"Europe" vs "UK and Germany". What else is there?
Many little countries size of Rhode Island?
rib.uscourts.gov
or this major GPRS effort not covered?
Fastlink says ready to invest $130m in Aqaba, deploy GPRS technology
03 June 2001
AMMAN -- Fastlink, Jordan's first mobile operator, says it is ready to invest some $130 million in the Aqaba Special Economic Zone to establish, among other projects, a wireless local loop (WLL) -- a technology that has successfully allowed the deployment of millions of voice and data lines at reduced costs in countries like Australia and Morocco.
"We look at Aqaba as a model to be applied to the rest of the country," Fastlink's Deputy General Manager Basem Rousan told The Jordan Times in an interview on Wednesday.
A brainstorming close-door meeting on May 18 -- one day after His Majesty King Abdullah officially launched the duty-free, low-tariff area in Aqaba -- discussed how the growing information communications technology (ICT) sector can help the ASEZ succeed.
Jordan Telecom (JTC), which enjoys exclusivity over voice and data services until 2004, its subsidiary for mobile services, MobileCom, and Fastlink have all said they are currently working hand-in-hand with the government on a white paper to chart the course of future cooperation with the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) in light of that brainstorming session.
So far, little has leaked from the meeting, chaired by e-Minister Fawaz Zu'bi, sponsored by Jordan's three telecom companies, and attended by officials, investors, information technology leaders, and representatives of donor countries and organisations.
However, insiders have all agreed that one of the hottest issues discussed at the Aqaba town meeting was how to combine the fulfilment of Jordan Telecom's exclusivity rights with the need to open up the telecoms sector in the ASEZ firstly, as well as in the rest of the country.
The government extended Jordan Telecom's monopoly -- previously slated to expire in 2002 -- when it closed an over $500 million deal with France Telecom for the acquisition of a 40 per cent stake in the state-owned company.
Now, foreign and local experts and entrepreneurs say the exclusivity rights are becoming growingly inconvenient, amid increasing pressures for full liberalisation.
On the other hand, the government needs to find an amicable and friendly settlement with Jordan Telecom if it does not want to build a reputation for breaching deals with foreign investors.
An agreement with JTC would open the door for the establishment of international gateways that would make available international lines at lower prices.
"This [the Aqaba discussions and the white paper] is a joint effort by the private and public sector," Rousan said. "Everyone is trying to achieve the best for Aqaba and the country. We hope that in a few weeks things will be clearer."
The advantages of Fastlink's WLL network project would include more flexibility in the range of services and the possibility to cover remote areas without laying expensive copper wires.
Other projects that Fastlink could implement in the ASEZ include the establishment of a call centre and a regional training centre for its mother corporation, Egypt's Orascom Technology, which owns at least 19 cellular operators in the Middle East and Africa.
After boasting of having been the first to roll out WAP services in the Kingdom, Fastlink has also announced that it will launch General Packet Radio Services technology in two weeks on a trial basis.
GPRS is "a first step towards 3G [third generation mobile] technology," said Rousan, adding that the new service will significantly increase the speed of mobile data communication (from 9.6 Kb/s to 30 Kb/s, and then to 115 Kb/s).
The service will initially be made available to very few among Fastlink's 415,000 current subscribers, on a trial basis.
By Francesca Sawalha
© Jordan Times 2001
zawya.com
one more minor country ;-)
Timing saves NZ from 3G auction disaster
04.06.2001 By RICHARD BRADDELL
While telecommunications companies around the globe lick the financial wounds they suffered in the stampede to roll out third-generation mobile phones, New Zealand looks well placed to be one of the first countries to use the technology.
This year, Telecom will join international giant Vodafone in offering the so-called 2.5G services as an enhancement of their 2G networks.
Last week, Vodafone - which is using New Zealand as a centre of excellence for its global operations - said it was planning early introduction of some 3G services.
Telecom has indicated that it will have to follow suit.
Ironically, if New Zealand is one of the first countries to have 3G services, it will be largely because it was one of the last to get caught up in the rush to buy the radio frequencies that would use the new technology.
Not so long ago it seemed that third-generation mobile would change the world.
It would deliver internet and fullstream video to your mobile phone, laptop, or some yet-to-be imagined device. And while it might not clean your teeth or drive your car, it might do a jolly good job of giving you directions.
Naturally, the telecommunications equipment suppliers built up the hype.
It wasn't that difficult, given an audience already starstruck by an industry that was rapidly running ahead of itself.
Little wonder that in European auctions the bids for the radio spectrum necessary to support 3G rapidly exceeded the boldest estimates.
New Zealand was no exception to the hype - with predictions that the 3G frequencies might net the Government $2.5 billion - but the auction of spectrum here was fortuitously late.
By then the bubble had started to burst.
Only days before the auction began, the International Telecommunications Union ordained that existing mobile spectrum could also be used for 3G.
More crucially, it became apparent that 3G was over-hyped. For a start, only a small number of users would be able to use the full video capabilities touted for 3G before the capacity of an individual cellsite was exhausted.
It also became apparent that European operators were every bit as interested in gaining access to 3G spectrum, so they could ease congestion on 2G voice spectrum being used for voice, as they were in introducing new services.
Furthermore, even when 3G was introduced, it was never likely to extend outside urban areas because of the cost.
In New Zealand, as well as Australia, the demands on existing spectrum were far less acute. In fact, in New Zealand, most of the value-added services associated with 3G will soon be able to be carried on upgrades to the 2G network already operated by Vodafone and by Telecom when its CDMA network becomes operational.
Little surprise, then, that New Zealand's 3G auction was a tame affair compared with those in Europe, reaping only $140 million. And that included some other spectrum lots as well.
But, unlike some of the spectrum rights acquired so expensively overseas, New Zealand's relatively cheap frequencies look like being used soon.
Vodafone's chief executive, Grahame Maher, said 3G would be here sooner than expected because the company was trying to finalise discussions with vendors right now.
If so, that will spark a technology race with Telecom. Chief executive Theresa Gattung said recently that it would have to compete in the 3G space if Vodafone did.
All of which makes New Zealand much better placed to take advantage of 3G than most of the countries where the hype started.
nzherald.co.nz
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