40% unaware about Wi-Fi security settings (UK)
A survey commissioned by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has claimed that 40% of people who have Wi-Fi at home do not understand how to change the security settings on their wireless (Wi-Fi) networks.
According to the survey, despite most internet service providers now setting up and installing their customers’ Wi-Fi security settings for them, 16% of the people surveyed with a home Wi-Fi network are either unsure or are already aware that they are using an uncovered network.
It is also noted that many of the more popular Wi-Fi routers provided by ISPs, such as the BT HomeHub deliberately make it quite difficult to disable the security settings and hide them where the average person would not easily find them.
The ICO is also calling for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), retailers and manufacturers to make sure the guidance supplied with their Wi-Fi equipment is clear to the end user and fully explains the risks of people using an insecure connection.
Egypt’s mobile phone networks restored
Egypt’s mobile phone networks have been able to resume their services after being ordered to shut-down their networks on Friday. Vodafone, France Telecom controlled Mobinil and UAE based Etisalat owned, Etisalat Misr were all ordered to block their networks in selected areas throughout the country.
The move seemed to fail on the government though, as protests had been pre-arranged in anticipation of such action, and the blockage seemed to simply inflame existing anger with the government.
According to Vodafone Egypt, they would like to make it clear that the authorities in Egypt have the technical capability to close their network, and if they had done so it would have taken much longer to restore services to our customers. It has been clear to them that there were no legal or practical options open to Vodafone or any of the mobile operators in Egypt but to comply with the demands of the authorities.
The decision to shut the network had been criticized by international campaigners who called upon the mobile networks to defy the government, despite the technical impossibility of doing so.
There have also been unconfirmed rumors that the mobile networks might be ordered to shut-down again on Monday and that landline networks may also be shut-down. The landline networks have been the main route for internet traffic as users which to dialing international ISPs to bypass the blocked local broadband services.
FTTH in plans for Kenya’s Jamii Telecom
Jamii Telecom of Kenya has reportedly signed a $14.8 million deal with ZTE Corp. to connect 100,000 homes with a fiber to the home (FTTH) network. Jamii asserts it will be the first Internet service provider (ISP) in Kenya to deploy an FTTH network.
According to reports, the firm will target households in Karen, Lavington, Parklands, Kilimani, Kileleshwa, Lang’ata, South B, Nyayo Estate Embakasi, Gigiri, and Runda in Nairobi in the first phase. Jamii Telecom subsequently will connect Kisumu, Nakuru, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Nyeri in the second and the third phases, which are to be carried out in the next two years.
IDA penalizes SingTel (Singapore)
Singapore’s largest carrier, Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has been penalized with fines totaling US$101,000 by Singapore’s regulatory body, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).
The fines are believed to have stemmed from a wholesale broadband promotion SingTel had offered during the last quarter of 2009. SingTel had apparently breached regulations for competition in the telecommunications sector by offering wholesale discounted prices for its 4 Mbps and 10 Mbps services to only one ISP, while keeping the others in the dark.
The relevant ISPs could include rivals Starhub and M1 as well as SingNet, SingTel’s internet unit. The IDA had started investigations after receiving a complaint from another ISP.
According to reports, the IDA had fined SingTel $50,000 for not informing other eligible ISPs of the promotion, an act the IDA deemed ‘discriminatory’. SingTel was further fined $80,000, bringing the total to $130,000, for offering the same wholesale broadband promotion without seeking approval from the IDA, as was required due to its position as the dominant player. While SingTel had informed the IDA of the price changes, the carrier had not indicated that the 4 Mbps and 10 Mbps services formed part of the promotion.
According to SingTel spokesperson, aspects of the wholesale broadband promotion had been left out during the approval seeking process due to a genuine oversight, SingTel would continue to view and tighten its internal processes. SingTel has paid the fines.
Telecom NZ signs a Web filtering scheme
Telecom New Zealand has signed up to the government’s new voluntary web filtering scheme.
The filter developed by Sweden’s Netclean Technologies, checks ISP customers’ connection requests against a list of filtered IP addresses. ISPs will not be given a list of sites on the blacklist.
According to the operator, it would implement the filter, an initiative of New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs, in the coming weeks.
If a user requests an IP that is on the list, it will be redirected to the department of internal affairs’ servers and checked against a list of known offending URLs, and blocked if a match is found.
The department claims that this method causes no degradation of internet performance.
The filter was first made available to ISPs in March. The system is voluntary for ISPs to implement, and focuses exclusively on blocking child sexual abuse material.
This puts it in contrast with the controversial system proposed in Australia, which would be mandatory and block material refused classification by the nation’s classification board.
BlackBerry services can be supervised: DoT
After increasing pressure from the Indian government on RIM, Indian telecom minister has suggested a formula that can help in monitoring the device’s encrypted mails. The suggestion came in the middle of a meeting between the Home Ministry, security agencies and Canadian firm Research in Motion, maker of BlackBerry that operates on networks of other telecom service providers.
According to the DoT, Enterprise mail services offered on BlackBerry platform and other services provided on Virtual Private Network (VPN) can possibly be monitored by providing a clear email from the enterprise email server to the monitoring system located at each of the Internet Service Provider’s premises. The possibility of the solution will be discovered after having discussion with the intelligence bureau and ISPs.
RIM, DoT officials’ confirmed that, it is vague to the possibility of locating a server or servers at ISP premises on the ground of technical non-feasibility of such a solution.
BlackBerry has a million of subscribers in India and the services are mounting. BlackBerry service are provided by nine telecom operators including government owned BSNL and MTNL, Airtel, Vodafone, RCom and Tata .
The DoT has commanded the Ministry of Home Affairs to check the place as stated by RIM with respect to interception and monitoring of various services provided on BlackBerry platform. In case the solution doesn’t work out, DoT would have no option but to ask the operators not to offer the enterprise email services on BlackBerry platform.
According to a source close to this deal, the technology being offered by Canadian firm RIM is likely to be put under test by the security agencies tomorrow.
French ISPs face difficult time
The French court has ordered Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block the access to all the unauthorized poker and gambling websites.
This unsympathetic step was taken by regulator Arjel against Orange France, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, Free, Numericable, Auchan Telecom and Darty who were ordered to block consumer’s access to sites including British bookmakers and poker site operators Betfred and StanJames.
The ISPs argued that it is very difficult to block access to the sites as it can lead to websites moving elsewhere, slowing of the network, and blocking of legal sites but Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris came in favor of the regulator, which creates a possibility that ISPs could face a huge amount of fine of around $12,813 for each day of non-compliance.
Giving full support to Right2bet organization, the gaming industry opposed the move. According to the industry, the rule is another shock for the French consumers who are still fuming at the inability of the current legislation to provide them with an open and fully competitive gambling market.
S Tel mobile service launched in Orissa
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: S Tel launched its service in Orissa, India, with a tariff plan of INR 0.01 per second and INR 0.5 per minute for STD and local outgoing calls respectively. The company expects to cover 90 percent of Orissa towns by 2010.
The operator also has ISP license for other states like Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. It is also planning to expand its operations in six category C circles of the country.
Bihar and Jharkhand will also receive S Tel’s mobile services by the year end. Assam and North East can access the service by first quarter of 2010
