Quinta's weblog in english

FTTH and Net neutrality are two faces of the same coin. And are both a public policy issue

Foreword: I don't pretend to be 100% precise with the following arguments; I am very well aware that there are many details and exceptions. I just hope to be "best effort" right -sort of-.

This is a plot of nominal commercial access throughput for different technologies (fixed and mobile (let me call them wireless)) that have been introduced in Italy from 110bps to 20Mbps. It confirms Nielsen Law of 50% to 100% increase per annum. (n.b.: fixed just DSL, just copper, it would look different with FTTB, FTTC, FFTH)

Taking advantage of the copper already installed, three families of technologies have been introduced: plain modems, ISDN and DSL.

On the wireless side the access throughput trend was diverging compared to the fixed tend (i.e. the fixed had higher trhoughput) until the introducion of WCDMA and HSxPA. (if you take away the last points of wireless and replot the trendline, you see it's diverging)

Though Moore's law is active, on the fixed network we cannot indefinitely benefit from it as there are physical limitations of the copper, unless we shorten it, that is progressively substituting with fibre, but there are good economic arguments that rather that shortening it to the curb, we should shorten it to nil, building FTTH which effectively will move the problem essentially in the domain of Moore's law (first and photonics later).

Problem is that considering an approach similar to FTTC with VDSL, you can get comparable nominal access throughputs with wireless, for much lower capex and opex. So, why restructuring the fixed network with FTTC/VDSL when you can go wireless ? This is a question that increasingly surfaces in operations of Telcos (and Telco gear suppliers).

In order for the fixed network to be clearly better than wireless, it needs to become FTTB/FTTH, stepping away from DSL. But is this going to be enough to attract "subscribers" compared to the capex-cheaper wireless option ? (an option which, BTW, will allow you for mobility ? (precisation: albeit with a inferior effective throughput)). This is clearly unproven.

Think of it: Wireless access connects people, Fixed access connects places.

This is the reason why they're pushing HDTV. Though you carry your computer with you, you don't carry the TV set with you.

It's not an easy dilemma for the operator: go for fixed or go for wireless ? it's a bet that requires a lot of money and needs a couple of years to prove which is the winning side. Of course, the best thing would be to have both, like we have (almost) today with DSL and HSxPA (and there is in some countries), but that costs a lot and its sustainability is questioned as more and more "subscribers" leave their fixed access for the more practical wireless option.

But fixed network costs are essentially fixed and attribution to subscribers is a matter of cost allocation; when one user cancels the subscription to the fixed network (saving money), the operator looses remuneration but keeps the costs (unless all users on the same exchange cancel).

It's a classical Tragedy of the Commons, draining available resources: for the user the marginal benefit of "unplugging" is 1 and the marginal cost is 1/N where N is the affected population. So this will happen.

There is one more consequence which is user contendability. While fixed access is essentially a local monopoly, wireless access is not. So the fixed operator's arm counts all the users losses; but churning customers may choose other wireless access providers, so the chance for limiting damages from moving customers from the same operator's fixed business unit to the wireless one, is limited.

Furthermore, the effecive availability of switching possibility amongst different wireless operators thanks to number and credit portability induces competition and price reduction.

This is the reason why operators are trying to find reasons to keep connected, not only people but also places.

Once it was clear: voice was mobile and Internet was fixed. Now this is quickly becoming not true.

But for BTS (wireless radio access points) to proliferate as needed, wireless operators need fibre to feed them, though not until the customer premises but somewhat shorter.

The access portion of the fixed network may well die, like a kind of Telco-ALS (Amiotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).

The opportunity for traffic management, in the operator's view, will not disappear until there is unlimited capacity (which is far from happening in the wireless access), but all the society-related issues are there (access control, wiretapping, innovation, competition, etc.).

So we need the fixed network but the present structure remunerability is challenged. Like roads.

In conclusion, I believe that if we want Network Neutrality (which I believe being almost essential for society progress) being a basic requirement for networks, we ought to accept fixed network being a market failure natural monopoly and hence some kind of public policy must intervene.

p.s. I'm not arguing that this is STRICTLY so in ALL countries, and in ALL places of a country; there are some differences from country to country with many factors interfering from orography to population distribution to age of cities, to ... I'm just trying to add a dimension to the discussion.

Italy's Government about to approve bill to facilitate development of Fibre networks

The articles of the law are here. (auto xlate). Although it's not been approved yet, it should be the final text.

• 800Meur funding,
• public-private partnerships with project financing,
• ease of concessions for digging,
• ducts sharing,   
• 30 days for permits of civil works, 
• "public utility, non delayable and urgent" state of civil works,
• in-building provision of colocation of devices,
• incentives for grass-root developments for FTTH,
• spectrum harmonization with release of unused spectrum,
• free utilization of public ducts,
• obligation to allow passing fibre on public and private areas

This addresses one of the two faces of the problem, i.e. infrastructure investment.
And it's a good step in the right direction

Yet the second problem is how to implement all this without distorting the market and ensuring competition at retail level. This still needs to be addressed and it's likely to be the most difficult part..

reeplay.it !

reeplay.it it's a new startup I am working on (almost) in stealth mode since 1,5 years now.

This is reeplay.it's splash video we are going to put on the home page of the web site before one logs in.
We think it's pretty nice, ain't it ?

Politics 2.0

I listened to Larry's NCMR Keynote. I must say that, based on Italy's experience, I believe he may be a little  optimistic.

Financing of politics by the economy in Italy has been blown away not by a grassroot movement like Change Congress is but by a "clean hands"  (Mani pulite) judicial operation in the early 90's.

Mani pulite led to the demise of the so-called First Republic, resulting in the disappearance of many parties. Some politicians and industry leaders committed suicide after their crimes were exposed. The corruption system that was uncovered by these investigations was usually referred to as Tangentopoli, or "bribeville". [wikipedia]

now we are in the "second republic", call it  "politics 2.0"

today, in Italy, politics are financed by the state (actually, "electoral costs are reimbursed by the state", for an amount that is independent of what effectively spent and even paid in advance...)

parties (independent associations) organized themselves to be dependent on the leader (and maybe few other close friends) who can de facto decide who's in and who's out

parliament worked out an electoral law by which voters cannot decide who they vote for, but just for which party. the candidates are decided by the parties leaders.

hence, the parties leaders decide how the parliament is formed (by whom). (as a matter of fact this is not a major change, the same effect was achieved before with  technical "election engineering" - sort of)

To put it as one party leader said in the recent elections, parliament members are there just to push a yes or no button, like monkeys, following the orders of their party [leader].

parliament [parties leaders] has established "independent authorities" which members are nominated by the parliament [decided by parties leaders], which de facto enables parties [themselves] to excercise a high degree of control on how economy operates.

[party leaders influence] authorities decide success of companies, they shape the economy, they are the major competition tool. media, communication, markets, energy, finance, ...

in Italy, in Politics 1.0, politics was captured by the economy.
in Politics 2.0, economy is captured by politics.

justice is slow, and has maybe been slowed even more; trials related to corruption often get prescripted. what's the incentive to accelerate justice.

regulation about transparency is there. actions are as transparent as a 30 pages-long credit card contract. it's all there [somewhere] in inextricable form for the citizen.

I don't mean this will happen elsewhere, I believe the key is transparency which is what enables accountability and the Internet is a fantastic tool to effectively  bring transparency to the public.

Telefonica attempts the Vivo-TIM axe

8/5/2008: Il Sole 24 ore

Telefonica is ready to participate to the process of consolidation of the field of tlc's in Brasil "if the Government allows it". It was explained by Antonio Carlos Valente, president of the group in the southamerican country, to the local economic journal Valor which, referring the interest of uniting the brasilian participations, reminded us that we're talkng of Telesp (fixed telephony in teh area of Sao Paulo), Vivo (joint with Portugal Telecom) and Tim Brasil (indirect patricipation through Telecom Italia).

Is the first time that Telefonica comes out from the dark after the announce of las 25 april of Opa on Brasil Telecom by Oi-Telemar, that will give life to the national champion of telecommunications blessed by the Lula Govern.

31/3/2008  Quinta 's weblog

Oi fecha acordo para a compra da Brasil Telecom.

Luis Cuza, the president of Telcomp, the association of the alternative operators in Brasil, anticipated me that rumors said that the announce would come out in matter of days.

At Sao Paulo the rumor also has it that now Anatel could authorize the fusion TIM/Vivo, that would be an unpleasent thing for Telecom Italia...

8/5/2008: Il Sole 24 ore

Telefonica is ready to participate to the process of consolidation of the field of tlc's in Brasil "if the Government allows it". It was explained by Antonio Carlos Valente, president of the group in the southamerican country, to the local economic journal Valor which, referring the interest of uniting the brasilian participations, reminded us that we're talkng of Telesp (fixed telephony in teh area of Sao Paulo), Vivo (joint with Portugal Telecom) and Tim Brasil (indirect patricipation through Telecom Italia).

Is the first time that Telefonica comes out from the dark after the announce of las 25 april of Opa on Brasil Telecom by Oi-Telemar, that will give life to the national champion of telecommunications blessed by the Lula Govern.

31/3/2008  Quinta 's weblog

Oi fecha acordo para a compra da Brasil Telecom.

Luis Cuza, the president of Telcomp, the association of the alternative operators in Brasil, anticipated me that rumors said that the announce would come out in matter of days.

At Sao Paulo the rumor also has it that now Anatel could authorize the fusion TIM/Vivo, that would be an unpleasent thing for Telecom Italia...

Fixed net in Germany keeps loosing revenues

Deutsche Telekom presented the balance for the 1Q08.

It looses at 6,9% of revenues at domestic level; international activities, even if weghing more than domestic activities (52% vs. 48%) don't grow enough to compensate (+0,8%). The overall result is-3,1%. (SPPY)

Which path for the future ? "Ongoing staff restructuring to secure the future" says the trimestral balance. (but remembre that in march the acquisition of greek OTE was defined, if they obtain the permits of the case).

In the 1Q08 the tariffs in Germany on the fixed net dropped 3% and a 2% on mobile nets (when will we start to call name it "fixed access and wireless access"?ndr; I will start...)

In the 1Q08 the revenues of fixed access dropped 8,6% whilst for wireless access (regardless the prcise drops) they grew of 1% in Europe and remained stable in USA.

The title appears to suffer...

The exhuberance of markets

Italy Today of today:

Title: Optimism on Telecom returns

Subtitle: No matter the drop on the net profit of ebitda and ebitNonostante

They forgot that revenues dropped as well.

Various journalists comment that the data of 1Q " Vari giornali commentano che i dati del 1Q  "center sustantially the objectives of the industrial proyect of Bernabè cancelling the fear expressed by Morgan Stanley at the beginning of the month on a possible deterioration of the objectives"

Infact. At the presentation, the plan shows to the analysts

• stable revenues with approx. +0,3%; 1 Q closes at  -2,4%;
• Ebitda margin for the entire year at 38,5%, the first Q closes at 40,6%. But attetion, last year was closed with EBITDA being 37,1% regardless 1Q being a 42,5%

In Italy the Fibre cries: Calabrò: "we were on vanguard, we are now at the startting point"

Completely agree with president Calabrò.

Link: ALICE Economia | News | Economia e Borsa.

Portofino (Genova), 10 may. (Apcom) - "After having been on vanguard, we are now back to the starting point" in this way the president of the Authorities for guarantees in communications Corrado Calabrò synthesises the situation of broad band in Italy, at margin of a convention organized by the multinational Ericsson, at Portofino, dedicate dto "Individual TV", a slogan coined by the swedish group for the TV of the future.

Corrado Calabrò points the index on the absence that exists in Italy of a optic fibre net for broad band."We can talk about moving to digital only if the terrain was prepared in the meanwhile".

The grantor of Communications anticipated that l'the argument will be the focus of the speech that he will hold at the Parliament on July 15 and he said that the State has to intervene "favouring the administrative procedures, as in speeding up the burocratic system and favouring the private investments for the realization of the optic fibre. For example through deregulation".

Interviews me: 2008.04.03 Il Manifesto - "Nuove reti? Intervenga lo stato".

The State should start by centralizing the management of the thing, taking it away from the decisional power of local autonomies. The politics should create the optimal conditions so that a consortium of privates -telefonic operators, at top the ex monopolist, venture capital and any company that believes in the project- can actually invest without many risks at not being able to go back in.

To the journalist I presented examples on permits, burocracy, rights and obbligations,as I wrote the 14 of may on this post:  Ma quanto costa fare una rete totalmente FTTH ?.

If normative politics to reduce costs on civil actions would be implementd, according to a friend that is experienced on the matter, the reduction could reach a 40%, thus Civil actions would cost 9,4 billion euro.

Completely agree with president Calabrò.

Link: ALICE Economia | News | Economia e Borsa.

Portofino (Genova), 10 may. (Apcom) - "After having been on vanguard, we are now back to the starting point" in this way the president of the Authorities for guarantees in communications Corrado Calabrò synthesises the situation of broad band in Italy, at margin of a convention organized by the multinational Ericsson, at Portofino, dedicate dto "Individual TV", a slogan coined by the swedish group for the TV of the future.

Corrado Calabrò points the index on the absence that exists in Italy of a optic fibre net for broad band."We can talk about moving to digital only if the terrain was prepared in the meanwhile".

The grantor of Communications anticipated that l'the argument will be the focus of the speech that he will hold at the Parliament on July 15 and he said that the State has to intervene "favouring the administrative procedures, as in speeding up the burocratic system and favouring the private investments for the realization of the optic fibre. For example through deregulation".

Interviews me: 2008.04.03 Il Manifesto - "Nuove reti? Intervenga lo stato".

The State should start by centralizing the management of the thing, taking it away from the decisional power of local autonomies. The politics should create the optimal conditions so that a consortium of privates -telefonic operators, at top the ex monopolist, venture capital and any company that believes in the project- can actually invest without many risks at not being able to go back in.

To the journalist I presented examples on permits, burocracy, rights and obbligations,as I wrote the 14 of may on this post:  Ma quanto costa fare una rete totalmente FTTH ?.

If normative politics to reduce costs on civil actions would be implementd, according to a friend that is experienced on the matter, the reduction could reach a 40%, thus Civil actions would cost 9,4 billion euro.

Another gift for journalists (such that they don't have to search for traces at SEC)

Telco officially controls Telecom Italia (the majority of the CdA comes from them); In Telco there is Assicurazioni Generali, Mediobanca, Intesa San Paolo e Telefonica. If one of the first three would want to sell, Telefonica can actually buy. The more the title drops the more it would be cheaper for Telefonica to buy.

Discovered by Sole 24 ore by digging in the documents deposited by Telefonica at SEC (the USA Consob), which, according to Sole 24 ore, reveals teh backstage of the pacts: "Telefonica at SEC, we have a call"

I make reference to this. (The discovery made by a journalist of Sole 24 ore on the existance of an option to purchase Telco shares (holding which controls Telecom) b Telefonica.

Well, here there's the whole dossier.

1. accordo_di_coinvestimento.pdf
2. patti_parasociali.pdf
3. call_option.pdf

Telco officially controls Telecom Italia (the majority of the CdA comes from them); In Telco there is Assicurazioni Generali, Mediobanca, Intesa San Paolo e Telefonica. If one of the first three would want to sell, Telefonica can actually buy. The more the title drops the more it would be cheaper for Telefonica to buy.

Discovered by Sole 24 ore by digging in the documents deposited by Telefonica at SEC (the USA Consob), which, according to Sole 24 ore, reveals teh backstage of the pacts: "Telefonica at SEC, we have a call"

I make reference to this. (The discovery made by a journalist of Sole 24 ore on the existance of an option to purchase Telco shares (holding which controls Telecom) b Telefonica.

Well, here there's the whole dossier.

1. accordo_di_coinvestimento.pdf
2. patti_parasociali.pdf
3. call_option.pdf

The Newspaper Association of America communicates that publicity online grows an 18,8%(aka Lies, damned lies and statistics)

Link: ONLINE NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING JUMPS 19 PERCENT IN 2007 - Newspaper Association of America.

It doesn't that they only weigh a 7% on the total, that both last year and the previous they grew more than 30% and that the remaining 93% of the business looses 9,44% for an overall variation of -7,92%.

These are really in a messed up situation, not like Hollywood that  cries out misery from the top of record revenues.

The net as a commons

This is the video of my inetervention at Communia (in english)
They are 30 minutes that I believe summarise discretely my point of view on TLC's.

Does your ISP alterate communications?

At Washington University they made a tool which can be foud here to verify if the contents that reach your browser are modified by your provider, like stated as something happening in Italy.

It's a very interesting test to make especially with your GPRS/UMTS/HS?PA access provider.

Does your ISP alterate your content ?

At Washington University they made a tool which can be foud here to verify if the contents that reach your browser are modified by your provider, like stated as something happening in Italy.

It's a very interesting test to make especially with your GPRS/UMTS/HS?PA access provider.

Does your ISP alterate your content ?

The certainty of rules

The good Stefano Carli on Affari e Finanza of today:

Title: Europe with broadband, the fibre halts

"Only in Great Britain the rules on NGN's are clear: the will be, together with the copper net and with the same rules within.

From teh article:

... a slow down related not so much to the economic conjuncture which is not staisfying in the last months, as much as the uncertainty on the rules on the rules with which we are moving towards the new generation nets... From this point of view, Europe is split in two.

The EU comission clearly said that that the new generation nets, also know as NGN, are subject to tarditional rules..."

Afterwards, in the erst of the article, the theme of the rules is brought back to us regarding Germany as it says that...

..Berlin launched a kind of suspended regulation that will give free access to DT. A suspension rejected in Bruxelles as well as a source for bitter litigation.

Now, I understan that titles are not made by jousnalists, still, title is misleading.

Certainly, someone would like that rules weren't clear and that Germany wouldn't reach the procedure of infraction. But unfortunately for them, (and fortunately for the users) the regulation system is very clear. (To make a new extended net the infrastructure of the previous net has to be used; it would be like increasing the lanes in the freeway between two cities making a totelly different tracing).

Then, if tehre is someone that says " we don't like rules" I believe that it's obvious for any rule.

Giving the impression that rules are not defined  delivers a result in which confusion grows as well as it being contraproducing.

The good Stefano Carli on Affari e Finanza of today:

Title: Europe with broadband, the fibre halts

"Only in Great Britain the rules on NGN's are clear: the will be, together with the copper net and with the same rules within.

From teh article:

... a slow down related not so much to the economic conjuncture which is not staisfying in the last months, as much as the uncertainty on the rules on the rules with which we are moving towards the new generation nets... From this point of view, Europe is split in two.

The EU comission clearly said that that the new generation nets, also know as NGN, are subject to tarditional rules..."

Afterwards, in the erst of the article, the theme of the rules is brought back to us regarding Germany as it says that...

..Berlin launched a kind of suspended regulation that will give free access to DT. A suspension rejected in Bruxelles as well as a source for bitter litigation.

Now, I understan that titles are not made by jousnalists, still, title is misleading.

Certainly, someone would like that rules weren't clear and that Germany wouldn't reach the procedure of infraction. But unfortunately for them, (and fortunately for the users) the regulation system is very clear. (To make a new extended net the infrastructure of the previous net has to be used; it would be like increasing the lanes in the freeway between two cities making a totelly different tracing).

Then, if tehre is someone that says " we don't like rules" I believe that it's obvious for any rule.

Giving the impression that rules are not defined  delivers a result in which confusion grows as well as it being contraproducing.

European ambassador in the USA requests the USA to respect the Copyright treaties in two disputes with Europe

Link: EU Ambassador Calls for Resolution of IPR Cases.

Ambassador John Bruton, Head of the European Commission Delegation to the United States, issued the following statement today highlighting the EU-U.S. cooperation on global intellectual property enforcement and calling for the U.S. to resolve outstanding IPR disagreements

Link: EU Ambassador Calls for Resolution of IPR Cases.

Ambassador John Bruton, Head of the European Commission Delegation to the United States, issued the following statement today highlighting the EU-U.S. cooperation on global intellectual property enforcement and calling for the U.S. to resolve outstanding IPR disagreements

The end of walled garden on cell phones,word of Telecom Italia

To read the memorable article of Gabriele de Palma on Finance and actual markets: Giardini Aperti.

«The season of walled garden is over». The affirmation itself is strong, sounds mind-blowing  if announced by Luigi Licciardi, executive Vice President of mobile services of Telecom Italia.

Amen!

To read the memorable article of Gabriele de Palma on Finance and actual markets: Giardini Aperti.

«The season of walled garden is over». The affirmation itself is strong, sounds mind-blowing  if announced by Luigi Licciardi, executive Vice President of mobile services of Telecom Italia.

Amen!

Popularity is not an index of reliability

And it is valid for all, from Corriere to Boing Boing.

A number of credit card companies now issue credit cards with embedded RFIDs (radio frequency ID tags), with promises of enhanced security and speedy transactions. But on today's episode of Boing Boing tv, hacker and inventor Pablos Holman shows Xeni how you can use about $8 worth of gear bought on eBay to read personal data from those credit cards -- cardholder name, credit card number, and whatever else your bank embeds in this manner.

Let's make some info.

There are two types of cless credit cards, one is "EMV" and the other one works with magstripe emulation (magnetic band emulation).

In the past, magstripe emulating cards were used, just like the ones above. In the future they tend to disappear, being replaced by EMV's. In Europe for example, only EMV cards will be used, all of them based on microprocessors (they are not simple memory cards).

To communicate with card, it's necessary to know the protocol of EMV's interfacing (only known by companies which are credited in the consotium of Europay, Visa an Mastercard).We could object that the protocol can be purloined, but for example NDS for the TMP of the video still holds it firmly...

Even with protocols being granted, in order to access the card with a microprocessor, an authetication based on an RSA key is needed, but after a failure in the third trial it will block.

Moreover, the distances of its reading are minimum (in the order of 1cm), even with the right atmosphore and ideal conditions being controlled it's plausible to reach several decimeter.

If we hit the RSA pass key of a specific card and had purloined the function protocol, having attracted the victim to a location with an adequate device (or having placed a device on his stomach while he was sleeping), the info that we can retrieve from the card are the same that we can find printed on the plastics of the latter.( which we can find hundreds on Google...)

Finally, before doing a transaction with one of these devices, a control of consistency is executed with the ROM code of the card,for which to duplicate it I would simply have to build a factory of chips or use an emulator, placing an apparatus on the POS antennae (at 3mm), with the users' connivance

Besides, for expenses which overpass a threshold set by the bank (usually around 20 dollars),witha daily maximal set by the bank (usually around 50 dollars), it is requested to key in a PIN code, just like with a bancomat, when the transaction takes place.

It's much easier to get a job as a dishwasher at a pizza place and just copy down some numbers from a receipt...(thing that actually happens and when it happens it's enough to just tell the institute that the transaction didn't take place and they will charge it off from the client so the user will remit, making invalid the possibilities described above).

Some years ago I saw a demo of how a spiteful person would steal all the information from a PC connected to internet, without the owner of the PC even noticing...and believe me when I say, it was muuuuuch easier.

And it is valid for all, from Corriere to Boing Boing.

A number of credit card companies now issue credit cards with embedded RFIDs (radio frequency ID tags), with promises of enhanced security and speedy transactions. But on today's episode of Boing Boing tv, hacker and inventor Pablos Holman shows Xeni how you can use about $8 worth of gear bought on eBay to read personal data from those credit cards -- cardholder name, credit card number, and whatever else your bank embeds in this manner.

Let's make some info.

There are two types of cless credit cards, one is "EMV" and the other one works with magstripe emulation (magnetic band emulation).

In the past, magstripe emulating cards were used, just like the ones above. In the future they tend to disappear, being replaced by EMV's. In Europe for example, only EMV cards will be used, all of them based on microprocessors (they are not simple memory cards).

To communicate with card, it's necessary to know the protocol of EMV's interfacing (only known by companies which are credited in the consotium of Europay, Visa an Mastercard).We could object that the protocol can be purloined, but for example NDS for the TMP of the video still holds it firmly...

Even with protocols being granted, in order to access the card with a microprocessor, an authetication based on an RSA key is needed, but after a failure in the third trial it will block.

Moreover, the distances of its reading are minimum (in the order of 1cm), even with the right atmosphore and ideal conditions being controlled it's plausible to reach several decimeter.

If we hit the RSA pass key of a specific card and had purloined the function protocol, having attracted the victim to a location with an adequate device (or having placed a device on his stomach while he was sleeping), the info that we can retrieve from the card are the same that we can find printed on the plastics of the latter.( which we can find hundreds on Google...)

Finally, before doing a transaction with one of these devices, a control of consistency is executed with the ROM code of the card,for which to duplicate it I would simply have to build a factory of chips or use an emulator, placing an apparatus on the POS antennae (at 3mm), with the users' connivance

Besides, for expenses which overpass a threshold set by the bank (usually around 20 dollars),witha daily maximal set by the bank (usually around 50 dollars), it is requested to key in a PIN code, just like with a bancomat, when the transaction takes place.

It's much easier to get a job as a dishwasher at a pizza place and just copy down some numbers from a receipt...(thing that actually happens and when it happens it's enough to just tell the institute that the transaction didn't take place and they will charge it off from the client so the user will remit, making invalid the possibilities described above).

Some years ago I saw a demo of how a spiteful person would steal all the information from a PC connected to internet, without the owner of the PC even noticing...and believe me when I say, it was muuuuuch easier.

The attention towards Data Protection grows in the USA

Link: Sindrome Watergate Spiati i tre candidati - LASTAMPA.it.

Three employees of the State Department have spied on the personal dat of the candidates running for presidency: Barak Ohama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain.The intrusions that raise suspicion of electoral espionage have had as objective the files with information regarding the concession of passports: date and place of birth, data of parents and sons, Countries visited, and most of all, the Social Security Number.

When I heard this news I thought it was a good thing, that would have contributed in rising the level of attention.

Federico then points out this one: A Push to Limit the Tracking of Web Surfers’ Clicks - New York Times.

AFTER reading about how Internet companies like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo collect information about people online and use it for targeted advertising, one New York assemblyman said there ought to be a law.

 

So he drafted a bill, now gathering support in Albany, that would make it a crime — punishable by a fine to be determined — for certain Web companies to use personal information about consumers for advertising without their consent.

It was only New York's, regards only personalized publicity, but also this is a sign that overseas the attention is growing.

Apple on the thread of Antitrust

Link: Apple Promotes Safari Installs Via iTunes Updater. Mozilla CEO Cries Foul..

... Apple’s use of the iTunes Software Update utility to distribute new installations of its Safari Web browser for Windows users.

Apple uses the updates of iTunes to distribute new versions of Safari (its browser) for Windows

...

What’s most intriguing about the present hoopla is that none other than Mozilla’s chief executive officer, John Lilly, has emerged from his open source haven - which I much prefer to Apple’s own - to march tall with the anti-updater procession.

The executive manager  of Mozilla hurls against the practice

His take is that it is okay to serve updates for installed products, but not so cool to push any unassociated code along with such updates.

He says that it's ok to update already installed programs but not to install new softwares

I don’t see the problem. Do you? Sure, Apple is taking advantage of its ubiquity with the iTunes music software it markets to the world. But is it “wrong” to do so, as Mr Lilly claims?

The author of the post says "I see no problem".

The problem exists: Apple levers on a particular charcateristic not for efficiency but to extend the dominant position from a market (online music) to an adjacent market (browser).

If it was not exclusive there will be no problem.That is, if for example I could, before a commercial agreement with Apple, distribute my application using iTunes update.

The antitrust norma are important. The allow a market to stay competitive. Apart from this, there's the law of the jungle.

Link: Apple Promotes Safari Installs Via iTunes Updater. Mozilla CEO Cries Foul..

... Apple’s use of the iTunes Software Update utility to distribute new installations of its Safari Web browser for Windows users.

Apple uses the updates of iTunes to distribute new versions of Safari (its browser) for Windows

...

What’s most intriguing about the present hoopla is that none other than Mozilla’s chief executive officer, John Lilly, has emerged from his open source haven - which I much prefer to Apple’s own - to march tall with the anti-updater procession.

The executive manager  of Mozilla hurls against the practice

His take is that it is okay to serve updates for installed products, but not so cool to push any unassociated code along with such updates.

He says that it's ok to update already installed programs but not to install new softwares

I don’t see the problem. Do you? Sure, Apple is taking advantage of its ubiquity with the iTunes music software it markets to the world. But is it “wrong” to do so, as Mr Lilly claims?

The author of the post says "I see no problem".

The problem exists: Apple levers on a particular charcateristic not for efficiency but to extend the dominant position from a market (online music) to an adjacent market (browser).

If it was not exclusive there will be no problem.That is, if for example I could, before a commercial agreement with Apple, distribute my application using iTunes update.

The antitrust norma are important. The allow a market to stay competitive. Apart from this, there's the law of the jungle.

Phorm: In the UK the ISP sell browsing data to an advertising broker

Signalled by Misi: BBC NEWS | Technology | Phorm 'illegal' says policy group.

Phorm 'illegal' says policy group Eye on computer screens, SPL Phorm says its system will have security benefits Online advert system Phorm is illegal in the UK, the Foundation for Information Policy Research (Fipr), has argued in an open letter.

Fipr believes Phorm contravenes the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa), which protects users from unlawful interception of information.

There's someone who really talks bad about it, even if he substantially says "it must be opt-in".

I like to go back to the source, so I read and search around some stuff on the website of Phorm.

I don't know if it's legal for English law system;  Fipr says that it's illegal according to the law of interceptions (NB: not against norms on privacy); most probably it's not clear even in the UK and it will be a judge who will have to settle. Considering my knowledge on "propension to risk" of BT, and considering they have joined the system, many lawyers told him it was ok.

Considering what is explained on Phorm's website, I like it much more than adwords and adsense.

Adding up: they associte a number to a user with a double blind mechanism (as in the person who knows the number doesn't know who the user is). They do not keep any browsing history, the one who provides the inserts for the websites is not the same one who knows the interests of the user (as it happens with google). No cooky is saved, no info on users is kept, a match is made only with a series of predefined keywords( and not signalling all the texts).

If all the publicity would be provided though this mechanism (with respect to the "traditional" systems), I would be far more at peace. Both in terms of privacy and pubblicity market.

I agree that the system shoul be opt-in.

Signalled by Misi: BBC NEWS | Technology | Phorm 'illegal' says policy group.

Phorm 'illegal' says policy group Eye on computer screens, SPL Phorm says its system will have security benefits Online advert system Phorm is illegal in the UK, the Foundation for Information Policy Research (Fipr), has argued in an open letter.

Fipr believes Phorm contravenes the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (Ripa), which protects users from unlawful interception of information.

There's someone who really talks bad about it, even if he substantially says "it must be opt-in".

I like to go back to the source, so I read and search around some stuff on the website of Phorm.

I don't know if it's legal for English law system;  Fipr says that it's illegal according to the law of interceptions (NB: not against norms on privacy); most probably it's not clear even in the UK and it will be a judge who will have to settle. Considering my knowledge on "propension to risk" of BT, and considering they have joined the system, many lawyers told him it was ok.

Considering what is explained on Phorm's website, I like it much more than adwords and adsense.

Adding up: they associte a number to a user with a double blind mechanism (as in the person who knows the number doesn't know who the user is). They do not keep any browsing history, the one who provides the inserts for the websites is not the same one who knows the interests of the user (as it happens with google). No cooky is saved, no info on users is kept, a match is made only with a series of predefined keywords( and not signalling all the texts).

If all the publicity would be provided though this mechanism (with respect to the "traditional" systems), I would be far more at peace. Both in terms of privacy and pubblicity market.

I agree that the system shoul be opt-in.

Telecom depressed by Deutsche Telekom

Stock exchange: Telecom comes back after suspension, depressed by Deutsche Telekom

(Teleborsa) - Rome, 19 mar - Telecom comes back as a negotiable title at Piazza Affari after it having been halted for its excessive depreciation.It seems that he italian phone company has been dragged from Deutsche Telekom in Frankfurt, on the cut of the forecasts of the business of fixed telephony.
At the milane stock exchange, Telecom stocks show a loss of 6,75% at 1,228 euro whilst in Germany, DT stocks go back to a loss of 6,41% at 10,65 eur.

<irony>
Who knows "why" a cut of forecasts for fixed telephony business. Who would have ever said ?
<irony>

Sweden approves functional separation

Link: Functional separation for better broadband competition.

Functional separation for better broadband competition

The Government has now approved the Bill "Functional separation for better broadband competition", which is intended to improve competition in the broadband market.

The Industrial plan of Telecom Italia

I personally liked Bernabè.

I liked him when, chased by questions on the chances of growth, new services and markets together with reduction of costs, he said: (not such a precise translation)

"I've found a very different society from the one I left. There are no more international assets nor international activities in order to compensate the decrease of domestic revenues, like all other main operators do, except a preciou asset (TIM Brasil ndr) which managers managed to maintain (the question pops spontaneously, who didn't want to maintain it ?ndr)there's not much else. I can't accomplish miracles. I struggle to talk about equity story.I cannot launch myself into an international expansion without reducing the leverage (i.e. reduce the relationship debts/margin,ndr.)This is what I've found, this is what we can do. All our effot, mine and Galateri's, is in this direction, since we first arrived we've always worked every single day from 7 to 23."

Then Galtieri said something like " the society has been deconcentrated, a lot of speculation has taken place".

A declaration which I found serious for the person. Of course, from a business point of view, the situation is appalling and for investors it doesn't really matter "it's not my fault" otherwise we could change genreal executive manager every 2 years and then say "it's not my fault"...

I will come back on the industrial plan in the next days, with a more accuarte comment. I took many notes and I don't want to bore you too much.

Just a few things: missing 6 pages to the end of the note pad given to us there was a sentence written saying that Telecom Italia's debt doesn't have...

..."financial covenant for non compliance which require the repayment of the existing loan. They do provide for the going clauses of negative pledge, related to the commitment of non-modifying the object of the business or making over corporate asset unless specific condition."

It sounds a bit ostrogoth, but it basically says that part of the debt states that the business activity is not changed or yield assets, except with some specific conditions (which? who knows!) and then says that...

"the above metioned syndacated bank lines discipline the case where a subject, other than the current relative majority shareholder or other permitted acquiring shareholders, take the control of Telecom Italia individually or jointly; in that case a thirty day period is established during which the parties shall negotiate the terms to continue the relationship"

Which mainly says that on the contracts for these loans made by teh banks, there are conditions which regulate the report if there is a change in the control of the society, for which there a new negotiation would take place within 30 days, except  if they are actual shareholders who have the relative majority or a different purchaser who is allowed. (I'm probably mistaken)

Instead, if I understood correctly, I would think that...maybe also the other shareholders would like to know the name of other potential purchasers

Se invece capissi bene,mi verrebbe da pensare che... forse anche agli altri azionisti farebbe piacere sapere il nome degli altri possibili acquirenti previsti, who are exempted from the new contract to be realised realted to taht part of the debt.

I personally liked Bernabè.

I liked him when, chased by questions on the chances of growth, new services and markets together with reduction of costs, he said: (not such a precise translation)

"I've found a very different society from the one I left. There are no more international assets nor international activities in order to compensate the decrease of domestic revenues, like all other main operators do, except a preciou asset (TIM Brasil ndr) which managers managed to maintain (the question pops spontaneously, who didn't want to maintain it ?ndr)there's not much else. I can't accomplish miracles. I struggle to talk about equity story.I cannot launch myself into an international expansion without reducing the leverage (i.e. reduce the relationship debts/margin,ndr.)This is what I've found, this is what we can do. All our effot, mine and Galateri's, is in this direction, since we first arrived we've always worked every single day from 7 to 23."

Then Galtieri said something like " the society has been deconcentrated, a lot of speculation has taken place".

A declaration which I found serious for the person. Of course, from a business point of view, the situation is appalling and for investors it doesn't really matter "it's not my fault" otherwise we could change genreal executive manager every 2 years and then say "it's not my fault"...

I will come back on the industrial plan in the next days, with a more accuarte comment. I took many notes and I don't want to bore you too much.

Just a few things: missing 6 pages to the end of the note pad given to us there was a sentence written saying that Telecom Italia's debt doesn't have...

..."financial covenant for non compliance which require the repayment of the existing loan. They do provide for the going clauses of negative pledge, related to the commitment of non-modifying the object of the business or making over corporate asset unless specific condition."

It sounds a bit ostrogoth, but it basically says that part of the debt states that the business activity is not changed or yield assets, except with some specific conditions (which? who knows!) and then says that...

"the above metioned syndacated bank lines discipline the case where a subject, other than the current relative majority shareholder or other permitted acquiring shareholders, take the control of Telecom Italia individually or jointly; in that case a thirty day period is established during which the parties shall negotiate the terms to continue the relationship"

Which mainly says that on the contracts for these loans made by teh banks, there are conditions which regulate the report if there is a change in the control of the society, for which there a new negotiation would take place within 30 days, except  if they are actual shareholders who have the relative majority or a different purchaser who is allowed. (I'm probably mistaken)

Instead, if I understood correctly, I would think that...maybe also the other shareholders would like to know the name of other potential purchasers

Se invece capissi bene,mi verrebbe da pensare che... forse anche agli altri azionisti farebbe piacere sapere il nome degli altri possibili acquirenti previsti, who are exempted from the new contract to be realised realted to taht part of the debt.

The regulator "regulated" by the monopolist

Link: Telefónica lanza su red de fibra y fuerza un cambio normativo - CincoDias.com.

Click!

Inés Abril / MADRID (07-03-2008)

Telefónica will shortly launch  the first commercial services based on its new fibre net of next generation, the so called NGN, that will allow the reaching of ADSL with a velocity of 100 megas or the high resolution teelvision. It already has several pilot tests with clients in Madrid and Barcelona, but now wants to give a step forward with real users. It will be done even before that the normative frame that will govern this new technological era for teh sector comes out.

The Comission of the Market of Telecommunications (CMT) has started the process, with a white book which speeds up the main lineas of the normative frame, but it still has to make the market analysis, open a period of allegations, write out the resolution, send it to the European Comission, wait for the comments and approve the final decision.

The process can last longer than a year and Telefònica will not wait for it to be closed to develop its net and launch the services. Thus, a writing has been sent to the CMT in which it communicates the "intetion of starting to offer services through the new generation net, to clients who for now only have a traditional phone srevice, as certified in an official document.

Summing up, with all the possible approximations... Telefonica wants to launch a service without the opening of its new net; Spanish authorities is carrying out a market analysis that require stime,  before forwarding a document which clarifies if and how Telefonica can do it. Therefore, Telefonica writes to the regulator saying " I'll do it anyway".

As we say, there's always someone worse off.

Fibre starts smiling

Stefano Pileri: 200.000 accessi FTTH nel 2009.

Then, the m-payment appears...

Now, as soon as I catch Stefano Venturi i'll ask him how happy is he about the fact that TI will sell as a service the "HD telepresence". Afterwards I'll call Valli to ask him who will be the first one to ask for interoperability... (look at my previous post on telepresence)

The failure rate of access lines in 2007 was 14,5 % of the lines whilst for broadband it was 20,8% ! (one on five). The accesibilty of mobile net was 97,9%.

Capex on ngn access in three years: 90 million in 2008, 300 in 2009 and 200 on 2009, both for the  homein the activities, not only centrally but on territory as well. The building, 4700 of the 11000 are still of private property.

"Is the regulator happy that there isn't a management board of Open Access and that there is no separation ?" agcom knows that it is not a functional separation, I don't know if they are satisfied, maybe they'll ask us for other actions, but agcom is doing market analysis, at the end of summer we'll see the results. We'll see if we'll need a functional separation and we are open to other requests.Agcom in an informal way, is talking infromally about the option of suggetsing an accounting separation and Equivalence of Access Board.

Open access will not cahnge the trend of the number of lines in ULL (which project a growth of approximately 1,5 million), but will increase the fficiency as well as reduce the number of lines ins aturation.

In the period of 2005-2007, the building of the centrals were reduced of 50 units and a similar plan is expected to go on until 2010. The big reduction of the number of centrals will start around 2011-2012, not before, but they are commited on keeping the centrals where there are operators in ULL.

Stefano Pileri: 200.000 accessi FTTH nel 2009.

Then, the m-payment appears...

Now, as soon as I catch Stefano Venturi i'll ask him how happy is he about the fact that TI will sell as a service the "HD telepresence". Afterwards I'll call Valli to ask him who will be the first one to ask for interoperability... (look at my previous post on telepresence)

The failure rate of access lines in 2007 was 14,5 % of the lines whilst for broadband it was 20,8% ! (one on five). The accesibilty of mobile net was 97,9%.

Capex on ngn access in three years: 90 million in 2008, 300 in 2009 and 200 on 2009, both for the  homein the activities, not only centrally but on territory as well. The building, 4700 of the 11000 are still of private property.

"Is the regulator happy that there isn't a management board of Open Access and that there is no separation ?" agcom knows that it is not a functional separation, I don't know if they are satisfied, maybe they'll ask us for other actions, but agcom is doing market analysis, at the end of summer we'll see the results. We'll see if we'll need a functional separation and we are open to other requests.Agcom in an informal way, is talking infromally about the option of suggetsing an accounting separation and Equivalence of Access Board.

Open access will not cahnge the trend of the number of lines in ULL (which project a growth of approximately 1,5 million), but will increase the fficiency as well as reduce the number of lines ins aturation.

In the period of 2005-2007, the building of the centrals were reduced of 50 units and a similar plan is expected to go on until 2010. The big reduction of the number of centrals will start around 2011-2012, not before, but they are commited on keeping the centrals where there are operators in ULL.

There's one thing I don't understand about Open Access

To say the truth teher are 2 : Bernabe' said that he wants to be more friendly and cooperative with competitors and regulators, riduce litigations, reestablish serenity in teh market to abbandon "competition through litigation" in order to open evry time more and more his net.

But... The only quotation of Labriola for wholesale, on every slide, was a case in a table that said " substantially maintain the returns in spite of the price reduction determined by authorities". Maybe we could have expected something more, if it's true that they are important costumers...

My second uncertainty rised when Chiarelli expleined the unification of management of informatic systems: a unique IT model that beholds the functions of SEll to Delivery, Usage to Cash, Creation to Assurance, Market IT Solutions.

Let me explain: I don't see a separation in informatic systems between service and net, as it happens with Openreach. Here, if I understand corerctly, who manages the systems for its own provisioning,invoicing, assurance for proper clients by piece and the same organism which manages the same systems for cleints on wholesale ( that are  competitors per piece).

If I'm not mistaken (which can always happen), we are still very far for a reduction of litigations to take place...

To say the truth teher are 2 : Bernabe' said that he wants to be more friendly and cooperative with competitors and regulators, riduce litigations, reestablish serenity in teh market to abbandon "competition through litigation" in order to open evry time more and more his net.

But... The only quotation of Labriola for wholesale, on every slide, was a case in a table that said " substantially maintain the returns in spite of the price reduction determined by authorities". Maybe we could have expected something more, if it's true that they are important costumers...

My second uncertainty rised when Chiarelli expleined the unification of management of informatic systems: a unique IT model that beholds the functions of SEll to Delivery, Usage to Cash, Creation to Assurance, Market IT Solutions.

Let me explain: I don't see a separation in informatic systems between service and net, as it happens with Openreach. Here, if I understand corerctly, who manages the systems for its own provisioning,invoicing, assurance for proper clients by piece and the same organism which manages the same systems for cleints on wholesale ( that are  competitors per piece).

If I'm not mistaken (which can always happen), we are still very far for a reduction of litigations to take place...

Statement on the EC Decision on Google/DoubleClick

Jeff Chester, Center for Digital Democracy

By failing to impose safeguards, EC regulators have helped strengthen a growing digital colossus that will now be in a dominant position to shape much of the global future of the Internet and other online media.   The EC [DG Comp] appears to have embraced the FTC's flawed analysis of the online ad market.   It represents the failure of antitrust regulators to understand and respond to the growing consolidation of control over online ad delivery, data collection, and the funding of content.  This decision will have profound and unfortunate consequences for the Internet's evolving role as a democratic communications medium.

EU and US antitrust regulators have also perversely set the stage for Microsoft's goal of acquiring Yahoo!, furthering more concentration of control in the new media sector.  Instead of ensuring competition, DG Comp and the FTC have literally paved the way for the emergence of a global digital duopoly over online advertising (which is the principal way online content is funded).  By permitting Google to dramatically grow in clout, regulators will have to likely permit the further growth of a # 2 competitor to Google-which will be Microsoft.

US and European policymakers must reform the antitrust process to reflect the realities of the digital market era, where competition, data collection, and content creation are seamlessly intertwined. In today's digital marketplace, the company that controls the most data about consumers and has the global reach to connect to them raises both anticompetitive and privacy concerns.  An antiquated and piecemeal
antitrust approach fails to protect citizens, consumers, and competition.

The Center for Digital Democracy, which opposed the Google/DoubleClick merger in both the U.S. and in the EC, will continue to press policymakers to play a more responsible forward-thinking approach to competition and consumer protection for online and interactive media.

Jeff Chester, executive director, Center for Digital Democracy, Washington DC.

Bernabe' Presentation

In the next few days I'll write few comments in english on today's presentation by Telecom Italia.

"we are managers, we know what to do, it will take time, don't expect fireworks or bizarre plans from us, we will be financially disciplined"

What is the difference between a telecommunications operator and a financial operator?

None, their will no longer be like the one before.

Link: India News - India Business News, Airtel launches a range of M-Commerce solutions.

Airtel launches a range of M-Commerce solutions New Delhi: Airtel on Tuesday announced the launch of a whole range of M-Commerce solutions such as Mobile Money Transfer (MMT), postpaid bill payment and prepaid recharge on the mobile phone. It is partnering with ICICI bank, HDFC bank, SBI, Corporation bank and VISA to enable these payments. The solution has been developed by mChek, a leading provider of mobile security and payment solutions. This is the first time in India that Mobile Money transfer will be available.

Airtel in india launches posticipated payment of invoices and fund transfers.

None, their will no longer be like the one before.

Link: India News - India Business News, Airtel launches a range of M-Commerce solutions.

Airtel launches a range of M-Commerce solutions New Delhi: Airtel on Tuesday announced the launch of a whole range of M-Commerce solutions such as Mobile Money Transfer (MMT), postpaid bill payment and prepaid recharge on the mobile phone. It is partnering with ICICI bank, HDFC bank, SBI, Corporation bank and VISA to enable these payments. The solution has been developed by mChek, a leading provider of mobile security and payment solutions. This is the first time in India that Mobile Money transfer will be available.

Airtel in india launches posticipated payment of invoices and fund transfers.

When Internet meets finacial services

A rather long post, but it covers many aspects.

Beginning of an article from Netbanker cited on SmartyPig homepage.

Take a basic FDIC-insured savings account, spice it up with automated electronic transfers and email communications, mix in gift/debit cards, wrap the whole thing up in a social network, and top it with a memorable name. What do you have? SmartyPig, the most innovative financial service we’ve seen since Prosper launched two years ago.

A bank book, a system of automatic eletronic transfers, debit cards and gift cards, asocila network, all of it together. This is SmartyPig.

Meanwhile in Canda, the system of peer to peer loans IOUCentral was to a large extent blocked by BDRVM (pdf), a kind of Canadian Banca d'Italia.

The media, air and telephonic industries, are coming back heavily redefined in digitalization, standardization and interoperabilty (internet laws).

A lot has been written on the impact on medias. A new demonstartion on the impact on telephony  arrives from the east; it seems that Skype is a cause of the 21% drop on the volume of phone calls between China and Taiwan, according to Digitimes.

There were 282.2 million voice communication calls from China to Taiwan with a total use time of 784.8 million minutes in 2007, dropping by 21.37% and 10.41%, respectively, from 2006, according to statistics by Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC).

Regarding  low cost airlines, point to point existed but they became a real problem when the differential cost increased as a consequence of disintermediation brought by Internet (it's a transfer ofCirca le linee aeree low cost point to point esistevano ma sono diventate u vero problema quando il differenziale di costo è aumentato a causa della disintermedazione portata da Internet (It's a transfer of a considerable portion of operating processes managed by the costumer). (pdf)

The impact of the Internet on how tickets are sold and consumers search for fares and the growth of low cost airlines as a  market force accessible to almost every consumer has hurt legacy airline revenues by placing downward pressure on airfares

 

Digitalization, standardization and interoperability, combined with afavourable normative picture of international commerce (lets think about outsourcing) are contributing to contain inflation,  by lowering the costs of durable and semidurable goods; meanwhile I believe that the relative incidence of raw materials and commodities will gardually increase.

It seems that banks will follow, even though I believe that it will take longer. There is an optimism (which I don't share on timing) regarding the use of NFC (especially in Italy), according to the Financial Times

But he insists that the wait for mobile payments is almost over: “For most users, NFC-enabled mobile phones will appear suddenly, seemingly overnight – just as camera phones did. All the handset manufacturers we partner with are working on one or two NFC models for release this year.”

Next in line, I believe, will be insurance agencies.

My speech at the Communia Workshop

During the workshop in Turin of Communia (European Thematic Network on the Digital Public Domain), I gave a talk on the network infrastructure as a commons.

it's in english; unfortunately that day I was unwell, yet I think it's not too bad. My talk starts at minute 5.

rtsp://live.polito.it/communia_ws01/communia_WS01_S3_Infrastructural_Commons.mpg

About Communia:

Funded by the European Commission within the eContentplus framework, the 3-years long project expects to provide policy guidelines that will help each stakeholder involved - public and private, from the local to the European and global level.

The night of the Academy Awards and the Wii.

Link: Tra iPhone e Wii, la Notte degli Oscar si tinge di high tech - LASTAMPA.it.

Short after it was the time for another wonder of the new digital entertainment, the system of Nintendo Wii videogames. Stewart and a little girl sketched a tennis match on the maxiscreen of the Kodak Theatre.

In the temple of cinema, amongst the supporters of HD, full screen on the mega projector, a 480 lines device...

Link: Tra iPhone e Wii, la Notte degli Oscar si tinge di high tech - LASTAMPA.it.

Short after it was the time for another wonder of the new digital entertainment, the system of Nintendo Wii videogames. Stewart and a little girl sketched a tennis match on the maxiscreen of the Kodak Theatre.

In the temple of cinema, amongst the supporters of HD, full screen on the mega projector, a 480 lines device...

The future of telepresence

I'm at the Cisco Expo. I't the first day. In the morning

Sono al Cisco Expo. C'e' la prima giornata. In the morning they are alternated the great Stefano Venturi, Maurizio Decina, Danilo Ciscato and Paolo Campoli.

The main theme was the proliferation of the services, particularly the development of video.

Maurizio also made a joke, specifically involving me as he talked about the network neutrality by saying " sooner or later we are going to have to pay the quality of service ".

:-)

I'm actually writing a very popular thing about my opinion on network neutrality, we'll come back to it.

For now I'm following the seminar/presentation, it having as theme the video. At the beginning there was an interesting presentation, a bit more technical, done by Fabio Ganzaroli who I didn't know but whom I'm going to serach for now.

Afterwords, we talked about the solution of Cisco on telepresence that I tried a couple of months ago at Vimercate.

Eye contact,largeness of entire figure, low latence, atmospheres (furnishing, noise, light, colors )controlled on both extremes, assure a remarkable user experience.

A characteristic of videoconferences that must be understood in general is that if forms part of the investments, the benefit will go to the other part. I explain myself : If I have a nice telecamera, studio, mics, band, etc. I will for sure produce a great stream and who receives it will see and hear me perfectly. But if he plugs a pc to a wbcam, I will have spent a lot of money just to provide him a good experience.

An important element of the Cisco proposal is the fact that Cisco controls "both" extremes of communication. Or rather, Cisco videoconferences work in "teleprensence" only with other atmospheres made and certified by Cisco.

In fact it is (neccessarily) a walled garden with a secondary access that does the scale-down to a plain-old videoconference.

Sooner or later, maybe a chinese, will wake up and tell Cisco " let me interoperate in telepresence ", maybe with the support of an antitrust action given the dominance in routers and switchs.

The chinese at that point could make a low cost webcam,invalidating everything. (only if the antitrust operation has a positive result).

I belive that Cisco should (in the appropriate momnet in which its returns are maximised and the number of causes minimised) make "public" the service of certification of installations, maybe even outsourcing it to an association of the industry, in order to open the market still controlling the non-loss of the control of quality.

I'm at the Cisco Expo. I't the first day. In the morning

Sono al Cisco Expo. C'e' la prima giornata. In the morning they are alternated the great Stefano Venturi, Maurizio Decina, Danilo Ciscato and Paolo Campoli.

The main theme was the proliferation of the services, particularly the development of video.

Maurizio also made a joke, specifically involving me as he talked about the network neutrality by saying " sooner or later we are going to have to pay the quality of service ".

:-)

I'm actually writing a very popular thing about my opinion on network neutrality, we'll come back to it.

For now I'm following the seminar/presentation, it having as theme the video. At the beginning there was an interesting presentation, a bit more technical, done by Fabio Ganzaroli who I didn't know but whom I'm going to serach for now.

Afterwords, we talked about the solution of Cisco on telepresence that I tried a couple of months ago at Vimercate.

Eye contact,largeness of entire figure, low latence, atmospheres (furnishing, noise, light, colors )controlled on both extremes, assure a remarkable user experience.

A characteristic of videoconferences that must be understood in general is that if forms part of the investments, the benefit will go to the other part. I explain myself : If I have a nice telecamera, studio, mics, band, etc. I will for sure produce a great stream and who receives it will see and hear me perfectly. But if he plugs a pc to a wbcam, I will have spent a lot of money just to provide him a good experience.

An important element of the Cisco proposal is the fact that Cisco controls "both" extremes of communication. Or rather, Cisco videoconferences work in "teleprensence" only with other atmospheres made and certified by Cisco.

In fact it is (neccessarily) a walled garden with a secondary access that does the scale-down to a plain-old videoconference.

Sooner or later, maybe a chinese, will wake up and tell Cisco " let me interoperate in telepresence ", maybe with the support of an antitrust action given the dominance in routers and switchs.

The chinese at that point could make a low cost webcam,invalidating everything. (only if the antitrust operation has a positive result).

I belive that Cisco should (in the appropriate momnet in which its returns are maximised and the number of causes minimised) make "public" the service of certification of installations, maybe even outsourcing it to an association of the industry, in order to open the market still controlling the non-loss of the control of quality.

New data on EU TLC markets released by ECTA

Ricevo da Genna, Presidente di ECTA (l'associazione degli operatori alternativi europei) e con il suo consenso ripubblico. Qui potete scaricare il spreadsheet con i dati e il Press release di ECTA.

Il Comunicato stampa rivela una situazione allarmante:

REPORT SHOWS INCUMBENT OPERATORS COULD CONTROL 80% of NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND MARKET  - ECTA urges European policy-makers to approve powers for functional separation as competitive impetus wanes

Mi scrive anche questo dettaglio sulla situazione italiana:

1. Diffusione della banda larga (Penetrazione Broadband, colonna AU)

L’Italia (16,5) si sta allontanando dalla media UE (19,8) ed è sempre più distante dai paesi comparabili come Francia, UK, Germania. Siamo lontanissimi, ovviamente, dai paesi nordici. Nell’Europa dei 15 siamo superati anche dall’Irlanda, e seguiti da vicino dal Portogallo. In sostanza, la banda larga in Italia è meno diffusa che in altri paesi, a prescindere da circostanze di omogeneità industriale e sociale.

2. Crescita della banda larga nel periodo settembre 2006-settembre 2007 (colonna AT).

In Italia vi è stata una crescita del 3%, bassissima se si fa il paragone con altri paesi comparabili, dove la crescita si attesta comunque tra il 5% ed il 10% . In altri paesi la crescita è esponenziale, cioè oltre il 20%, ma questo si spiega perché si partiva dal basso.

3. Quota di mercato dell’incumbent, attuale, precedente e differenza % (colonne R, S ,T )

La quota di mercato di Telecom Italia (64%) è in assoluto la più in alta in Europa, con la sole eccezioni di Cipro e Lussemburgo. Stiamo peggio della Grecia e di tutti i paesi dell’est.

I dati italiani sono gravi non solo perché riflettono una situazione peggiore di altri paesi, ma anche perché indicano l’incapacità del paese di recuperare il gap. Anzi, la distanza con il resto d’Europea si va accentuando.

Questo quadro allarmante è dovuto alla combinazione di 2 fattori:
(i) un comportamento estremamente aggressivo di Telecom Italia che viola normative senza alcun ritegno: dal 1995 ad oggi Telecom Italia è stata condannata per violazione delle norme antitrust ben 12 volte (Allego i data). In sostanza, Telecom Italia si preoccupa di aumentare la propria quota di mercato ai danni dei concorrenti (in particolare con pratiche di win-back), ma non ha interesse a far crescere il mercato nel suo complesso; la normativa antitrust non è sufficiente ad impedire questo andazzo perché le sanzioni e la durata dei procedimenti non costituiscono un deterrente sufficiente;
(ii) la debolezza della regolamentazione. Per quanto la normativa italiana sia in astratto tra le migliori in Europa, la ricaduta benefica in termini di mercato della banda larga non si vede. AGCOM non è tutt’ora dotata di procedure e sistemi sanzionatori tali da indurre concretamente Telecom Italia a rispettare le norme diligentemente e per tempo. 

Vedremo il nuovo corso di Telecom, io sono moderatamente fiducioso (si sa che sono un ottimista)...

Censorsh. Youtube banned in Pakistan, according to Thaindian News.

Link: » Pakistan blocks YouTube for uploading blasphemous cartoons - Thaindian News.

Islamabad, Feb 23 (IANS) Millions of internet users in Pakistan were not able to access the popular video sharing website YouTube after the government decided to block it for allegedly featuring cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, Daily Times reported Saturday. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), in its order, has directed all Internet service providers in the country to block access to the website because ” the ratio of non-Islamic objectionable videos has increased on it”.

Time to leave for Tommaso Pompei, the CEO of Tiscali

According to a short article on today's Sole 24 ore.

It does not surprise me. As I mentioned in previous posts on the italian blog, Tisclai operations are being separated in two different Autonomous Systems. As there are no rumors around Mario Mariani (Tiscali Italy CEO), I'd presume, if Sole 24 ore is right, they're going to sell their assets outside of Italy.

The european Privacy Regulators express themselves on the search engines

Link: Justice and Home Affairs - Data Protection - News 2006.

Search Engines: The WP continued its deliberations on a long-awaited working paper on search engines, with a view to finalising this work in the course of the next months. As the use of search engines becomes a daily routine for an ever growing number of citizens, the protection of the users’ privacy and the guaranteeing of their rights, such as the right to access to their data and the right to information as provided for by the applicable data protection regulations, remain the core issues of the ongoing debate. Search engines fall under the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC if there are controllers collecting users’ IP addresses or search history information, and therefore have to comply with relevant provisions. These provisions also apply to such controllers who have their headquarters outside the EU, but only an establishment in one of the EU Member States, or who use automated equipment based in one of the Member States for the purposes of processing personal data.

It doesn't surprise me...There's still a debate going on concerning the rights of the citizens to be aware of the data collected together with the rights determined by regulation (amongst which, if I remember well, the cancellation)...

Link: Justice and Home Affairs - Data Protection - News 2006.

Search Engines: The WP continued its deliberations on a long-awaited working paper on search engines, with a view to finalising this work in the course of the next months. As the use of search engines becomes a daily routine for an ever growing number of citizens, the protection of the users’ privacy and the guaranteeing of their rights, such as the right to access to their data and the right to information as provided for by the applicable data protection regulations, remain the core issues of the ongoing debate. Search engines fall under the EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC if there are controllers collecting users’ IP addresses or search history information, and therefore have to comply with relevant provisions. These provisions also apply to such controllers who have their headquarters outside the EU, but only an establishment in one of the EU Member States, or who use automated equipment based in one of the Member States for the purposes of processing personal data.

It doesn't surprise me...There's still a debate going on concerning the rights of the citizens to be aware of the data collected together with the rights determined by regulation (amongst which, if I remember well, the cancellation)...

Vodafone and the femtocells in Spain

Link: Vodafone trials Femtocells in Spain - FierceWireless:Europe - Mobile Industry News, Mobile Market.

Joining an increasing number of mobile operators investigating Femtocell services, Vodafone has chosen Spain to pilot a set of targeted services to home consumers and businesses using 3G Femtocells.

The company said that the principal aim was to test if this technology can be used to deliver cost-effective broadband services. Andy MacLeod, global networks director at Vodafone, said: "We have been driving the industry development of Femtocell technology, and the trials with Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei are an opportunity for us to assess how much benefit it can bring to our customers."

However, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Qualcomm's CEO, Paul Jacobs, issued a note of caution during a keynote session. "Femtocells are going to cause management and interference problems. They may jam other access points or create jams or gaps in macro coverage. It's a challenge for the technology world to make this work properly."

I'm very skeptic regarding femtocells. I don't understand why a person who can  have access to domestic flat rate wireless, attaching an own access point to a DSL/FTTx flat rate, should pay the thing to a "mobile" operator.

Moreover, if at home I have an acces point which I personally manage, I can abilitate the access for those who come and visit me. Instead, if the access point is managed by the operator by the operator, its use is reserved to me.If it wasn't like that, it would be an access point whith access to the operator that would behold loads of prescribed and economic consequences.

Not to mention the complexity to manage the service...

We have to fight the net

This document, apparently of 2003,posted on the website of the George Washington University states that the Department of the USA Defense asserts that...other than the main operations air, earth, sea,special, a group of operations should be constituted in order to "fight" the net.

The text literally says " we must fight the net" and that the Department of Defense "must be prepared to "fight the net" ".

Microsoft changes strategy, betting on interoperability.

Link: Microsoft Makes Strategic Changes in Technology and Business Practices to Expand Interoperability: New interoperability principles and actions will increase openness of key products..

REDMOND, Wash. — Feb. 21, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today announced a set of broad-reaching changes to its technology and business practices to increase the openness of its products and drive greater interoperability, opportunity and choice for developers, partners, customers and competitors.

Specifically, Microsoft is implementing four new interoperability principles and corresponding actions across its high-volume business products: (1) ensuring open connections; (2) promoting data portability; (3) enhancing support for industry standards; and (4) fostering more open engagement with customers and the industry, including open source communities.

Even though a part of these declarations have already come up in the past, I belive we shouldn't underrate them. A big change is taking place in Redmond.

Service Providers didn't tell us what they want!

Benoit has a stimulating post: Fiberevolution: Service Providers didn't tell us what they want!.

An interesting piece about the NGA impasse in the UK in the February 12th issue of Telecom Markets. Apparently Openreach declared at a conference that the reason they weren't doing anything on the NGA side is that service providers hadn't told them what they wanted.

One of the key issues I (and others) see with separation is the disincentive to invest for the network provider, and I'm afraid we're seeing a clear example of that here. In fact, the very notion that BT's retail arm hasn't talked to Openreach about services may sound preposterous but it's probably true.

I see it as a point in FAVOUR of separation.

retail, by definition, satisfies short term customer demands. If it is done by a stock market listed company, maybe even looking on a period from 1Q to 1 FY to maximum 3Y

market do not address  long-term development needs.

these are defined by politics in all major infrastructures that require time to be build and which value is more that their own revenues. (this latter part is critical)

without separation, we would have digital discrimination and "tragedy of the commons" in other areas, yet the value of the network is n x log(n) so from a systemwide perspective we (society) need that there are no "tragedies of the network"

though, separation alone is not enough; the infrastructure must have a political long term guidance, which can be established with a mechanism like concessions in highways.

let me propose you something.. why don't we organize a public workshop in Brussels by the "fibre ring" ? issues related to long term, homogeneous ICT competitiveness of europe. like the idea ?

We can have the folks from ECTA and Euroispa and incumbents on board as well..