Struggling US telecom giant Motorola is exploring the possibility of shifting part of the manufacturing facility it is closing in Singapore to India. China and Thailand are also on the radar. Top sources said India is high on the list since Motorola already has a plant in Chennai and a large domestic mobile phone base of over 120 million phones annually.
Corporate profits will come under severe pressure for the fourth quarter ended March 2008 as companies will have to provide for any losses on forex derivative products, owing to a new accounting norm announced on Saturday. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has asked all companies to disclose and/or provide for all losses on derivative contracts, except for forward contracts, where a company needs to comply with accounting standard AS11.
In November last year, Communications Minister A Raja had announced the implementation of MNP, which permits users to change the operator without giving up their existing mobile number, by the fourth quarter of 2008. "The department of telecommunications has to form a consortium of operators, which, in turn, has to set up a central database of operators and their subscribers. "This is a long-drawn process," an official in the government pointed out.
Experts say that until the market bounces back to a respectable level and creates confidence among investors, who could look forward to some price appreciation, IPOs will not be successful.
The Anil Ambani group company is in advanced talks with France Telecom for a branding, marketing and franchisee agreement. The company plans to launch the brand by the second quarter of FY09, according to sources close to the development. Initially, the Orange may be launched on RCom's CDMA network -- spanning across 23,000 towns and 5 lakh villages in India -- and later extended to its 8 GSM circles. The Indian company has a total of 44.5 million subscribers in India.
The operators believe that the industry is not ready for these services, even though such plans are good for users in Singapore. The service charges in the country are already lowest in the world and will not slide further for sometime. Moreover, this is also against the existing practice of an operator trying to match every scheme launched by competitors.
The dollar fell below 100 yen earlier on Thursday for the first time since 1995. The rise of yen against the dollar is no cause of major worry for Indian firms as their yen loans are mostly covered. Forex experts said that 90 per cent of yen loans have been hedged. But if they are not, corporates will take a mark-to-market hit when they value their liabilities at the year-end date. Since rupee too has risen against the yen, there is no serious cause of worry for India Inc.
Corporate India may be sitting on a $3 billion to $5 billion (Rs 12,000 crore - Rs 20,000 crore) notional loss on its exposure to foreign exchange derivatives. When the price of the underlying asset (derivatives in this case) depreciates, companies that have invested in these derivatives have to account for the loss in their books. This process is called marking to market.
Airlines earn ancillary revenues from freight, sale of food, drinks and gifts onboard, sale of travel insurance, hotel rooms and car rentals, through frequent flier programmes, and by trying to cross-sell other products like credit cards and medical insurance. Globally, airlines make 4-5 per cent of their revenues from ancillary sources.
Consumer durables major Videocon Industries has firmed up its telecom plans and is making an initial investment of Rs 6,000 crore for rolling out GSM services, notwithstanding spectrum and legal issues besieging the sector. The services will be launched through its subsidiary, Datacom Solutions, by May. In case of a delay in spectrum allocation, the company may opt for taking spectrum on lease.
The DLF group has deferred the Singapore listing of DLF Office Trust, the real estate investment trust of DLF Asset, till the market condition improved, said sources close to the Gurgaon-based real restate group. DLF Asset has received investments worth $600 million from hedge fund DE Shaw and Lehman Bothers. DLF may now raise Rs 2,000 crore through private trusts or a private placement by March end.
Richard Branson, after a dramatic launch of Virgin mobile in India, is keen on his India venture and is also exploring the possibilities of using bio-fuel for his aviation arm.
In a major development, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has cleared applications of nine telecom aspirants and is close to issuing them Letters of Intent. This will be followed by issuance of universal access service licences and allocation of spectrum.
In a move that would result in the mellowing of the spectrum issue and enabling the new service providers to commence operations, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has begun identifying the quantity of unused spectrum across 23 circles in the country.
DoT is asking the public to help to check illegal routing of international calls, which is causing the dept a loss of Rs 5000 cr.
Firming up its plans to rollout direct-to-home (DTH) television services, telecom firm Reliance Communications (RCom) has booked capacity on Malaysian satellite system, MEASAT-3. The deal size could not be confirmed, while it is understood that the deal is signed for around 15-20 years. RCom has booked four transponders, with an option to add four transponders after a year on MEASAT-3.
Paramount Airways claims to have a break even, as other Indian carriers are facing losses.
There is a growing number of celebrities who are regular bloggers and make it a point to chat with their fans logging on at a pre-decided time.
The airline is inducting two more 70-seater Embraer planes, which will be based in Bangalore and will be used to connect Bangalore and Chennai with Pune and Goa, and then other cities in western India.
The Department of Telecommunications has mooted a proposal for increasing additional spectrum charges and has also suggested slashing of one-time fixed spectrum charges.
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