You can make free phone calls to anywhere in the world now. An Italian software company - Seven Rings International - is launching its Voice over Internet Protocol service in the country that provides free international phone calls, instant messages (chat) and text messages.
It has rejected a proposal by Subash Chandra-promoted Wire and Wireless India, which has sought permission to issue partly paid-up equity shares, pursuant to its rights issue. WWIL is in the cable network business. The shares were to be issued to non-residents, which also included FIIs, venture capital funds, multilateral and bilateral development financial institutions, and eligible NRIs for cash aggregating up to Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion).
The dispute involves a UK-based hedge fund, Altima Partners, and the company's principal promoter Raghav Bahl, founder and largest shareholder of Network18, the broadcasting group which runs TV channels such as CNBC-TV18, Colors and Awaaz.
Auctions for spectrum for 3G or third-generation telecom services could be delayed from an already rescheduled date of January 30 after the Department of Telecommunications sought legal opinion on whether it should send the finance ministry's suggestion on doubling the reserve price back to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for its endorsement.
The hearing of the forgery case filed by British mobile solution firm Upaid against Satyam Computer Services is not scheduled for hearing during this week.
The hearing of the forgery case filed by British mobile solution firm Upaid against Satyam Computer Services is not scheduled for hearing during this week. This means no Satyam official -- neither B Ramalinga Raju who stepped down as its chairman after admitting to a financial fraud nor any other top executive -- is in the US for the case. When contacted, a Satyam spokesperson confirmed the development and added that Raju was 'very much' in Hyderabad.
Will scrap bid if it falls below government's revenue expectations.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has sought details of the arrangements made by Reliance Communications to restore bandwidth in case of submarine cable failure.
The 3G and broadband wireless access spectrum auction is running into further controversies with a section of telecom firms opposing the timing of the auction and internet companies planning to move the Prime Minister's Office.Even though Reliance Communications is ready with $1-billion investment for 3G rollout, it intends to focus on GSM rollout at the moment. The company is "receptive to the opinion that the 3G auctions should be held at a later date," a source said.
Slow internet connections will continue till Friday, even as restoration work on two cables out of the three that had severed a few days ago is under way. In India, the latency will continue till the end of the week, even for customers who have opted for redundancy bandwidth. For those who did not opt for redundancy bandwidth, the latency would be higher till the restoration.
Bajaj family members are in the final stages of reaching a peace formula to their six-year-old dispute over the division of group companies and assets. Sources familiar with the developments said an announcement can be expected in the next 10 days, but did not want to divulge details.
Korean car maker Hyundai Motors India Ltd said it will have to lay off 2,000 temporary workers, about one-fourth of its labour force, to tide over a decline in car sales. The company employs over 8,400 workers, of which around 3,300 are temporary.
Telecom infrastructure major GTL Infrastructure will use its Rs 2,200 crore cash reserves to buy back foreign currency convertible bonds.
This is the second project in the country in which a metro rail project is being undertaken through a PPP model after the 71-kilometre Hyderabad metro project was won by Maytas Infrastructure. According to industry sources, infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro had also initially shown interest for the project, but backed out finally.
This is the first time Hill & Knowlton, part of the WPP group that has several joint ventures in advertising, is venturing into India in this area. The Hong Kong-based company has presence in more than 41 countries across the globe. The PR business has been attracting the attention of international agencies and many have already set up JVs or signed partnerships with Indian players.
However, this rule will not be applicable to companies holding licences for a period of three years, even if they acquire licences in other circles to expand their operations, according to sources close to the development. The suggestion was made by the DoT to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which will decide on making it a regulation, along with other suggestions on the lock-in period put forward by the licensor.
The move gains importance after two new telecom players -- Swan and Unitech -- sold stakes to foreign companies at high premiums after the allocation of spectrum. The Left parties had also accused Telecom Minister A Raja of underselling spectrum that cost the national exchequer around Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion).
Nokia has already increased prices of its base models by around 3-4 per cent. Industry analysts expect other manufacturers to follow suit. "The 25 per cent increase in the value of dollar vis-a-vis rupee (the dollar rose to Rs 50 this month from Rs 40 in March) has resulted in our import costs going up. This has compelled us to increase the prices of our old models launched during the last 6-9 months," said HTC (India) Country Head Ajay Sharma.
The cost cutting efforts by corporates, like restricting travel, would also be beneficial to the industry. HotSpot, the multi-brand technology retail chain of the Spice group, will increase its presence to around 3,000 outlets in the next two years.
Days after NTT DoCoMo of Japan announced that it will buy 26 per cent in Tata Teleservices for $2.7 billion, NRI businessman C Sivasankaran has decided to put on the block his eight per cent stake in the company.
