Sony hackers issue threat in latest message: 'The world will be full of fear'

Sony hackers issue threat in latest message: 'The world will be full of fear'

LOS ANGELES — The hacking group behind the Sony cybersecurity attack has made its first physical threat.
In a message sent at around 9:30 a.m., the group — calling itself Guardians of Peace — issued a warning along with what appears to be files related to Sony Pictures CEO and Chairman Michael Lynton.

"We will clearly show it (our Christmas gift) to you at the very time and places 'The Interview' be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to," the hackers wrote.
The hackers also invoked the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, urging people to keep themselves "distant from the places at that time."

"The world will be full of fear," they wrote. "Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment. All the world will denounce the SONY."
Sony did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department also did not have immediate comment.

Hackers began releasing sensitive data after the studio's security breach became public on Nov. 24. The group has released data including thousands of pages of emails from studio chiefs, salaries of top executives and Social Security numbers of 47,000 current and former employees.

The releases include thousands of emails from the studio's co-chairman, Amy Pascal. Some have included exchanges with producer Scott Rudin over whether President Barack Obama prefers black-themed films such as "The Butler." Pascal and Rudin have apologized for their remarks.

Federal officials are taking seriously the possibility that North Korea could be behind the attack and that the hack was done in retaliation for the film "The Interview." The Seth Rogen- and Evan Goldberg-directed film is about an attempt to kill North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong Un. In June, North Korea called on the U.S. government to block the film's release or face a "decisive and merciless countermeasure."

In an email statement to the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, a FBI spokeswoman said: "The FBI is aware of recent threats and continues to work collaboratively with our partners to investigate the Sony attack."
Ralph Echemendia, chief executive of cybersecurity firm Red E-Digital, said that he's unaware of any other instance in which hackers "threatened large-scale physical violence."

"This now borders on terrorist activity and would define the Guardians of Peace as a terrorist group," said Echemendia, who has previously consulted for Sony Corp. on cyber security issues.
The film held a low-key premiere at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles last week. A strong security presence sternly guided attendees around the event. Reporters were also told there would be no interviews on the carpet.

The New York premiere is scheduled for Thursday at a Lower East Side bar before a screening at Sunshine Cinema.

In an interview conducted with Rogen and Goldberg a week before the hacking, the co-directors said serious potential repercussions — beyond the initial protest from North Korea — seemed far-fetched.
"When they say, 'we declare war on this movie' and all that, nothing is for us," Goldberg said. "It's all for their people to see."
Rogen added, "It's all for show."

The film is expected to hit theaters on Christmas Day.
Ted Mundorff, CEO of Landmark Theatres, which owns Sunshine Cinema, said they are moving ahead as planned.

"First of all, we won't comment about security. We will be properly prepared for any incidents," he said. "If Sony changes their mind ... I haven't heard from (Homeland Security) but I don't know that anyone in the organization hasn't."

(Los Angeles Times staff writers Amy Kaufman, Daniel Miller, Ryan Faughnder and Josh Rottenberg contributed to this report.)

Saba Hamedy

Los Angeles Times

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Security Experts Call for Government Action Against Cyber-Threats

Reuter

Alarmed by mounting cyber threats around the world and across industries, a growing number of security experts see aggressive government action as the best hope for averting disaster.

Even though some experts are outraged by the extent of U.S. Internet spying exposed by former NSAcontractor Edward Snowden, they are even more concerned about technologically sophisticated enemies using malware to sabotage utilities, wipe out data stored on computer drives, and steal defense and trade secrets.

Such fears and proposals on new laws and executive action to counter these threats were core topics this week in Las Vegas at Black Hat and Def Con, two of the world's largest gatherings for security professionals and hackers.

At Black Hat, the keynote speech by respected researcher Dan Geer went straight for national and global policy issues. He said the U.S. government should require detailed reporting on major cyber breaches, in the same way that deadly diseases must be reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Critical industries should be subjected to "stress tests" like the banks, Geer said, so regulators can see if they can survive without the Internet or with compromised equipment.

Geer also called for exposing software vendors to product liability suits if they do not share their source code with customers and bugs in their programs lead to significant losses from intrusion or sabotage.

"Either software houses deliver quality and back it up with product liability, or they will have to let their users protect themselves," said Geer, who works for In-Q-Tel, a venture capital firm serving U.S. intelligence agencies. Geer said he was speaking on his own behalf.

"The current situation - users can't see whether they need to protect themselves and have no recourse to being unprotected - cannot go on," he said.

Several of Geer's proposals are highly ambitious given the domestic political stalemate and the opposition of major businesses and political donors to new regulation, Black Hat attendees said. In an interview, Geer said he had seen no encouraging signs from the White House or members of Congress.

But he said the alternative would be waiting until a "major event" that he hoped would not be catastrophic.

Chris Inglis, who retired this year as deputy director of the National Security Agency, said disaster could be creeping instead of sudden, as broad swaths of data become unreliable.

In an interview, he said some of Geer's ideas, including product liability, deserved broader discussion.

"Doing nothing at all is a worse answer," said Inglis, who now advises security firm Securonix.

Software flaws
Some said more disclosures about cyber-attacks could allow insurance companies to set reasonable prices. The cost of cyber insurance varies, but $1 million in yearly protection might cost$25,000, experts say

High-profile data breaches, such as at Target Corp and eBay Inc, have spurred demand for cyber insurance, but the insurers say they need more data to determine how common and how severe the intrusions are.

The ideas presented by Geer and other speakers would not give the government more control of the Internet itself. In that area, security professionals said they support technology companies' efforts to fight surveillance and protect users with better encryption.

Instead, the speakers addressed problems such as the pervasive number of severe flaws in software, which allow hackers to break in, seemingly at will.

Geer said the United States should try to corner the market for software flaws and outspend other countries to stop the cyber arms race. The government should then work to fix the flaws instead of hoarding them for offense, he said.

Black Hat founder Jeff Moss said he was reminded of the importance of data security while advising a government agency that had no way to tell which of its millions of records were accurate and which had been tampered with.

In the security industry, Moss said, "we're so day-to-day that we forget we're a piece of a bigger system, and that system is on the edge of breaking down."

Dire projections have led some professionals to despair, but others say the fact that their concerns are finally being shared by political leaders gives them hope.

Alex Stamos, who joined Yahoo Inc earlier this year as chief information security officer, said the Internet could become either a permanent tool of oppression or a democratizing force, depending on policy changes and technology improvements.

"It's a great time to be in the security industry," Stamos said. "Now is the time."

© Thomson Reuters 2014

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Drones hit roadblock on path to become farming tool

Drones hit roadblock on path to become farming tool

DECATUR, Ill. — They came from across the country to learn more about the ways farmers can use drones to manage their sprawling fields.

They watched flight demonstrations. Listened to presentations by experts. And learned what it costs to operate a well-equipped machine.
But what they didn't hear — at least not officially — was anyone urging them to actually buy a drone to use for farming.

That's because the Federal Aviation Administration, just days before the gathering, delivered a blow to this young but promising farm tool.

In a fresh interpretation of rules governing model aircraft, the agency says you can fly a drone for fun, but can't use one to make money or business decisions.

"It's made a lot of us rethink how to approach it," said Bill Wiebold, a soybean specialist and new drone enthusiast at the University of Missouri Extension.

Wiebold, who spoke at the Precision Aerial Ag Show earlier this month, said he's been forced to adjust the language he uses when talking to farmers, who are increasingly interested in the technology. With the FAA's current stance, he's fearful of making suggestions that could get someone in trouble with regulators.
"There's so much promise. But it's just potential, now," he said.

When farmers look at drones, or unmanned aircraft systems, they increasingly see tools capable of giving them a better handle on the health of their crops and their land. They can help determine the size of plants, weed infestations, insect problems and drainage issues. But most importantly, they can do these things quicker and more efficiently than is possible on foot, said Stu Ellis, an organizer of the show, which drew some 1,400 attendees from 33 states and six countries.
"You could spend four to five hours walking an 80-acre soybean field," Ellis said, noting the same ground could be covered in half an hour or less by drone.

But even further, he sees a day when farmers use a small drone for scouting, and a larger model for delivering herbicides or pesticides to troubled areas.

The potential is certainly drawing the attention of farmers such as Matt Ganz, of Compton, Ill.
Ganz, who traveled to Decatur on behalf of his family's farming operation, was intrigued by what he saw, though he was hoping for stronger diagnostic tools.

"From the air, it doesn't tell you what's wrong," Ganz said. "You still have to get out and look."
And with price tags in the $5,000 to $10,000 range for a well-equipped drone, he said it's a bit pricey for a smaller operations such as theirs, with a couple thousand acres.
And then there's all the uncertainty over what the FAA is going to do.

"I think we're going to wait right now and see what happens," he said.
Until recently, the agency essentially ignored the drone realm, simply offering a few basic rules for model aircraft hobbyists to follow. But as drones have grown more sophisticated — and with companies such as Amazon pushing to use them for deliveries to customers — the agency has been forced to reconsider its position.
One of its most closely watched cases started in early 2012, when the FAA went after Raphael Pirker, who used a drone in 2011 to shoot aerial footage for a University of Virginia Medical Center promotion. The agency slapped Pirker with a $10,000 fine for unsafe use of an aircraft.

In March, a federal administrative judge ruled against the agency, saying it had no basis for the fine and that it shouldn't have applied aircraft rules to what is essentially a model aircraft.

The agency is appealing the decision, even as it works to come up with a new set of regulations for unmanned flights, as directed by Congress.

In the meantime, the FAA is working to assert control over model aircraft — or at least those not being used by hobbyists. In its June notice, the agency made it clear that any commercial use of drones must have FAA approval. The agency specifically mentioned farming — along with photography and delivery services — as the types of businesses subject to regulation.
There is hope in agriculture and drone circles that the agency will soon offer some sort of exemption for commercial farming, perhaps as soon as this winter.

But some worry over the future of an industry projected by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International to have an $82 billion economic impact from 2015-2025.
Among them is Brendan Schulman, the New York attorney representing Pirker in his fight against the FAA.
Schulman expects any relief from the FAA to come at a significant cost to commercial users and makers of unmanned aircraft systems. Farmers, for example, could be required to get a pilot's license. And manufacturers may be forced to gain costly certificates of air worthiness, similar to those required of passenger planes.

"I think we are going to see onerous rules and regulations," Schulman said. "I think it will destroy a large segment of this industry."
It's a situation that certainly has the attention of the companies that have sprung up in recent years and months.

Steve Petrotto is a product designer for Champaign-based Horizon Precision Systems, an eight-month-old subsidiary of Horizon Hobby, which has been around for nearly three decades, selling radio controlled cars, boats and planes around the world. Horizon Precision has developed a quad helicopter-style drone that can be programmed to fly itself around a farm, while collecting images.

That the fledgling unit is backed by a larger firm should be helpful during times of uncertainty, he said.
"If we need to sit back for a year or two for things to get worked out, we can do that," Petrotto said.
For now, companies like Gibson City, Ill.-based Crop Copter are left to figure out ways to fit into a landscape where the targeted customers can't really use what's being sold. At least not without the fear of running afoul of the FAA.

The two-year-old firm had its own tent at the expo, where it had a dozen or so drones on display, in prices ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.

Sales manager Tom King sees tremendous growth opportunities in the field, along with serious questions about whether there's any real future at all.
"What's going to hinder it is what the FAA decides to do. That could be the roadblock," King said. "At this point, we've formed a business plan to see what the FAA is going to do. From there, we'll make our decisions."

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Google Glass controlled by brainwave

Google Glass controlled by brainwave

By Dave Lee

BBC News 

Google Glass has been hacked so that it can be controlled by brainwaves.
By combining the smart glasses with an electroencephalography (EEG) headset, the software makes it possible to take a picture without moving a muscle.

London-based start-up This Place said the tech could be utilised in high-pressure hands-free situations - such as during surgery.

It has released the MindRDR software for free in the hope that developers will adapt it for other uses.
Google made it clear that it does not support the app.
"Google Glass cannot read your mind," a spokeswoman told the BBC.

"This particular application seems to work through a separate piece of kit which you attach to Glass.
"We have not reviewed, nor approved, the app so it won't be available in the Glass app store."
Google launched Glass in the UK last month.

The spokeswoman added: "Of course, we are always interested in hearing about new applications of Glass and we've already seen some great research from a variety of medical fields from surgery to Parkinson's."

Concentration camera

An EEG headset can be used to measure when certain parts of the brain show a greater level of activity.

In this case, the MindRDR software monitors when the wearer engages in high levels of concentration.
Within Google Glass's "screen" - a small window that appears in the corner of the wearer's right eye - a white horizontal line is shown.

As a user concentrates, the white line rises up the screen. Once it reaches the top, a picture is taken using Glass's inbuilt camera.

Repeating this process will then post it to a pre-configured social media profile.
At present, Google Glass is controlled by either voice command - "OK Glass, take a picture" - or by tapping and swiping on the side of the device.

"We wanted to realise the true potential of Glass by allowing users to control it with their minds," said Dusan Hamlin, chief executive of This Place.

"Currently, users either have to touch it or use voice commands, which are restrictive for some social situations and for users with disabilities."

'Wider world'

The firm's creative director Chloe Kirton said: "While MindRDR's current capabilities are limited to taking and sharing an image, the possibilities of Google Glass 'telekinesis' are vast.
"In the future, MindRDR could give those with conditions like locked-in syndrome, severe multiple sclerosis or quadriplegia the opportunity to interact with the wider world through wearable technology."
EEG technology is a growing area.

In the past, the equipment was prohibitively expensive, but many headsets are now available for less than £100.

Mick Donegan is the founder of SpecialEffect, a charity which adapts games controllers so they can be used by people with limited mobility.

He told the BBC that there had been some issues with the reliability of EEG headsets in the past, but that he was excited by the possibilities of the Google Glass hack.

"It will mean someone who currently has no control at all, who can't even control the movement of their eyes - those people will be able to use that system. For me, that's the final frontier," he said,
He added that developers would have to make intuitive user interfaces.

"Instead of people controlling a cursor, if you have a carefully designed interface that goes through options on a screen to choose - that's taking the load of the user. That's what you're looking for."
Other applications have included video games that attempt to monitor your emotional state, and change the game experience accordingly.

However, the technology is in its infancy - early experimental games have suffered from a lack of precision, leading to frustration among players.

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Samsung, Intel, Dell team up on standards for connected gadgets

Samsung, Intel, Dell team up on standards for connected gadgets

By Noel Randewich

Reuters 

SAN FRANCISCO - Samsung Electronics, Intel Corp and Dell have joined to establish standard ways for household gadgets like thermostats and light bulbs to talk to each other, at odds with a framework backed by Qualcomm, LG Electronics and other companies.

The new Open Interconnect Consortium, like the Qualcomm-supported AllSeen Alliance, aims to establish how smart devices work together in a trend increasingly called the Internet of Things.
Manufacturers are rolling out growing numbers of Internet-connected burglar alarms, televisions and light switches. But like the early days of video cassette recorders, current smart home products are often incompatible with each other.

The new consortium, which also includes chipmakers Broadcom and Atmel, was announced in a news release late on Monday.
Doug Fisher, general manager of Intel's Software and Services Group, told Reuters that the framework to be developed by the new consortium would address security and other issues not adequately handled by the AllSeen group.

The potential emergence of smart household products made by manufacturers using two sets of incompatible standards would be incidental, he said.
"We're not out to create that. We just think the industry has spoken and there's this approach that's needed," Fisher said. "We're certainly welcoming others to participate."
Last week, Microsoft became the 51st member of the AllSeen Alliance, which also includes Sharp Corp and other consumer electronics manufacturers.

Rob Chandhok, senior vice president of Qualcomm Technologies Inc, compared the two competing standards groups to walled-off online services in the early 1990s before widespread Internet use.
"It's better for us to have an industry-wide shared platform than to be divided," Chandhok said. "I don't want to get to a 'Prodigy and CompuServe' of the Internet of Things."
Technology heavyweights Apple and Google are also pursuing their own ways of interconnecting household devices.

Apple, known for strictly controlling how other companies' products interact with its own, in June announced HomeKit, which will integrate control of devices like lights and thermostats
Google's Nest has also partnered with companies including Whirlpool Corp and light bulb maker LIFX to integrate their products with its thermostats and smoke detectors

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BioWare is reinventing save games for the Xbox One and PS4

BioWare is reinventing save games for the Xbox One and PS4

Now that the Xbox One and PS4 are on store shelves, the development team at BioWare has a serious problem to solve for the upcoming release of Dragon Age: Inquisition. In the two previous games in the franchise, players could make decisions that directly impact the state of the world of Thedas. If players continue to play on the PS3, Xbox 360, or PC, their save files will import easily with relatively little fuss, however players moving to the current-gen consoles need a way to import their world state. Instead of rigging up a complicated syncing solution, BioWare decided to launch a simple tool called “Dragon Age Keep” to solve the problem.

Dragon Age Keep is an online service that allows habitual Dragon Age players to tailor the state of the world to their preferences — essentially by ticking boxes for each decision that they might’ve made while playing. Whether or not these players have save files generated by the first two games, the Keep will allow anyone to jump into a perfectly configured world when Dragon Age: Inquisition launches later this year. The customized save games can be automatically imported to your Xbox One, PS4, or PC via Origin — or downloaded and transferred via USB, if your console is offline.

Admittedly, a series of checkboxes on a website might not sound like a big deal, but it actually solves a number of substantial problems that have been plaguing BioWare-style RPGs for years. In this article, I’ll touch on four major hurdles that the Dragon Age Keep effectively sidesteps for this upcoming release, and explain why this simple solution is BioWare’s best way forward.

Local save game loss

Hard drives die. It’s inevitable that the drives holding your precious data will eventually cease to function properly. Even some of the brightest among us have been bitten by drive failure, and files much more important than game saves have been lost permanently. If you’re relying on a drive to keep your saves safe for eight or nine years between console generations, you’re just asking for trouble. [Read our full backup masterclass to make sure you never lose data ever again.]

Most of the time, losing old save files isn’t a big deal. After all, most people aren’t going to bother loading up an old save for Madden 07 or Call of Duty 4. However, BioWare-style RPGs build off of the decisions made in each game, so that old save game from 2009 holds the key to the world you built.

If you read through a few Dragon Age threads across the internet, you’ll quickly see that a non-trivial number of people have lost their original save files. To rectify this issue, players either slog through dozens of hours of gameplay again, or use third-party tools to generate save files. These solutions certainly aren’t perfect (especially for console players), but they were the only options available until BioWare announced the Dragon Age Keep.

Cloud problems

If local saves are so fragile, surely cloud saves are the solution, right? Well, partially. Keeping off-site backups is always a good idea, and it will certainly reduce the risk from drive failure, but cloud saves aren’t perfect. Valve, Sony, and Microsoft have had cloud-based solutions for years now, and problems still crop up frequently.

Syncing has long been a problematic issue, and cloud saves are no exception. Inaccurate timestamps, accidental overwrites, and other technical issues still cause hiccups — even on modern systems. I’ve lost numerous saves through Steam, and my PS4 regularly refuses to automatically upload saves because of a bug in the firmware. Cloud saves are undoubtedly a useful tool, but they don’t solve every problem, and can even introduce new problems in some cases. With a system like the Keep, you can sidestep the issue of two-way sync completely. Generate a world state on a server, and download it to your console just once — no need for a complex syncing mechanism for this use case.

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Not Care What People Think

How to Not Care What People Think:

Stop Over-Thinking:

More often than not, when you think you are constantly judged, you most likely aren't. It's simply excessively hard to judge each and every individual you meet, dissecting their imperfections and blemishes like they're a test you're reviewing. •one approach to test this is to push your limits a little and do something that is a bit strange for you. Perceive how individuals respond. Chances are that just your "companions" will recognize the change and make remarks, however an arbitrary outsider truly won't give a second thought.

Figure out how to get yourself when you begin once again thinking. Perceive this example of ill-use and do something to overcome it. Case in point, each time you over-think, energy yourself to compliment a part of your identity. This ought to help to provide for you a superior respect toward oneself:

"Thinking is great. I give careful consideration to all the little subtle elements. I recognize things that other individuals don't perceive, yet I ought to utilize this capability to be certain, not negative."

"I think about being great at something. Nobody can attain flawlessness, however I attempt to put my best foot forward. On the off chance that I fizzle or fail to meet expectations, its not as I didn't attempt. That is whatever I can do."

"I think about standards. I have qualities, and I attempt to live by them. The world doesn't generally work the way I need it to, however that doesn't imply that I'll quit attempting. I will acknowledge it when it doesn't

Place Things Into Point Of View:

Individuals who fixate on what others think have a tendency to put "issues" under the magnifying lens and can't see the timberland for the trees. Individuals who don't fixate on what other individuals think have a tendency to take a gander at the comprehensive view. You just get one chance at life; would you say you are going to permit other individuals' considerations to make it less agreeable? Sounds senseless now, doesn't it. •give it sooner or later. Separated from the way that life truly is so short it would be impossible stress over things like this, the other angle is that individuals' emotions change. For instance, say one minute individuals affront you for wearing yellow shoes, providing for you the impression you shouldn't wear them. Consider the possibility that this current individual's feeling progressions, and they begin wearing yellow shoes themselves. Individuals alter their opinions, so what they think now may not matter later on.

Be confident about yourself:

Imagine a scenario in which we could dispense with the measure of times we second-figure ourselves. All things considered, you can. The trap, in the event that you need to call it that, is to basically be more positive about the choices and moves you are making. •have you never seen somebody who is wearing something strange, yet simply appears typical and isn't being judged? On the off chance that you are wearing yellow shoes and are plainly uncomfortable about them, individuals are going to target you: they can see your instability and they'll assault you so as to feel better about themselves. Don't prejudge yourself before others do; they'll be more averse to judge you in any case!

Acknowledge yourself for who you are. Justifiably, tolerating yourself is not the most effortless thing to do. Everybody on the planet is loaded with an uncertainty; its about how they oversee it. Fortunately, there are things you can do that will offer assistance. •first of all, think of every last one of things that you dislike about yourself and record them. Presently, take a gander at them all the more nearly and check whether there is a plausibility to transform them.

for sample, on the off chance that you are slender and dislike that, then take a gander at routes in which you can put on weight and beef up. In the event that you aren't ready to put in the work to change something that is fixable, you don't have the right to grumble about it. However, If you want to be taller, that is not precisely something you can change. Think about how your circumstance could be more awful.

As time passes by and you acknowledge how immaterial a portion of the things you stress over really are, life gets less demanding and your steady concern begins to dive as your trust

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Pakistan to Get 12 to 14 Million 3G Users During First Two Years

Recent polls, offline surveys, market analysis, feedback from telecom companies, feedback from mobile phone users, early impression of telecom market relating to trial of 3G services and our personal opinion ascertains that 8 to 11 percent of mobile phone users in Pakistan are going to use 3G, during first 2 to 3 years.

After early years, or when 3G coverage will expand and adoption rate will increase, this figure may get multiplied and net addition in number of 3G subscribers may go substantially higher than the current rate.

This calculation for estimating number of 3G users with-in first two years also considered the number of smartphones in Pakistan, their relative prices and the adoption rate of technology in the country.

Affordability of 3G Services

A poll revealed that 17 percent of individuals can afford 3G serviceseven when data prices are more than Rs. 1,200 per month. A total of 7,128 respondents participated in the poll, while 17 percent of them said that they are willing to pay Rs. 1,200 per month or more for 3G services.

Currently announced 3G plans confirm that pricing of 3G services will fall with-in the affordability limits of these 17 percent mobile phone users.

In fact we are certain that there would be some data plans (with monthly charge of Rs. 1,000 or lesser) that may lure larger number of mobile phone users to transit to 3G services.

Another considerable fact is that majority of mobile phone users will use 3G forbrowsing, skyping, chit/chatting  and for usual internet needs on the go. Remember we aren’t talking about power downloading stuff such as torrents or HD movies.

This situation – if coupled with above two paragraphs — translates into an equation where 3G services are entirely affordable for larger number of audience who would want to use 3G for usual things while on the go with monthly budget of around Rs. 1,000 or more.

Not to forget, Pakistan is a very competitive market, where operators even cross their bread limits to attract the customers.

While we can hint that operators will continue to experiment with various pricing patterns during first 6-8 months, we assume that affordability won’t be an issue for Pakistani 3G user in the long run.

Quality of Service and Coverage of 3G

One has to agree that Quality of Service of cellular networks in Pakistan is in-line with global standards. In fact it won’t be wrong to say that Pakistani networks offer better quality of service than a lot of regional or even global operators. Yes, the room for betterment is always there but we don’t lack anywhere.

While 3G networks in Pakistan are just one month old, we can safely say that they aren’t below standard.

Coverage of 3G networks, however, may not get similar remarks but that’s understandable.

Operators take years to build network and if we keep the track record of Pakistani operators in mind then it can be safely  said that they are going to deploy 3G network way faster than the rollout obligations set by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

If we just look at previous one month – since the auction of 3G spectrum –then at least 9 cities have already received 3G services (at least partially) or 20 percent of population has been given 3G service already.

This proposition is going to get only better and richer with time.

It merits mentioning here that 13.15 percent individuals – out of 2,738 participants who took part in a poll – said that they were over satisfied with 3G services during the trial period of last one month or so.

Another 18.22 percent considered that quality of service was average, meaning that a total of 31.37 percent mobile phone users were satisfied with the 3G services during the first month of trial duration.

Another fact that should be kept in mind is the quality of service issues associated with DSL and EVO infrastructure of PTCL, an entity that holds over 90 percent of market share in Pakistan’s broadband market.

While we need not to comment on PTCL’s performance and QoS standards, it is likely that cellular companies are only going to beat them in quality standards by notable margin.

First Time Internet Users

While it may take some time, but the day is destined to come when 3G services will reach those areas where no prior internet connectivity channel has been established so far. Such rural areas and less operable areas for wired-internet are going to be the real fruit of 3G connectivity.

Adoption rate may not only be quick there but the productivity of wireless broadband — that is set to positively impact the economy – will be the real turnout of 3G services.

Conclusion

While the number of 8 to 11 percent of mobile phone users — who may transit to 3G network — seems low, but it will actually translate into five times (or even more) the broadband users of what we have today.

This adoption rate will grow further in coming years when 3G coverage will expand, especially when it will hit the rural areas of the country.

With this adoption rate – which seems inevitable – we will have 12 to 15 million broadband users with-in first two years of 3G networks in Pakistan. This forecast is in-line with Plum research that is widely quoted and mentioned in local media and telecom industry of Pakistan.

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