MTS Ukraine launches pilot broadband Internet network in Kyiv

PJSC MTS Ukraine from Dec. 1 launched a pilot fixed broadband Internet network in Kyiv, the operator's press service has told Interfax-Ukraine.

The service was launched jointly with Comstar-Ukraine, which is also part of MTS.

Currently the service is available in the Osokorky district, a district on the left bank of the Dnipro in Kyiv.

The operator will provide the service under the Home MTS Connect brand.

The company uses the FTTB technology (Fiber-to-the-building) to provide access to the Internet.

Several tariff plans with the access speeds of 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps with a minimum monthly fee of Hr 50 are available to subscribers.

In addition, subscribers can use the IPTV service (over 60 TV channels, free of charge during the test period), as well as have access to a free library of movies.

You can subscribe to the service through the operator's Web site www.mts.com.ua or in brand stores.

Winter time causes the Rise of the Machines in Russia

The notorious Y2K problem did not cause any problems as the world was celebrating the beginning of the new millennium. A similar problem occurred on October 30 2011 in Russia. The problem turned into the rise of the machines as they simultaneously switched to winter time in spite of the fact that Russia currently lives in summer time only.

In the morning of October 30, Russia woke up in two time flows. The first one of them was official. It corresponded to the summer time, in which the whole country lives now. The other one was not official because it was one hour later.

In February of this year, President Medvedev announced the decision not to switch to winter time beginning with the autumn of 2011. However, a considerable part of electronic appliances and gadgets automatically changed their time in Russia on October 30. As a result, many Russians came one hour late for work on Sunday because of their phones and alarm devices.

Many people found themselves in very unpleasant situations. Many of them were late for their trains and planes. "My iPhone shows 1:00 p.m., but it was already 2 o'clock. My computer switched to winter time as well," messages like this are now plentiful on the Russian Internet.

"Take a look at what time your iPhone, iPad, computer and other gadgets show. If you are not an advanced user, you may be living in the wrong time," Russian bloggers wrote.

One of Russia's federal channels was broadcasting the wrong time on Sunday morning. Many cell phones and tablet computers, which receive time data from cellular operators, also showed the wrong time. This apparently means that certain data centers of cellular operators changed their time too.

It is not clear whether the automatic switch to winter time affects the work of payment systems, billing departments online stores, etc. Fortunately, the time was switched on Sunday, when business activity in the country is low.

'Russian' eBook doubles in cost

A Russian electronic reader, which is to be made by a British company in Germany and USA, is to cost twice as much as head of Rosnano Anatoly Chubais announced in his meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin earlier this year.

Plastic Logic’s device will be available in Russian shops for 20,000-25,000 rubles from November, instead of the previously announced 12,000.

At the moment the screens are made in Dresden, the rest of the reader is produced in California.

However, after Plastic Logic sets up a plant in Zelenograd, the device is set to become much cheaper.

Plastic Logic’s pad will have a black and white 10.7 inch electronic ink screen. The screen does not have glass base or any silicon elements, which makes it more damage-proof.

Intellecom And Samsung Expand 4G Mobile WiMAX Services In Ukraine

SEOUL, Korea -- Intellecom, a leading Mobile WiMAX service operator in Ukraine, and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading provider of advanced mobile technologies, announced today that they have entered into a contract for Samsung to supply Mobile WiMAX solutions for the expansion of Intellecom’s 4G mobile internet service in Ukraine nationwide.
By partnering with Samsung, Intellecom aims to extend its true 4G mobile broadband services, which cater for both residential and business sectors and provide the true internet experience outdoors, even on the move.

Mobile WiMAX, the only available mobile broadband technology today, enables people to enjoy super-fast, high-quality data services, such as high-definition video streaming, at a reasonable price.

Following the successful initial deployment of Mobile WiMAX in Kyiv and Kharkiv, Intellecom plans to expand its Mobile WiMAX service coverage to the four largest cities in Ukraine by June 2011 and then gradually extend nationwide by 2013.

The two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, which currently have access to Mobile WiMAX services, will be also covered with Samsung’s Mobile WiMAX solution.

Samsung will provide its latest Mobile WiMAX equipment to Intellecom. Samsung’s U-RAS Smart CP base station is the most suitable equipment for maximizing network performance and saving on costs with its separated design of radio and digital units.

It also supports a smooth migration from today’s Mobile WiMAX to WiMAX 2, the next generation of Mobile WiMAX, or TD-LTE.

Mr. Vladimir Vizersky, General Director of Intellecom, noted, “We’re very excited to introduce Samsung’s field-proven Mobile WiMAX solution to Ukraine. By providing 4G Mobile WiMAX service, Intellecom expects to meet the explosive mobile data service needs in Ukraine and become a model to other countries which are preparing to launch mobile internet services.”

Mr. Woonsub Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of the Telecommunication Systems Business of Samsung Electronics, said “As a pioneer in Ukraine’s mobile broadband industry, Intellecom has shown innovative and differentiated steps to enrich mobile communications. Samsung will provide our full support to Intellecom, leveraging their Mobile WiMAX expertise and developing more advanced services and applications.”

Additionally, Mr. Abdulmajeed El Shawa, Executive Vice Chairman of VTEL Holdings Ltd, a major shareholder in Intellecom and a Dubai-based telecommunications company, and Samsung disclosed that they will cooperate to further expand Mobile WiMAX in Europe, CIS and Africa. Ukraine is the first nation that the two companies work together as partners.

Samsung is a prominent player in the Mobile WiMAX industry, providing its market-proven equipment to 57 Mobile WiMAX operators in 36 countries. Samsung also plays an important role in the standardization and technical specification development for WiMAX 2, the next generation of Mobile WiMAX technology based on IEEE 802.16m.

Russian Rocket from Baikonur

A rocket carrying US and Russian crew has lifted off successfully from Kazakhstan, for a mission to re-staff the International Space Station.

The Russian spaceship Soyuz blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 01:35am local time on Wednesday, for the 100th mission under the International Space Station (ISS) programme.

Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronauts Douglas Willock and Shannon Walker will spend approximately six months at the international orbiting laboratory.

Nothing to fear from Russia's tech centre

The planned technology research centre at Skolkovo should not be seen as a thread to other innovation complexes, but will work to bring them closer together.

Presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich offered reassuring words to scientists at a research and development centre in Tomsk, Siberia, telling them: "Skolkovo will be able to become some kind of "umbrella", connecting all the innovation centers of the country as well as different companies."

Dvorkovich added that Russia will also focus on developing other projects, such as the Tomsk research and development centre.

Almost a quarter of Russian software is pirated

Moscow’s bustling computer and electronics markets are popular for bargain prices – but they are equally renowned for piracy.

Leaping out from every corner, the bootleggers offer computer software and games and urge shoppers “don’t pay Bill Gates”.

It’s a legacy of the early years of Russia’s consumer electronics market where, according to Microsoft’s Denis Guz, “all software was pirated to begin with when it first appeared”.

Guz, who is the head of the promotion of licensed software, told a press conference this week that current piracy levels are still high: a survey of 3,000 Russian PC outlets in 75 cities showed that 22 per cent offered some sort of unlicensed software, while 9 per cent sold pre-installed pirated programs.

Despite this at Gorbushkin Dvor, one of Moscow’s largest computer retail complexes, legal manager Sergei Zhidkov believes they are winning the battle.

“There are no pirate products in Gorbushkin Dvor,” he told The Moscow News. “If you are not an expert on piracy, how can you say that something is pirated, when even experts cannot always tell from a glance?

“If the shop assistants tell you that the products are pirated, it does not mean they really are. It is not authentic information. We are the only place in Russia that takes any measures against piracy.”

He said he could not explain anti-piracy measures over the phone, but was happy to make an appointment to demonstrate their policies at another time.

Guz, however, points out that Moscow’s piracy problem in general spiked during the economic crisis.

From 25 per cent in Oct. 2008 it peaked at 51 per cent one year later, before subsiding to 23 per cent last month.

Like Zhidkov, the police also believe it is difficult to confirm whether software is pirated – and they told the press conference that crashing the circulation of illegal discs is a challenge.

In the last two years they conducted 2000 checks among the unlicensed software distributors and opened more than 950 criminal cases.

“There were 4.7 per cent more crimes detected in 2009 – 7711. However, only 71% of them reached the courts due to insufficient evidence or some violations in the way the pirated software was confiscated, etc.” said Interior Ministry special investigator Andrei Doronin.

And often it’s the software companies themselves which cause problems, since a case can only proceed with an official complaint from the copyright holder. Doronin cited a recent instance where two on-going cases in Altai failed to reach court because of this.

Meanwhile there’s no shortage of potential buyers for pirated material.

“No one I know uses licensed software, they charge too much. I don’t see an alternative,” said Edik from Moscow. “Why spend the majority of my salary on a computer program, when I can get it for free?”

He added that prices of legitimate software were just too high in a country where average salaries are around 25,000 roubles a month ($800).

Katya from Moscow agrees. “It is just cheaper and easier. You can download in from the Internet, there’s no need to go to a shop.”

But industry experts say this isn’t necessarily true.

“There is an alternative, it’s possible to install free and legal software if someone wants to save money,” said Andrei Korneichuk, head of IT centre of Alians insurance company. “Besides, it is possible to buy cheaper versions of popular programmes, even if they will not have all the latest features and updates.”

Independent IT expert Sergei Golubev said that free software can meet the needs of the average user – such as getting online, playing CDs and DVDs, writing documents and working with photos.

And he dismissed the idea that they are only for computer geeks.

“Linux distributives, like Ubuntu can be installed in one click, assuming the user knows how to switch on a computer and where to insert a disc, and once it is installed it is ready for work,” he said. “They are easy to download from the website.”

As for Microsoft, Guz said it is possible to buy cheap, stripped down versions of Windows for less than 3000 roubles, or to pay in installments. “You don’t have to buy the 10,000 roubles deluxe editions in fancy boxes,” he said.

Russia launches Proton-M rocket with U.S. telecoms satellite

A Proton-M carrier rocket with the U.S. telecommunications satellite Echostar 14 was launched on Saturday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos said.

"The launch was carried out without incidents, the spacecraft is expected to be orbited on Sunday at 6:36 Moscow time [03:36 GMT]," a Roscosmos spokesman said.

A contract to launch the Echostar 14 has been concluded between the Russian-U.S. joint venture International Launch Services (ILS) and the U.S. telecommunications company Echostar.

Baikonur, built in Kazakhstan in the 1950s, is the main launch facility for the current generation of Russian rockets and was leased by Russia from Kazakhstan under an agreement signed in 1994 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia pays an estimated annual fee of $115 million for the use of the space center, which has the world's busiest launch schedule at the moment.

Silicon St. Petersburg

Russia's second city is ready to create Russia's first silicon valley, according to governor Valentina Matvienko.
Visiting the second All-Russia Youth Innovation Convention with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Matvienko said that Piter had already created an economic zone based on creative technology,
the saint-petersburg.ru forum reported.
Putin toured the convention, held on Vasilievsky Island on Friday, meeting young inventors and discussing their machines with them.