Author: Digital World

Is the Internet of Things (IoT) set to be the ultimate nirvana of connectivity in the very near future, or will the dream be derailed by issues of privacy, security and spectrum? This was the question posed by moderator John Defterios of CNN to an impressive line-up of industry figures debating the Intelligent Future.

Reminding the audience that the Internet of Things is nothing new, François Rancy, Director of ITU’s BR, emphasized that what has changed is the scale of the connections: “Everything which can be measured will be in digital form, will be transmitted, processed, evaluated and better understood.” Mobile networks are essential, and the fuel for those networks is the spectrum upon which they rely. Having the pervasive network which the IoT calls for, in areas such as the connected car, for example, represents a major challenge for regulators seeking to allocate and manage spectrum without compromising on public safety.

Robert Pepper, Vice President, Global Technology Policy, Cisco Systems, pointed out that the value at stake in IoT in economic terms is estimated at 19 trillion dollars in the ten year period to 2023. Machine to machine devices have overtaken smartphones as the fastest growing category of network with IP addresses, with forecasts of an impressive 221 billion connected devices by 2018, with greater and lower penetration depending on region. Enabling all those devices to talk to each would not course, be possible without IPv6.

The implications of IoT are huge, as Ric Tavares CEO, TechPolis pointed out: chips, sensors, IT connections through the cloud will make way for the much-vaunted explosion in cross-sector applications, services and ecosystems, from health to transport to energy. The complexity of alliances, mutual companies, the integration of commercial, technical and regulatory standards, who provides what to whom in terms of equipment – it’s all up for grabs and with that comes the potential for major regulatory headaches.

“Reality will never meet the pace of change of the expectations, especially when talking about embedded devcies and what they can do, “said Robert Middlehurst, VP for International Public Policy, Etisalat, “There are a myriad of things in the melting pot and we have to work together to work out how to change it, as regulatory bodies, institutions and organizations don’t work at that pace.”

The sense that we have not yet come that far on the road to the IoT was echoed by G Young, CEO, Nawras: fifteen years ago we were wowed by a smart fridge, but we haven’t really progressed that far and have to ask ourselves what would drive the consumer to adopt these things. Delivering value is key, he said: “It’s got to deliver the convenience factor, improve quality of life, add comfort, save energy or money. The wow factor of just being able to do it is not enough.”

Roberto Minerva, Chairman, IEEE IoT Initiative, raised the issue of security, in a world where any physical object can be represented in the cloud. He summarized the challenges to implementing the intelligent future as “getting the business model right for the devices to bring in that money as well as the social implications on privacy and ownership of data.”

“We haven’t stopped to think about data ownership, we are just carrying on,” said Minerva. The issues of who owns the data, who collects it for what purpose, and how to balance protection of individual identity with the benefits data brings remain. For Taveres, the answer may not lie in combining ICT regulators with national and international organizations or bodies overseeing other industries, but with a data regulator specifically selected to govern the use and regulation of data.

 

Pepper pointed out a broad heterogeneous set of devices need to be connected within different environments, from distances of a millimetre to the other side of the world, and sending continuous messages or occasional chirps. Different types of spectrum will be required as well as a way of making that data actionable to turn it in knowledge and wealth.

Pepper saw growth in the near future in wearable, in particular within the healthcare sector. For Ricardo, Iot applications will power connectivity and enable the full benefits for next generation networks in rural areas, combining rural culture with urban services. But there is little or no danger of companies developing devices within the ecosystem crossing over to become operators – the Telecom industry, the panellists concluded, is the most regulated in the ICT ecosystem, and no one would want to join.

Moderator

Mr John Defterios, Anchor & Correspondent, CNN International, United Arab Emirates

Opening Remark

Mr François Rancy, Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau, International Telecommunication Union, Switzerland

Panellists

Mr Greg Young, Chief Executive Officer, Nawras, Oman

Dr Roberto Minerva, Chairman, IEEE IoT Initiative, Italy

Mr Robert Middlehurst, Vice President for International Public Policy, Etisalat, United Arab Emirates

Mr Ricardo Tavares, Chief Executive Officer, TechPolis Technology Policy and Global ICT Regulation, USA

Mr Robert Pepper, Vice President, Global Technology Policy, Cisco Systems, Inc., USA

 

 

 

 

 

Communication, Collaboration and Cooperation. The touchstones of ITU Telecom World, and of the ITU itself, are also the driving force behind a bold and innovative commitment to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development across an entire continent – Smart Africa.

Launched during the Transform Africa Summit in Kigali on 28^th – 31^st October 2013, Smart Africa brings together African governments, the private sector and international organizations to promote and ensure affordable access to broadband and ICTs in general, ushering Africa into the knowledge economy.

Current partners of the Smart Africa initiative include Burkina Faso, Gabon, Kenya, Mali, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Tchad, Uganda, as well as GSMA, AU Commission, NEPAD Agency, UNECA, AfDB, the World Bank and ITU.

The SMART Africa manifesto, which is at the heart of the ICT agenda in Africa was endorsed by all Heads of State and Government of the African union at the 22^nd Ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa.

Each member country committed to developing and implementing Smart Country programs with clear targets and milestones which will be strongly aligned with the Smart Africa Manifesto pillars: Policy, Access, E-government, Private sector/Entrepreneurship and Sustainable development.

International and private sector members committed to support financially, in kind, technically or otherwise to ensure the realization of the vision, programs and activities of Smart Africa.

Through the Smart Africa scholarship fund, each country will champion a Smart Africa Flagship Initiative ranging from ICT Industry development, SMART cities, Youth Innovation and Job creation, Digital Economy, Green economy to Digital literacy.

Four of the countries are present on the showfloor this year, showcasing ICT industry evolution, projects and investment potential of the continent – and representing the Smart Africa Alliance for the first time at ITU Telecom World.

Visit the Smart Africa Zone on the showfloor to find out more, or come to the Smart Africa Panel Lunch on Tuesday 9 December, where ministers of all four nations will be present. It’s an inspirational initiative, and a testament to the power of working together, sharing knowledge, ideas and experience to move forward into the digital future. Together we are stronger!

Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s largest economy, following a recent statistical “rebasing” exercise, with 2013 GDP estimated at US$ 502 billion.

The Nigerian economy has continued to grow at a rapid 6-8% per annum (pre-rebasing), driven by growth in agriculture, Information Communications Technology (ICT), and services.

The emergence of GSM networks in 2001 resulted in faster economic growth in the sector, with multiple GSM providers operating nationally and a subscribership base nearing 80 per 100 persons. From 450, 000 connected lines in 2001 to a mind-blowing 184 million lines as at September 2014.

In the years ahead, growth in the sector is projected to surpass other sectors of the economy due to its huge local and international investment opportunities.

The Vanguard newspaper of Nigeria elaborates on these achievements in a recent article titled: ICT Sector grows economy 11.6% in Q3, 2014. ICT sector grows economy by 11.6% in Q3, 2014 – Vanguard News

Nigeria is set to showcase its plethora of investment opportunities at ITU Telecom World 2014 in Doha, Qatar on Monday, December 8, 2014 during its Investment Meeting.

A delegation led by the honourable Minister of Communications Ms Omobola Johnson is on the ground at the Qatar National Conference Center, QNCC, Doha to host potential investors and to showcase vibrant and exciting projects and innovations across the dynamic Nigerian ICT Sector.

Nigeria’s theme for this year’s presence at ITU Telecom World is BROADBAND NIGERIA: ENABLING ACCESS, TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES.

Speakers will include Joseph Tegbe, the principal partner of KPMG in Nigeria; Abdullahi Maikano, Secretary, Universal Service Provision Fund; and telecom operators giving an overview of the benefits of investing in Nigeria, including MTN’s Michael Ikpoki, MD/CEO and Ibrahim Dikko, Director of Regulatory Affairs at Etisalat Nigeria. The session will be moderated by Dr Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the Nigerian Communication Commission.

Like most Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Vanuatu presents very specific logistical challenges for government, regulators and operators alike when it comes to establishing universal connectivity.

With a population of 255 000 spread over 83 islands in the South Pacific, simply transporting ICT equipment into remote and rural areas is a major issue. A fibre optic network is impossible in this topography, and satellite connectivity often prohibitively expensive. Many isolated areas have little or limited access to power; literacy rates, let alone ICT skills, are low.

But for Vanuatu, these challenges have become an opportunity to show what can be done with political will and stability, commitment and hard work. Between the landing of the first submarine cable in November 2013 and March 2014, all operators and ISPs active in Vanuatu were connected, reducing the cost of wholesale bandwidth by more than 50%. Users have higher quality, reliability and speed in broadband services, driving growth in a range of internet-dependent business sectors such as finance, real estate and tourism – and pushing up GDP.

This represents a major achievement in terms of increasing universal connectivity. But we’ve gone beyond far beyond that with an ambitious, government-backed social development project to provide broadband access to schools and health centres across the nation. Successful pilot schemes have proved that education and community centres are the best locations to establish local hubs of connectivity, bringing broadband to students, teachers, their families and businesses. Starting with 24 sites by the end of 2014, the aim is to connect 98% of all schools by 2018. It’s an holistic approach: ministry programmes are developing curricula, building online content, training teachers and students, ensuring the availability of services and content relevant to local communities.

Thanks to our developed ICT strategy, we’re on target to meet that 2018 deadline. Funding is provided from the government, from development partners and from the industry, with operators obliged to pay into a universal access fund and support connectivity in remote and rural locations as a condition of receiving a licence for commercially- viable areas. Our regulatory body is fair, fully independent, and committed to a light-touch approach, letting the market decide and interfering as little as possible.

We’re proud of our ambitious goals, and of what we’ve achieved in recent years: opening the market to competition, inviting foreign private investment, improving coverage from 16% to 90%, establishing fair, independent regulation and a fully integrated government broadband infrastructure.

We also have the first internet exchange in the Pacific, where we hope to establish a computer incidence response team to collaborate at a regional level on raising awareness of cybersecurity and dealing with cyber crime. The first draft of legislation on cybersecurity and privacy laws is currently on its way through parliament. Vanuatu will follow up its successful hosting of the first-ever ITU Child Online Protection workshop in the Pacific with a series of cybersecurity workshops bringing together governments, financial institutions and other SIDS across the region to discuss best practice and develop a common approach.

We’re at the cutting edge of cybersecurity in the Pacific – and also of disaster preparedness and emergency response. ICTs are vital both to monitoring, predicting and detecting the natural disasters to which we as a region are prone, and to managing emergency response. Our major projects include an SMS alert system in the event of disaster, the result of collaboration between major mobile operators and climate change ministers. We’re investing in automating the collection of all data in remote sites throughout the country on tides, tsunamis, volcanic activities and meteorological indicators. And we are working towards hosting a regional workshop on disaster preparedness and ICTs involving all development partners, operators, governments and disaster stakeholders across the Pacific.

Vanuatu is looking forward to showcasing the success of its ICT strategy at ITU Telecom World 2014 as a part of the Make Your Country an ICT Star forum session. For us, ITU Telecom World is the biggest ICT and telecommunications sector event in the world. All the major stakeholders and partners come together, from regulators to CEOs, vendors, suppliers and development partners. It’s the best event to attend to share your accomplishments, learn from the achievements of others and attract foreign investment and development partners. No other event offers so much opportunity for the ICT industry in Vanuatu.

In addition to our forum session, we also look forward to meeting colleagues, peers and other stakeholders from around the world, seeing what they are doing or intending to do, sharing experiences and expertise. We would in particular like to promote our regional leadership and upcoming activities in cybersecurity and disaster preparedness and response. Vanuatu is a rising ICT star in the Pacific – ITU Telecom World is our chance to shine out on a global stage.

Mobile broadband is booming worldwide, underpinned by a global footprint of 3G/HSPA and 4G/LTE networks. LTE is mainstream and fast developing with approaching 350 live networks today, and is expected to cover 70% of the world’s population by 2020.  Worldwide the number of mobile subscriptions grew 6% over the last year, while mobile broadband connections leapt 30% to 2.5 billion, of which 350 million are LTE users. The smartphone is the device of choice, accounting for an estimated 70% of all mobile phone sales in Q3 2014.

Data consumption on smartphones, tablets, MiFis and other connected devices is also booming, 60% growth in data traffic being reported during the last 12 months. Video is the main driver and estimates point to 70% of mobile data being video by 2020.

LTE operators are increasingly focusing on the user experience of mobile broadband and enhancing the capacity, coverage, capabilities and efficiencies of their networks. LTE Broadcast (or LTE Multicast) is a key and promising technology that is already standardised within 3GPP LTE Release 9 for supporting the predicted explosive growth of video services consumption. The evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) is the name of the LTE Broadcast technology and enables efficient distribution of point-to-multipoint content so that multiple users are able to receive the same content simultaneously. It could include HD video, mobile TV, digital radio, or push content.

LTE Broadcast creates a single frequency network (SFN) using part of an operator’s existing LTE spectrum to distribute broadcast streams into defined broadcast areas. All cells contributing to an SFN send the same data during the same timeslots to appear as a single cell. This is particularly useful for serving densely populated areas such as a sports stadium, arena, concert hall, shopping mall, etc. The SFN coverage area may be small, consisting of a few cells, or large – citywide, regional and even nationwide. Multiple users “tune-in” to the SFN for the best experience of the data stream content/service such as video, and in the most efficient way, allowing the operator to free up more capacity for other users on the network, and for more content and services. Broadcast and unicast radio channels co-exist in the same cell, sharing capacity and available radio resources are dynamically assignable for either broadcast or unicast delivery.

Many use cases are supported by LTE Broadcast technology. Mobile TV services are commercially launched using eMBMS in South Korea. LTE Broadcast technology promises new revenue sources for operators by distributing TV over mobile broadband systems, available to users with a compatible device, and allowing broadcasters and content providers to extend their reach to mobile users and enable new interactive services. Wide area TV broadcasting is being trialled now in Germany. But how much is the user willing to pay for mobile TV?

There are many other use cases for LTE Broadcast which are being studied and new business models will emerge. Around 20 trials are underway globally by several Tier 1 mobile network operators working with multiple content providers and partners such as the BBC. Many initial applications focus on coverage within stadia, but its potential is much wider, extending to smart cities, emergency broadcasts, software update downloads, video and music services, digital signage, connected vehicles (cars, buses, trains), and so on.

The role LTE Broadcast could play for TV broadcasters and other content providers will be discussed in the Convergence of Broadcasting and Broadband panel session. We shall consider the benefits for the various stakeholders including content providers, how broadband and broadcast technologies can be combined to deliver the most efficient video delivery solution, or whether cooperation rather than convergence is the path. While many broadcasters will be ready to embrace eMBMS, some will have a different perspective. Tensions may arise from demand from mobile network operators for spectrum which up until now has been allocated for terrestrial TV broadcasting, particularly in the 700 MHz band which has excellent mobile coverage properties. Some regulators are contemplating closure of terrestrial TV networks and delivering broadcast content over mobile networks. How will the competitive positioning between fixed and mobile network operators and cable operators evolve? Might cross-sector consolidation make sense? Can mobile TV overcome previous failed attempts?

I look forward to meeting you at ITU Telecom World 2014.

The telecom world has grappled with the digital divide since the publication of the Maitland Commission Missing Link Report in the early 80s. That report helped countries realize that telecom was a key tool for development, and since then telecom operators and regulators have struggled with how to provide access to telecom to all (universal access).

Definitions of universal access have changed over time. 20 years ago we talked about the walking distance to a telephone. Today we talk about universal broadband Internet access within reach for all. But, little has changed in terms of the methodology to make this happen. Some countries still rely on regulations to force universal service obligations on telecom operators to offer services to all. Other countries adopted universal service funds, to help subsidize telecom operators to offer universal service. Despite all these regulatory and financial incentives, the digital divide remains.

Why, one could ask? To a large extent, the cost of rolling out the infrastructure in areas with poor roads or electricity, the cost of customer acquisition, the cost of maintenance of the customer and the margins to be made from a low income customer, often make rolling out services to these regions difficult. These factors make regulations and financial incentives irrelevant to telecom operators. What we need today is an approach that considers the new technologies and new players that can facilitate universal service in a more cost effective manner. In fact, since the digital divide is so closely tied to the energy divide, we need to think out of the box when thinking of last mile access.

I currently live in Indonesia, a nation with 17,000 islands. Many regions have little or no voice services let alone broadband Internet. In today’s day and age of innovation and entrepreneurship, the last mile can only be provided more cost effectively by social or community based entrepreneurs. They are better partners in fulfilling the universal service obligations of telecom operators. These last mile entrepreneurs can provide business models than can be a more effective and efficient way of offering service, as they cut down many of the costs involved in doing it at grassroots level.

In some countries, social entrepreneurs or community-led cooperatives at the last mile are already being allowed to buy bandwidth in bulk from the telco, and then becoming the last mile provider to the end user. In India for instance, Air Jaldi uses WiFi mesh technologies to offer broadband Internet to schools in the highlands of Dharamsala, India. Green Wifi and Inveneo have been doing the same in many countries, but mainly only to schools or hospitals. With new technologies such as Open BTS, Open WIFI, raspberry pi computers, or energy efficient BTS such as produced by VNL, last mile operators don’t require huge capital investments to become last mile providers. VNL energy efficient BTS has even been developed for the last mile operator – for example, it can be transported by bullock carts and assembled by illiterate people using pictures as instructions. Necessity and scarcity is truly the mother of invention, and we should highlight these success stories from the developing world.

Regulators should be open to offering USO funds to these last mile social entrepreneurs or community cooperatives and allow telcos to partner with these operators to fulfill their obligations. The time has come to think out of the box, to ensure we can in fact bring broadband to all. The last mile grassroots entrepreneur is at the level in which innovation happens, and we cannot expect this of the telecom operator deploying high end expensive equipment and networks at massive scale.

We cannot do the same thing as the past and expect a different result to bridge the digital divide. As Albert Einstein so wisely put it, “stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”. The developing world has so many success stories as a result of thinking creatively and differently, such as Grameen phone bringing voice service through women entrepreneurs. Today, communities and young entrepreneurs are eager and capable of innovating and solving their own problems, and regulations should stay ahead to bring the maximum benefit to all concerned.

Laina is a mentor for the Young Innovators Competition at ITU Telecom World 2014, and will also be moderating the Forum Closing Conversation on Wednesday 10 December, wrapping up the panel debates and Forum sessions of the previous four days.