Wire & Cable Asia September 2017

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102 Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2017
From the Americas
in June, compared to May, and with supplier deliveries and
inventories struggling to keep up with the production pace.”
Fifteen of the 18 manufacturing industries reported growth
in June.
Meanwhile, although federal government outlays on
construction projects were the highest in over four years,
USA construction spending remained flat in May.
Cloud focus
USA regional fixed operator Consolidated Communications
has closed its acquisition of FairPoint, in an all stock
transaction valued at $1.3 billion, including debt and based
on present equity value. Consolidated said the deal takes its
fibre route miles to 36,000 across a 24-state service area,
making it the ninth largest fibre provider in the USA.
The company added that the merger will create significant
operational and financial scale while maintaining strong
capital investment strategy.
The company now plans to expand its Cloud services
product suite to FairPoint markets, and bring about other
broadband enhancements.
Who needs regulation?
Following the recent introduction of ‘roam like at home’
(RLAH) in the EU, a number of consumer groups
and politicians are calling for the similar regulation of
international call prices. The theory is, if we pay the same
to call home from, say, Spain as we would pay at home,
then why not pay the same to call Spain from home? It’s a
seductive argument.
However, Telecompaper is suggesting that the continued
perceived discrepancy in charges fulfils a useful purpose.
A high rate for a little-used service isolates high costs
in a single, clear place (calling abroad). This is a profit
generator for operators and helps ensure they don’t raise
prices elsewhere. If international prices are regulated, after
termination rates and roaming, then other prices – used by
many more people – will start to rise. Operators need to
maintain their margins.
The European Commission speaks against regulating
international calls, noting that there are sufficient
alternatives, such as Skype, for end-users. In short,
concludes Telecompaper, this is an issue better left to the
market.
Cybersecurity
One area where the USA can learn from
Singapore
With almost daily revelations of security breaches, whether
current or retrospective, data security continues to be
a major concern, and a financial drain, on business and
government worldwide.
A recent survey of data from the 193 member states of the
United Nations’ International Telecommunciations Union
(ITU), revealed by Telco Transformation, makes interesting
reading.
As a centre for finance and technology, Singapore’s
economy and Smart Nation programme rely on secure
systems, so it’s no surprise that Singapore came out top.
Equally unsurprising then, that the USA came second. But
the rest of the top ten included some small and developing
countries: Malaysia, Oman, Estonia, Mauritius, Australia,
a tie for eighth place between Georgia and France, with
Canada in tenth. Russia was 11th with China in 34th.
The survey results were largely based on the ‘five pillars’
of the ITU Global Cybersecurity Agenda: legal, technical,
organisational, capacity building and international
cooperation.
While cybersecurity is key to any country’s digital
transformations, the survey found an “evident gap between
countries in terms of awareness, understanding, knowledge
and, finally, capacity to deploy the proper strategies,
capabilities and programmes.”
In order to be more effective, countries need to create a
cybersecurity ecosystem comprising laws, organisations,
skills, cooperation and technical implementation.
ITU said the first crucial step was countries adopting a
national security strategy, adding: “More cooperation should
be initiated between developed and developing countries to
assist them in cybersecurity development.”
The ITU survey can only give a snapshot of cybersecurity
today. It cited recent ransomware attacks as a primary
driver for better worldwide cooperation, and that, of course,
is the big issue. Hackers and malevolent developers are
honing their skills all the time: the risk is constantly evolving,
and defence against it needs worldwide cooperation.
So come on Singapore (and the USA, Malaysia, Oman,
Estonia, Mauritius, Australia, Georgia, France and Canada)
– share nicely.
Speaking of Singapore
Local broadband operator MyRepublic has announced
plans to launch mobile services in Singapore as early as
October, having received its MVNO licence in June. The
Straits Times reports that, rather than build its own physical
network, MyRepublic will buy airtime in bulk from an
existing dominant telecommunications company such as
Singtel, StarHub or M1.
Last year, MyRepublic missed out on the fourth MVNO
licence in Singapore, which was given to Australia-based
TPG Telecom. MyRepublic said it received calls from two
telcos shortly after TPG won the fourth licence, and that the
objective is: “To make it as difficult as possible for TPG to
be successful.”
MyRepublic’s chief executive officer, Malcolm Rodrigues,
said the company will offer “generous mobile data” in
Singapore, adding: “We are committed to being disruptive.”