Reliance Communications reported a net profit of Rs 702 crore for the second quarter of FY 2006-07, as against a loss of Rs 19 crore in the year-ago period. The company saw 40% revenue growth at Rs 3,526 crore.

The EBITDA, at Rs 1,353 crore, marks a growth of 216% over the corresponding quarter last year, while EBITDA margin expanded to 38% from 17% during the period.

RCL added 3.5m wireless customers (net) during the second fiscal quarter, more than double the net additions of 1.6m in the corresponding period last year. Revenues of the wireless business increased 44.7% from Rs 1,778 crore to Rs 2,574 crore. Its quarterly capex for the wireless business was Rs 1,499 crore, while the per minute revenue was maintained at 77 paise.

Its market capitalisation has reached over Rs 80,000 crore, while that of its nearest rival, Bharti Airtel, stood at nearly Rs 1,02,700 crore on October 30.

Subex Azure has reported its consolidated profit for the second quarter ended 30 September 2006 at Rs 17.1 crore, up 356% from Rs 3.7 crore in Q1.

Net consolidated revenue was at Rs 103.1 crore, up 137% from Rs 43.4 crore in Q1. Product revenue was at Rs 74.1 crore in the current quarter, up 252% from Rs 21 crore in the last quarter.

Subex Azure is a provider of revenue maximisation solutions for telecom operators. It acquired UK based Azure, the largest player in the revenue assurance space in May this year.

Sasken Communication Technologies has reported a consolidated Profit-After-Tax for Q2 of Rs 11.88 crore, up 37% QoQ. Its consolidated revenues for Q2, are Rs 117.55 crore, up 29% QoQ.

Sasken recently acquired Finland based wireless R&D and testing services company Botnia Hightech Oy for Euro 35.5 million. The total employee strength was 3,373 and total customers are 53 as on 30 September 2006.

Sasken is an embedded telecom solutions company that helps businesses across the telecom value chain accelerate their product development life cycles. Sasken works with terminal device manufacturers, network equipment manufacturers, semiconductor vendors and network operators.

Latest post on Technology Walla:

So what will it take to make the Internet an integral part of the digital life of the Indian consumer? Will the PC be the primary device of access to the Internet for Indians? Going by trends, the mobile phone is emerging as a strong contender to becoming the main Internet access device in India. The number of mobile users in India has grown to more than 110 million. That is nearly six times the number of PCs in the country. And the growth rate of mobiles is far greater than that of PCs–India is the fastest-growing mobile market in the world and expected to touch 300 million users by 2010. Nearly all but the lowest segment of new-generation mobile phones are Internet-capable. Indian operators are seriously thinking of pre-enabling the Internet and introducing zero-rental GPRS by charging for data usage only.

Bharti Airtel Q2 net profit rose 23.7% at Rs 934 crore in the second quarter versus Rs 755 crore in the previous quarter. Its revenues were up 13% at Rs 4,357 crore from Rs 3,856.3 crore QoQ. The EBITDA stood at Rs 1,702 crore.

The consolidated total revenues grew by 61%, EBITDA grew by 67% and the net profit grew by 79% on a year on year basis.

The company made net additions of 4.1 million users in Q207 followed by 3.49 million in Q107 and 3.23 million in Q4. Bharti had over 2.86 crore customers, as on September 30, 2006.

The numbers were ahead of street expectations.

Tech Mahindra announced a 373% growth in net profit after tax and 183% increase in revenue for Q2 FY07 over the corresponding quarter in the previous year.

The company’s cash and cash equivalents were Rs 452.5 crores as of September 30, 2006.This includes Rs 116.3 crores raised in the initial public offering of the company.

• Net profit after tax of Rs 177.1 crores and revenue of Rs 697.7 crores
• Over the previous quarter, net profit after tax grew by 66% and revenue grew by 19%
• Headcount crosses 15,000 mark

MTNL reported net profit of Rs 121 crore in the second quarter versus Rs 131.3 crore in the previous quarter. Its operating revenues decreased to Rs 1,220 crore from Rs 1,278.2 crore. The EBIDTA was seen flat at Rs 287 crore versus Rs 285 crore.

Also Read: Bharti gives MTNL blues

Nokia will always remember this Diwali. It sold 4 lakh phones all over India on October 19th; the most it has sold on a single day anywhere in the world.

“It is even more than what Nokia has ever sold on any Chinese new year,” says a dealer who has seen an Nokia internal communiqué on this matter.

The company’s previous single day sales record was about one lakh phones. This is the kind of sales its competitors generally do over the entire year in India.

Low-end segment of phones have effected a reversal of fortunes for the Finnish company.

• Nokia currently has 38 models available on the retail shelf, of which around 13-25 can be categorised into the low-end segment
• This segment has a product at every Rs 200-400 price point beginning from sub-Rs 2,000
• Other companies have only a few models placed at entry level
• Margins in the low-end segment are around 6-8%
• 30% of Nokia’s demand comes from rural and semi-urban India
• 70% of the models sold in rural and semi-urban markets are low-end

Source: ET

12th India Telecommunications International Summit 2006
India’s New Generation of Networks - Policies, Regulations, Market Trends and Technology

When:
30 October - 1 November 2006

Where:
Shangri-La Hotel, New Delhi.

Click here for more details.

Airtel and India’s largest multiplex chain PVR Cinemas have launched booking of movie tickets on mobiles.

I was wondering about the technology behind the m-ticketing initiative of PVR when the company had announced their pan India roll-out plans.

It is a Java application (J2ME) which can be downloaded by an SMS request. For Airtel subscribers, it is downloadable from the Airtel Live portal.

The application prompts user for the movie he wishes to see, the cinema he prefers, asks the date and time of the show, then gives him the choice of selecting his seat from a layout of the cinema seating plan which pops up on the mobile screen, and finally, captures his credit card details for making payment.

The user then receives a confirmation of his transaction, together with a booking number, which he has to present at the Box Office to collect his ticket.

The application is also able to connect users to multi-media content, such as movie reviews, trailers and songs, which will be downloadable on the mobile phone.

The noteworthy feature of this application is that it allows the user to choose his seat from the layout of a cinema hall’s seating plan.

PVR Cinemas mobile ticketing solution is powered by Singapore-headquartered Tagit.

Knowledge@Wharton interviewed Indian internet icon Rajesh Jain.

Rajesh started India’s first internet portal — IndiaWorld — which was sold in November 1999 for $115 million to Sify. He is now the CEO of Netcore, the company where I work.

I believe another dimension will define the future of the Internet in India, and that’s going to be built around the mobile phone. Given the way that mobile phones have taken off in India during the past four to five years, I am convinced that more people in India will access the Internet through mobile phones than through computers linked to narrowband or broadband connections. We need to start thinking about the mobile Internet differently than we do about the PC Internet.

For me, three words help define the mobile Internet. They are: now, near and new. “Now” is about what is happening right now in real time. Wherever I am, I can find the latest cricket scores or the top news stories because my mobile phone is always with me. “Near” is about location — it can be as small as a neighborhood or it could be a city. If I’m about to take a flight this evening, could I get an alert on my mobile phone if the flight is delayed? Some of this is starting to happen, but it needs to happen a lot more. It could make a real difference to people’s lives. Finally, “new” is about new stuff in which I might be interested. Just as a search engine like Google is a good way to find material that has been published in the past, the mobile phone is a great way to keep in touch with future or incremental content. If there is a sale, it should be possible for my book store to send me an alert and suggest business books that I might find interesting.

CIOL reports that the Indian Government is looking at asking post offices to validate the identification of the mobile subscriber, which can be used as an authentication system for the telecom service providers.

The post offices may charge about Rs 30 for every identification.

“The Department of Posts has been roped-in along with the Department of Telecommunications, both under the Ministry of IT and Communications, for identification and verification system for the end-users. As the postal department has a got wide-network and the postman or post-woman knows who lives where and for how long, and this itself is a good way of authenticating the veracity of a subscriber,” they said.

Mobile operators have been struggling to deal with the number of fake identification proofs being given for mobile connections. Operators had been earlier directed to discontinue all connections issued without proper verification.

Also Read: Strict verification to affect new additions

I first checked the date of this news.

When all other Indian operators are gearing up for the launch of 3G data services, Aircel is planning to launch GPRS. Does anyone know the reasons behind this delay?

Aircel has over 3 million subscribers and operates in the Chennai, Tamil Nadu and North East circles. Malaysia’s largest telco Maxis owns a majority stake in Aircel.

Recent mobile content news.

1. Mobile2win and Indiagames to distribute Ozura Mobile’s game titles in India
   According to In-Stat/MDR, the Indian mobile gaming market is expected to generate annual revenues of $336 million by 2009.
2. Hyderabad is the new base of Electronic Arts mobile division
   Electronic Arts mobile division EA Mobile will initiate developing casual games at its Hyderabad office. EA had acquired Jamdat and made the company its mobile division.
3. STAR launches 7827 voice portal
   Based on IVR technology, this service will provide users access to content from STAR’s bouquet of channels..
   To explore STAR 7827 Voice, mobile subscribers can dial 127827 from their BSNL and 5057827 from their Hutch phones.
4. Koohiji Group and Hungama Mobile announce business alliance
   Hungama Mobile has appointed Koohiji Group’s Digital City as their exclusive distributor for Bollywood related digital entertainment content in Middle East and North Africa region.
   Saleem Mobhani, COO, Hungama Mobile: “Hungama Mobile is the world’s largest aggregator of Indian entertainment content”
5. Indiagames Partners with Reliance to sell Superman Game
   A Superman zone has been designed in the R World portal. Indiagames is the official distributor of Superman mobile content in India.

US-based private equity firm Providence Equity Partners has bought 16% in Idea Cellular for $400 million (approx Rs 1,850 crore), reports ET.

Idea is the sixth-largest wireless operator in the country with a subscriber base of over 10 million.

The deal values Idea at about $2.5 billion or Rs 11,500 crore versus the Rs 9,152 crore that the AV Birla group paid to the Tatas when buying their stake in Idea.

As per a document submitted by the company to the department of telecom (DoT), Idea has a net worth of Rs 1,042.92 crore. Now, the sale to Providence values Idea at $2.5bn (nearly Rs 11,500 crore).

The Indian telecom market is worth about Rs 65,000 crore.

Also Read: Idea plans IPO in early 2007

Mobile Asia 2006
Exhibition of mobile phone handsets

When:
October 13-16, 2006

Where:
Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Click here for more details.

Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer Ericsson is likely to bag 60% of the $4.7 billion GSM tender, with Nokia expected to end up with the rest after bids for the 45.5 million lines floated by state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) were opened yesterday.

Ericsson quoted the lowest price of $107 per line, while Nokia quoted $177 per line. The third-lowest was Siemens, which bid over $350 a line.

The design of the BSNL tender is such that the lowest bidder will get 60% of the contract, while the second lowest will get the balance at the price offered by the lowest bidder.

Only three of the five original bidders - Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens - were left in one of the largest ever GSM tenders after Motorola and Chinese company ZTE were disqualified.

Motorola, which was disqualified from the bidding on the basis of ‘technical deviations’, approached the Delhi High Court for a stay. It has informed the court that its bid was Rs 3,500 crore lower than that of Ericsson.

Motorola’s main grouse is that Nokia and Siemens merged their network business into Nokia-Siemens Networks, a company that comes into being from January 1, 2007.

Thus, effectively, only two bidders — Ericsson and Nokia-Siemens Networks — are being considered. BSNL executives argue that they have bid separately and so are being treated as two companies.

Business Standard speculates the reason behind Motorola’s disqualification.

On Saturday, both Motorola and Chinese telecom giant ZTE were disqualified by BSNL’s technical evaluation committee. Since Motorola also produces some of its equipment in China, analysts said security issues could be a reason.

The Indian Prime Minister’s office is looking into allegations of unfair practice, including repeated changing of specifications, in the main tendering proces.

Of the 62 million lines, 18 million are reserved for the ITI-Alcatel joint venture to encourage the state-owned telecom manufacturing company. ITI-Alcatel will be awarded these lines at today’s lowest bid, $107 a line.

Motorola recently won a $120 million 3G network order from state-owned telco MTNL. ZTE is carrying out BSNL’s Rs 600 crore contract for laying CDMA lines.

Sources: Forbes and ET

Nokia’s headcount in India has increased 12-fold to 5500 from just 450 two years back. Its manufacturing facility in Chennai alone employs about 3500 people.

Nokia achieved a milestone as it produced 10 million mobile phones from its Chennai facility in August, within eight months of its launch of operations in January this year.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President and CEO of Nokia

“We broke ground in June 2005 and the first Made in India mobile phone came out in January 2006. This is a record,” he said, adding: “India is a place to look at when it comes to even hardware manufacturing.

When we look at quality of personnel, we are extremely happy; It is good that potential for hardware manufacturing, and not only software, is also great in India”

Phones produced from the Chennai facility are for both local and overseas markets.

“Made in India, Made for India is what we believe in,” he said, adding: “We have decided to produce India specific phones to meet requirements of people here.”

Source: Financial Express

The average revenue per user (ARPU) of GSM subscribers during the quarter ending June 2006 stood at Rs 352 per month. This is a decline of 3.9% over previous quarter from Rs 366 per month. For CDMA subscribers, the ARPU for the June quarter stood Rs 228.

The all-India blended revenue realization per minute for GSM subscribers declined by 8.4% to 85 paise during the quarter from 93 paise at the end of March 2006. For CDMA subscribers, the blended revenue realization per minute was recorded at 52 paise.

The subscriber base for telephonic services (fixed and mobile) increased by 9.32% in the same quarter to reach 153.42 million against 140.32 million achieved in the last quarter.

However, the number of subscribers for fixed service (wire line) decreased from 41.50 million to 41.27 million.

The number of PCOs in the country grew by 7.22% during the quarter to touch 4.5 million.

Source: Zee News

The Indian mobile growth engine is in full steam. Every month is a new record.

September witnessed the highest ever mobile subscriber additions, with 4.4 million new GSM subscribers and 1.7 million new CDMA subscribers, taking the total mobile subscriber base to 112.15 million.

The total subscriber base (fixed and mobile) reached 153.42 million.

In September, the CDMA subscriber base went up by 4.8% to 38.4 million while GSM base went up by 5% to 91 million.

The GSM subscriber base touched the 91 million at the end of September, as compared to 86.6 million in August 2006. Here is the circle category-wise breakup for GSM:

Among all circles, Category C circles witnessed the highest rate of growth at 6.4%, followed by Category B circles at 5.6%.

Within the Category C circles, the highest growth was recorded by the Assam Circle (8.8%) followed by North East (8.2%).

Within the Category B circles, M.P. and Haryana recorded the highest growth at 9.6% and 8.9% respectively.

Category A circles also witnessed a healthy growth of 5.25% in Sept. 06. A.P. recorded the highest growth of 6.5% followed by Maharashtra at 5.76%.

The Metro subscribers also grew by 3.35% over the previous month. Kolkatta recorded the highest growth at (4.7%) followed by Chennai (4%).

Indian mainstream media has discovered blogs. Thats the topic of my latest post in Technology Walla.

The touted goal of these media blog sites is - “Citizen Journalism”. But for that to spread in India, mobile has to be the device of choice for blogging and not PC.

With cameras and Internet-enabled mobiles becoming ubiquitous, portable devices are bound to play a pivotal role in new media and citizen journalism. Lets see how new media influences the Indian mainstream media.

Mobile content developer Nazara Technologies is close to receiving $5-$7m funding from a venture capital outfit, reports ET.

The deal may close before the end of this year. Sequoia Capital is among the VC funds likely to invest in the company.

In October ’05, Nazara got its first funding of $1.5m from Westbridge Capital Partners, which has now merged with Sequoia Capital.

The company will utilise part of the funds in the yet untested model of direct acquisition of customers for mobile content. Mobile content providers go through operators for content delivery as well as collection.

“Besides the existing tie-ups with telecom operators, Nazara will go for direct promotion of content on the lines of the B2C model. We are trying to build up a user base of those interested in our content so that we can market it directly,” he said.

This will be the first time that a content developer will reach out to users without operators through advertising and direct marketing. The company has roped in Sachin Tendulkar to kick off its B2C model. “We are looking at taking Sachin across all platforms on mobile.

Nazara is expected to grow 200% this fiscal.

The October 9th event of Mobile Monday Mumbai is on the theme “Mobile Radio”.

Topics:

• Internet Radio on Mobiles
  by Atul Chitnis, Senior VP - Product Technology & Strategy, Geodesic
• Visual Radio
  by Asha Ambike, Business Manager - Broadcast Services, Hutch

When:
Monday, October 9th, 2006
6.30 pm - 9.30 pm

Where:
Kohinoor Continental Hotel, Andheri East, Mumbai.

The event is sponsored by Geodesic and will be held at Kohinoor Continental Hotel, Andheri East.

Click here for more information, complete address and registrations.

Bharti Airtel has announced the appointment of Gopal Vittal as director, Marketing and Communication and Carol Borghesi as director - Customer Service Delivery.

They will report to Manoj Kohli – president Bharti Airtel and will also be part of the Airtel Management Board.

Gopal Vittal will succeed Hemant Sachdev, who now takes over as the corporate director marketing for Bharti group.

Gopal Vittal will play a key role in leading Airtel’s marketing and brand initiatives. His focus will be to not only sustain but enhance the organization’s positioning amongst its customers and key stakeholders.

Carol Borghesi will further drive Bharti Airtel’s vision of becoming the most admired brand by the year 2010 through outstanding customer service delivery systems.

Source: CIOL