Nokia Siemens Wins Telecom OSS Vendor Of Year Award

From www.efytimes.com

Saturday, June 06, 2009:  Nokia Siemens Networks has won the Frost & Sullivan Telecom OSS Vendor of the Year award in recognition of its strong growth and performance across Asia Pacific during 2008.

The Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT Awards is an annual event held to recognise the performance of companies and individuals in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry in Asia Pacific. This year, awards were presented in 30 categories, with nominees being evaluated on financial and technology criteria – including revenue and revenue growth, portfolio diversity, major wins, key achievements, infrastructure design, service assurance and service fulfillment. The winners were selected by a panel of judges hailing from Asia Pacific’s information and communications technology market.

Kamlesh Kalwar, senior industry analyst, Asia Pacific ICT practice, Frost & Sullivan, said, “Nokia Siemens Networks’ success in Asia Pacific is evident from the deployment of its OSS solutions with a large number of service providers across the region. The company’s customer-centric approach, in-depth knowledge, supporting software, solution designing and system integration has enabled it to deliver high-quality services and enhance customer experience. In addition, its strong multivendor OSS offering and OSS integration and consulting services have helped service providers not only achieve customer-centric OSS transformation but also reduce integration costs.”

Abhay Padmanabhan, head, operations and business software, Asia Pacific, Nokia Siemens Networks, said, “This award is significant to us as we have been investing heavily in the areas of OSS, service management, and charging and integration to help communication service providers achieve higher operational efficiency.”

Sony To Extend Mobile Java Platform Into Entry 3G Segment

From www.efytimes.com

Saturday, June 06, 2009:  Sony Ericsson is planning to extend its mobile Java Platform into its entry 3G mobile phone portfolio. Transferring this (Java) fully developed platform into cost-efficient 3G devices will be an important element of Sony Ericsson’s business strategy, particularly with regards to targeting growth in key emerging markets such as India and China, as they roll-out new 3G networks, said the company.

“Sony Ericsson has made significant investments in the development of its mobile Java Platform, which has enabled an exceptional user-experience and consistent performance. We are confident that extending the Java Platform to a much larger global market will encourage developers to drive innovation and create richer user experiences for our customers,” said Rikko Sakaguchi, corporate vice president and head, creation and development, Sony Ericsson.

“As a leader in communication entertainment and particularly Java gaming, Sony Ericsson is broadening the market for developers to build applications on one of the most robust and flexible environments in the industry. Sony Ericsson’s accumulated mobile Java knowledge and investments, which have enabled the continuous differentiation and evolution of Walkman and Cyber-shot phones, is the basis for this new strategic direction,” states the company.

Sony Ericsson’s aim is to grow its share of the 3G Java phone market as the Java platform JP 8.5 with its rich feature support becomes available.

This announcement means that games, applications and content developed on the Sony Ericsson Java platform will provide a compelling business opportunity for developers who can now extend content creation for consumers in the entry 3G segment, widely recognised as a future growth area of the market.

Dishtv Partners With atom

From www.efytimes.com

Saturday, June 06, 2009:  India’s atom technologies, a provider of mobile/IVR payment solutions, has partnered with Dishtv to offer phone/mobile payment solutions to over five million Dishtv subscribers across India. This service offers the convenience to the Dishtv subscribers to recharge their accounts instantly through the phone over the atom platform using their credit cards/debit cards, anytime, anywhere.

atom platform provides a secure and automated environment to end customers and they need not worry about getting their credit card details exposed to any human being, explained the company.

“To provide more convenient and risk free payment options to our rapidly increasing subscriber base, we have put into service the atom platform, which will encourage more customers to pay using their phones,” said Salil Kapoor, chief executive officer, Dishtv. “Our subscribers can now enjoy best deals in an automated and secure environment. Our association with atom Technologies for using the innovative Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology will offer more convenience to our subscribers by providing them with additional option of making payments.”

“We are confident that our solutions will help Dishtv in serving their subscribers better, ease their recharge collection process and reduce their cost overheads as cost per transaction will come down for them. The solution will also enable Dishtv to process multiple transactions concurrently thus saving the subscriber’s time,” said, Dewang Neralla, director, atom technologies.

Related stories at

• http://www.ciol.com/technology/mobility/news-reports/dishtv-ties-up-with-atom-for-m-payment/8609120648/0/

BSNL to seek foreign tie-ups to revive manufacturing units

6 Jun 2009, 0052 hrs IST, Joji Thomas Philip, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: BSNL will seek foreign collaboration to revive its six telecom equipment manufacturing units spread across three cities — Mumbai, Kolkata and Jabalpur. The telco will soon invite expression of interest (EoIs)

 from global players to form JVs to manufacture mobile equipment. The JVs may include a technology transfer clause and may also stipulate that the foreign partner can invest in new machinery, according to BSNL executives familiar with the development.

The PSU may also mandate that bidders should be full-fledged players with expertise in design, development, manufacturing, supplying and marketing of telecom-related equipment for at least three years, the sources added.

“Currently, we make very little equipments. We are looking at collaborations with equipment companies for these factories. We can make mobile-related equipment and broadband products, such as modems,” BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal told ET. BSNL is the only service provider that runs manufacturing facilities also, but its factories are in a state of disarray as it lacks technology to compete with global hardware majors.

BSNL had tried a similar experiment in late 2006, when it selected Chinese equipment major ZTE to set up a 50:50 JV to revive its Kolkata plant. The PSU had shortlisted Chinese majors ZTE and Huawei, but the latter lost out in the final selection process. Despite talks between BSNL and ZTE reaching the final stages with both the companies deciding to manufacture a million CDMA mobile handsets and an equal number of fixed wireless terminals.

BSNL looks for global OEMs to bid for WiMax operations

6 Jun 2009, 0056 hrs IST, Joji Thomas Philip, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: State-owned BSNL on Friday issued fresh tenders to run its WiMax operations, even as it tightened the eligibility criteria and introduced a slew of additional safe-guards in the wake of the telco being forced to abort its previous tender in light of dubious operators making it to the final shortlist.

“We have issued fresh tenders for companies to run our WiMax services across 16 circles on a revenue share franchisee basis. This time around, only original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system integrators can bid. We are confident that shell or paper companies will not be eligible to bid,” BSNL’s chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal told ET.

According to Mr Goyal, the telco was looking at global OEMs, such as Ericsson and Cisco, to bid for its WiMax tenders. The logic: OEMs have the technical capabilities to launch and operate such networks especially since they manufacture the same. “We are also looking at system integrators, such as IT companies, to run the operations. All bidders must have a minimum turnover of Rs 100 crore each for the last two years,” Mr Goyal added. In fact, the tender documents will be issued only after proof of turnover is shown.

ET had first reported on June 3 that BSNL would seek fresh bids for franchisees across the country to roll out technology that allows users the wireless access to high-speed internet and other data applications over a large area. BSNL expects WiMax to generate multi-billion dollar revenues over the next 10 years.

The telco had cancelled the earlier tender after its own investigations revealed that five of the six shortlisted companies — WiExpert Communications, SV Telecom Systems, Digitelco Communications, Spectrus Communications and Technotial Infoways — were acting as ‘fronts’ for certain individuals. It was found that these companies shared the same corporate details, notaries, auditors and dates of incorporation, and even their last annual general body meeting was shown to be held on the same day. BSNL had also come under pressure from its labour unions to scrap the tender following reports of wide-scale corruption in the methodologies adopted to shortlist successful bidders.

Companies, which want to participate in the new tender, have been given a deadline till August 4, 2009, to submit their bids. A host of companies, which were mysteriously disqualified from the earlier tender, are expected to place fresh bids — these include Soma Networks, Cisco-backed Terracom, Unwire India and Welcomm Communications, which has a tie-up Huawei and Aricent.

BSNL already has a tie-up with US-headquartered Soma Networks, which runs WiMax services for the PSU in the circles of Gujarat, Maharashtra (including Goa) and Andhra Pradesh. The deal with Soma has also raised concerns considering that BSNL had appointed this franchisee without going through a bidding process.

Besides, the WiMax forum has also pointed out that Soma Networks was deploying mobile WiMax in FDD format, a technology standard that is not recognised by the forum globally.

BSNL and Novatium launch BSNL-NOVA netPC service

Source PTI From Hindustan Times on 06 June 2009

The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on Saturday launched the BSNL-NOVA netPC service in association with Novatium Solutions Pvt Limited of Chennai to enable Internet browsing on BSNL Boradband without owning a PC.

Addressing media persons here TN Sudhindra Kumar, CGMT, said,” this unique facility will provide maintenance free computing experience to customers. BSNL subscribers now need not worry about hardware crashes, virus attacks, data loss and regular upgrades”, Kumar said.

He said now these would be taken care of by a remote server client-computing model maintained by Novatium.

The service would increase the broadband penetration and decrease the digital divide in India by making broadband and Internet available to rural customers also in large numbers, he said.

He said that it would cost both BSNL and NOVA net PC Rs 2999 plus taxes with a monitor and the monthly subscription including BSNL broadband charges starting from Rs 274 plus tax.

Alcatel-Lucent Wins Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT Award

From www.efytimes.com

Saturday, June 06, 2009:  Alcatel-Lucent has been awarded the ‘Optical Vendor of the Year’ in Asia Pacific at this year’s Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT Awards. The 2009 award also marks Alcatel-Lucent’s second consecutive win in the category. The award recognises Alcatel-Lucent’s exemplary innovation, growth and performance in the Asia Pacific carrier network optical infrastructure market.

“Alcatel-Lucent would like to extend our appreciation to our peers, the organisers and our customers for making this memorable win possible,” said Sean Dolan, president, Alcatel-Lucent Asia-Pacific. “To achieve this despite a challenging global economic climate and business environment makes it even more special, and is a testament to Alcatel-Lucent’s outstanding efforts and progress in this highly significant industry segment.”

“Alcatel-Lucent’s strong product portfolio offering end-to-end optical network solutions has ensured that the company remained the optical vendor of choice among Asian operators. Last year the company successfully implemented T-MPLS and introduced its zero touch photonics technology designed to help service providers minimise operating costs. As a result of its innovative solutions and timely launches, Alcatel-Lucent managed to secure significant contracts in key Asia-Pacific markets in 2008,” said Adeel Najam, industry analyst, Frost & Sullivan.

Telcos set sights on the Net

Thomas K Thomas on The Hindu Business Line on June 6, 2009

New Delhi, June 5 With social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Second Life drawing Internet users, telecom operators in India are cashing in on their popularity by launching brand awareness campaigns and forming product-related communities on these sites.

Bharti Airtel, for instance, has launched a campaign on both Facebook and Twitter to popularise its virtual calling card service among Non-Resident Indians in the US, the UK, Singapore and Canada. The product, called CallHome, allows users to make calls to India at one cent.

While advertising in traditional media is an expensive proposition considering that the product is targeted at a specific community, the social networking sites offer a free platform for companies such as Airtel.

Mr Syed Safawi, Executive Director, Bharti Airtel Ltd, says, “Brand’s research indicated that while the reach of ethnic media amongst NRIs was not more than 50 per cent, the community is highly networked online and word of mouth plays a key role in building brand awareness and consideration. Armed with this insight, Airtel CallHome is increasingly focusing on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to become a part of everyday lives of NRIs via a surround effect.”

While Airtel has over 2,000 members on its Facebook community, more than 800 consumers follow Airtel on Twitter.

According to Mr Safawi, this is only a start and Airtel will soon use the media to address Indian subscribers also. “The media is non-obtrusive and helps build our brand totally through word of mouth. It also helps us interact with the consumers and get feedback on what they want,” says Mr Safawi.

Virtual island

Tata Teleservices is another company that has taken its brand campaign into the virtual world, by becoming the first Indian telecom operator to enter the Second Life community.

The company has created a virtual island on this community wherein consumers can get a feel of all the products available under the Tata Indicom brand in addition to playing games, songs and other interactive programs.

Tata Teleservices Ltd’s Chief Marketing Officer, Mr Lloyd Mathias, said. “The digital world is evolving at a fantastic pace — cutting across geographical and cultural barriers — and we firmly believe that the virtual world has a huge outreach potential for businesses. We feel our association with Second Life will redefine the concept of outreach and take digital interactivity to the next level — for this will allow Tata Indicom to engage with the growing digital audience in a manner that is relevant to them.”

In this initiative, Tata Indicom’s brand ambassadors will also be present in their virtual avatars, engaging with visitors in an interactive forum.

WiMax services: BSNL invites bids afresh

Thomas K Thomas on The Hindu Business Line on June 6, 2009

New Delhi, June 5 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Friday invited bids afresh from private players to roll out WiMax services on a franchisee basis.

The PSU floated a new tender after it scrapped the earlier one to rope in a strategic partner.

The earlier tender ran into rough weather after it was discovered that five of the six bidders shortlisted by the PSU existed only on paper. The five companies had identical corporate information including contact address, contact person, e-mail id, and lawyer.

BSNL’s technical committee had disqualified global companies including Cisco and Soma Networks even as it chose to keep the bids of the five firms.

Political parties, including the BJP, had alleged corruption at the highest level. The issue had also caught the attention of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Tender norms

BSNL has now invited bids in 16 circles giving another opportunity to the international companies. The tender documents will be available from June 12. The technical bids will be opened on August 4. Companies with a turnover of over Rs 100 crore for two consecutive financial years can apply. The franchisee company will have to invest in setting up the WiMax network. The company offering the highest revenue share to BSNL will be selected.

BSNL had earlier selected Soma Network on a pilot basis for Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Therefore there will be no competitive bidding in these three circles. The PSU is also in the process of issuing another tender for buying 7000 WiMax base stations to set up community service centres in the rural areas.

Cost reduction

The State-owned company is increasingly adopting the franchisee model to reduce costs. It is already offering IPTV services with HFCL on revenue-sharing basis. The PSU has invited bids from private players to set up Internet Data Centres (IDC) in various parts of the country on a revenue share basis.

The centres are expected to be set up over the next six months after which the PSU will go after outsourcing contracts for services such as web hosting, co-location, data warehousing and Internet managed services.

Hand in old phone, Nokia will plant a tree

The Hindu Business Line on June 06, 2009

Chennai, June 5 Three tonnes of electronic waste consisting of 68,000 old devices including 10,000 mobile handsets, 10,000 batteries, 32,000 chargers, 1,000 headsets, body covers and accessories…

Nokia collected these over 45 days when it launched its ‘take-back’ programme in four cities to support e-waste recycling.

The manufacturer of mobile handsets will now expand this recycling initiative across the country from July 1, said Mr Ambrish Bakaya, Director, Corporate Affairs, Nokia India Pvt Ltd. The company has tied up with NGOs to plant one tree for every handset that is handed in for recycling.

The pilot programme in Bangalore, Delhi, Gurgaon and Ludhiana launched on January 1 was backed up with a consumer awareness programme. The programme is now being expanded to all the major cities.

Announcing the initiative here on the World Environment Day, Mr Bakaya said the company adopted a three-pronged approach to environment conservation. Apart from enabling proper disposal of electronic waste, the company is looking at the lifecycle of the product from sourcing materials and substances that go into the making of the cell phone and achieving energy efficiency (its chargers use less power) to recycling when the product falls into disuse.

On saving on materials and conservation, he said the company saved 100,000 tonnes of packaging material over two years when it decided to cut back on the size of packaging for a few of its models. It is not looking at bringing down packaging material use for a greater range of models, he said.

On take-back and recycling, Mr Bakaya said mobile phone users saddled with old handsets of any make need not leave them lying around the house or, worse, dispose them in the garbage to end up in land-fills. They just have to go to the nearest Nokia Priority Dealers or Nokia Care Centres and drop them in the recycling bin. Nokia will them pass this on to an authorised recycler, Mr Bakaya said.

More than 80 per cent of the materials in cell phones and accessories can be recycled to make a wide range of products — the plastics can be made into a wide range of products including household furniture.

When people hand in an old phone for recycling, apart from helping in proper disposal of waste they will have the satisfaction of taking part in greening the environment.