Pyro chooses IBM for a 'Green Revolution' in telecom deployments

Pyro walking the ‘Green path’ implements telecom deployments on IBM’s highly-energy efficient hardware and middleware solutions to develop cutting-edge products

Pyro, a leader in providing innovative mobile technology solutions has joined hands with IBM of going the green way through which the world’s largest computer company will power Pyro’s range of products with high-end energy-efficient servers, highly–efficient hardware and optimized middleware solutions that help minimize energy usage in compact designs.

With this strategic alliance, IBM will beef-up Pyro’s mobile technology solutions with energy-efficient BladeCenter Servers, SAN (Storage Area Network), Switches and Routers etc., that are optimized to perform better.  Benefits of this are visible to Telecom operators instantly who have an efficient system with cost reducing capability.

Pyro has made a conscious effort to move on to an eco-friendly mode by deploying resources that ensure Green Technology is leveraged in all the platforms and products being deployed with customers. All components used for deployment of a Pyro product or solution are checked for the carbon footprint created while manufacturing the product.

“Pyro has ensured linear scalability of systems without increasing the power and cooling requirement linearly. Pyro's Road Map is also to work with partners such as IBM on solutions which will work in all environments and lead to optimization of Data Centre footprint besides ensuring optimal system design” said SM Reddy, CEO, Pyro Group. He also added that Pyro’s products and solutions ensure optimized and highly efficient Hardware, Energy Efficient Software, Reduced footprint on the Data Centre, Less Heat generation, Less Power consumption, involvement of lesser resources and human intervention, and many more benefits. 

Pyro, earlier last year had entered into a USD 19 million strategic partnership with IBM for development, testing and management of its products and solutions.source

Altruist Very Close To Acquiring Overseas Mobile VAS Firm

With this deal, Altruist Group, comprising Altruist Tech and Mobile2Win, is looking to add products and market reach. 

Chandigarh-based mobile value added services provider Altruist Group is on course to acquire an international VAS company and has set aside $25 million for the acquisition.

Without disclosing the names of the acquisition targets, Altruist India founder and CEO Dheeraj Aggarwal said, "I have been focusing on inorganic growth for some time now and feel the timing is right - valuations are again at a reasonable level.

We are looking at a company that has complimentary products and market reach." The acquisition will be completed by this fiscal year end - in the next 2 months.

The Altruist Group has 2 companies - Altruist Technologies Pvt Ltd and Mobile2Win India Pvt Ltd, which it acquired in February 2009.

Mobile2Win India Pvt Ltd was backed by Nexus India, Norwest Venture Partners, Softbank China and Silicon Valley Bank. Investors and promoters of Mobile2Win received a 10% stake in Altruist.

The acquisition will differ from the Mobile2Win acquisition in that it will be all cash, according to Aggarwal. It will be funded through internal accruals and debt.

There are two companies in consideration, both international. One Indian firm was considered but is no longer in the race.

Altruist, which offers IT and BPO solutions besides mobile VAS, claims it will register net revenues after direct expenses of $20 million this fiscal.

The company has been voraciously expanding its global reach and the big thrust, as Aggarwal put it, is in S.E.Asia and Africa. It is in the process of setting up centres in Phillippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia and Uganda. It already has an Indonesia office with 18 employees.

Altruist will hire 100 within the next year and is spending Rs 25-30 crore on the international roll outs.

On the product front, Altruist is focussing on upgrading to 3G in phases. "We will upgrade a part of our hardware infrastructure to 3G to begin with and gradually scale it," said Aggarwal.

Meanwhile, the subsidiary Mobile2Win, whose target audience has been the low-end handset user, will continue to look to rural India for growth. "We focus on the lowest common denominator of handset owners as a target user.

These are typically people who buy Rs 1500- 3000 phones. There is a relative lack of social entertainment in rural India which will give rise to incremental opportunities which we will tap," said Rajiv Hiranandani, co-founder and executive Director, Mobile2Win India Pvt Ltd.

A large chunk of its revenues are driven by its white labeled voice chat application - (Airtel Friendz Chat), followed by its mobile career portal JobsonPhone.com and its subscription and content business. Read More On  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/04/idINIndia-54653920110204

One Numer, One Voice Service From Airtel and Nuance

From a Bollywood number as a hello tune to updates about cricket matches, voice-based services have been offering numerous options to users in the Indian mobile phone segment. Bharti airtel and Nuance Communications have revealed a new service dubbed ‘One Numer, One Voice’ to satiate their customers in the country with enhanced precision.

This innovatively crafted service can be expedient for airtel mobile subscribers across the landscape. Thanks to the service, users will simply need to dial a single number, 54321, for accessing all voice-based services. It has been engineered as a single destination for changing Hello Tunes, listening to airtel Radio along with jokes. This initiative will also facilitate customers to receive news and sports updates as well as their daily astrological predictions and more.

Shireesh Joshi, Chief Marketing Officer-Mobile Services, Bharti airtel, explained “At Bharti airtel, we are constantly looking for ways of delivering the best user experience for our 150 million plus customers across the country and accounting for their diverse preferences in language and relative comfort in interacting by voice or text. Our ‘One Number, One Voice’ service provides our customers with the dual benefit of a single number of access for VAS services and the ease ofvoice recognition with multiple language options – giving him a simple and improved service experience. Today, as we join hands with Nuance Communications for the launch of our ‘One Number, One Voice’ service – we look forward to leveraging their expertise towards delivering an improved ‘search and discover content’ experience for airtel mobile customers across India.”

The new offering has been powered by Nuance Communications’ Recognizer 9.0 speech recognition technology. The company also revealed that an extensive pilot project was undertaken in Kerala for almost a year. The results and feedback from the population in the region are said to have helped it for delivering the refined service. Besides, the main menu of this innovation has been designed by incorporating the inputs derived from this research.

“We’re experiencing an unprecedented demand for voice services, as they provide consumers with a fast and intuitive way to access a broad range of content,” remarked Michael Thompson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mobile Division, Nuance Communications. “Bharti airtel’s One Number, One Voice service is an incredibly innovative initiative that brings the power of voice to millions of consumers across India, providing access to exciting content-driven voice services through a single number and simple voice commands.”

Touted as the first application to have integrated the user interfaceguidelines and framework created by Nuance, this service renders a comprehensive experience to its users. Further, the company disclosed that the intuitiveness of the service is capable of distinguishing between regular callers and those using it for the first time. This ability helps it to offer a customized caller service, enabling frequent users to adopt short cuts whereas new callers can expect a detailed reception.

The One Number, One Voice is available for airtel customers across Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh at Rs. 2 per minute charge. The service currently supports Hindi, English, Malayalam and Tamil and will be soon offered in other languages as well.source

June 2014 could be last date for cable TV digitalisation: TRAI

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today said it will recommend June 2014 as the last date for completion of cable TV digitalisation in India to the government.

"We will send our roadmap to ministry of I&B (Information and Broadcasting) on Monday. We will ask for sunset date of June 2014 and preferably December 2013 (for cable TV digitalisation)," TRAI Chairman J S Sarma told reporters.

He, however, said the "sunset date" is prerogative of the ministry to decide.

TRAI in its recommendation to I&B ministry had set December 2013 as the date for completion of digitalisation of cable TV but the ministry had asked the sectoral regulator to set December 2015 as the last date.

"Ministry has agreed to most of our proposals. Sunset date is very minor issue. What is important is that ministry has agreed to complete digitalisation the way we have recommended," Sarma said.

As per TRAI recommendations, cable TV digitalisation is to be carried out in four phases. It had suggested that digitalisation of cable TV should be completed in the four metros by March 31, 2011; in all cities having population of over one million by December 31, 2011; in all urban areas by December 31, 2012 and in rest of India by December 2013. source

Nokia join hands with Reliance to provide Ovi Store content

Mobile handset manufacturer Nokia today entered into a partnership with telecom service providerReliance Communications to provide the exclusive excess to Nokia's Ovi Store. 

Reliance Communications consumers can now exclusively access the plethora of 'paid-for' content available on the Ovi Store, through integrated operator billing, for a three month period, the company said in a statement. 

The amount will be either included in their monthly mobile phone bills or deducted from the pre-paid balance, as per their data plans. 

The Ovi Store supports the widest range of content and file types including applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services and much more.source

Indian MobileTV Service Crosses Half Million

Hello TV has registered 500,000 subscribers to its mobile broadcast service, carried by India’s BSNL cellular network.

Brought to the market by Percept Knorigin, the digital arm of media company Percept Holdings, Hello TV is integrated into BSNL’s WAP portal allowing subscribers to watch streamed video from their browsers.

Both 3G and 2G users have subscribed to the service since its launch a year ago and single channel packs for Hello TV are priced at Rs10 per day, Rs 20 per week, and Rs 30 per month, while a mix of 30 channels is available for a month priced at Rs 149.

Apalya, a competitor to Hello TV, is also available on BSNL via its MiMobi TV application. Single channel packages are priced at Rs 10 per day or Rs 50 per month, and Rs 150 per month for a subscription to all of the TV channels it has to offer.

“The ARPUs [average revenues per user] for mobile TV services are in the range of Rs20 and the churn is high,” said Viraj Malik, managing director and chief executive officer of Percept Knorigin to online publication MediaNama.com. “We are open to working with operators who believe in equitable revenue share and commit to promoting the service.”

Percept Knorigin is currently planning to launch a targeted mobile TV Apple iPad application for Indians living abroad, according to the publication, and is also in discussions for the roll out of 3G and GPRS mobile TV services with three major operators in the next three months.source

Aircel launches 3G services; soon to roll out in 11 circles

Aircel will invest nearly Rs 23,000 crore in 3G and 2G operations in the next 3-4 years. This will take the company's cumulative investment in India by then to around Rs 45,000 crore or $10 billion, according to the company's Chief Operating Officer, Mr Gurdeep Singh.

Launching Aircel's 3G services, Mr Singh said the youth comprise over 50 per cent of the country's population and are among active Internet users and also avid users of Facebook, YouTube and other social networking sites. This service will address the high speed digital needs of such consumers with the power of the Internet creating new opportunities in sectors such as education, entertainment and employment.

After Chennai, Aircel will roll out the 3G services in 11 telecom circles, excluding Punjab and West Bengal, in the next one week. It will cover all of its 13 circles with 3G network by mid-March, he said.

Aircel, a part of Malaysia's Maxis Communications, has bagged 3G spectrum for 13 telecom circles. Mr Singh said the ‘value added service' (VAS) and ‘data' will drive the growth of 3G in the country. At present, revenue from VAS and data is only 10 per cent in India, while in other developed countries it is nearly 40 per cent.

The company has tied up with Samsung, BlackBerry, Dell and Nokia for ‘smart' mobile devices with 3G compatibility. The base rate will be 3 paise per 10KB. At an inclusive price of Rs 132, Rs 252, Rs 502 and Rs 802, consumers can have 75 MB, 150 MB, 350 MB and 1024 MB data, respectively, a month with in-built voice and SMS, he said.

Mr Singh said in the next five years nearly 35 per cent of Aircel's customers would be using 3G services. Aircel has a subscriber base of around 50 million subscribers.source

Number of 3G users in CHINA crosses 50 million

China's three major communications firms together added more than 11 million mobile customers in January, ending the month with a total of nearly 853 million mobile users. Among those, 3G users totaled more than 50 million, according to figures from the mobile companies. 

China Mobile attracted more than 5 million new customers during January to bring its total customer base to nearly 590 million. Of the total, 23 million are 3G customers. 

China Telecom signed up 3.5 million new mobile subscribers in January to bring its total to 94 million. Of the total, 13.64 million are 3G customers. However, the carrier continued shedding fixed-line customers and saw its customer base fall by 420,000 to end the month with a total of 175 million local access lines in service. China Telecom gained 1 million broadband subscribers in the month to hit a total of nearly 65 million. 

China Unicom ended January with a total of almost 170 million mobile customers, which include more than 154 million 2G subscribers and more than 15 million 3G customers. Unicom gained a total of 2.2 million new mobile subscribers in the month. The company also added 292,000 fixed-line customers to bring its total to 97 million local access subscribers in January and 973,000 broadband customers to reach a total of more than 48 million. 

Huang Wenge, an analyst of Minsheng Securities, predicted that 3G smartphones will experience explosive growth in 2011, and their market share is likely to grow from 10 percent in 2010 to 30 percent by the end of this year, Xinhua news agency reported.source

No takers for mobile towers on regulatory glitches

Mobile users seem to be latest victims of regulatory uncertainty in the telecom sector, as quality of service remains compromised despite third generation (3G) rollout by most of the operators. Telecom towers, which act as emitting points for cell phone signals, have not been getting added occupancy or tenancy, said two of the country's top three telecom tower companies who did not wish to be identified. 

Mobile phone companies can increase the capacity and consistency of their networks by increasing the number of antennae hosted on telecom towers, but a slowdown in equipment imports and uncertainty over licencce conditions for new operators have put network rollouts on hold. 

Three people familiar with the sector said tenancy of India's largest mobile tower company, Indus Towers -a Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular joint venture with nearly 110,000 towers- has been almost static, and it is likely to remain so for another quarter or so. Tata-owned Viom Networks' tenancy has risen merely 0.1-0.2 per tower to 2.2-2.3 even though the company added just over 1,000 towers in the entire period. Only GTL Infrastructure, the fourth largest and the only independent tower company in the country, seems optimistic about tenancy, as it has almost doubled new tenants each month over the last quarter. 

Launch of 3G services and expansion plans of new telecom operators such as Uninor, Videocon, Loop Telecom, and Etisalat DB Telecom were expected to create a surge in tower tenancy.source

Hip Hip Hurray

GSMA announces world's leading mobile operators will introduce NFC services

The world's leading mobile network operators have announced today that they are committed to introducing near field communication (NFC) services in a number of countries around the world from 2012.

Sarah Clark, editor of NFC industry trade publication NFC World and author of 'NFC Business Models' explains what the announcement means and why the operators have joined together to make the announcement at this time:

"NFC phones are set to revolutionise the way we decide what products to buy, where we choose to buy them and how we choose to pay," says Sarah.

The new NFC phones contain a high security chip known as a secure element which acts like an electronic version of your wallet and can be used to replace everything from credit cards and loyalty cards to bus and train tickets, library cards, door keys, coupons and even cash.

These chips can be built into mobile phones and other devices by the manufacturer, they can be integrated into SIM cards issued by mobile networks to their subscribers and they can be added to existing phones via special microSD cards or stickers issued by banks and other organisations.

"Whoever provides a consumer with a secure element can then generate new revenues by leasing space on the chip to other businesses that also want to offer next-generation mobile services to their customers," Sarah explains.

"In the GSMA statement issued today, the mobile operators make it clear that they plan for NFC services to be delivered using the SIM as the secure element, placing operators in control of NFC services — and future revenue streams."

"The announcement does not necessarily mean, however, that these leading operators have now found an answer to the need for a business model for the launch of commercial NFC services," she adds. "Rather, this announcement signals the operators' realisation that they need to work together in order to deliver the same global reach that a rival offering from handset manufacturers and others would provide."

"Essentially, the mobile operators are involved in a bid to grab land — and a significant share of revenues — ahead of expected rival proposals from the likes of Google and Apple in the near future. The move is likely to prove to be good news for consumers and for businesses such as retailers, transport operators, travel firms, brands and others looking to take advantage of the arrival of NFC services since there will be competing offers on the table and that should lead to lower prices."

About the mobile operators' statement:

A statement issued by the GSMA, the international trade association for the world's leading mobile network operators, says that "Many of the world's leading operators, including America Movil, Axiata Group Berhad, Bharti, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, KT Corporation, MTS, Orange, Qtel Group, Softbank Mobile, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor and Vodafone, have voiced their commitment to implementing Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, and intend to launch commercial NFC services in select markets by 2012." The full announcement is available to view on the GSMA's website.

About the 'NFC Business Models' research report:

'NFC Business Models' provides companies looking to benefit from the arrival of near field communication technology with the information needed to understand the issues, identify their options and develop a strategy for success.

The research report addresses key questions that remain to be resolved including:

* What kind of pricing models will need to be offered to service providers to persuade them to offer NFC services — and will they be sufficient to cover the costs of developing and making available an NFC service delivery platform and of issuing NFC devices to consumers?
* Will consumers be willing to pay for an NFC mobile wallet? And what kind of services will they want to use?
* How can merchants be persuaded to adopt the contactless payments terminals required to support NFC transactions?
* What are the benefits to banks of providing NFC services — and do the benefits outweigh the costs involved?

The 170-page research report was published in January 2011 and is available to purchase today for £797 (US$1,258/€924). Further information, a full table of contents and online ordering facilities are available at http://www.sjb.co.uk/models.source

Reliance to launch 3G Mobile services in Kashmir on Tuesday

Reliance Communications (RCOM), India’s single largest dual technology telecom operator is launching  of 3G Mobile services in Kashmir on Tuesday ,February 22.

According to the officials said that after launching 3 G service in Jammu, also launching of 3G Mobile services in Kashmir on Tuesday, February 22.The launching ceremony function of 3G will be held in Srinagar.

Officials said that the 3G services will offer features such as video-calling, mobile TV, video streaming and applications access at super-fast speeds on a wide variety of both mobile phone and personal computing devices. The company has done a deal with Universal Music for content, Nokia and Ericsson for applications and Motricity for web portal. The existing subscribers will be automatically upgraded to 3G services if they have a 3G-enabled smart phone.

They said that Reliance has always been a pioneer in telecom industry with its new revolutionary attractive plans. It has customized many attractive plans especially for the people of J&K to bring people living here closer to other parts of India.

Officials said that the Reliance Communication is going to provide employment to the youth of J&K. Hundreds of youth is already working with them. With the establishment of additional infrastructure more youth would get employment.

Applications – the next big buzz and opportunity in mobile space

A mobile phone has multiple forms of use and mobile applications only add value to it. Applications such as the Nokia’s Ovi Store, Android Market, Blackberry App World, Apple’s App Store and upcoming versions from Samsung and Microsoft give independent developers a relatively quick and easy route to consumers.

With the current explosion of new applications, it is expected that the market for mobile applications will be as big as the Internet, peaking at 10 million apps in 2020.

According to Samir Kumar, Managing Director, Inventus Capital, mobile today was like personal computers in 1984. Everything was an opportunity, he said, adding, “Mobile application is seen as the next big opportunity after the ringtone market and promises a revolution in active and engaging communication.”

Commenting on the developing VAS market in India, Ponappa PG, CEO, Emerging Markets, mPortal, said, “The advent of 3G, mobile number portability and high penetration of feature rich phones are the reasons why the application market will get a boost.” He felt that there was a huge opportunity in the bottom of the pyramid markets, where people did not understand what applications were. At the same time, he stressed that technology had to be simplified in order to create the need and to tap the rural market.

“Facebook, Pandora, weather applications, Google search and Google maps are the most popular applications,” informed Vijaykumar Radhakrishnan, Chief Technology Officer, Dot Com Infoway, citing the most downloaded applications on mobile.

Much has been said about the need for the print format to co-exist with digital. In order to simplify the magazine reading experience, DCI Mobile Studios is in the pre-launch stage of its magazine application, called Magzter. Throwing light on this application, CR Venkatesh, Managing Director & CEO, Dot Com Infoway, said, “Magzter started with the Indian and the Asian markets. Currently, we have Galatta Cinema, Media Voice, Tehelka, and Global Gujarati as our clients in India.”

However, Magzter as a policy has no exclusive contracts with anyone, thereby allowing the magazine to be on various applications. “That gives me a challenge to keep innovating. If I don’t innovate, the client will leave me and the clients like that proposition,” Venkatesh added.

He further noted that it was difficult to convince publishers in the Indian market to go on the digital platform, while those in the West embraced this as an opportunity. He was confident that with the launch of new tablets, smart phones, and spread of 3G, almost every magazine would want to go digital.

Meanwhile on the aspect of managing accounts, Probir Roy, Co-founder, Paymate, pointed out that the mobile phone was quickly replacing the plastic money concept. At the same time, he stressed on the need for banks to have a strict security policy to ensure foolproof transactions.

Dot Com Infoway’s Radhakrishnan asserted, “Applications is the next big opportunity after ringtones in the mobile space.”

The industry experts were sharing their knowledge and expertise at the Mobile Applications Conference India 2011, which was held in Mumbai on February 19. This day-long conference explored new opportunities that are emerging in the mobile applications space and sought to some light on where the mobile industry is headed and how entrepreneurs and developers can take advantage of that. source

Hello TV On BSNL Crosses 5 Lakh Subs; Percept Knorigin MD Viraj Malik On ROI

HELLOTV the mobile TV service deployed by Percept Knorigin with BSNL since February 2010, has crossed 5 lakh subscribers, including both 3G and non-3G users
Percept Knorigin MD and CEO Viraj Malik told MediaNama that running a Mobile TV business in India is tough for a VAS provider as content costs are high and service price points are low. “The ARPUs for mobile TV services are in the range of Rs 20 and the churn is high. We are open to working with operators who believe in an equitable revenue share and commit to promoting the service,” he reiterated. Percept Knorigin, which is the digital arm of media firm Percept Holdings, also plans to launch a targeted mobile TV app for the Indian diaspora in overseas markets, including an iPad app. In India, it is in talks with three major operators to roll out mobile TV services on 3G and GPRS in the next three months.
Percept has launched mobile TV through circuit switched data or video call on BSNL on the shortcode 51010, which is priced at Rs 2 per minute or Rs 299/month for unlimited use. The service will be launched on MTNL as well.
On BSNL, Hello TV services single channel packs are priced at Rs 10 per day, Rs 20 per week and Rs 30 per month. A combo pack of 30 popular channels is also available at Rs 149 a month in addition to Low Value packs of Rs 29/month for three channels and Rs 49/month for five. In addition to subscription charges, a usage charge of Rs 0.0025 per 10kb (25 paise per MB) also applies. The service is integrated with BSNL’s WAP portal BSNL Live, and does not require a separate application download: allows users to watch TV streams from their native mobile browsers.
Another player in the Mobile TV space, Apalya, which is also present on BSNL through its MiMobi TV app charges Rs 10 per day or Rs 50 per month for single channel packs, and Rs 150 per month for subscription to all channels.source

Pre-paid mobile services ban regressive

Terming the possibility of blanket ban on prepaid mobile services in Jammu and Kashmir as regressive, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday blamed the service providers for dragging their feet on verification. "It's the mobile service providers who are dragging their heels regarding verification and
the creating a problem for everyone else," Omar said on the micro-blogging site twitter.

Omar said imposing a blanket ban would be a regressive and counter-productive measure and ways have to be found to avoid it.

"I agree, a blanket ban is regressive and counter-productive. How to avoid it is to be worked out," he said.

Department of Telecommunication in a notification to mobile operations extended the permission for prepaid mobile connections in Jammu and Kashmir till March 31, 2011, giving rise to apprehensions that the service might be banned.

The notification was issued after discrepancies and shortcomings came to surface with regard to the verification of subscriber credentials in many cases.

Prepaid connections in the state were banned in 2009 as many SIM cards were recovered from the possession of militants and their sympathisers. However, the ban was lifted in January 2010 but strict guidelines for re-verification were notified to the telecom companies.

Pyro deploys Transaction Hub platform for Airtel’s OnLine Pay

Airtel Africa, a leading Telecom operator with wide network across 16 countries in Africa enables their customers to transact mobile money using their Airtel Money accounts.

Hyderabad-based Pyro, a leader in providing innovative mobile technology solutions has deployed the Transaction Hub platform for Airtel’s OnLine Pay - the world’s first mobile virtual card and winner of GSMA Award announced on Thursday at the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain.  Airtel Africa, a leading Telecom operator with wide network across 16 countries in Africa enables their customers to transact mobile money using their Airtel Money accounts. Pyro’s Transaction Hub is a robust platform that integrates to MasterCard data centre with airtel Africa and enables their customers not only to have virtual bank account, but also transfer funds and conduct various mobile commerce transactions as a part of their financial inclusion strategy. This is the world's first virtual card that operates off a wallet residing on a mobile phone. This innovative payment method known as Airtel OnLine Pay will offer communities the opportunity for greater participation in the financial system as they realize the substantial benefits of mobile commerce. Pyro’s mCommerce solutions are backed with Pyro’s NexGen VBox Platform, which is a technological framework and the first of its kind Service Delivery System with DSC (Dynamic Service Creation) that empowers the operators to build, configure and deploy services in real time.  With the ability to rapidly design and rollout meaningful services on behalf of the operators, the platform adds a new dimension to the time-to-market capability of innovative Value Added Services. Director of Products and Innovation of Airtel Africa, George Held speaks Our focus is on Mobile Money Market Innovation, where we are creating a “cashless society” whereby any number of needs could be met via mobile money.  Our One Network was the source of formulating the advanced strategy with regard to international person-to-person mobile money transfer. We are pleased to partner with Pyro for this unmatched mCommerce initiative in Africa. Aimed at making life simpler for our customers, Pyro mCommerce platform is one-stop shop for all financial transactions. We look forward to Pyro’s partnership and contribution in strengthening Airtel Africa’s initiative.” S M Reddy, CEO, Pyro said, “We have in the past contributed to innovations with Celtel, Zain, and we hope to continue our efforts to provide the best in technology and solutions with airtel Africa. The winning of Airtel’s OnLine Pay in the GSMA Awards, Barcelona is an acknowledgement of our efforts and positioning in the telecom industry as an innovative provider of Value Added Services. airtel has always been a pioneer of launching cutting-edge services globally and we look forward to partner them for this unique initiative through their global operations.” source

Tech boost for cell operators

Ericsson, the world’s leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators, has signed 13 revenue assurance contracts globally in 2010. Under the contracts, Ericsson will provide solutions to prevent revenue loss and increase the profitability of telecom firms.

“Revenue leak is one of the core areas of concern for telecom operators and it frequently happens when an operator forgets to withdraw a particular plan after implementing it. It can also occur when a customer makes an international call using a network of one country that has an agreement on roaming with the customer’s original service provider,” Amitabh Ray, senior vice-president of Ericsson India Global Services, said on the sidelines of Infocom 2010-11, the IT conference and exhibition organised byBusinessworld, an ABP Group publication.

Revenue assurance involves using data quality and process improvement methods for better profit and cash flow without influencing demand.

Ericsson generated a revenue of $28.2 billion in 2010, making it the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies. “Globally, we hold a 40 per cent market share in 3G network solutions. We are also leaders in 4G network solutions. We have four global hubs of which India is the largest and capable of serving over 300 global clients. In India, we have the largest network operating center that serves 150 million connections worldwide,” said Ray.

Ray also indicated that Ericsson was in talks with a leading operator in India to provide 4G network solution.source

Airtel scoops two global mobile awards

Accra, Feb. 19, GNA - Airtel Africa has scooped two awards at the premiere annual telecom industry awards, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Global Mobile Award 2011, a statement by the company to the Ghana News Agency has said.

It said Airtel was awarded the Best Mobile Money Product or solution and Best Customer Care and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for its recently launched innovative payment product known as 93airtel OnLine Pay= " and a customer relationship management solution named 93airtel Treasure Hunt".

The winning Best Mobile Money Product or Solution, the airtel OnLine Pay, is touted as the world's first virtual card that operates off a wall= et residing on a mobile phone. This innovative payment offers communities the opportunity for greater participation in the financial system as they realize the substantial benefits of mobile commerce. The single use debit card offering is a partnership between airtel, MasterCard and Standard Chartered Bank.

Airtel is the new brand name for the 16 Zain operations across Afric= a which were acquired by airtel International in June 2010. Airtel Africa's Chief Marketing Officer, Mr Andre Beyers and MasterCard International's Area Head for East and West Africa, Mr Daniel Momehim, jointly received the award during the GSMA congress party and awards ceremony held at the National Palace in Montju=EFc, Barcelona, Spain= .. Airtel's second plaudit at the event, airtel Treasure Hunt, was a joint submission between Airtel and Tango Telecoms, a mobile systems solutions provider. The innovation known as Dynamic Pricing Service gives Airtel the ability to price Voice and Data services dynamically based on location, cell load, time of day, subscriber type and/or subscriber activity. The service was launched in Niger, Uganda, Zambia and Congo. Tang= o Telecoms was represented at the awards by its VP, Global Channel Sales, Mr. Rory Toole.

Commenting on behalf of Airtel, Mr Beyers said: 93We are driven by the vision of providing affordable and innovative mobile services to consumers across the continent. To earn this award from the most authoritative and global constellation of peers in the industry, three months after the launc= h of our new brand in Africa, is a recognition of our efforts to place innovations in the hands of consumers in Africa and will bolster our commitment to walk the talk".

According to the Judges, the Best Mobile Money Product or Solution award aims to recognize and reflect the rapid emergence of the mobile payment, transfer, banking and a host of innovative 91cashless' mobile services 96 in all varied forms. According to the panel, the opportunities for the financial services, ticketing and transport industries, in partnership with the mobile world are limitless, as are the benefits of convenience and value for users.

The Customer Care or Customer Relationship Management award citation states: The Award recognizes the innovative programmes developed by operators and the products or services developed by CRM solution providers that will increase profitability, reduce costs and maintain a high standard of customer loyalty in this increasingly competitive environment. The two awards mark a key milestone in Airtel's quest for relevant and innovative mobile solutions that are transformation to millions of user= s across the continent.

The Global mobile awards are the most coveted awards in the global mobile industry and encompass leading players across all the subsectors spanning 219 countries, nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies= , and media and entertainment organizations. This is the 16th edition of the annual award and according to the judging panel, one of the most daunting with 10 categories and more than 47= 0 entries.source

BSNL gains 29,000 customers after MNP

Rajiv Agarwal, BSNL's chief general manager, Andhra Pradesh Circle, today claimed that more than 29,000 cell phone customers from other telecom services migrated to BSNL after number portability scheme was introduced.

As against that, only 8000 customers switched from BSNL to another mobile service provider, he said.

He said that to improve the customer service in the city, a 24-hour service center has been set up.

Agarwal also said that radiation from BSNL towers was minimum and they meet all the norms imposed by the Government on radiation.source

HDFC Bank eyeing 3G services to boost mobile banking

HDFC Bank aims to increase the number of clients using its mobile banking services in Andhra Pradesh to 10 per cent of its customer base once 3G services are fully rolled out in the state from below 5 per cent at present, a senior official has said.

The leading private lender is also set to open 34 new branches in the state before the end of this financial year, taking the total number to 137.

“It (mobile banking) is still in the nascent stage. It has to go a long way. After facilities like 3G services are launched, it is expected to reach 10 per cent. Currently, mobile banking is around 3 to 5 per cent,” HDFC Bank Senior Vice—President, Mr C S Gopinath, told PTI.

He said the aim is to encourage customers to go for more technology based services like ATM, mobile and Internet banking.

According to Mr Gopinath, only 26 per cent of HDFC Bank’s customers visit branches and the rest depend on ATMs, the Internet and mobiles for their banking needs. “We have 450 to 500 ATMs in AP and up to 20 per cent of customers use Internet banking,” he said.

He said HDFC Bank plans to open 34 new branches in the state by the end of this fiscal.

“Currently, we have 103 branches in AP. We plan to open another 34 by the end of this financial year, taking the number of branches to 137. In Karnataka, we have close to 100 branches and in Kerala — 150. In Tamil Nadu, we have 135 branches,” he informed.source