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Tag: Ericsson

  • Praveen Sathaye to lead operations at FoxyMoron Gurgaon

    Praveen Sathaye to lead operations at FoxyMoron Gurgaon

    MUMBAI: FoxyMoron has roped in Praveen Sathaye to spearhead its Gurgaon office to strengthen the existing client roster and driving the agency’s growth plans for the market.

     

    In his previous role, Sathaye was leading the in-house creative agency at Ericsson.

     

    FoxyMoron co-founder Pratik Gupta said, “We are thrilled to have Praveen on board. For us this signals, the beginning of a new growth story at FoxyMoron Gurgaon. While we have a lot of new businesses in the pipeline, we needed someone like Praveen, with a proven track record and wealth of diverse experience with leading brands and agencies, who brings a marketing perspective to a digital setup. This will not only help our growth agenda, but will also contribute immensely to FoxyMoron’s expansion in the North.”

     

    On his new role, Sathaye added, “I’m excited to work with some real creative geniuses who want to take the digital and creative space to greater heights. In my role at FoxyMoron, I see myself working towards synergising energies of digital and brands to build solutions for the future. The intent is also to ramp up the capacity here and address newer industries as well as clients.”

  • CNN-IBN & Ericsson collaborate to foster innovation with ‘Networked India’

    CNN-IBN & Ericsson collaborate to foster innovation with ‘Networked India’

    MUMBAI: CNN-IBN in partnership with Ericsson has announced the Top 5 finalists for its Networked India initiative after an extensive campaign over the past few months. The campaign aims to identify innovations that employ cloud, broadband and mobility to benefit society. A one-of-its-kind initiative, Networked India aims to give recognition to change makers and help realize the Networked Society in India.

     

    The nominations were invited from innovators all across the country through the campaign portal www.networkedindia.com.Over 140 entries were received in the period 8 June to 12 July, 2015 and top five projects have been selected by an eminent jury comprising of industry experts. The shortlisted projects are on diverse subjects and sectors such as Healthcare, Environment, Transport and Human Rights.

     

    A special episode of Networked India showcasing some of the interesting innovations from across the country will be aired on CNN-IBN on Friday, July 31 @ 6:30 PM & 11:30 PM. The Top 5 finalists will be revealed on CNN-IBN a week later in a special show to be telecast at the same timings.

     

    The grand finale of ‘Networked India’ will see the finalists presenting their unique ideas. The top two winners will be announced at the Grand Finale to be held at New Delhi on 7 August. The Grand Finale of Networked India will include keynote address by Dr. M Annadurai, Director, ISRO Satellite Centre & Programme Director of Mars Orbiter Mission (ISRO) followed by brief presentations by the finalists showcasing their projects and a panel discussion on ‘Networked India: Are we there yet? ’.

     

    Avinash Kaul, CEO, IBN News Network said, “The world has come closer because of innovations in the field of communication. We’re proud to be the flag-bearers in promoting and encouraging such remarkable innovations which, in the days to come, help build a better society and a better country.”

     

    Chris Houghton, Head of Region India, Ericsson, said, “Ericsson has long envisioned the arrival of a Networked Society. As this transformation comes to life, we are seeing people use mobility and the internet to make a positive impact on their own situations and their communities. Networked India is a platform wherein the real change-makers can come to the fore and share their stories. At Ericsson, we see ourselves as enablers of change makers.”

  • CNN-IBN & Ericsson join hands to launch ‘Networked India’

    CNN-IBN & Ericsson join hands to launch ‘Networked India’

    MUMBAI: Ericsson has partnered with CNN-IBN to launch Networked India – a new initiative that will inspire, identify and celebrate innovations that employ mobility, broadband and cloud to make a social impact or address a specific social need, thereby having the potential to change the world.

     

    The initiative seeks participation from people and organisations across India starting 8 June. The window for sending in nominations is open for five weeks and it ends on 12 July, 2015. Entries can be sent through the campaign portal www.networkedindia.com. The shortlisted entries will be evaluated by a jury at the awards ceremony on 7 August in New Delhi, wherein the best innovations will get project support and cash rewards.

     

    Networked India is in line with Ericsson’s global brand campaign ‘We enable change makers.’

     

    Ericsson head of region India Chris Houghton said, “We have long envisioned the arrival of a networked society where connectivity changes the fundamentals of our daily life. As mobility, broadband, and cloud services are rapidly spreading across the globe, we are witnessing this vision, this transformation, come to life and we wanted to investigate exactly how people are using mobility and the internet to make a positive impact on their own situations and their communities. Through this campaign, we want to provide a platform wherein the real change-makers can come to the fore and share their stories.”

     

    IBN News Network CEO Avinash Kaul added, “The world has come closer because of innovations in the field of communication. As we continue to progress, our special series ‘Networked India’ will aim to highlight and felicitate these innovators and further encourage more such brilliant minds to come forth to help India and the world prosper.”

  • Tata Sky upgrades to Ericsson’s platform to enhance video services

    Tata Sky upgrades to Ericsson’s platform to enhance video services

    MUMBAI: Direct to home (DTH) operator Tata Sky has upgraded upgraded and expanded its entire DTH platform to the Ericsson’s video compression platform AVP 4000 System Encoder.

     

    The upgrade enables Tata Sky to substantially increase the bouquet of channels offered to subscribers while maintaining the highest quality of viewing experience.

     

    Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal said, “For Tata Sky, it is of utmost importance to consistently deliver a high quality viewing experience to our subscribers. The Ericsson AVP 4000 System Encoder allows us to enhance picture quality, offer increased volumes of channels and content and launch new services, such as OTT, on the same platform.”

     

    Ericsson head of region India Chris Houghton added, “Ericsson is committed to helping its customers overcome the challenges of satellite spectrum scarcity and meet increasing quality expectations of Indian consumers. The AVP 4000 System Encoder is designed to overcome today’s bandwidth and delivery constraints by providing the necessary flexibility, velocity and agility to deploy new services within an extremely competitive landscape.”

     

    Four out of the seven DTH operators in India are based on Ericsson’s video compression technology. In March this year, Ericsson supported Tata Sky to launch the first commercial 4K video service in the subcontinent. Customers subscribing to the 4K service could watch video up to four times the resolution of the standard high definition (HD) video currently available.

     

    According to Ericsson, the total mobile video traffic over the next six years (2015-2020) will be more than 17 times that of the last six (2009-2014). With availability of more content for an ever – increasing number of video-enabled devices, it is critical to maximize video delivery over available bandwidth and multiple networks. 

  • Video streaming fastest growing service on mobile data in India: Ericsson

    Video streaming fastest growing service on mobile data in India: Ericsson

    MUMBAI: Video streaming accounts for the fastest growing service on mobile data, followed by social networking.

     

    According to a report titled ‘The Changing Mobile Broadband Landscape’ released by Ericsson ConsumerLab, 70 per cent of mobile broadband smartphone users regularly stream videos on their smartphones, and 61 per cent use social networking. Indian smartphone users are also seeing greater potential in mobile broadband when it comes to facilitating the way they handle their money and personal finances. The convenience and improved experience makes m-commerce services attractive to Indian smartphone users.

     

    Of those users not using e-commerce services currently, 58 per cent stated that they would begin to do so in the next six months, while 52 per cent will use the Internet to pay bill online. Services like location navigation while travelling and cloud storage are also seeing an upswing in usage.

     

    The report highlights the evolving mobile broadband adoption and usage in urban India. The report reveals diverse behavior and needs of different mobile broadband users and the need for service providers to offer personalization. Users’ needs are evolving as usage of services and applications on smartphones is becoming a way of life.

     

    With the decrease in smartphone prices, the adoption of mobile internet within the lower socio-economic segment has increased over the last two years: from 38 per cent in 2013 to 45 per cent in 2015. Three in five smartphone users use mobile broadband in urban India. Mid-size and small cities are showing higher smartphone penetration levels at 33 per cent, as opposed to the smartphone penetration levels of 27 per cent in big non metros and large cities.

     

    At the same time, the proportion of smartphone users above the age of 50 has quadrupled, from one per cent in 2013 to four per cent in 2015. The primary motivation for this increase is the desire to be connected with loved ones in different parts of the country and the world, particularly through emails, chat applications and instant messaging.

     

    Ericsson India vice president and head of strategy and marketing Ajay Gupta says, “The Internet is finally coming of age and is empowering cross sections of Indian society. Though the most used smartphone services in India are for social networking and instant messaging, the usage of banking, e-commerce, navigation and cloud storage apps and services is increasing. It is for this reason we are seeing uptake and digital transformation of many industries like retail, transportation, and banking.”

     

    Users face differing mobile data issues depending upon location. Connection quality and reliability problems have a higher tendency to occur indoors, while session failures and poor app accessibility are problems faced by outdoor smartphone users. Sixty-three per cent of users report that they face quality and reliability issues, such as lost connections and inconsistent network speeds, when using mobile networks indoors. App-related issues while outdoors or commuting, such lengthy lag times, apps taking a long time to refresh, maps failing to load, and session failures affect 68 per cent of consumers. Such problems are more common in mid-size and small towns compared to large cities.

     

    For those consumers in India who do not use mobile broadband, affordability and digital literacy are the prime obstacles to adoption. While 88 per cent of Indian consumers on 2G feel that mobile broadband is too expensive, 53 per cent feel that mobile broadband adds no value and as many as 48 per cent believe there is no difference between 2G and 3G speeds.

     

    Mobile Internet usage is expected to grow with the consumers’ better understanding of the data plans on offer. As per the study, only 10 per cent of mobile Internet users feel they understand their plan perfectly, and are able to make an accurate judgment when deciding on a plan.

     

    Gupta says, “When consumers are confident in their understanding of what is offered, they tend to perceive better value from it. In fact, they consume twice as much data compared to users who find it difficult to understand their plan.”

     

    “Understanding the main aspects that are valued by customers can help service providers differentiate their offerings and improve consumer experience which would help increase consumer loyalty. Personalization is being positively viewed and increasingly demanded by consumers,” he adds.

  • Bonnier Broadcasting & Ericsson collaborate for OTT & SVOD services

    Bonnier Broadcasting & Ericsson collaborate for OTT & SVOD services

    NEW DELHI: Telecom network Ericsson will supply online video platform to the over-the-top (OTT) and live TV subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service of Bonnier Broadcasting.

     

    The multi-year deal will see Ericsson provide a number of managed services including content management and preparation, digital rights management, subscriber management and billing and advertising insertion for multiple devices and platforms.

     

    The Nordic next-generation online TV services will launch later this year. From launch, Bonnier Group content – including a mix of sports, local and international drama series, sitcoms and Swedish and international feature films – will be available both on-demand and live. Multiple platforms will be supported, including the web, iOS and Android devices.

     

    Ericsson Broadcasting and Media Services Head Thorsten Sauer said, “Our long-running relationship with TV4 for their linear channels has now been extended to a business transformation that encompasses on-demand and live services across platforms. Consumers want access to content anytime, anywhere and on any device, which is something TV4 is providing through its platform agnostic strategy. Ericsson is the partner in this transformation and our Ericsson Managed Player is designed to help our clients meet the needs of their audiences in this ever-changing landscape.”

     

    Ericsson’s Managed Player masters the combination of OTT delivery and playout to deliver content to consumers. Ericsson Mediaroom Reach, a scalable adaptive bitrate-based technology platform for intelligent OTT video delivery to cross-platform connected devices, powers it.

     

    Bonnier Group’s TV4 selected Ericsson in 2009 to manage their technical operations end-to-end as part of a 10-year contract. In addition, Ericsson and TV4 established a joint technology and business development forum, where the two companies evaluate new business opportunities.

  • ABP’s Infocom 2014 to focus on entrepreneurship

    ABP’s Infocom 2014 to focus on entrepreneurship

    KOLKATA:  The 13th edition of Infocom, an ABP initiative, will commence from 4 December.

     

    This year the focus of the three-day long conference will be on entrepreneurship. The conference will see sessions on entrepreneurs, young innovators, SME and young hackers in the information technology (IT) world.

     

    Author Chetan Bhagat, Happiest Minds executive chairman Ashok Soota, Ambuja Neotia Group chairman Harshavardhan Neotia, Ericsson India global services MD Amitabh Ray, key officials of ABP Group along with many others are likely to be the key pull at Infocom 2014.

     

    Kolkata-based content marketing strategy company, Fame Per Second, has been appointed for handling all the social media marketing campaigns including at Facebook, Twitter and the business page at LinkedIn among other platforms. 

     

    “The hashtag at Facebook and Twitter has been launched and we are in the process of launching the business age at LinkedIn. Through these pages, we aim to reach CIOs and CEOs and COO of IT, ITeS and related companies,” said Fame Per Second co-dreamer Sankha Acharya.

     

    Driving IT awareness and envisioning organisations and individuals to be IT enabled has been of prime importance at Infocom over the years. 

     

    The event is expected to bring together more than 1,000 delegates, more than 60 speakers and a number of sponsoring companies. 

     

    Apart from this, more than 100 exhibitors from across the global IT domain would display their products and services.

  • Facebook is working extensively in rural India to enhance connectivity, says Mark Zuckerberg

    Facebook is working extensively in rural India to enhance connectivity, says Mark Zuckerberg

    MUMBAI: Stressing on the importance of enhancing internet connectivity in India, Facebook  founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg today said, “Connectivity can’t be restricted to just the rich and powerful. Cost of internet access has to be made affordable.”

     

    The Facebook CEO is in India on a two-day visit and was speaking at the first summit for Internet.org, an organisation led by Facebook.

     

    Mark Zuckerberg has said that he would meet PM Narendra Modi on 10 October to discuss connecting Indian villages to the internet, and Facebook’s role in doing so.

     

    Pitching for free ‘basic net access’, Zuckerberg reckoned that it should be like dialing 911 in the US or 100 here in India. “There needs to be a 911 for the internet. We’ve been working with operators to offer free basic Internet for everyone, to break down the social barriers. With this model, we’ve already helped people connect 3 million people.”

     

    “Connectivity is a human right. We want to build an internet that works for all,” he added.

     

    The 30-year old also announced that Facebook will fund apps and services in local Indian languages for women, students and farmers.

     

    He pointed out that only about a third of people in the world had access to the Internet – 243 million in India and a recent survey showed that 69 percent of people in India said they didn’t know why it would be useful for them.

     

    The biggest barrier, he said, was that “lots of people who have never experienced the internet don’t know why they need it.”

     

    He also added that lack of relevant local language content is why most Indians don’t use internet and Facebook is working extensively in rural India to enhance connectivity.

     

    “Facebook is focusing on content in local languages. It is crucial to internet penetration in Asia, especially India,” said the 30-year-old billionaire. “80 per cent of content on the internet is just in 10 languages, while there are 22 official languages in India; 65 per cent of people use Facebook in a language other than English, including 10 Indian languages.”

     

    Zuckerberg stated that the next generation has the opportunity to bring the world to India and India to the world. The whole world being robbed of creativity and ideas because so many people in India are not online yet, he further said.

     

    He further revealed that Facebook has launched a new contest to develop local apps for farmers and social services in local languages with a $1 million fund dedicated for it.

     

    “We’re also going to extend a program called FB Start,” he added, “which provides $40,000 (Rs 25 lakh approximately) to developers who build and develop apps in these categories,” he added.

     

    Praising India, Zuckerberg credited it for ‘making leaps in revolutions that changed the world’. “Inventions have changed the world throughout history. ’Mangalyaan’ is a huge achievement for India,” he said.

     

    The CEO is of the opinion that lowering data costs by operators is not a sustainable solution. “Mobile operators invest a lot of money, lowering costs is not easy,” he said. “Infrastructure is the biggest barrier to internet, then technical issues. Language barriers are huge impediments to the internet,” he added.

     

    “Connected people have better access to technology, education and jobs. When people are connected, accomplishments are easy,” Zuckerberg said.

     

    Internet.org aims to make internet access affordable for people acrossthe globe. Focused on enabling the next five billion people without internet access to come online, the founding members of the project include Facebook, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm and Samsung.

     

    The partners are collaborating on developing lower-cost, higher-quality smartphones and deploying internet access in under-served communities.

     

    Zuckerberg’s visit comes three months after Sheryl Sandberg, COO of the social networking giant, visited India which is Facebook’s second biggest market. She also met Modi, who has effectively used social networking during his election campaign and later even in governance.

     

    Zuckerberg is the third high profile CEO of a US-based corporation, after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, to visit India in last few days.

  • Facebook joins COAI as associate member

    Facebook joins COAI as associate member

    NEW DELHI: The leading mobile communications association in India, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), has announced the induction of Facebook India Online Services as an associate member.

     

    COAI’s associate membership comprises companies that manufacture or support the functioning, promotion, research development and evolution of mobile communications services. The induction of the Mark Zuckerberg-led company in COAI will help it in getting a bigger platform to interact with the leading mobile operators.

     

    Facebook, public policy director – India and south Asia Ankhi Das said, “Over 85 per cent of the world’s population lives in areas with existing cellular coverage, yet only about 30 per cent of the total population accesses the internet. Affordability and awareness are significant barriers to internet adoption. Facebook believes that overcoming these barriers and connecting people has immense value, from empowering people to exercise their rights to freely express themselves, promoting transparency and democratic values and allowing people to access affordable data services in areas such as health care, education and information, which they otherwise cannot afford. Access = opportunity – creating more economic, social and political opportunities for everybody.”

     

    She further added, “Joining COAI as an associate member reflects our focus on mobile technologies, access and our continued desire to work in collaboration with the industry to increase connectivity. We look forward to playing an active role as a member.”

     

    Founded in 2004, the social media giant Facebook aimed to is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Facebook has more than 1.32 billion monthly active users globally, including over 100 million monthly active users in India.

     

    COAI’s other associate members include Alcatel Lucent India, Cisco Systems India, Ericsson India, IBM India, GTL Infrastructure, Huawei Technologies, Indus Towers, Intel Corporation, Nokia Solutions and Networks, Qualcomm India  and ZTE India.

     

    Commenting on the induction COAI director general Rajan S Mathews said, “We welcome Facebook India Online Services to the COAI family. Social networking, especially Facebook, has changed the way Indians work, play, communicate, socialise and do business. We believe this will further grow to become a crucial part of and influence the socio-economic culture in the country. We feel that Facebook’s active participation in COAI activities will result in mutual value addition and bring the much needed synergy of functioning between the service providers and the content/VAS players.”

     

    Having started as an association for mobile service providers, COAI, today, has members including cellular service providers, telecom infrastructure companies, and telecom equipment manufacturers; and still expanding to include other allied and critical stakeholders of the sector.

  • USD 1 trillion to be spent on telecom and datacom over next 5 years

    USD 1 trillion to be spent on telecom and datacom over next 5 years

    NEW DELHI: The Asia Pacific region has shown major growth of six per cent year-over-year in the telecom/datacom equipment and software revenue as against 4.5 per cent by North America.

     

    This trend is expected to continue through at least 2018, Market research firm Infonetics Research says. It also projects a cumulative $1.01 trillion will be spent by service providers and enterprises on telecom/datacom gear and software over the five years from 2014 to 2018.
     

    Sales of telecom and datacom equipment and software came globally to $183 billion in 2013, three per cent above the previous year.
     

    According to research data from its 2014 Telecom and Datacom Network Equipment and Software report, Infonetics says the overall telecom and datacom network equipment and software market share leaders are in rank order: Cisco, Huawei, Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and ZTE – the same top five vendors with virtually the same shares as the year prior.

     

    Vendor share positions also held steady in the enterprise segment, with Cisco in the driver’s seat and followed distantly by tightly bunched Avaya, Brocade, HP, and Juniper (listed in alphabetical order).
          

    Infonetics Research principal analyst Jeff Wilson said: “Despite the fact that enterprises and service providers are in the middle of massive network upheavals due to the evolution of software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualisation (NFV) technology, the telecom and datacom networking equipment and software market is on track to grow annually through 2018 with the fastest growth coming in 2015.”
     

    Infonetics co-founder and co-author of the report Michael Howard added: “Looking at just the service provider equipment space, we’re seeing a shakeup in vendor market share, with Huawei leapfrogging longtime number-one Ericsson to take the top spot in 2013. While Huawei’s been doing well in a number of regions, China’s economy is a key factor keeping Huawei’s growth so strong.”
     

    The report has compiled worldwide and regional market size, vendor market share, and forecasts through 2018 from all of its reports that track enterprise and service provider gear. It is the majority of all data networking and telecom equipment for service providers, cable companies, and small, medium, and large organisations, excluding consumer electronics.

    The 11 major categories of equipment and software tracked in Infonetics’ report include broadband aggregation; broadband CPE; pay TV; optical network hardware; carrier routing, switching, and Ethernet; service provider VoIP and IMS; service provider mobile/wireless infrastructure; service enablement and subscriber intelligence; security; enterprise and data center networks and enterprise communications. Companies tracked include Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Brocade, Ciena, Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu, HP, Huawei, Juniper, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Samsung, Siemens, ZTE, and many others.