SANTA CLARA, USA: Mobile broadband gateway developer Stoke Inc. has opened a strategic subsidiary office in Tokyo, Japan and has named one of Japan’s senior technology industry leaders, Dr. Ikuo Nishioka, as director.
The formation of this new office strengthens Stoke’s presence in Japan, reflecting growing interest in Stoke products by operators there and across North Asia to help manage the growing set of challenges in delivering broadband mobile Internet services.
Japan represents one of the most technically advanced mobile communications markets in the world. With leading edge service offerings and a sophisticated subscriber base in excess of 105 million, mobile operators in Japan are defining and implementing architectures, technologies, networks and services at the forefront of the worldwide telecommunications industry. Stoke has already made an impact on the telecom market in Japan with project wins at NTT Docomo.
The formation of Stoke Japan K.K. and an expanded presence in this market will enable Stoke to support the goals of a broader range of Japanese operators and their suppliers as they continue to optimize their current 3G offerings and roll out advanced LTE mobile broadband services.
“The scope of our existing projects with NTT Docomo in Japan highlights Stoke’s capability and technology as globally applicable and increasingly relevant throughout the mobile industry. By instituting a formal Japan office, we are not only establishing a permanent presence in North Asia, but we are opening the door for further expansion via new customer and project wins,” said Vikash Varma, CEO of Stoke. “Furthermore, we are honored to have a highly experienced and influential local business leader such as Dr. Nishioka on board to bolster our presence in this area.”
Dr. Ikuo Nishioka has held leadership positions with several of the world’s top technology companies. Nishioka served as president of Intel Japan and vice president of the sales group of Intel. Upon leaving Intel in 1999, Nishioka established Mobile Internet Capital KK (MIC) an independent venture capital firm with co-investors NTT-DOCOMO, Mizuho Securities, and Internet Research Institute. He served as president and CEO of the company until 2010.
Nishioka then became President of Innovation Research Laboratory Ltd. and President of Nishioka Academy as well as Chief Technology Adviser of MIC.
“Broadband Internet access combined with wireless connectivity is a critical growth sector in Japan and across the region,” said Dr. Nishioka, director of Stoke Japan K.K.
“It creates untold opportunity for increasing productivity and efficiencies as well as enhancing lifestyles. Stoke’s innovative products deliver precisely what wireless network operators need to tackle the current challenges of exploding mobile Internet traffic and the looming challenges of an explosion of the number of connected devices. I look forward to addressing these challenges with mobile operators and building on Stoke’s recent successes.”
Monday, December 13, 2010
MetroPCS adds to its handset lineup with affordable Android phone
DALLAS, USA: MetroPCS Communications Inc. has launched a new handset sure to entice last-minute holiday shoppers who are looking for the latest technology at an incredible value. The Huawei Ascend is available today in MetroPCS stores and online.
An entry-level smartphone powered by the Android 2.1 (Eclair) operating system (OS), the Huawei Ascend is a perfect match for consumers wanting to move from a feature phone to a smartphone.
The intuitive OS and nine customizable home screens make it easy to organize and get quick access to widgets, shortcuts, apps and social networks, and users can update their Facebook status or Tweet from the home screen.
With smartphone plans starting at $50 per month with no annual contract, the Huawei Ascend is priced at $179—a great value for an Android device offering key features such as:
* Access to more than 100,000 apps in the Android Market, in addition to games, ringtones and wallpapers available through the @metro App Store.
* A 3.5-inch HVGA auto-rotate touchscreen with onscreen QWERTY keyboard for easy text input.
* A 3.2 MP camera and camcorder to shoot and share images and video with friends and family.
* Easy Wi-Fi connectivity – automatically connect to Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide.
An entry-level smartphone powered by the Android 2.1 (Eclair) operating system (OS), the Huawei Ascend is a perfect match for consumers wanting to move from a feature phone to a smartphone.
The intuitive OS and nine customizable home screens make it easy to organize and get quick access to widgets, shortcuts, apps and social networks, and users can update their Facebook status or Tweet from the home screen.
With smartphone plans starting at $50 per month with no annual contract, the Huawei Ascend is priced at $179—a great value for an Android device offering key features such as:
* Access to more than 100,000 apps in the Android Market, in addition to games, ringtones and wallpapers available through the @metro App Store.
* A 3.5-inch HVGA auto-rotate touchscreen with onscreen QWERTY keyboard for easy text input.
* A 3.2 MP camera and camcorder to shoot and share images and video with friends and family.
* Easy Wi-Fi connectivity – automatically connect to Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
KDDI invests $22 million in MFIC to jointly build mobile payment platform
TOKYO, JAPAN: KDDI Corp. and Microfinance International Corp. (MFIC), a US financial solution provider, announced a partnership involving KDDI's US$22 million investment in MFIC to support its global expansion. The partnership will develop an open mobile payment platform worldwide.
KDDI's extensive global relationship with over 600 carriers and MFIC's innovative money transfer solution – advanced payment/settlement system connected to a network of payers in 90 countries -- will enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to offer competitive financial services and expand the boundary of financial services to integrate billions of unbanked customers into the formal financial system.
Takashi Tanaka, president of KDDI said: "We are seeing more and more convergence of telecommunications and financial services going on worldwide, still most of them are local movements. In such circumstances, I am very excited and looking forward to the collaboration with MFIC who has extensive financial expertise, bringing both of us a chance for true global business development."
Atsumasa Tochisako, president and CEO of MFIC said: "I am grateful for KDDI's confidence in MFIC and its commitment to the development of new global infrastructure. Mobile money brings paradigm shift in the financial sector and I am excited to partner with KDDI to both be leaders in the industry."
As the first step of collaboration, in January 2011 Locus Telecommunications Inc., KDDI's subsidiary headquartered in New Jersey is launching a new service in the US, allowing customers to send money overseas using a multi-purpose calling card.
Still in early stage, mobile money has strong momentum backed by industries, governments and aid organizations given its enormous potential for market growth and financial inclusion. According to CGAP, a microfinance group based at the World Bank, the number of those who lack a bank account but have mobile phone will reach 1.7 billion in 2012, about 70 percent of the entire unbanked population worldwide.
KDDI's extensive global relationship with over 600 carriers and MFIC's innovative money transfer solution – advanced payment/settlement system connected to a network of payers in 90 countries -- will enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to offer competitive financial services and expand the boundary of financial services to integrate billions of unbanked customers into the formal financial system.
Takashi Tanaka, president of KDDI said: "We are seeing more and more convergence of telecommunications and financial services going on worldwide, still most of them are local movements. In such circumstances, I am very excited and looking forward to the collaboration with MFIC who has extensive financial expertise, bringing both of us a chance for true global business development."
Atsumasa Tochisako, president and CEO of MFIC said: "I am grateful for KDDI's confidence in MFIC and its commitment to the development of new global infrastructure. Mobile money brings paradigm shift in the financial sector and I am excited to partner with KDDI to both be leaders in the industry."
As the first step of collaboration, in January 2011 Locus Telecommunications Inc., KDDI's subsidiary headquartered in New Jersey is launching a new service in the US, allowing customers to send money overseas using a multi-purpose calling card.
Still in early stage, mobile money has strong momentum backed by industries, governments and aid organizations given its enormous potential for market growth and financial inclusion. According to CGAP, a microfinance group based at the World Bank, the number of those who lack a bank account but have mobile phone will reach 1.7 billion in 2012, about 70 percent of the entire unbanked population worldwide.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Mobile VAS to compensate for loss in voice revenues for telcos
DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report "Mobile VAS Market in SAME Region" to its offering.
This research study focuses on the state of the Value Added Services market in the prominent countries of South Asia, Middle East and North African regions. The countries considered are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The study details the state of each country market in terms of subscriber count and mobile service revenues and leads to the market size for mobile VAS in those markets.
It divides the VAS offerings under messaging and premium content heads with estimates of the contribution made by each one of them to the total VAS market in a particular market. The important participants in each of the markets along with their market share and competitive positioning are also described as a part of this study.
Market overview
The telecom markets in the South Asia and Middle East (SAME) region, having weathered the economic downturn, is well on the road to recovery, with VAS accounting for almost 10 percent of the total mobile service revenues.
The premium content segment of VAS has contributed more significantly than the messaging segment, and this trend is likely to persist. The mobile VAS market has grown in varying degrees in different SAME countries, with the CAGRs ranging from 8.2 percent in Saudi Arabia to 21.7 percent in India.
Content-based VAS and predominantly entertainment-oriented content are helping to improve adoption rates in Saudi Arabia, where news and Islamic content is dominant. The VAS markets in many countries are fragmented with a large number of participants such as operators, content providers, content aggregators, and system integrators.
There are still arbitration and reconciliation issues in the VAS value chain, as market participants are gradually on the look out for more mature business models.
High-priced 3G/feature handsets have not found mass acceptance in countries such as Pakistan and Egypt, while intense competition among operators have resulted in price wars and lack of differentiation in high-potential markets such as India and Saudi Arabia.
The market fragmentation has spawned differences regarding revenue sharing among the stakeholders. Despite the intense competition and price wars, there is still room for a better end-user experience and customization of applications. The way forward in the telecom markets is to differentiate the VAS offerings by content-based and usage-related innovations (pay per use instead of subscriptions) rather than price, says the analyst of this research.
Market offerings such as managed VAS currently present in the markets of Sri Lanka and India enable end-to-end management of its entire portfolio, which is a huge advantage in a fragmented VAS market.
Market participants should be aiming to drive active usage of VAS among mobile customers. They can achieve this by focusing on enriching the user experience in a way that allows customers to derive maximum value. Innovative VAS offerings, introduction of 3G technology, operator consolidation, and sachet VAS are some key factors that can hike the adoption rates of VAS in the SAME region.
The future of VAS products is linked to superior customer experience and delivering more value with applications to facilitate transactions related to banking, education, travel, entertainment, and commerce, notes the analyst. The progression of markets such as India and Pakistan toward 3G will also drive the uptake of data-rich VAS, as advanced networks enable high-speed data downloads.
This research study focuses on the state of the Value Added Services market in the prominent countries of South Asia, Middle East and North African regions. The countries considered are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The study details the state of each country market in terms of subscriber count and mobile service revenues and leads to the market size for mobile VAS in those markets.
It divides the VAS offerings under messaging and premium content heads with estimates of the contribution made by each one of them to the total VAS market in a particular market. The important participants in each of the markets along with their market share and competitive positioning are also described as a part of this study.
Market overview
The telecom markets in the South Asia and Middle East (SAME) region, having weathered the economic downturn, is well on the road to recovery, with VAS accounting for almost 10 percent of the total mobile service revenues.
The premium content segment of VAS has contributed more significantly than the messaging segment, and this trend is likely to persist. The mobile VAS market has grown in varying degrees in different SAME countries, with the CAGRs ranging from 8.2 percent in Saudi Arabia to 21.7 percent in India.
Content-based VAS and predominantly entertainment-oriented content are helping to improve adoption rates in Saudi Arabia, where news and Islamic content is dominant. The VAS markets in many countries are fragmented with a large number of participants such as operators, content providers, content aggregators, and system integrators.
There are still arbitration and reconciliation issues in the VAS value chain, as market participants are gradually on the look out for more mature business models.
High-priced 3G/feature handsets have not found mass acceptance in countries such as Pakistan and Egypt, while intense competition among operators have resulted in price wars and lack of differentiation in high-potential markets such as India and Saudi Arabia.
The market fragmentation has spawned differences regarding revenue sharing among the stakeholders. Despite the intense competition and price wars, there is still room for a better end-user experience and customization of applications. The way forward in the telecom markets is to differentiate the VAS offerings by content-based and usage-related innovations (pay per use instead of subscriptions) rather than price, says the analyst of this research.
Market offerings such as managed VAS currently present in the markets of Sri Lanka and India enable end-to-end management of its entire portfolio, which is a huge advantage in a fragmented VAS market.
Market participants should be aiming to drive active usage of VAS among mobile customers. They can achieve this by focusing on enriching the user experience in a way that allows customers to derive maximum value. Innovative VAS offerings, introduction of 3G technology, operator consolidation, and sachet VAS are some key factors that can hike the adoption rates of VAS in the SAME region.
The future of VAS products is linked to superior customer experience and delivering more value with applications to facilitate transactions related to banking, education, travel, entertainment, and commerce, notes the analyst. The progression of markets such as India and Pakistan toward 3G will also drive the uptake of data-rich VAS, as advanced networks enable high-speed data downloads.
US SMBs increase migration to VoIP and IP PBX
NEW YORK, USA: According to new research, AMI-Partners forecasts growth in the VoIP market among small and medium businesses (SMBs). Over 30 percent of small businesses (SBs, 1-99 employees) and 50 percent of medium businesses (MBs, 100-999 employees) say that VoIP will become critical to their business operations.
SMB decision-makers see benefit from VoIP in improved staff productivity, streamlined dispersed communications, and lower costs. “The last several years of recession caused many SMBs to put new technology purchases on hold,” according to Karen Nielsen, Senior Consultant with AMI. “Moving into 2011, cost savings, as well as the advanced features available with IP, will impel more and more SMBs to IP architecture implementation.”
Most SMBs have limited IT resources; they will rely heavily on channel partners for VoIP installation and turnover, and to help with the crossover from analog to digital. “The moment of conversion from analog to digital voice is the single biggest pain point for SMBs,” says Nielsen. “Suppliers and channel partners should be prepared to make this switchover seamless. Partners should also understand and be able to prove that economic benefits stem not only from lower ongoing costs but also from a lower TCO.”
From a supplier perspective, it is still early. The players are not fully known. The architectures are not completely defined. The markets are not structured. But AMI believes that down the road, the same things that are important to analog/TDM users will be important to digital/IP users: reliability, security, and quality. The winners will be those providers who can provide not only a reliable service, but an alternate back up, as well as the channel expertise to serve SMBs from soup to nuts if needed.
SMB decision-makers see benefit from VoIP in improved staff productivity, streamlined dispersed communications, and lower costs. “The last several years of recession caused many SMBs to put new technology purchases on hold,” according to Karen Nielsen, Senior Consultant with AMI. “Moving into 2011, cost savings, as well as the advanced features available with IP, will impel more and more SMBs to IP architecture implementation.”
Most SMBs have limited IT resources; they will rely heavily on channel partners for VoIP installation and turnover, and to help with the crossover from analog to digital. “The moment of conversion from analog to digital voice is the single biggest pain point for SMBs,” says Nielsen. “Suppliers and channel partners should be prepared to make this switchover seamless. Partners should also understand and be able to prove that economic benefits stem not only from lower ongoing costs but also from a lower TCO.”
From a supplier perspective, it is still early. The players are not fully known. The architectures are not completely defined. The markets are not structured. But AMI believes that down the road, the same things that are important to analog/TDM users will be important to digital/IP users: reliability, security, and quality. The winners will be those providers who can provide not only a reliable service, but an alternate back up, as well as the channel expertise to serve SMBs from soup to nuts if needed.
Top 7 trends for enterprise mobility solutions market in 2011
NATICK, USA: VDC Research Group analysts announced today their predictions for the key trends anticipated to shape the 2011 enterprise mobility market.
The coming year is certain to be another exciting year for mobility with continued innovation and new capabilities occurring throughout the mobile ecosystem. 2011 will feature new upstarts, continued advancements on both the hardware and software fronts and new opportunities for businesses to empower their workforces.
Mobile is the Enterprise…The Enterprise is Mobile
Today, enterprise mobility is officially engrained in the fabric of the enterprise, and we expect the mobile worker will become "just another node on the network" in the not too distant future. Enterprise mobility is not just about empowering your own workforce, but also about the very nature of how organizations communicate – internally and with their customers.
VDC Research will be tracking many mobile initiatives during 2011, the most compelling of which include: mobilization of health records, digital video enabled evidence management solutions and the “empowered mobile customer.”
Emergence of Cloud-Optimized Mobile Solutions
In 2011, VDC expects to see the emergence of enterprise application stores offered as a managed service, complete with key application management, configuration and provisioning features. There will also be a growing opportunity for cloud-optimized mobile devices supporting enterprise applications that can operate in both connected and disconnected states.
Enterprises Embrace the Application Development Liberties of Next-Gen Mobile Platforms
The democratization of mobile application development—enabled by emerging mobile platforms (such as Android) and today’s micro-app mentality—is taking the enterprise by storm. Organizations have become enamored by the low-cost/low-risk approach of internally developing mobile applications to support specific workflows or use cases.
VDC expects these developments to enable entirely new mobile workflows that will become incremental opportunities for mobile solution providers.
Mobile Ecosystem Shakeup Impacting Points of Decision-Making Influence
Consolidation in high growth markets is not only typical, but predictable. VDC anticipates the significant M&A activity in mobile segments in 2010 to increase in the coming year. One of the more interesting developments to follow will be the activity among wireless carriers.
Recent acquisitions by carriers of enterprise mobility professional service organizations are a trend that should continue into 2011 as carriers look to shed their image as “dumb pipe” vendors.
Tick-Tock, Tick Tock: The Individual Liable Device as a Security Time Bomb
VDC estimates that as much as 45 percent of US enterprises are supporting some level of individual-liable devices, driven by the desire to cut mobile costs and avoid the tax compliance tracking requirements associated with corporate liable devices. However, many enterprises have rushed to adopt an individual-liable approach without a technology and security management strategy.
Many of the potential issues are a factor of mismanagement of these devices from an IT perspective and the lack of adequate and enforceable security policies. However, of equal importance, is the lack of appropriate education for employees – and corporate IT – on mobile security policies.
Rugged Becomes Relevant—Again
The consequences of the recent global recession and its impact on access to capital resulted in organizations adopting non-rugged (or less-rugged) devices in place of rugged mobile devices more suitable for the targeted applications. Perhaps as a result of this shift,
VDC tracked an increase in average failure rates of enterprise-deployed devices leading into 2010. Enterprises are taking note of these failure rates and device total cost of ownership is again a top-of-mind investment criteria.
Enterprise Applications Optimized for Touch Interface
A key initiative for many enterprise application vendors will be to invest more in UI designs that support a wider variety of input options, including touch. One factor that will only accelerate this development will be the influx of approximately 100 million Millennials (Gen Y) on the workforce.
These individuals have grown up with radically different experiences – and expectations – in terms of communications and computing solutions.
The coming year is certain to be another exciting year for mobility with continued innovation and new capabilities occurring throughout the mobile ecosystem. 2011 will feature new upstarts, continued advancements on both the hardware and software fronts and new opportunities for businesses to empower their workforces.
Mobile is the Enterprise…The Enterprise is Mobile
Today, enterprise mobility is officially engrained in the fabric of the enterprise, and we expect the mobile worker will become "just another node on the network" in the not too distant future. Enterprise mobility is not just about empowering your own workforce, but also about the very nature of how organizations communicate – internally and with their customers.
VDC Research will be tracking many mobile initiatives during 2011, the most compelling of which include: mobilization of health records, digital video enabled evidence management solutions and the “empowered mobile customer.”
Emergence of Cloud-Optimized Mobile Solutions
In 2011, VDC expects to see the emergence of enterprise application stores offered as a managed service, complete with key application management, configuration and provisioning features. There will also be a growing opportunity for cloud-optimized mobile devices supporting enterprise applications that can operate in both connected and disconnected states.
Enterprises Embrace the Application Development Liberties of Next-Gen Mobile Platforms
The democratization of mobile application development—enabled by emerging mobile platforms (such as Android) and today’s micro-app mentality—is taking the enterprise by storm. Organizations have become enamored by the low-cost/low-risk approach of internally developing mobile applications to support specific workflows or use cases.
VDC expects these developments to enable entirely new mobile workflows that will become incremental opportunities for mobile solution providers.
Mobile Ecosystem Shakeup Impacting Points of Decision-Making Influence
Consolidation in high growth markets is not only typical, but predictable. VDC anticipates the significant M&A activity in mobile segments in 2010 to increase in the coming year. One of the more interesting developments to follow will be the activity among wireless carriers.
Recent acquisitions by carriers of enterprise mobility professional service organizations are a trend that should continue into 2011 as carriers look to shed their image as “dumb pipe” vendors.
Tick-Tock, Tick Tock: The Individual Liable Device as a Security Time Bomb
VDC estimates that as much as 45 percent of US enterprises are supporting some level of individual-liable devices, driven by the desire to cut mobile costs and avoid the tax compliance tracking requirements associated with corporate liable devices. However, many enterprises have rushed to adopt an individual-liable approach without a technology and security management strategy.
Many of the potential issues are a factor of mismanagement of these devices from an IT perspective and the lack of adequate and enforceable security policies. However, of equal importance, is the lack of appropriate education for employees – and corporate IT – on mobile security policies.
Rugged Becomes Relevant—Again
The consequences of the recent global recession and its impact on access to capital resulted in organizations adopting non-rugged (or less-rugged) devices in place of rugged mobile devices more suitable for the targeted applications. Perhaps as a result of this shift,
VDC tracked an increase in average failure rates of enterprise-deployed devices leading into 2010. Enterprises are taking note of these failure rates and device total cost of ownership is again a top-of-mind investment criteria.
Enterprise Applications Optimized for Touch Interface
A key initiative for many enterprise application vendors will be to invest more in UI designs that support a wider variety of input options, including touch. One factor that will only accelerate this development will be the influx of approximately 100 million Millennials (Gen Y) on the workforce.
These individuals have grown up with radically different experiences – and expectations – in terms of communications and computing solutions.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Need for a paradigm shift in telecom sector
NEW DELHI, INDIA: Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology (C&IT) has called upon all stakeholders to work towards strengthening the hardware and manufacturing segment of the telecom sector.
The Minister said that telecom as the service industry alone cannot continue to contribute to country’s GDP at the level it is doing now for long. Sibal said this while inaugurating India Telecom, 2010.
He underlined the importance of a strong hardware and manufacturing component of the telecom industry for sustainability of this sector’s contribution to the economy. He underscored that the guidelines and policies need to be prepared in consultation with all stakeholders to ensure that the telecom sector becomes more and more Investor friendly, its penetration and reach increases to provide greater access and tariff remains low so as to offer the services at affordable cost.
India Telecom, 2010 with Broadband for All as the theme of this fifth edition of International Exhibition and Conference organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), got underway with the Minister’s note for a need of paradigm shift in Indian telecom scenario from a mere service industry to a hardware producing country.
The event will provide a forum for promoting broadband for the masses through enterprise and learning. It will also evoke collective efforts of all the stakeholders to promote hardware component of telecom industry along with its service component.
Speaking in this context, Sibal said that telecom sector should not be viewed only as source of revenue generation for boosting country’s GDP. It should rather be a tool to provide access to information to one and all as their basic right. He said Broadband and Telecom are the vehicles of empowerment to the society which will serve as a gateway for information and knowledge.
Putting the issues in perspective, the Minister added that technology should not be measured in terms of its ability to enhance revenue. The economic and social benefits that accrue to common people and nation as a whole in ensuring inclusive growth through advancement of technology should be a yardstick to judge it.
Speaking on the occasion Shri Gurudas Kamat, the Minister of State for C&IT said that telecommunications has transformed the whole world into a tiny global village today. We need to provide broadband on the same scale as mobile phone connection to bring the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to all.
Studies have shown that every percentage point increase of broadband penetration at state level, employment increases by 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent per year, equivalent to 300,000 jobs nationally. In India, studies show broadband and access to the Internet has the potential to deliver Rs. 9,00,000 crores output growth over 10 years, i.e., Rs. 90,000 crores ($18 billion) per year and 68 million jobs.
R. Chandrasekhar, Secretary, DoT, said in his concluding remarks that sheer enormity of opportunities and challenges available to us for ensuring the growth and penetration of Broadband and telecommunications technologies offer promise that technology driven dreams get translated into reality.
He wished that India Telecom, 2010 will prove to be a platform for broader consultation and sharing of knowledge to ensure that these dreams come true.
The Minister said that telecom as the service industry alone cannot continue to contribute to country’s GDP at the level it is doing now for long. Sibal said this while inaugurating India Telecom, 2010.
He underlined the importance of a strong hardware and manufacturing component of the telecom industry for sustainability of this sector’s contribution to the economy. He underscored that the guidelines and policies need to be prepared in consultation with all stakeholders to ensure that the telecom sector becomes more and more Investor friendly, its penetration and reach increases to provide greater access and tariff remains low so as to offer the services at affordable cost.
India Telecom, 2010 with Broadband for All as the theme of this fifth edition of International Exhibition and Conference organised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), got underway with the Minister’s note for a need of paradigm shift in Indian telecom scenario from a mere service industry to a hardware producing country.
The event will provide a forum for promoting broadband for the masses through enterprise and learning. It will also evoke collective efforts of all the stakeholders to promote hardware component of telecom industry along with its service component.
Speaking in this context, Sibal said that telecom sector should not be viewed only as source of revenue generation for boosting country’s GDP. It should rather be a tool to provide access to information to one and all as their basic right. He said Broadband and Telecom are the vehicles of empowerment to the society which will serve as a gateway for information and knowledge.
Putting the issues in perspective, the Minister added that technology should not be measured in terms of its ability to enhance revenue. The economic and social benefits that accrue to common people and nation as a whole in ensuring inclusive growth through advancement of technology should be a yardstick to judge it.
Speaking on the occasion Shri Gurudas Kamat, the Minister of State for C&IT said that telecommunications has transformed the whole world into a tiny global village today. We need to provide broadband on the same scale as mobile phone connection to bring the benefits of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to all.
Studies have shown that every percentage point increase of broadband penetration at state level, employment increases by 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent per year, equivalent to 300,000 jobs nationally. In India, studies show broadband and access to the Internet has the potential to deliver Rs. 9,00,000 crores output growth over 10 years, i.e., Rs. 90,000 crores ($18 billion) per year and 68 million jobs.
R. Chandrasekhar, Secretary, DoT, said in his concluding remarks that sheer enormity of opportunities and challenges available to us for ensuring the growth and penetration of Broadband and telecommunications technologies offer promise that technology driven dreams get translated into reality.
He wished that India Telecom, 2010 will prove to be a platform for broader consultation and sharing of knowledge to ensure that these dreams come true.
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