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Indian Mobile Phone News Archive: September 2005
World's first terrestrial DMB-receiving mobileThursday, September 29, 2005 | JJLG Electronics launched world’s first terrestrial DMB-receiving mobile phone. SB-120 mobile has an advantage of crystal-clear video with CD-quality audio and satellite-transmitted data. Video can be taken -on-the-move services on a 360-degree pull back monitor. The two mega-pixel camera supports auto focus functions and a TV-out cable through which users can connect television sets to watch DMB programmes on a full screen televisions. C H Lee, president, LG Electronics Gulf FZE said 'This breakthrough in DMB technology will open up a world of mobile possibilities and gives us the momentum to lead the multimedia mobile handset revolution.' Push access Improves Mobile OrganizerThursday, September 29, 2005 | JJPush access of the latest release of Ericsson Mobile Organizer (EMO) improves the simplicity and convenience of mobile working by offering smartphone users to all their Personal Information Management (PIM) applications - e-mail, contacts, calendar and meeting requests. EMO 5.1 enables mobile users to keep fully up to date without any need for proprietary hardware, special devices or operator tie-ins. EMO 5.1 provides more push PIM functionality for users of Symbian smartphones and Microsoft Windows Mobile smartphones or PDAs. E-mail, calendar updates, meeting requests and contact updates are automatically delivered to the user via the mobile network. David Ekberg, Director Mobile Data Solutions, Ericsson Enterprise said "These latest enhancements show how we are continually building on our successful EMO solution to offer enterprise users even greater simplicity and convenience as they work on the move," He added "What's more, enterprises appreciate the availability of complete solutions that offer simplicity, openness, low cost of ownership and security." Hutch launches Rs 10 recharge couponsThursday, September 29, 2005 | JJHutch launches Rs 10 recharge coupons, which can be used by customers for additional talk time for the amount recharged, without extension in the validity period. The customer can utilize this card to make calls when the recharged value of a coupon expires, but the validity period continues and can recharge any number of times within the validity period without paying any extra fee. Naveen Chopra, corporate Vice-Present, group marketing of Hutchison Essar said at a press conference “The new coupon will help make pre-paid usage even more affordable to both ‘Hutch’ and ‘Orange’ users, and offers more talk time at the same cost, therefore more value for money.” Hutch voice response platform in 3 languagesThursday, September 29, 2005 | JJHutch launched voice response platform in 3 more languages taking the total number to five. Voice response platform is already available English and Hindi languages. Samuel Selvakumar, Director (Operations), Hutch, told reporters here that this innovative voice enabled service will enable customers to access a range of offerings in the language of their choice and will be in tune with the Hutch philosophy of facilitating communication in a manner that is convenient. Tata Teleservices signs sourcing pact with TCSThursday, September 29, 2005 | JJTata Teleservices signed sourcing pact with TCS for providing provide IT infrastructure management to Tata Teleservices and Tata Teleservices Maharashtra. The pact worth Rs 1,000-crore is for five-year contract also includes management of IT-related activities including implementation, application development and maintenance. S Ramadorai TCS CMD said, “The engagement with Tata Teleservices is another sign of the growing importance of the Indian market.” CEO Darryl Green Tata Tele CEO said, “Our partnership with TCS will be a tremendous boost in helping us reach our goal in being number one in customer satisfaction.” Hong Kong and Taiwan in Reliance IR listThursday, September 29, 2005 | JJHong Kong and Taiwan has been added as Reliance IR list taking the total number to seven. Reliance has tied with Hutch in Hong Kong and APBW in Taiwan for the services and also planning to add 11 countries across three continents on its IR network. The other country where Reliance has roaming is China (under a tie-up with China Unicom), Israel (Pelephone Cellular Communications), USA (Sprint), Indonesia (Mobile-8) and New Zealand (Telecom Mobile). By 2009 Indian cellular services to reach $24Thursday, September 29, 2005 | JJBy 2009 Indian cellular services will reach $24 with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.6 per cent as per the study of Gartner. Kobita Desai, principal analyst, Asia Pacific for Telecom at Gartner “The cellular industry is a mass market phenomenon that relies on economies of scale. Time to market advantage is critical and favours those who follow aggressive network expansion. In the forthcoming years, the capability and capacity to invest in penetrating semi-urban and rural markets will be important determinants for increasing market share and creating sustainable businesses in the Indian cellular marketplace.” The study also reveals that the Indian cellular services market had recorded the highest growth in Asia Pacific and Japan region in 2004 with a CAGR of 67 per cent and predicts that the Asia Pacific and Japan cellular services market would reach $225 billion in 2009, with a CAGR of 6.2 per cent from 2004, and that the Indian cellular market would account for 11 per cent of the overall Asia Pacific and Japan market by 2009. Bharti second in CII National Six Sigma AwardsThursday, September 29, 2005 | JJBharti Tele-Ventures Limited is ranked second in CII National Six Sigma Awards for on an overall basis. Bharti was selected for the second post on the key parameters to evaluate the winners included Customer focus, alignment with business objectives, demonstrated project benefits, usage of six sigma technology, usage of six sigma tools, Change Management and project management & demonstration of breakthrough technology. Mr. Badri Agarwal, President Infotel, Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd., “We at Bharti believe in institutionalizing the virtues of quality in all our business processes. To receive this prestigious award for quality initiatives is indeed noteworthy, especially when Six Sigma is a focus area and a top-ranking tool within the company to achieve business goals. The award lends further strength to our efforts of placing Bharti on the global map at par with the leading telecom brands of the world. Congratulations to the team and all the stakeholders. ” Bharti won MIS Asia IT Excellence Award 2005Thursday, September 29, 2005 | JJBharti Tele-Ventures Limited won the MIS Asia IT Excellence Award 2005 in the ‘Best Change Management’ category. Bharti is the only Indian Telecom Company ever to win this award. Dr Jai Menon, Corporate Director IT & Technology, Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited said, “The creation of the IT COP in 2002 has led to one of the fastest integrations of IT that I have seen anywhere in the globe. Furthermore, the culmination of this transformation with a strategic partner - IBM - has been truly a landmark of smooth execution, fantastic teamwork and sound future-proof architecture that I am sure will stand rock steady for BTVL's future growth and ultimate delight to its customers “. World’s First Audition on Airtel Mobile phoneThursday, September 29, 2005 | JJWorld’s First Audition on Mobile phone for Indian Idol was launched by Airtel. Airtel customers can dial 646 and record a song in their voice, anytime, from anywhere and as many times as they want till they are satisfied with their performance. Mr. Hemant Sachdev, Group Chief Marketing Officer and Director-Mobility, Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited “Our recent innovative marketing initiatives with mass based programs like KBC 2 and Indian Idol reflect our strategic desire to deliver special opportunities only to Airtel customers. The idea is to get Airtel customers to feel empowered and emerge winners. We hope that Airtel customers will go on to win in programs like KBC and Indian Idol and help build a powerful Airtel community.” Mobile 365 opens office in India at GurgaonThursday, September 29, 2005 | JJMobile 365, the global leader in mobile messaging and data services, further extends its global presence with the launch of its new office in India at Gurgaon. Kaustuv Ghosh is appointed as the Mobile 365's Country Manager, who has experience in the wireless industry from his previous appointments at NDTV and ACL Wireless. Matthew Talbot, Managing Director, Asia, Mobile 365 said "India's nascent mobile market presents exciting opportunities for domestic companies looking to monetize content, as well as international content companies seeking expansion into growth markets. With reach to more than 500 mobile operators around the world - including all the operators in India - we believe that mobile messaging and WAP services such as music, games, and entertainment will be key revenue drivers for the Indian operators over the next couple of years." Mobile Virus Cardtrap-A to infect PCWednesday, September 28, 2005 | JJMobile Virus Cardtrap.A is a malicious SIS file trojan, infecting PC also. Cardtrap-A a Symbian Trojan After infecting the phone infects the PC through by installing Windows worms Win32/Padobot.Z and Win32/Rays to the phone memory card. Series 60 Symbian devices are targeted by Cardtrap-A and spreads via Bluetooth or if it is downloaded and executed on the phone from the web. As per the security firm F-Secure, the goal of the Trojan is most likely to cause a user to infect his PC when he is trying to disinfect his phone. JAMDAT Launches mobile Games on RelianceWednesday, September 28, 2005 | JJJAMDAT Mobile Inc the Global wireless entertainment publisher launches Wireless Games on Reliance largest CDMA wireless carrier in India. The announcement was made at the CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment 2005 trade show in San Francisco. Many of JAMDAT Mobile's JAVA- and BREW-enabled games are now available to more than 10 million customers throughout India. BPL mobile to be acquired by Hutchison EssarWednesday, September 28, 2005 | JJBPL mobile communication agreed for the acquisitions by Hutchison Essar Limited. According to the official release and as per the agreement Hutchison Essar Limited, will acquire BPL Mobile Communications Limited (BPL, Mumbai), BPL Cellular Limited (BPL Cellular) besides Essar Spacetel Limited (Essar Spacetel) which will increase Hutchinson Essar’s customer base to more than 12 million. BPL Mumbai and Essar Spacetel acquisition are subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions. With the acquisition of BPL mobile Hutchison Essar Limited will become the premier national mobile telecommunication services operator in the country. Spice Telecom’s 42% stake sold by DistacomWednesday, September 28, 2005 | JJDistacom is selling Spice Telecom’s 42% stake to Ashmore Investment Management Ltd, a financial associate of Deutsche Bank. BK Modi promoted Spice Telecom was originally formed as a 51:49 JV between Spicecorp (India) and Distacom of Hong Kong. Spice Telecom which currently operates in Karnataka and Punjab circles has applied for seven new licenses mostly on circles in UP and Rajasthan, Spice Telecom has 3.25 lakh and 12 lakh subscribers in Karnataka and Punjab. It is the second largest operator in Punjab. The company also has 5% stake in Spice Nepal, a private telecom operator. Fixed line telecom operators against ADCWednesday, September 28, 2005 | JJFixed line telecom operators are against Department of telecommunication (DoT) order of paying access deficit charge (ADC) to the DoT. Reliance, Tata Teleservices, MTNL, BSNL, HFCL and Shyam Telelink offer fixed wireless services are planning to request Supreme Court to cancel the ADC. The order was passed by DoT on complain of Cellular operators that fixed line subscribers are using their phone as limited mobile phones. The ADC will have an impact on the consumer with increase local tariff from Rs 1.20 to Rs 2.10 for a three-minute call and BSNL will be benefited with an additional Rs 1,300. Reliance against mobile number portabilityWednesday, September 28, 2005 | JJReliance is against the mobile number portability proposed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Replying to the consultation paper on Mobile Number Portability (MNP) Reliance clarified that the investments and network interconnect arrangements required for implementing the MNP system would far outweigh the benefits of MNP. Reliance said in its reply "The fundamental reasons -- both technical and economic -- for introducing mobile number portability do not exist in our country yet." They pointed that competition is very limited in the landline sector with BSNL having 37.25 million (78%) subscribers, out of a total base of 47.8 million. "So, if Trai and government feel it necessary to introduce number portability, it/they should start with fixed number portability." 5 new phones to be launched by MotorolaTuesday, September 27, 2005 | JJ5 new low-end phones are to be launched in the fourth quarter by Motorola Inc the world's second-largest cell phone maker. Five new handsets comprise one monochrome C118 phone, 4 colour phones -- the C257, C139, C168 and the C261, which has a mini digital camera. C168, C261 and the C257 have a thickness of just 14 millimeters and smaller than most models available in the market with longer battery life. Steve Lalla, Motorola's Vice-president for mass-market products "Our goal is to drive this low-end business aggressively into all markets." New 60mn GSM lines by BSNL worth 200bnTuesday, September 27, 2005 | JJNew 60 mn GSM lines will be added by BSNL worth Rs 200 bn in 2006-07. 7.5 million cellular lines will be added to its already 'in the process' roll out of 15 million connections incorporated in the original tender of 15 million lines floated earlier. 82.5 millions mobile users will be using GSM cellular lines of BSNL by 2007. BSNL tender, which will also include 3G services, would be floated next month and may cost Rs 200-Rs 210 bn if the cost per line is about Rs 38 bn. Nokia 3250 Nokia's newest music phoneTuesday, September 27, 2005 | JJNokia's 3250 is newest music phone launched. Kai Oistamo, Senior Vice President, Mobile Phones, Nokia. "One of the first devices to feature the XpressMusic mark is the Nokia 3250, which is going to stop music fans in their (favourite) tracks. Its unique twist design makes it quick and easy to switch between the music keys, the regular keypad and the camera mode." Nokia 3250 comes with a two-megapixel camera, which is activated in the landscape mode by twisting the Nokia 3250's phone's keypad 90 degrees. Nokia 3250 stores up to 1 Gigabyte (750 songs) of high quality music and offers 10 hours of music play. Nokia 3250 has a talk time of up to 3 hours. Demand for enhanced battery life and memoryTuesday, September 27, 2005 | JJDemand for enhanced battery life and increased memory has been raised by a survey from market research group TNS of nearly 7,000 mobile users in 15 countries including India. 75 per cent of respondents among 16 to 49 year olds said enhanced battery life is the main feature they want. Hanis Harun, TNS’s global account director, said, “The study shows that there is an appetite among consumers for powerful new applications, particularly those around entertainment media and imaging”. Orange outsource jobs to India by the yearendTuesday, September 27, 2005 | JJOrange the mobile phone operator in UK is planning to outsource jobs to India by the yearend. The decision come is the wake of successful call centre trials held in Delhi through outsource companies Vertex and Convergys. Mike Hughes, customer service director at Orange, said: "Our main objective is to provide the best service for our customers. Whether it is a call centre in the UK or in India, our main concern is that customers get the levels of service they need and expect from Orange”. BSNL, COAI moves to SC on Tata's WalkyTuesday, September 20, 2005 | JJBharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has moved to Supreme Court to ensure that they are heard as and when the Tatas move the apex court against Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) order on Walky service. Last week TDSAT had dismissed Tata Teleservices' petition against the government classifying its fixed wireless phone service Walky as limited mobile making. COAI's caveat in the Supreme Court says that Tata Teleservices' Walky is a mobile phone, and the operator should pay access deficit charge (ADC) like other mobile service providers. TDSAT has advised the private operator liable to pay around Rs 300 crore to BSNL as ADC. Hutch - Essar new board reconstitutedTuesday, September 20, 2005 | JJHutch-Essar board has been reconstituted after merger. The new board will have three directors from principal foreign shareholder, Hutchison Telecom International (HTIL). Essar group vice-chairman Ravi Ruia and Essar group director Anshuman Ruia, the younger scion of Essar group chairman Shashi Ruia, will represent the Ruias. Max Televentures will be represented by Max India group chairman Analjit Singh, Hindujas will be represented by YM Kale. Shivindra Gupta, Kotak Mahindra director, and Asim Ghosh, will represent Kotak Mahindra-HTIL joint venture. Bharti launches Mobile Wallet with ICICI BankTuesday, September 20, 2005 | JJBHARTI Tele-Ventures in tie-up with ICICI Bank and Visa launched credit card on the mobile phone, which is known as mobile wallet in other parts of the world. "The service eliminates the need of carrying cash for making a purchase and also does away with the need of a point of sale (POS) terminal since the mobile phone serves as a secure POS and a payment mechanism," said a press release. Initially the service will be available to Airtel and ICICI Bank customers in Delhi, Mumbai, & NCR across 100 retail outlets, including departmental stores, restaurants and bookshops and will be expanded to 500 more outlets in the second phase. Ms Chanda Kochhar, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, said, "With the rapid penetration for mobile phones in the Indian market ICICI Bank sees a great potential in servicing customers in this segment. Every transaction is pre-approved by the cardholder and digitally signed through a PIN number." Airtel coverage expansion to 400 towns by 2006Tuesday, September 20, 2005 | JJ400 towns of Orissa such as Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Bolangir and Keonjharwill be under Airtel coverage by 2006. Rajan Swaroop, Bharti Tele-Ventures East Regional Hub director informed that the company planned to add 200 additional sites in the next six months to take the total investment in Orissa to Rs 250 crores. Airtel became the largest private mobile operator in the state of Orissa with two lakhs customers. In the 2nd phase of expansion of Airtel would increase the expansion highway coverage to over 2,500 km in the state. Monthly fixed recurring charges under one headTuesday, September 20, 2005 | JJAll monthly fixed recurring charges has to be shown under one head as per the latest directive of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Trai release stated "The authority is of the view that such tariff plans which are of misleading nature or have the potential to mislead the subscribers will be considered as lacking in transparency and the service providers should be prohibited from offering such plans." "When all fixed charges are clubbed under one head, it will be easy for the subscriber to make a choice from among all tariff plans available in the market," Trai said. "The authority has directed all service providers that no tariff plan shall be offered, presented, marketed or advertised in a manner that is likely to mislead the subscribers," said the regulator. Samsung to open mobile phone plant in IndiaTuesday, September 20, 2005 | JJSamsung plans to open mobile phone plant in India to compete with Nokia, which already has a plant in Chennai. South Korean tech giant Samsung is interested in opening the plant in Noida and Mumbai. . A spokesperson for the company said about company’s plans: Given the Indian market’s importance, we have been considering a mobile phone plant there. But there is nothing concrete yet.” Differential tariff of intra-network to continueTuesday, September 20, 2005 | JJDepartment of Telecommunications (DoT) will not disallow differential tariff for intra-network calls as per the directive of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Intra-network discounts are offered by almost all the mobile operators to attract subscribers. “After analysis of various tariff plans offered by the service providers, it is seen that all operators including stand-alone operators are offering differential tariff plans to their customers and such tariff plans are consumer friendly and increase competition,” Trai has told DoT. “We feel that such consumer friendly plans should not be interfered with and such a step would be against DoT's objective. This may also lead to a demand for similar tariffs between fixed-fixed and fixed-mobile calls, which would be of disadvantage to fixed operators,” Trai said in a note to DoT. Reliance Telecom offered to be boughtTuesday, September 20, 2005 | JJRussian conglomerate AFK Sistema and China Mobile (Hong Kong), the world's largest mobile phone company by subscriber base, has also offered to buy Reliance Telecom. Evgeny Novitsky, chairman of Sistema's board and Li Yue, China Mobile's executive director and vice president had discussion with senior officials of the ADAE group at Mumbai offices. Till now ADAE group has spokesperson declined to comment on the development. Orange considering Indian mobile marketWednesday, September 14, 2005 | AYOrange, the world's second largest mobile service provider, today said that it would consider a foray into the Indian telecommunication market as the country's services sector “presented tremendous business opportunities”. They said, the company, which was investing billions of dollars in new markets in Europe and Africa, had so far refrained from entering India as “it did not present a fair playground to all operators”. Orange has also evinced interest in providing 3G services in India. The impediment is that there has been no progress in allocating 3G spectrum to operators. India has been talking about 3G for a while but nothing has happened on this front. Orange was amongst the first operators in the world to offer 3G services though the business has not generated adequate revenue to justify the high licence fee paid by the company. It was the first to offer TV on mobiles in Europe and is also acknowledged as a market leader in launching and developing application services for TV on mobile. The service provider currently offers about 50 live TV channels to its subscribers. Telecommunications apart, Orange would continue to build upon its IT services and call centre operations in India. Batelco, Bharti sign roaming agreementWednesday, September 14, 2005 | AYBahrain’s incumbent telco Batelco and India’s Bharti Mobile have signed a GPRS/MMS roaming deal, allowing Batelco customers access to Bharti’s networks in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tyamil Nadu, Kerala and Chennai when travelling to India, and Bharti customers access to Batelco’s network when in Bahrain. The agreement comes as part of a commitment by Batelco to ensure that its mobile customers are globally connected. Nokia shortlists two sites for baseTuesday, September 13, 2005 | AYNokia has zeroed in on two sites in India for its global network operations centre that will manage the networks of mobile service providers across the globe. Nokia is offering managed services to 34 of its 140 clients in 28 countries, and has provided operating services for over 20 operators globally, helping them with the day-to-day tasks of running their networks so that they can focus on bolstering their business offerings. It will be operational in the first half of 2006 and employ 100 people initially. He said the company is talking to its clients in managed services business for delivering these services from India. Services business comprises 25 per cent of Nokia’s revenues from network business and accounts for one-third of the employees. The company had signed a $125-million deal last month with Bharti to expand its managed GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks in eight circles in western, central and eastern India. Submarine telecom cable to connect India, S.LankaTuesday, September 13, 2005 | AYSri Lanka Telecom and India's state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. said on Monday they would build a $15 million undersea cable between the neighbouring countries, betting on an explosion in demand for broadband Internet services. The 308 km cable will connect Tuticorin in southern India with Mount Lavinia in southwest Sri Lanka, and is expected to enter service in March 2006. Both companies will fund the project with cash and are expecting to recover their investment in 10 years or less. The cable itself will have a working life of at least 25 years. Sri Lanka Telecom already has a stake in a broadband cable stretching from Mount Lavinia, south of the capital Colombo, to Singapore and then on to France. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. is the world's seventh-largest telecoms operator and India's second-biggest provider of GSM-based mobile services, with over 55 million customers. Sri Lanka Telecom, 35 percent owned by Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, is the island's No.1 fixed line operator and has over 1.0 million customers. OMS is the AOR for Spice MobileMonday, September 12, 2005 | AYSpice Mobile, the mobile handset company that is promoted by B K Modi, has awarded its media duties to Optimum Media Solutions (OMS), the media division of Mudra Communications. As per industry sources, the size of the business is estimated to be more than Rs 10 crore. Payal Gaba, marketing head, Spice Mobile, says, “The entire pitching process was quite rigorous. We were impressed with OMS’ media planning expertise.” Spice Mobile Phones is a US$ 250 million M Corp Global venture into the cellular handset market in India. With a strong lineage in cellular services in India, M Corp Global is expanding its business horizon with its new-age, technologically advanced, state-of-art mobile phones for the entry, mid and premium segments. Data cards enhance mobile Net accessMonday, September 12, 2005 | AYData cards, which deliver broadband wireless capability to laptops and other computing devices — currently offered by telecom service operators like Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices and Airtel, among others, are empowering the mobile professional to access the internet anytime, anywhere. This move is a step towards cutting office infrastructure costs and cuts down on time lost in travelling. In addition, data cards also bring in high levels of efficiency into the laptop user’s operations, claim manufacturers. For instance, Tata Indicom’s recently launched VData Card that fits into the standard type II PCMCIA card slot in notebook PCs, offers data transfer speeds ranging from 40 Kbps upto 153 Kbps. Tata Teleservices COO for Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh Prabhat Pani says that such cards offered under a CDMA network are superior to that of GSM as they are self-sufficient for the user to help log on to the internet. Reliance Infocomm was the first to offer India’s wireless data card on its pan-India network. The Airtel Wireless Data Card is priced at Rs 12,999. Airtel says that its card is GPRS and EDGE compatible and works on Airtel networks within the country and on GSM networks globally. The card comes with three monthly rental plans, the lowest being Rs 399. India most upwardly mobile in Asia-PacificSunday, September 11, 2005 | AAWith a 69% year-on-year growth to 48 million subscribers from 28 million in 2003, India has become the fastest growing mobile market in the Asia Pacific region. Revenues from the sector are estimated to touch $24 billion by 2009. In India, mobile penetration which is currently around 4.5% will increase to 30% by 2009. By 2009, worldwide sales of mobile phones is estimated to exceed one billion and about 25% of that growth is expected to come from the Asia-Pacific region. India to become global hub for mobile phone makersSunday, September 11, 2005 | AAIndia has emerged as the second largest mobile handset market, poised for explosive growth by 2007.Research and Markets has announced the addition of Indian Mobile Handset Market (2005) to their offering. With rapid consumerism sweeping the country, India has emerged as the second largest mobile handset market, poised for explosive growth by 2007. Industry observers are of the view that market within the Q1 (first quarter of) 2006 could well become a global hub for mobile handset manufacturers. With an eye on the impending growth opportunities, this market research report "India Mobile Handset Market (2005)" analyzes the current market scenario and the technological developments driving the demand graph. The report, quoting the experts' view, estimates that the total market value worth Rs.8.05billion (US $2billion) as of 2004/05 will surge by 62% with approximately 100-million subscribers nationwide by 2007. The study further reveals that Indian mobile subscribers are willing to pay for upgrades, value-based services, and advanced models that provide better services. Dominated largely by Nokia with a total market share of 59%, followed by Samsung (13%) and Motorola (7%) respectively, Indian mobile handset market is currently catering to 45 million subscribers (June 2005). Recent records show that Indian GSM cellular user base has grown from 43 million, as estimated in May, to 45 million in June 2005, representing a growth of 3.50% in the month under review, witnessing large and propitious foreign investors flooding the market eyeing for large chunks. In addition, recent changes imbibed in the government policies that price mobile handsets at a lower end with flexible custom-duty for new entrants are startling the market with multiple models largely aimed to higher and middle-income groups. Industry sources, though, view the market to be at its nascent stage, many large EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) companies are seriously considering setting up their handset facilities in India. Not surprisingly, phone vendors would prefer to source the lowest-cost phones available and these come from contract manufacturers elsewhere in Asia. Opportunities are largely looming for mobile bigwigs like, BenQ, Elcoteq, and Alcatel quibbled over licenses; now, they are fighting over spectrum. This market research report examines ongoing market trends responsible for the escalating demand for mobile handsets and value-added services in India. The report investigates and assesses the growth factors contributing to mobile handset market and includes wide coverage of important issues and policies concerning development of Indian mobile telecommunication industry. With statistics including current market share data, leading players and manufacturers' profiles, and mobile subscriber predictions for 2010, the report covers the key aspects of the scenario in the Indian market for the mobile industry. Special emphasis is given to emerging trends in the market. This market research report also gives a complete analysis of India's mobile market for in-depth insights into mobile subscribers base, mobile tariffs, usage patterns, and potential for value added services. CyberMedia News New CEO for BPL mobileSunday, September 11, 2005 | AYPramod Saxena has been appointed as chief executive officer of BPL Mobile, following the acquisition of a 64 per cent stake in the mobile service provider. The appointment of Saxena follows Essar group's move to merge the operations of the acquired company BPL with itself. Saxena would also be in charge of retaining BPL's existing customers and eventually moving them over to the Hutch network. He was the country head (India) of the global handset maker Motorola and was later roped in by the Ruias to head the rollout of the group's mobile services in India. Prior to the acquisition, BPL was headed by Rajiv Chandrasekhar , while his father-in-law TPG Nambiar was in helm of the operations as chairman. Reliance offers cheap calls for Indian expatsSunday, September 11, 2005 | AYReliance Communications UK, part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprise group that split from India’s family-controlled Reliance Empire in June, hopes to corner a large part of the calls made by more than 300,000 Indian families in Britain. This is Reliance’s first foray into Europe targeting the Indian diaspora, having launched a similar service in the United States and Canada last year. It launches in Britain on Sept. 16. Reliance’s IndiaCall will allow callers in Britain to reach any number in India from any telephone by using a free-phone access number. Customers can sign up for the service through the Internet. Those opting for the Pay After Use plan can pay through a credit or debit card. About 70 to 80mn minutes of calls are made from Britain to India each month, according to industry figures made available by the company. Reliance Communications UK, whose sister companies include undersea cable operator Flag Telecom and India’s second-largest private telecoms company, Reliance Infocomm, plans to charge 8-9 pence per minute for calls made from the UK to India. Reliance said it could guarantee the voice quality on its calls as its plans to carry the calls all the way to India and within the country on its own network. India's first R & D centre for broadband technologySaturday, September 10, 2005 | AYMarking yet another milestone in taking the technology to the rural areas, India's first ever R and D centre for broadband and Wi-Max Technology, "C-DOT-Alcatel Research Centre" (CARC) was inaugurated here in chennai on Friday. This was the first specialised R and D Centre for Wi-Max globally and was expected to make profit after five years. This wireless broadband R and D Centre, with 51 per cent equity from French telecom major Alcatel and 49 per cent from C-DOT, was set up at a cost of Rs 212 crore. While Alcatel would deal with the marketing of CPE technology worldwide, in India it would be given on royalty to all telecom companies by C-Dot. Not only BSNL and MTNL, all the telecom companies such as Airtel, Aircel and Hutch will benefit by this. BSNL WiMax in five cities by 2006Saturday, September 10, 2005 | AYState-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will provide WiMax broadband wireless services in Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and in the satellite towns of Delhi and Mumbai in 2006. BSNL has identified 15 cities to deploy Wi-Fi (broadband wireless in a limited area) at 300 locations like airports, hotels, university campuses and malls. Work on Wi-Max will be undertaken in five major cities - Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and satellite towns in Delhi and Mumbai." BSNL is also aiming to achieve a telephone subscriber base of 125 million by 2007. Indian GSM operators achieve two million net additionsFriday, September 9, 2005 | AYIndia's booming GSM mobile sector added 2.039 million new subscribers in August to end the month with a total of 48.914 million, up 4.35% over July’s figure, according to the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), which represents the country’s nine main GSM operators. Largest cellco Bharti Tele-Ventures achieved record monthly growth, adding 624,209 GSM users to take its total to 13.413 million. CDMA group the Association of Unified Service Providers of India (AUSPI) said that its members signed up a total of 693,876 new users in August, taking their combined customer base to 13.035 million. Bombay-based operator Reliance Infocomm accounted for the bulk of the new CDMA additions, attracting 487,911 customers in the month to reach a total of 11.134 million. BSNL wants to work in synergy with MTNLFriday, September 9, 2005 | AYTelecom major BSNL wants to work in synergy with the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited to further improve its services in the country, but would not take a stand on whether the MTNL should be merged with it, according to BSNL CMD AK Sinha. To a question whether he favoured MTNL's merger with BSNL, Sinha said, "We cannot comment on that. It is up to the government to take a decision." Stating that BSNL had plans to add nearly 6.6 crore new connections in the next two and half years, he said about Rs 70,000 crore have been earmarked for the purpose. BSNL, which has aims of becoming the largest telecom company of South East Asia also aims at bringing two crore subscribers to its broadband fold by 2010. BSNL picks up Tuticorin for undersea cable landing stationFriday, September 9, 2005 | AYAfter a year of intense lobbying by the West Bengal government led by its information technology minister, Manabendra Mukherjee, BSNL has finally decided on Tuticorin as the landing point for its undersea cable that will hook up with an international network at Colombo. BSNL’s chairman, AK Sinha, did not wish to be drawn into any political controversy. All he would say was that Tuticorin to Colombo is the shortest distance. Senior BSNL officials pointed out that the Haldia site in West Bengal is at the mouth of the silt-plagued Hoogly and too shallow for comfort. The undersea fibre-optic cable is expected to give a boost to BSNL’s Rs 4000-crore international long distance (ILD) traffic. The West Bengal government had been lobbying for Haldia because it feels that the IT industry in eastern India would have gained immensely from the extra bandwidth of the cable. At present, all international traffic to eastern India links up with undersea cables after travelling over land to either Chennai, Mumbai or Kochi. Sinha said the total cost of laying the 500km Tuticorin to Colombo link would be around Rs 80 crore and the cost would be shared equally between Sri Lanka Telecom and BSNL. Idea, Aircel plan Rs 2,600 cr IPOsFriday, September 9, 2005 | AYIdea Cellular and Aircel Cellular -- have planned to enter the primary market with initial public offers of around Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) and Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion) respectively. According to the sources, the companies have planned to tap the markets as other modes of raising funds, including roping in strategic partners, have failed. When contacted, the Idea officials offered no comments while the Aircel sources neither denied nor confirmed the move, adding that the IPO was one of the modes being looked at for raising money. The move by Idea Cellulur and Aircel Cellular indicates that the lower-ranked Indian cellular companies are raring to go -- to enter the markets, while the top players are wary of being listed on the bourses. Based on subscriptions, Idea Cellular and Aircel Cellular are placed at the fifth and the seventh position, respectively. Samsung eyes budget mobile phone marketWednesday, September 7, 2005 | AYSamsung Electronics, the world's third-largest cell phone vendor, is showing signs of jumping into the low-end phone market, reversing its strategy of producing only top-tier phones. Low-priced handsets account for up to 60 percent of the global market. 'Although we still focus on top-end customers, we cannot ignore the bigger market', Samsung president Lee Ki-tae told. Lee added that he does not mean Samsung will jettison its premium phone-oriented tactics but that the corporation would move to meet the emerging demands for phones less than $90. While Samsung focused on expensive phones, Nokia and Motorola grabbed the market share at the low end by undercutting Samsung. Now Samsung is taking the cheaper market seriously. Samsung¡¯s market share slid to 13.2 percent during the three months to June from 14.2 percent in the previous quarter. By comparison, Nokia and Motorola boosted their market shares to 32.9 percent and 18.3 percent from 31.2 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively, over the cited period. LG upped its share to 6.5 percent, just ahead of Sony-Ericsson¡¯s 6.4 percent in the second quarter. Ericsson to invest 1 bln usd in China over 5 yearsWednesday, September 7, 2005 | AYEricsson will invest 1 bln usd in China over the coming five years and will seek to maintain its plus 35 pct market share in the mobile communications market as the country brings on-line third-generation (3G) and high-speed networks. The investment will focus on expansion of manufacturing capacity, the establishment of research and development (R&D) centers and expansion of service capacity. Svanberg also announced that the company had singed a research agreement with the Shanghai Research Center for Wireless Communications (SHRCWC) under which the company and institute will collaborate on developing 'super 3G'and 4G technologies. China was a key growth market and was adding 5 mln mobile subscribers per month. They expect that this growth will pick up as incomes grow outside of the current major subscriber market. Svanberg also said the company was planning major expansion into India, although he did not give any data. He said the investments in India would be for the Indian market, in networks and R&D. In China, the company's investments would also be for building up its manufacturing base. Nokia expands retail networkTuesday, September 6, 2005 | AYIn a bid to keep up its leadership position in the Indian market, Finnish handset manufacturer Nokia is planning to expand its distribution and retail network in the country. The company is planning to launch new Nokia concept stores and exclusive retail outlets, apart from bringing in feature-rich mobile handsets. Nokia is also bringing its latest music initiative, to develop a mobile music solution for operators in India. The platform allows operators to offer customers a branded mobile music service featuring an extensive international and local music catalogue. Users will be able to browse, search, listen and download - either to their handset or PC - full length songs and RingTunes. Globally, Nokia sold more than 10 million mobile phones with an integrated digital music player in 2004 alone. In 2005, Nokia plans to introduce a wide range of music-enabled devices with expandable memory capacity. Lambeek said that Nokia would bring in new applications such as Mobile TV and better imaging platforms on mobile phones. Lambeek said that Nokia would bring in new applications such as Mobile TV and better imaging platforms on mobile phones. India to be handset manufacturing hub by 2006Tuesday, September 6, 2005 | AYIndia has emerged as the second largest mobile handset market in the world and is poised to become a global hub for mobile handset manufacturers by early 2006. According to a study by Research and Markets (Dublin, Ireland), the Indian mobile handset market is now worth about $2 billion, but will surge by over 60 percent in two years. Nokia dominates the market with a 59 percent market share, followed by Samsung with 13 percent and Motorola with 7 percent. India had 45 million GSM subscribers in June, with the number expected to more than double to 100 million subscribers in 2007. India is witnessing big foreign investors seeking to capture large chunks of the market. Nokia, LG and Elcoteq have already announced plans for manufacturing in India, while Motorola is prepared to do so once its market share here rises. Samsung and others are also considering setting up plants here. Merger of Wi-Fi and VoIPMonday, September 5, 2005 | AYVoIP and Internet telephony in general have come a long way from their inception. Most recently, the 'next big thing' has been to merge Wi-Fi with VoIP, VoWiFi or Voice over Wireless Fidelity, simply means a Wi-Fi based VoIP service-or to put it in another way, a wireless VoIP system. Where VoIP consists of the hardware and software that enable people to use the Internet as a transmission medium for making telephone calls, VoWiFi is the wireless version of this technology that is designed to work on wirelessly connected devices such as a laptop or PDA. There are advantages of decreased communication costs by using corporate wireless networks for voice in addition to data. VoWiFi is a mobile system that offers reliable coverage indoors and higher voice quality than the traditional cellular service. Along with the added benefits that it brings to businesses and to those with a need for wireless communications, VoWiFi opens up the door for a whole new market of consumer products such as a standalone VoWiFi handheld. The company is working closely with Nokia to provide a converged solution that has GSM, VoWiFi and IPBX integrated into a single solution. SMS facility in BSNL landlinesMonday, September 5, 2005 | AYThe Patna Telephones has provided free SMS facility on all the landline phones within Patna. With this, people using landline phones of the BSNL can send SMSes through their phone to all BSNL and MTNL landline phones besides BSNL mobile phones within the country. In order to avail of this facility, the landline phone users should install SMS enabled phone sets which were available in the market here. The SMS facility was provided free of cost ten days ago after the caller identity (CLI) facility was made available on all landline telephone connections. While the access code for SMS service is 1256, for sending the SMS the subscriber has to dial 125600 to BSNL's Kolkata-based SM centre from wherethe SMS to the landline or mobile phone numbers is routed around the country. While activating the SMS service, the subscribers have to make a blank SMS call on number 771 and following which they would receive the reply SMS recorded. The SMS calls can be made thereafter. Music Masti - on IdeaSunday, September 4, 2005 | AYCellular operator IDEA Cellular Ltd. has announced the launch of “Music Masti” on Say Idea Voice portal (456). This unique service allows the customer to listen, dedicate, gift songs, preview and download ring-tones of their choice from Say Idea Voice portal. IDEA customers can use Music Masti by dialing “456” and a voice welcoming the customer will inform him/her of the content that can be explored. The customers will be charged @ Rs. 6.99/min for accessing Music Masti through the voice portal, 456. For Polyphonic tones download, data charges will be applicable as per the GPRS tariff plan. Distacom checks out of Spice TeleSunday, September 4, 2005 | AYHong Kong-based Distacom, the foreign shareholder of the BK Modi-promoted Spice Telecom, is exiting the mobile service provider. Talks are underway with Distacom to buy out its stake in Spice, but said that the deal is not yet finalised. Mr Modi also added he’s joining hands with investors to form a consortium. He declined to give details, but added all foreign investors who wish to exit Spice can sell their stakes to the consortium. Industry sources said that the financial investor who had bought Distacom’s stake is probably a part of the Deutsche Bank Group. Another Deutsche entity, an overseas fund specialising in distressed assets, has already bought out the debt of Spice Telecom after the company defaulted on its payments to Siemens and Motorola. Essar has been wooing some of the Spice shareholders for some time in order to get a foothold in the company, but Mr Modi denied that Essar was the buyer. Distacom holds about 42% in Spice, while the Modis hold about 22%. The balance is held by Darby and AIG. Spice currently operates in the Karnataka and Punjab circles, where it has 3.1 lakh and 11.8 lakh subscribers respectively. Spice was originally formed as a 51:49 JV between Spicecorp (India), the flagship company of MCorp Global Group and Distacom of Hong Kong. Micro technologies launched another super security solutionSaturday, September 3, 2005 | AYMumbai-based Micro Technologies India Limited, which received an international patent for its super security solution for vehicles, Vehicle Black Box (VBB) nine months ago, launched another product on similar lines for home security called Home Security System (HSS) here on Friday. It offers a security system, one-of-its-kind that alerts the customer with an SMS on his mobile as soon as it detects an intrusion. The security system developed by Micro offers a smart cover over a cell phone and with a global access. The company has tied-up with Airtel as its message service provider. The cost of a single unit comes to about Rs 16,500 with additional payment to the message service provider, a one-time activation fee of Rs 249 and a monthly rental of Rs 99. Micro Technologies recorded an annual turnover of Rs 27 crore last fiscal and targets Rs 70 crore this fiscal. Bharti plans Rs 1,500-cr expansionSaturday, September 3, 2005 | AYBharti Tele-Ventures has announced that it would invest Rs 1,500 crore during the current fiscal to roll out fixed line telephone and broadband services across 10 States. The company, which offers telecom services under the Airtel brand, is targeting a subscriber base of 2.5 million fixed line users by March 2007. Bharti is also planning a terrestrial link between Indian and Pakistan and has sought government approvals for the project. Bharti currently provides broadband and telephone services in 66 cities spread over 10 circles. The new towns include Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Agra, Cochin and Pune. Bharti is the only private telecom service provider that offers fixed line phones using purely wire line technology. Most of the other basic operators use CDMA-based wireless solutions to offer telephone services. At a time when fixed line user base has been on the decline, Bharti has attempted to make fixed line phones more user friendly by launching mobile-like services such as caller back ringtones, roaming, Airtel Live services and voice mail services. Camera phones boost digital camera salesSaturday, September 3, 2005 | AAContrary to expectations, camera phones are spurring US consumers to buy digital cameras, according to a study released by research firm IDC. Mobile phones equipped with tiny cameras are seen as less of a threat to replace digital cameras as camera prices fall, IDC said in its Mobile Imaging Survey. In fact the report said new phones help to introduce users to digital photography, which uses no film and allow pictures to be e-mailed. Sharp growth in sales of camera phones with powerful lenses was once seen as a threat to digital cameras, since most new mobile phones sold are equipped with tiny camera lenses that lets user spontaneously snap pictures in places they might not have in the past. The study said that over 30 percent of camera phone owners plan to purchase digital cameras because they learned about digital photography through camera phones, IDC said. [Agency] Indian mobile revenues risingFriday, September 2, 2005 | AYRevenues from the Indian cellular services market will reach $24 billion by the end of 2009, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.6 percent, according to a study released Wednesday by the research firm Gartner. Gartner also stated that the Indian cellular services market had recorded the highest growth across the Asia Pacific and Japan region in 2004 with a CAGR of 67 percent. The Indian cellular market will account for 11 percent of the overall Asia Pacific and Japanese market by 2009. Local cellular operators and even the government have been responsive to the needs of the market. About a decade ago, mobile phones in India cost an average of 20,000 rupees ($465) and each minute of talk time cost 16 rupees ($0.36). Today, users can get a cell phone for as little as 2,500 rupees ($58), while talk time costs have shrunk to approximately 3 rupees per minute. Rival cell phone operators Tata Indicom and Airtel fight it out in television ads, driving home the message that cell phones cost very little these days, everyone can be connected, and even a tea-delivery boy who barely has clothes to wear can now own a mobile phone. Mauj Telecom launches WallGenieFriday, September 2, 2005 | AYMauj Telecom, India's leading wireless solutions provider, today, announced the launch of a new WAP-based mobile application called ‘wallGenie’. WallGenie is aone-of-a-kind application that makes you a ‘wallpaper wizard’,enabling you to custom-make and individualize your own mobile wallpaper. You have a whole lot of readymade template wallpapers to choose from. These wallpapersalso come with special effects depicting Romance, Fun, Animals, Cool Spots,Greetings. Theapplication can be downloaded through operator portals, like IdeaCellular’s Ideafresh, MTNL’s Funstation, BSNL CellOne Galaxy or bylogging onto wap.mauj.com or by SMSing wallGenieto 7007 on Hutch, Orange, Idea, MTNL andBSNL. The application is affordably priced between Rs. 9 and Rs. 15 dependingupon the service. Personalization is a big driver in the ringtone category, caller ringback tone and now also in the wallpaper market. Besides, imagery-based mobile content is also becoming verypopular. wallGenie is especially created for users who want to design their ownpersonal wallpaper with utmost ease. Airtel, Itz cash tie-up In MumbaiFriday, September 2, 2005 | AYAirtel, India's leading mobile company has tied up with, Itz Cash Card to offers its prepaid customers, the option to top-up their prepaid account anywhere anytime in the city. Airtel customers can now recharge their balance by simply selecting the talk-time top-up package and SMS the same with Itz Cash card no to 7575 and the top-up happens instantly. This service is currently available in Mumbai, and will to be extended to all the 23 Airtel circles shortly. The pricing for the Itz Cash card is exactly as per the Airtel recharge vouchers. The customers can use the full value of the prepaid amount, that is, on a RS 200 prepaid ITz cash card the customer can use recharge voucher worth RS 200. Mobile handsets at a very attractive priceFriday, September 2, 2005 | AYCompanies in Bangalore are firming up plans to come out with a phone that would cost just about Rs 1000 by next year. With 2 million new mobile subscribers every month, India, the fastest growing wireless market in the world, is going one step ahead of the magic figure of sub-$40 and aiming at a "dream phone for the common man". Currently, the fastest selling lowest cost mobile phones from Nokia, Motorola and Samsung fall in the range of Rs 2,500 -Rs 3,000. Leading chip firms like Texas Instruments (TI), Philips and Infineon have come out with low cost chips — that are the heart of the mobile phone comprising 40% of the cost of the phone. Bangalore-based Quasar Innovation, an Indian design house is in talks with a leading original equipment manufacturer (OEMs) and a cellular operator for an ultra low cost phone. The Indian manufacturer BPL also has a team of 30 engineers working on an low cost phone, says CR Menon,CEO, BPL Ltd. Old Archives2009
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