interesting article about the history of predatory pricing
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-169es.html
Monday, April 2, 2007
Predatory pricing and antitrust issues
In January 2007 , the court of first instance, EU's second highest court ruled that Franc telecom's broadband arm, wanadoo, kept competitors out of high-speed internet market illegally by charging artificially low prices, prices that are below their cost,[1]
This is an obvious predatory pricing case! basically; predatory pricing means selling the product at a price below the cost to drive the competitor(s) out of the market or at least discipline that competitor(s)[2][3], the definition looks very straightforward, but a deeper look in the issue shows the complications and ambiguities surrounded by predatory pricing.
first of all price-cost leadership is the major goal for any firm in any market, almost all competition is price-based, but where would the line be drown? what constitutes antitrust predatory pricing and what constitutes legal competition. especially in the telecom market?
The telecom markets are characterized by many particularities[2]:on most fixed-line telephony markets there is one-former monopolist with an established customer base and almost 100% share of the market in the beginning of the liberalization "in this case France telecom" naturally, new entrants will convince customers to switch,
In addition to that , the telecom market is characterized by high fixed costs "infrastructure" and low variable costs, so many new entrants might need to use the existing incumbent infrastructure, the prices for using the incumbent's infrastructure are usually regulated.
checking the above points reveals that there is a risk of predation in telecom markets[2]: the established operators can work form the customer base they have to achieve market power,that's for incumbent operators , from the other side there a large incentive for the new entrants to cut prices in order to encourage the customers to switch to their service.
there are many rules and used to identify predatory pricing,[2] talks about the best known one used called areeda-turner rule, where the price is considered predatory if it's below average variable costs, this rule however has it's limitations.
It is up to the regulator to define predatory pricing, it's difficult to establish certain rules to realize it! basically: a price is predatory if it's meant to drive competitors out of the market and there is no business behaviour can explain the price cut.[2]
the regulator can use two approaches to prevent predatory pricing, the ex-post approach is where the regulatory supervise the competition process, it's it up to the regulator and the courts to decide whether a certain behaviour is predatory, this process can be slow and not very effective and might fail to protect the competitors since any action may take place after the competitor is drown out of business.[2]
in contrast, the ex-ante approach requires the firms are required to get approval for all price changes before they happen, this approach is more drastic and is the current practice for most of the regulatory authorities.[2]
Predatory pricing is a serious issue in liberalized markets, the fine line between illegal pricing and normal pricing makes it more difficult to be decisive about it so many times normal pricing actions were considered predatory therefore stifling true competition , many other times predatory actions passed the supervision resulting in an unfair competition between firms.
References:
[1] Reuters.com "EU court rules france telecom broke antitrust rules" jan 2007 http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSBRU00535220070130
[2] "Predatory pricing on liberalized telecommunications markets" by Justus Haucap and Jorn Kruse, August 2002
[3] wikipedia.org
This is an obvious predatory pricing case! basically; predatory pricing means selling the product at a price below the cost to drive the competitor(s) out of the market or at least discipline that competitor(s)[2][3], the definition looks very straightforward, but a deeper look in the issue shows the complications and ambiguities surrounded by predatory pricing.
first of all price-cost leadership is the major goal for any firm in any market, almost all competition is price-based, but where would the line be drown? what constitutes antitrust predatory pricing and what constitutes legal competition. especially in the telecom market?
The telecom markets are characterized by many particularities[2]:on most fixed-line telephony markets there is one-former monopolist with an established customer base and almost 100% share of the market in the beginning of the liberalization "in this case France telecom" naturally, new entrants will convince customers to switch,
In addition to that , the telecom market is characterized by high fixed costs "infrastructure" and low variable costs, so many new entrants might need to use the existing incumbent infrastructure, the prices for using the incumbent's infrastructure are usually regulated.
checking the above points reveals that there is a risk of predation in telecom markets[2]: the established operators can work form the customer base they have to achieve market power,that's for incumbent operators , from the other side there a large incentive for the new entrants to cut prices in order to encourage the customers to switch to their service.
there are many rules and used to identify predatory pricing,[2] talks about the best known one used called areeda-turner rule, where the price is considered predatory if it's below average variable costs, this rule however has it's limitations.
It is up to the regulator to define predatory pricing, it's difficult to establish certain rules to realize it! basically: a price is predatory if it's meant to drive competitors out of the market and there is no business behaviour can explain the price cut.[2]
the regulator can use two approaches to prevent predatory pricing, the ex-post approach is where the regulatory supervise the competition process, it's it up to the regulator and the courts to decide whether a certain behaviour is predatory, this process can be slow and not very effective and might fail to protect the competitors since any action may take place after the competitor is drown out of business.[2]
in contrast, the ex-ante approach requires the firms are required to get approval for all price changes before they happen, this approach is more drastic and is the current practice for most of the regulatory authorities.[2]
Predatory pricing is a serious issue in liberalized markets, the fine line between illegal pricing and normal pricing makes it more difficult to be decisive about it so many times normal pricing actions were considered predatory therefore stifling true competition , many other times predatory actions passed the supervision resulting in an unfair competition between firms.
References:
[1] Reuters.com "EU court rules france telecom broke antitrust rules" jan 2007 http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSBRU00535220070130
[2] "Predatory pricing on liberalized telecommunications markets" by Justus Haucap and Jorn Kruse, August 2002
[3] wikipedia.org
Google Docs
Google docs and spreadsheets is a web-based productivity tool launched by google inc. as a "complementary" to desktop products, the Beta version was launched in march 2006 with the spreadsheets and in June , google docs was launched.
google docs & spreadsheets offer many interesting features and lack many others, assuming that Internet connection is available, files can be easily accessed whenever and wherever needed, modified right away, saved, even published, so it can be a good solution for users with high mobility.
it also provides the feature of sharing, the beta version can support up to 10 accounts modifying and using the same document. making it a good solution for work groups.
Security is another feature of google docs, all the files are stored in a "central" server , a relatively secure location and less prone to vandalism and such dangers
Along with advantages comes the disadvantages: the most obvious disadvantage is the lack of features, users that are "spoiled" with the features that MS office provides them, "me being one of them" find google docs features very basic and insufficient,
Dealing with privacy of content is another disadvantage , the same feature of security is the disadvantage of lack of privacy, storing the files away from the author in a central server will compromise the privacy of content and therefore users will be shunned from using this product for sensitive and Private content, in addition to that , users might feel uncomfortable to the idea of their files being stored away from them and prefer that they would reside "physically" closer to them
Add to that, the whole idea assumes that Internet access is always available, and that is not always true! many countries in the world don't have adequate and full access everywhere!
However , google docs/spreadsheets is only in it's Beta version, many features that are still not available and many features that will not be available, it's early to judge on the usability of this product, during my brief experience with this product , many bugs came and went, the stability fluctuated along the way! sometimes it even crashed my computer! typical of a beta version."right now the program works just fine! maybe because the google guys know I'm writing about them! who knows ?!!!"
the success of this product is based on many factors: increasing Internet access and make it available virtually everywhere, ensuring the total privacy and security of the content servers , and of course making the product more stable and offering more features. right now google docs might not be suitable for all types of users. in addition many users have already invested time and money on their existing word/spreadsheet applications so they'll provably resist the idea of switching to other products even if they are free! therefore another challenge that might face google is convincing the customers that their product is more stable and has more features.
However, as mentioned earlier, google docs is only a complimentary product, google officials claim that they're not trying to replace other established desktop products such as MS office but to give and alternative that might be useful in some cases. it shows google's increasing commitment towards a web based application products.
After all ; google docs is a good "light" solution when other products are not available, however the established , non web-based products are currently the better choice , even when most of them have performance and stability issues.
google docs & spreadsheets offer many interesting features and lack many others, assuming that Internet connection is available, files can be easily accessed whenever and wherever needed, modified right away, saved, even published, so it can be a good solution for users with high mobility.
it also provides the feature of sharing, the beta version can support up to 10 accounts modifying and using the same document. making it a good solution for work groups.
Security is another feature of google docs, all the files are stored in a "central" server , a relatively secure location and less prone to vandalism and such dangers
Along with advantages comes the disadvantages: the most obvious disadvantage is the lack of features, users that are "spoiled" with the features that MS office provides them, "me being one of them" find google docs features very basic and insufficient,
Dealing with privacy of content is another disadvantage , the same feature of security is the disadvantage of lack of privacy, storing the files away from the author in a central server will compromise the privacy of content and therefore users will be shunned from using this product for sensitive and Private content, in addition to that , users might feel uncomfortable to the idea of their files being stored away from them and prefer that they would reside "physically" closer to them
Add to that, the whole idea assumes that Internet access is always available, and that is not always true! many countries in the world don't have adequate and full access everywhere!
However , google docs/spreadsheets is only in it's Beta version, many features that are still not available and many features that will not be available, it's early to judge on the usability of this product, during my brief experience with this product , many bugs came and went, the stability fluctuated along the way! sometimes it even crashed my computer! typical of a beta version."right now the program works just fine! maybe because the google guys know I'm writing about them! who knows ?!!!"
the success of this product is based on many factors: increasing Internet access and make it available virtually everywhere, ensuring the total privacy and security of the content servers , and of course making the product more stable and offering more features. right now google docs might not be suitable for all types of users. in addition many users have already invested time and money on their existing word/spreadsheet applications so they'll provably resist the idea of switching to other products even if they are free! therefore another challenge that might face google is convincing the customers that their product is more stable and has more features.
However, as mentioned earlier, google docs is only a complimentary product, google officials claim that they're not trying to replace other established desktop products such as MS office but to give and alternative that might be useful in some cases. it shows google's increasing commitment towards a web based application products.
After all ; google docs is a good "light" solution when other products are not available, however the established , non web-based products are currently the better choice , even when most of them have performance and stability issues.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
You're telling me there's another life ????????!!!!!!!!!
When it comes to making people's dream come true! second life comes very close to doing it! the idea is simple , you can be whatever you want, look anyway you want and of course do whatever you want! then you can wander the virtual reality world , mingle with people from all over the world , buy , sell , almost everything that you do in your real life !
second life has caught the attention of many! the number of second life users is getting closer to 2 million! from the average users who just want to socialize, to big corporates who want to sell, advertise and test their products and ideas !! the fever has even reached the political community !!! with John Edwards the democratic hopeful launching his own campaign in second life! from his second life HQ! that and other interesting facts makes second life become more like our first "real" life world!!!
or in other words it's our world .... digitized !!!!!!!
being a telecom engineer! I don't believe that anything can replace the physical , face to face contact, it is true that the telecommunication boom helped shorten the distances!! but it can only help when it's too far to make direct contact !!! call me old school but that's what I really believe!!
However, it's seems that this is not were things are going in real life! the internet boom helped people get closer together, but it also helped people get "alternative" lives parallel to their own life!! simple example ? Instant Messaging!
what makes second life different is that it uses the virtual reality idea to create a world that is almost identical to the one we live in!! there is sun , sky , sea , you walk around and meet 3d avatars of people that resembles " or at least, you can assume that!" the real persons behind it, still you talk to the avatars , the second life characters that were created by the fantasies of their owners ! you never reach out for the real person! in second life! almost nobody talks about real life!! john Edwards might be an exempt!!!!
the question is : will we get to the point were almost everyone sits in his room , connects to the internet , logs on to second life and starts his day???? well already we see some people who are "living online" ... but can that happen even more ? it seems that even the chaos of our world will move on and make roots in Second life!!! Caroline McCarthy of CNET news , interviewed the spokeswoman of the Second Life Liberation Army , an "avatar rights" or "virtual rights" group that aims at creating "democracy" in the second life community,
the SLLA members took over the stage at the world economic forum's second life presence and set off atomic bombs of companies there,[1] not real atomic bombs just visual effects!! but that makes you worry! will these organizations make an inverse move into the physical world , or even worse! will terrorism move towards this world!! hopefully not!
can Second Life change the way that people live? does second life replace or compliment our first "real" lives ? tough ones to answer , as for me, I'm happy with my carnal life!! very busy with it , i don't think I'm ready to get another life! virtual or not!
life is beautiful!
references
[1] Caroline McCarthy: "In 'second life', the ring of revolution ?" Cnet news march 5th 2007 http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6163917.html
second life has caught the attention of many! the number of second life users is getting closer to 2 million! from the average users who just want to socialize, to big corporates who want to sell, advertise and test their products and ideas !! the fever has even reached the political community !!! with John Edwards the democratic hopeful launching his own campaign in second life! from his second life HQ! that and other interesting facts makes second life become more like our first "real" life world!!!
or in other words it's our world .... digitized !!!!!!!
being a telecom engineer! I don't believe that anything can replace the physical , face to face contact, it is true that the telecommunication boom helped shorten the distances!! but it can only help when it's too far to make direct contact !!! call me old school but that's what I really believe!!
However, it's seems that this is not were things are going in real life! the internet boom helped people get closer together, but it also helped people get "alternative" lives parallel to their own life!! simple example ? Instant Messaging!
what makes second life different is that it uses the virtual reality idea to create a world that is almost identical to the one we live in!! there is sun , sky , sea , you walk around and meet 3d avatars of people that resembles " or at least, you can assume that!" the real persons behind it, still you talk to the avatars , the second life characters that were created by the fantasies of their owners ! you never reach out for the real person! in second life! almost nobody talks about real life!! john Edwards might be an exempt!!!!
the question is : will we get to the point were almost everyone sits in his room , connects to the internet , logs on to second life and starts his day???? well already we see some people who are "living online" ... but can that happen even more ? it seems that even the chaos of our world will move on and make roots in Second life!!! Caroline McCarthy of CNET news , interviewed the spokeswoman of the Second Life Liberation Army , an "avatar rights" or "virtual rights" group that aims at creating "democracy" in the second life community,
the SLLA members took over the stage at the world economic forum's second life presence and set off atomic bombs of companies there,[1] not real atomic bombs just visual effects!! but that makes you worry! will these organizations make an inverse move into the physical world , or even worse! will terrorism move towards this world!! hopefully not!
can Second Life change the way that people live? does second life replace or compliment our first "real" lives ? tough ones to answer , as for me, I'm happy with my carnal life!! very busy with it , i don't think I'm ready to get another life! virtual or not!
life is beautiful!
references
[1] Caroline McCarthy: "In 'second life', the ring of revolution ?" Cnet news march 5th 2007 http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6163917.html
Monday, March 12, 2007
The new age of radio
Can Podcasting be the "new radio"???
podcasting has become so popular that it's now considered an official word !!!
according to Webster's new millennium dictionary of english :
-podcast :(n) a Web-based audio broadcast via an RSS feed, accessed by subscription over the Internet.
-podcast :(v) to deliver a Web-based audio broadcast via an RSS feed over the Internet to subscribers.
There are hours and hours and hours of podcasts over the internet so the task of finding the "favourite" podcasts is not easy by any means, it depends on where and how you look around and what are you realy interested in!
my search included both independent and corporate podcasts,and I found that there's a lot more quality and content in independent podcasts,
there are alot of intersting podcasts out there, it'd be unfair to just name three , but anyway :
1- Avaya's "Smart Start with Dummies" audio books podcast was interesting , it's good if you want to get an idea of VOIP and SIP technologies,
you can find it at http://www.avaya.com/gcm/master-usa/en-us/podcasts/index.htm
2- Comis strip live: stand up comedy , great content , very diverse , ranges from "clean" everyday life humor to "explicit" political content
great if you're into stand up comdey "like me" http://www.podcast.net/show/8226
3-Practical performance guitar, Expressive playing: If you're into learning guitar rock solos, this is a great resource for you !! it'd be better if it had video , but it's a nice challenge ! http://www.podcast.net/show/46447
other intersting podcasts:
-The american life, chicago publice radio: the #1 podcast on iTunes!
-Monster guitar podcasts , lessons and tips: http://www.podcast.net/show/5693
-Learn spanish with coffe break spanish: for you spanish language zealots you can find it on itunes !
-Irish and celtic music podcast : common it's saint patrick's season!!! find it on itunes
it's hard to say which podcasts were less favourite , generally i'd say the ones with a not-very-attractive titles are the least favourite!
enjoy
podcasting has become so popular that it's now considered an official word !!!
according to Webster's new millennium dictionary of english :
-podcast :(n) a Web-based audio broadcast via an RSS feed, accessed by subscription over the Internet.
-podcast :(v) to deliver a Web-based audio broadcast via an RSS feed over the Internet to subscribers.
There are hours and hours and hours of podcasts over the internet so the task of finding the "favourite" podcasts is not easy by any means, it depends on where and how you look around and what are you realy interested in!
my search included both independent and corporate podcasts,and I found that there's a lot more quality and content in independent podcasts,
there are alot of intersting podcasts out there, it'd be unfair to just name three , but anyway :
1- Avaya's "Smart Start with Dummies" audio books podcast was interesting , it's good if you want to get an idea of VOIP and SIP technologies,
you can find it at http://www.avaya.com/gcm/master-usa/en-us/podcasts/index.htm
2- Comis strip live: stand up comedy , great content , very diverse , ranges from "clean" everyday life humor to "explicit" political content
great if you're into stand up comdey "like me" http://www.podcast.net/show/8226
3-Practical performance guitar, Expressive playing: If you're into learning guitar rock solos, this is a great resource for you !! it'd be better if it had video , but it's a nice challenge ! http://www.podcast.net/show/46447
other intersting podcasts:
-The american life, chicago publice radio: the #1 podcast on iTunes!
-Monster guitar podcasts , lessons and tips: http://www.podcast.net/show/5693
-Learn spanish with coffe break spanish: for you spanish language zealots you can find it on itunes !
-Irish and celtic music podcast : common it's saint patrick's season!!! find it on itunes
it's hard to say which podcasts were less favourite , generally i'd say the ones with a not-very-attractive titles are the least favourite!
enjoy
Sunday, March 4, 2007
It's a Wiki Wiki world
Lets face it!! Wikipedia is a great source, there's virtually nothing that you can't find there, from the F-word to Jimi Hendrix to the geekiest subject imaginable! you can find very useful links
the whole idea is that you can add , edit , delete , whatever you don't like and write any article that you might find "right" !! it's up to the public to edit it,the author's identity remains unkown.. not a bad idea at all!!
the internet is becoming an "open-source" hub , from youtube, to ultimate guitar and of course, wikipedia, everybody and anybody can be an artist, journalist, researcher, movie star, porn star, director and the list goes, you can post whatever you want and express whatever you want , no matter how unusual " and in many times twisted" your idea is!!
Wikipedia " as mentioned in wikipedia.com .. what an irony!" is:
" a multilingual, Web-based, Free content Encyclopedia project. Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers; its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Web site. The name is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a type of collaborative website) and encyclopedia."
According to wikipedia there are more than 75000 active contributors, working on more than 5,300,000 articles in more than 100 languages!
and more than 1,600,000 articles in English only!!! that's a lot. no other encyclopedia gets even close to that!
also on wikipedia.com:
"Wikipedia's reliability and accuracy have been questioned. The site has also been criticised for its susceptibility to vandalism, uneven quality, systemic bias and inconsistencies, and for favouring consensus over credentials in its editorial process. Wikipedia's content policies and sub-projects set up by contributors seek to address these concerns. Two scholarly studies have concluded that vandalism is generally short-lived and that Wikipedia is roughly as accurate as other online encyclopedias."
The authors names are unknown, you have no idea about their academic background or affiliation, and anybody can edit anything therefore vandalism is a big concern, that and many other concerns affect wikipedia's credibility
if we take Encyclopedia Britannica, a prestigious source , been around for 239 years!!! yeah it's contributors and board of directors is about 4400, nothing compared to wiki's size! but in this case size doesn't matter!!! take a look at their editorial board of directors: Nobel laureates , university presidents, university professors! , but it's not free! and in costs a lot, anyway, after all nothing is perfect , even britannica has it's flaws , but it's way more credible!!!!
Right now the online version of britannica is available for students, for about 70$ a year you can get access to 17,511 articles , learning activites and step by step research guides!
in my own opinion wikipedia is a great source if you want to start researching about any subject! it can give you a good guideline for what and where to look, the contents are well organized , with links to websites and papers to get more info , but if you want your paper to be more convincing!! don't depend on wiki alone!
references :
wikipedia.com
britannica.com
9-1-1, please state your number and location. What’s your emergency?
Since it's introduction in 1965 , the American public became more and more dependant on 9-1-1 services, the National emergency number association estimated that as of February 2005, forms of 911 emergency services were available to 99% of the population and 96% of counties in the united states[1], therefore it comes as no surprise that the American public has certain expectations with respect to availability of 911 and E911 services.
911 services fall into two basic categories[1] based on the capabilities:
Basic 911: is a forwarding arrangement in which calls dialed to 911 are transmitted from the services provider's switch to a single geographically appropriate Public Safety Agency "PSAP" using dedicated emergency trunks. basic 911 does not provide callers location nor does provide call takers with callers location information or a call back number.
Enhanced 911 E911: they route 911 calls through the use of a selective router to a geographically appropriate PSAP based on the caller's location, it can provide the call taker with a call back number referred to as Automatic Numbering Information (ANI) , and in many cases the Automatic location Information (ALI).
911 services can further be divided into wire-line 911 and wireless 911.
The features of E911 become more evident in wireless and cellular networks, where the Mobile nature of the wireless technology makes it more difficult to determine the (ALI) of the caller, the PSAP's ability to access the caller's number and location became an official mandate in 1996 when Cellular Telecommunications and internet Association (CTIA) and three national public safety organizations filed a consensus agreement with the FCC[2],
The consensus agreement proposed a two-step implementation schedule for wireless E911 which was drafted into the FCC's wireless E911 rules,according to this agreement, wireless carriers to provide both basic and enhanced 911 services, in phase I; wireless carriers must provide PSAPs with a call back number and a location of the cell site/sector receiving the call, in phase II Wireless carriers are required to provide the PSAPs the location of all 911 calls by longitude and latitude beginning October 1 2001 [2]
However there are many challenges facing the wireless E911 service , in fact even after the deadline for phase II has passed, PSPAs are still desperate for E911 services, despite the fact that the technology is available, and wireless carriers think of E911 as a value-added service with which they can lure customers away from the competition[2]
The issue is: wireless carriers don't have to make their phones E911 compliant until six months after receiving a valid request form PSAP. so the PSAPs must "upgrade" their networks and calling centers so they can be E911 complaint [2] and here comes a very serious funding issue.
in a study commissioned by the FCC, Dale Hatfield summarized the situation as this:" the issue is simply that, by and large, the existing E911 infrastructure is seriously antiquated"[3] the serious cost of upgrading the system is indeed an obstacle facing the fast and nationwide implementation of Wireless E911 services, In 2003 U.S. Senators Conrad Burns (R. Mont.) and Hillary Clinton (D. NY) have proposed a bill that, if passed into law, would promote national safety and reignite the wireless industry to the tune of $500 million a year in grants[2]. this bill named "the enhanced 911 emergency act of 2003"[4]
The purposes of this Act are[4]:
(1) "to coordinate emergency communications systems, including 911 services and E-911 services, at the Federal, State, and local levels;"
(2) "to provide stability and resources to State and local Public Safety Answering Points, to facilitate the prompt deployment of enhanced 911 services throughout the United States in a ubiquitous and reliable infrastructure; and"
(3) "to ensure that funds collected on telecommunications bills for enhancing emergency 911 services are used only for the purposes for which the funds are being collected".
The bill provides the following [2]:
- "Authorizes $500 million per year for grants to enhance emergency communications
services through planning, infrastructure improvements, equipment purchases, and
personnel training and acquisition. Fifty percent matching grants would be available to
state, local, and tribal governments."
-" Administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA), the grant program would require consultation with the US Department of
Homeland Security. Preference in grants would go to applications that coordinated with
PSAPs and integrated public and commercial services."
- "The FCC is required to review, twice a year, fees for enhancing 911 services. States
would be required to certify that no E911 fees are being used for other purposes."
-" Creation of the NTIA Task Force - Requires the Administrator of NTIA to establish an
Emergency Communications Task Force to facilitate coordination between federal, state,
and local communications systems."
This law advances the sort of public-Private partnership in the telecom industry, a partnership that all parties need. it also provides for a federal solution to the issue of e911 funding.
References:
[1]: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/voip911order.pdf
[2]: http://www.purcellsystems.com/documents/white_papers/e911-the%20case%20for%20federal%20funding.pdf
[3]: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6513296239
[4]: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:2:./temp/~c108W5s0an::
911 services fall into two basic categories[1] based on the capabilities:
Basic 911: is a forwarding arrangement in which calls dialed to 911 are transmitted from the services provider's switch to a single geographically appropriate Public Safety Agency "PSAP" using dedicated emergency trunks. basic 911 does not provide callers location nor does provide call takers with callers location information or a call back number.
Enhanced 911 E911: they route 911 calls through the use of a selective router to a geographically appropriate PSAP based on the caller's location, it can provide the call taker with a call back number referred to as Automatic Numbering Information (ANI) , and in many cases the Automatic location Information (ALI).
911 services can further be divided into wire-line 911 and wireless 911.
The features of E911 become more evident in wireless and cellular networks, where the Mobile nature of the wireless technology makes it more difficult to determine the (ALI) of the caller, the PSAP's ability to access the caller's number and location became an official mandate in 1996 when Cellular Telecommunications and internet Association (CTIA) and three national public safety organizations filed a consensus agreement with the FCC[2],
The consensus agreement proposed a two-step implementation schedule for wireless E911 which was drafted into the FCC's wireless E911 rules,according to this agreement, wireless carriers to provide both basic and enhanced 911 services, in phase I; wireless carriers must provide PSAPs with a call back number and a location of the cell site/sector receiving the call, in phase II Wireless carriers are required to provide the PSAPs the location of all 911 calls by longitude and latitude beginning October 1 2001 [2]
However there are many challenges facing the wireless E911 service , in fact even after the deadline for phase II has passed, PSPAs are still desperate for E911 services, despite the fact that the technology is available, and wireless carriers think of E911 as a value-added service with which they can lure customers away from the competition[2]
The issue is: wireless carriers don't have to make their phones E911 compliant until six months after receiving a valid request form PSAP. so the PSAPs must "upgrade" their networks and calling centers so they can be E911 complaint [2] and here comes a very serious funding issue.
in a study commissioned by the FCC, Dale Hatfield summarized the situation as this:" the issue is simply that, by and large, the existing E911 infrastructure is seriously antiquated"[3] the serious cost of upgrading the system is indeed an obstacle facing the fast and nationwide implementation of Wireless E911 services, In 2003 U.S. Senators Conrad Burns (R. Mont.) and Hillary Clinton (D. NY) have proposed a bill that, if passed into law, would promote national safety and reignite the wireless industry to the tune of $500 million a year in grants[2]. this bill named "the enhanced 911 emergency act of 2003"[4]
The purposes of this Act are[4]:
(1) "to coordinate emergency communications systems, including 911 services and E-911 services, at the Federal, State, and local levels;"
(2) "to provide stability and resources to State and local Public Safety Answering Points, to facilitate the prompt deployment of enhanced 911 services throughout the United States in a ubiquitous and reliable infrastructure; and"
(3) "to ensure that funds collected on telecommunications bills for enhancing emergency 911 services are used only for the purposes for which the funds are being collected".
The bill provides the following [2]:
- "Authorizes $500 million per year for grants to enhance emergency communications
services through planning, infrastructure improvements, equipment purchases, and
personnel training and acquisition. Fifty percent matching grants would be available to
state, local, and tribal governments."
-" Administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA), the grant program would require consultation with the US Department of
Homeland Security. Preference in grants would go to applications that coordinated with
PSAPs and integrated public and commercial services."
- "The FCC is required to review, twice a year, fees for enhancing 911 services. States
would be required to certify that no E911 fees are being used for other purposes."
-" Creation of the NTIA Task Force - Requires the Administrator of NTIA to establish an
Emergency Communications Task Force to facilitate coordination between federal, state,
and local communications systems."
This law advances the sort of public-Private partnership in the telecom industry, a partnership that all parties need. it also provides for a federal solution to the issue of e911 funding.
References:
[1]: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/voip911order.pdf
[2]: http://www.purcellsystems.com/documents/white_papers/e911-the%20case%20for%20federal%20funding.pdf
[3]: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6513296239
[4]: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:2:./temp/~c108W5s0an::
Monday, February 19, 2007
The effect of Cognitive radio on the telecom market
An informal coalition of technology companies including Dell, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft, and Philips Electronics have asked the FCC to make unused portions of the TV broadcast spectrum available for unlicensed use by wireless devices [1]
Microsoft is preparing to submit its prototype "cognitive radio" soon. A company spokesperson said Microsoft and its partners aim to demonstrate to the FCC that consumer devices can utilize the spectrum "white space" without causing interference with TV or other signals.[1]
Cognitive radio is becoming the hot new trend in telecom industry, with the ever growing demand for wireless services, and with the decrease in the available spectrum, the need for a new way to manage and allocate spectrum is required, and that's where the cognitive radio comes in handy!
Cognitive radio (CR) technology builds upon software defined radio (SDR) technology and allows individual radios or groups of radios to make choices about their frequency use based upon their location and the radio use environment. It will sense the frequency use in the bands and will try to occupy a frequency channel to operate on, once the device "feels" that someone else is trying to use this channel, it will evacuate and start searching for other vacant channels [2] this feature can be very useful in licensed band "i.e. cellular bands" where the primary user " the cellular service provider" has the priority to use the spectrum.
There are many possibilities for the cognitive radio applications, whether its consumer markets, public safety and emergency services or military. They can also be applied in a wide range of frequencies "licensed or unlicensed"
However, the whole idea of a radio being able to choose an operating frequency "in licensed or unlicensed bands" from a wide range of frequencies is intimidating for wireless carriers and TV broadcasters, they paid a lot for the use of that spectrum and the idea of someone sharing the spectrum is not very welcome, in addition sharing the frequency will probably cause an unwanted interference, thus it will degrade their service.[1]
This is evident in Microsoft's coalition case, TV broadcaster showed their concern about the whole idea , the reason they mentioned was unwanted interference, that might not be the only reason, they probably don't want to open their spectrum for their competitors to provide voice and data services,
However, a new approach to spectrum management can solve this problem, by opening a "spectrum market" as Professor Dale Hatflield calls it, where spectrum can be bought, sold and leased like any other commodity! This can be a great way "maybe the only way" to persuade spectrum license holders to open their frequency bands for sharing,
And with creating more efficient and frequency agile devices, the cognitive radio can really be the solution to the ever growing problem of spectrum use and management. CR technology will not, of its own bring quantum jumps in intensity, but it will enable new spectrum management regimes that will. [2]
References:
[1] "Microsoft preps cognitive radio prototype for use with TV spectrum"
By Staff writers, www.ITnews.com.au 13 February 2007
[2] "Cognitive Radio: Brain-Empowered Wireless Communications"
Simon Haykin, IEEE journal on selected areas in communications, Vol. 23, No. 2, February 2005
Microsoft is preparing to submit its prototype "cognitive radio" soon. A company spokesperson said Microsoft and its partners aim to demonstrate to the FCC that consumer devices can utilize the spectrum "white space" without causing interference with TV or other signals.[1]
Cognitive radio is becoming the hot new trend in telecom industry, with the ever growing demand for wireless services, and with the decrease in the available spectrum, the need for a new way to manage and allocate spectrum is required, and that's where the cognitive radio comes in handy!
Cognitive radio (CR) technology builds upon software defined radio (SDR) technology and allows individual radios or groups of radios to make choices about their frequency use based upon their location and the radio use environment. It will sense the frequency use in the bands and will try to occupy a frequency channel to operate on, once the device "feels" that someone else is trying to use this channel, it will evacuate and start searching for other vacant channels [2] this feature can be very useful in licensed band "i.e. cellular bands" where the primary user " the cellular service provider" has the priority to use the spectrum.
There are many possibilities for the cognitive radio applications, whether its consumer markets, public safety and emergency services or military. They can also be applied in a wide range of frequencies "licensed or unlicensed"
However, the whole idea of a radio being able to choose an operating frequency "in licensed or unlicensed bands" from a wide range of frequencies is intimidating for wireless carriers and TV broadcasters, they paid a lot for the use of that spectrum and the idea of someone sharing the spectrum is not very welcome, in addition sharing the frequency will probably cause an unwanted interference, thus it will degrade their service.[1]
This is evident in Microsoft's coalition case, TV broadcaster showed their concern about the whole idea , the reason they mentioned was unwanted interference, that might not be the only reason, they probably don't want to open their spectrum for their competitors to provide voice and data services,
However, a new approach to spectrum management can solve this problem, by opening a "spectrum market" as Professor Dale Hatflield calls it, where spectrum can be bought, sold and leased like any other commodity! This can be a great way "maybe the only way" to persuade spectrum license holders to open their frequency bands for sharing,
And with creating more efficient and frequency agile devices, the cognitive radio can really be the solution to the ever growing problem of spectrum use and management. CR technology will not, of its own bring quantum jumps in intensity, but it will enable new spectrum management regimes that will. [2]
References:
[1] "Microsoft preps cognitive radio prototype for use with TV spectrum"
By Staff writers, www.ITnews.com.au 13 February 2007
[2] "Cognitive Radio: Brain-Empowered Wireless Communications"
Simon Haykin, IEEE journal on selected areas in communications, Vol. 23, No. 2, February 2005
Monday, February 12, 2007
Privatization in the Iraqi telecom industry
The liberalization of the telecommunication sector in Iraq is a good example of how privatization can actually help in economic growth.
While other crucial sectors "take electric power, for example " that are still under the government's control and under heavy bureaucracy have been struggling to get back to the pre-war status "although it's facilities weren't as much affected by the military action and coalition forces did their best to avoid damaging electric infrastructure ",
that wasn't the case in the telecom sector! within less than 3 years, wireless and wire-line subscribers have increased 4.6 Million , five times as much as it was pre-war! Internet subscribes have increased even more steeply , from 4500 to 150000! [1]. of course the numbers are increasing.
Prior to the war, the telecom sector was totally under government's control, with less than 3 phones for every 100 people!, almost no wireless services and a highly restricted internet access.[2]
After the war, there was alot to be done to restore the telecommunication sector, and with the insufficient and somehow outdated wire-line infrastructure the best choice was to go wireless , and to privatize the wireless sector,
obviously, a country with a population of more than 25 Million and no cellular services was a good opportunity for all foreign and domestic investors!!
The CPA "Coalition provisional authority" issued Order #11 in 2003 that gave the iraqi Ministry of transportation and communications to be the licensing and regulatory body for telecommunication services in iraq, after less than one year three GSM cellular licenses were awarded to three different companies, with each license covering only a part of iraq's geography " one license for north , one for the middle , and one for the south"
Shortly afterwards the INCMC the Iraqi National Communications and Media Commission was formed, the NCMC "website www.ncmc-iraq.org" is a non-governmental organization responsible for regulating and licensing all telecommunications , radio and tv broadcast activities, with a structure and activity and independence very similar to the FCC Federal Communications Commission. [1]
the temporary license was only for one year, so the INCMC had to start working on a new license for all of iraq, at the same time it started to research for solutions to replace the wireline service. for reason mentioned earlier, the wireline infrastructure was unable to cope with the growing demand for communications in the country, the WLL "wireless local loop : a technology that mixes wireless and wireline systems in a fixed wireless network" seemed to be the best solution for that problem!
last year the INCMC issued six licenses for WLL, three national licenses and 3 provincial licenses, with one of the national licenses awarded to the ITPC "the iraqi telecommunications and postal commission: a governmental telecommunications body" the other 5 licenses were awarded to local and foreign investors, along with the WLL license , a WiMax license was awarded " as a gift!!!!! " for all the winners !
The WLL story is indeed a very interesting one, first it's very rare for a government to enter the market as a direct competitor along with other companies , with no preference or special treatment!!!
second this is the first time that a WiMax "IEEE's wireless data transmission standard that carries the designation 802.16-2004 [1] " is deployed national, a brave step despite the uncertainties and challenges of the new WiMax technology.
However , as iraqi officials are becoming more and more committed towards privatization and wirelss technology, some are warning that the country is moving too far too fast, after all , the population is only 25 Million and there are more than 4 licensed cellular companies " some regional cellular licenses are awarded in some areas in north iraq" some fear that the demand would not require the existence of too many independent companies [1]
in addition to that , theres's still much more for the INCMC to work on , with the idea of a free market and a regulatory entity still new in iraq, there are many challenges to be faced, many cunning foreign and regional companies with relatively more experience and funding that of the INCMC trying to twist the fresh new laws "if not break them!!" to their own benefit, the decentralized regional governments don't make it easier too! " in some parts of north iraq , the INCMC doesn't have much control over the regulation of telecom, leaving that to the regional telecom ministries!".
After all, despite all the obstacles, the privatization of the iraqi telecom sector helped in it's growth, it can be called a success story! yet there's still much more to do out there, if done right, it can help as a guideline for other industries to recover faster and help bring this troubled country and it's economy back on it's feet again.
Late is better than never!!!
References :
[1] Iraq Goes Wireless
By: Glenn Zorpette , IEEE spectrum
[2] IIRTF
Overview of key industry sectors in iraq
www.export.gov
June 4, 2004
While other crucial sectors "take electric power, for example " that are still under the government's control and under heavy bureaucracy have been struggling to get back to the pre-war status "although it's facilities weren't as much affected by the military action and coalition forces did their best to avoid damaging electric infrastructure ",
that wasn't the case in the telecom sector! within less than 3 years, wireless and wire-line subscribers have increased 4.6 Million , five times as much as it was pre-war! Internet subscribes have increased even more steeply , from 4500 to 150000! [1]. of course the numbers are increasing.
Prior to the war, the telecom sector was totally under government's control, with less than 3 phones for every 100 people!, almost no wireless services and a highly restricted internet access.[2]
After the war, there was alot to be done to restore the telecommunication sector, and with the insufficient and somehow outdated wire-line infrastructure the best choice was to go wireless , and to privatize the wireless sector,
obviously, a country with a population of more than 25 Million and no cellular services was a good opportunity for all foreign and domestic investors!!
The CPA "Coalition provisional authority" issued Order #11 in 2003 that gave the iraqi Ministry of transportation and communications to be the licensing and regulatory body for telecommunication services in iraq, after less than one year three GSM cellular licenses were awarded to three different companies, with each license covering only a part of iraq's geography " one license for north , one for the middle , and one for the south"
Shortly afterwards the INCMC the Iraqi National Communications and Media Commission was formed, the NCMC "website www.ncmc-iraq.org" is a non-governmental organization responsible for regulating and licensing all telecommunications , radio and tv broadcast activities, with a structure and activity and independence very similar to the FCC Federal Communications Commission. [1]
the temporary license was only for one year, so the INCMC had to start working on a new license for all of iraq, at the same time it started to research for solutions to replace the wireline service. for reason mentioned earlier, the wireline infrastructure was unable to cope with the growing demand for communications in the country, the WLL "wireless local loop : a technology that mixes wireless and wireline systems in a fixed wireless network" seemed to be the best solution for that problem!
last year the INCMC issued six licenses for WLL, three national licenses and 3 provincial licenses, with one of the national licenses awarded to the ITPC "the iraqi telecommunications and postal commission: a governmental telecommunications body" the other 5 licenses were awarded to local and foreign investors, along with the WLL license , a WiMax license was awarded " as a gift!!!!! " for all the winners !
The WLL story is indeed a very interesting one, first it's very rare for a government to enter the market as a direct competitor along with other companies , with no preference or special treatment!!!
second this is the first time that a WiMax "IEEE's wireless data transmission standard that carries the designation 802.16-2004 [1] " is deployed national, a brave step despite the uncertainties and challenges of the new WiMax technology.
However , as iraqi officials are becoming more and more committed towards privatization and wirelss technology, some are warning that the country is moving too far too fast, after all , the population is only 25 Million and there are more than 4 licensed cellular companies " some regional cellular licenses are awarded in some areas in north iraq" some fear that the demand would not require the existence of too many independent companies [1]
in addition to that , theres's still much more for the INCMC to work on , with the idea of a free market and a regulatory entity still new in iraq, there are many challenges to be faced, many cunning foreign and regional companies with relatively more experience and funding that of the INCMC trying to twist the fresh new laws "if not break them!!" to their own benefit, the decentralized regional governments don't make it easier too! " in some parts of north iraq , the INCMC doesn't have much control over the regulation of telecom, leaving that to the regional telecom ministries!".
After all, despite all the obstacles, the privatization of the iraqi telecom sector helped in it's growth, it can be called a success story! yet there's still much more to do out there, if done right, it can help as a guideline for other industries to recover faster and help bring this troubled country and it's economy back on it's feet again.
Late is better than never!!!
References :
[1] Iraq Goes Wireless
By: Glenn Zorpette , IEEE spectrum
[2] IIRTF
Overview of key industry sectors in iraq
www.export.gov
June 4, 2004
Monday, February 5, 2007
Memo 3 HD-DVD vs. blu-ray
History repeats itself …
War again … the same 'ol Betamax / VHS rivalry is back in a new form, almost 20 years later.????
The HD-DVD and blu-ray formats are the new hype , with equipment manufacturers, entertainment studios already taking sides in this conflict, and with the physical and technical features of both formats very similar "but not compatible!", it's very hard if not impossible to decide who will win it all!!
The range of the new rivalry is indeed wider therefore more critical, with the scope expanding to gaming consoles, computer storage, home theatres as well as entertainment studios, as opposed to VHS/Betamax war that focused only on home video.
Putting all these facts in consideration; we might end up with two separate worlds just like the PC / Macintosh worlds "by the way Macintosh supports blu-ray while PC supports the HD-DVD"
As mentioned earlier, both formats are very similar yet incompatible:
- Both products focus is to replace the old DVD format, obviously! [1]
- Both use blue-violet laser as opposed to red laser used in the old DVD and CD formats [1]
- Both discs look just the same!!
- The maximum resolution in HD-DVD is 720p and 1080i HDTV , while the Blu-ray supports 720p , 1080i and 1080p in HDTV [1] , so both have good image quality [2]
- Both have backward compatibility with old DVD formats
Now the differences:
- Blu-ray discs have higher capacity than HD-DVD " single side Blu-ray disc has 25GB capacity while HD-DVD has 15 GB , 50 GB versus 30 GB for dual layers, " [2] this is an obvious advantage for Blu-ray, the extra capacity can be very attractive for gaming industry [1]
- Due to technical differences , manufacturing HD-DVD disk is much cheaper than blu-ray,[1] , in addition ; HD-DVD format utilizes manufacturing techniques very similar to those used for the current generation of DVDs, in other words there's no need for disk manufacturers to retool their factories [2] this fact is not applicable to blu-ray, that also means that HD-DVD will make it first in the market since no serious upgrading is required [2]
- In addition to disc prices, the HD-DVD consoles are much cheaper than those of blu-ray " HD-DVD can start from 500$ while blu-ray start from 1000$" [2] , anyway because Playstation 3 supports blu-ray, it is possible to save 500$ when compared to blu-ray players and use the console to view blu-ray disks! [1]
Of course, each side tries to portraying itself to be superior to the other, it can be seen in the marketing strategy of HD-DVD " you want it, and we are here now " and blu-ray "We wont be first but we'll be better " [1]
Both formats have same image quality and both look the same so it's hard for consumers to differentiate between them, that brings the whole competition down to the price of equipment and availability of content [2]
While HD-DVD format is much cheaper; blu-ray advocates claim that , within a short span of time the price difference between the two formats will decrease to a great extent[2], added to that , people will prefer to have more disc space by spending a few more pennies [2] , only time can show weather this will turn out to be true!
All these features created some "customer confusion" towards the new standards [1] [2] , this is a result of industry giants "Sony backing the blu-ray and Toshiba supporting the HD-DVD" ignoring customers to some extent , as stated earlier both formats have the same image quality that makes it a little bit harder for consumers to differentiate between the two products , in fact some manufacturers of the gaming industries stated that they would prefer not to launch any of the new formats to avoid price war and any unwanted price competition [1],
Now there's a standoff, with neither side trying to compromise, making things even worse [2]. Besides, making disc players that support both formats is cost-prohibitive.
As a personal opinion, it's incorrect to project the result of the VHS/betamax standoff on the current situation; VHS/betamax had different characteristics and specifications, and were focused on home video only.
And the fact that VHS ultimately won because of wise marketing and cheap pricing although it came out after the betamax and had less image quality than it [3] cannot be applied in this case because if we look deeper into the history of the conflict we find out that the two cases were different although taking place in the same marketplace!
However, in this early stage of competition, it's hard to decide who's winning it I personally support what is stated in the conclusion of [1] and would sit back and decide who'll win, in the meantime, using the old DVD formats! They're still efficient and take good care of their job!
References:
[1] "The high-def wars have begun: HD DVD vs. Blu-ray , a look at the new generation of optical burning. A report from BurnWorld.com "
[2] " Michael Grebb : The Showdown: Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD , ecoustics.com , March 27, 2005 "
[3] " The Betamax vs VHS Format War ; mediacollege.com ; unknown author "
Other references:
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia www.wikipedia.org
War again … the same 'ol Betamax / VHS rivalry is back in a new form, almost 20 years later.????
The HD-DVD and blu-ray formats are the new hype , with equipment manufacturers, entertainment studios already taking sides in this conflict, and with the physical and technical features of both formats very similar "but not compatible!", it's very hard if not impossible to decide who will win it all!!
The range of the new rivalry is indeed wider therefore more critical, with the scope expanding to gaming consoles, computer storage, home theatres as well as entertainment studios, as opposed to VHS/Betamax war that focused only on home video.
Putting all these facts in consideration; we might end up with two separate worlds just like the PC / Macintosh worlds "by the way Macintosh supports blu-ray while PC supports the HD-DVD"
As mentioned earlier, both formats are very similar yet incompatible:
- Both products focus is to replace the old DVD format, obviously! [1]
- Both use blue-violet laser as opposed to red laser used in the old DVD and CD formats [1]
- Both discs look just the same!!
- The maximum resolution in HD-DVD is 720p and 1080i HDTV , while the Blu-ray supports 720p , 1080i and 1080p in HDTV [1] , so both have good image quality [2]
- Both have backward compatibility with old DVD formats
Now the differences:
- Blu-ray discs have higher capacity than HD-DVD " single side Blu-ray disc has 25GB capacity while HD-DVD has 15 GB , 50 GB versus 30 GB for dual layers, " [2] this is an obvious advantage for Blu-ray, the extra capacity can be very attractive for gaming industry [1]
- Due to technical differences , manufacturing HD-DVD disk is much cheaper than blu-ray,[1] , in addition ; HD-DVD format utilizes manufacturing techniques very similar to those used for the current generation of DVDs, in other words there's no need for disk manufacturers to retool their factories [2] this fact is not applicable to blu-ray, that also means that HD-DVD will make it first in the market since no serious upgrading is required [2]
- In addition to disc prices, the HD-DVD consoles are much cheaper than those of blu-ray " HD-DVD can start from 500$ while blu-ray start from 1000$" [2] , anyway because Playstation 3 supports blu-ray, it is possible to save 500$ when compared to blu-ray players and use the console to view blu-ray disks! [1]
Of course, each side tries to portraying itself to be superior to the other, it can be seen in the marketing strategy of HD-DVD " you want it, and we are here now " and blu-ray "We wont be first but we'll be better " [1]
Both formats have same image quality and both look the same so it's hard for consumers to differentiate between them, that brings the whole competition down to the price of equipment and availability of content [2]
While HD-DVD format is much cheaper; blu-ray advocates claim that , within a short span of time the price difference between the two formats will decrease to a great extent[2], added to that , people will prefer to have more disc space by spending a few more pennies [2] , only time can show weather this will turn out to be true!
All these features created some "customer confusion" towards the new standards [1] [2] , this is a result of industry giants "Sony backing the blu-ray and Toshiba supporting the HD-DVD" ignoring customers to some extent , as stated earlier both formats have the same image quality that makes it a little bit harder for consumers to differentiate between the two products , in fact some manufacturers of the gaming industries stated that they would prefer not to launch any of the new formats to avoid price war and any unwanted price competition [1],
Now there's a standoff, with neither side trying to compromise, making things even worse [2]. Besides, making disc players that support both formats is cost-prohibitive.
As a personal opinion, it's incorrect to project the result of the VHS/betamax standoff on the current situation; VHS/betamax had different characteristics and specifications, and were focused on home video only.
And the fact that VHS ultimately won because of wise marketing and cheap pricing although it came out after the betamax and had less image quality than it [3] cannot be applied in this case because if we look deeper into the history of the conflict we find out that the two cases were different although taking place in the same marketplace!
However, in this early stage of competition, it's hard to decide who's winning it I personally support what is stated in the conclusion of [1] and would sit back and decide who'll win, in the meantime, using the old DVD formats! They're still efficient and take good care of their job!
References:
[1] "The high-def wars have begun: HD DVD vs. Blu-ray , a look at the new generation of optical burning. A report from BurnWorld.com "
[2] " Michael Grebb : The Showdown: Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD , ecoustics.com , March 27, 2005 "
[3] " The Betamax vs VHS Format War ; mediacollege.com ; unknown author "
Other references:
Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia www.wikipedia.org
Monday, January 29, 2007
The Internet Engineering Task Force IETF ( www.ietf.org ) is an open , all voulenteer international standards organization consisting of vendors, networks designers , researchers etc with the main focus of evolution of the internet architecture and the smooth operation of it. it is an activity under the umbrella of the internet society (ISOC), and it's overseen by the internet architecture board (IAB) which provides architectural guidance and works as a liaison for IETF.
the IETF issues RFC's that include new technologies, innovations, and researches that can be utilized for the internet technologies, Engineers and researches can publish the RFC for peer view or to convey new concepts and innovations, the IETF adopts some of the proposals published as internet standards.
As stated in request for comment (RFC) number 3935 the mission of the IETF is to make the internet work better and " to produce high quality, relevant technical and engineering documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet in such a way as to make the Internet work better. These documents include protocol standards, best current practices, and informational documents of various kinds." the IETF mission statement is documented in RFC 3935.
The IETF is organized into a large number of working groups (WG) , each dealing with a spesific topic, the working groups are organized into areas, with each area focusing into a certain subject, each area is directed by an Area Director (AD) (and sometimes 2 AD's) , the area directors along with the IETF chair, form the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) which is responsible for the overall operation of IETF.
The working groups are organized into eight Areas:
-Application area: contains the working groups that deal with applications ; wich use the ntewroks and security service to provide services to the end user.
-General area: contains the WG's that focus on supporting, updating and maintaining the IETF's standards developement process.
internet area : contains the working groups that focus on the layer 2 & 3 issues such as IP , IPv6, TCP and applying these protocols to wireless networks , resilinet packet rings , etc
-Operations and management area : joins the WG's that work on the various aspects of operation and management such as authentication , authorization and accounting, provisioning of wireless acces points, management support for storage , etc
-Real-time applications and infrastructure area: focuses on real-time technologies such as IP-telephony, video/audio transport, multimedia , etc
-Routing area: as the name implies ; this area focuses on the many routing issues such as MPLS , OSPF, which are all routing technologies
security area : focuses on the internet security issues
transport area: contains the WG's that focus on the OSI transport layer protocol issues.
Unlike IEEE, which works on voting ; The working groups operate on consensus decision-making, a desicion making process that not only seeks the agreement of the majority , but also tries to solve the objections of the minority to reach the best agreeable desicion.
the IETF issues RFC's that include new technologies, innovations, and researches that can be utilized for the internet technologies, Engineers and researches can publish the RFC for peer view or to convey new concepts and innovations, the IETF adopts some of the proposals published as internet standards.
As stated in request for comment (RFC) number 3935 the mission of the IETF is to make the internet work better and " to produce high quality, relevant technical and engineering documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet in such a way as to make the Internet work better. These documents include protocol standards, best current practices, and informational documents of various kinds." the IETF mission statement is documented in RFC 3935.
The IETF is organized into a large number of working groups (WG) , each dealing with a spesific topic, the working groups are organized into areas, with each area focusing into a certain subject, each area is directed by an Area Director (AD) (and sometimes 2 AD's) , the area directors along with the IETF chair, form the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) which is responsible for the overall operation of IETF.
The working groups are organized into eight Areas:
-Application area: contains the working groups that deal with applications ; wich use the ntewroks and security service to provide services to the end user.
-General area: contains the WG's that focus on supporting, updating and maintaining the IETF's standards developement process.
internet area : contains the working groups that focus on the layer 2 & 3 issues such as IP , IPv6, TCP and applying these protocols to wireless networks , resilinet packet rings , etc
-Operations and management area : joins the WG's that work on the various aspects of operation and management such as authentication , authorization and accounting, provisioning of wireless acces points, management support for storage , etc
-Real-time applications and infrastructure area: focuses on real-time technologies such as IP-telephony, video/audio transport, multimedia , etc
-Routing area: as the name implies ; this area focuses on the many routing issues such as MPLS , OSPF, which are all routing technologies
security area : focuses on the internet security issues
transport area: contains the WG's that focus on the OSI transport layer protocol issues.
Unlike IEEE, which works on voting ; The working groups operate on consensus decision-making, a desicion making process that not only seeks the agreement of the majority , but also tries to solve the objections of the minority to reach the best agreeable desicion.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Greetings
My name is Alan Noraddin, I'm an ITP student from Iraq ,working towards my masters degree in interdisciplinary telecom,
like the majority of the students attending the TLEN 5106 class , I have a technical background ,I got my bachelors degree in electronics and communication from the university of baghdad, I was granted a fulbright scolarship last year, coming to CU was a bit of coincidence, to tell the truth , I was looking for a program like ITP but didn't know where to look, so the guys at fulbright program found it for me , guess I'm lucky to be here, I'm enjoying every minute of it , in class or off class !
After graduation I worked for almost two years for a chinese telecom equipment vendor, working in many areas, post sales , pre sales , project management , project supervision , i've done a little bit of everything , but not enough, there's still more to learn...
that's why I chose this class, engineers are at least half business, and in order to succeed in the engineering world, one must have adequate business/policy background, good management/communication skills and oh yeah , a technical background can be a great help too!!!
In addition to that, being a fulbright scholar , it's always important to learn about how internationl telecom laws and policies work, how developing countries work to upgrade their telecom sector to meet the demands of a growing and highly competitive sector, something that can help my country, iraq that made a huge leap from government controled telecom sector in 2003 to a competition-based buisness after 1 year only!!!!
What made me choose telecom " besides being well paid in the industry, obviously " is that it's a booming industry despite the ups and downs in it, it's almost clear that the world craves more communication, telecom is now involved in every aspect of business, politics and of course our lifestyle, who can live without a cell phone now ??? let alone a regular land line phone!
My name is Alan Noraddin, I'm an ITP student from Iraq ,working towards my masters degree in interdisciplinary telecom,
like the majority of the students attending the TLEN 5106 class , I have a technical background ,I got my bachelors degree in electronics and communication from the university of baghdad, I was granted a fulbright scolarship last year, coming to CU was a bit of coincidence, to tell the truth , I was looking for a program like ITP but didn't know where to look, so the guys at fulbright program found it for me , guess I'm lucky to be here, I'm enjoying every minute of it , in class or off class !
After graduation I worked for almost two years for a chinese telecom equipment vendor, working in many areas, post sales , pre sales , project management , project supervision , i've done a little bit of everything , but not enough, there's still more to learn...
that's why I chose this class, engineers are at least half business, and in order to succeed in the engineering world, one must have adequate business/policy background, good management/communication skills and oh yeah , a technical background can be a great help too!!!
In addition to that, being a fulbright scholar , it's always important to learn about how internationl telecom laws and policies work, how developing countries work to upgrade their telecom sector to meet the demands of a growing and highly competitive sector, something that can help my country, iraq that made a huge leap from government controled telecom sector in 2003 to a competition-based buisness after 1 year only!!!!
What made me choose telecom " besides being well paid in the industry, obviously " is that it's a booming industry despite the ups and downs in it, it's almost clear that the world craves more communication, telecom is now involved in every aspect of business, politics and of course our lifestyle, who can live without a cell phone now ??? let alone a regular land line phone!
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