Heat blamed for Australian internet failure

Australia’s second largest net provider iiNet said it had turned the servers off “as a precautionary measure” as the city experienced temperatures topping 44.4C. It left thousands of customers offline for about six-and-a-half hours. Many of them later took to Twitter to vent their frustration and question why the meltdown occurred. “Our Perth data centre…

Internet’s architecture doesn’t handle mobility as well as it should: Vinton Cerf

Widely known as the “Father of the Internet”, Vinton G. Cerf co-designed with Robert Kahn the protocols and basic architecture of the Internet. Currently, he serves as chief Internet evangelist atGoogle Inc. He was in New Delhi on Tuesday to talk at an event organized by industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on innovation, jobs, the…

Building the data economy in India

An information economy requires an attitudinal shift in society about the critical role of quality public data In God we trust; all others must bring data.” This quote is widely attributed to the American statistician W. Edwards Deming, who helped to develop sampling techniques in the 1940s that are still used by the US department…

DoT asks TRAI to carry review on usage of spectrum

The department of telecommunications (DoT) has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to review the usage of spectrum by private players and government institutions that are not related to defence and security. “Trai may carry out review and make its recommendations on the present usage of spectrum… on the ‘efficient management’ of available spectrum,” the DoT said in…

Trai sounded out on regulating e-commerce

An inter-ministerial panel has requested the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to take up the role or suggest if there is a need for a separate regulator for e-commerce. At present, Trai regulates telecommunications, media and broadcasting industries. The need for an e-commerce regulator was felt after the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) sought the commerce ministry’s intervention over ‘predatory…