Free wifi London

"London could soon be covered with a free public WiFi network as Virgin Media moves to challenge BT's Openzone network. Virgin Media's network would be freely available to anyone at 0.5Mbps, and to subscribers to its home broadband at speeds up to a blistering 10Mbps. The proposals would see WiFi routers installed in each of the company's street-side cabinets, which distribute its cable network to homes and businesses"

Kerala Telecom Market

Kerala Wireless Telecom 2011 – Idea dominates with 27.9% market share

Subscriber base increased by 29.6%...

· Kerala’s mobile subscriber base increased by 29.6% during FY2011 to touch 31.3 million

· It is the 13^th largest wireless telecom circle in India with 3.9% subscriber share

· Active subscriber base proportion is 69.1% translating into active subscriber base of 21.6 million in 2011

“Idea” is undisputed leader in Kerala wireless market….

· Idea leads the market with 21% of total mobile subscriber share in Kerala followed by BSNL (19.0%) and Vodafone (16.7%)

· However, in terms of active mobile subscriber base, Idea extends its dominance with 27.9% market share

· Idea has 91.7% active mobile subscribers in Kerala

· Vodafone with 18.4% share grabs No. 2 spot while BSNL slips to No.3 with 17.0% share

· Top 5 players accounts for 88.3% of Kerala’s active mobile subscriber base

Aircel introduces ‘Blyk’ in India

India’s first Interactive, Youth focused Mobile Service Anytime Anywhere

Aircel is now present in all Telecom circles Pan India

The number 1 Telecom player in Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Assam and North East

New Delhi, November 19, 2010

Aircel, a leading telecom player with Pan-India operations and a subscriber base of over 48 million, along with Blyk, a UK based organization and pioneers of interactive and multi-media mobile messages and brand engagements for the Youth, today launched “Blyk on Aircel” in India.

Mr. Gurdeep Singh, Chief Operating Officer, Aircel said, “We at Aircel have always engaged with the Youth in innovative ways offering to them a variety of products and services, be it the Aircel Pocket Internet, the Aircel Pocket Apps, INQ - the first social mobile in the country, Aircel Unlimited Dialer Tunes etc. Today the Youth comprises over 51% of the total population in India and a large percentage of the Youth are using the mobile which then becomes a very powerful medium to interact, engage, entertain and connect with the Youth lending them our ears to voice their areas of Interest, Preferences and Views. Blyk on Aircel brings for the youth a truly exciting and interactive experience and even great Brand engagement. It gives them the Best deals i.e. Blyk on Aircel Lifetime membership along with irresistible offers by Aircel such as unlimited dialer tunes up to a period, Aircel Pocket Internet, Music connect and much more. This therefore, becomes a movement among the Youth and opens to them a world of possibilities.”

Chairman, Blyk India and Co-founder, Blyk Worldwide Antti Ohrling adds: "Aircel is the perfect partner for Blyk in India, unpretentious, fresh, modern and easy to do business with. They've got an entirely new approach to capturing the consumer market and a strategy for fast growth through innovative consumer offerings. Together we intend to develop Blyk on Aircel to become a game-changing engagement media in the Indian market"."Additionally, in a much cluttered Indian market youth brands are warmly welcoming a high engagement communication channel like Blyk. We are very confident that both the global and great Indian brands will make use of Blyk on Aircel to connect and engage with the youth audience", continues Antti Öhrling.

Blyk on Aircel users will be sent content by way of messages, both SMS and MMS, across categories i.e. Entertainment, Sports, Lifestyle comprising travel, fashion, wellness, gadgets etc. and Other activities such as city specific events, dating & relationships tips, Comics and careers advice. As users respond to the content and indicate their preferences, after a period of 6-8 weeks, they are then sent content from their areas of interest and finally that is tailored to their individual preferences which further helps in relevant interaction with the Youth and active brand engagements.

Blyk on Aircel is friendly, warm, knows your pulse and is your partner for life. It truly offers you the best deals by way of a Lifetime Blyk on Aircel membership of “Network for the Youth” with referral schemes as you bring your friends on board and profile linked offers and benefits. Over and above this there are a host of VAS benefits such as the Pocket Internet, Unlimited Dailer tunes, Music Connect etc. for a period of time on Blyk on Aircel recharges.

The Blyk product will be available in all retail outlets and exclusive Aircel stores which are state- of -the art experiential zones where the consumers get a first-hand experience on products and applications. It will also be available on the web at, www.aircel.com/blyk

Always recognized for its high focus on Customer Care and service, Aircel has specialized Customer Care Centres with the latest technology and multilingual Customer care handling capability. This will help its subscribers to connect better and get the best service.

About Aircel

Aircel, a part of Maxis Communications Berhad, Malaysia, is India’s fifth largest GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of over 48 million and is the fastest growing mobile operator in the country. It is the market leader in Tamil Nadu, Assam, North-East and Chennai. . Aircel is now present in 23 Telecom Circles (Mumbai, Pune, Uttar Pradesh East, Uttar Pradesh West, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Assam, Bihar, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, North-East , Orissa, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, MP & Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat & Rajasthan) and with spectrum secured for all the remaining circles (a total of 23 circles in India), the company is on track to become a leading Pan-India Operator. For more information, please log on to www.aircel.com

About Blyk

Blyk is a mobile messaging media that works with operators to link young people with brands and other stuff they like. Blyk launched its innovative mobile service in the UK in September 2007 and quickly became known as a leader in mobile advertising, audience engagement, and for its ability to drive unprecedented response rates and return on investment for advertisers. Blyk pioneered the use of interactive text and multi-media messaging as an advertising format, leveraging the most predominant, everyday behaviour of young people (sending and receiving messages on their phones) and enabling young people to communicate with brands in the same way they do with everyone else. Blyk has offices in, Helsinki, London, Amsterdam, Singapore and New Delhi.

Blyk (pronounced /ˈblɪk/) is a "free" ad-supported mobile phone network that offers text messages and customer-to-customer calls. It targets young people (16-29) has offices inFinland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and in India.

Blyk was first launched in the UK. It was the first mobile network funded byadvertising^{[citation needed]}, and was targeted at 16- to 24-year-olds. Users signing up to the network received advertising messages on their mobiles, and in return were given a monthly allowance of free top-up.

Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Reaction 3 Market 4 Ending UK service 5 Blyk re-launches 6 References 7 External links

[edit]History

Blyk was founded by two Finns, Pekka Ala-Pietilä (formerly president of Nokia) and Antti Öhrling (ex-chairman and founder of the Contra advertising group). Its headquarters were in Helsinki but it also had an office in London. In October 2007, Shaun Gregory was appointed UK CEO and resigned on January 9, 2009 due to personal reasons. Following Gregory's resignation, Antti Ohrling took over as UK CEO.

Before February 2009, the network offered 43 free minutes and 217 free texts to be used each month. Balances were reset after 30 days, so unused credit did not roll over. If the balance was used up before the monthly reset, users could pay 15p/min and 10p/text; thus, the free credit was worth £28.15.

In February 2009, the rates were changed to 24p/min and 8p/text. At this level, the free balance would have been worth £27.68/month. However, the system was also altered so that users' balances now reset to £15.00 every month. This can be spent on any combination of calls, texts, picture messages and data. Some people think this was because the company was making cutbacks due to the recession.

In July 2009, Blyk announced that they were ending their service in the UK at the end of August, to become a partner for other established operators, including Orange in the UK and Vodafone in the Netherlands. [1]

The Blyk service in the UK ended for all members on 26 August 2009.

[edit]Reaction

The response from the British press towards Blyk placed its emphasis on debating the potential effectiveness of mobile-based advertising, with concerns that it may prove intrusive in a similar manner to pop-ups on websites or spam email. The Guardian commented that "advertisers will have to be careful not to annoy their new users with the mobile equivalent of spam",^[1] with Channel 4 stating that the fact that "you have to suffer the ads" was the network's downside.^[2] Tech Digest also noted that if advertisers don't embrace the interactivity offered by the network, they may have to resort to spam.^[3]

Channel 4's technology correspondent Benjamin Cohen also raised the issue that targeting individuals with advertising for brands such asMcDonalds and Coca-Cola could open up a debate about childhood obesity.

Other sources, however, praised the network's approach to its adverts, whereby users can respond to messages they receive free-of-charge to receive a more personal service. SMS Text News stated that this aspect of the network "may well be extremely welcome",^[4] and The Times reported that certain analysts believed that Blyk "could provide a boost to the nascent market in mobile marketing".^[5]

[edit]Market

Blyk was distinguished by the age restriction that it operated for its membership. The 16-24 age range is exclusive and was applied by means of ID checks with several national databases during sign up. Members who joined before turning 25 were not removed from the network on their 25th birthday, but were unable to rejoin if they left.

Membership was by invitation only, available via special promotions and from existing members. Potential members joined the network via its website. As part of the process they were asked a range of profiling questions. Blyk used the information it gathered to target them with relevant advertising messages at a rate of up to 6 a day. On 25 Sep 2007 it was reported by telegraph.co.uk that the company had secured 44 brands for its service, including Coca-Cola, NatWest, Boots Group and Mastercard.^[6]

On April 24, 2008 Blyk announced that they had reached their twelve month target of 100,000 clients six months ahead of schedule.^[7]

[edit]Ending UK service

On July 27, 2009 Blyk UK announced that the service was to end on August 26, 2009 due to the company deciding to change the way the business is run globally. Blyk UK is changing from being an independent mobile operator to become a partner to other established operators to bring the benefits of mobile advertising to their customers. In this way, Blyk claims it will be able to reach more people and share the "Blyk experience" not just in the UK, but globally.

According to their website, they are working with Vodafone in the Netherlands, Aircel in India and with Orange in the UK.

[edit]Blyk re-launches

In May 2010, Blyk launched its service to the young people in the Netherlands. The service is created in partnership with Vodafone, and it gives targeted ads and content to the young (16- to 29-year-olds) and monthly 1000 free Blyk-to-Blyk calls and 1000 free texts to any networks. [2]. The launch advertisers include Beachmasters, Universal Pictures, McDonald’s, Pearle and Electronic Arts.

[edit]

SIM quiz

1.What s the expansion of SIM ?

A subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module

2.What information does a SIM store?

unique serial number (ICCID)

securely stores the service-subscriber key (IMSI)

security authentication and ciphering information

temporary information related to the local network

a list of the services the user has access to

two passwords (PIN for usual use and PUK for unlocking).

At present A micro-SIM has :

Allowance for multiple simultaneous applications accessing the card through logical channels

Mutual authentication as a way to eliminate carrier spoofing by allowing the SIM card to authenticate the cell tower to which it is connecting

PIN protection with hierarchical PIN management with a universal PIN, an application PIN and a local PIN

Expanded phonebook storage on the SIM card with entries for email, second name, and groups

3.First sim cards were of the size__

SIM cards were first made the same size as a credit card (85.60 mm × 53.98 mm × 0.76 mm). Presently to 25 mm × 15 mm.

4.First sim was made in

The first SIM card was made in 1991 by Munich smart card maker Giesecke & Devrient, who sold the first 300 SIM cards to Finnish wireless network operator Radiolinja.

5.SIM operates at what voltage?

There are three operating voltages for SIM cards: 5 V, 3 V and 1.8 V

(ISO/IEC 7816-3 classes A, B and C, respectively).

The operating voltage of the majority of SIM cards launched before 1998 was 5 V.

SIM cards produced subsequently are compatible with 3 V and 5 V or with 1.8 V and 3 V.

6.Wht are the two types of Dual SIM phones?

The first allows one to switch between the SIMs, whilst the second allows both SIMs to be active simultaneously.

7.What are the SIM operating systems ?

They come in two main types: native and Java Card.

Native SIMs are based on proprietary, vendor-specific software, whereas the Java Card SIMs are based on standards, particularly Java Card, which is a subset of the Java programming language specifically targeted at embedded devices.

Java Card allows the SIM to contain programs that are hardware independent and interoperable.

8.What is I C C ID?

Each SIM is internationally identified by its Integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID). ICCIDs are stored in the SIM cards and are also engraved or printed on the SIM card body during a process called personalization. The ICCID is defined by the ITU-T recommendation E.118 as the Primary Account Number.

Its layout is based on ISO/IEC 7812. According to E.118, the number is up to 19 digits long, including a single check digit calculated using the Luhn algorithm. However, the GSM Phase defined the ICCID length as 10 octets with operator-specific structure.

The number is composed of the following subparts:

Issuer identification number (IIN)

Maximum of seven digits:

Major industry identifier (MII), 2 fixed digits, 89 for telecommunication purposes.

Country code, 1-3 digits, as defined by ITU-T recommendation E.164.

Issuer identifier, 1-4 digits.

Individual account identification

Individual account identification number. Its length is variable but every number under one IIN will have the same length.

Check digit

Single digit calculated from the other digits using the Luhn algorithm.

With the GSM Phase 1 specification using 10 octets into which ICCID is stored as packed BCD, the data field has room for 20 digits with hexadecimal 'F' being used as filler when necessary.

In practice, this means that on GSM SIM cards there are 20-digit (19+1) and 19-digit (18+1) ICCIDs in use, depending upon the issuer. However, a single issuer always uses the same size for its ICCIDs.

To confuse matters more, SIM factories seem to have varying ways of delivering electronic copy of SIM personalization datasets. Some datasets are without the ICCID checksum digit, others are with the digit.

What is International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)?

SIM cards are identified on their individual operator networks by a unique IMSI. Mobile operators connect mobile phone calls and communicate with their market SIM cards using their IMSIs. The format is:

The first 3 digits represent the Mobile Country Code (MCC).

The next 2 or 3 digits represent the Mobile Network Code (MNC). 3-digit MNC codes are allowed by E.212 but are mainly used in the United States and Canada.

The next digits represent the mobile station identification number. Normally there will be 10 digits but would be fewer in the case of a 3-digit MNC or if national regulations indicate that the total length of the IMSI should be less than 15 digits.

What is Authentication key (Ki)?

The Ki is a 128-bit value used in authenticating the SIMs on the mobile network. Each SIM holds a unique Ki assigned to it by the operator during the personalization process. The Ki is also stored in a database (known as Authentication Center or AuC) on the carrier's network.

The SIM card is designed not to allow the Ki to be obtained using the smart-card interface. Instead, the SIM card provides a function, Run GSM Algorithm, that allows the phone to pass data to the SIM card to be signed with the Ki. This, by design, makes usage of the SIM card mandatory unless the Ki can be extracted from the SIM card, or the carrier is willing to reveal the Ki. In practice, the GSM cryptographic algorithm for computing SRES_2 (see step 4, below) from the Ki has certain vulnerabilities[citation needed] that can allow the extraction of the Ki from a SIM card and the making of a duplicate SIM card.

How is the Authentication process carried out? :

When the Mobile Equipment starts up, it obtains the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) from the SIM card, and passes this to the mobile operator requesting access and authentication. The Mobile Equipment may have to pass a PIN to the SIM card before the SIM card will reveal this information.

The operator network searches its database for the incoming IMSI and its associated Ki.

The operator network then generates a Random Number (RAND, which is a nonce) and signs it with the Ki associated with the IMSI (and stored on the SIM card), computing another number known as Signed Response 1 (SRES_1).

The operator network then sends the RAND to the Mobile Equipment, which passes it to the SIM card. The SIM card signs it with its Ki, producing SRES_2, which it gives to the Mobile Equipment along with encryption key Kc. The Mobile Equipment passes SRES_2 on to the operator network.

The operator network then compares its computed SRES_1 with the computed SRES_2 that the Mobile Equipment returned. If the two numbers match, the SIM is authenticated and the Mobile Equipment is granted access to the operator's network. Kc is used to encrypt all further communications between the Mobile Equipment and the network.

How is the Location area identified?

The SIM stores network state information, which is received from the Location Area Identity (LAI). Operator networks are divided into Location Areas, each having a unique LAI number. When the device changes locations, it stores the new LAI to the SIM and sends it back to the operator network with its new location. If the device is power cycled, it will take data off the SIM, and search for the previous LAI. This saves time by avoiding having to search the whole list of frequencies that the telephone normally would.

How is SMS messages and contacts stored?

Most SIM cards will orthogonally store a number of SMS messages and phone book contacts. The contacts are stored in simple 'Name and number' pairs: entries containing multiple phone numbers and additional phone numbers will usually not be stored on the SIM card. When a user tries to copy such entries to a SIM the handset's software will break them up into multiple entries, discarding any information that isn't a phone number. The number of contacts and messages stored depends on the SIM; early models would store as few as 5 messages and 20 contacts while modern SIM cards can usually store over 250 contacts.

SIM card sizes

SIM card Standard reference Length (mm) Width (mm) Thickness (mm)

Full-size ISO/IEC 7810:2003, ID-1 85.60 53.98 0.76

Mini-SIM ISO/IEC 7810:2003, ID-000 25.00 15.00 0.76

Micro-SIM ETSI TS 102 221 V9.0.0, Mini-UICC 15.00 12.00 0.76

The micro-SIM was developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute along with SCP, 3GPP (UTRAN/GERAN), 3GPP2 (CDMA2000), ARIB, GSMAssociaton (GSMA SCaG and GSMNA), GlobalPlatform, Liberty Alliance, and the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) for the purpose of fitting into devices otherwise too small for a mini-SIM card.[2][5]

The form factor was mentioned in the Dec 1998 3GPP SMG9 UMTS Working Party, which is the standards-setting body for GSM SIM cards,[6] and the form factor was agreed upon in late 2003.[7]

The micro-SIM was created with backwards compatibility in mind. The major issue with backwards compatibility was the contact area of the chip. Retaining the same contact area allows the micro-SIM to be compatible with the previous, larger SIM readers through the use of plastic cutout surrounds. The SIM was also designed to run at the same speed (5 MHz) as the previous version. The same size and positions of pins resulted in numerous

"How-to" tutorials and YouTube video with detailed instructions how to cut a mini-SIM card to micro-SIM size with a sharp knife or scissors. These tutorials became very popular among first owners of iPad 3G after its release on April 30, 2010 and iPhone 4 on June 24, 2010.[8]

The chairman of EP SCP, Dr. Klaus Vedder, said[7]

"With this decision, we can see that ETSI has responded to a market need from ETSI customers, but additionally there is a strong desire not to invalidate, overnight, the existing interface, nor reduce the performance of the cards. EP SCP expect to finalise the technical realisation for the third form factor at the next SCP plenary meeting, scheduled for February 2004."

[edit]Developments of SIM

A virtual SIM is a mobile phone number provided by a mobile network operator that does not require a SIM card to connect phone calls to a user's mobile phone.

USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) is an application for UMTS mobile telephony running on a UICC smart card which is inserted in a 3G mobile phone. There is a common misconception to call the UICC itself a USIM, but the USIM is merely a logical entity on the physical card. It stores user subscriber information, authentication information and provides storage space for text messages and phone book contacts. The phone book on a UICC has been greatly enhanced. For authentication purposes, the USIM stores a long-term pre-shared secret key, which is shared with the Authentication Center (AuC) in the network. The USIM also verifies a sequence number that must be within a range using a window mechanism to avoid replay attacks, and is in charge of generating the session keys to be used in the confidentiality and integrity algorithms of the KASUMI block cipher in UMTS. The equivalent of USIM on CDMA networks is CSIM.

[edit]Usage in mobile phone standards

SIM card for Thuraya satellite phone

The use of SIM cards is mandatory in GSM devices.

The satellite phone networks Iridium, Thuraya and Inmarsat's BGAN also use SIM cards. Sometimes these SIM cards work in regular GSM phones and also allow GSM customers to roam in satellite networks by using their own SIM card in a satellite phone.

KDDI's au IC-Card

NTT DoCoMo's FOMA Card

Japan's 2G PDC system (which will be completely shut down by 2012; SoftBank Mobile has already shut down PDC from March 31, 2010) also specifies a SIM, but this has never been implemented commercially. The specification of the interface between the Mobile Equipment and the SIM is given in the RCR STD-27 annex 4. The Subscriber Identity Module Expert Group was a committee of specialists assembled by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to draw up the specifications (GSM 11.11) for interfacing between smart cards and mobile telephones. In 1994, the name SIMEG was changed to SMG9.

Japan's current and next generation cellular systems are based on W-CDMA (UMTS) and CDMA2000 and all use SIM cards.

[edit]Rival systems

Many CDMA-based devices do not include any removable card, and the service is bound to a unique identifier contained in the handset itself.

The equivalent of a SIM in UMTS is called the Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC), which runs a USIM application, while the Removable User Identity Module (R-UIM) is more popular in CDMA-based devices e.g. CDMA2000. The UICC is still colloquially called a SIM card.[citation needed]

[edit]SIM and carriers

The SIM card introduced a new and significant business opportunity of mobile telecoms operator/carrier business of the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) which does not own or operate a cellular telecoms network, but which leases capacity from one of the network operators, and only provides a SIM card to its customers. MVNOs first appeared in Denmark, Hong Kong, Finland and the UK and today exist in over 50 countries, including most of Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and parts of Asia, and account for approximately 10% of all mobile phone subscribers around the world.

On some networks, the mobile phone is locked to its carrier SIM card, meaning that only the specific carrier's SIM cards will work. This is more common in markets where mobile phones are heavily subsidised by the carriers, and the business model depends on the customer staying with the service provider for a minimum term (typically, 12 or 24 months). Common examples are the GSM networks in the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK and Poland. Many businesses offer the ability to remove the SIM lock from a phone, effectively making it possible to then use the phone on any network by inserting a different SIM card. Mostly, GSM and 3G mobile handsets can easily be unlocked and used on any suitable network with any SIM card.

In countries where the phones are not subsidised e.g. Italy and Belgium, all phones are unlocked. Where the phone is not locked to its SIM card, the users can easily switch networks by simply replacing the SIM card of one network with that of another while using only one phone. This is typical, for example, among users who may want to optimise their telecoms traffic by different tariffs to different friends on different networks.

Key features of the National Telecom Policy 2011

• Spectrum to be awarded on market-based pricing mechanism
• Operators will receive adequate spectrum

• New licence issued to operators will be in nature of unified licence
• Licence holders will be free to offer any service
• There will be no more contractual spectrum
• The concept of initial/start-up spectrum will be eliminated
• A uniform rate for all players for revenue sharing will be ensured

• Services will be made technology-neutral
• The new telecom policy will not be with retrospective effect
• The new policy will create a level playing field in the telecom space

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