Apple, the US consumer electronics and software company, is close to opening its iTune Store in India. iTune Store, the world's most popular online entertainment store, offers songs, movies, TV shows, podcasts, audiobooks and iPod games.
With at least seven more mobile service providers planning to launch operations in the Mumbai circle, following in the footsteps of GSM player Idea Cellular, the market is slated to become the country's most competitive and fierce telecom zone.
The figure is expected to rise to over Rs 4,600 crore (Rs 46 billion) by 2010 - a compounded annual growth rate of 44 per cent. Retail has been one of the largest growth sectors for all the top IT firms. For instance, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies and Satyam Computer Services saw their retail business grow by 33.6, 45.3, 38.5 and 117 per cent respectively on a year-on-year basis.
The negotiations were shelved following a difference of opinion on prices. "We intend to close both the deals by September," said a highly-placed source with MCorp, the holding company for B K Modi's group of companies.
Mobile Telecommunications Company (Zain), the third largest telecom operator in West Asia and a leading operator in Africa, has initiated talks with several Indian telecom service providers to buy stakes.
"Levi & Korsinsky usually investigates a deal when any of the clients complain about chances of fraud in the transaction. In Aegis's acquisition of PeopleSupport, we received a complaint from a client who is a shareholder of PeopleSupport. After our investigation, if we find any fraud, we will take up the issue before the court. At this point of time, we can not disclose the name of the client," said Juan E Monteverde, associate, Levi & Korsinsky.
In a move that will not augur well for companies which have been awarded 2G licences recently, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has rejected proposals by new telecom entrants for a relaxation of rollout obligations.
In India, Apple users purchase entertainment content from other websites, at times from legitimate portals, but mostly end up buying pirated content in India.
Indian IT firms have started mining smaller clients with more fervour given that the revenue accruring from their top clients has been declining due to the US slowdown and the sub-prime crisis. Consider this. Revenue accruing from the top clients of the five leading IT firms by revenue - Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, Wipro Technologies, Satyam Computer Services and HCL Technologies - dropped by anywhere between 0.2 per cent and 4 per cent
Consumer durables major Videocon Industries' subsidiary Datacom Solutions, which has received telecom licences to begin pan-India operations, is planning to commence network rollout starting August 15 and services by year-end, becoming one of the first newcomers to launch operations.
Global mobile phone majors Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and others are offering a slew of products including touchscreen and music capable handsets in India to counter the might of Apple's iPhone, which is expected to hit the markets in September.
Etisalat, which is mulling an Indian foray, has since started discussions with several telecom companies including the Videocon Group's Datacom Solutions and Essar-controlled Loop Telecom for equity. Ravi Sharma, CEO of Datacom confirmed that Etilasat was one of the companies to which the company was talking but declined to offer details. Loop Telecom declined to comment.
On September 1, 2007, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India reigned in the 'don't call regime' with setting up of the NDNC. Subscribers had to register with the NDNC by calling the respective service provider and the marketing calls were to stop within the next 45 days. However, even after 10 months, unsolicited calls still haunt mobile users.
Research firm IDC India estimates the share of virtualised servers in the industry to double from the current 22 per cent to 45 per cent by the year-end.
Consider this. Leading broadcaster Star India's mobile interactive division, Star Mobile Entertainment -- which made some serious headway in the space by launching a service whereby mobile users could opt to view soaps from across Star India's network -- recently reviewed its operational strategy.
Mark-to-market losses due to the unexpected fall of the rupee against the US dollar, euro and pound; the impact of wage increases in the first quarter; a stagnant global economy; and margin pressure owing to inflation are expected to impact the rupee-term fortunes of Indian IT firms that will declare their quarterly results for the April-June 30 quarter beginning this week.
Idea Cellular, an Aditya Birla group company, is investing around Rs 647 crore (Rs 6.47 billion) for the rollout of operations in the Mumbai circle. The operations are expected to commence in two months time.
Move to skirt public offer for S African telco.
Welcome to the world of Vishing or voice phishing, wherein hackers are using a combination of voice over internet protocol, SMSs and the internet to fool and redirect users into dialling a phone number and collect critical information for financial gain. In Kolaskar's case, both mobile spam and vishing were used.
A team of engineers at India's largest IT services provider firm. Tata Consultancy Services, was working on a project for an important client. While it was co-ordinating work from three geographical units - Europe, South America and India - it was finding it difficult to collaborate through telephone or other voice means as there were language and pronunciation hurdles.
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