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1. BSNL drops plan to acquire Zamtel stake From: mukesh vaghela
2. BSNL Unlimited EV-DO Gets Cheaper From: mukesh vaghela
3. BSNL ring based FTTH services for Jaipur today From: mukesh vaghela
4. Four companies in race for BSNL franchisees From: mukesh vaghela
5. Watch IPL 2010 matches on your mobile From: mukesh vaghela
6. Dumping probe order on telecom equipment set aside From: mukesh vaghela
7. FDI in 'sensitive list' may be under post-investment scrutiny From: mukesh vaghela
8. BSNL board has not approved VRS plan: Kuldeep Goyal From: mukesh vaghela
9. Harijan Ashram in list of defaulters From: mukesh vaghela
10. Apalya looks to double user base on IPL track From: mukesh vaghela
11. Smartlinx Inc. Approves Private Placement Offering of up to 5,000,00 From: mukesh vaghela
12. UPDATE 1-Three suitors remaining in race to buy Zambia's Zamtel From: mukesh vaghela
13. The Week in Review for 12 March 2010 From: mukesh vaghela
14. Friday Review: Smoke and mirrors From: mukesh vaghela
15. Rumour : iPhone 3GS India Launch on Monday March 15 with 4 Operators From: mukesh vaghela
16. Apex court declines to intervene with HC's ruling on telecom licence From: mukesh vaghela
17. MNP to be delayed by at least 3 months From: mukesh vaghela
18. Flak for IBM Mainframe. A Microsoft déjà-vu? From: mukesh vaghela
19. Soon, switch over to any DTH firm From: mukesh vaghela
20. 3G Hopes From: mukesh vaghela
21. Uninor taking cautious step towards 3G bidding From: mukesh vaghela
22. Special audit gives virtually clean chit to Bharti's accounts From: mukesh vaghela
23. Country's first FTTH service launched in Jaipur From: mukesh vaghela
24. WiMAX gains momentum across AsiaPac and the rest of the world From: mukesh vaghela
25. BSNL offers discounted tariff plan for EV-DO users news From: mukesh vaghela
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1. BSNL drops plan to acquire Zamtel stake
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:18 pm
MUMBAI: After drawing flak from the Sam Pitroda committee, set up to recommend an overhaul of Bharat Sanchar Nigam’s (BSNL) operations, the PSU has dropped its plan to acquire a majority stake in Zambia Telecommunications (Zamtel). The telecom monolith will, instead, focus on improving domestic operations.
The last date for submitting the binding bid for Zamtel is March 13, but BSNL is not pursuing the matter. “Its proposal is unlikely to be approved by the Department of Telecom (DoT) because Zamtel is a loss-making entity and BSNL needs to put its own house in order before buying a bleeding company,” an official involved in the due diligence for Zamtel told ET.
BSNL is also learnt to have requested Zamtel to extend the last date for submitting the binding bid by a few weeks. However, Zamtel turned down that request, said sources. The Zambian government, which owns Zamtel, is looking at selling up to 75% stake in the telco. Analysts had pegged the fixed-line operator’s enterprise value at $200 million.
The decision to drop out of the race for Zamtel was taken at a BSNL board meeting on Wednesday evening. With this, BSNL’s African Safari has come to a halt. Last month, the PSU lost the bid to manage telecom networks of Ethiopian Telecommunications to France Telecom. However, the BSNL board gave an in-principle approval to the Pitroda report, which has also recommended a 30% stake sale in the PSU.
BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal said the company was recasting its strategy for expanding operations globally. “We intend to revisit all such proposals after formulation of this strategy. We are hopeful that we shall revive our efforts with renewed energy after this,” he told ET.
While Mr Goyal did not provide details of this new strategy being planned, sources within BSNL said the clear focus now was on improving and expanding in the domestic market. “Our performance in India is hurting our chances internationally.
For ETC, we had made a financially better offer than others, but we did not qualify on operational performance criteria in the domestic market. That has to be addressed on a priority basis,” a senior BSNL official said.
BSNL has been losing market share to private operators and its tenders have always been mired in controversies, delaying expansion.
Apart from BSNL, the other three bidders shortlisted by Zamtel for the next round of bidding were Angolas Unitel, Russian telco Altimo and Libya’s LAP Green Networks. Zamtel has been making losses for many years and is hugely over-staffed, mirroring some of BSNL’s problems. “It would have been difficult for BSNL to turnaround that company,” said this official.
None of the 15 major recommendations made by the Pitroda Committee suggest that BSNL should go international. The focus of the report, submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, is on improving the quality of BSNL’s manpower, trimming the workforce by offering VRS to one lakh employees and monetising its assets along with opting for managed services model for networks, IT and call centre operations.
BSNL does not have any international operations on its radar, said sources. The PSU was, last year, in talks to pick up a stake in Essar’s Kenyan telecom venture, which operates under brand Yu. In December 2009, BSNL pulled out of talks to acquire Kuwait’s Zain telecom, citing lack of clarity on certain parameters besides valuation differences.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/BSNL-drops-plan-to-acquire-Zamtel-stake/articleshow/5678087.cms
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2. BSNL Unlimited EV-DO Gets Cheaper
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:18 pm
BSNL has announced the launchof a promotional plan that will allow users to avail its EV-DO based broadband connectionat a discounted price of Rs. 750 per month. The same service cost users Rs. 999 per month until now.
The plan offers "unlimited" data usage with a maximum speed of 3.1 Mbps. This plan has been extended for existing as well as new users. However, you might want to act quickly because this offer is only valid for those who apply for it before March 31, 2010. There is one catch though - this service comes with a fair usage policy - which means that if you exceed a limit prescribed by BSNL, you would be liable to paying Rs. 0.50 per MB. This, mind you, is by no means cheap!
BSNL's EV-DOservice is available in only select towns across India and uses a CDMA based 3G technology. It is unclear as to how many cities currently serviced by BSNL's EV-DO service will get these new tariffs. If your town was already under the EV-DO network, you might want to get in touch with your local BSNL telephone exchange to find out if you can get a new connection with this plan - or simply change your plan to this new one.
Apart from this unlimited plan, BSNL also has a few other plans as shown below:
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/BSNL_Unlimited_EV-DO_Gets_Cheaper/551-109855-643.html
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3. BSNL ring based FTTH services for Jaipur today
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:20 pm
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is going to launch FIBRE TO THE HOME (FTTH) in Jaipur today. This ground breaking service was recently launched in Hyderabad which provides a flawless high speed connectivity as FTTH is based on the principle ring based optical fibre network.
FTTH is helpful for apartments because it replaces the need for installing copper lines for new apartments. Moreover it is a self-healing network even if the optical fibre is damaged information will be re-routed through another line.
FTTH is more feasible and it also facilitates interactive gaming, IPTV, HDTV, 3DTV, video on demand, bandwidth on demand, LAN, VOIP service and video conferencing. With FTTH, BSNL can now offer high speed internet access up to 1000 Mbps and abundant services based on voice, video, and data.
BSNL will soon launch these services across the country in phased manner. The launch ceremony will take place in presence of Minister of State for Communications and Information technology Mr Sachin Pilot.
http://www.cellbharat.com/blog/6294/bsnl-ring-based-ftth-services-for-jaipur-today/
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4. Four companies in race for BSNL franchisees
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:21 pm
The government has short-listed four companies to fight for state-run telecom giant BSNL's franchisees on it latest WiMAX. The four short-listed companies are Teracom, Take Solutions, Adishwar India and Ampoules & Auto. The government confirmed the information in the Rajya Sabha.
In a written reply, the Minister of State for Communications and IT, Gurudas Kamat informed that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has been passed the names of those four companies. He has also said that all these companies have successfully fulfilled the bidding norms set by the franchisor like registered in India for more than two years, and must with a minimum turnover of Rs. 100 crore in each of the last two years.
Companies providing WiMAX operation in foreign countries were also allowed to bid with the condition that they submit an undertaking before signing the agreement with BSNL.
The Minister anticipated that BSNL would soon start other formalities to begin the process.
http://www.topnews.in/four-companies-race-bsnl-franchisees-2256122
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5. Watch IPL 2010 matches on your mobile
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:23 pm
The IPL 2010 season is about to kick off in a few hours from now. While you can always watch the matches in the Stadium or on your Television, most of us have jobs and other responsibilities . So a good alternative would be to catch the IPL on Youtube or on your mobile phone.
MiMobi is the official live mobile video streaming partner for IPL and they support almost every operator in the country. But the charges are approx Rs.10 per day to Rs.50 per week appox. Since only BSNL offers 3G speeds, the video quality would surely be better on a BSNL 3G connection than the rest.
As you might know IPL has partnered with Youtube for Live coverage of all the matches. This means that you can catch all the action on your PC. But if you are using a phone that supports Youtube or Flash Streaming then you can watch all the IPL matches on your mobile phone for free
Try hit this link from your mobile phone http://bit.ly/cv2Pha
Nokia 5800, 5530, N97, Apple iPhone , Android phones support support Youtube
if that video plays fine then you might be lucky to watch all the matches on your phone for free
If you use an iPhone/iPod touch the official IPL iPhone app might be of interest to you
If you find any interesting mobile app or service for IPL , feel free to share it !
http://www.fonearena.com/blog/2010/03/12/watch-ipl-2010-matches-on-your-mobile.html
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6. Dumping probe order on telecom equipment set aside
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:23 pm
K.V. Kurmanath Hyderabad, March 12
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has set aside the anti-dumping investigation initiation order by the Union Government on import of SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) equipment by the telecom industry. The equipment also finds use in IT and IT-enabled Services (ITES) companies.
SDH is an international standard used for combining multiple voice, video and data signals into a single stream for transmitting over optical fibre cable. They are available in different sizes, depending on capacity. While STM-1 has 155 Mbps capacity, STM-4 has 622 Mbps, STM-16 has 2.5 Gbps and STM-64 10 Gbps.
Acting on a petition by the Hyderabad-based Vuppulamritha Magnetic Components Ltd (VMC), the Court also set aside the preliminary findings of the designated authority in September 2009, which found that the subject goods from China and Israel had entered the Indian market at prices less than normal values in their domestic markets.
The findings also ruled that the dumping margins of the subject goods were substantial and that the domestic industry suffered losses.
As a result of the court ruling, the decision to impose a provisional anti-dumping duty of 236 per cent on imports will be nullified. Telecom service companies feel that it will mean a big relief for them.
The initiation of anti-dumping investigation early last year was the result of a complaint from Tejas Networks, a telecom products and research company, which demanded such investigation into import of certain telecom equipment. Tejas alleged that foreign manufacturers had dropped prices between 60 per cent and 75 per cent over their quoted prices in one year, posing a threat to the domestic industry.
Responding to an invitation by the designated authority, several telecom service providers including Tata Teleservices and BSNL argued against the levy of the anti-dumping duty on imports. The issue has also a bearing on some IT and ITES companies.
Tata Teleservices had written to the Ministry of Finance in October 2009, stating that no examination had been undertaken to determine if there were other producers in India for such parts, components and accessories, while recommending the duties.
Interestingly, the Government-owned BSNL wanted the authorities not to proceed with the investigation which might hurt healthy competition.
It said the complainant had no locus standi to seek investigation.
In a letter to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, it pointed out that while Tejas had been dealing with one STM product, it had sought investigation into another STM product.
The legal tangle, however, is not likely to get over soon, with people following the issue feeling that the High Court order might be challenged.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/03/13/stories/2010031353020400.htm
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7. FDI in 'sensitive list' may be under post-investment scrutiny
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:24 pm
FDI in 'sensitive list' may be under post-investment scrutiny
Surajeet Das Gupta / New Delhi March 13, 2010, 0:08 IST
The Committee of Secretaries (CoS) set up to formulate changes in the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in sensitive sectors that are now under the automatic approval route has added a rider subjecting them to post-investment surveillance.
The department of legal affairs, under the law ministry, has been asked to draft appropriate legislation enabling the government to go in for such surveillance.
The CoS has also directed the ministry of home affairs to come out with a list of “sensitive locations” where FDI will come under security scrutiny.
This is the first time that such a formal list is being put in place through the government has disallowed telecom equipment orders to Chinese companies supplying state-owned BSNL in border areas.
The CoS has also decided to tighten disclosure norms irrespective of whether the FDI proposal is under the automatic route (meaning it only requires informing the Reserve Bank of India) or the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) route.
The 21-member committee, which met in the first week of March, also decided that all proposals that get FIPB approval but fall under the"sensitive list" or are in "sensitive locations” will need prior security clearance from the home ministry.
The CoS consensus of March 6 dilutes a February proposal by the National Security Council (NSC) designating some 15 industries as “sensitive sectors” (meaning they entail possible security risks) and subjecting them to FIPB approval.
The CoS’ decision, which will require Cabinet clearance, implies that the automatic approval benefit stays but these proposals will be subject to home ministry scrutiny once investments begin. Sensitive sectors under 100 per cent FDI automatic approval include drugs and pharamaceuticals, greenfield airport, chemicals and industrial explosives, gas pipelines, ports and private sector refining.
The CoS will consider appeals for review made by the administrative ministry concerned only for those proposals in which the home ministry has denied security clearance.
The decision by the CoS, which is headed by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar, takes into account strong objections by several ministries such as commerce, external affairs, highways and chemicals to NSC’s suggestion that “sensitive sectors” be subject to mandatory approval by FIPB approval plus a supra-FIPB body that has representatives from security agencies.
Up FDI in telecom under automatic route to 74%: DoT
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has suggested raising the limit for automatic approval for FDI in telecom from 49 to 74 per cent but with post-investment scrutiny for security issues. DoT’s suggestion marks a major relaxation of FDI in telecom services. It was made at the committee of secretaries meeting on March 6. Currently, FDI in this sector under the automatic route is permitted up to 49 per cent and FDI between 50 and 74 per cent is subject to FIPB approval. For manufacturing, 100 per cent FDI is allowed under the automatic route, and operators have been lobbying for a similar relaxation for services.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/fdi-in-%5Csensitive-list%5C-may-be-under-post-investment-scrutiny/388452/
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8. BSNL board has not approved VRS plan: Kuldeep Goyal
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:26 pm
Erstwhile state monopoly BSNL's decline as a telecom service provider has few parallels in history. It slipped behind its fleet-footed private
Kuldeep Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director, BSNL sector rivals to lose market share and revenues at an alarming speed. BSNL chairman and managing director Kuldeep Goyal is spearheading an effort to reverse the decline in fortunes by emulating private telcos. The company is set to dump its equipment procurement process to adopt the ‘managed capacity’ model where network is outsourced to vendors, which constantly changes network configuration to meet capacity requirements. Mr Goyal explains in detail how he will script a turnaround for BSNL, which is expected to post the first annual loss in its history, in an exclusive interaction. Excerpts:
Now that BSNL’s board has cancelled its controversial 93-million lines tender, what is the way forward?
We are changing our procurement strategy completely. We are looking at a ‘managed capacity’ model and this will be based on the traffic which is measured on a per Erlang basis. Our future orders for equipment will no longer be based on number of GSM lines. The new strategy will see us work out our mobile network capacity requirements on a quarterly basis and vendors will be given contracts to install this. This is the model being followed by private operators. We are now studying how companies like Airtel are executing it.
Will the new model do away with all the controversies associated with BSNL tenders?
Now, vendors will design our network — first they will study our networks, find out which of the clusters have capacity constraints and then identify the equipment that is required to be added. So, if there is surplus equipment in a cluster, they would like to roll it over to another area. For the first time, designing, planning, implementation of our mobile networks will be done by the vendor. Right now, our employees do all these functions. So far, we were giving blanket orders to install certain number of lines at a particular location/town — here what happens is that in some places, the capacity gets used up faster than our estimates and we then have constraints. On the other hand, in other places, the growth in mobile connections may be lower than our calculations, leaving us with surplus capacity. We were giving orders for say a 12-month period, and could not make changes in between. In a managed capacity model, capacity is added or reduced
every quarter.
How will your new tenders be? How will you address your equipment needs during this period? There is a lot of speculation that BSNL has already run out of mobile capacity in most parts of the country. Also, even if you have spare capacity now, will it not run out by the time you implement the new model?
Yes, the new tenders will no longer be about lines. Once we study this model and understand it, we will float RFPs for equipment purchase under the managed capacity model. Currently, we have a capacity of around 20 million GSM lines which are under installation in the South zone. These lines are being provided by Huawei, while in the West, they are being supplied by Alcatel Lucent. There is also come capacity left in the North and East zones. We have 8.5 million free lines in the South, 7.7 million in the West and 1.5 million each in the North and East. We have some some margins in our existing orders that we have placed with these vendors and therefore may be able to place additional orders with them. In the west and south zones, we will not require additional capacity for the next one year. In the North and East, we will require additional capacity within the next six months and we are considering several options to meet it. We are yet to decide if we
want to place additional orders under phase V of our 2007 tenders.
The government has banned you from procuring equipment from Chinese firms in most regions of the country. Does this impact BSNL?
I cannot comment on government decisions, but if any rules are there they should be common for all the operators. They cannot be applicable only to state-owned companies as that does not serve the purpose. If security is a concern, it should be for all the networks of all operators.
Your financials have been falling rapidly. The Prime Minister’s Office as well as the Department of Telecom have expressed concerns over this.
BSNL is not making losses. Even in the last fiscal, we had profits of around Rs 575 crore. This year, we are going to take a massive hit of around Rs 4,800 crore because of a salary revision. This salary revision is effective from 2007. These arrears have to be paid in the current fiscal. We have already disbursed around Rs 1,000 crore as of last year, so there will be an additional liability of Rs 3,800 crore this fiscal. This year’s financials will, therefore, be impacted. In the next year, the situation will improve. This is a temporary phase. In the case of mobile revenues, BSNL is doing better than private operators. The mobile revenues for the industry have come down by 5-6% in the current fiscal in the quarter ending June 2009, industry revenues were down by 4.55% while in the quarter ended September it was down by 1 %. But our revenues from mobile services have not fallen. Overall revenues have fallen because of our wireline revenues.
Is it possible that for the first time, BSNL will register losses this fiscal?
This year, that is a possibility. This is because of this new liability of having to pay three-year salary arrears due to the revision.
Was the board pressurised into accepting Pitroda panel report?
There was no pressure on us. The board has given its views on this report to the government and has asked it to take a final call on it. Most recommendations of this panel are related to the growth of the company and the board has no objections to it. While the Pirtoda panel recommended a 30% divestment, the board has only said that it is okay with a stake sale. We have not said that 30% should be sold, but rather have asked the government to work out the exact quantum. On the issue of VRS, the BSNL board is of the view that 60,000 people will retire in the next five years. So, the headcount will come down by this number within a five-year period. Let me also clarify, the board has not approved any move to offer VRS to 100,000 employees. The BSNL board also agrees with the Pitroda committee report that private talent be brought in and marked linked salaries be offered to these executives.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/interviews/BSNL-board-has-not-approved-VRS-plan-Kuldeep-Goyal/articleshow/5678131.cms
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9. Harijan Ashram in list of defaulters
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:26 pm
Ahmedabad: It seems Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is getting ready to crack whip on top property tax defaulters. Incensed with defaulters' non-responsive approach, the AMC has prepared a list of 13 top defaulters whose pending property tax amounts to Rs3.81 crore. Ironically, Friday was the 80th anniversary of Dandi March when the civic body listed Mahatma's Harijan Ashram as the fourth defaulter with property tax due of Rs10 lakh!
In the AMC's list the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Hutheesing Mill tops the list with Rs60 lakh and Rs80 lakh, respectively, pending bills for property tax followed by Bhagwat Vidyapith — with Rs40 lakh.
The AMC officials who have been experimenting with all kinds of efforts to increase its tax collection has now decided to announce names of top defaulters. "We have decided to give advertisement to announce top defaulters. We believe going public might create embarrassing situation for them and they may pay their pending tax," claimed Mayur Dave, chairman of revenue committee.
Dave said, on Friday, the AMC sealed around 125 properties across the city and collected Rs1.12 cr as property tax.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_harijan-ashram-in-list-of-defaulters_1358600
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10. Apalya looks to double user base on IPL track
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:29 pm
Mobile television and streaming video services provider Apalya Technologies is looking to double its subscriber base of mobile Internet users to 2 million by the end of the IPL (Indian Premier League) cricket season, according to Vamshi Krishna Reddy, co-founder of the company.
“We are expecting to add 1 million dedicated subscribers by the end of the forthcoming IPL season. We are presently offering 70-80 television channels,” Reddy said.
Hyderabad-based Apalya entered into a tieup with Global Cricket Ventures (GCV) this week to provide live mobile video streaming of IPL matches on an exclusive basis for three years. GCV is the mobile and internet partner licensee of IPL. The IPL 2010 season is set to start on March 12.
Apalya Technologies has entered into agreements with mobile operators in the country, including Tata Tele and Reliance Telecom, for sports fans to access real-time streaming information on cricket matches through mobile data cards. It has launched Photon TV along with Tata Tele to live television channels and recorded TV shows while on the move.
Apalya’s competitors in the live mobile video delivery space include Aksh Optifibre, ROK Entertainment and Zenga TV, among others. The company raised $3 million from IDG Ventures India and Qualcomm Ventures in October last year. Apalya had raised an angel investment from Mumbai Angels.
The company, which participated in the 3G rollout by BSNL and MTNL last year, has been engaged in 3G network and infrastructure deployment where it will invest 25-30 per cent of the money raised.
“We are working on building value right now and looking to have a presence in niche spaces,” said Reddy, ruling out any acquisition plans by the company or raising of fresh funding at this point of time.
A portion of the venture funding is going into building up its team of 75 people which is set to grow by over 35 people within a year.
Bangalore-based July Systems is another company which has signed up with IPL to provide mobile Internet data services. India currently has 120 million subscribers, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
However, the number of mobile Internet subscribers with access to 3G spectrum is just 5-10 million.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/apalya-looks-to-double-user-baseipl-track/388418/
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11. Smartlinx Inc. Approves Private Placement Offering of up to 5,000,00
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:29 pm
UNION CITY, N.J., Mar 12, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Smartlinx Inc. ("Smartlinx"), /quotes/comstock/11k!smlk (SMLK 0.51, +0.03, +6.25%) , is pleased to announce that it has approved a private placement offering (the "Foreign Offering") of up to 5,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.40 US per Unit, with each Unit consisting of one share of Smartlinx's common stock and one share purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase an additional share of common stock exercisable at a price of $0.50 US per share for a two-year period from the date of issuance. The Foreign Offering will be made to persons who are not "U.S. Persons" as defined in Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933.
Under the Foreign Offering, Smartlinx may pay a commission or finders fee to duly licensed brokers and investment dealers of up to 10% of the cash proceeds of the offering and issue warrants to purchase up to 10% of the number of Units sold in the offering on the same terms as the placed warrants.
Smartlinx intends to use the proceeds of the Foreign Offering to implement its plan of operation and for general working capital purposes. There is no assurance that the Foreign Offering or any part of it will be completed.
About Smartlinx Inc.
Smartlinx Inc. /quotes/comstock/11k!smlk (SMLK 0.51, +0.03, +6.25%) , through its wholly owned subsidiary in India, Smartlinx VoIP Networks Private Limited, offers online educational and Voice over Internet Telephony (VoIP) monitoring services.
Smartlinx has partnered with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the largest telecommunications company in India, to provide online learning services to K-12 students, higher education students and working professionals using VVoIP connect between the tutor/teacher and the student under the service name "Live Tutor".
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain, in addition to historic information, forward-looking statements. These statements may involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from the results implied herein, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to completing the Foreign Offering. There is also no assurance that the Foreign Offering will be completed on the above terms or at all. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements made in this news release.
The above does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of Smartlinx's securities in the United States. The securities have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons.
SOURCE: Smartlinx Inc.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/smartlinx-inc-approves-private-placement-offering-of-up-to-5000000-units-for-gross-proceeds-of-up-to-2-million-2010-03-12?reflink=MW_news_stmp
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12. UPDATE 1-Three suitors remaining in race to buy Zambia's Zamtel
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:30 pm
*India's Bharat Sanchar Nigam withdraws
*ZDA board to decide which firms to negotiate with
(Adds comments, details)
LUSAKA, Mar 12 (Reuters) - Three companies have submitted binding bids to buy a majority stake in Zambia's fixed-line phone operator Zamtel, the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) said on Friday.
India's Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd [BSNL.UL], withdrew after conducting due diligence, leaving Angola's Unitel, Libya's LAP Green Networks and Russia 's Altimo in the race for a slice of up to 75 percent in Zamtel. Altimo is the telecoms arm of Russian investment company Alfa Group.
"These bids will be subjected to an evaluation by the ZDA and after the evaluation they will be presented to the ZDA board who are going to make a decision as to which ones to shortlist for negotiations," ZDA privatization manager, Henry Sakala said.
Sakala said the board would also decide on how many companies to shortlist for negotiations.
He added the ZDA board would appoint an independent team to undertake the negotiations.
http://in.reuters.com/article/fundsNews/idINLDE62B1KZ20100312
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13. The Week in Review for 12 March 2010
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:32 pm
The Rajya Sabha made history on Tuesday, when it finally passed the Women’s Reservation Bill. An overwhelming 186 MPs voted in favour of the bill and just one voted against it. But the vote was preceded by two days of uproar in the house, with MPs from the RJD and Samajwadi Party protesting the bill. The two parties are demanding sub-reservations for women from other backward classes and minorities. At present the bill provides 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, but makes no distinctions between castes and religions.
The RJD and the Samajwadi Party withdrew their support to the Congress-led UPA government over the Women’s Reservation Bill. The Congress now says it will table the bill in the Lok Sabha only after evolving a consensus.
Factory output has risen in double digits for the fourth consecutive month. Government figures show the Index of Industrial Production rose 16.7% in January of 2010. Speaking to Parliament on the subject, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said the figures indicated growth in the economy was not simply being driven by government stimulus measures.
Passengers may have to cough up less cash as airport fees in the near future. This week, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority said the so-called single-till model of airport charges is best suited to India. It has already circulated a paper among both airlines and airport operators to get their feedback. The single-till model takes into account all activities at an airport. That means that if airport operators make money from activities like shops and restaurants, they charge airlines and passengers less. But operators support a double-till model that calculates charges based only on aeronautical services. Currently, airports in India simply charge airlines and passengers a levy for future facilities they’re building.
Fortis Healthcare could become India’s largest hospital company. It says it will buy a 23.9% stake in Parkway Holdings, one of the biggest healthcare firms in Asia. Fortis will pay $685.3 million to acquire the stake from investment firm TPG Capital. The deal will get Fortis four seats on Parkway’s board of directors and make Fortis’ current chairman, Malvinder Mohan Singh, the new chairman of Parkway’s board.
Tata Consultancy Services’ new Rs4,000 crore contract from the UK government has run into political trouble. The opposition Conservative party has criticized the UK government for awarding a major long-term contract just months before national elections in June. The party has also vowed to review the deal if it comes to power. The controversial contract puts TCS in charge of running a pension programme in the UK.
India’s 3G spectrum auctions are scheduled to be held next month. But actually allocating the spectrum could take longer than expected. That’s because of delays in setting up an optical fibre network that will compensate India’s military for giving up the spectrum. The military currently uses the spectrum that’s to be auctioned to 3-G operators. And while BSNL has the job of building the optical fibre network, it has struggled to find vendors who meet the stringent specifications. The deadline for allocating 3G spectrum is 30 September.
Ford unveiled its new global small car the Figo on Tuesday. The vehicle is the company’s first entrant into India’s market for compact cars. Petrol versions of the Figo will cost just Rs350,000.
ICICI Bank has stopped offering free credit cards. While customer who already have free cards will not be affected, ICICI will start charging new customers. Many of India’s banks have seen their non-performing assets in credit cards rise since 2008’s downturn.
http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/12235846/The-Week-in-Review-for-12-Marc.html
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14. Friday Review: Smoke and mirrors
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
Sat Mar 13, 2010 6:32 pm
Vodafone plays down job cuts while Cisco talks up a router, plus the rest of the week's highlights.
It's always the quiet ones, as the saying goes.
This week we learnt that when telecoms players are making a lot of noise about an upcoming announcement, there's every chance it will turn out to be a damp squib. Conversely, declining to comment is usually indicative that something is afoot.
Vodafone battened down the PR hatches on Monday when rumours emerged over a new job cuts plan in the U.K.
The story came from Mobile Today, which reported the mobile operator had plans to shed 500 jobs under its £2 billion cost-cutting programme.
We tried various avenues, but the U.K. telco was steadfast in its determination not to comment... which of course only served to sharpen our belief that there's no smoke without fire.
Confirmation of that fire came quickly. The following day Voda revealed that it will cut 375 jobs in the U.K., primarily back-office roles. However, it was also keen to point out that it will hire an additional 170 people in customer-facing positions, plus 50 new graduates.
While Vodafone was anxious to keep its news to itself, Cisco was doing just the opposite.
The network equipment giant's campaign of self- aggrandisement began a number of days ago when it promised "a significant announcement that will forever change the Internet". Naturally we were excited... in a geeky telecoms kind of way.
The word on the street was that Cisco would unveil a multi-function set-top box that could potentially be marketed direct to consumers. The rumour was that this would form part of a wider strategy that would also see the vendor bulk up its backbone network gear to support growth in fixed and mobile video and data transmission.
Ultimately though, Cisco just announced a new router.
Admittedly, the CRS-3 has a maximum capacity of 322 Terabits per second, which Cisco CEO John Chambers told listeners to the company's over-hyped Webcast on Tuesday is enough for the entire population of China to make simultaneous video calls, or to stream every film ever made in four minutes.
The vendor revealed that AT&T recently completed the world's first CRS-3 field trial of a 100-Gigabit backbone between New Orleans and Miami.
Impressive stuff. But unfortunately for Cisco the announcement fell flat simply because we were all expecting more. Getting a bike for Christmas is great... unless you were expecting a Ferrari.
One company using industry chatter to its advantage is speech recognition software developer Nuance.
The firm saw its shares rise last Friday on talk that it is a Google takeover target.
Analysts have repeatedly poured cold water on the speculation, but Total Telecom readers just kept clicking: 'Nuance rises on Google takeover chatter' was by far our most-read story this week.
Also high on our most read list was the news that the FCC may push forward a plan to use mobile spectrum to launch free or very low-cost nationwide broadband services in the U.S.
The announcement came at the regulator's Digital Inclusion Summit on Wednesday, which focused on the goal of extending home broadband access to 90% of Americans by 2020, up from 65% at present.
The news that India's BSNL is planning a new GSM tender also featured in Total Telecom's top 10 this week.
The telco cancelled its previous 93 million-line tender last week and is reportedly readying a new one for 40 million-50 million GSM lines, according to local press reports.
In other news, MySpace unveiled changes to its Website in a bid to woo back former users and attract newcomers; Gypsii launched Tweetsii, a new application that integrates its location and context-aware mobile social networking technology with Twitter; Motorola announced that Microsoft will provide search and map capabilities on its new smartphones, beginning in China this quarter; TelstraClear launched consumer 3G services in New Zealand; The Italian postal service indicated it would be interested in playing a role in the separation of Telecom Italia's fixed-line network; and Turkcell CEO Sureyya Ciliv announced his company managed to maintain its 56% market share in 2009 despite a 5% contraction in the overall market.
With that, Total Telecom is signing off for another week. We'll be back on Monday with more telecoms fun.
Friday Review: Smoke and mirrors
By Mary Lennighan, Total Telecom
Friday 12 March 2010 It's always the quiet ones, as the saying goes.
This week we learnt that when telecoms players are making a lot of noise about an upcoming announcement, there's every chance it will turn out to be a damp squib. Conversely, declining to comment is usually indicative that something is afoot.
Vodafone battened down the PR hatches on Monday when rumours emerged over a new job cuts plan in the U.K.
The story came from Mobile Today, which reported the mobile operator had plans to shed 500 jobs under its £2 billion cost-cutting programme.
We tried various avenues, but the U.K. telco was steadfast in its determination not to comment... which of course only served to sharpen our belief that there's no smoke without fire.
Confirmation of that fire came quickly. The following day Voda revealed that it will cut 375 jobs in the U.K., primarily back-office roles. However, it was also keen to point out that it will hire an additional 170 people in customer-facing positions, plus 50 new graduates.
While Vodafone was anxious to keep its news to itself, Cisco was doing just the opposite.
The network equipment giant's campaign of self- aggrandisement began a number of days ago when it promised "a significant announcement that will forever change the Internet". Naturally we were excited... in a geeky telecoms kind of way.
The word on the street was that Cisco would unveil a multi-function set-top box that could potentially be marketed direct to consumers. The rumour was that this would form part of a wider strategy that would also see the vendor bulk up its backbone network gear to support growth in fixed and mobile video and data transmission.
Ultimately though, Cisco just announced a new router.
Admittedly, the CRS-3 has a maximum capacity of 322 Terabits per second, which Cisco CEO John Chambers told listeners to the company's over-hyped Webcast on Tuesday is enough for the entire population of China to make simultaneous video calls, or to stream every film ever made in four minutes.
The vendor revealed that AT&T recently completed the world's first CRS-3 field trial of a 100-Gigabit backbone between New Orleans and Miami.
Impressive stuff. But unfortunately for Cisco the announcement fell flat simply because we were all expecting more. Getting a bike for Christmas is great... unless you were expecting a Ferrari.
One company using industry chatter to its advantage is speech recognition software developer Nuance.
The firm saw its shares rise last Friday on talk that it is a Google takeover target.
Analysts have repeatedly poured cold water on the speculation, but Total Telecom readers just kept clicking: 'Nuance rises on Google takeover chatter' was by far our most-read story this week.
Also high on our most read list was the news that the FCC may push forward a plan to use mobile spectrum to launch free or very low-cost nationwide broadband services in the U.S.
The announcement came at the regulator's Digital Inclusion Summit on Wednesday, which focused on the goal of extending home broadband access to 90% of Americans by 2020, up from 65% at present.
The news that India's BSNL is planning a new GSM tender also featured in Total Telecom's top 10 this week.
The telco cancelled its previous 93 million-line tender last week and is reportedly readying a new one for 40 million-50 million GSM lines, according to local press reports.
In other news, MySpace unveiled changes to its Website in a bid to woo back former users and attract newcomers; Gypsii launched Tweetsii, a new application that integrates its location and context-aware mobile social networking technology with Twitter; Motorola announced that Microsoft will provide search and map capabilities on its new smartphones, beginning in China this quarter; TelstraClear launched consumer 3G services in New Zealand; The Italian postal service indicated it would be interested in playing a role in the separation of Telecom Italia's fixed-line network; and Turkcell CEO Sureyya Ciliv announced his company managed to maintain its 56% market share in 2009 despite a 5% contraction in the overall market.
With that, Total Telecom is signing off for another week. We'll be back on Monday with more telecoms fun.
http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=453862&G=1&C=4&Page=0
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15. Rumour : iPhone 3GS India Launch on Monday March 15 with 4 Operators
Posted by: "mukesh vaghela" mukeshgvaghela@yahoo.com mukeshgvaghela
...
WWW.BSNLNEWSBYASHOKHINDOCHA.BLOGSPOT.COM M-9426201999
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