NetXcell, SinglePoint tie up
Hyderabad, Feb. 11
Telecom application services provider NetXcell Ltd has announced its partnership with SinglePoint, a US-based mobile aggregator and media interactivity expert, to deliver value added services to mobile operators. This would be delivered by gathering information from content providers, media partners and value added service companies in the US market. This partnership opens a new vista for NetXcell to access a huge VAS market in US through SinglePoint’s customer ba se. SinglePoint is the media interactivity expert in mobile that turns viewers into active participants. Its services include mobile message connectivity, applications, reporting and analytics.
Feb 12, 2008 Business Line
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Etihad Etisalat to invest Rs 70 cr, hire 200 professionals by year-end
Our Bureau
Bangalore, March 25 Etihad Etisalat Co (Mobily), Saudi Arabia’s second largest mobile telephone operator, said on Tuesday that it plans to invest Rs 70 crore in the next three years to expand its operations in India.
The company had set up a wholly owned subsidiary, Mobily InfoTech India Pvt Ltd, last year with an investment of Rs 20 crore to provide IT solutions and consulting services for the parent company.
The company said Mobily InfoTech India Pvt Ltd would hire more than 200 professionals by the end of 2008. At present, it employs about 70 people.
Mr Khalid Al Kaf, Chief Executive and Managing Director, Mobily, said from 2010, Mobily InfoTech India Pvt Ltd would provide services to external telecom operators as well.
He said the Rs 70-crore investment is an initial estimate and the size may increase later.
Mr Al Kaf said the company is open to entering the mobile phone services market in India and is closely monitoring the “very interesting” market in India.
Mar 26, 2008, Business Line
Our Bureau
Bangalore, March 25 Etihad Etisalat Co (Mobily), Saudi Arabia’s second largest mobile telephone operator, said on Tuesday that it plans to invest Rs 70 crore in the next three years to expand its operations in India.
The company had set up a wholly owned subsidiary, Mobily InfoTech India Pvt Ltd, last year with an investment of Rs 20 crore to provide IT solutions and consulting services for the parent company.
The company said Mobily InfoTech India Pvt Ltd would hire more than 200 professionals by the end of 2008. At present, it employs about 70 people.
Mr Khalid Al Kaf, Chief Executive and Managing Director, Mobily, said from 2010, Mobily InfoTech India Pvt Ltd would provide services to external telecom operators as well.
He said the Rs 70-crore investment is an initial estimate and the size may increase later.
Mr Al Kaf said the company is open to entering the mobile phone services market in India and is closely monitoring the “very interesting” market in India.
Mar 26, 2008, Business Line
DoT asks RIM to set up server in India
Blackberry to Blackberry traffic needs to be monitored
Thomas K Thomas
Goa, March 28 The Department of Telecom has asked Research In Motion (RIM), the Canadian company which owns Blackberry services, to look at the possibility of setting up a server in India in case they are not willing to share the decryption code.
The DoT’s request has been supported by Indian mobile operators who are also putting pressure on RIM to amicably resolve the issue at the earliest. Meeting in Capital
At a meeting between DoT and RIM in the Capital on Friday, the Government has asked the company to make necessary arrangements to allow monitoring by security agencies. Officials from the Canadian High Commission were also present during the meeting. RIM has sought more time to respond to DoT’s request.
DoT officials told Business Line that the company has been told that only Blackberry to Blackberry traffic needs to be monitored.
DoT has given a clean chit to data being sent from a Blackberry device to another device or through the Internet as this can be decrypted by the security agencies without getting the codes from RIM. Security concerns
Blackberry services had run into rough weather after security agencies expressed concern that they could not monitor the data being sent through the device due to the high encryption codes.
According to Indian Internet services rules, operators are not allowed to use more than 40 bit encryption code unless they submit a decryption key to the Government.
RIM, which uses more than 128 bit encryption codes to make the transmission secure, has refused to submit the decryption codes on the grounds that it was proprietary. Support for stand
“We are also putting pressure on RIM to do whatever it takes to enable monitoring by security agencies. We support the request to set up a server in India,” said a GSM industry representative.
At present, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, BPL and Reliance Communications are offering Blackberry services in the country to about 4 lakh subscribers.
Tata Teleservices also wants to offer the service but was stopped by DoT after security agencies raised concerns about monitoring.
Locating a server in India will allow the security agencies to monitor traffic at the gateway without having to break into the Blackberry’s secure transmission codes. According to industry estimates, a server would cost $500,000 at the most.
Earlier, DoT had said that the Government was not interested in banning Blackberry in the country. ISPs’ request
The fallout of the RIM controversy will have a major ramification for the Internet-based application service providers in the country at large. Most of the service providers use 128 bit encryption codes and not all of them have submitted their decryption codes to the Government.
Meanwhile, the Internet Service Providers have asked DoT to raise the permitted encryption levels from 40 bits to 128 bit at least.
Mar 29, 2008, Business Line
Blackberry to Blackberry traffic needs to be monitored
Thomas K Thomas
Goa, March 28 The Department of Telecom has asked Research In Motion (RIM), the Canadian company which owns Blackberry services, to look at the possibility of setting up a server in India in case they are not willing to share the decryption code.
The DoT’s request has been supported by Indian mobile operators who are also putting pressure on RIM to amicably resolve the issue at the earliest. Meeting in Capital
At a meeting between DoT and RIM in the Capital on Friday, the Government has asked the company to make necessary arrangements to allow monitoring by security agencies. Officials from the Canadian High Commission were also present during the meeting. RIM has sought more time to respond to DoT’s request.
DoT officials told Business Line that the company has been told that only Blackberry to Blackberry traffic needs to be monitored.
DoT has given a clean chit to data being sent from a Blackberry device to another device or through the Internet as this can be decrypted by the security agencies without getting the codes from RIM. Security concerns
Blackberry services had run into rough weather after security agencies expressed concern that they could not monitor the data being sent through the device due to the high encryption codes.
According to Indian Internet services rules, operators are not allowed to use more than 40 bit encryption code unless they submit a decryption key to the Government.
RIM, which uses more than 128 bit encryption codes to make the transmission secure, has refused to submit the decryption codes on the grounds that it was proprietary. Support for stand
“We are also putting pressure on RIM to do whatever it takes to enable monitoring by security agencies. We support the request to set up a server in India,” said a GSM industry representative.
At present, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, BPL and Reliance Communications are offering Blackberry services in the country to about 4 lakh subscribers.
Tata Teleservices also wants to offer the service but was stopped by DoT after security agencies raised concerns about monitoring.
Locating a server in India will allow the security agencies to monitor traffic at the gateway without having to break into the Blackberry’s secure transmission codes. According to industry estimates, a server would cost $500,000 at the most.
Earlier, DoT had said that the Government was not interested in banning Blackberry in the country. ISPs’ request
The fallout of the RIM controversy will have a major ramification for the Internet-based application service providers in the country at large. Most of the service providers use 128 bit encryption codes and not all of them have submitted their decryption codes to the Government.
Meanwhile, the Internet Service Providers have asked DoT to raise the permitted encryption levels from 40 bits to 128 bit at least.
Mar 29, 2008, Business Line
NetXcell investing $3 m in expansion
Our Bureau
Hyderabad, April 22 NetXcell Ltd, services provider for mobile networks, plans to invest $3 million (about Rs 12 crore) in expansion in India and the US.
The company on Tuesday said it has launched a mobile advertising platform Ad-Axis to help telecom service providers to reach out advertisements through mobile phones, which it claimed would become the next important revenue stream for telcos.
Addressing a press conference here, the Executive Chairman of NetXcell , Mr Dayakar Pushkoor, said that the company has had big wins recently including that from Idea for all its circles for outbound diallers for marketing campaigns. It is already working with Airtel and Aircel for SMS-related services and with Lifestyle Communications and SinglePoint in the US.
Business Line, 23rd April 2008.
Our Bureau
Hyderabad, April 22 NetXcell Ltd, services provider for mobile networks, plans to invest $3 million (about Rs 12 crore) in expansion in India and the US.
The company on Tuesday said it has launched a mobile advertising platform Ad-Axis to help telecom service providers to reach out advertisements through mobile phones, which it claimed would become the next important revenue stream for telcos.
Addressing a press conference here, the Executive Chairman of NetXcell , Mr Dayakar Pushkoor, said that the company has had big wins recently including that from Idea for all its circles for outbound diallers for marketing campaigns. It is already working with Airtel and Aircel for SMS-related services and with Lifestyle Communications and SinglePoint in the US.
Business Line, 23rd April 2008.
Megasoft eyes Rs 440-cr revenues
Our Bureau
Hyderabad, April 22 Megasoft Ltd. has recorded revenues of Rs 90.3 crore and profit of Rs 15 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007 as against total revenues of Rs 65 crore and profit of Rs 12.1 crore same period last year.
The Hyderabad based software products company which announced its results here today, hinted that it was in pursuit of couple of acquisitions, one in the US and another in Latin America.
The company has completed the merger of its acquisitions, Visualsoft and BCGI and the severance of about 160 employees would help add to the company’s profitability this year.
The entire BCGI deal of about Rs 5.5 crore was funded internally, according to Mr G.V. Kumar, Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Kumar, told Business Line that the company is expecting to close this fiscal with overall revenues in the range of Rs 440 crore, with profit at about Rs 80-85 crore.
The company continues to view its telecom business as the main stay. The telecom business contributes about 61 per cent of revenues and software services 39 per cent.
The scrip closed at Rs 94.85 on National Stock Exchange, down 1.2 per cent from Monday
Our Bureau
Hyderabad, April 22 Megasoft Ltd. has recorded revenues of Rs 90.3 crore and profit of Rs 15 crore for the first quarter ended March 31, 2007 as against total revenues of Rs 65 crore and profit of Rs 12.1 crore same period last year.
The Hyderabad based software products company which announced its results here today, hinted that it was in pursuit of couple of acquisitions, one in the US and another in Latin America.
The company has completed the merger of its acquisitions, Visualsoft and BCGI and the severance of about 160 employees would help add to the company’s profitability this year.
The entire BCGI deal of about Rs 5.5 crore was funded internally, according to Mr G.V. Kumar, Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Kumar, told Business Line that the company is expecting to close this fiscal with overall revenues in the range of Rs 440 crore, with profit at about Rs 80-85 crore.
The company continues to view its telecom business as the main stay. The telecom business contributes about 61 per cent of revenues and software services 39 per cent.
The scrip closed at Rs 94.85 on National Stock Exchange, down 1.2 per cent from Monday
Blue Dart Q1 net up 88%
Our Bureau
Mumbai, April 22 Good growth in volume of cargo in January and February led Blue Dart Express Ltd to record a net profit growth of 88 per cent to Rs 30.7 crore in the first quarter ended March 31, 2008, which is up from Rs 16.3 crore in the same quarter last year.
The total income of the company has risen by 31.9 per cent to Rs 240 crore (Rs 182 crore).
The volume growth was about 38 per cent in the first two months. Another contributing factor to the robust growth has been lower depreciation during the said quarter by Rs 5 crore against corresponding quarter of the previous year.
The majority of the lower depreciation charge relates to the decision of the company to ‘Reduce to Produce’ aircraft and the consequent accelerated depreciation charge of ‘D-check’ in the year 2007, said the company in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
However, the company witnessed a softening in the numbers for March, said Mr Yogesh Dhingra, Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer of Blue Dart Express.Carrying capacity
“The slowdown in the US economy and general global economic environment has affected the volumes in the month of March. Also the distribution did not take off much last month,” he said.
Though the cargo volumes have not been impressive for March, Mr Dhingra said it is not a cause for concern yet. “The slowdown in the US economy will have some impact on India but it will take at least another two months to assess the actual situation.”
Blue Dart Express currently operates six freighters — three each of Boeing 737 and Boeing 757. With these freighters the company has the capacity to carry 300 tonnes of express cargo per day through its overnight operations. It is currently utilising 80 per cent of this capacity.
According to Mr Dhingra, the company would keep adding one Boeing 757 freighter per year to its fleet till 2011-2012, if the Indian economy grows close to 8 per cent plus. The shares of the company closed at Rs 551.60 on Tuesday, down 0.45 per cent from previous day’s close of Rs 554.10.
Business Line, 23rd April 2008
Our Bureau
Mumbai, April 22 Good growth in volume of cargo in January and February led Blue Dart Express Ltd to record a net profit growth of 88 per cent to Rs 30.7 crore in the first quarter ended March 31, 2008, which is up from Rs 16.3 crore in the same quarter last year.
The total income of the company has risen by 31.9 per cent to Rs 240 crore (Rs 182 crore).
The volume growth was about 38 per cent in the first two months. Another contributing factor to the robust growth has been lower depreciation during the said quarter by Rs 5 crore against corresponding quarter of the previous year.
The majority of the lower depreciation charge relates to the decision of the company to ‘Reduce to Produce’ aircraft and the consequent accelerated depreciation charge of ‘D-check’ in the year 2007, said the company in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
However, the company witnessed a softening in the numbers for March, said Mr Yogesh Dhingra, Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer of Blue Dart Express.Carrying capacity
“The slowdown in the US economy and general global economic environment has affected the volumes in the month of March. Also the distribution did not take off much last month,” he said.
Though the cargo volumes have not been impressive for March, Mr Dhingra said it is not a cause for concern yet. “The slowdown in the US economy will have some impact on India but it will take at least another two months to assess the actual situation.”
Blue Dart Express currently operates six freighters — three each of Boeing 737 and Boeing 757. With these freighters the company has the capacity to carry 300 tonnes of express cargo per day through its overnight operations. It is currently utilising 80 per cent of this capacity.
According to Mr Dhingra, the company would keep adding one Boeing 757 freighter per year to its fleet till 2011-2012, if the Indian economy grows close to 8 per cent plus. The shares of the company closed at Rs 551.60 on Tuesday, down 0.45 per cent from previous day’s close of Rs 554.10.
Business Line, 23rd April 2008
How good are we in English?
COMMUNICATING BETTER
Anjali Prayag
Bangalore, April 22 It’s time Indians shake off the English language smugness. Recent statistics have thrown up some surprises in the theory that the Indians’ mastery over the English language could give us an edge in the race towards globalisation.
The National Index of Communication Skills (NI-CS) brought out early this year by MeritTrac, a skills assessment company, points out that only 20 per cent of the candidates evaluated met the overall English criteria required by the industry. The report also classifies skills index based on individual evaluation parameters with grammar emerging the lowest with a throughput of just 7.5 per cent.
“We were surprised at such low suitability numbers that we decided to launch an English assessment and learning programme in India,” says Mr Madan Padaki, co-founder and CEO, MeritTrac Services. In a tie-up with Cengage Learning, MeritTrac has launched eEnglish, a programme that combines print and online platforms for English learning and feedback through scientific assessments. MeritTrac intends to administer this programme to around 4,000 people in the banking, financial, retail and manufacturing sectors.
GlobalEnglish, a California-based company that provides learning and support for business English communication, launched its corporate learning services in India last week.
The Indian IT industry will be the target for its services, says its President and CEO, Mr Deepak Desai.
“This is mainly for knowledge workers who interact with people all over the world.”
In a study conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute, it was found that only 13 per cent of university graduates from low-wage countries are suitable for employment in MNCs, and the No. 1 reason for this is lack of English skills.
However, teaching English language in India will be a lot more complex than in China because of the various levels of the language knowledge among different strata of people, points out Mr Desai. Although English is looked upon as a common skill among people in the technology and business sectors, it is not always a fact, he says. “Outside the major cities, fewer people speak English as a second language, or speak it well.”
23rd April 08, Business Line
COMMUNICATING BETTER
Anjali Prayag
Bangalore, April 22 It’s time Indians shake off the English language smugness. Recent statistics have thrown up some surprises in the theory that the Indians’ mastery over the English language could give us an edge in the race towards globalisation.
The National Index of Communication Skills (NI-CS) brought out early this year by MeritTrac, a skills assessment company, points out that only 20 per cent of the candidates evaluated met the overall English criteria required by the industry. The report also classifies skills index based on individual evaluation parameters with grammar emerging the lowest with a throughput of just 7.5 per cent.
“We were surprised at such low suitability numbers that we decided to launch an English assessment and learning programme in India,” says Mr Madan Padaki, co-founder and CEO, MeritTrac Services. In a tie-up with Cengage Learning, MeritTrac has launched eEnglish, a programme that combines print and online platforms for English learning and feedback through scientific assessments. MeritTrac intends to administer this programme to around 4,000 people in the banking, financial, retail and manufacturing sectors.
GlobalEnglish, a California-based company that provides learning and support for business English communication, launched its corporate learning services in India last week.
The Indian IT industry will be the target for its services, says its President and CEO, Mr Deepak Desai.
“This is mainly for knowledge workers who interact with people all over the world.”
In a study conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute, it was found that only 13 per cent of university graduates from low-wage countries are suitable for employment in MNCs, and the No. 1 reason for this is lack of English skills.
However, teaching English language in India will be a lot more complex than in China because of the various levels of the language knowledge among different strata of people, points out Mr Desai. Although English is looked upon as a common skill among people in the technology and business sectors, it is not always a fact, he says. “Outside the major cities, fewer people speak English as a second language, or speak it well.”
23rd April 08, Business Line
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