Archive for August 30, 2010


Nokia setting up enterprise mail servers in India

Filed under: Blackberry, Nokia, RIM, Security, Technology by Ryan Boese — 6 Comments
August 30, 2010

Nokia will set up servers in India by November for its push e-mail service in the country to comply with government regulations, the company said Monday.

The announcement by Nokia comes a day before an Indian government deadline to Research In Motion to provide access to some BlackBerry services to law enforcement agencies. Nokia has the largest share of the smartphone market in the country, according to estimates by research firm Gartner. The company has been running a beta of its Nokia Messaging Service in the country from last year.

The Indian government has ordered service providers offering BlackBerry enterprise server and instant messaging applications to ensure that these services can be intercepted by security agencies by Aug. 31, or face a block of these services.

Indian government officials are meeting in Delhi later today to take a final call on the various solutions proposed by RIM, according to reports.

RIM proposed last week to lead a forum to assist the Indian government on balancing the need for access of law enforcement agencies with the security needs of corporations. The company did not specify who would be the other members of the forum, nor did it address the immediate issue of the ban threat from India.

Access to the enterprise service for security agencies has been a sticking point in the negotiations between the government and RIM, according to informed sources.

Nokia said earlier this month that it was prepared to assist the applicable government authorities with their requests for a high degree of security and was in the process of installing the required infrastructure. The company said on Monday that it follows all local laws and regulations that are required by government authorities. Nokia said it is also committed to protecting its users’ privacy and maintaining their trust.

Although the BlackBerry has attracted considerable attention because of the Indian government’s security concerns about its encryption of data, it is not a runaway success in India as smartphones make up a small part of the mobile handset market.

About 6 percent of the 140 million mobile phones sold in India this year are likely to be smartphones, Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner, said earlier this month.

India added 18 million new mobile connections in June, taking the total number of subscribers to 636 million, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

A number of companies that had earlier standardized on the BlackBerry are now considering allowing staff to use other devices, like the iPhone from Apple and devices from Nokia, to access corporate mail. IBM already allows staff in India to access mail from other approved devices, while outsourcer iGATE is moving in that direction as its employees are demanding choice.

Some other companies such as Dell and Yahoo in India require employees to use the BlackBerry for official e-mail, but employees who qualify are few, and are usually those who are on the move, according to sources.

Source: Reuters

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Telcos told to share speedy Internet

Filed under: Internet, Telecom, Wireless by Ryan Boese — Leave a comment
August 30, 2010

Canada’s telecom carriers must share their expensive fibre-optic networks with wholesale resellers and provide to them the same Internet speeds that they do to their own retail customers, the CRTC has ruled.

The decision is a blow to Canada’s entrenched telcos, which had appealed an earlier version of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission’s decision to the federal cabinet, it may alter the expansion of advanced networks across the country and into rural areas.

“The cabinet’s decision was a message to the commission that they wanted investment, first and foremost,” Michael Hennessy, Telus Corp.’s senior vice-president for regulatory and government affairs, said Monday.

The CRTC decision, he said, is based on a “wrong” assumption that telcos will continue to invest despite having to share more advanced networks. Mr. Hennessy said that although this may be the case in cities, where telcos are building out Internet-based television (IPTV) to fight the cable companies, it will not be the case in rural areas, because returns on those investments are now even more uncertain.

Smaller Internet service providers (ISPs) applauded the CRTC’s reassertion of its original position, though some expressed concern about the telcos’ new ability to charge 10 per cent more than they did before. It is unclear how much money this will involve for the much smaller resellers.

“This was a good thing to a certain extent,” said Rocky Gaudrault, chief executive officer of TekSavvy Solutions Inc., a reseller based in Chatham, Ont. “As far as what comes next … it will be curious to see what the schematics of the pricing will be.”

In a dissenting opinion to Monday’s decision, commissioner Timothy Denton said it was a good ruling but does not go far enough. “The Commission has not seen fit to agree with the large carriers (cable and telephone) that the time has come to put an end to the leasing of parts of the networks owned by the large carriers, despite eloquent pleas by them to do so,” Mr. Denton wrote. “It has, by the same decision, not approved the means necessary for smaller ISPs to compete effectively.”

In the proceedings that led up to the decision, telcos argued that the current regulatory system favoured cable companies, because smaller ISPs preferred to hook into the phone company networks. The CRTC attempted to rectify this by ordering cable companies to make it easier for ISPs to share, but Rogers Communications Inc.’s senior vice-president for regulatory affairs, Ken Engelhart, said he is unclear what exactly the commission wants the cable companies to do.

Another appeal to cabinet is still possible. Telus said it is mulling further action and a spokesperson for Industry Minister Tony Clement said another review remains possible. “Because the decision by the CRTC can be reviewed by the Governor in Council, it would be inappropriate to comment further,” the spokesperson said in an e-mail message.

Source: The Globe And Mail

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India Delays BlackBerry Ban for 60 Days

Filed under: Blackberry, RIM, Security, Technology, Telecom, Wireless by Ryan Boese — 1 Comment
August 30, 2010

India has agreed not to block BlackBerry services in the country for at least 60 days while it reviews a proposal submitted by Research in Motion, the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs announced Monday.

The Indian government and RIM officials have been discussing lawful access to RIM systems for several weeks, and RIM has “made certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies,” the ministry said in a statement.

India must now assess the “feasibility of the solutions,” the ministry said.

Union Home Secretary Shri G.K. Pillai, as well as representatives from Indian security agencies and the country’s telecom department held a meeting Monday to discuss the issue.

Last month, India threatened to shut down BlackBerry services in the country by Aug. 31 unless RIM allowed the government to monitor activity on BlackBerry services.

“Ministry of Home Affairs have made it clear that any communication through the telecom networks should be accessible to the law enforcement agencies and all telecom service providers including third parties have to comply with this,” the agency said Monday.

On Friday, RIM extended a deal to the government of India whereby RIM would head up an industry forum that would assist with the “lawful access needs of law enforcement agencies” while preserving the security needs of its corporate clients.

India said Monday that the Department of Telecommunications is looking into whether RIM’s India operations should be routed “through a server located only in India.” On Friday, however, RIM denied that locating its infrastructure within India would help the problem because “all data remains encrypted at all times and through all points of transfer between the customer’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server and the customer’s device.”

The Ministry said it will review RIM’s proposal and submit a report in 60 days.

India is not the only country threatening a BlackBerry ban. Earlier this summer, the United Arab Emirates said it would block BlackBerry services starting Oct. 11. Days later, Saudi Arabia said it would block BlackBerry services by Aug. 6, but the kingdom later granted RIM an extension while talks continued.

Source: PC Magazine

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Intel Again Seeks To Use Acquisitions To Expand In Wireless

Filed under: Computers, Intel, Netbooks, Technology, WiFi by Ryan Boese — 3 Comments
August 30, 2010

Intel Corp.’s (INTC) $1.4 billion acquisition of Infineon Technologies AG’s (IFNNY, IFX.XE) wireless unit marks another step by the chip maker to expand in the wireless device market, an area where it has struggled in the past.

Intel’s need to push further into wireless was highlighted Friday by the company’s surprising warning that third-quarter revenue would fall short of its previous expectations because of weaker-than-expected demand for consumer PCs. Smartphones and other mobile devices have long been a faster-growing segment than the PC market.

In acquiring Infineon’s baseband radio chip business, Intel gains a portfolio of products covering a full range of wireless options, as well as access to the wireless chip company’s customers, including Apple Inc. (AAPL). However, analysts said, Intel will have to innovate to remain competitive in the combative industry.

“For Intel, this is basically them going all in on wireless,” said Jon Erensen, Gartner research director. He added that even with the assets Intel is getting from Infineon, the company still will have to invest “quite a bit” in the business.

Baird analyst Tristan Gerra said Infineon didn’t dedicate research and development for fourth-generation technology, and he warned that revenue for Infineon’s wireless assets could drop drastically over the next couple of years if it doesn’t have a 4G offering and loses Apple as a customer.

“Intel is acquiring the baseband architecture, but it will have to develop on a timely basis a 4G architecture,” Gerra said. “That takes a lot of time, and a lot of large companies have stumbled.”

Intel officials noted during a conference call that growing Infineon’s wireless business is important to the company and Intel will “rapidly apply” its resources to move the wireless business into a leadership position and accelerate development of long-term evolution technology.

The officials also said they have considered a variety of scenarios around Infineon’s revenue projections over the next few years, including losing certain customers, and that even with the most conservative of models, Intel believes the asset acquisition is a good deal that will add to earnings.

During the Internet bubble, Intel used acquisitions to build wireless expertise but found mobile handset chips a drag on its earnings. It eventually sold the product lines to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) in 2006 for $600 million and has struggled to get a strong foothold back in the fast-growing market.

While Intel’s chips are ubiquitous in PCs, most handset makers have opted for lower-power chips geared toward specific operating systems.

The Infineon buy isn’t Intel’s only attempt to improve its wireless operations. The company is working with Nokia Corp. (NOK, NOK1V.HE) on a new mobile operating system called MeeGo and spent $884 million last year to buy Wind River Systems, a fast-growing software firm that helps run cellphones and other “embedded” systems.

Intel also is trying to expand its Atom chip, popular in netbooks, into other mobile devices, a market dominated by ARM Holdings PLC (ARMH, ARM.LN), a British company that licenses microprocessor designs to other chip makers. ARM chips tend to use little electrical power, which extends the battery life of portable products.

Ironically, to fully leverage the purchase of Infineon, which makes chips using the ARM architecture, Intel may have to tout the technology that Atom is competing against, analysts said.

“Intel’s efforts here are a ‘show-me’ story as we feel like we have seen this movie before … and generally remain skeptical of Intel’s ability to execute outside of [the] core CPU market,” FBR Capital Markets analyst Craig Berger noted.

Intel shares recently slid 1.9% to $18.02, down 16% over the past three months.

Source:  The Wall Street Journal

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