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Tag: data

  • YTL launches 4G LTE data, VoLTE services

    YTL launches 4G LTE data, VoLTE services

    YTL Communications in Malaysia has deployed Elitecore’s Revenue and Customer Management (RCM) Platform to roll out its 4G LTE high speed data & VoLTE services.

    The platform will enable the operator to roll out new business models like, HD Voice (VoLTE), Enterprise LTE and LTE Roaming, in addition to the Double Double buckets, one for wireless broadband and another for mobile internet, VoLTE and data services bundled with devices.

    YTL Communications said it is the only operator in Asia Pacific to commercially launch nationwide Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services.

    Elitecore’s NFV ready and Virtualized platform comprises of integrated policy and charging, 3GPP AAA, convergent billing, fulfillment, mobile self-care catering to voice, data and VAS services supporting multiple networks such as LTE, Wi-Fi and Wimax.

    “Elitecore’s product roadmap alignment with YTL’s business vision and proven experience in convergent billing and integrated policy and charging supports our growth strategy and helped us migrate from our legacy billing and operational support systems,” said Ali Tabassi, COO of YTL Communications. “The platform offers high agility for faster time-to-market and feature rich functionalities.”

    Elitecore said its RCM is a modular and feature ready platform that offers operators the speed and flexibility to roll out, new monetization and personalization use cases needed to innovate in next-generation data services. The platform promises significant contribution to capex and AMC cost reduction.

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  • Singtel expands ReadyRoam to 26 countries

    Singtel expands ReadyRoam to 26 countries

    Singtel has expanded its ReadyRoam mobile data roaming service to cover multi-destination roaming across 26 countries in Asia, Europe and North America.

    The ReadyRoam 1GB for 30 days service will allow customers to use the same pool of data while traveling between any of the supported countries.

    The base service supports roaming between 11 Asian markets – China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand – for S$20 ($14).

    For customers traveling further afield, ReadyRoam USA and Europe supports roaming to the above countries, as well as Canada, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the USA.

    Excess usage will be charged at S$0.019 per MB or S$0.034 per MB depending on a customer’s plan.

    “It’s the holiday season and many of our customers and their families will be traveling,” Singtel VP of mobile marketing consumer Singapore Diana Chen said.

    “Our enhanced ReadyRoam 1GB for 30 days will allow them the convenience of remaining contactable via their Singtel SIM card number while roaming seamlessly across multiple destinations.”

  • Qlik and Esri Singapore join forces to redefine visual analytics

    Qlik and Esri Singapore join forces to redefine visual analytics

    Qlik, a leader in visual analytics, today announced its technology partnership with Esri Singapore, the country’s leading Geographic Information System (GIS) technology provider.

    The collaboration will see Esri Singapore and Qlik working together to educate industries on the benefits of synergising geographic and spatial analytics.

    Smart mapping: making intelligent decisions with geographic information

    Esri’s ArcGIS Online is a collaborative, cloud-based technology platform that allows users to easily create, share and access content rich maps, applications and data. The technology collects location information contained within an organisation’s data and translates static data into useful, intelligent maps. Different locations have unique characteristics, and organisations need to identify, qualify and understand the connections between people, places and events. When mapping analytics is combined with a powerful visual analytics platform, organisations can add a new dimension to the practice of analysing information by translating complex datasets into the universal language of smart maps.

    Additionally, by integrating location information with data in real-time, businesses can unearth relationships, patterns and trends that would otherwise remain hidden. Esri’s ArcGIS Online maps are compatible with both QlikView and Qlik Sense. The Qlik Sense extension is available on Qlik Branch – a collaborative workspace and open exchange that provides customers, developers and partners simplified access to the open and powerful APIs of Qlik solutions. “More than 80 per cent of our business data is location related. From understanding your customer information and their behaviours to managing chronic illness, pandemic patterns, and even business impact due to accessibility of transport networks – location essentially links different sets of business information together to provide executives with better informed decision making.

    Through our partnership with Qlik, we aim to help organisations understand the value of letting users see their data in new and provoking ways, allowing them to develop actionable plans to address real-world challenges, said Thomas Pramotedham, Chief Executive Officer, Esri Singapore. “From retail sales performance to urban planning, being able to seamlessly merge intelligent mapping with visual analytics is critical to smart, data-driven decision-making. Qlik is proud to partner with Esri Singapore to promote the benefits of combining mapping technology and visual analytics for organisations to drive better decision making. We look forward to pursuing more innovative projects together in the future,” said CK Tan, Product Marketing, Qlik Asia Pacific.

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  • Aussie mobile customers’ private data up for sale

    Aussie mobile customers’ private data up for sale

    Private information on Australian mobile subscribers are being sold off by unscrupulous members of offshore call centers, according to an investigative report.

    The private details of customers from the market’s three operators – Optus, Telstra and Vodafone – are being offered for sale by a call center business named AI Solutions, run by Indian businesman Imran Khan.

    Information including home addresses, dates of birth, alternative numbers, billing statements and call history are being offered for between A$350 ($260) and A$1,000, the report states. Prices are higher for VIPs , politicians, police and celebrities.

    Security industry sources spoken to for the report say the practice of call center workers selling off Australian customer details has been long-standing, and potentially involves more than one company.

    In a press statement, a Vodafone Hutchison Australia spokesperson said the company is “aware there are individuals who do attempt to illegally access data through various channels from companies and organisations which hold customer information,” and has “invested millions of dollars over recent years in security systems and processes, and have a number of safeguards in place to prevent unlawful access of customer information.”

    For offshore call centers, security safeguards include paperless offices, a no mobile phone policy, no access to third party websites, email monitoring, role based systems access, continuous agent training and disciplinary process.

    An Optus spokesperson said the company has referred the matter to federal police, and Telstra said the company does everything it can to protect customer data.

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  • PCCW Global connects to Djibouti Data Center

    PCCW Global connects to Djibouti Data Center

    PCCW Global, the international operating division of Richard Li-owned HKT, has selected Djibouti Data Center (DDC) to facilitate network expansion and the provision of colocation and undersea fiber cable access services in East Africa.

    The Djibouti Data Center has been built to Tier III data center standards and serves as a major meeting point for undersea fiber cable systems including the new Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1) submarine cable designed to connect Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

    The AAE-1 system, of which PCCW Global is a founder consortium member, will employ 100Gbps technology, with a capacity of more than 40 terabits to provide customers with low-latency and direct connectivity around the world.

    The 25,000km-long submarine cable is expected to be ready for service by early 2017, connecting Djibouti with Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and France.

    “The addition of AAE-1 to PCCW Global’s existing undersea fiber cable assets in the region will enable us to provide even more robust services, along with lower latency and increased diversity, boosting services levels for our customers,” said Jordick Wong, senior vice president of product and vendor management at PCCW Global.

    Wong said the partnership with DDC is an important element of its wider pan-African development and expansion plans.

    It enables PCCW Global to establish cross-connect and colocation facilities directly adjacent to Djibouti Telecom’s cable landing stations. In addition to supporting AAE-1 in the near future, the DDC provides access to fiber-cable systems such as EIG, EASSy, Aden-Djibouti, and Ethiopia-Djibouti, Wong added.

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  • AsiaInfo strengthens cloud computing portfolio

    AsiaInfo strengthens cloud computing portfolio

    Chinese telecoms IT software company AsiaInfo has signed a strategic co-operation agreement with Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group.

    The two companies said they will work together on projects and jointly promote China as a center of excellence for cloud computing services and innovation.

    The partnership will also see the pair share a wide range of resources and jointly build a more open cloud ecosystem to form the basis of a comprehensive portfolio of cloud-based services.

    AsiaInfo said the company is stepping up its transition from a supplier of IT solutions to telco service providers, to a specialist in enabling digital business transformation for operators, their partners and other enterprises.

    Cloud-based delivery platforms and exchanges play a key role in the company’s vision of the industrial and business-led Internet, and the partnership with Alibaba Cloud will enable the company to continue to develop and deliver advanced operator and business solutions, the company added.

    “We are entering a new era of the internet. An era where people and things become customers, where service providers and businesses become operators, and where cloud-based business technology platforms will form both the backbone and the brains of the digital network,” said AsiaInfo CEO Michael Wu.

    “Our partnership with Alibaba Cloud will ensure we stay at the forefront of developments and provide innovative and ground-breaking solutions to our customers.”

  • CenturyLink to sell data centers for $2.15b

    CenturyLink to sell data centers for $2.15b

    US-based global operator CenturyLink has arranged to sell its data centers and colocation business to a consortium led by BC Partners and Medina for $2.15 billion.

    CenturyLink plans to use the net proceeds from this sale to partly fund its acquisition of Level 3 Communications announced last week

    Under terms of the agreement, the consortium will assume ownership of CenturyLink’s portfolio of 57 data centers at closing. The data center portfolio includes approximately 195 megawatts of power across 2.6 million square feet of raised floor capacity.

    Post-sale, the company will continue to focus on offering customers a wide range of IT services and solutions, including network, managed hosting and cloud.

    Though it will no longer own the data centers, CenturyLink will continue to offer colocation services as part of its product portfolio through its commercial relationships to be entered into at closing with the BC Partners/Medina-led consortium.

    “After conducting a thorough review process, we are pleased to have reached an agreement with BC Partners,”  CenturyLink CEO Glen F. Post III said.

    “We believe this transaction will benefit customers, employees and investors. Both CenturyLink and BC Partners have a strong customer focus and are committed to ensuring a seamless transition of the customers and their colocation environments.”

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  • Orange Business launches IoT and analytics suite globally

    Orange Business launches IoT and analytics suite globally

    Orange Business Services has announced the worldwide launch of Datavenue, its IoT and data analytics modular suite.

    Datavenue will help multinational and large national corporations seize the endless opportunities offered by the IoT revolution, the operator said.

    Already 56% of decision makers consider IoT as strategic. Use cases include improving safety and user experience within smart cities by connecting street lights or parking meters, as well as improving quality of life by connecting medical devices to monitor a person’s health remotely.

    Datavenue is supported by Orange Business Services’ 700 IoT and analytics experts worldwide, as well as data scientists, developers, consultants, statisticians and IoT security experts.

    Datavenue includes four modules:

    1. Select relevant objects and sources of data. Orange offers a range of certified and tested connected objects, such as sensors, cameras or modules to connect existing assets. Datavenue has a catalog of data that includes population movement analytics using anonymized data from mobile networks.
    2. Connect objects reliably with the most suitable and secured networks. A truck travelling cross borders or an agricultural sensor in a field would require different networks. To address the wide diversity of needs, Orange provides a range of connectivity options. These include future-proof global cellular networks and innovative capabilities, such as eUiCC, worldwide fixed and satellite networks, as well as low-power solutions, such as LoRa.
    3. Manage data to improve efficiencies and create enhanced services. For example, a construction company can monitor cranes worldwide to prevent problems and reduce maintenance costs. Managing data in real-time enables technicians to solve issues remotely or to arrive on site with the right material, reducing service interruptions. Orange offers both cloud-based and on-premises software solutions, encompassing remote device management, processing and visualization.
    4. Control key elements of enterprise transformation projects. Orange experts aim to provide end-to-end security and data protection, integration with information systems and service scalability. Throughout the entire project and beyond, customers can rely on Orange to ensure the solutions are future-proof and adapted to market evolutions.

    “We have developed extensive vertical expertise around IoT and data analytics in several sectors, including automotive, industry, smart cities, healthcare and smart homes,” Orange Business Services VP of IoT and analytics Olivier Ondet said.

    “Our solutions have already improved performance and employee safety through industrial machinery monitoring, enhanced patient care with remote assistance, and enriched citizen well-being with smart city services. This is now all being brought together to support the international launch of Orange Datavenue.”

    Datavenue was first launched in France in 2015. Orange today operates more than 10 million active B2B objects and processes 65 million items of technical data per minute – all fully compliant with data protection regulations.

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  • Hangzhou to harness Alibaba Cloud’s AI, analytics tools

    Hangzhou to harness Alibaba Cloud’s AI, analytics tools

    Alibaba Cloud announced at its recent Computing Conference that it will provide its AI, deep learning and data analytics capabilities for two new cutting-edge developments in China.

    Initiated by the Hangzhou government, the “Hangzhou City Brain” is set to address the city’s urban living challenges. As the hub to consolidate data and provide real-time analysis, the “Hangzhou City Brain” will rely on Alibaba Cloud’s AI program ET and big data analytics capabilities to perform real-time traffic prediction with its video and image recognition technologies.

    The project will support transportation departments’ efforts to ease traffic congestion and provide users with real-time traffic recommendations and travel routes.

    “By establishing the Hangzhou City Brain, Hangzhou is taking the lead in harnessing artificial intelligence and deep learning technologies to promote greater sustainability and improve the quality of urban living for Chinese citizens. Alibaba Cloud is proud to support and be part of this important development, “said Dr Jian Wang, chairman of Alibaba Group’s technology steering committee.

    With automated traffic system capabilities, intelligent adjustments of traffic lights will be performed on the spot; when a vehicle changes direction, the green light will automatically be extended. The pilot of world’s most advanced smart traffic management system in the Hangzhou’s Xiaoshan District, which started in September this year, has since seen an increase in traffic speed by 11%.

    The project is being led by the Hangzhou government in coordination with 13 firms including Alibaba Cloud. As part of the project, a research and development team of scientists from various companies has been formed.

    Forming the backbone of the “Hangzhou City Brain” data processing and analysis capabilities is Apsara, Alibaba Cloud’s large scale computing operating system, which is able to cluster millions of servers into a super computer and to support a multitude of cloud-based services by analyzing terabytes of data points. This computational engine is one of the largest of its kind in the world and uses propriety algorithms.

    Paving the way for astronomical data storage and analytics

    Aiming to leverage its technologies for astronomical data collection and analysis, Alibaba Cloud also announced at the Computing Conference its research collaboration with the National Astronomical Observatory of China (NAOC) on deep space exploration.

    The plans are to set up a data and research centre for astronomy, as well as a virtual solar observatory which will be supported by Apsara’s massive scalability and advanced capabilities to process astronomical data.

  • Trifacta extends enterprise data wrangling

    Trifacta extends enterprise data wrangling

    Trifacta has released Trifacta v4, which has capabilities specifically designed to work for more users, more diverse data sources and within more cloud environments.

    Trifacta v4 features the general availability of Builder, a new menu-driven workflow to guide users through data wrangling steps. The latest release includes the general availability of the Photon Compute Engine, improving the scale of data that users are able to wrangle on-the-fly, directly within the Trifacta application.

    Photon provides an optimized engine for datasets that do not require parallel processing within Trifacta’s Intelligent Execution architecture. The v4 release also expands support for customers deploying Trifacta in cloud environments such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure, while extending the ability of users to directly connect to a variety of enterprise data sources, including Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and Teradata.

    A core focus area of the v4 release is to enrich Trifacta’s unique data wrangling user experience by offering a new workflow for building data preparation steps. The addition of Builder to the Trifacta interface augments the ability of users to wrangle data without the need to utilize scripts.

    The v4 release also expands upon Trifacta’s blend of data visualization and machine learning to guide users through common data wrangling tasks. With pattern profiling, users visualize common and anomalous text patterns that are automatically detected within each column.

  • Singtel launches triple mobile data add-on

    Singtel launches triple mobile data add-on

    Singtel has announced a new mobile data add-on allowing customers to triple their mobile data allocations for a flat fee.

    The new DataX3 addon will be available to Singtel’s Combo Plan customers for S$9.90 per month. Combo Plans offer base data allocations ranging from 2GB to 12GB.

    It joins the ComboX2 addon, which launched earlier this year and allows customers to double their allocations for S$5.90 per month.

    Singtel has also launched WiFi calling for all Singtel mobile postpaid customers. The service is available without the use of an app, and offers seamless WiFi to 4G handover.

    The service is being made available at no additional cost. At launch, the service is available on compatible iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Sony Xperia smartphone models.

    “WiFi Calling is a network innovation which offers added convenience and an enhanced mobile experience to customers. Our customers can now have mobile coverage even in difficult to reach places such as basements and windowless rooms, as long as there is a WiFi signal,” Singtel CEO consumer Singapore Yuen Kuan Moon said.

    “This service extends our extensive mobile network to cover a wider footprint and complements our ongoing efforts in delivering the fastest and widest 4G service in Singapore.”

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  • 5G connections tipped to reach 690m by 2025

    5G connections tipped to reach 690m by 2025

    There will be around 690 million 5G connections by 2025, five years after the standard is expected to be approved, Strategy Analytics predicts.

    The research firm expects 5G to account for 7% of mobile connections by this time, driven by early adopters in the US, South Korea and Japan.

    China has also laid out a 2020 5G launch plan, Strategy Analytics notes, which will help accelerate adoption.

    Operators including NTT DoCoMo, SK Telecom, Verizon and AT&T are leading the charge

    Commercial 5G handset sales are meanwhile expected to exceed 300 million by 2025, according to Strategy Analytics director Ken Hyers.

    “While the first commercial 5G handsets will appear in small numbers in 2020 in South Korea and Japan, from 2021 more countries including the US, UK, Sweden, UAE and China will see their own launches,” he said.

    “By 2022 tens of millions of 5G handsets will be sold, and as a proportion of total handset sales will reach low single digit percentages.”

    The first trial 5G handsets expected to emerge in 2018 are expected to have issues including short battery life, no 4G handover or unstable connectivity, Strategy Analytics said. But these teething problems are expected to have been largely resolved once commercial handsets reach the market.

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  • StarHub brings back 12GB+ mobile data bundles

    StarHub brings back 12GB+ mobile data bundles

    Singapore’s StarHub has launched a new range of plans bundling large volumes of mobile data with 1Gbps fiber broadband subscriptions.

    The operator’s new SurfHub plans include between 12GB and 24GB of 4G data as well as the 1Gbps home broadband plan.

    Prices start at under S$100, which is about half the cost of a standalone 12GB mobile plan, StarHub head of product and marketing Wang Li-Na said.

    “We know customers miss the freedom that huge data bundles offer and wish they were as affordable as before. Faster 4G technologies have catalysed the adoption of data-intensive services, and our customers are now sharing more and watching for longer on their smartphones, she said.

    “With SurfHub, we want to continue giving our Hubbing customers the best value, which is what StarHub is known for.”

    The plans also come with between 150 minutes and 700 minutes of talk time and 1000 to 1500 SMS, and offers for 50% off value-added services including international roaming, multiSIM and the StarHub Go Select online streaming service.

    StarHub has also increased the mobile data allocation for its five-services-in-one pack HomeHub Go – which combines 3G and 4G mobile broadband, fiber home broadband, fiber TV and home phone services – to 15GB.

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  • Only four Asian nations safe for data storage

    Only four Asian nations safe for data storage

    Only four Asian nations are considered truly secure for data storage, according to a new report by secure data center operator Artmotion.

    Combining independent data from the United Nations, World Economic Forum, Transparency International and several other leading privacy groups, the report titled “Data Danger Zones” ranks over 170 nations on their abilities to keep digital information safe, private and secure.

    Globally, the benchmark identified Switzerland as the safest nation for data storage, receiving a “potential risk score” of only 1.6%. Singapore was ranked as the the safest Asian nation, with a risk score of 1.9% as a result of the island state’s independent privacy legislation and political stability.

    Hong Kong (5th place), Taiwan (6th place) and South Korea (15th place) also join Singapore in the top 15 safest nations globally, ahead of the United Kingdom and the United States of America which ranked 23rd and 38th respectively.

    Despite Asia’s growing role as a market for data storage, the new benchmark suggests that it is falling behind other regions when it comes to data security and privacy. While only a few IT managers have chosen to store data in Afghanistan or Yemen, rapidly expanding data center markets such as China did not even qualify for the top 50 safest nations.

    More surprisingly, India, one of Asia’s key technology hubs and home to the largest data center in the world, ranked only 107th on the list, falling below Russia and Turkey.

    Commenting on the new study, data privacy expert Mateo Meier said: “It’s very easy for businesses and individuals to forget the importance of physical location when selecting a cloud hosting service or data hosting provider.

    “Especially in today’s volatile world, businesses need to not only consider data privacy regulations, but also take into account other risk factors such as political environments, geographic locations and physical infrastructure.

    “In support of this point, the Data Danger Zones report examines over 3.5 trillion IP addresses in 170 assessing countries, providing one of the most comprehensive guides ever created for data safety. Through this analysis, we want businesses to be able to make a more informed decision of how and where to store their data, and have a better understanding whether or not it is truly safe.”

  • CSL to offer free unlimited data for Pokemon GO

    CSL to offer free unlimited data for Pokemon GO

    Hong Kong’s CSL aims to take advantage of the global buzz around the augmented reality game Pokemon GO by offering free unlimited mobile data for the app as a promotional exercise.

    Once the game launches in Hong Kong, customers of both the CSL and 1O1O mobile brands will be able to use the game without incurring data charges.

    The offer appears to be an attempt to attract or retain customers from the younger segment. In line with this, the offer is applicable to CSL’s student plans, which are tailored for users aged between 11 and 17.

    Mobile customers in Hong Kong will also be able to use the Tap & Go mobile payment service to purchase Pokecoins from Google Play and the Apple App Store.

    “As the leading mobile operator in Hong Kong, we foresee that Pokemon GO popularity would take off once this new sensation is launched in Hong Kong,” CSL chief marketing officer Bruce Lam commented.

    “ And we are making this offer available so our customers can play the game for hours on end without having to worry about mobile data consumption.”

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