million. S Tel has licenses to operate in 6 Indian states - Bihar, Orissa, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North East and Assam.
Maxis Communications and Aircel Merger-
Maxis Communications acquired a 74-per cent stake in Aircel Cellular Ltd, One of the country’s leading GSM telecom player, which operates in 10 telecom circles in India,in a deal of US$ 1.08 billion.

Vodafone - Hutch Merger -

In year 2007 Vodafone bought a controlling stake in Hutch-Essar from Hutchison Telecommunications International Limited (HTIL) for $10.9 billion.

Telekom Malasia - Spice Communication Merger -


Telekom Malaysia acquired a 49-per cent stake in Spice Communications for US$ 179 million.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)


What is MVNO?
Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) is a phenomenon where an operator or company does not own a licensed spectrum and generally operates without own networking infrastructure. Instead MVNOs resell wireless services under their brand name, using   regular telecom operator's network with which they have a business arrangements. They buy minutes of  use(MoU) from the licensed telecom operator and then resell minutes of usage to their customers of MVNO.
Usually, MVNO's do not have their own infrastructure; some providers are actually deploying their own Mobile Switching Centres (MSC) and even Service Control Points (SCP) in some cases. Some MVNO's deploy their own mobile Intelligent Network (IN) infrastructure in order to facilitate the means to offer value-added services. In this way, MNVO's can treat incumbent infrastructure such as radio equipment as a commodity, while the MVNO offers its own advanced and differentiated services based on exploitation of their own IN infrastructure.
MVNO's have full control over the SIM card, branding, marketing, billing, and customer care operations. While sometimes offering operational support systems (OSS) and business support systems (BSS) to support the MVNO, the incumbent mobile operators most keep their own OSS/BSS processes and procedures separate and distinct from those of the MVNO.
An example for MVNO is Virgin Mobile. Virgin Mobile plc is a mobile phone service provider operating in the UK, Australia and Canada, and the US. The company was the world's first Mobile Virtual Network Operator, launched in the UK in 1999. It does  not maintain its own network, and instead has contracts to use the existing network(s) of other providers. In the UK, Virgin  Mobile uses the T-Mobile network. In the US, the Sprint network is the carrier. In Australia, Virgin Mobile operates on the  Optus network. In Canada, it uses the Bell Mobility network. These networks use different technology (GSM in the UK and  Australia and CDMA in the US and Canada).
Business Models for MVNOs
Reseller:
A Reseller focuses on sales and the customer interface, leveraging its close customer relationships, strong brand, or sales and distribution channels. The Reseller adds value by linking a mobile offering with existing non-mobile products or
services. Resellers do not operate mobile telecommunications components or infrastructure, but buy the necessary services from a partner, which may be an MNO, an MVNE, or a Service Operator. A Reseller’s products and services, along with its pricing structure, will typically reflect its partner’s offerings. The partnership agreement is often based on sales commission or “retail minus” wholesale pricing. However, as resellers generally have an amortized cost base they can use a new, incremental consumer pricing model that is both complementary and competitive with their host MNO. The main advantage of the Reseller approach is that market entry is relatively straightforward because the model is simple to implement and attractive to network partners (that is the host MNO). The model appeals to prospective network partners because the Reseller’s customers use SIM cards provided by the partner MNO or MVNE, making network switching impractical and creating churn resistance. In addition, the partner usually maintains all the customer details for billing purposes. Resellers can thus benefit from adding mobility to its proposition, but must work beyond this to sustain long term growth. There is little scope to innovate beyond theservice offerings available from the network partner.

The service operator:

The Service Operator, an intermediate model between the Reseller and Full MVNO, takes on greater responsibility for billing, customer management and service provisioning, as shown in Table 1. The Service Operator’s objective of building services differentiated from those of Resellers, other Service Operators and MNOs, drives the need for a close customer relationship. The use of branded SIM cards, along with its own prefixes and number ranges can help a Service Operator create the perception that it is independent of other mobile service providers.
However, the Service Operator is effectively tied to its host MNO because changing host would involve the fairly impractical step of exchanging customers’ SIM cards. Unlike the Reseller, the Service Operator owns its customers and accrues the associated goodwill, MNOs core network. The Service Operator approach provides more flexibility and control than the Reseller model, but suffers from increased technical complexity
in its implementation. Technical complexity arises because the Service Operator takes on responsibility for its own IT and network systems. Less obvious, is the issue of interfacing with the host MNO. At first sight, the Service Operator is using interfaces similar to those in the host’s infrastructure. However, complexity arises because these interfaces may not be designed to accommodate external systems, particularly if the MNO has a legacy infrastructure (true for many MNOs.) Consequently, MNOs may be less keen to support Service Operators. These technical issues and the implementation of service delivery systems, such as a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), real-time communications systems (for example IMS), an e-mail platform, or WAP gateway, often results in Service Operators outsourcing their infrastructure delivery and management. Service Operators, unlike Resellers, may compete with their host MNO on price. If the Service Operator controls service delivery, it may also be competing on higher margin services and some MNOs may be less likely to enter into a partnership. This makes it important that before setting-out to attract a host MNO, the prospective Service Operator creates a proposition that is attractive to the host MNO and to develop a strong partnership offering with clear synergies benefiting the host MNO. While a Service Operator enjoys more opportunities for long term growth than the Reseller, this growth is limited because new services, such as SIP-based services and Voice over IP (VoIP), require core network components controlled by the host MNO.

Full MVNO

Unlike the Reseller and Service Operator, the Full MVNO is different from an MNO principally because it does not have its own Radio Access Network (RAN). A Full MVNO will maintain core network and service platforms, as well as have its own International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) codes, Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, numbering space and interconnection rights and responsibilities. As with the Service Operator, a Full MVNO owns its customers and accrues the associated goodwill. A Full MVNO has three main advantages over the Service Operator. It can terminate calls, flexibly select the most appropriate host MNO, and can innovate at the leading edge, ahead of other players in the market. The ability to terminate calls may provide the Full MVNO with new margin opportunities because of differences in incoming call revenues and outgoing call costs. These opportunities are not available to Resellers or Service Operators. The margins arise from the interconnection arrangements in the wholesale agreement that the Full MVNO has with its host MNO. The Full MVNO gains additional independence from its host MNO through the ability to switch host MNO without changing its customers’ SIM cards. The Full MVNO can achieve this because it has its own Mobile Network Code (MNC), against which the physical network is defined, and its own numbering system, thus its own IMSI numbers on customer SIM cards. The Full MVNO model involves a more complex infrastructure, comprising core network, service creation and delivery platforms and
CRM/Billing systems, making its implementation and operation more challenging. However, the Full MVNOs interfaces to its host MNO can be considerably less complex than those required by a Service Operator. This is because the Full MVNO interfaces with its host MNO using the same well-defined interfaces (such as intra-public land mobile network [PLMN] backbone network [Gn], or inter-PLMN backbone network [Gp]) that all MNOs and fixed line operators use when exchanging calls. The Full MVNOs independence means it can shop around for the best network deal, whether that is driven by radio network capability (2G versus 3G), coverage, capacity or price. The Full MVNOs control of its customers, pricing, service offering and the ability to implement leading edge technologies means it can achieve high levels of service innovation, beyond those of Resellers or Service Operators.

Who can become MVNO?

·         Mobile operators planning to enter international market
·         Companies with strong brand names
·         Companies who could not obtain 3G licenses
·         Companies from telecom, media, and internet

Current scenario in MVNO space: Possibilities in India
Mobile Virtual Network Operator model is likely to be a reality in India. Industry pundits believe that MVNOs are one of the best suited alternative strategies for the service providers with a dream to encash on data services, but could not get spectrum for 3G services.
A recent report titled 'Global MVNO Outlook 2010-2015' by Ovum finds global MVNO connections are forecast to increase from 52.6 million in 2009 to 85.6 million in 2015, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5%, and a large portion of it will be contributed by not only matured markets in Asia-pacific, but also emerging markets like India.
Indian operators too believe that the operators who did not make any 3G wins have not lost the battle yet as alternative strategies such as leveraging the existing EDGE technology, intra-circle roaming arrangements and MVNO models can help them realise their data strategies. In Asia-Pacific, Ovum expects MVNO revenue to total to USD 980 million by 2015, an increase of 10% from 2010.


References:


Voice and Data. MVNO an alternative strategy for Indian SPs who missed 3G bids. August 2010

MVNO white paper. http://www.mobilein.com

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Mobile Number Portibility


What is MNP?
Mobile Number portability (MNP) enables mobile subscribers to change their service providers or their location without having to change their existing phone numbers. If the subscribers are not satisfied with the services of their service provider, they can change their service provider while retaining the existing phone number.
Though Telecom Regulatory has made it clear that mobile number portability (MNP) will be implemented nationwide from October 31, as announced earlier, ruling out any further delay Major service provider  except BSNL are still reluctant to implement it.
Why Service providers are against it ?
Once MNP will be implemented in Indian scenario it will infuse huge  competition among service providers and forces them to improve their service standards to check subscriber churn. Many countries have made number portability mandatory to liberalize competition But countries like india are still in the process of implementing it.Major concerns of service providers are such as-
Implementation cost would be very high –
 Porting mobile numbers is not as simple as pushing a button. There is a lot that has to happen behind the scenes to allow for it. Expensive equipment, logistics on a mind-boggling scale, and ensuring checks-and-balances by appointing a third-party company to carry out these operations on behalf of both (originating and destination) operators.
Churn rate Fear –
The so-called "incumbent" mobile telephony operators have been in the space for a long time. The number of dis-satisfied users are inevitably in direct proportion. When new companies enter the mobile operator space, they have nothing to lose (atleast at first) with MNP. Those operators who have been around longer, fear losing existing customers, with good reason.
Even if MNP will be implemented in India in a near future there will be still lots of issue that TRAI has to look into in order to give subscriber real benefit from this service like –
Simplicity involved in changing the operator – the process of changing the operator while keeping the same number should be very simple. There should not be any hidden rule like one can’t change his number within  intial 1 year of subscription.
Low Cost to Consumer – The cost of MNP cost should be not very high but if the service will be free of cost then it can increase the churn rate upto a great extent.
Speed – Major question that needs to be answered how fast the subscriber would be able to use the service of other operator. Time to port the number for one network to another take different time in different countries like in France it takes 30 days where as in US it takes less than 1 hr. So speed will be one of the major factor in implementing the MNP in india.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Shopping Through Mobile Would Be A Reality Soon

Airtel (Country largest telecom operator) has got the nod from Reserve bank of india (RBI) to collect a maximum of `5,000 from customers, which can be converted to virtual money stored on mobile phones, and can be used at outlets that have a tie-up with Airtel.

Such concepts are already been introduced in many countries like Japan, South Korea, parts of China and certain markets in Europe. India has over 650 million mobile users and all telecom companies are looking at offering a range of financial services, including the electronic version of the leather wallet, which can be used to make secure payments across a wide spectrum of goods and services covering all sectors.

Vodafone has also launched mobile money transfer services ( M-PESA) in Kenya, Afghanistan and Tanzania, and plans to introduce them to South Africa, Qatar and Fiji, enabling customers to move money using just their phone. These services are aimed at mobile customers who do not have a bank account, often because bank facilities are prohibitively expensive or customers live in areas where access to financial services is limited. With M-PESA, customers can send money safely, affordably and faster than existing alternatives methods.

Once the service will be launched in india registered customers can use their phone to transfer money to any mobile phone on any network in the country. Different access channels are used in different countries. In Afghanistan, for example, where the service is branded M-Paisa use interactive voice response (IVR), which allows customers who are unable to read and write to access the service. Money transfer is operated in real time and is used by customers for a number of purposes – for example, transfers between family members from urban to rural regions.

Service can also be used be used for several other purposes in future like-

  • Customer to Business payments e.g. transfers to pay electricity bills, loan repayments or school fees
  • Business to Customer payments e.g. salary or microfinance loan disbursements
  • International money transfers
In fact, Bhutan Telecom has already introduced M-money or mobile money payment, which is a one-stop shop for making payments of all utility bills including telephone, electricity and water bills. Though it will take time for launch service at such a level.

As per RBI guidelines, the pre-paid value that is being loaded will be distinct from talktime. In other words, the telecom operator will not be able to create money. For the consumer, this implies, they will not be able to exchange this money for talktime. Bharti Airtel will also be mandated to deposit the money raised in a zero balance escrow account with a bank.

According to the estimate of THE ECONOMICS TIMES it is estimated that currently only 1% (8 million) of the country’s 650 million cell phone users avail mobile commerce service. This is expected to go up to 50 million by 2012.

IPTV INTRODUCTION

Television is changing

Over the last decade, the growth of satellite service, the rise of digital cable, and the birth of HDTV have all left their mark on the television landscape. Now, a new delivery method threatens to shake things up even more powerfully. Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has arrived, and backed by the deep pockets of the telecommunications industry, it's poised to offer more interactivity and bring a hefty dose of competition to the business of selling TV.
IPTV describes a system capable of receiving and displaying a video stream encoded as a series of Internet Protocol packets. If you've ever watched a video clip on your computer, you've used an IPTV system in its broadest sense. When most people discuss IPTV, though, they're talking about watching traditional channels on your television, where people demand a smooth, high-resolution, lag-free picture, and it's the telcos that are jumping headfirst into this market. Once known only as phone companies, the telcos now want to turn a "triple play" of voice, data, and video that will retire the side and put them securely in the batter's box.
In this primer, we'll explain how IPTV works and what the future holds for the technology. Though IP can (and will) be used to deliver video over all sorts of networks, including cable systems, we'll focus in this article on the telcos, which are the most aggressive players in the game. They're pumping billions into new fiber rollouts and backend infrastructure (AT&T alone inked a US$400 million deal for Microsoft's IPTV Edition software last year, for instance, and a US$1.7 billion deal with hardware maker Alcatel). Why the sudden enthusiasm for the TV business? Because the telcos see that the stakes are far higher than just some television: companies that offer the triple play want to become your household's sole communications link, and IPTV is a major part of that strategy.

How it works

First things first: the venerable set-top box, on its way out in the cable world, will make a resurgence in IPTV systems. The box will connect to the home DSL line and is responsible for reassembling the packets into a coherent video stream and then decoding the contents. Your computer could do the same job, but most people still don't have an always-on PC sitting beside the TV, so the box will make a comeback. Where will the box pull its picture from? To answer that question, let's start at the source.
Most video enters the system at the telco's national headend, where network feeds are pulled from satellites and encoded if necessary (often in MPEG-2, though H.264 and Windows Media are also possibilities). The video stream is broken up into IP packets and dumped into the telco's core network, which is a massive IP network that handles all sorts of other traffic (data, voice, etc.) in addition to the video. Here the advantages of owning the entire network from stem to stern (as the telcos do) really come into play, since quality of service (QoS) tools can prioritize the video traffic to prevent delay or fragmentation of the signal. Without control of the network, this would be dicey, since QoS requests are not often recognized between operators. With end-to-end control, the telcos can guarantee enough bandwidth for their signal at all times, which is key to providing the "just works" reliability consumers have come to expect from their television sets.
The video streams are received by a local office, which has the job of getting them out to the folks on the couch. This office is the place that local content (such as TV stations, advertising, and video on demand) is added to the mix, but it's also the spot where the IPTV middleware is housed. This software stack handles user authentication, channel change requests, billing, VoD requests, etc.—basically, all of the boring but necessary infrastructure.
All the channels in the lineup are multicast from the national headend to local offices at the same time, but at the local office, a bottleneck becomes apparent. That bottleneck is the local DSL loop, which has nowhere near the capacity to stream all of the channels at once. Cable systems can do this, since their bandwidth can be in the neighborhood of 4.5Gbps, but even the newest ADSL2+ technology tops out at around 25Mbps (and this speed drops quickly as distance from the DSLAM [DSL Access Multiplier] grows).
So how do you send hundreds of channels out to an IPTV subscriber with a DSL line? Simple: you only send a few at a time. When a user changes the channel on their set-top box, the box does not "tune" a channel like a cable system. (There is in fact no such thing as "tuning" anymore—the box is simply an IP receiver.) What happens instead is that the box switches channels by using the IP Group Membership Protocol (IGMP) v2 to join a new multicast group. When the local office receives this request, it checks to make sure that the user is authorized to view the new channel, then directs the routers in the local office to add that particular user to the channel's distribution list. In this way, only signals that are currently being watched are actually being sent from the local office to the DSLAM and on to the user.
No matter how well-designed a network may be or how rigorous its QoS controls are, there is always the possibility of errors creeping into the video stream. For unicast streams, this is less of an issue; the set-top box can simply request that the server resend lost or corrupted packets. With multicast streams, it is much more important to ensure that the network is well-engineered from beginning to end, as the user's set-top box only subscribes to the stream—it can make no requests for additional information. To overcome this problem, multicast streams incorporate a variety of error correction measures such as forward error correction (FEC), in which redundant packets are transmitted as part of the stream. Again, this is a case where owning the entire network is important since it allows a company to do everything in its power to guarantee the safe delivery of streams from one end of the network to the other without relying on third parties or the public Internet.
Though multicast technology provides the answer to the problem of pumping the same content out to millions of subscribers at the same time, it does not help with features such as video on demand, which require a unique stream to the user's home. To support VoD and other services, the local office can also generate a unicast stream that targets a particular home and draws from the content on the local VoD server. This stream is typically controlled by the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), which enables DVD-style control over a multimedia stream and allows users to play, pause, and stop the program they are watching.
The actual number of simultaneous video streams sent from the local office to the consumer varies by network, but is rarely more than four. The reason is bandwidth. A Windows Media-encoded stream, for instance, takes up 1.0 to 1.5Mbps for SDTV, which is no problem; ten channels could be sent at once with bandwidth left over for voice and data. But when HDTV enters the picture, it's a different story, and the 20-25Mbps capacity of the line gets eaten up fast. At 1080i, HDTV bit rates using Windows Media are in the 7 to 8 Mbps range (rates for H.264 are similar). A quick calculation tells you that a couple of channels are all that can be supported.
The bandwidth situation is even worse when you consider MPEG-2, which has lower compression ratios. MPEG-2 streams will require almost twice the space (3.5 Mbps for SDTV, 18-20 Mbps for HDTV), and the increased compression found in the newer codecs is one reason that AT&T will not use MPEG-2 in the rollout of its IPTV service dubbed "U-verse."
Simultaneous delivery of channels is necessary to keep IPTV competitive with cable. Obviously, multiple streams are needed to support picture-in-picture, but they're also needed by DVRs, which can record one show while a user is watching another. For IPTV to become a viable whole-house solution, it will also need to support enough simultaneous channels to allow televisions in different rooms to display different content, and juggling resulting bandwidth issues is one of the trickiest parts of implementing an IPTV network that will be attractive to consumers.