Reporter's Diary

Som Mittal rubbishes claims of impending layoffs in IT industry; believes Barrack Obama will find industry as part of solution not a problem Idhries Ahmad NEW DELHI, INDIA: The impact of global recession on Indian IT industry will be short term and industry will not be laying off people in huge numbers, promises president Nasscom, Som Mittal. In an interaction with CIOL, the Nasscom president, however termed the present global economic situation as a serious one for the IT industry but not one to be construed with gloom and doom. “Don’t relate everything that we have been doing for years to say it is downturn. We could talk ourselves in gloom and doom when there is none. There is serious situation but not gloom and doom,” Mittal said. “It will short term impact. The growth … Read entire article »

Floats RFP, will roll services by 2009 Idhries Ahmad/Prasoon Shirvastava NEW DELHI, INDIA: Mumbai-based Loop Telecom, a fully-owned subsidiary of BPL Mobile, will be finalising its vendors for its 2G rollout, by 15th of December. Sources close to company told CIOL that company has floated RFP for its IT and networks. The company, sources add, will also be rolling out 2G services in eight circles by 2009. Loop telecom currently operates GSM mobile services in Mumbai. Loop Telecom is one of the seven operators to receive a licence for Pan-Indian mobile operations in 21 circles and has received start-up spectrum in six circles … Read entire article »

Company also gets access to labels like MTV, Sony Ericsson, Trinity, Virgin, and Universal among other Idhries Ahmad NEW DELHI, INDIA: The acquisition of UK digital content delivery provider, dx3, says Vishwanath Alluri, CEO IMImobile, is important strategic move for company as it not only opens door for company in Europe but also gives it access to slew of customers like Sony BMG, Universal, EMI and Warner Music. In an exclusive interaction with CIOL, the founder of MVAS player, IMImobile, said the acquisition of dx3, will combine IMI’s experience in the mobile sector, with dx3′s expertise in the web domain. “dx3 acquisition gives company a strong headway in European markets starting withEngland and Irish markets. This relationship also gives us access to tap top labels in music industry” “Europe was missing in our portfolio as … Read entire article »

Analysts have blamed DoT for killing the VoIP industry in India and are now very unsure whether the technology will now make any sort of progress in the country Idhries Ahmad NEW DELHI, INDIA: Internet telephony industry in India after years of suffocating strangulations looks to make a new beginning in the country. The recent TRAI recommendations, which makes case for allowing Internet telephony on PSTN networks opens doors for industry, which analysts say will boost technological convergence, push competition and will drastically reduces voice tariffs in the country. VoIP in India: History of Strangulations However the recommendations which allow ISPs to provide unrestricted Internet telephony (termination of Internet telephony calls on PSTN/PLMN and vice-versa) within the existing IUC regime is subject to DoT clearance. The recommendations have been received with cheer from the … Read entire article »

However the impact of slow down on global economy will be is temporary Idhries Ahmad NEW DELHI, INDIA: Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, expects US economy to reel under global financial slow down for more than six months. However, Gates hopes, the rapid economic advancements made by emerging economies like China and India in last decade will see to it that slow down impact is temporary. “There is no doubt that there is going to be economic crisis in the US. There are imbalances in the US and economy will have weakness,” said Gates. “I can not predict whether the financial crisis will be two years or three years, but it will be more than six month and then the economy will get back on track” forecasted Gates. Gates is currently on a visit to India … Read entire article »

We are also committed to providing an open source solutions to Social Networking through Codeplex, says Sanjay Manchanda, director, Microsoft business division, Microsoft India Idhries Ahmad NEW DELHI, INDIA: Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007) has gained appreciable traction in the enterprise  market over the last few years.  As of FY 07 08, Microsoft has sold 100 million licenses for SharePoint generating sales of $1 billion worldwide.  The Microsoft figures point out17000 businesses use SharePoint to tackle their information management needs and to enable employees to collaborate with team members. In India SharePoint revenue have grown by 56% CAGR over the last 4 years and company has over 100 customers on MOSS 2007 in India. However, analysts have been questioning MOSS capability to scale well in comparison with IBM Websphere. They have also raised … Read entire article »

If DoT get its act together and clears the spectrum from ministry of defence, the 3G rollout in the country wont be a distant possibility and Indian consumers may finally be exposed to the value 3G services offers Idhries Ahmad NEW DELHI, INDIA: Excruciating wait. A wait that seems to linger on for ever.Caught in the politics of procrastination for too long now, the telecom industry in India surely heaved a welcome sigh of relief when A. Raja, Union Minister for Communications and IT, paved the way for 3G rollout in country policy by unveiling the much awaited and hyped 3G policy in the country. However, with Department of Telecom professing its inability to vacate the spectrum from Defense Ministry in nine circles including Delhi, the much-awaited auction of 3G spectrum may … Read entire article »

3G can find potential use in facilitating initiatives such as e-governance, education and tele medicine. Given India’s booming mobile market and extensive network coverage, mobile broadband could be the answer to taking the e-revolution to the last mile Idhries Ahmad NEW DELHI, INDIA: The euphoria around 3 G spectrum allocation refuses to die down. The excitement from telecom vendors is understandable for they don’t need a second invitation to roll out their latest range of products, but when service providers get excited about a particular technology, the technology has to be taken seriously. Globally, 3G is fast becoming the accepted technology platform across geographies. While in Japan, 3G has been available since 2001, today the technology is serving 25 across Asia, Europe and USA. According to the “3G Market Forecast to 2010,” by Research … Read entire article »

By rendering VoIP impotent and a silent spectator, DoT has denied an Indian consumer a ubiquitous network/platform needed for new productive applications Idhries Ahmad NEW DELHI, INDIA: Internet telephony industry in India after years of suffocating strangulations looks to make a new strong beginning in the country.  The recent TRAI recommendations, which makes case for allowing Internet telephony on PSTN networks opens doors for industry, which analysts say will boost technological convergence, push competition and will drastically reduces voice tariffs in the country.  CIOL in a series of articles will be talking to leading analysts and market players in the industry to understand what the guidelines of mean for the growth of internet telephony in the country.  In the first part of series, CIOL, caught up with Jahangir Raina, CEO and director of research … Read entire article »

You need a horses for courses approach for the each of different countries in Europe based on what is relevant for that industry and individual country, says CEO, Mind Tree, Ltd , Krishnakumar Natarajan Idhries Ahmad NEW DELHI, INDIA:Faced with losses in new business coming from US, Indian IT companies are seriously looking at tapping and diversifying their focus to European region.However, the strategic shift isn’t going to be cakewalk considering the complex business environments in the European continent. Europe as a continent, though bound a common currency, has an interesting mix of cultures, languages and business environments. This analysts, feel, poses a difficult challenge and IT companies need to have a calibrated approach to venture into hitherto new geography for many Indian IT companies CEO,  Mind Tree, Ltd , Krishnakumar Natarajan, in an interaction … Read entire article »