February 2010

In Europe, Challenges for Google

Google has a problem in China. But it may have bigger headaches in Europe.

On issues as varied as privacy, copyright protection and the dominance of Google's Internet search engine, the company is clashing with lawmakers, regulators and consumer advocates. And the fights are escalating across Western Europe. The stakes are high — potentially higher for Google than anything that happens in China — because Google's operations in Europe are so much larger and more lucrative. In Britain alone, Google has roughly 10 times its estimated sales in China. Across most of the Continent, Google is by far the most popular search engine, with a substantially larger market share over its rivals than it has over those in the United States. Google's border-straddling scale and its brash ambitions raise alarms with some European politicians.

(Feb 1)

Haitian regulator issues extra spectrum to cellco to help relief efforts

Haitian telecoms regulator Conatel has granted 12MHz of additional spectrum in the 850MHz band to local mobile operator Comcel (Voila) to help with relief efforts in the wake of the devastating earthquake last month.

Pressure mounts to phase out Internet Explorer 6

A Downing Street petition is calling for the UK government to drop Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) and move to a more modern browser.

The petition says that IE6 has security flaws and uses outdated technology, creating a burden for developers. The petition comes as the Department of Health advised the NHS to move away from the old browser. Other government departments - and many firms - still use the software, which was first released in 2001.

A campaign in the US, called ie6nomore, is supported by more than 70 web firms and claims the software is "holding the web back."

Microsoft has released two more versions of its web browser since IE6, but some firms and government departments still use systems that require it.

UK Police unit set up to combat terrorist websites

The UK Association of Chief Police Officers has created a new unit devoted to tackling terrorism activity online, accompanied by a Directgov portal for people to report suspected terrorist websites. The new team, part of Acpo's anti-terrorism Prevent Delivery Unit, can demand that material be removed or websites be taken down if they provide information that could be useful to terrorists or glorify acts of terrorism. The police gained the powers to do this in the Terrorism Act 2006. The team is part of a government scheme, announced by the Home Office on Monday, that will respond to reports from the public as well as actively seek out illegal material and work with industry.

4G handset to be demonstrated this month

NTT DoCoMo is to demonstrate a prototype handset based on the high-speed wireless data technology LTE later this month, according to the Japanese mobile operator's handset partner, NEC.

NEC said on Monday that NTT will demonstrate the handset receiving streaming high-resolution video across an LTE network at Mobile World Congress, which kicks off on 15 February in Barcelona. According to NEC, the handset uses an LTE chipset that was developed by Fujitsu, NEC, NTT DoCoMo and Panasonic, and first sampled in October. LTE, the 'long-term evolution of 3G', is the successor to HSDPA and is roughly 10 times faster, providing theoretical downlink speeds of at least 100Mbps and a theoretical uplink of at least 50Mbps. The technology was designed to reduce latency in data transmission and improve the efficiency of frequency usage, making it more suitable than 3G for services such as streaming HD video, video conferencing and online gaming.

NOTE: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED

China, the Internet, and Google

Congressional-Executive Commission on China
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 628
Constitution Avenue and 1st Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
2:30 to 4 p.m
http://cecc.gov/index.php

Recent events, including the reported cyber attack on Google and on advocates for human rights, have highlighted the importance of China's Internet policy to a number of issues including, but not limited to, censorship, free expression and intellectual property protection. This hearing will examine the impact of China's Internet policies on the development of human rights and on the development of commercial rule of law in China.

Read more about POSTPONED: China, the Internet, and Google

Brazil mulls plans for government-owned ISP

Brazil's government is considering plans to establish a state-backed vehicle to provide broadband Internet access services in the country at a cost of up to BRL20 billion (USD10.7 billion).

Targeting underserved and remote rural areas, the new company would be called InfoBrasil. A study is being drawn up to consider options for the move and the details will be presented to President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on 10 February. Brazil is actively developing a national broadband plan that aims to realize a total of 90 million broadband connections by 2014, reaching around half of Brazilian homes.

(Feb 1)

Dark fibre access assured in New Zealand fibre bid

The New Zealand government may have hit the jackpot in its efforts to build an open access ultrafast broadband network, with the infrastructure companies bidding for the project offering access to unlit or dark fiber as well as planning a national network of lit fiber.

The government's stated preference is for open access to dark fibre (Later 1), which would allow users to light their own fibre and use it in any way they please. It would also reduce the cost of network services. The New Zealand Regional Fibre Group (NZRFG) and Vector are offering access to lit fibre (Layer 2) in their bids for a piece of the $1.5 billion ultrafast broadband network project. However, Neil Simmonds, the CEO of NZRFG member Counties Power, says while the group is working together to create a Layer 2 lit network, that is not exclusive. Other providers will be able to light fibre too.

(Feb 3)

Google 'sister' launches in China

A new search engine and social network provider called Goojje has appeared online in China. The site contains very similar branding to Google, and the final syllable "jje" sounds similar to the Mandarin word for older sister (jiejie). Goojje's search results appear to be filtered for sensitive content in accordance with Chinese regulations. Google has recently objected to those restrictions, but the new site appears to be urging it to remain in China.

(Jan 27)

International partners, competitors react to iPad launch

While most carriers and handset vendors in Europe and other international markets have yet to comment on the Apple's introduction of the iPad, here is a quick summary of some carriers and handset vendors' early reactions.

1) Fujitsu may sue over the iPad name.

2) O2 UK gives the iPad a thumbs up.

3) T-Mobile and Vodafone don't comment.

4) Australian carriers are mixed.

5) Nokia, a future competitor in the tablet PC market? Not so fast.

6) Carphone Warehouse eager to retail the iPad in the UK.

(Jan 28)

Benton

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