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NEWSBITS
Internet telephony remains blocked into 2003 in defiance of PTA ruling
The PTCL has failed in abiding by the ruling of the PTA according to which the telephone company had to lift ban on internet telephony with effect from Jan 1, 2003. The PTA and PTCL top brass have ignored all attempts made by this correspondent on telephone or internet to assign a reason to this.
While the PTA Member (Operations) Captain Zahir M. Khan, and Chairman PTCL Akthar Bajwa were not available, Dawn ScienceDotcom asked V. A. Abdi of Internet Service Providers Association Karachi what next step the association planned to take.
Abdi said, “The ISPAK would consider filing a case against the PTCL if the Internet Telephony issue is not resolved.”
He added, “We have been repeatedly contacting the PTCL authorities to enact the determination of PTA but to no avail.”
It may be recalled that the PTCL had blocked access to Net2Phone and other internet telephony sites late last year, claiming that the company was suffering huge losses due to it. An uproar from the public had followed. Taking up the cause of internet users, the ISPAK had registered protest with PTA stating that the move was badly damaging their business and the losses reported by PTCL were fictitious. In a “determination” on Nov 16, 2002, Barrister Inayat Ullah Khan, Director General (L&R) had ruled that access to Net2Phone would be unblocked by PTCL with effect from Jan 1, 2003. However, in defiance of the ruling, the PTCL has not opened access to Net2Phone at the start of this year. When ISPAK sent a reminder to the PTA and PTCL to enact the determination, no response was received.
“I have repeatedly contacted Captain Zahir M Khan, Member (Operations) to redress the issue but there has been no response.” V. A. Abdi informed.
This correspondent approached Capt Zahir, and Chairman PTCL Akthar Bajwa, by telephone but they were not available, neither did they call back. Even the email sent to the PTCL chairman went unanswered. But that was not surprising because in this country, bureaucrats have always been behaving like the ruling class and not as public servants.
Apparently, the reluctance shown by PTCL to unblock the VoIP sites is linked to promoting PTCL’s own VoIP setup. The company had inaugurated their VoIP service at the Satellite Town Exchange, Rawalpindi, in November. It has signed agreement with ten international partners who would ensure more than 15 million minutes of incoming VoIP traffic from North America and Europe. Each company is to ensure $25 million revenue per year to PTCL. The service aims at eliminating “illegal” voice traffic coming to Pakistan, bypassing the PTCL gateway exchanges. Similar projects have been launched in other cities too.
Despite the deregulation drive that was to start from the beginning of 2003, the monopolistic attitude of PTCL still hampers the local IT scene. Even when PTA’s “determination” is clearly available, PTCL is grossly violating the commitment. While any substantial effort by the PTA to control the monopolistic designs of the state-owned telecom giant are yet to be seen, internet users remain the silent sufferers. — Umer Asif
Sony offers vision of ‘reborn TV’
The television is going to be reborn as the digital entertainment centre in the home, allowing people to watch video or listen to music downloaded from the net, according to Sony’s boss.
The company’s Chief Operating Officer, Kunitake Ando, predicted the rebirth of the TV as he touted the new products and strategies at the largest consumer electronics show in the world.
“The first 50 years of colour television was just the infancy stage,” he said during a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “The TV is going to be reborn as an always on and connected device.”
The Japanese media giant is keen to develop the potential of the TV as a gadget to deliver its vast library of music, movies and TV shows to home viewers over the net.
It realizes that few people are willing to watch a film on their computer.
The Tokyo company is working on new products designed to connect to the internet and to one another, allowing people to listen to music or watch films on their PC, TV or mobile phone.
“Sony’s vision is a ubiquitous value network,” said Ando, “all devices connected so that you can enjoy content anytime, anywhere.”
Broadband is a key part of the company’s strategy and the Sony boss stressed the need to encourage more people to sign up to fast internet access.
“The broadband wave will wash over us, and it is coming fast. My message is we need to collaborate now in order to realize our broadband dreams,” he said.
Sony is in a unique position to take advantage of the internet as a tool to supply films and music.
It owns a major Hollywood studio and record company, as well as building computers, CD burners, DVD players and portable music players.
“Hardware and content are completely dependent on each other,” said Ando.
“Thanks to broadband, hardware and content will integrate in a new way.”
Ando showed off Sony’s “Cocoon,” a device about the size of a DVD player that hooked up the TV to the internet by broadband.
The machine runs on Linux and has a hard disc that can record 100 hours of video. It is already gone on sale in Japan.
“Cocoon will transform TV into an interactive, intelligent experience,” said Ando.
As well as showing off the company’s new products, Mr Ando also brought onstage Sony artists music duo Mary Mary and actress Drew Barrymore to add a bit of glamour to his address.
The Sony boss recognized that one of the big issues facing media companies is how to stop illegal copies of their material appearing on the net.
But Ando spoke of the need to strike a delicate balance between the interests of companies and what people want.
“We are working to solve piracy online in a way that satisfies users and companies,” he said.
“We are committed to the secure distribution of digital content.” — Dawn ScienceDotcom Report
‘Human error cause of IM outage’
Microsoft has said that human error was the cause of a five-hour outage to its .Net Messenger instant message service.
Technicians were installing routers to upgrade the .Net Messenger service, which underlies both Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger. The technicians incorrectly configured the routers. Service was out from 9 am to 2 pm Eastern time on Jan 6. Ironically, the routers were being installed to make the service more reliable.
“We are looking at internal processes to make sure nothing like this ever happens again. It was a serious thing. We apologize,” said Larry Grothaus, lead product manager for Microsoft.
The timing of the outage was particularly bad, coming as it did at the opening of business on the East Coast of one of the biggest business days of the year, as people returned from holiday vacations. “There might have been a small technical reason for this that will be easily fixed, but the perception among users will be, `I needed tis, and they weren’t there for me.” Moreover, switching to an alternative instant message provider is easy, Dana Gardner, an analyst with Aberdeen Group said. “The market will be harsh to those that don’t perform well, because the cost of switching is so very low,” he said. Microsoft is likely to become market leader because of its instant message technology being included in Windows XP; when users register XP they are strongly urged to sign up for an MSN Messenger and Passport account, one analyst said. — Dawn ScienceDotcom Report
Toyota introduces environment-friendly car
Finally! A hybrid-electric car that people may actually want to buy. On Jan 7, Japanese car manufacturer Toyota unveiled the FINE-S, its hydrogen fuel-cell hybrid-electric concept vehicle at the 2003 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).
The FINE-S concept is the latest attempt by Toyota to create environmentally friendly cars and trucks. The hydrogen fuel cell is powered by using water and sunlight, creating energy to move the car while releasing virtually harmless water vapor. Fuel cell-powered cars are expected to be three times more energy efficient than traditional combustion powered vehicles.
The FINE-S is sleeker in design than Toyota's previously released eco-friendly cars, the hybrid Prius or the company's original hydrogen hybrid fuel cell vehicle, the FCHV-3, which premiered in 2001. The FCHV was based on the popular Highlander five-passenger sport utility vehicle.
Toyota says that the adaptability of its fuel-cell system components make it possible to install the technology in a wide variety of vehicle types, shapes and sizes, based on a shared platform.
The FINE-S features a long wheelbase with very short front and rear overhangs and a sleek low-to-the-ground aerodynamic design. The low center-of-gravity coupled with an individual wheel torque control system will provide excellent performance handling. Inside, the FINE-S features a spacious cabin with a creative four-seat design that provides ample roominess and comfort. — Dawn ScienceDotcom Report
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