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Tag: telecom

  • Telecom sector ‘biggest success story’; Cisco, Alcatel for R&D investment: Economic Survey

    Telecom sector ‘biggest success story’; Cisco, Alcatel for R&D investment: Economic Survey

    NEW DELHI: Hailing the country’s telecom sector as “one of the biggest success stories of market oriented reforms”, the Economic Survey of India, tabled in the Parliament today, has said that by the end of 2012, a total of 650 million telephone connections (including 66 million wired and 584 million wireless connections) are expected to be achieved.

    Interestingly, the report informs that a large number of foreign companies like Alcatel, Cisco etc. have also shown interest in setting up their research & development (R&D) centres in India.

    A proposal for setting up a Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council and Telecom Testing and Security Certification Centre (TETC) is in the pipeline. With the above initiatives, India is expected to become a manufacturing hub for telecom equipment, the report holds.

    It says that broadband connectivity would be made available on demand, without limiting the speed.

    “Each village would have at least one broadband enabled kiosk. Broadband connection would be provided to schools, health centres and panchayat offices,” it has envisaged.

    It is also been envisaged that internet and broadband subscribers will increase to 40 million and 20 million, respectively, by 2010.

    “India is now amongst the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. Supportive government policies coupled with private sector participation have fuelled the unprecedented expansion of this sector,” the report asserted citing data.

    Looking back, it has said also that the announcement of the New Telecom Policy, 1999, was a watershed event for telecommunications in India. Other policy milestones include the opening of the long-distance market in 2002, the termination of VSNL’s monopoly over international traffic in the same year, and the resolution of the wireless in local loop issue.

    “As a result, telecom tariffs which were among the highest in the world less than four years ago have now dipped to being among the lowest. Tele- density has also increased from 12.7 per cent in March 2006 to 16.8 per cent in December, 2006.

    The data given by the Survey shows that the number of CDMA were 0.61 million in 2003 and in 2006 stand at 44.17; similarly, for the same period, the users of GSM sprang from 12.69 mn to 105.43 mn, and the figures for wireless (CDMA and GSM) rose from 13.30 mn to 149.60 mn.

    The Survey has put the annual growth rate in 2006 stands at 45 per cent, as compared to 2003, when it was 40 per cent.

    The Survey has note that the total number of telephones has increased from 54.63 million on March 31, 2003 to 142.09 million on March 31, 2006 and 189.92 million on December 31, 2006.

    “While 43.72 million telephones were added during the 12 months of 2005-06, during the current year, about five million subscribers are being added every month.
    “With this growth, the number of telephones is expected to reach 250 million by the end of 2007,” says the report

    “The growth of wireless services has been phenomenal, with wireless subscribers growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of above 90 per cent per annum since 2003.

    “Today the wireless subscribers are not only much more than the fixed subscribers in the country, but also increasing at a much faster pace.

    “The share of wireless phones has increased from 24.3 per cent in March 2003 to 78.77 per cent in December, 2006. Improved affordability of wireless phone has made universal access objective more feasible,” says the report.

    “The number of internet subscribers grew at 25 per cent, while broadband subscribers grew from a meagre 0.18 million to 1.32 million, during 2005-06. It is necessary to increase the broadband connectivity for the knowledge-based society to grow quickly and for reaping the consequent economic opportunities.

    Foreign direct investment (FDI) is one of the important sources to meet the huge funds that are required for rapid network expansion, the report has noted, adding that the FDI policy provides an investor-friendly environment for the growth of the telecom sector.

    “The total FDI approved and the actual inflow up to July, 2006 were Rs 389.2 billion and Rs 11,801.46 billion, respectively,” says the report.

    It says also that of the more than 235.4 million public call offices (PCOs) functioning in the country, 200,000 are in the rural areas.

    “Apart from this, 560,000 village public telephones (VPTs) are also providing access to telecom facilities in the rural areas. The Mobile Grameen Sanchar Sewak Scheme providing telephone at the doorstep of villagers in about 12,000 villages is also in place.

    On the issue of manufacture of telecom equipment, the report notes that the Indian telecom industry manufactures a complete range of telecom equipment, using state of the art technologies designed specifically to match the diverse terrain and climate conditions.

    Production of telecom equipment has increased from Rs 160.9 billion in 2004-05 to Rs 178.33 billion in 2005-06, it has noted, adding that “Rising demand for a wide range of telecom equipment, particularly in the area of mobile telecommunication, has provided excellent opportunities to domestic and foreign investors in the manufacturing sector.”
     

  • IBF demands tax holiday, level playing field with print and telecom sectors

     
     

    NEW DELHI: The Indian Broadcasting Federation has sent several pre-budget demands to the ministry of finance, including the expansion of the definition of Industrial Undertaking under Section 72A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 to include electronic media i.e. TV broadcasting, as well as exemption of cess charges and additional duty on STBs.

    It has also demanded that for the next 10 years, the government must reduce the base for Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) from 20 per cent to five per cent for the industry, as in the case of computer software industry, a senior official at IBF told indiantelevision.com.

    The IBF recommendations say that for the next 10 years, the government should exempt CVD, cess charges and additional duty on STBs to ensure that customers get STBs at reasonable prices.

    The Excise Duty should be zero to encourage indigenous production of STBs.

    The Customs and Excise Duties on all the other broadcasting equipment should be kept at par with the IT equipment, the IBF has demanded, seeking a level playing field for the electronic and print media.

    “We strongly recommend that the Government of India should exempt broadcasting industry from Service Tax as in the case of print media.

    The IBF reasons that Section 72A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, provides an incentive to robust companies to take over and amalgamate with the companies which would otherwise become a burden on the economy.

    The basic objective of Section 72A was to revive the financially weak businesses and synergise the business to achieve better growth, better profits, recovery of bad advances by banks and institutions, which will result in higher tax revenues, increase in employment ultimately leading to contribution to the economy.

    Section 72A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, defines the term Industrial Undertaking but does not seem to cover Broadcasting Industry.

    IBF feels that when this definition was introduced, industry was in a nascent stage and probably that is the reason it was not included in the definition of the ‘industrial undertaking’ though the print media does get covered under this definition.

    “We therefore request to favourably consider the matter and expand the definition of the term Industrial Undertaking to include the broadcasting industry,” the document said.

    “There are 112 million television homes in India and more than 68 million homes are connected to cable TV and these are increasing rapidly,” says the report in its preamble, arguing that .forr the majority of Indians, including the poor and non-educated people, television is the cheapest source of information and entertainment.

    According to the document, the industry produces approximately 6,00,000 hours of original programming annually for more than 300 TV channels, making it one of the biggest in the world.

    There are over 50 million viewers of Indian TV programming in neighboring countries and overseas creating a positive international image of India unlike any other media, the document asserts.

    It argued also that the TV channels spread a sense of unity and integrity in the country, as witnessed during Kargil War, Gujarat earthquake, the terrorist attack on the Parliament on December 13, 2001, the 2004 tsunami tragedy, and the most recent train blasts in Mumbai.

    On the issue of FBT too, the IBF has taken a strong stand of being discriminated against vis-?-vis other industries.

    “The Finance Act 2005 has considered 20% of the total expenditure under certain heads as being subjected to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT).

    “However, in industries such as pharmaceuticals, computer software industry, hotel industry etc., the value of fringe benefits for the purposes of computation of tax is taken at the rate of 5 per cent, which is a clear discrimination against television broadcasting industry,” the official said, quoting the IBF document.

    Explaining the nature of the industry, especially news channels, the document says that this involves extensive communication (telephone/mobiles) and use of vehicles for carrying performers, technicians, panelists, politicians and audiences and other celebrities who appear on the channels frequently.

    The news channels have to depute OB vans, cameramen and reporters for out door coverage of events and activities. The telephone also has to be used excessively.

    (Telephone charges as part of the salary paid for by the company to employees comes under the mischief of FBT, hence the demand for the reduction of FBT base from 20 to five per cent)

    the IBF has also claimed a level playing field vis-?-vis the IT industry in terms of benefits and concessions with regard to Customs and Excise Duties.

    “The Central Government, in the Ministry of Telecom and IT have amended the Trai Act and through Notification dated 9th January, 2004, the scope of the definition ‘telecommunication services’ has been expanded to include the ‘broadcasting and cable services’ also.

    “Thus, for all purposes, broadcasting and cable services are now telecommunication services,” the document delineates, hence the demand for being treated at par with the IT industry, so far as excise and customs are concerned.

    Therefore, the incentives/concessions granted to the IT sector, should be ipso-facto extended to broadcasting/cable services also and this may find a mention in all relevant notifications/circulars.

    “For example, as of now, Customs Duty+CVD+Cess for broadcast equipment is 36.64 per cent, whereas it is only 21.32 per cent for computers and four per cent for cellphones,” the document says.

    “Now in the convergence era the same STB / modem can be used for cable, DTH, IPTV and even cellphones. Therefore, Customs Duty on broadcast equipments should be at par with the IT Industry.

    IBF says also that Customs Duty on STBs was reduced to zero per cent in 2005, however CVD, Cess charges and additional duty comes to 21.32 per cent

    “In the interest of millions of TV households, the Government should exempt CVD, Cess charges and additional duty on STBs for next 10 years,” it has told the Finance Ministry, adding that in order to promote indigenous production, Excise Duty may also be exempted for a period of 10 years.

    The private Indian broadcasting Industry started only in 1992, and is still in a nascent stage.

    To meet the demands of the people, a large number of new TV channels are being launched and many of them have not been able to reach profit-making stage, explains IBF.

    The Industry is, therefore, not in a position to take the burden of Service Tax.

    The IBF document gives a detailed account of revenue and tax burden of the broadcasting industry last fuscal:

    The Total Electronic Media Advertising Revenue – Rs. 6,100 Crs. Prasar Bharti Advertising Revenue – Rs. 960 Crs.
    Private Channels Advertising Revenue – Rs. 5,140 Crs.

    Total Service Tax @ 12.24% on Rs. 6,100 Crs. – Rs. 747 Crs. 

    Service Tax Liability of Prasar Bharti – Rs. 118 Crs.
    Service Tax Liability of Other Channels – Rs. 629 Crs.

    Though service tax is levied on broadcasting media, print media is not attracting service tax even though it enjoys a larger share of advertising revenue.

    Total Estimated Advt. revenue (F.Y. 05-06) Rs. 13,300 Crs. (approx.)
    Print Media Rs. 7,200 Crs. (54%)

    Electronic Media Rs. 6,100 Crs. (46%)

    “Further, just like a page of the newspaper, the television screen is only a carrier of programmes and the broadcasting media should also, therefore, be exempted from Service Tax,” IBF has argued.

    In fact, IBF has pointed out the advantage of its medium vis-?-vis the print medium, saying that television industry is one step ahead of print media in providing information and education to the illiterates.

    It says that for the illiterate persons, visuals and the spoken word carry the education and information where the written word fails. In fact, the broadcast media is the only means to reach the illiterates which constitute 40% of our adult population and a significant number of youngsters, says IBF.

    “We would like to, therefore, highlight this discrimination against broadcasting media which has not been removed in spite of our repeated representations,” IBF has asserted in its memorandum.

    The IBF feels that news and current affairs channels do yeomen service to the nation and all are free-to-air, whose only source of revenue is advertisement.

    These require huge investments in infrastructure, human resource, etc.

    There are already more than 35 news channels and more are being launched every month, leading to scramble for the limited ad revenue pie. Service Tax on these channels therefore slowly lead to their deaths, IBF says.

    Ad spend to GDP ratio for India is one of the lowest at 0.34 per cent.

    It is 1.3 pet cent for USA, 1.0 per cent for Australia and even our neighbouring countries in South East Asia like Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore etc enjoy a high ratio of 0.8 to 1.0 per cent, IBF has shown in re document.

    While this indicates the potential available, but without government’s support like Service Tax holiday on advertisement revenue, the potential cannot be exploited to desired extent

    IBF has also argued that Service Tax pulls down consumption and hence economic growth. Lower consumption means lower overall tax revenues.

    “Service Tax is an unfair disadvantage for new Indian and foreign investors,” IBF has said.

    The Central Government vide Notification 6/2005 dated March 1, 2005 has granted an exemption to the service providers (small cable operators) whose aggregate value of taxable service for a financial year does not exceed Rupees Four Lakhs.

    Subscription revenue forms a significant portion of the revenue earned by any broadcasting company/agency and contributes to defraying the huge expense incurred on providing high quality content to the C&S viewing population.

    “It would be appreciated that the position adopted by cable operators (of not paying the service tax to the Broadcasters for service received by them) is causing irreparable harm to the operations of broadcasting fraternity; and is indeed causing revenue leakage to the government,” IBF says.
  • IPTV worldwide subscribers reach 3.6 million

    IPTV worldwide subscribers reach 3.6 million

    MUMBAI: The latest worldwide IPTV research from research firm Canalys shows how the number of commercial IPTV launches escalated in 2006, and suggests that IPTV services are now moving into the mainstream.

    Worldwide subscribers have reached 3.6 million Western Europe leads, with growth expected in emerging markets this year.

    Most major incumbent telecoms providers have launched commercial services and the market is becoming increasingly competitive with the entry of alternative operators, such as ISPs and energy companies.

    Canalys senior analyst Nadia Griffiths says, “2007 will see the competitive landscape become even fiercer as IPTV services from established service providers will be challenged by aggressively priced alternatives from Web TV, cable, satellite and content companies. These are all contenders for a share of the limited wallet of most consumers”.

    Western Europe has 2.4 million IPTV subscribers. The sheer number of operators in the region provides its IPTV scale, and major investments in backbone infrastructure are being made as providers rush to build substantial subscriber bases. The IPTV market is highly fragmented. The top five providers account for over 60 per cent of all subscribers, but the rush of service launches by new entrants in 2006 means that there are numerous companies with only a few thousand subscribers each.

    The top three providers globally according to Canalys are PCCW on 18.2 per cent share, France Telecom with 16.8 per cent and Free Telecom on 14 per cent. These are joined in the top five by Telefonica and Fastweb.

    Threats One of the major threats for many IPTV service providers is the quality of networking once IPTV services become fully fledged. Canalys VP Alessandra Fitzpatrick says, “IPTV networks will quickly become the most complex and bandwidth intensive that have ever existed. Many service providers have invested millions of euros on network upgrades, but it remains unproven whether IPTV networks can scale into the millions without performance degrading and response times slowing, or even collapsing altogether.

    “Another infrastructure challenge is that service providers will quickly have to learn how to manage multiple billing systems and content across large server farms and SANs, while maintaining the highest quality of service.”

    The future, however, looks promising. In 2007, Canalys predicts significant uptake of IPTV in the Asia Pacific region. Hong Kong is already a mature IPTV market, and growth will come from emerging markets such as India and China, following large investments into IPTV deployments there. Australia is also finally moving into the commercial phase of its IPTV offerings, which will lead to fast roll-outs of services in 2007. North America will be another major growth area, with AT&T and Verizon already pushing nationwide roll-outs of IPTV services. Western Europe though will continue to lead and set the pace globally for the IPTV industry in the year ahead.
     

  • IPTV likely to generate significant revenue within first three years: Accenture survey

    IPTV likely to generate significant revenue within first three years: Accenture survey

    MUMBAI: More than half of communications industry executives believe that Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) can generate significant revenue within the first three years of service, according to findings of a survey released by Accenture and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

    The survey of nearly 350 executives from telecom, broadcasting and media companies across 46 countries in the US, Europe and Asia revealed industry-wide confidence in the longer-term outlook for IPTV, with 60 percent believing that IPTV will generate significant revenues within three years.

    However, confidence in the short-term outlook remains mixed, with slightly more than half (52 per cent) of respondents saying they are not confident in the ability of IPTV to generate significant revenues within the next 12 months. On the other hand, one-fifth (20 per cent) of respondents said they are confident or very confident, and more than one-quarter (28 per cent) said they are somewhat to fairly confident, that IPTV will generate significant revenues within a year.
    The report notes that the business case for IPTV, its value-added benefits and its potential remain strong. In the long-term, the key to achieving high performance through IPTV is to be visionary, ambitious and open to innovation from many sources. For the shorter term, the key is to quickly adapt to consumer feedback and jump over technology hurdles.

    When asked what they believed would be the principal revenue source for IPTV, about half (46 per cent) of the industry executives surveyed selected advertising. However, network operators, as a subset of all respondents — which included equipment vendors, consumer electronic companies, content providers and broadcasters/studios — disagreed, with three-quarters (74 per cent) of network operators saying they believe that subscription fees for premium content will provide the largest recurring revenue stream, followed by basic content subscription fees and then ad fees.

    This difference in opinions reflects the broad uncertainty around how media will be delivered and what customers will be willing to pay for. Carriers are used to subscription revenues and believe that the IPTV experience will soon be comparable to or even better than current video offerings, whereas media executives are more cautious and skeptical of a scenario where a new revenue stream is created so rapidly. The reality is that both revenue streams will be important, but the challenge will be to harness the power of this new technology to create a new video experience that makes consumers and advertisers willing to pay more than they do today.

    When asked to identify reasons for pursuing the IPTV market, the greatest number of respondents (42 per cent) cited new revenue streams, followed by acquiring new customers (28 per cent) and increasing sale of broadband access connections (21 per cent).

    Overwhelmingly, executives believe that discounted pricing through service bundling will be the primary motivation behind consumer spending. Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of all respondents — and three-quarters (74 per cent) of network operators surveyed — said they believe that discounted service bundles provide the greatest enticement to buy IPTV. The ability to move content between devices was also cited as an important enticement, selected by 38 percent of respondents, as was the convenience of a single bill for multiple services, selected by 31 per cent of respondents.

    Yet there are obstacles to IPTV adoption. One-quarter (25 per cent) of respondents said that the primary short-term obstacle to IPTV adoption is a quality-of-service issue relating to unproven architectures, low bandwidth and other technology issues. The same number (25 percent) said they believe that quality-of-service issues will be resolved over the next three years, leaving stiffer competition from alternative TV providers as the toughest challenge to the adoption of IPTV. Another challenge to IPTV adoption, cited by 19 percent of respondents, is high subscription fees due to the high cost of network access and equipment.

    When asked which types of companies are most likely to generate revenue from IPTV, the vast majority (87 per cent) of respondents selected content providers, followed by telecommunications providers (72 per cent). Not surprising, more than two-thirds (69 per cent) of respondents said that traditional broadcasters have the least to gain from IPTV, a view held strongly by respondents across all company types, including broadcasters themselves.

  • Telecom innovation in the US being led by broadband deployment: FCC

    Telecom innovation in the US being led by broadband deployment: FCC

     MUMBAI: In a statemjent before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, US media watchdog Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Kevin Martin notes that almost all of today’s innovation is enabled by broadband deployment.

    “Broadband technology is a key driver of economic growth. The ability to share increasing amounts of information, at greater and greater speeds, increases productivity, facilitates interstate commerce, and helps drive innovation. But perhaps most important, broadband has the potential to affect almost every aspect of our lives.

    In 2005, the FCC created a deregulatory environment that fueled private sector investment. Since then, companies have begun racing to lay fiber to homes in the US. From March of 2005 to the end of last year, the number of homes passed by fiber increased from 1.6 million to 6.1 million, he notes.

    Just as significant for consumers, the average price of broadband has dropped in the past two years. The Pew Internet and American Life Project (Pew) found that, from February 2004 to December 2005, the average price for home broadband access fell from $39 per month to $36 per month. For DSL, monthly bills fell from $38 to $32 (almost 20 per cent), while cable modem users reported no change from $41 during the same period.

    The decline in price was accompanied by an increase in the number of Americans subscribing to high speed connections to the Internet. Such connections have grown by nearly 600 per cent since 2001. And according to the Commission’s most recent data, high-speed connections increased by 26 per cent in the first half of 2006 and by 52 per cent for the year ending 30 June, 2006.

    The FCC, he says, is making available as much spectrum as possible to put the next generation of advanced wireless devices into the hands and homes of consumers. In September the FCC closed its largest and most successful spectrum auction, raising almost $14 billion. The spectrum offered was the largest amount of spectrum suitable for deploying wireless broadband ever made available in a single FCC auction. “And we are currently preparing to auction 60 MHz in the 700 MHz band, spectrum that is also well-suited for the provision of wireless broadband” he adds

    Moreover, the number of consumers who receive their broadband connection through satellite or wireless will continue to increase, as new satellite services are launched, rural wireless Internet service providers continue to grow, and Wi-Fi hotspots continue to sprout up across the country. “Indeed, there are nearly 50,000 Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the US, more than three times the number of any other country”.

    Media: He notes that as has been the case with the telecom sector, consumers and companies are benefiting from technological developments and innovation in media. DVR’s, Vod and HD programming offer them more programming to watch at any given time then ever before. Thanks largely to new services like these, cable operators’ total revenue grew from $65.7 billion to approximately $73 billion last year.

    At the same time while consumers have enormous choice among channels, they have little control over how many channels they are able to buy. For those who want to receive 100 channels or more, today’s most popular cable packages may be a good value. But according to Nielson, most viewers watch fewer then two dozen channels. For them, the deal isn’t as good.

    The cost of basic cable services have gone up at a disproportionate rate – 38 per cent between 2000 and 2005 – when compared against other communications sectors. The average price of the expanded basic cable package, the standard cable package, almost doubled between 1995 and 2005, increasing by 93 per cent.

    Martin notes that the increase in cable prices appears even more dramatic when viewed relative to the prices for a number of other communications services: prices for long distance, international, and wireless telephone service have all decreased dramatically during this same timeframe.

    Progress in satellite: 10 years ago the satellite industry was nascent. Today, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) provides consumers an important competitive choice. And satellite offerings are sometimes the only multi-channel video option for rural Americans. Between 2000 and 2006, DBS subscribership grew 100 per centand average revenue per user grew 32 per cent. Like DBS, satellite radio also has experienced significant growth. Subscriptions have increased from 1.6 million in 2003 to 13.6 million subscribers in 2006.

    “The transition from analog to digital technology poses both opportunities and challenges for the broadcast sector. The new and better services that digital technology enables are great for consumers, who will have access to more free news, information and entertainment.

    The way forward: Martin notes that there are four areas that deserve particular attention.

    “First, we must continue to increase access to communications services. I will continue to make broadband deployment the Commission’s top priority.

    “As wireless technologies become an increasingly important platform for broadband access, it is critical to ensure that there is adequate spectrum available for providing broadband service.

    “Second, we must continue to promote real choice for consumers. Competition and choice in the video services market will benefit the consumer by resulting in lower prices, higher quality of services, and generally enhancing the consumers’ experience by giving them greater control over the purchased video programming.

    “We need to continue our efforts to create a regulatory environment that encourages entry into this market and more choice for consumers. This includes making sure that competitive providers have access to “must-have” programming that is vertically integrated with a cable operator.”

    Martin says that the FCC also needs to ensure that existing service providers are not standing in the way of the innovations currently occurring in the consumer electronics space. Consumers want to be able to walk into a store, buy a new television set or Tivo, take it home, and plug it in as easily as they do with a telephone.

    Third, he says that the FCC must continue to protect consumers. “We must always be on alert for companies intentionally or unintentionally harming consumers.

    Martin says that perhaps no other issue before the Commission garners more public interest then its quadrennial review of media ownership rules. This attention according to him is understandable given that the media touches almost every aspect of American lives. “We must make sure that consumers have the benefit of a competitive and diverse media marketplace. At our public hearings, the Commission has heard a consistent concern that there are too few local and diverse voices in the community. Certainly, we need to protect localism and diversity in the media. We must balance concerns about too much consolidation and too little choice, however, with appropriate consideration of the changes and innovation that are taking place in the media marketplace.”

    Fourth and finally he notes that the FCC must work towards enhancing public safety.

  • PayMate partners OnMobile to allow consumers to pay bills via mobile phones

    PayMate partners OnMobile to allow consumers to pay bills via mobile phones

    MUMBAI: In the era of digital services the mobile phone can well be referred as man’s best friend for the umpteen tasks it performs. Extending the benefits of this little gadget, mobile commerce solutions company PayMate has recently partnered with OnMobile, a value added services provider, to allow consumers to pay bills via mobile for services available on OnMobile powered voice portals and WAP sites such as Hutch, Airtel, Idea, Reliance, Tata, Fame Cinemas, Adlabs Multiplexes and the 505 platform.

    Paymate customers will be able to pay via mobile while shopping, gifting, movie ticketing, airline ticketing and making bill payments on OnMobile powered WAP sites or voice portals. A user selects a product and proceeds to the payment menu wherein PayMate is offered as a mode of payment. The user then has to enter his PayMate PIN and complete the payment process. The user receives an SMS confirming the successful purchase of the product, states an official release.

    “PayMate is extremely convenient, easy to use and compatible across all mobile handsets and operators. Most merchants have difficulty in accepting remote payments since customers are apprehensive about sharing credit/ debit card details online or over the phone. This makes PayMate an ideal solution for accepting payments online, over the phone or even at a counter since customers do not have to divulge any credit or debit card details at any time.” says PayMate founder & MD Ajay Adiseshann.

    “OnMobile has enabled Paymate to offer its innovative and secure payment service via OnMobile IVR and WAP products to more than 100 million telecom subscribers in India. We will continue to offer more payment options for telecom subscribers” says OnMobile head-mobile commerce Balachandran Unni.

    The company is also in the process of tying up with several offline merchants such as telco’s, utilities, insurance companies, cable and broadband services, tele-shopping etc and will be announcing its tie-ups in a phased manner, adds the release.

    PayMate is currently being offered to Citibank bank credit card and banking customers and will roll out services with other banks shortly. To use PayMate, Citibank customers need to sign up for this service free with the bank by simply sending “PayMate” as an SMS to 2484. The customer will then be called and registered for the service following which they can pay at any of PayMate’s accredited merchants via a single SMS.

    On receiving this SMS, the bank will verify the user’s mobile number with the account and on confirmation will debit the account accordingly. The merchant and the customer will receive a confirmation message from the bank approving the transaction. The entire transaction takes place at the cost of a single premium SMS.

    The company ensures a secure payment solution as no credit/debit card information is ever disclosed during the transaction process. The trust model is based on the recommendations by Ernst & Young; which provides the security measures for both the bank as well as the customer.

    PayMate is accepted at over 2500 online portals including travel, astrology, electronics, education, jobs, NGOs, apparels, matrimony, entertainment and healthcare etc. PayMate has also announced its tie-ups with Tele-brands, Big Tree (cinema ticketing), Mumbai Gold Cabs, Planet M, CRS Health, Seijo and the Soul Dish, VSNL, Future Bazaar among others.

  • Broadband demand drives highest telecom growth since 2000

    Broadband demand drives highest telecom growth since 2000

    MUMBAI: Last year, the US telecom market grew at its fastest rate since 2000, showing that the drive towards convergence continues to stimulate the telecommunications industry, according to TIA’s 2007 Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast.

    Each year, TIA’s Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast analyses the trends affecting the information and communications technology industry. The report includes an overview of the entire industry, as well as detailed sections on the landline, wireless, equipment and international markets.

    TIA’s annual review of the health of the telecom industry shows that the worldwide telecom market grew 11.2 per cent in 2006 to total $3 trillion in revenue, while the US market grew 9.3 per cent to total $923 billion.

    Demand for broadband and high-speed services is fueling this growth, as carriers invest in new fiber, new IP technology and new wireless infrastructure to provide state-of-the-art voice, video and data services.

    Europe has the largest telecom market, measuring at $1 trillion, with the Asia/Pacific third at $715 billion. Overall, the international market grew 12.1 per cent in 2006. Middle East/Africa was the fastest- growing region, expanding at 21.6 per cent. By 2010, the global market is expected to reach $4.3 trillion in revenue.

    TIA president Grant Seiffert says, “Consumers are thirsty for broadband, and this report shows carriers are rushing to meet the demand. Technologies like voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and broadband video, as well as new mobile data services, are sparking new growth in the telecommunications industry. As a result, carriers are offering more competitive all-in-one bundled packages, and consumers are seeing lower prices and more services.”

    The report forecasts growth for competing new broadband technologies such as fiber, satellite, wireless and broadband over powerline, which combined will account for more than 11 per cent of broadband subscribers in 2010.

  • Hinduja TMT announces Q3 results

    MUMBAI: Hinduja TMT Limited (HTMT), at its Board Meeting held today, announced its results for the third quarter ended 31st December, 2006.

    HTMT’s total income for the quarter increased year-on-year from Rs. 82.42 crores to Rs. 85.23 crores. The Net Profit for the quarter went up by 68% from Rs 11.07 crs to Rs 18.56 crs. Profit from ITES/BPO operations showed improvement y-o-y and rose by 40% from Rs. 7.04 crores to Rs 10.10 crores, because of continuing efforts on cost control initiatives carried out by the management.

    HTMT globally offers outsourcing solutions in leading verticals viz. Insurance, Healthcare, Telecom, Consumer Electronics. It has a strong 60+ client base served out of 17 centres in 7 countries and employs 9,000 employees worldwide.

    With its new delivery centre in Mysore opened recently, HTMT now has presence in 5 cities in India, apart from 12 internationally viz. 6 in USA, 2 in Canada, 1 each in UK, Europe, Manila and Mauritius, Partha Sarkar, CEO of HTMT said “We are entering exciting times, as the BPO space is undergoing a huge transformation. KPO offers companies like us the opportunity to grow exponentially riding on the back of strong processes and high quality service while consistently delivering Customer Delight. HTMT is on the lookout to acquire capabilities in new areas like F & A, Human Resource Outsourcing, Mortgage, Retail, Travel and Hospitality etc. in the USA-UK market. The Company continues to look out for good opportunities in companies that have developed niche capabilities in new service lines.”

  • Kalam calls for ethical use of telecom tools

    Kalam calls for ethical use of telecom tools

    NEW DELHI: President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam stressed the need to assess and debate issues relating to invasion of privacy while inaugurating “India Telecom 2006” here yesterday.

    “Telecom technologies are capable of locating the position of a cell phone, its utilisation pattern, and the particulars of the contactees, leaving the individual open to avoidable exposure and exploitation by motivated agencies,” he said.

    Thus, ethics for utilisation of telecom tools and technologies also need to be evolved, so that individual privacy is not intruded upon, he asserted.

    Although some restrictions are in place for unsolicited telephone calls, there is a need for a more effective control mechanism. President Kalam said this in his address after inaugurating “India Telecom 2006 Exhibition and Conference” – held at the Pragati Maidan in the presence of Dayanidhi Maran, Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

    The President said that connectivity is key to the transformation of a billion people into members of knowledge society. He said that this meant connecting 600,000 villages and bringing their 700 million people to the 300 million people living in urban areas.

    Speaking on PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) the President said that for providing knowledge connectivity, Village Knowledge Centres (VKCs) would act as frontline delivery systems.

    Establishing VKCs in the panchayats would empower villagers with the knowledge and help act as local centres for knowledge connectivity within the overall framework of PURA, Kalam said.

    The service data have to come from various connected institutions which provide the service to the people on a timely basis periodically. But the transformation of data into user-friendly information on a regularly updated basis is the real challenge, Kalam said.

    The main focus of the VKCs should be to empower the youth to undertake development tasks in the villages and establish rural enterprises, which would provide large-scale rural employment.

    Therefore, it is essential to skill-enable and knowledge-enable the village youth through the industry, banking as well as academic and marketing institutions. VKCs should act as facilitators, he stressed.

    The President appreciated the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology for its efforts in establishing 100,000 Common Services Centres, which will become part of PURA knowledge connectivity.

    Maran, in his keynote address, said that in order to achieve growth with equity and sustainability, it is necessary to take technology to the masses. This aspiration had been visualised by the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi way back in 1985, he held, adding that the late leader had laid the foundation for providing one PCO in every village.

    The present government’s decision of providing support from USO Fund for mobile telephony as well as broadband services is going to open up the vast untapped market in rural areas of the country.

    “In fact, we are christening 2007 as the ‘Year of Broadband’ in India,” Maran said, adding that presently the country’s broadband penetration is quite modest, at about three million connections.

    With the USO scheme for coverage of rural areas and intense coverage through WiMAX, the DoT is expected to start adding more than one million broadband connections per month before the end of year 2007, he revealed.

    For this, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has come out with an aggressive plan for providing five million broadband connections in the year 2007 itself, with a minimum download speed of 2 mbps.

    This, he hoped, would be a real challenge for private operators too, “either to match it or beat it”.

    The entry of Nokia into the manufacturing space, followed by Flextronics, Motorola and a whole lot of others, has set up the platform for positioning India as a global hub for telecom manufacturing. He said there were expectations of fresh commitment of about $2 billion in telecom manufacturing itself in the next year or so.

    “This would be further enhanced to $20 billion by the year 2010, with more jobs, contribution to GDP, revenue, etc.,” he said.

    N Srinivasan, vice president, FICCI, in his welcome address said: “Recognising the key role that telecom plays in the growth of the economy, FICCI has joined hands with Ministry of Communications and IT to launch this annual event. The first event has seen very good response from all leading telecom players. We hope to make it a flagship event of the telecom sector in India in coming years.”

    He said that the Indian telecom industry was on a high growth trajectory, with over 183 million mobile subscribers in the country today.

    Srinivasan added, “I hope this event, with the expertise of national and international speakers, along with inputs from all the stakeholders with their vast and rich knowledge domain, will bring out useful recommendations for policymakers.”

    The international exhibition will showcase products and technologies from over one hundred companies, both domestic and international. The Indian telecom industry is being represented by companies like Bharti Airtel Limited, BSNL, C-DOT, Hutchison Essar Mobile Services Ltd, COAI, Qualcomm India Pvt Ltd. Reliance Communication Ltd. etc.

    Among the international participants there are companies from Canada, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Italy, while Taiwan, Korea and US .companies will be seen in independent pavilions.

    India Telecom 2006 has been organised by the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications and IT in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Telecom Equipment Manufactures’ Association (TEMA).

    The main sponsors are BSNL, Nokia, Ericsson, Reliance Communications and ZTE. MTNL is the co-sponsor, while the Associate Sponsors are Airtel, Idea Cellular, Tata Indicom, Qualcomm and UT Starcomm.

    Ernst & Young are the Knowledge partners.

  • Alcatel-Lucent introduces a managed mobile interactive TV service in Asia Pacific

    Alcatel-Lucent introduces a managed mobile interactive TV service in Asia Pacific

    MUMBAI: Telecom major Alcatel-Lucent has announced the availability of its managed Mobile Interactive TV service in the Asian Pacific Region. The solution will allow content and service providers to address the growing demand for interactive Mobile TV services by offering a differentiating user-centric experience to their customers based on best in class technology.

    The managed business model will enable them to introduce the new service quickly, cost-effectively and at low risk.

    Alcatel-Lucent will deploy, host and operate the end-to-end solution whilst content and service providers will focus on developing service marketing programs and enhancing user satisfaction. The service also offers content providers an open environment for content aggregation to create interactive made-for-mobile channels.

    The service the firm says is providing a high quality experience for users thanks to ergonomic and intuitive navigation interfaces such as fast channel zapping and can accommodate a diverse range of handset configurations and network delivery methods such as those that are 3G circuit switched, packet switched or broadcasted.

    Alcatel-Lucent’s head of activities in Asia Pacific Frederic Rose says, “Mobile TV is a reality today and is gaining momentum in Asia. With more than 80 multimedia services in operation worldwide, Alcatel-Lucent enjoys a leadership position in the booming mobile TV market and is ideally positioned to help its customers deliver a user-centric experience for their subscribers.

    “The Alcatel-Lucent’s managed Mobile Interactive TV service gives content and service providers a fantastic opportunity to deliver revenue generating entertainment services to their customers”.