U.S. researchers closer to creating new solar cells

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. researchers have taken one step closer to creating high-efficiency solar cells using cheap plastic with a dash of silicon, it was announced on Saturday.

    The solar cells, being developed by researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), have significantly greater sunlight absorption and conversation than previous polymers, the university said in a press release on its website.

    The researchers want these easy-to-use plastic solar energy cells to be sold at local hardware stores, and then hung like posters on the wall, said the release.

    "We hope that solar cells will one day be as thin as paper and be attached to the surface of your choice," said co-author Hsiang-Yu Chen, a UCLA graduate student in engineering. "We'll also be able to create different colors to match different applications."

    The research team found that substituting a silicon atom for carbon atom in the backbone of the plastic markedly improved the material's photovoltaic properties, said the release.

    The new polymer solar cells use organic compounds to produce electricity from sunlight, are much easier to produce than traditional silicon-based solar cells and are also environmentally friendly, the release said.

    "Previously, the synthesizing process for the polymer was very complicated. We've been able to simplify the process and make it much easier to mass produce," said Jianhui Hou, UCLA postdoctoral researcher and co-author of the study.

    "Though this is a milestone achievement, we will continue to work on improving the materials," he said.

    "Ideally, we'd like to push the performance of the solar cell to higher than 10 percent efficiency. We know the potential is there," he added.

Resource - xinhuanet

China to launch new remote sensing satellite

JIUQUAN, Gansu Province, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- China will launch a new remote sensing satellite "Yaogan " on Monday at the northwestern Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu, an official with the center said on Sunday.

    The satellite was to be aboard a Long March-2D carrier rocket into the space "at an appropriate time", the official said.

    At present, both the rocket and the satellite were in good condition and the preparation went on well.

    The satellite would be used for scientific research, land resources surveying, crop yield estimate and disaster prevention and relief. "It will play a positive role in the country's economic development," he said.

    Its predecessor "Yaogan III" was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province on Nov. 12, 2007.

    The "Yaogan I" satellite was launched from Taiyuan on April 27,2006, and the "Yaogan II" was launched on May 25, 2007 from Jiuquan.

Resource - xinhuanet

Vodafone Eying €2.8 Billion Take-Over of German Cable TV Operator

Vodafone is reported to be in talks which could lead to a €2.8 billion take-over of the German cable TV operator, Kabel Deutschland (KDG). The company is currently owned by the private equity group, Providence - which brought the company three years ago.

KDG has around 11 million customers in Germany and would be a good fit with Vodafone's local landline subsidiary, Arcor which controls about 14% of the broadband market.

KDG announced increased second quarter revenues last week, by 15.4% to €339.3 million while EBITDA increased 30% to €142.9 million. The higher numbers are partly attributable to the networks acquired earlier this year from the Orion Cable Group.

The firm recently confirmed that it was taking another look at trying to acquire some smaller regional operators. In 2004 KDG tried to buy two cable operators serving regional areas, which would have given the company nationwide coverage, but the deal was blocked by the cartel office amid fears of the company gaining a dominant market position. Changes in the market place with the emergence of telcos providing TV services should make cartel fears easier to overcome.

“A nationwide cable operator would enhance competition vis-à-vis the large telephone incumbents which would also be in the best consumer interest. We want to play a leading role in any such market consolidation,” KDG's CEO, Adrian v. Hammerstein said when the company announced its financial results last week.

Kabel Deutschland was founded in January 1999 by Deutsche Telekom, after it was ordered to spin off its entire cable TV business as required by regulatory terms.

For historic reasons, Kabel Deutschland cannot offer its products directly to all are connected via Kabel Deutschland's network, since only one third of all viewers are direct customers. In the early 1980s, when the cable network was originally established, Kabel Deutschland's predecessor Deutsche Bundespost had to leave in-house cables to other companies or the house owners. This turned out to be a significant obstacle since Kabel Deutschland now has to make single contracts with hundreds of small cable operators.

Resource - cellular-news

Bangladeshi Confirms 3G Licenses by Next March

Bangladesh's telecoms regulator, the BTRC has confirmed that it plans to award 3G licenses in the country by March 2009 - a delay on earlier promises to offer the licenses by the end of this year. During the launch of a trial 3G network by Ericsson in August, BTRC chairman Maj Gen (retd.) Manzurul Alam put a valuation of US$200 million on the licenses.

"The 3G licences will be issued by March next year ... the licences would be awarded through an open auction," Alam told the Reuters news agency.

A couple of months ago, the regulator sold a tranch of additional radio spectrum for US$204 million. Three incumbent operators brought the spectrum which the regulator said was necessary to cope with their increasing subscriber base.

Grameenphone, Banglalink and Aktel bought 7.5, 5 and 5 megahertz frequency respectively, at the rate of Tk 80 crore per MHz - giving them 21.9MHz, 17.5MHz and 17.8MHz respectively. Three other operators did not bid for the spectrum. Teletalk has 15.2MHz, Warid has 15MHz and Citycell has 10MHz.

A report by the GSMA last year had called on the regulator to issue the licenses by the 3rd quarter of this year. The spectrum should be licensed in a way that reflects its economic value and ensures it is efficiently used, the GSMA report argued.

The launch of 3G services could also assist in closing the "digital divide" which results in Bangladesh being poorly served by broadband internet services. A recent ITU report on telecoms in the Asia-Pacific region found that the minimum advertised broadband speed in countries such as Hong Kong and Japan is faster than the maximum broadband speed available in Bangladesh.

The country currently has six operators - and according to figures from the Mobile World, ended the first half of this year with just under 43.7 million mobile subscribers - which is still a population penetration level of 28.5%. Also worth noting is that while the country has six operators, only four of them are of any significant scale, Grameenphone (20.3m), Banglalink (9.5m) and Aktel (7.8m) and finally, Warid Telecom (3.3m). The two remaining long term incumbents, Citycell and Teletalk add up to 2.7 million customers between them.

Resource - cellular-news

O2 UK Launches Low-Energy Phone Charger

UK mobile operator, Telefónica O2 has announced the launch of an energy efficient universal mobile phone charger, which the company says is amongst the most energy efficient in the UK cutting energy consumption by as much as 70 per cent compared to standard mobile phone chargers.

The O2 Universal Charger, which meets the strict energy efficient guidelines of the US Energy Star rating, contains a power control system. This system considerably reduces charge to the mobile phone once the battery is fully charged even if the charger is left switched on in a plug socket. O2 estimates that phones left on charge costs Brits over £30 million in wasted energy every year. Heat loss from the charger has also been eliminated, another source of significant energy loss from standard mobile chargers.

Recent research conducted by O2 has revealed that a typical mobile phone charger wastes over 2.8 KWh of energy per year. O2 estimates that by cutting off the unneeded charge to mobile phones, the Universal Charger could save the equivalent carbon emissions of over 36,000 cars per annum. In addition to being energy efficient, the base unit of the Universal Charger will be accompanied by an inter-changeable leads making the charger compatible with most leading brands of mobile phones and eliminating the need to use a different charger with each mobile.

Ronan Dunne, CEO, Telefónica O2 UK, comments: “People are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact products are having on the environment and with mobile the single biggest impact is the energy used in charging. The O2 Universal Charger offers customers a simple yet effective way of reducing the environmental impact of their phones and reduces the waste associated with charger disposal.”

Resource - cellular-news

Iraq to Fine All Three Mobile Networks Over License Breaches

Iraq's three mobile phone networks all face fines from the government for apparently failing to meet conditions in their network licenses - reports Middle East Economic Digest (MEED). All three networks have failed to meet QoS requirements, while Korek Telecom has been censured for failing to meet coverage requirements.

The smallest operator, Korek Telecom has a national license, but coverage which is limited to mainly the Northern region of the country. An expansion to national coverage would need the financial muscle of an outside partner - which has lead to recent rumours that Etisalat is in talks to take a stake in the firm.

"Asiacell is bad and Zain is very bad," Hayam al-Yasiri, an adviser to the Telecommunications Ministry told MEED. "Korek is breaching the licence because of the coverage and the service. Korek up to this moment does not cover many cities, although according to the licence they should cover them."

The decision on the fines is expected before the end of the year
Resource - cellular-news

Romania Grants WiMAX License

Romania's new telecoms regulator, ANC (which recently replaced ANRCTI) says that it has awarded a WiMAX 3.6Mhz license to Radiocommunications National Society (SNR) for a payment of €2 million.

SNR was granted the right to use the 3657-3685 MHz and 3757-3785 MHz frequency bands under the terms of the Government Emergency Ordinance no.18/2008. By observing the provisions of this Ordinance, SNR released the 3600–3657 MHz and 3700–3757 MHz radio frequency bands it held, thus receiving the right to implement BWA systems in the two remaining sub-bands. As regards the released bands, ANC is currently conducting a comparative selection procedure in view of granting two licences.

The minimum license conditions require the coverage of at least 50 cities and at least 20 towns. The coverage is defined in relation to the number of base stations installed and in operation in a certain locality, within a certain deadline.

The amount of the licence fee to be paid by SNR was calculated proportionally to the validity period of the right to use the radio spectrum. SNR is entitled to use these radio frequencies until 24 July, 2011.

Resource - cellular-news