Grameen Telecom hears the call to take on poverty
November 17, 2008
Record-breaking IPOs are a little thin on the ground, so Oddvar Hesjedal, the chief executive of Grameenphone, a man intent on putting mobile phones in the pockets of some of the world’s poorest people, may soon have reason to be doubly pleased. [Read more]
Tech vendors in a bind as new telcos delay operations
November 17, 2008
BANGALORE: Vendors vying for large IT outsourcing deals from Datacom Solutions and Unitech Wireless say negotiations have hit a roadblock, with the new telecom entrants facing an uphill climb to raise funds and delaying the launch of their phone services.
The deals for the outsourcing of back-office and other IT functions could be worth $1.5 billion (Rs 7,300 crore) and both companies have been in discussions with several vendors, including IBM, EDS, Wipro and TCS. Senior officials, who are part of the negotiations, said on condition of anonymity that the outsourcing contracts are worth around $750 million each, to be implemented over five or more years.
In 2004, IBM had signed an outsourcing contract, then worth $750 million, with Bharti Airtel. The company also won a $800-million deal from Idea Cellular in March 2007. With around 242 million subscribers, India is one of the most lucrative mobile phone markets in the world and telecos are outsourcing IT contracts to focus on their core business better. “We are worried about these companies’ fund-raising prospects,” said a senior official at one of the technology vendors.
“It’s not that we are completely walking out of these contracts, but the momentum is missing and there is ambiguity about when actually they will launch services.” The outsourcing contracts were expected to be signed before September this year but talks could stretch up to the second quarter of 2009, he added.Prashant Singhal, a leader of the telecom industry programme at Ernst & Young, said the new entrants want to ensure that they have a strategic partner in place before finalising any outsourcing deals.
“A partner may have a different perspective on procurement, they might want to go with their preferred vendors.”
A spokesperson for Unitech Wireless told ET that the delays were in the past — when its alliance with Norway’s Telenor was being finalised — and that discussions will move faster now.
“The outsourcing and other procurement contracts should get finalised within two months. Talks are in full swing with the vendors,” he said.
Unitech, which has already received radio spectrum to offer phone services in 13 circles, will launch its operations in some of the service areas by June next year. While Unitech has secured funding by bringing in Telenor as a majority shareholder, Datacom is still in discussions with several potential partners.
“The management is not releasing funds to procure equipment and move forward with the outsourcing arrangements,” a person familiar with the development told ET. He added that the Datacom IT outsourcing deal was scheduled to be finalised in September, but the company has slowed down deliberations since then.
Datacom chief executive Ravi Sharma, who quit the company a month ago, was driving the negotiations with IT and telecom equipment vendors. A Datacom official, who did not wish to be identified, confirmed procurement delays. Datacom is a joint venture between Videocon Industries and industrialist Mahendra Nahata’s Jumbo Techno Services.
Telenor takes 60% stake in India’s Unitech Wireless
November 17, 2008
Norwegian telco Telenor has reached an agreement to take a 60% stake valued at INR 61.2billion (US$1.2billion) in India’s start-up mobile operator, Unitech Wireless. [Read more]
PTA, stakeholders to form broadband group
November 17, 2008
ISLAMABAD: Dialogues between the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and other stakeholders concerned have decided to form a broadband stakeholders group to study various aspects of the service and suggest measures to boost it.
The meeting was chaired by PTA Chairman Dr Mohammad Yaseen and attended by representatives of the Ministry of Information Technology, Universal Service Fund, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) R&D, Pakistan Software Export Board, broadband service providers, mobile phone operators, vendors, consultants and academia.
The participants suggested carrying out a study to assess the impact of present taxes on growth of telecom and ICT sectors. Based on results of the study, a case may be taken up accordingly by the Ministry of Information Technology with relevant ministries to eliminate or reduce taxes.
In his opening remarks, Dr Yaseen gave an overview of the telecom sector and highlighted broadband proliferation issues. He said during the past few years, different segments of telecom sector have shown exponential growth, however, broadband proliferation has been comparatively slow. He said percentage growth of broadband has been good but subscriber base is very less.
He highlighted the market potential for broadband in the country and asked the participants to give their suggestions for enhancing the broadband proliferation in the country.
The participants appreciated initiatives of PTA for holding this meeting on an issue of prime importance and expressed their views and made various recommendations.
The various issues which were discussed in the meeting included facilitation by the government and PTA, infrastructure related problems and difficulties, taxation by the government, development of contents, creating enabling environment and utilization of USF for broadband proliferation.
The participants were briefed about the projects undertaken by the USF for broadband. This included laying of optic fiber cable all over the country and a pilot project started in Faisalabad connecting schools, libraries and dispensaries.
They suggested that the government should give incentive to the ICT industry and play its role to create enabling environment taking on board all relevant ministries and departments.
They also proposed that focus should be given to rural areas where there is a great need of e-education and e-government and e-health. It was also pointed out that the “access” is the real impediment to the broadband proliferation, therefore, wireless technology is the best option for its development. In this regard, the availability of more spectrum was also highlighted.
It was suggested in the meeting that a study be carried out to assess the impact of present taxation on growth of telecom and ICT sectors. On the basis of the results of this study, a case may be taken up accordingly by MOIT with the relevant ministry for eliminating/reducing the taxes.
This was also decided in the meeting that PTA should lead the broadband stakeholders group. It was also highlighted that customer awareness campaign be also launched in order to expatiate the benefits of broadband.
Mobilink wins ‘best line operator’ award
November 17, 2008
Mobilink won the distinction of being awarded the ‘Best Mobile Line Operator’ at first-ever SAMENA Telecom Award, organised by SAMENA Telecommunications Council in Jordan.
Orascom’s Mobilink commercially launches ‘Mobilink Infinity’ mobile WiMAX service in Pakistan
November 15, 2008
Mobilink, Pakistan’s cellular market leader, and Alcatel-Lucent today announced the commercial launch of Mobilink Infinity, a wireless broadband and telephony service for residential and enterprise consumers based on the mobile WiMAX standard, 802.16e-2005 (Rev-e). [Read more]
Telenor to focus on 2G rollout now, no call yet on 3G
November 15, 2008
Norwegian telecom company Telenor had recently announced that it was acquiring 60% in Unitech Wireless for USD 1.07 billion. CNBC-TV18’s Nayantara Rai speaks to Telenor’s Global Chief, Jon Fredrik Baksaas. [Read more]
PTCL and Waveteck sign agreement
November 15, 2008
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has come up with yet another new flair to facilitate its customers and make them “feel the difference”. Fittingly, this new facility has come in the “Year of Customer Care” for PTCL. This state of the art solution comes in the form of PTCL Self Service Bill Payment Kiosks to be installed by Wavetec Pvt Ltd.
Nokia Siemens Networks’ solution increases operating efficiency
November 15, 2008
Telecom Algeria (OTA), has announced that Nokia Siemens Networks will be the provider of its Home Location Register (HLR) solution.
Dirk Lewandowski, Head of “Orascom” Customer Business Team for Nokia Siemens Networks added “We were able to showcase the benefits of a unified architecture HLR solution, that not only provided increased efficiencies in the network but also significant cost savings.
Warid, Trafco Group renew agreement
November 14, 2008
Warid Telecom (Pvt) Ltd. and Trafco Group renewed their agreement and signed another contract through which Trafco Group will utilise voice and data communication services of the GSM and Edge network of Warid Telecom.