WCA MAY 2015

Telecom news

The European store will follow the pattern of Xiaomi’s opening in the USA, which marked its first foray into a western market. While co-founder Lin Bin said recently that intellectual property was “not the most important matrix,” he acknowledged that it is a consideration for him and Mr Lei in strategising launches beyond China. A Xiaomi effort to penetrate the Indian market was checked by patent-infringement issues. Europe is not in any headlong rush to follow the US lead on net neutrality The recent vote by the US Federal Communications Commission in favour of rules to ensure an open Internet prompts the question: how is the parallel effort faring in Europe? According to IT journalist Ian Scales, of TelecomTV , the project faces an uphill slog. A week after the FCC action, he noted that the EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission were “working to water down the net neutrality legislation still wending its way through the Euro machine.” Net neutrality is not the only faltering initiative. The Council of Ministers has said that mobile roaming will just be capped, gradually. Outright abolition may not be considered before 2018. Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Marietje Schaake made it plain to the Telecoms Council that she is out of patience with the absence of progress on both issues. “Weakened proposals on net neutrality go against the European Parliament’s repeated calls for clear definitions,” the Dutch MEP wrote to the Council ministers, calling for an end to roaming charges as soon as possible and for clearly defined net neutrality rules. “We must ensure consumers are protected, innovative start-ups can develop, and competition on the open Internet is fair.” A ‘hard confrontation’ Mr Scales, who saw “nothing too rousing there,” even so reported that some 126 other MEPs co-signed Ms Schaake’s letter.

The United Kingdom is among the first European nations to provide spectrum specifically for ‘white space’ wireless technology, which will be a major element in the Internet of Things: networks of devices communicating with one another online. Now, following a series of successful industry trials, the UK communications regulator Ofcom has given the go-ahead for industry to harness the benefits of the technology. A white space device uses gaps in radio spectrum which exist in between frequency bands that have been reserved for TV broadcasting. Use of these so-called white spaces would allow devices to transmit and receive wireless signals for applications such as broadband access for rural communities or innovative ‘machine-to-machine’ networks. White space spectrum in the TV frequency band holds appeal for industry because it can travel longer distances and more easily through walls than the bands mainly utilised by such other wireless technologies as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Reporting on the Ofcom action on 12 th February, London-based Advanced Television noted that a range of uses for the technology is already being tested, among them Internet access for ships and boats off the Orkney Islands, wireless video streaming of animals at ZSL London Zoo, new machine-to-machine networks for flood defence in Oxfordshire, and Wi-Fi-like services at the University of Strathclyde. A key concern for Ofcom, now putting in place the foundations for industrial use of TV white spaces, has been managing the risk of interference for current users while allowing these airwaves to be shared. Databases will communicate to the white space devices the technical constraints – as to locations, frequencies and time periods – within which they must operate to avoid interference with existing users. They will also apply limits, set by Ofcom, on the power levels of the devices. According to Advanced Television, Ofcom perceives considerable industry interest in the development of this technology. The regulator says commercial applications for white space technology could emerge before long. Having recognised the potential of ‘white space’ wireless technology, the UK invites industry to share in the benefits

‘China’s Apple’ Xiaomi will enter Europe with accessories but without phones Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi will take its first step into the European market by opening an online store this year, the company has announced. Five-year-old Xiaomi (known as ‘China’s Apple’ for its spectacular rise and its enthusiastic customers) recently became the world’s third-largest maker of smartphones despite offering them only in China. In Europe it will sell headphones, battery packs and fitness trackers, but no phones.

As noted by technology reporter Samuel Gibbs in the Guardian (6 th March), if Xiaomi were to begin selling a smartphone such as its well-received MiNote4 phablet (phone/tablet) in Europe and the USA, the company would likely face legal challenges over patent infringement. But restraint in these markets should probably not be mistaken for relaxed competitiveness. Xiaomi chief executive Lei Jun said recently that the company, valued at $45 billion, had acquired patents across its smartphone technology and raised $1.1 billion in venture capital. Its launch of a range of new smartphones and phablets specifically targets market leaders Apple and Samsung.

BigStockPhoto.com • Photographer: Krishnacreations

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Wire & Cable ASIA –May/June 2015

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