Collaborate to woo telecoms investments, Asean urged

Asean countries have been urged to collaborate to attract investments in Internet infrastructure so as to expedite the setting up of the Asean Broadband Corridor and Asean Internet Exchange. In making the call, Asean Telecommunications and Information Technology Senior Official Meeting (Telsom) outgoing chairman Datuk Seri Kamaruddin Siaraf said the investments would be for the regional grouping’s own benefit and enable it to remain competitive with other regions. “We have all come to realise that the longer we tarry with the provision of broadband access, the more difficult it will be for us to catch up with other connected nations and regions,” he said in his opening remarks at the 12th Telsom meeting at the Myanmar International Convention Centre here yesterday. Ten senior officials, one each from the Asean countries Cambodia, Brunei, Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam attended the opening ceremony. In January, at the 10th Asean Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministers Meeting (Telmin) in Kuala Lumpur, Asean telecommunications ministers launched the Asean ICT Masterplan 2015 (AIM 2015), a strategic document to bring the Asean ICT sector to a higher level and to reinforce the role of ICT for Asean integration. They also agreed to work together in creating Asean’s own Internet exchange and domain by 2015 that would enable the region to enjoy better Internet connectivity at an affordable cost. An Internet exchange primarily functions as a point for networks to interconnect directly rather than through a third-party network. With an Internet exchange, the cost to the consumer would be reduced and bandwidth speed increased. Kamaruddin, who is also the secretary-general of the Malaysian Information, Communications and Culture Ministry, said the Asean dialogue partners namely Japan, Korea, China, India, the European Union (EU) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), would be the logical partners in the venture, as they have more experience, technology and expertise compared to the Asean countries. — Bernama Telsom met at least once a year to share information and experiences in developing policies and management efficiency among its members. This year’s meeting with the theme ‘ICT: Engine for Growth in Asean’ was held at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar’s new administrative capital. At the meeting, Myanmar was elected as the 12th Telsom chairman, with the Philippines as the vice chairman. The meeting would among others discuss the implementation progress of approved projects under AIM 2015 for 2010-2011, and other recommendations to further advance Asean ICT cooperation and integration based on the outcomes of Telsom project implementation since 2007. It would also discuss and provide inputs to the Nay Pyi Taw statement draft for consideration and adoption by the 11th Telmin on Thursday.

Wireless N 150 ADSL2+4- Port Ethernet Router

Mercantile Office System — the authorised distributor of the Taiwan based D-Link (High Speed ADSL Broadband) Company in Nepal — has brought Wireless N 150 ADSL2+4- Port Ethernet Router, a versatile and High-Performance Wireless router for people who desire to make full use of the broadband connectivity by connecting to 802.11n wireless devices at up to150 Mbps. "With Integrated ADSL2/2+ supporting download speeds up to 24 Mbps and 1Mbps upstream, a total security with stateful packet inspection to enhance the firewall, hacker attack logging to protect one's network against denial of service (DoS) attacks, fast internet connection, and four ethernet switch ports to connect to ethernet enabled PCs, printers, servers and other devices, this provides all the functions that a home or small office needs to establish a server and high-speed link to the internet, the company said, adding that it supports WPA/WPA2 and WEP for flexible user access security and data encryption methods along with a built in WPS button.. The router supports priority queues to smooth one's network access so one doesnot have to worry about traffic congestion anymore. It has backward compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g wireless equipment and assures compatibility with a wide range of wireless devices.

Mobile subscribers finding plenty of reasons to smile these days

Only a few weeks more and we all will be saying hello to the year’s most important holiday. Remember when we were kids, and our parents told us we better be good and nice so that we would receive those shiny gifts from Santa Claus? Remember also how our elders pleaded with us to never even think of being naughty, or else we would end up with nothing on Christmas morning? This year, we should thank the spirit of Christmas for the blessings we, mobile subscribers and consumers, are receiving and are about to receive. Talk is Cheap, SMS is Cheaper Maybe somebody should check local telecommunications executives’ temperatures, and determine whether they are suffering from life-threatening or mental-state-altering fever or other conditions. How else can we account for this sudden turn of our fortunes for the better? Imagine, they have agreed to allow consumers to use their mobile networks to send text messages at cheaper rates. Never mind that they are doing this not for some humanitarian reasons, or they have suddenly discovered a deep love for humanity. Early in November, Globe Telecom, Smart Communications, and Sun Cellular signed a memorandum of agreement to lower their interconnection charges on SMS by 20 centavos. This move is in compliance with the NTC Memorandum Circular Number 02-10-2011, issued on October 24. Telecom companies were given 20 days from the effectivity date of the memorandum to adjust their SMS fees downward as required by the policy. So, there is one more reason to help make this Christmas merry for SMS-loving Pinoy consumers. Smart LTE Smart Communications has begun beta testing its Long-Term Evolution (LTE) broadband services. Otherwise known as fourth-generation (4G) mobile technology, LTE is reportedly capable of delivering up to 42Mbps in Internet speed. Aside from offering mobile subscribers much faster download and upload speeds, LTE can help upgrade the country’s average Internet speeds, which currently stand at levels we cannot be particularly proud of. Pinoy Terror Hackers American telecom company AT&T’s network was recently attacked by hackers later on identified as members of an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist cell in the Philippines. FBI and Philippine National Police officers arrested four suspects who were accused of breaching the corporate PBX of AT&T customers and stealing about $2 million over the span of two years. The suspects allegedly used these numbers to make expensive calls overseas and redirected revenues to bank accounts held by Saudi-based terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. This incident, aside from highlighting how much networked the world has become, puts Pinoys’ tech skills at center stage once more. We only wish that it involved a less dreadful occasion. That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.