India's mid-cap software companies may shed as much as 10 per cent of their workforce as revenues and margins have shrunk owing to a global slowdown, analysts say.
The telecom department has sent a letter of intent to NM Rothschild.
Indian clean technology businesses are finally catching the attention of investor community. New Ventures India - founded by World Resources Institute and CII-Godrej Green Business Centre - aims to fund 50 entrepreneurs in this segment by 2010 with a target investment of $250 million
Trai has submitted 26 recommendations to the government and released 30 consultation papers so far this year, up from seven and 20, respectively, in 2007. Few of its recommendations are actually accepted by the govt.
WiMax is a telecommunications technology that provides broadband speed without the need for cables. "The subscriber equipment cost or the cost of the instrument that facilitates WiMax is still priced at about $ 175-200 (Rs 8,225-Rs 9,400). So ways and means have to be worked out to offer a feasible tariff," explained a senior BSNL executive.
With India's two leading IT outsourcing companies, Infosys and HCL Technologies, vying to acquire the UK-based consulting firm Axon, SAP implementation is back in focus.
The regulator has suggested that all spectrum will be auctioned as opposed to the current policy of bundling it with a 2G licence. A beginning has been made with the auctioning of spectrum for 3G services, which is due later this year. Trai has also suggested that licences for any telecom service should be auctioned as opposed to the current policy, where it is given on a first-come-first-served basis. The new policy is expected to be ready by the end of December this year.
The venture, on the lines of Kishore Biyani's Future Ventures India, will focus its investments in the information technology sector, said a source familiar with the development.
The company is in talks with a few private banks and has signed on Citibank as one of the bankers to raise these funds, said sources. HCL Technologies and Citibank declined to comment saying that 'they do not comment on market speculation'.
Plans another $1-billion fund, wants to expand core team in India.
With the telecom industry aiming to increase its rural subscribers base and the central bank asking banks and financial firms to cater to the rural sector, businesses will have to find ways of servicing customers, say analysts. Most of the rural BPOs have a seating capacity of below 100 per centre, as they are situated in remote areas.
A slowdown in the global economy and sub-prime crisis in the banking, financial and insurance services sector, its major revenue earners, force the domestic IT industry to take a relook at its hiring strategy.
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.
3G mobile services, to be launched in India on August 22, is set to have serious competition. The reason is simple: if you are looking for high quality video streaming of movies and want to play multiplayer on-line games, it's not 3G services alone you need to look at.
"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.
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
With 3G mobile services, which provide high-speed downloads of data, movies and videos, around six month away, mobile phone makers are getting ready to offer handsets for as little as Rs 3,500, against the currently available minimum price of over Rs 8,000.
A study by Internet research firm JuxtConsult reveals that one out of every seven regular Internet users is from the rural belt.
Multinational mobile companies such as Nokia, Samsung, Motorola and LG, who dominate the mobile handset space with over 75 per cent of the market share, might face a new challenge. This time it's not from Chinese unbranded products, which have been flooding the Indian market.
According to research firm IDC, China shipped 85 million GSM handsets in the last fiscal. And it says China's percentage share is likely to go up since these phones offer swanky features ranging from 3 megapixel camera, terrestrial TV, music and MP3 players.