Cisco facing Challenges in the networking world

Cisco facing Challenges in the networking world

It's widely known that networking giant Cisco has seen stiffening competition over the last year. In a recent webcast, the company worked to assert its dominance. Sean Michael Kerner reports.

A lot of things in the networking world were originally conceived on a best effort basis. There are also a lot of networks built simply to be 'good enough' to meet the current needs of an enterprise.

In a live webcast event this week, networking vendor Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) took aim at the 'good enough' mentality when it comes to networking. Executives from Cisco stressed that the modern demands of video and collaboration cannot be effectively met by the 'good enough' approach.

There is however a catch. While Cisco is an advocate of standards, the company is also an advocate of its own specific technology platforms. Cisco is facing increasing competition from vendors including HP and Juniper. A key point of differentiation for Cisco, as well as other vendors, comes from innovations that aren't necessarily standardized.

Mike Rau, vice-president and CTO of Borderless Networks at Cisco explained that standards while important, aren't enough.

"Standards provide a set of innovations into the marketplace," Rau said. "But most of those innovations start off with an investment from a particular company that then gets integrated into a product portfolio to provide customer benefits."

Rau noted Cisco has been active in many major standards in layer 2 networking, including VLAN and Power over Ethernet, among others. He added that those standards started out as Cisco innovations to enable customers to build out reliable networks and then moved into the standards world.

"Standards-based plus" networking Rau's belief is that when an enterprise managers are looking for a next generation networking vendor, they should look at what the vendor does from a standards basis, as well as what it's doing to provide innovation on top of those standards:

"Standards-based is fine, but standards-based plus is really what you're looking for with large scale, highly-reliable enterprise network deployments," Rau said.

Rau also addressed a question during the webcast about whether or not he thought taking a multi-vendor approach was the right path to build a next generation network.

"One of the benefits that an end-to-end Cisco infrastructure delivers is a large amount of test and integration work that we do," Rau said.

Rau added that an enterprise could do that with multiple vendors, but it would take time to do all the test and integration work. In his view, the benefit of having Cisco end-to-end is a higher level of service.

Rau also address the myth that having a basic level of Quality of Service (QoS) in a network is good enough. With the rise of video demand on networks, QoS requirements have changed.

"There is one thing that is really true about video, throwing bandwidth at video doesn't necessarily solve the problem of doing large scale management and control," Rau said. Part of the challenge with video is how to do you manage it when there is a request for more bandwidth than is available?"

Rau suggested that new QoS services are required to meet next generation video networking needs and good enough isn't good enough for video.

"In addition to QoS, we also have to bring in capabilities to mange control and troubleshoot video," Rau said.

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.

Microsoft to buy Skype for $8,5bn

MICROSOFT plans to buy internet phone service Skype for $8,5bn – a rich price – as it seeks to regain ground on growing rivals such as Google.

Microsoft’s bid to gain the world’s most popular internet-calling service and its 663-million customers highlights a need to gain new customers for its Windows and Office software. Skype had considered other options, including tie-ups with Facebook and Google. Such a deal was seen as valuing Skype at up to $4bn.

The $8,5bn price includes net debt, a person familiar with the matter said Skype reported about $775m in debt, along with a revolving credit line of 430m, in a filing in April. Microsoft had cash and short-term investments of about $50bn at the end of March this year.
“This could give Microsoft a much-needed kick-start in telecommunications,” CCS Insight analyst Paolo Pescatore said in London yesterday. In voice services, “Skype has certainly set the benchmark.

A purchase by Microsoft would divert Skype from a planned share sale.
Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, slipped 1,8% to the equivalent of $25,58 in German trading yesterday. The stock fell 4c, or 0,2%, to $25,83 on Monday in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading, extending the stock’s decline to 7,5% this year link to Microsoft’s Xbox live gaming.

In the longer term, Skype would offer Microsoft another route to develop its mobile presence, an area it has already put more energy and resources into as personal computer usage comes under threat. Skype is set to become a new business division within Microsoft, with Skype CE Tony Bates in charge and reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The $8,5bn price tag was a surprise. Although the sum would not stretch cash-rich Microsoft, some said it was high for a company whose ownership has changed several times during its short life.

Skype was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis and its investors include eBay, private equity firm Silver Lake and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Mr Zennstrom and Mr Friis sold the company for $2,6bn in 2005 to eBay, which in turn sold off most if its stake four years later.

Microsoft lags behind Google in web search and related advertising.
Skype could be combined with Microsoft software such as Outlook to appeal to corporate users, while the voice and video communications could vices on Yahoo’s pages.

Tightly integrated Skype services could be an added selling point for Windows Phone 7, the mobile operating system Microsoft is promoting as a competitor to Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS Mr Pescatore said. “Google is probably the one that’s getting the closest to Skype” with its voice product, though the Google Talk service is “not on par in terms of quality” and the Google Voice product is a late entrant and will find it difficult to catch up, said Leif-Olof Wallin, an analyst at Gartner in Stockholm.

CITIZENS USE INTERNET TECHNOLOGY TO FIGHT FRAUD

Source: A research professor at the University of Wits. South Africa.

TO FIGHT corruption, we need to harness the power of citizens and the power of the internet. In India, a site called IPaidABribe.com asks citizens who have been forced to pay a bribe to record it on the site anonymously if they wish. In fact, they can also report incidents in which they have not had to pay a bribe – and they want to praise an honest public servant.

The site collates the information, analyses and maps it, so that they can report the pattern of bribery across the country or across a city and carry a running total of recorded bribes. This is a powerful tool to pressure the government to act and provide pointers to where the need is most pressing.

In Brazil, where more than half of crimes go unreported because people don’t believe it is worth the effort, WikiCrimes.com asks citizens to record crimes they experiences or witness an a searchable map. “By breaking the authorities” monopoly on crime information and making relevant data more transparent WikiCrimes hopes to force real reforms in Brazil’s criminal justice system,” writes author and transparency activist Micah Sifry.M

In Croatia, blogger Marko Rakar posted a seachable database of all voters on the internet, Widespread fraud became obvious as people looked at the database, seeing nonexistent addresses or small buildings which purportedly housed hundreds of voters. In Russia, citizens who were angry with authorities abusing the “blue lights” that allowed some to race through traffic, asked commuters to record the number plates of cars using the lights – and showed how the law was being flouted.

Kenya lawyer Ory Okolloh believed the authorities were underplaying the post-election violence of 2008, so she created a website where incidents come be reported and mapped - and it became an indispensable guide to what was actually going on.
There are many other examples from around the world of people using the technology and the power of citizens working together to gather and make available information which challenges the authorities and empowers ordinary people. They range from a Chicago site, which allows people to map graffiti to others that track MP’s records of attendance, participation and voting.

All of these are making use of new technology to make the information accessible and unable. And many are harnessing crowd power – the fact that if thousands of citizens are providing and viewing the information, they can often be more effective than few journalists or experts at spotting the patterns trends and meaning in the data. Sometimes these sites ask ordinary people to volunteer to help them analyse masses of data. So when the Guardian of London had masses of obscure information on MP’s expenses, they put it all up and asked people to help them find the stories within it. Or when the Sunlight Reporting Group in the US wanted to find out how often congressmen paid their families with campaign funds, they posted all of their expense records and their family members’ details on a site, and asked people to help them find matches.

This is, Sifry argues, a transparency movement in which computer geeks and activists around the world are harnessing citizens and data in a way that calls authorities to account. While much attention has been focused on WikiLeaks and the behaviour of its founder, Julian Assange, there are enough examples to show the emergence of a global movement to empower citizens with information and force much greater transparency than ever before.

I raise this to contrast it with the way our government’s intelligence and security people are trying to turn back this tide with the Protection of Information Bill, which is up for discussion again in Parliament. On the one side are those using new tools to increase transparency and accountability and fight corruption and the abuse of power, on the other are those who want to buck the global trend and maintain control of the information and the political power that comes with it. Which side do you choose?

Cell Phone marketing

Now, with the next iteration of the Internet, the mobile Web is spreading around the world, and publishers and other content providers are trying to keep up, lest they get in late on another advertising bonanza. The number of cell phone users increases each year and mobile phone marketing must be more and more accepted as a necessary component of any advertising campaign.

According to statistics released by the Chinese government, the country had 889 million mobile phone subscribers by the end of March 2011, and it should cross the 900 million mark sometime next month. Mobile phone subscriptions have risen dramatically in the country in recent years. In March 2009, it had 670 million mobile phone users, and in March 2010, the number climbed to 776 million.

By comparison, the U.S. has 303 million mobile phone users. In South Africa, the total number of mobile subscriber accounts will increase to 51 million by 2012 and expected to grow about 67.5 million by the end of 2014," said Nizar Assanie, Vice President (Research) at IEMR ( ...but these figures needs to be corrected after the censures). Nizar Assanie said: "We expect that Vodacom will continue to be the largest mobile operator in the country with about 36 million subscribers in 2014. Also, our model predicts that MTN will have approximately 21.5 million subscribers and Cell C will have 9 million subscribers by the end of 2014."
A Cisco study predicts that by 2015, more than 5.6 billion personal devices will be connected to mobile networks, and there will also be 1.5 billion machine-to-machine nodes -- nearly the equivalent of one mobile connection for every person in the world. The research projects that annual global mobile data traffic will reach 6.3 exabytes per month, or an annual run rate of 75 exabytes, by 2015. That amount is the equivalent of 19 billion DVDs or 536 quadrillion SMS text messages or 75 times the amount of global Internet Protocol traffic (fixed and mobile) generated in the year 2000.

It is high time for Developers and publishers to align themselves with the rise of the mobile usage. If you are not currently taking advantage of this exciting new technology, you should start to think about ways that your company can take advantage of cell phone marketing.

ICASA to hold public hearings in respect to the Draft Call Termination Regulations

22 June 2010

JOHANNESBURG – The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa hereby invites all interested parties and the media to the public hearings in respect to the Draft Call Termination Regulations released on 16 April 2010.
The level of call termination charges has been a cause for concern in South Africa for some time. During 2009, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) conducted a market review of the provision of wholesale call termination services.

ICASA released its proposals on the outcome of this review in the draft “Call Termination Regulations” on the 16th of April 2010 in Government Gazette No. 33121, where the Authority proposed, amongst others, the need for a cost-oriented price cap on both mobile and fixed call termination rates.

ICASA released its proposals on the outcome of this review in the draft “Call Termination Regulations” on the 16th of April 2010 in Government Gazette No. 33121, where the Authority proposed, amongst others, the need for a cost-oriented price cap on both mobile and fixed call termination rates.
The closing date for written submissions on these draft regulations was the 18th of June 2010, by which time ICASA had received 20 written submissions.

MTN ready to 'Ayobamise' South Africa and 2010 visitors

The MTN stake in the 2010 FIFA World Cup extends beyond the more than R7-billion it has invested in network upgrades, and encompasses innovative products and solutions, and creative marketing initiatives aimed at instilling the spirit of Ayobaness in all its customers.

As part of its global sponsorship of the event, MTN has the exclusive mobile content rights to the 2010 FIFA World Cup for Africa and the Middle East that will allow those not fortunate enough to attend the matches live, to catch them on their cell phones through the MTN Play portal.

“There will be various gaming offerings for our customers including FIFA fantasy predictors, music tracks and wallpapers, as well as core FIFA tournament products such as team and player information and updates. Furthermore, there will be highlights available for download from MTN Play for those fans who want to relive their favourite football moments,” says Serame Taukobong, chief marketing officer of MTN South Africa.

MTN also has the exclusive rights to the Sony Ericsson W205 walkman phone. It comes pre-loaded with FIFA screensavers, wallpapers and themes as well as the FIFA 2009 soundtrack. There are also FIFA ring tones, the FIFA 2009 game and a silkscreen printed back cover on offer.

“We are also promoting Zakumi wallpaper, screensavers and themes on the Sony Ericsson W205 to give fans a true soccer experience on their handsets,” says Taukobong.

The recently launched MTN Compass location-based service is an innovative solution that lets customers find points of interest (POI) closest to where they currently are, using either their cell phone or the internet. The service provides location information and directions for a range of POI categories from which to choose, including World Cup stadia, local weather information, fast food outlets, nearby shopping malls, petrol stations, accommodation, and more.

The MTN Compass service is available to all current MTN customers (contract, TopUp or PayAsYouGo). There is no monthly subscription fee and customers will be charged a service fee (21c per 20 seconds) and content cost (R1.00) only.

“This service is quick and easy to use and will literally deliver the information you are looking for, such as where your nearest MTN Fan Zone is, at your fingertips,” says Taukobong.

“The MTN Fan Zones (at Montecasino in Johannesburg and the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town) will be the place for fans, friends and family to gather when they don’t have tickets to watch a match live. These two venues will be transformed into soccer stadiums and promise to give football fans a true Ayoba experience.”

Additionally, MTN has partnered with FIFA to give South African and international fans a taste of football fever if they don’t have tickets to a particular match. They will have the opportunity to watch games at FIFA Fan Fest venues set up in the host cities - two in Gauteng and one each in the other eight provinces.

“The success of the Fan Fests in Germany in 2006 prompted FIFA to include this initiative in its South African marketing strategy. MTN elected to partner with FIFA as one of the sponsors in this venture as part of its World Cup plans to give as many South Africans as possible a world-class football experience,” says Taukobong.
The three MTN mobile interactive entertainment gig rigs, known as K’yoze Kuyovalwa, will be travelling around the country to keep the crowds amused before the matches at the stadiums, and at other select venues throughout the country.

Leveraging its partnership with one of South Africa’s leading sports journalists, Graeme Joffe, the 20 MTN eKasi TV sites around the country will be used to screen matches and create a festival environment for the local communities. Some of the sites include Ivory Park, Diepsloot, Lenasia, Soweto, Makushane in Phalaborwa, Mhluzi in Middelburg, Kathlehong, Tembisa, and Richards Bay in KwaZulu Natal.

The MTN Ayoba summer campaign, which launched in October last year, capitalised on its World Cup sponsorship with the announcement of a prize that money cannot buy – 10 Golden Tickets for 10 lucky winners and their partners to attend 25 matches around the country, all expenses paid.

“In addition to the 10 Golden Tickets, the MTN8 knockout tournament last season also had a strong World Cup focus with the introduction of the Last Fan Standing competition,” says Taukobong.

The lucky winner, Thulani Ngcobo, will attempt to make World Cup history and set a new Guinness World Record when he is whisked around the country, covering a distance of 17 000km, to attend 38 matches in the tournament - a feat never before attempted.

For local football fans, there is also the innovative Last Minute Ticket initiative. MTN will make available some tickets just 48 hours before a match kicks off, to provide lucky fans with the experience of a lifetime by attending a World Cup match live.

All that fans have to do is be present at any one of the 10 FIFA Fan Fests or at one of the two MTN Fan Zones in Johannesburg or Cape Town on the day of a game in that area, to stand a chance to win.

“This is our way of giving those fans without tickets the opportunity to enjoy the live stadium experience at a stage when tickets will simply no longer be available,” says Taukobong.

This MTN promotion kicks off with the Opening Game on June 11 in the format of an SMS competition. Winners will be drawn at each venue just prior to kick-off and these winners, together with their partners, will be able to attend the live game, scheduled for that day, in the area of where they find themselves at that moment. A special luxury transfer to the stadium will also be provided for the lucky ticket winners, by Neo Africa. All SMS competition numbers will be published for participation at each location separately.

All entries from the start of the MTN Last Minute Ticket promotion will go through to a final lucky draw on 07 July, where one Ayoba winner will get tickets to attend the final match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at Soccer City on 11 July.

This final winner will not only win a set of double tickets to the grand finale, compliments of MTN, but can also look forward to being transported to the stadium in true VIP style, again provided by Neo Africa.

“All told, the 2010 FIFA World Cup is going to be an event that will launch South Africa and Africa into the hearts and minds of the world. All eyes will be on South Africa in June and July to witness how we will make this the best World Cup yet. MTN is proud to be a global sponsor of this huge event and we cannot wait for the opening whistle to kick off the experience. It’s Ayoba time!” concludes Taukobong.

Vodacom will launch iPhone 4, the thinnest smartphone in the world with the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, in South Africa.

Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Vodacom will launch iPhone 4, the thinnest smartphone in the world with the highest resolution display ever built into a phone, in South Africa in the coming months. For more information on iPhone 4 please visit: www.apple.com/iphone