Category: Applications

MUMBAI: China Mobile (Hong Kong) Group Limited has purchased a 19.9 per cent interest in Phoenix from Star Group Limited. After the transaction, Star will continue to hold 17.6 per cent of Phoenix.

China Mobile and Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Limited have also reached a strategic alliance to jointly develop, market and distribute wireless content, products, services and new media applications.

Under the strategic alliance agreement, China Mobile and Phoenix will jointly develop products and services relating to the wireless delivery of media content. In exchange for direct access to China Mobile‘s network and customer base on favourable terms, China Mobile will have preferential access to Phoenix‘s news and selected programs.

The deal will complement China Mobile‘s 3G strategies by widening its service offerings and providing enhanced media content to its mobile subscribers, and will broaden Phoenix‘s new media content‘s access to China mobile‘s customer base, informs an official release.

China Mobile chairman and CEO Wang Jianzhou says, “Phoenix offers a unique set of content to the Chinese community globally. By leveraging Phoenix‘s media content via our mobile platform, China Mobile will be well positioned to provide wireless multimedia services to our customers.”

Phoenix chairman and CEO Liu Changle adds, “The establishment of this new strategic alliance will provide an excellent opportunity for the further development of Phoenix‘s new media business, and should have a very positive impact on Phoenix‘s long-term commercial prospects, enabling Phoenix to distribute its content through China Mobile‘s wireless platform and reach a broader market.”

Star Group CEO Michelle Guthrie says, “We believe that bringing in China Mobile as a shareholder and strategic partner will create incredible growth opportunities for Phoenix in the future. We look forward to our continued involvement in Phoenix as the company extends its content to the largest wireless customer base in the world.”

Goldman Sachs is acting as financial advisor to China Mobile. Merrill Lynch is acting as financial advisor to Star, according to the news release.

NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: It‘s been a long time coming but after endless rounds of discussions, India’s first direct-to-home service Dish TV has finally reached mutually agreeable terms with the Sony-Discovery One Alliance distribution bouquet to carry their channels.

The two parties arrived at a memorandum of understanding today and the official signing will happen anytime in the next few days, sources close to the developments tell Indiantelevision.com.

The One Alliance channels will begin beaming off the Dish platform within the next few days and the billing cycle is effective from 1 July on. The financial terms that the two parties have agreed to were not available at the time of filing this report.

For Dish TV, this resolves one half of the problem it has been facing ever since its launch – its inability to offer subscribers channels from the One Alliance and Star bouquets.

With the addition of the Sony bouquet, Dish TV can look forward to a major ramp up in subscriber numbers. Two key events that are expected to drive acquisitions in the immediate term are the ongoing India-West Indies Test series and the Fifa World Cup. The Word Cup kicks off in Munich, Germany, on 9 June while the second Test in St Lucia, West Indies, will take place between 10 and 14 June. ESPN Star Sports (already on the Dish network) has exclusive rights to the World Cup while Ten Sports – part of the One Alliance bouquet – is exclusively airing the cricket in the Caribbean.

A contentious issue that automatically gets resolved with Sony‘s sign-up on Dish is the legal spat that Subhash Chandra’s DTH service has been having with Viacom channels MTV and Nick since last year. Both channels are part of the One Alliance.

In a letter sent to the information and broadcasting ministry last month, Dish TV had petitioned that despite the sector regulator’s directive on making available content to all platforms and a favourable judgement from disputes tribunal TDSAT, the “conduct of MTV” has been “clearly in violation” of the interconnection regulation of 2004.

Dish TV’s parent ASC Enterprises‘ contention was that despite carrying on commercial negotiations with MTV Networks India for several months, the content provider and its distributors in India (One Alliance) had stalled any fruitful conclusion of such talks.

ASC Enterprises, an Essel Group company, holds the licence for a DTH service in the country, which is marketed under the brand name Dish TV.

Also Read:
Dish TV appeals to govt against MTV, Nick

TDSAT puts a lock on any DTH operator carrying Star channels

MUMBAI: Sify Max, (www.sifymax.in) has tied up with TWI/G as its exclusive broadband partner for India for videos of the highlights of the on-going French Open, (28 May – 11 June) and Wimbledon, which will be held from 26 June – 6 July.

As a result of this tie up, a special French Open 2006 section on SifyMax features, besides the highlights of the tournament, interviews with players, behind-the-scenes footage and previews. The highlights of the 2005 French Open will also be available.

The Wimbledon 2006 special on SifyMax will also offer comprehensive coverage replete with videos of individual match highlights, interviews with star players, daily round-ups and the behind-the-scenes action with live audio commentary. A live score-card and golden moments of the 2005 tournament will also be available.

Sify Limited senior vice president Surya Mantha said, “Following the immense success of last year‘s Wimbledon coverage on SifyMax, we are delighted to be associated with TWI/IMG again to bring the excitement of both the French Open and Wimbledon 2006 to sports lovers in India. The content on video of the highlights of the matches will offer a satisfying and complete experience of the two tournaments. Users can follow the tournaments on SifyMax at their convenience, either from their homes, offices or from any of our 3300 iWays across India. We believe this initiative will help make tennis a mainstream sport by making the French Open and Wimbledon available to users in India at their convenience.”

IMG India senior corporate director Andrew Wildblood added, “TWI is excited to partner with SifyMax as the exclusive broadband content partner for the French Open and Wimbledon championships this year. This unique endeavour will extend the viewership of the French Open and Wimbledon 2006 beyond their existing formats. Sify Max will help us to take these premier tennis tournaments to the fast growing base of broadband Internet users in India, from both home and cyber cafes, and to capture new audiences outside the realm of traditional TV viewing.

MUMBAI: The provider of digital television services EchoStar Communications Corporation will be using the Intervoice Voice Automation Platform of Intervoice, Inc. to significantly enhance customer self-service to its more than 12 million subscribers.

With Intervoice‘s highly-scalable and flexible voice platform, EchoStar will provide its subscribers with a quick and easy way to access information and complete transactions via phone at any time and from any location, states an official release.

Subscribers will be able to check their account status, pay a bill or subscribe to a new service simply by saying a command such as, “check account balance”, rather than using the telephone keypad to complete transactions. Also, for subscribers who prefer to speak with a live agent, the self-service system will quickly and accurately direct them to the most appropriate agent who can answer their questions.

“Providing top-quality customer service is integral to our long-term success and most importantly, toward strengthening the relationships with our rapidly growing customer base,” said EchoStar Rob chief information officer Strickland. “We continue to rely on our partner Intervoice for their deep knowledge and professional services expertise in enhancing the customer service experience with speech technology.”

When fully implemented, EchoStar estimates that it will save nearly $11 million a year with this new customer-self service system.

“For companies driven by customer service like EchoStar, finding the right balance between offering customers a self-service system and the opportunity to speak with a live agent is key to their success, ” said Intervoice president and CEO Bob Ritchey. “Intervoice is helping companies achieve this delicate balance with its innovative solutions that enable consumers to connect with businesses through the channel of their choice — voice, Web or multi-modal.”

The release adds that the cumulative value of the purchase orders received by Intervoice last week is approximately $7.4 million. In addition, the company received purchase orders in the amount of approximately $1 million from this customer during the preceding four month period.

The company currently anticipates recognizing approximately $1 million in revenue in its first fiscal quarter, which ended May 31, 2006, and the remainder of the revenues, other than maintenance revenues, during the rest of the fiscal year which ends 28 February, 2007. The company currently anticipates realizing maintenance revenues in the aggregate amount of approximately $1 million during its current and next fiscal years.

MUMBAI: CTV Inc. and Bell Canada has announced the launch of two new made-for-mobile video news services for CTV News and Report on Business Television (ROBTv).

Bell Mobility customers can now access video news package available in Canada along with the country‘s first-ever business-only news reports directly on their video-capable handsets. Canada‘s newscasts are now available 24 hours a day on television, online, and now wirelessly through Bell.

CTV News and ROBTv mobile video news service complements other Bell Mobility TV services, which includes NHL highlights, news, weather, sports and entertainment content.

In an official statement, the Bell Mobility customers will receive CTV News, which is a three-minute branded newscast updated hourly throughout the day, making it the most current mobile newscast available in Canada. For Canadians, it‘s a solution that offers unfettered and up-to-date access to the day‘s breaking news stories and beyond.

The ROBTv mobile news service is the first mobile content dedicated exclusively to business news. Available only from Bell Mobility, ROBTv‘s packaged business news wrap will be updated hourly, delivering the ongoing stories of the day from Bay Street to Wall Street and beyond.

The mobile reports will also include analyst ratings, Stars and Dogs Picks and exclusive interviews with the business newsmakers of the day. It‘s the must- have mobile video news service for business minded Canadians.

“The mandate of the CTV News division is to deliver meaningful and comprehensive news reports in a timely fashion,” said CTV News president Robert Hurst. “With Bell Mobility, we now have a mobile strategy that showcases our leading news services and ensures Canadians can stay connected to the critical news of the day.”

“Extending CTV‘s news and business content onto a mobile platform only made sense if we could deliver value to the consumer,” said CTV VP digital media Kris Faibish. “Working with Bell Mobility, the opportunity to deliver hourly news and business wraps, something no other broadcaster provides, delivers that value and provides the perfect entry point for CTV News on mobile.”

Bell‘s streaming video clip service is currently available on the EV-DO enabled Samsung a920 and the Sanyo 8300 and 7500, and a downloadable news video clip service is available on the Motorola E815 and RAZRV3c, states the official release.

MUMBAI: Unlike the trends that are sweeping across the global cellular market, the cellular subscriber growth in the Asia Pacific region is poised to see continued double-digit growth in the next three years. The region‘s mobile industry is estimated to grow by 22 per cent in 2006 to reach close to a billion subscribers by year-end, including Japan‘s 100 million subscribers.

Given the markets‘ infancy and vast population base, India and Indonesia are likely to fuel a significant portion of the growth. The implementation of “lifetime validity” in India, as well as the ongoing network expansion into rural areas in developing cellular markets will further help sustain the mobile industry‘s high growth in the region.

New analysis by global growth consulting company Frost & Sullivan, Asia Pacific Mobile Communications Outlook 2006, reveals that the mobile subscriber base — covering 12 major Asia Pacific economies excluding Japan — totaled 677.5 million in 2005 and is expected to reach 826.6 million by end-2006.

Although the growing popularity of prepaid services has been a major driver of subscriber growth in the region, the influence of low-end market is likely to be more pronounced in the coming years. Factors contributing to the growth of the low-end market include the launch of low-cost entry-level mobile handsets, the move into rural areas for long-term sustainable growth, the continuous price cuts in call rates and the introduction of affordable flat- rate pricing plans.

“With call charges typically accounting for more than 75 per cent of the total regional mobile revenues, Asia Pacific‘s cellular industry is highly voice-centric. However, in view of the declining growth in voice revenues and the stiff competition from alternative voice applications, mobile data is seen as the next wave of growth for mobile operators in the region,” said Frost & Sullivan industry manager Janice Chong.

Notably, the wireless quarter will largely dictate future growth in the Asia Pacific telecommunications industry. The emergence of broadband wireless access (BWA) in Hong Kong and Singapore, the anticipated commercial launch of wireless broadband (WiBro) in South Korea, the numerous WiMAX (wireless interoperability for microwave access) trials, as well as the harmonisation efforts of WiBro with WiMAX further underscore this trend. Much of the parley in 2005 would transform into deployment in 2006, while full commercial rollouts are likely only in 2007.

Despite the emergence of such new technologies, the 2G/2.5G mobile subscriber base is expected to continue contributing significantly to the overall growth of the industry, given its near-term market dominance. In order to accelerate the migration from 2G/2.5G to the 3G platform, 3G operators would need to continue emphasising on inexpensive voice and offer aggressive 3G handset subsidies.

“At a time when most regional cellular industries are fast approaching saturation, Asia Pacific remains one of the few surviving high-growth markets. Although this highly competitive market is plagued by constant price war and short product life cycles, it is far from being saturated,” added Chong.

The Asia Pacific Mobile Communications Outlook 2006 is part of the Mobile and Wireless subscription. It provides an insight into the current market environment and discusses the anticipated developments in the Asia Pacific mobile communications industry in 2006. Apart from an analysis and outlook of the overall regional market, the study provides a detailed analysis and outlook/implications across 12 countries. This will provide market participants with the necessary market intelligence to identify and evaluate market opportunities, as well as develop winning go-to-market strategies.