Slow Internet?…this is the problem area

The South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) Submarine Cable is an approximately 18,800 KM long cable connecting Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria and France. The system is using Terabit DWDM technology to achieve Maximum bandwidth with minimal cost.
The slowness in the internet is due to damage in the cable between Egypt and France. The restoration work will be progressive taking upto 10-15 days. This has affected countries from Egypt, GCC countries to countries in the Indian sub-continent.

Bangladesh regains internet connectivity

Bangladesh’s internet connectivity was restored to its full capacity at 2:00pm on Sunday.
A fault in a submarine cable on April 14 resulted in Bangladesh losing all its internet communication with countries to the west of the cable including Europe.
The fault was repaired by Mango Teleservices Limited, an International Internet Gateway operator in Bangladesh. The company said in a press release the problem was detected in the cable between Alexandria and Marseilles.

A senior official at the BTCL’s submarine cable project had told bdnews24.com on April 15 that a short circuit at the Italian landing station at Palermo had caused the problem.
On December 21, 2008 Bangladesh faced a similar kind of connectivity disruption, which was restored after 18 hours.

JS body for bringing VOIP under law

A meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Planning on Sunday suggested the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications to bring Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) under the jurisdiction of law.
It will help increase revenue earnings of the government as well as provide better services to the internet users.
The meeting also recommended making capable the Teletalk so that it can survive in competition with the private cell phone companies.
Committee Chairman Dr Oli Ahmed presided over the meeting, an official release said.
Committee members Planning Minister Air Vice Marshal (retd) AK Khandoker, Nawab Ali Abbas Khan and Azizul Haque Chowdhury attended the meeting.
The meeting discussed elaborately different projects undertaken by the ministries of land, post and telecommunications and social welfare.
The meeting decided that BTRC, incorporating the opinion of the ministry of post and telecommunications, would apprise the committee how seventy percent share of WARID was sold to Airtel company only for Taka seventy lakh.
About the Ministry of Land, it decided that the ministry would apprise the committee within next three months what steps it has taken to recover illegally occupied government land, how much land has so far been recovered and whether any new incident of land occupying was occurred recently.
About the Ministry of Social Welfare, the meeting decided that proper monitoring should be ensured so that the registered NGOs properly follow the conditions of registration.
Senior officials were present in the meeting.

VoIP: Beauty and the beast

The delight of being able to hear the voices of our dear ones abroad is priceless, but the bills at the end of the day remind us that 'priceless' is an exaggerated word. Nothing comes free, and neither does maintenance of long distance ties. What if by some quirk of technology, we were able to speak long distance at greatly reduced costs? Today, with VoIP (voice over internet protocol), this can be a reality.

VoIP refers to a collection of transmission technologies, which make voice communications possible over internet. It is also known as internet telephony and helps the conversion of voice into a digital signal that can be sent over the Internet. These signals are then compressed and translated to IP (internet protocol) packets for transmission. They are converted to a regular telephone signal, if the user is calling on a normal phone. In other words, it facilitates the use of your personal computer to make telephone calls.
The use of this technology simply involves downloading and installation of a VoIP software like 'Skype' or 'Vonage', purchasing low-cost VoIP cards from the local market or online and using the number on the card for verification and then dialling the required telephone number from the PC.
The most important benefit of VoIP is of course, reduced cost. Generally, it saves around 30 percent to 50 percent of traditional phone bills, and sometimes even more. Because VoIP is all done over the internet, it cuts out the phone lines and expensive networks that other phones require. By bypassing cellphone towers and telephone lines, and using cheap internet access, you eliminate the middleman and the distance in between you and the person you are talking to.
The beauty of cheap VoIP is that it can be used anywhere and as long as you have an internet connection. Since it involves the employment of the internet, the user is able to integrate computer applications like email, e-fax and web conferencing, with the telephone. It gives the provision of using the phone, while accessing all other programs, and surfing the Internet at the same time. It is also possible for the users to take the VoIP adapters anywhere, and use their number at any place where internet is available. This feature is particularly helpful for those with active lifestyle and whose jobs require a lot of travel. Not to mention, all such calls made this way are also relatively cheaper.
However, all good things in life run the risk of misuse. There are growing concerns on the possibility that unwanted VoIP advertising messages -- often referred to as Spam over internet telephony, or SPIT -- will overwhelm IP voice systems, much as email spam has overwhelmed email messaging systems. VoIP is also susceptible to worms, viruses and hacking. But the worst case of misuse of VoIP is in the execution of cyber crimes. Terror groups increasingly use this service in their planning stages since it is cheap and very difficult to track. Effective measures by security agencies to monitor and regulate (not block) VoIP calls could help in bringing more order to the VoIP regime and prevent potential misuse.
Some ISPs (internet service providers) and governments have taken it in their own hands to censor what their Internet subscribers can or cannot do online. Scared of the loss of revenue posed by VoIP, some incumbent telephone companies and governments have in the past blocked ports so that calls cannot connect with a user on their network. Certain telephone companies have even gone as far as to block Google Talk, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! IM because they have also offered voice as well as text chat.
However, in spite of all the restrictions, people have managed to find their way around by using applications that dodge the blockage. Technology is such a thing that whenever a path is closed, someone always eventually finds a crack to it. So all these drives for banning VoIP technology are actually pointless. These governments should rather find a more lucrative way to utilise this technology to enhance their business, and at the same time allow their citizens to reap the benefits of cheaper phone calls.