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Jonathan Simon

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Two of the main key players in South African mobile operators, MTN and Vodacom, have shown interest in investing in the Ethiopian company Ethio Telecom. Both companies have invested in many countries on the continent. Ethiopia was not one of them as the government wanted to keep this sector under its control. But their policy is changing and they have decided to consider opening Ethio Telecom’s capital to investors. According to MTN, “Ethiopia presents many exciting telecommunication opportunities and we look forward to further discussions with that nation’s authorities on potential partnerships and opportunities.” and Vodacam stated that it “has said on many occasions that Ethiopia is an attractive market so it follows that there would be interest. Naturally this is dependent on what might become available and if it fits within our investment parameters.” Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopian new Prime Minister, came to power with promises of reforms. This policy…

New technologies, especially in wireless communications, is helping increase VoIP services. As smartphones, laptops and tablets are being more available worldwide, VoIP services are also growing and the competition between different providers is leading to a constant update in their offers. The BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy that is spreading in companies is another key factor in this demand on VoIP. Devices like phablets (a mix between smartphones and tablets like the Galaxy S9+) are replacing computers on many aspects. The PMR (Persistence Market Research) expect the market to grow up to US$ 194.5 Billion in the next seven years. Most of this increase will be from long distance VoIP calls that could represent US$ 120 Billion in revenue.

The U.S. Congress is concerned about revelations of a deal that was made between Facebook and the Chinese device maker Huawei. Huawei is not the only device constructor to have a privilege access to data from Facebook, as Lenovo, Oppo and TCL are also on that list “Concerns about Huawei aren’t new – they were widely publicized beginning in 2012, when the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released a well-read report on the close relationships between the Chinese Communist Party and equipment makers like Huawei,” said U.S. Senator Mark Warner. In an investigation done by the House Intelligence Committee, it was stated that “Huawei did not fully cooperate with the investigation and was unwilling to explain its relationship with the Chinese government or Chinese Communist Party, while credible evidence exists that it fails to comply with U.S. laws”. Moreover, the Chinese company has an history of collaboration with the…

Apple might be looking to save you from yourself with its new version of iOS, that any users will be able to get in septembre 2018, if they have an iPhone 5S or above. Since its beginning in 2006, iOS was more focused on keeping you hooked to your device that pushing you to keep it away from you. During Apple’s WWDC 2018 that took place this week, the Cupertino-based company seems to focus on helping its customers manage their time more effectively with their smartphone. And to help users on this topic, Apple seems to be concerned with iPhone addiction. As Google started focusing on that issue, Apple wants to take the lead on addiction to connected devices. An app called Screen Time will help iPhone users manage their time on their phone, get rid of useless notifications, change the setting of the screen to be less appealing. Another…

Sprint announced that 5G PCs will be available to buy in their stores next year. Those computers will be built around Intel’s chips. The operator won’t be the only one to offer 5G PCs as Acer and Asus also recently declared their plan to produce 5G Intel-based computers. With Microsoft, Dell, HP and Lenovo having already announced their plan to launch 5G laptops, the market will see a total of six companies battling for this new segment, until others tech companies come out with their own project. Intel has fought hard for this, as the company met difficulties competing with Qualcomm in implementing its chips in connected devices, especially in 4G PCs that are supposed to be available in stores this year with Snapdragon chips inside.

The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency and payment start-up, Ripple, is hoping to boost up the adoption of blockchain technology. They decided to donate $50 millions to 17 universities and colleges throughout the U.S.A. in order to promote blockchain. One of the main reasons is the need for jobs in that technology field as 4500 job openings were including the terms “blockchain” and “cryptocurrency” into their descriptions on LinkedIn. Thus universities like the M.I.T. or the University of North Carolina will get a chunk of this donation. Eric van Miltenburg, Senior Vice-President of business operations at Ripple sent an email stating, “As globalization increases, so does the demand for technological solutions and talent to solve the world’s hardest financial problems, such as retail remittances.” Ripple’s technology surrounding the cryptocurrency XRP could be a part of some studies and projects by universities, despite not being an obligation according to the company. For the…

Apple has integrated in its iPhone an instant messaging system called iMessage. It allows to send any data (audio, pictures, videos or text) through any Apple device: phones, tablets or computers, and even their watches. In 2016, VoIP-Pal sued Apple, AT&T, Twitter and Verizon for patent infringement based on its U.S. Patents. This year, new lawsuits are being launched solely against Apple, for the infringement of four U.S. Patents, that are linked to the way iMessage processes routing, rating and billing of communications transferred through networks. Those actions are not related to the one that started in 2016. iMessage and Facetime are concerned by those accusations of infringement. Voip-Pal pretends that their patents are used to conduct audio, video and text to other devices by associating them with a specific user so it can route properly the communications. The plaintiff owns a portfolio of patents on VoIP technology. It is…

The smartphone’s market shrank of 0.1% last year, and for this year, IDC (International Data Corporation) is expecting the same lack of growth. This is why the entire industry is waiting for the 5G technology to help the market go back to its former glory. The last year showing a significant growth was 2016 with a 2.5% progress. With the availability of 5G network and smartphones, tech companies expect to go back to 2016 figures in 2022. But the smartphone industry needs to solve some issues as the way 5G radio waves work can have an impact on the quality of the call and daily use of the device. As Dan Jones from Light Reading explains, it could be a similar problem to what happened with the “antennagate” on iPhone 4. Basically, this phenomenon called “human blockage”, impacts quality of the call, as the way someone holds the phone decreases…

Blockchain will be the next tool used by the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority in India) to fight against aggressive telemarketing, that is using spam calls and SMS. According to the TRAI, blockchain technology is able to track those annoying telemarketers. As they use unregistered phone numbers, they are usually hard to track, and with this new way of fighting against those marketing methods, India’s Telecom regulator will be the first to use blockchain as a mean of regulation. TRAI Chairman RS Sharma said: “Blockchain will ensure two things — non-repudiation and confidentiality. Only those authorized will be able to access details of a subscriber and only when they need to deliver service…“ and added that “TRAI will become the first organization to implement this kind of regulation on such a large scale,” 30 billion commercial calls or SMS are sent every month to users in India. Most of them are…

The secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Zhao Houlin, explained at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, that infrastructure, investment, innovation and inclusion, or the “4 I’s”. Those pillars for information and communication technology (ICT) will be an obligation to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially for the next ten years. Infrastructure are essential to hold any economy based on communication and high tech. The future of digital economy in sustainable cities, will largely be based on the capacity to construct strong equipments for those infrastructures, not only to connect people but also objects. Strong investments are fundamental for the development of ICT. In order to see progress on SDG, innovation in the domain of finance will be needed and a mix between public and private investors is one of the solutions. Opportunity is only possible with innovation, thus small companies that base their growth and survival…