An EU-funded project, FABULOUS (FDMA Access By Using Low-cost Optical Network Units in Silicon Photonics), has created innovative new components to be used in digital telecommunications including digital radio, television and internet that are lower-cost and more efficient than currently existing technology. The project has demonstrated that its technology will allow higher bit rates – the speed at which basic units of information are processed – in computing and digital communications.

The overall goal of the project was to create flexible communications architecture compatible with current infrastructures using low cost components based on silicon photonics. Developing this technology is key to rolling-out mass fibre-to-the-home ultra-fast broadband digital telecommunications services. FABULOUS’s components have been designed for Next-Generation Passive Optical Network technology (NG-PON2). NG-PON2 is the current telecommunications network standard for passive optical networks that allows users to receive digital radio, television and internet services. The project demonstrated passive optical networks that use Frequency Division Multiplexing at the electrical level on a per-wavelength basis. The system allows each Optical Network Unit – the device installed in the user’s location – to handle its dedicated data traffic alone, and not the full aggregated bit rate as is currently the case for other NG-PON2 technologies. It also showed how its technology can be used in Passive Optical Local Area Networks, as well as potentially being used in 5G networks.

Meanwhile, the FABULOUS project has created new silicon-based photonic integrated circuits, showing the potential of using silicon photonics in the telecommunications market. Silicon photonics technology enables silicon chips to use pulses of light instead of electrical signals over wires to move data at rapid speeds and longer distances in future computing systems. The project demonstrated a reflective upstream transmitter made of a silicon photonic integrated circuit (SiPIC). The system comprised a reflective Mach Zehnder modulator and its flip-chipped CMOS electronic integrated circuit driver. The two Integrated Circuits were linked using high-density, low-parasitic copper micro pillars. FABULOUS carried out sub-system demonstrations to show the effectiveness of the standalone components. It also carried out a whole system demonstration of the full architecture using its Optical Network Units and real-time data traffic.

The project found that designing the system and its components together is essential to paving the way for lower cost silicon devices to enter the telecoms market. FABULOUS has several large industry leaders and telecom operators within its consortium. Working alongside these partners, the next steps for the project will be towards full standardisation of the technology.

Source: http://phys.org/

At a time when financial technology is changing the face of Indian banking, the government is looking to bridge the digital divide. The biggest hurdle here is paper-based authentication and approvals. To bridge this gap iSpirit is working with various government agencies to develop IndiaStack. What is IndiaStack? It is a paperless and cashless service delivery system being conceived by iSpirit. It can enable the government, the citizens and entrepreneurs to interact with each other through an open digital platform. It is the largest application programming interface that is being developed in order to enable 1.2 billion Indians to get access to goods and services digitally.
It was conceived by the government of India in 2012 when they realised, in order to help services reach the last mile of the Indian population, it needed private technology solutions to be built on the Aadhaar database.

The government has been striving for a less cash economy to prevent pilferages and last mile connectivity of financial services. While the Aadhaar database allows users to complete all KYC requirements, there is still a gap in getting approvals because of the need for a signature on paper. IndiaStack will be able to bridge that gap through its digital lockers which will allow for digital signatures and seamless API (Application programming interface) integration for authentication through eKYC. IndiaStack is conceived as a pyramidal structure based on the Aadhaar database as the base and unified payments interface (UPI) that is being developed by NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) as the top. The two middle stacks comprise digital signatures and eKYC. With the help of digital signatures customers will not need to actually sign a paper document, instead it can digitally sign it by using a smartphone. eKYC will also enable the identity of the customer to be determined digitally as well.

The biggest benefits could be completely digital payments through the UPI infrastructure for a less cash economy. Also, loan approval through eKYC and digital signatures could be done faster in a paperless fashion. Both these steps can bring people without access to digital payments to come within the digital fold. India has a huge domestic market where services can be streamlined with the help of technology. Any delay on that front can be detrimental, in the form of lack of education and healthcare.

Source : www.telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Mobile payment is perceived to be risky by most individuals. But it is a myth. The security advantages of mobile payments may surprise the public as well as security experts. ISACA’s 2015 Mobile Payment Security Study shows that only 23 percent of IT and cyber security professionals said they believe mobile payments keep personal information safe. Still, the global number of mobile payment users is expected to reach 1.09 billion by 2019. Advancements in mobile payment security technology are curbing risks and improving consumer trust beyond levels traditionally associated with plastic payment cards. Tokenization, device-specific cryptograms and two-factor authentication are described as key improvements positioning mobile payments appeal to both consumers and vendors.

Tokenization which is a secure mobile payment applications, or mobile wallets, do not transmit a card’s primary account number (PAN). Instead it sends a randomly generated token to the point of sale (POS) terminal and payment network. This token safeguards the consumer’s data while in transit. It is the security solution that is pushing mobile payments ahead of card payments in consumer sensitive financial information protection in the continuous race to stay ahead of hackers and other threats. The tokens can be configured to only work for transactions that match specific criteria for an exact period of time, specific retailer and certain monetary amount. Only the issuing bank and authorized entities can securely map tokens back to the original payment card data.

Device-specific cryptograms ensure that the payment is originated from the card-holder’s device. If a hacker obtains mobile payment transaction data, the cryptogram that is sent to the POS terminal with the token is unable to be used on another mobile device. This helps render any stolen data un- forgeable and useless.

Two-factor authentication provides an additional layer to guard against mobile payment fraud by utilizing two independent mechanisms for authentication. Among the common credentials used are something the user knows (such as a password), something physical that the user has (such as a payment card or phone) and a biometric such as a fingerprint, voice print or facial recognition.

If a mobile device containing a mobile wallet is lost, the mobile device can be remotely erased. And since the consumer’s payment card information is not on the mobile device, the payment cards do not need to be replaced. Like consumers, merchants stand to benefit from mobile payments in many instances. Biggest advantage is that it would reduce fraud rate and lower costs. The report also notes that integrating mobile payments into a merchant’s business creates opportunities for more robust customer loyalty programs and allows for purchases in circumstances when customers do not have access to their physical payment card. While modern mobile payment methods offer many benefits, there is some potential vulnerability during the one-time enrolment when users register a payment card in the mobile wallet application. Mobile wallet providers use methods such as sending payment card data and a device’s geographical coordinates to issuing banks, and any discrepancies can result in a call seeking additional verification. The guide encourages vendors that adopt mobile payment options to regularly re-evaluate risk control measures to ensure any new scenarios that could emerge are sufficiently addressed.

Source: voicendata.com

How to fight the prevalent Telecom fraud? An increasing problem costing the industry over US$6bn each year across the globe, according to the Communications Fraud Control association, roaming fraud and fraud originating from the operator’s home market are the biggest threats facing mobile service providers today.

Operators of all sizes and MVNOs across the globe are having to fight increasingly sophisticated attacks from opportunistic criminals alongside traditional, well known types of fraud such as International Revenue Share Fraud (artificially inflated traffic to international premium rate numbers), PBX hacking (making a high volume of calls to premium rate or overseas numbers), SIM card cloning and Wangiri (where end-users are duped into calling premium rate numbers from automated missed calls or spam SMS messages).

Moving to all-IP networks has changed the fraud landscape and enabled hackers to increase their efficiency, the speed in which they can launch their attacks, and their ability to exploit operators at their weakest points. The increasing amount of IP-linked equipment has unfortunately improved the accessibility for fraudsters and additionally, as technology advances, these fraudsters are learning to adapt their attacks for maximum impact.

The prevalence of roaming fraud has increased since criminals have identified certain risks and vulnerabilities with next-generation technology that can be better exploited in the roaming environment. Attacking app communications companies and operators at their most exposed points can drain a telecoms company of hundreds of thousands of pounds, whilst also potentially damaging customer relations. The international nature of roaming fraud has proved to take even longer to identify than traditional domestically originating fraud. The few hours delay between identifying and reporting the fraudulent activity amongst the involved operators allows a huge amount of traffic to pass through the network, which causes significant revenue loss .The acquisition and retention of customers is a top priority in competitive industries such as telecoms.

Fraud in the telecoms industry is not a new problem, but due to its nature and the number of new fraud variants continuously being developed, the true scale is uncertain. Some operators are not ready to divulge their vulnerabilities or details of any fraudulent attacks for fear of increasing customer churn and suffering even further revenue loss; and even if they are willing to share some details on fraud attacks suffered, some of these attacks still go unnoticed. New streams of revenue for monetisation are increasingly difficult to find, and with margins squeezed by a competitive marketplace, operators increasingly have to turn their attentions to preventing revenue leakage to improve profitability.

Proactivity and collaboration are key in the fight against fraud. As soon as any fraudulent activity is detected, operators are able to blacklist relevant addresses and numbers, and monitor for related traffic. By detecting similar trends and sharing this information with partner operators around the world, the identified illegal activity can then either be blocked by the carrier’s wholesale provider or through a firewall located in its own infrastructure. This will then not only prevent future similar attempts on the targeted operator, but other operators are able to benefit from the information and proactively take preventative precautions. This collaborative relationship between operators brings them together as one to fight telecoms fraud.

At the centre of the industry, wholesale carriers are in prime position to monitor fraud attacks involving international traffic and analyse anonymised data from occurrences across the globe. If operators work together to share all the data on fraudulent activity, they will be helping others to proactively fight telecoms fraud too. Although operators sharing information on the fraud they have suffered will have to take a reactive approach, others will benefit from the information to protect their business proactively and that is what working together is all about.

Source: http://telecoms.com/opinion/proactivity-and-collaboration-are-key-in-the-fight-against-telecoms-fraud/

With a warming acceptance of Internet of Things and big data, here comes another big bang called video analytics which has become the talk of every town globally.  A secured storage has become a key for most of the governments globally including India. Concerns over security, crime, and terrorism have driven creation of massive video surveillance infrastructures thereby increasing the demand for video storage.

In this age of enterprise Cloud, NetApp recently declared its association with two Indian states and will soon deploy NetApp storage solutions in six to seven others. Its ‘Smart City’ campaign is centred on three key areas: citizen security, intelligent traffic management system and smart metering. According to market research firm 6Wresearch, the Indian video surveillance market is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth of over 13% between 2016 and 2022. Keeping this in view, the demand for efficient and reliable storage technologies is at an all-time high and the global data storage giants EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, Oracle and now NetApp are set to play a bigger role in India.

With the help of NetApp video data can be stored on solutions like SnapMirror. SnapMirror is a software technology that provides fast, efficient data replication and disaster-recovery for critical data and SnapProtect that helps reduce the risk of data loss. NetApp expects to grow in the Indian market at a rate of 10-15% every year. Currently it is providing data storage solutions to some of the prominent banks in India like National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), ING Vysya, IDFC and Shamrao Vithal Co-op Bank Ltd. (SVC Bank). The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also deployed NetApp’s storage platform that provides cutting-edge video storage and analytics at 12 Indian airports. NetApp Video Surveillance Storage platform (VSS) will support video monitoring and connect the 12 airports in real-time to Committee of Secretaries on Aircraft Hijack. The association with NetApp will help AII to manage large volumes of video analytics and data to build a virtual infrastructure and better monitor important airports across India. NetApp has also deployed storage solutions in police state video surveillance in the country.

NetApp is working with different states in India to provide services to government owned and public and private cloud through deployment of Data Fabric approach.
Data Fabric provides consistent data management, efficient data transport and the visibility to leverage the right IT resources, when and where you need them. With the focus gaining ground to establish efficient data centres, the use of flash storage has begun to play a crucial role in the enterprise market in India.

NetApp registered a revenue growth of 238.2% year over the year, which was 2.7 times faster than the all-flash array market as a whole. All-flash array is a data storage system that contains multiple flash memory drives in place of spinning hard disk drives, allowing for much faster data transfer rates and more efficient use of data centre resources. According to IDC, NetApp has moved to the second position from fourth in the tracker quarter over quarter, with 22.8% revenue market share — ahead of Pure Storage, HPE and IBM. NetApp recently acquired leading all-flash storage system SolidFire with the promise of providing storage for the Next-Gen data centres. The data storage industry in India is adapting to meet the growing storage needs contributed by drivers such as SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud), IoT and Digital India initiative.

Source:http://news.siliconindia.com/technology/Secured-Data-Storage-Key-To-Growth-Of-Indian-Video-Surveillance-Market-Netapp-nid-196986-cid-2.html

Why not use video conferencing to give your business an extra push? According to Forbes, entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed when they utilize the latest technology, and video conferencing offers a slew of features which, when applied to your creative business, can really boost many of the ways you and your team work together. Here area few ways in which using video conferencing as a business tool can help you, especially when you’re providing creative services for clients.

1.Cut down costs on Travel:  This is probably the biggest and most simple benefit of video conferencing. Eliminating the need for constant travel and other expenses associated with in-person conferences can be a financial lifesaver for your bottom line, especially if you’re trying to get your small business off the ground. Additionally, time you would spend on travel and setup is valuable working time lost.

2. Act as a positive tool to boost one’s morale: It’s important to have the proper balance between work and personal life, and being able to work and communicate from home can really boost the morale of your teammates and employees. Without the extra stress more focus can be paid to the work at hand, and concerns about missing deadlines and meetings will be lessened. For entrepreneurs and artists, the ability to work at home is a huge benefit, and you can make the most of it by utilizing video conferencing as your main method of communication. Consider it a valuable balance between professionalism and a casual work atmosphere.

3.Freely exchange ideas and views in real time: When you’re collaborating with a creative team, communicating through email or phone conference can be cumbersome and tedious without visuals to accompany what you’re discussing. Emails can flood your inbox and opening attachment after attachment can be counter intuitive as you lose track of the order of progress. A video conference for the purposes of brainstorming and sharing is the perfect way to get on the same page with your team and throw your ideas together while having a way to visually approach what you’re working on

4.Better Communication with Clients :If you’re working on a commission for a client and in the midst of design, what better way to share and discuss adjustments than via real-time video conferencing? If you have questions for your client or vice versa, or just want to get their choice when It comes to different options you’re offering, the solution is only a video meeting away. Share files and the progress of your work in real time to make sure you’re on target and delivering the best possible product to your client. Good communication goes a long way, and your clients will appreciate the ability to check in on and discuss what you’re creating for them.

5.Simplify the Hiring Process: Video conferencing allows you to interact with, collaborate with, and manage your co-workers and staff regardless of your respective locations. When you’re looking to build your team, you don’t want to have distance standing in the way of hiring that amazing artist you’ve discovered. Video interviews make it easier to hire new members of your team for creative collaboration.

6.Record meetings: One of the biggest advantages of a conferencing is the ability to record meetings, allowing both parties to be able to refer to it at a later time. When you record your calls, you can go back and check what went well and what didn’t. This might help you be able to secure a client or deal the next time around. If you make use of this service, you will also have a better grasp of all the details of a project. Another benefit of saving meetings is that you can help protect yourself from getting burned. In the event of a false complaint against your company, a saved meeting can help resolve this issue and show that the complaint is invalid or irrelevant.

7.Increase Productivity: By eliminating time and district barriers, meetings can be hold anytime, anywhere with anyone. In this way, meetings are shorter and more effective. And also with the rich collaboration tools, decisions can be made faster. It also gives the entrepreneurs a competitive advantage in the industry and new business opportunities.

Entrepreneurs around the world are quickly realising that video conferencing is not just a less expensive communication method, it is actually a better one – a method destined to change the face of business in the years to come.

Source:http://info-europa.com/

2016 hasn’t been a good year for smartphone OEMs around the world. However, for India, who has recently acquired the second spot in the list of the world’s largest smartphone market, it seems that the smartphone juggernaut remains impossible to stop. Posting in at a healthy growth at 23% YOY, a recent report shows that the growth potential in the budget smartphone market in India is not only intact but alive and kicking as well ! India, home to over 1.2 billion people, has smartphones in the hands of less than one-fourth of a billion of its people.

According to the research firm, smartphone shipment in the country is expected to grow to about 130 million handsets this year from 97 million last year by 163 brands. The under Rs 10,000-smartphone segment is expected to grow 44 per cent this year, constituting 70 per cent of the market.  The entry-level or sub-Rs 10,000 accounted for 75 per cent of the market in calendar year 2015 with 153 brands shipping in the price bracket. For 2016, the segment is forecast to constitute about 70 per cent of the estimated 130 million shipment (91 million). The mid-tier segment (Rs 10,000-20,000 bracket) is expected to remain flat compared to the de-growth in previous year and account for 13 per cent of the market. The report said the mid-segment accounted for 18 per cent of the Indian market last year with 46 brands shipping in the price bracket. The high-end category (devices priced Rs 20,000 onwards) occupied 7 per cent of the market in 2015 with products from 19 brands. It is expected to grow at 19 per cent in 2016 compared to 15 per cent in previous year. This segment is expected to gain significance as smartphone upgrade becomes main driver of growth for overall market. The premium devices are forecast to account for 6 per cent of the market or about 7.8 million units in 2016.

Smartphones have caught the Indian market by storm and in Q1 2016, more than 45% of all mobile phones shipped were smartphones. While that by itself is a staggering number, two out of every three smartphones shipped during this quarter have been LTE Capable devices. Keeping in pace with the demand for faster Internet connectivity, there has been the growing demand for phones with larger screens by the audience to feast their eyes on. We take a more in-depth look at smartphones and how they’ve been shaping up in the Indian scenario in our next segment.

Source: www.financialexpress.com, www.indianexpress.com

Not long before 5G will be the new ‘it’ technology. Just as most Indian smartphone users and a small percentage of the elite are getting used to 3G and 4G speeds respectively, media reports suggest that this technology is redundant, out-of-market, junk, a technology that’s turning obsolete. While discussions around 5G have been making waves for some years now, this week’s proposal by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to kick-off 5G Wireless proceedings, seems to indicate that the future is nearer that it had appeared earlier. If FCC approves the technology then the United States will be the first country in the world to open up high-band spectrum for 5G networks and applications.

5G technology should be like mobile fiber offering speeds 10 to 100 times faster than what’s available in today’s spectrum. Some activity has already begun around the project with Verizon conducting 5G tests in the United States and AT&T intending to follow suit later. Google and Samsung had also reported some work related to 5G technologies, both from a hardware as well as software point of view. The proposal would also open up a large amount of high-speed unlicensed spectrum. Whereas most of the new 5G spectrum will be leased out to wealthy companies, this unlicensed area will be open to use by anyone.

A major concern is that 5G would not travel far and cannot penetrate buildings. The solution could be extensive tower deployment, something that is already raising the hackles of environmental groups. There is also the problem of developing new technologies that allows mobile devices to track down 5G signals in a manner vastly different from the way traditional wireless has worked through blanketing an area. Phones and other devices may need to get smarter to catch signals that are aimed and steered.

So, when would all of this result in fruition? Opinion is diametrically divided amongst the current service providers who believe 5G could become reality within the next 12 to 18 months. That’s all still a few years out, at the earliest. But actions by the FCC signal that it’s moving toward reality. The commission will vote on the proposal at a meeting next month. If it passes then the commission will then move toward opening up spectrum. That process, which will be called the Spectrum Frontiers proceeding, could also take several years. But FCC Chairman notes that the first 5G deployments are expected to be ready for 2020.

Source:www.theverge.com, www.techtree.com

The term “analytics” has been used by many Business Intelligence (BI) software vendors as a buzzword to describe quite different functions. Data analytics is used to describe everything from online analytical processing (OLAP) to CRM in call centres. Banks and credit cards companies, for instance, analyze withdrawal and spending patterns to prevent fraud or identity theft. Ecommerce companies examine Web site traffic or navigation patterns to determine which customers are more or less likely to buy a product or service based upon prior purchases or viewing trends .It is used to determine whether the systems in place effectively protect data, operate efficiently and succeed in accomplishing an organization’s overall goals.

India is currently among top 10 big data analytics markets in the world. Nasscom (the National Association of Software and Services Companies) has set a target of making India one among the top three markets in next three years. Big data analytics sector in India is expected to witness eight-fold growth to reach $16 billion by 2025 from the current level of $2 billion. Nasscom was partnering with its members to build a multi-pronged approach that encompasses skill development, thought leadership, products and platforms to realise the vision.

In order to build a supported ecosystem, the association has launched an online community for all the stakeholders in the analytics space. The online community will help stakeholders discuss the issues, challenges and opportunities to grow the industry. About 20 analytics firms are going to meet under the aegis of Nasscom and discuss the professional proficiencies that they require. They are to come out with a set of recommendations on the kind of skill sets they will require.

According to Nasscom, there are about 600 analytics firms in the country, out of which 400 are start-ups. About 100 companies were added during 2015. There is approximately $700 million worth of start-up funding over the last two-and-half years. The big data and analytics industry is witnessing a rapid growth driven by increased demand for cloud based and predictive analytics solutions by industries such as BFSI, retail, telecom and healthcare. Hyderabad has emerged as a strong contender for the establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Big Data and Analytics. Nasscom hopes that an announcement will soon be made on the Centre of Excellence. The centre’s mandate will be to drive research in the analytics space and strengthen the ecosystem.  Artificial intelligence and deep learning algorithms have advanced rapidly to enable the development of machines that can now do tasks that require deep expertise and skills

Together, software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualisation (NFV) have become the most highly-anticipated developments in network infrastructure in over a decade. A software abstraction layer sitting above a set of virtualized hardware resources can transform the way service providers (SPs) do business – improving service velocity, lowering costs and drastically increasing business agility. Effectively, NFV and SDN can reduce the time needed to deploy and augment networks from months down to days.

The value of this has certainly not been lost on the wider market.  IDC has reported that the global SDN market will see compound annual growth of 53.9% between 2014 and 2020, estimating it at nearly $12.5 billion. IHS has similar expectations – predicting that the global network functions virtualisation (NFV) hardware, software and services market will reach $11.6 billion by 2019. The mass migration of enterprise IT to the cloud, along with associated data, applications, compute and storage resources have all contributed to this rapid growth. And the upsurge in end-user and consumer demand for data intensive applications and cloud-based services has compounded it.

Both SDN and NFV are powerful technologies with the capability to transform networks; however, the transition needs to be done with the customer, in this case enterprises, in mind. Enterprises require hybrid IT infrastructures that offer choice and ensure the desired level of performance at the right cost. They also want to be able to order and activate it via self-service digital interfaces when and where they need it. This means SPs should be focussing on transitioning to SDN / NFV solutions that enable this hybrid IT infrastructure, by enabling a programmable, on-demand packet-optical based network to a wide variety of private and public data centres and cloud providers. Virtual networking services can then be added on top of these new hybrid IT infrastructures as an easier way to deliver managed network services (from managed firewalls and managed routing to managed WAN optimisation, and so on). Virtualisation means these services can now be conveniently deployed, at the right price, with flexible terms; opening them up to small and medium enterprises—currently a largely untapped market.

SPs are already enabling hybrid IT infrastructures where SDN can add value, building out for specific deployments and replacing legacy components with new technologies as networks are upgraded, but this will take time. Luckily, there are plenty of opportunities to look to for.

The vendor community, however, is already taking steps in the right direction, and in so doing reducing what could be a complex, time-consuming integration process through a DevOps style approach. This allows for the rapid creation of service templates and enables SPs the choice of adding new services and features themselves, or utilising third-party vendors and/or solution integrators as required. Ultimately multivendor communities will ensure that the resources that enable network, data centre and virtual domains to be connected will be more accessible.

For SPs in particular, moving from closed, proprietary hardware-based architectures to more open, on-demand software-driven networks has become mission critical. Programmable infrastructures that can rapidly adapt and provide the flexibility needed for higher-level cloud-based applications, means improvements to service modifications can be rolled out far quicker. The revolution, however, begins with the customer – identifying new and innovative virtual services that enable hybrid IT infrastructures and delivering them with velocity.

Source: Telecom.com