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Tag: #internet

  • Singapore and Philippines to Boost Data Connectivity

    Singapore and Philippines to Boost Data Connectivity

    Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Monetary Authority of Singapore have agreed to promote the adoption and implementation of policies to aggregate, store, process, and transmit data across borders for banks and non-bank financial institutions.

    While the increasing use of data in financial services and the increasing use of technology to supply financial services offer a range of benefits, they also pose new and complex risks for markets and challenges for policymakers and regulators, the two sides said in a joint announcement on Monday.

    Data mobility in financial services supports economic growth and the development of innovative financial services, and benefits risk management and compliance programs, by enabling stronger supervision of cross-border money laundering, terrorist financing patterns, and proliferation financing while strengthening defense against cyberattacks and allowing the regulators to manage and assess risk on a global basis, the statement noted.

    The two regulators said that covered institutions should be allowed to transfer data, including personal information, across borders by electronic means to facilitate business activities, and the location where covered institutions can store and process their data should not be restricted as long as BSP and MAS have full and timely access to the data necessary to fulfill their regulatory and supervisory mandate.

  • Google tests replacing URL with site’s domain name in Chrome

    Google tests replacing URL with site’s domain name in Chrome

    There are so many different versions of the Google Chrome browser in the Google Play Store. The Chrome Browser is the public version of Google’s browser. It has a Translate feature, Desktop mode, Dark mode, and other capabilities. Other versions of Chrome that can be installed on most Android phones include the Chrome Dev app. As Google says on the app’s listing on the Google Play Store, “Live on the bleeding edge: Try out our latest features. (They’ll be rough around the edges!) That means that the app will be buggy so you better think twice before installing it. The Chrome Dev app can be found here. This is a little more refined than the Chrome Canary app, which is very unstable and includes a nightly build for developers.

    Google last week started testing a change for the Chrome Dev/Canary 85 apps that hide the URL address of the website that they are on and only shows the domain name of the site (for example, Google.com). A Chromium developer said, “We think this is an important problem area to explore because phishing and other forms of social engineering are still rampant on the web, and much research shows that browsers’ current URL display patterns aren’t effective defenses. We’re implementing this simplified domain display experiment so that we can conduct qualitative and quantitative research to understand if it helps users identify malicious websites more accurately.” In other words, Google is testing whether replacing full web addresses with just a domain name help users easier spot a malicious website.

    To get this feature to work on Chrome Dev or Canary 85, you’ll have to enable a flag. Open one of the two aforementioned browsers on your Android device and go to Chrome://Flags. Search for Omnibox UI and enable “Omnibox UI Hide Steady-State URL Path, Query, and Ref.” Once the flag is enabled and you reboot your phone, instead of seeing a long URL address in the address field, only the domain name will appear. For example, instead of seeing “https://crm.retailnews.asia/major-us-carriers-go-down” you’ll just see the domain name of crm.retailnews.asia/news.

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  • Samsung Internet Browser beta shows privacy and interface improvements

    Samsung Internet Browser beta shows privacy and interface improvements

    Samsung devices come with the South Korean giant’s own app ecosystem, including an email client and an internet browser app. And although most Android users usually stick with Google’s offerings, namely Gmail and Google Chrome, Samsung’s own internet browser is becoming a respectable alternative to the latter.

    In its new beta version, the Samsung Internet app brings a number of security and privacy-related updates, including support for DuckDuckGo, which is a search engine that’s primarily focused on user privacy, its tagline being “The Search Engine That Doesn’t Track You.”

    Another great addition is support for third party content (advertising) blockers. SamMobile also reports that a new feature called “Block unwanted pages” will combat shady websites that would normally be a hassle to get out of, requiring several back button taps.

    The Samsung Internet Beta app also introduces some convenient customizations, such as the ability to add shortcuts to actions like Share or activating Secret Mode (an alternative to Incognito in Chrome) to the menu bar.

    Its other notable features include support for progressive web apps, allowing for certain websites to be installed as apps. Samsung’s Video Assistant also made a return recently, letting users switch between viewing modes while watching videos. 360° video support and an Amazon Shopping assistant, allowing for comparing products and finding deals, are also available.

    The browser itself is based on the open-source Chromium project, much like Chrome and Microsoft’s new Edge browser, so web pages should load and behave as they do in those alternatives, with no issues.

    It’s not certain if all of the features seen in the beta will make it to the main Samsung Internet Browser app, and when, though generally a jump from beta shouldn’t take too long.

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  • Thai consumers ready to engage with technology instore or via Ecommerce

    Thai consumers ready to engage with technology instore or via Ecommerce

    Seventy percent of Thai consumers prefer to use apps to shop online, according to a study by Wirecard – but they expect a consistent offer across all of a brand’s sales channels.

    According to the report, “consistent cross-channel experiences are vital to consumers” because 90 percent of them go online to research products they are considering buying. And when inside stores, they would rather use an app or the store’s website to research products via their phone rather than use in-store screens or VR booths.

    The Wirecard Global Shopping Report, which covered markets across Asia, Europe and the Americas, concludes that physical stores remain relevant to the modern shopper, but the way in which merchants interact with customers has changed and is a key part of their success.

    Other findings relating to Thai consumers include:

    • 84 percent of consumers surveyed are willing to share personal data in return for incentives.
    • Shoppers are “always-on” so maintaining an up-to-date online store is key for retailers.
    • Consumers will shop online most often while they are relaxing (76 percent), watching TV (39 percent) or in bed (23 percent).
    • 87 percent of Thai shoppers are interested in using biometrics, such as facial recognition or fingerprint, to purchase products both in-store and online.
    • 89 percent are interested in using technologies such as mobile apps, smart mirrors and VR while shopping.

    Markus Eichinger, EVP group strategy at Wirecard, said the research shows Thai consumers clearly desire choice when completing purchases.

    “Consumers shop in many different ways nowadays and this is challenging merchants to meet a wide range of retail demands. A lot of focus is put on pricing, but not necessarily on the flexibility customers seek. A unified commerce strategy, with a focus on a consistent and frictionless buying journey, is integral to offering consumers the experience they would expect from any modern retailer,” he said.

    “In the future, brick and mortar stores will only exist if they are technologically advanced with the latest in-store innovations and a fully integrated e-commerce backend.

    “Retailers that want to engage with their customers via targeted offers, and improve their service across all channels need to leverage customer data. Our report shows that if customers can see a concrete benefit when it comes to providing personal information, they are willing to share it with retailers, thus providing merchants critical data which they can analyze to optimize their offerings and improve customer loyalty,” Eichinger concluded.

  • Malware costs Vietnam $900 mln

    Malware costs Vietnam $900 mln

    Malware caused Vietnamese users damage worth VND20.89 trillion ($900.8 million) last year, up 40 percent year-on-year.

    The surge came with the rising number of computers contaminated with malware from advanced persistent threats (APT), according to a report released Thursday by Vietnam’s cybersecurity firm BKAV.

    The number of computers infected with malware rose 3.5 percent year-on-year to 85.2 million in 2019. This means 57.7 percent of computers nationwide were infected.

    Increasing virus infections occurred via email, from 4 percent of the 2018 total to 20 percent last year.

    Another reason for the high contamination is Vietnamese users’ habit of downloading files without checking the authenticity. Eight out of 10 computers were infected with malware because of this behavior, the report stated.

    Rising threats resulted in 1.8 million computers losing data last year, up 12 percent from 2018.

    A large-scale foreign attack last year saw the hack of devices via manipulation of weak passwords.

    The attack caused 420,000 computers to be infected with dangerous W32. Fileless malware, which BKAV experts say have “invisibility” as it does not leave behind traces on hardware like other malware.

    BKAV forecast malware would become increasingly dangerous this year as hackers use them for financial benefits, like accessing bank accounts.

  • Russia seeks to replace Wikipedia as it accelerates ‘sovereign internet’ plans

    Russia seeks to replace Wikipedia as it accelerates ‘sovereign internet’ plans

    Russia is reportedly seeking to replace Wikipedia with a state-run online encyclopedia as it accelerates plans for a “sovereign internet”.

    According to a Reuters report, Russia plans to spend around $30 million setting up the Wikipedia replacement and creating a department to keep it stocked with manipulated verified content.

    Russian president Vladimir Putin is said to believe that Wikipedia contains misinformation. Given Putin’s background as a foreign intelligence officer in the KGB, and the alleged disinformation campaigns spread by Russia’s infamous “troll farms,” it’s likely he knows a thing or two about the subject.

    Being a community-driven resource, Wikipedia has certainly found itself hosting misinformation from the amusing to the dangerous. Of course, rights campaigners are concerned it’s just an excuse to control what information Russian citizens can access – especially given Russia already has a history on this issue.

    Back in 2015, Roscomnadzor – the branch of the Russian government which polices media and the internet – ordered ISPs to block Wikipedia. The offending article was about charas, a form of marijuana. Roscomnadzor claimed the page constitutes instructions on how to make the drug.

    That same year, Russia blocked the entirety of Reddit over a post about hallucinogenic mushrooms.

    Russia is once again clamping down on web access in the country and even intends to create a “sovereign internet” that can still function cut off from the outside world if needed.

    Russia was going to temporarily unplug from the global internet as part of an experiment to ensure that the nation can still function without it.

    Russia’s fear is that – due to organizations that maintain the international DNS system is based around the world, but none in Russia itself – the nation could be disconnected from the web in an extreme scenario.

    A draft law called the Digital Economy National Program would require Russian ISPs to ensure they’re able to operate if foreign powers isolate the country.

    The second experiment in Russia tasked ISPs with redirecting traffic to government routing points to filter and censor it similar to China’s so-called Great Firewall. It’s likely this approach that will be used by Russia to redirect Wikipedia traffic to the state-run alternative.

    While there’s been relative physical peace between Russia and other world powers for decades, cyberwarfare has been ongoing and increased in recent years amid high-profile attacks on critical infrastructure linked to Russian state hackers and the aforementioned disinformation campaigns.

    International coalitions such as NATO have threatened Russia over allegations of cyberattacks and political interference. NATO allies are drawing up cyber warfare principles for more robust future responses to attacks.

    NATO has even said a cyberattack may trigger Article 5 which stipulates an attack on one member is seen as an attack on all, and commits to a joint response. To date, it’s only been triggered once following the September 11th terrorist attacks in the US.

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  • How to Prevent Anyone from Accessing Your Browsing History?

    How to Prevent Anyone from Accessing Your Browsing History?

    Every time you browse the web, you would certainly have the thought at the back of your mind that someone is either tracking your activities or will be able to access information about the sites and content you accessed. Whether it is your ISP, employer or campus IT staff, hackers, or your government, anyone can access your online activities or even the data you are sending and receiving.

    Browsing the web in incognito or private mode may make you feel safer. However, it doesn’t mean that you are able to hide your web history or online activities. Your ISP and many others are still able to view your activities.

    The following tips should help you add some level of security.

    1. Set Up a VPN

    An effective way to prevent anyone from accessing your data or your location is to us a VPN. And when it comes to choosing a VPN, make sure to install a no-log VPN.

    • A VPN also helps in cloaking the data that helps in identifying you, including your location
    • It can provide you an additional layer of protection against hackers who may be able to break through the wall created by anti-malware software
    • It is crucial that you choose the right VPN service for total privacy and security

    2. Block Third-Party Cookies

    One way to prevent others from tracking your online activities is to block or delete 3rd party cookies. This can be done from your web browser’s settings.

    When it comes to fighting off 3rd party cookies, it is recommended to keep in mind Flash cookies. These cookies are usually associated with sites running Flash or having video content. These cookies are also referred to as super cookies and are capable of regenerating 3rd party cookies that may have been deleted.

    3. Opt Out

    You can turn off tracking from your web browser’s privacy settings. This can prevent the cookies and many other services from keeping track of your activities. While opting out is one option, another one is to block them. There are many websites that may not follow on your requests.

    You can use an anti-tracking plugin to block such sites and services. This can prevent cookies from following you when you browse the internet.

    4. Disable Java & Plugins

    While some plugins are useful and safe, others are not. While Java is essential for the proper working of your browser, it is also capable of exposing data that may identify you or your location. The same can also be said for Adobe Flash.

    Java has the property of ‘fingerprinting’ browsers. It can show a variety of identification data to websites. This data includes IP address. You can disable Java temporarily using the right plugins. You may toggle it back on whenever required. This can help in preventing Java from sending your data to a certain extent.

    So follow all these tips to prevent others from accessing your online activities. While some of these tips are foolproof, others come with limitations. So you should choose the one that offers total protection.

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  • Chrome for iOS goes dark after the latest update

    Chrome for iOS goes dark after the latest update

    Although iOS 13 has been around for about a month now, Apple’s own adoption figures show 50% of eligible iPhones are running the new version of the operating system. It’s not a bad number of course, but those who haven’t updated yet are missing quite a lot.

    Besides the new features and improvements that the iOS 13, a lot of third-party apps are adding new options specification for this version of the platform. One of the most common new features that these third-party apps are adding is dark mode.

    Many developers have already implemented the dark mode into their iOS apps, but Google has somehow missed to opportunity to offer Chrome users this specific feature. Thankfully, the latest update fixes the issue, so if you update Google’s mobile browser to the latest version, you’ll also be getting dark mode.

    Also, the update adds the ability to add a new credit directly in Chrome from the settings page. Lastly, Bookmarks, History, Recent Tabs and Reading List are now presented as cards on iOS 13. Keep in mind that most of the new features won’t be available until you update to iOS 13.

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  • AirAsia sees in-flight Wi-Fi as next income source

    AirAsia sees in-flight Wi-Fi as next income source

    AirAsia has been exemplary in using digital and disruptive technologies in increasing its ancillary income, including the introduction of in-flight Wi-Fi, which is expected to create a US$130 billion global market by 2035, according to London School of Economics research.

    AirAsia is the pioneer of low-cost airline in-flight Wi-Fi in the region.

    “Currently, we have about slightly over 50% of our aircraft (in Malaysia) Wi-Fi-enabled. We expect AirAsia Wi-Fi to be installed fleetwide in all AirAsia Malaysia in 2020,” chief executive officer Riad Asmat said.

    The other AirAsia companies are expected to follow suit, he said.

    “Wi-Fi these days is like oxygen. The moment you sit in a place the first thing we ask is if it has Wi-Fi and it is slowly gaining traction in the aviation sector,” he told Bernama when asked on the growing sector.

    For the Malaysian operation, the flights are all within the one-to four-hour range.

    “Within the AirAsia Wi-Fi ecosystem, the airline has entertainment, we have our e-shop, digital in-flight magazine and some level of entertainment, especially for kids. Besides enhancing the experience of passengers, the service also enables them to connect with their loved ones on air,” said Riad.

    “Hooking up to the AirAsia” Wi-Fi ecosystem is free (browsing kids entertainment, e-shop and magazine) but if you want to use your social media or do real work, then you’ve got to pay and I believe our rates are competitive as compared with other airlines around the region,” he said.

    A check on the service revealed that the Wi-Fi plans range from RM9 to RM58, with the most basic plan capped at 10MB. There is also a top-of-the-line 200MB plan, which is best for streaming. Riad said more than 30% of its passengers have accessed the AirAsia Wi-Fi services and the figure is expected to hit 50% soon.

    Knowing AirAsia, Riad was also quick to point out that incorporating a lot of its services in the AirAsia Wi-Fi ecosystem would also help them cut costs via fuel-saving.

    “Once the aircraft is Wi-Fi-enabled the in-flight magazine (hardcopy) should not be there. It is fuel-saving,” he said, adding that although the hardcopy uses some of the lightest paper material available, going 100% digital would save kilos for every fleet.

    Hence, Wi-Fi is crucial for AirAsia’s business, he said, noting “it is part and parcel of embracing technology.” Riad, however, said the portion of WiFi contribution now to its overall ancillary income is negligible.

    “But the growth potential is phenomenal because once all the aircraft have the service, people start using dependent on the needs of that day. I am sure you can get business out of it, directly and indirectly, especially when passengers browse and make a purchase via OURSHOP,” he said. OURSHOP is AirAsia’s e-commerce platform.

    However, for the service to have a bigger impact on its ancillary income, Riad said it has to remain attractive, noting the company is constantly on the lookout for more content providers.

    AirAsia currently uses the high-speed Ka-band platform, which claims to provide connectivity beyond basic broadband, supporting real-time video, music streaming and more.

    A recent survey by the International Air Transport Association, which represents some 290 airlines comprising 82 percent of global air traffic, revealed that some 53 percent of surveyed passengers found Wi-Fi important to have.

    The importance is highest in Africa (71 percent), followed by Latin America (68 percent) and the Middle East (67 percent), with the lowest in Europe (44 percent) and North America (49 percent).

    The 2019 Global Passenger Survey was based on 10,877 responses from passengers across 166 countries.

    “With the availability of Wi-Fi connectivity continuing to have a direct impact on the overall travel experience, adopting the latest onboard Wi-Fi technology continues to be an effective way for airlines to distinguish their product offering,” said the association.

    Besides WiFi, Riad said there is also a huge potential to increase ancillary income through its cargo business Teleport, which is the second-largest cargo airline group in Southeast Asia by capacity after Singapore Airlines Cargo as of July 2019, according to the Centre for Aviation.

    “We’re currently utilizing only approximately 15% of the available belly space for cargo, in which approximately 40% of our revenues are generated from connections through our network,” he said.

    It delivered approximately RM206 million in revenue in the financial year 2018 and is on track to deliver approximately RM400 million in financial year 2019.

    “We have invested in technology, with the goal to deliver the same day as standard anywhere within Southeast Asia. Airports are at the heart of this ability to do so,” he noted.

    Riad said AirAsia foresees bigger growth in the small parcel business.

  • Vietnam Airlines to launch inflight Wi-Fi service

    Vietnam Airlines to launch inflight Wi-Fi service

    Vietnam Airlines will launch inflight Wi-Fi service on some flights connecting Hanoi and HCMC with cities in China, Japan and Singapore.

    Passengers will be charged VND75,000-735,000 ($2.95 -$29.95) depending on usage time and capacity.

    Providing inflight Wi-Fi service is one of the steps that Vietnam Airlines is taking towards becoming a digital airlines by 2020 and an international five-star airline in the future.

    The Wi-Fi service will be available on the domestic route from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City and international flights from Hanoi to China’s Shanghai and Japan’s Osaka and between HCMC and Osaka and Singapore, the airline said in a statement Monday.

    In the coming months, the airline will continue upgrading and expanding this service to Boeing 787 and other Airbus A350 aircraft with faster speeds, it said.

    Le Hong Ha, deputy general director of Vietnam Airlines, said that when using the service, passengers can send text messages on popular applications such as Viber, iMessage, Messenger and Whatsapp.

    “This is part of Vietnam Airlines’ efforts to catch up with the development trends of the world aviation industry, with many 5-star airlines like Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways and Lufthansa providing similar services,” Ha said.

    Vietnam Airlines operates flights on 60 international and 33 domestic routes.

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  • Taiwan overtakes Singapore in broadband speed

    Taiwan overtakes Singapore in broadband speed

    The global average in terms of broadband speed is 11.03Mbps since May 2019, compared to it being 9.14 at the same time last year. The data from this new research was gathered by a US-based open-source project called Measurement Lab (M-Lab).

    “With average broadband speeds rising by 20.65% in the last year the global picture looks rosy. But the truth is faster countries are the ones lifting the average, pulling away at speed and leaving the slowest to stagnate. Last year, we measured the slowest five countries at 88 times slower than the five fastest. This year they are 125 times slower,” commented Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst at Cable.co.uk, with regards to the M-Lab research.

    The top 15 in the league tables of 2019 comprise of all European and Asian countries, with the US being number 16 on the list.

    Some of the European countries that made it to the top 15 were Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. As for Asian countries, it included Japan and Singapore.

    The league table showed that downloading a movie in HD of around 5GB in size takes 8 minutes and 2 seconds on average in Taiwan while it took 30 hours in Yemen, which was the last-placed country in the league table.

    M-Lab is led by a variety of teams based at Code for Science and Society, Google Princeton University’s PlanetLab, New America’s Open Technology Institute among others.

    “Average speed rankings by country are.. a great starting point for deeper research and statistical analysis of the state of broadband using M-Lab’s global broadband measurement datasets,” said Chris Ritzo, M-Lab’s programme management and community lead.

    The research carried out 276 million speed tests, all on 70 million IP addresses.

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  • Myanmar faces Internet blackout

    Myanmar faces Internet blackout

    On Friday, the country’s Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) urged all telecom operators to suspend the use of internet data in around nine townships across the restive area of Rakhine and its neighboring Chin State.

    Telenor Myanmar said in a statement, “As a basis for its request, the MoTC has referenced disturbances of the peace an internet services to coordinate illegal activities.”

    The order was made under the Telecommunications Law which hut all telecom operators for a period of time which was not specified.

    The army is currently fighting ethnic Rakhine rebels who are searching for greater autonomy within their own region. The Rakhine area is home to many Buddhists who are also fighting on their homeland’s border with the northern Chin state.

    The Rakhine have accused the Myanmar army for committing several abuses against them.

    Many civilians of the region were killed in shellings and crossfires, even whilst they were seeking refuge in monasteries.

    “We have no internet at all. We use the internet to share information through (messaging app) viber,” said Kyaw Soe Moe, head of Inn Din village.

    The internet blackout has also impacted local authorities in the region.

    “We have to use the phone, SMS and fax to report back to our headquarters. Fighting is still ongoing here every day,” said a police officer.

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  • Powering Southeast Asia’s $100 billion Internet economy

    Powering Southeast Asia’s $100 billion Internet economy

    Today, Google, Temasek and new partner, Bain & Company released its e-Conomy Southeast Asia report for 2019, highlighting the most significant industry trends observed in 2019 and analysing the current and future potential of the Southeast Asian Internet economy across its six largest markets (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam).

    The report shows that the region’s Internet economy has hit a new milestone, reaching $100 billion for the first time this year, a 39 percent increase from $72 billion last year. The Internet economies in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand are growing between 20 and 30 percent annually, but the two pacesetters in the region are Indonesia and Vietnam, with growth rates in excess of 40 percent a year.

    This surge across SEA is attributed to the influx of new online users in the region — about 100 million more compared to four years ago. This growing market of customers has incentivized businesses in the region, from established ‘unicorns’ to small-medium enterprises, to adopt and leverage digital tools to expand rapidly.

    As the world’s most engaged Internet users, Southeast Asia is shaping technology trends in its own way. When it comes to services like Ride Hailing and Food Delivery, the region is rapidly growing and the momentum is only going to continue as a new generation comes of age and people outside big cities come online. By 2025, the regional Internet economy will have tripled to $300 billion.

    Here are some key insights from this year’s report.

    1. Internet businesses have hit new heights

    Southeast Asia’s Internet sectors are booming, and this is indicative of the fundamental changes in the way people shop, eat and get around. e-Commerce is the biggest and fastest-growing sector. More than 150 million Southeast Asians are now buying what they need online, and the sector is valued at $35 billion today compared with just $5 billion in 2015—and on track to hit $150 billion by 2025.

    RideHailing is surging, with 40 million people ordering transport, food and other services on demand, as compared with just 8 million in 2015.

    1. Time is money: competing for user engagement

    As the ecosystem matures, Internet economy companies are switching their focus from acquiring new customers to driving higher engagement with existing users. To do so, they are offering a variety of products and expanding into new services including gamified promotions, enticing streaming content, live news and more. Consumers are benefiting from these trends, as they have access to more choices and lower prices.

    1. Opportunity is spreading beyond the big cities

    Up until now, seven metropolitan areas have made up more than half of Southeast Asia’s Internet economy despite accounting for just 15% of the total population. Between now and 2025, the Internet economy is set to grow twice as fast outside Metros as inside them. This growth will support new jobs and opportunities, increase the need for investments to expand Internet access in less served areas, and drive inclusion of the entire Southeast Asian population into the Internet economy.

    1. Digital Financial Services reach an inflection point with increasing access as a priority

    Technology has made Financial Services more accessible to users in the region, and it is projected to expand further to reach out to 100 million Southeast Asians with limited access to financial services today. Digital Payments is set to grow from $600 billion in 2019 to more than $1 trillion by 2025, accounting for almost one in every two dollars spent in the region.

    1. Funding remains healthy despite global headwinds

    In 2019, global economic growth has slowed, with the outlook remaining cloudy. But even as global tech funding takes a hit, Southeast Asia has remained a bright spot. Funding flows into the region continued to grow at a healthy pace, from the high base of a record-breaking 2018. The first six months of 2019 saw Internet firms raise $7.6 billion, almost 7% more than in the same period in 2018. A growing cadre of “aspiring unicorns” has emerged and they are on the lookout for late-stage funding to scale further.

    1. Ecosystem challenges are being resolved

    Experts shared that Southeast Asia has made progress in overcoming the initial challenges of the Internet economy by making Internet access more affordable and strengthening consumers’ trust in digital services. However, talent constraints remains a pressing concern, as companies look for skilled workers to take on the influx of new roles created in the digital economy.

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  • Internet-Only Banks Closing Trust Gap

    Internet-Only Banks Closing Trust Gap

    Trust in tech firms entering the financial sector is strong and rapidly improving to close the gap with traditional banks in Asia Pacific where 77 percent already prefer accessing their banking services via digital channels.

    According to the research firm Forrester, banks continue to lead in trust rankings regarding consumers’ financial interest but tech firms are rapidly catching up. In India, for example, Google outranked banks as the most trusted company to act in their best financial interest. In another tech-savvy nation like mainland China, companies like Alibaba and WeChat were only slightly behind their traditional competitors.

    In addition, global tech giants, payment providers, e-commerce players, and even ride-sharing leaders are threatening the pole position of incumbents by providing simple, convenient, and more personalized digital experiences.

    Across all eight markets surveyed, the preference for digital channels dominated in banking as agreed by 69 to 79 percent of respondents in any given market. 78 and 76 percent of respondents in Hong Kong and Singapore, respectively, preferred digital channels for banking with the former ranking the lowest for branch preference (7 percent).

    Digital played dominance in banking is not so much replicated in the insurance sector where only between 32 and 59 percent of respondents in the various markets preferred digital channels. In markets like Singapore and Malaysia, agents were the most preferred channel as agreed by 46 and 41 percent of respondents, respectively.

    Consumers are more likely to engage with firms that prioritize helping them improve their financial well-being, said Dane Anderson, VP, research director, and regional manager at Forrester. We expect that customers will dynamically deconstruct their personal financial services ecosystems and reassemble them with newer and better players. Traditional institutions have several advantages but will be left behind if they do not transform faster to meet the challenge.

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  • Huawei to sell subsea cable business

    Huawei to sell subsea cable business

    Huawei is reportedly planning to sell its subsea cable business according to a buyer’s filing.

    Made on 31 May 2019 to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the filing showed that Hengtong Optic-Electric Co, an optical telecoms network vendor, had signed a letter of intent with Huawei Technologies to buy its 51% stake in Huawei Marine Systems.

    Through no price was given, the deal is set to be financed through a combination of cash and shares.

    The news comes weeks after President Trump issued an executive order on “information and communications technology and services supply chain” which gives him and the rest of the US government unprecedented power to ban any business dealing. The order bans Huawei from buying technology from any US company without a license from the US government.

    A few days after the order was issued, the US government then relaxed its embargo on Huawei until 18 August. The Department of Commerce (DoC) issued a temporary general license which sets out limited exclusions to the order giving operators time to get their plans in order.

    “The temporary general license grants operators time to make other arrangements and the Department space to determine the appropriate long term measures for Americans and foreign telecommunications providers that currently rely on Huawei equipment for critical services,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “In short, this license will allow operations to continue for existing Huawei mobile phone users and rural broadband networks.”

    It has been rumored that the sale of Huawei Marine is happening because the company is now facing stronger scrutiny, which may affect its ability to win new business.

    Speaking to the FT, Fergus Hanson, head of the International Cyber Policy Centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said, “It’s becoming a more difficult environment when trying to negotiate deals to build cables because [Huawei] is so much in the spotlight.”

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