India could have more than one billion mobile phone users by 2015, with the bulk of that growth in rural areas, one of the country's top telecom executives said on Wednesday.
Manoj Kohli, chief executive of India's biggest mobile phone group Bharti Airtel, told an industry conference in Hong Kong that his firm is aiming to almost double its customer base to 200 million people in the next few years.
"Achieving a billion plus (Indian mobile users) by 2015 is possible," he told the Mobile Asia Congress, the region's largest telecom industry gathering.
"The largest growth will happen in the rural market," he said, adding that pricing wars between providers were knocking down rates in the Indian market and making phones affordable to more people.
Competition in India has become even more aggressive as new players unleash deeper price cuts with innovative per-second billing plans that have pushed call costs down to less than a cent a minute.
"There is hyper-competition like no other place in the world," he said.
India is the world's second-biggest cellular market with more than 400 million users, lagging behind only China, which has over 600 million users.
Rural customers are also seen as key to growth in China, said Chang Xiaobing, chairman of China Unicom, one of the nation's three major telecoms operators.
The company aims to tap "vast rural areas" for growth as demand for basic mobile voice services slows in saturated urban markets, he said, with customers now looking for multi-function devices that can send emails or play movies.
"Voice is a mature market in some areas, but we still see some growth potential," Chang told the conference. "Voice will be in continuous demand (in China)."
But Chinese operators must boost their data business to offset falling prices on voice calls, he said.
Chang has said he expects Apple's iconic iPhone, which Unicom distributes, will be China's highest-selling smartphone despite disappointing results after its official launch this month.
Mobile connections in Asia Pacific are expected to cross the two billion mark this year, more than triple the level in 2003, according to statistics released by conference organiser GSMA, a mobile industry trade group.
Agencies
Showing posts with label CDMA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CDMA. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Will $1-b BSNL outsourcing deal impact 30,000 jobs?
Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) is planning to outsource the management and maintenance of its towers and cable networks to compete more effectively with private players like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, which dominate the booming industry and also unlock the value of its assets, reports the Economic Times.
The deal, which could be worth more than $1 billion (Rs. 5,000 crore) over the next five years, might receive stiff resistance from about three lakh employees as it will impact close to 30,000 jobs. "The company plans to train and redeploy a significant section of these employees to marketing roles," informed two executives requesting anonymity, as many employees are expected to be transferred to the IT firms that win the outsourcing deal.
Through this deal, BSNL will outsource more than 50,000 towers and over one lakh kilometers of optic fibre cable. "The telecom company is in process of finalizing tender conditions for inviting bids for the contract," said these executives.
"The move will help BSNL unlock the value from its towers and passive infrastructure as the once monopoly tries to play catch up with private rivals," said BK Syngal, Senior Principal, Dua Consulting.
"Successful bidders for this contract can share company's networks with private players for a fee and this could result in a revenue boost for BSNL," added Syngal, who is also a former Chairman of VSNL (now Tata Communications).
Reliance Communications had formed a joint venture with Franco American networks major Alcatel-Lucent last year and outsourced the management of its GSM and CDMA networks and infrastructure such as optic fibre cable in a deal worth $500 million over a five year period. The deal had crossed $750 million mark in July 2009.
Bharti Airtel also entered into a $500 million joint venture with Alcatel-Lucent to manage its landline and broadband business in April 2009. Around 4,000 Airtel employees were transferred to this new venture, which is a front runner to bag another $500 million contract from Airtel to manage and maintain its 80,000 kilometers intercity optic fibre cable network.
BSNL had recently postponed plans to hive off its towers and other related infrastructure into a separate company. The company felt it would be difficult to unlock value by merely hiving off its infrastructure and listing it due to falling valuations for the tower sector, said the executives.
Agencies/Economic Times
The deal, which could be worth more than $1 billion (Rs. 5,000 crore) over the next five years, might receive stiff resistance from about three lakh employees as it will impact close to 30,000 jobs. "The company plans to train and redeploy a significant section of these employees to marketing roles," informed two executives requesting anonymity, as many employees are expected to be transferred to the IT firms that win the outsourcing deal.
Through this deal, BSNL will outsource more than 50,000 towers and over one lakh kilometers of optic fibre cable. "The telecom company is in process of finalizing tender conditions for inviting bids for the contract," said these executives.
"The move will help BSNL unlock the value from its towers and passive infrastructure as the once monopoly tries to play catch up with private rivals," said BK Syngal, Senior Principal, Dua Consulting.
"Successful bidders for this contract can share company's networks with private players for a fee and this could result in a revenue boost for BSNL," added Syngal, who is also a former Chairman of VSNL (now Tata Communications).
Reliance Communications had formed a joint venture with Franco American networks major Alcatel-Lucent last year and outsourced the management of its GSM and CDMA networks and infrastructure such as optic fibre cable in a deal worth $500 million over a five year period. The deal had crossed $750 million mark in July 2009.
Bharti Airtel also entered into a $500 million joint venture with Alcatel-Lucent to manage its landline and broadband business in April 2009. Around 4,000 Airtel employees were transferred to this new venture, which is a front runner to bag another $500 million contract from Airtel to manage and maintain its 80,000 kilometers intercity optic fibre cable network.
BSNL had recently postponed plans to hive off its towers and other related infrastructure into a separate company. The company felt it would be difficult to unlock value by merely hiving off its infrastructure and listing it due to falling valuations for the tower sector, said the executives.
Agencies/Economic Times
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Reliance now allows to play antakshari on mobiles
Anil Ambani led Reliance Mobile has launched antakshari game on its R-World platform for both- GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) users. Now, Reliance Mobile subscribers can play this game with a selected community or their friends on the move.
Reliance is also creating a special marketing portal, where a subscriber will be able to throw a challenge to others and recipients will be able to respond. While playing, users will get three lifelines to continue the game. These lifelines are library, 50-50 and ask a friend.
On the launch of this service, Krishna Durbha, Head - VAS, Reliance Communications said, "Antakshari is one of the oldest music based games that Indians have known and played for generations. We have conceptualized the same for our subscribers, who can now play this game with any other Reliance subscriber in the country."
The antakshari service will come at a monthly subscription of Rs.30 with 30 minutes of free usage. Users will also have the right to block other users at any point in time as well as decide whom they want to play with.
Agencies
Reliance is also creating a special marketing portal, where a subscriber will be able to throw a challenge to others and recipients will be able to respond. While playing, users will get three lifelines to continue the game. These lifelines are library, 50-50 and ask a friend.
On the launch of this service, Krishna Durbha, Head - VAS, Reliance Communications said, "Antakshari is one of the oldest music based games that Indians have known and played for generations. We have conceptualized the same for our subscribers, who can now play this game with any other Reliance subscriber in the country."
The antakshari service will come at a monthly subscription of Rs.30 with 30 minutes of free usage. Users will also have the right to block other users at any point in time as well as decide whom they want to play with.
Agencies
Friday, July 31, 2009
11.9 m new Indian subscribers added in June
India's telecom industry continued its robust growth story in June by adding 11.91 million new subscribers to take the total subscription base to 464.82 million, said a government statement.
The number of total subscribers in the country as on June 30, 2008 was 325.78 million.
The wireless (GSM and CDMA) segment added 12 million new subscribers, while the wireline segment witnessed a dip of 134,000 connections, the statement said.
The overall tele-density reached 39.86 percent in June 2009 as compared to 28.33 percent in the like period last year.
Broadband connections reached 6.4 million at the end of May and the total number of licences issued for Internet service providers (ISPs) is 375, the statement added.
Under the Bharat Nirman programme, public telephones were provided to 264 villages in May.
Agencies
The number of total subscribers in the country as on June 30, 2008 was 325.78 million.
The wireless (GSM and CDMA) segment added 12 million new subscribers, while the wireline segment witnessed a dip of 134,000 connections, the statement said.
The overall tele-density reached 39.86 percent in June 2009 as compared to 28.33 percent in the like period last year.
Broadband connections reached 6.4 million at the end of May and the total number of licences issued for Internet service providers (ISPs) is 375, the statement added.
Under the Bharat Nirman programme, public telephones were provided to 264 villages in May.
Agencies
Friday, May 29, 2009
Is India the second-largest CDMA market?
According to the CDMA Development Group (CDG), there are now over 100 million CDMA subscribers in India, making it the world's second-largest CDMA market. CDG made this announcement at an event in Mumbai.
While announcing this achievement, Perry LaForge, CDG's executive director said, "It's a very important day to celebrate not only in India but also for the CDMA industry. Now, India is the second largest CDMA market in the world, second to the US, and I would like to thank the Department of Telecommunication, TRAI and the Government of India for their support in achieving this milestone."
In his speech, LaForge requested to extend support from government bodies to provide more spectrum to CDMA operators in India. He said wireless broadband will be of great significance to connect the people and increasing Internet penetration in the country.
According to S P Shukla, Reliance Communication's president – Wireless, "We have changed the demography of the country in terms of mobility. Today, India has come a long way in mobile connectivity with Reliance. We have achieved this milestone as an industry because of collective efforts of operators, vendors, device and handset makers and the people."
"We remain committed to further grow and serve our ever-increasing CDMA customer base through innovative applications, superior network quality and service and attractive value-propositions. And I am happy to see that CDMA technology is bridging the digital divide," Shukla added.
Globally, Reliance Communication (RCOM) is ranked second, while Tata Teleservices holds fourth place among the top five CDMA operators.
While, Anil Sardana, Tata Teleservices Limited's managing director said, "It has always been our mission to provide quality telecom services to subscribers in India and it's a matter of pride that we have played a role in this 100 million CDMA subscriber achievement."
He pointed out that CDMA technology allows a rich telecom experience especially on the data side and are confident that in coming years that experience will only get better as 3G arrives and helps to unleash full potential of applications and services.
Also, Dr. Mukund Rajan, Tata Teleservices (Maharastra) Limited's managing director, Kanwalinder Singh, Qualcomm's senior president and also president of India and South Asia, T. Narsimhan, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited's deputy CEO attended the event.
According to CDG, the CDMA users' rapid growth in India is attributed to a wide selection of affordable devices – ranging from entry level handsets to feature rich smart phones and the introduction of CDMA2000 voice and data services into urban and rural areas, helping to reshape the communication culture of India.
Agencies
While announcing this achievement, Perry LaForge, CDG's executive director said, "It's a very important day to celebrate not only in India but also for the CDMA industry. Now, India is the second largest CDMA market in the world, second to the US, and I would like to thank the Department of Telecommunication, TRAI and the Government of India for their support in achieving this milestone."
In his speech, LaForge requested to extend support from government bodies to provide more spectrum to CDMA operators in India. He said wireless broadband will be of great significance to connect the people and increasing Internet penetration in the country.
According to S P Shukla, Reliance Communication's president – Wireless, "We have changed the demography of the country in terms of mobility. Today, India has come a long way in mobile connectivity with Reliance. We have achieved this milestone as an industry because of collective efforts of operators, vendors, device and handset makers and the people."
"We remain committed to further grow and serve our ever-increasing CDMA customer base through innovative applications, superior network quality and service and attractive value-propositions. And I am happy to see that CDMA technology is bridging the digital divide," Shukla added.
Globally, Reliance Communication (RCOM) is ranked second, while Tata Teleservices holds fourth place among the top five CDMA operators.
While, Anil Sardana, Tata Teleservices Limited's managing director said, "It has always been our mission to provide quality telecom services to subscribers in India and it's a matter of pride that we have played a role in this 100 million CDMA subscriber achievement."
He pointed out that CDMA technology allows a rich telecom experience especially on the data side and are confident that in coming years that experience will only get better as 3G arrives and helps to unleash full potential of applications and services.
Also, Dr. Mukund Rajan, Tata Teleservices (Maharastra) Limited's managing director, Kanwalinder Singh, Qualcomm's senior president and also president of India and South Asia, T. Narsimhan, Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited's deputy CEO attended the event.
According to CDG, the CDMA users' rapid growth in India is attributed to a wide selection of affordable devices – ranging from entry level handsets to feature rich smart phones and the introduction of CDMA2000 voice and data services into urban and rural areas, helping to reshape the communication culture of India.
Agencies
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Mobile players focus on MVAS to increase ARPU
With Mobile Value Added Services (MVAS) touching Rs 7,510 crore in 2008 and expected to touch Rs 9,760 crore in 2009 and Rs 16,520 by 2010, mobile players are aggressively rolling out new services to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU).
Talking to CXOtoday at the Forum Nokia Developer Conference 2009, Deepak Halan, Group Business Director of IMRB International eTech said, “In the wake of changing industry markets, telecom operators are looking at MVAS as the next wave of growth, and a large chunk of revenues is expected to flow from VAS in the near future. Our report indicated that this market is growing at 70% annually.”
While the growing subscriber base has positively impacted industry revenues, operator margins have shrunk, pulling down ARPU. “As ARPU declines and voice gets commoditized, the challenge is to retain customers, develop alternative revenue streams, and create a basis for differentiation in high-churn markets that is why telecom operators are looking at MVAS as the next wave of growth,” said Halan.
Presently the mobile market has about 12-15 major players besides a number of new licences issued to Etisalat, Unitech and Reliance (GSM) that is likely to take MVAS to all time high.
Among MVAS, the most popular service was downloaded mobile music, although voice portals were swiftly taking over, said Halan. SMS-based infotainment services are largely divided among the big players. A TRAI reports indicates that out of the 375 million users, one out of every five users have a GPRS-enabled mobile across India but not many services are available making then passive users, which is a deterrent factor.
However, the new 3G initiative give a fresh pipe for data and video tracks that could be downloaded without interruptions and also mobile TV with a lot more services like video on demand will is possible, said Halan.
Srikanth Raju, Director, Head of Product Marketing Forum Nokia said, “MVAS has seen a huge market in India and now with 3G being rolled out, will further help video downloaded and a lot more development on MVAS.”
Talking to CXOtoday at the Forum Nokia Developer Conference 2009, Deepak Halan, Group Business Director of IMRB International eTech said, “In the wake of changing industry markets, telecom operators are looking at MVAS as the next wave of growth, and a large chunk of revenues is expected to flow from VAS in the near future. Our report indicated that this market is growing at 70% annually.”
While the growing subscriber base has positively impacted industry revenues, operator margins have shrunk, pulling down ARPU. “As ARPU declines and voice gets commoditized, the challenge is to retain customers, develop alternative revenue streams, and create a basis for differentiation in high-churn markets that is why telecom operators are looking at MVAS as the next wave of growth,” said Halan.
Presently the mobile market has about 12-15 major players besides a number of new licences issued to Etisalat, Unitech and Reliance (GSM) that is likely to take MVAS to all time high.
Among MVAS, the most popular service was downloaded mobile music, although voice portals were swiftly taking over, said Halan. SMS-based infotainment services are largely divided among the big players. A TRAI reports indicates that out of the 375 million users, one out of every five users have a GPRS-enabled mobile across India but not many services are available making then passive users, which is a deterrent factor.
However, the new 3G initiative give a fresh pipe for data and video tracks that could be downloaded without interruptions and also mobile TV with a lot more services like video on demand will is possible, said Halan.
Srikanth Raju, Director, Head of Product Marketing Forum Nokia said, “MVAS has seen a huge market in India and now with 3G being rolled out, will further help video downloaded and a lot more development on MVAS.”
Monday, December 15, 2008
Qualcomm to launch Rs 10,000 laptop
San Diego-based wireless communications major Qualcomm will introduce its small laptop, Kayak, primarily used for accessing Internet services, in India priced at Rs 10,000 in the second half of next year.
"We will introduce Kayak Internet access platform in second half of next year and this device leverages 3G chipsets as well. The main USP is it can compute in low power scenario like India. It will cost about Rs 10, 000," Qualcomm Senior Vice-President and India head Kanwalinder Singh told reporters.
In Kayak prototype Qualcomm has designed a device capable of bringing the Internet over cell phone data networks to areas that may lack wired Internet service from cable and telephone providers.
The US-based firm, pioneer of CDMA technology, has already launched Kayak PC alternative globally.
Kayak is a reference design for building low-cost wireless-computing devices designed to fill the niche that exists between desktop PCs, which require landlines or separate accessories for connectivity and Internet-capable wireless devices.
Kayak uses Qualcomm's dual-core mobile station modem chipsets to provide both computing and connectivity, he said.
"We see developing markets like India seeking connectivity as inevitable and believe that concepts such as Kayak that leverage 3G wireless will be a key to success in helping these areas join the global online community, Singh added.
Qualcomm is pushing its phone processors into PC territories such as desktop computers after adding computing features like e-mail and web browsing onto cell phones.
Source: Economic Times
"We will introduce Kayak Internet access platform in second half of next year and this device leverages 3G chipsets as well. The main USP is it can compute in low power scenario like India. It will cost about Rs 10, 000," Qualcomm Senior Vice-President and India head Kanwalinder Singh told reporters.
In Kayak prototype Qualcomm has designed a device capable of bringing the Internet over cell phone data networks to areas that may lack wired Internet service from cable and telephone providers.
The US-based firm, pioneer of CDMA technology, has already launched Kayak PC alternative globally.
Kayak is a reference design for building low-cost wireless-computing devices designed to fill the niche that exists between desktop PCs, which require landlines or separate accessories for connectivity and Internet-capable wireless devices.
Kayak uses Qualcomm's dual-core mobile station modem chipsets to provide both computing and connectivity, he said.
"We see developing markets like India seeking connectivity as inevitable and believe that concepts such as Kayak that leverage 3G wireless will be a key to success in helping these areas join the global online community, Singh added.
Qualcomm is pushing its phone processors into PC territories such as desktop computers after adding computing features like e-mail and web browsing onto cell phones.
Source: Economic Times
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Are Google SMS Search, your best friends?
Now you can get answers to all of this and more through a simple SMS at the price of your regular SMS* across India.
Cricket scores and Astro updates on SMS brought a smile to a lot of us, only until we saw the bill at the end of the month. And this was after we were also trying to remember multiple input methods. After speaking to many users about their 'sms' information woes ,we at Google ,have come up with a newer version of Google SMS Search.
The product has been reincarnated, with a new number and tons of new features. Now you can SMS your query to 9773300000 at the cost of a regular SMS and get instant answers. Launched nationally, this service is available across all operators on both GSM and CDMA mobile phones.
The list of features available on Google SMS search is given below. What we do want to add is that searching on SMS will be MUCH easier NOW. No longer do you need to remember complicated strings to put before your query, you can search as if you are searching on Google web search – we will do all the hard work to understand your query and give you the best results on SMS. Hope you will enjoy the change!
SMS Search features-
1.Cricket Scores:Simply SMS "cri" or "cricket" or "cricket India" to receive latest cricket scores.
2.Indian Railways:Send your PNR number to get latest status of your PNR (confirmed/RAC/current waitlist status). Or send "trains between mumbai to delhi" to know trains and get further details of train schedule.
3.Stock Quotes:SMS "Company name quote" to receive stock quotes from BSE. e.g. "reliance stock".
4.Horoscope:Simply send your sunsign (e.g. Virgo) to receive your day's horoscope
5.Local Business Search:Do local search on SMS (e.g. categories such as "restaurants indira nagar bangalore" or businesses such as "pizza hut koramangala"). This is available across 34 cities - Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkatta, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Noida,Gurgaon, Faridabad, Vadodara, Surat, Kanpur, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Rajkot, Ernakulam, Cochin, Gaziabad, Bhuwneshwar, Aurangabad, Lucknow, Nashik, Indore, Panaji, Bhopal, Agra, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Coimbatore.
6.News:Send "news" or "business news" to receive latest news.
7.Movie Showtimes:Send "movies delhi" or "golmaal returns delhi" and get movie rating and movie showtimes.
8. Flight status: Flight status for Jet, Kingfisher, Indigo & Spicejet. Simply send "9w502", "It 302".
9.Definitions:Send "define " e.g. "define zenith", "define inflation".
10.Weather:e.g. "weather Delhi".
11.Calculator:"1 kilo in pound".
12.Currency Conversion: "5000 inr in usd".
13.Facts:e.g. "GDP of india" or "population of bangalore".
*Normal SMS rates apply and are determined by the service package provided by the mobile operator.
Source: Agencies
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Google relaunches SMS service in India
Search giant Google Inc. has launched an SMS-based text message service that will offer search services across the country recently.
This service would be available across all operators on both GSM and CDMA mobile phones at cheaper rates, even to those who have mobile phones but do not have Internet connections.
Google has come up with a newer version of Google SMS Search at the price of regular SMS. The product has been reincarnated, with a new number and several features. Users can SMS query to 9-77-33-00000 and get automated answers on cricket scores, Indian Railways, stock quotes, local business search, movie showtimes, currency conversion, flight status, weather, horoscope, taxi service and ATM.
Vinay Goel, products head, Google India, said, "The latest offering is part of our mobile strategy in the sub-continent, where text messaging has become a part of daily life."
This service would be available across all operators on both GSM and CDMA mobile phones at cheaper rates, even to those who have mobile phones but do not have Internet connections.
Google has come up with a newer version of Google SMS Search at the price of regular SMS. The product has been reincarnated, with a new number and several features. Users can SMS query to 9-77-33-00000 and get automated answers on cricket scores, Indian Railways, stock quotes, local business search, movie showtimes, currency conversion, flight status, weather, horoscope, taxi service and ATM.
Vinay Goel, products head, Google India, said, "The latest offering is part of our mobile strategy in the sub-continent, where text messaging has become a part of daily life."
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
3G auction in India on January 09
A one-time fee would be levied on GSM operators holding 2G frequencies beyond 6.2 MHz The Government of India decided on Tuesday to hold the auction of the spectrum for third generation (3G) mobile phone services in January 2009, as scheduled.
The decision was taken at a meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja in New Delhi.
In the closed-door meeting, it was also decided to increase spectrum user charges for all existing telecom operators, both using CDMA and GSM technologies. A one-time fee would be levied on GSM operators who hold second generation (2G) radio frequencies beyond the 6.2 MHz mark.
Vodafone had recently written to the government seeking a delay in auctions to early 2009, whereas Bharti Airtel wanted the 3G auctions to be held in time.
Earlier the government had told that the auction would be held by December 31, 2008. The revenue from the AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) route would go up. The meeting decided to hike the AGR by one per cent for those operators who hold up to 8 MHz frequency. For those with more than 8 MHz, the AGR has been hiked by two per cent.
The meeting also discussed the issue of offloading of stocks by Swan and Unitech.
The decision was taken at a meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja in New Delhi.
In the closed-door meeting, it was also decided to increase spectrum user charges for all existing telecom operators, both using CDMA and GSM technologies. A one-time fee would be levied on GSM operators who hold second generation (2G) radio frequencies beyond the 6.2 MHz mark.
Vodafone had recently written to the government seeking a delay in auctions to early 2009, whereas Bharti Airtel wanted the 3G auctions to be held in time.
Earlier the government had told that the auction would be held by December 31, 2008. The revenue from the AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) route would go up. The meeting decided to hike the AGR by one per cent for those operators who hold up to 8 MHz frequency. For those with more than 8 MHz, the AGR has been hiked by two per cent.
The meeting also discussed the issue of offloading of stocks by Swan and Unitech.
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