Over 8 lakhs connections under rural wireline broadband scheme
March 15, 2010
Union Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Sachin Pilot informed Lok Sabha in a written reply that Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) has taken following steps for providing broadband services in rural areas:
The Indian Telegraph Rules have been amended, and stream IV has been added under the title “Provision of broadband connectivity to villages in a phased manner” to bring provisioning of broadband connectivity to the rural areas under the purview of the USOF.
For providing broadband connections in rural areas, including Gram Panchayats, USOF has signed an Agreement with BSNL on January 20, 2009 under the Rural Wireline Broadband Scheme to provide wire-line broadband connectivity to rural & remote areas by leveraging the existing rural exchanges infrastructure and copper wire-line network. The speed of each of the broadband connections shall be at least 512 kbps always on.
Under this scheme, BSNL will provide 8,88,832 wire-line Broadband connections to individual users and Government Institutions and will set up 28,672 Kiosks over a period of 5-years, i.e., by 2014. The subsidy disbursement is for (i) broadband connections, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), Computer/Computing devices (ii) setting up of Kiosks for public access to broadband services. The estimated subsidy outflow is Rs. 1500 crore in 5 years time that includes subsidy for 9 lakh broadband connections, CPEs, computers/computing devices and Kiosks.
As on 31 January 2010, 106070 broadband connections have been provided and 4 kiosks have been set up in the rural and remote areas.
TRAI releases consultation paper on Policy issues on uplinking/downlinking television channels in India
March 15, 2010
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a consultation paper on-“Policy issues on uplinking/downlinking television channels in India”. On October 8, 2009, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has vide its letter to request TRAI to give its recommendations on various issues including, inter alia, cap on number of satellite television channels, eligibility criteria for and process of granting permission and guidelines to develop the country into a teleport/hub for uplinking/turnaround of TV channels which are not meant for viewing in India.
Taking into account the preliminary views of the stakeholders, TRAI has issued a consultation paper on the subject. The Authority has invited all stakeholders to respond to the issues raised in this consultation paper by 5th April, 2010. Comments will be posted on TRAI website as and when received. Counter comments, if any, to the comments received may be sent to TRAI by 15th April, 2010.
Number Portability to be implemented at the earliest
March 11, 2010
The Union Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Gurudas Kamat in written reply to a question informed Rajya Sabha that the Government is making all efforts to get the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) implemented at the earliest. However, for this purpose, the whole networks in the country are to be ready and tested before the MNP Service is implemented.
Though the Government has set the time line for implementing MNP by March 31, 2010, all the networks are not likely to be completely ready by 31st March, 2010 and the deadline of 31.03.2010 is not likely to be met.
The revised time line will be announced by the Government after ascertaining the status from all the stakeholders and reasonable time required for Acceptance Testing etc., so that no network problem in call processing/completion, surfaces out after MNP Services are launched.
North East England attracts investment from India’s ICT Industry
March 13, 2010
Delegates from Sunderland Software City, the technology research hub based in the North East of England are in India during mid March 2010 to attract investments to North East England from Indian IT SMEs planning expansion to Europe.
The delegates visited states like Kerala, Chennai and Bangalore to meet the prospective investors and also held an exclusive seminar on growth opportunities in Bangalore for the IT SMEs on March 16, 2010. The seminar focused on investment opportunities for SME companies in the ICT industry. Companies expected to attend includes BPOs, animation and gaming companies, product development companies, software firms, and e-commerce companies.
Sunderland Software City, one of North East England's technology hub is designed to inspire and encourage the growth of the software industry. One of the key initiatives devised by One North East and Sunderland Software City is the Soft Landing Programme specifically created to meet the requirements of international software companies exploring a UK and European presence.
Job openings in IT sector expected to grow
March 11, 2010
According to information given by the Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Sachin Pilot in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the job additions are likely to be higher in 2010-11 than in Financial Year 2009-10 in IT sector. As per NASSCOM, during the Financial Year 2009-10, the direct employment in this sector is estimated to reach nearly 2.29 million from 2.20 million in the previous year.
The year 2009-10 was a challenging year for the industry as the global recession forced clients to defer plans as well as capacity additions. As per NASSCOM, the first half of the year witnessed freeze on hiring, but gradually as the economic conditions improved, the industry is back to a hiring mode and will remain a net hirer in 2009-10.
As per the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the IT industry sector has not fully recovered from the economic recession. In the Financial Year 2009-10, the IT-ITES exports growth rate is estimated to be around 5.5%, down from 16.6% in the Financial Year 2008-09. However, with signs of global economic recovery, healthier growth rates are expected in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Production of electronic hardware up by 43%
March 10, 2010
According to information offered by the Union Minister of Communications & IT, Shri A. Raja, the Information Technology (IT), IT Enabled Services (ITES) and electronic hardware industries have sustained the global recession and continued to grow during 2008-09. The electronics hardware production has registered a growth of 12.1 % in 2008-09, whereas the IT and ITES exports registered a growth of 16.6 % in the same year.
The production of electronics hardware has increased from Rs. 66,000 crore in 2006-07, Rs. 94,690 crore in 2008-09, registering an increase of 43 per cent over the last 2 years. The IT and ITES exports have grown from US$ 31.3 billion to US$ 47.1 billion in the same period, an increase of about 50 %.
Shri Raja further informed the Members that a Task Force was set up by the Department of Information Technology with an objective to suggest measures and strategies to augment the growth of IT and ITES and the Electronics Hardware Manufacturing Industry in the context of global developments.
Worldwide semiconductor capital equipment spending to grow 76 % in 2010: Gartner
March 8, 2010
Worldwide semiconductor capital equipment spending is projected to surpass US$29.4 billion in 2010, a 76.1 % increase from 2009 spending of US$16.7 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. Following the significant declines in 2009, all segments of the semiconductor capital equipment market will experience extremely strong double-digit growth in 2010.
According to Mr. Jim Walker, research vice president at Gartner, "The semiconductor equipment industry will experience a very strong growth spurt in 2010, as we emerge from a very costly recession, and this growth is expected to continue throughout 2012. However, we expect this upturn to be one of the first in which the peak revenue in capital equipment does not surpass previous growth cycles, which may well help to mitigate the boom/bust scenario that we have seen in the past."
Lenovo introduces the IdeaPad Tablet Netbooks
March 15, 2010
Lenovo announced IdeaPad S10-3t – the industry’s first next-generation touch tablet netbook, reinforcing its leadership in delivering cutting edge technologies for consumers. IdeaPad S10-3t is the first mid-range tablet netbook in India that comes with a touch screen, rich multimedia features and useful applications that provide extraordinary experience for the users.
With a sleek 10.1 inch screen that can swivel 180 degrees and fold over to transform into a touch tablet, the IdeaPad S10-3t is targeted at fashion and trend conscious consumers like students, frequent travelers, mobility seekers, and other netbook users who prefer the extended touch experience.
IdeaPad S10-3t – the Next Generation Netbook with Style and Rich Multimedia. Lenovo’s new IdeaPad S10-3t netbook combines portability, style and industry-leading technologies that will help redefine the netbook category.
The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t comes with an exciting feature DirectShare, which allows users to quickly and easily synchronize files with another notebook without having to connect to the Internet. Other cool features that are available on these smart netbooks include VeriFace™ face recognition and Active Protection System to protect the PC hard drive from sudden bumps or falls.
The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t will be available across all Lenovo Exclusive Stores and select Lenovo Multi Brand stores and will soon be extended to other Large Format Retail stores and regional distributors.
Radware introducing two new Alteon switches for Alteon product line
March 10, 2010
Radware (NASDAQ: RDWR), the leading provider of integrated application delivery solutions for business-smart networking, announced the expansion of its Alteon® Application Switch product line with two new OnDemand switches®, the Alteon 4408 and Alteon 4416.
The Alteon 4-series is available less than one-year after Radware acquired Nortel’s layer 4-7 application switching business, and rounds-out the product suite together with the recently introduced Alteon 5412, which now offers complete application delivery throughput coverage up to 20 Gbps.
With a focus on business-IT alignment in the datacenter, Radware’s Alteon 4-series provides the required application insight to efficiently scale both service and throughput levels based on business demand.
The Alteon 4-series, built on Radware’s on demand infrastructure approach, enables Alteon customers to start with a certain bandwidth and application services to meet current operational needs, and then increase capacity and capabilities on a ‘pay-as-you-grow’ model – without replacing or rebooting supporting hardware – whilst maintaining high performance levels in layers 4-7.
ConnectM Energy Management Solution crosses 1 million sq. ft. installation
The ConnectM EMS solution has been deployed successfully for 1 million sq. ft. across organizations in India, including leading FMCG and IT Services MNC's. The ConnectM EMS employs a combination of cutting edge technology, state-of-art analytics, and self-learning decision-making based algorithms to manage the energy consumption of lights, HVAC, and attached electrical devices.
The solution enables savings of up to 20%* anywhere between Rs 6 lacs to 8 lacs per annum for a 100,000 sq feet facility. The company intends to grow our existing customer base to reach our goal of 10 million sq ft next year and 100 million sq ft in 5 years.
Facebook enters Asia market by opening office in Hydrabad
March 16, 2010
Social networking giant Facebook has decided to open an office in Hyderabad, making it the company’s first office in Asia and thereby underlining the importance of India in the global networking scene.
The timing of the commencement of the operations will be decided soon. The Hyderabad operations will look to support its growing number of users, advertisers and developers in India and around the world. It will house online advertising and developer support teams.
The company has seen exponential growth in recent months and more than eight million people in India now actively use the site to connect with their friends, family, and people they know in India and across the globe.
IKF Technologies enter into strategic partnership with WAPMERR – India to
Provide GIS/MIS Services
March 15, 2010
IKF Technologies Ltd, a leading technologies solutions company headquartered in Kolkata with set-up in Delhi, Noida, Jaipur and Mumbaihas announced that the Company has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with WAPMERR - INDIA to execute projects globally.
It is a strategic Partnership aimed to explore new horizons in the field of GIS/MIS/ Survey related services to ultimately beneficial to public at large by using the knowledge and experience of both the parties.
Under this MoU IKF Technologies and WAPMERR India will jointly execute projects GIS / MIS/Survey related service. The companies will initially concentrate on India and then expand to other countries outside India. WAPMERR - India is currently engaged in the business of providing supporting software development services and solutions in the field of 3D / 2D GIS (Geographic Information system), Simulation projects, Security and Survey.
Smartlinx forms strategic alliance with Nettlinx Limited to Implement SmartVM Technology in biometric based eGovernance
March 13, 2010
Smartlinx Inc. ("Smartlinx"), is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Smartlinx VoIP Networks Private Limited, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nettlinx Limited ("Nettlinx"), an ISP and STPI registered service provider in India, to collaborate on the development of biometric based eGovernance system.
Under the memorandum of understanding, Smartlinx has granted Nettlinx the right to use and market its SmartVM technology, an eGovernance application to be used with biometric systems, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Smartlinx will retain the rights to market and use SmartVM outside of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.
The term of the memorandum of understanding is for a period of one year. Each party may terminate the memorandum of understanding upon providing one month's written notice to the other party.
Sanvei Overseas grabs contract of Tamil Nadu Commercial Taxes Department
March 10, 2010
Sanvei Overseas, a system integrator in the field of information technology and surveillance has bagged the demo contract for setting up surveillance at the different chungi check posts for Commercial Taxes Department, Tamil Nadu. The state government aims to check pilferage and record the entry of all the commercial vehicles for ensuring proper tax collections.
Commercial Taxes Department had given the mandate of technical and financial evaluation of the contract to ELCOT, the nodal agency of Tamil Nadu Government.
"Video surveillance has come of an age. With technological advancement in detection, identification and analytics video surveillance can now be used to find solutions to multifarious problems. Commercial Tax department in Tamil Nadu has decided to use video surveillance to keep a tap and increase tax collection at the state commercial check posts. It is also expected that this will be a key step in IT enablement of government departments beyond central offices," informed Mr. A Jayaprakash, General Manager, Sanvei.
Merino Consulting Services Inc. signs as Infor Channel Partner for North America
March 9, 2010
Merino Consulting Services Inc (MCS), a US subsidiary of an India-based Infor Channel Partner, announced that the company has signed up as an Infor Channel Partner in North America.
Merino started its US Entity in year 2009, as part of a global expansion initiative. The initial focus of MCS will be in the South East Region of the US, including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee. Over a period of time MCS plans to expand its geographic coverage across North America.
Merino shall be concentrating its core strengths on Infor ERP LN and focus of sales initiatives will be on ERP LN and complementary Infor solutions. Merino has strong experience in delivering end-to-end implementations as well as managing and supporting existing implementations on ERP LN across various industry verticals like Automotive, Industrial Equipment & Machinery, Hi Tech Electronics, Projects, Textiles, etc.
Merino is an Infor Channel Partner, Service Partner, PSO Sub Contracting partner, as well as Infor Education and Certification Partner. Merino is presently working with some of the prominent Infor customers across Asia and Middle East.
|
