Meitra Hospital Appoints Dr. P Mohanakrishnan as the New CEO

Dr. P Mohanakrishnan, a health professional with more than 3 decades of experience in healthcare spanning India and the Middle East, joins Meitra Hospital as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

“Dr. P Mohanakrishnan brings with him a strong   discipline and prowess in establishing and managing hospitals not just in India, but Internationally as well. We look forward to his wealth of experience and are excited to have him lead Meitra & achieve KEF’s vision of transforming Indian Healthcare.”, said Faizal E. Kottikollon; Chairman, Meitra Hospital & Founder Chairman, KEF Holdings.

He has held leadership roles across premier healthcare facilities in Kerala & GCC. Prior to taking up his current position, Dr. P Mohanakrishnan served as the CEO of Avitis Institute of Medical Sciences, Palakkad. He also founded the prestigious Institute of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery in Kerala and established it as one of the premiere institutes specializing in the discipline of ENT in India.

“The healthcare sector across the world has become the nucleus of sustenance. And Kerala with its well-established healthcare networks and infrastructure is perfectly poised to welcome people seeking quality and advance treatments, not just from the rest of India but from across the globe. Meitra Hospital offers world-class tertiary care by blending the concepts of ‘Evidence Based Guidelines’, modern-day technology, notable clinical expertise and unparalleled infrastructure. I am looking forward to establishing the facility as a well-noted centre and preferred destination amongst those seeking superlative care, in line with international standards,” said Dr. P Mohanakrishnan.

Will the Web run out of address space?

The world could well run out of internet addresses next year, unless urgent action is taken to switch to a new generation of net addresses, the European Commission has warned.

According to the commission, businesses urgently need to upgrade to internet protocol version six or IPv6, a new version of the web’s addressing protocol, which will hugely increase the number of available addresses.

The IPv6 system has been ready for over a decade and is providing 340 trillion web addresses. But, not many companies are actually ready to migrate to the new platform.

A survey, conducted by the commission, found that few companies are prepared for the switch from the current naming protocol, IPv4, to the new regime, IPv6, the Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday. The IPv4 and IPv6 protocols refer to the way in which addresses are created and assigned. Each website has a unique IP address, represented by a string of numbers, such as 192.168.1.1, which are then given a user-friendly web address to make them easier to remember.

The IPv4 protocol uses 32-bit addresses, which enables the web to support around 4.3 billion unique addresses while IPv6 uses 128-bit web addresses, creating billions of possible new web addresses. The EC survey found that of the 610 government, educational and other industry organisations questioned across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, just 17% have upgraded to IPv6.

Detlef Eckert, director in commission’s information society and media directorate-general, said: “Only by ensuring that all devices connected to the internet are compatible with IPv6 can we stay connected and safeguard sustainable growth of the internet.”

Agencies

IT services deal signed between GE, Mahindra Satyam

Mahindra Satyam today said it has received an extension of its multi-million dollar contract with GE for next three years January 1, 2010.

GE, which is among the top five customers of Mahindra Satyam for over a decade now, gets support in the specialised areas of Application Development Maintenance, Business Intelligence and engineering services, Satyam Mahindra said in a statement.

"We thank the leadership at GE, for having reposed their confidence in us, and reinforce our resolve to excel in our deliverables to our esteemed partner, for years to come," Mahindra Satyam Global Account Executive Arvind Malhotra said.

GE has signed a similar contract with 11 other vendors. "GE recognizes the support extended over the years by Mahindra Satyam, and their commitment to delivery excellence, even during trying times," GE GDC Leader Steve Morrison said.

Satyam management had been in constant dialogue with its major clients, including GE and others to continue working with it.

"Mahindra Satyam has gained 32 new customers in the last four months," a top official had said earlier.

"Some of the large clients we had lost earlier are coming back and are reassigning new business," Atul Kunwar, the company's president of the Middle East, Europe, India and Asia Pacific regions, said on the sidelines of an industry conference.

The company, currently has about 420 clients, he said, compared with 480 in January before it was left battling for survival after Satyam's founder revealed India's biggest corporate fraud.

Satyam was acquired by Tech Mahindra in an auction in April and subsequently renamed. The number of employees the company has on reserve has come down to 7,000 from 8,500 in July, Kunwar said.

"With the business improving and new deals coming in, we have slowly started taking in employees from the virtual pool."

Agencies

Highest software budget for 2009-10 comes from APJ firms

Asia Pacific companies plan to increase their software budgets by 4.4 percent on average in 2010, while overall IT budgets was expected to decline by 3.1 percent on average, according to the latest survey by Gartner. More organizations in Asia Pacific (38 percent) expect to increase their software budgets in 2010 than their overall IT budget (31 percent).

"For most organizations, the budgeting process happens once a year, but adjusting the IT budget is a continuous exercise that is driven by economic conditions and changes in the business," said Gartner Research Director Yanna Dharmasthira. "In the midst of economic volatility, hardware budget allocation remains the top priority in most countries, but software budgets are a real bright spot and continue to demonstrate a positive outlook, although more cautious when compared with last year's survey."

The survey showed that the average expected increase in software budget of 4.4 percent in Asia Pacific is higher than all other regions surveyed including Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), North America and Latin America. India-based respondents are consistently the most optimistic, with the highest number of respondents intending to increase their IT budget in 2010 (42 percent), followed by China (32 percent). On the other hand, Malaysia-based respondents remain pessimistic, with the largest number of respondents intending to decrease their spending (52 percent), followed by Singapore (48 percent of respondents).

The respondents of this survey were asked whether they expected their 2010 IT budget to be below, the same or exceed their IT budget for 2009. Gartner surveyed 323 IT managers in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, China, India and Hong Kong, as part of a worldwide survey of 982 respondents, to help business and IT managers compare their enterprise IT spending with peer organizations.

Software is expected to represent the second-largest portion of the IT budget in most countries, with the exception of India (where software and hardware spend are roughly equal) and Australia (where spending is notably higher on IT staff). India is the most aggressive with the highest software budget allocation (26.9 percent), followed by Singapore (25.8 percent), Malaysia (24.1 percent) and China (23.1 percent).

India is also the most optimistic in software spending, with the average expected change in software budget of plus 10 percent. Dharmasthira said that vendors should revisit their potential customer list, as they may have shifted in terms of geography, as well as market segments. "Software vendors should not only focus sales efforts on traditional hot spots such as India and China, but look at opportunities in mature markets too. The intentions to increase software budget have become more varied among different countries and organizations, presenting good opportunities in a mix of developed and emerging countries," said Dharmasthira.

Agencies

Arabic portal Maktoob acquired by Yahoo!

Internet major Yahoo! Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Maktoob.com, an online community in the Arab world, with more than 16.5 million users. Though the transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2009, the financial details of the deal is not yet known.

"This acquisition will accelerate Yahoo!'s strategy of expanding in high-growth in emerging markets where we believe Yahoo! has unparalleled opportunity to become the destination of choice for consumers," said Yahoo! chief executive officer Carol Bartz in a statement.

According to Yahoo!, this acquisition will extend its current offerings by adding capabilities to deliver relevant Arabic-language content and services, as well as Arabic versions of Yahoo!'s popular Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Mail services.

"Yahoo! and Maktoob are natural partners and this combination should help energize the Internet market in the region as a whole. We are excited about Yahoo! building a stronger presence in the Middle East and bringing its compelling suite of services to Arab users in Arabic," said Samih Toukan, founder of Maktoob.

While Internet usage in the Middle East has grown more than tenfold since 2000, most markets are still in the early stages of adoption. According to the World Bank, there are more than 320 million Arabic speakers worldwide, while less than one per cent of all online content is in Arabic, said the Yahoo press release.

Maktoob.com was founded in 2000 by Samih Toukan and Hussam Khoury as the world's first free Arabic/English Web-based email service, and since then has grown to be the leading Arab online community in the region.

Keith Nilsson, senior vice president, Emerging Markets, Yahoo!, said, "We see great growth potential in both audience and advertising in the Arab world and combining with Maktoob.com will allow us to quickly build our presence there with high quality products. This is a big win for publishers, advertisers, and consumers in the region."

Yahoo said this acquisition is part of its larger strategy to grow its business throughout the world's emerging markets by connecting consumers with the content and services that matter most to them in their local language.

Following the acquisition, Maktoob.com will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yahoo!. Ahmed Nassef, the current general manager of Maktoob.com, will continue to lead the Maktoob.com teams and will report to Keith Nilsson, said the release.

Agencies

Is HP set to layoff 6,400 employees in 2010?

US computer giant Hewlett-Packard reported a 17-per cent fall in quarterly net profit and said it plans to cut two per cent of its workforce, or nearly 6,400 workers, over the next year.

HP said net profit fell to $1.7 billion, or 86 cents per share, in the second quarter of its fiscal year from $2.1 billion, or 87 cents per share, a year ago, in line with the expectations of Wall Street analysts.

The Palo Alto, California-based company, the world's largest manufacturer of personal computers, said revenue was down three per cent in the quarter which ended on April 30 to $27.4 billion.

Chief financial officer Cathy Lesjak announced the planned layoffs in a conference call with analysts after the release of the results.

“We will be taking some targeted action to structurally change and improve the effectiveness of our product businesses,” she said.

“These actions will result in the elimination of approximately two per cent of the HP workforce as we further streamline and simplify our organization and supply chain. These actions will be implemented over the next 12 months.”

The only bright spot for HP in the quarter was in its services business, which notched up an operating profit of $1.17 billion in the quarter due to its purchase last year of EDS. “Our services business continued to deliver strong profitability with an increased deal pipeline and the EDS integration tracking ahead of schedule,” said HP chairman and chief executive Mark Hurd.

HP said revenue from its enterprise storage and servers division fell 28 per cent to $3.5 billion while software revenue declined 15 per cent to $880 million. Computer shipments were flat in a “challenging environment” and the division saw revenue fall 19 per cent to $8.2 billion. Revenue from laptop computers was down 13 per cent while desktop computer revenue fell 24 per cent.

Operating profit for the division fell to $374 million from $544 million a year ago. The imaging and printing group saw revenue decline by 23 per cent to $5.9 billion and operating profit fall to $1.1 billion from $1.2 billion a year earlier.

HP said revenue grew nine per cent in the Americas to $12.1 billion and declined by 11 per cent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to $10.6 billion. Revenue fell 10 per cent in Asia Pacific to $4.7 billion.

HP said it expects third quarter revenue to be flat and full fiscal year revenue to decline by four per cent to five per cent with full-year earnings per share of between $3.76 to $3.88.

Agencies

The rise and fall of oil prices since 2008

Oil prices have steadied at around $50 a barrel this month as markets begin to find their equilibrium after a dramatic spike to nearly $150 in the first half of last year gave way to an unprecedented collapse to near $30.

Asian energy ministers and their Middle East counterparts meet in Tokyo on Sunday to discuss the outlook for prices.

Here is a brief timeline charting the price highs and lows since January 2008.

Jan 2, 2008: US crude briefly breaks the $100 barrier for the first time on the first trading day of 2008. Prices rise fairly steadily through the first half of the year.

March 5: Despite new record price highs of over $104 a barrel, Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps more than a third of the world's oil, says it will not put more oil on the market. It says there is enough oil, and blames US economic "mismanagement" for global prices.

June 6: Prices surge $11 to a record high near $139 a barrel on a slumping dollar and mounting tensions in the Middle East. Soaring crude leads a frenzied broad-based commodity rally on US grains and oilseed futures markets.

June 7: Average retail price for regular gasoline tops $4 a gallon for the first time in the United States.

July 11: Oil peaks at $147.50 for Brent and $147.27 for US crude.

July 15: A sell-off begins after remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicating a significant fall in demand in the United States, the world's top consumer.

July 18: Oil prices drop by more than $18 from a week ago to $128.88 per barrel. The price fall is triggered by a 3 million barrel increase in US crude stocks and falling US demand.

Aug 15: Prices continue sharp decline, falling to around $110 a barrel for Brent crude.

Sept 15: Prices below $100 a barrel for first time since March 4, and still falling.

Sept 22: Oil spikes $16 in biggest one-day gain on record. Prices pop over $120 a barrel, extending a climb from a low near $90 the previous week after the United States unveils a sweeping rescue plan for its battered financial sector.

But soon after, oil prices begin a heavy slide. Nov 21: National average price of regular gasoline falls below $2 a gallon for first time since March 2005 - dropping 3.1 cents to $1.989.

Dec 19: Oil drops below $34 a barrel - charting about a 75 per cent loss of value since July.

Jan 2, 2009: Oil falls more than $3 on first day of trading, with US crude at $41.25 a barrel and Brent at $42.18.

April 24: US crude just below $50 a barrel, Brent just above at $50.29.

Agencies

Is it business as usual at Satyam?

In his first overseas trip to reinforce Satyam's commitment, Satyam Computer Services' newly appointed Chief Executive Officer A.S. Murty today assured Singapore that "It's business as usual at Satyam".

Murty's trip underscored the company's ongoing commitment to Singapore, headquarters for its "Rest of the World" (RoW) operations, which include Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, India and Africa. The visit was also aimed at restoring stakeholders' confidence and ensuring business continuity in the republic where its business remains strong.

Murty also used his two-day visit to address key considerations about Satyam's operational and financial aspects. Since 2000, Singapore has been an integral part of the leading global consulting and information technology services provider's global growth strategy.

"Satyam's foundation in Singapore and the RoW region is still quite strong," Murty said. "Our customer base remains intact and all of our clients have chosen to stand by us during these challenging times. And, since the beginning of 2009, we have seen a record level of new contracts in the region, which shows the confidence our customers and the industry continue to have in us."

Assuring that Satyam has a promising future, Murty said the new Board represents some of the best management talent available and employee morale continues to be high.

"My immediate priority as CEO is to initiate and cultivate additional measures that will continue to stabilize Satyam and benefit all its stakeholders," Murty said. "Singapore plays a key role in those stabilization efforts, because it is the nerve centre of our efforts to grow our business in this critical region."

CXOtoday

Is Dell likely to cut 1,900 jobs from Ireland?

Dell Inc, the world's No. 2 PC maker, will cut about 1,900 of 3,000 jobs at its manufacturing plant in Limerick in the west of Ireland, Dell said on Thursday.

Dell, which ranks itself as Ireland's largest exporter, largest technology company and second largest company overall, said it would move production of computer systems for customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to its Polish plant and third-party manufacturing partners.

Dell cut more than 8,000 jobs last year and struggled to regain market share it lost to larger rival Hewlett-Packard Co. It also said last year it would outsource more manufacturing to cut costs.

Agencies

Will oil prices rebound in post-Christmas trade?

World oil prices rebounded in Asian trade on Friday after tumbling to four-year lows before the Christmas break, with economic gloom weighing on the market, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, rose 93 cents to 36.28 dollars a barrel after closing down 3.63 dollars at 35.35 in US trade on Wednesday.

Brent North Sea crude for February delivery rose 1.04 dollars to 37.65 dollars. In London the contract settled on Wednesday 3.75 dollars lower at 36.61 dollars, its lowest since July 2004.

After taking a one-day trading break for Christmas, oil reopened higher on Friday partly because of technical factors, said Ken Hasegawa, manager of the energy desk at Newedge Japan brokerage.

"After a sharp drop in sentiment on Wednesday, before the holidays, today (there is) a slight technical rebound," he said from Tokyo.

Another factor boosting prices was the US government's latest weekly report on crude stockpiles in the world's largest energy consumer, Hasegawa said.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) report, released Wednesday, showed US crude inventories sank 3.1 million barrels in the week ending December 19. The drop was far heavier than market expectations.

The EIA added that crude reserves were 9.1 percent higher than at the same stage last year.

Analysts said that recent US data showing that the world's biggest economy remains in a recession were likely to keep crude oil prices under pressure in the immediate term.

A sharp global economic downturn that has slashed the world's demand for energy has led the price of crude oil to collapse by about 75 percent since hitting record highs above 147 dollars per barrel in July.

Oil markets are pricing in a continued decline in economic activity despite efforts by governments around the world to stimulate activity, MF Global energy analyst John Kilduff said.

"The energy markets appear as unappreciative of the stimulus efforts as any of the other markets and the pricing in of doom and gloom are producing price levels that transcends reality," he said.

"Obviously we haven't reached the ultimate end point yet."

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which produces about 40 percent of the world's crude, agreed last week to cut output by 2.2 million barrels per day to shore up the market.

Prices have continued to slide despite OPEC's announcement.

Source: Agencies

BRIC will account for 40% of world growth by 2020

BRIC nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China - are likely to contribute 40 per cent of global economic growth in the next 10 years due to a "tectonic shift" in the distribution of global capital over the next decade, global consultancy firm Ernst & Young said.

"Companies and governments in the developed world have to face up to the reality that there will be a further shift in the economic balance of power in the years ahead," Mark Otty, Area Managing Partner (Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa) at Ernst & Young said.

In the latest research note titled 'For Richer, For Poorer Global Patterns of Wealth', Ernst & Young said emerging economies have seen their share of global output and wealth rise significantly over the last few years, driven by faster growth, rising income, high savings ratios, strong investment and export.

In the next decade, the BRIC countries are likely to contribute 40 per cent of global growth, while the US would account for around 14 per cent.

China is set to become the biggest economy in the world in public-private partnership terms by 2019 and by 2020 the BRIC countries would account for almost a third of global GDP - of which China will contribute 18 per cent.

E&Y projects that the BRICs would account for 65 per cent of global basic metals output by 2020 and here also China would account for the lion's share of growth.

According to the report, around 77 per cent of world reserves, totalling almost $ trillion, are held by emerging markets. Besides, cross-border private investment by emerging economies has been increasing as well.

Sources: Agencies

Will oil, gas spending drop in 2009?

Global spending on oil and gas exploration and production will shrink 12 per cent to $400 billion in 2009 as the steep slide in energy prices and tight credit markets reverse a six-year trend of rising budgets, analysts at Barclays Capital said on Friday.

Those spending cuts threat to curtail growth in oil and gas output, potentially supporting energy prices that have been in a freefall since hitting peaks in July. A steady stream of energy companies have been announcing budget cuts for 2009 as the price of oil slumped this week to its lowest levels in 4-1/2 years, and Barclays said that could be pushing spending even lower than its report showed.

Another analyst agreed, saying companies were being prudent during the economic crunch to protect cash reserves they had built up during the four-year run-up in energy prices. "My guess is the (report) is probably overstating what is going to be spent," said analyst James Halloran of National City Private Client Group, which manages $26 billon in assets.

Analysts said that while the drop in spending threatens to slow down growth in world energy production, the impact depends on how the smaller budgets are used. "It may be that a combination of higher utilization of more efficient rigs and lower costs of drilling will equal or more than compensate for the decline in the absolute amount of capital devoted to upstream expenditures," said Edward Morse, chief economist at LCM Commodities.

He added that oil firms may be negotiating with their suppliers and contractors to lower project costs. The soft energy market has also darkened the world oil supply picture by leading OPEC to announce three rounds of cuts that would trim 4.2 million barrels per day of oil production, or 5 percent of global output.

Spending in the United States is expected to show the sharpest drop, falling 26 percent to $79 billion from the 2008 mark of $106 billion, Barclays analysts James Crandell and James West said in their semiannual report based on a survey of oil and gas companies.

In the United States, Chesapeake Energy, the largest US natural gas producer, is expected to cut spending by 51 percent, the analysts said, while Devon Energy is likely to cut by 44 percent, EOG Resources by 34 percent and SandRidge Energy by 78 percent.

Oil prices peaked above $147 a barrel in July, but have tumbled more than 75 percent since then to trade near $35.75 a barrel as economic weakness hits fuel demand. Shares of oilfield service companies face the greatest risks from the cuts in spending, since it is their drilling rigs, maintenance operations and other activities that energy producers reduce when budgets are slashed.

But those stocks have already been battered, Halloran said, and may see only a limited impact from new reports of spending cuts. The Philadelphia Oil Service index, which includes companies like Schlumberger Ltd, Halliburton Co and Transocean Ltd, has fallen 68 percent since July.

Still, the Barclays analysts said they recommended shares of Weatherford International, Halliburton, Cameron International, Oceaneering International, Tidewater, Dril-Quip, Core Laboratories NV as the best sector bets.

Regions under pressure

Overall, companies' Canadian spending budgets will fall 23 percent to $22 billion, the lowest level since 1999. Husky Energy is likely to cut its spending 47 percent in Canada, while Devon's budget there will fall 71 percent, Talisman Energy by 47 percent and EnCana Corp by 16 percent.

Spending in the United States by Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, is likely to drop 17 percent, or $450 million, to $2.15 billion, while its Canadian budget will shrink 14 percent to $375 million. Its spending elswhere will rise 14 percent to $14.98 billion.

The overall drop in spending outside North America is expected to be a more moderate 6 percent to $300 billion. Russia, the UK North Sea, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela were expected to see some of the sharpest spending declines, while the rest of the Middle East, North Africa and Mexico were likely to post increases.

In 2008, spending rose about 22 percent globally, the analysts said. The analysts said the budget forecasts were based on average prices of $58 per barrel for oil and $6.35 per thousand cubic feet for natural gas.

Source; Agencies

Is oil price heading towards $25-30 a barrel?

Global investment banks Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, which had earlier this year forecast oil prices would surge to USD 200 per barrel level, now foresee it slipping to USD 25-30 level, while Indian analysts anticipate a strong resistance at 40 dollars.

After hitting a peak of over 147 dollars in July this year, crude oil prices have declined sharply and are currently trading near 45 dollars level.

Goldman Sachs' commodity research team in its latest research note has predicted that the oil price might slip to 30 dollars per barrel level in the next three months.

Meanwhile, the firm's energy equity research team, led by Arjun Murti, said in another report that it is cutting its forecast for 2009 to 45 dollars, from 80 dollars previously, due to global economic slowdown.

Murti, who is known as 'oil guru', had shot to fame for rightly predicting a spike in the price to USD 100 when it was trading at around USD 40 level. Later in May, Murti forecast a spike to 150-200 dollars level in the next 6-24 months.

In an interview with the stock market weekly Barron's in June, when oil price were hovering at about 135 dollars, Murti had said that oil prices might fall below 75 dollars, but after 20 years.

The latest report from Murti's team has, however, said that there was a possibility of prices falling below USD 40 level shortly.

Indian analysts, however, see a strong resistance to the oil prices slipping below USD 40 level and do not foresee any possibility of USD 25-30 level.

"Crude oil prices may not fall below 40 dollar a barrel. Rather it will consolidate at 40 dollar a barrel level," Kotak Commodoties Vice President Si Kannan said.

Source: Agencies

Fewer American youth access Internet: Survey

Fewer young Americans have Internet access than their peers in the Czech Republic, Canada, Macao and Britain, a survey of 13 countries around the world showed.

Among 12 to 14 year olds, 100 percent of British youth use the Internet, followed by Israel at 98 percent, the Czech Republic and Macao and 96 percent and Canada at 95 percent, according to the World Internet report by the Center for the Digital Future.

By contrast, only 88 percent of Americans of the same age had access, trailed by Hungary and Singapore, where more than seven in 10 young people use the Internet.

Separately, a bulletin by a software company showed mobile phone access to the Internet burgeoning outside the United States, especially in Southeast Asia.

For the report by the Center for the Digital Future, headed by Jeff Cole at the University of Southern California, researchers in 13 countries talked to more than 25,000 people in Asia, Australia, North and South America and Europe in late 2007 and early 2008.

UNIVERSAL SERVICE LACKING
The Center report showed the United States trails other countries in older groups, too. U.S. Internet usage by those over 18 runs behind Sweden, New Zealand and Canada. Recently, U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin unsuccessfully proposed a universal service fund to promote high-speed Internet access, similar to the one for telephone service.

Martin also advocates new spectrum for wireless in the United States to facilitate Internet access and held a joint news conference with Larry Page, a founder of Google Inc, to promote the idea.

The Center report, issued annually in the United States and for the first time worldwide, said mobile phones are used for Internet access "by a very small percentage of users, with the exception of the United Kingdom."

But that may be out of date. A monthly bulletin issued by Norwegian software maker Opera Software shows mobile phone Internet access exploding.

Opera said that, during 2008, use of its Mini browser on mobile phones more than tripled, reaching 5 billion page views in October. The increase is especially marked in Southeast Asia and also showed spikes in Africa and the Middle East.

In Indonesia, user growth tripled. Page views there increased eight-fold and in the Philippines by 10-fold.

"In many of these Southeast Asian countries the mobile Web exists not because it complements existing means of access, but rather because it replaces them," Opera added.

Source: Reuters