News Digest: MyFM, RCOM, Shaadi, IRCTC, TringMe, Nokia, SBI, IRDA, FrontLine, Tejas, Swan, TechM

From http://www.medianama.com/2009/08/223-news-digest-db-groups-myfm-rcom-shaadicom-irctc-tringme-nokia-sbi-irda-frontline-tejas/ on August 25, 2009

By Preethi J

MyFM To Raise 15.2M

Synergy Media Entertainment Ltd, DB Group’s FM radio division, will raise Rs. 1.52 crore through preferential allotment of fully paid up equity shares. It has received approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). Synergy runs 94.3 MyFM in 17 cities.

Related: Dainik Bhaskar IPO Filing: Digital Kiosks; IndiaInfo.com; I Media Corp

RCOM Launches Antakshari

Reliance Mobile launched a new VAS – Antakshari –  on its R-World platform which will allow the subscriber to play antakshari with anyone. Charges are Rs.30 per month with 30 minutes free usage. This service is being launched on both GSM and CDMA networks. (TelecomIndia Online)

IRCTC’s Online Sales Boom

Around 34% of the 880,000 tickets sold daily by the Indian Railways are booked online, ticket sale data between April and July 2009 by the IRCTC reveals. This is not all – online booking of the tickets is also popular amongst low income groups. An thumping 63% of online tickets were booked by them. (Business Standard)

Our Take: IRCTC continues to be the poster boy of Indian e-commerce. We only wish it were more efficient – instead of spending hours standing in a queue, we now spend hours on the website – logging back in due to jittery timeouts and searching for train names and numbers.

Related: IRCTC Does $102 Million In Online Transactions In August; Payment Trends; HDFC, ICICI, Cash Cards Significant

TringMe

This Bangalore based 2007 startup has a platform that helps developers create voice-enabled widgets for the Internet. Tringme hosts some 22 million call minutes per month and expects this to soar to 40 million in the next 3-4 months. One of its clients is Indiamart. (Moneycontrol)

Our Take: Such a platform could spark off more apps and options in the VoIP domain – so far ruled by Skype and Fring. Ofcourse there is still the regulatory hurdle to cross before VoIP usage picks up.

Strike At Nokia’s Manufacturing Plant in TN

Nokia employees at its handset manufacturing factory in Sriperumbudur have demanded a wage increase of €21 for all employees. (Evertiq)

M-Banking Adoption
State Bank of India has added 20,000 mobile-banking customers in 2 months, taking the total to 33,000. M-banking is rising in popularity for small value transactions. (PTI)

All Mobile Banking posts

Shaadi.com Stats

The site has 300m page views a month. 6,000 new profiles are added every day. (Guardian)

Insurance Inst Opts For Online Exams

Complaints of malpractices has led the Insurance Institute of India to make entrance exams for insurance agents online. The institute will be aided in setting up the online examinations by NSEiT, a subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority. (ET)

HomeShop18 To Raise Funding

The retail TV channel and online site is in discussion with prospective financial and strategic partners to raise money in the next year. It has outlined three priorities – be visible in every television household; to invest in customer experience; and, to reward loyal customers. Network18 owns 65% of HomeShop18. (VCCircle)

PE Firm Frontline Strategy Picks Up Stake In Tejas

The amount and stake are not known, and the stake was picked up by Frontline through a secondary transaction. Tejas has been backed by Battery Ventures, Cascade Capital Management, Mayfield Fund, Intel Capital, Goldman Sachs and Sandstone Private Investments. (VCCircle)

Change In Regulations Deferred: DoT

International telcos in India have been dealt a poor hand by the Indian government. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has postponed plans to remove the double taxation they currently have to comply with for offering long distance calls. They pay license fees twice to the government – for bandwidth which they purchase off domestic operators and again when they resell it to enterprises and their customers. (ET)

Etilsalat Awards IT Contract To Tech Mahindra

Following the move by other telcos to outsource their IT operations, Etisalat DB, which runs new telco Swan Telecom (renamed to Etisalat DB Telecom India), may award the majority of its Rs 150 million outsourcing project to Tech Mahindra. (ET)

Other telco-IT company relationships are: Unitech Wireless – Wipro ; Idea Cellular – IBM ; Bharti Airtel – IBM; Aircel – Wipro

atom Joins Hands With Paulo Travels

From http://www.efytimes.com on June 18, 2009

Thursday, June 18, 2009:  atom technologies has tied up with Paulo Travels, a Goa-based transport operator, to provide ticket booking and payments services over the phone. This facility will be available to customers in cities such as Goa, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru, Mangalore, Mumbai, Hampi (Karnataka) and Karwar (Karnataka), Ahmedabad and Mysore.

The customer can call on Paulo’s assigned number (+91-832-66377779) and book for their travel route, bus preference and seat preference date etc. On confirmation by the customer, the call is transferred to the IVR system, following which the customer has to enter credit card details. Once the verification is complete, the customer will get an automated response and the e-ticket is issued accordingly. This service offers the convenience to Paulo’s customer to complete their reservation payments in a hassle-free and time-saving manner by using phone and their credit cards.

Commenting on this initiative, Dewang Neralla, director, atom technologies, said, “IVR is one of the most convenient mode of making payments for any kind of ticketing. I am sure our solution and service will help Paulo to connect and get bookings from their customer across different states travelling into or out of Goa.”

“We have tied up with atom to increase our reach and ensure that customers from every corners of the country can avail this facility. Customer convenience has always been our priority. With atom, we will be able to provide our customers uninterrupted service even while on the move,” said Mario S Pereira, proprietor, Paulo Travels.

Union Bank of India to Improve M-banking Platform

From www.cellstrat.com on June 8, 2009

Union Bank of India is adding new services to its mobile payment platform Umobile. New services will include fund intra-bank transfers to any account, money transfer to accounts of other banks, shopping, ticketing, bill payments, etc.

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/

Telesoft Increases Media Platform Share In India

From www.efytimes.com

Friday, June 05, 2009:  Telesoft Technologies has won and already delivered an order to supply the OKEFORD Media Platform to a large operator in India. Working closely with a technology partner, the solution was deployed in five months.

The OKEFORD Media Platform provides interactive voice/media services for the mobile prepaid subscriber charging solution in the pan-India network.

India is the world’s fastest growing wireless market with 11.75 million new subscribers added in April bringing the total number of wireless subscribers to 403.66 million, according to the newest available data from the TRAI.

In order to attract and keep these new subscribers, a large proportion of which use prepaid tariffs, service providers install reliable and easy to use automated payment and customer care solutions. These include voice prompt, speech recognition and other media capabilities to aid interaction and improve the customer experience.

Indians more willing to try nextgen mobile services: KPMG

4 Jun 2009, 1434 hrs IST, PTI on www.economictimes.com

NEW DELHI: Indians are more willing to experiment with value-added services, including chatting, video gaming and watching live TV on mobile phones, as compared to their global counterparts, KPMG says.

Asian consumers, including those in India, seem the most willing to use their mobile phones for purchasing music, video games, and watching live TV, followed by the Middle East and Africa and Latin America, global consulting firm KPMG’s ‘Consumers and Convergence III’ global survey found.

However, the developed-market consumers of Europe and North America are apparently less willing.

The survey revealed that there exists a huge potential for mobile chat services, video gaming on mobile and watching live TV on mobile in India.

Globally, 18 per cent of respondents were very likely to use a mobile chat service in the next 6-12 months as against 34 per cent in India, showing growing demand for such services.

The survey revealed as much as 95 per cent Indian consumers were satisfied with their music-download experience on mobile phones as against 66 per cent respondents globally.

“While mobile additions exceed 10 million a month, average revenue per user’s (ARPU) continue to drop. Telecom players recognize rise in VAS revenues will be a key aspect of future growth and profitability,” KPMG India Head of information, communication & entertainment Rajesh Jain said.

About 86 per cent respondents in the country and in China indicated likelihood of watching live TV on mobile phones in the next 12 months, the survey added.

Players in value chain are innovating and focusing on the increasing market size for their products and services, Jain added.

KPMG surveyed over 4,000 consumers in 19 countries world wide, in order to understand the future for the market, revealing global trends and some regional differences.

In India, although the user-base of mobile gaming is smaller, a substantially higher proportion of 63 per cent was satisfied with the service, which reflects gaining acceptance and opportunity for mobile gaming companies as the segment moves beyond the early adopters.

Meanwhile, m-commerce applications continue to face challenges for gaining wider acceptance in the country.

KPMG’s survey revealed that there exists a huge potential for banks to grow their market with mobile phone users, as globally 53 per cent of consumers said they are comfortable with the idea of using a mobile phone for financial transactions.

About 64 per cent of Indian’s surveyed stated that they are “at least somewhat likely” to conduct banking through a mobile device in the next 12 months.

Further, 93 per cent respondents said clear pricing and 94 per cent felt download speed as an influencing factor for the purchase of video clips and mobile TV.