MTNL to Dial Up More IN Services Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) is wiring up for
privatisation. After raking in profits of Rs 500 crore annually, the basic services
operator in Delhi and Mumbai wants to shed the image of a badly-run network. The new
promise: no more wrong numbers and tangled connections and an end to all those waits to
get lines in order.
With a Rs 200-crore expansion programme and a fully digital
network in Delhi and Mumbai, MTNL chairman and managing director S. Rajagopalan has
identified IT as key to streamline its services and upgrade its network. "The IN
technology has been developed by us at around Rs 5 crore, as against Rs 38 to 40 crore
demanded by multinational vendors." The Internet Service Provider that it is, MTNL
has now announced the introduction of four new Intelligent Network (IN) services-based
features. The telecom networks in the two cities already comprise the advanced CC7
signalling system which means MTNL customers are locked into IN services at a price. The
IN services include free phone services (FPH); virtual card calling (VCC); premium rate
services (PRS); and virtual private net (VPN).
TRAI Promises Tariff
Rebalancing Next Year
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has to wait
a few more weeks before it begins flexing its muscles on the important issues of fixing
tariffs, costs and policy implementation. Releasing the detailed summary of comments
received on its consultation paper on telecom pricing, TRAI chairman S.S. Sodhi said the
regulatory authority would proceed with more open house discussions on the subject in the
next few weeks before finalising it.
The first such session was held in New Delhi recently where
TRAI proposed the setting up of a telecom ombudsman. For its consultation paper on telecom
pricing, TRAI has received an overwhelming 121 responses, 27 from providers, 50 from
individuals and consumers, and the remaining 44 from other bodies. As regards Internet
services, ISPA says, quality and the time frame for provisioning various resources should
be specified. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), has pointed out that the
45 day reporting period by TRAI for price changes is too restrictive.
Piracy Pricked, Adobe
Charts New Strategy
 For Naresh Chand Gupta (see photo), the
managing director of Adobe Systems India Pvt. Ltd, the wholly owned Indian subsidiary of
Adobe Systems Inc., combating software piracy assumes larger significance than running his
day-to-day operations. "The piracy of Adobe products in the country is more than
85-90 percent," he says. Gupta is busy evolving strategies to curb the illegal use of
Adobe products like Pagemaker, Photoshop, Acrobat and Illustrator in India. Adobe is the
world leader in printing, publishing and prepress solutions software.
Gupta says, "Software piracy impacts all levels of the
computer software industry, software publishers, distributors, and resellers. On a local
level, this translates to lost jobs, company failures, and decreased tax revenues."
Software piracy is not endemic to India alone, its tentacles are widespread even in
developed countries. For example, Japan has a piracy rate of 41 percent; USA 27 percent;
UK 34 percent; and Germany 36 percent. In 1996, the global software industry with annual
revenues of $320 billion, is estimated to have lost $14 billion due to piracy. As per a
survey by NASSCOM, the rate of piracy in India is estimated to be 60 percent. In fact,
this shows a decrease from a stunning 89 percent in 1992.
In its continuing war against software piracy, Gupta was
deputised by Adobe to set up the wholly owned subsidiary in August 1997, in Noida, near
Delhi, and commenced technical operations early this year. A plush 25,000 sq.ft. R&D
centre on the lines of the US office of Adobe, is producing support tools to enhance the
productivity of current products such as the Pagemaker, Illustrator, Acrobat and
Photoshop. Gupta now plans to increase the strength to around 125 professionals for its
Indian operations. To attract the best engineering talent, he is contemplating tie-ups
with IITs and regional engineering colleges, planning to create awareness campaigns about
Adobe products among the engineering graduates as well.
Honour Thy Investors
If you are a cash rich company, and don't honour commitments,
your investors are not going to watch the show. Chennai-based Pentafour Software &
Exports Ltd has learnt it the hard way. In 1996, Pentafour accepted Rs 2 crore as fixed
deposit from the Air Force Group Insurance Society of Delhi, at 15 percent interest per
annum, payable quarterly. Pentafour did not pay up in September 1997. And in September
1998.
Pentafour officials including chairman V. Chandrasekaran (see
photo) did not entertain any queries from the Air Force society. With no recourse, the
society went to press in November. Within two days of the letter, Pentafour forked out the
entire dues to the society. The penalty was really stiff. Pentafour's delay in its
commitments--despite high net profits for the first half--pulled down the scrip, resulting
in a net loss of Rs 77 crore in market capitalisation.
Oracle ComTrak for
Streamlining Telcos
Flow with the waves. Indian telcos are taking lessons from
their counterparts in the West in using IT solutions for new products and services. Oracle
is feeding the demand. The world's second largest software company says its ComTrak
Enterprise solution would be crucial for Indian telcos.
Oracle Software India country manager Shekhar Dasgupta says,
"with customer demands driving the industry, traditional IT solutions used by telecom
companies to minimise fraud and to protect investments in network technology are
witnessing a transition. Indian companies too are using IT solutions to aggressively
target customers with new services such as the Internet."
Oracle's new ComTrak enterprise solution addresses two
fundamental drivers in the industry: how to reduce churn (customer turnover) to increase
margins; and what new services should be offered to customers. It uses sophisticated
algorithms and profiling techniques to spot early indicators of possible customer
dissatisfaction. This facilitates the company to retain the customer. |
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