SingTel to strengthen position in India (Singapore,India)
SingTel Global (India) is looking to strengthen its presence in India by building five more Point of Presence (PoPs) within the next two years.
According to reports, Arun Dagar, MD, SingTel India, said that they may come up with 5 more PoPs (Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh and two more cities) in the next 2 years depending on the growing demand. They are seeing demand for global connectivity in pharmaceutical companies. By 2014, they are planning to expand it to five more cities and double their workforce.
Donny Cheah, regional managing director, said that they are focusing on Indian businesses who are expanding globally especially into the APAC region for they have the managed connectivity infrastructure in place besides experienced people who are well versed with local business environment and languages.
Telenor and BCG study: mHealth to change the face of healthcare (Norway)
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), in cooperation with Telenor Group, has now released the complete report on the “Socio-Economic Impact of Mobile Health”. The report explores the potential impact of mHealth solutions, such as how Norway can save $2 billion each year with remote monitoring solutions for the elderly and how Thailand can cure 40,000 cases of tuberculosis through SMS treatment compliance.
The report dives into the healthcare situations in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. It presents potential solutions for each of these markets that are possible through mobile communications.
Jon Fredrik Baksaas, CEO, Telenor Group, has said that they commissioned this report because they wanted to better understand how their solutions can help improve the healthcare situations in the countries where we operate. For instance, how can they increase efficiency in modern healthcare through remote monitoring solutions that enable the elderly people to live longer in their own homes?
The most notable healthcare challenges faced in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro include their aging population and the rising costs of healthcare services. Solutions such as home monitoring aided by mobile technology can keep the elderly in their homes longer, easing the burden on care facilities. However, barriers to widespread mHealth solutions include privacy issues, interoperability challenges when sharing information electronically, and the lack of industry incentive when remuneration is often dependent on nights actually spent in the hospital, nursing facility or face-to-face consultations.
As countries in transition, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand face shared difficulty in ensuring proper maternal health and infant care, combating communicable diseases, and confronting new challenges such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Remote diagnostics and remote patient monitoring can be critical to bringing healthcare to the rural populations in these countries. However, the lack of common standards can prevent the spread of mHealth, along with limited commitment from regulatory bodies to ensure that mHealth happens.
Nations such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and India are struggling to deliver affordable healthcare to their citizens. Their resources are limited and much of their population is rural. mHealth deployment is currently limited in these countries, partly due to lack of awareness and action from the regulatory bodies. From maternal and infant health challenges to reducing disease, these countries need cost-efficient and widespread solutions that will help their citizens live longer and healthier. mHealth can fill these gaps, but access to mobile services needs to improve, along with government commitment and the creation of incentives to encourage the spread of mHealth.
Baksaas said that mHealth can be one of the keys to redefining and reinvigorating their struggling healthcare systems, as well as enhancing the healthy lifestyles and longevity of the citizens. The telecommunications industry is well-positioned to play a central role in the evolution of mobile health solutions worldwide.
Apple releases new iPad in South Korea and 11 additional countries (USA)
Apple launched the new iPad, the third generation of its category defining mobile device, in South Korea and 11 additional countries on Friday, April 20. The new iPad features a stunning new Retina display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics and a 5 megapixel iSight camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video. The new iPad still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life while remaining amazingly thin and light.
In addition to South Korea, the new iPad also will be available beginning on Friday, April 20 in Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela. Beginning on Friday, April 27, the new iPad will be available in Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.
The new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model and $699 (US) for the 64GB model. The iPad Wi-Fi + 4G models will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model.
The new iPad will be sold through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Additionally, iPad 2 is available at a more affordable price starting at just $399.
Telenor hopes for early solution to investment issues in India (India, Norway)
Wireless operator Telenor is hopeful that it would be allowed to carry out its operations in India as well as re-bid in the new 2G auctions, following positive talks between the prime minister’s of the two countries.
According to reports, Telenor’s executive vice president & Asia head Sigve Brekke said that in the backdrop of the encouraging PM-level discussions between India and Norway in Seoul, they expect a solution to emerge and remain invested in India. He added that since the Norwegian government owns 54 percent of Telenor, they are hopeful of an early solution.
Brekke added that they are yet to receive a specific assurance from the Indian government, but are hopeful the 2G auction and their licence expiry dates will be aligned, paving the way for Telenor to particpate in the airwaves auction.
The company has earlier announced that it will end its partnership with Unitech Wireless and will sought out a new partner for a joint venture.
RIM looks towards Asian markets to cover declining margins (Asia)
Canada based BlackBerry maker, Research In Motion (RIM) is looking at the Indian market for the launch of its new BlackBerry mobile phone, which is targeted at the lower-end users, according to a report by Reuters.
As per the report, RIM is following a parallel approach: building the high-end next generation platform and devices, while coming up with cheaper phones that can prod some of the vast majority of its users to trade up. Patrick Spence, RIM’s global sales chief, told Reuters that they’re really trying to build on and help those people who are moving from feature phone to smartphone. They believe they can be successful in that.
RIM has launched its new handset, the Curve 9220 in India, with other markets to follow. A RIM spokesman said the company would launch in Indonesia, one of its most lucrative markets, in the coming weeks.
RIM doesn’t break down its sales by region, but has reported that sales outside the U.S., Britain and Canada accounted for 68 percent of total revenue in its fourth quarter, up from 61 percent in the previous three months. Those markets include India, South Africa, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, which RIM says are all targets for this year’s sales blitz.
Airtel to brand enterprise segment as Airtel Business (India)
Mobile operator Bharti Airtel will be branding its enterprise entity differently in an attempt create its own identity among corporate customers, according to a report by Business Line (BL). The report reveals that the company’s enterprise operations will now be called Airtel Business.
In an interview with BL, Drew Kelton, President of Airtel’s enterprise business, said that the company will be releasing an advertising campaign in select media outlets to create awareness about the new brand. The branding exercise includes a new logo and a new punch line – unleashing the potential of human capital in all business segments.
He said their business aims at unleashing the human potential of any business by providing enhanced empowerment to the employees through its wide array of products and solutions – thereby creating more smiles per cubicle. Airtel’s business comprises global network of 225,000 km covering 50 countries. It has a customer base of 450 carriers and service providers along with the top 2,000 Indian and MNC enterprises.
Kelton said that the new identity gives them an opportunity to present a single powerful and unified face to their customers across the globe. Airtel Business offers network infrastructure, integration and management with a combination of MPLS and IP services. The data centre and managed services include managed hosting, storage, business continuity, data security and cloud services.
Airtel Business also offers digital media services, a centralised online media management and distribution platform akin to a media exchange linking all the content owners, production facilities and screens enabling them to store, forward, share and trade multi versions of produced content to multiple platforms across the globe.
Bharti Airtel’s business future: strong or weak (India)
My history is that I have constantly been proving people wrong, says Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director of the Bharti Group, to his partners. The man has successfully led Airtel to become a leading telecom operator not only in India, but in its oversees operations as well.
The company established itself as the most preferred mobile operator in India and entered the African market in 2010, thereby expanding its presence across borders. As reported by Wireless Federation earlier, Airtel became the first operator to launch 4G/LTE services in India in one telecom circle, with another launch to follow in the coming month.
While Bharti Airtel continues to stand amongst the bigger players in the market, the situation recently has been changing. The operator has consistently reported a decline in its quarterly profit over the two past years, causing industry analysts to speculate about its future position in the market. The operator has been suffering declines in its business operations both in India and abroad. Further, Airtel had invested around $ 14 billion for its African operations and is yet to earn spectacular returns on its investment.
Analysts believe that while the operator is at the forefront of many other services, it still needs to focus on its data services to improve revenues. Airtel needs to identify and implement creative data services that can engage customers and improve revenues.
However, while the industry may be abuzz with rumours that the declining profit margins could lead to the downfall of the telecom company, industry analysts believe that the fundamentals of the company are still very strong and that this is just another phase for the company which can be tackled well through a different strategic focus.
Loop to end operations in India (India)
Following the Indian Supreme Court’s decision to cancel 122 2G licences awarded in 2008, Loop telecom is planning to shut down its operations in the country. Loop is the third telecom to take this decision after Etisalat and STel. According to reports, the operator has said that they will close their operations by June 1. This is what they have conveyed to their subscribers.
Further, reports reveal that the operator has sought refund of around $292 million as damages from the government. They have not replied to the letter yet in this regard. The operator has requested its customers to switch services by April 30 as it plans to completely stop operations by May 15.
