tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88639216157266757442011-10-12T06:38:27.916+08:00Telecom, tech and free speechRobert Clarknoreply@blogger.comBlogger231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-1339784500788603712011-01-26T13:57:00.003+08:002011-01-26T14:19:05.059+08:00

Almost ten years to the day since it was formed, the troubled Telstra-PCCW JV Reach is being wound up as a major Asian capacity provider. The two telcos announced today they had agreed to distribute most of Reach's international bandwidth and other assets between them. Telstra said it would record an initial A$50m ($49.8m) accounting gain on the deal, and another A$80-A$100m on completion.

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-65058760776924427912011-01-24T15:38:00.000+08:002011-01-24T15:38:54.722+08:00

Huawei might be known for its networking gear, but its terminal group is also on a roll. The division, which makes everything from smartphones to video-conferencing units, boosted sales 54% last year to $4.5bn. Chinese media reports (here and here)say an un-named senior executive told staff at a company Chinese New Year function that unit shipments increased 30% in 2010 to 121mn. Of these 30mn

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-598068973392691702011-01-24T13:54:00.003+08:002011-01-24T15:09:46.728+08:00

2010 was a shocker for Nokia, and if it were expecting a better start to 2011 it must be disappointed. The former master of the handset universe has conceded defeat with its free Ovi music service, pulling the plug in 27 of the 33 markets it served. According to the FT, the weak take-up was a result of poor marketing, limited handset choice, DRM issues and the ambivalence of operators who

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-61301024506785411782011-01-18T11:10:00.000+08:002011-01-18T11:10:42.172+08:00

Not quite as sexy as a TV ad featuring Yao Ming and Li Kashing - but more predictable - Chinese state media have been helpfully rehearsing Hu Jintao's economic talking points on the eve of his US visit. A long piece on the economic relationship, first published in People's Daily, says Chinese manufacturers retain as little as a third of the value-added in exported products. As is customary, the

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-5081554692142777572011-01-13T11:55:00.001+08:002011-01-21T10:20:13.813+08:00

Acts of god aren't kind to networks so it's no surprise that underwater Brisbane is offline. But telcos aren't exactly in a hurry to reconnect. Telstra has listed 262 exchanges as "red" (ie, no-go) zones. Why? It might be because of the dangerous floodwaters. It could be the sharks. Or maybe the red-bellied black snakes. Take your pick. Looks like phones won't be coming back today.

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-53709057242012493572011-01-11T12:26:00.000+08:002011-01-11T12:26:01.448+08:00

Hello 2011, and a big thank you to Android for getting me home three hours later and a few hundred dollars lighter than planned. Be informed that the Google calendar on Android phones changes all times when the timezone changes. Which is handy if you holiday in the Maldives and want to know when your appointment in Lima next week is going to be in Maldives time, but not helpful if you foolishly

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-29519056442247192182010-12-08T14:17:00.001+08:002010-12-16T17:44:32.699+08:00

Hard to beat this. State Department hails "World Press Freedom Day." New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals’ right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-29334308880272086602010-06-01T23:51:00.002+08:002010-06-01T23:53:07.145+08:00

The juxtaposition of raw capitalism and Chinese communist orthodoxy usually passes without comment these days. But some events still give pause. Like the elevation of Wang Jianzhou to chairman of China Mobile Communications Corp., the parent of the listed company which he has chaired for the five years. The appointment, like all senior SOE posts, was decided by the all-powerful Communist Party

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-57197793349741976682010-05-26T11:07:00.000+08:002010-05-26T11:07:42.381+08:00

Privacy-invading minister rails against Google, Facebook.

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-71882521001073087972010-02-22T22:23:00.001+08:002010-02-22T22:24:29.143+08:00

Should Mozilla accept a CA (certification authority) from China's Network Information Centre (CNNIC)? As Ed Felten on the Freedom to Tinker blog explains, the trusted CA authenticates the identity of the server the browser is going to. But what if you don't trust the CA itself? As Ed delicately puts it: "[L]et's suppose, just for the sake of argument, [his italics] that CNNIC were a puppet

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-54800442474051786862010-02-08T20:50:00.005+08:002010-02-22T21:59:43.156+08:00

Google has called on the NSA to help it ward off cyber-attacks, the Washington Post has reported. Google has cited sophisticated attacks on its servers, originating from China and aimed at stealing its corporate secrets, as one of the prime reasons for its departure from the PRC. This story says it is probably seeking help from the NSA to defend against future threats rather than investigate

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-56421089591013620492010-02-03T10:39:00.001+08:002010-02-03T10:41:53.662+08:00

Electronic Freedom Foundation fingers seven US companies for selling surveillance gear to China. Cisco, which is the most overt supporter of China's "Golden Shield" system of internet censorship, tops the list. Others include Nortel, Oracle and Motorola.

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-33539825496567116832010-02-02T23:47:00.000+08:002010-02-03T10:32:50.280+08:00

Seven months on from the Urumqi riots, Xinjiang is still effectively without internet access. All email is blocked, and only government websites such as Xinhua are accessible, according to RSF. Official media claimed on January 12 that internet access was "returning".

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-90880345592401851402010-02-02T00:29:00.006+08:002010-02-02T23:32:17.892+08:00

It all reminds me of a Garrison Keilor sketch from the early 90s about listless American men missing the Cold War. Hanker no longer. It's breaking out all over the place. From the blue corner: Financial Times China fumes after US arms sales to Taiwan Sydney Morning Herald Honeymoon over for US and China New York Times U.S. Arms for Taiwan Send Beijing a Message The Times China says US arms

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-13012352962622467692010-02-01T23:55:00.002+08:002010-02-02T23:34:08.861+08:00

I started this blog because I thought the intersection of technology, telecom and free speech in China was worth writing about. Thanks to Google I now don't have to explain why. After a number of distractions and a much-needed break from the PC it's time to resume.

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-559614645662772462009-12-04T20:35:00.000+08:002009-12-04T20:35:26.969+08:00

Tang Jingling, a Guangzhou lawyer, was invited to the Guangzhou College of Vocational Technology on November 27 to lecture students on the internet. Radio Free Asia reports: [H]e was interrupted by a member of the campus security force who was auditing the class, and was told to show his identification before being led away by police. Twitter is considered “a tool of subversion” by some Chinese

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-3977102129217871132009-12-01T23:44:00.001+08:002009-12-01T23:49:16.333+08:00

The International Herald Tribune and New York Times had a go at the Huawei story this week after it snared Telenor's LTE business. To take business away from Nokia Siemens on its Nordic home turf makes for one of the Chinese vendor's sweetest and most important wins. Huawei now has the chance of rolling out a showcase 4G network with a tier 1 European carrier. The other prompt for the story is

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-69160620033282396382009-11-30T00:37:00.000+08:002010-02-03T10:32:50.280+08:00

Volunteer teams roamed Beijing neighbourhoods this weekend, warning people to switch off their PCs or pay a "fine" as part of the NC63 (no computers for 63 hours). Some 20 websites reportedly supported the campaign, although the original front page Beijing Morning Post story didn't name any of them. A coincidence, surely, that it's a print daily leading the charge against the web.

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-2517323470972982212009-11-28T16:59:00.003+08:002009-11-30T00:43:02.066+08:00

Another China porn crackdown, this time the scourge of “yellow” on mobile phones. It was lead item on Xinhua on Thursday afternoon, with a suitably clunky cartoon of a chopper cleaving the "mobile porn profit chain." A well-reported story on scmp.com($$) about the anti-vice sweep in Dongguan puts these campaigns into perspective. Dongguan, in China's factory belt just north of Shenzhen, is

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-31223079587793674942009-11-26T07:12:00.001+08:002009-11-29T12:07:01.311+08:00

Opera's new Chinese mobile browser keeps users firmly inside the Great Firewall, BBC reports.

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-18022755360566140362009-11-23T23:12:00.001+08:002009-11-23T23:13:53.643+08:00

Microsoft copped a huge spray from NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff a few days ago for their selective treatment censorship of Bing search results. Kristoff said: If Microsoft felt it had to bow to Chinese censorship within China’s borders, based on the IP address, that might be defensible. But when Microsoft skews its worldwide searches to make Hu Jintao feel better, that’s a disgrace. It

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-69855874030062716242009-11-22T14:19:00.000+08:002009-11-22T14:19:27.536+08:00

Biz Stone has some advice for Rupert Murdoch: the future's in free content. That would be the Biz Stone, the Twitter co-founder, who is yet to make a dollar out of his 50 million-odd users. Stone said: "[News Corp] should be looking at this as an opportunity to try something radically different and find out a way to make a ton of money from being radically open rather than some money from

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8863921615726675744.post-40030888941307809432009-09-20T15:27:00.005+08:002009-09-20T18:53:55.727+08:00

When was the last time Microsoft had a hit? The first Xbox?Microsoft has just released the new Zune to surprisingly warm reviews (and here). This is after all the company that came up with Windows ME, Vista, Bob, and the Seinfeld ads.The blogosphere loves the new thin Bluetooth keyboard, too. Well, done Microserfs, but is there really a need for an expensive ($90) keyboard, in particular one

Robert Clarknoreply@blogger.com0