International Institute of Communications (IIC)

Big year for the ITU

The ITU’s new management team, led by Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, was inaugurated on 15 January 2015, and this year also marks the organisation’s 150th anniversary. “World Telecommunication and Information Society Day marks this historic event annually and is celebrated worldwide. A full day of events is planned this year on 17 May, including an awards ceremony and... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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BEREC and ETNO moves

The president of Portugal's National Communications Authority (Anacom), Fatima Barros, is now chair of BEREC, the body which brings together the 28 EU regulators in the telecoms sector, notes Telecom Paper. “BEREC advises the European Commission on regulation and coordinates the work of EU regulators. This role assumes a greater strategic importance in 2015, when the EU... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Challenging agenda in Nigeria

ICT regulators in Nigeria have “huge tasks” to implement policies that will yield the dividends of technology and bridge the digital divide among the citizenry, reports Nigerian paper, Leadership. “A lot is expected from the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), Broadband... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Bermuda brings in new regulator head from Canada

The Regulatory Authority of Bermuda, the telecoms regulator, has a new chief executive in Robert Watson, who was the CEO of SaskPower, the principal electrical utility in Saskatchewan, Canada, reports Bernews. Chair of the Regulatory Authority’s commission, Carl Musson, said: “It was a difficult search, but we think we have found the right man for the job in Robert Watson. He joins us at... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Caribbean regulation paper

The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has issued a draft paper, ‘Advancing telecommunications policy and regulation in the OECS’. It says: “Telecoms regulation in the Caribbean is at a crossroads. The advent of larger, more dominant players with converged services, alongside evolving priorities of regulators and governments, forces a reassessment of market boundaries... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Digital policies could be vote winners

One in five British people would vote for a political party in the national election this year if it focused on digital policies, according to a study reported by Information Age. The study, by Fujitsu, demonstrates “a digitally confident nation with 39% of respondents wanting the government to make faster digital progress. Over a fifth of UK consumers will always opt for a digital-first approach when... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Roaming and other issues in the EU

Consumers in the European Union could pay domestic rates to access mobile internet data across the 28-nation single market under EU Council proposals to grant travelers an allowance capped at their home tariffs, reports Reuters. “The ‘roam like at home’ option put forward by Latvia, which holds the rotating EU presidency, garnered the support of most member states at a Council meeting this week... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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5G views sought by Ofcom

Ofcom, the UK regulator, is calling on industry to help lay the foundations for 5G communications. “This spectrum, which is above 6 GHz, could support a variety of uses, ranging from financial trading and entertainment to gaming and holographic projections, with the potential to support very high demand users in busy areas, like city centres,” says the regulator. 5G mobile is expected to... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Israel hands out six 4G licenses

Six firms have won 4G airwaves in Israel following the country’s first LTE spectrum auctions, notes Developing Telecoms. “Spectrum in the 1.8 GHz frequency band was obtained by Cellcom, HOT Mobile, Golan Telecom, Marathon 018, Partner Communications and Pelephone. The auctions, which are aimed at expanding LTE coverage into rural regions, raised ILS 250.5 million... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Germany’s spectrum plans

German telecoms regulator, the Federal Network Agency (FNA, also known as Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA) intends to auction off spectrum in the 700 MHz, 900 MHz, 1500 MHz and 180 MHz bands for mobile broadband in the second quarter of 2015, TeleGeography reports. “The federal government and the federal states agreed on the inclusion of the 700 MHz spectrum (known as the... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Building up to FCC net neutrality decision

Tensions are building in the run up to the FCC’s decision on net neutrality, which it will decide on 26 February, and for which it has received four million comments. Barack Obama, in his State of the Union speech, reiterated his support for strong net neutrality regulations, and as The Guardian reports, “the FCC is all but poised to re-categorise internet service providers as public utilities... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Threats to internet infrastructure detailed

ENISA, the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security, has published a report, ‘Threat landscape and good practice guide for internet infrastructure’. The report details the assets composing internet infrastructure and classifies the threats applicable, highlighting “important specific threats” that disrupt connectivity. These include routing threats, DNS threats, and... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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European infrastructure call

Europe’s Digital Commissioner, Günther Oettinger, has called for increased investment in Europe’s digital infrastructure, explaining that the economy alone will not be able to close the significant investment gap, as EurActiv Germany reports. “Oettinger is calling for rapid expansion of quick, comprehensive internet access. It is one of the Commission’s priorities, along with the Council of... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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UK fast broadband competition

Ofcom, the UK regulator, is taking new measures to promote competition and investment in the growing market for superfast broadband. Under a draft decision notified to the European Commission, a new pricing rule would mean that BT, which runs much of the UK’s infrastructure, must maintain a sufficient margin between its wholesale and retail superfast broadband charges to allow... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Shared building guidelines in Chile

Chile’s telecoms providers have signed-off on new guidelines to provide open access to infrastructure in shared buildings, notes Telegeography. “The new rules – ‘The manual of best practices for cable operators for free access to condominiums and buildings’ – were drawn up by a joint team of consumer rights advocates and government and telecoms officials and were signed earlier... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Barack Obama highlights community broadband

A report from the US president’s office, ‘Community-based broadband solutions’, details obstacles in the way of consumers accessing high-speed broadband services. “Competition has also been slow to emerge at higher speeds. Nearly 40% of American households either cannot purchase a fixed 10 Mbps connection (ie. a wired, land-based connection), or they must buy it from a single provider... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Fibre vs DSL in Sweden - report

Diffraction Analysis has published ‘FTTP dynamics in a mature market – a quantitative analysis of Swedish broadband user behaviour – which it says is probably the first comparative survey of fibre to the premise (FTTP) and DSL broadband users, looking into usage, attitudes and perception of broadband solutions. “This survey focuses on Sweden and was undertaken in... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Big data and statistics - implications

The OECD has released ‘The proliferation of big data and implications for official statistics and statistical agencies’. “The search for new sources of growth and productivity gains that will boost incomes, profits and tax revenues, as well as the desire to improve the efficiency of government during this era of belt-tightening, makes the issue of how best to exploit big data especially relevant... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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FTC chair warns on internet of things

In a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Edith Ramirez, chair of the US Federal Trade Commission, warned of the challenges of protecting privacy in the emerging era of the internet of things. She said: “I believe there are three key steps that companies should take to enhance consumer privacy and security and thereby build consumer trust in... Read this full article

Uploaded: Jan 2014

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Australian policy roadmap

December 2014: The Australian government has released a policy paper outlining a roadmap for telecoms regulatory and structural reform, including a response to recommendations of an independent cost-benefit analysis of broadband and review of regulation, led by Michael Vertigan. According to Telecom Paper, reform will be based on three principles: regulation should encourage both retail and infrastructure competition; industry players should be treated... Read this full article

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