ANNOTATION
Evidently the year 2001 was more critical and challenging for the
communication branch than the previous ones. Recession, IT crisis and the
notorious events of September, 11 have affected the industry severely but, on
the other hand, the demand for advanced IT business solutions has never before
been so topical. At the same time there are heaps of problems connected with
licensing, investments and launching of 3G though the future prospects
suggested by the analysts are excellent. Sure, we will never be able to do
without modern communications, we will use them more and more, and, who knows,
may be in the future the communication devices will become so civilised that
they will be able to exist without people...
In this issue:
* The autumn forums dot
the "e's" and "m's" (pages 54-57)
In September and
October several big international communication forums took place in Riga,
among them also Baltic Sea Region e-business Forum and Baltic Sea Region
Telecommunication Forum. Though in many presentations the consequences of
global IT crisis, e-business and dotcoms' crushing as well as slow
implementation of 3G technology were
discussed, it did not mean that the Internet revolution is over. It is a quite
normal business process that those companies that do not have a distinct
business model as well as those that are not psychologically ready to make a
prosperous e-business have to quit the battle field. May be there are quite a
lot of those who doubt whether this is the right time to invest in IT
solutions. And the answer is - definitely yes as within a few years only those
companies which will have a stable IT-based business will be able to survive in
the world of growing competition. It will be especially acute when all the
European telecommunication markets will be liberalised. It is said that by the
year 2010 IT investments in the world could reach about 30 per cent of all
business investments. Baltic states are among the fastest developing IT
countries.
What is regulated by the Regulator? (pages 58-59)
Since September a new regulatory body - Public Utilities
Commission - has been established in
Latvia. It is the first case in Europe when public utility services of
several leading economical branches - telecommunications, electricity, gas,
heating, post, water supply, sewerage, passenger transport - is regulated by a
common state institution, an independent regulatory body. Its aim is to create
stable basis both for consumers (quality of services, affordable prices) and
service providers (adequate profitability, favourable conditions for innovation
and increasing efficiency). Universal service principle will support general
availability of services, even in unprofitable areas. The regulator would
determine universal service set (including Internet availability),
implementation procedures (for operators with significant market power,
tendering, etc.) and financing methodology (by utilities and/or state budget).
In the free telecommunication market conditions (since January 1, 2003) the
Public Utilities Commission will play a significant role in regulation of
competition.
VERDI becomes more visible (pages 78-79)
During this year the new trade mark VERDI, owned by the
Information systems and consulting division of Lattelekom, has become very popular. The VERDI team has
already proved its high professionality and creativeness, providing the
customers with original software and IT solutions. At present the most popular
VERDI's products are Customer Relations Management (CRM) and ARP solutions, the
help-desk for the Internet service provider Apollo and other IT solutions.
VERDI is one of the fastest growing IT
companies in Latvia.
3G - Rewrite the rules (pages 84-86)
One of the most
complicated problems for the present and potential 3G network operators is extremely high investments for
implementing 3G network. An effective way to reduce investment costs and risks
of a fast 3G network deployment is to share parts or the whole 3G network
infrastructure. Two thirds of the 3G expenditure (RAN, Core, NMS) are
attributed to the radio access part of the network and Nokia network sharing
solution will bring total savings of around 20-30 per cent. Nokia Smart Radio
Concept offers reduced number of sites and a faster network coverage. Nokia
offers four shared network alternatives: the first - each operator has its own
core network and a common RAN in the
shared coverage area; the second - each operator has its own RAN and core
network and a common RAN and gateway
core network in the shared coverage area; the third - operators share a full
scale 3G infrastructure (RAN, Core and backbone) and have their own service
creation and application environment connected to the shared infrastructure and
the fourth - operators have their own full scale 3G infrastructure in
geographically complementing coverage areas. Nation-wide coverage is achieved
by national roaming.
Merry Christmas
and a happy, successful, wealthy, amazing
New Year,
dear partners and friends!
Merry and peaceful Christmas
and a wonderful, active, communicative
New Year,
dear partners and friends!
Evidently the year 2001 was more critical and challenging for the
communication branch than the previous ones. Recession, IT crisis and the
notorious events of September, 11 have affected the industry severely but, on
the other hand, the demand for advanced IT business solutions has never before
been so topical. At the same time there are heaps of problems connected with
licensing, investments and launching of 3G though the future prospects
suggested by the analysts are excellent. Sure, we will never be able to do
without modern communications, we will use them more and more, and, who knows,
may be in the future the communication devices will become so civilised that
they will be able to exist without people...
In this issue:
* The autumn forums dot
the "e's" and "m's" (pages 54-57)
In September and
October several big international communication forums took place in Riga,
among them also Baltic Sea Region e-business Forum and Baltic Sea Region
Telecommunication Forum. Though in many presentations the consequences of
global IT crisis, e-business and dotcoms' crushing as well as slow
implementation of 3G technology were
discussed, it did not mean that the Internet revolution is over. It is a quite
normal business process that those companies that do not have a distinct
business model as well as those that are not psychologically ready to make a
prosperous e-business have to quit the battle field. May be there are quite a
lot of those who doubt whether this is the right time to invest in IT
solutions. And the answer is - definitely yes as within a few years only those
companies which will have a stable IT-based business will be able to survive in
the world of growing competition. It will be especially acute when all the
European telecommunication markets will be liberalised. It is said that by the
year 2010 IT investments in the world could reach about 30 per cent of all
business investments. Baltic states are among the fastest developing IT
countries.
What is regulated by the Regulator? (pages 58-59)
Since September a new regulatory body - Public Utilities
Commission - has been established in
Latvia. It is the first case in Europe when public utility services of
several leading economical branches - telecommunications, electricity, gas,
heating, post, water supply, sewerage, passenger transport - is regulated by a
common state institution, an independent regulatory body. Its aim is to create
stable basis both for consumers (quality of services, affordable prices) and
service providers (adequate profitability, favourable conditions for innovation
and increasing efficiency). Universal service principle will support general
availability of services, even in unprofitable areas. The regulator would
determine universal service set (including Internet availability),
implementation procedures (for operators with significant market power,
tendering, etc.) and financing methodology (by utilities and/or state budget).
In the free telecommunication market conditions (since January 1, 2003) the
Public Utilities Commission will play a significant role in regulation of
competition.
VERDI becomes more visible (pages 78-79)
During this year the new trade mark VERDI, owned by the
Information systems and consulting division of Lattelekom, has become very popular. The VERDI team has
already proved its high professionality and creativeness, providing the
customers with original software and IT solutions. At present the most popular
VERDI's products are Customer Relations Management (CRM) and ARP solutions, the
help-desk for the Internet service provider Apollo and other IT solutions.
VERDI is one of the fastest growing IT
companies in Latvia.
3G - Rewrite the rules (pages 84-86)
One of the most
complicated problems for the present and potential 3G network operators is extremely high investments for
implementing 3G network. An effective way to reduce investment costs and risks
of a fast 3G network deployment is to share parts or the whole 3G network
infrastructure. Two thirds of the 3G expenditure (RAN, Core, NMS) are
attributed to the radio access part of the network and Nokia network sharing
solution will bring total savings of around 20-30 per cent. Nokia Smart Radio
Concept offers reduced number of sites and a faster network coverage. Nokia
offers four shared network alternatives: the first - each operator has its own
core network and a common RAN in the
shared coverage area; the second - each operator has its own RAN and core
network and a common RAN and gateway
core network in the shared coverage area; the third - operators share a full
scale 3G infrastructure (RAN, Core and backbone) and have their own service
creation and application environment connected to the shared infrastructure and
the fourth - operators have their own full scale 3G infrastructure in
geographically complementing coverage areas. Nation-wide coverage is achieved
by national roaming.
Merry Christmas
and a happy, successful, wealthy, amazing
New Year,
dear partners and friends!
Merry and peaceful Christmas
and a wonderful, active, communicative
New Year,
dear partners and friends!