ISRO to expand capacity to Meet DTH demand

 Bangalore: With the country’s top direct-to-home (DTH) players, including Dish TV and Tata Sky, planning to expand their channel portfolio, Indian Space Research Organsiation (Isro) has decided to increase its satellite transponder capacity in order to provide communication service to DTH players.

Isro will more than double its transponder capacity in the near future, said managing director of Antrix Corporation KR Sridhar Murthy. Antrix, the commercial arm of Isro, is an authorised government agency to offer all Indian and foreign space-related services to local players.

Talking to FE on the sidelines of Word Space Biz 2008, India’s first international conference organised by Isro, Murthy said currently the Indian satellites have 211 transponders for communication purpose that include DTH service, telemedicine and tele-education. Of this, he said, 100 transponders are leased to DTH providers. “Another 300 transponders would be added in the next five years for various communication purposes, including DTH. It is to be noted that 50-60% of Antrix revenue comes from transponder service.

India’s second largest DTH provider, Tata Sky, managing director and chief executive officer Vikram Kausik told FE, “The company is in talks with satellite providers and specialists to avail the satellite service further in order to expand the company’s DTH capacity. We require a large number of transponders in order to transmit 1,000 channels and give our viewers a wide choice. We hope to achieve the target in the next 2-3 years.”

The demand for new channels is growing very sharply in India, especially the regional markets are growing very fast. In order to have wider regional presence, we need to have more channels to offer. The country has 400 channels at present. The number is likely to double in the next 3-5 years. Hence, the DTH providers should have the capacity to accommodate these channels, he added.

Currently Tata Sky, which has 3-million subscribers, has hired all 12 Ku-Band transponders on INSAT 4A. The company will make some changes to expand its DTH platform to accommodate 200 channels against the current 167 channels with its current transponder capacity, Kausik said. “We will touch the 200-channel mark in a matter of weeks,” he added.

On the other hand, the country’s largest DTH provider with 4.8 million subscribers—Zee’s Dish TV—also has huge expansion plans. It, however, is waiting for Antrix green signal for transponder rights.

Director (Corporate) of Zee Network Amitabh Kumar said the company’s DTH arm has applied to Antrix to provide 10 transponders to help implement expansion plans. He said the company, which currently owns around 11 Ku-Band transponders on NSS-6 foreign satellite, plans to expand its DTH space to 400 channels from the current level of 200 channels. The additional transponders will also serve the company’s other planned services like high-definition channels, movies-on-demand, which would require an additional investment of Rs 100 crore, he added. He said the company is confident of getting 10 more transponder by the mid 2009.

Other DTH providers, Sun Direct, Reliance Big TV and Airtel, are also in talks with Antrix for more transponders rights....  

India's mobile telephony segment to offer major scope for growth: ITU

According to the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a leading UN
agency for information and communication technology issues, India's current mobile telephone
penetration rate of about 20 per cent and market liberalisation policies are some of the factors that may offer "great potential" for growth of telecom companies.
Further, according to ITU, while India had about 296 million mobile subscribers by end-July 2008, the world's second-most populous nation offers major scope for growth in terms of numbers. Also, market liberalisation in India has contributed majorly in spreading mobile telephony driven by increasing competitiveness and price reductions.
India's mobile telephony operators now compete for low-income customers and the Average-Revenue-Per-User in India has touched almost US$ 7, one of the lowest in the world, the data revealed.
The report also stated that developing countries like India and China are witnessing an upsurge in the number of mobile phone subscribers which may lead to growth in the numbers to four billion by the end of the year worldwide. The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China – incidentally China, the world's largest mobile market, too has surpassed the 600 million subscriber mark by mid-2008) economies are expected to account for over 1.3 billion mobile subscribers by the end of 2008, owing to increasing impact in terms of population, resources and global gross domestic product (GDP) share.

Only 120 companies 'happy to help' consumers-National Consumer helpline

NATIONAL CONSUMER HELPLINE-1800-11-4000 (FROM BSNL/MTNL LINE)
Tall claims that companies make about their corporate social responsibility packages may not always ring true. Sample some figures. Only 120 companies in India have joined hands with the National Consumer Helpline to help their customers register complaints against their products and services. The helpline was started a year ago jointly by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the University of Delhi.
The helpline, which operates out of the university campus, now registers almost 4,000 complaints a month. However, it has managed to forward only 3,500 complaints to companies for redressal in four months. This is because very few companies have geared themselves up to participate in the helpline initiative. So a majority of the complaints are going unheard.
According to the consumer helpline, it receives the largest number of complaints against telecom services providers. In the last four months, there were 1,128 complaints against BSNL and 405 against Vodafone. Though both the companies have CSR programmes and Vodafone has a “happy to help” tag line, too, neither has linked up with the National Consumer Helpline programme designed to address grievances.
When contacted, BSNL’s deputy director general (public grievances) Narendra Kumar said that he wanted the helpline to be integrated with the company’s own redressal system, but this was ruled out by the helpline.
“We had received complaints through email from the helpline. We are waiting for the second set of complaints,” he said. The National Consumer Helpline Project Manager S K Virmani said that the company did not respond to the first set of complaints either.
He said Vodafone and Reliance do not respond to complaints sent through the helpline. When asked why the company did not link up with the helpline, a Vodafone spokesperson said that the company would not be able to comment immediately. Reliance Communications was silent on the helpline. Its spokesperson Gaurav Wahi said: “Our call centre, the single largest call centre facility in India, can handle a few lakh calls daily and is a major differentiator to provide quality customer support.”
Meanwhile, there were 320 complaints against Nokia and 481 against Airtel. The two companies, however, have signed up for the convergence programme of the helpline which allows them to access complaints against them. Both Airtel and Tata Indicom executives claimed that the companies have a large consumer base and some customers could face problems.
However, at least 22 leading banks and insurance companies are reporting to the helpline. While private companies like HDFC, ICICI, Kotak Mahindra HSBC, Centurion Bank of Punjab, and Punjab National Bank and insurance companies like Bajaj Allianz, Birla Sun life, Aviva Life Insurance etc. have joined the helpline’s convergence plan, nationalised banks have not. Among airlines, only Air Deccan has signed up.
Virmani said that the helpline has tied up with the Ficci to coax companies to respond to complaints by joining its covergence programme. Amita Joseph, executive director, Business and Community Foundation, a consultant on CSR for companies, said that the companies talk big when it comes to CSR. The least they can do is to bear responsibility for their consumers. This helpline is their hall of shame.”

India third on spending list

Annual commercial spending in India clocked $2.3 trillion in 2007, an increase of 23% from
2006, according to data released by Visa, the world's largest retail electronic payments network.
As per Visa's Commercial Consumption Expenditure (CCE) index, India was third largest nation in terms of
the size of total business and government spend and the fourth fastest growing in the Asia Pacific (APAC)
region.
The other top economies given the size of their commercial expenditure in the region included Japan ($5.2
trillion), China ($4.9 trillion), South Korea ($2 trillion) and Australia ($1.2 trillion).
The CCE index captures business to business purchases to acquire goods and services used in production,
wholesale and retail purchases of final goods, business capital expenditures and government spending on
goods and services.
It makes adjustments to exclude expenditures such as construction and durable defense spending.
According to the report, which considered 21 economies in the APAC region as a part of the global study,
commercial spending in the region grew by 13% to $18.9 trillion in 2007, while global annual commercial
spending grew 12.2% to an estimated $77.3 trillion from $68.9 trillion in 2006.
India emerged as the fourth fastest growing economy in APAC in terms of total business and government
spend, with an annual increase of 23%. The top three positions were taken by Myanmar (41%), Hong Kong
(36.5 %) and Singapore (35 %).
"The markets across Asia Pacific are varied in terms of their stages of development and usage of
commercial card products," said Visa Commercial Solutions, Director (Asia Pacific), John Hazlewood

What is WiMAX?

WiMAX is a wireless digital communications system, also known as IEEE 802.16, that is intended for wireless "metropolitan area networks". WiMAX can provide broadband wireless access (BWA) up to 30 miles (50 km) for fixed stations, and 3 - 10 miles (5 - 15 km) for mobile stations. In contrast, the WiFi/802.11 wireless local area network standard is limited in most cases to only 100 - 300 feet (30 - 100m).

With WiMAX, WiFi-like data rates are easily supported, but the issue of interference is lessened. WiMAX operates on both licensed and non-licensed frequencies, providing a regulated environment and viable economic model for wireless carriers.

WiMAX can be used for wireless networking in much the same way as the more common WiFi protocol. WiMAX is a second-generation protocol that allows for more efficient bandwidth use, interference avoidance, and is intended to allow higher data rates over longer distances.

The IEEE 802.16 standard defines the technical features of the communications protocol. The WiMAX Forum offers a means of testing manufacturer's equipment for compatibility, as well as an industry group dedicated to fostering the development and commercialization of the technology.

Soon, WiMAX will be a very well recognized term to describe wireless Internet access throughout the world.

India-Research and Development Hub

"Today India has become one of the strongest in the world in terms of scientific manpower in capability and maturity. Hence, we are in a position not only to understand the technologies that we may have to borrow, but also to create our own technologies with extensive scientific inputs of indigenous origin. It is important for India to put all her acts together to become a continuous innovator and creator of science and technology intensive products". Dr. A PJ Abdul Kalam

"We take satisfaction from the fact that over 100 global companies have come to India to set up R&D Centres, affirming the intellectual capital of our scientific and engineering community. Science must grapple with the key challenges facing the country today." Dr. Manmohan Singh

"A phenomenal transformation in the attitude and approach to R&D in industry has taken place. From a 'back seat' position a mere ten years ago, R&D in Indian industry is now in the 'front seat' of corporate strategy. In several sectors, business driven research has given way to research driven business." Mr. Kapil Sibal

"India is one of the hotspots for innovation of low cost and high quality products and services. Now we can enter the complex high technology areas." Dr. R. Chidambaram

"The current S&T ecology does not seem to provide either physical income with career opportunities matching other service sectors or psychic income derived from uninhibited pursuits of passion with science." Dr. T Ramasami

"The challenge was how to continue to tap the incredible dynamism of global R&D so that Indian institutions and companies could assume the leadership in creating high-wage jobs and building new industries" Dr. R A Mashelkar

Future of Indian consumer durables market

Indian Market is fast moving towards high-end customized products, which are aesthetically designed to complement the modern households. The need at this moment of time is to continuously innovate and come out with product variations across categories to meet the expectations of a varied class of customers.

This year, the leading consumer durables players forecast 15 per cent growth for the sector. In 2006, the consumer durables and home appliances sector experienced growth of 14 per cent and was pegged at Rs 3.7 billion.

According to sources, dismantling of quantitative restrictions on imports of consumer electronics has let to customer tariffs gradually coming down. In such environment, the industrial units could only survive by improving the efficiency and productivity.

India is a fast developing country and is proving to be a major challenge to the already established countries of the world. The industry expects to grow by 10 per cent for refrigerators and 60 per cent for washing machines this year. In a sector, where new products are being introduced with increasing frequency and lifecycle of products getting shorter, research and development plays an important role.

I believe that this area needs to be regularly updated with newer technologies, so that the innovations are meaningful to the customers. Setting up of manufacturing facilities by MNCs in India, which not only meet international standards but also reduce trade barriers between two countries and give a thrust to the exports of the company, which is very important.

At this moment of time, the consumer electronic industry has come a long way and is making state-of-the-art products and quality is earmarked immense importance. Point to be noted here is that the quality of any product is directly linked with exports from India to other countries. India has lately become a manufacturing hub for many companies to make quality products. In the last few years, this sector has shown tremendous growth, resulting in annual growth rate of close to 50 per cent.