Wireless Federation

According to sources, Some of the biggest achievers selected for Communication Awards 2007:  

Allen Timpany, CEO, Vanco
 VNO pioneer. Now every value-added reseller wants to be the “next Vanco”.
 
Arun Sarin, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Group
 His deals with Google and eBay “started the Mobile Internet”. That’ll be the one regularly used by 6% of mobile owners, then.

Ben Verwaayen, CEO, BT
 Split local access and services in UK as an example for all the other EU countries. Then took over the broadband revolution. But has he reached the crest of the New Wave?

Bill Gates, Founder and Chairman, Microsoft Corp
 He may be adrift in online adland, but his company’s Communications Server has brought the LAN to life.
 
Carl Henrik Svanberg, CEO, Ericsson
 Has kept the strategy clear and built a leadership position in wireless into a total communications offer whilst others have dug themselves deeper into their problems.

Cesar Alierta, President, Telefonica
 Last of the great global Telco heroes? No blockbuster deals last year though.
 
Chua Sock Koong, CEO, SingTel
 SingTel veteran Chua is in the regional hotseat; tasked with making sense of the company’s expansionist strategy across Southeast Asia to Australia.

Dayanidhi Maran, Telecom Minister, India
 Revolutionised the Indian telecom scenario with liberalised policies, promoting Foreign Direct Investments and providing clear strategies for mobile and broadband expansion.

Dr. Saad Al Barrak, Deputy chairman and managing director, MTC
 MTC Group’s champion has transformed the Kuwaiti operator into a regional investment player. Can he take his 3×3x3 strategy global?

Ed Whitacre, Chairman and CEO, AT&T
 Retiring after driving telecom consolidation, with the integration of SBC, Cingular and AT&T. Now going after Telecom Italia and the iPhone.

Helmut Leopold, Head of Platform and Technology Management, Telekom Austria AG
 Put Engerwitzdorf on Europe’s IPTV map. Leads development of IPTV and IP-driven multimedia services at Telekom Austria, as well as president of the Broadband Services Forum (BSF). .

Ildar Zhuravlev, Partner, Ernst & Young
 He is one of the most influential persons in the Russian telecom sector. He provides consulting services to 18 of top 20 major Russian telcos. At least he isn’t being called a revolutionary.

Ivar Plahte, CEO, OnRelay
 ”Defining the next era of [mobile] PBX.” Cisco, Nortel, IBM, Verizon, and others are following his lead, some say.

John Chambers, CEO, Cisco Systems
 He’s putting Cisco on Second Life. That’s how determined he is to win this award again.
 
John Legere, CEO, Global Crossing
 Two years ago a $24 billion accounting ‘fresh start’ helped bring GX back to life. Now it is a model for how to use IT to speed up your telecoms services delivery.

John Pluthero, Executive Chairman , Cable & Wireless
 He’s “blown the whistle on the telecoms industry” for its lack of  customer care, apparently.And he knows how to reinvigorate a demoralised company.

Josep A. Aliagas, CEO, Arena Mobile
 This content aggregator is currently working in 60 countries and with 110 mobile operators as well as worldwide Media Groups including Shanghai Media Group in the mobile TV area in China. China is potentially the biggest revenue generator in the industry and Arena Mobile is the leading company in China.

Larry Page, Co-founder, Google
 Telcos are running a bit less scared now Google is concentrating on TV and radio advertisers. 
 
N Srinath, CEO, VSNL
 ”The CEO of the last year”, according to one nomination. He has “single-handedly” changed VSNL from an incumbent niche operator to a multinational telecom player, according to another. He must have a little help, though.

Niklas Zennstrom, Co-founder, Joost TV
 Since he sold Skype to eBay, the IP telephony service has reached 150 million users, reducing the price paid from $68 million to $23 million - per subscriber.

Patricia Russo, CEO, Alcatel-Lucent
 Running a combination “too big, too exotic and too powerful to be ignored.”
 
Phuthuma Nhleko, President & CEO, MTN Group
 Phuthuma has revolutionalised telecoms in Africa and the Middle East by providing telecoms to 21 countries in MEA.

Sol Trujillo, CEO, Telstra
 ”Creating a Telstra that is more adaptable to market needs.” Really? The “only real ass-kicker and visionary in the industry”. That’s more like it!

Steve Jobs, CEO, Apple
 He seems to understand consumers better than most. The iPhone has raised expections high this time.
 
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman - Bharti Group, Bharti Airtel
 A “Telecoms Tsar”- in India? No, he’s “a revolutionary”. He can’t be both.
 
Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner, EU
 She has upset mobile operators, NextGen network builders and even outsourcing associations, so she must be doing something right.
 

Portugal Telecom has launched a triple-play offer called meo. The service includes 78 TV channels, including two in high definition, as well as a fixed line with unlimited on-net calls and ADSL at up to 8 Mbps with a wireless connection. Other features for the IPTV service include digital video recording and a video-on-demand library. The service will be available for EUR 50 per month on a 12-month contract until the end of September, after which the price rises to EUR 54.90 per month. The service is initially available in Lisbon, Porto and Castelo Branco. Equipment suppliers include Alcatel-Lucent, Microsoft, Harmonic, HP and Cisco Systems.

Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News

Telecompaper writes…Cisco Systems reported net profit for its fiscal second quarter to 27 January up 40 percent from a year earlier to USD 1.9 billion, with sales rising 27 percent to USD 8.4 billion. Results were helped by the takeover of Scientific-Atlanta, whch contributed USD 639 million in sales in the quarter. The company generated USD 2.1 billion in operating cash flow in the period, to finish the quarter with USD 20.7 billion in cash. Cisco forecast third-quarter revenues growth of 19-20 percent, slowing to 14-16 percent in the fourth quarter.

Wireless Mobile Telecom

WirelessDesignAsia writes…Cisco Systems has introduced the scalability and investment-protection in the Cisco MDS 9513 Multilayer Director. Designed to scale up to 528 ports in a single-chassis, the latest addition to the Cisco MDS 9000 family will help enable SAN environments to meet requirements for increased responsiveness, resiliency, manageability, performance. Other innovations which Cisco unveiled with the MDS 9513 were: Cisco SAN-OS Software Release 3.0; and 4 gigabits per seconds (Gbps) and 10 Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Modules for use in new and existing MDS 9000 Family products. The products retain the complete MDS 9000 feature set including Virtual SANs (VSANs), Inter-VSAN Routing, and advanced management, diagnostic and security features. Additionally, features in SAN-OS 3.0 include advanced port bandwidth management and enhanced FICON capability.

The MDS 9513 offers an advanced feature set and full bandwidth redundancy to help ensure system throughput even in the event of a crossbar failure. Other high availability attributes include dual supervisors, support for non-disruptive software upgrades, modular software with stateful process restart, support for cross-module inter-switch links (ISLs) scaling to 16 ports each, and full redundancy of all critical hardware components. The MDS 9513 delivers industry-leading port density, availability, and the advanced feature set to help the demanding enterprises consolidate and scale for the future. The Cisco MDS 9513 Multilayer Director and the new modules are expected to be generally available through Cisco’s OSM and STI partners starting in May.

Wireless Mobile Telecom 

MobileWirelessNews writes…Cisco Systems filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. in a federal court today, stating that the new iPhone violates its trademark. Cisco has owned the trademark on the name “iPhoneâ€? since 2000, when it acquired InfoGear Technology which originally registered the name in 1996, before iMacs and iPods had been available.

According to Mark Chandler, Cisco’s SVP, Apple had approached Cisco about the iPhone trademark as early as 2001, with discussions increasing in frequency until recent.

Wireless Mobile Telecom

Theregister writes…Cisco Systems wasted no time flexing its trademark claim to the iPhone moniker. The networking giant today revealed that it has sued Apple for “infringing upon and deliberately copying” the iPhone name with the announcement of its flashy new handset at Macworld.

The technology world has been waiting to see if Cisco would act on its iPhone claim. It’s common knowledge that Cisco secured the trademark in 2000 when it bought Infogear, the original maker of iPhone-branded products. According to Cisco, Infogear’s iPhone trademark stretches back to 1996, and Cisco’s Linksys division has been shipping a new line of iPhone gear since 2006.

Apple apparently knew much of this and negotiated with Cisco about the name before announcing the iPhone yesterday. That is if you believe Cisco’s attorneys.

“Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco’s iPhone name,” said Mark Chandler, SVP and general counsel at Cisco. “There is no doubt that Apple’s new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission.”

Always litigious, Apple knows the way of the trademark dispute game. Most recently, the former computer maker started going after companies that use “pod” in their names or to describe their services. Apple has also battled against The Beatles’ record label Apple Corp. and bullied for the rights to itunes.co.uk.

Wireless Mobile Telecom

Cisco Systems has announced a significant investment initiative in Turkey totaling up to USD 275 million over five years. The investment will go towards creating technology investment initiatives aligned with Turkey’s networked economic agenda and supporting the Turkish Prime Minister’s Connected Turkey e-transformation agenda by providing networking technology and prototypes for pilot programs targeted towards rural broadband for education. The investment will also go on developing a Cisco Systems Technology Innovation Center to demonstrate the impact technology has on productivity across the different market segments; and on establishing the Cisco Entrepreneurship Institute, an initiative between Cisco, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and the Turkish government, to teach skills for opening and running small businesses. Cisco will also support the establishment of 200 new Networking Academies in Turkey; and offer localised products as well as customer service and support for the technical needs and requirements of local service provider customers. Cisco will also increase the overall headcount of Cisco employees in Turkey from 80 to 400 employees and expand office space.

Source- http://www.telecompaper.com

Technorati : Cisco Systems, Mobile, Turkey
Ice Rocket : Cisco Systems, Mobile, Turkey

Cisco Systems has announced a significant investment initiative in Turkey totaling up to USD 275 million over five years. The investment will go towards creating technology investment initiatives aligned with Turkey’s networked economic agenda and supporting the Turkish Prime Minister’s Connected Turkey e-transformation agenda by providing networking technology and prototypes for pilot programs targeted towards rural broadband for education. The investment will also go on developing a Cisco Systems Technology Innovation Center to demonstrate the impact technology has on productivity across the different market segments; and on establishing the Cisco Entrepreneurship Institute, an initiative between Cisco, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and the Turkish government, to teach skills for opening and running small businesses. Cisco will also support the establishment of 200 new Networking Academies in Turkey; and offer localised products as well as customer service and support for the technical needs and requirements of local service provider customers. Cisco will also increase the overall headcount of Cisco employees in Turkey from 80 to 400 employees and expand office space.

Source- http://www.telecompaper.com

Technorati : Cisco Systems, Mobile, Turkey
Ice Rocket : Cisco Systems, Mobile, Turkey

Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, has announced that its Gulf operations have delivered 50 per cent growth in fiscal year 2006, establishing it as the company’s third fastest-growing region in the world.

The company also fared well in the Middle East and Africa, with the MEA region delivering 56 per cent growth in FY 2006 over the same period last year.

The announcement, which follows Cisco’s recent international reporting of Q4 and fiscal-year results for the period ended July 29, 2006, is a shot in the arm for the region’s nascent IT industry.

Samer Alkharrat, General Manager, Cisco Systems Gulf, said the company’s human capital is a primary factor in its record growth.
Alkharrat said. ‘The region is in rapid growth mode, and Cisco has responded to this growth with continuous strategic investments in the right people and the right training. This commitment, and the rewards we reap from it, is in sync with Cisco’s operating philosophy around the world.’

The investment in human resources has enabled Cisco to expand rapidly across the region, Alkharrat explained. The company recently opened a new office in Qatar, and additional offices are slated to open in Oman and Bahrain in coming months.

‘Having a talented corps of people suited to the needs of the region has allowed us to get closer to our partners and customers,’ he added. ‘We have now subdivided the Gulf region into three key territories, and appointed country managers for each.’

Cisco Systems Gulf’s investment in its human resources begins at the recruitment level. An entrenched system of continual training ensures that staff is provided with the right focus and direction, and the right tools to operate in this rapidly developing market.

FY06 also witnessed the introduction of Cisco Gulf’s TREC vertical team, an industry first specialty group dedicated to the fast-growing tourism, real estate and construction sectors.

Cisco’s globally recognised Networking Academy Program is also moving at full throttle in the region. Established to address the market’s growing need for training in networking technologies, the program offers structured courses at educational and training facilities around the region. Since its launch in 1997, the NetAcad has enlisted more than 11,000 academies and nearly two million students around the world.

The Fortune Global 500-listed company also concluded several major business deals in the region this year, including a new all-IP network vision for Kuwait-based Wataniya Telecom; an advanced IP call centre (IPCC) solutions for Petroleum Development Oman (PDO); a strategic consultancy agreement with the National Bank of Kuwait and PWC Logistics, and an infrastructure transformation contract with the Saudi Post Corporation.

Source- http://www.ameinfo.com

Technorati : Cisco Systems, Middle East, Mobile
Ice Rocket : Cisco Systems, Middle East, Mobile