BSNL’s GSM project faces further delay

Thomas K Thomas on The Hindu Business Line on June 15, 2009

New Delhi, June 15 Finnish telecom equipment-maker Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has shot off a fresh letter to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd’s two-member integrity panel alleging that it has been unfairly singled out of the bidding process for the Rs 30,000- crore GSM project.

NSN has alleged some of the other bidders had also not produced certificates required to be eligible for the tender.

The panel is investigating whether the tendering process was transparent or not. BSNL will not award the contracts till the investigations are complete.

Experience certificate

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed BSNL to give the reasons in writing. According to BSNL sources, NSN had not submitted an experience certificate for the North zone. However, NSN countered it on the ground that the certificate submitted for other zones was relevant for the North zone as well. NSN said in its letter that if BSNL had to disqualify its bid, then the PSU should have also rejected Ericsson’s bid since the latter had allegedly not given a separate certificate for 2G equipment, though BSNL had floated different tenders for 2G and 3G equipment.

BSNL had referred the dispute to an integrity panel approved by the Central Vigilance Commissioner after NSN took its case to the CVC seeking intervention. Two former Chief Election Commissioners — Mr T.S. Krishnamurthy and Mr B.B. Tandon — are the members on this panel. Ericsson and Huawei were short-listed by BSNL, which had rejected offers from NSN, Alcatel Lucent and ZTE.

Airtel crosses 5-m user mark in Delhi

From The Hindu Business Line, June 15, 2009

New Delhi, June 15

Bharti Airtel announced that it has crossed the significant milestone of five million customers in the Delhi and National Capital Region circle. Airtel is the first mobile operator to achieve this landmark in a metro circle and added the last million subscribers in only 13 months in a circle that already boasts of a mobile penetration of almost 100 per cent. “The milestone of five million customers amply demonstrates the customers’ faith and reinforces Airtel&# 8217;s leadership position in the Delhi and NCR circle, backed by its seamless network and excellent customer service,” said a press release.

Nokia to harness the power of the Internet, mobility

From www.ciol.com on June 15, 2009

SINGAPORE: At the Nokia Connection event held in Singapore today, Nokia demonstrated its commitment to harness the power of the Internet and mobility to deliver compelling services and solutions to consumers. Nokia announced a number of devices with solutions that can be personalized to connect people in new and better ways.

In a keynote at the opening ceremony of the event, executive vice president and chief development officer Mary McDowell said, “Nokia envisions a world where people will be empowered to share and connect with what matters most to them through highly personalized and contextually relevant solutions. To this end, Nokia is driving this transformation both as a company and externally to build a vibrant ecosystem and deliver relevant and delightful solutions to consumers.”

“The Asia Pacific market has been an extremely important region for Nokia over the years and remains hugely important to Nokia.  Asian consumers’ eagerness to use technology makes this region a great place to introduce new devices and services. Singapore and many of its Southeast Asian neighbours represented here today will be among the first to take advantage of the future solutions Nokia intends to bring as we connect the planet so that everyone can participate,” added Mary McDowell.

Chris Carr, vice president of Sales in SEAP region, commented, “We are witnessing exciting developments in our industry driven by the rapid convergence of the internet and mobile. This is not only happening in advanced markets but for everyone. According to industry estimates, we have already reached the 4 billion mobile connections milestone globally early this year. The next phase of growth will be very much driven by the emerging markets, including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Many of the population from these markets are accessing the internet, information, education, and entertainment on their first mobile. Nokia is playing a pivotal role in this transformation.”

BIG TV to kick start advertising campaign

From www.ciol.com on June 15, 2009

MUMBAI, INDIA: Big TV, Reliance Communication’s DTH service, is all set to kick start a two month long advertising 360 degree integrated campaign. The new campaign will deliver the value benefits a customer can derive through Reliance BIG TV and its entertainment niche, focusing on the brand’s larger than life canvas.

For the campaign, Big TV has engaged Corcoise Production which is headed by Prasoon Pandey while TVCs will be directed by Prashant Issar. A team from Leo Burnett led by Nilesh Tivary and KV Shridhar will lead the multi-crore campaign, which will be launched across the country covering electronic media, print, over 30 FM radio channels, OOH media, over 800 online portals and a host of social media. The advertising campaign will cover all the genres on a pan-India level with 1500 GRPs and over 10,000 radio spots.

Nokia launches three new handsets

From www.ciol.com on June 15, 2009

HELSINKI, FINLAND: Top cellphone maker Nokia launched three new handsets on Monday, including a new touch-screen model.

Nokia said it would start shipping 5530 XpressMusic phone in the third quarter. The other model, E72, an updated version of its top-selling E71 business phone, will also be available late in the third quarter, while, ‘3710 fold’ will be available in the fourth quarter of 2009.

According to a Nokia press release, the 5530 XpressMusic, priced at 199 euros, is a compact XpressMusic device that uses a touch interface for accessing people and content on the homescreen. The ‘scrolling’ contacts bar provides direct access to 20 people and their latest conversations and media updates. The homescreen also features one touch shortcuts to content and popular social networks, like Facebook and MySpace.

This handset follows in the footsteps of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, said the release.

On the other hand, Nokia E72, costing 350 euros, brings a rich mobile email and instant messaging experience right out of the box, claimed Nokia. For the first time, owners will be able to set up instant messaging (IM) accounts provided by Nokia Messaging direct from the homescreen, it added.

Priced at 140 euros, Nokia 3710 fold adds a personal touch with an artistic pattern on the cover and comes with an appealing array of features in a renewed, but instantly familiar user interface, according to Nokia.

In a keynote at the opening ceremony of Nokia Connection event held in Singapore today, where the new models were unveiled, Nokia’s executive vice president and chief development officer Mary McDowell said, “Nokia envisions a world where people will be empowered to share and connect with what matters most to them through highly personalized and contextually relevant solutions.”

She said Nokia is driving this transformation both as a company and externally to build a vibrant ecosystem and deliver relevant and delightful solutions to consumers.

Related stories at

•  http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Nokia-launches-new-touch-screen-music-phone/articleshow/4657918.cms

Nokia intros phones for farmers

From www.ciol.com on June 15, 2009, source PTI

MUMBAI, INDIA: Leading mobile phone maker Nokia has launched cellphones, which will help farmers get instant information on farm prices in ‘mandis’.The company claimed that the new phone could display information in two languages and offer graphically rich user interface.

The company will be selling the devices first in Maharashtra and later to other states as also to select countries in Asia and Africa, officials said today.

The new devices costing about Rs 2,000 will also help users access education and entertainment services. Agriculture service will contain information on seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, market prices and weather.

The content will be available for Rs 30 to Rs 60 per month depending upon the information availed.

Nokia India Managing Director D Shivakumar said the company has tied up with Idea Cellular to offer the service and is talking to other mobile operators as well.

(Please see also story on Nokia Life Tools)

Customer grievances: Trai for monitoring system

From www.ciol.com on June 15, 2009

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is considering introducing a grievance monitoring system to ensure proper redressal of the customers’ complaints.

According to a PTI report Trai Chairman J S Sarma said “We are looking at a Grievance Monitoring System where the regulator will seek update from the service providers on those complaints of customers which have not been addressed for a reasonable period of time. ”
   
He said the system will be set up after consultations with the service providers to protect interests of customers.    

But the initiative will not be done through any ‘heavy hand’ rules, rather it would be a facilitating move to serve the customer better which is a win-win situation for everybody, Sarma said.    

At present, there is no such system to know if the customer’s complaint has been addressed or not, if not why, once a user lodges complaint with a service provider on any issues ranging from billing to quality of service.    

It is left to the telcos to look at complaints and act on it and sometimes there are long-pending complaints which go unadressed for a long time or not looked into at all and the customers become helpless and stop pursuing the solution.    

Trai has put in place a number of mechanism to protect consumers from any harassment or exploitation by the telcos but in absence of any follow-up action to ensure the redressal, it becomes a fragile assurance.

VeriSign Reports Rapid Growth In Mobile Messaging Traffic

From www.efytimes.com on June 15, 2009

Monday, June 15, 2009:  Mobile messaging volumes continue to shatter records, according to the latest quarterly index of mobile messaging statistics compiled by the messaging and mobile media division of VeriSign, Inc. In Q1 2009, VeriSign’s combined mobile messaging networks enabled an average of approximately 932 million messages per day globally. This is an 18.5 per cent increase from the previous quarter and a 96 per cent rise over Q1 2008. In total, VeriSign delivered 82.3 billion P2P1 and over 1.6 billion A2P messages in Q1 2009.

“Growth in mobile messaging volumes remains a consistent bright spot in the mobile wireless environment,” said Basavaraj Nagaraj, senior manager, product management, messaging and mobile media division, VeriSign. “As consumers and enterprises increasingly rely on mobile messaging to stay connected anytime, anywhere, the mobile industry relies on VeriSign to ensure that those messages reach their intended destination. We are making the investments necessary to deliver the reach, reliability and scalability needed for 2009.”

Across Asia Pacific, VeriSign saw an approximate 30 per cent increase in the total number of international mobile messages sent and received over its network in Q1 2009 from Q4 2008. The company also saw rapid growth in the volume of mobile messaging traffic in this region, especially in South Asia where the number of mobile messages delivered by VeriSign jumped almost tenfold that quarter.

This underscores mobile messaging as an increasing means for people to communicate across borders, especially in South and Southeast Asia where there is a large migrant worker population, says VeriSign. To this end, VeriSign announced that it has been chosen by PT Indosat Tbk in Indonesia and Warid Telecom International Ltd in Bangladesh to provide international messaging to more destinations.

“The growth of mobile messaging in Asia Pacific this quarter has once again proven its popularity among mobile subscribers and highlights how SMS/MMS messaging has become an integral part of their lives,” Nagaraj added. “We are extremely delighted to be a part of this growth and will continue to help our customers to reach their goals.”

The VeriSign Inter-Carrier MMS and PictureMail platforms also continue to experience rigorous growth in MMS traffic. Compared to the first quarter of 2008, MMS and PictureMail volumes jumped 130 per cent and 84 per cent respectively. In total, VeriSign delivered more than 1.1 billion MMS messages in Q1 2009.

The quarter also produced a healthy rise in mobile media/mobile content messaging volumes through VeriSign’s Mobile Delivery Gateway (MDG). Driven in part by the addition of new mobile content providers and an increase in mobile content provider market activity, VeriSign reported a 27 per cent increase in Premium SMS transactions year over year. VeriSign’s MDG platform also reached a monthly all-time high in retail sales, which translated to a 35 per cent rise from the previous quarter. The MDG platform has achieved its sixth straight month of 100 per cent availability.

With more enterprises turning to the mobile channel to better serve customers, VeriSign’s Mobile Enterprise Services (VMES) responded to the growing interest in A2P enterprise applications as evident by an 88 per cent year-over-year growth rate of messages delivered through its network while financial services in particular drove a 63 per cent increase in messaging traffic from Q1 2008 to Q1 2009.

Handsets: Maharashtra Organised trade to feel the heat

Akhilesh Shukla on Voice&Data, June 15, 2009 Published June 16, 2009

The proposed hike of VAT to 12.5% on mobile handsets in Maharashtra could hit the organised trade in the Maharastra. Organised trade, which is already hit by higher property rates, shirking margins and high trained employee cost and other operational costs, would loose customer to the unorganised trade.

The decision, on the other hand, will force the unorganised retail industry to switch trade in grey to survive. The sale of grey handsets, especially of higher end model will become more profitable for them and help them to maintain footfalls, as well.

In case the decision came into force, the price of handset costing Rs 20,000 will go by Rs 25,000. Buyers will prefer to buy the phone from grey market, as the difference would be phenomenal.

The organised trade contributes to 13% of the over all handset retail market in India. However, as per number of outlets they occupy 3% of the pie. The handset retail market is slowly and gradually moving towards organised trade. But the state government’s decision will hamper the shift.

Maharastra and Mumbai is one of the biggest handset retail market in the country commanding more than 13% of the market share in the country. As per the current market estimates around 120 mn handsets are sold in the country every year, Of which, 15.6 mn are sold in Maharastra alone.

As per Indian Cellular Association the state government, which is eying a huge revenue from VAT on handset, will loose money as well. ICA says that the state stands to loose at least 473.6 crore in the next three years, if the proposed 12.5 per cent VAT is implemented because of increased sale in the grey market.

The pioneer in mobile handset retail in India The Mobile Store is headquartered in Mumbai and have a strong presence in the region. Besides, HotSpot, another market leader, have a strong presence in the country.

See also: VAT hike on handsets may bring in less tax for state at https://telcobizpedia.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/vat-hike-on-ha…-tax-for-state/

 

Datacom row ends as Nahata agrees to sell stake to Dhoots

15 Jun 2009, 0040 hrs IST, Chaitali Chakravarty & Joji Thomas Philip, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Mahendra Nahata of Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL) has finally agreed to sell his 36% stake in telecom service provider Datacom Solutions to the Dhoots of the Videocon Group to end a year-long corporate battle that had spilt over to lenders, regulators and even potential foreign investors, two people familiar with the negotiations said.

The Dhoot family, which owns a 64% in Datacom, is already negotiating with a European company to pick up a strategic stake in the company to bankroll its pan-India rollout plans, a person familiar with the settlement said on condition of anonymity.

While Mr Nahata’s 36% stake is valued at around $300 million (about Rs 1,422 crore), the HFCL chairman will not get this payment immediately, top executives said. As of now, the Dhoots had paid Mr Nahata a ‘token payment’ and the remaining would be paid in tranches, they added.

Datacom, which had got licences to offer telecom services in all circles in India except Punjab early last year, has yet to start operations mostly due to the standoff between its two partners.

Both Mr Nahata and Mr Dhoot denied that any such deal has taken place.

Mr Nahata said that talks of any settlement between the two partners of Datacom were baseless, adding that he would continue to remain a stakeholder in the telco. Similarly, Videocon group chairman VN Dhoot, in reply to an email query, said: “There is no question of shareholding changes or settlements or payouts between the two parties.”

A person familiar with the deal said that it is likely to involve a merger of HFCL Infotel’s telecom operations in Punjab with Datacom.

But Mr Nahata will not get any additional cash consideration for HFCL Infotel, as its debt of more than Rs 400 crore will be transferred to the books of Datacom.

Mr Dhoot denied this too. “It is denied that any deal involving HFCL Infotel’s telecom operations in Punjab being merged with Datacom has taken place with Mr Mahendra Nahata,” he said.

He said Datacom has engaged Morgan Stanley to find a strategic partner, but refused to name any likely foreign partner due to the non-disclosure clause with Morgan Stanley.

The negotiations between Mr Nahata and the Dhoots had been deadlocked for close to 15 months with Mr Nahata demanding Rs 2,116 crore for his stake.

Last year, he had rejected an offer by the Dhoots to buy him out for Rs 1,360 crore. The valuations of telecom companies, which got licences last year, have crashed over the past nine months.

Datacom, which commanded a valuation of nearly $3 billion in early 2008, is now valued by analysts at around $1 billion. It had announced that it would begin operations in Chennai by August 2008, but the deadline was postponed to December 2008.

The company failed to meet this too. The standoff between the partners had also resulted in several potential international investors refusing to buy into the company.

UAE’s Etisalat held several rounds of talks with Datacom, but eventually picked up 45% stake in another new telco Swan for $900 million.

Some foreign telcos had even set a pre-condition that they would only invest in Datacom after both the warring stakeholders exit the firm.

The foreign telcos then wanted to bring in their own Indian partner to hold 26% in the telco. Indian regulations allow 74% foreign direct investment in the telecom sector.

MTN may take GDR route for 25% stake in Bharti Airtel

15 Jun 2009, 0014 hrs IST, Joji Thomas Philip, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: South African telecom major MTN’s proposed 25% stake in Bharti Airtel will be through global depository receipts (GDRs), if the plans by the two companies to mutually acquire equity to form a global cellular alliance stretching from the Cape of Good Hope to the Indian Ocean goes through.

A top Airtel executive involved in talks with MTN told ET that the GDRs will be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, shedding more light into the complex nature of the deal, which is set to test the new foreign direct investment (FDI) norms earlier this year.

This puts to rest all speculation regarding the deal and implies that the entire equity expansion of Bharti Airtel will be in the form of GDRs issued to MTN and its shareholders. According to the existing plan, MTN will buy a 25% stake in Bharti, while another 11% will be held directly by MTN shareholders.

Bharti, in turn, will acquire a 49% stake in MTN through a complex stock-and-cash deal. The size of the deal is estimated to be worth over $23 billion and both companies had agreed to hold exclusive talks with each other till July 31, 2009. The new company will have revenues of about $20 billion and over 200 million subscribers.

The GDR route scotches the speculation about Bharti Telecom, the unlisted holding company of Bharti Airtel, issuing fresh equity to MTN to give the South African telco a 25% economic interest in India’s largest mobile company. Bharti Telecom holds 45.3% stake in Bharti Airtel, and it was assumed that the deal would see MTN taking about 10% stake at Bharti Telecom with the issue of new shares to MTN.

Additionally, along with a stake in Bharti Airtel’s holding company, it was assumed that MTN and its shareholders would also be offered a combination of equity shares, convertible instruments, warrants at Bharti Airtel under a Scheme of Arrangement. Another model that was speculated about involved Bharti and its promoters including SingTel floating a special purpose vehicle (76:24 or 51:49) for the deal.

The new foreign holding norms give enough headroom for Bharti to route MTN’s entire holdings in it through GDRs on an expanded equity base. This is because, new FDI norms, notified under Press Notes 2, 3 and 4 by the previous UPA government, considers a company Indian-owned if Indian promoters hold a majority stake in it, and the investments made by such companies in any JV or downstream venture are also treated as Indian.

Hence Bharti Airtel, which had close to 70% foreign equity stake as per the old guidelines — where ‘beneficial ownership’ is interpreted to include indirect holding — has only close to 43% FDI under the new norms. This is because a significant part of SingTel’s 31% holding in Bharti Airtel as well as Vodafone’s entire stake are routed through majority-owned Indian companies.

Related stories at

• http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=RSSFeed-Business&id=a45dfe22-9c89-4875-90fd-8b05cd3cbde8&Headline=MTN+may+take+Bharti+stake+through+GDRs

Zylog Systems eyes 2 overseas buys in governance space

By Bijoy Ghosh on The Hindu Business Line on June 15, 2009

Our Bureau

Chennai, June 14 To ramp up its operation in the e-governance segment, Zylog Systems plans to acquire two overseas companies by the year-end.

On the sidelines of launching the ‘Wi5’ wireless broadband services, Mr Ramanujam Sesharathnam, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, Zylog Systems, said that the company was in talks with a couple of companies with revenues of less than $10 million (about Rs 50 crore) in the e-governance and managed governance space.

The company had acquired PEQ Consulting, an infrastructure management company, and Fairfax Consulting in November 2008.

Zylog Systems India, a subsidiary of Zylog Systems, will invest about Rs 200 crore in expanding its ‘Wi5’ wireless broadband services in five metropolitan cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata – in two years.

With 250 wireless nodes installed across Chennai, 4,000 more nodes are expected to be operational in the city in 12-15 months.

On why the company chose Wi5 technology and not the more advanced Wi-Max technology, Mr J. Shivkumar, Chief Technology Officer, Zylog Systems India, said most handheld devices such as mobiles, laptops and notebooks were only Wi5-enabled.

In terms of cost, coverage and capacity ‘Wi5’ was competitive, while the Wi-Max technology was expensive. The newly launched ‘Wi5’ retail packages are available at 1 mbps, 2 mbps and 4 mbps at Rs 550, Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,750.

Related stories at

• http://www.ciol.com/technology/networking/news-reports/zylog-systems-launches-wi5-services/15609120967/0/
• http://efytimes.com/efytimes/fullnewsxml.asp?edid=35145

Excerpt from the above

Ramanujam Sesharathnam, managing director and chief operating officer, Zylog Systems, said, “We are delighted to launch Wi5 services in Chennai, as it is a city with high laptop and mobile internet population, familiarity with working online is implausible. Due to Wi5’s inherent technological superiority, the speed will be many times faster than conventional broadband and offers a minimum data speeds of 1 mbps.”

Zylog’s Wi5 services works by creating a Wi5 mesh network, which is done by setting up intelligent Wi-Fi nodes on roof tops in select buildings across the city, making the area a Wi5 zone. The company offers a pre-paid connection to its customers and to access the Wi5 services, users need a Wi-Fi enabled laptop personal computer or a mobile device or a separate Wi-Fi card. Called as the ‘metro wi-fi’, Zylog’s wi-fi model will work like the mobile telephony network.

Zylog Systems has also implemented Wi-Fi in Ripon Building (Chennai Corporation) and a trial run is in progress.