December 21, 2007 02:12 IST
Although only about one in 20 of the world's first two billion mobile subscribers live in India, as many as one in every four of the next billion subscribers will be an Indian, a report by the Boston Consulting Group said.
The report focuses on a distinct group of consumers -- the next billion -- whose potential to become profitable customers has been greatly underestimated. Based on extensive primary research, the BCG study has estimated that around 91 million households in India belong to this next billion segment. These households have been identified based on a combination of factors including household savings, discretionary expenditure, ownership of basic consumer durables and banking relationships, the report added.
Categorised by income, this segment sits just above the poorest of the poor and just below consumers who are already targeted by most companies. In India, income of the urban next billion household varies between Rs 60,000 and Rs 180,000 per annum.
In rural areas, the floor is lower at Rs 40,000 per annum reflecting the lower cost of living. There are 18 million households in India that lie above the next billion segment and 95 million households that are below the next billion.
BCG has surveyed over 15,000 next billion customers and conducted several focus group discussions and in-depth interviews across India, Brazil and China to understand their aspirations, needs and behaviours. James Abraham, a partner and director in BCG's New Delhi office and a co-author of the report, said: "The next billion will be different from the first two. For the next billion, the mobile phone can change their lives, improving their economic prospects more significantly than any other tool.
Source : Business Standard
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
I-flex unveils solutions for pvt banking
I-Flex Solutions on Monday said it has launched a new banking solution which will enable the IT consulting firm to foray into private banking and wealth management space. The company said the new solution — Flexcube Private Banking Suite — can be integrated with the existing back office applications and would be cost effective for lenders and financial institutions. “The solution enables institutions to deploy wealth management offerings that provide competitive differentiation.
The solution would help the banks reduce costs by giving them the ability to come up with standalone wealth management solutions,” CEO i-flex N R K Ramanc said. With booming markets, especially in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America, and the number of high net worth individuals rising, banks and financial institutions are working to create more sophisticated and personalised offerings to address the needs of this segment, i-flex said.
The solution would enable financial institutions and their customers manage multiple asset classes, including equity, mutual funds, bonds, structured products, real estate and commodities, whether held within the bank or with other external institutions, the company added. On June 8, the banking industry solutions provider had announced it would collaborate with US-based security solutions provider, Bharosa, to offer the banks advanced security solutions for combating threats of consumer identity theft and internet fraud.
Souce: The economic times site, dt. 18-12-'07.
The solution would help the banks reduce costs by giving them the ability to come up with standalone wealth management solutions,” CEO i-flex N R K Ramanc said. With booming markets, especially in Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America, and the number of high net worth individuals rising, banks and financial institutions are working to create more sophisticated and personalised offerings to address the needs of this segment, i-flex said.
The solution would enable financial institutions and their customers manage multiple asset classes, including equity, mutual funds, bonds, structured products, real estate and commodities, whether held within the bank or with other external institutions, the company added. On June 8, the banking industry solutions provider had announced it would collaborate with US-based security solutions provider, Bharosa, to offer the banks advanced security solutions for combating threats of consumer identity theft and internet fraud.
Souce: The economic times site, dt. 18-12-'07.
Spectrum issue: PM, Raja on different frequencies
Breaking his silence over the spectrum allocation controversy, PM Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the government must not lose sight of the revenue potential from this scarce resource, while maintaining that radio frequencies should be allotted in a “fair, equitable and transparent manner” so that it does not create entry barriers for new players. Mr Singh also assured the industry that the government was taking steps for vacation of spectrum — from the defence forces — at the earliest. Leading GSM players saw the PM’s statement at a telecom conference organised by FICCI and the DoT as a veiled call in support of their demand that 2G spectrum be auctioned.
However, their hopes were dampened by telecom minister A Raja who ruled out the auction of 2G spectrum for both new entrants and the existing operators: “We cannot adopt the auction route of 2G spectrum due to legal barriers. But for the next generation mobile services (3G), the government has already announced a policy that will be allocated on the basis of auction,” said Mr Raja while speaking to the media after the PM’s speech. GSM players such as Bharti and Idea have been demanding an auction of 2G spectrum. There was further bad news for GSM players later in the day when telecom tribunal TDSAT refused the stay sought by the Cellular Operators Association of India against allocation of new licences, thus paving the way for the Department of Telecom to go ahead with the process of awarding Letters of Intent, followed by licences and spectrum to many new entrants.
Appearing on behalf of the DoT, Solicitor General GE Vahanvati told the tribunal that government would begin allotment of start-up spectrum of up to 6.2 MHz to new players, including CDMA operators who have applied for GSM spectrum. While RCOM has already got the DoT nod to offer GSM services across the country, the department is yet to process the Tatas’ application for GSM spectrum. Tata Teleservices’ application for use of cross-over technology — offering services on the GSM platform — would be considered favourably, the solicitor general added. Earlier, speaking at the telecom conference, the PM said: “The policy regime for making spectrum available should be fair, transparent, equitable and forward-looking. It should not create entry barriers to newcomers or barriers to the continued growth of the sector. At the same time, the revenue potential to the government must not be lost sight of. The governments across the globe have harnessed substantial revenues while allocating spectrum.
In the final analysis, the key issues are correct pricing, fair allocation rules and a pre-competitive stance.” Mr Raja, on his part, though ruled out auctioning of spectrum and said: “We already have annual licence fee based on a percentage of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of the operators and we are also going to auction spectrum for 3G services.” Mr Raja added that the country was witnessing huge investments in both telecom and IT sectors over the past couple of years. “In the past three-and-a-half years, IT and telecom sectors have seen commitment of over $20 billion. In telecom manufacturing sector, we have commitment of $2 billion already and we expect a fresh commitment of about $2 billion alone in the next one year,” he said.
source: The Economic times, dt 13-12-'07.
However, their hopes were dampened by telecom minister A Raja who ruled out the auction of 2G spectrum for both new entrants and the existing operators: “We cannot adopt the auction route of 2G spectrum due to legal barriers. But for the next generation mobile services (3G), the government has already announced a policy that will be allocated on the basis of auction,” said Mr Raja while speaking to the media after the PM’s speech. GSM players such as Bharti and Idea have been demanding an auction of 2G spectrum. There was further bad news for GSM players later in the day when telecom tribunal TDSAT refused the stay sought by the Cellular Operators Association of India against allocation of new licences, thus paving the way for the Department of Telecom to go ahead with the process of awarding Letters of Intent, followed by licences and spectrum to many new entrants.
Appearing on behalf of the DoT, Solicitor General GE Vahanvati told the tribunal that government would begin allotment of start-up spectrum of up to 6.2 MHz to new players, including CDMA operators who have applied for GSM spectrum. While RCOM has already got the DoT nod to offer GSM services across the country, the department is yet to process the Tatas’ application for GSM spectrum. Tata Teleservices’ application for use of cross-over technology — offering services on the GSM platform — would be considered favourably, the solicitor general added. Earlier, speaking at the telecom conference, the PM said: “The policy regime for making spectrum available should be fair, transparent, equitable and forward-looking. It should not create entry barriers to newcomers or barriers to the continued growth of the sector. At the same time, the revenue potential to the government must not be lost sight of. The governments across the globe have harnessed substantial revenues while allocating spectrum.
In the final analysis, the key issues are correct pricing, fair allocation rules and a pre-competitive stance.” Mr Raja, on his part, though ruled out auctioning of spectrum and said: “We already have annual licence fee based on a percentage of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of the operators and we are also going to auction spectrum for 3G services.” Mr Raja added that the country was witnessing huge investments in both telecom and IT sectors over the past couple of years. “In the past three-and-a-half years, IT and telecom sectors have seen commitment of over $20 billion. In telecom manufacturing sector, we have commitment of $2 billion already and we expect a fresh commitment of about $2 billion alone in the next one year,” he said.
source: The Economic times, dt 13-12-'07.
VSNL to construct $250 mn cable system
Tata group company Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Wednesday said it is constructing a $250 million (about Rs 988 crore) worth cable system for linking Mumbai directly to Paris, London and Madrid via Egypt. The cable system would be built in partnership with Seacom and Telecom Egypt, and will provide VSNL a new capacity of 1.28 terabit on the route during 2009, VSNL informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The cable system, named TGN Eurasia, would offer connectivity between India and Europe. Besides, it would also have future options for additional connectivity in the Gulf region. "The plans to build the TGN-Eurasia cable system coupled with our recent announcement to build the TGN-Intra Asia Cable System is a major step towards VSNL's vision to offer seamless global connectivity at affordable prices," VSNL President Global Data Solutions Vinod Kumar said.
TGN Eurasia if combined with TGN Atlantic and TGN-TIC cable systems would be able to offer seamless and diverse connectivity between India, South East Asia, South Africa, Western Europe and the US. VSNL maintains a global transmission network of over 2,06,356 route kms comprising of both terrestrial and submarine cable assets. Shares of VSNL were trading at Rs 642.50, up 5.40 per cent on BSE in morning trade.
Source: The economic Times ( website), dt 19-12-'07.
The cable system, named TGN Eurasia, would offer connectivity between India and Europe. Besides, it would also have future options for additional connectivity in the Gulf region. "The plans to build the TGN-Eurasia cable system coupled with our recent announcement to build the TGN-Intra Asia Cable System is a major step towards VSNL's vision to offer seamless global connectivity at affordable prices," VSNL President Global Data Solutions Vinod Kumar said.
TGN Eurasia if combined with TGN Atlantic and TGN-TIC cable systems would be able to offer seamless and diverse connectivity between India, South East Asia, South Africa, Western Europe and the US. VSNL maintains a global transmission network of over 2,06,356 route kms comprising of both terrestrial and submarine cable assets. Shares of VSNL were trading at Rs 642.50, up 5.40 per cent on BSE in morning trade.
Source: The economic Times ( website), dt 19-12-'07.
Monday, December 17, 2007
A NEW MODEL FOR PC PENETRATION
India has emerged as a global leader in the advance of information technology. Yet the country faces a fundamental challenge — building on its successes by enabling greater access to technology for its people. This will drive expanded economic growth and opportunity. Less than 3% of Indians own a personal computer — compared to nearly 8% of Chinese, almost 14% of Brazilians and more than 15% of Russians. Despite the very low penetration of computers in India, the impact has been profound. India is home to three of the world’s 10 biggest IT firms — Tata, Infosys, and Wipro, and already generates nearly $40 billion in revenues from its IT software and services sector.
Nasscom forecasts this figure to grow by nearly 27% next year. It must be recognised that the benefits of broader IT use and deeper Internet access are substantial, and will be a catalyst for — not a result of — economic growth and modernisation. India is already benefiting from e-governance initiatives that deliver real-time tallying of results of the world’s largest elections and from technology-driven distance learning that brings the world’s educational resources to students without regard to location or economic background. But cost has been a major roadblock for broader technology adoption in India. Reducing taxes and tariffs is essential to facilitating broader access to technology and driving growth in the technology sectors.
Global hardware exports are 43% of Chinese exports versus only 2.3% for India. India is clearly missing out on a big opportunity. If it doesn’t act soon, investments will go further into China and emerging countries such as Vietnam, instead of India. Consider also that, in India, a typical desktop computer costs 44% of the average Indian’s annual wage. Brazil’s experience in supporting technology adoption is particularly instructive. Since reducing taxes on computer purchases two years ago, the PC market tripled, and more than two million families bought their first PC, making Brazil the world’s fourth-largest PC market. What was more important was the multiplier effect this had on the economy.
Thousands of IT industry jobs were created and government revenue from the IT sector increased by 50%. But cost isn’t the only barrier. IT complexity will also threaten access to technology while increasing its cost and environmental impact. We are all members of what we at Dell call the ReGeneration — a new global movement concerned with the regeneration of not just our businesses but also our planet. Environmental protection efforts are improving, as reflected in the Nobel Prize jointly awarded to former US vice-president Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change headed by Rajendra Pachauri. And technology is an important part of these efforts. The future will bring even more benefits.
By 2020 microprocessors will run one thousand times as many computations per second as they do today. That will mean enormous gains in productivity and efficiency, giving people unimaginable power to access, organise, and transform information. Indian citizens will more fully benefit from this progress as government and industry leaders strengthen their cooperation. This will help create the conditions in which IT can flourish and reach all people, businesses, and institutions across the country.
India plays a pivotal role in global IT. Technology users in the western world benefit every day from the work of bright, talented Indian employees and their constant innovation. But more than serving as the world’s software writer or back office, India is harnessing the productivity, efficiency, and innovation benefits of IT as a foundation for global economic competitiveness.
I see industry working, with great commitment, with India’s government to build on this progress, and to help further democratise access to technology, so that more Indian citizens enjoy even more of technology’s benefits with an ever-decreasing impact on our environment. That is our shared responsibility. By harnessing these forces — the democratisation and simplification of technology, we can make a positive impact not just on our economies, but also our planet.
Source : Mr. Machael Dell
Nasscom forecasts this figure to grow by nearly 27% next year. It must be recognised that the benefits of broader IT use and deeper Internet access are substantial, and will be a catalyst for — not a result of — economic growth and modernisation. India is already benefiting from e-governance initiatives that deliver real-time tallying of results of the world’s largest elections and from technology-driven distance learning that brings the world’s educational resources to students without regard to location or economic background. But cost has been a major roadblock for broader technology adoption in India. Reducing taxes and tariffs is essential to facilitating broader access to technology and driving growth in the technology sectors.
Global hardware exports are 43% of Chinese exports versus only 2.3% for India. India is clearly missing out on a big opportunity. If it doesn’t act soon, investments will go further into China and emerging countries such as Vietnam, instead of India. Consider also that, in India, a typical desktop computer costs 44% of the average Indian’s annual wage. Brazil’s experience in supporting technology adoption is particularly instructive. Since reducing taxes on computer purchases two years ago, the PC market tripled, and more than two million families bought their first PC, making Brazil the world’s fourth-largest PC market. What was more important was the multiplier effect this had on the economy.
Thousands of IT industry jobs were created and government revenue from the IT sector increased by 50%. But cost isn’t the only barrier. IT complexity will also threaten access to technology while increasing its cost and environmental impact. We are all members of what we at Dell call the ReGeneration — a new global movement concerned with the regeneration of not just our businesses but also our planet. Environmental protection efforts are improving, as reflected in the Nobel Prize jointly awarded to former US vice-president Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change headed by Rajendra Pachauri. And technology is an important part of these efforts. The future will bring even more benefits.
By 2020 microprocessors will run one thousand times as many computations per second as they do today. That will mean enormous gains in productivity and efficiency, giving people unimaginable power to access, organise, and transform information. Indian citizens will more fully benefit from this progress as government and industry leaders strengthen their cooperation. This will help create the conditions in which IT can flourish and reach all people, businesses, and institutions across the country.
India plays a pivotal role in global IT. Technology users in the western world benefit every day from the work of bright, talented Indian employees and their constant innovation. But more than serving as the world’s software writer or back office, India is harnessing the productivity, efficiency, and innovation benefits of IT as a foundation for global economic competitiveness.
I see industry working, with great commitment, with India’s government to build on this progress, and to help further democratise access to technology, so that more Indian citizens enjoy even more of technology’s benefits with an ever-decreasing impact on our environment. That is our shared responsibility. By harnessing these forces — the democratisation and simplification of technology, we can make a positive impact not just on our economies, but also our planet.
Source : Mr. Machael Dell
Sri Lanka honours Sir Arthur Clarke
Sir Arthur C. Clarke, well-known British-born science fiction writer, who has made Sri Lanka his home for the past 50 years, was felicitated here at a glittering function on Sunday evening. The tribute to his contribution to the world of space exploration coincided with his 90th birthday. Presided over by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the function was attended by several distinguished personalities from different parts of the globe in the fields of space exploration and information technology. Among other predictions of Sir Arthur in his science fiction books was the establishment of communication satellites.
He attained world recognition after his book “2001: A Space Odyssey”. In a media message to mark the occasion, Sir Arthur said he wished for peace in his adopted home Sri Lanka. “I have no regrets and no more personal ambitions,” said the writer, confined for the past three decades to a wheelchair because of the effects of childhood polio.He said he had watched the bitter ethnic conflict dividing his adopted country for nearly half his lifetime.“I dearly wish to see lasting peace established in Sri Lanka as soon as possible. But I’m aware that peace cannot just be wished — it requires a great deal of hard work, courage and persistence".
His three wishes were peace in Sri Lanka, evidence of extra-terrestrial life and for the world to adopt cleaner fuels. The island nation has honoured Sir Arthur with the nation’s highest honour — “Sri Lankabhimanya” and has also named a local scientific academy after him.At Sunday’s function, the guest of honour was the world renowned astronaut Alexey Leonov of Russia who was the first man to walk in space. The two apex bodies of space exploration of India and Pakistan were also represented at the ceremony. U.R. Rao, chairman, Physical Research Laboratory of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), spoke on “The Information Revolution in Developing Countries and Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s contribution”.
Sajid Mirza of Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission also spoke.
Source : The Hindu, dated 17-12'07 ( Monday )
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He attained world recognition after his book “2001: A Space Odyssey”. In a media message to mark the occasion, Sir Arthur said he wished for peace in his adopted home Sri Lanka. “I have no regrets and no more personal ambitions,” said the writer, confined for the past three decades to a wheelchair because of the effects of childhood polio.He said he had watched the bitter ethnic conflict dividing his adopted country for nearly half his lifetime.“I dearly wish to see lasting peace established in Sri Lanka as soon as possible. But I’m aware that peace cannot just be wished — it requires a great deal of hard work, courage and persistence".
His three wishes were peace in Sri Lanka, evidence of extra-terrestrial life and for the world to adopt cleaner fuels. The island nation has honoured Sir Arthur with the nation’s highest honour — “Sri Lankabhimanya” and has also named a local scientific academy after him.At Sunday’s function, the guest of honour was the world renowned astronaut Alexey Leonov of Russia who was the first man to walk in space. The two apex bodies of space exploration of India and Pakistan were also represented at the ceremony. U.R. Rao, chairman, Physical Research Laboratory of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), spoke on “The Information Revolution in Developing Countries and Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s contribution”.
Sajid Mirza of Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission also spoke.
Source : The Hindu, dated 17-12'07 ( Monday )
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