After going through many a twist and turn, a panel of ministers headed by former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee recently decided to auction between 8 MHz and 13.75 MHz of spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band later this year. When everything seemed to have been settled except the base price of spectrum, suddenly there is a twist in the tale.Recently, Reliance Communications (R-Comm) and then Aircel moved the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) seeking the government to provide them an additional 1.8 MHz of spectrum inkey circles at no additional cost. If that goes through, then the government plan to auction spectrum in the 1800 MHz band by August 31 as mandated by the Supreme Court could be hit. Much earlier, CDMAoperator Sistema Shyam Teleservices had filed a similar petition for a third carrier (1.25 MHz) in November 2011 for five circles.All these companies have sought that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) fulfill its contractual obligations by providing these companies with the balance of the contracted spectrum before going ahead with the auction process. Both Aircel and RCom were given 4.4 MHz of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in January 2008. These operators have sought additional spectrum under the subscriber addition norms.Aircel has asked the court to declare DoT's actions as a 'breach of terms of the licence' and award damages for the 'loss suffered due to withholding and non-grant of spectrum by DoT.' So what does this mean? Based on how the TDSAT responds to the applications, other telecom operators are likely to file their applications. Says an official of a leading telecom company: "The immediate impact would be that the entire process of auctioning spectrum could get delayed." That would benefit incumbents while putting pressure on new operators.Second, if spectrum is provided to these companies, the spectrum reserved in the 1800 MHz band for the proposed auction could come down. That would result in lower revenues for the government from the auction, while again putting pressure on companies bidding for spectrum.Says Rajan Mathews, director general, Cellular operators Association of India: "The real impact could be on the process of re-farming spectrum in the 900 MHz band. The TRAI has provided for spectrum in the 1800 MHz band for operators who would have to release their 900 MHz spectrum when their licences come up for renewal starting 2014. That process could be stuck for lack of spectrum."If other operators seek additional spectrum in the 1800 MHz band, then the amount of spectrum that the government had reserved for re-farming would be substantially reduced. While the government has to go ahead with auctioning spectrum under the Supreme Court order, the re-farming could get delayed. The other option is to get additional spectrum vacated from defence authorities.Says Hemant Joshi, Partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells says: "What the country needs is a strategic and comprehensive view rather than ad hoc measures. That could help reduce the conflicts in the sector."Finally, it all depends on what TDSAT says. However, nothing stops the operators from moving the courts. In that case, the auction process could well get delayed. That's not something that the operators want.
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Is it a tablet? Or a ultraslim notebook? Or both? Depending on when you chance upon the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201 (man, that's a mouthful!), really! In a world of me-too Android tablets, the Asus Transformer series is a breath of fresh air — tablets for when you need the portability, and sleek notebooks for when you need the keyboard, extra battery and additional ports. And that's really the promise of the TF201. But does it deliver?Purely viewed as a tablet, there's a lot going for the TF201. Featuring an aluminum chassis with tapered edges, it feels sturdy to hold and carry, with or without the keyboard dock. The 10.1-inch SuperIPS+ LCD screen packs in a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, and the results are way brighter and richer than most of the Android tablets on offer. There's an 8-megapixel camera on offer as well. Specs under the hood are no less capable, and a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 gives you that buttery smooth effect when navigating through the Android Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) interface. Speaking of which, I for one am so glad Asus has only lightly modified the look-and-feel of stock ICS – no extra bloatware, no fancy overlays – helps the tablet get Android updates from Google that much faster! However, as with all quad-core Androids, it will take some time before developers really push the device's quad-core guts to produce something that truly blows us away.Sit the tablet down on the dock, which "transforms" it into a clamshell-design notebook, and you get a full keyboard, replete with some Android-specific keys, though sadly the keys are not backlit. Plus you get a USB port (handy for connecting flash drives or hard drives), an SR card reader and a goodly 4-hour increase in battery life, all in a form factor that is supremely thin. No two ways about it – the docking station makes it a superb choice for productivity-obsessed power users.In the end, the Transformer Prime is a device that makes a strong statement, and is probably let down only by average sound and the lack of 3G on a device at this price point (a 3G version is in the works though).Rating: 8/10Price: Rs 49,999URL: http://bit.ly/Nktm7A Small Screen 'Halo' If there's ever been a game that's replicated the legendary Halo experience on mobile devices, it's been Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, better known as N.O.V.A. Now in its third installment, you play longtime series hero Kal Wardin who's been called back to a long-abandoned Earth to fight off an alien menace. You liaise with other soldiers to complete basic mission objectives, killing lots of alien bad guys along the way. Now while gameplay is fast paced and the action unrelenting, the user interface disappoints occasionally courtesy a bottom right screen corner crowded with action buttons. This means you often end up hitting the jump button when you want to shoot – very fatal when you're trying to be stealthy about your kill. Fortunately, there's a lot more of pure run-and-gun action in this game than acts of finesse. Add to it the brilliant multiplayer mode, and you simply won't find a better shooter on Android or iOS devices. Games like these are what truly blur the line between tablets and consoles. URL: http://bit.ly/jmqxcTPrice: $6.99 on the App Store/Play A New Calling Airtime, in case you haven't heard of it yet, is a new video chat service that allows friends, and more crucially strangers, to video-chat with each either. Created by Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning (the folks behind Napster), Airtime lets you connect on video chats with Facebook friends, but the focus of the service is a large "talk to someone" button which, when pressed, connects you to someone new in a video chat box. You're matched with someone in the same city, or someone who shares the same interests. If Facebook was meant to connect you virtually with your real social network, Airtime tries to bring an element of serendipity to the whole equation, where just about anybody could end up talking to anybody. It's the digital equivalent of picking up the phone and calling a random phone number, and continuing the conversation! Go give it a try now, wont you? URL: http://bit.ly/NkSxqpPrice: free technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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With the Facebook IPO frenzy giving way to Facebook fatigue and the last droplets of an ignominiously burst bubble still drifting to the ground, the last thing one would have thought we needed was another social network. That too from one of the tech giants. But that's what we've got. When everyone was watching Facebook stock on its roller coaster ride, Microsoft slipped in a new social network which was so far was restricted to beta with students from Syracuse University and two other colleges. Call it Social.Extract two useless vowels out of the social and you have its new name: So.cl. And that's what you type into your browser to go there. It's still pronounced social though. It's still student-oriented, or rather learning oriented, but now open to the public. I had no wait getting in. All you do to get in is log in with your Facebook or Windows Live account.What you see immediately is a pretty attractive spread of picture tiles, each representing an interest area. Like sports or science and technology. It's already been likened to Google+ which in turn was likened to Facebook. It's also thought to be a little Pinterest-like. You can click to follow the topic, or rather others active with the subject. That could be people you don't know. You can also choose to follow people you do know; friends from Facebook. Either way, the idea is collaborative learning. The people you follow will share your interest in a subject and by being able to see each others' researches, you build up little knowledge bases on things you need to learn about and research.The focus on learning is exactly what makes So.cl different from Facebook. When you look at the social networks today, you can't be blamed by thinking they're all so similar. After all, you can create Circles in Google+ and nothing stops you from using these for learning about a specific subject. Much of Twitter is also built around sharing links on topics of mutual interest. For that matter, you could also create groups on Facebook, separated from your personal or company account, and use those as a home base for interacting on a subject. But each of the networks is also nuanced enough to generate its own user mindset, and So.cl's is all learning. In fact it's not just a learning network but a social search network, based on Microsoft's Bing. Your searches can be private, but it would be defeating the idea of learning socially. Problem is, third parties can also use your search -- and no one knows what that implies yet. I do think though that the age of being able to use services, including social networks, for free and expecting nothing to be used to keep that service in business, has gone. It only remains for social networks to be upfront and transparent about whatever is being shared.Again, video chat is not unusual in a social network after Google+ made a big deal of their Hangouts. So.cl also features something similar: Video Parties. These are an option to invite multiple people to discuss the topic of interest that's common to them. You can already see that study groups could put this to good use. Same for a group doing research together.Long ago, right at the start of the World Wide Web going mainstream, a collaborative project called Thinkquest started up. Students from different parts of the world could get together online and research a subject in-depth. At that time, there was no easy Skype or micro-blogging. You would rely on email and messaging to get your work done together, finally putting it up at the end on the Thinkquest website. Today, it's a different world with a choice of tools available and a network like So.cl is bringing some of those together for a specific purpose. Much now depends on how users use it and what they make of it, for it's never just the tools and the opportunity but what is build upon that by users. Twitter would never have become what it is today if its users hadn't begun to create simple but superbly effective and innovative tricks like the Retweet and hashtag.The media has criticised Microsoft for making the searches on So.cl public, viewable by anyone who searches for a topic, but first, this is being stated upfront in an easy to understand FAQ, and second, this is the way you will be able to benefit from others' searches rather than reinventing the wheel. With other mainstream search engines available, keep your learning-related searches to So.cl, remembering that others could make use of information that you found. Unlike with Facebook, you will not find your searching popping up on Facebook without your permission.
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Being an expat employee was once a ticket to lux living with all the perks laid on. Be it membership to the poshest clubs, temporary accommodation in a five-star hotel till such time as the manager's house was ready (and this could run into months) and so on. No longer. Even as global transfers are on the rise – especially to emerging markets - companies are getting pretty brutal in cutting benefits, finds a new survey on global relocations.According to the 2012 Trends in Global Relocation study done by Cartus, a global relocations solutions company, 57 per cent of companies surveyed expected to transfer more employees in the next two years. However, of 41 ‘policy components' or benefits given to employees posted overseas on a long-term stint, 35 are now offered less frequently, four are equal, and two have increased, compared to 2010. Club membership, for example, is now offered in only 5 per cent of long-term assignments.Even short-term assignments have seen an erosion in benefits, notes the survey. Click For Larger Image Significantly, there's been an increase in repayment agreement usage. Repayment agreements are "contracts" between an employer and employee wherein the employee has to refurbish the cost of relocation in case he or she decides to leave the company within a specified time period. Its inclusion in long-term assignments increased from 49 per cent to 61 per cent and in short-term assignments from 36 per cent to 43 per cent.The Cartus study is based on a survey of 122 multinationalfirms based in the Americas, Europe Middle East and Africa, and the APAC region, and representing all major industries."Our global trends survey uncovered two key issues behind the anticipated increase in corporate relocation activity: a need for companies to support their planned expansion into emerging markets, and a need to fill the void in available local talent in those markets," explains Matt Spinolo, executive vice president of Cartus.According to Cartus, a surprising finding is that although the relocation volume is going up, there has been a change in the way companies deploy employees. Apart from trimming benefits, firms are moving away from traditional, long-term assignments into more alternative, temporary forms, or reducing assignment durations.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 16-07-2012)
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The great Indian family may be shrinking but as far as the Indian employee is concerned, he is happiest spending time with his family. A recent workplace survey by Regus, a provider of flexible workplaces, finds that as much as 51 per cent of Indian employees are being allowed flexi hours. They are free to work from locations other than their company's main offices for half a week or more helping them reduce the overall time spent commuting and giving them the freedom to choose work locations closer to home. With flexible work-options come more free time and a large number of Indian employees would rather spend the extra time available with their families or on getting fit, says a latest survey. Spending time with partner and family topped the wish list of 85 per cent of the people interviewed while 83 per cent wanted to use the free time by exercising. The survey canvassed over 16,000 professionals in more than 80 countries.Businesses have increasingly been offering flexible working practices to workers as morale and health benefits become common knowledge, but this research confirms that 72 per cent of the employees would also work harder, benefiting the company, if they could reduce their commute time. A recent IBM Global Commuter Pain Survey (Read) pointed out that 86 per cent of the respondents in Beijing, 87 per cent in Shenzhen, 70 per cent in New Delhi and 61 per cent in Nairobi reported traffic as a key inhibitor to work or school performance. Sixty seven percent of drivers in Mexico City, 63 per cent in Shenzhen and New Delhi and 61 per cent in Beijing said they had decided not to make a driving trip in the last month due to anticipated traffic – the most of all cities surveyed. Madhusudan Thakur, Regional Vice President, South Asia, Regus says: "Although the number of professionals that are able to choose between different work locations is substantial, there is still significant progress to be made to help all workers benefit from more flexible conditions."
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India is rapidly integrating with the global economy. Cross-border mergers and acquisitions are on the rise and merchandise trade has trebled in the past six years. And all this in the midst of a global economic downturn. Keeping these achievements in mind, the Businessworld International Business Awards were conceived to honour businesses that have taken cross-border trade to new levels. The winners of this first edition of the awards were felicitated at a glittering ceremony in the power-packed ballroom of New Delhi's Shangri-La Eros hotel on 28 May 2012. The evening's discussions were centred on the role of innovation in helping Indian businesses seize opportunities in global markets. The much-anticipated event started off with opening remarks by Prosenjit Datta, editor of Businessworld, who pointed out that despite a slowdown in Europe and North America, India's main trading markets, the better Indian companies have increased the volume of their international business.Zarin Daruwala, president, ICICI Bank, pointed out that Indian exports formed only 2 per cent of the world's exports. "So, clearly there is a huge opportunity to grow international trade," she said.Deepak Kapoor, chairman of Pricewater-houseCoopers, said, "We saw several corporates adopting innovative practices. This is a very intelligent trend, which would help establish a better footprint in the global market." Kapil Sibal, Union minister of communications and information technology, and human resource development, graced the occasion as the chief guest. In his address, he stressed the importance of looking at un-served markets. "We must innovate in business to be able to serve the un-served markets. When we think in those terms, we will be able to bring about innovation," he said.The event also featured a panel discussion, which was moderated by Shyamal Ghosh, former director-general of foreign trade, former chairman of the Telecom Commission and secretary, Department of Telecommunications. The other eminent panelists were Anwarul Hoda, chair professor of the trade policy and WTO research programme at the Indian Council for Research and International Economic Relations (ICRIER); Loknath Mishra, head, commercial banking, ICICI Bank; Anupam Khanna, chief economist and director-general, policy outreach, Nasscom; Debashis Ghosh, president, life sciences, manufacturing & energy business group, TCS. The proceedings moved on to felicitating the winners. The selection process included exhaustive questionnaires on qualitative and quantitative parameters. On an average, the top 10 companies in each category were presented to an external jury comprising of Shyamal Ghosh, Surjit Bhalla, chairman of Oxus Investments, and Bipul Chatterjee, deputy executive director, CUTS International (Consumer Unity & Trust Society), who then decided the winners in nine categories.In the auto and engineering category, Maruti Suzuki was the winner. The awardees were: Ashok P. Sahni, CFO, Shree Ganesh Jewellery House, in the gems and jewellery category; H.N. Ramakrishna, director marketing, Bharat Electronics, in the electricals, electronics and machinery category; Debashis Ghosh, TCS, in the IT and ITeS category; Vivek Kumar Jain, MD, Gujarat Fluorochemicals, in pharma and chemicals; Rupesh Kamdar, director, Amoli Organics, for innovation among small and medium enterprises; Murali Gopalan, joint chief information officer and senior vice-president of UST Global, for innovation in emerging corporations; Ujwal Lahoti, chairman, Lahoti Overseas, for Best Export House; and Rajendra Prasad, CFO, SRF, got the Best CFO Award. Kaushik Bannerjee, vice-president, English magazines and digital, ABP Group, delivered the closing remarks.The event's presenting sponsor was ICICI Bank, Federation of Indian Micro & Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME) was partner, Teacher's Origin was the celebrating partner and NDTV Profit was the media partner.Watch the coverage of Businessworld International Business Awards 2012 on Saturday June 16 at 12.30 pm, and repeat telecast on Sunday, June 17 at 6.30 pmClick to View A Slideshow On The Businessworld International Business Awards 2012(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-06-2012)
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The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Thursday gave a split verdict on mobile telecom operators providing third generation (3G) services outside out of their licence areas. Therefore, telecom service providers can continue to offer 3G services to their subscribers outside their licensed circles.The two-member bench comprising of TDSAT chairman Justice SB Sinha and member PK Rastogi differed in their findings. While Justice Sinha ruled that telecom operators should be given fresh notices by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Rastogi said that roaming pacts should be terminated immediately.The split verdict happened because the third member of the tribunal has since retired.The roaming problem arose because none of the telecom operators has 3G spectrum across the country. As a result, three large telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and IDEA Cellular formed roaming agreements to offer 3G services outside of their circles. Last December, the telecom ministry told them that it was illegal to offer 3G services beyond their allotted zones through mutual pacts and wanted them to stop the services immediately. In the same month, the carriers, including Tata Teleservices and Aircel, challenged the government order before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), which told the government not to take any "coercive" action until it issues a verdict.The operators are now expected to appeal in higher courts.Agencies Add: The tribunal's decision was keenly watched by investors in Bharti Airtel, Vodafone's Indian unit and Idea Cellular - the country's top three carriers by revenue - which have effectively extended their 3G services to most parts of the country because of mutual roaming agreements.The government will take a legal view before deciding on its next move, Telecoms Secretary R. Chandrashekhar said.Bharti, Vodafone's Indian unit and Idea did not immediately comment. The companies previously said their roaming pacts complied with telecoms licensing rules.The carriers are allowed to continue their services until the government dispatches a new order, a lawyer on the case said on Tuesday.Shares in Bharti, India's top mobile phone operator, rose as much as 4 per cent, while those in Idea gained up to 5.5 per cent.India raised more than $12 billion from a 3G auction in 2010. No company managed to win airwaves in all of the country's 22 service zones as the bid prices were much higher than expected.Bharti paid $2.2 billion for 3G bandwidth in 13 service areas, while Vodafone India spent $2.1 billion for permits in nine and Idea gained access to 11 areas for about $1 billion. Many of their service areas overlap.The 3G Market3G services had been launched just last year in India and the mobile operators are still expanding their networks.Of the country's more than 900 million mobile subscribers, only about 15 million are estimated to have subscribed for 3G, which facilitates faster Internet browsing on phones and services such as video calls.Uptake of the premium services has been slower than expected as a majority of the mobile subscribers mostly use their phones to make calls, and also partly due to the high prices of such services.Fledgling 3G services currently account for a very small portion of mobile operators' revenue.The services are expected to account for 5 percent of revenue by the fiscal year ending March 2014, said a telecoms analyst at a foreign brokerage in Mumbai.Even if the roaming pacts were ended, companies' revenues will fall by less than 1 percent, said the analyst, who declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.Also, a recent government plan for so-called liberalisation of airwaves would mean carriers can use their current 2G spectrum for 3G services in the future, making the roaming pacts "redundant," brokerage ICICI Securities said in a note to clients.
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LetsBuy woke up on Friday morning to empty warehouses, dropped shutters and employee-less offices. May 31 was officially the last day for everyone at the two-year-and-nine-month-old company, which was acquired by Flipkart in February 2012.On May 28, four HR executives from the Flipkart team accompanied by VP Business Development Vaibhav Pandey visited Letsbuy's Kirti Nagar warehouse in Delhi. Founders Binny and Sachin Bansal kept themselves away from the difficult job of announcing the shut down and so Pandey was handed over the task. By now it was certain Flipkart was all set to kill the Letsbuy brand – selling out on earlier promise of keeping the brand name alive. The only questions left unanswered were – by when and what will happen to the 450 LetsBuy employees? (See Businessworld article "It's death by takeover" ) It was announced 31st May will be the official day for wrapping up all operations and hand over everything to Flipkart. For the first time Flipkart has officially accepted that it has brought down the shutters at LetsBuy offices and warehouses. "Yesterday was officially the last working day for LetsBuy. Some people will be there for fulfillment roles and some people will be called to work in teams like Finance etc," says Flipkart's VP Marketing Ravi Vora. Last Monday brought in some amount of distress among the LetsBuy employees. Employees present at the warehouse revealed that only a handful of them were given offers to join the Flipkart team. They suggested that some of the employees were offered jobs at 50 per cent cut while most were offered a month's severance and asked to quit."Of the 50-55 people working in the Kirti Nagar warehouse, only three people will be joining Flipkart," says a senior officer at LetsBuy on condition of anonymity. "Out of the 400 odd employees, about 15–20 people have been offered jobs in Flipkart. Employees are furious and disheartened," he adds.However, Flipkart has a different story to tell. "Our first preference is to absorb the employees since we have constant requirement of an efficient workforce," says Vora. But he suggests that given the location constraints, Flipkart has struggled to absorb some people internally and thus it has helped them get a job in other organizations. Being headquartered in Bangalore, most of Flipkart's marketing, operations and HR team is based out of Delhi. However, LetsBuy is largely based in Delhi-NCR. "Of the overall workforce, 50-60 per cent of the employees have been placed either internally or have been helped with outplacement," Vora says.Vora says only in the cases where an employee did not match Flipkart's hiring criteria, was he offered a month's severance and offered full and final settlement before being asked to quit.However, through all this exercise, founders Hitesh Dhingra and Amanpreet Bajaj have preferred to remain quite.
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