Anil Takes Over As Chairman Of Reliance Infocomm

[@ksh@T 20]

i thinnk mr CHOTTA ambani is transferring the AIRTEL/BHARTI into Reliance Infocomm wot u guys hv 2 say

[AmanJ 1]

I wonder within next few days bharti's half board will be prsent at the Reliance Info board.

May be then they might offer, offers like Airtel offers.

LOL

[Saurav 22]

Till date reliance Infocomm lacks one main thing i.e. employee satisfaction.

Bharti is among the topmost in employee satisfaction.

[Ashokjp 15]

After anil became chairman, news flooding with ppl joining reliance infocomm. And all of them have come from their rival companies.

Who knows, wat was the offer given by anil that they plan to leave the bharti n all.

was the salary at bharti very low ?

[anujit 0]

Exes switch jobs all the time.

Salary is rarely a big consideration because the $$$ increase at very high levels doesnt have much impact. For instance if someone is given a 20% hike from 50 lakh pay check he now earns 60 lakhs. There is very little difference that 10 lakhs brings at those levels!

The reason for change would be better challenges (sometimes promotions), tired of working at the same place for too long, and then of course (and usually last) $$$.

[Arun 795]

Mudra Gets Back Reliance Infocomm Media Account

Reliance Infocomm is consolidating its entire media AOR (agency of record) account back with the Anil Ambani-controlled Mudra Communication. Mudra's media buying arm, OMS, has already begun work on the Reliance Infocomm account, estimated at over Rs 100 crore, agency sources said. It has been learnt that OMS is in the process of setting up a dedicated team to handle the Infocomm account.

Prior to this development, Reliance Infocomm's media planning and buying was being handled internally by Reliance itself, though media release orders were being routed through OMS.

"Reliance Infocomm's media planning and buying are back with OMS. It was inevitable," industry sources said. According to sources, this development is an indication that the creative account will also move back to the Rs 1,000-crore Mudra. The creatives of Reliance Infocomm are currently split between Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis.

Top officials at Mudra were unavailable for comment. In October 2004, Mukesh Ambani had taken away the Reliance Infocomm account away from Mudra, in which Anil Ambani holds 90 per cent equity. This was seen as first sign of problems brewing between two brothers. It was also first time that any Reliance account had been moved away to an agency other than in-house Mudra.

Infocomm's advertising had created a huge buzz in the market, with the ‘Sehwag ki ma' commercial. With the telecom sector booming, advertising budgets are expected to grow exponentially. Expenditures of Reliance, Hutch and Bharti are among fastest growing among various categories.

[kawalghai_chd 0]

Reliance Infocomm will soon decide on roping in strategic investors to help it grow from a telephone major to a new-economy powerhouse straddling broadband and direct-to-home (DTH) television.

Temasek Holdings and the Carlyle Group are reportedly in talks with Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises (ADAE) for picking up a stake in the unlisted firm. Merchant bankers say the two bulge-bracket foreign institutional investors might be given a 10 per cent stake ahead of the company’s initial public offering (IPO), planned sometime around November or December.

An Infocomm spokesperson refused to say anything on the issue, saying it was the firm’s policy “not to comment on speculation”.

However, merchant bankers say the company was next in line for the fund infusion, after group firms Reliance Energy and Reliance Capital had been given their share of the funds. Infocomm could require at least Rs 15,000 crore over the next few years.

Only last month, the board of Reliance Industries valued Infocomm at Rs 22,528 crore. In doing so, it untied one of knots in a proposed de-merger of the group by converting a Rs 8,100-crore loan to Infocomm into equity shares.

The firm’s equity increased to Rs 704 crore, while Reliance’s stake went up to 65.9 per cent. The conversion took place at a price of Rs 32 per share

[kawalghai_chd 0]

Reliance Infocomm chief Anil Ambani, is understood to have raised a number of issues, including interconnection in telecom and access to landing stations of VSNL for broadband services, during his meeting with telecom regulator TRAI.

Anil called on TRAI Chairman Pradeep Baijal, for the first time after taking charge of India's biggest private telecom network following settlement of ownership of Reliance empire with elder brother Mukesh.

During the discussion, Anil raised the issue of Tatas-controlled Flag and the access to VSNL's landing stations in Mumbai, an issue on which Infocomm and Tatas have crossed swords, sources said.

In their response to the consultation paper on bandwidth issue brought out by TRAI, Reliance Infocomm had accused VSNL of "monopolistic tendencies", a charge that was denied by the Tata-controlled entity.

"It was a courtesy call," Baijal told PTI when asked about the over two hour-meeting with Anil yesterday.

During his meeting, Anil is also understood to have discussed interconnection among telecom players, spectrum allocation and 3G (next generation technology) in the sector.

Official from Reliance Infocomm were not available for comment on the meeting between Anil and Baijal.

The meeting comes within days of Reliance Infocomm charging VSNL with denying access to cable landing stations by resorting to both price and non-price barriers, thus "killing" competition in the bandwidth which was crucial for BPO as well as broadband services.

Reliance's communication was in response to a consultation paper on "Measures to promote Competition in International Private Leased Circuit in India" even as VSNL countered the allegation saying it was not charging high tariff for its facilities and was all for competition to benefit consumers.

VSNL had disagreed with Infocomm on the need for regulatory intervention in the bandwidth pricing mechanism and said there was enough competition even now and prices would be market determined.

Anil also discussed the issue of spectrum allocation with Baijal. TRAI has already given its recommendations to Department of Telecom (DoT).

Allocation of spectrum is crucial for Reliance Infocomm and other telecom operators as all of them have indicated they will move to next generation (3G) technology which may require additional spectrum.

[Chirag 5]

During the discussion, Anil raised the issue of Tatas-controlled Flag and the access to VSNL's landing stations in Mumbai, an issue on which Infocomm and Tatas have crossed swords, sources said.

36263[/snapback]

Flag controlled by TATA?? Newsmakers!

[@ksh@T 20]

this is one of the biggest mistakes aint it!

hey man it has been acquired by reliance

[kawalghai_chd 0]

Mumbai July 29 (UNI) Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises (ADAE) Chairman Anil Ambani has also become the Chairman of FLAG Telecom, a leading provider of international wholesale network transport and communications services, according to an official release.

The other member of the Board incluce FLAG Telecom's CEO Patrick Gallagher as Vice Chairman, Reliance Infocomm Group President B D Khurana and FLAG Telecom Executive Vice President Ed McCormack.

The FLAG Board of Directors will oversee and supervise the management and operations of FLAG Telecom through an Executive Team comprising of senior executives.

FLAG Telecom, a member company of the ADAE Group, has an established customer base of more than 180 leading operators, including all the top ten international carriers.

FLAG owns and manages an extensive optical fibre network spanning four continents and connecting key business markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the USA.

[solanky 0]

Jai Menon quits Reliance Infocom, rejoins Bharti

In less than a month, Jai Menon rejoined Bharti Group after a brief stint in Anil Ambani's Reliance Infocom, which maintained the technocrat had submitted to stay with them for five years.

When contacted Bharti official spokespereson confirmed that Menon has rejoined the Group.

Menon, looking after the IT operations in Bharti, could not be contacted for a comment despite several attempts.

When contacted Reliance Infocom Spokesperson neither confirmed nor questioned the development but maintained "Dr Menon has an effective five-year contract to serve the group".

Source : Outlook India

Edited August 1, 2005 by solanky

[Arun 795]

Reliance Capital pays Rs 400 crores for AMP Sanmar

Mumbai/Chennai August 1, 2005

Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Capital Ltd (RCL), and the shareholders of AMP Sanmar Life Insurance Company, today signed an agreement for the sale of 100 per cent equity in the Chennai-based life insurance firm.

Reliance Capital's acquisition is, however, subject to the regulatory approval. Reliance Capital had already applied to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) for the renewal of its life insurance licence under Reliance Life Insurance Company. It had received the IRDA R2 clearance in early 2001.

Highly-placed sources disclosed that the deal was struck for about Rs 400 crore, making it Anil Ambani’s biggest acquisition to date, since Adlabs was acquired for Rs 360 crore.

It is not yet known whether there will be any change in the name of the company, though Graham Meyer, CEO, AMP Sanmar Life said this would have no bearing on policy holders.

AMP Sanmar Life, a 26:74 joint venture between the Australian AMP group and the Chennai-based Sanmar, has a capital base of Rs 217.5 crore. This acquisition will give Reliance Capital an immediate entry into the growing life insurance business. AMP Sanmar has over 90 offices, a 9,000-strong agency force and an employee base of 900.

"With private players doing well, we see the acquisition of AMP Sanmar as a great opportunity to tap the huge potential in the Indian Market," said Reliance executives on being asked why the company chose to enter the business today, having obtained an in-principle IRDA licence in 2001.

Since the split between the two Ambani brothers, Anil Ambani has been "a man in a hurry, wanting to achieve things and strengthen his presence where ever possible," said top industry sources. The acquisition of AMP Sanmar, as in the case of Adlabs, will be funded by his own personal wealth, they added.

Reliance Capital buys AMP Sanmar InsuranceReliance Capital has already successfully forayed into the non-life insurance business through Reliance General Insurance Company.

The younger Ambani hopes to capitalise on the synergy between Reliance Infocomm and Life Insurance by cross-selling to the 1 crore subscriber base. Executives compared the synergy with that of bancassurance as Reliance Infocomm hoped to tap its 1500 outlets and 1 lakh channel partners.

Today's development marks the first true sale of a life insurance company in India. There had been a host of suitors for AMP Sanmar, which of late had seen phenomenal growth in its business despite the announcement of both the shareholders exiting. The Australian partner has declared its intentions to focus on its core home markets last year having exited the UK operations.

Following the finalisation of the deal, speaking to Business Standard, AMP Sanmar Managing Director Graham Meyer said, "The shareholders decided that Reliance was the most appropriate suitor in view of its strength, commitment and determination." He said the strong Indian corporate house offered security to the life insurance business.

Aviva and ICICI Prudential were among other life insurance companies in the race till the end, said industry sources.

Meyer said the decision to sell was driven purely by a strategic decision taken by AMP's CEO and the board, and had nothing to do with the performance in India.

The operations' break-even point would come after six to seven years, he added. The company began operations in January 2002.

The biggest challenge in managing AMP Sanmar was to deal with the pace of growth, said Meyer. "The speed was extraordinary," he added.

The company earned an aggregate premium of about Rs 200 crore in 2004-05, a growth of over 300 per cent over the previous year. In February 2005, the partners pumped in another Rs 57.10 crore into the life insurance company to take the total capital in the business to Rs 217.10 crore.

Meyer said AMP Sanmar was second or third in terms of size in the southern states, its stronghold. On an all-India basis, AMP Sanmar's ranking is lower.

AMP Sanmar has over 100 branches spread across the four southern states and parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra, and has covered over 2.25 lakh lives in the course of its operations.

Meyer said the existing management would work through the transition period, the duration of which depended on the insurance regulator.

The Sanmar Group announced that it had entered the business at the invitation of AMP and the decision to sell its stake was triggered by AMP's decision to exit.

In a statement, N Sankar, chairman of the group, said, "I am happy that the sale is to an Indian entity committed to the life insurance business in India."

[kawalghai_chd 0]

Not wanting to be left behind in wooing investors, ADA Enterprises chief Anil Ambani on Wednesday asserted that Reliance Infocomm would give a bonanza of at least Rs 10,000 crore to existing RIL shareholders in terms of value creation.

Although RIL had converted its preference shares, amounting to Rs 8,100 crore, at a price of Rs 32 per share, the conversion could have taken place at a price of upto Rs 105 per share, Anil said within hours of elder brother Mukesh unveiling mega investment plans of over Rs 47,000 crore before shareholders at RIL AGM.

After the conversion, the effective holding of RIL shareholders in Infocomm was 65 per cent at Rs 32 a share, he said adding that as per media and research reports the conversion could have been at a much higher rate.

Had the conversion been at Rs 105 a share, holding of RIL shareholders in Infocomm would have been reduced to 52.4 per cent while that of ADA enterprises increased to 47.6 per cent from 34.1 per cent now, Anil said in his presentation before the media.

This in other words meant a huge gain of a minimum of Rs 10,000 crore to over 23 lakh shareholders and a corresponding loss of ADAE, he said.

Anil Ambani has proposed a new holding company Reliance Communications Ventures Ltd for Infocomm, Reliance Telecom, Reliance Communications Infrastructure Ltd and Flag Telecom and said its listing was expected to be completed by March 31, 2006

[kawalghai_chd 0]

India's Reliance Industries Ltd. said its board had approved a plan to spin off its power, telecom and financial services interests into four separate holding companies, with effect from September 1.

The spin-off of holdings in Reliance Infocomm, Reliance Energy Ltd. and Reliance Capital Ltd. to its shareholders is part of the settlement of a dispute between the Ambani brothers who run Reliance, India's largest private-sector group.

All shareholders of Reliance Industries (RIL), would be issued one share in each of the four demerged holding companies for every Reliance share held, according to the company statement, which was released late on Friday.

The four demerged companies are Reliance Communication Ventures Ltd., which includes Reliance Infocomm and global telecoms carrier FLAG, Reliance Energy Ventures Ltd., Reliance Capital Ventures Ltd. and Global Fuel Management Services Ltd.

Reliance said a group of "specified shareholders", holding a combined 12.2 percent stake in Reliance Industries, would not take shares in the four demerged companies.

"The shares of the resulting companies will be listed on the stock exchanges in India, where RIL shares are currently listed, thus providing liquidity," the Reliance statement said.

Analysts say the spin-off will unlock value for Reliance and its shareholders and boost its shares.

Brokerage Enam Securities estimated Reliance Infocomm, which has more than 12 million cellular subscribers, could be valued at $8 billion. Based on this, it said in a research report that Reliance Industries shares may be worth 916 rupees.

[chandramauli 0]

when are these services going to start ???

[anujit 0]

If you mean Reliance Communication Ventures Ltd., which includes Reliance Infocomm and global telecoms carrier FLAG, Reliance Energy Ventures Ltd., Reliance Capital Ventures Ltd. and Global Fuel Management Services Ltd - they have been operational for YEARS!

[Saurav 22]

What is the future of Broadband & Netway?

[Arun 795]

Netway is aiming for a Diwali launch as mentioned by someone in the forum.

[Saurav 22]

what i don't think they have done wiring in many areas.

only few cities myt hv been covered till date.

[abhay 0]

Netway is aiming for a Diwali launch as mentioned by someone in the forum.

39209[/snapback]

as far as i know that was previous diwali

[Arun 795]

Thats right ! Lets hope they wont shift the launch again for Diwali 2006 !

[Arun 795]

Reliance Infocomm bets big on wind, solar power

Business Standard

Mumbai August 30, 2005

The attempt is to ensure uninterrupted power supply for its network.

Reliance Infocomm is planning to tap alternative sources of energy — wind and solar power — in an attempt to tide over power outages and ensure uninterrupted power supply for its network.

The telephony major has completed the test phases of the alternative power projects near Dugrapur in West Bengal and intends to install them at other locations across the country.

Confirming the development, Reliance Infocomm Head (Wireless Network) Arun Sur said, “This is perhaps the first time that a telecom company has tapped the twin sources of alternative energy. The Durgapur experiment has proved to be a success and we are happy that the environment-friendly project has come in handy for us.”

The company intends to set up solar panels and wind turbines across those circles where power failures are frequent. At present, Reliance Infocomm uses diesel generators on an average of eight hours a day during power grid outages.

This will also be beneficial for the company as it is expanding its network to cover 5,700 towns and cities and four lakh villages in the country. Sur neither revealed the investment expected to roll out the project across all circles in the country, nor the areas that had been shortlisted for this.

The private telephony major had set up its solar power pilot projects at Kunustara and Murugathal near Durgapur and used it to power the company’s repeater sites.

The units generate 1,800 watt of power each during peak sunshine hours, of which the repeater sites consume up to 500 watt each. The remaining 1,300 watt are stored in batteries and used to power the network at bad sunlight hours, and during the night.

The company has also installed its wind turbines at Kunustara and Murugathal on an experimental basis. The units have been installed to generate additional power, particularly during monsoons and when sunlight is scarce.

“The area is blessed with winds. The wind turbines have been fixed onto the repeater towers and this method saves us the cost of erecting poles,” Sur said.

Reliance Infocomm has also installed monitoring equipment to check the effectiveness of the solar and wind modules.

[Basant 0]

I think Mr. Anil Ambani should focus on his existing businesses. Even after more than 2 years, RIM is in bad shape having poor growth. Airtel recently launched in new Circles has been able to get more customers in 3 months what RIM got in 30 months. BSES in Mumbai & Delhi is charges with worst kind of performances.

Anil need to strenghten these units before jumping in to new ventures.

[deepu 0]

I think its a good move by Anil.

World over the need for power is growing day by day and is also going to become costlier.

If he can tap unconventional power sources like Solar and Wind Power and also make it raliable. In the long run, it will provide better service and more stability of service to all the Reliance Customers.