Category: Software

NEW DELHI: Vodafone Essar has selected Nokia Siemens Networks to supply, implement and manage its 3G network in six of the nine circles – Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh (East), rest of West Bengal and Haryana – where it secured 3G spectrum. As the operator’s major 2G vendor, Nokia Siemens Networks aims to exploit the clear evolution path from GSM to deploy 3G rapidly and efficiently.

“Globally, Vodafone already provides enhanced 3G services to a large number of customers. Now India is ready for 3G, and we are committed to bringing these benefits to our Indian subscribers,” said Vodafone Essar managing director Marten Pieters. “Nokia Siemens Networks is the 3G leader and we view our relationship as a strategic alliance built around delivering and maintaining the high-quality service which Vodafone customers expect.”
 
“We are committed to implementing a smart 3G network for Vodafone Essar based on combining our global experience with local expertise and resources,” said Nokia Siemens Networks India head Urs Pennanen. “We are fully geared-up for a speedy implementation of the 3G network, optimizing existing GSM technology to reduce the total cost of ownership for the operator. Subscribers can expect exciting new mobile broadband services and seamless interoperability between 2G and 3G networks.”

Nokia Siemens Networks will supply to Vodafone Essar its energy-efficient radio and core network technology. Apart from this, it will also provide related services including network planning and project management to enable fast and high-quality 3G network implementation.
 
Nokia Siemens Networks will also operate the 3G network for three years under a managed services contract to enable simplified operations, improved network efficiency and consistent service delivery. Nokia Siemens Networks will use its own NetAct network management system to monitor and optimize its network performance.

MUMBAI: US telecom service provider AT&T is expanding in the media and television space.

AT&T and Microsoft have announced the launch of U-verse TV on Xbox 360 for U-verse customers, which lets you enjoy the U-verse TV experience on your existing Xbox 360 device, replacing the need for an extra receiver in the home. AT&T says that it is the first TV provider in the US to offer live TV service through an Xbox 360.
 
AT&T also announced the upcoming launch of U-verse Mobile for Windows Phone 7 devices. Beginning in November, the U-verse Mobile app will be preloaded so that any AT&T wireless customer with a Windows Phone 7 device — whether or not they are a U-verse TV customer — can download and watch hit TV shows while they’re on the go. This is the first time an AT&T U-verse service will be available across the US.

AT&T mobility and consumer markets CMO David Christopher says, “Now you can get our award-winning U-verse services on your big screen TV, online, on your mobile phone, and integrated with your Xbox 360. Our IPTV strategy is putting AT&T at the forefront by delivering U-verse content where you want it. And now we’re extending the U-verse experience to more AT&T smartphone customers with the upcoming launch of U-verse Mobile on Windows Phone 7 devices.” 
 
Microsoft GM of the media platforms business Andreas Mueller-Schubert says, “AT&T has a legacy of innovation and teamed up with Microsoft to build a differentiated all-IP TV offering to enable the future of TV services for their customers. We’re excited to extend that relationship today through new initiatives that make TV anywhere a possibility, delivering rich entertainment experiences for consumers across multiple screens, inside and outside the home.”
Using the Xbox 360 as a U-verse receiver, a user can receive chat and game invitations from friends through Xbox Live while watching live TV and switch seamlessly from game to TV mode without switching video inputs on your TV screen. Users will enjoy virtually the same U-verse TV experience and features available today, including the ability to watch live TV, manage and play back DVR recordings and access interactive apps, your program guide, the On Demand library and more.

U-verse TV on Xbox 360 also allows customers to avoid an extra box on their entertainment center and the need to pay a monthly rental fee for an additional receiver.

New customers can order the $99 Xbox kit at 1-800-ATT-2020 when they subscribe to U-verse, and a U-verse technician will load U-verse software on their Xbox 360 during their service installation.

Next month, any AT&T Windows Phone 7 owner will be able to access U-verse Mobile, a popular app that lets users download and watch TV shows on the smartphone. One can browse or search a library of downloadable shows, and select which series or specific episode you want to download over Wi-Fi.

For all AT&T U-verse TV customers, U-verse Mobile also lets users manage their DVR recordings; customers with qualifying TV plans get the download and watch capability included at no extra charge. AT&T Windows Phone 7 users without a qualifying U-verse TV plan will be able to subscribe to download and watch with U-verse Mobile for $9.99 per month.
 

MUMBAI: After persuading cable operators to switch off Colors for a day, Shiv Sena has patched up and the Hindi general entertainment channel is back on air.

Shiv Sena claims that the channel has apologised for inviting Pakistani contestants in the Bigg Boss house. The Hindu activist party had been protesting against participation of Begum Nawazish and Veena Mallik on the show.
  
Cable operators had blocked the channel in Mumbai and Thane on Wednesday evening, following a directive from Shiv Sena.

“The channel has written a letter to the party chief Balasaheb Thackeray apologising to Indians if their sentiments were hurt through the show,” Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab was quoted as saying in the PTI report.
 
 When contacted, Colors spokesperson said, “We clarified our stance last night to Shiv Sena on the show.”
The channel is back on air from yesterday midnight. However, Parab said that talks are still on with the channel on sending back the Pakistani artistes.

MUMBAI: Private equity firms TPG and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts have approached Seagate Technology to take over the hard drive maker in what would be the largest leveraged buyout this year.

Bloomberg has said that TPG and Roberts were the potential acquirers saying that they have made a preliminary approach to take over Seagate and may make an offer of $16 a share or $7.55 billion.
 
The move comes just weeks after TPG and Silver Lake Partners ended talks with Seagate on a buyout.
 
In a statement Seagate said that it had received an expression of interest from an unnamed firm in making a “going private” offer for the company. It had hired Morgan Stanley, Perella Weinberg Partners and a couple of law firms as advisers.

The company, though, cautioned that it might not reach a deal to sell itself.
 

MUMBAI: Agra-based multi-system operator Sea TV Network closed its debut listing day on the BSE at a six per cent premium over its IPO price of Rs 100, signalling an investor appetite for cable TV companies who are in the midst of a transition to digitisation. 
 
The scrip opened Thursday with a 20 per cent premium at Rs 120. It touched a peak of Rs 126.15 and a low of Rs 105.45 before closing at Rs 106.

A total of 20.73 million shares were traded during the day on the BSE. The shares are not listed on NSE. 
 
Sea TV had tapped the capital market on 27 September with an initial public offering (IPO) of Rs 502 million in the price band of Rs 90 to Rs 100 per equity share. The IPO was subscribed 9.58 times.

Sea TV‘s market cap stands at Rs 1.27 billion.

MUMBAI: Canadian company CTVglobemedia has announced that Kevin Crull will join COO, effective 1 January, 2011. He will report directly to CTVglobemedia president and CEO Ivan Fecan.

Fecan says, “Kevin Crull has a great reputation as a seasoned
executive leader and innovator in Canadian communications and is well regarded in the industry for his deep understanding of both digital and conventional media. By building industry-leading distribution and delivering world-class content to Canadians when, where and how they want it, he has built Bell‘s TV, broadband and online portal businesses into digital media leaders. I am very pleased to bring Kevin‘s proven strategic and operational expertise to CTVglobemedia.”
 
Fecan has announced that he will retire on the completion of Bell‘s acquisition of CTV, at which time Crull will assume the position of CTV president.

Crull is currently Bell Residential Services president, Bell Canada‘s largest wireline division, responsible for Bell Internet, Bell Satellite TV, Bell Fibe TV, the Sympatico online portal, and Bell Home Phone.

Since joining Bell five years ago, Crull has led Bell TV to its
position as the fastest growing and largest digital TV provider in Canada, expanding from just 20 HD channels in 2005 to more than 100 today – the most in Canada. 
 
Crull most recently oversaw the launches of Bell Fibe Internet and Bell Fibe TV, a next-generation television service operating on broadband fibre networks that is now available in Toronto and Montreal.
Last month Bell had announced it would acquire CTV in order to enhance its ability to deliver video and other media services across its fast-growing broadband fibre and high-speed wireless networks. The transaction is subject to customary approvals, including approvals from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and the Competition Bureau. Closing of the transaction is expected by mid-2011.
 

MUMBAI: Internet service provider AOL Inc is considering making an offer to buy out search engine Yahoo! Inc.

According to reports, the plan would put the two struggling internet players in a better position to compete with Google Inc. 
 
AOL has been holding discussions with private equity firms about organising a buyout but hasn’t held talks with Yahoo. It is also said that Yahoo had hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to help it defend against the possible approaches.

It may be noted that Microsoft had given an offer of $ 47.5 billion in 2008 and currently any deal would most likely value Yahoo at around $25 billion that would be far below the Microsoft offer. Microsoft finally withdrew its last offer of $33 per share in May the same year.
 
The company is discussing the possible Yahoo offer with several firms that specialise in buying companies the stocks of which have fallen out of favour. To take the tide in its favour, AOL would need to bring in more financial muscle to get a deal done.
AOL is run by Tim Armstrong, a former Google executive who is trying to feature more unique content on AOL in an effort to bring in more advertising revenue.
 

Reliance Communications, the global partner of the International Cricket Council (ICC), will be live steaming the World Cup 2011 matches.

The telecom major also said Wednesday it has kicked off marketing activities for next year’s cricket World Cup and is conducting a three-city preview of the trophy.

Reliance Mobile will go live with all the World Cup matches through its ICC zone on R-World Vas platform.

Reliance Mobile customers will be able to keep a track of the 49 ICC CWC 2011 matches via Wap and SMS Alerts. They will be able to watch live stream of match highlights videos, watch previews and match round-ups, and download wallpapers and ringtones, anytime anywhere, with their handsets on both GSM and CDMA networks.
 
Reliance Mobile will also provide access to ICC rankings, archived content of previous tournaments, news and analysis of match/tournament/players, ball-by-ball score updates on Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and Data protocol. Customers will have the choice of downloading video clips and receiving video alerts over SMS.

Reliance Communications CEO and regional head South and West Akshay Kumar said that 3G will mean that more people will avail of the live streaming service for the World Cup.

“We launched this streaming service last year with the Twenty20 World Cup. However this time more people will be able to access it. The quality of video will be superior. While I cannot give a date, we would have launched our 3G services much before the World Cup in February,” Kumar added.

The company has bagged the license to offer 3G services in 13 key circles including Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Reliance Mobile also offers pan-India CDMA and GSM Services across 24000 towns and 600,000 Indian villages serving over 115 million customers.

Kumar said that 3G will be rolled out in a phased manner across the circles. He declined to comment on pricing or deals done with content providers.

“Arpus will rise with the advent of 3G,” he added. 
 
In terns of marketing activities for the World Cup, the company will organise contests where prizes can be won. Different programmes will be done with channel and trade partners. The on-going trophy preview is one such activity and the company has roped in Syed Kirmani for the same.

ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat said, “As we prepare for what will be a great celebration of the game at our flagship event next year, we are fortunate to have a group of top-class partners whose commitment to the game is unquestioned. Without that commitment we would not be in a position to help our 105 members grow the game as they do around the world. Through its commitment to and passion for the game, Reliance Mobile is helping to make our great sport even greater.”

Relay Worldwide India GM Mahesh Ranka expects marketing activities by the ICC partners to start by December. “Since it is in India, the decibel level will be higher. Having said that, ambush marketing will be a threat. The ICC’s inspectors will have to be at different venues keeping tabs on proceedings on the ground. That is because no company will want to let go off this opportunity,” he said.

MUMBAI: DTH service provider Tata Sky has been directed by the Gujarat High Court to deposit entertainment tax for the quarter ended June. This is in accordance with the demand set forth by the Gujarat state government.

A bench of Chief Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya and Justice Anant Dave told the company to deposit the tax amount and added that it would be subject to the final outcome of the petition.
 
Earlier, another division bench which took up the case, directed the company to deposit the tax amount for the January-March quarter.

Tata Sky had approached the High Court challenging an amendment to the Gujarat Entertainments Tax Act by the government which enables the state to levy tax on companies broadcasting entertainment channels, according to IANS. 
 
The company contended that it was paying service tax for the DTH broadcast and it could be considered as a service but not an entertainment provider.

The advocate general appearing on behalf of the state contended that in a similar matter, the Supreme Court held that operators are liable to pay the entertainment tax, the IANS report ed.

The matter has been kept for final disposal on 23 November.
 

MUMBAI: In a first of its kind move, Star Plus is launching its upcoming cookery-based show Amul MasterChef India online, even before the launch of the show on the channel.

The web premiere first look, will start on 14 October at 3 pm, while the show will launch on TV on 16 October at 9 pm.

MasterChef India will be available on all Star online properties – www.startv.in, www.indya.com and www.starplus.in.
 
Star India has also partnered with popular websites Rediff.com along with Rajshri.com, Facebook and a host of their current distribution partners who have embedded Star Player widgets.

The first look will be available on www.masterchefindia.in, the official site for the show. The Masterchef website and the star plus website will give information on the show and updates on the contestants’ & show’s progress through the episodes.

The web premiere will also feature a contest wherein users are given the opportunity to win a Blackberry phone every hour during the premier by answering questions related to the content of the show, the channel said in a release. 
 
Besides on-air promotions of the web premiere on the channel, Star is also telling netizens about this premier through media placements across the Indian web space.

Star India EVP marketing and communication Anupam Vasudev said, “Star India recognises the power of the lean forward net savvy Indian viewer and we thought it would be best to give them the first flavor of India’s first every culinary based high voltage reality show with lots of drama and nail-biting tension. We have tried web premier on our own properties earlier as well and have got amazing responses, so this time our idea was to reach out to maximum possible netizens and give them a look of something which has not be showcased even on TV yet. Plus we wanted them to view our show and participate with us across all the sites they normally visit.”