Tag Archive for: connectivity

Marcos vows to improve online connectivity, cyber security

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Alexis Romero – The Philippine Star

January 19, 2023 | 12:00am

DAVOS – President Marcos, cognizant of low internet speed and access in the Philippines, vowed to undertake measures to improve online connectivity and step up cyber security.

During an open forum at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday in this Swiss city, Marcos admitted that the government has to do better in connecting Filipinos and advancing the digital economy.

“The connectivity in the Philippines is still pretty low. And it’s unfortunate because in some of the studies we’ve made, the general consumer, if you want to call them that, talks to every facet of their lives through the internet, except for (the) government,” Marcos said.

To address the issue, local governments have stepped in to ensure that internet connectivity infrastructure are in place to reach Filipinos in the regions, he added.

“Local governments and some agencies within the national government would really take on the initiative and start their own systems so as to be able to communicate… So this has now got to be consolidated and put together,” the President said.

During the telco summit last December, Marcos said the Philippines’ connectivity rate has to improve since it is “still pretty low” at below 70 percent.

“That’s not good enough, especially for an archipelagic country such as ours where connectivity is exceedingly important because we have many isolated communities who need some form of contact, some form of communication with the rest of the country, with the rest of the world,” he said at the time.

In its National Broadband Plan published in 2017, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said the Philippines lagged behind its neighbors on the affordability, availability and speed of internet access.

Citing the Global Information Technology Report 2016 of the WEF, the DICT said the Philippines fell behind in terms of affordability of information and communication services among the ASEAN-5 countries, which also consists of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

The DICT seeks to launch more than 15,000 free WiFi sites this year to improve internet access in the…

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T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom launch IoT solution to simplify connectivity for enterprises

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T-Mobile US and Deutsche Telekom AG launched T-IoT, a comprehensive enterprise solution for global IoT connectivity, platform management and support.

T-Mobile Deutsche Telekom

With T-IoT, enterprises have one global team and one global solution to manage all their connections across borders! And it will be available across 188 destinations, on 383 networks worldwide.

“The Un-carrier rewrote the rules of wireless. Now, as America’s 5G leader, with the fastest, largest, and most reliable 5G network, we’re writing the rules of the 5G era, and we’re doing it in favor of customers and businesses,” said Mike Katz, President, T-Mobile Business Group. “With T-IoT and our award-winning networks, we’re poised to help businesses realize the true potential of IoT by completely disrupting the status quo of how IoT is purchased and managed.”

Unleashing the power of IoT

Despite all the excitement around IoT’s ability to make the connected world a reality, unlock valuable business insights, improve customer experience, cut operational costs, and boost efficiency—many enterprises haven’t fully captured value at scale from IoT. Why is this still happening in 2022? A major reason is that Carriers make enterprises jump through hoops to manage IoT connectivity globally. To deploy multinational IoT connections, enterprises have to cobble together a patchwork of operator agreements—all with different contracts, service level agreements, management interfaces, and customer support.

And 5G promises to take IoT to the next level, with cellular 5G IoT connections projected to make up 57 percent of all worldwide cellular IoT connections by 20251. With 5G’s ability to support low-latency, massive data use, and connect up to 100x more devices than 4G—enterprises have a HUGE opportunity to embrace new use cases and actionable data that will make the longstanding vision of 5G IoT a reality.

But the gap between the promise of 5G IoT and reality will be wide if managing all that connectivity and data remains unnecessarily complex.

Here’s why: Imagine millions of tracked assets moving across the globe. To stay connected to those assets, enterprises have to negotiate numerous contracts with multiple…

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Taking a unified approach to delivering WiFi connectivity and security

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Nowadays, teleworking or following a hybrid work model has become commonplace. The question we need to ask ourselves is, is our remote connection secure? The National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States has published a best practices info sheet for government workers and contractors working in areas related to national security and defense. The info sheet supplies advice on how to avoid cyber attacks due to a compromised or unsecured wireless connection.

The dangerous weakness of public WiFi

Public networks are always the weakest link in the chain and hackers know this. Hacking into a WiFi connection is very simple and doing so can give cyber criminals access, in the worst-case scenario, to corporate servers where they can inject malware. Moreover, a wireless connection breach is very expensive: TJ Maxx quantified the cost for a corporation of a single security breach at $1 billion.

Given the sensitive nature of the information handled by the NSA, the NSA provides a list of do’s and don’ts to follow for remote connections:

  • First, avoid, if possible, connecting to an unreliable WiFi network and, failing that, use a corporate access hotspot with a strong encrypted connection. But if there is no alternative, protect the connection as outlined below.
  • Use a trusted VPN connection that encrypts data transmission. The agency points out that public WiFi connections are not usually encrypted and, in some cases, do not even require an access password. Some hackers create malicious wireless networks as bait, which emulate existing ones and use them to access the connected device.
  • The NSA also recommends only connecting to websites that use the HTTPS protocol.
  • Finally, the agency recommends disabling Bluetooth in public places as there are too many risks involved.

In addition to the complexity of achieving a secure remote connection, there is the challenge of using many security solution providers, which is a huge obstacle to effective security service management. Currently, 96% of MSPs surveyed by Pulse and WatchGuard are consolidating vendors to IT products and services or planning to start the process in 2021/2022 to help this situation.

New WiFi 6 access points now in…

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IBM Announces Advances and New Collaborations in AI-Powered Automation, 5G Connectivity and Security at Mobile World Congress Los Angeles

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ARMONK, N.Y., Oct. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced new collaborations and expanded partner relationships to further the company’s capabilities in hybrid cloud, AI, network automation and security at Mobile World Congress Los Angeles (MWC LA). These innovations highlight IBM’s role in helping the telecommunications industry evolve as 5G and Edge Computing redefine how business and consumers connect.

IBM continues to make major strides in helping CSPs adopt AI and automation on open hybrid cloud platforms, as well as standards to remain in control of where and how they deploy their network services, edge computing, and enterprise offerings. By leveraging IBM’s AI-powered automation software, such as IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation, and services through IBM Consulting, IBM will help drive innovation for CSPs through its systems integration capabilities; the application of technology to create ever more intelligent workflows; and support modernizing applications so enterprises can deliver at scale in a world of hybrid cloud environments.

At MWC LA, IBM is announcing the following innovations, which are designed to equip businesses for the next stage of their digital journeys:

  • A new collaboration between Boston Dynamics and IBM is focused on delivering data analysis at the edge to help companies address worker safety, optimize field operations, and boost maintenance productivity in industrial environments such as manufacturing facilities, power plants and warehouses. Enabled by AI and hybrid cloud innovations from IBM Research, IBM Consulting will develop edge payloads that integrate with Spot, the agile, mobile robot from Boston Dynamics. Boston Dynamics and IBM will announce these new innovations during the joint keynote at Mobile World Congress LA. For more information, read the blog: https://newsroom.ibm.com/Boston-Dynamics-and-IBM-Join-Forces-to-Bring-Mobile-Edge-Analytics-to-Industrial-Operations
     
  • Cisco and IBM are expanding their relationship, and will integrate key offerings, including IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation and Cisco Crosswork Network Automation software, to enable orchestration and management of virtual 5G networks. For more…

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