Airtel and Huawei Conduct India’s First Successful 5G Trial Network

In a major milestone for Indian telecom, Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”) and Huawei announced that they have successfully conducted India’s first 5G network trial under a test set up. 

The trial was conducted at Airtel’s state-of-the-art Network Experience Centre in Manesar (Gurgaon). The setup included 5G RAN operating on 3.5 GHz band, 5G Core and 50GE Network Slicing router.

During the test trial, a user throughput of more than 3 Gbps was achieved using the setup. This is the highest measured throughput for a mobile network in 3.5 GHz band with 100MHz bandwidth and end-to-end network latency of approximately 1 msec.

The setup demonstrates high spectral efficiency and potential for diversified services such as IoT and AR/VR, which can be delivered by 5G technology to serve a digitally connected world.

Abhay Savargaonkar, Director – Networks, Bharti Airtel said, “This is small but a very significant step in our journey towards 5G. The promise of 5G is endless, it will be a game changer and, it will change the way we live, work and engage. We’re moving quickly to begin collaboration towards 5G interoperability and development testing (IODT) based on the 3GPP R15 standards. We look forward to work closely with our partners for developing a robust 5G ecosystem in India.”

5G R15 is focusing on eMBB, laying the key building blocks to support services like virtual reality, ultra high definition immersive video and diversified long tail of future use cases and innovations. 3GPP completed the first drop of 5G New Radio (NR) standards in December 2017.

"We have been focusing on developing 5G ecosystem and use cases, and the show with Bharti Airtel impressively demonstrates the performance capability of 5G in 3.5 GHz band. We shall also continue to work with Vertical Industry players to develop wider ecosystem use cases beyond enhanced mobile broadband." says Emmanuel Coelho Alves, Director, Wireless Marketing, Huawei HQ.

KNOLSKAPE Releases AktivLearn Ver 2.0, Gamified Learning and Engagement Platform

KNOLSKAPE, a leading provider of talent transformation solutions for the modern workplace, have announced the release of a major update to AktivLearn, the advanced gamified learning and engagement platform. The updated version enhances its core reporting and analytics features for learners and the Learning and Development (L&D) team. The new version will also boost overall user experience through faster response time, improved navigation and additional learning analytics.

The highlights of this release are:
Wholly integrated web and mobile usage analytics on a single platform
5x faster response time
Integrated Action Learning Projects
Real time monitoring of learning journeys and ALPs
Participation analysis from a single learning component to the overall learning journey, including usage status, platform adoption, region, and learning patterns
Easy-to-navigate admin mode for clients to trace their employee engagement and advancement.
Advanced leaderboards and ability to monitor individual users, including identification  of outliers and actions to improve program effectiveness

Comprehensive reporting and analytics, including inputs on journey completion, number of active users, number of active courses, adoption of mobile learning components, heat maps and module level data, to name a few

Real time feedback on learner experience
Vijay Kalangi, Chief Technology Officer, KNOLSKAPE says, “Organizations are becoming more and more data driven, and as the leading provider of talent transformation solutions, it is but natural for KNOLSPAKE to push the boundaries on providing industry best experiences for learners and L&D teams alike, while take learning analytics to the next stage. Our new release of AktivLearn includes important features and analytics to help HR and L&D teams take more data driven decisions.”

Doodhwala Secures $2.2 Million in a Round of Seed Funding by Omnivore

Doodhwala, a micro delivery service for fresh groceries has received a seed investment of $2.2 million by Omnivore, a venture capitalist firm, for a minority stake in the company.  The hyperlocal delivery platform, Doodhwala, is a subscription-based, early-morning delivery platform for all farm fresh groceries sourced directly from local farms and dairies.

 “Doodhwala with it's unique model has had a tremendous momentum, becoming a well-known brand for fresh milk and grocery delivery in Bengaluru & Pune. We are evolving into the finest delivery service option for customers seeking freshness, convenience and specialty products,” said Aakash Agarwal, Co–Founder, Doodhwala.

“Doodhwala’s unique business structure benefits customers, dairies and supermarkets. It makes farm-to-fork viable by taking over sales, marketing, logistics, and fulfilment for producers. Additionally, we are expected to scale easily due to our capital effective model, paired with the high demand for milk, and a need for regulated milk supply”.

Commenting on the transaction, Jinesh Shah, Founding Partner, Omnivore said, “The lean operating model, and the direct sourcing relationships that have been built, made this company stand out amongst competitors.”

Doodhwala offers users a wide selection of ad hoc everything from fresh dairy milk, meat, vegetables, fruits to shelf stable items delivered to their door before 7 am every day. Users get the convenience of ordering on subscription basis which helps in frequent and easy purchases.

“Our unit economics are exceptionally strong. By lowering our delivery cost to Rs 3, Doodhwala is uniquely positioned in a market where other players are struggling. We have done a great job of maintaining a steady month-on-month growth rate while scoring a 85% plus customer retention,” said Ebrahim Akbari, Co–Founder, Doodhwala.

Currently operating in Bangalore and Pune, Doodhwala has over 4 lakh month deliveries. The new financing will go towards expanding Doodhwala’s service into new markets, funding talent acquisition and upgrading technology.

Reihem Roy, Principal, Omnivore will join the board.

The new funding comes less than a year after the company raised an undisclosed amount in another Pre Series A funding from Thomas Varkey, a partner at Stonehill Capital, USA.

C-Zentrix- Enhancing Customer Experience in Business in India

C-Zentrix, a leading contact center solution provider is transforming customer experience in business. Customer experience is gaining phenomenal importance in today’s business due to the competitive environment. Businesses in India have started givingtop priority to digital transformation and customer experience which is witnessing hugeinvestment, says an Adobe report. The quality of customer experience has improved in India,according to Forrester's 2017 Customer Experience Index (CX Index). Customer experience is atan all-time high. It has been seen that firms with powerful implementation of customerexperience strategies achieve greater customer satisfaction, a fall in customer churning and anincrease in revenue. Furthermore, as per a research conducted by American Express, 60% ofcustomers are willing to pay more for a better experience.

C- Zentrix recognizes the need of businesses to adopt customer experience, enhancing solutionsand thus provide a variety of products for this. They enhance the customer experiences withvaried products like CZ Omni that creates a seamless interaction for the customers byintegrating all their channels of communication like voice call, SMS, chat, bot, social media andemail interactions whereas the Sticky Agent feature helps in routing the call of a customer tothe same agent every time they contact for the customer’s convenience.

According to Arijit Chatterji, Chief Business Officer, C-Zentrix, “Our aim at C- Zentrix is to constantly innovate and come up with solutions that can help our clients deal with their customers in the most effective and efficient manner. We believe to provide the tools that help toadopt to the changing needs and trends of the customers and thus help companies enhance their customer experience. Technologies like artificial intelligence and chatbots are helping us to build solutions that can help cater the growing communication needs ofcompanies.”

Customer engagement strategies help companies to retain their customers. Companiesneed to be constantly in touch with their customers nowadays due to the growing expectation of customers to receive a personalized customer experience. This is the key to retention. We, at C- Zentrix recognize the pressing need of businesses to launch oneself in the future of customer experience and our endeavor is to aid in integrating multiple digital channels to create the desired customer experience. C-Zentrix has built highly secure solutions to offer seamless customer experience among various customer touchpoints and help enterprises to scale seamlessly to accelerate business growth.

Cisco Appoints New President for Asia Pacific & Japan to Lead Regional Growth Charge and Accelerate Digital Transformation

Cisco, the world’s leading IT and networking company, today announced the appointment of a new President for its Asia Pacific & Japan business.

After three years at the helm of Cisco Japan, Miyuki Suzuki has been promoted to president for Asia Pacific & Japan. Charged with regional revenue growth across 18 markets, and propelling customer digital transformation and cybersecurity efforts, Suzuki will report to Chris Dedicoat, executive vice president of Worldwide Sales and Field Operations.

A seasoned executive with more than 35 years’ experience, prior to Cisco, Suzuki served in numerous leadership positions for organizations throughout Asia, spanning across technology, aviation, telecommunications and financial services. 

Suzuki assumes the leadership from Irving Tan, who last month took on the newly created role of senior vice president of Operations and Digital. Joining Chairman and CEO Chuck Robbins’ executive leadership team, Tan will be responsible for driving Cisco’s digital transformation across the company in partnership with Sales, Engineering and other functions.

Commenting on her appointment, Miyuki Suzuki, President, Asia Pacific & Japan at Cisco said: “Asia boasts incredible diversity, with each country presenting new, and often untapped opportunities. With growing economies and increasing technological maturity, Cisco is positioning itself at the heart of regional innovation, enabling customers to collaborate and transform by taking the time to understand the needs of each individual market. I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead and developing new bridges.”

“Miyuki has been instrumental in driving Cisco’s breakthrough growth in Japan in recent years by securing a broad partner network, developing exemplary company initiatives and building customer trust,” added Chris Dedicoat, executive vice president of Worldwide Sales and Field Operations at Cisco. “I’m confident Miyuki has the right experience, innovative thinking and leadership qualities to capture market opportunities across the wider region in her expanded role.”

Currently based in Tokyo, Suzuki will relocate to Cisco’s Asia Pacific & Japan headquarters in Singapore in the near future.  Recruitment is underway for her successor for President of Cisco Japan and will be announced in due course.

Milkbasket to Hire 2000 Employees Within Next 12-18 Months

Milkbasket, India’s first micro delivery platform, today announced the company’s plans to hire at least 2000 employees within the next 12-18 months. The company recently closed a $3M Pre-Series A round from Unilever Ventures, Blume Ventures and Lenovo Capital (LCIH). 

Anant Goel, Co-founder and CEO at Milkbasket said, “We aspire to serve over a million households by 2022 and this would be our first step to realize this mission. We will be strengthening our team with additional 2000 employees by next year to serve up to 50,000 daily orders in Gurgaon.”

The company will be hiring over 1500 full time and 500 part-time employees.  

“Part-time employment is a great way for students and micro-entrepreneurs to have a sustainable source of income, while they continue with their daily routine. We will hire at least 500 such employees in Gurgaon to support our morning deliveries” Anant added.

Microsoft Announces Wide Support for e-Mail Addresses in Indian Languages

On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, Microsoft has announced support for email addresses in 15 Indian languages across its email apps and services, including Office 365, Outlook 2016, Outlook.com, Exchange Online and Exchange Online Protection (EOP). For the first time, users will be able to use local language email addresses for Outlook accounts on PCs, e.g.,  व्यक्ति@संगठन.भारत. It will also allow users to now seamlessly send/receive mails to/from local language email addresses via Outlook client on PCs, outlook.com in addition to Outlook apps for Android and IOS. This initiative is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to support Email Address Internationalization (EAI) across its products and services eco-system and make technology accessible in local languages.

The languages being introduced are those that support Unicode, an international encoding standard for use with different languages and scripts. Local language email addresses are inseparably linked with Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) and can currently be registered in these 15 languages according to .IN Registry, which is responsible for registering IDNs in India.Microsoft’s products will also support additional Indian languages as and when their IDNs and email addresses become available in the future, making this feature forward compatible.

Speaking of the announcement Meetul Patel, COO - Microsoft India said, "Ensuring that language is not a barrier to the adoption of technology is key for digital inclusion and growth. Making email addresses available in 15 languages is an exciting step to making modern communications and collaboration tools more accessible and easier to use for all – something we have been relentlessly working towards. We’re making technology use the language of people, and not requiring people to first learn the traditional language of technology.”

Users can register local language email addresses in India from third party EAI address providers such as XgenPlus through a simple online process. Microsoft, a member of Universal Acceptance Steering Group (USAG) along with international partners including XgenPlus, Coremail, CNNIC and SaudiNIC, is working to support email addresses in any Unicode script through its apps and services, including RTL (right to left) languages such as Urdu and Arabic.

Microsoft and Local Language computing: Starting with Project Basha in 1998, Microsoft has been consistently working to provide local language computing in Indian languages. Microsoft supports 22 constitutionally recognized Indian languagesoverall, including 11 Indian language scripts for Office and Windows. Moreover, Bing allows users to browse in nine Indian languages. With the help of its AI technologies and Deep Neural Networks, Microsoft is now making translation and speech recognition across several Indian languages, in addition to making Indic computing on the local cloud a reality by launching local cloud services from India data centers.