Vodafone struggles in India despite treble growth in yearly profit

Despite reporting increase in profit, British Telecom giant, Vodafone, is suffering in India due to intense competition and high impairment charge imposed by the Indian authority over its Indian assets and unprecedented hike in 3G spectrum bidding.

On May 18, 2010, the company published its report for FY 2009-2010 ending on March 31, 2010. The company observed about three-times growth in net profit at ₤8.61 billion against ₤3.08 billion in FY 2008-2009.

Overall revenue increased by 8.4% to ₤44.5 billion. Vodafone credited this high profit to its growth in mobile data and fixed coupled with cost cutting measures.

EBITDA rose by 12.5% to ₤ 807 million and revenue grew by 16% to ₤3.11 billion.

India remained one of the fastest growing markets for the company. In FY 2009-2010, the company added 32 million new customers accounting for 341 million around the world.

Vodafone Group PLC, which is the second-largest mobile operator in the world in terms of revenue, entered the Indian market in 2007 and since then observed consistent growth.

However, incurring a high impairment charge of ₤2.3 billion coupled with intense price competition from other operators in the market and increasing cost of mobile spectrum is affecting the company’s profit margin.

Over the year, Indian government allowed many operators in the market and there is no opportunity for consolidation. Moreover, the bid for 3G spectrum went beyond analysts’ expectation and still going strong.

Chief Executive, Vittorio Colao said, "We have seen very strong price declines," Colao told reporters. "I don't think these rules (on consolidation and spectrum) make sense. India needs investment. India is a vast country with a vast population still not fully able to communicate.

"What India needs is investment and good technology and this will not come in an environment with too many operators and fragmentation of investment." he added.

The impairment charge and India’s telecom rules affected the company’s overall yearly performance.

BSNL strike has been called off

BSNL strike was supposed to start from today. Over 300,000 staffs of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) decided to go on an indefinite strike over voluntary retirement and divestment proposals of the Sam Pitroda committee. The strike has been called by a joint forum of union consisting of both executive and non-executive level employees. The good news is that the strike has been called off. Hours after the declaration of indefinite strike, the government assured the employees that the issue of disinvestment in the telecom sector will be referred to a group of ministers.

Earlier, a high level panel, headed by Sam Pitroda, banker Deepak Parekh and Telecom secretary, P J Thomas, recommended 30% disinvestment in BSNL and voluntary retirement to more than 100,000 employees to improve the financial health the company. The panel was set up by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to suggest ways to improve BSNL’s financial condition.

The BSNL staff unions are also demanding not to outsource any work and revision of pension of the retirees. Chandeshwar Singh , General Secretary of National Federation of Telecom Employees, said that they have not heard any concrete decision from the management or the government.

BSNL is a government run company and it has been doing poorly as private mobile companies are taking up its market share. In 2008-2009, the company made a profit of Rs.5.75 billion which plummeted to Rs.1.78 billion in 2009-2010. Currently, BSNL has 91 million users including mobile and landline. BSNL offers services across India, except Delhi and Mumbai.

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Pan-India 3G license bidding price rose 63%

It looks like the bid for pan-Indian 3G network is becoming very intensive. The bidding started on April 9, 2010 with a starting price of Rs.35 billion. Till April 17, 2010, forty rounds of bidding had been completed by the Department of Telecommunications. On the seventh day, the bidding price of Pan-Indian 3G license observed an astounding 63% rise to Rs. 5,710.36 crore making the amount of total revenue to Rs.22,841.44 crore.

The auction process for 3G and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) started back in August 2008. Over time, the government revised its various rules and regulations and revised the auction time table. You can find all the detailed process of the bidding on the website of Dept. of Telecom.

You will also get details of the last seven days on this link:

r.reuters.com/tuz28j

Bidders for the 3G auction are: Aircel Ltd.; Bharti Airtel Ltd.; Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt. Ltd.; Idea Cellular Ltd.; Reliance Telecom Ltd; S Tel Pvt. Ltd.; Tata Teleservices Ltd.; Videocon Telecommunications Ltd.; and Vodafone Essar Ltd. BSNL and MTNL received spectrum outside auction process.

The entire bidding has been going on Internet and it will continue for two weeks.

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BSNL JAO result 2010 has been declared online

BSNL JAO result 2010 had been declared. Earlier this year, BSNL invited application for 1000 posts of Junior Accountant Officers (JAO). On March 14, 2010, an competitive exam for JAO was held.

To know about your result visit:

http://bsnl.co.in/company/jaoresult09/jaoresult_final_log1.php

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited popular known as BSNL is a government run telecom company. It is the oldest and largest communication service provider in India. Currently, it is the sixth largest mobile phone operator in India with more than 57.22 million subscribers as of December 2009. It is also the largest land line provider in India with footprints all over the country except New Delhi and Mumbai which are managed by MTNL. The headquarter of the company is located at Bharat Sanchar Bhawan, Harish Chandra Mathur Lane, Janpath, New Delhi. As one of the top public sector companies, BSNL was conferred upon Mini Ratna by the Indian government.

BSNL EVDO data card: Now enjoy high speed Internet everywhere

If you are looking for high speed internet in India then go for the BSNL EVDO data card. BSNL is one of the largest tele-communication companies in India. BSNL is one of the oldest and largest telecom companies in India with a very good network infrastructure around the country. The company recently launched 3G network in India. This makes BSNL the first Indian company to provide this service. The EVDO was unofficially launched in back in 2007. Currently, it is available in selected cities. ihackintosh.com reports:

Theoretically EVDO Offers 2.4 Mbps with Rev 0 and 3.1 Mbps on Rev A. But it varies on depending on few parameters. The BSNL EVDO modem is USB based, making it easy for Desktop computers as well as Laptops.

BSNL EVDO data card would cost Rs.3,500 one time charges. You can also buy it on rental basis paying Rs. 200 per month. Subscribers would have to pay Rs.550 per month for speeds up to 2.4 Mbps in most of the cities in India. However, BSNL official website reported that the pricing is subject to change according to cities and would range between Rs.400 and Rs.500 per month. The speed may vary according to your location.

Other details:

• Activation charges for unlimited EVDO......Rs. 500
• Internet connect card sale price...............Rs. 3500
• Fixed monthly charges for card.................Rs. 200
• Fixed monthly charges for internet............Rs. 550
• Security charges (refundable)...................Rs. 1000
• Free internet usage................................Unlimited
• Additional usage charges........................Not applicable
• Minimum hire period...............................Three months

All the taxes shall be charged extra as applicable

The above mentioned tariff will be applicable up to 31.12.2008

All other terms and conditions shall remain unchanged

For more information visit the following link:

http://www.bsnldatacard.com/bsnl-data-card-details-frequently-asked-questions.html

Mi-Fone launched new mobile phonesets in India

Mi-Fone, one of the fastest growing mobile devices of Africa, entered the Indian market with new handsets- the Mi-Q family, Mi-5QS, Mi-338, Mi-323 Mi-2010 and Mi-350a. Mi-Fone is one of the fastest growing mobile phone brands in Africa which was conceptualized and created by Alpesh Patel in 2008. The mobile phones are equipped with full color screen, FM radio, QWERTY keypad. In addition, Mi-323,

Mi-338, Mi-2010 and the Mi-350a will include “MI-APPS” with Push email and messenger.

• Mi-Q family: Under the Mi-Q family, Mi-Fone is offering
• Mi-Q: Voice and SMS.
• Mi-Q1: GPRS, camera, dual-SIM.
• Mi-Q5S: Full colour screen, FM radio and QWERTY keypad.

• Mi-2010: It is a low cost phone. It has dual-SIM, camera, and a 1.8″ display with 65K color screen. The phone has GRPS/WAP/MMS, MP3 player and FM radio. Mi-2010 is priced at Rs. 2,999.

• Mi-338: This phone has an 2.4 inch TFT screen with QVGA resolutions.

It has dual-SIM, analog TV, MP3, video capability and shake sensor. Multimedia functions include SMS, MMS, GPRS, WAP. The phone weighs 100 grams. It has a 800Mah battery that offers 3-hours of talk time and 200 hours of standby time. For data transfer, it has Bluetooth, USB and GPRS. The Mi-338 is available at a price of Rs. 6990.

• Mi-323: The Mi-323 is a dual-SIM phone. It has a 1.8 inch TFT display with a resolution of 128X160 pixels. It weighs just 88 grams. It supports GRPS, WAP, MMS, Bluetooth. It has a VGA camera. It also supports MP3, video. It has a memory card of up to 2GB. Mi-323 is priced at Rs. 3,990.

• Mi-350a: Mi-350a is a dual-SIM VGA camera phone. It is equipped with a dual battery and dual GSM antenna that increase in the reception by 2-3db. User can change battery while the phone is on.The two batteries gives the phone 10 hours talk time and 720 hours of standby time. Mi-350a is priced at Rs. 3,999.

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Samsung Corby Pop C3510: Price and Specifications and Features

On January 20, 2010, Samsung launched another new member of its Corby family; the Samsung Corby Pop C3510. The phone has been launched both in India and Russia. In Europe, the handset is launched under the name Samsung Genoa C3510 on January 6, 2010. It is the second generation Corby phone and is cheaper than the original Corby. The Samsung Corby Pop was announced in India in December 2009.

Samsung launched the Samsung Corby Pop to compete with LG GD510 Pop. The Corby Pop is an entry level touchscreen phone with colorful exterior and access to various social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter etc. It also allows you to access Google search engine.

The Samsung Corby S3650 is one of the most popular phones in India. It is a youth oriented phone that is very colorful and at the same time gives access to various social networks. Samsung Corby Pop C3510 is cheaper than the Corby and comes with a weaker camera. The Corby Pop’s touch enabled navigation system is very user friendly. With simple touch of finger, the user can easily navigate Corby Pop’s menus and access various features. It offers a wide range of easy applications.

Features:

The Corby Pop has more or less similar features like those of the Samsung Corby.

• Length: 103.9 mm
• Width: 55.4mm
• Breadth: 12.9mm
• Weight: 92 grams
• Network: GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz;
• Display: 2.8-inch (240×320 pixels) 262K TFT touchscreen display.
• Memory: 30 MB memory.
• Memory expansion: Expandable up to 8 GB through microSD card.
• Camera and video: 1.3 megapixel camera with 4X zoom and video recording capability.
• Radio: FM radio with RDS.
• Audio: The Samsung Corby Pop features 3D Digital Natural Sound engine (DNSe). It has a music player that supports a wide range of audio files MP3/AMR/AAC/AAC+/e-AAC+/WMA files.
• Wireless communication: Bluetooth 2.1 and Wi-Fi.
• Headphone: 3.5 mm headphone jack.
• Social network: The Samsung Corby Pop gives its user access to a wide range of social networking websites and photowebsites through its quick link widget bar. You can access facebook, myspace, photobucket, flickr, picasa and friendster. You can also get live updates of the social network sites.
• Instant messaging: Samsung Corby Pop's multi-instant messengers lets user use Google Talk, ICQ, and AIM through its pre-installed Palringo platform. The user can also connect through Bluetooth Messenger.
• Email: Yes.
• Fake call application: Fake call application.
• Battery: Standard Li-Ion 960 mAh battery.
• Talk time: 10 hours.
• Standby time: 720 hours.
• Music play time: 25 hours.
• Price: The phone costs less than €100 in Europe. In Russia, the Samsung Corby Pop C3510 is priced at 5,990 rubles ($203). In India it will be less than Rs.7000.

India is currently the second largest market wireless telecommunication market in the world. It is also one of the fastest growing telecom industries in the world. A large portion of the India’s users are teenagers and young adults. People aged between14 and 24 years make up the largest portion of the Indian population.

MTV and Nickelodeon jointly conducted a survey on 18000 youngsters in sixteen countries around the world. The survey found out that average Indian youth, more than any other country in the world, considers mobile phone as a status symbol. Compared to other countries Indian youngsters love mobile phones and computers followed by Brazil and China. For this reason, phone like Samsung Corby has gained unprecedented success in India. There is a good possibility that the Samsung Corby Pop would become equally popular like its predecessor.

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Tata Teleservices Ltd. is going to launch its GSM service from July

Tata Group will venture into GSM telephone industry. Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), the telecommunications arm of Tata Group is going to start new GSM service. Currently, TTSL is one of the major CDMA network operators in India but limited allocation of CDMA spectrum forced the company to start GSM service. Tata Teleservices will remain committed to its CDMA network but for the future of its business, the company is foraying into the GSM sector. In 2007, TTSL and Reliance mobile applied for “dual technology licenses.” While TTSL focused on CDMA, Reliance already established its GSM network around the country.

Tata Teleservices Managing director, Anil Sardana said that the company would operate on double network for its survival. TTSL is going to launch its GSM service next month and by the end of 2009, the company will also start its MNP service. TTSL pioneered the CDMA network in India. It introduced CDMA 3G1x technology and built its first CDMA network with Motorola, Ericsson and Lucent. In early 2009, the company received license from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to launch its GSM service. Currently, TTSL has 12,500 towers around the country.

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