cricket world cup 2007

Sms is big in India. Contests, polls, live updates, ringtones ... many things happen with sms. And when it is the World Cup Cricket going on, SMS can't be quiet. True that almost everyone is either watching or listening to it somewhere in the radio. So the question is who is using the SMS to get the updates and live scores. But in a country with more than 150million cell phone subscribers, sms cricket update is ALSO big. So next time there is a big match and you are not too keen to be in front of the TV or radio - which is very likely given the way India is playing with Srilanka - I am watching while writing- 255 to win and 112/6 @ 28overs - Yuvraj Singh just got run out! 5th wicket run out! Unbelivable DHONI out on the 1st ball ... I hope I saw it wrong ... phew --- Dravid can't believe it! Neither can I ... I think - I am almost sure - you will need the following SMS numbers to get your cricket update. How interested can you be to watch all the way now that India is out of Super 8!!!!!

Yahoo India Mobile
Sms: cri to 8243 : Recent score of all international teams.
Sms: cri country to 8243: Recent score of a particular team.
Sms: cri sch to 8243:: Schedule for the next week.

Sify
Sms: cri to 4545: Latest live scores.

Indiatimes
Sms:CRI to 8888 : Ball by ball updates for Indian matches.
Sms:MAT to 8888 : Live score updates on cricket matches from across the world on your mobile through SMS.
Sms:CRI SCH to 8888: Match schedules.

Happy SMSing.

Ombudsman

Facing flak over increasing consumer complaints, telecom service providers on Monday announced the setting up an Office of Ombudsman for telephone users.
Consumers will be able to directly take their complaints to the Ombudsman and the decision taken would be binding on operators. If you are not satisfied by their decision, you are free to take their grievance to any other forum like the consumer courts.
So bother with the Ombudsman when there is consumer court - because consumer court deals with all problems and not just telecom related; might take while for your case to be addressed.

What is Ombudsman?
According to dictionary.com ombudsman is -
1. a government official who hears and investigates complaints by private citizens against other officials or government agencies.
2. a person who investigates and attempts to resolve complaints and problems, as between employees and an employer or between students and a university.

Top 10 advertisers

I was reading the Tele.net January 2007 and came across a lot of statistics on Telecomm India. Subscriber growth, ARPU, market share ... many of these were given. What got my attention was the top 10 advertisers (January - November 2006). Here is the list

Television
------------------------%share
Bharti Airtel -------------- 25
Reliance Communications - 23
Hutch --------------------- 21
Tata Teleservices --------- 13
Idea Cellular -------------- 11
Spice Communications ----- 2
MTNL --------------------- 2
Matrix Cellular ------------ 1
Aircel --------------------- 0.8
BSNL --------------------- 0.5


Print
--------------------------- %share
Reliance Communications -- 35
Bharti Airtel --------------- 13
Tata Teleservices ---------- 12
Hutch ---------------------- 11
Idea Cellular --------------- 9
BSNL ---------------------- 9
Aircel ---------------------- 5
BPL Cellular --------------- 2
MTNL --------------------- 2
Spice Communications ----- 2

I believe this statistic does not include the cell phone manufaturers like Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson!

IEEE 802

Last week I was at the 802 meeting. This time it was in Florida. Beautiful place. Lots of technical discussions. Different companies trying to find a spot for their proposals in the standards.
The IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee develops Local Area Network standards and Metropolitan Area Network standards. The most widely used standards are for the Ethernet family, Token Ring, Wireless LAN, Bridging and Virtual Bridged LANs. It consists of many Working Groups. An individual Working Group provides the focus for each area. Well known groups are the 802.11 and 802.16 groups.

Representatives from different well known companies like Nokia, Motorola, Samgsung, LG, Intel, Qualcomm, Netgrear, NextNet, Panasonic, Fujitsu, France Telecom, ... and from different geography participate. However, it was surprizing to see that there was noone from India. Of course there were many Indians; but not actually from India.

Then, I started thinking does it even matter what gets standardized and what doesn't. India has become a big telecom market; but it definitely is not the decider. Tried out and tested systems come to India. It is a very cost sensitive market - cheaper is better anywhere in the world but cheaper is the only way in India. Yes, Rs50000 phone gets sold in India. But the point is what gets sold more - its the Rs1000-Rs2000 phone. For a full time enigneer out of college the salary is in the range of Rs5000-Rs10000.

So, ya the conclusion I drew was ... what gets standardized does not bother/depend on India. But if a standardized system becomes big in India, then the companies with their IPR (intellectual property right) in the standard do make a lot of money.

Holi hai

I am in India on Holi after 7 years. Last I remember was 1999, the year I went to Japan. Holi for me was always a colour festival with lots of water. Now you must be thinking why am I talking about holi in a telecom blog. I was trying to see has telecom changed anything? And I decided to think aloud. So there is telephone.... its been there for long. But we have mobile or the so called cell phone these days which was not there few years back. So has mobiles changed anything? SMS! True I did get a few sms-s on holi. Other than that, I do not think there was any change. I actually thought that it was one festival where people forgot their cell phones. This I think is mainly due to fear of the phone getting spoiled due to water, gular (the coloured powder) and the real pukka color. But yes, people were carefree and enjoyed some water and colour time.
Bottomline - mobiles have changed our lives in many ways. But still for occasions like holi, people do forget their mobiles.

Budget `disappoints' telecom industry?

The first post in the month of March had to be about the BUDGET. What changes? What positive? Tax reduction? Any exemptions? Rural India? Infrastructure?

I thought I would write a good summary - impact of the budget 2007 on the telecom sector. But then, I really am not a financial analyst. And budget is all about money! So me too wanted to know what did the finance minister P Chidambaram have to say about the telecomm sector that has made a big bold presence all over India.

I found a good summary in Yahoo Finance.

Do let me know if the link stops working.

So what is WiMAX?

WiMAX - World Interoperability for Microwave Access

So what is WiMAX and why is WiMAX such a big issue? We hear about WiMAX as much as we hear about 3G and sometimes even more. So I have seen many people ask - so what is it? Is it next generation of WiFi? What is it going to provide? So let me tackle a few of these questions.

Recommended WiFi before continuing.

WiMAX is also a way of providing wireless connectivity - in a larger area - it is a wireless MAN (metropolitan area network). There are two main applications of WiMAX today: fixed WiMAX applications are point-to-multipoint enabling broadband access to homes and businesses, whereas mobile WiMAX offers the full mobility of cellular networks at true broadband speeds.

Fixed WiMAX allows
1. connecting Wi-Fi hotspots with each other and to other parts of the Internet.
2 providing a wireless alternative to cable and DSL for last mile broadband access (i.e., from the nearest high capacity cable like optic fibre termination to your home/office).

So what is needed in these to be able to use the Internet -
1. when two WiFi hotspots are connected; the user is not at all influenced. He/she uses WiFi with their WiFi card in the WiFi hotspot. Once outside the WiFi hotspot, there is no connection to the network.
2. last mile - A WiMAX CPE (customer premise equipment) at your home/office to connect to your computer. The CPE connects to the WiMAX access point place where the nearest high speed cable ends.

The standard used for this wireless connection between the two WiMAX devices is 802.16. WiMAX is a name of a forum promoting 802.16 standard. (Extra info - Genereally speaking WiMAX means 802.16 standard. In the techical IEEE 802 discussions, they are not the same. WiMAX certified product is not necessarily a 802.16 standard compliant product. WiMAX is a forum independent of IEEE802. IEEE802 standardizes the 802.16 protocol, whereas WiMAX promotes the 802.16 protocol.) Now the mobile WiMAX ...

Mobile WiMAX allows
- mobile connectivity.

This is sort of a big big WiFi. Wherever you be, you can connect to the WiMAX. You need a WiMAX card with you and a WiMAX access point and you are good to go. WiMAX access points are installed throughout by service providers. They are like base stations of the cellular system. Here we are talking about the 2G, 3G, GSM, CDMA kind of systems. They have base stations distributed throughout; the cell phone connects to these base stations and you can make calls, send sms, download music, check emails or browse Internet with your cell phone. Similarly, WiMAX service provider will have access points thought their coverage area and a WiMAX card in the laptop will access it for connection to the Internet. So you have access to the network while on the move. So how is it different from the data communication card given by Airtel and others. The speed! WiMAX is very high speed. Can go upto hundreds of MegaBytes. It is, as they say, broadband connection.

So mobile WiMAX can be seen in two ways -
1. big WiFi hotspot. you are always in the hotspot.
2. a cellular system that provides broadband connection.

That is why WiMAX is so big. They are better than WiFi and 3G.

So will it replace WiFi and 3G? My personal opinion - it might.
Data communications on the move is good. But we cannot forget voice. Can we talk using WiMAX? My answer - if we can talk using skype, then we can definitely talk with WiMAX. you can log on to your skype when you have WiMAX giving you internet connection. That is what is wireless VOIP. Many manufacturers are coming up with WiMAX phone so that you do not need a laptop to log in to your skype like application.
Also read my 3G or 4G?

Intel has a good pictorial presentation with voice explanations.

So what do you say? Do you know a bit about WiMAX now? Do write your comments.

WiFi ... Hotspot ...

What is WiFi? WiFi is a way to wirelessly connect terminals to the Internet in a small area. A wireless router or modem is needed in addition to the wireless cards in your computer/smart phones/pdas. These days most of these cards are inbuilt in laptops and a few very smart phones and pda say – WiFi connectivity – this means they have the card inbuilt.

So all you need is a wireless router connected to the dsl modem -- and your house is WiFi enabled. Of course you need the laptop with WiFi card built into it or you need to buy a WiFi card as well.

WiFi is actually a common name for the 802.11 standard. Dot 11 - rings any bells? Dot 11a, Dot11b and Dot11g are the WiFi standards. These standards define the protocol that defines how the wireless card in your terminal (laptop, computer, phone) communicates with the wireless router.

So what can WiFi do?
- Provide wireless connectivity in a small area (local area)
- if you are too far from the wireless router, you get no signal and hence you are not connected to any network including the Internet.
- to be wirelessly connected in a larger area using WiFi - there needs to be many routers so that your terminal is in the range of one of the routers at all times.

What is a hot spot?
A hotspot is an area which provides you connectivity. Most hotspots use WiFi. They have one or many wireless routers installed in their premises. And a user connects to the internet using their router. Many hotspots charge you some fee. Some are free hotspots.

Google, headquartered in Mountain View, is trying to make Mountain View a big hotspot. They have partnered with the city government to install wireless routers on street lights to provide wireless connectivity anywhere in the city.

Now comes the question - so what is WiMax? [Coming up ...]