At least 14 countries have trade barriers that stifle VoIP and other Internet-based communications technologies, the VON Coalition told the U.S. Trade Representative in a Dec. 15 letter. The coalition cited China, India, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Mexico, Columbia, Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, Panama, S. Africa, Korea, Belize, Chile and Turkey. “As VoIP technology gets integrated into more types of software and web applications, the barriers to VoIP that are created in one area will inhibit a much wider range of applications, services, and devices in others,” the letter said. In China, VoIP providers face “strict criteria on licensing” and delayed market entry, the coalition said. The Ministry of Information & Industry there has granted VoIP licenses only to China’s 2 major fixed carriers. “The question is whether China will allow entry sooner and gain from its advantages or further delay entry and lose out on enormous economic benefits,” the letter said. India has “enormously high barriers to VoIP market entry,” for example demanding an interconnected VoIP provider get a “national/international long distance license which costs about a half million dollars,” the letter said. VoIP providers also must pay 6% of annual gross revenue as a licensing fee, and can’t interconnect directly to the PSTN to terminate calls. The United Arab Emirates is “blocking access to all VoIP services [which can] thwart UAE’s efforts to become a gateway for trade and communication.” VoIP basically is illegal there, said the coalition.
Exports to China
Telecom regulation remains a problem in China, despite other reforms since it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the U.S. Trade Representatives said Mon. in its annual report to Congress. Problems exist in intellectual property rights (IPR), price controls, opaque regulatory procedures, reclassification of some value-added telecom services as basic, new Chinese technology standards, which are becoming barriers to entry, and other areas, the USTR said.
The U.S. is increasingly vulnerable to threats against commercial and govt. space systems, so the Bush Administration National Space Policy stresses space security more than earlier versions, a senior U.S. official said Wed. The 10-page document, the first update on that policy since 1996, was released in Oct. It seeks to ensure long-term safety of U.S. space assets in light of “new threats,” said State Dept. Under Secy., Arms Control & International Security Robert Joseph. Joseph spoke Wed. in the first remarks by a senior U.S. official on national space policy.
China Telecom (CT) won’t compete with Chinese rivals for foreign assets, China Daily reported this week. A CT executive told the paper “overseas acquisitions are not a good option for fixed-line operators” like his company, but the company will try to increase foreign revenue organically. CT now gets foreign revenue mostly from undersea cable-based services.
Asia Global Holdings Corp. created a China TV Entertainment Div. and is close to buying a company with “proven success in TV entertainment, global brand value and highly experienced management,” it said.
Mobile voice will monopolize revenue streams in developing markets and minimize the business case for WiMAX, Analysys said. Despite a plethora of plans to invest in WiMAX infrastructure in those markets, prospects for the technology will be “severely limited by a lack of PCs, low disposable incomes and the growing strength of cellular services,” Analysys analyst Mark Heath said. The report said per capita GDP in the U.S., where multiple next-generation technologies may thrive, is 7-25 times that of Poland, Algeria, China, India, Pakistan and other developing countries with planned WiMAX buildouts.
Privacy, digital identity, data protection and convergence are concerns to regulators and users, ITU said Sun. Telecom, computing and broadcasting account for $3.13 trillion or about 7% of world gross domestic product, slightly less than 1/2 of which is telecom services and hardware, said Tim Kelly, head of ITU’s strategy and policy unit. The rising number of service delivery channels presents new challenges to business, the report said. The U.S. leads in fixed broadband subscribers (49.3 million), 16.6% of its population. China was 2nd with 37.5 million, 2.9% of population, ITU said.
NBC used data speeds of 155 Mbps during the Sydney Olympics -- which jumped to 1,200 Mbps for Torino. The rise stemmed partly from more HD use, Senior Vp-Engineering-NBC Olympics David Mazza said Wed. at Satcon in N.Y. A general boost in programming also played a role, he said. Most feeds went to the U.S. across 3 undersea fiber networks, the rest over satellite, Mazza said. “Standard definition video had gotten fairly simple internationally… but HD is different,” he said: “We hope to have an easier time in China.”
Star Communications Network and OpenTV will develop DTV products for cable operators in China, they said. The companies plan to introduce advanced PVR and interactive TV services, they said. No terms were disclosed.
Prepaid phone cards fill a growing need, giving newcomers to the U.S. a low-cost way to place calls to their homelands, economist Robert Shapiro said in a report to be released today (Wed.). Shapiro, a former Clinton Administration official, said accelerating immigration since 1990 fuels need for low-cost international long distance service. Immigrants made up 41% of U.S. population growth 1990-2000 and 45% 2000-2003, and many have low incomes, he said in an interview. His study “is an analysis of how markets respond to gaps in basic services for lower income people,” Shapiro said. International calling isn’t covered by the Universal Service Fund Lifeline and Link-Up programs for low income consumers because until recently few in that demographic made international calls, he said. In his survey for IDT, whose telecom services include sale of prepaid calling cards, he looked mainly at price, and didn’t address USF reform, he said. But results indicate there may be no need to apply USF subsidies to international calling, thanks to a “market solution” - phone cards, Shapiro said. Prices for a 30-min. international call average $6.21 for prepaid cards, $7.59 for dial-around, $9.82 for landline and $17.13 for mobile service. Shapiro looked at 11 nations to which emigres frequently make calls, such as China, Mexico, El Salvador and the Philippines. Prepaid cards tend to cost less because they remove the “risk of nonpayment,” he said.