Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has pointed out that while not all of the stations were networked, they could still use secure voice requirements to carry out operational requirements.

The revelation is worrying when you consider how much crime today involves the use of digital technologies, such as broadband and mobile devices.

These technologies could either be the conduit through which crime occurs or is organised, and provide the means through which evidence may be gathered.

While the gardai have specialist units who can use technology to combat crimes such as child pornography, violence, incitement to hatred, stalking and human or drug trafficking, access to the internet for efficiency's sake surely matters?

Add local knowledge to a situation that may be brewing on a social network or something that appears in a YouTube video and surely you have a potent additional weapon in the average garda's arsenal?

The new system provides Canar with an integrated billing and routing optimisation solution, based around a single core database architecture with fully harmonised reference data management.

“As the Sudanese telecom market is becoming increasingly competitive, the implementation of the i-conX routing optimisation solution is considered as an important step for Canar to maintain its leading status," Canar's CEO Ali Ahmed Yarouf said.

“The i-conX solution will support the growth of Canar international traffic with enhanced quality and better management.''

Canar is a subsidiary of Etisalat Group (UAE), which owns 18 telecom operators around the world.

Phelan started Cubic Telecom in 2007 originally to allow business travellers access SIMs that guaranteed low-cost roaming. Today, Maxroam SIMs are sold in more than 350,000 retail outlets around the world.

As part of the MVNO deal, Cubic customers living in the UK will benefit from the Vodafone network and local rates.

In addition, Cubic customers from all over the world will be able to use their mobile to call from the UK to any other country for 15c per minute.

Cubic will also be providing low-cost data bundles so visitors to the UK can stay connected to the internet at all times during their stay.

“This supports our strategy of recruiting the right growth partners into our business,” Nick Parbutt, Vodafone’s UK’s director of Wholesale explained. “We look forward to building success with Cubic.”

A part of the deal, users can choose from a suite of data bundles starting at 250MB for €6 which will give them access to thousands of Facebook posts, tweets and emails.

“This deal with Vodafone UK is the first of many which will propel us further to achieving our vision of a global connectivity service that gives customers convenience, simple connectivity and cost savings all on one global prepaid Sim card,” said Gerry McQuaid, Cubic Telecom’s commercial director.

Alcatel-Lucent's senior director of marketing Ben Geller told Siliconrepublic.com that telecoms operators are increasingly going to be focusing on ways to differentiate themselves in a marketplace where devices, connectivity and service are increasingly commoditised. "The key is to simplify and improve the experience."

He pointed out that as many as 15pc of smartphones, for example, are returned because consumers struggle to make them work.

In two-thirds of cases there is no issue, so the key is making devices and services simpler to use and configure, Geller explained.

“So far telecoms providers' strategies are based on market acquisition or growing their customer base.

“Everyone has a network that performs well. Most telcos are beginning to provide TV services and even cable TV companies are selling smartphone services.

“All of these providers are facing a battle for differentiation. On top of that, market growth is flattening, so the battle is keeping customers and making sure they are happy.

“The key is to continue to be innovative, leverage the multitude of screens and realise you're not the only game in town. So a winning factor is sorting out the things customers experience to make those experiences better by removing the complexity."

"While global internet usage through mobiles is still under 10pc, the pace of growth is remarkable," commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter.

Growth of the mobile internet

Jan 2009: 0.7pc

Jan 2010: 1.6pc

Jan 2011: 4.3pc

Jan 2012: 8.5pc

Mobile device vendor data

In addition, new statistics regarding mobile operators shows that Nokia leads worldwide - most likely because of its dominance in India - as a device for accessing the internet.

Apple is second globally but leads the US and UK markets. In the UK, RIM is second only to Apple.

“Following repeated requests, we've decided to make our new mobile vendor stats publicly available," said Cullen.

"As the mobile space is constantly evolving, we keep our detection under constant review."

Anyone wishing to contribute to the detection project can submit feedback using the detect tool.

The rollout consists of three stages:

• The first phase of 200 schools will be complete by September 2012.
• The second phase will be connected in 2013.
• The final phase of 250 schools will be connected by 2014.

The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources will spend €11m on the overall project, as well as contributing €10m between 2013 and 2015.

The remaining costs of €20m are expected to come from the Department of Education and Science, which will also fund the running costs into the future.

HEAnet has built and will maintain the network on behalf of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) is charged with the integration of ICT within schools. They will also provide frontline support for the staff of the schools.

ESB Telecoms has provided backhaul from regional locations to Dublin.

Digital workforce of the future

Quinn said: "Our secondary schools need industrial-strength broadband. Students' experience of using technology in their everyday lives must be reflected in their learning experiences in schools. Use of ICT is no longer a separate subject.

“We must encourage students and teachers to integrate the use of ICT with the traditional teaching methods for all subjects. In this way we will prepare the digital workforce of the future," Quinn said.

“We need to ensure that appropriate digital technology and high-speed internet are in place in our schools as a basic building block to deliver a 21st-century learning experience to all learners.

"This major ICT investment in our education system follows on from the commitment in the Programme for Government to incorporate the integration of ICT in teaching and learning across the curriculum and investing in broadband development to ensure schools have access to modern, high-speed networks," he added.

The rollout plans were unveiled at Colaiste Bride in Clondalkin, one of the schools involved in the first rollout.

“The opportunity this morning to see how classroom learning can be revolutionised by the availability and adoption of high-speed broadband strengthens my conviction that we are delivering a strategic and worthwhile project that will deliver significant long-term results from both an economic and social perspective.

“Despite our current economic difficulties, this significant investment in our current and future generation of schoolchildren is money well spent," Rabbitte said.

Under a draft decision, subject to the outcome of the European Commission's new consultation process, the new controls will see prices charged by Openreach to other operators fall from stg£91.50 per fully unbundled line to stg£87.41 in 2012 and fall further in the following year.

A shared unbundled line into a property where a proportion of the line is used for broadband, the price will fall from stg£14.70 per year to stg£11.92, with a further fall expected next year.

Wholesale line rental for telephone services is set to fall from stg£103.68 a year to stg£98.81.

A final decision is expected in March.

The wholesale model by Openreach is largely considered a success in enabling a competitive broadband market in the UK, in which incumbent BT competes on equal terms with other licensed operators.

In the Republic of Ireland, however, weak regulation on wholesale broadband and LLU has adversely affected competition in the local market and less than 5pc of lines are fully unbundled as a result.

Openreach was created in 2006 when BT created an operationally separate business unit to provide wholesale access to its network.

The company functions as a standalone entity and serves more than 400 service providers in the UK and Northern Ireland.

After reviewing the case in December the ASAI stated that UPC's absolute claim was inappropriate and instructed UC not to use 'Ireland's fastest broadband' in its advertising again.

The core of Magnet's argument rests on contention ratios on various competing broadband products. For example, Magnet says its 24Mbps ADSL2+ service is non-contended whereas UPC's 25Mbp fibre cable system has a contention ratio of 8:1 and likewise with the companies' competing 100Mbps fibre broadband services.

In a statement Magnet CEO Mark Kellett said: "By using the superlative 'fastest', UPC are claiming to offer superior speeds than all other broadband providers, which is clearly not the case.

“At the time of the complaint Magnet provided an uncontended 50Mbps broadband service where customers get the full 50Mbps - not diluted by sharing the connections with other users - so we believed UPC's 'fastest broadband' advertising claim should be investigated by the ASAI. This speed has since increased to 100 Mbps.

“We are pleased that the ASAI upheld our complaint. Its ruling not only validates our objection but also helps provide a more transparent picture to the general consumer, who can often be confused by the technology and the numerous offerings available on the market today," Kellett said.

BT today revealed it has held successful trials of "FTTP on demand" in St Agnes, Cornwall. This solution allows additional fibre to be run on demand to a home or business in a Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC)-enabled area, providing the customer with ultra-fast Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) broadband.

Previously, FTTP speeds weren't possible in FTTC-enabled areas, but BT has developed a solution that takes advantage of the fibre it has already deployed between the exchange and the street cabinet.

The technological development has the potential to transform the UK broadband landscape. This is because FTTP - which will soon offer end users speeds of up to 300Mbps - could be made available anywhere in BT's fibre footprint where a customer requires it.

BT will conduct further trials of FTTP on demand this summer, with a view to making the service commercially available to all communications providers via Openreach by spring 2013.

Doubling speeds

BT also said it will introduce a new faster variant of FTTC broadband this spring. This service will deliver speeds that are about double those on offer today so downstream speeds will be up to 80Mbps rather than up to 40Mbps. Upstream speeds will also be faster at up to 20Mbps.

BT revealed more than 7m premises can now access fibre broadband over its network. This figure will rise to 10m in 2012 and then to around two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014.

BT wants to go further and believes it is possible to make fibre broadband available to more than 90pc of UK premises by working with local councils and devolved governments. BT is bidding for Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) funds to make that happen.

Openreach chief executive Olivia Garfield said: "FTTP on demand is a significant development for Broadband Britain. Essentially, it could make our fastest speeds available wherever we deploy fibre. This will be welcome news for small businesses who may wish to benefit from the competitive advantage that such speeds provide.

“We are also doubling the speed of our standard fibre broadband this spring, giving ISPs the chance to offer speeds of up to 80Mbps. This will ensure that residential customers have world-class speeds for all their family's needs," Garfield added.

In related news, BT this morning reported a 5pc drop in Q3 revenues of stg£4.7bn. The company delivered an operating profit of stg£790m, up 8pc on last year.

In November 2011, for the first time more than half (58pc) of UK residential broadband connections had a headline, or advertised speed of above 10Mbps, up from 48pc in May 2011. 

However, more than 4 in 10 broadband consumers remain on packages with speeds of 10Mbps or less even though many of them would be able to get a higher speed at little or no extra cost if they switched package or provider. 

Previous reports highlighted how there can be a significant difference between advertised speeds and speeds actually received by consumers.
The research included 13 broadband packages provided by the eight largest ISPs in the market, representing over 75pc of residential broadband subscribers in the UK.

Some 572 million separate performance tests were carried out in 1,710 homes in November 2011.

This confirmed the need for the Advertising Code-writing bodies, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), to review the use of 'up to' speed claims in broadband advertising to ensure that advertisements do not mislead consumers.

Following this review, CAP and BCAP published guidance in September 2011 on the use of speed claims in broadband advertising, which will come into force in April 2012.

Among other things, it requires that speed claims should be achievable by at least 10pc of the relevant internet service provider's (ISP) customer base, and where a significant proportion of customers are unlikely to receive a speed sufficiently close to that advertised, further qualifying information, such as the speed range obtainable by those customers, should be included in the advertisement.  In addition, any claim should be based on robust and reasonably representative data.

In line with this new guidance, using data from Ofcom's latest research, the industry average speed based on the 10pc availability criteria would be 6Mbps for services currently advertised at 'up to' 8Mbps, and 14Mbps for services currently advertised at 'up to' 20/24Mbps.

Of the 13 ISP packages covered, Ofcom's research found that the fibre-based and cable broadband technologies were fastest.

Virgin Media's 'up to' 50Mbps continued to have the highest average download speeds of approximately 49Mbps. BT's fibre-based service (BT Infinity) delivered average download speeds of around 36Mbps, up from approximately 34Mbps in May 2011. The service also achieved the highest average upload speeds of 8.8Mbps.

48 will be launched with a TV ad campaign, ‘Go Conquer’ on the 2^nd February 2012. It features a flashback from a girl who is now 22 and is looking back on when she turned 18. She is remembering a party she went to and all the crazy things that happened in the years to follow.

Telefónica Digital has been created as a new business unit within Telefónica to drive digital innovation, including developing new and innovative over the top services.

The company says that 48 will become an important test bed for new products developed by Telefónica Digital, while lessons from 48 will be shared amongst the wider group. 48 joins other stand alone, over the top businesses, including giffgaff, Terra and Tuenti, in the Telefónica Digital family.

Just fewer than 3m photos can be uploaded per second on each fibre pair and the network can carry the equivalent of 173 days worth of uploading pictures online in one second.

The ability to transport data from Ireland across Europe on a high fibre count network will further support the massive digital services industry in Ireland.

Laying of the cable began in December.

The CEO of Sea Fibre Networks Diane Hodnett said this marks an historic milestone for telecommunications will meet the burgeoning demand for capacity driven by the ever-increasing digital services industry in Ireland.

Some 28 days’ worth of watching online high-definition TV can pass through each fibre pair of the cable per second. At seventy-twofibre pairs in total that’s the equivalent to five and a half years of watching high-definition TV or video passing through the cable at any given second.

“CeltixConnect landing heralds a new era for communications between Ireland and the rest of the world, opening up new opportunities for government and business across the country.

“Our efforts over the past three years have come to fruition, and we are proud to be the first company in over a decade to provide this modern telecommunications system.

“Ultimately, Sea Fibre Networks success will be linked to the changes that take place in the digital services industry in Ireland over the coming years,” Hodnett said.

“Job creation for us, it is a simple numbers game," Byrne said. "If the Irish public avail of the free service they will not only save money they will directly create employment in an Irish-owned and operated company. Think 'buy Irish', but without the cost."

On average, 700,000 enquiries are made to the service every week.

Byrne says she hopes this latest initiative from 11890 will inspire other Irish companies and management teams to look beyond the supposed complexities of job creation and find simple direct solutions, such as the free campaign that will hopefully provide employment and help increase confidence amongst the Irish public.

“I believe it is important to do something positive and I urge other business people or businesses to follow suit and hope that the Irish people will support all those who are trying to get things moving forward in Ireland," Byrne said.

Operators' share of the tablet retail sales are being limited by increasing interest from independent retailers, such as Carphone Warehouse, Amazon and Tesco.

Then there are the challenges faced by operators in convincing consumers to take out data plans attached to these devices and a notable preference amongst consumers to purchase these devices direct from manufacturers, such as Apple.

“We already expect independent retailers to increase their share of smartphone retail revenues - our smartphone forecasts show the independent retailers' share of smartphone retail revenues increasing from 29pc in 2011 to 34pc to 2016 - and we expect this trend to be even more prevalent in the tablet segment," says Julio Puschel, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

“Tablets will drive significant changes to the current telecoms retail business model. New entrants, such as Amazon and other consumer electronics specialists which have already a very evolved online and multichannel strategy, will drive online tablet sales even faster than online smartphone sales, which will force operators to review their multichannel approach," adds Puschel.

Transforming the retail experience

Puschel adds that independent retailers are innovating and promoting significant changes in telecoms retail, such as modernising their stores to offer a better customer experience, product testing and offering specialised customer support that also focuses on consumer education.

As handsets develop and become more complex, presenting their features and benefits to consumers is more of a challenge for operators. Specialist retailers have to date proven to be better able to educate consumers by providing an enhanced, interactive shopping experience.

“Telecoms operators will need to watch the independent retailers closely to see how they are transferring their retail expertise to the smartphone and tablet market.

“They need to be able to offer an outstanding shopping experience that can match or outperform the independent retailers - not simply pushing device sales, but also demonstrating the services, content and applications attached to these devices," Puschel said.

Vodafone entered the fixed line market in Ireland initially by acquiring Perlico in 2008 and in 2009 it signed a deal to take over BT's unbundled local loop (LLU) network in Ireland. At the time the deal was signed BT had 22 unbundled local exchanges; today it is understood that BT and Vodafone together have unbundled 60 local exchanges, an additional 48.

Vodafone Ireland's head of consumer marketing Conor Carmody told Siliconrepublic.com that of the 200,000 landline subscribers, some 60,000 connect directly with unbundled local exchanges, a 20,000 increase since the deal was signed with BT three years ago.

“We are finding that customers of our mobile products are becoming aware of our broadband and landline telephone bundles and see sense in merging it all into one affordable package," Carmody explained.

Surge in video traffic - will Vodafone enter TV business?

In terms of market trends, he said that in the last 12 months there has been an 80pc increase in video traffic on its overall networks. "This is largely because people are watching more TV on their computers, tablets and smartphones.

“The main contributors to this are YouTube and the RTÉ Player and significantly in recent weeks, Netflix.

“We are also seeing people making video calls via Skype on the network."

I asked Carmody would Vodafone consider launching its own video and TV products online?

“That's always a possibility and it's always under discussion. If we ever did, the key would be to crack the correct business model," he said.

Twitter says it has not yet used this ability to withhold tweets but will do so if required by a nation’s law.

“As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.

“Until now, the only way we could take account of those countries’ limits was to remove content globally. Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why.”

Twitter says it has partnered with Chilling Effects to publicly show cease and desist notices that are sent to Twitter.

“One of our core values as a company is to defend and respect each user’s voice. We try to keep content up wherever and whenever we can, and we will be transparent with users when we can't. The tweets must continue to flow,” Twitter said.

The Irish music and culture festival is centred around the Temple Bar area of the capital, runs from Wednesday 25th to Sunday 29th January and showcases a musical ensemble of bands, solo artists and dance groups performing at an array of venues throughout the capital.  

The festival was named Best Traditional Music Festival in the 2008 and 2009 Festival Award.

A total of three live sessions, recorded in The Button Factory in the capital's Temple Bar, will be available to view online from any location in the world.

The Aertv streamed sessions kick off with the ever-popular musician and vocalist Cathy Jordan on Thursday 26th .  Cathy is a long-time member of award-winning and legendary traditional Irish band Dervish. She will exclusively be launching her debut solo album 'All the Way Home' as part of this performance and will be joined on stage by the musical siblings The Henry Girls.

Friday 27th brings the now world renowned Inish Turk Beg Sessions. As they climbed to the dizzy heights of musical celebrities they played with the best and it is now the best in the business that queue to play with them.

The culmination of the streamed sessions presents a grand finale of Fidil and Solo Cissokho with Special Guest Tarab, Sunday 29th January. Bringing a real sense of globalism to the close of the festival the music on offer here embraces the folk traditions of Ireland, West Africa and the Balkans. An engaging dialogue between Donegal and Senegal highlights the appeal of Irish traditional music across the globe.

The sessions include:

26 Jan @ 8pm: Jordan with Special Guests The Henry Girls

27 Jan @ 8pm: Inish Turk Beg Sessions

29 Jan @ 8pm: Fidil and Solo Cissokho with Special Guest Tarab

It is supported by apps-based functionality that allows customers on their mobiles to check their account balances, transfer funds to each other in real time and view their previous transactions, as well as a host of other alerting and rules-based money-management tools.

The move follows 3V's involvement in the launch of O2 Money in association with Telefonica.

Peckover says it’s not being caused by the client and says O2 UK appears to be transparently proxying HTTP traffic and inserting this header.

The Verge confirmed this was happening on two phones on the O2 UK network, whereas Orange, Three UK and Vodafone UK numbers were unaffected.

However, an O2 Ireland spokesperson sold Siliconrepublic.com that its customers were unaffected by the issue and that it runs its services independently from its UK operations. We tested it out with a smartphone connected to the O2 Ireland network and found that the phone number did not appear in the header data on Peckover's site.

O2 UK said it was investigating the issue and will update its users once they find out more.

The services will be provided over Magnet's own fixed line broadband network, delivering speeds of up to 24 Mbps.

Philip Quinn, Munster Rugby's finance controller, said the deal will see Magnet service all Munster Rugby's offices, as well as Musgrave Park and Thomond Park Stadium.

In 2009, BT and Vodafone signed a landmark multimillion deal to transfer BT's consumer, small-business broadband and voice customer base to Vodafone.

This deal, which involved the transfer of some €4.8m worth of assets, gave Vodafone access to BT's 22 unbundled local exchanges around Ireland, as well as access to BT's consumer phone and broadband base of 84,000 consumers and 3,000 small businesses.

The plan also saw BT and Vodafone commit significant investment towards developing an enhanced broadband infrastructure with speeds of up to 24Mbs for about two-thirds of available broadband lines by unbundling up to 58 additional exchanges.

Prior to the BT/Vodafone deal, Vodafone acquired broadband service provider Perlico for €80m in 2008.

The mapping system, which was unveiled at the annual conference of the International Centre for Local and Regional Development (ICLRD), includes information on access to 24-hour emergency hospitals, Garda/PSNI stations, GP surgeries, pharmacies, fire stations, dentists and schools.

The system provides street-level information on travel times using a small-area data system which was developed by the National Centre for Geocomputation at NUI Maynooth and was used in the 2011 census.

The analysis shows that local health services and facilities, such as GPs, dentists and pharmacies, are marginally more accessible in Northern Ireland.

However, access to more strategic health services, such as emergency hospitals, are quite different, with average access to a 24-hour full emergency hospital at 16 minutes in Northern Ireland and 21 minutes in the Republic of Ireland.

It also showed, in relation to hospitals, the east of Ireland is generally within easy access of such hospital services, with those living in Dublin City being less than 10-minutes drive away.

The exception in the east is Co Wicklow, with Arklow in Co Wicklow being almost 43 minutes, on average, from the nearest 24-hour emergency hospital services.  

By comparison, Bray is nine minutes from the nearest 24-hour hospital. Belmullet in northwest Mayo is, on average, a 68-minute drive from the nearest 24-hour emergency hospital service; Templemore in Co Tipperary is a 45-minute drive; Lisdoonvarna in Co Clare is 59 minutes, while Kilkee in Co Clare is 69 minutes from a 24-hour emergency hospital.

The issue of whether people who owned PCs and had internet connectivity ought to pay a TV licence reared its head about the turn of the century. The moment it had flared up it was immediately denied.

Rabbitte's predecessor in the communications portfolio, former minister Eamon Ryan, shortly before leaving office last year signalled it was time to perhaps abolish the existing TV licence regime and come up with an alternative structure to pay for public service news and broadcasting.

Within months of coming into office, Rabbitte sparked a debate about a possible internet tax based on his observation that young people are accessing their TV on devices that, well, aren't really TVs, and his department intends to get to grips with the extent of this form of TV licence evasion.

Yesterday in Dail Eireann, Rabbitte pointed out that €25m in revenue is being lost each year through TV licence evasion.

A proposed levy to replace the €160 a year TV licence is expected to be imposed on properties whether or not there is a TV on the premises. This is based on a perception that they are accessing programmes via the internet on iPads and iPhones.

Granted, I'm a big fan of State broadcaster RTÉ's website and various iPad and iPhone apps. Especially the iPad app for RTÉ Player, it's sublime. RTÉ has done a fantastic job with its internet and catch-up digital content strategy.

But that does not mean my next-door neighbour gets his or her news or programming that way. This is a sweeping assumption by the State.

The idea of an internet tax to pay for the State broadcaster could be very unpopular if you conclude that the internet is an international phenomenon and has opened up a world of information - people can get news from anywhere, from blogs, from social networks and any number of overseas broadcasters or newspapers.

The measure will only serve to fan the flames of anger groups like the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI), hold for RTÉ's dual-funding model of TV licence revenues and advertising, not to mention revenues it gains from the internet, too.

And for a country like Ireland that is home to the international wings of many of the world's biggest internet companies, the notion of taxing people for simply accessing the internet may send out the wrong signal.

Taxing the internet

Last week, the EU said that for every offline job that was lost, 2.6 new jobs can be created in the online economy.

A levy that is imposed on people who don't own a TV but based on the assumption that they - if they were inclined - can get their news or programmes from the State broadcaster via the web is nothing more than an internet tax.

It would be hard to dress it up any other way. You can't put lipstick on a pig. It's an internet tax.

In Finland, the government there made international headlines after declaring high-speed broadband access a legal right.

Ireland should be concerned more about making similar pronouncements and being seen as progressive in the digital age, not being panned internationally as the one country in the world that taxed its people for accessing the internet.

Hundreds of other US websites are scheduled to go dark as the web goes on strike to protest the legislation. Sites such as Sopastrike.com are seen as a rallying point for going dark, with instructions for social media strategies and various Javascript strike tools.

On Monday night, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was defeated in Congress. However, another piece of legislation called Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) and dubbed ‘SOPA’s evil twin’ may yet pass through the US Senate.

Sites such as Reddit say it will go out of business if it is forced to implement the draconian measures of the legislation, while Silicon Valley leaders such as Google’s Sergey Brin warn that not only will the laws lead to censorship and monitoring similar to Iran and China, but would threaten innovation and the underlying architecture of the web.

Google's chief legal counsel David Drummond wrote on the Google blog: "These bills would grant new powers to law enforcement to filter the internet and block access to tools to get around those filters. We know from experience that these powers are on the wish list of oppressive regimes throughout the world. SOPA and PIPA also eliminate due process. They provide incentives for American companies to shut down, block access to and stop servicing US and foreign websites that copyright and trademark owners allege are illegal without any due process or ability of a wrongfully targeted website to seek restitution."

Google also posted an infographic explaining the potential impact of the legislation.

Ireland's small but geographically spread population traditionally negated the urgent need for post codes. However, with the advent of e-commerce, GPS systems and smartphones, any nation without a functioning post code system is at a disadvantage.

And Delaney has also pointed out that already there are reports of ambulances being delayed because they cannot find the address of a patient.

Traditional post codes, he said, will not solve the problem but web-connected codes like the Loc8 codes will prove vital.

A plan to introduce traditional area-based post codes is now four years too late and appears to have been shelved by the new Government, Delaney pointed out.

A Loc8 code is a carefully structured and self-checking code which defines any destination to within a few metres, allowing commercial vehicles to find even the right access gate to a site. However, shortened Loc8 codes can also be used to just find general areas, but the experience from analysis of web searches to date clearly shows that the big demand in Ireland is for precise Loc8 codes that define pinpoint rather than general area destinations.

Delaney's start-up Loc8, which operates from the village of Crosshaven in Cork, is already generating new jobs and its web-based technology is compatible with Garmin Navigon, Google and TomTom, as well as iPhone apps.

The 80,000 individual Loc8 code lookups included the public looking up the location of Loc8 codes which they had been given by others or following Loc8 code map links on business and community websites to see their exact locations on the associated Ordnance Survey web mapping. This figure does not include the tens of thousands of mobile uses of Loc8 codes on sat navs and iPhone apps.

Businesses need post codes for the digital age

More than 5,000 businesses now display their Loc8 code on their website to help visitors find them more quickly;- including hotels, guest houses, tourist features, food outlets, farms and sporting locations. Most notably, the GAA and local authorities are users of Loc8 codes and the growing number of users, which recently hit 8,000/month, highlights how both locals and tourists alike have come to depend on Loc8 codes for quickly finding places both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Delaney stated that his office frequently gets enquiries from as far way as Australia looking for Loc8 codes for holiday or business destinations around the country.

“During 2011, Loc8 codes of the Clayton Hotel in Galway, the Crowne Plaza Park & Fly in Dublin and Airside Airport Parking in Dublin were pinpointed on Loc8 code web maps over 2,000 times each and Ummera Smoked Food Products in West Cork was pinpointed nearly 700 times. In Northern Ireland, the most popular Loc8 code lookups include both medical and religious sites; Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry being the most popular, having been pinpointed on the Loc8 code webmap more than 500 times in the last year.

“These are all in addition to the 200,000 Loc8 codes that have been created by users for their own private or business properties, both through the web service and the associated iPhone app, since Loc8 code launched 18 months ago," Delaney said.

Loc8 codes have also been associated with more than 1.7m addresses in An Post's Geodirectory address database for specialist customers taking orders for services via the web, he added.

Where Skype derives its revenues is through low-cost calls that users can buy in bulk for their mobiles and via broadband and, in recent months, it has begun muscling in the Wi-Fi business via airport offers and on iOS devices. Last year, it embarked on an effort to monetise through in-video advertising.

Microsoft paid an impressive US$8.5bn for Skype last year and the VoIP offering could very easily become a core part of Microsoft's array of business services, such as Office 365/Linc, not to mention its Kinect motion sensing games device, which shipped 66m units last year.

So it's a no-brainer that Skype will appear in Windows Phone devices.

Yes, but it depends how Microsoft plays it.

It could simply circumvent the ire of mobile operators faced with falling ARPU levels by releasing Skype as an app. There's nothing wrong with that, it's already available as an iOS app and an Android app.

But Microsoft being Microsoft, it will probably insist it will be a core tile on its Windows Phone operating system and no doubt on the forthcoming Windows 8 desktop and tablet operating systems.

How Microsoft can help operators and vice versa

Operators are keen not to be seen as just another dumb pipe when it comes to data delivery - they want services that can help them monetise.

But operators can also decide the fate of a mobile device, whether it lives or dies. There are few operators in the world today not carrying Apple's iPhone, but no other devices so far have that power.

For Skype to be seen as a core differentiator on its Windows Phone platform, this will mean Microsoft will need to iron out deals with operators in the same way it brought cloud computing services via Lync and Office 365 to the market last year to increase their relevancy.

Nokia's new Lumia 900 Windows Phone got rave reviews at last week's Consumer Electronics Show and if Microsoft and Nokia keep their nerve they could see the device become one of the outstanding smartphone launches of 2012. If ...

Later next month, the Mobile World Congress will take place in Barcelona and both Microsoft and Nokia will have a presence there. Ex-Microsoft man and Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will be a keynote speaker at the event.

This will be the event at which operators, sensitive to the idea that they could wind up being just dumb pipes for the new media ambitions of large technology and internet players, will be quite curious and no doubt vocal in expressing their concerns.

Whatever cards Microsoft is holding with regard to Skype and Windows Phone may be revealed then. At the very least, Microsoft and Nokia need to assuage their concerns and indicate how their OS and device will improve operators' fortunes, and not diminish them.

Huawei Marine is understood to have completed the first phase of the project's marine survey work and is now manufacturing the cables and wet plant for the project.

The Atlantic phase of the Global Financial Network - called global because it will link up with similar fibre networks Hibernia Atlantic plans to deploy in the Pacific to connect financial centres like Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore - will be ready for service by summer 2013.

The Hibernia Atlantic business is owned by US businessman Ken Peterson, who also owns broadband provider Magnet.

In 2009, the €30m 'Project Kelvin' fibre cable that links Ireland to 24,000km of undersea cable linking Ireland with the US, Canada and UK came ashore at Portrush, Co Antrim. The transatlantic and terrestrial cable network offers more than 70 points of presence throughout Ireland, Canada, the US, the UK and mainland Europe.

The Project Express segment of the GFN is scheduled to be ready for service during the summer of 2013. The system will involve a minimum of a 4-fibre pair repeated submarine cable, providing connectivity between New York and London, initially using 40G technology with upgrades to 100G planned in the future.

Good news for Cork?

The first phase of the system begins with laying a 4,600km cable from Brean in Somerset in the UK to Halifax in Canada.

This cable will then connect to Hibernia Atlantic's current low-latency cable, which runs from Halifax to the United States, passing from Lynn, near Boston, and onwards to New York.

Hibernia Atlantic said the new system will also include five branching units for future connectivity enhancements to Ireland, the US and continental Europe.

Businesses in Cork had expressed concern that the cable - which passes 20km south of Cork harbour - might not be connected to the network which may have impacted future investments in the region.

During the summer, business groups like it@cork, which represents more than 300 technology businesses, estimated that the cost of connecting a spur to the Hibernia Express cable will be just €15m but the economic reward priceless.

Project Express will become an essential route on Hibernia Atlantic's GFN, uniting hundreds of global banks and financial exchanges with a single connection. Built specifically for the financial community, the GFN meets demanding performance and reliability requirements. Project Express will further strengthen the GFN by reinforcing it as the fastest path across the Atlantic, providing additional fast and secure links throughout Asia, Europe and North America.

They said that while they believe online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, they say the Obama administration will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cyber security risks and undermines a dynamic and innovative global internet.

They were clear that they view online piracy as a real problem that harms the US economy and threatens jobs, creativity and entrepreneurship.

“Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small.

“Across the globe, the openness of the internet is increasingly central to innovation in business, government and society, and it must be protected. To minimise this risk, new legislation must be narrowly targeted only at sites beyond the reach of current US law, cover activity clearly prohibited under existing US laws, and be effectively tailored, with strong due process and focused on criminal activity.

“Any provision covering internet intermediaries, such as online advertising networks, payment processors or search engines, must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage start-up businesses and innovative firms from growing."

The White House said it is also vital to avoid creating new cyber security risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the internet.

“Proposed laws must not tamper with the technical architecture of the internet through manipulation of the domain name system (DNS), a foundation of internet security.

“Our analysis of the DNS filtering provisions in some proposed legislation suggests that they pose a real risk to cyber security and yet leave contraband goods and services accessible online.

“We must avoid legislation that drives users to dangerous, unreliable DNS servers and puts next-generation security policies, such as the deployment of DNSSEC, at risk."

Obama and Google invite the wrath of Rupert

At the weekend, News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, who is newly arrived on Twitter but nevertheless making quite a splash, put forth his views on the whole SOPA debate and the Obama administration's decision to weigh in.

“So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery," Murdoch tweeted.

He also attacked Google and tweeted it "streams movies free, sells advts around them. No wonder pouring millions into lobbying."

Google, which recently signed an open letter on the matter of SOPA warning of censorship and a threat to the internet's architecture, according to CNET has taken dispute with Murdoch's words and said that last year it had taken down some 5bn pages worth of infringing material and has invested US$60m in fighting bad ads. "We fight pirates and counterfeiters every day," Google has reportedly railed.

Tim O'Reilly: don't close off the frontier

Writing on Google+, Irish-born prominent US tech publisher Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Media welcomed the Obama administration's moderate approach but disputed the level of economic harm the White House suggests has been inflicted on America's economy.

“In the entire discussion, I've seen no discussion of credible evidence of this economic harm. There's no question in my mind that piracy exists, that people around the world are enjoying creative content without paying for it, and even that some criminals are profiting by redistributing it. But is there actual economic harm?

“In my experience at O'Reilly, the losses due to piracy are far outweighed by the benefits of the free flow of information, which makes the world richer, and develops new markets for legitimate content. Most of the people who are downloading unauthorised copies of O'Reilly books would never have paid us for them anyway; meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of others are buying content from us, many of them in countries that we were never able to do business with when our products were not available in digital form.

“History shows us, again and again, that frontiers are lawless places, but that as they get richer and more settled, they join in the rule of law. American publishing, now the largest publishing industry in the world, began with piracy.

“Congress (and the White House) need to spend time thinking hard about how best to grow our economy - and that means being careful not to close off the frontier, or to harm those trying to settle it, in order to protect those who want to remain safe at home. British publishers could have come to America in the 19th century; they chose not to, and as a result, we grew our own indigenous publishing industry, which relied at first, in no small part, on pirating British and European works," O'Reilly said.

As the UK switches from analogue to more efficient digital TV, new spectrum capacity is becoming available to meet this demand. This 'digital dividend' uses airwaves in the 800MHz band, which will be auctioned along with higher frequency airwaves in the 2.6GHz band at the end of 2012. This will be equivalent to three quarters of the mobile spectrum in use today.

Originally, Ofcom planned for a special condition to be attached to the 800Mhz band licence to cover 95pc of the UK with a 4G network. However, following consultations throughout 2011 it has decided that a special condition should be attached to the 800MHz licence requiring the holder to cover 98pc of the population.

Ofcom now believes the special condition it previously proposed can be strengthened in one of two ways, it said today.

Stakeholders are being given 10 weeks to comment on Ofcom's revised proposals.

A final decision on the auction design will be made in summer 2012, with the auctions set to begin in Q4 2012.

The first option is to increase the obligation to 98pc of the UK by population. However, the second and potentially more effective option, is to require that one 800MHz operator provides 4G coverage that not only matches existing 2G coverage but also extends into mobile 'not spot' areas of the UK where the stg£150m will provide infrastructure capable of supporting 4G coverage.

This may have the potential to extend 4G mobile coverage even further than 98pc of the UK by population.

Also, this second option would make it more likely that mobile broadband services would be provided in locations where they could be most valued by consumers, rather than in those areas where it is easiest for a licensee to meet the obligation.

Emphasis on spectrum quality

Ofcom said it believes consumers are going to receive better services at lower prices in the future if there are at least four national wholesalers of mobile services. Without the right quality and mix of spectrum, an operator might struggle to compete with other national wholesale providers.

Ofcom is also proposing to reserve some spectrum in the 2.6GHz band to be shared by a group of companies to deliver innovative new mobile services for consumers. Potential applications include local mobile networks for student campuses, hospitals or commercial offices, which operate on short-range frequencies serving a small area.

“This is a crucial step in preparing for the most significant spectrum release in the UK for many years," said Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive.

“The proposals published today will influence the provision of services to consumers for the next decade and beyond.

“The UK benefits from being one of the most competitive mobile phone markets in Europe. This means that consumers pay less for mobile communications services and have the choice to shop around for packages that suit them best. As the UK enters a new generation of mobile communications, Ofcom's objective is to promote effective competition and to stimulate both investment and innovation.

“In addition, we are proposing a significant enhancement of mobile broadband, extending 4G coverage beyond levels of existing 2G coverage - helping to serve many areas of the UK that have traditionally been underserved by network coverage," Richards said.

The researchers, drawn from various Chinese universities, medical institutes and government departments, were able to highlight changes in gray matter density that found that addiction to internet games was no different than a pathological addiction to gambling.

The rise in interest in the subject by psychiatrists and educators signals IAD is becoming a serious issue.

The researchers found that IAD subjects had multiple structural changes in the brain that correlated with the duration of the addiction.

“One resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study demonstrated that IAD college students have increased regional homogeneity in several brain regions including cerebellum, brain stem, limbic lobe, frontal lobe and apical lobe.

“Two task-related fMRI studies of individuals with online game addiction indicated that cue-induced activation in response to internet video-game stimuli is similar to that observed during cue presentation in people with substance dependence or pathologic gambling."

The researchers also reported that IAD students had lower activation in the conflict detection stage, and showed less efficiency in information processing and lower impulse control than normal controls by recording event-related brain potentials during a Go/No-Go task.

“Additionally, a positron emission tomography (PET) study found that internet game overuse shares psychological and neural mechanisms with other types of impulse control disorders and substance/non-substance-related addiction."