Saturday, October 05, 2013

Brazil ended June with 105.1 million Internet users

The number of Brazilians with Internet access in Brazil climbed to 105.1 million in the second quarter of this year, according to data from IBOPE Media. The value is 3% higher than the 102.3 million recorded in the previous three months in 2013.

Remember that this survey takes into account web access anywhere, such as home, work, lan house, school, public place, among others.

Third quarter

Additionally, IBOPE reported that 79.5 million Brazilians have used the Internet at home or at work in the third quarter of this year, growth of 3.8% over the second quarter, when 76.6 million were recorded.


Growing residential access

The study also shows that Brazil increased by nearly 20 million people with Internet access at home between 2011 and 2013. During this period, the number of "internet home" was 57.9 million to 76 million people, an increase of 32%.

With this, Brazil surpasses currently countries like Germany, with 65 million people with access at home, and France, with 50 million. But lags behind the U.S., with 247 million people with internet at home, and Japan, with 86 million.

Communications Ministry publishes notice to deploy 31,000 internet stations

The Communications Ministry issued on Friday the notice of expansion Gesac program that leads for free internet connection to different regions of the country. With the new bid, Gesac will be expanded from the current 13.3 points existing presence to about 31,000. One of the big news is the adhesion of the Ministry of Healthcare to the program, which will now connect approximately 13 000 Primary Healthcare Centers

The call will be held in electronic trading mode, type lowest price. The supply of the proposals can be made by site Comprasnet and opening will take place on October 29. The tender is divided into five lots, four for terrestrial and satellite connections.

Lots covering different regions of the country: South, East (Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Bahia and Sergipe); North and one that benefits the country's interior. That portion satellite is concentrated in the North, but it also reaches other regions.


The connection speed will also improve Gesac: about 70% of the points will have a rated speed of 1 Mbps. In some places, the connection speed can expected to reach 8 Mbps. Another change will be the number of points on land. Currently, only 9% of the connection points Gesac are terrestrial. With the new announcement, this proportion is expected to reach 85%.

The remaining points of presence will rely on satellite connection, exclusively for locations where it is not yet possible to care for other forms of technology. In these places, the program will double the average connection speed offered, from the current 512 Kbps to 1 meg.

Américo Bernardes explains that this band offer enables a number of applications still limited, but points out that this part of GESAC is intended for connection points in remote areas, where there is no other way of connection and there is a physical limit bandwidth satellite can be used.


The Gesac program is coordinated by the Brazilian Ministry of Communications, through the Department for Digital Inclusion, in partnership with other agencies and entities. The program also leads a broadband connection via terrestrial and satellite schools, healthcare facilities, indigenous communities, border posts and Quilombo. "With this expansion, we will meet the new culture points, maintaining connections in schools, social assistance centers and telecenters within the digital inclusion policy," said Americo Bernardes. 

Friday, October 04, 2013

A Mobile-First Communication App

Cotap, Inc. has launched its Cotap App for iPhone, designed specifically for business users to easily find and message anyone in their organization with just a tap of a finger.

Cotap was founded by Jim Patterson and Zack Parker, both former Yammer executives.

More individuals are using SMS and mobile messaging apps instead of email as their primary way of communicating in their personal lives. The new app allows employees to adopt this same behavior at work and will help companies embrace mobile-first communication for employees.

“A company-wide mobile messaging system increases collaboration and deepens workplace relationships simply by leveraging the the device in everyone’s pockets," said Patterson, Founder & CEO.

"Smartphone adoption and BYOD policies have created a huge opportunity for organizations to offer their employees a mobile-first channel to connect and collaborate with each other in real time, no matter where they are.”

Key Features:
  • One-to-One and Group Messaging – Start a conversation with any colleague or quickly create ad-hoc groups and include multiple colleagues.
     
  • Crowd-sourced Company Address Book – Co-workers are automatically added to a single shared company address book. No need to ‘friend’ co-workers or add them to a phone’s contact list.
     
  • Email interoperability – Send a message to anyone in the company. Users without the Cotap app on their phone can participate in conversations via email.
     
  • Message a Meeting – Running late to a meeting? Easily send a message to everyone in an upcoming meeting to let them know, even people outside the company.
     
  • Designed for iOS 7 with support for iOS 6.
With Cotap, employees don’t need to search cumbersome employee directories or exchange mobile phone numbers. Instead, they simply download the app to their iPhone, confirm their work email address and immediately start a conversation with anyone in their organization. From last-minute scheduling changes to impromptu coffee runs, the is designed to meet the needs of today’s smartphone-enabled workers.

In the future, Cotap will release an enterprise-grade solution applicable to organizations of all sizes and industries. As part of this offering, premium features will be includes, such as user and device management, analytics and integration with core IT systems.

source: http://mobileenterprise.edgl.com/products/A-Mobile-First-Communication-App88757?rssid=Article88757&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

700 MHz: Brazilian government now speaks at auction in June 2014

Even the close of the first half of 2014, the Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo, expects to make the concession auction frequency of 700 megahertz (MHz). "We're talking in April. However can always have a delay because of public consultation, "the minister said on Monday, 30/09, during an event at the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan).

Bernardo admitted that the government intends to bring forward the goals of broadband 3G and 4G. "Our idea is in [the announcement of] 700 Mhz auction, put over a number of goals, including the anticipation of 3G." This should occur within interior municipalities that do not have this service. In addition, the ministry wants to take to connect all cities with fiber optic lines. The goal of universal Internet 3G is 2017. "But we can anticipate one year, a year and a half," said Minister of Communications. For 4G, the target remains 2019. Nessa, said that "we will not change."

The frequency 700 MHz is being handcrafted with more care because today it is used by television industry high penetration and political strength, present in 97% of households, the minister said. "Again, the focus will be facing the deployment of infrastructure." With the requirement of early 3G, the service will be conducted throughout Brazil in 2014 or 2015. Calculations by the minister, about 1500 cities do not have fiber optic network and 200, located in the middle of the Amazon rainforest and other hard to reach places, the service should not ever get. Must be covered by satellite.

4G: Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent can close a joint venture

The market for network infrastructure vendors are busy in late 2013. According to rumors, Nokia will be discussing internally if get closer to its French rival Alcatel-Lucent for a merger, part of the Finnish company's strategy to grow after the sale of its mobile business to Microsoft. A union between Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel-Lucent have strong impact on the market 4G - with direct impact on Ericsson and Chinese rival Huawei in direct business with the carriers.

No formal conversation are in progress with Alcatel-Lucent, the sources said. One person close to the situation said that Nokia held discussions to buy the business of Alcatel Mobile in mid-2012 and that the two companies could return to the negotiating table. Speculation about a combination between Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent have occur a few years ago, while the two companies are struggling to compete with market leader Ericsson and Asian companies network equipment Huawei and ZTE.

Microsoft announced on September 3 that will buy the business phones and Nokia patents for 5.44 billion euros (7.3 billion dollars). Nokia said that it will evaluate strategies for its remaining operations before closing the deal. These operations include mapping software called HERE and patent portfolio.

Telebrasil: broadband access exceeds 114.7 million in August

Number of broadband connections exceeded 114.7 million in August this year, with a rate of 41% growth compared to August 2012. According to a survey of the Brazilian Telecommunications Association (Telebrasil), 33.4 million accesses were activated in the last twelve months. Since the beginning of the year, 28.6 million hits have been activated at a rate of 1.4 new connections per second.

A High speed internet over the mobile network on 3G and 4G reached a total of 93.2 million accesses in August, with 49.4% growth compared to August 2012. In mobile broadband, 78.2 million are mobile phone connections, including smartphones, and 15 million are data terminals, including modems and access to the internet connecting chips machine-machine (M2M).

In fixed broadband accesses totaled 21.5 million in August. Of this total, 2.6 million connections were activated in the last twelve months, an increase of 13% in the period. The number of fixed broadband connections means that 39% of the Brazilian urban homes have high speed internet. The fixed broadband infrastructure is present in every single Brazilian city.


 The expansion also given the network coverage of mobile broadband, which grew 14%, with activation of 412 new cities in the last 12 months. Altogether, the third generation networks are installed in 3,461 cities, home to 90% of Brazilians. This total number of cities that is more than three times the coverage obligations stated in the announcement, we are connecting 928 cities by April 2013. Just this year, 176 municipalities received the 3G networks.

The 4G, which allows speed internet connection up to ten times faster than 3G, already has over 380,000 hits. The 4G now reaches 57 cities, number nine times more than the requirement set by the bidding documents, which was to cover only the six host cities of the FIFA Confederations Cup, met in April

Detran / SP adopts apps to expedite communications

Is already available free for users of smartphones and tablets with Android and iOS platforms over an application of the State Traffic Department of São Paulo (Detran.SP). It is possible to consult vehicle penalties, and recorded points on Driver's License (CNH).

The app was developed by Prodesp (Data Processing Co. of the State of São Paulo) and works in a simple way: the login is done using the CPF and the same password for the registered user of the portal Detran.SP (www.detran.sp . gov.br). Currently, more than 6.3 million users are registered.

In 2013, over 4.5 million queries penalties and points on CNH were made in the Department of Motor Vehicles website on the internet through the month of August, which means a monthly demand of more than 500,000 consults.

"Softwares like this make it easier and many people's lives, and this is the main objective of the DETRAN. Therefore, the modernization of the body is happening on several fronts, the restructuring of the PSCs to develop mechanisms that allow people to have access to more and more services at home, using available technologies, "said Daniel Annenberg, director chairman of Detran.SP.

In August, it launched the first application of the Detran / SP. It was created to help in the studies of candidates to the first qualification, they need to go through a theoretical test with multiple choice questions on defensive driving, first aid, mechanical, and environmental legislation. In less than a month, the simulated application has been downloaded more than 10,000 times. Almost 80% of downloads were made ​​on devices with Android platform.

4G increases 55% on Brazil and reaches 398,622 accesses in August

Anatel's data, released on Tuesday, 01/10, show that in August there was a 55% growth in the 4G market in Brazil. Accesses active reached 398 622 - 257 200 were in July. The 3G service also grew to 4.182 million new additions, totaling 77,864 million, or 29.01% of the market share. GSM - which are the second generation phones and limited internet - still dominates the market with 65.24% or 175,120,172 million hits assets.

M2M terminals - chips for machine to machine communication - totaled 7,958,901 million hits assets, reaching 2.96% market share. In July, were 7,874,099 million hits, or 2.95% market share. Terminals Broadband - Modems - totaled 7,047,787 million hits, or 2.63%. In July were 7.5 million hits, or 2.64%, in the second drop recorded - June and July there was also a drop in new additions.

Also according to Anatel, Brazil with closed August with 268.44 million active lines in mobile and teledensity of 135.45 lines per 100 inhabitants. In August, there were over 1.44 million of new qualifications, a sign of recovery, once in July, there were more than 1.26 million new qualifications, which means a strong increase compared to June, which were recorded only 215,000 new habilitaões. In the eighth month of this year, there were 212.23 million of prepaid access (representing 79.06% of total) and 56.21 million postpaid (20.94%).

Government urging the rapporteur of the Law of the antennas

On the day before of the first meeting of the Special Committee of the Chamber which reviews the bill 5013/2013, known as the Law of Antennas, Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo called for emergency treatment to matter because the legislation could accelerate operators' investments.

"The minister highlighted the urgency due to the great demand for the World Cup next year. The goal is to get a vote until the end of the year, but we can not run down content, "said Congressman Edson Santos (PT-RJ), left the meeting with the minister.

Although he avoided hurting the pride of the House politicians, the government signaled that the ideal is the vote of the Law of antennas as it was approved in the Senate - after an expedited procedure. As mentioned, any change would require the return of the project to the Senate and most 'delays'.

The Minicom recalled that the initial idea was a project directed by the Executive Branch, but with the text of Senator Vital do Rego Filho (PMDB-PB) was able to approve quickly. The expectation, however, is that the PL had overturned the law in the first half.


 The main purpose is to shorten the term of the licenses for the deployment of cellular antennas. According to Minicom, municipal permits may take a year to be dispatched. The bill sets a deadline of 60 days for that to happen.

The bill states that "the necessary licenses for the installation of supporting infrastructure in the urban area will be shipped by simplified procedure, without prejudice to the manifestation of the various responsible bodies during the course of the administrative proceeding, subject to environmental permits" - the latter will be treated specific position of the National Council of Environment (CONAMA).

Vivo has roaming agreement for 4G

Vivo is the first carrier in Brazil to provide international roaming agreement for 4G. The service is already available for customers from Sao Paulo who travel to the United States. Today, 04/10, users throughout Brazil will have the service available, reveals the company's statement.

Vivo, however, does not reveal the name of the operator with which closed the settlement of roaming. The service cost was set at R $ 29.90 per day with unlimited usage, a model similar to that adopted for the 3G roaming.

Also according to Vivo, until December, 10 other destinations will be added in the roaming package. Moreover, foreigners who come to Brazil will take advantage of 3G and 4G services. Roaming is a necessary theme for the 2014 World Cup, when it predicts the presence of thousands of international tourists.

Wi-Fi in the squares: São Paulo postpones trading for the day 10/10

The Prodam - Company Information Technology and Communication of São Paulo - adjourned to October 10 for the electronic auction procurement of services to access the Internet by WiFi system for 120 squares of the city of São Paulo (Program Digital Squares - Free WiFi SP).

The reason for the postponement is due to the request of the companies more time to survey the costs of services. The number of local installation of WiFi is high and how each square has different dimensions and location, calculate the values ​​of companies has taken longer than originally planned. Also be made ​​small adjustments of wording to make it clear that some points of the edict were causing doubts.

Coordinated by the Municipal Services, Digital Squares program has the support technician PRODAM and aims to bring Internet access to the main squares of each Subprefecture, distributed among 96 districts, and also for some symbolic landmarks of the city.


Key features of the program

- 512 Kbps connection effective for user to download and upload;

- Quality, stability and guaranteed bandwidth that include various uses of the Internet, including streaming, Voice over IP and video;

- Infrastructure to ensure access to the internet through various types of devices, such as smartphones, tablets, notebooks, netbooks;

- Management system that allows to detect and prevent possible incidents and fulfill legal and judicial determinations;

- Neutrality can not fail. The service provider is not authorized to filter traffic by IP source or destination, by application or content, except to comply with applicable legislation;

- Measurement of the stability, availability, and the band through SIMET - Measurement System Internet Traffic, available over the Internet for any user.

The initiative, which integrates the Target Programme 2013-2016 of the Municipality of São Paulo, aims to strengthen citizenship through digital inclusion.

EILD: Anatel promises to expedite dispute settlement

When being charged by operators during the competitive Telcomp VI Seminar 2013 held on 25/09, in São Paulo, from breach of Resolution 590, which regulates the service EILD (wholesale supply) by the concessionaires, the president of Anatel, João Rezende, says that there is only one way out: expedite speedy resolutions of conflicts.

"I can not get the utility company president and force him to sell for a competitive carrier. Has The question is to get the Anatel with a request for arbitration. Has to be done by all legal means. No other form of work," said. Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at TIM Brazil, Mario Girasole, admitted that there is a harmful behavior by operators with respect to regulation.

"Carriers are going to other instances when you do not like the regulatory system. This weakens the Regulatory Milestone. No regulations that meets all of the interests of each actor in the industry. And today there is a practice of going to court. This weakens the planning regulatory" laments.

Against "destroying" of Telecom Italia, Barnabas resigns as chairman

In the midst the corporate restructuring, the chairman of Telecom Italia, Franco Bernabe, has resigned, as reported to the carrier phrase "gratitude for the great commitment and contribution substantial administrative provided over the past few years to manage the company."

In Italy, the departure of the executive had been expected as a consequence of negotiations involving changes in corporate consortium controller of the telecommunications company, Telco, formed by Telefónica of Spain, as well as financial institutions.

The former chairman is now opposed the current process by which the Spanish operator will assume command of Italian, which also involves the sale of operations in Brazil and Argentina. "I can not watch the complete destruction of Telecom Italia," he told Barnabas.

Telefónica must take control of the holding company Telco with investments of 441 million euros in a transaction involving the exchange of shares. Banks that are part of the consortium want to leave the business now that the deadline for agreement between them will win.

In Brazil, the expectation is that TIM will be sold to a new operator - Anatel has signaled that there will be resistance against an attempt by Telefonica to take on the business of Italian here and can make the business unattractive to the resumption of frequencies use by TIM.

Thursday, October 03, 2013

Broadband: few companies have access above 10Mbps in Brazil

Brazil is very late in coverage and quality of broadband for the corporate market , says survey released on Monday , 30 / 09 , the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro ( Firjan ) . Although the average price for hiring of 1 megabyte per second ( Mbps ) speed is currently R $ 48.55 , compared to R $ 70.85 in 2011, FIRJAN research shows that only a minority of Brazilian companies has Internet access faster than 10 Mbps .
For 2014 , the corporate market intended to have universal coverage 1Mbps for micro and small enterprises . The medium and large companies , according to the study , are not included and Brazil does not have a plan beyond that horizon. The manager of the Industrial Competitiveness and Investment FIRJAN , Cristiano Prado , showed that , in contrast, neighboring Argentina already provides a more daring in 2016 , with almost all of its businesses ( 80 % ) with access to 50 Mbps .
In the United States , the plan establishes the universal coverage of 100 Mbps for business in 2020 . In Europe , the goals are also bolder , Prado said . In the case of Finland , for example , they reach 100 Mbps in 2015 , and in Germany , the forecast is 75 % of companies with access to 50 Mbps in 2014 . Among the partner countries Brazil in BRICS ( Brazil , Russia, India , China and South Africa ) , India provides for universal coverage of 10 Mbps for companies in major cities in 2014 and China access to 20 Mbps to 50 % of companies in 2015 .
In Japan , it is designed to universal coverage of 1 gigabyte ( Gbps ) to businesses in 2015 , Providence has adopted from South Korea last year . With 1 Mbps per second, shows that Brazil has the lowest ambition compared to other countries , says the research . " What question asked Prado , is if our ambition is compatible with the space that Brazil would have on global competition ? "
The Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo , the explanation of this FIRJAN manager , said that there are no targets to meet the speed or broadband internet for Brazilian companies . The targets set in the National Broadband Plan ( PNBL ) refer only to household access . Made clear , however, that is open to dialogue with entrepreneurs and examine the issue .
Cristiano Prado told the agency that in Brazil there PNBL inclusion goals . " To offer service to micro and small enterprises , the speed being discussed in the plan ." Most importantly , however , pointed out , is that while the business sector could get 1 megabyte per second , or any similar speed to that, " we would be far short of what is being offered internationally." The world , he said , is already showing some paths .
He noted that there is the question of the geographical dimension , which makes the service in Brazil in relation to other nations . "Brazil is not a small country. But it is important to have goals that can , for example , start with 50 megabytes in large urban centers or major states . Gradually building it Go " .
Prado said the message is that this needs to be on the agenda of the day . " The business sector needs to be within the priorities in the government with regard to broadband ." According to him , this is a competitive factor as important today as is the electricity and gas companies . Means that a company with better access to the internet can do more , faster and in less time than a company here in Brazil . " Argued that there is a regulation that encourages the private sector , with public sector support , so that these speeds are offered , both with regard to geographical coverage and in terms of quality.

Tablets now account for 35% of the PC market in Brazil

From April to June were sold 1.92 million tablets in Brazil , representing a growth of 151 % over the same period last year . With this performance , the tablets have gained even more space in the computer market , reaching 35 % of the total, being surpassed only by laptops , which accounted for 38 % of sales in the quarter , while 27 % were desktops .
Regarding the operating system , 95 % of the tablets sold during the period were based on Android , against 68 % in the second quarter of 2012 . The share of low-cost equipment , priced up to £ 500, dominated sales in the period , with 55 % of the total. The average price of tablets fell from R $ 968 in the second quarter of 2012 to R $ 628.
" Despite the dominance of cheaper equipment , it is worth noting that manufacturers are making investments to improve quality and avoid the frustration of consumers . In the medium term , this should lead to a rise in the average price of tablets , "said Peter Hagge , an analyst at IDC .
According Hagge , the expected tablet sales in the Brazilian market in 2013 was revised upwards - it is estimated to be 7.2 million units , 120 % higher than recorded in 2012 . At the end of the first quarter , the forecast was 5.9 million units this year . "Brazil is a growing market for tablets , with most users buying their first device. Our market is still very price sensitive , and tablets are accessible to the purchasing power of Brazilian consumers , representing a viable system for basic use and Internet access , "says the analyst .
While home users are the main buyers of tablets - 82 % in the second quarter - the corporate market grew in the period , and the education industry has emerged with great projects like ProInfo MEC . In a little less than a year already delivered more than 600,000 machines for public schools .
As a possible trend in the corporate segment , Hagge pointing devices with Windows operating system . " The Windows entry in the tablet market can accelerate the adoption of these devices by companies to allow compatibility with enterprise applications for use by remote workers and also in the office itself ," says the analyst .

Smartphones already 46.2% of the the cellular subscriber sold in Brazil

The market of mobile phones achieved 29.6 million units in the first half of 2013, a growth of 8% over the same period in 2012, reveals IDC, in a study done for the Abinee. Of this amount, the traditional mobile accounted for 15.9 million units (down 22.6%), while smartphones reached 13.7 million handsets sold, an increase of 99.6% compared to the first six months of last year.

With this performance, smartphones accounted for 46.2% of the total mobile phone market in the first half, while traditional phones reached 53.8%. In case the market (desktops, notebooks and tablets) were sold 10.4 million units in the first half of 2013, reaching the highest mark for this period.

By analyzing each item separately, the highlight was the performance of tablet sales, which reached 3.3 million units, representing a growth of 165% over the first half of last year, and at the same time, similar to the amount traded around the year 2012. Of the total IT market, notebooks reached 4 million units and desktops 3 million, respectively, decreases of 7.3% and 12.7% over the same period last year.

Agreement between Portugal Telecom and OI was relief for the Brazilian government

The Brazilian government not only supported the merger of OI with Portugal Telecom and was relieved with the celebration of the union between the two companies .

There was great concern about the future of the Brazilian company and doubts about the ability of cash OI in the medium term .

Before the federal approval , two appointments were agreed with the Executive .

The first is a cap on the company through initial public offering ( the minimum threshold is $ 7 billion, but the target is $ 8 billion ) to expand infrastructure investment .

The second is to reduce its annual dividends to shareholders for U.S. $ 500 million - as , in fact , occurred in August after OI lose £ 124 million in the second quarter of this year.

There are about two months , the dome was the Dilma government sought to treat the merger . At the time , executives OI asked BNDES entered the business, but the proposal was promptly rejected by the President .

Internally , there was a fear of repeating mistakes made in 2008 , in the union of OI and Telecom Brazil to create a " supertele " Brazilian . The problem is that the operation , although private , was made possible largely by public funding , including funding from BNDES and state pension funds .

The deal also included push of President Lula , who authorized change in legislation to allow the creation of national giant . But the deal ended up bringing losses .

Of future multinational , the federal government expects a downsizing in the structure of OI considered very " bloated " , besides the implementation of a more austere management company , signed by the reduction of dividends and for more transparency in its decisions .

For the Ministry of Communications , Portugal Telecom is a small company, but has the technology to boost Brazilian .

The OI ranks fourth in the mobile phone market in the country and has the task of covering all of Brazil in wireline operations .

The indebtedness of the tele and fines imposed by Anatel ( National Telecommunications Agency ) for service failures always concern the Plateau that followed , closely, details of the negotiation .

Throughout the process , the two main government interlocutors were Zeinal Bava ( current president of OI and will command CorpCo ) and Otavio Azevedo , chairman of the board of directors of Telemar Participações , parent of OI

In line with the signal Brasilia , Azevedo undertook to advise the Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo , on Tuesday that the fact formalizing the merger would be released yesterday morning .