SnL_ayaz_/was_here » India Telecom

iPhone 3GS launched in India by Bharti Airtel

SnL_ayaz_/was_here — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 06:43:37 +0000

Today, Bharti Airtel has launched Apple’s iPhone 3GS all across India with some attractive packages and aggressive advertising campaign. Bharti Airtel had announced few days back that it will be launching iPhone 3GS today. The day started with Airtel iPhone advertisement on main page of nearly all top newspapers. India’s Apple fans on the other hand are very excited to get the cool gadget in their hands as quick as possible.

Airtel website with Apple iPhone 3GS

Airtel put the iPhone 3GS promotional animation on its website as well. The company is emphasizing on Apple’s GUI, speed, video camera and voice control features apart from operator’s own promotion of free 500MB data transfer. “Load web pages, launch apps,open attachments, and take pictures faster than ever before. iPhone 3GS makes your entire iPhone experience more responsive.” says company’s website.

Free 500MB data transfer per month offer will be valid for a period of 1 year. With this, users can enjoy free Internet for the whole year, provided their Internet usage does not exceed mentioned volume of 500MB.

Abtul Bindal, President Mobile Services Bharti Airtel earlier said: “We are delighted with the opportunity to bring the eagerly-awaited iPhone 3GS to India. Combining the strength of the Airtel brand and network with the great user interface of iPhone 3GS, we are happy to bring to our customers an experience that will take mobile communications to a whole new level.”

Although this launch was much awaited and it took more time than usual to launch iPhone 3GS in India, it is expected that it will improve iPhone sales in India and will shake mobile handsets market. For some it is an expensive luxury whereas some are dying to buy it for its innovative design and hype.

NSN India has a new head

SnL_ayaz_/was_here — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:24:57 +0000

Sales veteran to lead operations in India and Nepal

Starting September 1, Nokia Siemens Networks will be led by Urs Pennanen in India. Currently Urs is the Head of Sales for the company’s Operations and Business Software business unit in Finland. He takes over as Sub Region Head of Nokia Siemens Networks for India and Nepal from Michael Kuehner.

Commenting on the appointment, Christian Fredrikson, Head of APAC Region, Nokia Siemens Networks said, “Urs brings with him close to 20 years of marketing, sales and general management experience, 16 of which were within this company. He’s a sales veteran, and currently leads sales for two business areas that are key to our future growth. This combination is perfect to steer our future growth in a dynamic market like India.”

Over the next few years, Nokia Siemens Networks’ focus in India will be to grow its market share in the country, with a specific focus on 3G. The company also seeks to consolidate its existing footprint among local communication service providers and build strategic partnerships with new entrants.

In his new role as Head of Sub-region India, Urs will drive this strategy, ensuring that Nokia Siemens Networks continues to enable the adoption of leading edge communication technologies in the country.

NEC India & Tata Indicom Broadband to target education and hospitality

SnL_ayaz_/was_here — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:58:27 +0000

NEC India Pvt. Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Asia (HQ Singapore) and NEC Corporation (HQ Japan) and Tata Indicom Broadband, India’s premier Internet Service from Tata Communications, today announced an alliance that will offer integrated solutions for education and hospitality verticals. The two companies will target a common customer base and bundle their products.

In this harmonized go-to-market strategy, NEC India would integrate Tata Indicom Broadband’s offerings in its direct marketing initiatives aimed at the hospitality and education sectors. Tata Indicom Broadband, in turn, would offer special discounts on a bouquet of related value added services which will expedite the empowering of educational institutes and the hospitality industry.

Tata Indicom Broadband, offers different forms of internet access like Broadband, Wi-Fi, Dial-up and other services like gaming, movies, music, anti-virus, etc. on a single account. NEC offers solutions and services for ubiquitous networking supported by Next Generation Network (NGN) and IT integrated technologies. This partnership is uniquely positioned to deliver key value-added solutions that enable both companies to capitalize on their respective strengths.

“It’s our constant endeavor to offer integrated technology solutions which benefit both the hospitality and education fraternity. Going forward in the same endeavor, we are partnering with NEC to offer our bouquet of communication products and technology solutions to these sectors,” said Mr Mehul Kapadia, Head Sales and Marketing for Tata Indicom Broadband.

Speaking on the tie-up Mr Rajiv Bhalla, Country Head Sales and Marketing, NEC India Pvt. Ltd. said, “We are excited to announce our tie-up with Tata Indicom Broadband. We collectively aim to fortify the education and hospitality sectors with latest and superior technology & custom-made solutions. Our alliance with Tata Indicom Broadband will facilitate us in strengthening our business capabilities in India and also to expand our IT and networking businesses in the rapidly expanding Indian market”.

Going forward NEC and Tata Indicom Broadband would explore further opportunities to take this relationship forward offering exciting bundled promotions. Together, the alliance will strive to empower both the Indian education and hospitality sectors with continual innovations and superior services.

Tata Communications revenues at Rs 843 crores, EBITDA up 10%

SnL_ayaz_/was_here — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 20:03:01 +0000

Tata Communications Limited reported its stand-alone unaudited results under India GAAP for the quarter ended June 30, 2009. Standalone revenues were at Rs 843 crores for the quarter as against Rs 871 crores for the quarter ended June 30, 2008. The company’s operating profit (EBIDTA) was up 10% at Rs 218 crores for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 as against Rs 199 crores for the corresponding quarter in the previous financial year. Operating profit margin improved by about 300 bps to 26% aided by strong cost control measures. Net profits were at Rs 32 crores for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 as against Rs 98 crores for the corresponding quarter in the previous financial year.

During the quarter, the company continued its focus on Emerging Markets with specialized offerings in connectivity and managed services; the company announced partnerships with QTel in the Middle East region and RTComm in Russia to deliver global connectivity services. It has also announced its participation in the $600-million new West African Cable System, which once completed, would further boost Tata Communications’ global reach and enhance the company’s investments in the African region. Tata Communications entered into a global strategic voice services agreement with BT. Through the five-year agreement, Tata Communications will become BT’s primary supplier of International Direct Dial (IDD) and other voice termination services outside BT’s own footprint countries. Tata Communications has partnered with Starwood Hotels to roll out public Telepresence rooms worldwide, with ten rooms scheduled to be launched during 2009.

Tata Communications and Cisco team up to promote digital lifestyle in India

SnL_ayaz_/was_here — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:30:04 +0000

Experiential Mobile Van To Demonstrate Benefits Of Connected Life

Cisco and Tata Communications today announce that the companies have teamed to promote the Digital Lifestyle for consumers at home and on the go. The two companies have collaborated to showcase the fusion between Cisco products and the Broadband services offered by Tata Communications, a leading global provider of a new world of communications.

Cisco and Tata have decided that as a first step they will work together on a series of joint promotions to show the benefits of going wireless to consumers in the Gurgaon district. A specially-built mobile van, equipped with Linksys by Cisco home networking solutions and enabled by Tata Communications’ wireless broadband services will travel to residential areas in the Gurgaon locale, and highlight the ease and freedom offered by going wireless and the benefits of a connected lifestyle.

Between July 13 and August 9, 2009, the experiential van plans to travel through Gurgaon residential regions to demonstrate Cisco’s next generation wireless home networking solutions including entertainment routers, wireless adaptor, internet home monitoring camera and network attached storage. These technologies, which use the network as the platform, will highlight experiential demonstrations of wireless home solutions such as internet sharing, wireless printing, home monitoring and video streaming. Consumers will also have the opportunity to win a wireless router on each day of the demonstration by participating in ‘lucky draw’ contests. Customers can benefit from a discount of Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 on various products during the period.

Suresh Balasubramanian, National Sales Director, India, Cisco Consumer Business said, “Cisco and Tata Communications have a shared vision of the wireless home and connected lifestyle. Cisco enables the connected life by delivering communication and entertainment experiences that are more visual, more social and more personal. In this regard, working with Tata Communications helps us to extend the possibilities of a connected life through wireless solutions. This initiative is our way of demonstrating to consumers here how they can harness the full potential of connected life experiences through our wireless offerings.”

Mehul Kapadia, head marketing, Tata Indicom Broadband said, “We are pleased to launch this initiative with Cisco. Cisco’s easy to use home networking products paired with our broadband services make a compelling proposition for consumers to make the transition from wired to wireless home environments. And this experience becomes richer on Tata Indicom broadband, India’s premium internet service provider.”

MTS selects Tata Communications to manage its call centers

SnL_ayaz_/was_here — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:12:15 +0000

Allowing the telco to cut capex and crunch go-to-market time

Tata Communications, a leading provider of a new world of communications, today announced that it has won a deal from Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL), a pan India mobile license holder, to deploy its on-demand hosted contact center (InstaCC) services for all SSTL circles across the country, allowing the telco to move from capex to opex model. Sistema Shyam TeleServices, a joint venture between Russia’s Sistema and India’s Shyam group, is currently undertaking an aggressive roll out plan of its mobile services under the MTS brand and serves a fast growing subscriber base of over 1.3 a million across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan, Kolkata, West Bengal and Bihar.

Under the deal, Tata Communications would deploy its state-of-the-art hosted contact center solution InstaCC on a pay-per-use model for MTS, thereby freeing up resources and capital, which is crucial for the company at this stage of its ambitious growth plans. Tata Communications has deployed all the critical hardware and software needed to run a call center like IVR, ACD, dialer, recording, integration with 3rd party business applications and CRM software, etc. while MTS would pay on actual usage basis, giving it the freedom to ramp up or ramp down based on the business environment. This service is an end-to-end IP solution, which brings forth the true benefits of virtualization for centrally managed multi-site contact centers. In the first phase, Tata Communications would be managing infrastructure for 2000 seats across all their circles, of which 700 seats are already deployed across their South and East circles. Currently the Northern circle is getting deployed.

“MTS is on a fast trajectory of growth, and our contact center operations will grow at a rapid pace, inline with our expansion across 22 circles in India. Quality of service will be our key differentiator in a highly competitive telecom market. We look forward to a service that is obsolescence proof, scalable and reliable in uptime. Tata Communications was best meeting our requirement of a reliable hosting solutions partner, offering a cost effective model.” said .Mr. Rajeev Batra, CIO, Sistema Shyam TeleServices.

“With InstaCC, we provide a very flexible contact center environment which helps customers to have a very effective customer service strategy by standardizing the customer experience across India. Besides cutting their capex, it also crunches their go-to-market time, as now they don’t have to build the entire call center infrastructure before rolling out,” said Alok Bardiya, Vice President, Managed Services & Marketing, Tata Communications.

Alcatel-Lucent, Reliance Communications Managed Network Services joint venture completes 1 year

SnL_ayaz_/was_here — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:44:53 +0000

Deal Size crosses $ 750 Million (Rs. 3600 crore)
JV manages multi-vendor, multi-technology, nationwide wireless networks
Operations encompass 20,000 towns and 5 lakh Indian Villages across 22 telecom circles catering to over 80 Million customers

Alcatel-Lucent Managed Solutions, the first of its kind Managed Network Services joint venture company of Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Reliance Communications (BSE : RCOM), one of India’s largest integrated telecommunications service provider today completes one year. This legal entity was launched in July 2008, as an innovative business model between one of the worlds largest telecom equipment manufacturer and telecom service provider to establish a cost-effective delivery hub for global services business.

“The unique combination of strengths of Alcatel Lucent and Reliance Communications has been among the key drivers for unprecedented growth and quick subscriber ramp up on the Reliance Mobile network”, said Mr. Sandip Biswas, Head of Managed Services, Reliance Communications. “With Reliance Communications holding a 33% equity stake in the Joint Venture, it also offers us significant opportunities to further create value for our many million stakeholders”, he added. Within the first year of operations the Joint Venture has demonstrated its capability to achieve operational cost savings of 20-25%.

To ramp up the operations and lead the new entity – Alcatel-Lucent Managed Solutions appointed John Crossley as CEO. In his role, John will focus on process improvements and business development opportunities, in India and globally. Prior to taking up this assignment John was leading Alcatel-Lucent’s Middle East network operations activities. John has been in the telecom industry for over 30 years.

“We are extremely proud to have this unparalleled partnership with Reliance Communications. Alcatel-Lucent’s recognized expertise in delivering best-in-class services is helping them through the business transformation process while accelerating their operational excellence and increasing customer satisfaction.” said Andy Williams, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s Services activities.

NSN rolls out networks for Vodafone in 7 new regions across India

SnL_ayaz_/was_here — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:04:14 +0000

Vodafone Essar has completed a rapid service expansion into seven new regions across India. People living in or traveling to Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North East and Orissa will now be able to use services provided by India’s second largest GSM operator. Nokia Siemens Networks, Vodafone Essar’s existing infrastructure partner in 12 regions, undertook the new network roll out in just ten months.

The planning and building of the seven networks was undertaken as in the first phase of a three year expansion contract awarded to Nokia Siemens Networks in 2008. Further expansion will carry on through 2010.

Nokia Siemens Networks has a strong track record in speedy network roll out, and in India alone it sets up 5,000 base stations a month. With this contract, the company has emerged as the largest network implementation partner for Vodafone in India, with more than 80% of Vodafone’s subscriber traffic in the country flowing through infrastructure set up by Nokia Siemens Networks.

“We are proud to partner with Vodafone Essar as it charts an aggressive growth strategy and are committed to helping it realize its goals,” said C B Velayuthan, Head, Vodafone Customer Team, Nokia Siemens Networks. “India’s vast geography and varied topology, in addition to the acute power shortage in remote areas, make network expansion a challenging task. Our Flexi Base Station and services capabilities are the ideal solution for service providers who want to achieve more, with less.”

BT and Tata Communications sign global strategic voice services agreement

SnL_ayaz_/was_here — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:12:13 +0000

BT Group and Tata Communications Ltd., have signed a major voice services agreement that will allow two of the world’s largest providers of voice and IP services to mutually benefit from shared resources as part of a global supply arrangement.

Through the five-year agreement, Tata Communications will become BT’s primary supplier of International Direct Dial (IDD) and other voice termination services outside BT’s own footprint countries and BT will become Tata Communication’s main distribution channel for its IDD traffic into the UK, expanding into other markets across Europe as the relationship matures.

By providing each party with access to additional capacity and flexibility, the relationship will allow BT and Tata Communications to benefit from each others’ strengths as they develop and grow their businesses in their respective markets.

Brian Fitzpatrick, Managing Director of BT Wholesale Markets, said: “Tata Communications is a leader in the international wholesale voice business, making them a perfect partner to help us achieve additional economies of scale to those of our own. We look forward to maximising the opportunities this relationship presents to both organisations as we expand our portfolio of wholesale products and services and ultimately strive to become even more competitive with our pricing.”

Michel Guyot, President of Global Voice Solutions, Tata Communications, said: “We are proud to become BT’s primary supplier of international voice termination services. The agreement will increase both partners’ competitiveness and will enhance our respective service offerings. We are also very excited to have BT as our main distribution channel in the UK as we are confident that BT’s resources and strong knowledge of the European market will be of great benefit to Tata Communications.”

The relationship will allow BT and Tata Communications to benefit from their respective extensive global networks and advantageous cost structures. BT will also have access to Tata Communications’ world-class routing capabilities and on-line management systems providing greater economies of scale that will improve BT’s competitiveness in the international calls market.

SnL_ayaz_/was_here » India Telecom

iPhone 3GS launched in India by Bharti Airtel

Related Articles

NSN India has a new head

Related Articles

NEC India & Tata Indicom Broadband to target education and hospitality

Related Articles

Tata Communications revenues at Rs 843 crores, EBITDA up 10%

Related Articles

Tata Communications and Cisco team up to promote digital lifestyle in India

Related Articles

MTS selects Tata Communications to manage its call centers

Related Articles

Alcatel-Lucent, Reliance Communications Managed Network Services joint venture completes 1 year

Related Articles

NSN rolls out networks for Vodafone in 7 new regions across India

Related Articles

BT and Tata Communications sign global strategic voice services agreement

Related Articles