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Israel Enters Partnership with European R&D Bezeq, the state owned telecommunications company of Israel, has become the 23rd partner in the National Host Forum . This decision was accelerated by the association of Israel to the European R&D programmes. At the last NH-Forum meeting in Dublin, 17-18 September 1996, the National Host of Israel and its official representative Ms. Caldararu have been welcomed to the NHF, the interest group of European and International National Hosts.
Israel is already engaged in ACTS but wants to enhance its participation. Today companies from Israel participate in AMUSE with experiments on interactive multimedia services and VANGUARD, developing flexible methods of 3D scene modelling. For new projects please contact Myer W Morron, Morron Consulting Israel.
Bezeq has established a well advanced network infrastructure. Compared to most European countries the quality of service in Israel is quite high - one can obtain a line within ten days. Bezeq also plays an active role in other countries and is participating in telecommunication venture in India and Hungary. Though Bezeq is the leading player on the Israeli communication market and currently has the ball, it is forced to fend off an increasing number of private competitors.
The first taste of competition in the mobile phone sector was tried in December 1994. The country's second license for a mobile phone network was awarded to Cellcom - a joint venture between US's Bell South, the Brazilian Safra brothers and two Israeli companies. The government steps forward and will issue a tender for two international carrier licences. This will establish competition in the fixed networks' international segment as well. Some 24 percent of Bezeq's stock has been sold to the public during 1995 business year. Full privatisation has not been decided on yet.
By Peter Christ, DeTeBerkom, 15.10.1996
LEVERAGE Newsletter now available LEVERAGE NEWS, a newsletter which aims to inform about the developments of the LEVERAGE (LEearn from Video Extensive Real ATM Gigabit Experiments) project is now available. The first issue features
LEVERAGE (see ACTS NewsClips Nr. 05) is a three-year project aiming at developing, implementing and testing a multimedia system for collaborative foreign language learning over broadband networks. The system will combine ATM, videoconferencing, audio and video retrieval, as well as Web-like applications. Students from the University of Cambridge, the Institut National des Télécommunications in Paris and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid will participate in a series of trials starting early next year.
The results of the first trial will be reported in the second issue of LEVERAGE NEWS, which is due in April of 1997. For details on the paper based publication, which will appear twice a year, in autumn and in spring, contact its editor Philippa Wright at CILT, UK.
By Enrique Vázquez Gallo, DIT-UPM, 09.10.1996
Information and Communication for Politicians
Since June '96 provides an on-line service for members of the European Parliament and political decision makers. Currently, the service has 150 users and their number is increasing every day. User feedback has shown that there is strong interest in information services and communication tools for policy makers. Parliamentarians use EPRI-WATCH to enhance their communication processes and to support decisions concerning the Information Society.
The project's main objective is to stimulate information exchange between those involved with technology development/trials in Advanced Communication Technologies and Services, and those involved in policy debate on Information Society issues in European and national parliaments and regional policy makers. It aims to test and foster the use of advanced information retrieval, video-conferencing and telework services by Parliamentarians in the European Parliament and in a number of national and regional Parliaments. Links to Parliaments in the Baltic States and in Central and Eastern Europe are also foreseen.
The EPRI-WATCH on-line service consists of three areas: the Information Space, the Service Space, and the Communication Space. The Information Space offers information about Information Society legislation, research projects and initiatives on the EU level and related WWW links . The Consortium is now dealing with specific matters of the Information Society such as teleworking , infrastructure and basic services, telemedicine etc. The Service Space provides useful tools including direct access to WWW sites, on-line newspapers, search tools, and a glossary. The Communication Space, at the moment, allows to send e-mail and to use ftp. By the end of the year, more communication tools, such as Internet phone, video-conferencing, joint editing and fax will be available. A user manual is available and can be ordered at the EPRI-WATCH Project Office in Brussels, Boulevard Clavis 39, B-1040 Brussels, Dr. Helga Treiber .
The Project Office was established to stimulate the information exchange and to coordinate a series of individual presentations to high level politicians and managers. Presentations and Workshops are planned in all member states of the European Union and in many regions for the regional political community. Workshops have been held so far under the following themes: "Competitiveness and Industrial Change " by RETI in Belgium, "Teleworking" by North West Labs in Ireland, and "Introduction to the Access and Use of Internet Services" by NCSR Demokritos in Greece.
By Peter Christ, DeTeBerkom, 02.10.1996
Want to Speed-Up Your User Requirement? User requirements are a fundamental part of the process of designing new information systems. But they are also such a pain, in new technology areas, where people find it difficult to confront user needs with emerging technologies. And it takes a lot of time...
TEESURA (Techno-Economic Evaluation and Sectorial User Requirement Analysis) comes to the rescue. This brand new ACTS project, led by Expertel, wants to bring standards in user needs to the researcher community, and help new ACTS projects to speed-up this part of their agenda. ACTS projects already under way may take this opportunity to validate their activities.
"It is fantastic to realise that all user needs are somewhere similar", says project leader Michel Gironde. "We have started to investigate existing ACTS projects, and we have derived a methodology for extracting user needs. We have been working with the help of all GA chains, and we are now in the process of working directly with projects". User requirements will be captured from the trial based ACTS projects reports and from workshops with these projects. Eight workshops will be organised, one every three months.
ACTS projects have been first analysed with respect to the categories in which user trials would fit. The analysis presented a first table, where projects were dispatched into existing NACE20 categories, such as Construction Industry, Health services, etc. But TEESURA wants to go further, and thus has set-up a web server which eventually allows companies to learn how their user requirements are going to be fulfilled by information and communication technologies coming from ACTS projects.
By Serge Soudoplatoff, CP2i, 14.10.1996
Placement Services Become Mobile If COSIMA, a R&D project funded by Deutsche Telekom AG, proves to be successful, the (German) Federal Employment Agency will be able to accelerate and improve the quality of placement services by getting actual information to its clients faster than before.
In a pilot project, 120 Federal Employment Agency field workers based at job centres located in major German cities have been equipped with a variety of mobile communication solutions. Besides handling and controlling issues regarding unemployment benefits, the local job centres are in charge of job placement and mediation. Since 2 years they are facing competition by private job brokerage agencies.
The underlying assumption for the trial is as follows: A job mediator spends a good time of his/her work away from the office and needs to stay in regular contact with personal offices of industry as well as members of works councils. Once equipped with mobile communications equipment, s/he is much more flexible to satisfy the needs, e.g. of the construction industry and its fluctuating demand of employees with various skills. The project aims to achieve
The specific application of the Federal Employment Agency allows for the display of online data about applicants or scrolling through available job offers. Gateways operated and administered by DeTeSystem, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, provide the field workers with a secure and efficient connection to the information highway. The network platform comprises GSM, radio communication, ISDN and data communication. A powerful notebook with two PCMCIA plug-in points ( for a GSM modem card and an analogue modem card) serve as terminal equipment. Peripherals are a D1/GSM mobile phone with PCMCIA GSM modem, an integrated radio modem and an ink-jet printer.
According to a Deutsche Telekom spokesperson, this project addresses a broad section of the population, especially young people, demonstrating an application for the information society. COSIMA will be presented next at Qualification 96 in Hannover, an international trade fair for management and professional qualification. Opening on October 22, it embraces the entire spectrum of vocational training - from learning and teaching materials to presentation technology and training organisations, including seminar and training services.
By Peter Christ, DeTeBerkom, 09.10.1996
Publish Electronically - Or Perish
AC/IENM Study Outlines Strategies for the European Publishing Industry
Electronic Publishing (EP) will become a necessity for the majority of traditional print publishers to sustain long-term survival and success. "EP scepticism is ruinous" - this is one of the key messages of a new study on "Strategic Developments for the European Publishing Industry towards the Year 2000". The study which has been presented during this year's Frankfurt Book Fair contains an analysis of the opportunities offered by on-line publishing, and highlights the importance of content providers in driving the business for the information services market. It has been published in the context of the EC's INFO2000 programme which aims at stimulating the development of the European multimedia content industry.
EP currently represents only a small (1-3%) market compared to traditional publishing, therefore many traditional publishers remain sceptical. Most EP activities, especially in the area of on-line newspaper and magazine publishing, are not yet profitable. However, "hesitation in entering EP is economically dangerous", conclude the researchers from Andersen Consulting (Germany) and IENM/Techno-Z FH F&E (Austria): late market entry is likely to diminish the potential customer base as well as to increase costs. Particularly regional newspaper publishers will find excellent marketing opportunities in regional onl-ine markets if they are the first to enter. Additionally, online publishing can provide marketing synergies for print and attract new readers.
The study asks the EC to co-ordinate regulatory change (by defining directives) and to "establish an initiative to create an end-to-end platform for high-value content, including copyright and payment systems, content operability, and media-rich content. This could help close the innovation gap with the US and create significant employment opportunities. The European Commission could act as facilitator by bringing the relevant industry players together for such an initiative".
Today's publishers see their business mainly as formulating and distributing fixed content to preset deadlines. In the future, however, electronic publishers must focus on integrating their content with services, customer-driven product tailoring, the brokering of information, and "retail" transaction facilities. Users will be attracted by EP products that offer a time/cost benefit over print, i.e. better information for less effort. The key success factor is identified as the exploitation of core skills from print publishing, such as community creation and targeting, quality content production, and expedient use of layout techniques.
Newspaper and magazine publishers going electronically now will be able to counteract advertising losses, as classified advertising increasingly moves away from print, and to protect their competitive interests in the online market. Publishers should exploit these opportunities rather than simply defend their print realms. Early entrants will benefit not only from decreasing operational costs, but also get a head start on their competitors in building customer loyalty and the necessary technical sophistication to offer advanced electronic publishing services. The study identifies EP as "likely to become a strategic cornerstone for economic survival within the next 5-8 years. Players that make no effort to get involved will see the window of opportunity closing".
As electronic publishers leverage their brands to create focused on-line communities of high value to advertisers and users, the study predicts a gradually increasing market share of electronic advertising versus TV ad revenues. The authors expect the EP share of traditional print publishers to range between 5 and 15% by the year 2002, generating revenues "from 8.8 to 12.4 billion ECU, depending on the type of publication and user acceptance patterns".
The study reports a high level of agreement among researchers and practitioners that there is little potential for significant further expansion in consumers' media time or expenditure budgets:
Electronic publishing works as an alternative to TV, and provides publishers with a visually more attractive means than print. By well-planned use of EP, publishers can gain new audiences and customer contacts. They have the chance to take innovation momentum from broadcasters and thus regain attractiveness to advertisers. As on-line publishers have to promote the new medium before they can effectively market to advertisers, newspaper and magazine publishers possess excellent opportunities to leverage their existing customer and advertising base by using their own print media to advertise their online offerings. This is seen as a strategic advantage over many new entrants.
Early dominance in a clearly defined strategic role is critical for success in EP and Interactive Services. To help position themselves for the Information Society, publishers can aim for several content-related strategic roles:
Either way, all publishers are urged to "strongly increase competencies relating to
The authors advise large publishers to take over the role of an On-line Network: This includes building competencies in market making, content creation and packaging, delivery support and systems/interfaces. Large publishers should seek competitive advantage in all relevant competencies and build technical experience, including competency in digital television. On the other hand, SMEs should strengthen their relationships with content creators and focus on targeted content packaging, eventually taking over the role of Community Organisers, particularly for local communities, or take the role of an Interactive Studio or Content Rights Agency. They should concentrate on leveraging their core competencies for competitive advantage in creating and packaging targeted content, and use outsourcing or alliances to control missing stages of the value chain.
As it increasingly gains market share, the electronic publishing industry promises to become an important employment market for the future. It is predicted that about 1 million new multimedia-related jobs will be created in the 15 EU Member States within the next ten years. The demand for content creators and developers is expected to show the highest growth rates (+95% until 2005).
By Reinhard Geiger, IENM/Techno-Z FH F&E, 11.10.1996
As Audiovisual Services and Telecommunications Converge
EU publishes KPMG report on public issues
"As rapid technological developments are blurring the boundaries between the provision of telecommunications and audiovisual services, convergence of these services - and potentially the companies that provide them - in a manner that is beneficial to the European Union, its citizens, and its industries must be insured", postulate the authors of a recent KPMG report for the European Commission.
Since there will be essentially no differences between broadcasting and telecommunications, the highly regulated approach to broadcasting based on scarcity will ultimately clash with the more open approach applied in the information technology and publishing markets, and, as a result of more recent changes, in the telecommunications sector. "This blurring of boundaries", argue the authors, "calls for a fresh approach to public policy relating to the converged environment". Without such a radical reappraisal "we risk stifling innovation, discouraging investment, choking new enterprise, and undermining established players."
"Maintaining current regulatory regimes without modification, or worse still, applying current approaches to new industries and services, will damage the prospects of a vibrant information society", is one of the key themes of the study; performing those changes "in an ad hoc manner would perpetuate current uncertainties for users and suppliers alike" another one.
Therefore the European Union is called to define a regulatory vision for the future that supports market-led developments. This vision, based primarily on competition law, should minimise regulatory intervention, avoid market distortions and be applied to new services from their outset. In the short run, the Union should develop practical transition arrangements that progressively migrate current inconsistent regimes to the new vision.
The authors state that market forces rather than extensive interference by lawmakers should guide the transition leading from a situation of scarcity in the delivery of services to one of abundance. Despite the fact that demand for services delivered by the new technologies has yet to be demonstrated on a broader scale (meaning that volume production - a prerequisite for lower component prices - is still some way off), KPMG bank on the market to regulate itself as well as to provide the innovative changes and revenues of the future.
The status quo is described as follows:
"Extending current broadcasting regulation to a transactional world where there are multiple channels, switched services, transfrontier service provision, and increased consumer choice", so the authors argue, "will exacerbate problems." Such an approach risks institutionalising barriers to entry. It will also lead to increased inconsistencies and confusion. The tendency has been to make incremental adjustments to existing regulatory frameworks. "It is now time for a fundamental re-think of regulatory principles as a result of convergence" demand the authors, showing a strong belief "that the market should be left to develop unhindered, even though we cannot yet be certain that, left to its own devices, the market will produce an economically efficient or a socially desirable outcome." If an undesirable outcome (such as imperfect competition in networks due to high start-up costs; universality of network or service not occuring naturally) becomes apparent "it should be corrected once it is identified. Restrictions applied too early may stifle development."
According to the report, technology neutral, "light-handed regulation", policy making and governmental influence should be basically applied to
With the regard to public interest issues, KPMG suggest that a "competition authority (..) will be focused on economic issues". In addition, "a democratically accountable body will address issues of public interest and define how these should be applied in a non-distortionary manner." One issue is identified as requiring action most urgently: "Access to exclusive rights for key events that are in the public interest (for example sporting and cultural events) should be addressed. Replay and highlight rights provide some protection to vulnerable groups. The issue should be addressed quickly before any long term exclusive deals are made."
By Reinhard Geiger, IENM/Techno-Z FH F&E, 11.10.1996
Can Public Libraries Survive in the Information Age?
Study Sees Chances and Major Shortcomings - Microsoft Announces Grants - Surfing Via TV in US Libraries
"Smalltown libraries offer a chance to bring new information technologies closer to the people in a way that is adapted to their needs. An Internet-based library network could connect public libraries with each other and with the university libraries", envisions Guenther Stocker of Techno-Z FH Research and Development in Salzburg: "Such a network would allow users of public libraries to search for literature in neighbouring libraries as well as accessing the holdings of academic institutions". This is one of the prospectives offered in a recently released study on the perspectives of small public libraries in the information age.
Additionally, the Internet could also be used as a new medium in the library. Public libraries would be "ideal access points" to familiarize the general public with the Information Highway. To make such a venture a success, however, it is essential "to combine the installation of the access ramp with a profound training for the librarians". New technologies in libraries succeed or fail with the training of the staff, says Stocker.
The province of Salzburg has a population of about 430,000. As in most other Austrian regions, nearly every village has its own little library. However, most of them are very small, holding anything from 3,000 to 10,000 media. They suffer from small budgets and short opening hours. Deriving from interviews with librarians and experts in the field of library and information sciences, the study has found that most smalltown libraries are not yet well prepared to enter the Information Age:
Microsoft announces Libraries Online! grants
Microsoft announced the launch of Libraries Online!, a USD 10.5 million programme which brings public access to the Internet and multimedia personal computers to public libraries in economically disadvantaged communities. Based on the success of a pilot programme last year, Microsoft is contributing financial and technical assistance and software to 41 library systems in the US and Canada.
US Library offers Internet access via TV
The Phillips Public Library in Wisconsin recently became the first institution in the United States to offer its patrons Internet access by television. President Clinton received the first e-mail from library staff using the new technology. The library received a new Internet TV from Philips Consumer Electronics and 12 months of free Internet service from WebTV Networks, one of the pioneers in the field of PC-TV (see ACTS NewsClips Nr. 06). Phillips is a rural community located four hours north of Milwaukee.
By Reinhard Geiger, IENM/Techno-Z FH F&E, 11.10.1996
American Cable Industry Agrees on Digital Systems Specs
Working with some key suppliers of digital technology, Cable Television Laboratories, Inc., and its members have agreed upon major elements of an interoperable digital cable systems specification for North America.
This specification establishes the basic building blocks of digital services, allowing set-top terminals and data modems built by different manufacturers to work together on the same cable system. CableLabs expects that many of its members will purchase equipment that complies with this specification. The specification covers how cable television systems will transport digital video and data in standard six MegaHertz (MHz) cable channels. In the specified digital transmission systems, the payload data rate will be between 27 and 40 Mbps.
"This specification will advance the industry's ability to deploy digital set-top boxes and cable modems in a cost-effective manner," says Time Warner Cable chief technician James Chiddix according to a press release. "That will benefit the cable customer and the cable operator dramatically, with lower price points and more choice." This interoperable digital cable specification will allow the simultaneous co-existence in the same cable system of set-top terminals and data modems from a variety of manufacturers.
CableLabs is a research and development consortium of cable television system operators representing more than 85% of the cable subscribers in the United States, 75% of Canadian and 5-10% Mexican cable. It plans and funds R&D projects and also transfers relevant technologies to the industry.
By Paul Devoldere, BBN, 14.10.1996
High Speeed Cable Modem Testing Advances
Ongoing research on high-speed cable modems at American CableLabs indicates that cable operators in one data channel on a single node will be able to support several hundred users simultaneously with no noticeable degradation of performance. Cable Lab is advancing quickly with its evaluation of high-speed cable modems, including activities that explore a series of architectures-related questions involving applications, testing and modelling.
The applications being tested vary widely in their function given that high-speed cable modems are used for a wide range of applications which vary in bandwidth intensity and quality of service. These include, but are not limited to, Web surfing, electronic mail, file transfer-protocol, streaming audio and video, videoconferncing, IP phone, and cable commuting.
These specific applications were chosen for testing cable modems because "they are the most realistic of residential Internet access in the Cable environment " says Bob Cruickshank, director of data applications at Cable Labs. "There is an incredible pent-up demand for Internet access - applications are changing and becoming more exciting for users."
Testing experience shows that most cable modems differentiate themselves in performance. The testing is being conducted to assess the performance of each vendor's cable modem system in several important areas such as Quality of Service: throughput, frame loss rate, latency, and jitter; and functional operation: broadcast and multicast functionality, management capability.
By examining various applications via testing and modelling, Cable Labs is looking for answers to questions such as :
By Paul Devoldere, BBN, 14.10.1996
Challenges to Cable Modems Around the Corner?
Internet Surfers demanding fast access to the Internet will fuel the cable modem market with unit shipments forecasted to grow 92 percent this year, according to a Dataquest report. The cable modem market will reach 25,000 units in 1996, and eventually grow 220 percent next year when unit shipments are expected to reach 80,000 units. Forrester Research Inc. predicts the US cable industry will have seven to eight million modem customers surfing by the year 2000, yielding more than USD 1.3 billion in new revenue; others predict a market twice that size.
As new technologies make higher-speed alternatives to analogue modems a reality, cable modem vendors team up with cable operators (whose lines pass 97% of property in North America) to penetrate the consumer base of the remote LAN and Internet access market. US cable operators see a big potential market among employees who work at home and need to send files back and forth from the office. Cable's pitch is that its wire can carry digital data as much as 1,000 times faster than current telephone lines. However, industry analysts estimate that by spring of this year only 5 to 10 percent of US cable systems would have been able to offer the upstream capabilities needed for surfing via cable modem. About one-half of US systems are equipped with amplifiers that can become two-way active once reverse amplifier modules are installed.
The cable industry is responding to increasing demand for speed as if it knows a gift horse. An estimated 100 modem trials are under way across the US, in Canada and Europe. One potential competitor seems already worn down: ISDN is taking off rather slowly, its appeal expected to decline as it falls into the shadow of cable modems.
However, despite the fact that their trials give the industry a firm head start, the next competitor might be just around the corner: running on existing copper wires, Asymetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL, aka XDSL, see ACTS NewsClips 09), a data signal compression technology developed by AT&T, has a definite potential (especially when one considers that European cable penetration approaches US' levels only in the Benelux countries, with percentages dropping down to single digits in the UK, France and the Mediterranean countries), once it reaches a mass market at acceptable prices sometime in 1998.
The most compelling reason to use a cable modem is speed, but speed alone won't be enough to win the battle. Cable companies are advised to take advantage of their strength of being a content provider and offer innovative new services in addition to basic Internet access.
By Reinhard Geiger, IENM/Techno-Z FH F&E, 14.10.1996
InfoVia Services Reaching 100,000 Users in Spain 
, a telecommunication service launched by Telefónica de España in 1995, has already reached more than 100,000 users and 500 service providers. InfoVia (see ACTS NewsClips Nr. 2) provides low-cost access to commercial companies offering Internet access and other telematic services, such as tele-news, tele-shopping, electronic bank, etc.
For the end-user, the only cost of using InfoVia is that of a local telephone call (less than 1 ECU per hour), regardless of the distance between the user and the service provider. There is neither a subscription procedure, nor a monthly fee, and the access software is free. With these favourable usage conditions, InfoVia has rapidly become the major means of access to Internet for residential users in Spain.
By Enrique Vázquez Gallo, DIT-UPM, 12.10.1996
Nokia Supplies Dual Mode Mobile Phones for AT&T Wireless Nokia, Europe's largest manufacturer of mobile phones has signed a USD 240 million contract for production of TDMA dual band/dual mode phones for Digital PCS with AWS, the wireless division of AT&T. The contract spans over three years and calls for Nokia to supply mobile phones for both the 800 MHz and the 1.9 GHz band. The phones will also have a default capability to switch between analogue and digital wireless networks.
AT&T claims to be the largest U.S. provider of cellular services with currently more than six million cellular customers. The company recently introduced Digital PCS (Personal Communications Services) on the existing 800 MHz band. It will begin to deploy the service on a 1.9 GHz band by the end next of 1996. When combined with their existing cellular networks, AT&T's AWS networks will eventually cover about 80% of the US population.
AT&T announced it will offer Digital PCS in 40 major markets with a range of packages starting at USD 24.99 per month and initially reaching over 70 million people. Wireless Office Service, also recently introduced, allows corporate customers to use wireless phones internally, via a private wireless network, as well as outside, via digital cellular network. It will cost between USD 700 and 1,000 per user to install the on-site micro-cells necessary for receiving and transmitting phone calls. For internal calls, any cellular handset may be used. External calls require AT&T's new Digital PCS handsets. The PocketNet Phones, priced around USD 600, should be available later this year, providing Web access, fax and e-mail capabilities as well as a custom-developed browser for viewing Web pages.
Digital PCS will support new applications and teleservices. It offers caller ID, paging, voice and electronic mail, as well as a sleep mode, designed to prolong battery life. A number of competitors have already announced plans to offer true PCS - transmission at the higher frequency and with lower power than conventional cellular networks - months before AT&T.
By Thorbjorn Thorbjornsen, Telenor, 08.10.1996
Republic of Korean Company to Supply Mobile Phones to US Sprint
Earlier this fall, Samsung Electronics has signed a USD 600 million deal to supply Sprint Spectrum with 1.7 mobile phones over the next three years, the largest single export for Republic of Korea's telecommunications industry. Aiming at a market expected to quadruple in the next four years, the PCS phones will be marketed under the Sprint-Samsung label. The phones are super-small (145 x 54 x 22 mm) and lightweight (170 grams), operating at 1.9 GHz. Samsung has announced that future marketing efforts for its "code division multiple access personal communications service terminals" (CDMA-PCS) will not be limited to the US market.
Korean companies were the world's first to commercialize the CDMA system, increasing current analog cellular network capacity by more than 10 times. The technology is based on modulating the caller's signal by unique digital code that spreads the spectrum of each user's signal across a wide bandwidth. Other benefits of CDMA include enhanced voice quality, powerful cell hand-off, data communication and position location, improved multipath resistance, fewer cell cites, more privacy, longer talk time, and a flexible limit to the number of calls per cell.
Sprint Spectrum, founded in 1994, is a joint venture of Sprint Corp., Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI), Cox Communications, and Comcast Corp. The consortium has invested USD 2.11 billion to acquire PCS licenses and won rights to wireless licenses in 29 major trading areas, representing 182.4 million people (70 percent of the US population) when the Federal Communications Commission auctioned off next-generation wireless licenses.
The FCC 's most recent auction of personal communication service licenses has attracted 153 qualified bidders vying for the valuable spectrum space. The digital PCS frequency can be used for both phone and pager service. And developers are currently working on gateways to the Internet. The FCC began auctioning off PCS spectrum space in March 1995 and since then has raised some USD 18 billion, netting the US Treasury Dept about USD 10 billion.
By Reinhard Geiger, IENM/Techno-Z FH F&E, 14.10.1996
Internet Telephony Forces US Phone Companies to Act
An estimated 1 million of US internet users already utilize the net to substantially cut down on costs for long-distance calls. And the numbers are most likely to increase, as technology evolves. For instance, IDT Corporation claims that users can place calls via the Internet using traditional telephones while still maintaining high sound quality. The service, Net2Phone Direct, reduces the cost of international calls to approximately the cost of a local call. Beta release is scheduled for Nov. 1, with a live release date on Jan. 1, 1997. Unlike other Internet telephony products, Net2Phone Direct's sound quality alledgedly equals dialing on a LAN, and will be full-duplex.
AT&T has answered this threat to its core business (and to all the other Internet users whose surfing gets slowed down in the process, some claim) by announcing the industry's first single-rate, long-distance calling plan available 24 hours a day. The largest US long-distance telephone service provider said its new plan, One Rate, will allow direct-dialed long-distance calls at any time to any location within the US for a flat rate of USD 0.15 a minute.
By Reinhard Geiger, IENM/Techno-Z FH F&E, 14.10.1996
Orbit '96 - High-Tech Marketplace in Basle 
, the most important Swiss exhibition for information, communication and organisation has closed its doors on 12th October in Basle. At the largest high-tech marketplace in Switzerland, this year about 1,150 exhibitors showed their products and services to an audience of about 92,000 (22% more than past year) interested in discovering the latest in computer and communication technologies.
"I think the effort was worth it", said Ueli Blaser, who is in charge of the organisation. Separating this year's exhibition into two main sectors, the Home Section, aimed at the private user, and the Business Section, devoted to professional users, as well as the quantity and quality of exhibitors has contributed in the fair's success. "We expect a further improvement of the Home Section for the next year", comments Blaser. This section offered information on peripherals, audio, video, software and, in the so-called Internet Jungle access to the Web, appealing especially to teenagers. Entertainment products, possibly the highlights of the Home Section, were present for the first year. A lot of top players like Sony, Philips and JVC, and Internet access providers such as Swiss Online and Compuserve, were present with colourful booths, drawing huge crowds.
In the Business Section of the annual exhibition, professional users found information and advice on everything related to telecommunications and networks (Comm-World Section), on data transmission, multimedia, and office organisation. NCR presented its new generation of servers, Ascom the latest Natel/D GSM phones and Softtrend featured a new version of DrugonDictate software, allowing voice input to the computer rather than typing.
Parallel to Orbit '96, this year's Publish took place in Basle. as well. Publish '96, a comprehensive trade fair for printed and digital information, let its visitors observe the fusion between different information technologies and offered new perspectives resulting from the increasing digitalisation of information. Visiting both fairs allowed the interested public a glimpse on the growth of these important, closely related industrial sectors.
By Jaume Llardén Prieto, Swiss Telecom PTT, 14.10.1996
DVD-ROM Might Replace CD-ROM Sooner Than Expected
Sales of DVD-ROM will take away revenues from CD-ROM and eventually reach USD 35 million in 1997, 75 million in 1998, and 100 million by 1999, predicts a report from SIMBA Information. The study, contained in the Multimedia Title "Publishing 1996-97: Review, Trends & Forecast," also estimates that US consumers, professional and educational users have spent USD 1.47 billion on multimedia CD-ROMs in 1995 and that CD-ROM sales will increase 74% to USD 2.56 billion this year, led by edutainment and game titles.
Although multimedia CD-ROM revenues will continue to grow over the next several years, partially due to the success of hybrid CD-ROM titles (which add web-browsing capabilities), emerging platforms such as DVD-ROM and online multimedia delivery might eventually blow away CD-ROM by the turn of the century. The base of installed DVD-ROM drives is expected to reach the 1 million mark by 1999.
According to industry sources, Sony is expected to release DVD-ROMs and DVD-ROM products, including a portable DVD-ROM SCSI-2 drive in "Mac and Windows" versions for under USD 500, a DVD-ROM jukebox capable of holding 100 DVD-ROMs for about USD 600, and a combo DVD, DVD-ROM, and CD-ROM home player for less than USD 300. Also big players Toshiba, IBM, Phillips, and RCA - having agreed to solve the DVD-ROM licensing issues "soon" - are about to make CD-sized discs holding nearly 9 GB of information available to home computer within the next months.
By Reinhard Geiger, IENM/Techno-Z FH F&E, 14.10.1996
IS&N '97: 2nd Call For Proposals The 4th International Conference on Intelligence, Services & Networks (IS&N) will take place on 27-29 May 1997 in Como, Italy. The market increasingly demands the availability of multimedia and multiparty services with extensive support of mobility features, and regulatory bodies are shaping the context in which fair competition is guaranteed. Building on the success of the three previous IS&N conferences, IS&N'97 will address technology for cooperative competition expected in the telecommunications services market place.
The conference provides a forum for the discussion of issues and the exchange of outstanding technical results related to the engineering of advanced communication services and experiments on their use.
Industrial fora like DAVIC, ATM-Forum, TINA-C, Eurescom, OMG, NMF, and IETF, and standardisation bodies like ITU-T, ETSI, and ANSI are strongly invited to share their visions.
Whilst the main theme of the conference will relate to technology, contributions are also invited addressing market and regulatory aspects. This Conference is jointly sponsored by the European Commission and Italtel and is supported by the ACTS projects in the IS&N Domain.
Contributions are invited on (but not limited to) topics such as:
Papers to be presented and published in book will be selected by the Technical Programme Committee on the basis of extended abstracts of at least 1,500 words outlining the key aspects.
The following deadlines have to be observed:
All correspondance will take place electronically. For more detailed information check out the ISN '97 homepage or contact the organising committee.
By Vera Franz,IENM/Techno-Z FH F&E, 15.10.1996
Share Experience on Communication in Harbours While most people probably view a harbour merely as a romantic place for communication, only a few casual observers might recognise that within a modern commercial harbour a great number of people from many different companies need to communicate (over 3,000 in Bremen) and co-operate by sharing common multimedia databases. Between harbours, information about ships and their contents has to be exchanged, between ports and ships information needs to be shared regarding e.g. maintenance issues.
But there are other useful applications for information and communication technologies which can be applied in a modern harbour. This will be demonstrated at MARCOM'96, a two day conference on "Advanced Communications Within and Between Harbours,"organised by the EIES (European Information Exchange Service for the communication between harbour areas) project in Brest on November 14 and 15.
"Just think about a fire inside a ship's container", says Jean-Manuel Canet, from France Telecom Expertel. "With tools already in place, the people in charge may start a video conference and instantly share the relevant data in order to decide where to best route a ship for a safe emergency".
Other cooperative applications which will be presented:
Speakers from all over Europe will talk about maritime users' requirements, new technologies and their applications, covering topics like Intranet for harbours, videoconferencing and telecooperation over broadband networks, wireless technologies for maritime actors, smart containers. Services like Access to "blue pages", Virtual navigation and Maritime web server for employment will be demonstrated. A considerable amount of research in these areas is conducted within projects funded by the European Commission, namely ACTS (EIES, DIVINE), Telematics for Transport (ECHO, POSEIDON, BDPCOM, MULTITRACK), and Information Technologies (Geonet).
For information, please contact Jean-Manuel Canet, or send a fax to +33 1 44 11 59 23. See also ACTSNewsClips Nr. 08
By Serge Soudoplatoff, CP2i, 09.10.1996
'97 Calendar Contest - Last Chance to Win Worldwide Exposure The contest is still on! Participating in the InfoWin/EC design contest: "Present your ACTS project to the public with one picture and one sentence" offers the unique opportunity to advertise your project within the ACTS Programme around the world via the European Commissions 1997 wall calendar. The top twelve pictures will be published, along with the project name and contact points
Using one image (15cm tall x 24 cm wide) all entries have to answer the following in one short sentence or slogan:
How does your project contribute to the development / roll-out of advanced communications?
Main criteria used for assessment will be:
All entries should be received by ACTS Central Office no later than Friday 1 November 1996.
For details see the official rules page, check ACTS NewsClips Nr. 10, or contact Serge Soudoplatoff at CP2i.
