The censorship in China is being broadened to cell phone text messages. Clifford Coonan of  Variety observes that the telecom operators of China will cut off any SMS messages that do not meet the severe requirements of the country’s net ‘nannies’.

“China’s three major telecom operators, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, will block text messages that contain “vulgar or indecent” text messages. China has 750 million cellphone subscribers.” states Mr. Coonan.

This surveillance of SMS messages is part of a deeper operation that is pointed toward restricting the access of  the Internet.

“Facebook, YouTube and other popular websites are banned in China because of their potentially seditious content, and the government has made it illegal to set up personal websites without registering domain names with a state agency first.” declares Clifford Coonan. He also made the note, ”The text message content will be screened to see if it contains any of the 13 proscribed terms listed by nine government departments, including the description of sexual acts or human sexual organs, or any type of sexual innuendo.”

Many of China’s mobile phone users are worried that their privacy will be violated by these new guidelines. The parental control we see here in the United States seems to be extended to a more severe state of an enormous government control in China.

If you would like to view the full article, you can find it at: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118014492.html?categoryId=19&cs=1

France will be seeing brighter futures into the high speed Internet world. According to Max Colchester of The Wall Street Journal, the French government will be contributing a 2 billion euro loan to reform the country’s high-speed Internet networks.

“Monday the government would make a series of low-interest loans to telecommunications groups, to encourage them to develop fiber-optic networks outside major cities.” states Prime Minister Francois Fillon. “We are at the dawn of the era of high-speed Internet and fiber-optic networks.”

To boost productivity, the French governement wants to dispense high-speed internet connections in to minor cities and rural territories.

“Under the proposed system, telecommunications groups France Telecom SA, Vivendi SA’s SFR and Iliad will be encouraged to invest together to build out local fiber networks.” said Mr. Fillon

11% of French homes have access to a fiber connection, but essentially few of the households have joined the service, according to Taylor Reynolds, an economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“The government is betting its €2 billion of funds will encourage operators to pump between €6 billion and €7 billion into France’s fiber networks.” proclaims Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the minister responsible for the development of the digital economy

The €2 billion loan is part of a wider national loan program yeilding €35 billion, which includes €4.5 billion designated for information and communications projects.

To view the full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704541004575011113378158220.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

ElectroniCast Consultants has released a report on the fiber optic industry in regards to connectors and mechanical splicers.

“Technological advances in fiber optics are assuring the migration of fiber closer and closer to the end user which then translates into demand for shorter and shorter links including board-to-board interconnects where connectors represent a substantial share of the total cable assembly and packaging cost,” said Stephen Montgomery, President of International Business at ElectroniCast Consultants.

The global fiber optic connector and mechanical splice consumption in 2008 was US$1.658 billion. The consumption value will increase with strongly rising quantity growth partially offset by declining average prices; however, due to the multi-industry worldwide economic crisis, the forecast is relatively flat for 2009.  By the year 2013, the worldwide consumption value is forecast to reach $2.5 billion.

To view this report in further detail, you can access it at:

 http://www.electronicastconsultants.com/files/4002.NEWS.RELEASE.December.29.2009.doc

For interested purchasers of fiber optic connectors:

http://www.precisionfiberproducts.com/ccp0-catshow/FiberOpticConnectors.html

For interested purchasers of fiber optic mechanical splice cleavers:

http://www.precisionfiberproducts.com/ccp0-prodshow/MillerFOCleaver.html

http://www.precisionfiberproducts.com/ccp0-prodshow/MillerCleaver.html

Replacement Cleaver Blades:

http://www.precisionfiberproducts.com/ccp0-catshow/ReplacementBlades.html

Splicer Electrodes:

http://www.precisionfiberproducts.com/ccp0-catshow/SplicerElectrodes.html

The destructive 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti this last Tuesday has left many people in distress. The numerous calls that are trying to be sent out and received have left telephone networks acutely congested. USA Today has reported on this issue.

“Telecommunications providers in Haiti will continue through the weekend to try to accommodate the enormous demand for phone and broadband services,” says USA Today’s David Lieberman. Lieberman has also made the statement that, “The earthquake could accelerate demand for wireless and satellite communications.”

Yet, there is possible hope along the way. Free two minute phone calls by way of satellite to anyplace is planned to be set up in Port-au-Prince. This will give Haitians who are in need to contact others the chance to do so. That is if they can get pass the rubble in the streets that have made it hard to travel place to place.

After monumental natural catastrophes, “Countries don’t have many alternatives, or the resources to build a new infrastructure,” Jay Yass; vice president of network services at Intelsat, has stated. “Satellite is able to be rapidly deployed.”

We hope to see Satellite becoming effective in helping those in Haiti to serve their demands. This earthquake has left the people effected in need of many services, so let us hope to see this service being fulfilled.

To view the full article, you can go to http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2010-01-14-haiti-phones-quake_N.htm.

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