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COUNTRY BUZZ Compaq, Digital Now 'Under A Common Roof'
 Taking forward the merger of
Digital Equipment Corp., Compaq Computer has nominated Som Mittal as the managing director
for Compaq as well as Digital operations in India. Compaq Computer India Pvt. Ltd. and
Digital Equipment India Ltd. (DEIL) will continue to operate as separate companies under
one common management to offer a complete range of products from palmtops to
fault-tolerant systems, and services from routine maintenance to turnkey outsourcing of IT
operations, Mittal said. In Digital India, Compaq Computer will have a 51 percent stake,
while Compaq Computer India will continue to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Compaq.
Compaq has also appointed Paul Chan as vice-president and managing director of the
combined company in Asia Pacific.
Digital officials informed Computers Today, "While
Compaq will be the mother brand, Digital and Tandem will be sub-brands. Compaq will
continue to remain committed to the development of Digital's Alpha and Unix
technologies." As per the new arrangement, Compaq India will now be a part of the
Asia Pacific operations. In India, it will have over 6,000 channel partners and an
installed base of over 1,50,000 PCs. "However, Digital's software operations, the PC
integration facility and the Asia Pacific Technology Centre will continue to operate. The
next generation of PCs will feature the technologies of both Digital and Compaq."
Mittal said, "In the India operating model, Compaq and
Digital will continue under one common management, common strategy and services. The
decision to retain Digital as a separate entity is mainly on account of the companies'
responsibilities towards its share-holders." Significantly, Abhishek Mukherjee, who
was managing director of Compaq Computer India, has declined to accept an alternative
assignment involving relocation. Nevertheless, "In India, we will adopt the worldwide
strategies and the directions of Compaq suitably adapted. The immediate objective will be
to present a single customer-facing organisation. A series of initiatives are planned in
order to unveil our vision to our customers, partners and employees," Mittal added.
Global Major Expand
Indian Operations
 The trend of global IT
majors setting up software development/technology/design centres in India continues
unabated. Last month, Oracle Corp. set up its second development centre at Hyderabad
Hi-Tec city to develop industry and front-office applications software. The centre, Oracle
Applications Development Centre (OADC), will be set up with an initial investment of Rs 40
crore. It will focus its development activities initially on various global vertical
industries, in addition to a new suite of front-office applications.
Said Louis Selincourt, vice-president, Industry and Front
Office Applications Division, Oracle, "Currently, almost all of the software
development effort for this range of software is concentrated in USA. Oracle's move to
de-centralise its industry and front-office applications development is part of Oracle's
strategy to take advantage of the technical resources available in Andhra Pradesh and rest
of India." OADC will work on the basis of model-based approach to produce
Internet-optimised applications. The centre will also work with local software developers
to harness their software application skills to help share working experience, Selincourt
informed Computers Today. Oracle already has a development centre in Bangalore which
focuses on database technology and tools.
Adobe Systems India Pvt. Ltd., the wholly owned subsidiary of
Adobe Systems, USA, is establishing an advanced software R&D centre in Noida, at an
investment of $2 million. It will focus on developing next generation products and
technologies in the area of imaging and graphics. Informing this, Graham Freeman, vice
president and general manager, Asia Pacific and Latin America, Adobe, told Computers
Today, "As Adobe's first full-fledged R&D centre outside USA, it will initially
develop separate components and tools that build intelligence and select-type functions
into PhotoShop."
Philips Software Centre Pvt. Ltd. (PSC), the wholly owned
subsidiary of Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands, set up a second software centre
in Bangalore. Said Rajeev Varshneya, CEO, PSC, "PSC has invested over Rs 5 crore in
its second facility. It will design and develop high-technology systems, focusing on
medical imaging, medical information systems, telecom, etc."
Court Snubs TRAI, MTNL
Cellular Foray Upheld
 The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India's (TRAI) efforts to establish its regulatory role of streamlining
telecom services and provide a fair degree of transparency in the privatisation process
suffered a severe blow, with the Delhi High Court quashing the regulatory authority's
orders. Those orders had barred Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTNL) from offering
cellular mobile phone services in Delhi and Mumbai, and the Department of
Telecommunications (DOT) from issuing licences to private Internet service providers
(ISPs). With the ruling, decks have been cleared for MTNL to offer 'cheaper' mobile phone
services in the two metros, and permit DOT to go ahead with plans to offer licences to
private ISPs, which, will end Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd.'s (VSNL) monopoly in Internet
services.
"I am happy that justice has been delivered and the
Government's sovereign right over granting licences has been upheld. I have an ambitious
plan for cellular services," S. Rajagopalan, chairman and managing director, MTNL,
told Computers Today. However, the private cellular operators are a disheartened lot with
T.V. Ramachandran, vice chairman of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI),
remarking that the cellular industry was already burdened with high licence fees,
non-realistic revenue projection and slow growth of subscriber base. "Curbing of the
powers of TRAI will give a severe blow to the inflow of foreign investment in the country
in the telecom sector and other core sectors."
Nevertheless, a euphoric Rajagopalan of MTNL told Computers
Today that MTNL's cellular services will commence in Delhi and Mumbai by March 1999, at a
much lower rate compared to private cellular operators. MTNL has already started the
tendering process for supplying cellular equipment worth Rs 4,200 crore.
One of the most far-reaching implications of the High Court
order could be the entry of private ISPs into the Internet market which has till now been
monopolised by VSNL. DOT officials informed Computers Today that 180 application forms for
ISPs have already been issued. |
