W2i Digital Cities Convention in Europe
Réseaux Internet haut débit sans fil:
les enjeux pour les autorités locales
• Dates et lieu: 7-9 novembre 2005, Centre de conventions Euskalduna, Bilbão, Spain
• Programme prévu de la conférence
* Note: les débats et présentations seront faits en anglais et en espagnol, et traduits simultanément uniquement dans ces deux langues.
En coopération avec l’UNITAR et le gouvernement basque, le Wireless Internet Institute organise à Bilbao du 7 au 9 novembre 2005 la 4ème conférence de son programme Digital Cities Convention. Réunissant organisations internationales, gouvernements locaux, leaders de l’industrie et praticiens, cette conférence a pour but de définir un programme d’action pour la conception et la mise en place de réseaux Internet haut débit sans fil dans les communautés locales. Ce plan sera intégré dans la déclaration de conclusion du IIème Sommet mondial sur la société de l’information et le rôle des autorités locales de Bilbao (9-11 novembre 2005) , dans le cadre du Sommet mondial de Tunis (16-18 novembre 2005)
W2i Digital Cities Convention Press Coverage
May 4, 2005 from Reuters
Mayors Convene in Philadelphia
May 3, 2005 from CNet.com
Local officials sound off on municipal wireless
May 4, 2005 from eWeek
U.S. Needs Muni Wi-Fi to Plug Broadband Wireless Gap
May 2, 2005 from The Philadelphia Inquirer
A celebration of Wi-Fi; not all are invited
April 29, 2005 from eWeek
Muni, Mesh Wireless Players Meet in Philadelphia
Europe in the News
WiMAX Superior but Faces Challenges
A new IDC study analyzes the environment of the 802.16e standard, detailing vendor activities and interests, investment themes in private companies, M&As, competing and complementary technologies, and the business case for mobile WiMax deployment in Europe. The future of mobile WiMax might not be as bright as its vendors would like you to believe. This wireless broadband technology, working under the IEEE standard 802.16e, offers WiFi bandwidth with a cellular range, but will face multiple challenges on its way to the market.
• Source: (IDC, 1 September 2005)
Altitude Telecom Acquired; WiMAX on Tap
France's main alternative broadband ISP, Free Telecom, will acquire privately held Altitude Telecom, the owner of the sole national 3.5GHz license, for an undisclosed amount. Free has not revealed exactly how it will use the WiMAX license, but it has mentioned that WiMAX will be particularly interesting in 2008-2010. At that time, we could expect to see mobile WiMAX (based on IEEE 802.16e) equipment available on the market that could allow Free to provide fixed-mobile convergence services to its residential customers. Free may then integrate WiMAX into the FreeBox and/or supply WiMAX PC cards to its customers in order to offer broadband access in any WiMAX location operated by Free in France, thereby bypassing France Telecom's local loop.
• Source: (Ovum, Tele-Geography, Sept. 5 2005
U.K. Social Services Turns to Wi-Fi
Social workers are using wireless technology to speed up communications on the front line. Barnet Council's Children and Families Service has rolled out PDAs to 240 social workers, O2 said on Wednesday. This will allow staff to spend more time face-to-face with children and families, according to O2. The value of the contract was undisclosed.
• Source: (ZDnet, 31 Aug 2005, Tom Espiner)
ICT Market in Russia Increasing Rapidly
The ICT market in Russia touched AED 26 billion (US$7.10 billion) in 2003 and registered a growth of over 26% in 2004. By the year 2008, total spending on IT in Russia is expected to surpass AED 62.39 billion (US$17 billion),” said DWTC Director General Helal Saeed Khalfan Al Marri. IDC reports point out that during 2004 sale of mobile devices jumped in Russia with shipments expanding by 55.5 per cent to more than 350,000 units and revenue by 56 per cent to AED 601 million (US$164 million). The report goes on to add that with Russia still far from saturation, shipments of mobile devices are expected to expand by 62.7 per cent this year and by 55.9 per cent in 2006.
• Source: (Media Syndicate, 29 Aug 2005)
Survey: Confusion on Wi-Fi, 3G, GPRS
A July survey of more than 100 London laptop owners by Tatara Systems shows that most do not understand the differences among 3G, GPRS and Wi-Fi; that Wi-Fi use through hotspots is more popular than Wi-Fi use at home, and that laptop users buy coffee just so they can access hotspots. Only 2% used laptops with 3G services; 14% used Blackberry devices, 10% used other PDAs and the majority (75%) used wireless-enabled laptops at public Wi-Fi hotspots. Over half (58%) of the Wi-Fi users surveyed admitted that they went to outlets and bought food and drink, just so they could access Wi-Fi hotspots. Starbucks was the location named by the most respondents.
• Source: (Cellular News, 23 Aug 2005)
WiMAX Compliance Testing to Begin
The WiMax Forum is nearly ready to start testing products for compliance with the wireless standard, a senior official has confirmed. Some vendors already have products at the Cetecom lab in Malaga, Spain, where certification will take place, but the past few weeks have been taken up by validation of the test scripts and test equipment, along with informal testing, said Gordon Antonello, chairman of the WiMax Forum Technical Working Group. Next week, that stage should be finished, he said.
• Source: (Tech World, 23 Aug 2005, Stephen Lawson)
France Telecom to Award WiMAX Licenses in 2006
France Telecom will auction 44 WiMAX licenses in October, 2006. Each region will be issued two licenses to ensure enough competition. The organization yesterday set a deadline of October 14 for those wishing to bid in the tender to submit an application. Bids for the licenses must then be submitted by February 1, 2006. The French regulator first said in March, it had been preparing the means of allocating new frequencies in the 3.4-3.8GHz band for the deployment of WLL networks to allow for the development of WiMAX technologies.
• Source: (Forbes, 7 August 2005)
WiFiber Trial Tested in Ireland
A new technology known as WiFiber, similar to terrestrial fiber used in deploying metropolitan area networks (MANs) but deployable within a day and capable of carrying Gbps broadband services, will be tested in the Irish market. US firm GigaBeam and Irish wireless broadband player WiFi Projects for the distribution of WiFiber products in Ireland have signed an agreement following the recent issuance of a trial license by the Commissioner for Communications Regulation (ComReg), the first such authorization in Europe for the technology.
• Source: (Silicon Republic, 10 Aug 2005)
UK Local Authorities to Go Local?
Local authorities across the UK must determine whether they wish to create citizen-owned wireless networks, potentially eliminating inner- and inter-city mobile call costs through the use of wireless VoIP, as opposed to allowing the major mobile network operators to dictate their future, according to UK-based Metranet Communications (www.metranet.co.uk) which is responsible for the UK’s first city-wide Intranet. A major area of the radio spectrum (2500-2690MHz) will be released on January 1, 2008.
• Source: (SourceWire, 02 Aug 2005)
Europe Assigns Two More Wi-Fi Bands
Sensing that it was lagging behind its technological rivals, the European Telecommunications Union has assigned two additional frequencies for the wireless local area networks (WLANs). The two newly allocated bands in the 5 GHz spectrum are already available for wireless in America and the Asia/Pacific region, because of an agreement reached at the World Radiocommunications Conference in 2003. Their availability will remedy capacity shortages in the 2.4 GHz spectrum presently used for Wi-Fi in Europe. The additional frequencies will allow companies, as well as users in densely populated areas, to switch to wireless protocols allowing for higher bandwidth.
• Source: (EurActiv, 20 July 2005)
Global Telecom Ambition in Russia
Mikhail Fridman, the head of Alfa Group and one of Russia's most ambitious businessmen, enjoys a good fight with an established Western company. In 1997, Alfa tussled with BP in a battle over oil assets. In the last month, Fridman seems to have taken on the entire Scandinavian telecommunications industry. Alfa has been in dispute with Norway's Telenor over the strategy of Vimpelcom, Russia's second-largest mobile phone operator, and has further alienated TeliaSonera, the leading telecom operator in the Nordic and Baltic regions, by effectively ruining its deal to buy a controlling stake in Turkcell, Turkey's largest mobile operator.
• Source: (Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2005)
Wi-Fi Connects Small-Town Italy
For €6,000, municipalities in Italy can buy a kit that provides an internet access point via satellite. For €9,000, the kit includes video surveillance for civil protection. The National Association of Small Italian Municipalities (ANPCI) and Wifi-Company, an Italian Wi-Fi and satellite communications solutions provider, have signed an agreement to deliver broadband Internet access to small Italian towns with Wi-Fi and satellite. The move will deliver Web access to 3,742 ANPCI members, representing some 20 percent of Italy’s population.
• Source: (Digital Media News for Europe, 5 July 2005)
Telecom Italia’s Nightmare in Brazil
Telecom Italia may sell its stake in fixed line operator Brasil Telecom, Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo reported. "This investment has become a nightmare. We want our money back," according to Paolo dal Pino, president of Telecom Italia's Brazilian division. Telecom Italia has endured a long running ownership dispute with other Brasil Telecom (BrT) shareholders, particularly local investment bank Opportunity.
• Source: (Business News Americas, 1 July 2005)
ITU Launches Connectivity Campaign
To bring ICTs to the estimated one billion people worldwide for whom making a simple telephone call remains out of reach, ITU’s Connect the World initiative is a global multi-stakeholder effort established within the context of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to encourage new projects and partnerships to bridge the digital divide. By showcasing development efforts now underway and by identifying areas where needs are the most pressing, Connect the World will create a critical mass that will generate the momentum needed to connect all communities by 2015. At present, ITU estimates that around 800,000 villagesor 30% of all villages worldwideare still without any kind of connection.
• Source: (Public Technology, 22 June 2005)
Wi-Fi in 100 Countries, 65,000 Hotspots
The United States tops JiWire's list of Wi-Fi-friendly countries with the most hotspots, followed by the UK, Germany and France: http://www.jiwire.com/search-hotspot-locations.htm
• Source: (Business Wire, 21 June 2005)
Finland Mobile Broadband to Be American
Finland will select a new wireless network technology from the United States next week in a move being watched by other European governments that are opening radio spectrum for mobile broadband Internet. Seven consortiums have put in bids for the 450 Megahertz (MHz) radio spectrum that was left unused after operator Sonera shut down an analogue mobile network in 2002. All have proposed U.S.-made wireless network technology to cover even remote areas with fast Web access. If Finland opts for CDMA, this would create a stronghold for the technology as neighboring Sweden and Norway have in the past year issued 450 MHz licences to Nordisk Mobiltelefon which uses CDMA. "What goes on in the Nordics is watched around the world and what happens here has credibility far beyond the number of inhabitants," said David Poticny, head of European operations of Lucent Technologies, which makes CDMA equipment.
• Source: (CNN.com, 15 June 2005)
Intel and Nokia Team on WiMAX
Intel and Nokia have agreed to work together on mobile WiMAX, or IEEE 802.16e Standard. The two industry leaders have been under increasing pressure from Korean-backed companies that appear to be ahead in the game with their WiBRO technology. The alliance is likely to give both companies leverage in countering their Korean counterparts. WiMAX is still under development, but Intel and Nokia expect the standard to be finalized by next year.
• Source: (Techworld, 10 June 2005)
Orascom Buys Italian Telecom Giant Wind
In a reversal of fortunes, the Egyptian-owned Orascom has acquired Italian Telecom Giant Wind. The third largest mobile operator, after Telecom Italia (TIM) and Vodafone in Italy, 67.75 percent shares of Wind are reported to have been valued at $15,249 billion (12.138 billion euros) including debt to Orascom. Owned by Egyptian businessman Necib Sawiris, Orascom will build a Mediterranean-based global tele-communications company.
• Source: (Turkish Weekly, 28 May 2005)
Cardiff Congregation Served by Wi-Fi
Vicar Keith Kimber is aiming to bring more people to God by installing a wireless broadband hotspot in his church-a BT Openzone corner where they can send or receive emails or surf the Web. The unique brainwave may answer the prayers of many busy parishioners whose thoughts have drifted from the Sunday sermon to Monday's e-mail or work presentation. The Rev Kimber is happy for them to quietly slip off to the BT Openzone area of St John's in Cardiff city center and take care of business on their laptop. "The church has to move with the times, and I wanted to make St John's a sanctuary for everyone, including business people with laptops and mobiles."
• SOource: (ISP NEWS, 31 May 2005
Public-Private Partnership in Westminster
The Westminster City Council has struck a deal with British Telecom to install a Wi-Fi network on lampposts across Soho in London. Internet users will be able to access BT Openzone hotspots by September. Low-powered microconnect distributed antennas will also be installed to improve mobile phone and 3G coverage. “The antennas will be a lot smaller and there won't be the same concerns there are with existing ones,” said Westminster City Council head Simon Milton. “We are hoping to remove some of the older ones from the streets and buildings in the area.”
• Source: (Vnunet, 25 May 2005)
Russia Ends Long-Distance Monopoly
The Russian government said on May 30 that it had issued its first long-distance and international phone service license to a private company, ending the monopoly of state-controlled Rostelecom. The Federal Communications Monitoring Service said in a statement it had issued the license to CenterInfocom, a little-known company that groups five of the Moscow region’s alternative operators. “Similar requests from other bidders will be considered soon,” the statement, quoted by Reuters, said. Russia has promised the European Union it will end Rostelekom’s monopoly by 2007 as part of Moscow’s efforts to join the World Trade Organization.
• Source: (MOS News, 30 May 2005)
Ericsson: 2 Billion Wireless Users Soon
Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg said the world will soon see two billion mobile phone users, close to one third of the global population. He was optimistic of the 3G wireless technology and optimistic about the wireless industry in general. Both Ericsson and Nokia have predicted two billion mobile wireless users in the recent future. In addition, Leichtman Research Group, Inc. reports that the 20 largest cable and DSL providers in the USrepresenting about 95% of the marketacquired a record 2.5 million net additional subscribers in the first quarter of 2005
• Source: (Business Week Online, 10 May 2005, Leichtman Research)
European Telecoms Look to E. Europe
Having tapped out markets on their home turf, European telecoms are aggressively exploring Eastern Europe. The signing last week of a $3.58 billion deal between the Czech government and Spain's Telefonica SA for 51.1 percent of Cesky Telecom illustrates where the companies are looking for new customers. Also last week, Hungary-based Matav Rt. took over Montenegro's telecom company under a $151.7 million deal for a 51.12 percent stake in Telekom. And British telecom Vodafone Group PLC, said last month it would acquire two cell phone operators in Romania and the Czech Republic for $3.5 billion, expanding its reach into what it sees as attractive markets.
• Source: (Business Week, 18 April 2005)
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Comité de programme
Iñaki Suarez
• SPRI, gouvernement basque
Axel Leblois
• CIFAL Atlanta, Géorgie, Etats-Unis
Dianah Neff
• Ville de Philadelphie, Pennsylvanie, Etats-Unis
Fernando Pelegrino
• Etat de Rio de Janeiro, Brésil
Ana Hofman
• Petropolis, Brésil
Ben Chapman
• Intel, Royaume-Uni
Cynthia Lawton
• IBM, Etats-Unis
Pamela Benke
• Motorola, Etats-Unis
Jesu Ocariz
• CIFAL Bilbao, Espagne
Xabier Araboa Ruiz
• CIFAL Bilbao, Espagne
Sarbuland Kahn
• UNICT Task Force, New York, Etats-Unis
Marcel Boisard
• UNITAR, Genève
Graham Ellis
• City of Westminster, Royaume-Uni
Jim Baker
• Telabria, Espagne
Enrique Barkey
• Hewlett-Packard, Etats-Unis
Tracy Christensen
• Alvarion, Etats-Unis
Francois Le
• Tropos Networks, Etats-Unis
Francisco Vázquez
• Fédération espagnole des provinces et municipalités
• Eudel
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