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Tag: Manoj Kohli

  • Private cos should help make Digital India a reality: Ravi Shankar Prasad

    Private cos should help make Digital India a reality: Ravi Shankar Prasad

    NEW DELHI: Communications and Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said that the centre will take the help of private companies to deeply entrench Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Digital India” programme in the system so that it starts yielding results.

     

    Inaugurating the 23rd Convergence India 2015 expo organized by Exhibitions India, Prasad said, “India is in the midst of a digital revolution, and the government has unveiled new policies and regulations to accelerate adoption of ICT in key economic and strategic sectors to increase the competitiveness and productivity of the nation.”

     

    He noted that events like Convergence India provide an impetus to the ICT industry and will propel the nation forward.

     

    The three-day Convergence India Expo 2015, with the theme “Connecting India,” is showcasing emerging technologies from telecom, broadcast and the digital media, which will impact urban as well as rural India in a rapidly emerging digital, multi-screen converged world.

     

    The guest of honour, Minister of State for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Y.S Chowdary added, “Today, the time has come to think about the development of rural India. There is a great need of digitizing each and every sector. Our department recently created an app, which guides fishermen, when to fish and when not to fish etc. The beauty of democracy is a rolling model; we need to create a blue print and then work towards the execution.”

     

    The other guests of honour present at the opening ceremony were Bharti Enterprise MD Manoj Kohli and Viom Networks Ltd chief mentor Umang Das.

     

    The expo will witness high-powered conferences with 120 CXO’s featuring visionaries from various sectors deliberating on topics such as “Digital India”, “Internet for All”, “Cloud solutions for businesses”, “TV white space and its utility for mobile services”, and “M2M Adoption”, etc.

     

    More than 1,200 conference delegates will exchange views and ideas with the speakers at the conference.

     

    The expo is supported by the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, and is endorsed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

     

    Other noteworthy concurrent events taking place at 23rd Convergence India 2015 expo are the 2nd annual Telecom Summit 2015; 2nd annual FTTH Council Asia Pacific Summit; and the jury round of Aegis Graham Bell Awards, which recognise and honour industry leaders in the field of telecom, broadcast, media and entertainment.

     

    Exhibitions India group chairman Prem Behl said, “ICT is an important sector, which will play a vital role in contributing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a Digital India, Smart Cities, Make in India, Made in India, zero defect, zero effect, skill India, competitive India, ease of doing business in India etc., and showcase Indian talent to the world.”

     

    The 2015 exhibition has attracted over 400 companies and their CEOs from 30 countries including Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, UAE, UK and USA to name a few, showcasing the latest trends and technologies in broadband, telecom, cable, satellite, digital India, cloud computing, VAS, LTE Networks etc. Over 15,000 trade visitors are expected to visit the expo over three days.

  • Airtel to acquire Warids Congo Brazzaville Operations

    Airtel to acquire Warids Congo Brazzaville Operations

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel (Airtel), a leading global telecommunications services provider with operations in over 20 countries across Asia and Africa, has entered into a definitive agreement with the Warid Group (Warid) to fully acquire Warid Congo SA. The agreement is subject to regulatory and statutory approvals.

     

    The agreement marks the second in-country acquisition by Airtel in Africa. It had acquired Warid’s Uganda operations earlier this year. The latest acquisition will make Airtel the largest mobile operator in Congo Brazzaville with around 2.6 million customers. At present, Airtel is the second largest operator in the country with over 1.6 million customers, while Warid is the third largest with around one million customers.

     

    The agreement looks at bringing together the strengths of Airtel and Warid in Congo Brazzaville and benefit customers in the form of affordable tariffs, superior 2G/3G network, affordable voice and data services and superior customer care. In addition, existing Warid customers in Congo Brazzaville will join Airtel’s global network of over 280 million customers and enjoy the benefits of ‘One Airtel’ network with affordable roaming rates across Africa and South Asia, besides other exciting bouquet of innovative 2G and 3G services.

     

    Speaking on the agreement, Bharti Airtel MD and CEO (International) Manoj Kohli says: “This acquisition is in line with our stated strategy of strengthening our market position through in-country acquisitions, as and when suitable opportunities come along. We are at an advance stage of successfully integrating Waird’s Uganda operations with that of Airtel and look forward to a similarly swift transition in Congo Brazzaville as well. As already demonstrated in Uganda, the merger will bring more value for the customers in the form of affordable data and roaming tariffs, innovative products, Airtel Money, world-class networks and customer care. We would like to express our deep gratitude to the government and look forward to its support to this deal.”

     

    Speaking on the agreement Warid, Congo Brazzaville board member Sriram Yarlagadda says: “This agreement creates a win–win situation for the customers and provide them with an opportunity to be part of one of the largest mobile services providers in the world. The customers can look forward to enjoy affordable voice tariffs and 3G data services on the most extensive network. On this occasion, we would also like to express our sincere gratitude to the government for its support and look forward to its continued cooperation towards a successful transaction.”

     

    With presence across 17 African countries, Airtel is the largest telecom service provider across the continent in terms of geographical reach and had over 66 million customers at the end of quarter ended September, 2013. Globally, Airtel is ranked as the fourth largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers.

  • Bharti Airtel signs $400mn network deal with Nokia

    Bharti Airtel signs $400mn network deal with Nokia

    MUMBAI: Nokia has bagged a $400 million network expansion and services deal for over three years from Bharti Airtel Ltd, mobile services provider. 

    As per the three year contract, Nokia will provide managed services and expand Airtel networks to cover all towns and cities in the eight telecom circles of Mumbai, Maharashtra & Goa, Gujarat, Bihar (including Jharkhand), Orissa, Kolkata, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh (including Chattisgarh), according to an official release.

    The network monitoring operations will be carried out from Nokia’s global network services center in Chennai.

    Nokia will also deploy its WAP solution across Airtel’s national network to enhance its mobile packet core network capabilities. 

    The WAP gateway to be implemented by Nokia shall enable easy usage of data services, thereby increasing the consumption of content on the Airtel network. Nokia will
    provide consulting services and integrate the WAP gateway into a multi-vendor environment.

    Nokia will also deploy the latest radio and core network equipment including softswitch, flexi-base stations and mini-Ultrasite base stations and provide services based on Bharti’s capacity requirements, delivering a cost-efficient rollout of on-demand capacity.

    The contract also has stringent service level agreements and performance metrics for both parties which are designed to provide consistently high quality services to subscribers and continuously enhance the user experience.

    Bharti Airtel president Manoj Kohli said, “Our network leadership across India is a critical driver in the Bharti Airtel success story. Our partnership with Nokia reinforces our commitment to this cause and Nokia will provide us the latest technology and expertise to drive growth in the latent market in Eastern India and rapidly expand our coverage in Western parts of India.

    “Nokia is proud to collaborate with Bharti on its initiative to take mobile services to millions of unconnected Indians and enhance the mobile data experience of its existing customers,” said Nokia India country director Ashish Chowdhary. “Our extensive managed services capability, powered with a comprehensive and high quality product portfolio makes Nokia a catalyst for providing affordable mobile services to rural consumers.

  • Airtel announces strategic tie-up with Microsoft

    Airtel announces strategic tie-up with Microsoft

    Airtel announces strategic tie-up with Microsoft – Becomes first Telco to offer Microsoft’s latest Windows Mobile 5.0 technology in India

    · Strategic partnership with Microsoft to reinforce & strengthen Airtel’s innovation charter
    · Airtel enhances its business solutions portfolio with Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 – a powerful platform that delivers a comprehensive mobile experience beyond just email
    · Familiar MS Windows user interface big advantage for users
    · A huge opportunity with a large enterprise segment running predominantly on the MS Exchange server
    · An estimated 4 million SMEs potential users

    New Delhi, August 21, 2006: Reinforcing its commitment to innovation, Bharti Airtel, India’s leading telecom services provider, today announced a strategic tie up with Microsoft. This partnership is expected to deliver great value to all Airtel customers spanning mobile, landline and Broadband services.

    Today, Airtel and Microsoft launched Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 5.0 platform that provides an opportunity to all Airtel customers to access corporate email via direct push technology. Airtel becomes the first operator in India to offer this technology to its customers. The service will deliver
    powerful business applications and multimedia experience to all Enterprise and SME customers across India.

    Airtel’s tie up with Microsoft is part of its strategic innovation strategy that has been the cornerstone of the company’s objective to redefine the telecom experience of its 25 million plus customers. The tie-up also comes close on the heels of India’s first ever comprehensive ‘Service Delivery Platform’ that was recently announced by Airtel.

    Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Manoj Kohli, President, Bharti Airtel Ltd., said “Our partnership with Microsoft reinforces and strengthens our commitment to innovation. This is a great beginning for two leaders in the industry to come together and forge a strategic partnership with a single
    minded focus of providing value to the end user. It has always been our aim to be a step ahead of customer expectation and this alliance will further help us achieve this objective and consolidate our leadership position.”

    The Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 5.0 platform offers a host of applications, with a never-before ease of use. All Airtel users will now have access to MS office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Internet Explorer), multi-mediafunctionality (camera, MP3, video recording) and Line of Business applications like Sales Force Automation on their mobile phones. With this latest innovative offering, Airtel has significantly enhanced its business solutions portfolio.

    Elaborating on Microsoft’s value proposition for customers, Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India, said, “The launch of Windows Mobile 5.0 is in line with our stated vision of creating People Ready Businesses. Microsoft believes that people are the most critical asset of any business and empowering them with the right software is an imperative to deliver greater business value. Windows Mobile 5.0 is the perfect solution for the global mobile workforce to work in an always on environment and better organize their work and personal lives.”

    “The alliance with Bharti Airtel reflects the synergy between two industry leaders, both focused at innovating to help individuals realize their true potential. With this association Bharti Airtel thus joins 115 existing mobile operators who currently offer the Windows Mobile solution worldwide,”
    he further added

    This platform is viable for broader adoption by enterprise customers as a large number of such organizations in India use MS Exchange as their core platform for mail applications within their enterprise. Windows Mobile 5.0 is seamlessly integrated with MS Exchange server 2003. In addition, it does not require additional middleware or servers and offers a cost effective e-mail push environment.

    This tie-up also gives Airtel the opportunity to tap into the estimated 4 million SME market share in India. With anytime access to MS Office, it offers a compelling proposition to users from these segments that are constantly on the move. Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 will be available to Airtel customers on the latest HP I-Paq and I-Mate handsets. Airtel enterprise customers will
    also get the benefit of preferential hand-set pricing. A dedicated after-sales support, owing to the back to back SLA with all its partners, ensures uninterrupted services exclusively for Airtel’s customers.

    About Bharti Airtel Ltd.

    Bharti Airtel Limited is one of India’s leading private sector providers of telecommunications services with an aggregate of 25.89 million customers as of end of July‘06, consisting of 24.34 million mobile customers. Bharti Airtel has been being ranked among the top 10 best performing companies in the world in the BusinessWeek IT 100 list. The company was the first private operator to provide mobile services in all the 23 circles in India. The company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 92 cities. The company complements its mobile, broadband & telephone services with national and international long distance services. The company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine
    cable (owned by an associate company) connecting Chennai and Singapore. The company is a part of the consortium, which jointly owns and has developed the next generation undersea cable system SEA-ME-WE-4. The company provides reliable end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers by leveraging its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity
    in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station. For more information, visit http://www.bhartiairtel.in

    About Microsoft
    Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software-any time, any place and on any device. Microsoft has been in India since 1990 and employs over 4000 people across its offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.