Honest

Asus Launches P320 PDA in India Asus has launched the P320 Mini Stylish PDA phone targeted at the fashion-conscious. Operating on Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional platform the P320 offers features such as GPS navigation; EDGE/GPRS and WiFi, Bluetooth and USB. It has a 2.6-inch TFT touch screen, 128 MB Flash ROM, 64 MB DDR RAM and a 2.0 megapixel camera. The P320 is also equipped with an RSS Reader. The P320 features the 'Ur Time' application that allows users to set up to four different countries' default time on the phone desktop for quick country-specific time references. Edward Wang - Business Head, Mobile Communication Business, ASUS (India) said, "The ASUS P320 is designed stylishly and is by far the smallest ASUS PDA Phone. The size of the phone is compact and handy, and it is meant not only for business professionals but is also a fashion gadget for all youngsters, students and ladies." The Asus P320 will be available nationwide through India Digital Lifestyle Distributors Pvt. Ltd. (IDLDPL) at an approximate end user price of Rs. 12,900. Specifications table for this handset : Courtesy : Tech2 & Techtree

Telcos should probe all complaints of inflated bill: Panel 26 Jun, 2008, 1840 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: Whenever a consumer questions his exorbitant telephone bill, the service provider should conduct an "in-depth" inquiry to find out the truth, the Delhi Consumer Commission has said. "Whenever a consumer raises such allegations, an in-depth inquiry be made to find out whether the telephone numbers which are responsible for highly inflated bills have ever been used in the past or has any nexus or relationship with the consumer...," Commission President Justice J D Kapoor said. Highlighting several instances in which the CBI had unearthed unauthorised use of customers' telephones by the employees of service providers, the Commission quashed bills issued by MTNL to Ashish Prakash, who alleged the STD/ISD facilities of his telephone were misused by the officials of the service provider. Allowing the appeal of Prakash, the Commission reversed findings of a district consumer forum, which had held that the secret dynamic STD/ISD codes was known to the user only and allegations of telephone misuse was unfounded. "Merely because the dynamic STD/ISD code was known to Prakash and A-class officers does not mean that it cannot be misused," Justice Kapoor said. The Commission also considered the fact that the calls were made to various countries including Italy, Estonia and Sumo Island and that Prakash had never made calls to those places earlier. It ordered the MTNL to raise bills on the average basis against Prakash, a resident of Vasant Kunj. Prakash had complained that he received inflated bills for his landline phone for January to July 2006 and MTNL had refused to conduct an inquiry into his complaint.

Spicy Deal: Idea seeks policy clarity from DoT 27 Jun, 2008, 0049 hrs IST NEW DELHI: After the acquisition of Spice, Idea Cellular is learnt to have written to department of telecom (DoT) seeking regulatory clarity on a host of issues, including the licences and radio frequencies that were recently awarded to Spice. This is because, Spice was recently allotted mobile licences in four circles, Delhi, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, and Idea already has full-fledged mobile operations in all these circles. Sources said that Idea had sounded off the DoT asking if the company should give up the licences held by Spice in these circles since Indian telecom regulations do not permit a service provider to hold twin licences in a circle. It is also learnt that Idea has also sought clarity regarding the spectrum allotted to Spice in the circle of Andhra Pradesh. This is because, Idea already holds 8.2 MHz of radio frequencies in this circle with a subscriber base of just under 4 million. The DoT had recently allotted 4.4 MHz of start-up radio frequencies for Spice in AP, and following the merger, the combined entity holds over 12.6 MHz of in this circle. However, as per the new subscriber-linked spectrum allocation norms issued by the DoT, a telco should have over 9 million customers in a circle to be eligible to hold on the 12.5 MHz of radio frequencies. The new merger norms announced by the DoT allows the combined entity to hold on the radio frequencies allotted to both companies, but only if the merged company has the requisite subscriber base. An industry source said that since the merger process would be complete only by mid-2009, Idea could use this time to build up the requisite subscriber base in a bid to hold on to the 12.6 MHz of radio frequencies.

ADAG moves court to save MTN deal 26 Jun, 2008, 0633 hrs IST MUMBAI: The war of words between the Ambani brothers over RCOM’s proposed reverse merger with South African telco MTN may now reach the courts. Two Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) companies have filed caveats in the Bombay High Court, to ensure that no ex-parte order was issued in case Mukesh Ambani’s flagship company Reliance Industries (RIL) attempts to enforce its claimed first right of refusal in case a deal with MTN happens. Sources said Reliance Communications (RCOM), which is in talks with MTN to create one of the world’s top telecom companies, and another company AAA Communications filed the caveats in the Bombay High Court last week. AAA Communications, ADAG’s investment arm, holds 63% stake of the group’s 66% stake in RCOM. The bone of contention between the Ambani brothers lies in RIL’s claim that it holds the first right of refusal in case RCOM is sold to a third party. RCOM denies any such right. RIL sources said ADAG has repeatedly sought to enforce this right in case of various initiatives by RIL and by Mukesh Ambani and his associates. Although MTN has maintained that the sibling rivalry would not have any impact on its talks with RCOM, experts said the deal may face the threat of getting delayed by the legal proceedings. “This threat may have an impact on the share-swap ratio,” said a source, adding that MTN is now scrutinising the legal implication of RIL’s claim. However, this could not be independently verified with MTN. Anil Ambani may visit London to firm up deal It is learnt that Anil Ambani is expected to visit London shortly to give final touches to the proposed deal. Ken Kosta, Lazard’s head of Europe, is leading the ADAG effort from his London office. If the deal happens, it will create a telecom company with a combined subscriber base of 115 million, covering Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The broad contours of the deal being discussed between MTN and RCOM indicate that ADAG will emerge as the largest shareholder of the Johannesburg-based MTN, while RCOM will become MTN’s subsidiary. ADAG is expected to get nearly one-third stake in MTN by swapping his shareholding in RCOM. ADAG may chip in a few billion dollars to top up the offer, depending on the share-swap ratio. Both parties have signed an agreement to hold ‘exclusive talks’ till July 8. The animosity between the Ambani brothers is nothing new. They parted ways in June 2005, after one of the prolonged and bitterest battles in the history of Corporate India. Since then, both brothers have grown their business manifold and have displayed a habit of obstructing each other’s expansion plans. RIL sources claim that this propensity has mostly been exhibited by ADAG. However, the latest round was begun by RIL, which two weeks ago sent a letter to MTN, claiming that it enjoys the first right of refusal in case RCOM is sold. RIL’s claims are based on a disputed agreement with three ADAG entities signed on January 2006. RIL had also sent the same letter to RCOM a day later. The January 2006 agreement was to implement the demerger of businesses between the brothers. RCOM’s reaction was swift. In a communication, made public within a day after getting the RIL’s letter, RCOM said: “The tone of the letter clearly indicates that it is part of a mala fide design, with no substance, to simply try and disrupt talks between RCOM and MTN, by raising the false bogey of litigation and damages. The use of threatening and coercive language by RIL, India’s largest private company, with MTN, a globally respected telecom major, is very unfortunate.” RIL had earlier said: “It has in good faith notified both ADAG and MTN of the stipulations contained in an agreement, the validity of which has never been questioned so far by ADAG.”

NSA review of defence deal may delay 3G rollout 27 Jun, 2008, 0041 hrs IST NEW DELHI: There may a new twist that could further delay the release of spectrum by the defence forces towards commercial telephony. National Security Advisor (NSA) is examining all joint commendations made by the defence, communication & IT ministries before releasing the radio frequencies to ensure that the issue of national security is not compromised, said minister of state for defence MM Pallam Raju at the conference organised by industry body Assocham on Thursday. At present, cellular companies such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and BSNL cannot launch 3G telecom services such as mobile TV, interactive gaming and high-speed internet on mobiles unless 3G spectrum vacated by the defence forces is reallocated to them. “The decision on allocation of spectrum would come only after getting NSA’s observations,” Mr Raju said. The minister also added that the delay in allocating spectrum to Indian Inc has been primarily because the government could not evolve an alternate communication networking system for its armed forces as it has legacy of equipment that are not spectrum friendly. “Now that the alternate advance telecom system is being restored for the defence and armed forces, spectrum release should not be a problem and the decision on release of spectrum would be taken shortly,” Mr Raju added. The minister, however, did not make any commitment on whether spectrum allocation would be accomplished by the this year-end. Last year, the telecom and defence ministries had reached an informal agreement under which the latter was to vacate about 25 MHz of 3G spectrum (radio frequencies) to meet the immediate requirements of telecom operators. It was then decided that the finer details of releasing the radio frequencies and the time frame for the same will be decided by a technical committee headed by national security advisor NK Narayanan. Both ministries also said that the committee would assess the long-term requirements of defence, telecom and other sectors that require radio frequencies, before laying out the future road map for spectrum vacation, its utilisation and allotment. Sources said that the initial plan was to release about 25 MHz of 3G spectrum by December 2007 and 65 MHz more by March, 2008, but these have been held up on account of two fronts: One, the NSA is yet to clear the same, and second, the DoT is yet to provide an alternative fibre optic network to the defence forces. At the same time, the defence and telecom ministries are currently involved in a standoff as the former has also asked DoT to spend an additional Rs 3,020 crore to upgrade the alternate network (taking the total cost to Rs 4,000 crore) while adding that this network should be provided without any rental and annual maintenance cost.

Defence-telecom ministry pact over spectrum vacation on anvil 26 Jun, 2008, 1750 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: An agreement between Ministries of Defence and Communications, to chart a roadmap for the armed forces to vacate radio frequency for the use of mobile communication, is on the anvil, Junior Defence Minister M M Pallam Raju said on Thursday. "We are in the process of making the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Communications sign an Memorandum of Understanding on this issue," Raju said, after inaugurating a workshop on WiMAX organised by Assocham and the WiMax forum. He said the MoU would layout the process of vacating spectrum from the defence forces besides specifying the alternative networks using different spectrum bands and the time-frame for vacating the radio waves. "The national security advisor is facilitating the whole process," the minister added. He also said that the government cannot afford to compromise with national security and the alternative communication system of defence has to be very reliable. "It depends on how quickly we get the alternatives as it wouldn't be fair to deny our people the kind of services that new technologies like 3G or WiMAX offers," he said. Raju added that the defence would vacate the much-awaited spectrum very soon, but did not give any timeframe for it. "Spectrum will be vacated very soon," he said. This would help India witness a plethora of communication services based on 3G and Wi-MAX technologies. BSNL is currently working on an alternative fibre network which would enable the defence forces to vacate 45 Mhz of spectrum for use by commercial cellular service providers. The PSU had prepared the network for Airforce and Navy and was later told to modify it as per their needs.

Spice deal: Idea readies its armada for battle 26 Jun, 2008, 0353 hrs IST MUMBAI: In the three-way deal, Idea Cellular is laughing all the way to the bank. At a time when market conditions are choppy and many IPOs are on hold, the AV Birla group has made a killing by diluting 14.99% stake for a net inflow of Rs 4,574 crore. With current market cap of $6 billion, Idea would have needed to dilute around 18% stake to get this kind of money. But it managed to perform the feat with a dilution of just under 15%. The preferential allotment of shares to Telekom Malaysia International (for a 14.99% stake) has been made at Rs 156.96 per share, a 54% premium to Idea’s closing price on Wednesday. The Idea scrip closed at Rs 102.05, up 2.92%. The deal gives Idea 4.5 million subscribers in two lucrative markets and a strategic investor like TM, which will support it in 3G rollout and in offering more value-added services. Not only this, Idea’s balance sheet has turned debt-free. Last month, Idea monetised a part of its 16% stake in Indus Towers, the world’s largest tower company, for $640 million. It sold 20% in Aditya Birla Telecom, which holds the stake in Indus, to Providence Partners. Idea now effectively has around 12% in Indus Towers. With these two transactions, Idea has wiped out its debt, which stood at Rs 4,250 crore at the end of March 2008. “It’s a transformational deal for Idea. It helps Idea in achieving pan-India presence and the balance sheet of the company becomes debt-free, post transaction,” DSP Merrill Lynch MD Saurabh Agrawal told ET. It is a strategic fit for Idea and will propel it to the top league in the Indian telecom sector, he added. The company, close to rolling out operations in Mumbai, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Orissa circles, has outlined a capex of Rs 10,000 crore for FY09 and FY10. The deal brings in the much-needed money for rolling out operations in new circles. Moreover, while Spice has been making losses even 11 years after it started operations, Idea will not take more than three quarters to turnaround the two-circle operator. As reported by ET on June 16, the main reason for Spice being unprofitable is the sub-optimal utilisation of its infrastructure. While infrastructure cost per subscriber for Spice is around Rs 6,000, for Idea, it is around Rs 4,800 per user. This shows that a 20-25% addition to Spice subscriber base from its year-end (it follows January-December fiscal) level will make its cost comparable to that of Idea. Spice is currently gaining subscribers at around 50% every year. This implies that it will take not more than 6-8 months to gain an additional 25% users, meeting Idea’s levels of infrastructure cost per subscriber.

^^^ @Anirudh Yes my dear friend, I myself is using a chinese dual sim (gsm+cdma) handset. And I've no compatibility problems at all. I don't use Rworld at all thats why I never tried too. And I think that you cannot configure Rwold and Netconnect for internet usage on these dual sim handsets. Thats only the con. Otherwise their is no problems faced at all. Regards.

^^^ Yes my dear Greatest, you are 100% correct. Price of the above PDA seems to be quite reasonable according to the features of the handset. Regards.

^^^ In CDMA handsets their are very less models available for unlimited recording of incoming and outgoing calls. But in GSM their are a number of handsets available for this feature. Regards.

^^^ Just download the driver from the Reliance's website my dear friend. Regards.

Orange to provide long distance telecom services in India 25 Jun, 2008, 1639 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: Orange Business Services, the enterprise communications arm of France Telecom today said it has received the license to provide national and international long distance telecommunications services across India. This license would enable Orange Business Services to expand its operations in the country by enabling it to provide long distance network and network-related services to businesses, Orange said in a statement. "The license will significantly increase our business growth in the country. More importantly we will now be able to serve our global and Indian customers more effectively.", Orange Business Services India CEO Sanjay Vig said. This would enable the company to offer services directly to multi-site corporate customers in the Indian as well as the international market. The company would roll out services through its joint venture company Equant Network Services India Private Ltd. Besides, Orange also plans to offer a variety of connectivity and network related services in India including Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN), Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), network- related managed services and adaptive network solutions for enterprises, it added. The company currently employs more than 2,000 people in India, serving more than 680 Indian and multinational clients, including Pfizer, Citibank, Standard Chartered, Deloitte and WNS among others.

France Telecom arm gets NLD nod 26 Jun, 2008, 0220 hrs IST NEW DELHI: Orange Business Services, the mobile arm of communications major France Telecom, on Wednesday said that it had received the licence to provide long-distance telecommunications services in India as a national and international long-distance (NLD-ILD) operator. In April 2008, the DoT had cleared Orange’s applications for NLD and ILD licences. The company becomes the fifth international communications major to receive permission—other four being US-based AT&T and Verizon, British Telecom (BT) and Cable & Wireless. Of these players, AT&T and British Telecom have already launched both NLD and ILD services in the country while Cable & Wireless is in the process of launching services here. At present, the business generated by the long-distance segment in India is estimated to be worth over Rs 10,000 crore annually. France Telecom has formed a JV partnership with Emery Technologies, a company owned by Moser Baer’s MD, Mr Deepak Puri, for its India operations. This is because, as per Indian regulations, the foreign direct holdings in telecom is capped at 74%. “The company (Orange) will be immediately rolling out services through its joint venture company ‘Equant Network Services India Private Limited’. This will enable the company to offer services directly to multi-site corporate customers in the Indian as well as the international market. Orange Business Services will plans to offer a variety of connectivity and network related services in India including Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN), Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), network- related managed services and adaptive network solutions for enterprises,” the company said in a statement. Last year, France Telecom (through Orange) had acquired the enterprise and managed services division of GTL for around Rs 250 crore.

Idea buys Spice for Rs 2,176 crore 26 Jun, 2008, 0155 hrs IST MUMBAI: In one of the biggest deals in the Indian telecom sector, Aditya Birla group’s Idea Cellular on Wednesday said it would acquire BK Modi’s Spice Communications to strengthen its position in the growing telecom market. The deal consists of four related, but distinct transactions. To begin with, Idea will acquire the Modis’ 40.8% stake in Spice. Subsequently, Idea will launch the mandatory 20% open offer for the Spice shareholders, jointly with Telekom Malaysia International (TMI). Idea will merge Spice with itself and offer a 14.99% stake to TMI through a preferential allotment. Idea will earn Rs 7,294 crore ($1.7 billion, assuming an exchange rate of Rs 43) by selling this stake to TMI. This would make it one of the largest infusions of FDI into India. Idea has agreed to buy the Modis’ 28.14 crore shares for Rs 77.30 each, totalling Rs 2,176 crore. In addition, it will shell out Rs 544 crore, or over Rs 19 a share, to the Modis as a non-compete fee. This is under the 25% limit (with reference to the open offer price to non-promoter investors) prescribed by Sebi for any such payment. The 14.99% preferential allotment to TMI will ensure that Idea, despite being the purchaser, ends up as a net gainer in the transaction. The net income for Idea, after making payment to the Modis, will be Rs 4,574 crore. The Idea-TM combine will launch the open offer at Rs 77.30 jointly with TMI, which now holds 39.2%in Spice. At this stage it is not clear who will pick up how much. Idea will earn Rs 7,294 crore by selling 46.47 crore preferential shares to TMI for Rs 156.96 apiece. According to the merger formula, Spice shareholders will get 49 Idea shares for every 100 shares they held. The payment to the Modis is being funded through internal accruals. After completion of the deal, which is expected to be done in next six months, Idea’s equity base will be expanded due to issue of fresh shares to TMI, and also because of the share swap. On Wednesday, Idea scrip closed at Rs 102.05, up 2.9% while Spice scrip touched an all-time high of Rs 73.40, before closing at Rs 72.35, a 33% gain over the previous day’s close. ET first reported on June 10 that Spice shares will be acquired by Idea at between Rs 77 and Rs 78 per share. On June 12, we reported that TMI will buy just under 15% stake in Idea through preferential offer and will hold around 20% in the merged entity. “Spice will be delisted and TMI’s holding in the new Idea (post-merger) will be a maximum of 20% (depending on the response to the open offer) and one non-executive board seat,” AV Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla told ET.

^^^ @Anirudh My dear friend, you can still use Fly, Spice or any other Chinese phone for your Reliance connection. The only problem you may face is that you could not use Rworld or Netconnect on these handsets. Regards.

Mobile value-add cos grope in dark for right numbers 26 Jun, 2008, 0000 hrs IST NEW DELHI: Lack of real time IT systems to capture actual mobile value added services (MVAS) usage is a cause of major distrust in the Rs 4,500 crore MVAS industry. The distrust, in turn, is leading to arguments and revenue leakages among the MVAS aggregators, content providers and developers. The content owners have the right to the IP of the content. The problem originates from the lack of proper management information systems (MIS) reporting in the industry. The owners of content (like ringtones, songs, wallpapers, games, videos) book their revenue generated by mobile content download at the end of every month. For this, they require the download figures provided by the content aggregator, who refuses to share the content figures as they are not available from the operator. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has also taken cognisance of this and has issued a consultation process to resolve the issues. CII has formed a consultative committee on VAS related issues. In its consultation paper, Trai has noted that currently, the VAS vendor is reluctant to share its online MIS with the content owner since it’s unable to estimate, with any reasonable accuracy, the final MIS that it may have to settle for with the telecom operator, after reconciliation of traffic figures. This has resulted in a lack of transparency — with some large content publishers doubting the integrity of VAS vendors. “We are aware that there are contentious issues with regard to the level of transparency that is currently being followed in the industry. CII is working with all the stakeholders concerned to bring about a transparent and mutually acceptable MIS and reconciliation mechanism,” says Vikram Tiwathia of CII. According to CII, there should be a formal process of reconciliation of MIS for difference above 2% — including the right of both parties to seek arbitration proceedings, if necessary. An Indiatimes spokesperson said: “The problem can be resolved if there is 100% real time MIS reporting available on the web on a minute by minute basis. It can also be resolved if all content is routed through a central nodal agency.” Says Mobile2Win founder and country head Rajiv Hiranandani “Content aggregators don’t report correct MIS figures to content owners for two reasons. One, they don’t know what MIS figures the operator will report to them which is sometimes as low as 80% of the correct MIS figures. Two, some VAS vendors are not honest and try to make money by reporting lower figures, creating a distrust in the industry.” “Sometimes the telecom operators report the MIS figures after 2-3 months, which creates a problem for VAS aggregators and content owners who have to book their revenues,” says Sanjit Chatterjee, director global sales at FlyTxt. “Often the settlement process stretches to 9-12 months, which leads to lot of revenue leakage,” he adds. Major VAS players and aggregators in the country are Indiatimes 8888, Mobile2Win, OnMobile, Hungama, Star TV, Sony BMG, Mauj, T-Series and Eros. The revenue through VAS is expected to cross 30% of the mobile service provider’s revenue in the next 5-7 years, according to Trai. VAS content circulated across the 270 million mobile subscribers’ handsets in India include songs, movie clippings, games, mobile TV, jokes, ringtones, caller tunes , reality show downloads, cricket score, match clippings and cricket commentary.

^^^ @Amit My dear friend, you are always welcome to give suggestions to make our beloved Rimweb the best forum available on the net. Regards.

^^^ @Amit My dear friend, your information about this offer is really appreciated at our beloved Rimweb. But please post about your selling offers only in Buy / Sell Forum. Please leave this thread to discuss about the pros and cons of the above offer. You can start a separate thread in Buy / Sell Forum for your Selling options. Regards.

BlackBerry row: Sleuths against traffic moving outside India 25 Jun, 2008, 1602 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: In a setback to operators offering BlackBerry services, security agencies are understood to have hardened their stance and asked Department of Telecom to ensure that traffic originating and terminating in India should not travel outside the country. "There should be a single point of delivery system for the entire BlackBerry traffic in India and the traffic originating and terminating in India should not travel outside," the agencies said in a note to the Department of Telecom (DoT). The decision has been taken after Cairn Technologies along with US-based SS8 demonstrated e-mail monitoring solutions for the contents sent through BlackBerry. According to sources, the agencies have found various limitations in the monitoring system (as demonstrated by the companies) both in terms of legality of the system as well as its quality. "In case of heavy usage, the quality of service of the intercepted device would deteriorate noticeably, thereby increasing the chances of the user coming to know that his device was behaving abnormally," the note said. In view of the limitations, the security agencies have asked DoT to convey to the service providers offering BlackBerry services on its network to make necessary monitoring arrangements to the satisfaction of security agencies, it added. "The targeted intercepts of the BlackBerry traffic should be delivered to the designated security agencies in a readable and intelligible format through the Indian carriers with the content being delivered in real time," it said.

^^^ Great work my dear Vishal. Theme looks to be really cool. Regards.

^^^ @Arun Yes my dear friend, I was referring to Swift 30, infact I forgot the name of this plan, thats why I didn't mentioned it. Oh yes its 15 hours during peak hours. But earlier it was mentioned on Reliance's website that some SMS too are free with this plan. Regards.

Nokia to Acquire Symbian Nokia has announced that it is acquiring Symbian, the company behind the Symbian software that is used in several (Nokia) smart phones. Nokia has purchased all available (52 percent) shares of Symbian at a price of EUR 3.647 per share that will result in an approximately EUR 264 million buyout. Nokia said that investors holding approximately 91 percent of Symbian shares, including Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Sweden's Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Panasonic Mobile Communications, and Siemens International Holding BV, have irrevocably agreed to accept its offer. Samsung is expected to get added on to this list. The Symbian acquisition is a fundamental step in the establishment of the 'Symbian Foundation', announced yesterday by Nokia along with AT&T, LG, Motorola, NTT DoCoMo, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, and Vodafone. The 'Symbian Foundation' is aimed at creating a unified open mobile software platform, which will eventually lead to innovation and accelerate availability of new services and compelling experiences for consumers and business users around the world. Symbian is already one of the most widely-used mobile platforms. The foundation is expected to start operations during the first half of 2009, subject to closing of Nokia's acquisition of Symbian.

India Inc divided on iPhone vs BlackBerry 25 Jun, 2008, 1038 hrs IST NEW DELHI: Apple's iconic iPhone may not yet be here but India Inc has already fallen for it. Several top honchos have opted for the stylish iPhone. Not surprisingly the launch of Apple’s 3G iPhone in India on July 11 could see more people switching to the touch and motion sensing capabilities of the cool handset. It could give BlackBerry, the business tool of executives some serious competition. For instance, Helion Partners managing partner Kanwalinder Singh, Radisson MBD executive director Sonika Malhotra and Maruti Udyog IT GM Rajesh Uppal are already using the iPhone. Others like Indian Premier League CEO Sundar Raman, Contests2Win founder CEO Raj Menon, HP India imaging & printing group vice-president Ravi Aggarwal are eagerly waiting to buy the iPhone when it’s launched here. Says Rajesh Uppal, GM, IT Maruti Udyog: “I have shifted to the iPhone six months ago and find it excellent.. And I am definitely going to buy a second iPhone and utilise its full potential.” Some like the iPhone style. MBD Group executive director Sonika Malhotra says: “More than anything it’s the style factor which attracted me to the iPhone. The touch screen pad and the user experience is good. But I still keep a Nokia.” Apple has announced that it will launch its 2G and 3G phones in India next month. Corporate world’s business tool, the BlackBerry 2G phones—Pearl and Curve cost Rs 24,990 in the Indian market—available from service providers like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Reliance. On the other hand, the Apple 2G iPhone is pegged to cost Rs 22,000 available from Airtel and Vodafone in India. Apple’s 3G phone launched this month will also be available in India at a price of around $299 (Rs 12,000) and $199 (Rs 8,000). BlackBerry is also planning to launch its 3G phone – Bold – this year. The disadvantage with an iPhone is that it does not offer MMS facility. Some corporati are eagerly awaiting the July launch of Apple iPhone but some plan to still swear by the age old BlackBerry Pearl. Says Ravi Aggarwal of HP India: “I use a BlackBerry for checking e-mails but a Nokia for voice mails and an Apple i-pod for music. However, I plan to buy Apple iPhone as soon as it’s launched in India.” Adds Rajiv Hiranandani , Country Head and Co-founder Mobile2win: “I use Nokia, Motorola and also love my BlackBerry and don’t plan to switch to Apple anytime soon because of some compatibility issues with a Laptop.” Subhinder Singh Prem, MD, Reebok India also does not feel the need to buy an iPhone. Some top managers like Indian Premier League CEO Sundar Raman want to try the iPhone for the curiosity factor. “I have been using a BlackBerry phone and am quite happy with its performance. However, I would certainly look forward to the iPhone and there’s no reason why I don’t buy it if I find it good enough.” Deepanshu Sharma, GM Marketing AMD India says: “The moment iPhone is available in India, I would buy at least one though am satisfied with a BlackBerry.” BlackBerry has come up with a counter strategy to Apple’s iPhone globally. Recently, Research in Motion, the makers of BlackBerry announced that they will be launching the BlackBerry Bold smartphone to support triband HSDPA (high speed downlink packet access, a 3G mobile protocol) high-speed networks integrated with GPS and Wi-Fi. The price of Bold is still not known. A BlackBerry carries extra security features with capability to wipe out entire data and make the phone unusable once if it’s lost. While the iPhone is heavier at 135 gm, BlackBerry weighs 89.5 gm. The iPhone has multi-touch , proximity sensor screen with a great media player and internet experience. But iPhone 3G does not allow users to edit documents (MS Word/Excel/PPT) on the device. In Asia Pacific BlackBerry has corporate customers like Coca Cola, KPMG, Zurich Insurance, Bell Asia Pacific, Colliers International, NCR, Touchbase and StorageTek. The Bangalore Police has also partnered with BlackBerry to issue challans. BlackBerry has about 14 million customers globally. After the iPhone launch BlackBerry may see some its clients shifting to Apple.

^^^ My dear friend, you can access internet from your handset also. As your requirement for net usage is very low, so you can opt for Data Plan 300. In which you will get 30 hours free net usage in peak hours as well as 30 hours free net usage for off-peak hours. Along with this, you will get some SMS free. I think its 50 sms. Regards.

^^^ Yes my dear Kumaar, even if it takes 6 months then also in the end the customer will get the benefit. Regards.