Telecommunication Trend #1

Jakarta limits Qtel In Indosat ownership to 65%:

Indonesia’s Ministry for Communications today announced it intends to limit Qatar Telecom’s (Qtel’s) ownership of the country’s second largest telecoms group Indosat to 65%. The decision comes, writes Reuters, as Qtel prepares to conduct a tender offer for the rest of Indosat's shares after increasing its control over the Indonesian company to 40.8% earlier this year in a USD1.35-billion deal.

DiGi revenues up 10%, profit down 1% on marketing spend:
Malaysian cellco DiGi has reported that its third-quarter net profit fell by 1% year-on-year to MYR269.9 million (USD74.9 million) on higher advertising spending. During the three months ending 30 September 2008, the country’s third largest mobile operator said that revenues rose nearly 10% y-o-y to MYR1.22 billion, while the EBITDA margin fell to 45.6%, against 47.9% in the same period last year, due to pressure from higher traffic and network operating costs. The company added 166,000 net new customers during the quarter, comprising 126,000 new post-paid and 40,000 pre-paid users. At end-September it had 5.83 million pre-paid customers and 976,000 contract subscribers; a total of 6.8 million. CEO Johan Dennelind said in a statement, ‘We believe that over time, higher voice and advanced data usage will lead to continued revenue growth…We also see opportunities to further generate revenues in the medium to long-term with the newly-introduced mobile number portability and the impending launch of our 3G mobile broadband offerings in early 2009.’ DiGi Telecommunications is wholly owned by holding company DiGi.Com, which is itself 49% owned by Norway’s Telenor.

(Business Strategic)
Following the nationwide launch of mobile number portability (MNP), Malaysian cellco DiGi Telecommunications (DiGi) has revealed plans to leverage the service to increase its subscriber base. According to The Star Online, DiGi intends to absorb the cost for any customer switching to its service, despite the regulations allowing operators to charge up to MYR25 (USD7.16) to change provider while retaining mobile number. The move comes as the operator looks to increase its overall market share, placing a specific emphasis on the post-paid market. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, DiGi had 26.4% market share at the end of June 2008, and DiGi CEO Johan Dennelind noted, ‘With less than 20% of the post-paid market share, MNP allows us to further tap into the space dominated by high usage users who care about their bills.’ In an effort to further drive subscriber uptake, the cellco has also announced the launch of its new ‘1 Low Flat Rate’ tariff, which offers a single flat-rate to all networks across pre- and post-paid and business numbers.

Mobily profits beat forecasts:

Saudi Arabian cellular operator Mobily has reported a 73.3% rise in profits for the three months to the end of September 2008, beating analyst forecasts. Mobily saw third quarter net profits of SAR539 million (USD143.7 million), up from SAR311 million in the same period last year. Reuters says averages of analyst predictions had put profits at SAR492 million.

Indosat's 9Month 2008 net income up 1.9%, but Q3 profit falls sharply:
Indonesia's second largest fixed line and mobile operator Indosat today reported a 1.9% year-on-year rise in its nine-month net income to IDR1.47 trillion (USD149.8 million). Reuters reports a company filing which shows the firm’s revenues in the period under review increased by 14.9% on 9M07 to IDR13.65 trillion driven by strong demand for the operator’s internet and data services. On a less positive note, the operator posted a 30.5% fall in its third-quarter net profit on higher operating expenses and declining ARPU from mobile users. According to Reuters' calculations, Indosat's net profit dropped to IDR417 billion in the three months to 30 September, compared with IDR600 billion in 3Q07.

Monitor the Vessel

AIS IMPLEMENTATION

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a system used by ships principally for identification and locating vessels. AIS provides a means for ships to electronically data including: identification, position, course, and speed and with other nearby ships. This information can be displayed on a screen. AIS is intended to assist the vessel's watchstanding officers and allow maritime authorities to track and monitor vessel movements. It works by integrating a standardized VHF transceiver system with an electronic navigation system, such as a LORAN-C (LOng RAnge Navigation Version C) or Global Positioning System receiver, and other navigational sensors on board ship.
This system is required and mandatory for all the ships with 300 GT (gross Tonnage) or more and all the passenger ships regardless of size as regulated by the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). It is estimated that more than 40,000 ships currently carry AIS class A equipment.

AIS transponders automatically broadcast information, such as their position, speed, and navigational status, at regular intervals via a VHF transmitter built into the transponder. The information originates from the ship's navigational sensors, typically its global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver and gyrocompass.

Other information, such as the vessel name and VHF call sign, is programmed when installing the equipment and is also transmitted regularly. The signals are received by AIS transponders fitted on other ships or on land based systems, such as VTS systems. The received information can be displayed on a screen or chart plotter, showing the other vessels' positions in much the same manner as a radar display. The AIS standard describes two major classes of AIS units:
Class A - mandated for use on SOLAS Chapter V vessels (and others in some countries).
Class B - a low power, lower cost derivative for leisure and non-SOLAS markets.

Other variants are under development specifically for base stations, aids to navigation and search and rescue, though they will all be derived from one of the existing standards and inter-operate with them.

CRISIS ECONOMY

Krisis ekonomi adalah akibat peraturan yang buruk, bukan kapitalisme
Oleh Dr Eamonn Butler

Kegawatan ekonomi dunia menyebabkan ramai yang menuntut supaya kawalan sektor kewangan dipertingkatkan. Reaksi sebegini memang boleh kita fahami. Tetapi ini reaksi yang salah. Krisis yang kita hadapi bukan kegagalan kapitalisme. Penyebab utama krisis ini ialah ahli politik yang memaksa bank-bank memberikan pinjaman yang tidak munasabah, pihak berkuasa kewangan yang membiarkan Barat dibanjiri oleh kredit murahan, dan juga kegagalan proses pemantauan.
Tarikh lahirnya krisis ini ialah 12 Oktober 1977. Sebelum tarikh ini, institusi kewangan biasanya tidak memberikan pinjaman kepada mereka yang menetap di kawasan-kawasan miskin kerana mereka yang tinggal di kawasan sebegini biasanya mempunyai pendapatan yang terlalu rendah dan aset mereka juga murah. Kombinasi ini biasanya hanya akan melahirkan peminjam yang akhirnya gagal melunaskan pinjaman mereka. Tetapi pada 12 Oktober 1977, Presiden Amerika Syarikat Jimmy Carter menandatangani rang undang-undang yang juga dikenali sebagai “anti-redlining law”. Undang-undang ini tidak membenarkan institusi kewangan meneruskan pemberian pinjaman secara selektif sedemikian rupa. Akibatnya institusi kewangan terpaksa memberi pinjaman kepada mereka yang tidak berkemampuan untuk membayar balik pinjaman dengan penuh. Niat ahli-ahli politik pada waktu itu mungkin baik. Mereka mahu semua rakyat boleh memiliki rumah dan itulah sebabnya mereka meluluskan undang-undang ini yang mengharuskan institusi kewangan memberi pinjaman yang berisiko tinggi, atau kini dikenali sebagai pinjaman subprima.
Menjelang tahun 1985, keputusan tersebut hampir-hampir menyebabkan institusi-institusi tabungan dan pinjaman di Amerika Syarikat menjadi bankrup. Maka, kerajaan Amerika mengambil alih hutang-hutang lapuk yang semakin banyak dan menggalakkan konsolidasi hutang-hutang tersebut, lantas melahirkan syarikat-syarikat yang amat besar sehingga jika mereka gagal, kesannya akan amat buruk kepada ekonomi secara keseluruhan. Ringkasnya, tindakan kerajaan secara tidak langsung melahirkan syarikat-syarikat yang terlalu besar untuk dibiarkan gagal.
Seterusnya, selepas itu, pasaran saham di Amerika pula merudum kerana terdapat kebimbangan jika institusi kewangan lain juga akan gulung tikar. Pasaran saham Asia juga menjunam. Mexico, Argentina dan Rusia pula gagal membayar hutang mereka. Saham-saham dotkom yang sebelumnya memuncak pun tiba-tiba runtuh. Dan kemudian berlaku pula tragedi 9/11. Setiap kali berlaku peristiwa-peristiwa ini, kerajaan di negara-negara Barat bertindak balas dengan cara mempertingkat jumlah wang tunai di pasaran mereka.
Selepas tragedi 9/11, Bank Negara Amerika (Federal Reserve) memotong kadar faedah daripada 6.25% kepada 1% sahaja kerana mereka bimbang ketidakyakinan pelabur akan membawa kepada merudumnya ekonomi. Tindakan mereka ini menghantar isyarat yang salah kepada pasaran dan ia menyebabkan ‘credit bubble’ berterusan. Penurunan kadar faedah menyebabkan hutang pada waktu itu menjadi enam kali lebih murah daripada sebelumnya. Maka jumlah permohonan pinjaman perumahan pun memuncak . Institusi kewangan pula dengan senang hati memberikan lebih banyak pinjaman subprima. Apabila lebih ramai orang yang mahu membeli rumah, maka harga rumah pun meningkat dengan tinggi. Peningkatan harga rumah menyebabkan berlakunya kitaran yang beterusan - lebih ramai orang yang mahu membeli rumah, dan lebih ramai yang membuat pinjaman, kerana ia dilihat sebagai cara yang selamat untuk membuat keuntungan.
Di London pula , satu dekad di bawah pentadbiran parti Buruh (Labour) menyaksikan perbelanjaan kerajaan yang jauh melebihi pendapatan. Ini mengakibatkan pinjaman kerajaan meningkat dengan tinggi. Hutang peribadi rakyat, dan juga harga rumah, juga turut meningkat.
Selama hampir sepuluh tahun semua pihak berpesta meraikan pertumbuhan ekonomi dunia. Tetapi pertumbuhan ekonomi tersebut sebenarnya dibiayai oleh ‘wang palsu’ yang dicetak oleh kerajaan semata-mata untuk menjana pesta pertumbuhan ekonomi yang berterusan. Apabila pesta tersebut sampai ke penghujung, maka lahirlah kesan yang kita alami sekarang.
Pihak berkuasa pula seolah-olah terus tertidur, atau mungkin telah bertahun-tahun pengsan. Sekitar 200 agensi pengawalan dan penguatkuasa sebenarnya mengawasi Fannie Mae dan Freddie Mac tetapi kedua-dua syarikat ini masih lagi roboh dengan hutang hampir USD$5 trilion. Kedua-dua syarikat dokongan kerajaan ini membiarkan pelabur menyangka bahawa pinjaman perumahan yang mereka miliki, walaupun banyak yang lapuk, tetap dilindungi oleh kerajaan. Ini menyebabkan agensi-agensi pengadaran kredit (credit rating agencies) memberikan mereka markah tinggi termasuklah kepada bon-bon yang sebenarnya tidak boleh dipercayai.
Banyak institusi kewangan yang mempakej semula hutang-hutang lapuk tersebut dan menjualnya semula di pasaran dunia. Ada institusi kewangan yang memberi pinjaman terlalu tinggi sehingga tiga puluh kali jumlah aset yang mereka miliki. Tetapi pihak berkuasa terus membisu. Contohnya, walaupun Bank Negara England mengetahui bahawa syarikat Northern Rock hampir gagal, mereka tidak melakukan apa-apa langsung.
Apa yang berlaku menunjukan bahawa terdapat ketempangan yang jelas pada pihak berkuasa dan peraturan. Apabila pihak berkuasa tertidur, jangan lah pula kita terkejut apabila ada pihak yang mengambil risiko terlalu tinggi. Yang patut dipersalahkan ialah pihak berkuasa dan bukannya sistem perekonomian.
Sebarang penyelesaian yang dicadangkan sekarang mestilah kembali kepada prinsip-prinsip asas ekonomi. Usaha kerajaan Amerika untuk ‘bail out’ syarikat tertentu hanya akan menyelamatkan mereka yang bersalah tanpa menghiraukan mangsa sebenar situasi ini.
Pada waktu yang sama kita juga harus sedar bahawa dunia ini lebih besar daripada Amerika Syarikat sahaja. China kini merupakan ekonomi ke-empat terbesar di dunia dan ia terus berkembang dengan kadar hampir 10 peratus. India dan lain-lain negara membangun juga terus berkembang. Rakyat miskin di negara-negara membangun akan tetap merasai kesan positif pembangunan ekonomi negara mereka. Walapun ekonomi negara-negara Barat merudum, ekonomi dunia dianggarkan akan terus berkembang pada kadar 4 peratus. Ini masih baik.
Maka, walaupun kapitalisme yang diamalkan di negara-negara Barat kini terpukul akibat daripada kelemahan dan campurtangan ahli politik dan pegawai-pegawai penguatkuasa, tetapi kapitalisme global terus berjaya mengeluarkan jutaan manusia daripada bencana kemiskinan. Hakikatnya kapitalisme terus utuh.

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Source from WAUBEBAS.. Writer : Dr Eamonn Butler

NEW CABLE SYSTEM FROM SOUTH AFRICA TO INDIA

SEACOM CABLE SYSTEM

Tyco Telecommunications has announced that it has started construction on the US$650-million Seacom undersea fibre-optic cable, which will link southern and eastern Africa with India and Europe by 2009, bringing down connectivity costs on the continent.
"Seacom's offerings will complement communication carriers of south and east africa through the sale of wholesale international capacity to global networks eastward through India and westward through Europe," Tyco said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The system will provide African retail carriers with equal and open access to inexpensive bandwidth, removing the international infrastructure bottleneck and supporting east and south African economic growth."
According to Tyco, the increased capacity of the cable as compared to existing infrastructure will enable the greater availability and lower cost of high-demand services such as high definition television (HDTV), peer to peer networks and internet protocol television (IPTV).

According to Business Day, New York-based Herakles Telecom is a development group that has invested some $4-billion in Africa, and owns 25% of the cable.

Seacom will have a capacity of 1.28 terabits per second, which is approximately 10 times the current capacity of the SAT-3 cable which runs along Africa's west coast and connects South Africa to Europe.

South Africa's second national operator, Neotel is not part of the cable-building consortium, but owns the landing rights as part of its licence and will contribute R20-million toward the project, with funds going toward the cable landing station and all related facilities within South African territory.

According to Neotel, the cable should be ready for service during 2009, placing South Africa in a much stronger position to support the 2010 Fifa World Cup, whose demand for international bandwidth, and in particular high definition television broadcasting, will be unprecedented.

Nationwide MNP launches

KUALA LUMPUR: Mobile number portability (MNP), which allows mobile phone users to switch operators without the need to change their existing numbers, is finally here. Energy Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor is scheduled to launch MNP nationwide here this afternoon, flagging off what is expected to be an even fiercer battle in the mobile space. MNP had been on a limited live trial in the Klang Valley from Aug 29 (for prepaid users) and from Sept 15 (for postpaid users).
The extent of the impact from MNP is still unknown at present, given that each of the four service providers — Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd, DiGi.Com Bhd, Maxis Communications Bhd and U-Mobile — could only accept up to 100 requests a day during the trial period at five designated porting locations each. Any additional porting requests were to be put on queue for the following day. There is also limited publicity allowed on the service during trials. Moreover, business customers and organisations can only port after today’s nationwide launch.
CIMB Research recently downgraded the local telecommunications sector to neutral from overweight on concern that MNP would bring about higher risk of a price war, resulting in margins and profits thinning for mobile operators.
“We believe the potent mix of MNP and the entry of newcomers U Mobile and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) heighten the risk of price disruption… industry revenues in Japan and Taiwan declined following the introduction of MNP, largely due to lower ARPU (average revenue per user),” CIMB said in a note dated Sept 30.
MNP is likely to inflate subscriber and retention costs, CIMB said, noting that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margins of telcos in North Asia fell for three to four quarters by five percentage points from their “normal” run rate due to MNP.
In Singapore, MNP had left revenues intact but Ebitda margins fell 3.5 percentage points, it added. Malaysian cellular operators currently enjoy margins of between 45% and 52% versus the regional average of 35% to 40%. Still, the launch of MNP is good news for the consumer, especially during difficult times when every ringgit counts.
Service providers are allowed to charge a maximum of RM25 for each request to change the service provider. Analysts expect some service providers to absorb this fee as part of its package to attract new users

New Cable UNITY

Google's subsea ambitions expand

On the heels of its investment in the Unity trans-Pacific submarine cable, Google is working with a consortium of carriers planning to build an intra-Asian submarine cable system. The new cable, dubbed the Southeast Asia Japan Cable (SJC), would link Unity's landing station in Japan to Guam, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. The cable is still in the planning stage, and the consortium has yet to announce a supply contract (boleh caya ke??). 'Given the current flurry of undersea cables under construction, the SJC cable will probably not be ready for service until 2011(lama nye.. AAG dah RFS around next year) at the earliest,' said TeleGeography analyst Alan Mauldin.The members of the SJC consortium are nearly identical to Unity with a few exceptions. Companies that are participating in both consortiam are Google, Bharti, SingTel, KDDI and Global Transit. Pacnet, which will control two fibre pairs on Unity, already operates the EAC-C2C intra-Asian mesh cable system and consequently is not involved with SJC. Globe Telecom of the Philippines and TOT of Thailand are also members of SJC and will be the landings parties for the cable in their respective countries.

MEET THE TECHRON

WHAT IS TECHRON??

Techron is a fuel additive which acts as a detergent to keep your engine clean and deposit free. Techron uses polyether amines (PEA) to help fight deposits in an engine’s intake system and minimize combustion chamber deposits. Over 25 years ago, after discovering that PEAs were effective deposit control additives, Chevron patented them and has been reformulating and improving Techron ever since.

WHY YOUR ENGINE KNOCKING & PINGING

Knocking and pinging is generally caused by improper combustion in your engine, called “auto-ignition.” If the gasoline-air mixture auto-ignites somewhere in the cylinder (other than at the spark plug) just after spark ignition, the auto-ignition combustion wave can interact with the spark-initiated combustion wave, causing the vibration we hear as knock or ping. Increasing engine load, temperature, compression, spark-advance, air-fuel ratio and combustion chamber deposits all increase the tendency for an engine to knock. Using higher octane gasoline reduces an engine’s tendency to knock. If excessive combustion chamber deposits are contributing to the knocking problem, you may benefit from adding a bottle of Techron Concentrate Plus to your next purchase of gasoline.

Techron® in Your Engine

Most automotive engines operate in a four-stroke cycle: intake, compression, power and exhaust.
The intake stroke refers to the first downward motion of the piston in the cycle where the fuel-air mixture is drawn into the combustion chamber through the open intake valves.
As the piston reverses direction and begins to move back up, the intake valves close. This upward motion of the piston is the compression stroke. Compression raises the pressure and temperature of the mixture.
Near the top of the compression stroke, the spark plug ignites the air-fuel vapors. The mixture then burns and expands, driving the piston down for the power stroke. As the piston reaches the bottom of its movement and begins to move back up again, the exhaust valves open leading to the exhaust stroke. The upward motion of the piston pushes the unburned gases out of the engine into the exhaust manifold and eventually, out through the exhaust pipe. And then the entire process starts all over again.

+++JUST FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY++

Minyak turun by tomorrow

OIL PRICE DOWN 15 SEN

Kerajaan umum penurunan harga petrol 15 sen dan diesel 50 sen berkuatkuasa tengah malam ini. Pengumuman dibuat oleh Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi hari ini (14/10/08). Dengan penurunan ini kerajaan telah turunkan 40 sen harga petrol sejak ia dinaikkan sebanyak 78 sen, Jun lalu. Harga terbaru petrol dengan penurunan ini ialah RM2.30.

Baguslah minyak turun at least ada gak penurunan tetapi sebenarnya harga tersebut sepatutnya lebih rendah kerana jika di kira berdasar harga minya semasa USD 83/barrel.

katakan Harga Minyak = USD 93 /barrel

1 barrel = 159 liter

1 liter = USD 93/159 = 0.5853

Mengambil kira USD 1 = RM 3.41

1 liter = 0.5853 X RM 3.41 = RM 2.00

Subsidi oleh Kerajaan RM 0.30 = RM 2.00 - 0.30 = RM 1.70

Cuba bayang kan sekarang nie Rakyat yang subsidi kerajaan bukan kerajaan subsidi rakyat..

+++Lu pikirlah sendiri+++

Lama Tak menulis..

Baru balik dari Mauritius dan sebenarnya aku dah lupa yang aku dah ada Bloggg iskkkk.

Now I need to start with something fresh kan.. so let I tulis... Lama dah aku tak menulis.. Mungkin sibuk ngan kerja yang makin bertambah dan keadaan yang berlaku di Malaysia lately..

Aku berada di Mauritius masa Pak Lah said yang dia Tak kan bertanding tahun depan.. kesian lak aku but His did good decision kan.. if tak he will face with a lot of problem after.. Now if pak Lah turun Najib will be the succesor Pak Lah and bagi aku Najib okay yang tak Okay His Wife Takut aku tengok Cam garang semacam..

But sometime luar je nampak garang maybe inside who knows maybe she sangatlah baikk..:P

Okay nanti aku sambung..