Corporate India™

Wi-Fi

2010-03-08T17:38:00.005+05:30

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance that may be used with certified products that belong to a class of wireless local area network (WLAN) devices based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Because of the close relationship with its underlying
standard, the term Wi-Fi is often used as a synonym for IEEE 802.11 technology.The Wi-Fi Alliance is a global, non-profit association of companies that promotes WLAN technology and certifies products if they conform to certain standards of interoperability. Not every IEEE 802.11-compliant device is submitted for certification to the Wi-Fi Alliance, sometimes because of costs associated with the certification process, and the lack of the Wi-Fi logo does not necessarily imply a device is incompatible with Wi-Fi devices.

Campus-wide Wi-Fi

Carnegie Mellon University built the first wireless Internet network in the world at their Pittsburgh campus in 1994, long before the Wi-Fi standard was adopted.

Direct computer-to-computer communications

Wi-Fi also allows communications directly from one computer to another without the involvement of an access point.This is called the ad-hoc mode of Wi-Fi transmission.

The term Wi-Fi suggests Wireless Fidelity, compared with the long-established audio equipment certification term High Fidelity Wireless Fidelity has often been used, even by the Wi-Fi Alliance itself in its press releases and documents; the term may also be found in a white paper on Wi-Fi from ITAA. However, based on Phil Belanger's statement, the term Wi-Fi was never supposed to mean anything at all.

Wi-Fi allows LANs to be deployed without wires for client devices, typically reducing the costs of network deployment and expansion. Spaces where cables cannot be run, such as outdoor areas and historical buildings, can host wireless LANs.

Wireless network adapters are now built into most laptops. The price of chipsets for Wi-Fi continues to drop, making it an economical networking option included in even more devices. Wi-Fi has become widespread in corporate infrastructures.

Wi-Fi availability in the home is on the increase. Examples of remote monitoring include security systems and tele-medicine. In all these kinds of implementation, if the Wi-Fi provision is provided using a system running one of operating systems mentioned above, then it becomes unfeasible due to weight, power consumption and cost issues.

Increasingly in the last few years (particularly as of early 2007), embedded Wi-Fi modules have become available that incorporate a real-time operating system and
provide a simple means of wirelessly enabling any device which has and communicates via a serial port. This allows the design of simple monitoring devices, for example, a portable ECG device monitoring a patient at home. This Wi-Fi-enabled device can communicate via the Internet.

These Wi-Fi modules are designed so that implementers need only minimal Wi-Fi knowledge to provide Wi-Fi connectivity for their products.

WiMAX

2010-03-06T11:59:00.004+05:30

Wi-MAX

WiMAX, meaning Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless transmission of data using a variety of transmission modes, from point-to-multipoint links to portable and fully mobile internet access. The technology provides up to 10 Mbps broadband speed without the need for cables. The technology is based on the IEEE 802.16 standard (also called Broadband Wireless Access). The name "WiMAX" was created by the WiMAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformity and interoperability of the standard. The forum describes WiMAX as "a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL".

Main Uses

The bandwidth and range of WiMAX make it suitable for the following potential applications:

* Connecting Wi-Fi hotspots to the Internet.
* Providing a wireless alternative to cable and DSL for "last mile" broadband access.
* Providing data, telecommunications and IPTV services (triple play).
* Providing a source of Internet connectivity as part of a business continuity plan. That is, if a business has both a fixed and a wireless Internet connection, especially from unrelated providers, they are unlikely to be affected by the same service outage.
* Providing portable connectivity.

Wi-Max Broadband access

Companies are evaluating WiMAX for last mile connectivity. The resulting competition may bring lower pricing for both home and business customers or bring broadband access to places where it has been economically unavailable.

WiMAX access was used to assist with communications in Aceh, Indonesia, after the tsunami in December 2004. All communication infrastructure in the area, other than amateur radio, was destroyed, making the survivors unable to communicate with people outside the disaster area and vice versa. WiMAX provided broadband access that helped regenerate communication to and from Aceh.

In addition, WiMAX was donated by Intel Corporation to assist the FCC and FEMA in their communications efforts in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina.[5] In practice, volunteers used mainly self-healing mesh, VoIP, and a satellite uplink combined with Wi-Fi on the local link

IPTV over WiMAX

Deploying Internet access and Voice over IP using WiMAX radio access is quite easy. In order to have a full triple-play offer, IPTV service has to be added. But it's not straight forward, since the use of IP multicast over a WiMAX radio transmission to carry the IPTV channels may be a technical challenge. Such commercial service are not yet available, but trials have been conducted or are undeway.

Comparison with Wi-Fi

Comparisons and confusion between WiMAX and Wi-Fi are frequent because both are related to wireless connectivity and Internet access.

* WiMAX is a long range system, covering many kilometers, that uses licensed or unlicensed spectrum to deliver a point-to-point connection to the Internet.
* Different 802.16 standards provide different types of access, from portable (similar to a cordless phone) to fixed (an alternative to wired access, where the end user's wireless termination point is fixed in location.)
* Wi-Fi uses unlicensed spectrum to provide access to a network.

* Wi-Fi is more popular in end user devices.
* WiMAX and Wi-Fi have quite different quality of service (QoS) mechanisms:
o WiMAX uses a QoS mechanism based on connections between the base station and the user device. Each connection is based on specific scheduling algorithms.
o Wi-Fi has a QoS mechanism similar to fixed Ethernet, where packets can receive different priorities based on their tags. For example VoIP traffic may be given priority over web browsing.
* Wi-Fi runs on the Media Access Control's CSMA/CA protocol, which is connectionless and contention based, whereas WiMAX runs a connection-oriented MAC.
* Both 802.11 and 802.16 define Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and ad hoc networks, where an end user communicates to users or servers on another Local Area Network (LAN) using its access point or base station.

BSNL Launched country's first mobile broadband fourth generation Internet access network--Mobile WiMAX in
Kerala.

Union minister of state for Agriculture and Consumer Affairs K V Thomas, launched the facility at Kochi

BSNL is also the first operator in the country to launch the service, for which technology has been provided by AVIAT, formerly Harris Stratex.

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) technology, can provide a speed of up to 37 mbps. It is being deployed in Kerala with 900 BTS (Base Transmitting Stations) to cover the entire state, Principal General Manager, BSNL, Ernakulam, E M Abraham said.

In the first phase, 450 BTS would be set up to cover all major cities, district headquarters and important towns at a project cost of about Rs 100 crore.

In the second phase, another 450 BTS would be commissioned to cover the remaining towns.

The technology will provide access to broadband at a cost performance ratio that is far better than any other technology, he said.

It provides features like high speed broad band connectivity anywhere, anytime for devices like Desktop, Laptop on wireless.

It has two tariff plans - Home Plan with a fixed monthly charge of Rs 999 while the Business plan is Rs 1,999 for a band width 512 to 2 mbps.

WiMax (World Interoperability for Microwave Access) has been provided by AVIAT, formerly Harris Stratex. 450 BTS are being set up to cover major cities, district headquarters and important towns. 25 BTS will cover Ernakulam, Tripunithura, Kalamassery, Aluva and Angamally muncipalities.

Alluva and Angamally was commissioned on the same day and the remaining 59 are to be commissioned soon. It has two tariff plans – Home Plan with a fixed monthly charge of Rs 999 while the Business plan is Rs 1,999 for a band width 512 to 2 mbps. It provides features like high speed broad band connectivity anywhere, anytime for devices like Desktop, Laptop on wireless.

BSNL Broadband

2010-03-05T16:54:00.004+05:30

BSNL Broadband is a broadband internet service from state owned BSNL in India since 14 January, 2005. Until September 30, 2007 it was known as Data One

BSNL is commissioning of a multi-gigabit, multi-protocol, convergent IP infrastructure through Internet backbone-II (NIB-II), that will provide convergent services through the same backbone and broadband access network. The Broadband service will be available on DSL technology (on the same copper wire that is used for connecting telephone), on a countrywide basis spanning 198 cities.

In terms of infrastructure for broadband services NIB-II would put India at par with more advanced nations. The services that would be supported includes always-on broadband access to the Internet for residential and business customers, Content based services, Video multicasting, Video-on-demand and Interactive gaming, Audio and Video conferencing, IP Telephony, Distance learning, Messaging: plain and
feature-rich, Multi-site MPLS VPNs with Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. The subscribe will be able to access the above services through Subscriber Service Selection System (SSSS) portal.

The Service will be given through the state of the art Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based IP Infrastructure, which is designed to provide reliable routes to cover all possible destinations within and outside the country. Layer 1 of the network will consist of a high speed Backbone comprising of 24 powerful Core Routers connected with high speed 2.5 Gbit/s(STM-16) links.

There are different plans available for rural,urban and village consumers.

Sify Technologies Limited

2010-03-04T15:39:00.004+05:30

Sify Technologies Limited
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Sify Limited and Satyam Infoway Limited) is an Internet service provider established in 1998, based in Chennai, India.Sify is an Internet service provider in India. Seventy five per cent of the 1.6 million visitors in 2008 to the web site sify.com hail from India. It was rated as one of "The ten top technology companies world-wide recommended for investment" by Fortune in 1999.

Sify India

Sify was one of the first private sector player to offer internet access, when internet access was opened to private sector (until then the state run VSNL had a monopoly in providing internet access). It leased international bandwidth from global vendors, domestic connectivity from telecom players and set up last mile connectivity by multiple methods: wi-fi connections using roof top antennae, copper connections using phone lines or cable tv connections. Sify also started providing internet network connectivity for business enterprises in India. Sify set up a chain of franchised internet cafes (today a network of over 3,300+ cybercafes).

In 2007, Sify got the registration of its UK branch.

Sify is now owned by Mr. Raju Vegesna, the enterpreneur who has made several billion dollars with his other company Serverworks. He took over the company in June 2006 after Mr. Ramaraj quit as the company's CEO. Under the leadership of Mr. Raju, his company has earned a maiden profit after 10 years of its existence. It reported revenues of $ 128 million for the full financial year 2006-07, 17.9 % higher than the previous year and a Net profit for the year was $ 2.3 million compared to a net loss of $3.50 million for the previous fiscal.

Mr.Raju Vegesna is also CEO of a Silicon Valley start-up company, ServerEngines

It has 481 points of presence serving more than 400 cities in the country.

Loop Mobile India

2010-03-03T15:07:00.003+05:30

Loop Mobile India
Loop Mobile (Formerly BPL Mobile) is a mobile phone service provider in India.

It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage in Mumbai circle

BPL Mobile Communications, the country’s oldest mobile telecom service provider, has changed its name to Loop Mobile, following the expiry of its brand-use agreement with the TPG Nambiar-owned BPL Group.

Loop Mobile will also have the latest NGIP (Next Generation Internet Protocol) and EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) technology. The operator is hoping to leverage these technologies to introduce innovative VAS, as well as micro-segmented tariffs for subscribers.

Type - Private
Founded -1994 as BPL Mobile
-2009 as Loop Mobile
Headquarters -Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Key people -CEO -Sandip Basu
Industry -Telecom
Products -Mobile
Telecommunication operator
Owner(s) -Essar Group (8%)

For more info pls visit Loop Mobile Website

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam-MTNL

2010-03-02T11:50:00.004+05:30

MTNL
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited is an Indian Government-owned telephone service provider in the cities of Mumbai, Thane, New Delhi, and Navi Mumbai in India. The company was a monopoly until 1992, when the telecom sector was opened to other service providers.

MTNL provides fixed line telephones, cellular connection of both GSM — Dolphin(Postpaid) and Trump (prepaid) and WLL (CDMA) — Garuda-FW And Garuda-Mobile and internet services through dialup and DSL — Broadband internet TriBand. MTNL has also started Games on demand, video on demand and IPTV services in India through its Broadband Internet service called Triband. Phone numbers belonging to MTNL start with the prefix 2 infixed line telephones and WLL & in GSM Mobile services start from 901x/ 9869/9969/9868/9968. MTNL also provides other services such as VPN,Internet Telephony- VOIP and leased lines through BSNL and VSNL.

MTNL has been actively providing connections in both Mumbai and New Delhi areas and the efficiency of the company has drastically improved from the days when one had to wait years to get a phone connection to now when one can get a connection in even hours. Pre-activated Mobile connections are available at many places across both Metros. MTNL has also unveiled very cost-effective Broadband Internet access plans (TriBand) targeted at homes and small businesses. At present MTNL enjoys the largest of the market share of ISP services in Mumbai and Delhi.

Former Indian Communications Minister Thiru Dayanidhi Maran had declared year 2007 as "Year of Broadband" in India and MTNL is gearing up to provide five million Broadband connectivity by the end of 2007. MTNL has upgrhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mtnl_3g.jpgaded existing TriBand (Broadband) connections for a speed of up to 2 MB/s without any extra cost. This 2 MB/s broadband service is being provided by MTNL at a cost of just US$5.00 per month.

India's First 3G Mobile Service By MTNL

MTNL started 3G services in India under the name of "MTNL 3G Jadoo" Services offered include Video call, Mobile TV and Mobile Broadband with high speed data connectivity up to 2 Mbit/s speed from 11th December 2008, getting India on the 3G map of the world. MTNL plans to offer 3G services across India by mid-2009. After that MTNL Mobile users would be able to surf the internet with speeds up to 2 Mbit/s on their smart phones. MTNL also provides data cards for surfing internet on the PC and Laptop at 3.6 Mbps. MTNL will be installing 15 lakh 3G lines in the first phase of its 3G roll-out in Mumbai and Delhi (which currently have 40 lakh existing mobile lines).

India's First 3G BlackBerry Service By MTNL

MTNL rolled out its BlackBerry solutions on the 2G and 3G networks by launching India’s first 3G enabled BlackBerry Bold smart phones.

visit MTNL website

2010-02-23T18:15:00.006+05:30

Aircel

Aircel is a mobile service provider in India. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India. Aircel is a joint venture between Maxis Communications and Apollo Hospital Enterprise Ltd of India. Maxis has a 74% stake in Aircel and the remaining 26% is with Apollo Hospitals. It is India’s fifth largest GSM mobile service provider with a subscriber base of over 27.7 million, as of October 31, 2009. It has a market share of 12.8% among the GSM operators in the country. As on date, Aircel is present in 18 of the total 23 telecom circles (including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar & Jharkhand, Chennai, Delhi & NCR, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Mumbai, North East, Orissa, Rest of Maharashtra & Goa, Rest of Tamil Nadu, Rest of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh East, Uttar Pradesh West) and with licences secured for the remaining 5 telecom circles, the company plans to become a pan-India operator by 2010.

Additionally, Aircel has also obtained permission from Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to provide International Long Distance (ILD) and National Long Distance (NLD) telephony services. It is also a category A ISP. It is also having the largest service in Tamilnadu.

Aircel Business Solutions (ABS), part of Aircel, is an ISO 9000 certified company. ABS is a registered member of WiMAX forum – both in the Indian and International Chapters. ABS’ product range includes enterprise solutions such as Multiprotocol Label SwitchingVirtual Private Networks (MPLS VPNs), Voice over Internet Protocol> (VoIP) and Managed Video Services on wireless platform including WiMAX.

Aircel has won many awards for its services. Aircel was honored at the World Brand Congress 2009 with three awards, Brand Leadership in Telecom, Marketing Campaign & Marketing Professional of the Year. Aircel was honored by CMAI INFOCOM National Telecom Award 2009 for, ‘Excellence in Marketing of New Telecom Service’. Aircel had been selected as the best regional operator in 2008 by Tele.net. Aircel was rated as the top mid-size utility company inBusiness Worlds ‘List of Best Mid-Size Companies’ in 2007. Aircel got the highest rating for overall customer satisfaction and network quality in 2006 by voice and Data.

Aircel is one of the sponsors of the Indian Premier League cricket Team Chennai Super Kings, which is captained by Mahendra_Singh_Dhoni. It is also the major sponsors for Chennai Open ATP tennis tournament in India, and Professional Golf Tour of India.

In latest news, Maxis, Aircel's majority stake holder, raised RM11.2 billions (USD 3.36 billions)for its shareholders, making it the largest IPO in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Aircel boat. Aircel, placed an actual dinghy lifeboat to a downtown billboard. A rope with a sign reading, “In case of emergency, cut rope”, held up the branded raft. July 15, 2009 the monsoon arrived and so did Aircel customer service. The dinghy was cut down and pedestrians were safely transported. What Aircel calls “Corporate Social Responsibility – A Solution”. The company was able to generate positive publicity and show consumers that they care.

Type	Private
Founded	1999
Headquarters	Chennai
Key people	Gurdeep Singh, COO
Industry	Telecommunications
Products	Mobile Telecommunication operator
Owner(s)	Maxis Communications (74%) Apollo Hospital

for more info visit aircel website

MTS India

2010-02-21T10:06:00.004+05:30

MTS India

Shyam Telelink is an Indian telecom service provider. Shyam holds the Unified Service Access License for the Rajasthan circle and operates Basic Telephony, mobile telephony (CDMA) and broadband services in the province. Shyam Telelink is the end-to-end service provider in Rajasthan with more than 269,000 subscribers as on August 2008 and a strong brand - Rainbow.

Acquisition by Sistema

The largest public diversified corporation in Russia and the CIS - Sistema acquired a 10% stake in Shyam Telelink for a total cash consideration of US$ 11.4 million at the end of September 2007. In October 2007, Sistema signed a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of an additional 41% stake in Shyam Telelink and a call option agreement, which gives Sistema the right to increase its stake in Shyam Telelink from 51% up to a maximum of 74%.

Later in December 2007, Sistema received an approval for the acquisition of the blocking stake in Shyam Telelink from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) of India. As a result of the acquisition of the additional 41% stake, the overall purchase price totaled US$ 58.1 million.

Pan-India rollout

Shyam Telecom along with their partner Sistema had applied for UASL license in 21 telecom circles of India. In August 2008, they became the first new mobile operator to get a pan-India start-up spectrum to start their mobile service operations in the country.

They would be providing mobile services based on CDMA technology under the brand name MTS.Shyam Telecom given Project to ZTE and Huawei for network expansion.

As of sep 30,2009 the total subscriber base of MTS India is 1,960,532 present in 7 circles,just launched in Delhi.
MTS India Offices

At present MTS India present in 8 circles out of 22 telecom circles of India. AUSPI reports shows MTS gets a huge response in India due to its excellent competitive & cheaper tariff:

* Bihar-Jharkand
* Delhi
* Karnataka
* Kerala
* Kolkata
* Mumbai
* Rajasthan
* Tamil Nadu
* West Bengal

visit MTS INDIA official site

MTS India wireless internet USB

MTS India has 2 types of Internet services, one MBlaze which works on EVDO and other MBrowse which works on CDMA network.

The plans start from as low as Rs.198 per month, which gives 150MB.

MBlaze half gives 0.5GB of data at Rs.498/month

MBlaze 1 – 1GB – Rs.598/month

MBlaze 3 – 3GB – Rs.798/month

MBlaze 5 – 5GB – Rs.898/month

MBlaze 10 – 10GB – Rs.1200/month

MBlaze 15 – 15GB – Rs.1500/month

MBlaze 30 – 30GB – Rs.3000/month

MBlaze 50 – 50GB – Rs.5000/month

Any extra usage will be charged at 50ps/MB and extra usage outside the validity period will be charged at Rs.2/MB.

Idea Cellular

2010-02-19T02:29:00.000+05:30

Idea Cellular

Idea Cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in all the 22 telecom circles in India based in Mumbai. It is the 3rd largest GSM company in India behind Airtel and Vodafone and ahead of state run player BSNL.

In 2000, Tata Cellular was a company providing mobile services in AP. When Birla-AT&T brought Maharashtra and Gujarat to the table, the merger of these two entities was a reality. Thus Birla-Tata-AT&T, popularly known as Batata, was born. In 2001, the Batata triumvirate agreed to merge its operations with the Rajeev Chandrasekhar promoted BPL Communications. The merger could have brought in regions like Mumbai, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which seemed to be a perfect accompaniment to what it already had. This was critical with the bid for the fourth operator licence round the corner.
However, the engagement with BPL was broken. Then Idea set sights on RPG’s operations in Madhya Pradesh which was successfully acquired, helping Batata have a million subscribers, and the licence to be the fourth operator in Delhi was clinched.

In 2004, Idea (the company had by then been rechristened) bought over the Escorts group’s Escotel gaining Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Kerala — and licences for three more — UP (East), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. By the end of that year, four million Indians were on the company’s network. In 2005, AT&T sold its investment in Idea, and the year after Tatas also bid good bye to pursue an independent telecom business. And Idea was left only with one promoter, the AV Birla group When the company’s stock listed on the bourses in March 2007, its subscriber base was 13 million with presence in 11 circles. In less than three years, the subscriber numbers have more than quadrupled. The public issue was oversubscribed 50 times and raised Rs 2,450 crore.

In June 2008, Idea Cellular bought out BK Modi’s stake in Spice Communications for Rs 2,700 crore adding Punjab and Karnataka circles. Modi’s joint venture partner, Telekom Malaysia, invested Rs 7,000 crore for a 14.99% stake in Idea. Just around then, Idea’s subsidiary, Aditya Birla Telecom sold a 20% stake to US-based Providence Equity Partners for over Rs 2,000 crore.

The company has its retail outlets under the "Idea n' U" banner. The company has also been the first to offer flexible tariff plans for prepaid customers. It also offers GPRS services in urban areas.

Idea Cellular won the GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and Customer Care Solution" for 2 consecutive years.

Holding

Initially the Birlas, the Tatas and AT&T Wireless each held one-third equity in the company. But following AT&T Wireless' merger with Cingular Wireless in 2004, Cingular decided to sell its 32.9% stake in Idea. This stake was bought by both the Tatas and Birlas at 16.45% each.

Tata's foray into the cellular market with its own subsidiary, Tata Indicom, a CDMA-based mobile provider, cropped differences between the Tatas and the Birlas. This dual holding by the Tatas also became a major reason for the delay in Idea being granted a license to operate in Mumbai. This was because as per Department of Telecommunications (DOT) license norms, one promoter could not have more than 10% stake in two companies operating in the same circle and Tata Indicom was already operating in Mumbai when Idea filed for its licence.

The Birlas thus approached the DOT and sought its intervention, and the Tatas replied by saying that they would exit Idea but only for a good price. On April 10, 2006, the Aditya Birla Group announced its acquisition of the 48.18% stake held by the Tatas at Rs. 40.51 a share amounting to Rs. 44.06 billion. While 15% of the 48.14% stake was acquired by Aditya Birla Nuvo, a company in-charge of the Birlas' new business initiatives, the remaining stake was acquired by Birla TMT holdings Private Ltd., an AV Birla family owned company. Currently, Aditya Birla Group holds 49.1% of the total shares of the company. Malaysia based Axiata controls a 14.99% stake in the company.

Users

Idea's subscriber base as of November 2009 according to the is as follows

* Maharashtra and Goa - 8,703,670
* Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh - 6,313,183
* Andhra Pradesh - 6,020,386
* Kerala - 5,021,067
* Kolkata - 140,149
* Gujarat - 4,721,945
* Uttar Pradesh (West) & Uttarakhand - 5,203,726
* Delhi - 2,430,274
* Haryana - 1,881,659
* Uttar Pradesh (East) - 3,133,981
* Rajasthan - 2,073,877
* Himachal Pradesh - 212,014
* Mumbai - 1,221,653
* Bihar & Jharkhand - 2,403,949

* Tamil Nadu & Chennai - 58,639
* Odisha - 455,495
* Punjab (Spice) - 3,002,267
* Karnataka (Spice) - 2,181,237
* Rest of Bengal - Newly launched
* Assam - Newly Launched

for more information about !dea cellular visit idea cellular

Virgin Mobile

2010-02-18T23:08:00.000+05:30

Virgin Mobile is a brand used by many mobile phone service providers based in the United Kingdom and operating in India, Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United States and France; the brand survived only briefly in Singapore. The international Virgin Mobile businesses each act as independent entities, usually in a partnership between Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and an existing phone company. Virgin Group provides the brand, and the phone company operates the network infrastructure.

Virgin Mobile was the world's first Mobile Virtual Network Operator when it launched in the United Kingdom in 1999. It does not maintain its own network but instead contracts to use the existing network(s) of other providers.

Global network

In the United Kingdom, Virgin Mobile uses the T-Mobile network. In the USA,Sprint Nextel is the networker. There is no roaming to other networks in the United States. In Australia, Virgin Mobile operates on the Optus network. In Canada, it uses the Bell Mobility network. In France, it uses Orange SA. Virgin Mobile South Africa uses the Cell C network for coverage across South Africa.
In India, it uses the network of Tata Indicom. These networks use two different mobile telephony standards, GSM and CDMA. GSM is used in the UK, South Africa, Australia and France. CDMA is used in the US, India and Canada.GSM was lanched in India recently.

In all countries, Virgin Mobile offers prepaid mobile phone pay-as-you-go service. In the UK, US, Canada, Australia and South Africa, Virgin Mobile also offers a post-paid option to approved customers. They are also looking to establish another setup in Pakistan. Already very common in the UK at the time of Virgin Mobile's launch, prepaid wireless service was a very small part of the US wireless market. Nevertheless, competitive pricing, and a "no-frills" approach ensured a small but significant market share.

In June 2009, Virgin Mobile announced and started a pay-as-you go mobile data program called "Broadband2Go" in the United States, using Novatel Wireless hardware, and available exclusively through the Best Buy chain of stores originally, but now available at other retailers including RadioShack and The Source (in Canada). It uses a USB flash drive type device plugged into a user's computer for internet connectivity.

Virgin Mobile USA

On July 28, 2009 Sprint agreed to pay $483 million to purchase Virgin Mobile USA. The Federal Trade Commission has since given the go-ahead on the acquisition. Virgin Mobile USA was originally conceived as a joint venture between Virgin Group and Sprint, and uses Sprint's cellular bandwidth in the U.S. Sprint officials said they anticipated retaining the Virgin Mobile name after the deal closes.

Virgin Singapore

Virgin Singapore was launched in October 2001 as a joint venture with Singtel. The operations were closed down by October 2002 after failing to attract a significant number of customers.

Failure of the joint venture was attributed to a saturated mobile market and Virgin Mobile's positioning as a "premium" brand.

Virgin Mobile India

On 2008-03-01, Virgin launched the Mobile brand in India through a franchise arrangement with Tata Teleservices. This is Virgin’s seventh launch globally and its largest investment to date in India, said Branson, noting that the Indian market was very attractive, growing like none other in the world. The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) had opposed the tie-up, alleging that it amounted to Virgin's entry into India as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) which is currently not allowed in India, due to prevalent regulations. However on 2008-03-29, the Department of Telecom (DoT) cleared the deal after clarification from Tata Teleservices indicated that Virgin had not entered India as an MVNO.

Vodafone Essar Telecommunications

2010-02-18T22:19:00.000+05:30

Vodafone Essar Telecommunications
Vodafone Essar, formally known as Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 23 telecom circles in India based in Mumbai. Vodafone Essar is owned by Vodafone 67% and Essar Group 33%. It is the second largest mobile phone operator in terms of revenue behind Bharti Airtel, and third largest in terms of customers. As of June 31, 2009 Vodafone India has 18.8% customer market share and 20.7% revenue market share.

On February 11, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling interest of 67% held by Li Ka Shing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1 billion, pipping Reliance Communications, Hinduja Group, and Essar Group, which is the owner of the remaining 33%. The whole company was valued at USD 18.8 billion. The transaction closed on May 8, 2007. Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India with good presence in the metros.

Vodafone Essar provides 2.75G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM technology, offering voice and data services in 23 of the country's 23 licence areas. It is among the top three GSM mobile operators of India.

Previous brands

Initially around 1995 it was called "MAX TOUCH"...then around 2000 it was ORANGE..... In December 2006, Hutch Essar re-launched the "Hutch" brand nationwide, consolidating its services under a single identity. The Company entered into an agreement with NTT DoCoMo to launch i-mode mobile Internet service in India during 2007.

The company used to be named Hutchison Essar, reflecting the name of its previous owner, Hutchison. However, the brand was marketed as Hutch. After getting the necessary government approvals with regards to the acquisition of a majority by the Vodafone Group, the company was rebranded as Vodafone Essar. The marketing brand was officially changed to Vodafone on 20 September 2007.

On September 20, 2007 Hutch became Vodafone in one of the biggest brand transition exercises in recent times.

Vodafone Essar is spending somewhere in the region of Rs. 250 crores on this high-profile transition being unveiled today.Along with the transition, cheap cell phones have been launched in the Indian market under the Vodafone brand. The company also plans to launch co-branded handsets sourced from global vendors as well.

A popular daily quoted a Vodafone Essar director as saying that "the objective is to leverage Vodafone Group's global scale in bringing millions of low-cost handsets from across-the-world into India."

Incidentally, China's ZTE, which is looking to set-up a manufacturing unit in the country, is expected to provide several Vodafone handsets in India. Earlier this year, Vodafone penned a global low-cost handset procurement deal with ZTE.

Reliance Communications

2010-02-17T22:11:00.000+05:30

Reliance Communications, formerly known as Reliance Infocomm, along with Reliance Telecom and Flag Telecom, is part of Reliance Communications Ventures (RCoVL). It is the second largest mobile operator in India, based on number of subscribers. According to National Stock Exchange data, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani controls 66.77 per cent of the company, which accounts for more than 1.36 billion shares.[3] It is the flagship company of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, comprising of power (Reliance Energy), financial services (Reliance Capital) and telecom initiatives of the Reliance ADAG. It uses CDMA2000 1x technology for its existing CDMA mobile services, and GSM-900/GSM-1800 technology for its existing/newly launched GSM services.

RelCom is also into Wireline Business throughout India and has the largest optical fiber communication (OFC) backbone architecture [roughly 110,000 km] in the country.

Reliance Communications has launched its Direct To Home (DTH) TV also, known as "Big TV". RelCom have presence across all B2C communications channel in one of the fastest growing markets in the world.

Bid For Hutch

In 2007, Reliance Communications had bid for 67% of Hutch but lost to Vodafone.
Acquisitions

In July 2007, the company announced it is buying US-based managed ethernet and application delivery services company Yipes Enterprise Services for a cash amount of Rs. 1200 crore rupees (equivalent of USD 300 million). The deal was announced of the overseas acquisition, the Reliance group has amalgamated the United States-based Flag Telecom for $ 211 million [roughly Rs 950 crore (Rs 9.50 billion)].
Recent news

On the 19th December 2008,one of the flag telecom cables in the mediterranean sea was damaged.Flag Telecom is now part of Reliance Globalcom.

On the 30th December 2008, Reliance became the first telecom company in India to operate in both CDMA as well as GSM technologies.
Reliance GSM

On the 30th December 2008, Reliance Communications became the first telecom operator in the history of Indian telecommunications to simultaneously launch its GSM services in 17 circles, namely Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh(East & West) thereby establishing itself as a pan-India operator.

It already operates GSM services in 8 circles namely Assam, Bihar & Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, North Eastern states, Orissa, West Bengal. but operates under the brand Reliance Smart GSM. Reliance Smart is owned by their sister concern Reliance Telecom.They got these license when they took over USHA PHONE

TATA DOCOMO

2010-02-12T22:22:00.000+05:30

TATA DOCOMO is a Tata Teleservices Limited's (TTSL) cellular service provider on the GSM platform-arising out of the Tata Group's strategic joint venture with Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo in November 2008. Tata Teleservices has received a pan-India license to operate GSM telecom services, under the brand "TATA DOCOMO" and has also been allotted spectrum in 18 telecom Circles. TTSL has already rolled out its services in various circles.[1]

It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone with presence in 11 circles including Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra & Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. It has become very popular with its one second pulse especially in semi-urban and rural areas. They are launching their service from the south of India to central, east and north.

History

Tata DoCoMo was formed in November 2008 as an alliance between Tata Teleservices and NTT DoCoMo

Currently, Tata Docomo Mobile service is available in these following circles;

* Bihar & Jharkhand

* Tamil Nadu

* Orissa

* Andhra Pradesh

* Karnataka

* Kerala

* Kolkata

* Mumbai

* Maharashtra & Goa

* Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh

* Haryana

* Chennai

* Eastern Uttar Pradesh

* Western Uttar Pradesh

* Punjab

* Rajasthan Recently Launched

* Rest of West Bengal Recently Launched

Share holding

NTT DoCoMo holds 26 % stake in the jointly formed company. It has also emerged as the first mobile operator in India to have re-introduced ‘per second’ pulse, after Loop Mobile (formerly BPL Mobile) discontinued their 'pay per second' service which was introduced in 2004.From October 2009 TRAI announced that TATA tele service is India's no.1 tele service brand.

hat TATA tele service is India's no.1 tele service brand.

Call charges

TATA Docomo charge all local & std calls at 1p/s. The same tariff is apply on roaming also (In home network only)
Sponsorship

The service provider sponsors the Tata DoCoMo Muqquabla Mix (Round 3) of the show Music Ka Maha Muqqabla on STAR Plus.
See also

BSNL - Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

2010-02-12T21:35:00.000+05:30

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (known as BSNL, India Communications Corporation Limited) is a state-owned telecommunication company in India. BSNL is the sixth largest cellular service provider, with over 57.22 million customers as of December 2009 and the largest land line telephone provider in India. Its headquarters are at Bharat Sanchar Bhawan, Harish Chandra Mathur Lane, Janpath, New Delhi. It has the status of Mini Ratna, a status assigned to reputed public sector companies in India.

BSNL is India's oldest and largest Communication Service Provider (CSP).[citation needed] Currently has a customer base of 90 million as of June 2008.[3] It has footprints throughout India except for the metropolitan cities of Mumbai and New Delhi which are managed by MTNL. As on March 31, 2008 BSNL commanded a customer base of 31.55 million Wireline, 4.58 million CDMA-WLL and 54.21 million GSM Mobile subscribers. BSNL's earnings for the Financial Year ending March 31, 2009 stood at INR 397.15b (US$7.03 billion) with net profit of INR 78.06b (US$ 1.90 billion). BSNL has an estimated market value of $ 100 Billion. The company is planning an IPO with in 6 months to offload 10% to public in the Rs 300-400 range valuing the company at over $100 billion.
it]
Services

BSNL provides almost every telecom service in India. Following are the main telecom services provided by BSNL:

* Universal Telecom Services : Fixed wireline services & Wireless in Local loop (WLL) using CDMA Technology called bfone and Tarang respectively. As of December 31, 2007, BSNL has 81% marketshare of fixed lines.

* Cellular Mobile Telephone Services: BSNL is major provider of Cellular Mobile Telephone services using GSM platform under the brand name BSNL Mobile[4]. As of Sep 30, 2009 BSNL has 12.45% share of mobile telephony in the country[5].

* Internet: BSNL provides internet services through dial-up connection (Sancharnet) as Prepaid, (NetOne) as Postpaid and ADSL broadband (BSNL Broadband). BSNL has around 50% market share in broadband in India. BSNL has planned aggressive rollout in broadband for current financial year.

* Intelligent Network (IN): BSNL provides IN services like televoting, toll free calling, premium calling etc.

* 3G:BSNL offers the '3G' or the'3rd Generation' services which includes facilities like video calling etc.

* IPTV:BSNL also offers the 'Internet Protocol Television' facility which enables us to watch television through internet.

* FTTH:Fibre To The Home facility that offers a higher bandwidth for data transfer.This idea was proposed on post-December 2009.

BSNL is divided into a number of administrative units, termed as telecom circles, metro districts, project circles and specialized units, as mentioned below:

Maintenance Regions Jharkhand Telecom Circle Eastern Telecom Maintenance Region Karnataka Telecom Circle Telecom Circles Metro Districts Andaman & Nicobar Telecom Circle Calcutta Andhra Pradesh Telecom Circle Chennai Assam Telecom Circle

Project Circles Bihar Telecom Circle Eastern Telecom Project Circle Chhattisgarh Telecom Circle Western Telecom Project Circle Gujarat Telecom Circle Northern Telecom Project Circle Haryana Telecom Circle Southern Telecom Project Circle Himachal Pradesh Telecom Circle IT Project Circle, Pune Jammu & Kashmir Telecom Circle

Maintenance Regions Jharkhand Telecom Circle Eastern Telecom Maintenance Region Karnataka Telecom Circle Western Telecom Maintenance Region Kerala Telecom Circle Northern Telecom Maintenance Region Madhya Pradesh Telecom Circle Southern Telecom Maintenance Region Maharashtra Telecom Circle Specialized Telecom Units North East-I Telecom Circle Data Networks North East-II Telecom Circle National Centre For Electronic Switching Orissa Telecom Circle Technical & Development Circle Punjab Telecom Circle Quality Assurance Rajasthan Telecom Circle

Production Units Telecom Factory, Mumbai Telecom Factory, Jabalpur Telecom Factory, Richhai Telecom Factory, Kolkata

Other Units Training Institutions Telecom Stores Advanced Level Telecom Training Centre North East Task Force Bharat Ratna Bhim Rao Ambedkar Institute Of Telecom Training Telecom Electrical Wing National Academy of Telecom Finance and Management Telecom Civil Wing Regional Telecom Training Centres Circle Telecom Training Centres District Telecom Training Centres
Present and future

BSNL (then known as Department of Telecom) had been a near monopoly during the socialist period of the Indian economy. During this period, BSNL was the only telecom service provider in the country (MTNL was present only in Mumbai and New Delhi). During this period BSNL operated as a typical state-run organization, inefficient, slow, bureaucratic, and heavily uinionised. As a result subscribers had to wait for as long as five years to get a telephone connection.The corporation tasted competition for the first time after the liberalisation of Indian economy in 1991. Faced with stiff competition from the private telecom service providers, BSNL has subsequently tried to increase efficiencies itself. DoT veterans, however, put the onus for the sorry state of affairs on the Government policies, where in all state-owned service providers were required to function as mediums for achieving egalitarian growth across all segments of the society. The corporation (then DoT), however, failed miserably to achieve this and India languished among the most poorly connected countries in the world. BSNL was born in 2000 after the corporatisation of DoT. The efficiency of the company has since improved. However, the performance level is nowhere near the private players. The corporation remains heavily unionised and is comparatively slow in decision making and implementation. Though it offers services at lowest tariffs, the private players continue to notch up better numbers in all areas, years after year. BSNL has been providing connections in both urban and rural areas. Pre-activated Mobile connections are available at many places across India. BSNL has also unveiled cost-effective broadband internet access plans (DataOne) targeted at homes and small businesses. At present BSNL enjoy's around 60% of market share of ISP services.[6]

2007 has been declared as "Year of Broadband" in India and BSNL is in the process of providing 5 million Broadband connectivity by the end of 2007. BSNL has upgraded existing Dataone (Broadband) connections for a speed of up to 2 Mbit/s without any extra cost. This 2 Mbit/s broadband service is being provided by BSNL at a cost of just US$ 11.7 per month (as of 21/07/2008 and at a limit of 2.5GB monthly limit with 0200-0800 hrs as no charge period). Further, BSNL is rolling out new broadband services such as triple play.
BSNL is planning to increase its customer base to 108 million customers by 2010. With the frantic activity in the communication sector in India, the target appears achievable.
BSNL is a pioneer of rural telephony in India. BSNL has recently bagged 80% of US$ 580 m (INR 2,500 crores) Rural Telephony project of Government of India.[7]

On the 20th of March, 2009, BSNL advertised the launch of BlackBerry services across its Telecom circles in India. The corporation has also launched 3G services in select cities across the country. Presently, BSNL and MTNL are the only players to provide 3G services, as the Government is still in the process of auctioning the 3G spectrum to private players.

BSNL has also launched a Entertainment Portal called BSNL Hungama Portal from where subscribers could download contents like music, music videos for free and also download or play various games online. Only Tamil,Kannada,Telugu & Hindi are provided at present. Hopes are there that the database could be expanded. BSNL charges a fixed monthly subscription fee for this function.
Challenges

During the financial year 2006-2007 (from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007) BSNL has added 9.6 million new customers in various telephone services taking its customer base to 64.8 million. BSNL's nearest competitor Bharti Airtel is standing at a customer base of 39 million. However, despite impressive growth shown by BSNL in recent times, the Fixed line customer base of BSNL is declining. In order to woo back its fixed-line customers BSNL has brought down long distance calling rate under OneIndia plan, however, the success of the scheme is not known. However, BSNL faces bleak fiscal 2006-2007 as users flee, which has been accepted by the CMD BSNL.[8]

Presently there is an intense competition in Indian Telecom sector and various Telcos are rolling out attractive schemes and are providing good customer services.

Access Deficit Charges (ADC, a levy being paid by the private operators to BSNL for provide service in non-lucrative areas especially rural areas) has been slashed by 37% by TRAI, w.e.f. April 1, 2007.[9] The reduction in ADC may hit the bottomlines of BSNL.

BSNL launched 3G services in 11 cities of country in 2nd march 2009.MTNL which operates in Mumbai and Delhi first launched 3G services in these cities.
BSNL 3G Settings:

Once you have 3G services activated on your number, you can start using 3G services by punching in either “bsnlnet” or “gprseast.cellone.in” as the APN on data settings section of your phone. (replace ‘east’ with your region, for ex. ‘west’ for Maharastra and ’south’ for Chennai/Tamilnadu)

Well, before you start using the services, you need to take care of the following things:

* You have a 3G supported phone with 3G signals receiving on it (Check for the letters ‘3G’ on extreme top of your mobile screen)
* You have 3G services activated on your SIM
* There is at least 50 rupees of balance remaining on your phone (incase you are prepaid subscriber)
* And finally you have configured your phone correctly with the above mentioned APN.

Uninor

2010-02-12T17:21:00.000+05:30

Uninor is a mobile telephony and network operator in India.[1] The company holds a pan-India UAS licence[2] to offer telecommunications services in each of India’s 22 circles. It has also received spectrum to roll out these services in 21 of the 22 telecom circles. From November 2009, Uninor will be owned 67.25% by Norwegian telecom giant Telenor, and 32.75% by India's Unitech Group. Uninor has started mobile services in India at the end of 2009, focusing on the GSM technology.

History

The company Unitech Wireless was until 2009 a subsidiary of Unitech Group, holding a wireless services licence for all 22 Indian telecom circles since 2008. In early 2009, Unitech Group and Telenor agreed on a majority take-over by Telenor of Unitech's wireless business, including Unitech Wireless' national-wide mobile licence. By March, May and November, Telenor acquired a 33%, 49% and 60% stake in Unitech Wireless, respectively. In September, the mobile operation changed it's name to Uninor. On October 19 the Indian Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) announced that it has approved Telenor's acquisition of up to 74% in Unitech Wireless, and the shareholder's agreement sets a 67.25% Telenor ownership in Uninor.[3]
Uninor's strategy

Uninor is India's eighth nation-wide mobile operator, in a competitive landscape of 13 nation-wide or regional mobile operators. The company is targeting an 8 % pan-Indian market share, and the opening of one million retail points and breaking even on EBITDA within three years.[4] It will provide mobile communication and Value Added Services.

In order to reduce time-to-market, Uninor will outsource infrastructure and back-end services to partner organizations with established core competencies.[5] The operational model is low-cost with a gradual network-build up, infrastructure sharing, GSM equipment at competitive cost, full-scale IT-outsourcing and a long term cost and capex efficiency.

Uninor will organise with headquarters just outside Delhi (Gurgaon), and 11 regional hubs covering one or more of the total of 22 telecom circles. Hub head offices are located in the following cities:

* Kochi- Kerala Circle
* Chennai - Chennai, Tamil Nadu
* Bangalore - Karnataka Circle
* Hyderabad - Andhra Pradesh Circle
* Kolkata - Kolkata, West Bengal & Orissa Circle
* Delhi / Noida (NCR) - Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand & Rajasthan
* Patna - Bihar & Jharkhand Circle
* Mumbai - Mumbai, Maharashtra & Gujarat Circle
* Lucknow
* Guwahati
* Chandigarh
* Indore

To quickly launch mobile services only nine months after the foundation of the new company, Uninor has entered into network and base station service agreements with partners. Tower sharing agreements are concluded with Wireless-TT Info Service Limited and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Limited. Telecommunications, network and radio equipment is to be supplied by Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei Technologies India, Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson. The company's IT services and infrastructure is to be shared with Wipro Technologies.
Network Codes

Kerala 405 821, Delhi 405 844, Andhra Pradesh 405 819, Assam Uninor 405 875, Bihar/Jharkhand 405 876, Gujarat 405 927, Haryana 405 813, Himachal Pradesh 405 814, Jammu & Kashmir 405 815, Karnataka 405 820, Madhya Pradesh 405 928, Maharashtra & Goa 405 929, Mumbai 405 926, North East 405 877, Orissa 405 878, Punjab 405 816, Rajasthan 405 817, Tamil Nadu incl chennai 405 925, Uttar Pradesh (E) 405 879, Uttar Pradesh (W) 405 818, Kolkata 405 822 and West Bengal 405 880

The uninor service is currently availabe in 8 circles as on 1'st of January 2010: 1.Uttar Pardesh(West)+Uttrakhand, 2.Uttar Pradesh(East), 3.Bihar+Jharkhand, 4.Karnataka, 5.Andhra Pradesh, 6.Tamil Nadu, 7.Kerala & 8.Orissa

Also the testing of network in the circles of Kolkata [IND 822] and Rest of Bengal [IND 880] is going on and services will be launched in these two circles in March 2010.

Bharti Airtel

2010-02-11T20:47:00.000+05:30

Bharti Airtel

formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures LTD (BTVL) is the largest cellular service provider in India, with more than 110 million subscribers as of 2009[update]. With this, Bharti is now the world's third-largest, single-country mobile operator and sixth-largest integrated telecom operator. It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its TELECOM services under the Airtel brand and is headed by
Sunil Bharti Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and broadband Internet access (DSL) in top 95 cities in India. It also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore.

The businesses at Bharti Airtel have always been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBU's) - Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed
wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles while the Airtel Telemedia Services business offers broadband & telephone services in 95 cities and has recently launched a Direct-to-Home (DTH) service, Airtel Digital TV. Shahrukh Khan is the brand embassador of the mobile company and Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan are the brand embassadors of the DTH company. The company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate
customers through 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.

Globally, Bharti Airtel is the 3rd largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom. In India, the company has a 24.6% share of the wireless services market, followed by 17.7% for Reliance Communications and 17.4% for Vodafone Essar. In January 2010, company anonced that Manoj Kohli, Joint Managing Director and current Chief Executive Officer of Indian and South Asian operations,
will become the Chief Executive Officer of the International Business Group from 1st April 2010. He will be overseeing Bharti's overseas business. Current Dy. CEO, Sanjay Kapoor, will replace Manoj Kohli and will be the CEO with effective from 1st April, 2010.

Brands
Airtel

Airtel is a brand of telecommunication services in India, Bangladesh and in Sri Lanka owned and operated by Bharti Airtel. It is the largest cellular service provider in India in terms of number of subscribers. Services are offered under the brand name Airtel: Mobile Services (using GSM Technology), Broadband & Telephone Services (Fixed line, Internet Connectivity(DSL) and Leased Line), Long Distance Services and Enterprise Services (Telecommunications Consulting for corporates). It has presence in all 23 circles of the country and covers 71% of the current population (as of Financial Year 2007). Airtel has also launched 16Mb/s broadband plans in India, making it the first ISP to do so.
Airtel Sri Lanka

In December 2008, Bharti Airtel rolled out third generation services in Sri Lanka in association with Singapore Telecommunications. SingTel is a major player in the 3G space in Asia. It operates third generation networks in several markets across Asia. [5]

Airtel's operation in Sri Lanka, known as Airtel Lanka, commenced operations on the 12th of January 2009.
Airtel in Bangladesh

In January 2010, it was announced that the Bangladesh Telecommuncations Regulatrory Commission (BTRC) of The People's Republic of Bangladesh had given Bharti Airtel the go ahead to acquire a 70% stake in the Bangladesh business of Abu Dhabi based Warid Telcom. The latter had till date invested a total of $600 million, with plans to bring their Bangladesh investments to the $1 billion mark. Airtel's 70% stake in the company is said to be at a cost of an initial $300 million. [6] Warid will be later named Airtel and the price of the sim will go higher and call rates will be more lower....
Touchtel

Until September 18, 2004, Bharti provided fixed-line telephony and broadband services under the Touchtel brand. Bharti now provides all telecom services including fixed-line services under a common brand "Airtel".
BlackBerry

On 19 October 2004 Airtel announced the launch of a BlackBerry Wireless Solution in India. The launch is a result of a tie-up between Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited and Research In Motion (RIM).
Digital TV
Main article: Airtel Digital Tv

On 9 October 2008, Airtel joined the DTH bandwagon in India with Airtel Digital TV, a Direct-to-Home Television service.
iPhone 3G

The Apple iPhone 3G was rolled out in India on 22 August 2008 via Airtel & Vodafone.
Merger talks

In May 2008, it emerged that Bharti Airtel was exploring the possibility of buying the MTN Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company with coverage in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. The Financial Times reported that Bharti was considering offering US$45 billion for a 100% stake in MTN, which would be the largest overseas acquisition ever by an Indian firm. However, both sides emphasize the tentative nature of the talks, while The Economist magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti would be marrying up," as MTN has more subscribers, higher revenues and broader geographic coverage.[7] However, the talks fell apart as MTN group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost a subsidiary of the new company.[8]

In May 2009, Bharti Airtel again confirmed that it is in Talks with MTN and companies have now agreed discuss the potential transaction exclusively by July 31, 2009.[9] Bharti Airtel said in a statement “Bharti Airtel Ltd is pleased to announce that it has renewed its effort for a significant partnership with MTN Group".[10]

Talks eventually ended without agreement, some sources stating that due to the South African government opposition.[11]
Sponsorship

Bharti Airtel signed a five-year deal with ESPN Star Sports to become the title sponsor of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament. The tournament itself is named "Airtel Champions League Twenty20." [12]
Airtel 3G

Airtel plans to launch the nationwide 3G services in India in the second quarter of 2010.
Subscriber base

The Airtel subscriber base according to TRAI - Telecom Regulatory Authority of India as of February 2009[13] was:

* Chennai - 2,133,677
* Delhi - 4,671,177
* Mumbai - 2,791,963
* Kolkata - 2,456,896
* Madhya Pradesh - 7,690,609
* Gujarat - 3,981,660
* Andhra Pradesh - 8,892,353
* Karnataka - 9,820,812
* Tamil Nadu - 6,003,040
* Kerala - 2,169,633
* Punjab - 3,754,405
* Maharashtra - 6,248,906
* Uttar Pradesh (West) - 2,256,862 & (East) - 5,722,386
* Rajasthan - 6,704,274
* West Bengal & Andaman and Nicobar Islands - 3,501,560
* Himachal Pradesh - 951,121
* Bihar - 7,152,245
* Orissa - 2,811,453
* Assam - 1,448,389 & Other North Eastern States - 890,054
* Jammu and Kashmir - 1,590,935

The total is 101,114,971 or 24.2% of the total 375,742,592 GSM + CDMA mobile connections in India till February 2009; and presently the Number 1 operator in India. In 2009 Airtel also launched in Sri Lanka.

On the 9th of May, 2009 Airtel signed a major deal with Manchester United Football Club. As a result of the deal, Airtel gets the rights to broadcast the matches played by the team to its customers.

Videocon - our own brand

2010-02-11T20:26:00.000+05:30

Videocon

Videocon is an industrial conglomerate with interests all over the world and based in India. The group has 17 manufacturing sites in India and plants in China, Poland, Italy and Mexico. It is also the third largest picture tube manufacturer in the world.

Corporate profile

The Videocon group has an annual turnover of US$ 4.1 billion, making it one of the largest consumer electronic and home appliance companies in India. Since 1998, it has expanded its operations globally, especially in the Middle East.[1]

Today the group operates through five key sectors:
Consumer electronics

In India the group sells consumer products like Colour Televisions, Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Microwave ovens and many other home appliances, selling them through a Multi-Brand strategy with the largest sales and service network in India.[citation needed] Videocon Group brands include Kenstar,Next etc.
Mobile Phones

In November 2009 Videocon launched its new line of mobile phones in India.
Colour picture tube glass

Videocon is one of the largest CPT Glass manufacturers in the world, operating in Mexico, Italy, Poland and China..
Oil and Gas

An important asset for the group is its Ravva oil field with one of the lowest operating costs in the world producing 50,000 barrels of oil per day.[citation needed]
DTH

In 2009, Videocon launched its DTH product, called 'd2h'. As a pioneering offer in the Indian DTH market, Videocon offered LCD TVs with built-in DTH satellite receiver with sizes 19" and 32".This concept in the DTH service is relatively new in the presence of other players like ZEE tv's Dishtv, Tata Sky, Air tel Digital Tv and Reliance's BIG TV providing only the set top box.
Telecommunication

Videocon has subsidiary named Datacom Solutions Pvt Ltd which has license for Mobile Service operations across India.It is expected to launch service in December 2009.
Acquisition of Thomson SA

Videocon through its Wholly Owned Offshore Subsidiary acquired the Color Picture Tube (CPT) businesses from Thomson S.A having manufacturing facilities in Poland, Italy, Mexico and China along with support research and development facilities.
Acquisition Rationale

The acquisition came at a time when Thomson was facing a fall in demand in developed markets for television with CPTs and was moving more towards Flat-screen and Plasma Television. However, Videocon saw an opportunity in the emerging countries for CPTs and hence pursued with the acquisition. Besides, the acquisition gave Videocon, the access to advanced technology giving the company control over an R&D facility in Agnani, Italy. The major reasons behind this acquisition .[3] were

Cost cutting – Videocon was better positioned to shift the activities to low-cost locations and also it could integrate the operations with the glass panel facility in India with the CPT manufacturing facilities acquired from Thomson S.A. Videocon wanted to leverage its position in the existing parts of the business and this acquisition would give it a strong negotiation position and could reduce impact of glass pricing volatility. Videocon could also reduce the costs by upgrading and improving the existing production lines.

Vertical Integration – The acquisition helped Videocon in vertically integrating its existing glass-shell business where it had been enjoying substantially high margins [4]. Videocon’s glass division had the largest glass shell plant in a single location. This gave the company an unrivalled advantage in terms of economies of scale and a leadership position in the glass shell industry. The acquisition also gave Videocon a ready-market for its glass business and it was part of Videocon’s long-term strategy to have a global vertically-integrated manufacturing facility.

Rationalization of Product Profile – Videocon modified its product profile to cater to the changing market needs like moving away from very large size picture tubes to smaller ones.[5]

Apart from the overall strategy Videocon also had a plan on the technological front. It wanted to improve the setup for the production line and line speed post-merger. Its focus was to increase sales while reducing the costs and thereby improving the productivity of the existing line. The company also wanted to foray in a big way into LCD panels back-end assembly . On the sales front the company wanted to leverage on the existing clients of Thomson and build relation as a preferred supplier to maximise sales. Also, Videocon could benefit from OEM CTV business with the help of Videocon’s CTV division, invest for new models and introduction of new technologies.[6]
Thomson’s perspective

In 2004 Thomson planned entry into the high-growth digital media and technology business. Also, Thomson wanted to exit consumer and electronics businesses as they were incurring significant losses. After sale of its TV business to Chinese group TCL, and Tubes to Videocon, Thomson divested from the audio/video accessories business which was the last unit of its consumer electronics business. The need to divest are quite evident from the losses that it incurred in these businesses particularly that the unit that it sold off to Videocon, the Optical Modules activity, and the Audio/Video & Accessories businesses which totalled around €749 million for 2005. Moreover Thomson had done some acquisitions that were in line with boosting their revenues in the following years. [7]
Other Competitors for the Acquisition

When Videocon entered the race for the colour picture tubes manufacturing capacity of Thomson SA in November 2004, there were 16 other bidders. Videocon stood slim chances given the fact that it had to battle it out with players like LG,Philips, Samsung and Matsushita, Daewoo and several Chinese manufacturers but finally managed to close the deal. The deal catapulted Videocon into the No. 3 slot in the global pecking order for CPTs. An official of Videocon said on the deal "The word is out in the world that India and Indian companies are not just a good bet by themselves, but also a hedge against China.“ [8]
Pre-merger negotiations

The price that Thomson wanted for the deal was euro 240 million (Rs 1,248 Crore) and Videocon agreed to the same without much negotiations (Under the deal the debt continued to be of Thomson’s). A special purpose vehicle, Eagle Electronics was used to complete the acquisition.

As a part of the acquisition, Thomson also agreed to acquire 13.5 % stake in Videocon for 1250 Crore in which 10% was locked for the first three years. Thomson SA has divested the 3.5% stake that was outside the lock-in clause to overseas institutional investors. For the remaining 10% Dhoots retained a right of first refusal(recently this 10% has been sold to the Dhoots).

During the process of negotiations Videocon was less affected by the capital cost component. Dhoot believed that Thomson CPT’s losses arising out from high capital cost of its Mexican Plant could be reduced once the television market in India moved to bigger screen sizes and slims .Videocon could import those from its global factories and hence cut on the losses of Thomson.
Pre-merger scenario analysis

CPT industry is affected by many competitive factors such as change in the consumer preferences ,the product offer strategy of retailers, the progress made by alternative technology manufacturers ,capacity adjustment facility of competitors etc. Based on all of these factors there were two scenarios that emerged from the 2005 budget of Videocon. The first scenario is a conservative one. It mainly assumes Price pressures similar to those in the past(-8 to -12%),capacity reduction over a period of two years, a gradual shift to newer technologies like True Flat and good amount of growth for LCD makers.

The second scenario is a more aggressive one in term of trends predicted. It assumes that the switch to TrueFlat would be faster, more overcapacity, more competition from LCD manufacturers and rising price strategy pressures in general. The second scenario obviously requires an industrial strategy which is more adapted to the environment.

However even if the second scenario arises,Videocon believes there is an opportunity in the CRT business. Though it is very obvious that in the developed markets of the western world the demand is shifting towards the flat panel side(FPD it is expected to contribute 70% of TV market in these regions),in the emerging markets like BRIC CRT still holds fort. CRT holds a dominant 70% share in these markets. When translated into number of units the demand is more than 100 million units. As Videocon is primarily based in these countries, it hopes to harness the value of the Thomson acquisition in the coming years.[citation needed]
Post merger situation (2008)

Videocon has not been able to turn the plant around in Italy still. However it is getting support from the local government(which want to prevent job cuts) in form of grants. The government is in fact trying to set up a Greenfield venture in form of a LCD manufacturing facility in partnership with Videocon. The banks are also supporting Videocon and with help from all these quarters Videocon expects to turn around the plant in Italy.[9] The Thomson plant has not turned around in Mexico as well and in fact production has been reduced over there.In Poland,the situation is more promising and Videocon hopes that plant over there will get in black in the very near future.[10] However the surprise has been in the Chinese market .Despite of facing a highly competitive market Videocon has managed to turn a plant around while the other is on its way. In China Videocon is adopting a different strategy for manufacturing CTVs as the local players dominate the market .It plans to supply these players by taking advantage of low-cost nature of mainland(the number targeted by it about 6 million CPTs).[11]
Role of local government in the acquired units
Italy

The LCD television segment is one of the fastest in terms of growth rate in Italy. The compounded growth rate is projected to be around 70% in the next few years. Videocon in partnership with the local government is going for a Greenfield venture in this segment. The Italian central government is giving a euro 180 million grant whereas the regional authorities are giving a 40 million grant. Videocon would itself pitch in with about euro 300 million whereas bank loans would provide a further 700 million.
China

In the Thomson plant located in China the local Chinese Government is the minority shareholder.
Mexico

When Videocon acquired Thomson’s CPT business, it also gained control of Thomson’s Mexican plants. However Videocon Industries has a view that it would expand in the country only if the government gives it enough incentives. Videocon is demanding a 25-30% cash benefits from the authorities who are currently ready to give only about 20%.
Thomson’s exit from Videocon

Thomson is looking to sell out its stake in Videocon (a 10 percent stake via GDRs) and in most likelihood it would be bought by Videocon itself. Thomson would be exiting at a loss as it had acquired the stake at around Rs 400 per share (approximately equal to $10 per share).The deal is expected to happen at current market prices. Videocon’s GDR is currently traded at around $5.06 on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. On the Bombay stock exchange its trading around Rs 150 against the 52 week high of Rs 868 in Jan 2008.Another point to be noted is that this won’t attract the market regulator’s “creeping acquisition” norm which comes into force once they acquire more than 5% stake,as the deal would be an overseas one. [12]
Possible purchase of General Electric's Appliance division

On May 23, 2008, Videocon announced that it is studying an invitation from General Electric (GE) to bid for its century-old appliances division, which it has put up for sale.

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited

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Mahindra & Mahindra Limited
Mahindra Group today operates with a significant global presence in a range of businesses including automotive vehicles, farm equipment, information technology, trade and finance related services, and infrastructure development.

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited is part of the Mahindra Group, an automotive, farm equipment, financial services, trade and logistics, automotive components, after-market, IT and infrastructure conglomerate
The company was set up in 1945 in Ludhiana as Mahindra & Mohammed.
Later, after the partition of India, Ghulam Muhammad returned to Pakistan and became that nation's first finance minister. Hence, the name was changed from Mahindra & Mohammed to Mahindra & Mahindra in 1948.

Initially set up to manufacture general-purpose utility vehicles, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was first known for assembly under licence of the iconic Willys Jeep in India. The company later branched out into manufacture of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) and
agricultural tractors, rapidly growing from being a manufacturer of army vehicles and tractors to an automobile major with a growing global market. At present, M&M is the leader in the utility vehicle (UV)
segment in India with its flagship UV, the Scorpio (known as the Mahindra Goa in Italy).

BUSINESS

Mahindra & Mahindra grew from being a maker of army vehicles to a major automobile and tractor manufacturer. It has acquired plants in China[8] and the United Kingdom,[9] and has three assembly plants in the USA. M&M has partnerships with international companies like Renault SA, France[10] and International Truck and Engine Corporation, USA.

M&M has a global presence and its products are exported to several countries.[12] Its global subsidiaries include Mahindra Europe Srl. based in Italy,[13] Mahindra USA Inc., Mahindra South Africa[14] and Mahindra (China) Tractor Co. Ltd.

M&M is one of the leading tractor brands in the world. It is also the largest manufacturer of tractors in India [15] with sustained market leadership of over 25 years. It designs, develops, manufactures and markets tractors as well as farm implements. Mahindra Tractors(China) Co. Ltd. manufactures tractors for the growing Chinese market and is a hub for tractor exports to the USA and other nations. M&M has a 100% subsidiary, Mahindra USA, which assembles products for the American market.

M&M made its entry into the passenger car segment with the Logan in April 2007 under the Mahindra Renault joint venture.[16] M&M will make its maiden entry into the heavy trucks segment with Mahindra Navistar, the joint venture with International Truck, USA.[17]

M&M's automotive division makes a wide range of vehicles including MUVs, LCVs and three wheelers. It offers over 20 models including new generation multi-utility vehicles like the Scorpio and the Bolero.

At the 2008 Delhi Auto Show, Mahindra executives said the company is pursuing an aggressive product expansion program that would see the launch of several new platforms and vehicles over the next three years, including an entry-level SUV designed to seat five passengers and powered by a small turbodiesel engine.[18] True to their word, Mahindra & Mahindra launched the Mahindra Xylo in January 2009, and as of June 2009, the Xylo has sold over 15000 models.[19]

Also in early 2008, Mahindra commenced its first overseas CKD operations with the launch of the Mahindra Scorpio in Egypt,[20] in partnership with the Bavarian Auto Group. This was soon followed by assembly facilities in Brazil. Vehicles assembled at the plant in Bramont, Manaus, include Scorpio Pik Ups in single and double cab pick-up body styles as well as SUVs.[21]

The US based Reputation Institute recently ranked Mahindra among the top 10 Indian companies in its 'Global 200: The World's Best Corporate Reputations' list.[22]

Mahindra is currently preparing to sell the diesel SUVs and pickup trucks starting in February 2010 in North America[23], through an independent distributor, Global Vehicles USA, based in Alpharetta, Georgia.[24] Mahindrahas announced it will import pickup trucks from India in knockdown kit (CKD) form to circumvent the Chicken tax.[25] CKDs are complete vehicles that will be assembled in the U.S. from kits of parts shipped in crates.

Awards

1. Bombay Chamber Good Corporate Citizen Award for 2006-07 [26]
2. Businessworld FICCI-SEDF Corporate Social Responsibility Award – 2007
3. Deming Prize [27]
4. Japan Quality Medal in 2007[28]

Models

* Mahindra Bolero
o Mahindra Bolero Camper
o Mahindra Bolero Inspira
o Mahindra Bolero Stinger Concept
* Mahindra Scorpio
o Mahindra Scorpio Getaway
o Mahindra Scorpio First
* Mahindra Xylo
* Mahindra Legend
* Mahindra MM550 XD
* Mahindra-Renault Logan (in cooperation with Renault)[29]
* Mahindra Axe
* Mahindra Major
o Mahindra Souvenir Concept
* Mahindra Commander
* Mahindra Grand Vitara
* Mahindra DI
* Mahindra Cab Chassis[30]

Mahindra Group
Core Business Activities

* Automotive
* Farm Equipment
* Systech
* Financial Services
* Information Technology
* Infrastructure Development
* After-Market
* Two-wheelers
* Mahindra Partners Division
* Specialty Services

Community Initiatives

* Mahindra United World College of India
* Mahindra United, a football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra
* Mahindra Foundation
* K. C. Mahindra Education Trust: Nanhi Kali

TATA MANAGEMENT

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Tata Management

Chairman's chamber: Chairman Ratan Tata

Tata Group Companies

Advinus Therapeutics

Brunner Mond

CMC
Corus

Drive India Enterprise Solutions

Eight O' Clock Coffee

General Chemical Industrial Products
Good Earth Corporation

Hispano Carrocera
Hooghly Met Coke and Power Company

Indian Hotels
Infiniti Retail

Jaguar Land Rover
JAMIPOL
Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company

Landmark

Magadi Soda Company
mjunction services
Mount Everest Mineral Water

NatSteel Holdings
Nelco
Nelito Systems
North Delhi Power

Powerlinks Transmission

Rallis India
Roots Corporation

TajAir
TAL Manufacturing Solutions
Tata Advanced Materials
Tata Advanced Systems
Tata Africa Holdings
Tata AG
Tata AIG General Insurance
Tata AIG Life Insurance
Tata Asset Management
Tata AutoComp Systems
Tata BlueScope Steel
Tata BP Solar
Tata Business Support Services
Tata Capital
Tata Ceramics
Tata Chemicals
Tata Coffee
Tata Communications
Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consulting Engineers
Tata Cummins
Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company
Tata Elxsi
Tata Financial Services
Tata Housing Development Company
Tata Industrial Services
Tata Industries
Tata Interactive Systems
Tata International
Tata International AG
Tata Investment Corporation
Tata Limited
Tata Metaliks
Tata Motors
Tata Motors European Technical Centre
Tata Petrodyne
Tata Pigments
Tata Power
Tata Power Trading
Tata Precision Industries
Tata Projects
Tata Quality Management Services
Tata Realty and Infrastructure
Tata Refractories
Tata Services
Tata Sky
Tata Sons
Tata Sponge Iron
Tata Steel
Tata Steel KZN
Tata Steel Processing and Distribution
Tata Strategic Management Group
Tata Tea
Tata Tea Inc
Tata Technologies
Tata Teleservices
Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra)
Tatanet
Tayo Rolls
Telco Construction Equipment
Tetley Group
The Tinplate Company of India
Titan Industries
TM International Logistics
Trent
TRF

Voltas

Westland

proud of chandrayan

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CHANDRAYAAN -1. INDIA'S FIRST SCIENTIFIC MISSION TO THE MOON.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched on 22 October 2008 at 6.22 am IST from Satish Dhawan Space Centre , Sriharikota, Nello using ISRO's 44.4 metre tall four-stage PSLV launch rocket, ...

Chandrayaan-1,, lit: Moon-traveller, or moon vehicle

The mission was a major boost to India's space program,as India researched and developed its
own technology in order to explore the Moon.

On 14 November 2008, the Moon Impact Probe separated from the Chandrayaan orbiter at 20:06 a
nd struck the south pole in a controlled manner, making India the fourth country to place it
s flag on the Moon. The probe eject underground soil that could be analysed for the presence of lunar water ice.
The estimated cost for the project was Rs. 386 crore (US$ 80 million).[12]

It carried high resolution remote sensing equipment for visible, near infrared, and soft and hard X-ray frequencies. Over a two-year period, it was intended to survey the lunar surface to produce a complete map of its
chemical characteristics and three-dimensional topography.

After suffering from several technical issues including failure of the star sensors and poor
thermal shielding, Chandrayaan stopped sending radio signals at 1:30 AM IST on 29 August 2009 ISRO officially declared the mission over. Chandrayaan operated for 312 days as opposed to the intended two years but the mission achieved 95 percent of its planned objectives. Among its many achievements was the discovery of the widespread presence of water molecules in lunar soil.

Chandrayaan-1 detected water molecules on the moon surface. This was confirmed on September 24, 2009, when Science Magazine reported that NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper on Chandrayaan-1 has detected water on the moon.

Chandrayaan-2

ISRO is also planning a second version of Chandrayaan named Chandrayaan II. According to ISRO
Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, ISRO hopes to land a motorised rover on the Moon in 2012, as a part of its second Chandrayaan mission. The rover will be designed to move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, do on-site chemical analysis and send the data to the mother-spacecraft
Chandrayaan II, which will be orbiting above. Chandrayaan II will transmit the data to Earth."

Welcome..!

2010-02-11T19:04:00.001+05:30