Thumbs-up to Belgium!

I hate to tempt fate but...

It's day two of Broadband World Forum Europe here in Brussels, and for possibly the first time in living memory, WiFi access at the event is working, and working well. It's a miracle.

In the opening keynote yesterday, Belgacom's Scott Alcott, executive vice president, service delivery engine, promised: "This is broadband country. We are wired." Naturally, the remark was greeted with some scepticism from those of us in the room that had attended this kind of event before. Memories of a frustrating battle with defunct WiFi and having to share a few emergency Ethernet connections between us are still fresh.

But it seems Alcott was right.

And so, the process of creating this year's Broadband World Forum Europe news service was made a lot easier. Don't forget to check it out at www.totaltele.com.

View blog reactions

Telecoms trade show tackles credit crunch

A telecoms industry trade show on Tuesday did its bit to help telecoms operators offset the impact of the credit crunch.

"In the interests of the mobile operators in the U.K., if you could not turn off your mobile phones, but put them to silent," requested Darragh Stokes, managing partner at Hardiman Telecommunications and chairman of Carriers World 2008, on opening the event yesterday morning.

Indeed, with the European Commission planning to cut mobile termination rates by a whopping 70% over the next five years, mobile operators are doubtless keen to rake in all the roaming revenue they can right now. And what better place than a conference venue hosting delegates from close to 40 countries around the world?!

While the event largely steered clear of the doom and gloom associated with the economic downturn on day one, it was a subject that nonetheless underpinned many of the presentations made by executives from a number of global telecoms operators. See Total Telecom's dedicated news service for more from Carriers World.

Meanwhile, chairman Darragh Stokes did his best to reassure conference attendees that this latest economic decline is not their fault.

The technology companies were at the heart of the 1999 economic crisis, Stokes noted.

"This time around... we're not to blame!" he said.

View blog reactions

India's 3G woes continue

India's Department of Telecoms (DoT) has rejected calls from the country's Finance Ministry to raise the reserve price for 3G spectrum.

According to a report from the Economic Times, the government requested the charge be increased from INR2,200 crore ($4.78 billion) to INR2,500 crore ($5.43 billion).

"[The] DoT has carefully considered the suggestion of the Ministry of Finance to raise the reserve price...but maintained the status quo since the ascending order auction would in any case discover the price in consonance with market conditions," said sources at the DoT, in the report.

This latest twist has added to growing scepticism from global operators about the feasibility of entering India's fast-growing mobile market.

"The issue is not just the extent of investment required to get licences and establish networks," said telecoms analyst Sudipto Basu, in a report by the Calcutta Telegraph.

The report said that operators including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Orange and DoCoMo, were mulling the possibility of buying equity stakes in Indian operators as a means of entering the 3G space.

However, this could be set to change.

"Foreign 3G players have been advised to wait until the auction is over and not to compound their risks in a situation which is not entirely clear," said Mahesh Uppal, a director at telco consultancy Com First, in the report.

Read up on the background to India's 3G saga on Total Telecom

View blog reactions

Rush hour

As someone who relies on public transport to move around London, I'm used to regular delays caused by signal failures and the like - it's not usually a big deal.

However, a gruelling commute to the office this morning was not helped by a breakdown in communications between the driver of my marooned underground train and the controller at Kennington station on the northern line.

"Apologies ladies and gentlemen, but I still haven't been able to get hold of the controller at Kennington," was the announcement after 20 minutes of being stranded somewhere underground between two stations.

For those not familiar with the London Underground, there is no mobile network coverage!

So, after sitting there like lemons for 40 minutes we were told of a signal failure, but we still had no idea when we might be moving again.

As the temperature in the carriage continued to rise, and people stood in the aisles began to sit down, eventually even the driver lost patience and declared that he was taking it upon himself to drive us up to the next station!

The atmosphere among the passengers was a heady blend of frustration, and those scenes in disaster movies where they know there's an alien mothership outside, but they're yet to establish whether or not it's come in peace.

Upon reaching slightly fresher air above ground, us hapless commuters were then greeted with the sight of a police car and an ambulance parked up outside, both with their lights flashing. Great.

Keeping in mind the date was September 11, I decided it would be prudent to do a bit of investigating before hopping on a bus. Luckily the one thing working was my 3G connection, so I was able to use my mobile to check that nothing cataclysmic was unfolding, which of course, it wasn't.

Still, getting to the office an hour late after a journey like that has one overriding benefit when you've got ready access to a blog - venting steam!

View blog reactions

This is Africa

"This is Africa" was the response of delegates largely unfazed by the no-show of ministers at Telecom World Africa last week. Apparently it's a common theme that ministers from across the continent promise to take part in panel sessions, only to cry off at the very last minute.

For countries that have a lot yet to do to get even basic communications infrastructure in place, this is a pretty poor track record for ministers who should be spreading their message and seeking information and help at public fora. Such behaviour does nothing for their reputations either.

Otherwise it was great to see the broad participation by a number of operators, with a strong showing from South African operators. It was frustrating that Vodacom was unable to talk publicly about its involvement in a new subsea cable project for West Africa. It has since been reported that Broadband Infraco, MTN, Neotel, Telkom and Vodacom have announced their intention to build a cable down the West Coast of Africa that will supplement the current SAT-3 system.

It's been well documented that East Africa should get three subsea cables if the projects all go to plan. The most advanced now seems to be Seacom, which has completed its financing and even has a launch date in 2009.

Meanwhile South Africa's second national operator Neotel has launched services and is using fibre, WiMAX and cdma2000 as its access networks. The company is definitely going for the broadband market in a huge way. The cdma2000 network is fixed-wireless only so has limited mobility.

View blog reactions

No, you're a phone

Fixed-line customers who neglect to go ex-directory are often only subjected to unwelcome telesales callers while they are out at work.

Very rarely, however, the planets align, and a call from a particularly abrasive salesman comes along on a Saturday night, when you and your friends are sat in the lounge having enjoyed a few aperitifs, also known as 'tinnies'.

In this case, an unfortunate chap phoned my house asking to speak to someone who doesn't live at my address about a great offer for something called 'Europhone'.

Naturally the handset was passed around the room a couple of times, with everyone adding their personal touch to the ensuing ruse, until things suddenly came to a head; a reconstruction follows below:

(Sounding quite exasperated by now) "Hello, I'm calling with an offer from Europhone."
"No, you're a phone!"
"F**k you!" (hangs up).

Apologies for the wind-up Mr. Europhone man, we promise we'll be nicer next time!

View blog reactions