Nortel Opens Center of Excellence - WiMAX 4G Ecosystem

Nortel announced the opening of its Center of Excellence - WiMAX 4G Ecosystem in Taipei
to promote interoperability across WiMAX devices and applications for global customers, helping to speed up the deployment of WiMAX technology throughout the world.
The new Center of Excellence will support field testing and demonstrations of a wide range of high-bandwidth multimedia applications such as VoIP, video streaming, IPTV, Digital Video Recorder and the transmission of data between WiMAX, Wi-Fi and 3G platforms when using PDAs, laptop computers and Wi-Fi handsets. Testing WiMAX customer premise equipment for interoperability will be a key test focus in the new center.
By delivering enhanced WiMAX technology interoperability, Nortel is making it easier for service providers to reduce costs while delivering next-generation services for anywhere, anytime voice, video and multimedia collaboration. As a pioneer in OFDM and MIMO technologies, Nortel is a leader in the development of 4G solutions designed to meet the challenges of an increasingly hyperconnected world, where anything that can be connected to the network will be. Hyperconnectivity encompasses person-to-person, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine communication.
"With many years of experience developing WiMAX technology, Nortel understands the sophisticated needs and requirements of deployment. The new Center of Excellence is designed to serve as an end-to-end resource for the global telecommunication industry, combining Nortel and third-party expertise, innovation, interoperability and collaboration," said Stone Tseng, vice president, WiMAX 4G Ecosystem, Nortel. "Nortel chose Taiwan to establish its Center of Excellence - WiMAX 4G Ecosystem because the majority of the world's networking and communications devices are designed and manufactured in Taiwan. Nortel is also collaborating with the Taiwan government to roll out the 'M-Taiwan' initiative which enhances Taiwan's leadership position in driving WiMAX developments."
Nortel's Center of Excellence - WiMAX 4G Ecosystem complements Nortel's Center of Excellence for WiMAX Devices, which opened in May last year in Taiwan. The new Center further drives the developments of WiMAX by connecting different vendors and manufacturers who are able to share knowledge and improve products and technologies. Nortel previously collaborated with National Taiwan University to conduct WiMAX broadband service trials that focused on the interoperability testing of wireless devices and multimedia applications. Nortel also recently announced a second WiMAX contract deployment with Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom.
Nortel is a member of the WiMAX Forum, an industry organization that promotes the interoperability and certification of wireless products for the delivery of faster, more affordable data, voice and video services. Nortel owns dozens of patents in the technologies underlying the WiMAX standard, and the Company's eight years of work in OFDM/MIMO technology has culminated with much of its patented technology being accepted as the basis for the global WiMAX industry standard.

Source : 4g.co.uk

Nortel Accelerates 4G Strategy to Bring Both WiMAX and LTE to Market Faster

Nortel is aligning its 4G wireless broadband strategy to address early market opportunities that are emerging for WiMAX and LTE. As part of this strategy, Nortel is focusing its main wireless R&D resources on 4G LTE and wireless applications, with WiMAX development re-aligning around the strategic agreement announced today with Alvarion. This enables Nortel to achieve faster time-to-market with WiMAX, at a lower cost, while accelerating LTE development to meet a demand that is emerging faster than the industry originally predicted.
"The increasing demand for mobile data with the advent of USB dongles, embedded laptops, and smartphones built on the iPhone model is driving traffic far faster than operators had anticipated," said Dr. Phil Marshall, vice president, Yankee Group. "Operators have realized that they need to get to 4G faster than originally anticipated. Major players such as China Mobile, NTT DoCoMo and Verizon have announced aggressive plans to roll out LTE, which we believe is the tip of the iceberg. The WiMAX market also continues to be very dynamic, with the underserved broadband markets and disruptive wireless operators in mature markets rapidly emerging as key market segments for that technology."
"Nortel is targeting its 4G portfolio to capitalize on the rapidly growing market opportunities associated with wireless broadband - and to help operators meet these needs quickly," said Richard Lowe, president, Carrier Networks, Nortel. "WiMAX will provide fast, cost-effective coverage and mobile broadband capabilities for early movers in the wireless broadband market. LTE will provide the high-speed, high-capacity mobile broadband network evolution sought by many established network operators, allowing them to offer not only faster connections but also an enriched user experience that includes real-time services such as mobile TV, web services, mobile advertising, and carrier-hosted services for businesses."
"Both WiMAX and LTE represent game-changing opportunities for Nortel because they require advances in network speed and capacity that Nortel knows how to deliver," continued Lowe.
The Nortel and Alvarion strategic agreement will form a complete, end-to-end WiMAX solution for each company's customers around the world, combining Alvarion's WiMAX access platform with Nortel's strength in all-IP network core technologies, backhaul, developing applications for carriers, such as VoIP and unified communications, and end-to-end lifecycle support through Nortel Global Services for WiMAX.
Nortel has appointed Scott Wickware as the general manager of WiMAX to drive Nortel's contributions to this strategic collaboration, including integration of these applications which will allow users to take advantage of the pervasive bandwidth offered by WiMAX while providing a simple communications experience.
"As the level of Hyperconnectivity increases around the world, more and more connected devices are driving increased traffic on wireless networks and users expect mobile communications to offer the same speed and capabilities as wireline connections," said Wickware. "The Nortel and Alvarion joint WiMAX solution will make business simple for WiMAX operators by providing a solution that recognizes and delivers on today's market needs for fast broadband coverage that is cost-effective and simple to deploy, while evolving to meet the ever-increasing demands for mobile connectivity."

Source : 4g.co.uk

World' s First 4G / 3G LTE Commercial Contract

Huawei Technologies announced that it has been chosen by TeliaSonera, the largest telecoms operator in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries, to supply the world' s first commercial 4G/LTE (Long Term Evolution) network, in Oslo, Norway. Huawei will, together with TeliaSonera, raise mobile broadband speeds significantly by dramatically improving quality and capacity with Huawei' s advanced LTE solution. Inset shows a 3G LTE demonstartion by Huawei recently.
Under the agreement, Huawei provides an environmentally friendly end-to-end LTE solution including LTE base stations, core network and OSS (Operating Support System) covering Oslo. Huawei also provides services including network design, implementation, systems integration and support.
The contract marks a significant step in TeliaSonera' s evolution to the next generation network. Thanks to Huawei' s 4th Generation Base Station platform, the Huawei LTE solution provides an All-IP, high speed, low latency and high frequency efficiency mobile network. LTE technology will deliver new mobile data rates, which will enable TeliaSonera to introduce the fastest mobile broadband experience to their customers.
Mr. Lars Klasson, Senior Vice President and CTO Business Area Mobility Services of TeliaSonera says, "Our customers will enjoy 4G with high-speed and high-quality mobility communications already in 2010. We have chosen Huawei as our partner based on their strong focus on LTE development and early deployment capabilities, as well as Huawei' s impressive and proven worldwide track record in advanced mobile technology."
"We are excited to help TeliaSonera to construct the world' s first commercial LTE network", says Chengdong Yu, President of Huawei European region. "Huawei always focuses on addressing the challenges of operators and the needs of its customers. With our leading LTE technology, we are confident to provide TeliaSonera with winning solutions for their businesses and help them provide the fastest mobile broadband experience for their customers."

Source : 4g.co.uk

First Multi-Vendor 4G LTE EPC-RAN Interoperability

Starent Networks announced it has completed 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) /Evolved Packet Core (EPC) interoperability testing with the Multi-Vendor Radio Access Network (MVR)
from Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. As a result of the successful interoperability, Samsung will be demonstrating a live LTE connection at Mobile World Congress, February 16 – 19, in Barcelona.
The LTE demonstration will utilize Samsung’s eNode-B system and Starent’s multimedia core solutions including Mobility Management Entity (MME), Serving Gateway (SGW) and Packet Data Network Gateway (PGW).
The interoperability testing and public demonstration showcases the two companies’ commitment to creating a solution that is standards compliant and can address mobile operator requirements for broadband connectivity along with network deployment flexibility. The demonstration further validates Samsung and Starent Networks’ leadership positions in delivering next generation mobile broadband and multimedia core networking solutions to an ever evolving market.
“Because Starent focuses on mobile broadband and the multimedia core network, they were the perfect choice to showcase the interoperability requirements of a multi-vendor LTE EPC solution,” said Woon Sub Kim, Executive Vice President of Samsung. “We believe this interoperability test is the first with the radio access from one company, Samsung, and the packet core from another, Starent. While other live network demonstrations have showcased end-to-end vendors demonstrating their radio and EPC, the completion of interoperability testing between Samsung and Starent validates the open standards compliance of both companies and demonstrates that we are ready and able to work with other companies’ solutions.”
“With the completion of interoperability testing with Samsung, Starent is poised to be first to market with a fully deployable evolved packet core network based on open standards,” said Ashraf Dahod, CEO of Starent Networks. “We are focused on the specific needs of the mobile operator multimedia core network and understand the unique dynamics of the network. As a result, we have developed our solutions to deliver superior performance in the existing 3G network, with easy and cost-effective evolution to 4G-LTE.”

Source : 4g.co.uk

Beyond 4G Wireless

Europe Belguim : With much of the mobile world yet to migrate to 3G mobile communications, let alone 4G, European researchers are already working on a new technology able to deliver data wirelessly up to 12.5Gb/s.
The technology – known as ‘millimetre (mm)-wave’ or microwave photonics – has commercial applications not just in telecommunications (access and in-house networks) but also in instrumentation, radar, security, radio astronomy and other fields.
Despite the quantum leap in performance made possible by combining the latest radio and optics technologies to produce mm-wave components, it will probably only be a few years before there are real benefits for the average EU citizen. This is thanks to research and development work being done by the EU-funded project IPHOBAC, which brings together partners from both academia and industry with the aim of developing a new class of components and systems for mm-wave applications.
The mm-wave band is the extremely high frequency part of the radio spectrum, from 30 to 300 gigahertz (GHz), and it gets it name from having a wavelength of one to 10mm. Until now, the band has been largely undeveloped, so the new technology makes available for exploitation more of the scarce and much-in-demand spectrum.
New products from Europe
IPHOBAC is not simply a ‘paper project’ where the technology is researched, but very much a practical exercise to develop and commercialise a new class of products with a ‘made in Europe’ label on them.
While several companies in Japan and the USA have been working on merging optical and radio frequency technologies, IPHOBAC is the world’s first fully integrated effort in the field, with a lot of different companies involved. This has resulted in the three-year project, which runs until end-2009, already having an impressive list of achievements to its name.
It recently unveiled a tiny component, a transmitter able to transmit a continuous signal not only through the entire mm-wave band but beyond. Its full range is 30 to 325GHz and even higher frequency operation is now under investigation. The first component worldwide able to deliver that range of performance, it will be used in both communications and radar systems. Other components developed by the project include 110GHz modulators, 110GHz photodetectors, 300GHz dual-mode lasers, 60GHz mode-locked lasers, and 60GHz transceivers.
Truly disruptive technology
Project coordinator Andreas Stöhr says millimetre-wave photonics is a truly disruptive technology for high frequency applications. “It offers unique capabilities such as ultra-wide tunability and low-phase noise which are not possible with competing technologies, such as electronics,” he says. What this will mean in practical terms is not only ultra-fast wireless data transfer over telecommunications networks, but also a whole range of new applications (www.iphobac-survey.org).
One of these, a 60GHz Photonic Wireless System, was demonstrated at the ICT 2008 exhibition in Lyon and was voted into the Top Ten Best exhibits. The system allows wireless connectivity in full high definition (HD) between devices in the home, such as a set-top box, TV, PC, and mobile devices. It is the first home area network to demonstrate the speeds necessary for full wireless HD of up to 3Gb/s.
The system can also be used to provide multi-camera coverage of live events in HD. “There is no time to compress the signal as the director needs to see live feed from every camera to decide which picture to use, and ours is the only technology which can deliver fast enough data rates to transmit uncompressed HD video/audio signals,” says Stöhr.
The same technology has been demonstrated for access telecom networks and has delivered world record data rates of up to 12.5Gb/s over short- to medium-range wireless spans, or 1500 times the speed of upcoming 4G mobile networks.
One way in which the technology can be deployed in the relatively short term, according to Stöhr, is wirelessly supporting very fast broadband to remote areas. “You can have your fibre in the ground delivering 10Gb/s but we can deliver this by air to remote areas where there is no fibre or to bridge gaps in fibre networks,” he says
Systems for outer space
The project is also developing systems for space applications, working with the European Space Agency. Stöhr said he could not reveal details as this has not yet been made public, save to say the systems will operate in the 100GHz band and are needed immediately.
There are various ongoing co-operation projects with industry to commercialise the components and systems, and some components are already at a pre-commercial stage and are being sold in limited numbers. There are also ongoing talks with some of the biggest names in telecommunications, including Siemens, Ericsson, Thales Communications and Malaysia Telecom.
“In just a few years time everybody will be able to see the results of the IPHOBAC project in telecommunications, in the home, in radio astronomy and in space. It is a completely new technology which will be used in many applications even medical ones where mm-wave devices to detect skin cancer are under investigation,” says Stöhr.

Source : 4g.co.uk

4G End-to-End LTE UE and LTE eNodeB System Technologies

SAI Technology announced it has introduced the world’s first complete end-to-end LTE (Long Term Evolution) software protocol stack
(PDCP, RLC, RRC, MAC & PHY-MAC API’s) and system infrastructure software that is openly available to customers and development partners. “Most LTE solutions today have been developed for in-house captive products,” said Dr. Venkat Rayapati (CEO, SAI Technology Inc.). “SAI has been a pioneer in the development of 4G wireless solutions. The launch of our new LTE software protocol stack builds on the strength of our earlier successful launch of the fixed and mobile WiMAX system technology products.” The 4G wireless market is expected to show dramatic growth in deployments over the next 5 years, primarily due to the consumer’s tremendous appetite for accessing all forms of data “any time” and “any place.” SAI is well positioned to support this growth with its broad portfolio of advanced wireless technology. SAI ‘s LTE product family is designed for customers and partners developing UE (Handsets, CPE) and eNodeB (Base Station) products or semiconductor solutions for these type of products.Some of the key differentiating features of SAI’s LTE system technology are:
Scalable and dynamically configurable architecture that enables many different hardware platforms that can support a significant growth in subscribers
Improved voice quality and enhanced streaming video quality by implementing a superior Quality of Service (QoS) mechanism
Increased utilization of precious bandwidth approximately 30%, by implementing an advanced Robust Header Compression (ROHC) technology.
SAI is actively engaged with several customers for its LTE product portfolio.

Source : 4g.co.uk

3G LTE and 4G Wireless Spectrum Auction

The Ministry for Science, Technology and Innovation (National IT and Telecom Agency) announced the public consultation on the auction of 2.5GHz spectrum in Denmark.
205MHz of spectrum will be auctioned in total: 190MHz in the 2.5GHz band (2500-2690MHz) and 15MHz in the 2010MHz band (2010-2025MHz).
The spectrum, which will be auctioned on a national basis, is suitable for providing 4G wireless broadband services based on standards such as LTE (Long Term Evolution) and WiMAX. However, it may also be attractive for other uses such as mobile TV or wireless cameras.


The licences granted to the winning bidders will allow them to deploy their own choice of technology (provided it does not cause interference to other spectrum users) and offer any type of service. It is hoped that this technology- and service-neutral approach will stimulate competition and enable the winning bidders to offer advanced and innovative services to as many people as possible throughout Denmark.
The auction is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2010 and will be conducted electronically, with participants submitting their bids via a secure Internet connection.
Further information about the auction may be found in draft versions of the Information Memorandum and the Executive Order , which are published today alongside a Consultation Document by the National IT and Telecom Agency (NITA). Copies of these documents (in Danish and English) may be downloaded from the NITA's website (www.itst.dk).

Source : 4g.co.uk

Not Brad Pitt? Here’s TheFirstOne

The current copy of Wired magazine shows Brad Pitt with a Bluetooth headset and carries a warning: “Ditch the headset. He can barely pull it off – and you are not him.”

A company with deep roots in wireless wants to change that, so anyone – Brad Pitt or not – can wear a Bluetooth headset and look good doing so. Novero, part of which is composed of former Nokia assets, today released its first product, TheFirstOne, a premium Bluetooth earpiece.
“TheFirstOne is beautiful, yet unassuming and never the focus of attention,” states the product press release. The device is available for $149 at www.novero.com or through Amazon.com. The product includes accessories on top of accessories: a cradle for the car, a necklace or wearable clip and reusable packaging.
Novero founder and CEO Razvan Olosu says the company is not a startup; its executives have been in the business for a long time and the company is the result of a management buyout of Nokia’s Automotive Group. Novero has about 400 employees and its headquarters is in Dusseldorf, Germany. It has been designing solutions for consumers and automotive clients, including Land Rover, Volkswagen, BMW, Ford of Europe and others.
Novero is in the process of establishing its brand with consumers and while the industry already is home to well established accessory providers, Olosu says his mission is to serve niche markets that aren’t necessarily getting targeted. “Our big mission is to integrate the consumers’ lives with wireless and do it in a seamless manner … I would like to humanize technology.”
The company has about 10 or 12 different products in the pipeline and expects to start releasing more toward the end of this year and early next year.

Source : wirelessweek.com

Sprint to Acquire Virgin Mobile USA

Two former rivals are getting together with Sprint Nextel’s acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA for about $483 million.
The acquisition means Sprint, which already owns 13 percent of Virgin Mobile, will operate the Virgin Mobile brand along with its Boost Mobile prepaid business.
Boost Mobile ratcheted up competition in the prepaid space earlier this year when it announced a $50 per month plan for unlimited talk, messaging and mobile Web access – eliminating taxes and fees on top of that. Virgin Mobile later launched its own $50 plan, and more recently, TracFone Wireless introduced Straight Talk, a $45 prepaid unlimited plan.
But soon Boost and Virgin will join forces, assuming the deal gets all the necessary approvals. Virgin Mobile USA CEO Dan Schulman will lead the prepaid business, reporting directly to Sprint CEO and President Dan Hesse. Matt Carter will continue in his role leading Boost Mobile and will report to Schulman.
Among the benefits Sprint lists of the transaction: a stronger position for Sprint in the prepaid segment; enhanced cross-selling of a full suite of Sprint products and services across a larger target audience; free cash flow accretive for Sprint before “synergies;” and a deeper managerial talent pool.
Pali Research analysts say the transaction is a good one for Sprint because it provides 5 million customers who are already using its network under the MVNO arrangement and doubles the size of Sprint’s prepaid business overnight. The analysts say they believe Virgin Mobile felt compelled to sell because its customer base was declining, the prepaid space is getting much more competitive and it faced a $100 million debt maturity at the end of next year and it might not have had enough free cash flow to pay it off. The agreement amounts to Sprint paying $130 per subscriber, which is slightly above what it costs Virgin to acquire a customer.
“The deal is a mild negative for Leap and Metro PCS,” the Pali analysts say in a research note. “Virgin really was not a player in the unlimited prepaid space but their distribution channels will likely help Boost Unlimited expand and there is the possibility, although unlikely, [that] Sprint reinvigorates Virgin’s unlimited offering.”
One of the big unknowns going forward is about the brands, notes telecom analyst Jeff Kagan. Sprint, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile each have three different identities. “Will Sprint consolidate the brands going forward, or keep operating them all separately?” he asks.
Both Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile historically have gone after the youth market, although Boost more recently has made moves to broaden its base.
While Sprint is increasing its presence in prepaid with the Virgin Mobile acquisition, its rival carrier in the CDMA space has not been as aggressive in pursuing prepaid customers. Verizon Communications President and COO Denny Strigl reiterated that position in a conference call with analysts yesterday, saying Verizon Wireless is committed to the retail postpaid market, even though its brand is on reseller TracFone’s Straight Talk product. Strigl described the use of the Verizon brand on the packaging as an experiment or six-month trial.
Sprint’s acquisition of Virgin Mobile is expected to close in the fourth quarter or in early 2010; it’s subject to various closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The Virgin Group and SK Telecom have agreed to vote a portion of the Virgin Mobile USA voting shares owned by them that, when aggregated with the voting shares owned by Sprint, comprise about 40 percent of the outstanding voting power.

Source : wirelessweek.com

Sprint to buy Virgin Mobile for $483 million

Sprint Nextel said Tuesday that it will buy Virgin Mobile USA for $5.50 per share in a stock deal valued at $483 million

Sprint already owns 13.1 percent of the prepaid mobile operator. Virgin Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, which means it uses another carrier's network to offer its service. The company uses Sprint's CDMA network.
The transaction, which is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2009 or in early 2010, represents a 31 percent premium over Virgin Mobile's Monday closing share price of $4.21.
Sprint also agreed to retire Virgin's outstanding debt when the deal closes. It doesn't expect Virgin Mobile USA's debt to be more than $205 million net of cash and cash equivalents by September 30.
The third largest nationwide wireless carrier in the U.S behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T, Sprint has struggled the past few years since its acquisition of Nextel. It has been plagued by a poor service reputation, and many customers have left the service. The company's new management team, headed by CEO Dan Hesse, has been trying to turn the company around and rebuild its public image. Earlier this summer, the company launched the highly anticipated Palm Pre smartphone on its network.
Sprint reports second-quarter earnings on Wednesday morning.
The acquisition of Virgin Mobile will help Sprint bulk up its prepaid business. Sprint already owns the nationwide prepaid brand Boost Mobile.
Boost Mobile made waves earlier this year when it introduced a $50 unlimited voice and data plan. Virgin Mobile, which is seen as one of Boost's main competitors in the prepaid market, soon followed suit with an unlimited offering of its own.

Source : news.cnet.com

Because longer articles aren’t always better…

Sometimes writing is easy. Not always, but once in a while the words just flow and you find that you have typed a brilliant article that runs 800, 1000 maybe even 2000 words.
It’s tempting when the words flow this easily to either keep writing or to publish your masterpiece right away. But wait! You may be missing even more potential views with your haste!
Before you send that article in – or keep adding to it – read it. Have you covered more than one area of your niche in this article? Is it possible that there are one, two or even more hidden gems within that would make great articles on their own?
It’s tough to know just how long of an article is too long. You don’t want to bore your reader, but you want to be thorough. You also don’t want your article to be so short that your reader isn’t entertained or informed enough to come back for more.
Why turn a long article into a few shorter ones?
Shorter pages look easier to read. WIRED News did a study some years ago about scrolling down an article compared to clicking to the next article in a series and found that most readers thought the article that required scrolling was longer – even if it wasn’t.
More articles create greater traffic and click-thru opportunities with about the same amount of effort and writing.
Most web readers don’t just read a page and turn to the next like a book. Rather, they scan, then read what interests them, then click on a link, maybe go back.
(3) tips for breaking up longer articles into shorter, more effective traffic-building ones:
Answer the question! A lot of times, when we are looking for a quick answer online, we often get a lot of other information we don’t want or need. Make your article answer the question you would want answered. Then make the next article answer the next question.
Focus on providing short, scannable content, but don’t leave out the nuts and bolts, so that you can appeal to this type of reader.
Provide links to more information. You’re article should stand on it’s own, but there is always the need for more information for some people – so provide them that information. Don’t feel like you have to keep it to yourself. You don’t want your reader to feel like you’re the used car salesman who won’t give a straight answer to your question!
You’ll be surprised at how many more article ideas you get simply by breaking up larger ideas. If you’d like to discover more about the concept of article sets, check out Chris Knight’s article titled Article Sets – How Authors Can Produce More Quality Articles in Less Time.
Next time you write a really long article, break it up into two or three smaller articles. Compare the performance of the three smaller articles to a long article similar to the original. You might be surprised to find yourself with more traffic.

Source : ezinearticles.com

Telecommunications Schools Teach Latest Technology

Telecommunications Schools, colleges, and universities prepare students for positions in many areas of the telecommunications industry. Instruction in telecommunications will provide for gaining associate degrees, bachelor degrees, master degrees, and certificates for specializations in areas of telecommunications.
New technologies and services are being introduced daily in the telecommunications industry, and these technologies and services necessarily change rapidly. These factors make the telecommunications industry one of the fastest growing and changing industries in the world economy. Telecommunications Schools are required to keep up with these ever growing changes. Some programs of study in telecommunications include courses prepared by various telecommunications industries designed to prepare students with state-of-the-art technical expertise, as well as with information regarding current and anticipated needs in the telecommunications industry.
Telecommunications Schools offering Associate degrees in telecommunications technology will have students ready for a variety of positions in telecommunications businesses and industries. Associate degrees will also have students prepared to further their education in fields of telecommunications electrical engineering, management, and administration.
Bachelor degrees in telecommunications allow for concentrations in engineering, global networks, telecommunications systems, wireless communications, data communications, network management, network administration, and more. Students will have the fundamentals of the telecommunications industry, including industry principles, applications, and technologies.
Master degrees offered at telecommunications schools are available in engineering, distributed systems, software development, network protocols and routing, and more. Masters in web-based applications in telecommunication systems offers practical and theoretical knowledge in voice and data communications networks for understanding technical and operational aspects of networks, foundational theory of voice and data communications, and network management.
A degree in telecommunications can net entry-level salaries upwards of $30,000; master degrees and experienced managers can earn salaries upwards of $85,000 with major companies; telecommunications systems software engineers will earn somewhere around $100,000 per year.
If you are interested in learning more about Telecommunications Schools, universities, and colleges, please search our site for more in-depth information and resources.
DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERAL OVERVIEW and may or may not reflect specific practices, courses and/or services associated with ANY ONE particular school(s) that is or is not advertised on SchoolsGalore.com.

Source : ezinearticles.com

Essar eyes stake in African Warid Telecom operations

UAE-based group of investors Dhabi Group and India-based Essar Group have agreed to enter into exclusive discussions in relation to an investment by Essar Group into the telecommunications portfolio of Dhabi Group's African assets. A statement from Essar Telecom Kenya said the transaction will involve an equity infusion into these businesses as growth capital and will be the basis of a partnership to create a significant presence in Africa. Standard Chartered Bank is acting as exclusive financial advisor to the Dhabi Group. Essar has significant interests in telecommunications services, including mobile telephony in an Indian joint venture with Vodafone, telecom tower infrastructure, telecom retail and IT/telecom enabled services. The Dhabi group offers telecom services in African countries under the brand name Warid Telecom. The company has recently acquired telecom licences for two more markets -- Uganda and Congo. Essar Telecom Kenya has recently launched Kenya's fourth mobile network under the brand Yu.

Source : telecompaper.com

ITU TELECOM Directors advocate ICT solutions for economic recovery

Geneva, 26 February 2009 — ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009, which will take place in Geneva, 5-9 October, will include a global leadership summit to address the role of ICTs in economic recovery from the worldwide crisis and stimulating future investment and growth. The ITU TELECOM Board of Directors, which met in Barcelona last week, gave their full support to ITU to play a catalysing role in shaping the agenda for global economic recovery and development. The Board, which includes key industry leaders, emphasized the role of the digital economy in reviving the broader global economy. Expressing their confidence in ITU for steering ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 in the right direction, the Directors also agreed that ITU TELECOM WORLD should be held in Geneva in 2011 to mark its 40th anniversary.
ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 — the leading global ICT showcase — will bring together Heads of State, Ministers, industry leaders and Regulators for the high-level summit, cutting-edge Forum and a dynamic exhibition. Such a high-level gathering from across governments and industry will create a unique public-private networking platform on a global scale to brainstorm strategies aimed at paving the way to economic recovery and development.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has confirmed he will attend TELECOM WORLD. "It is vital that we use opportunities such as ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 for a frank debate on the way forward for the ICT industry that will translate challenges into real and workable solutions," Mr Ban said. "Information and communication technologies are increasingly critical for global development and human well-being. We must not allow today's economic downturn to slow progress in providing widespread access to these essential tools."
ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré said, "ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 this October will be the right time to bring together all the key players in government and the ICT industry. We will be in a better position to assess the effects on industry and establish both how to resuscitate those sectors that need it as well as to focus on how ICTs can be a catalyst for recovery. The ICT sector has been the powerhouse of the global economy in terms of GDP. Investment in ICTs makes as much sense now as it did in building the physical infrastructure of roads and railways during the great depression of the 1930s."
The ITU TELECOM Board of Directors includes chairmen and CEOs from entities such as Bharti Enterprises, China Mobile, CNBC Europe, GSMA Association, Hutchison Telecommunications, Novare Technologies, NTT DoCoMo, Orange UK, Orascom, QTel, the South African Development Bank, Swisscom, and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).
ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009 is a global event within the ICT industry:
The exhibition encompasses the full reach of the ICT industry
It benefits from ITU’s unique drawing power and track record in convening leaders from across the entire ICT sector and political spectrum
The VIP programme builds a global community of the world’s most outstanding industry leaders and decision-makers from stakeholders around the world aimed at social networking, fostering new partnerships and seeking practical solutions and responses to rebuild the economy
The VVIP programme provides a platform for Heads of State/Government, Ministers and CEOs to discuss the issues on the challenges and visions of ICT development

Source : itu.int

Challenge ICT industry’s top names and explore future visions at ITU TELECOM WORLD

Geneva, 2 July 2009 — As the Internet and mobile phones become increasingly accessible and available worldwide, how can we best deliver broadband to emerging markets? What will be the next mobile broadband innovation? Where are revenues coming from in a world where consumers don’t pay? How can the ICT industry continue to shape our responses to climate change? How do we leverage ICT investments to the benefit of the broader information society? Find the answers to these and other critical questions facing today’s ICT industry in the Forum at the upcoming ITU TELECOM WORLD 2009, which takes place from 5-9 October in Geneva, Switzerland.
At the event you can interact with stakeholders from across the ICT industry, including Heads of ITU Member States, Ministers, Regulators, CEOs and many more to tackle the issues that will help shape tomorrow’s ICT industry. Confirmed participants include Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and group CEO, Bharti Enterprises; Jianzhou Wang, Chairman and CEO, China Mobile; John T. Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco Systems; Carl-Henric Svanberg, President & CEO, Ericsson; Chiaki Ito, Vice Chairman, Fujitsu; Michael Hill, General Manager, IBM; Eugene Kaspersky, CEO, Kaspersky Lab; Ryuji Yamada, President and CEO, NTTDoCoMo; Paul Reynolds, CEO, Telecom NZ; Efthimios E. Mitropoulos, Secretary-General, IMO; and Francis Gurry, Director-General, WIPO.
Under the broad-reaching theme of "ICT for economic recovery and sustainable development," the Forum will focus on a number of key areas, or tracks, each of which will encompass a number of different sessions:
Technology foresight: Technologies that are shaping the future of ICT
ICT and economic growth: ICT as a growth engine
Development: The Forum explore core issues relating to ICT and development
New Regulatory Models: Meeting the challenges of regulation in today’s world and re-thinking regulation in emerging markets
Cybersecurity: The challenges of keeping our networks secure for us and future generations
ICT and climate change: What’s the way forward for Green ICT practices?
The Forum leads with a special summit open to all and in the presence of Heads of State and other key VIPs, which will look at how ICT can help growth and contribute to sustainable development worldwide. The Forum will also include a host of exciting round-table discussions bringing together CEOs and CTOs from across the industry to share their views on hot issues, such as globalization and localization or adaptation to today’s business circumstances.
Sessions will feature thematic discussions, allowing participants to hear a wide range of expert views. Participants are encouraged to put forward questions via a range of innovative formats to foster free and open debate and to provide as many opportunities as possible for meeting and networking among stakeholders from across the industry and from all corners of the world. ITU welcomes inputs from the participants prior or during the sessions.

Source : itu.int

Gaming Lounge: PTCL Targets Youth

PTCL is on a roll when it comes to broadband growth. Over the last year it has added many new cities and expanded its DSL subscriber base. Gaming Lounge is a new value added service launched today, exclusively offered by Buzz portal to its broadband customers. It is well known that young people like to play online games, especially peer-to-peer games. With the high number of youth in Pakistan, this is a smart business move and a proven strategy to make services more sticky. Broadband providers in US have found success with similar approach of targeting young people to get broadband into more households.

Gaming Lounge Highlights
Over 125 Online games of different genres
Online Peer-to-peer gaming
Free to PTCL Broadband users
Accessible here through PTCL gaming site
Benefits
Peer-to-Peer: Enjoy playing games online with friends and rivals alike to battle it out in terms of skill and strategy
Multi-Genre Games: Games of all kinds of genre available for online multiplayer gaming. Strategy, action, adventure, puzzles, etc.
Choose from over 125 games from different genres including popular multiplayer games such as MOHAA, Counterstrike, Call of Duty, etc.

Source : telecompk.net

BT drops plan to use Phorm targeted ad service after outcry over privacy

BT has quietly ditched a controversial system that tracks the internet habits of its customers, developed by the technology firm Phorm, which has been attacked as online snooping by privacy campaigners. BT was a key player in the development of Phorm's Webwise system, which uses information about which sites an internet user visits to target them with relevant advertising on subsequent pages.
It carried out secret tests of the technology in 2006 and 2007 which are now the basis of a European commission investigation into the UK government's failure to protect its citizens online. Last year BT carried out a proper consumer trial of Phorm's technology. The results have been keenly awaited, not just by management at Phorm – whose chairman is former chancellor Norman Lamont – but by its other two potential partners, Virgin Media and TalkTalk.
But BT has decided not to proceed with rolling out Webwise to its 4.8 million broadband customers, dealing a heavy blow to AIM-listed Phorm. The company, which has received complaints from customers about Phorm, said the decision was down to its need to conserve resources as it looks to invest £1.5bn in putting a next-generation super-fast broadband network within reach of 10 million homes by 2012. Privately, however, BT bosses have been increasingly concerned about consumer resistance to advertising based on monitoring users' online behaviour and specifically about the backlash against Phorm.
"We continue to believe the interest-based advertising category offers major benefits for consumers and publishers alike," said a spokesman for BT. "However, given our public commitment to developing next-generation broadband and television services in the UK we have decided to weigh up the balance of resources devoted to other opportunities.
"Given these commitments, we don't have immediate plans to deploy Webwise today. However, the interest-based advertising market is extremely dynamic and we intend to monitor Phorm's progress …before finalising our plans."
The news will throw the spotlight on Virgin Media and TalkTalk, which recently snapped up rival internet service provider Tiscali. Between them, BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk control about three-quarters of the UK broadband market.
Virgin Media is understood to remain interested in the concept of behavioural targeted advertising, not least for use with its video on demand service, and is in talks with a number of potential technical partners. But the internet service provider is understood to have cooled on the idea of using Phorm's technology.
TalkTalk, meanwhile, has said it is keeping an eye on Webwise but any implementation would have to be done solely on an opt-in basis – customers would not be automatically connected to the service – and the company currently has no time–scale for deployment.
A spokesman for Phorm said BT's decision was not the end of the world, not least because it has been expanding overseas and is now in talks with potential ISP partners in 15 other countries. This year the company announced a trial of its technology with KT, South Korea's largest ISP, and another overseas deal is expected to be announced shortly.
"It is not a great surprise to us, to be honest. It has been a long process and we have never had a definitive date on a launch," said a spokesman. "Phorm is not just dependent on a UK model with one ISP."
But it is the latest in a series of setbacks for Phorm, which has become something of an internet industry bete noire. Amazon recently "opted out" of Webwise, saying it did not want traffic to its websites monitored by ISPs that sign up to use the technology. Google and Bebo are also considering opting out, potentially depriving Phorm of crucial information about internet users' tastes.
The UK government is also understood to have opted its domain names – such as www.direct.gov.uk – out of Webwise amid concerns about privacy. Although ISPs, media companies and even some politicians see Phorm as a way in which UK companies can claw back some share of the internet advertising market from the clutches of Google, the web's creator, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has criticised it as unjustifiable online snooping.

Source : guardian.co.uk

Mobile phone users should share the pain of broadband tax, says BT

BT has called for the government's proposed £6-a-year broadband tax to be extended to mobile phone users in a move that could reduce the size of the tax.
In his Digital Britain report last month, the communications minister, Lord Carter, proposed a 50p-a-month levy on every fixed-line phone to meet the bill for getting the next generation of super-fast broadband networks to 90% of UK households by 2017.
But it is not only fixed-line companies that would be able to bid for some of the estimated £1.5bn that would be raised by the tax. Mobile phone operators would also be able to use the money. As a result, BT's director of industry policy and regulation, Emma Gilthorpe, said yesterday that if mobile, wireless-based operators did go through that bid process then "the government should consider the opportunity to widen the base for the tax and possibly reduce the amount that each individual household pays".
BT reckons it is incongruous that the levy only applies to fixed-line phones even though mobile phone companies and other businesses that want to use wireless solutions can bid for the cash for next-generation networks.
Carter proposed the new broadband tax because there is little chance of the market being able to make an economic case for pushing fibre-optic networks and other super-fast broadband services beyond about 60% of the population. With the Treasury unwilling to make any money available from general taxation, the telephone levy aims to plug the funding gap.
BT has already announced plans to invest £1.5bn over the next three years on a super-fast network but it will only reach four of every 10 homes. Virgin Media, meanwhile, is already offering broadband at 50Mb a second – the sort of speed expected from next-generation networks – but it covers only about half of the country.
Gilthorpe's comments, at a Westminster Media Forum debate on Digital Britain, came as BT announced that it is speeding up the rollout of its next-generation network.
Having originally planned to have about half a million homes connected by next March, it yesterday said it would have 1.5m homes connected by next summer. By the end of this summer Virgin Media will have completed its next-generation network plan, putting its 50Mb a second service within reach of 12.5m homes.
But there are fears within the industry that Carter's broadband tax could fail as it would require a new finance bill, which is unlikely to appear before next March. By then the government will be focused on a forthcoming general election and a new tax on consumers is unlikely to be a vote-winner.

Source : guardian.co.uk

Ecommerce Gateway Coming to Pakistan This Month

There is this landmark achievement and a great news for Pakistanis that e-commerce gateway (Payment processing engine) is expected to surface Pakistan this month. Raseen Technologies, a part of Dhabi Group of UAE is being crowned for this triumph.
A representative from Raseen Technologies, while speaking with us confirmed that they are launching e-commerce gateway in collaboration with a local bank, very soon, most likely in same month. He was reluctant to name the bank, but I suppose it will be Bank Al-Falah, being the sister concern of Raseen Technologies – but no official words on it.
He said that with the emergence of e-commerce gateway, Pakistani businesses will be able to get merchant accounts, with a solution that their online sales will go into their local bank accounts directly. For instance, you will be able to open a merchant account, and using this ecommerce gateway, you will be able to sell services/products online – through credit cards. This sale will go into your bank account directly, which was not possible before.
We are told that PayPal will remain missing – however, this ecommerce gateway (Payment processing engine) will resolve the missing ecommerce infrastructure for online businesses of Pakistan.
Some expected features of this gateway are
Payment Cards Supported
Credit Cards (Visa, MasterCard and American Express)
Debit cards (Visa and MasterCard )
Authorisation of Credit and Debit Cards: It will support on-line real-time authorization of credit card payments over the web, in the call centre and in retail environments. It will also provides “authorization code” together with the transaction result within a secure environment.
Fraud Prevention: System will perform CVV2 checks on authorizations to reduce fraud in the Card Not Present (CNP) environment. This is supported in both call centre and Internet environments.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL): Raseen will deliver Authorizations using SSL encryption. This provides authentication and communications privacy over the Internet using cryptography.
Other Salient Features
Ability to authorize and settle transactions
Web based reporting and transaction management
Routing of transactions based on amount, credit card ranges
Additional customer data support with transaction
Black-Listed cards blocking
By the way, Raseen’s this ecommerce gateway has no connection with PTA’s expected gateway, that they are going to deploy – PTA is still looking for some company to get them the solution.

Source : propakistani.com

Mobile Banks – Next in Line Industry

Mobile banking is going to be next recipe for cellular competition in Pakistani Telecom Market. The blend of cellular and Banking industries make it ripe (financially) by nature; its implications and usage for a common person take this integration of industries to the next level.
We have been hearing plenty of value added services, from celcos that have “mobile banking” word as a name in them, for quite some time now, but guys – the real mobile banking is yet to happen, very soon.
This is going to be a big boost for banking sector, and here is the reason – number of heads attached with mobile phones, make telecom industry as the largest in the country, meaning that any product that is exposed to telecom sector will get huge reception (given that it has benefits and ease of use).
For instance, if you are given a liberty of paying your utility bills, credit card bills, and if you are allowed to make financial transactions, pay taxes – and all that from your cell phone, what else do you need from a bank?
We have seen banks of this country shifting their focus towards online banking, which actually helped them get more transactions and customers. These banks lack in infrastructure to take these banking facilities to mobile phones. And here was the opportunity that is now going to be served by cellular companies.
I am wondering why Warid Telecom made this strategic mistake of not involving its sister concern, Bank Al Falah in pioneering banking solutions on mobile phones. Their lack in focus gave chance to Telenor and Mobilink to come forward and start mobile banking services.
We are told by reliable sources that Telenor is launching Mobile Banking very soon, in fact latter this month or at most in August. No words on features, but as per sources that are familiar with architect of this product, told us that “Telenor will enable a common person to open and operate a bank account from his/her mobile phone”. Moreover, he translated his information in a short line and said “Telenor Pakistan is going to launch world’s first Bank that will exist on mobile phones”. So let the time come and we will see the bigness of the idea behind Telenor’s Mobilink banking solutions.
Telenor’s entry in Mobile banking was well planned – and one could sense this happening when they acquired 51 percent shares in Tameer Bank in November last year. Latter on, Jon Eddy Abdullah, CEO Telenor Pakistan’s speech at M-Commerce Conference in March 2009 revealed their intentions and interest for mobile banking.
Same is the case with Mobilink that is coping well with their business settlement with Pakistan Post and Citi Bank. We also know that they are in line of buyers for Royale Bank of Scotland (RBS) operations in Pakistan.
We should not expect a revolutionary product from cellular companies straight away – but I do see mobile banking getting very mature in near future. We will have to the hurdles that will come in play regarding the execution of mobile banking regulations (draft paper for Mobile Banking was issued in 2007 – latter came the guidelines for Mobile Banking and Branch-Less Banking). Moreover, one can’t foresee and estimate the adoption level of any product before its launch. But it is proven and well accepted universal rule that, if the product is useful, it is going to be a big hit.

Source : propakistani.com

More Phones Than Radios In Pakistan

For low income households (aka bottom of the pyramid, BOP) in Pakistan, phones are more popular than radios but haven’t taken over TVs yet. This is from research conducted by LIRNEasia, a Sri Lanka-based Asia-Pacific information and communication technology (ICT) policy and regulation capacity-building organisation. The study said that in Pakistan, a hundred bottom of the pyramid (BOP) households now had 68 TVs, 39 phones, 24 radios and 3 computers. As comparison, for a hundred bottom of the pyramid (BOP) households in India, there were 50 TVs, 38 phones, 28 radios and one computer.
This goes against the common held belief that radios were more important for low income households. It also shows that phones can be a great way to educate and help these low income population. The LIRNE Asia blog quotes Richard Heek’s paper (ICT4D 2.0: The Next Phase of Applying ICT for International Development) and I re-quote from the pdf document below.
Finally, some have asked if the Internet should be the focus or if developers should look at where the poor have already “voted with their wallets” and see whether the simpler, cheaper technologies already in use can deliver sufficient ICT functionality to make a difference. Rather than wait for handset and bandwidth upgrades to allow mobile Internet access, we must determine what can be achieved for development through calls and SMS and, possibly, older technologies. Access figures are hard to come by, but we can estimate that something like 80 percent of the population in developing countries has access to a radio, 50 percent to a television.2,3 Early in ICT4D’s history, these statistics prompted the swift reinterpretation of ICT to incorporate radio and television, and foreshadowed the role convergence would play in ICT4D 2.0. Looking at the technologies that already penetrate—mobiles, radios, televisions—developers must now seek ways to add computing and Internet functionality.

Source : telecompk.net

Lag will set our broadband back

An internet expert says while the Government's National Broadband Network will put the country on par with world leaders in internet speeds, Australia may still be years off the pace.
For the past decade Australian-born Paul Twomey has effectively been the internet's chief regulator, heading the US-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
This week Dr Twomey officially left the organisation he helped establish, after he finished up as chief of the Australian Government's National Office of the Information Economy.
He has been mentioned as a possible chief of the Federal Government's $43 billion National Broadband Network.
Dr Twomey told ABC1's Inside Business program that Asian countries are at the forefront of internet technology.
"The leading 'fibre to the premises' countries mainly are Japan [and] Korea," he said.
"The Singaporese put out a tender for gigabit to a home in February.
"[The broadband network] would certainly take Australia back up those ratings but you've got to remember the Government says this is going to take eight years to build so we're a certain period behind."
While he said he found the project "terribly exciting", Dr Twomey was tight-lipped on talk that he will throw his hat into the ring for the running of the network.
"[There is] lots of speculation, I can't comment on that at all," he said.
"There's no job as far as I know.
"I'm looking at a number of things ... I've got a couple of options I might look at in the United States as well."
Dr Twomey said the Government faces a challenge in taking on the construction and the application of a high-speed broadband network at the same time.
"If you look at what the Japanese have been doing in the last 10 years, they focussed a lot on infrastructure in the first half of this decade," he said.
"Their focus now is upon smart ICT [information communication and technology] to solve what they call society's problems.
"I think the challenge the Government's going to have is how does it roll out a network and also do what the Japanese are doing now, which is focussing on the applications and the services, and what do you use the network for?
"The Japanese manage to do it in two stages - let's build it and work out how we're going to use it to solve problems.
"I think Australia's going to have to do both at the same time."

Source : www.abc.net.au

Telecom titans in a brave new mobile world

It's a paradox: The world is rushing to embrace mobile communications, but some of the biggest suppliers of telecommunications equipment are struggling to stay ahead.
For Nortel Networks Corp., survival is no longer even an issue. The company has agreed to sell its lucrative wireless business for $650-million (U.S.) to Nokia Siemens Networks, and is in late-stage negotiations to sell its corporate networks unit to another firm, most likely Avaya Inc. In the months ahead, a group of several dozen executives, lawyers and accountants will preside over a transition services group to dispose of Nortel's last asset. Creditors will be left to fight over the financial remains.
The giants still standing in the West include Telefon AB LM Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent SA, Nokia Siemens and Cisco Systems, Inc. They're presented with huge opportunities from new wireless technologies. But they also face serious challenges, including declining sales from telecom carriers and businesses that are struggling in the recession, and aggressive competition from Chinese vendors, principally Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp., each of which have a reputation for undercutting competitors by as much as 50 per cent.
What are the key criteria for success in this environment? Two senior executives from two major players have different agendas, but they agree that future profitability requires a strong global presence and the ability to create unique products.
*****
Luca Maestri, chief financial officer of Nokia Siemens Networks, points to two distinguishing factors between success and failure in the industry today. The first involves having a global presence.
"Scale is huge, because the amount of R&D you need to put into this business is huge," he says. "Frankly, if you start scaling back on R&D, you start having a portfolio that doesn't meet all the needs of your customer, and then it becomes a spiral."
Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture of Finland's Nokia Corp. and Germany's Siemens AG, spends in excess of $2.8-billion (U.S.) on research and development each year. Its recent effort to grab Nortel's wireless assets is designed to establish a firm footing in the North American telecom market; until now, Nokia Siemens has garnered most of its sales in Europe and Asia.
The second factor is the ability to compete aggressively on either cost or product differentiation.
"It is quite obvious to us that we cannot compete on cost with the Chinese," Mr. Maestri says. "Where we believe we have a really strong story is on services."
Traditionally, equipment companies have supplied a mixture of hardware and software for communications networks. But recently, there has been a move to expand from simply building the network to priming it with intelligence, such as security technology or tools to mine customer data.
Fully 40 per cent of Nokia Siemens' revenue comes from services, such as integrating systems, hosting operations and designing networks. Broadly speaking, the opportunities lie with helping operators run their networks more efficiently and manage relationships with their customers more closely.
"That is a business that the Chinese today cannot replicate," Mr. Maestri says.
Beyond scale and differentiation, Nokia Siemens also wants to get a jump on other industry developments: Deployment of the next-generation wireless standard is the main one.
LTE, or long-term evolution, promises download speeds up to 10 times faster than the latest offerings. It's not simply that LTE is faster: The new industry standard is also much more efficient than so-called 3G (third generation) networks today.
Nokia Siemens expects that half the world's cellphone users will be using high-speed wireless data connections within five years, taxing the capacity of telecom operators around the globe. Phone companies are already seeing that growth in network traffic far exceeds any increase in revenue from wireless services, which means they will need to find new ways to make money and offset the expense of network upgrades. LTE will help operators provide mobile broadband at the speeds consumers demand, while cutting costs and keeping up profits, Mr. Maestri says.
Nokia Siemens has been developing its own LTE technology for several years and hopes to take a leap forward by acquiring Nortel's LTE unit, which includes several hundred specialized engineers in Ottawa.
*****
What investors should know
Cisco Systems Inc.
The manufacturer of networking equipment took its place among the world's most elite companies last month, replacing General Motors Corp. on the Dow Jones industrial average. Cisco has made a fortune for many investors on the Nasdaq exchange over the years, and has now joined Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp., International Business Machines Corp. and Microsoft Corp. as one of the five tech stocks on the benchmark Dow Jones index of 30 stocks. Analysts are split on the company these days, with the stock down 20 per cent over the past year.
Nokia Corp.
The world's largest maker of cellphones has faced tumbling sales and profit as its rivals Apple Inc. and RIM surge ahead in the expanding smart phone market. Nokia saw profit plummet 90 per cent last quarter as sales fell 27 per cent. For the year, the Finnish company expects to sell 10 per cent fewer phones than in 2008. But CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has said the market for handsets is no longer in freefall and his company is gaining market share in smart phones. With shares off nearly 40 per cent over the past year, half the analysts following Nokia see a buying opportunity.
Siemens AG
The German conglomerate manufactures a broad variety of products, from trains and power plants to consumer electronics.
Although the recession has hammered the stock - it has dropped 37 per cent in the past 12 months - the company is hoping for a windfall from global stimulus spending. Siemens expects governments around the world to spend $623-billion (U.S.) on infrastructure projects in the next three years, of which it thinks it can secure $21-billion in new orders, largely a result of government projects geared to cutting energy consumption.

Source : www.globeinvestor.com