Awareness + Demand for 3G Services in India
3G is the buzzword for folks reading this blog. But bear in Mind that there are over 558 mn 2G Wireless SIMs out in India and not everybody is aware of what 3G is nor the demand for it. Here is a finding of a survey by RBS,
- 48% of respondents are aware of 3G services, of which 65% are postpaid.
- None willing to pay extra for better voice quality on 3G above the existing rates
- Half of the respondents not interested in Video Calling and those who are interested are unwilling to pay more than Rs 2 / minute. 33% have monthly usage below Rs500, 22% between Rs500 and 1,000 and 33% between Rs1,000 and Read more
3G + Broadband Wireless Spectrum Auction – List of applicants
The list of Applicants for 3G Spectrum Auction is out and as expected foreign Telcos have stayed out. No surprises in the list of contenders for 3G Wireless spectrum and the list is as follows,
- Bharti Airtel
- Aircel
- Etisalat DB [ Rumored to have bid understanding with Reliance]
- Idea Cellular
123Greetings.Com going Public in India
123Greetings.Com the pioneer in Internet Greeting Card / e-invitations for parties and ceremonies Services since 1996 operated by Intrasoft Technologies is going public / IPO next week. It will raise Rs 50o to Rs 536 mn in the offering. According to comScore Media Metrix derived from comscore.com certified on February 2, 2010, its Website was the largest (by number of Unique Visitors) electronic greeting cards website in India with the following statistics
- 15 million Unique Visitors during the twelve month period from November 2008 to October 2009
- 208 million page views
Qualcomm’s Bid for BWA Spectrum – WiMax Forum Protests
Qualcomm which changed and diluted its arrogance stand on its proprietary CDMA chip sets by promoting the Open Market Handset Alliance last year has realized the potential, a country with billion hands offers to it, and has now gone to an extra mile to bid for Broadband Wireless Access Spectrum. We believe Qualcomm is late into the game, as the powerful WiMax forum backed by Intel has already got the BWA Spectrum tuned to its requirements [2.3GHz though the Government Document says - There are broadly no restrictions on the technology to be adopted for providing services in the 3G Spectrum and BWA Spectrum] . Nevertheless, Qualcomm can offer similar service. According to Mr. Atul Deshpande an RF expert,
LTE can work on 2.3GHz but access method will be TDD, which is adopted by China.
As expected, Mr. Rao representing the WiMax forum in India has come out in the open against Qualcomm’s bid,
I am concerned that this move by Qualcomm, if they emerge as winners in the bid, may result in the hoarding of Read more
3G Spectrum Auction – Circle Wise Bidding Expectations
The traditional press is silent about 3G spectrum auction, however, my channel checks indicate of a Telecom cabal. Early reports with Insiders have varying expectations for incumbents, mainly Reliance Communications and Idea Cellular. One section believes that Reliance Communications will throw its bid for all the circles while the other demonstrated a business case for RCom to bid aggressively in only 9 circles and stick to it and wait for more clarity on 3G spectrum for CDMA operators. I first wrote about Idea Cellular and Aircel bidding in coherence and is confirmed again by a top Foreign Financial Institution. This is how the scene so far looks like with no Foreign Operator likely to join the race.
- Bharti Airtel – Likely to bid for all the 22 circles independently
Abundant Challenges for Bharti Airtel in Africa – Terry Rhodes
HSBC Global hosted a Con Call with Terry Rhodes, co-founder of Celtel International acquired by Zain. Mr. Rhodes was of the following opinion
On Diversity and Cultural spread in Africa,
As Africa consists of 53 countries, to operate successfully it is important to understand the dynamics of each country, including differences in culture, language and especially regulations. Bharti would do well to put in place as few expatriates as possible and have most of its top management from Africa.
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