PAK, CHINA TO LAUNCH COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE IN 2011: ENVOY

Beijing, Oct 20 (PTI): Pakistan is closely collaborating with China to launch a joint space communications satellite next year that will be a milestone in their friendship, the country’s envoy here said today.

The new satellite called Paksat-1R will bring immense economic benefits to Pakistan, Pakistani Ambassador to China, Masood Khan, said.

He made the remarks while addressing an official function here to mark the anniversary of the establishment of the China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC).

The agreement to launch the satellite and set up a joint communications project was reached during Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to China in 2008.
The CGWIC, established in 1980, is the sole commercial organization authorized by the Chinese government to provide satellites, commercial launch services and carry out international space cooperation.

It is actively involved in the international marketing of products and services using space technology.

As China prepares to develop Mars exploration technologies for starting a joint mission with Russia in 2011, Ambassador Khan expressed the hope that a Pakistani astronaut will travel aboard a Chinese spacecraft one day

Source:http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4479526

HOW MOBILE NETWORK OPERATORS MANAGE WIRELESS DATA DEMAND

Mobile carriers are facing pressure from increasing data usage. At the same time, the customers expect wireless data prices to go down. The flat pricing models are going away because of the load on the networks. I saw this interesting post on GigaOm and wanted to share the summary. You can expect similar trends in future in Pakistan and other emerging telecom markets as well.

Cell towers in the home
As smartphone users return home after using mobile broadband networks all day, do most of them revert over to Wi-Fi or do they stay on carrier networks? Results will vary, but carriers are taking steps to further offload data traffic with femtocells. These devices act as small cellular base stations: Phones connect to the femtocell, but network activity is then routed over a home broadband connection, which reduces wireless network demand. AT&T began offering a femtocell last year, and both U.S. CDMA carriers, Verizon and Sprint, do as well. The biggest challenge for consumer acceptance may be in the pricing model: Consumers often have to purchase the device (at a cost of up to $250 in the case of Verzion), or get a free femtocell and pay a monthly fee.

Improved idle features (with a bonus)
Nokia Siemens Networks announced a successful joint test with Qualcomm of an updated cellular standard that reduces wasteful network signaling traffic. Called Cell_PCH or Fast Dormancy, the updated standard increases wireless network efficiency up to 50 percent by placing a handset in an idle state when not using wireless data. This standard tackles one of the two largest network congestion issues, according to wireless analyst Chetan Sharma. By maintaining a minimal level of connectivity in a reduced power state, Fast Dormancy can also help offset the “Achilles heel” of mobility: battery life.

Go Wi-Fi Go!
One of the simplest methods to increase the supply of wireless mobile broadband network services is to get users on localized Wi-Fi networks. That’s a key reason AT&T purchased Wi-Fi provider Waypoint (and its 80,000 hotspots) in 2008 and explains why Verizon Wireless began partnering with Boingo last July to offer free Wi-Fi for its customers. How much can such network offload help with data demand? Take AT&T’s midtown Manhattan hotspot as an example. According to Jeff Thompson, CEO of Towerstream, which monitored the hotspot, the Wi-Fi zone experienced single days with more than 1 terabyte in usage, not to mention 21 million connections in a quarter. Every “bit” on the Wi-Fi network helps reduces demand on the carrier’s 3G network in this case, providing an opportunity for chipmakers.

Pay for what you use
Love it or hate it, the end of unlimited data plans are near. Now that carriers have a few years of smartphone user data to predict data demand, wireless plans are getting adjusted accordingly and economic barriers will keep some users under certain levels of data usage.

By: Babar Bhatti, 21st Oct 2010
Source: telecompk.net/2010/10/21/how-mobile-network-operators-manage-wireless-data-demand/

IT advisor to the President, Latif Khosa resigns

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Information Technology (IT) Sardar Muhammad Latif Khan Khosa on Tuesday tendered his resignation to President Asif Ali Zardari.

Lateef Khosa met President Asif Ali Zardari at presidency and tendered his resignation from the office of Advisor to PM on IT during the meeting, family sources said.

Source: www.pakistanviews.com/politics/prime-minister-advisor-on-it-latif-khosa-resigns.html

DELIVERING HIGH-SPEED WIRELESS INTERNET CONNECTIONS OVER LONGER DISTANCES

PROBLEM: Wi-Fi uses frequencies that can't carry a signal more than a few tens of meters. TV stations, on the other hand, use a portion of the radio spectrum that lets signals travel long distances, and the end of analog television has opened up unused slices of the spectrum between stations. They could be used for wireless Internet service, but it has been difficult to take advantage of these so-called white spaces without causing interference, because the exact frequencies used by TV stations vary geographically.

SOLUTION: Ranveer Chandra made the Microsoft campus in Redmond, WA, his laboratory for the first large-scale network to demonstrate the potential of using white spaces to deliver broadband wireless. Links in the prototype network can span up to two kilometers. To avoid treading on the toes of TV broadcasters, his system uses GPS to determine its location; then it checks the Web to find out what stations are active in the area. Chandra's devices can also listen for nearby transmissions from wireless microphones, which use the same bands. When a conflict is detected, they switch to a backup slice of unused spectrum on the fly.

If such a system gains currency, "all of us should be connected and better connected, and not just here in the U.S.," says Chandra. Spectrum regulators from Singapore, India, Brazil, and China have all come to visit his prototype network to explore the potential for white-space signals to connect large rural areas with minimal infrastructure.

By: Tom Simonite
Source: Technology Review (Published by MIT)
http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?Cand=T&TRID=979

Pakistan Reaches the 100 Million Cell Phone Users Mark

Pakistan has finally touched the 100 Million mark of mobile subscribers, with cellular mobile tele-density of over 60%. A recent press release from PTA revealed this milestone achieved by the telecom sector of Pakistan.

Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani congratulated the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for achieving 100 million subscribers mark.

Transworld congratulates the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), all cellular service providers and related industries on achieving this significant milestone. We hope that the Pakistan telecom industry continues growing and achieving significant milestones.

By: Arsalan Mir
Modified From: http://telecompk.net/2010/10/01/pakistan-100-million-mobile-susbcribers/