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TelecomPlus: How is Rhode & Schwarz doing in these testing times?
Ahmad Jawad: As you know, this is a global recession and Rohde & Schwarz, with presence in more than 80 countries, is definitely affected by it. In fact
every company in the world is feeling the heat of economic meltdown. Toyota has shown losses for the first time since 1943. They sailed through thick &
thin virtually unscathed during the last six decades. But the present crisis was too much even for Toyota. So this is a measure of the enormity of the
present recession. Rohde & Schwarz also has its share of success stories through recessions. We faced the last recession quite successfully. We have our
contingency plans in place to combat the present global crisis also. Like focusing on efficiency, competitiveness and better utilization of resources to
economize our budget and expenses.
How can IT be utilized to reduce expenses?
Very pertinent question in the present situation. We had been using video conferencing previously through our laptops. But in our present drive to cut
costs, we have recently installed a full scale video conferencing facility. It is a very powerful tool of IT which can not only cut down your traveling and
associated expenses, but also save your most precious resource, time. Another useful aspect of video conferencing is that it takes care of lots of hassle
and expensive adjustments. When several people have to travel physically to a specific location from all over the world, they have to make many
adjustments. Leaving their local headquarters, canceling or rescheduling their official and personal appointments, not to mention the physical fatigue of
traveling and jet lag. Then there is the non availability of flights, seats, etc due to which you have sometimes to start out much earlier. All these factors take
their toll on the human capacity to perform efficiently. So it is not just time and expense of traveling from one place to the other, but also the personal cost
of making it happen. Video conferencing requires relatively minor adjustments. Now I hold video conferences from my office here and it does not matter at
all if the destination is Karachi, Singapore, Germany or any other part of the world. We have cut down the traveling expenses, are saving time and have
eliminated the physical exertion. For companies which cannot afford the expensive, Hi-fi video conferencing equipment, cheaper solutions are available on
Internet.
Do you have test solutions for 3G and emerging technologies like LTE?
Yes, Rohde & Schwarz has always been a front runner in every technology in the market. In fact Rohde & Schwarz was the first company to provide test &
measurement equipment for 3G and LTE. These solutions are available and are the best in the market. Other companies are only following our lead.
How can Rohde & Schwarz facilitate the transition to Digital TV?
An industry in any country can play the role of facilitation, creating awareness and imparting knowledge to the stake holders and the society. In that
capacity, Rohde & Schwarz has been playing its role. But taking the decision and implementing the technology rests with the government. Whether it is the
ministry, Pemra, PTV, private channels, mobile operators, etc, we are approaching all of them. We are giving them the information, knowledge and how it
has been done in other countries, how it can happen in Pakistan, what could be our role, etc.
What’s the input from countries where it has been implemented?
There are multiple gains, not just the quality of picture and sound. First of all, the frequency band which is one of the most precious resources of a country.
The Analogue TV is very inefficient in terms of spectrum that it consumes. Even if you discount the exotic attributes of Digital TV, the huge bandwidth
released for other purposes is reason enough to adopt it. But of course you cannot discount the other benefits. There is no comparison between the
picture quality of Digital TV with its analogue counterpart. Also the saving, retrieving and processing of digital content is quick and easy which makes it
ideal for distance learning programs. It is also a huge gain both at the transmission and the receiving end. Then the mobility factor. You can receive digital
transmissions while on the move; in a car, train, bus, etc. While traveling, people have limited alternatives to watching TV. Just think how it would change
the entertainment and advertising aspects of TV. Also, people do not have to restrict themselves to traditional and often bulky TV sets. They can receive
TV transmissions on their cell phones, laptops and other handheld devices.
How should we go about regulation?
In advanced societies, industries lead regulations, policies and decision-making. If you go to Malaysia, they have Digital TV but no regulations. The industry
is the guiding force there. Through actually implementing a model they discover what is best for the promotion of the industry and along which lines it
should be regulated, if at all. You cannot always know before hand the impact of a regulation. It might stifle the industry instead of promoting it. Normally
what is done in the developing countries is that they copy the regulations and disciplines of developed societies, without taking into considerations the
social, political and moral values of the recipient society. More often then not, such imported regulation impacts adversely on the local industry. Regulation
evolves as the industry matures. By adopting the regulations of a mature industry as such, you deny the nascent local industry the protection that its
counterpart in developed countries enjoyed in its formative stages. Because the regulation in those society could have been markedly different at the early
stages of introducing the technology then the evolved Regulation they have now.
If you consider the foreign investment angle, a company which invested $1billion in Malaysia, may not want to invest more than $300 million in Pakistan.
You then need to offer more incentive to that company in Pakistan than is acceptable to it in Malaysia. Adopting the Malaysian regulatory regime might
backfire here and scare the investor away.
How can we encourage operators to invest in 3G if they are reluctant under the circumstances?
The economic crunch apart, it is difficult to motivate investors to come to this part of the world. If you want to attract investment and latest technologies, you
would have to give incentives. Like you give five, ten years tax breaks in Industrial Zones. We need to have a very liberal and progressive policy to offset
the negative impact of perceptions and the difficult situation prevalent here.
In Malaysia, they have RFID in every vehicle. Why can’t we make it compulsory here?
RFID is neither a rocket science, nor an expensive technology. For a person who can afford a car, RFID is not a big issue. It is just a question of policy and
implementation. We are facing the worst kind of terrorism of our history which is challenging our very existence.
After 9/11, every cell phone in USA has to be a GPS phone so that the location of every person making a call is instantly known. You cannot buy a handset
in the US without GPS. Imposing GPS in Pakistan at this point of time wouldn’t be advisable. Making handsets costlier would counter the efforts of
increasing mobile teledensity. We want to place a mobile in the hands of every individual, be it a plumber, electrician, taxi driver or janitor. But RFID for cars
is a different story. The owners are well to do people. Besides it is also a deterrent against theft and a great incentive for the car owners. The advantages
on a national scale are immense. The manual check posts at important entry points are too obvious and can be avoided by antisocial elements who are
professionals in their diabolic expertise. But an RFID sensor located discretely on a pole, tree, or buried in ground keeps tab of every vehicle passing
through that point. Every vehicle leaves a continuous history of its journey at electronic checkpoints.
RFID sensors wirelessly connected to an IP Network, trace the movements of vehicles which can be remotely monitored from virtually anywhere in the
world. The history of a suspected car can be instantly retrieved and its suspected destination may also be predicted. When it becomes known that a vehicle
from a suspect location is proceeding to a sensitive area, it may be intercepted at the point of convenience of the authorities. But the conventional manual
routine check dependent on the judgment of a semiliterate and often fatigued cop can hardly give such a comprehensive view of suspect vehicles. The
terrorists do use vehicles and a car without an RFID or a tempered RFID, becomes an immediate suspect. Terrorists are using the latest available
technologies; from satellite phones to Internet to SMS triggered detonations, etc, while we are sticking to techniques and procedures of colonial era when
the mere sight of a gun in the hands of a policeman was sufficient to scare the criminals away.
Desperate situations require drastic measures and it is about time we turn to smart solutions to counter not just terrorism but street and organized crimes
as well. This will ease the tremendous pressure the security personnel are working under. At the same time, it would come as a relief to the public as well.
At every entry point of Islamabad for instance, there are long lines of cars while every vehicle is halfheartedly checked by overworked policemen. If cars are
fitted with RFID, every car can be checked at discretely placed RFID sensors without people knowing when, where and how many times are they passing
under a very comprehensive scrutiny. The sophisticated software at the control room can sift through the continuously incoming data and raise the alarm at
the hint of a suspected vehicle with its precise location, history of travel and predicted destination.
Even after a successful suicide attempt, the long trail of the vehicle from its starting point to the devastated destination can be reconstructed. We can also
learn how it evaded the check points and make our system more intelligent. As things are, every suicide bomber succeeds using almost the same
techniques leaving the security people as clueless as ever, in the absence of data.
| Interview (Jun 2009) |
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