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Chirag

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  1. The future? Net on cell phones, mostly! Rediff.com The Rediff Interview/Naresh Gupta, sr. vice president, Adobe April 21, 2005 For Naresh Gupta, the 38-year-old managing director of Adobe India, the decision of his company to move him back to headquarters at San Jose, California, is a vindication of his eight-year effort in India. The $1.9-billion Adobe recently announced that Gupta had been promoted as senior vice president of the key emerging business unit where he would amongst other things look at how best Adobe could leverage the evolving mobile environment. Under Gupta, the Indian development centre of the software major, grew from just two people in 1997 to grown to over 500 people and it has filed about 25 patents. The development centre has doubled in size every 18 months and Adobe also prides itself on being the first international software company to have developed a full-fledged product in India - Page Maker 7- in 2001. Adobe continues to expand in India and by 2007 would have invested close to $50 million in the country. Gupta will be the second Indian to be part of the executive management at Adobe. Adobe had recently announced the appointment of Shantanu Narayen as president and chief operating officer. The son of a scientist, born in Bangalore and brought up in Lucknow, Gupta is a technocrat who has come a long way since graduating from IIT Kanpur. Even as Gupta spoke with Sanjay Krishnan, his relocation details are being worked out and he is expected to be in San Jose by July, 2005. Adobe has been ranked as the 13th best company to work for in America and also has been ranked highest on the list of Fortune's eighth annual 100 Best Companies To Work For. Excerpts from the interview. When do you expect to move to the United States and how do you look back at your stint in India? By July, I should be in San Jose. It has been an exciting eight years. I have enjoyed a lot, have learnt a lot and given a chance I will do so all over again. The learning has been immense. I had earlier, before coming to India in 1997, managed only engineering groups. This was the first opportunity I had to run a complete business. I got an opportunity to manage human resources, operations, finance, administration and at the end I became a more complete manager. I had always wanted to run a complete business and it helped. I realised the importance of hard work and getting things done. Now that you have spent eight years here in India with Adobe, how would you contrast the engineering pool here with the one that exists in the US? There is a lot of difference in the talent pool in India and the US. In the US, you get a lot of people with experience and talent who have worked on deep technology areas (cutting edge technologies). In India, this is not the case. But you have a very young, talented and motivated workforce. The experience levels are relatively low in India, but this is made up for by the enthusiasm and hard work they put in. Could you tell us something more as to the reasons for this move? Why the move? There are two parts to it. There is a management team here in India, which has turned out to be very good. The team here, they have made me redundant. Adobe also had a better value proposition to offer to me. I am moving up as senior vice president (emerging business unit). The idea is that the new business unit will nurture new ideas; for example, mobility. This is a lateral move. Not many get to play roles like this. This also shows how important Adobe perceives India to be. I am going to be part of the executive management of a $2 billion company. I probably would not have gone there for anything else. The move means that I can paint on a global canvas and can make a larger difference to Adobe India also. Would you elaborate on what your new role would involve? At present mobile phones are being used primarily for voice. There is data traffic, but mostly in countries like Japan cell phones are used for e-mail and increasingly for accessing the Web and transaction-oriented tasks. This is only the tip of the iceberg. We feel that very soon there will be a segment of people whose only experience to computing and the Internet would be through a mobile device. How do you see that playing out? There are challenges with doing every computing task on the mobile device, but form factors will evolve, devices will shrink and there are several other technologies in the labs that can -- to a degree -- overcome the challenge of small screen size of a mobile device. Adobe already is a leader in creating, managing and delivering rich content for the desktop environment. What we are looking at is recreating this for the mobile device -- rich content like MMS, video streaming, graphics, rich text, et cetera. Our whole effort would be to look at how we can make the mobile phone experience richer and better for mobile user and comparable to the experience on a desktop. I will also be looking at other new business propositions related and aligned to Adobe's existing business lines and not just the mobile platforms. Now that you have got the requisite experience of being a complete business manager, do you see yourself starting something of your own some time down the line? I do not rule out starting something of my own. I am only 38 and I have age with me. I can afford to learn a lot more before I look at becoming an entrepreneur, but yes that dream is also there.
  2. ILD calls: Grey market thrives Surajeet Das Gupta | April 21, 2005 Rediff.com If you are in the US and want to have a long chat with your friends or relatives back home, all you have to do is to buy international calling cards which offer international long distance calls to India at rock bottom prices -- ranging from a cent (43 paisa) to six cents (Rs 2.58) a minute. Click on any of the search engines for an Indian calling card and you'll be bombarded with the Internet addresses of more than one lakh sites that offer international calling cards. These cards are a boon for those in the US who want to call India, but are a serious threat to India's fledgling international long distance companies. According to industry estimates, ILD operators are losing anywhere between Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 15-20 billion) in revenue a year to what are called grey market operators. These fly-by-night operators across the country terminate international calls here illegally without paying the government charges, something established ILD operators have to. The grey market onslaught is already beginning to hurt. Says Badri Aggarwal, president at Bharti Infotel, which runs the Bharti group's ILD business: "As much as 25 per cent of the international incoming calls are grey. There is incentive for people to break the law. It's the same story in ILD." Others think that the figures are even higher. Points out a senior Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd executive: "According to our estimate, grey market calls comprise 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the total incoming international call market." What is causing concern is the fact that the grey market disease has spread to smaller towns and cities -- in the US, calling cards are now available if you want to talk to someone in places like Rajkot, Warangal. Anand, Kancheepuram, Guntur and Madurai, for example. ILD companies and international phone call carriers squarely blame the Telelcom Regulatory Authority of India for this. They claim that TRAI is refusing to investigate the nature of the grey market. Member of Parliament Nilotpal Basu, in fact, has openly demanded the removal of TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal for his inaction on the issue. In a scathing attack on TRAI, Basu says: "The TRAI is indulging in purposeful inaction and facilitating grey market operations. It has made no attempt to investigate the matter. However, it is the only body which has the power to collect and demand the data required to understand how big the illegal operation is." ILD companies allege that, by keeping access deficit charges -- the money which is collected and given to the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd to subsidise their local call tariffs -- high for them and failing to put an enforcement mechanism in place, TRAI has virtually allowed grey market operations to continue. Charges a senior executive of an international carrier: "Despite acknowledging in numerous reports that a large arbitrage opportunity is available, TRAI has stuck to a high access deficit regime which has benefited only grey operators. And it continues to take measures which, wily nilly, assist them." Allegations have also been levelled that TRAI has adopted a selective approach -- it is, for instance, accused of having quietly sat on complaints against Reliance Infocomm, which came under the scanner for rerouting international calls as local calls. "Despite multiple complaints by BSNL, TRAI failed to send out even a show cause notice to Reliance Infocomm, leave alone instituting an investigation according to the law," says a senior executive at an ILD company. TRAI is also accused of increasing arbitrage opportunities. Last month, it cut international bandwidth prices by 35 per cent to 70 per cent. "It has made it cheaper for grey market operators who use leased lines and helped them to improve their margins," exclaims an executive at an international call carrier company. The government too is losing over Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) it would have earned as revenue share from ILD operators. State-owned telecom companies like Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd are losing access deficit charges just because calls are getting diverted to the grey market. On its part, TRAI points out that as a regulator it has to do a tightrope act. It has to ensure that the incumbents get enough ADC so that they can subsidise local calls, and it has to reduce the arbitrage opportunities so that grey market operators have no incentive to operate. Says TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal: " When the duty on gold was high, there was an incentive to smuggle. But duties were slowly brought down. The same is the case with ILD ADC and we hope to move to a revenue share model." That is, instead of paying ADC per minute, telecom companies will pay the government a share of their revenue. Says a TRAI member: "We could move to a revenue share regime this year itself. We expect the telecom industry's revenue to go up from Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) to Rs 80,000 crore (Rs 800 billion) this year. So the burden will come down in any case. Secondly, we expect disbursements from the Universal Service Obligation fund of Rs 3,000 crore to the department of telecommunications to improve further. This is used for rural telephony (one component of the ADC also), giving us a cushion." TRAI also denies that it is investigating complaints selectively. "In the case of Reliance, it was a dispute between two companies. Once there is a dispute, our power to investigate under the TDSAT judgment also vanishes." says a TRAI official. And by intervening, TRAI would have got into protracted litigation, which would have been counter productive. TRAI officials also underscore the fact that the number of incoming minutes via the legal route has increased by 46 per cent in 2004-2005 versus the previous year -- evidence that the stringent action taken by the department of telecommunications and other policing bodies is actually working. The whole matter is complicated but boils down to this. ILD operators that terminate incoming international calls and route them to your homes have to pay charges. Among them are ADC to BSNL (Rs 3.25 per minute), a termination charge to the local operator that "owns" the customer where the call ends (30 paisa) and a small transit charge for taking the call from the international gateway to the customer's premise (20 paisa), making up a total of Rs 3.75. Apart from this, the ILD company has to incur infrastructure costs for building and maintaining its ILD operations. The government and TRAI have kept ADC charges for ILD and NLD high as the money collected is given to BSNL to subsidise its local call rates. ADC charges have been coming down but are still far too high, ILD companies say. International carriers offer call minutes to Indian ILD companies and pay them anything between Rs 5.50 and Rs 6.50 a minute to carry these calls to their destinations in India. That forms the revenue for an Indian ILD company. The difference between the revenue and the ADC provides them with their margin. Grey market operators, however bypass the legal route by not paying ADC. They tie up with resellers of minutes in the US (who sell calling cards). Also, established carriers pick up international minutes, use their own leased lines and then terminate the calls on a fixed or mobile network in the country as a local call, bypassing the international gateway. The resellers pay them low rates for carrying calls (Rs 1 to Rs 1.50). That is fine with grey operators as their owns costs without ADC are rock bottom. The problem is aggravated by the fact that it is difficult to trace illegal calls. That is because most of these calls do not show a caller line identification. So you cannot trace them if they are international calls. And as much as 70 per cent of international calls terminate in fixed phones that don't have CLI. Bharti Infotel's Aggarwal contends that the nub of the matter is the high ADC fixed by TRAI, which provides arbitrage opportunities to grey market operators. "The only answer is to remove the ADC and move to a revenue share regime so that there is no incentive left for grey operators at all," says Aggarwal. Secondly, ILD companies argue that while TRAI reduced the ADC from Rs 4.75 to Rs 3.25 a minute this year, the arbitrage margins for grey market operators were not narrowed. That is because Indian ILD companies did not pass on the reduction by way of cuts in what they charge international carriers (around Rs 5.50 a minute). "It is pretty clear that the cut in ADC has not changed the arbitrage margins at all, and TRAI had done nothing to ensure that the cut in ADC is passed on," says a harried executive at an international carrier. ILD company executives like Aggarwal defend their decision not to pass on the benefit of the ADC reduction. Says he: "Yes, we have not passed it on, because earlier we were making losses of 30 paisa to 40 paisa per minute. The reduction in ADC by Rs 1 has given us some cushion to make some margins." But Aggarwal says that if the ADC is removed Bharti Infotel will pass on the reduction to international carriers. Still, TRAI says that incoming ILD calls contributed over Rs 1,300 crore (Rs 13 billion) to the ADC. If ILD companies want to switch from ADC to a revenue share model, they will have to fork out over 30 per cent of their Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) revenue {Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion)} as revenue share. TRAI officials also agree that leased lines are used by grey market operators but say that the IT industry in particular has been seeking a reduction in leased line rates. Says a TRAI member: "Our studies clearly showed that the international bandwidth was more expensive than in other countries." As this dispute rages, the question here really is how quickly TRAI will shift from the ADC regime and how effectively it can reduce arbitrage opportunities, and so help put grey market operators out of business.
  3. Reliance "Ownership Issues"

    How to repair the Reliance image BS Strategist Team | April 19, 2005 14:05 IST Rediff.com The recent spate of controversies has taken the shine off the Reliance image. The Strategist asks some well-known image consultants how they would initiate damage control in what has been India's most dynamic business house. Dilip Cherian, Head, Perfect Relations The flight path for the Ambani brotherhood version 2.0 that I would prescribe would have at least two distinct aspects, to start with. The brothers, once they decide on the Kamath formula and its money modalities and on finally going their separate ways, will simply have to find a clever method by which they will each become truly independent entities on and of their own. They would inevitably have to then derive independent and coherent image structures. Only one of them will, in image terms, be actually able to inherit the so-called Reliance brand. So the other, whosoever that is, will have to abandon that precious umbilical cord, at some stage, which is not so far in the future. This could be a serious issue. It could even be the basis of some rather hardball bargaining at this stage, and with good reason. The Reliance Brand, after all, has a substantial and exploitable value of its own. This image advantage will be one that both parties will seek to retain. But they cannot. In the end, only one will be able to appropriate the benefits. If both do, both lose. (Wicked thought: the other brand available to inherit is the underlying and latent brand Ambani. Could one be traded off against the other? Do both have the same value? Can this be the basis of an equal image bifurcation?) But what's been outlined so far is only Step Two. Substantively, there's Step One before that. Even before this bifurcation of images takes place, the brothers would be well advised to spend a considerable portion of their communications energies drawing attention to the reorganising of their new corporations. To take attention away from the minutiae of disconnect, both will also have to do big-ticket announcements that will occupy the space hostilities had previously gobbled. Unless there is the unleashing of fresh corporate energy of the gigantic variety, there will be the temptation to return to the battlefield stories. And the Buzz space? Only the quiet hiss of frenzied internal reorganisation work in progress. It involves the re-establishment of corporate governance, and the refurbishment of credible management talent at the top levels in both companies. Basic, mundane and boring, but it gives confidence. The Reliance image is like Humpty Dumpty: all the king's horses and all the king's men can never put the original image together the way it was. But an image makeover is certainly possible. Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc Reliance is a brand. It is a thought that lives in the minds of three distinct segments of people with whom a brand typically communicates: the B2B segment, the B2C segment and the C2C segment. But Brand Reliance has a problem -- a big one. It is a sullied brand today. The needs and aspirations of each of these segments is different. But everyone has a worry. In the B2B segment, are vendors worrying about the state of the agreements they've signed with the group. In the B2C segment, the image of Reliance as a squabbling entity is one consumers love to talk about. Apart from shareholders, there are also the actual users of Reliance facilities, be it in power or telecom or petroleum. Add to this the circuit of the fringe set who are neither business partners, vendors nor consumers. These are the potential consumers. Most brand communicators ignore them. I would look at them keenly. I would address each of these segments with care and sensitivity. First of all, I would urge an immediate cessation of hostility before this communication task begins. The rules are simple: all dirty linen must be washed in private; and keep politics out of the issue. It adds a different dimension altogether. Never mind that we have a member of the Rajya Sabha at the centre of the issue. What's done is done. Don't add any more negative baggage to the brand anymore. I believe communication is not a single piece of work. It is a cascade. Crisis management communication needs to be a quick and efficient cascade that address all the segments I have delineated. A brand communication cascade is a set of repeat experiences, each different, but each engineered to result in a series of thought. This is a corporate issue. The role of PR is clearly dominant compared to the role of advertising. I would use the tool of systemic PR to advantage. But, with sensitivity. PR is like an onion. The first layer is 'pink paper' PR -- messaging that will appeal mainly to corporate readers. Then there is deeper, 'white paper' PR, which appeals to the lay reader as well. That is followed by 'pink' and 'white' television. The final layer is the core: the larger mass of people, some of whom are exposed to all or some of these media, and some not exposed to these at all. I would address each as a separate package, but not make the mistake of restricting the communication cascade to the elite. The brand is a much deeper entity. Prema Sagar, Principal & Founder, Genesis Public Relations And they lived happily ever after. Cut to a happy family picture. Real life, sadly, does not reflect reel life. Be it Gucci, Rite Aid or U-Haul; international desi businesses like Pataks; or, closer home, Bajaj, Birla and yes, Reliance, family feuds are as much a fact of life as of fiction. Perhaps that is why, internationally, only one out of 10 family businesses survives to the third generation. This is not to run down the power of family-run businesses. Names like Ford, Fidelity, Nordstrom, Tata, Birla and countless Indian businesses bear testimony to that. The problem arises when the dividing line between business and family matters is blurred; when board meetings resemble dinner-table conversations and professionalism takes a back-seat to ego clashes. That is the time to raise the red flag. Those that do, realise quickly that the process of mending fences and rebuilding corporate reputation extends far beyond managing the media and the odd AGM appearance. For those who do not do damage control in time, the media invariably jumps into the arena, shareholders lose out and reputation is impacted. Fast forward to today. The good news is there is progress -- but not enough. With foreign investors having made Reliance a symbol of today's Corporate India, there is immense responsibility resting on the shoulders of the Ambani brothers to redeem not just their own company but also the image of professionalism in Indian business. The first step in this direction would be clear and concise communication from both brothers -- collectively or individually -- about the agreement, what it means to the stakeholders and how they will continue to build value and world-class organisations. The next step would be to take stock of the course after the embankments have been breached by the torrent. This would be by measuring perception and reputation year on year through stakeholder research. It is imperative to professionalise communications for a strategic plan to reverse the damage and rebuild reputation. Focused outreach programmes would need to be built to address key editors, bureaucrats and analysts separately. Accessibility, honesty and transparency would need to take the place of closed-door mystique. Shareholders are looking for comfort that systems are being put into place for corporate governance. So, set up advisory boards that comprise large customers, respected industrialists and/or economists who will give independent advice to the management on key issues of importance to the market place. These boards must comprise fiercely independent people. An endeavour to seek counsel from people who have squeaky-clean reputations would help the perception that there is a single-minded focus on restoring Dhirubhai's legacy. Cut to a smiling sibling picture. . . at least, they worked happily ever after.
  4. Gmail Offering 2 Gb Now

    Its not easy n comfortable for ppl to change over soon. They must know this. They might be able to make a niche market for themselves but may not be able to complete over-turn the game in their favour.
  5. Long Battery Life

    Oh yeh, i do remember. Infact i had pinned it up myself. I was wondering if we had more Nokia Users here, whether we could get detailed reviews of other Models as well?
  6. Affordable Unlimited Broadband In Mumbai!

    There is frankly no difference, infact its jus a hoax tht these netwala's have created. But i've noticed that when i open the pages of any site, they open at lightening speeds! But when i download anything like an attachment, files, mp3s i notice the Download speed stuck at the predefined values of 7-15kB. And moreover, we anyways dont have true Broadband in our country. All of these are jus "hi-speed" connections. Though TRAI says, broadband would be more than 256kbps of connection, i believe its bull-****! Though i am quite content with my connection. Who would give u something of this at 550 bucks a month ?
  7. Creative Re-use Of Waste Cds

    Yeh Vishal, i liked those ideas as well. Infact i plan to make some similar things or think upon some more ideas and then give it to frenz! Infact if u know abt our Newsletter VOW, i am trying out some ways to make these CDs into a rack for keeping VOW in the Shops in our neighbourhood. If any of u can provide such more ideas, do post here!
  8. LG 6130 Color Phone

    I guess u r talking abt LG 6130. Yeh, the display is not directly visible in Direct Sunlight. But i wonder, how many hrs r u going to stand under direct sunlight ?
  9. Affordable Unlimited Broadband In Mumbai!

    Am using UNLIMITED Internet (I wont call it Broadband) DL Speed : min 96kbps Browsing Speed : min 128kbps Charges : 550 (incl. taxes) Provider: FiveNetworks, Mumbai They have got a pretty large network by now in 3 yrs time! Quite Satisfied!
  10. Long Battery Life

    Great! Can any of u write a detailed review of Nokia phones that u own? would be great to hear abt it.
  11. Tweak LG RD 5130

    Your Topic has merged with this thread. You may continue discussing here.
  12. Internet Usage Calculation

    There is no new s/w version than 15 for 2030 i believe! Once again, they came up wid a dumb answer!
  13. If u r very sure abt how much every month ur bill would be... then i dont think u shud have any issues to cough up some money in advance even before the due-date or for that matter even before u get a bill. Since u can check ur Unbill details, u can jus pay up say 1000 bucks on the 15th Day to enhance ur credit-limit. As far as i know, biz owners usually pay by cheque, so jus drop in a cheque of 1000 odd bucks in any of their drop-boxes on the 15th and ur issue wud be resolved! Though u can try out the "talking way" to get the limit enhanced, but i suggest this method only becoz when u r on roaming, its a quite a hassle to get ur phone barred! So jus be on check
  14. But in that case the ringtone, doesn't reach the phone!
  15. Incoming MMS on LG 6130

    I was talking abt the MMS Server developed by RIM. Yeh, it might be chargeable! Yahoo/Rediff is not working for me as well.
  16. Internet Usage Calculation

    Dont go overboard while using it, or else the Negative Balance Effects will be brightly visible in ur "bills" this time! Dont forget that u r not using a prepaid cell, that u can throw it off...! And dont rely on the stats provided by the site, they might jus not be updated real-time! Soon u might even see a disclaimer for this!
  17. Rim2rim Balance 4 Rconnect?!

    SMS n R-Connect Charges are deducted in "Bulk". Hence it might not show up immediately after SMSing or R-Connecting. But be assured that it'll get deducted in a day or two or even within a week's time! Thats sick but thats wht their system is programmed to do!
  18. U bet! I've had a personal exp wid NIIT's franchisee in Mumbai. They've already paid up for an Advt in our VOW but its more than a month that they haven't yet sent the Advt Material! :'( Anyways, speaking of these Franchisees, if there are any Mngmt Grads here, dont know but have u'll read a book called NO LOGO ?? In that it explains that a franchisee model or more retail outlets may not bring in better or more revenue at each individual outlet, but overall they bring in huge(HUGE) revenue for the company! U must read to know wht i mean to say!
  19. Hey Rohit, thnx to u, am enjoying the tones on a newly bought N2280! :'( Jus a lil query, From the above SKCL File i've tried sending quite a few tones... Most of them dont play on the handset or come without a title... Do u know how to correct them? And moreover.. The tones in that list are in the following format: // SCKL15811581080303 4000 Whereas for a tone to play on this handset the space in between shud be something like this: //SCKL1581 15810803034000 Do u get what i mean? Do u knw how to correct the same n then send it as a tone?
  20. Can VSNL become a global player? Shobhana Subramanian in Mumbai | April 04, 2005 Rediff.com Once a monopoly player in international long distance telephony, Videsh Sanchar Nigam is gearing up to be a contender across segments in the telecom space. It is a serious player in the bandwidth game, having acquired Tyco Global Network. VSNL's focus is fast shifting from voice to value-added data services. It has forayed into the retail broadband arena where subscribers are estimated to touch 20 million by 2010. More recently, it has made an entry into South Africa through a tie-up with a couple of local firms. The Tata-promoted VSNL believes that the new initiatives should help it reduce its dependence on the ILD segment. With TGN, VSNL now has access to 60,000 km of network across three continents and capacity on all cables landing in India. This, according to analysts, will give it an edge as it can provide more value-adding services to enterprises than its competitors. Says Falgun Shah, analyst at Cholamandalam Securities, "The TGN network gives VSNL global reach and will help it step up the international business." According to Nasscom's estimates, the demand for international bandwidth is tipped to rise six-fold from 15.4 gbps in FY05 to 92.5 gbps in FY09, led by the demand from tech and BPO sectors. Volumes in the bandwidth business could grow at a CAGR of 50 per cent in the next three years. However, there could be pressure on prices, which have dropped 60 per cent between 2000 and 2004 and could fall by about 20 per cent in the next couple of years. Analysts, however, believe that VSNL will have the ability to charge competitive rates and, therefore, the $130 million paid for Tyco is reasonable. They feel that the venture could be revenue accretive from FY07. Besides, VSNL has forayed into the retail broadband arena. Broadband subscribers are expected to number 20 million by 2010, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India estimates, and VSNL's share is just about 13 per cent, presenting a big opportunity. Analysts believe that revenues from the ILD business could fall further, but only slightly with prices having dropped by over 80 per cent since April 2002, when the sector was thrown open to competition. ILD revenues are estimated to fall from around Rs 2,133 crore in FY04 to Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) in FY05, and remain at these levels. Thus, data businesses are likely to be the key revenue earners for the company in the future. VSNL's South African venture will be through Second National Operator, which will be the second player in the fixed line telecom market. The government-owned Telekom SA is the sole player today and so a monopoly. According to the management, "South Africa is a large, virgin market for telecom services and an opportunity for VSNL to leverage its expertise." The project cost is estimated to be Rs 6000-7,000 crore (Rs 60-70 billion) with a debt-equity ratio of 1:1. For its equity stake of 26 per cent, VSNL's contribution would be in the region of Rs 800-Rs 900 crore (Rs 8-9 billion), to be sourced from internal accruals and debt. The South African market s estimated at $12 billion, with an almost equal split between fixed and mobile. Of the fixed line segment, 80 per cent comprises revenues from the voice segment, while the remaining 20 per cent is accounted for by data. SNO will provide domestic and international voice and data services, including Internet dial-up and broadband. It is likely to get access to a network of 6000 km of optic fibre cable. There are currently three players in the mobile telephony space -- Vodacom, MTNL and CellC. Though the SNO licence does not allow it to offer fully mobile services, it will be allowed to provide limited mobility (fixed wireless) services. Prices of services are currently between three-thirteen times higher than in India. The data segment is still small and is going to be the target area for SNO. The focus will be on enterprises in banking, mining and automobile industries. The Tatas believe that the SNO venture is a strategic fit, similar to the Tyco acquisition, and view the African venture as a long-term investment that could be offloaded at some point after a listing. The venture is unlikely to provide any dividend inflows in the near term. Even if that does not materialise the management believes that a five million fixed line subscriber base yielding revenues of $6-7 billion four years down the line is an attractive enough proposition. The project would require around $1.5 billion of capex over three to four years. The entry of a third operator and a fall in tariffs are also not ruled out. Analysts are recommending the stock because they believe that the changing business model could result in VSNL emerging a leading global telecommunications player. They feel that the data business would pan out well given the demand for bandwidth. The South African venture, broadband revenues and also the stake in Tata Teleservices will all add value to the stock.
  21. Incoming MMS on LG 6130

    It works for me atleast... Obv cant gurantee for some1 else. And rem, i have an upgraded s/w. So its upto u to decide what to go for!
  22. Reading Mms On The Web

    Bull's eye! U hit it right!
  23. Incoming MMS on LG 6130

    Before anything else, have u guys upgraded the phone software to Version 15?
  24. All about LG 6130 - Camera Phone

    Group SMS feature is new! Check on the MMS... it might be just chargeable from April 01. U can zip all the pics and attach it to ur post!
  25. Negative Balance

    I'll look into this *369 funda today or tomo on a prepaid tht has this problem of Negative Balance and let u know! But overall, this whole concept of maintaining a negative balance by deducting in bulk for Prepaid seems wrong to me. Something needs to be done seriously abt this!
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