JT Goes for 40 Gbps… and other wraps
By KarimJT
Japan Telecom has completed a field trial of Lucent Technologies’ 40Gbps LambdaXtreme Transport optical networking system. The tests were conducted in Tokyo on commercially available equipment supporting live network traffic.
NTT
NTT Communications has signed up more than a million internet/data subscribers to its high speed fibre-optic network ‘Hikari’, according to Telecompaper. NTT Com reported around 1.06 million Hikari customers at the end of last month, thanks in part to a 50% rise in subscriptions from 520,000 to 750,000 in the period March-September 2005. The telco’s ISP portfolio also includes ADSL-based services, which currently numbers 2.6 million users.
Etisalat
Emirates Telecomunications Corporation (Etisalat) has announced plans to launch a call waiting service on its fixed line network, enabling subscribers to see the number of a second incoming call when they are already on the phone. Mohammed Al Fahim, the CEO of Etisalat, said that the launch is part of the company’s plan to provide customers with the latest technologies and services. It will also launch three new handsets that support the new service.
NTRA Egypt
Egypt’s National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) says 18 companies have paid USD25,000 for tender documents for the auction of the country’s third GSM licence. Etisalat of the UAE, MTC of Kuwait and South Africa’s MTN are all planning to bid and, despite previous comments that incumbent fixed line operator Telecom Egypt would not be allowed to participate, it has been reported that the telco has been given tacit authority to enter the tender. Interested parties have until 17 April to submit their proposals and pay a USD4.4 million bond guarantee. To qualify for the licence, foreign bidders must partner with an Egyptian entity.
Iraq
Iraq has officially launched a tender for four 15-year wireless licences. The government said it expects to award the concessions by June this year. There are currently three mobile operators in Iraq: GSM licensees Orascom Telecom Iraq (Iraqna), MTC Atheer and Asia-Cell which between them claimed 3.5 million subscribers at the end of 2005. The government plans to grant wireless local loop licences at some stage in the future.
JTC
Still at 1Mbps max ADSL speed.. need I say more?
March 9th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
This was a theme-less analogy Yazan!
Though in Jordan; we lag behind in terms of fixed broadband speeds -not pricing- to the mere nuisance of the well-off internet addicts, yet we’re far more advanced in the telecommunication industry across the region in terms of liberalization, competition, future-proof infrastructure, technology-agnosticism and overall entrepreneurship and innovation:
Jordan pride itself with abundant of firsts in this industry… and this should be credited.
March 9th, 2006 at 2:36 pm
Jordan leads the telecommunication industry in the middle east, that much I agree with. I’m not sure where you live, but broadband is still expesnive. Between ISPs, Modem Rental, and JTC fees a 512Kb ADSL costs $70 dollars or so. That’s well beyond average mo’s reach. Compare that to Israel’s $9 for the same speed!
On the other hand you speak of innovation, name one! There’s absolutely no innovation in the telecommunication feild. What we have in this country is price wars nothing more nothing less. We have 4 mobile providers, does any of them provide 3G/UMTS services? We have 7 ISPs non of which provides a different package, just different pricing. All capped, max bandwidth of 1Mbps. No SDSL, no 4Mbps, etc. No one is innovating, it’s a boring repetition of offerings priced differently.
Broadband speed isn’t for browsing, you will never need more than 256kb if browsing is all you, not with IPv4 and non-flashy webpages anyway. There are other applications for broadband, VoIP, IPTV, P2P and Video Conferencing come to mind. Try running 2 VoIP phones over 1024kb.
March 9th, 2006 at 2:42 pm
Addendum: There’s nothing stopping any of these providers from innovating and coming up with new services. Incase you haven’t noticed half of Amman are unknowingly carrying 3G phones, so a customer base does exist. The modems that are provided by JT support up to 8Mbps connections. And the list goes on and on and on.
March 10th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
I agree with Yazan Malakha, there’s no innovation when it comes to Jordanian ISPs, capped bandwidth just sucks!