July 2009: 14.38M Mobile Connections Added In India; Landlines Sink; Broadband At 6.8M

From http://www.medianama.com/2009/08/223-july-2009-1438m-mobile-connections-added-in-india-landlines-sink-broadband-at-68m/ on August 24, 2009

By Preethi J

News of the reviving economy is reflected in the telecom sector in the month of July, which saw an addition of 14.38 million wireless connections compared to the 12.03 million in June, 2009. The total number of telephone connections in the country was 479.07 million at the end of July 2009.

• Teledensity rose from 39.86% in June to 41.08%.
• Wireless teledensity is up from 36.64% to 37.87%
• Total wireless connections rose 3.6% to 441.66 million
• Broadband connections swelled from 6.62 million in June 2009 to 6.8 million.

BSNL Loses 0.16M Landline Users; Bharti Adds 33,940

This segment continues to see churn with BSNL’s customers choosing the wireless route and disconnecting their landlines – the two oldest landline providers BSNL and MTNL lost a total of 0.17 million subscribers in July after losing 0.19 million in June 2009. MTNL lost 8181 to reach 3.54 million connections. BSNL lost 166,519 landline connections and now has 28.62 million; it accounts for 76.5% of the country’s landline userbase and will continue to be hit by negative growth even as private service providers such as Bharti Airtel and RCOM add users by bundling the landlines with other necessary services such as broadband and IPTV.

• Total landline connections in India – 37.41 million
• Wireline teledensity has reduced marginally to 3.21%

Downloads: TRAI Data (PDF)

Other operators offering landlines and their user base:

• Bharti Airtel – 2.86 million
• Reliance Communications – 1.13 million
• Tata Teleservices (Indicom) – 967,554
• HFCL Infotel – 163,399
• Sistema Shyam (MTS) – 111,069

Deutsche Telekom Eyes Indian ISP Space; Devas Multimedia Looks To Raise Funds

From http://www.medianama.com/2009/08/223-deutsche-telekom-eyes-indian-isp-space-devas-multimedia-looks-to-raise-funds/ on August 24, 2009

By Preethi J

German telecom conglomerate Deutsche Telekom, which owns T-Mobile in USA, is planning to join the Internet Service Provider arena in India. According to a MarketWatch report, the telco is planning to set up a high-capacity radio network for quick Internet connections in metropolitan areas of India come next year.

I wonder if we need yet another ISP in India, with already a number of incumbent players – Reliance, Tata Indicom, MTNL, BSNL, Hathaway, Tikona, Sify and Bharti Airtel, and France Telecom, Vodafone and DEN Networks also planning ISPs. With the last mile still closed, wireless is being seen as the way to go; which is where Devas Multimedia comes in.

Devas MultiMedia:Looking To Raise Funds

Deutsche Telekom received permission from India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) last year to invest Rs. 317.85 crore into Devas Multimedia, a little known Bangalore-based wireless services company, which was working on a long term Mobile TV (DMB) project with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). DT has acquired 17% stake in Devas.

Interestingly enough, Devas is looking to raise funds. The company, which already has Telecom Ventures and Columbia Capital as investors, apart from Deutsche Telekom, has a proposal pending with the FIPB for permission to “induct fresh foreign equity participation with the induction of a new foreign collaborator.”

Devas is a curious case: little is known about it, and it still appears to be in stealth mode:  there’s no website and there is little information on it except of it’s work with ISRO and its backers.

India desperately needs a catalyst to boost Internet penetration: Internet growth in July 2009 in India has actually fallen to 2.7% from 3.4% in June and 6.3% in May 2009. Besides the well known issues of delinking last mile access and ISP licensing which are throttling growth, other issues Deutsche Telekom will need to grapple with are low PC adoption and lack of Indic language content.

Companies Eying ISP Space In India

Earlier this year, France Telecom also entered India through Equant Network Services, its joint venture with Emery Technologies with the intention of launching Internet services;  Vodafone too announced its entry. The latest to announce plans of becoming an Internet service provider is DEN Networks, a cable TV company which is planning to go public to raise funds.

The Wireline Alternative: Broadband Over Power

Research and experiments on Broadband over Power Lines have been on for years – news about it pops up every few months. Indian Express has the latest: about Bengal Engineering and Science University professors and CESC have implemented Broadband over Power in two housing estates in Kolkata. The copper wires that supply electricity to double as broadband connections and installing a customer premise equipment that decodes the signals and brings them to your computer. But if it’s that simple, why is it taking so long to materialise? The government recently deferred an application by Powermax Communications, a provider of power transmission  and distribution management systems and broadband over power services, to increase foreign equity participation.

Reliance Mobile to launch ‘Wolverine’ game- Hindustan Times

Reliance Mobile to launch ‘Wolverine’ game- Hindustan Times on June 18, 2009

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The Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Mobile will launch a game on Friday based on Hollywood movie “Wolverine” on its R-World value-added services platform, the company announced on Thursday.

Wolverine is a fictional super hero, who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The new movie will be released in Indian theatres on Friday.

The role playing game developed by the Indian arm of Electronic Arts (EA), the US-based developer of video games, will enable players to get into the shoes of the protagonist Wolverine and avenge the death of his girlfriend.

RCom takes a call on the Zoozoo challenge

via RCom takes a call on the Zoozoo challenge.

Rajesh S Kurup & Sapna Agarwal / Mumbai June 18, 2009, 0:37 IST on The Business Standard

Anil Ambani-controlled Reliance Communications (RCom) is borrowing a concept from the Charlie Chaplin classic The Great Dictator. Just as Chaplin dances with a globe in the film, RCom’s forthcoming advertising campaign will shows five animated characters dancing with a globe.

The similarity doesn’t end there. In The Great Dictator, Chaplin is spoofing Adolf Hitler’s wild ambitions to conquer the world. In its ad campaign slated for launch next week, RCom is taking on Vodafone-Essar’s engaging and hugely popular Zoozoos

Being developed by Delhi-based RocketScience, the characters — five of them representing the five network bars on a mobile phone — are yet to be given a name. Right now, they’re being referred to as “humanised network bars”.

But much like the Zoozoos, these “humanised network bars” will communicate the strength of the company’s network through five-second spot advertisements, they added.

The company’s brief to the agency was to make network bars the brand’s identity and a medium of communicating with its customers, a RocketScience source said.

RCom is making seven short films to be aired across various TV channels beginning next week. The campaign, which also includes an online viral, will run for two weeks.

In one of the advertisements, four of the humanised characters are lifting the fifth and threatening to drop him on the ground. The tagline says: ‘Our network never fails’. Another one has all the five dancing around India’s map, mentioning its “coverage across 20,000 towns and 500,000 villages”.

Asked about the impending campaign, a Reliance Mobile spokesperson declined to comment.

RCom will spend around Rs 150 crore (the amount includes the GSM campaign featuring Hrithik Roshan launched a fortnight ago) over a 60-day period. RCom will also extend its humanised characters to sell its portfolio of value-added brand, just as Vodafone did with Zoozoos. Going a step further, RCom will create jokes around its humanised characters that will be available over SMS and e-mail.

Ad gurus generally have a good take on spoofs. “If done well in good taste and humour, spoof ads are considered flattery, indicating that the idea has been appreciated. It works well for the brand because it creates excitement — but again, this depends on the brand. I am personally not against spoofs,” said Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman, McCann Worldgroup India, and regional creative director, McCann Asia .

K V Sridhar (known as “Pops”), national creative director, Leo Burnett, added that spoofs by challenger brands taking on market leaders are usually well received by customers.

“For instance, Pepsi’s spoof -‘Nothing Official About It’ – was received well. Likewise, when Jet Airways had announced a change — Kingfisher came up with an ad saying ‘We Have Not Changed’.

“If the brand’s personality is fun, and it’s not the market leader, it can take on the larger brand, it’s enjoyable. But if the market leader takes on smaller brands it’s usually not enjoyable.

It’s like a family; the younger brother can take potshots at the older one, but the older one taking a potshot at his younger sibling is considered bad,” he said.

Indian mobile users to hit 771 mn by 2013: Gartner – The Financial Express

via Indian mobile users to hit 771 mn by 2013: Gartner – The Financial Express on June 18, 2009

Bangalore: Indian mobile users will jump more than 90 per cent to 771 million by 2013 as companies expand networks to rural areas in the world’s fastest growing wireless market, research firm Gartner said.

India had 403.66 million wireless users at the end of April, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India figures showed earlier this month, second only to China that has more than 600 million wireless subscribers.

Cheap call tariffs and handsets are driving demand in India, where operators such as Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications are now building telecom towers and networks to cover smaller towns and villages to hook new users.

Gartner, the world’s biggest technology research firm, sees mobile subscriber base growing at a compound annual growth rate of 14.3 per cent in the four years to 2013, up from an estimated 452 million by the end of 2009.

Revenues of Indian mobile phone companies will exceed $30 billion in 2013, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 12.5 per cent over the same period, it said.

“The Indian mobile industry has now moved out of its hyper growth mode, but it will continue to grow at double-digit rates … as operators focus on rural parts of the country, said Madhusudan Gupta, senior research analyst at Gartner.

Gartner, however, predicted a “significant drop” in average revenue per user (ARPU) — a key gauge of performance — as the bulk of new subscribers from the hinterland usually talk less on phones and some use mobiles just to answer calls.

Bharti, which is in talks with South Africa’s telecoms firm MTN Group to create the world’s No.3 wireless group, saw a drop of 15 per cent in its March quarter ARPU as it won more new users in rural areas. The research firm said voice tariffs would fall substantially in 2009 as new operators join the market.

The telecoms unit of Indian developer Unitech Ltd will launch mobile services with Norway’s Telenor in the December quarter this year, a top company official said on Tuesday.

Bharti’s rivals such as Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular are also rapidly expanding their services across the country.

Related stories at

• http://www.ciol.com/technology/mobility/news-reports/indian-mobile-users-to-hit-771-mln-by-2013-gartner/18609121197/0/
• http://efytimes.com/efytimes/fullnewsxml.asp?edid=35243
• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Indian-mobile-users-to-hit-771-mln-by-2013-Gartner-/articleshow/4671022.cms

RComm in exclusive talks with Alcatel-Lucent for Rs 2,500 cr outsourcing deal- Telecom-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

17 Jun 2009, 1128 hrs IST, ET Bureau & Agencies

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NEW DELHI: Reliance Communications (RCom) is in exclusive talks with French telecom infrastructure provider Alactel-Lucent to award a $500million (Rs 2,500 crore) operations and maintenance contract.

Last year, Reliance and Alcatel formed a joint venture for network management services, with the Indian company holding 33 percent and the French company owning the rest.

Last week, Reliance Communications entered into a marketing JV with Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO) for selling its products in rural India.

The JV company known as KRIBHCO Reliance Kisan Ltd is aimed at synergising the strengths of both companies to create a rural distribution model for sales of telecom and non-telecom products.

KRIBCO will hold 60% equity in the JV company with the balance 40% held by Reliance ADAG.

RCOM’s tie-up aims to be a counter to that of Bharti Airtel, which has a similar JV with Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), the country’s largest fertiliser PSU unit.

In May, Bharti and IFFO had formed IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd (IKSL) and said that the JV would harness the power of telecom to add value to the farm sector. Here IFFCO has a 50% stake while Airtel and Star Global have 25% each.

via RComm in exclusive talks with Alcatel-Lucent for Rs 2,500 cr outsourcing deal- Telecom-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times.

Related stories at

• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Reliance-Communications-in-talks-with-Alcatel-Lucent-for-a-500-mn-outsourcing-deal/articleshow/4667231.cms

Revenue, not user base, to set telecom pecking order

17 Jun 2009, 0305 hrs IST, Rashmi Pratap, ET Bureau

MUMBAI: Subscriber numbers in India’s wireless story are losing their relevance today as far as determining the industry position of a service provider is concerned. t will be revenues and not subscriber numbers that could decide the pecking order in the world’s fastest-growing telecom market.

This is reflected in the latest revenue figures released by the industry regulator, Trai. Going by this, the top three operators in India are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL).

Airtel’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) from wireless and wireline operations was Rs 7,998 crore for the March quarter. Vodafone Essar, which offers only mobile services, had revenues of Rs 4,456 crore during January-March 2009 on a subscriber base of 68.7 million. Reliance Communications (RCOM), which has the second largest customer base, reported an AGR of only Rs 2,998 crore on 72.6 million users during the quarter, making it the fourth largest in terms of revenues.

The revenues for the state-owned BSNL stood at Rs 3,943 crore making it the third largest. BSNL offers mobile services on GSM apart from fixed line services. Besides showing the revenue capabilities of an operator, AGR is significant, as it is the basis on which service providers pay licence fee and spectrum charges. Operators pay a revenue share licence fee to the government ranging from 6% to 10% of their AGR. Increasingly, operators are targeting revenue growth instead of a larger user base.

According to Bharti Airtel’s vision statement, the company’s aim is 20% increase in revenue margin per subscriber in the next few years.

Analysts contend that with more and more low-end users signing up for services, it is becoming difficult for operators to maintain margins and improve ARPUs (average revenue per user per month). In such a scenario, those who continue to grow revenues along with subscriber base will be the clear winners.

“As the new subscriber base is primarily drawn from tier III towns and rural markets, the incremental subscriber addition is not leading to a commensurate revenue upside for telcos. The catchphrase to evaluate a telco’s performance will be quality of subscribers rather than the number of new subscribers,” Acsendia Consulting principal analyst, Alok Shende told ET.

A smaller player like Idea Cellular, which operates in 13 circles, had AGR of Rs 2,389 crore on a subscriber base of 39 million. This is just about Rs 600 crore less than RCOM on a base which is almost half of that company.

KPMG director (telecom) Romal Shetty said, “Initially, everyone was going after subscriber numbers. Now, they are looking at quality of subscribers. This explains the emphasis on value added services (VAS), which bring in higher revenues.” He pointed out that low-end pre-paid users are now bringing in monthly revenues of as low as Rs 70 per month.

Tata Teleservices reported revenues of Rs 1,889 crore during the quarter placing it at sixth followed by state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL). Aircel, a relatively new entrant, is at the eight position, which had AGR of Rs 721 crore during the quarter.

Telcos’ wait for airwaves gets longer

17 Jun 2009, 0702 hrs IST, Joji Thomas Philip & Sandeep Gurumurthi, ET Now

The wait for additional airwaves, key for mobile operators to expand their customer base, has just got longer, with the telecom ministry deciding to make any decision on this only after the upcoming auction of third-generation spectrum, according to a top official in the department of telecom (DoT).

Communications minister A Raja and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met twice on Tuesday, but were unable to reach a consensus on key issues related to 3G auctions such as the base price for these radio frequencies as well as the number of players to be allowed to offer these high-end services.

“No consensus as of now on the base price. We discussed various suggestions — whether we should go for uniform base price or opt for differential pricing, according to circle, depending upon commercial viability of that area,” Mr Raja told reporters after his second meeting with Mr Mukherjee.

As a fallout, the telecom ministry has decided that it will take a call on all issues related with second-generation spectrum, the airwaves on which all mobile services are offered at present, including the methodology for future allocations, the pricing for this scarce resource and the usage charges for utilising these airwaves only after the upcoming auctions of third generation spectrum, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The ministries are divided over the base price for the 3G auctions with DoT proposing a reserve price of Rs 2,020 crore for pan-India 3G spectrum and the finance ministry wanting it to be doubled. DoT has said it is open to hiking the reserve price to Rs 3,540 crore as a compromise.

The two ministers said for the first time that they were willing to look at a differential pricing formula to arrive at a base price for 3G auctions, vital for high-end services such as video conferencing and high-speed internet on the mobiles.

Industry analysts, however, say using a new formula to arrive at differential pricing for each circle will be a time-consuming process that will further delay the 3G auctions.

The development implies that existing telcos will not get 2G spectrum till the issue is settled. Now, they will have to invest heavily on infrastructure to ensure that the quality of services do not deteriorate.

At present, all telecom services are offered on 2G spectrum and these airwaves have been given to telcos based on their subscriber numbers. Put simply, additional radio frequencies are dished out as telcos as they add more subscribers. Currently, India follows a controversial practice of allocating spectrum based on companies’ subscriber base, and is the only country in the world that follows this method.

There are two key factors that have led to the communications ministry deciding to stop all 2G allocations until the completion of 3G auctions.

First, the spectrum panel in its report submitted last month had said the country should adopt the internationally-accepted auction system for issuing additional 2G airwaves to telcos. This committee, consisting of academicians, industry representatives, government officers and industry representatives, had suggested that the 2G pricing be market-linked and be related to the auction price of 3G spectrum.

Second, the committee had also suggested that all telcos who hold radio frequencies beyond the 6.2 MHz mark be charged a one-time fee for all the extra radio frequencies they hold, while adding that this one-time fee be calculated based on the 3G auction price.

The communications ministry can act on these recommendations only after the 3G auctions take place.

The larger implication is that all telcos will have to shell out huge amounts, both for the excess 2G radio frequencies they hold as well as for all additional allocations in the future.

Additionally, DoT’s move to freeze all 2G allocations is also set to impact all telcos. For instance, India’s largest telco, Bharti Airtel, is awaiting additional spectrum allotment of 1 MHz each in five circles.

Reliance Communications, which has start-up spectrum in all 22 circles in the country, is now eligible for the next tranche in six circles as it has reached the prescribed subscriber numbers in these areas. Other telcos such as Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular too are awaiting additional spectrum in several circles.

With no airwaves allotments over the next couple of months, these operators will have to spend significant amounts in setting up new cellsites. Analysts say for most operators, it is, therefore, a tradeoff between increased capex and allowing the quality of services to deteriorate on account of the spectrum crunch.

This is because it is technically possible to have increased number of subscribers using the same amount of radio frequencies, provided operators spend significant amounts in building more base stations and subscribing to the latest technological innovations.

It is not just the large players that are impacted by the latest policy logjam. The government’s move to put all allocations on hold will also pinch small players and new entrants like Datacom, Unitech Wireless

and Swan Telecom, who are awaiting start-up spectrum in many regions.

Nokia Tops List of India’s Most Trusted Brands – BusinessWeek

From Economic Times of India June 17, 2009, 9:50AM EST

via Nokia Tops List of India’s Most Trusted Brands – BusinessWeek.

Nokia’s tagline of ‘connecting people’ certainly seems to have struck a chord with the Indian consumer. For a second year running, the handset maker has topped the prestigious, ‘Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands (MTB) Survey’. In second and third places are the two venerable consumer brands, Colgate, a four-time winner, and Lux, respectively.

The survey was unveiled last night at a glittering ceremony, which saw the who’s who of India’s brandsphere making their way to Mumbai from all parts of the country to be in attendance. The marque names included HUL MD Nitin Paranjpe, Nokia MD D Shivakumar, P&G MD Shantanu Khosla, Britannia MD Vinita Bali, BCG India MD Janmejaya Sinha, JWT CEO Colvyn Harris, Madison chairman Sam Balsara, Ogilvy India executive chairman & NCD Piyush Pandey and McCann Erickson India executive chairman Prasoon Joshi.

A clear indication that today the Brand Equity MTB Survey is the one study that marketers put their faith in. In this, the sixth year of the MTB survey, there are two new entrants into the top 10. Coming in at No. 6 is one of the oldest brands in India, Horlicks.

The brand, which has perennially been in the top 20, has finally managed to leapfrog into the coveted top 10. However, it is Reliance Mobile which is the star of this year’s edition, considering that it had failed to crack the top 20 in 2008. Telecom, as a category, is clearly on the ascendant. Airtel, BSNL and Vodafone have all surged up the charts to finish in the top 30, ranking 12, 19 and 30, respectively.

Hindustan Unilever, as has always been the case, continues to dominate the overall rankings with three brands (Lifebuoy, Lux and Pepsodent) in the top 10 and seven in the top 20. However, Pond’s, a brand from the HUL stable, also happens to be the biggest loser in the top 10, falling from No. 5 last year to No. 16 this year.

In the listing of the top 50 service brands, three out of the five brands are public sector brands namely SBI (13), LIC (17) and BSNL (19), perhaps an indication that public sector brands are perfectly capable of holding their own against their private counterparts.

The Brand Equity MTB survey is the largest, most diverse and most prestigious survey of its kind, with over 8,000 respondents nation-wide and is conducted by The Nielsen Company on behalf of Brand Equity. The detailed survey findings are available in today’s 12-page special edition of Brand Equity.

Also, watch out for all the action from the launch party and interviews with winners and India’s premier marketers on ET NOW, the soon-to-be launched cutting-edge channel for business news.

Vodafone approaches FIPB for NLD, ISP licences

From http://www.economictimes.com on June 16, 2009

NEW DELHI: Mobile services company Vodafone Essar has applied for Internet Service Provider

and national long distance licence and has approached the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for approval.

The company officials confirmed that the operator has applied for these two licences and aims to become a full-fledged communication service provider

in the country.

FIPB, on June 19, may take up the proposal, sources said. If Vodafone Essar, in which the UK-based mobile firm Vodafone holds majority stake, gets the national long distance licence (NLD) it will help the company save operating expenses for carrying STD traffic, instead of hiring other mobile company’s network for the purpose.

All the top mobile operators like Reliance Communications, Bharti, BSNL and MTNL have their own NLD infrastructure.

The company is also planning to enter the internet service segment in which all other major mobile operators like BSNL, Reliance Communications and MTNL has a presence.

2G allocation: DoT to seek more time

Thomas K Thomas in The Hindu Business Line on June 13, 2009

New Delhi, June 12 The Department of Telecom will seek more time from the telecom tribunal to decide on the policy for allocating 2G spectrum for mobile operators.

The deadline to decide on the policy is today, according to a judgment given by the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal in its order of March 31, 2008.

The tribunal had asked the DoT to finalise the policy one month after the spectrum committee submits its report. Since the spectrum panel submitted its proposals on May 13, the DoT would have to take its final decision by June 13, according to the directions of the TDSAT. The DoT had, therefore, put on hold fresh allocation of spectrum till the policy was finalised.

However, the DoT has taken a view that it needed more time to review the recommendations of the committee, which mooted sweeping changes in the way spectrum is allocated.

Differences over policy

There are differences between the spectrum panel and the Communications Ministry on the policy. While the panel suggested giving spectrum through an open auction, the Telecom Ministry is in favour of continuing with the existing subscriber-linked criteria. “Since it is not possible to take a final decision with one month in view of wide ranging implications and report being reformist in nature we may request TDSAT to grant more time for Government decision on the report,” said a top DoT source.

The DoT also plans to consult the telecom regulator before it takes a final view on the allocation procedure. Earlier, top Ministry sources had told Business Line that the panel’s report may not be acceptable since it will disturb the level playing field in the mobile segment between new and old players.

DoT sources said it will decide on spectrum allocation criteria within six weeks. This means that operators such as Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, which have sought additional spectrum in some of the circles, will have to wait till then.

DND: Disturbance Now on Demand

By Heena Jhingan on www.ciol.com on June 12, 2009

Who does not love freebies? Mobile users are now more willing to be disturbed if that brings along some free-gifts attached. Following a positive response to Virgin mobile’s strategy to offer free calls if customers view and respond to ads, operators in India are becoming receptive to the concept and intend to encash its popularity.

Free talk time offers in India have caused subscriber defection from one operator to the other. But mobile advertising which was once thought to be annoying, is now emerging as a mode to earn a little revenue for the operator, and the subscriber receiving advertisements on his phones can get free music downloads, free instant messaging and video games in exchange.

To make the most of this rage and be in the race, the state-owned BSNL launched an integrated Mobile Advertising Service which will help its mobile subscribers to earn talktime by simply registering for a service which will send advertisement to the registered users which in turn help users to earn talktime .The Mobile advertisement services is currently available in BSNL’s West zone circles in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatishgarh.

Considering the trajectory Indian mobile industry is making with over 400 mn subscriber, UK-based company positioned as a free mobile service network for 16-24-year-olds, Blyk Ltd, is preparing to enter the Indian market and is in talks with one or more local telecom operators.

Blyk that has around 200 brands on board in the UK from leading advertisers such as Unilever Plc and Microsoft Corp, offers customers some free talktime or free texts in return for accepting targeted advertising on their phones every day. In India, the ad-funded company is seeking partners to gain access to their spectrum, or airwaves, and subscriber base. Last year, the company announced an additional Rs267.6 crore of investment to support its operations and international expansion.

If the talks materialize, Blyk will be the first network to open here positioned solely as a free service, although there will be a ceiling on free calls and messages permitted per subscriber.

The operators in India are looking at such models as win-win for all stakeholders, cellular operators, customers and advertisers. It is believed the youth will be very enthusiastic about the offer. Reliance Communications is rumored to be in talks with Blyk. However, some new and small operators are also being considered.

Virgin became one of the first providers to offer such a service in 2006,its customers could get upto 75 minutes of free calls per month if they spent an equal amount of time looking at ads and replying to these ads via text messages. The MVNO made an entry in the market with a unique concept of paying the subscriber 10 pasie per minute for incoming calls.

BSNL who launched the services last month believes it is important to keep with market trends. As of now the operator is offering Rs 5 free talk time for every 10 ads, which is not a big amount. The company says it is still experimenting how more revenue be earned through such schemes.

Interest in such services is reflected in global audit and advisory firm KPMG’s recent study which says Mobile phone users in India are more willing than their global counterparts to receive advertisements on their phones in return of ad-funded content. The survey finds globally 49 per cent of respondents would be willing to watch ads on their mobiles in return for free music. About 44 per cent would be prepared to do the same in return for free access to Instant Messaging. It would not be surprising if more global mobile service network like Blyk show interest in Indian market.

Companies are realizing that the need for engagement with the consumer is increasingly going through cellphone, and quantifiable ROI is alluring for brands. The Mobile advertising is expected to reach $5.7 billion by 2014, though that will still be 1.5% of total global adspend. Creative teams are working on interesting ad content and their presentation. Some companies plan to run ads in the middle of the call.

A major apprehension that operators in India have about mobile advertising is that certain groups may find it intrusive in spite of the freebies. But, no worry as these services are availed by choice and if one needs to be ultra cautious there is an option of DND (Do Not Disturb) registration.

New Reliance E-Lite Plan For BlackBerry Users

From www.efytimes.com

Thursday, June 11, 2009:  Reliance Mobile and Research In Motion (RIM) have introduced the ‘Reliance E-Lite’ plan for BlackBerry smartphone users in India. With the ‘Reliance E-Lite’ plan, users can have unlimited access to email and instant messaging (IM) on their BlackBerry smartphones for Rs 299 per month.

The Reliance E-Lite service plan allows Reliance customers to access up to 10 supported POP3/IMAP email accounts (including ISP email accounts such as Yahoo! Mail and Google Mail). Users can also view, popular attachment formats including JPEG, TIF, Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point while on the move.

The plan also enables users to have unlimited access to IM services like Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and BlackBerry Messenger. The Reliance E-Lite service plan is offered with all BlackBerry smartphones available from Reliance Mobile, such as BlackBerry 8703e, BlackBerry 8830, BlackBerry Curve 8300, BlackBerry Curve 8900, BlackBerry Pearl 8110 and BlackBerry Pearl 8130.

Vrajesh Shelat, head, wireless data business, Reliance Communications, said, “It has been our constant endeavour to bring greater value to the Indian consumer. Through ‘Reliance E-Lite’ we will extend our reach to a wider market by providing an affordable and high quality of service to consumers who wish to primarily stay connected through email and instant messaging on their smartphones while on the move.”

“RIM welcomes this attractive new service plan for Reliance Communications customers in India. We continue to see strong interest from a broad range of customers in India and this new service plan will help further expand the reach the BlackBerry solution in India,” added Frenny Bawa, vice president, India, Research In Motion.

Related stories at

• http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/06/11/stories/2009061150880400.htm
• http://www.ciol.com/technology/mobility/news-reports/rcom-offers-blackberry-for-rs-299/month/12609120953/0/

RCom bags Rs 125cr order

From www.ciol.com on June 11, 2009

MUMBAI, INDIA: Telecom major Reliance Communications (RCom) has bagged a Rs 125 crore Wide Area Network (WAN) contract from global consultancy major Mott MacDonald, a Business Standard report says.
 
The one-year contract was bagged through the company’s global arm, Reliance Globalcom, against competition from global majors like Dubai-based Etisalat, sources said.

RCom, Alcatel to enter into Rs 3,000cr deal

From www.ciol.com on June 9, 2009

MUMBAI, INDIA: In what could be one of the largest outsourcing deals in the Indian telecom space, Reliance Communications is close to awarding a $500-600 million (Rs 2,500-3,000 crore) operations and maintenance contract to French telecom infrastructure provider Alactel-Lucent, says a report in Business Standard. The contract would be either executed independently by Alcatel-Lucent or by the joint venture between Alcatel-Lucent and RCom formed in May 2008 for managed network services that would take on outsourcing contracts from global telecom operators.

On the GSM front, RCom will initially outsource the operations of five circles — Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and Chhattisgarh — to Alcatel-Lucent.

The outsourcing deal also includes managing and strengthening RCom’s 175,000 km global optical fibre cable systems. The OFC system, of which 80,000 km is in India, is also used to carry international telecom data.

Related stories at

• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Reliance-Comm-may-give-contract-to-Alcatel-Report/articleshow/4634278.cms