List of MWC events

Don’t miss the list of events around Mobile World Congress, which is published on BCN Tech Talk.

I’ve already found a couple of things I want to attend. :)

Among most visited LinkedIn profiles :)

Hello,

I just got a nice reason to brag. LinkedIn just informed me that my profile is among the 5% most visited profiles on their system. (Of course, with 200 Million members, one just needs to hit the top 10 Million mark, but still…)

MNP launches in Qatar

Another country in the Arabic Gulf region has now launched MNP (Mobile Number Portability) between the two mobile operators in the country, Qtel and Vodafone. Here’s an article on the topic from ICT, the Qatar regulatory body.

Surrounded by telecoms

Just a quick note about the header image we use on this site.
At first glance, it looks like the top part of a palm tree.

But, when you look a little bit closer, you notice that this tree is much higher than the surrounding trees. And the stem looks a bit weird: There´s a ladder on it!

Yes, the fake palm leaves barely conceal the antennas of a mobile telephony base station. Once you know what antennas may look like, you start seeing them everywhere: On the roofs and walls of buildings, neatly mounted below the streetlamps or in the ceiling, right in front of your apartment´s entrance door.

Most weird use of such concealed antennas, was when Megafon in Moscow planted fake palm trees along the highway, which surrounds Moscow. Yes, that was less about hiding antennas and more about the opposite: to create some publicity…

Behind the cut, I´ve put a relatively large photo from Dubai of a fake palm tree.
Click here to see a larger photo of the fake palm tree

Russian Duma has decided for Mobile Number Portability

The Russian Duma made on Dec 14th 2012 the final third decision and ratified a new law, stating that Mobile Number Portability will be introduced in Russia by Dec 1st 2013.

In a According to a notice from RIA novosti, the following parameters are known:

  • A customer may be charged up to 100 roubles for porting a number. (appr. 3 USD)
  • When applying for porting of the number, the subscriber must not have any debt towards the old operator (Donor operator).

Source: mail.ru

Disconnected telecom – to be continued

Today, phone and internet are just as important, as any other part of your body. I don’t say this, because I’ve been working in telecoms for 20 years. I simply can’t (just like you) imagine a life without these means for study, work, news and fun.

Or, I couldn’t imagine, until the telecom operator Telefonica “helped” me, by leaving us without phone and internet for an extended period of time.

Yes, friends did warn us: Be careful with telecom operators in Spain. It’s easy to get stuck in a complicated situation; especially if you’re dealing directly with Telefonica (which operates under the brand name Movistar). It should be said that most of the alternative providers have to rent the access line from the same Telefonica, but then, at least, you won’t be fighting with them directly yourself. The other provisders aren’t much sweeter, but that’s another story. Continue reading