1—2019

MAIN TOPIC: The Future of Telecommunications

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24 Case Study: ComAp even controls the horse park

Interview with Tomáš Elbl about changes in the telco business

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NewsCurrent information from the world of science and technology.

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Interview: Tomáš Elbl Increasing battery capacity is the key to further changes in telecommunications.

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Main Topic: New trends in telecommunications will deliver a world that’s even more connected and virtual All areas of telecommunications will be developing separately but will impact on each other.

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Questions for the ComAp crew – employees & distributor

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Case Studies:Willinga Park in Australia and Bavaria data center ComAp controllers perform perfect work at an Australian equestrian park and in large Munich Data Center.

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Travelogue: INDIA Through India with our Marketing Communication Manager Tereza.

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History: From the telegraph to smartphonesThe over two hundred years journey from the predecessor of the telegraph to the first iPhone.

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Product: InteliGen 500We introduce the newest addition to the range of ComAp products.

EDITORIALDear readers…

Do you remember what the world looked like ten, twenty, thirty years ago? Where you turned to for information; how you communicated with friends; what your

standard working day looked like?The speed of growth of mobile and wireless

technologies is astonishing. In 2020, the number of mobile connections worldwide is supposed to reach nine billion, which is

twice as many as in 2009. Facebook, the most popular social network, has 2.27 bil-lion active users and a 10% annual growth rate, with 1.5 billion users logging in every

day. Are you one of them?Of course, the growing popularity and vital

importance of communication technologies have their dark sides. According to CNN,

there are 83 million fake profiles on Face-book alone. It has become a tool for mass

advertising, influencing public opinion and distorting the facts. This is compounded by the fact that many of us still have not

adapted our behaviour to the new technol-ogies, which may have dangerous conse-

quences in the future.But let’s leave dystopian forecasts to

one side and read about the fascinating improvements that are supposed to make our lives simpler and more efficient. That

is why this issue of The Current deals with smartphones, data, the IoT and other communication trends. This topic is close

to our hearts at ComAp. Partly because our solutions are built on data and communi-

cation, remote monitoring and control; and because telecommunications companies

are among our most important customers, (an example of which is the case study from

Munich on page 22–23). You can also read about life at our branch in India and the

preparations for an exhibition there. And we haven’t forgotten to showcase our brand

new InteliGen 500 controller either!

Tune into the waves of The Current!

Barbora BednaříkováEditor-in-Chief

The Current – a magazine for employees, distributors, customers and friends of ComAp | Published twice a year by ComAp: ComAp a.s., U Uranie 1612/14a, 170 00 Prague 7, Czech Republic | info@comap-control.com, www.comap-control.com | Production: Boomerang Communication s.r.o., Nad Kazankou 37, 171 00 Prague 7, Czech Republic | info@boomerang.co.com, www.boomerang.co.com Editor in Chief: Barbora Bednaříková, Co-editor: Rudolf Král, Design: Lucie Komárová, Illustrations: Bedirhan Akcan, Kristina Šimková, Karolína Tomšejová | Registration number: MK ČR E 22981, 1st Issue, Published: 1. 3. 2019 | Includes illustrative images.

THECURRENT. COMAP-CONTROL. COM

Subscribe to the electronic version

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ComAp compliant with the latest EU Grid Connection Rules

The expansion of energy networks with renewable energy means new challenges for plant manufacturers, operators and grid operators. That is why the European Union set network requirements for a cross-border electricity exchange that describe

the grid connection requirements for generators. The regulations include, for example, capabilities for frequency stabilization, and the provision of reactive power to the point of

black start capacity for large installations. ComAp’s InteliSys Gas controller is now compliant with the latest Grid connection rules, European Requirements for Generators and also with the latest German VDE-AR-N 4105:2018 and VDE-AR-N 4110:2018 norms. Using the InteliSys Gas controller significantly helps ComAp customers to be ready for the upcoming Grid codes requirements.

Welcome to Slovakia

ComAp is delighted to announce the opening of its 11th subsidiary: ComAp Slovakia s.r.o., in Košice. This move was the outcome of the planned

expansion of the software development team in the Research & Development department and the constantly growing demand for innovative software solutions. “In Prague, where the job market is oversaturated with employers, there are no specialists to be had and there aren’t enough university graduates. So we are taking

the work where the people are. We are targeting places where there is a good university and motivated and talented specialists,” says ComAp’s R&D Director Marek Novotný. What’s more, ComAp is collaborating with the local technical university. “Remote collaboration by teams and individual working conditions are the trends of the near future and ComAp has to know how to handle them,” says Blanka Chladová from ComAp’s HR department. Thanks to its easy accessibility from Prague (the flight takes roughly 1.5 hours), employees at the branch can regularly meet their colleagues from Research & Development to discuss joint projects, either at the Prague head office or at the new subsidiary.

WHAT’S NEW AT COMAPP : C o m A p, s h u t t e r s t o c k / T : B a r b o r a B e d n a ř í ko vá

Is your controller’s life over? Dispose of it in an environmentally friendly way

At ComAp we try to work out how to reduce our environmental footprint, and we want to make it easy for our customers as well. That is why we are launching the option of global recycling services for all ComAp equipment. Now, all you have to do is deliver an old device to our branch or the distributor. They will hand it over to a recycling company, which will ensure it is recycled and most of the materials are reused.

The European Union set network requirements for a cross-borderelectricity exchange.

ComAp opens a new subsidiary in Košice, Slovakia.Košice

In addition, we are part of the DHL GoGreen climate neutral service. That means we can offset greenhouse gas emissions from ComAp’s logistics by investing in international climate protection projects.

Between 1973 and 2016 the total primary energy supply (TPES – the sum of production and imports minus exports

and storage changes) increased from 6,101 to 13,671 million toe (tonnes of oil equivalent).

When TPES is broken down by source, energy from oil experienced a sharp decline, falling from 46% in 1973 to 32% in 2016, with other energy sources taking up the slack.

The share of natural gas rose from 16% to 22%,with nuclear increasing from 1% to 5%.

Natural gas’sshare of the source of electricity generation increased even more significantly, almost doubling

from 12% to 23%. Nuclear and renewables also increased significantly. By contrast, electricity generated from oil registered the biggest decline, dropping from 25% to 4%.

The world’s biggest natural gas producers are currently the United States and Russia, which together account for almost 40% of the total volume of natural gas. These two countries are followed by Iran, Canada, Qatar, China, Norway, Australia, Algeria and Saudi Arabia.

Natural gas’s share of use also changed substantially. While more than half of global production (55%) was used in industry in 1973, in 2016 the figure was just 37%. Conversely, residential, transport and non-energy use increased.

1 — 2 0 1 9 t h e c u r r e n t // n e w s // 5

INCREASING USE OF GAS: GREATER EFFICIENCY AND FEWER EMISSIONS

ComAp has been in the field of gas gen-set control from the mid-1990s, when we

first started to provide control systems for co-

generation sites and plants. Since that time a lot has happened in the world of gas gen-sets, their usage, and benefits for customers. There are two different engine types, highly efficient engines running usually as CHPs, and island or standby gen-sets whose parameters re-lated to load acceptance are almost the same as in diesel sets. Gas engines are becoming more and more popular due to several factors such as efficiency (in case of CHPs) or lower emissions, and we can see gas engines in applications where only diesel sets were used several years ago. ComAp provides control systems for all possible gas engines and gen-sets in a power range up to several MWs, regardless of engine brand, type of gas used, or final application.ComAp’s InteliSys Gas controller is specifically designed for control of gas gen-sets in the power class from 100kWs to a few MWs of power. InteliSys Gas can be used on bare engines, (meaning engines without any control system) be-cause InteliSys Gas controls the whole gas gen-set. InteliSys Gas can also be

used for gen-sets where an ECU or an engine control-ler is already fitted by the manufacturer.

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P : C o m A p / T : M i r o s l av D v o ř á k

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Source: International Energy Agency, 2018

1973–2016

Natural gas 22%Nuclear 5%Hydro 3% Biofuels and waste 10%

Other 2%Coal 27%Oil 32%

13,761 Mto

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In total, 3,768 billion cubic metres of natural gas was extracted globally in 2017.

4Producers bcm

% of world total

United States 760 20.2

Russian Federation 694 18.4

Islamic Rep. of Iran 214 5.7

Canada 184 4.9

Qatar 169 4.5

China 142 3.8

Norway 128 3.4

Australia 105 2.8

Algeria 94 2.5

Saudi Arabia 94 2.5

Rest of the world 1,184 31.3

World 3,768 20.2

52016

Residential 29.9%Transport 7.1% Commercial and public services 13.0% Non-energy use 11.7% Other 0.9%Industry 37.4%

29.9%

37.4%

7.1%

13%

11.7%

0.9%

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Solar-powered drones emitting an internet signal

might provide internet access in remote areas.

Solar-powered internet drones

How do you provide internet access in remote areas? By getting it to fly there. Although Facebook last year shelved its bold plans for solar-powered drones emitting an internet signal, this looks set to not last. Tests carried out in collaboration with Airbus are reported to have taken place in Australia a few months ago. Airbus apparently made available its Zephyr drone, a model designed for “defence, humanitarian and environmental missions”. Zephyr is similar to Facebook’s currently suspended Aquila project – it too possesses HAPS (High Altitude Pseudo Satellite) technology and uses solar power, which allows the machine to spend “long, long months” in the air. For testing, Facebook chose a version of this drone that has a wingspan of 25 metres, can function at altitudes as high as twenty kilometres and relays data to earth using a radio signal with a one-

millimetre wave length.

Biometric credit cards are on the horizon

Paying by card could soon involve another security feature – a fingerprint reader. Norwegian start-up Zwipe has successfully raised millions of dollars and is working hard to bring the technology to life. This should happen in the second half of this year, first in Europe and the Middle East. A pilot trial is already running in Italy. Working with MasterCard, Zwipe came up with the idea of integrating a fingerprint scanner into payment cards. In the subsequent phase next year, the Norwegian firm would like to implement this technology in portable electronics and other devices.

WHAT’S CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION…Current trends in the

world of technology and research

P : s h u t t e r s t o c k / T : Š t ě pá n Vo r l í č e k

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Ford’s robotic bottom even sweats

Innovations and novel ideas can be found even in areas where we would not expect them. Last year, car maker Ford demonstrated its “artificial bottom”, which is basically a shaped cushion connected to a robotic arm, which can simulate ten years of sitting in a car seat in just a few weeks. It’s called Robutt and now it’s back and even more realistic. Now it can sweat, so it can simulate a journey from, say, a tennis match or the gym, even better. The pad is heated to 36 degrees and half a litre of liquid passes through it during the testing. According to Ford, this makes it better at simulating the demanding daily service that our car seats perform.

Want to lose weight? Try neurostimulation

2019 will be the year of brain stimulation. More and more projects are emerging and the electronics are getting more accessible, smaller and cheaper. A start-up called Thync, for example, has developed a small box located by the right temple that targets specific points in the brain responsible for many disorders, such as inflammations. Tests delivered interesting results, such as for psoriasis, and the device is currently undergoing clinical testing. A company

called Neurovalens came up with Modius, a device that helps people lose weight by stimulating the vestibular nerve, which is situated directly behind the ear. NASA worked on something similar in the 1970s. Stimulating the neuro-vestibular system can influence appetite and regulation of body mass. In autumn 2017 the manufacturer tested the idea on three thousand people, who lost on average four kilogrammes over two months.

Last year, car maker Ford demonstrated its “artificial bottom”.

Google and green energy arrive in Asia

Google is launching its first project in Asia to generate clean electricity for its data centre. This is the outcome of many months of negotiations with other companies and the Taiwanese government, which recently changed its legislation so that energy from renewables could also be bought directly by companies not operating in public services. Google already operates solar and wind plants in North and South America and Europe. The company is now building a ten-megawatt solar farm in the Taiwanese city of Tainan, around a hundred kilometres south of the data centre. For Google, this is another step towards its goal of powering all its data centres from renewables.

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The biggest changes

P : D a n Vo j t ě c h / T : J i ř í H o l u b e c

Tomáš Elbl is an experienced Senior Manager and strategist focused primarily on telecommunications, ICT and digital innovation at Vodafone. We met mainly because of the deep knowledge of traditional and IP voice, broadband, mobile network and data services he acquired during his professional career working for telecommunication industry leaders.

in telecommunications will come in the B2B segment

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