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SYDNEY, Nov 8, 2023 (AFP) – Nationwide outages hit a major Australian communications company Wednesday, disrupting phone lines, crashing payment systems and impacting millions of customers. Optus said it was scrambling to restore its mobile and internet services to more than 10 million customers across Australia. Company chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin told national broadcaster ABC there was “no indication” the outage was the result of hacking or a cyber attack — but that engineers […]
by Valentin BONTEMPS and Joseph Boyle Agence France-Presse Barcelona, Spain (AFP) — The Mobile World Congress (MWC) is primarily a pow-wow for the big-wigs of the telecom industry, but far from the main thoroughfares of the vast conference there are always hidden tech gems. Here are some of the most offbeat products spotted by AFP. – Eternal clone – As advertising slogans go, “you can live forever” is up there with the best. That is […]
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | The co-CEO of a South Korean company that owns the country’s biggest mobile messenger app stepped down Wednesday following a massive service outage that left more than 50 million without access to its widely used services for days. Kakao’s flagship messaging app KakaoTalk is installed on around 90 percent of phones in the country and its heavily used services including maps, online payments, ride-hailing, streaming and gaming. The outage started […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Sensitive information about almost 10 million Australian telecoms subscribers may have been compromised by a massive hack of the country’s second-largest provider, the firm revealed Friday. Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said a “sophisticated” actor was behind a cyberattack, which gained access to information about up to 9.8 million users. The data accessed included customers’ names, dates of birth, phone numbers and email addresses, as well as some driver’s license […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Thales, Qualcomm and Ericsson unveiled Monday a plan to allow smartphones to communicate directly with satellites, a “space-based network” they hope will bring connectivity to the entire globe. The three firms envisage launching hundreds of satellites with 5G capabilities to bring coverage to “extreme geographies or remote areas across seas”. The plan would potentially cut out the base stations and antennas that current mobile networks need to send and receive […]
The EU member states and parliament on Tuesday agreed the text of a law imposing a standard charger for smartphones and tablets sold in the bloc, in a blow to Apple. For most portable devices the requirement for charging via a USB Type-C port will come into effect from late 2024, the European Parliament’s press service said. The EU believes a standard cable for all devices will cut back on electronic waste, but iPhone juggernaut […]
by Joseph Boyle and Valentin Bontemps Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – One of the technology industry’s biggest annual get-togethers is set to kick off in the Spanish city of Barcelona on Monday, under the shadow of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Mobile World Congress, where smartphone and telecoms companies show off their latest products and reveal their strategic visions, is expected to welcome more than 40,000 guests over its four-day run. Organisers hope to […]
by Dan Martin Agence France Presse Chinese tech giant Huawei launched its highly-anticipated homegrown mobile operating system on Wednesday, opening a new front in its fight for survival in the smartphone arena after the US blocked it from using Android. The company says its new HarmonyOS system is packed with special features and capitalizes on growing demand to seamlessly link devices — known as “Internet of things”. But analysts say Huawei faces an uphill […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — The chairman of the top US telecoms regulator on Wednesday announced his opposition to allowing China Mobile to operate in the United States, citing risks to American national security. The statement from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai could mark the beginning of the end for the Chinese telecoms giant’s eight-year effort to crack the US market. China Mobile — the world’s largest mobile operator with nearly 930 million […]
by Theo Merz Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s telecoms watchdog on Friday asked a Moscow court to block the popular messaging app Telegram after the expiry of a deadline for it to give the state security services access to private conversations. The lawsuit is the latest move in an ongoing battle between authorities and Telegram, which has a reputation for secure communications, as Moscow pushes to increase surveillance of internet activities. […]
Agence France Presse — Limits on foreign ownership of the Philippine telecom industry should be lifted to attract investment and improve its service, a senior minister said Thursday. Currently foreign firms can own a maximum 40 per cent of Philippine utilities, including telecom companies, which should be raised, according to Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia. “If we want to attract foreign direct investment, they have to have a larger stake in the investment,” he told […]
