- For the post-deadline papers, click here
- For the plenary including France Telecom and Alcatel, click here
- And for NGN's summary of the ECOC exhibition, click here
Thursday, November 30, 2006
ECOC: Post-deadline papers and plenary
The European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC 2006) has made available the post-deadline papers and video recordings of the plenary session
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Mobile as personal assistant and project manager
Information from your handset could enable data analysis techniques to recommend activities and schedule your day.
MIT Media Laboratory has developed a technique that predicts a user's daily behavior and social allegiances based on handset data such as a user's early-morning activities and locations. Technology Review magazine reports that the technique predicted a person's remaining daily activities, associations and locations with 79 percent accuracy, and group affiliations with a 96 percent accuracy, using early-morning location and activity data only.
The research work will now investigate how people influence one another, and in particular, determine the level of satisfaction of people working on projects in groups.
For a paper detailing the work, click here
MIT Media Laboratory has developed a technique that predicts a user's daily behavior and social allegiances based on handset data such as a user's early-morning activities and locations. Technology Review magazine reports that the technique predicted a person's remaining daily activities, associations and locations with 79 percent accuracy, and group affiliations with a 96 percent accuracy, using early-morning location and activity data only.
The research work will now investigate how people influence one another, and in particular, determine the level of satisfaction of people working on projects in groups.
For a paper detailing the work, click here
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Soundbite: Search engines 50 years' hence
"In 50 years the scene will be transformed. Instead of typing a few words into a search engine, people will discuss their needs with a digital intermediary, which will offer suggestions and refinements. The result will not be a list of links, but an annotated report (or a simple conversation) that synthesises the important points, with references to the original literature. People won't think of 'search' as a separate category - it will all be part of living."
Peter Norvig, director of research at Google, quoted in New Scientist's 50th anniversary issue where brilliant minds forecast the next 50 years.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Ofcom on next-generation access
UK regulator Ofcom has published a discussion document on next-generation access (NGA) networks. The document looks at a series of questions in relation to future NGA networks, including how Ofcom should best apply regulatory mechanisms as part of its review of telecoms.
For a copy of the document, click here
For a copy of the document, click here
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Q&A with Huawei's UK MD - Part II
NGN interviewed Edward Chen, the UK managing director of Huawei Technologies. This is the second and final part of the interview. For the first part, click here.
NGN: How many staff does Huawei employ in Europe?
EC: To date, we have 26 branch offices across Europe and products deployed in over 28 countries. There is currently around 1,800 staff working for Huawei within Europe.
NGN: Out of the total staff, roughly how many are support engineers and technicians and how many are management?
EC: Some 39% of Huawei’s European staff work within the Technical Services Department and 31% within the Sales Department (including Technical Sales). The remaining 30% of staff work within administration, finance, supply chain, marketing etc. Management functions are integrated into these categories.
NGN: And out of the total staff: roughly how many are local recruits and how many are staff relocated from China?
There are currently over 1,800 staff working for Huawei within Europe, over 60% of which are drawn from local expertise. As it continues to see growth in Europe, Huawei expects to expand its workforce accordingly to meet local demand, and will recruit staff best placed to meet local customer needs in terms of language and local market knowledge.
Across Europe Huawei has an R&D Center in Sweden and an R&D Centre, test bed and customer showcase in Amsterdam. Huawei has plans to build further R&D centers in Europe in the coming years. With Huawei’s local R&D strategy we aim to bring more investment and job opportunities within local markets.
NGN: What main network transitions in Europe offer Huawei the best opportunities for new design wins and why? Possible examples include 1) the upgrade from ATM to IP DSLAMs, 2) IMS, 3) FMC, 4) home gateways etc. But Huawei may look at this question in a different way
EC: Convergence is an ongoing trend in the telecommunications industry and carriers are increasingly looking at vendors that have a comprehensive, end-to-end portfolio of products and solutions. The industry has also moved towards a greater commitment towards open standards, which is a key strength that Huawei offers to its customers.
Huawei believes that IP-based ICT industry integration will create a profound and extensive impact on the future of telecom networks. The key to delivering excellence in service operations lies in the evolution of the existing network to a flexible IP-based multi-service network and the establishment of a win-win broadband value chain.
Huawei sees two key trends emerging in the telecoms industry:
- In the consumer market, operators will go beyond providing traditional services such as voice and broadband access, to offering IPTV, Portal, Payment, and Marketplace services. There will now be a need for operators to cooperate with various partners including media groups, schools, banks, and content providers. The operator will not only serve as a network service provider but also as an integrated service provider. In addition, their business model will change from one that is focused on getting the "share of communication minutes" to one that is focused on getting the "share of total consumer spending".
- In the business market, operators will expand the range of services that they provide, from "only service products" to "service solutions", especially in terms of IT services, meaning that operators will now need to understand the customer's business process and offer the right service solution accordingly. The operator will then become not only a product provider but also a solution provider or system integrator. Consequently, their business model will change from one that "offers leased line to businesses" to one that "helps optimize the business process".
The service model that Huawei envisages for the future is one that will provide users with a unified, ubiquitous experience: with the same level of service at home, on the move, at a hotspot, or in the office, and available anytime, anywhere, and via any terminal.
According to Infonetics Huawei holds the No.1 position in global IP-DSLAM market in 2005 (30.0% of ports market share). (Editor note: According to Infonetics' Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for broadband and IPTV, as of 2Q 2006, Huawei is number 1 in IP DSLAM ports shipped, but is second to Alcatel in worldwide IP DSLAM revenue.) The goal of many operators will be to achieve all IP architecture by 2010. Huawei sees the following four key migration directions: