Arun

BIG 92.7 FM hits city airwaves United News of India Chennai, Sept 27 Chennaiites get their fourth FM station with BIG 92.7 FM, a part of Adlabs Film Limited, hitting the city's airwaves today (September 27). To connect with listeners, it has signed on the vivacious and talented actor Asin as the brand ambassador for Tamil Nadu, the first such move by any FM station in the country. Having bagged licenses to roll out in 45 centres across India, the radio station, already launched in Delhi and Hyderabad, is next headed to Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata, besides the "virgin" territories of Jammu, Srinagar and Aligarh over the next month. Announcing the launch at a press conference here, company Chief Operating Officer Tarun Katial said BIG 92.7 FM had aimed to touch 200 million listeners, that is every fifth Indian across the country, every third urban Indian and every eighth Indian in rural areas. With an investment of Rs 400 crore dedicated to transmission equipment, infrastructure and licensing, the proposed network would be the largest ever, he added. Company Regional Head-South Lakshmi Sharath said the programmes of BIG 92.7 FM were based on extensive research and in-depth analysis of the preferences of the people of Chennai. The shows on the radio station would not only offer local flavour and city-connect through relevant content and interesting information and updates, but would also play music which appealed to the local tastes, she added. The station had roped in popular TV personalities Uma Riyaz Khan and Chetan, besides famous radio jockeys like Balaji and Dheena. Some of the interesting programmes that are in store include 'Alaipayuthe' - a special time for women to rekindle the romance in their lives and 'Ragasiyamai- where in one can share a secret which he/she wanted to get off his/her chest. Abhishek is brand ambassador for Big FM Adlabs' radio venture Big 92.7 FM has appointed the ubercool Abhishekh Bachchan as its brand ambassador. Big 92.7 FM COO Tarun Katial said, “At Big 92.7 FM, we will be driven by the desire to give new and innovative radio programming to millions of Indians. We will not only present unique, city-specific content but also rope in personalities who will connect with the listeners and provide the glamour quotient. Our detailed research on the city’s psychographics will ensure that the station sounds refreshing and different, with a major focus on utilities and entertainment.” Abhishek Bachchan said, “Radio has risen phoenix-like after being overshadowed by the visual medium. With the launch of Big 92.7 FM, this romance with the radio is set to continue and intensify. My association with Big 92.7 FM gives me the chance not only to be part of this amazing story, but also to connect directly with the Indian audiences. I am delighted to be involved in this exciting adventure, and confident that Big 92.7 FM with its nationwide network will take radio experience to new heights.” To ensure high aspiration and connect with the listeners, Big 92.7 FM has signed on celebrity RJs such as Mona Singh and Gaurav Gera of the Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi fame, comedian Sunil Pal of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and Shweta Tiwari from Kasauti Zindagii Kay. Big FM to play most preferred music As part of the research initiative, the first phase of Music Testing involved The Auditorium Music Test that was carried out on a strong sample size of over 10,000 respondents across the 6 metros. This brought forth the nuances of music preferences by gender and age. In the second phase, BIG 92.7FM created dummy play-lists consisting of hour long capsules of music and conducted blind tests with consumers across the 6 metros. Here too, consumers mostly preferred the play-lists designed by the research team, which will soon be heard on the Radio Station across the nation. Speaking about the music differentiation on the new radio station Mr. Tarun Katial, COO, BIG 92.7FM said, "BIG 92.7FM will be a radio channel with a difference. Not only will our music content be unique but also the listeners will be treated to songs that they wish to here and not what are perceived to be hits otherwise. While Bollywood music is the most preferred in metros like Delhi and Mumbai, the play-list composition is what will differentiate BIG 92.7FM from other channels. Our thrust here has been to look not only at what current FM listeners want, but also at what FM non-listeners would like to hear on a FM channel." added Mr. Katiyal. Deepa Soman, CEO, Lumiere, the music research agency for BIG 92.7 FM reveals, “An interesting consistent finding showed that most people around the country found a need gap in the current radio programming as there was no religious slot early morning which they could turn on as a ritual habit. They would like a show which either plays bhajans or chants to start their day off. Likewise, many non listeners tend to prefer listening to their own collections of music instead of tuning into radio as they had more control of what they were hearing. Most of these habitually preferred to hear entire albums of their favourite artists and therefore, dedicated slots on one artist eg: Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar etc. are the way to motivate this non listening community to tune in.” BIG 92.7 FM will be airing shows to cater to both these needs and more. Added to which, as per an internal estimate, 40% of BIG 92.7 FM’s Music Play-list will be unique and not heard before on other FM stations. Differentiation being a key mantra for any media channel, the music on BIG 92.7 FM is all set to do just that especially for its listeners.

lol and he is one of the most patient guys I've come across

didn't receive it yet hope I'll get soon !

More management gems from Dhirubhai A G Krishnamurthy September 25, 2006 The response to the first two editions of the column on 'Dhirubhaism' was overwhelming. I was inundated with e-mails asking for more of such illustrative anecdotes. So after a fairly long pause, I decided to come out with another edition. All of us who knew and worked with Dhirubhai right from the early days have many wonderful memories of personal and extremely enlightening encounters with him. We came from varied backgrounds yet none of us had met a force like Dhirubhai before. Our experience working for him has left such a lasting impression that I think we carry around a permanent 'Dhirubhai tattoo' on our brains and in our hearts! 1. The arm-around-the-shoulder leader I have never seen any other empire builder nor the CEO of any big organisation do this (why, I never adopted this myself!). It was Dhirubhai's very own signature style. Whenever I went to meet him and if on that day, all the time that he could spare me was a short walk up to his car, he would instantly put his arm around me and proceed to discuss the issues at hand as we walked. With that one simple gesture, he managed to achieve many things. I was put at ease instantaneously. I was made to feel like an equal who was loved and important enough to be considered close to him. And I would walk away from that meeting feeling so good about myself and the work I was doing! This tendency that he had, to draw people towards him, manifested itself in countless ways. This was just one of them. He would never, ever exude an air of aloofness and exclusivity. He was always inviting people into sharing their thoughts and ideas, rather than shutting them out. On hindsight I think, it must have required phenomenal generosity of spirit to be that inclusive. Yes, this was one of the things that was uniquely Dhirubhai -- that warm arm around my shoulder that did much more than words in letting me know that I belonged, that I had his trust, and that I had him on my side! 2. The Dhirubhai theory of Supply creating Demand He was not an MBA. Nor an economist. But yet he took traditional market theory and stood it on its head. And succeeded. Yes, at a time when everyone in India would build capacities only after a careful study of market expectations, he went full steam ahead and created giants of manufacturing plants with unbelievable capacites. (Initial cap of Reliance Patalganga was 10,000 tonnes of PFY way back in 1980, while the market in India for it was approx. 6000 tonnes). No doubt his instinct was backed by years and years of reading, studying market trends, careful listening and his own honed capacity to forecast, but yet despite all this preparation, it required undeniable guts to pioneer such a revolutionary move. The consequence was that the market blossomed to absorb supply, the consumer benefited with prices crashing down, the players increased and our economic landscape changed for the better. The Patalganga plant was in no time humming at maximum capacity and as a result of the plant's economies of scale, Dhirubhai's conversion cost of the yarn in 1994 came down to 18 cents per pound, as compared to Western Europe's 34 cents, North America's 29 cents and the Far East's 23 cents and Reliance was exporting the yarn back to the US! A more recent example was that of Mukesh Ambani taking this vision forward with Reliance Infocomm (which is now handled by Anil Ambani). In India's mobile telephony timeline there will always be a very clear 'before Infocomm and after Infocomm' segmentation. The numbers say it all. In Jan 2003, the mobile subscriber base was 13 million, about 16 months later, shortly after the launch, it had reached 30 million. In March 2006, it has touched 90 million ! Yes, this was yet another unusual skill of Dhirubhai's -- his uncanny knack of knowing exactly how the market is going to behave. 3. Money is not a product by itself, it is a by-product, so don't chase it This was a belief by which Dhirubhai lived all his life. For instance when he briefed me about setting up Mudra, his instruction was clear: 'Produce the best textile advertising in the country,' he said. He did not breathe a word about profits, nor about becoming the richest ad agency in the country. Great advertising was the goal that he set for me. A by-product is something that you don't set out to produce. It is the spin off when you create something larger. When you turn logs into lumber, sawdust is your by-product and a pretty lucrative one it can be too! It is a very simple analogy but extremely effective in driving the point home. Work toward a goal beyond your bank balance. Success in attaining that goal will eventually ring in the cash. For instance, if you work towards creating a name for yourself and earning a good reputation, then money is a logical outcome. People will pay for your product or service if it is good. But if you get your priorities slightly mixed up, not only will the money you make remain just a quick buck it would in all likelihood blacklist you for good. Sounds too simplistic for belief? Well, look around you and you will know exactly how true it is.

GSM costs lure Reliance Communications Business Standard Surajeet Das Gupta / New Delhi September 25, 2006 Reliance Communications has said GSM equipment and handset prices are cheaper than CDMA. Reliance Communications, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has cited cheaper equipment and handset prices for the next 300 million of its subscribers in India as the key reason for shifting of its focus to GSM. It has also hinted that of the incremental $900 million capital expenditure in wireless telecom services, which the company will make next year, a large chunk could go towards building GSM networks. The company has also pointed out that it does not see any dip in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) margins due to the shift in focus from CDMA to GSM and that these would remain within the 35-40 per cent range. The company and Anil Ambani have made these observations at various meetings with equity analysts and investors across the globe. The group had kept its plans to move into GSM under wraps. It recently made an application to the department of telecommunications for GSM spectrum across the country. When contacted, a Reliance Communications spokesperson declined to comment on the issue. However, the broad contours of the strategic reasoning behind the move can be gauged from various discussions that analysts have had with top executives, including Ambani, recently. Raising concerns about Qualcomm’s policies (as it is a key reason for the high CDMA costs), the company, including Ambani, in its discussions with analysts has pointed out that the CDMA handset ecosystem has many challenges and the Qualcomm approach in no way helps them to bring down the affordability index for millions of customers. The challenges they face with Qualcomm include issues of royalty, chipsets and whether they can deliver value and low-cost solutions. It has argued that this has been a key reason why many operators have efficiently migrated to GSM platforms. In his submissions to analysts, Ambani, when questioned about whether it was possible to run two different kinds of networks (CDMA and GSM) in the same market, reiterated that in the seven circles in India where Reliance Communications currently operates GSM and CDMA, subscribers are equally divided between the two. The company has 2 million subscribers each in GSM and CDMA networks in these circles. Ambani has also pointed out that customers are technology neutral and they buy a service for its coverage, tariff and quality, and not because it is CDMA or GSM. Reliance has also pointed out at that the spectrum situation is not as dismal as it seems and is limited only to the top 20 cities. And even here the government will be releasing a big chunk.

lol, Google Earth is simply amazing !

Mahendra Singh Dhoni to bat for Reliance Infocomm Wednesday - Mar 22, 2006 Deepak Mohanty - Televisionpoint.com The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), which will unveil a new logo and brand identity for the group from tomorrow, March 23, 2006 has roped in Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a brand ambassador for its telecommunications business. The new logo of ADAG has been designed by UK-based strategic brand consulting and design company Landor Associates. This followed a report by San Francisco-based brand consultancy Prophet, whose inputs have been used in the design work. The decision to seek a fresh brand identity and possibly a new logo was based on the desire to break away from the heavy industry image of Reliance Industries. Reliance Infocomm had earlier Virendra Sehwag as the brand ambassador, when the company was managed by Mukesh Ambani. Reliance ADAG seems to have picked one of the better performers in this test match from the Indian side. Dhoni was the highest scorer for India in this test match with a 64 in the first innings. Dhoni already has a host of endorsement deals in his kitty, including Reebok, Orient Fans, Mysore Sandal, Exide and is talking to some others that include a hair care company, a denim brand a two-wheeler manufacturer. Dhoni's account is handled by Gameplan Sports, which also handles the Australian cricket team in India and had struck big deals for Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee and Glenn Mcgrath. The new star on the Indian cricket horizon Dhoni is on a roll both on the field as well as off it. Corporate's are queuing up to sign the flamboyant wicket keeper-batsman from Jharkhand. According to industry estimates, Dhoni's endorsement deals have so far been around Rs 10 to Rs 15 lakhs annually, but it could now go up to Rs 1 Crore. Says Jeet Banerjee, MD, Gameplan Sports, "We have received a lot of offers but we are still evaluating the options to decide what best suits his image."

Reliance Mobile plans new celebrity brouhaha - Business Standard Prasad Sangameshwaran / Mumbai September 19, 2006 Anil Ambani group’s Reliance Mobile, which is looking to spread its GSM telephony tentacles across the country, is believed to have roped in a constellation of six celebrities for a big-bang advertising campaign. While cricket star M S Dhoni is almost certain to be a part of the star cast, industry sources say the company is also in talks with film star Abhishek Bachchan. (The junior Bachchan already endorses Motorola’s cellular phones.) Others in the campaign — to kick off by the end of this month — will be from the fields of sports and entertainment. Speaking to Business Standard, Reliance executives confirmed that the campaign would be a multi-celebrity campaign involving cricketers, music industry stars and film stars. Sanjay Behl, head of branding, Reliance Mobile said: “We are in an evolutionary stage in growth and imagery. The communication will reflect that.” The new campaign is being executed by creative shop Cartwheels, run by JWT’s former creative head, D Ramakrishna. Behl is not willing to disclose if Abhishek, or Hindi music director and singer Himesh Reshammiya, is a part of the cast, though he claims that there might be about six celebrities who will endorse Reliance Mobile. Celebrities are not new to cellular phone service providers. While cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has been associated with Airtel since 2003 and Rahul Dravid bats for Hutch, former Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly has featured as the ambassador for Tata Indicom. Apart from Ganguly, Tata Indicom has also used star couple Kajol and Ajay Devgan in its campaigns. But Reliance has reason to be aggressive. Apart from its CDMA services, which form the bulk of Reliance’s approximately 22 million subscriber base, the company is in the midst of scaling up in the GSM space, where it will find itself up against formidable rivals like Airtel and Hutch. While Hutch associates itself actively with cricket, theatre and art, Airtel has played up its music association through ringtones using its brand ambassador, A R Rehman. In February this year, Reliance had applied for GSM spectrum in markets like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Uttar Pradesh (east and west circles), and Jammu and Kashmir. It already operates GSM (900 MHz) mobile services in circles like West Bengal (including Kolkata), Assam, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and the Northeast.

Yes, its an advertisement from Reliance. No worries

I guess Deepu managed to make it work from his home connection. It allows his parents in Kerala to make calls to his phone in the UK ! I'll ask him to update with an explanation

Happy Birthday Sajo and others !!

There isn't any (onboard or external) application for the Kyocera 7135 that records incoming calls. You can record a voice memo while on a call, but it will only record your side, not both parties.

Note: the SRCP message means that the phone part won't work unless the board is replaced (costs Rs.6000).

Happy Birthday Tanveer !!! Hope you had a blast !

Yeah, not for the "regular" you and me, but for the blokes at IPCL only !

Why Anil Ambani wants to ride two horses in telecom Nivedita Mookerji for DNA India New Delhi: Friday, September 08, 2006 - 23:29 IST It happened almost simultaneously. Just when Reliance Communications applied to the government for a pan-India GSM spectrum, it announced a mega deal with Nokia for two million CDMA handsets. The two parallel developments have sent out mixed signals to the industry on whether Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications, which is the leading CDMA player with around 23 million subscribers, is interested in GSM or CDMA or both. A few months ago, the company had applied for spectrum in six circles to operate GSM (global system for mobile communications) service. But it has now upped the ante by applying for a pan-India GSM presence, except in two circles (north-east and Assam). Reliance maintains that it is “committed to pursue the world’s leading mobile technologies, whether CDMA or GSM, to provide the best and competitive services to our many million customers”. Reliance Communications runs GSM services through a subsidiary, Reliance Telecom. Will Reliance then ride two horses at the same time? A source in the GSM camp said that Reliance may progressively tone down the CDMA focus. The company may target additional growth in GSM, he said. Over a period of time, it may even look at shifting its CDMA subscriber base to the GSM platform, the source added. Subsequently, introduction of dual mode world-phones (common for GSM and CDMA) in India will make things easier, he claimed. Another industry insider, however, argued that Reliance would not leave CDMA, where it has such a strong subscriber base. “A dealer who sells all kinds of products is the best dealer,” he said. The company’s aim seems to be to multiply faster than others so that it becomes the top player in the country. There are four reasons for Reliance’s strategy shift. One, thanks to handset limitations, higher-end users tend to prefer GSM, especially since international roaming is better on GSM. Two, GSM operators continue to bill about 40% more than CDMA subscribers, indicating that they have better pricing power. Three, by offering both CDMA and GSM, Reliance can design different schemes targeting different segments of the market. And for, GSM is by far the dominant technology worldwide and in India, outnumbering CDMA 2.5:1 in India. The evidence from circles where Reliance offers both CDMA and GSM suggests that one does not cannibalise the other. In the six circles where both are available (MP, West Bengal, Kolkata, Bihar, Orissa and Himachal), Reliance has 3.5 million subscribers and 2.1 million GSM ones. The GSM subscriber base is much higher, both in India and globally, thereby making it logical for Reliance Communications to focus on GSM technology, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ associate director Arpita Pal Agrawal. “The economies of scale are much better in the case of GSM,” she said. She also pointed out that while CDMA is very effective for high-speed data applications, the current Reliance base includes a large number of low-cost customers. As for government policy, a senior official in the department of telecommunications (DoT) told DNA Money that “licences are technology neutral”. He gave this reply when asked whether Reliance required to surrender some of its CDMA spectrum to expand in the GSM space. However, there are concerns within the government and the industry over the additional spectrum allocation sought, as spectrum is considered a scarce resource. Also, a senior representative of DoT recently told the media, “the government policy is not to shut doors (on any player)”. He added that BSNL and MTNL also offered both GSM and CDMA in some common circles. Interestingly, Reliance Communications is learnt to have told DoT recently that its decision to expand in GSM is linked to government’s teledensity target. The company indicated that it aimed to have the largest marketshare in the Indian telecom sector by 2010 end, and that it must opt for GSM expansion to reach there, according to sources. While communications minister Dayanidhi Maran has set a target of 250 million phone connections by the end of 2007 and 500 million by the end of 2010, Reliance Communications is understood to be eyeing anything between 110 million and 125 million subscribers by then, representing a marketshare of around 25%. Even as the CDMA growth has been robust, in terms of absolute numbers it is nowhere near GSM. As against 1,820 million GSM users across the world as of March, 2006, CDMA had only 250 million subscribers, excluding the 3G user base. If 3G users are taken into account, the GSM base has crossed 2 billion and CDMA 318 million. In India, GSM is way ahead with 86.6 million users, while CDMA has managed over 35 million, including its wireline and fixed wireless subscribers. GSM players in India include Bharti, Hutch, Idea and BSNL, while Reliance Telecom has over 2 million GSM users in eight circles. CDMA is represented mainly by Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices. From December, 2001, to December, 2002, the CDMA base in India grew 125%, against 92.5% in GSM during the corresponding period. From December, 2002, to December, 2003, CDMA recorded a growth of 800% against 110.5% in GSM. (It was in December, 2002, that Reliance launched its CDMA service). From December, 2003, to 2004, the CDMA growth rate was 75.3%, against 70.3% in GSM. From December, 2004, to 2005, CDMA showed a growth of 76%, against 56.8% in GSM. However, from December, 2005, to May, 2006, the CDMA growth rate has been lower at 26% against 28.5 per cent in GSM. Global numbers also indicate a better growth trajectory for CDMA, as opposed to GSM. From the fourth quarter of 2001 to the corresponding period in 2002, CDMA growth rate was 819.4% against 46.3% in GSM. From Q4 of 2002 to Q4 of 2003, CDMA recorded a growth rate of 158%, against 25% in GSM. From Q4 of 2003 to Q4 of 2004, the global CDMA user base grew 70.9% against 28% in GSM. From Q4 of 2004 to Q4 of 2005, the CDMA growth rate was 54.1% against 31.8% in GSM. From the fourth quarter of 2005 to the end of first quarter of 2006, the CDMA growth rate was 11.2% against 6.4% in GSM. The 3G figures have not been taken into account for calculating the global growth rate in GSM and CDMA.

Yes, but only if you purchase wireless data card (postpaid), which is available from Rs.5k now.

Chandigarhdamunda, I'm afraid you have less than 50 posts which is the eligibility set for requesting, as mentioned in the title of this topic !

So its fixed now ? I have TATA Indicom BB (router modem) too with static IP, and I switch between Windows XP Pro and RHEL4, but never had any problems with IP.

Demonoid invitation sent to sklm

Thats true, "IE7" wasn't existant at that time and that should make it difficult for M$ to get hold of the domain. Anyway, I don't think M$ will be too interested in the domain name. If you search for all subsequent IE version websites, you get different results. For example, www.ie6.com is a search website. www.ie5.com also seems to be some sort of search engine. www.ie3.com is from somewhere in Barcelona, and most of the others seem to be search engines. www.ie4.com (warning!) seems to be porn. BTW, www.msie7.com has been bought over as well. The owner has put a phpBB forum for discussing IE7. He is selling the domain name and is asking at least $2500 for it. Now thats cyber squatting !

Does your handset have EDGE ? And does AirTel provide EDGE network in your area ? If you have EDGE support, then you should be getting better speeds. If you have only GPRS, then it is bound to be slow as usual.

This 'other new operator' is AirTel. I heard they were giving some great tariffs like 15 paise to AirTel, 20 paise to GSM, 25 paise to landlines at a monthly rent of Rs.50 only ! This is in addition to 200 free SMS and Rs.50 rental for unlimited GPRS internet !

Happy Birthday Saurav and others !

Yes, only the current holder can renew the domain even after around 45 days after the actual expiry date. M$ can only try to backorder the domain, but backordering works only after the domain is expired. Right, since IE7 was announced recently only, it would be difficult for M$ to prove in court that they have trademark rights over it. Since the domain was booked already in 1999, the chances are less for M$ !