Day: August 29, 2022

Quectel Wireless Solutions, a global IoT solutions provider, has announced that its 5G NR module RM520N-GL, compliant with 3GPP Release 16 (R16) standards, has been certified to operate on T-Mobile’s 5G and LTE-A networks in the United States.

Quectel’s 5G module RM520N-GL and its IoT application scenarios (Photo: Business Wire)

With this certification, RM520N-GL customers can commercially deploy their home gateways, industrial routers, industrial automation devices, unmanned delivery vehicles, robots, drones, consumer and industrial laptops and other next generation IoT applications on T-Mobile’s 5G and LTE-A networks.

“We are thrilled to see that Quectel has made further significant progress in 5G, as our module supporting 5G R16 features has gained this important certification in the North American market,” said Norbert Muhrer, President and CSO of Quectel. “This confirms our commitment to drive innovation and provide our global customers with highly reliable, best-in-class IoT solutions, which will help accelerate the next wave of 5G IoT applications.”

Based on Qualcomm’s SDX62 platform, the RM520N-GL supports both 5G NSA and SA modes, as well as R16 enhanced features such as ultra-high bandwidth, millisecond-level latency, 5G network slicing and ultra-reliability.

Targeting global markets, this module is designed to support 28 major sub-6GHz bands worldwide (n1/ 2/ 3/ 5/ 7/ 8/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 18/ 20/ 25/ 26/ 28/ 29/ 30/ 38/ 40/ 41/ 48/ 66/ 70/ 71/ 75/ 76/ 77/ 78/ 79), is backwards compatible with LTE-A/3G networks and features integrated GNSS for location services. This highly integrated module can significantly enhance customers’ global IoT deployments.

Designed in an industry-standard M.2 form factor, the dimensions of the RM520N-GL are 30.0mm x 52.0mm x 2.3mm, making it pin-to-pin compatible with Quectel’s 5G module RM50xQ series, LTE-A Cat 6 module EM06/ EM060K series, Cat 12 modules EM12/ EM12xR/ EM120K series and Cat 16 module EM160R-GL, which facilitates easy network upgrades of customer devices.

The RM520N-GL supports downlink and uplink NR 2 x Carrier Aggregation (CA) and all three combinations of sub-6GHz time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division duplex (FDD) CA, including CA of FDD+TDD, FDD+FDD and TDD+TDD. This ensures greater 5G coverage, capacity and throughput by enabling the combination of available 5G spectrum assets. These features enable the RM520N-GL to have maximum downlink rates of up to 3.4Gbps and maximum uplink rates of up to 900Mbps. These data rates meet the needs of industry applications requiring enhanced mobile broadband and reliable communication capabilities, such as fixed wireless access (FWA), mobile broadband equipment and industrial automation.

Featuring a rich set of internet protocols, the RM520N-GL supports multiple optional functions including eSIM and VoLTE and integrates USB 3.1/ PCIe 3.0 super speed interfaces.

In addition to the T-Mobile approval, Quectel’s RM520N-GL has also achieved worldwide certification from GCF, PTCRB, CE, CCC, RCM, FCC and IC.

In order to help customers simplify their designs, Quectel also provides a full range of off-the-shelf and customized 5G antennas which boost wireless connectivity significantly. IoT developers can bundle the RM520N-GL module with Quectel’s antennas and pre-certification services, reducing both cost and time-to-market for their 5G devices.

About Quectel

Quectel’s passion for a smarter world drives us to accelerate IoT innovation. A highly customer-centric organization, we are a global IoT solutions provider backed by outstanding support and services. Our growing global team of over 4,000 professionals sets the pace for innovation in cellular, GNSS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® modules, antennas and IoT connectivity. With regional offices and support across the globe, our international leadership is devoted to advancing IoT and helping build a smarter world.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The intransigence and negativity on the part of Turkey will not diminish our will to settle the issue of missing persons and to find a just and mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus problem, Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou said on Monday evening, adding that Ankara’s Neo-Ottoman approach and its aims targeting countries of this region will never prevail over international law and will not be accepted.

He also stressed that Turkey has huge responsibilities and must at last give answers for all the cases of missing persons.

Speaking during an event in Mazotos community, Photiou said that there are still citizens of this country who continue to be on the list of missing persons, assuring that efforts are going on to curb the Turkish intransigence.

“We expect and look forward that the UN, the EU and the international community will show in our case the same sensitivity and determination that they show in other war zones,” he added.

He went on to say that unfortunately double standards are being applied, which “are not compatible with the values and principles of human rights and international law.”

“We are working so that the time comes when the anxiety and the pain of the families of the missing persons will be over,” he added.

Moreover, he said that Turkey’s revisionist stance and Neo-Ottoman approach, as regards the Cyprus problem, and its aims against Greece and other countries of the region, will never prevail over international law and will not be accepted.

Photiou noted that Hellenism stands in solidarity promoting efforts to address the Turkish offensive policy.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Since then, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown.

A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974.

According to statistical data published on the CMP website by August 1, 2022 out of 2002 missing persons 1,185 were exhumed and 1,027 were identified. Out of 1510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 735 were identified and 775 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 292 were identified and 200 are still missing.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

With inflated electricity prices hitting households and businesses, the installation of photovoltaic systems looms as an attractive solution for more and more consumers. This also becomes apparent in the latest figures from the Ministry of Energy, indicating an increase in demand.

Supporting households and especially those vulnerable to the effects of the crisis seems to be one of the main objectives of the Cypriot Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, through the programs it announced, and to which it allocated an increased budget, prompting “great interest” as it was noted.

At the same time, the programs aim to promote Renewable Energy Sources (RES), so that Cyprus can meet the ambitious energy goals, set by the European Union.

However, experts report that the inclusion of photovoltaics in the energy mix of Cyprus without combining them with other technologies that stabilize the system, leads to an increase in the price of kilowatt hour, and ultimately fails to achieve the goals of green development.

According to data from the Ministry of Energy, Commerce and Industry, until August 26, 2022, the Ministry received 3,433 applications for the installation of photovoltaic systems. This number corresponds to almost as many applications as the Ministry had for the whole of 2021. Of these, 1231 applications are from vulnerable households.

At the same time, for roof thermal insulation the Ministry received 90 applications until August 26, 2022, and for a thermal insulation/photovoltaic combination there is also increased interest with 32 applications to date.

For the installation/replacement of photovoltaics in 2022, the Ministry has three times the funds (950 thousand euros in the budget) and accepted 1615 applications, while in 2021 there were 1000 applications.

Applications for the installation of a photovoltaic system for charging electric vehicles with a budget of €1 million have also started, which also promotes energy storage.

Based on the latest available data there are almost 27 thousand installed photovoltaic Net-metering systems with a total power of 118 MW.

“Taking into account all installed RES, the percentage of penetration is not insignificant, if one considers that their total installed power currently exceeds 20% and is considered one of the largest percentages of dispersed production in Europe in proportion to the population”, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, Marios Panayides, told CNA.

He added that the Ministry’s aim is to take advantage of the favorable circumstances created through the crisis to promote energy conservation, photovoltaics and energy storage.

The plans of the Ministry of Energy for the installation of photovoltaics for domestic consumers will certainly benefit individual households, but as a whole their contribution to the energy mix will be small, Pavlos Liasides, the Director of Technology Company Thalis Engineering Co Ltd, which deals with RES technology issues, told CNA.

At the same time, Liasides focused on the need for the installation of photovoltaics to be combined with other technologies, so that production costs are really reduced and Cyprus can achieve its goals.

As he said, although generating electricity with photovoltaics is the cheapest way to generate electricity, their inclusion in the system without being accompanied by other technologies increases the price of the average cost per kilowatt hour.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Revenue from tourism amounted to €835.7 million in the first half of 2022, more than double from the respective period of last year, while tourist income was down by 16.7% compared with the first six months of 2019, a record year for the Cypriot tourism.

Based on the results of the Passenger Survey, released by the Statistical Service (Cystat), revenue from tourism reached €292.7 million in June 2022 compared to €135.88 milion in June 2021, recording an increase of 115.5%.

For the period of January – June 2022, revenue from tourism is estimated at €835,7 million compared to €258,8 million in the corresponding period of 2021, and to €122,0 million during the period of January – June 2020, a year marked by the disruption to international travelling due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In June 2022 tourist arrivals amounted to 372.324 marking an increase of 102% year on year.

The Deputy Ministry for Tourism estimates that despite the loss from the Russian market, Cyprus’ second largest market following the UK, due to the Ukrainian crisis and the sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow, tourist arrivals will equal or exceed the tourist inflows of last year.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus House President Annita Demetriou on Monday received Slovenian Ombudsman Peter Svetina, who is paying the island an official visit at the invitation of Cyprus Ombudswoman Maria Stylianou Lottides.

The visit to Cyprus will cover an exchange of views on issues related to the role and responsibilities of the European Ombudsman authorities as well as ways to promote the protection of human rights and to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

During the meeting with Demetriou, the discussion focused on the protection of human rights and gender equality. House President informed the Slovenian official about the recent legislations promoted on the island for the strengthening of the position of women in society, such as the legislation to address sexism and the law making femicide a distinct crime.

The President of the Parliament also referred to a pending law proposal to amend the Constitution, in order to ensure that in all legislative texts a special and separate reference will be made to men and women, as natural persons and legal subjects.

Issues of financial autonomy of Ombudsman institutions were also discussed as well as issues related to the dangers of uncontrolled use of social media and the spread of fake news and hate rhetoric.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus is trying to reach agreements for the return of migrants, said the Minister of the Interior, Nicos Nouris, after his meeting with the President of DISY and candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, Averof Neofytou, on Monday, at the party’s headquarters in Nicosia. The topic discussed at the meeting was Neofytou’s recent trip to Congo in order to discuss the return of immigrants who have come to Cyprus.

Initially, the Minister of the Interior spoke of the Government’s “continuous and uninterrupted efforts” to manage the immigration issue, adding that “any initiative that is supportive in the direction of our own efforts is welcome”. He also thanked the President of DISY for the information and for the initiatives he undertook.

In addition, Nouris stated that Turkey has been instrumentalising immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa ‘’for months’’. Today, he emphasised, Congolese nationals, within a very short period of time, rank first among the nationalities to arrive in the Republic of Cyprus, since around 4,500 Congolese reside in our country, whose applications have either been rejected or are in the process of rejection. Despite this, there is no agreement between the Republic of Cyprus and the Democratic Republic of Congo, noted Nouris, adding that the two returns of migrants to Congo were made after an agreement that had been reached between the Interior Ministers of Cyprus and Belgium.

“Therefore, it is imperative in the framework of this huge effort that we are making for returns so that agreements can be reached,” the Interior Minister indicated, adding that discussions have been held with Congo for months in an effort to reach an agreement. He went on to say that similar efforts are being made in the direction of Pakistan and Vietnam, stressing that the specific initiatives are more advanced. The purpose of these initiatives, Nouris explained, is to limit arrivals and maximise returns so that those in need are managed in the best possible way.

He also thanked the European Union for supporting the effort of Cyprus through the memoranda that have been signed and through FRONTEX. The Return Office of the Ministry of the Interior, he added, has managed in the first seven months of 2022 to arrange 4,000 returns to various countries, which puts Cyprus in first place among returns in proportion to population among EU member countries.

The Minister of the Interior explained that he wants to send a message to the countries from which many immigrants come that Cyprus is not an “immigrant’s paradise.” For this reason, he added, two weeks ago all the Ambassadors of the Republic of Cyprus in various countries were informed and an initiative has been taken in cooperation with the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs of Cyprus to carry out information campaigns in these countries, so that those who choose Cyprus as their next stop know the reality.

Answering a question, Nouris expressed his satisfaction with the assistance provided by the EU to Cyprus, which is not only financial, but also includes other initiatives. Some are already known, while others cannot be disclosed, he noted. “However, there is still a long way to go,” he stressed. He also referred to the request of frontline countries such as Cyprus that there should be at least some mandatory relocations to European countries. “That’s where the difficulties begin, there are problems, let’s be realistic. This is what we are trying to resolve through the discussions in the various councils of the Interior Ministers”, he concluded.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reaffirms, in his letter to the President of the Republic, his country’s support for the Cyprus issue settlement process under the auspices of the UN and shares the disappointment of President Anastasiades in relation to the unilateral actions of the Turkish side in the fenced area of the town of Varosha, Government Spokesman Marios Pelekanos said in a written statement on Monday.

According to Pelekanos, in his recent reply letter to the President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, the British Prime Minister “reaffirms his country’s support for the Cyprus problem’s settlement process under the auspices of the UN.”

“Prime Minister Johnson also reiterates London’s position in favour of the known parameters for a settlement, based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, which can address the concerns of all Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,” Pelekanos says. “He categorically rejects the ‘two-state solution’ put forward by the Turkish side,” he adds.

He also notes that the British Prime Minister “highlights the importance of building trust that would facilitate finding common ground and, in this context, welcomes the proposals of the President of the Republic to the Turkish Cypriot leader Mr. Ersin Tatar, for mutually beneficial Confidence-Building Measures, characterising as disappointing the fact that they were not received positively by the Turkish Cypriot side.” London, Pelekanos adds, expresses the hope that the pursuit of mutually acceptable Confidence Building Measures, within the framework of the agreed parameters governing the resolution of the Cyprus issue, would be a step in the right direction.

Furthermore, the Spokesperson notes, Johnson states that he shares the disappointment of President Anastasiades in relation to the unilateral actions of the Turkish side in the fenced town Varosha and stresses that London believes that these should cease and be reversed, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council as well as the relevant Statement by the President of the Security Council.

UN Security Council resolution 550 (1984) considers any attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN. UN Security Council resolution 789 (1992) also urges that with a view to the implementation of resolution 550 (1984), the area at present under the control of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus be extended to include Varosha.The Turkish Cypriot leadership announced in July 2021 a partial lifting of the military status in Varosha. A few months earlier, on October 8, 2020, the Turkish side opened part of the fenced area of Varosha, following an announcement made in Ankara on October 6. The UN Security Council called for the reversal of this course of action, while the UN Secretary General, in his latest report on his mission of good offices in Cyprus, reiterated his concern over developments in the fenced-off area, noting that the position of the UN on Varosha remains unchanged. The EU also expressed grave concern.

The British Government has repeatedly urged Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership to refrain from actions that could undermine the chances of a political settlement of the Cyprus issue, while it will continue to closely monitor the situation and oppose any destabilising actions in Varosha or in the wider Eastern Mediterranean, Johnson said in his letter, according to Pelekanos.

In his letter, the British Prime Minister also refers to the continuing development of bilateral relations between Cyprus and the United Kingdom, including the implementation of the Agreement on the Non-Military Development of the British Bases area, praising the personal involvement of the President of the Republic in achieving this agreement, the Spokesman said.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus has expressed its support to nuclear disarmament and the total elimination of nuclear weapons on the occasion of the International Day Against Nuclear Tests.

“On this year’s International Day Against Nuclear Tests. Cyprus reiterates its support to nuclear disarmament and the total elimination of nuclear weapons. We embrace a world free of nuclear weapons & tests,” the Cypriot Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on Twitter.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The fight to ascertain the fate of all missing persons, Greek Cypriots, Greeks and Turkish Cypriots will continue, pledged on Monday the office of the Presidential Commissioner on the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance marked on 30th August.

The office urged anyone who has information on the fate of the missing or about possible burial sites to immediately inform the relevant services.

For the International Day of the Disappeared, it is noted that disappearances have been enshrined as a crime against humanity, adding that in Cyprus the feeling of pain and bitterness which all bear, and especially the families of the missing persons, “are inevitably more intense today, especially for about 750 families, who have been waiting and experiencing daily the uncertainty of the fate of their loved ones for almost half a century.”

This unacceptable and inhumane situation is due to the callousness and denial presented for so many decades by the occupation power. It urged Turkey, once again, to cooperate and to undertake the political and humanitarian decisions necessary for the benefit of the families that are suffering.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Since then, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown.

A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Astra Space, Inc. (“Astra”) (Nasdaq: ASTR), a provider of space products and launch services to the global space industry, today announced that it has been selected by Airbus OneWeb Satellites, LLC (“AOS”) to supply the Astra Spacecraft Engine™ for integration into the portfolio of Arrow commercial small satellites manufactured by AOS.

Airbus OneWeb Satellites LLC is a joint venture between Airbus and OneWeb. AOS manufactures satellites for the OneWeb commercial constellation and Airbus customers in Merritt Island, Florida. AOS is producing satellites for Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc., in support of U.S. government programs.

About Astra:

Astra’s mission is to Improve Life on Earth from Space® by creating a healthier and more connected planet. Today, Astra offers one of the lowest cost-per-launch dedicated orbital launch services of any operational launch provider in the world, and one of the industry’s first flight-proven electric propulsion systems for satellites, Astra Spacecraft Engine™. Astra delivered its first commercial launch to low Earth orbit in 2021, making it the fastest company in history to reach this milestone, just five years after it was founded in 2016. Astra (NASDAQ: ASTR) was the first space launch company to be publicly traded on Nasdaq.

Source: Cyprus News Agency