Internet Execs From US Visit Iraq

Executives from leading internet companies such as Google, YouTube and Twitter are visiting Iraq this week.
Story from BBC

They aim to see how their technologies can assist in the fight against corruption and help Iraqis develop a more cohesive and accountable society.

The visit was arranged by the US State Department which said the executives would offer ideas on how new technologies could empower people.

It is hoped they would also provide the tools for network building.

Robert wood the State Department spokesman said: "We view this as an opportunity to invite the American technology industry to be part of this creative genesis."

Other companies represented on the trip are Howcast, a website that offers how-to videos; Meetup, a website that helps people organise, or join local communities.

The internet in Iraq was censored and not easily available under Saddam Hussein. It is now widespread but is still expensive and not always reliable. The use of the internet in Afghanistan is also on the rise.

But for many Iraqi families, it has been a lifeline linking them with the outside world during years when it was often too dangerous to step outside their front door.

The BBC's Sebastian Usher says not too long ago the prospect of senior executives from leading American companies paying a week-long visit to Iraq would have been out of the question.

It is a sign of the improving security situation that nine executives are venturing into Baghdad. It is also an indication of how the Americans are trying to use means other than military power to help Iraqis develop a more stable society.

Satellite Operators on Solid Ground
As Originally Posted at The Wall Street Journal

While economic turmoil has laid low industries from construction to automobiles, the world's largest providers of satellite-services such as internet in Iraq appear to be operating in a different orbit, posting strong earnings and rising revenues.

London-based Inmarsat PLC on Thursday reported a 20% jump from a year earlier in fourth-quarter revenue for its core business. Profit excluding taxes rose even more sharply for the year, and the company increased its dividend.

Satellite services are now essential to U.S. military operations, helping to bring satellite phone services in Iraq and satellite internet in Afghanistan.

Inmarsat -- which provides voice, data and Internet services for aviation, maritime and industrial customers -- followed similarly strong results announced recently by larger satellite operators, including Luxembourg's SES Global SA and France's Eutelsat Communications SA. Intelsat Ltd., which has the world's biggest commercial-satellite fleet but also is the most highly leveraged of the big satellite operators, is expected to report robust numbers next Wednesday.

Satellite services generally lag behind broader economic cycles by 18 months or more, reflecting what are typically multiyear, fixed-price contracts used to lease transponders on satellites.

Since satellite access has become essential to such routine corporate activities as credit-card approvals, business VoIP and Internet access on business jets, "other discretionary programs tend to be cut" before moves to limit spending on satellites, Inmarsat Chairman and Chief Executive Andrew Sukawaty said in an interview.

So far, major satellite companies have managed to capitalize on a diversified customer base that increasingly relies on space communications for operations from video distribution for cable- and satellite-television, to a wide range of military communications. Inmarsat derives about 50% of world-wide revenue from government business, including from the Pentagon.

Along with its competitors, Inmarsat expects to enjoy a revenue boost as more U.S. troops are sent into Afghanistan and maneuver around desolate regions that lack ground-based communication networks. Steps taken in India and elsewhere to open markets to more satellite operators are expected to help support growth through at least 2010. "Clearly, there is going to be a positive impact" from such long-sought deregulation, said Andrea Maleter, technical director of consulting firm Futron Corp., based in Bethesda, Md.

Inmarsat's core subscriber revenue climbed to $160.6 million in the fourth quarter versus $133.4 million a year earlier. Broadband services for ships and airliners grew by double-digit percentages.

Mr. Sukawaty said the results indicate the company's offerings "are hitting home with customers even in times of economic uncertainty." The company, which doesn't report quarterly earnings, said full-year profit excluding taxes rose to $193.8 million from $124.7 million in 2007.

Industry consultant Tim Farrar said that despite recent results for leading operators, "there are signs of concern for what happens a year or two down the road."

Some analysts and consultants predict the entire sector could face trouble in coming quarters. If the global recession drags on, analysts predict that operators on both sides of the Atlantic, most of whom are wrapping up costly expansion programs, could get saddled with excess in-orbit capacity. During past economic downturns, satellite operators compensated for such problems by slashing prices and capital spending. Smaller, less well-funded challengers already are hurting and finding it difficult to keep up with their more-established rivals.

Satellite companies could become vulnerable if maritime users scrap or anchor large numbers of cargo ships, or if predictions of satellite capacity needed for growth in high-definition video turn out to be wrong. So far for Inmarsat, however, demand for broadband connections has remained strong, more than outweighing cuts in older-generation services. Broadband demand is expected to grow further as more airlines offer in-flight voice and messaging services.

Inmarsat doesn't have any debt coming due this year, is gaining control of a big distributor and is committed to pay construction costs for only one satellite. Unlike other operators focused on more-mature segments, the company is pushing ahead with new voice and data services for mobile devices and a new generation of satellite phones.

When SES Gobal reported its results for last year, it said the utilization rate for in-orbit capacity jumped to 79%, up 6.6 percentage points from a year earlier. It has nine satellites under construction.

Eutelsat reported a 7.9% revenue gain for its fiscal first half, which ended Dec. 31. Net income jumped 53%.

Israel/Hamas battle goes Web 2.0

As posted by: Wall Street Journal

How do governments at war in the Middle East do PR? Only a few years ago, Iraq used this guy—and the Iraqi Information Minister subsequently passed into both legend and parody. Just a few years on, though, and it's all about the web.

The Israel/Gaza bloodbath is being fought on the ground, in the air, and—furiously—on the Internet. And, in the real world and the virtual world, we see both regular forces and vigilante justice. New USA based companies are now offering internet in Iraq to help US service men and women, and contractors, keep in contact with relatives and families at home.

One of the most popular companies is Advanced Technology Systems this Southfield Michigan based Internet Service Provider provides broadband and internet services for military bases in Iraq and also offers internet in Afghanistan. Click here for more information on Avanced Technology Systems. Israel's PR machine is gung-ho for Web 2.0, it seems; the country's armed forces (the IDF) have launched a YouTube channel filled with bomb camera footage, surveillance video, and daily video updates, most designed to show that mosques can harbor weapons caches and elementary schools can be used by mortar teams. (Or, in the words of the official description, to provide "documentation of the IDF's humane action and operational success in Operation Cast Lead.")

For reasons that will be apparent to anyone who has spent more than two minutes on the Internet, comments are disabled.

The IDF has even joined the blogging revolution with IDFspokesperson.com, and the official IDF site has launched its own section devoted to "Operation Cast Lead" complete with a banner graphic and photo and video updates from the combat zone.

But it was the decision by Israel's New York consulate to conduct a press conference through Twitter last week that indicated just how far Israel would go in its efforts to shape the impressions of the digerati.

Not that all the activity related to the conflict is official; a group of Israeli students "who are tired of sitting around doing nothing while the citizens of Sderot and the cities around the Gazza Strip are suffering," for instance, started a site devoted to launching DDoS attacks against "enemy" targets. (Note: Ars does not recommend downloading the file offered there, regardless of your views on its legality or propriety, because of the obvious potential for malware.)

Hackers on the other side of the conflict have had success, too, taking down noted Israeli commentary site DEBKAfile a few days ago, along with some other targets.

Hamas, which runs the government in Gaza, runs a smaller-scale effort to get its message out, offering its website in eight different languages (be warned: it features auto-playing chants). The English version is located in the UK and features plenty of pictures and news accounts about "Jewish Nazism," "Zionist disinformation," and "the Israeli holocaust in Gaza."

Hamas backers late last year launched their own YouTube clone, AqsaTube, which featured weapons training videos, among other material; it was taken offline by its French hosting provider after a few weeks. Al-Aqsa TV (which denied any relation to the AqsaTube site), the main TV station in Gaza, was apparently bombed by Israel this weekend, after Israeli operatives had spent the last week breaking into Al-Aqsa transmissions regularly with messages of their own.

It's a high-tech communications war being fought by both sides, though the electronic "war" is largely about shaping public perception instead of doing direct damage to the other side.