The Future of the Wireless Technology

                                        Wireless telephony systems are here to stay in a big way, unlike some other wireless technologies, which are on the drawing board and may never turn into viable commercial products and services. Investment in the wireless telephony industry is at $50.1 billion in capital investments and $20 billion in spectrum auction fees in the US. There are more than 60 million wireless subscribers in the US now, and the average monthly bill per user was at just below $40 in 1998. It is anticipated that there will be 170 million wireless users in the US by 2007; that’s more than 50% of the population.

     The purpose of this subsection is to help identify a NIST role in this important area of information technology. Since the NIST role will be mainly in the terrestrial 3G systems, and it is an accepted fact that the ITU process will result in at least two standards (one for terrestrial and one for satellite systems), we concentrate on terrestrial 3G systems in the rest of this section. At the time of writing of this report, and within eleven months of the completion of the IMT-2000 standard, it is not clear at all whether a single, global standard for terrestrial wireless communication systems will emerge at the end of the ITU standardization effort. There are three major obstacles that have to be removed before there can be such a standard. The 16th Meeting of ITU-R TG8/1 in Brazil in March 1999 will determine how likely it is that these obstacles will be removed, and a single international terrestrial standard for 3G wireless systems developed by the end of 1999. Each of the major obstacles is discussed below.

 1. Manufacturers’ Interest: An IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) conflict between Qualcomm and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has been in the news for the past several months. Qualcomm is the major force behind TIA’s cdma2000 proposal, and ETSI is the sponsor of the W-CDMA proposal backed by all the European countries. They are both based on wideband CDMA technology, where Ericsson and Qualcomm each have a number of patents. Although the best technical solution would need both sets of patents, it appears that the two camps are trying to find ways around each other's IPR. This would not result in the best technical solution. In summary, each manufacturer’s interest is to influence the development of the IMT-2000 standard so that it is based on as much IPR from that manufacturer as possible. Naturally, this leads to a conflict of interest.

3rd Generation Wireless Systems

3rd Generation Wireless Systems

       The IMT-2000 standard for third-generation wireless systems is presently under development by the ITU-R Task Group 8/1 (R stands for radio). The ITU plans to complete this task by the end of 1999, hence the name IMT-2000 standard [3GW21,3GW8].

      The IMT-2000 standard will offer users transmission rates up to 2 Mbits/sec, global roaming and interoperability, and a much wider array of wireless services. These should be contrasted with the second-generation wireless systems, which provide mainly voice service, some limited data communication capability (e.g., e-mail), and lack of interoperability due to the use of different systems and standards around the world. The transmission rate for second-generation systems is on the order of only tens of kilobits per second. Third-generation systems have the potential to offer users high data rate services such as web browsing (usually involving web pages with multimedia content) and even applications such as video teleconferencing. In the interim, and until systems based on the IMT-2000 standard are deployed some time between 2002 and 2006, the GSM operators plan to offer an enhanced version of the GSM system, called the EDGE system, with service rates up to 384 Kbps. EDGE employs a more spectrally efficient modulation scheme than GSM, as well as some other advanced techniques, but it is not as radical a departure from GSM as are the proposed third-generation systems. Some call EDGE a 2.5-generation system.

      The deadline for submission of proposals for the air interface of the IMT-2000 system to the ITU was June 30, 1998. By that date fifteen RTT (Radio Transmission Technologies) proposals had been submitted, ten on terrestrial systems and five on satellite systems. A sixth satellite system, the Iridium system, was submitted to ITU after the expiration of the June 30 deadline. The Iridium proposal was accepted by ITU, and this brought the total number of RTT proposals under consideration to sixteen. These proposals were developed by national and regional standardization bodies and industry consortia in a handful of countries around the world. Between June 30 and September 30, 1998, these sixteen proposals were evaluated by ten evaluation bodies around the world. Not all evaluation groups evaluated all the sixteen proposals. As a matter of fact, all the evaluations and comparisons were based on the self-evaluations of the proposals made by the proposers themselves. No evaluation body had the time or resources to implement and simulate the different systems and carry out a more in-depth and unbiased evaluation of the proposals.

The period between September 30, 1998 and March 31, 1999 has been designated by the ITU as the time during which harmonization of different proposals is to take place, and a single set of key characteristics for the IMT-2000 standard is to emerge.

1st & 2nd Generation Wireless Systems

1st Generation Wireless Systems

The commercial use of mobile phones started in the US when AT&T developed the AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System) system in late 1970’s [3GW9, 3GW1]. AMPS went into service first in Chicago area in 1983. The AMPS system is an analog communication system, which uses frequency modulation (FM) to transmit speech and frequency shift keying (FSK) to transmit important network control information in digital form [3GW10]. The AMPS system was designed primarily for carrying two-way voice conversations. Surprisingly, AMPS remains in use almost sixteen years after its introduction into the market. In fact, AMPS still enjoys 11% share of the cellular communications market in the US. Other analog mobile systems were introduced in Europe and Japan a few years earlier than AMPS was deployed in the US [3GW11]. However, unlike in the US, where AMPS was the only system introduced, European countries developed several incompatible systems. Lack of interoperability soon proved to be a major problem for many European users who regularly traveled to other countries within Europe for business and pleasure. The number of cellular users and the geographic coverage of the system increased steadily, but modestly, in the US. 

 2nd Generation Wireless Systems

In the 1980’s the Europeans recognized the need for a second generation of cellular systems based on digital modulation and transmission schemes, which promised a more efficient use of the available frequency spectrum. This translates into increased total communication capacity and hence the capability to offer cellular service to a larger number of users per unit area. To avoid the interoperability problems encountered with the first-generation systems, the European countries agreed to jointly develop a common system for the entire continent. The result was the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), which was first commercially deployed in 1991 [3GW12, 3GW2]. GSM uses many features made possible by adoption of digital technology, such as digital voice compression and encryption. GSM also introduced many innovations in network level architectures and services. The multiple access mechanism in GSM is Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), where each user in a cell transmits and receives information in time slots allocated to that user. The multiple access mechanism in the first-generation systems is Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), where each user is allocated two bands or channels in the frequency spectrum, one for transmitting information and one for receiving it. GSM was a major success for Europe by all accounts, allowing users to roam all over the continent and yet be able to use their mobile phones. The success of GSM spread throughout the world.

Introduction Wireless Communication Systems

I. Introduction

In the 1960’s voice communication was carried to end subscribers almost exclusively on copper wires running from central office switches to homes and businesses, and television was broadcast to homes almost exclusively through the air modulated on electromagnetic waves. By the late 1980’s, industry pundits began to observe that the situation was reversing itself. Increasingly, voice communication was carried to end subscribers through the air modulated on electromagnetic waves, while television was broadcast to homes on copper coaxial cables (soon to be followed by fiber optic cables). Now, as the 21st century approaches, the situation appears decidedly more complex. Cellular telephony continues to expand at a rapid rate; however, numerous plans exist for igh-speed wireless backbones carried across networks of earth-orbiting satellites, both geostationary and on-stationary, as well as networks of aircraft and balloons. In addition, several companies are devising plans to deploy broadband wireless distribution systems in order to compete with cable and copper twisted pairs for delivering high bandwidth data and television signals to businesses and homes. Further a variety of embedded and portable devices are beginning to appear, carrying built-in picocellular wireless communication transceivers. Two things appear clear. First, during the 21st century, wireless information technology will play a large role in the life of the country’s citizens and in the country’s economy. Second, the wireless technology landscape is so vast and complex that any organization seeking to enter the fray must take careful stock of the opportunities ahead. This white paper, on wireless information technology for the 21st century, aims to inform the trategic decision-making process within the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The paper surveys the vast landscape of wireless information technology. In doing so, the paper attempts: (1) to identify market inhibitors facing various wireless technologies, (2) to make projections about the likely road ahead, and (3) to seek opportunities for the ITL particularly, and NIST more generally, to contribute to the removal of market inhibitors for key wireless technologies.

Information Technology and Globalization

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been implicated in the structuring and restructuring of human social relations since the days of cave paintings and fire signals. The development of the electrical telegraph and the telephone in the late 1800s marked a qualitative shift in the scope and power of ICTs, however. The new electrical communication systems brought disparate regions and peoples into an unprecedented, increasingly synchronous global network of information, trade, finance, and culture. In the 20th century, the emerging global telecommunication infrastructure was extended and its uses expanded by the development of radio transmission, satellite communications, and terrestrial broadband networks. More recently, digital encoding, storage, and transmission have allowed for data compression and the convergence of multiple formats into a common digital stream, further accelerating the speed and volume of global information and communication flows. At the same time, the diffusion of inexpensive personal computers, the development of the graphical user interface, and the establishment of common data exchange protocols have given users around the world direct access to an increasing mass of data, text, and multimedia documents-as well as the power to create and distribute such documents themselves.

The integration and interdependence of global media and information systems have created new challenges and new opportunities.

Information Technology and Social Development

For the first time in history the entire planet is capitalist. Even the few remaining command economies are surviving or developing through their linkages to global, capitalist markets. Yet this is a brand of capitalism that is at the same time very old and fundamentally new. It is old because it appeals to relentless competition in the pursuit of profit, and because individual satisfaction (deferred or immediate) is its driving engine. But it is fundamentally new because it is tooled by new information and communication technologies that are at the root of new productivity sources, new organizational forms, and the construction of a global economy.

In the following paper, presented at the UNRISD conference on Information Technologies and Social Development (Geneva, June 1998), Manuel Castells examines the profile of this new world, centred around multinational corporations, global financial markets and a highly concentrated system of technological research and development. He stresses the extreme flexibility of the system, which allows it to link up everything that is valuable according to dominant values and interests, while disconnecting everything that is not valuable, or becomes devalued. This simultaneous capacity to include and exclude people, territories and activities is based upon a capacity to network.
A network is simply a set of interconnected nodes.

Volunteer in Information Technology

IT education in Nepal is no more newly born child. It is now at the stage of slating maturity. Although IT education industry in Nepal is just worth corer, but the scene is changing breathlessly. As per our observations, IT education industry should grow exponentially. The reason is very simple our present IT literacy rate is below 5%. As the use of IT applications is penetrating without friction the IT literacy rate is all-set to zoom. IT training institutes can here play a significant role promoting IT towards and further imparting world - class IT education to the people.

We are offering internships in Information Technology sector. Depending upon your academic career or professional experience, we can have internship program in following area:

· Database Administration
· Network/System Administration and Troubleshooting
· System Analysis Design
· Quality Control and Assurance
· Project Management
· Application Development and others

Information Technology Policy In Nepal

Vision "To place Nepal on the global map of information technology within the next five years."
Background
The world's least developed countries including Nepal have availed themselves of the opportunity to rapidly develop education, health, agriculture, tourism, trade and various other sectors using information technology (IT). The extensive application of this technology will engender economic consolidation, development of democratic norms and values, proportional distribution of economic resources and enhancement of public awareness, thereby raising living standards and eventually contribute significantly to poverty alleviation. It is the information technology, which will turn out to be a strong infrastructure for mitigating Nepal's geographical adversities. In the coming years, globally, there will be a significant difference in the economic conditions of the countries developed in the field of information technology and of the countries lagging behind in this field. The persistence of such disparities may not be congenial even for the developed countries. In this context, there is a greater possibility that the international community will extend its support to developing countries in the promotion of information technology. Such assistance will certainly play a vital role in the national development of a least developed country like Nepal. Hence, it has become essential to formulate a policy at the earliest for developing information technology with a view to boosting up national economy. ObjectivesThe information technology policy shall be formulated to achieve the following objectives:
• To make information technology accessible to the general public and increase employment through this means,
• To build a knowledge-based society, and
• To establish knowledge-based industries.
StrategiesThe following information technology strategies shall be adopted to accomplish the above mentioned objectives
through rapid development and extension of information technology in a fair and competitive manner.
• The government shall act as a promoter, facilitator and regulator.
• High priority shall be accorded to research, development and extension of information technology with participation of private sectors.
• Competent manpower shall be developed with the participation of both the public and the private sectors for the sustainable development and extension of information technology.
• Domestic and foreign investment shall be encouraged for the development of information technology and the related infrastructures.
• Nepal shall be placed on the global map of information technology.
• E-commerce shall be promoted with legal provisions.
• Information technology shall be used to assist e-governance.
• Information technology shall be applied for rural development.
• Information technology industry shall be promoted.
• Speedy and qualitative service shall be made available at a reasonable cost by creating a healthy and competitive atmosphere among information technology service providers.
• Computer education shall be incorporated in academic curriculum starting from the school level.
• Professional efficiency shall be enhanced through the use of information technology.
• Information technology network shall be extended to rural areas.
• Nepal shall be placed on the international market through information technology.
• Export of services related to information technology (software and hardware) shall be increased to 10 billion rupees within the next five years.
 Information Technology PolicyThe following policies shall be followed up for the implementation of the aforesaid strategies:
• To declare information technology sector a priority sector,
• To adopt one window system for the development of information technology,
• To prioritise research and development in the field of information technology,
• To create an atmosphere conducive to attracting investment in the private sector, keeping in view the private sector's role in the development of information technology,
• To provide Internet facilities gradually to all Village Development Committees of the country,
• To assist educational institutions and encourage domestic and foreign training to fullfil the requirement of
appropriate manpower at various levels pertaining to information technology,
• To computerise the system in all government offices and build their websites for the flow of information,
• To encourage the use of computers in private sectors,
• To develop physical and virtual information technology parks at various places with private sector's participation in the development of information technology,
• To use information technology to promote e-commerce, e-ducation, e-health among others, and to transfer technology to rural areas.
• To establish a National Information Technology Centre,
• To establish a fund at the national level by mobilising resources from Government of Nepal, donor agencies
and private sectors so as to promote research and development of information technology and other related activities,
• To establish a venture capital fund with joint participation of public and private sectors,
• To include computer education in the curriculum starting from the school level and broaden its scope,
• To establish Nepal in the global market through the use of information technology,
• To enact necessary laws for providing legal sanctions to the use of information technology,
• To use information technology gradually in all government activities and provide legal sanctions to them.
Action Plan:The following action plan shall be adopted to implement the national information technology policy and fulfill its objectives:
• Participation of private sectors in infrastructure development: There may be up to cent percent foreign investment in areas such as information technology park, research
and development, technology transfer and human resource development.
• Infrastructure development: The following arrangements shall be made for development of infrastructure related to information technology
a. An info-super highway and north-south info-highway shall be built taking into account the rapidity
of information flow, changes introduced through information flow and the gradual development of multimedia service. Nepal shall be linked with other parts of the world through a broadband
information network.
b. An IT park shall be established at Banepa in Kabhrepalanchok District. Such IT Parks shall be
established also elsewhere as required with private sector's participation.
c. Any company interested in establishing an industry within the park shall be levied only 1% customs duty in importing IT related equipments for the next five years.
d. Internet nodes shall be established in all development regions by fiscal year 2058/059 (2001/2002)
and in district headquarters by fiscal year 2060/61 (2003/2004) with participation of the private sector in order to make Internet facility available throughout the Kingdom. In making telephone contact with such nodes, the telephone charge shall be levied on par with local calls; and telephone contact with a nearby node within the development region shall be deemed to be a local call, so long as the node in that district is not established. The use of the Internet shall be
gradually extended to rural areas as well. The charge for telephone calls to be used for the Internet shall be gradually reduced.
e. Telecommunications and electricity services shall be provided to the entrepreneurs involved in information technology sector as per their need.
• Human Resource Development:The following measures shall be adopted to develop skilled manpower:
a. Necessary facilities shall be provided to the universities in the country and graduate and postgraduate- level classes of international standard shall be offered in computer science and
computer engineering subjects.
b. A long-term programme with a slogan "Computer education to all by 2010 A.D." shall be
formulated and computer education shall be offered as an optional subject in some public
secondary schools from the coming academic year and shall be made a compulsory subject in phases.
c. IT shall be used to improve the quality of education.
d. Private sector shall be encouraged to prepare middle-level manpower required for the information technology sector. Assistance shall be provided to the private sector to set up institutions for education, research and development in the field of information technology in each development region.
e. Computer knowledge shall gradually be made compulsory to all newly-recruited teachers so as to introduce computer education in schools; and computer education shall also be provided to all inservice teachers in phases using various means including distant education.
f. Emphasis shall be given to provide computer education from the school level. Internet facility shall be made available free of cost to universities and public schools for four hours a day within the next five years to provide computer education in a systematic way.
g. Government of Nepal shall provide scholarships to public and private sector technologists for higher study in information technology.
h. Necessary scholarships shall be provided to poor and meritorious students from remote areas to pursue higher studies in information technology.
• Dissemination of Information Technology:
The following measures shall be followed up for the extensive dissemination of information technology:
a. Educational institutions and hospitals in the areas where telecommunication and electricity services are already available shall be encouraged to use IT enabled services. Even in places where electricity service is not available, the development of information technology through solar power system shall be encouraged.
b. Distant learning system shall be introduced through the Internet and Intranet apart from radio and television. Networking systems like school-net, research-net, commerce-net and multilingual computing shall be developed.
c. A three-year programme shall be formulated and launched to extend the use of computer in
government offices. All ministries, departments and offices shall be linked to the Internet; and other agencies shall also be encouraged to be linked through the Internet.
d. Websites for all ministries, departments and district offices shall be created within one year.
Necessary legal provisions shall be made to reduce the use of papers by using information
technology in all kinds of government activities in a phased manner.
e. An action plan shall be devised and introduced to include computer education as a subject for the examination of a specified rank and make it obligatory for the applicants taking a written
examination during recruitment. Provisions shall also be made for prescribing basic computer
training as a requirement for the promotion of employees.
f. Content shall be prepared to enhance Nepali materials on the Internet to preserve Nepali arts and culture as well as to develop rural areas.
g. A public awareness-enhancing campaign on the utility of information technology shall be launched extensively through the electronic media.
h. Provision shall be made for an information officer in each ministry in a phased manner.
i. In view of the present development of information technology, provisions shall be made to open voice-mail to talk point-to-point for one?s own business without a link to the public switched telephone network.
• Promotion of E-commerce, etc.:E-business, tele-medicine, tele-processing, distant learning, and the like shall be promoted as follows:
i. Necessary arrangements shall be made to encourage e-commerce.
ii. Necessary legal infrastructure shall be created for the promotion of tele-medicine, distant learning, tele-processing and e-commerce.
iii. Intellectual property right shall be protected through the formulation of necessary laws in relation to the devlopment of information technology.
iv. Provisions shall be made for the export of software and IT?enabled services through IT in the following ways:
a. The person or organisation concerned shall submit certified copies of the documents on
agreements relating to export to the Nepal Rastra Bank.
b. Invoice or bill of exportation made under the agreements referred to in clause (a) shall be
submitted to the Nepal Rastra Bank.
c. The Bank shall validate foreign currency earned on the basis of such documents.
• Facilities:The following facilities shall be provided for the development of information technology sector:
. One percent (1%) customs duty shall be levied on hardware, software and all kinds of computer
spare parts imported by training institutions related to information technology, albeit on the
recommendation of the National Information Technology Centre on the basis of services rendered and the achievements of such institutions.
a. As software development and services based on software are operated twenty-four hours, such services shall be declared essential services to guarantee regular production by employees working in the companies related to such services, and arrangements shall be made accordingly.
b. A venture capital fund shall be established by utilising capital market with the joint investment of His Majesty?s Government and private sector. His Majesty?s Government shall make an investment of 100 million rupees initially for such a fund.
c. Domestic preference shall be given in accordance with the prevailing law on computers, spareparts and software produced within the country.
d. Software may be directly depreciated for the purposes of income tax, whereas equipment relating to information technology may be allowed an accelerated depreciation in two years.
e. In case an investment has been made in foreign currency either as a loan or share capital required to build and operate infrastructure, the investor shall be allowed to repatriate the principal amount and interest of the loan and dividends in accordance with the prevailing laws.
f. The foreign currency earned from exporting information technology software and services shall be granted facilities on par with facilities provided to other export-oriented industries earning foreign currency.
g. An information technology development fund shall be established to create public awareness about information technology, assist rural networking, develop information technology with market management, generate required manpower for this sector and make social services easily accessible where such technology is used. Arrangements shall be made for financial contributions towards this fund from His Majesty?s Government, private sector, donor agencies and others. The National Information Technology Centre (NITC) shall operate this fund. A feasibility study shall be carried out to mobilise additional financial resources by establishing information technology bond.
h. Export of software shall be subjected to an additional service charge of 0.5 % for the information technology fund, in addition to customs duties. The amount obtained from that charge shall be deposited in the fund referred to in clause 6.6.8.
i. As Nepali nationals working abroad can play an important role in technology transfer and market promotion in this sector, they shall be encouraged to invest their foreign currency earnings in this sector.
Institutional ProvisionsThe National Information Technology Development Council, consisting of the following members, shall be constituted under the chairmanship of the Rt. Honourable Prime Minister.
a. Rt. Honourable Prime Minister Chairman
b. Honourable Minister, Ministry of Science and Technology Vice-chairman
c. Honourable Minister, Ministry of Information and Communications Member
d. Honourable Vice-chairman, National Planning Commission Member
e. Honourable Member, National Planning Commission (Information Technology Sector) Member
f. Secretary, Ministry of Finance Member
g. Secretary, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Member
h. Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources Member
i. Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology Member
j. Secretary, Ministry of Education and Sports Member
k. Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications Member
l. Computer specialist representatives, University/ RONAST (three persons) Members
m. Chairman, Computer Association of Nepal Member
n. President, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries Member