Computers Today, August 01-15, 2000; Country Buzz, pg3

August 1-15, 2000 COUNTRY BUZZ

HCL Arm to Offer Network Management Service

HCL Comnet Systems & Services Ltd, a leading network integrator, has launched a new division, Comnet Direct, to tap the emerging management service provider (MSP) market. The division would offer network management services to various companies in and outside India, and would particularly focus on the SME segment, the company says.

MSP helps eliminate the need for companies to buy, maintain or upgrade management systems. By employing an MSP, companies can offload the job of monitoring, measuring and reporting on networks and systems. This helps them cut down on the cost of training and re-training IT professionals. Vineet Nayar, president, HCL Comnet Systems, said the venture will allow subscribers to get critical reports on their network performances at nominal charge. The firm has also launched its Web-based service, Routermanage.com, to monitor various networks and identify potential problems affecting operations.

AltaVista Tunes its Search Engine for India

AltaVista, the world's leading Internet search service, has launched the Indian chapter of its Internet search services. The new India specific search engine, http://in.alta vista.com, will contain over 1.2 million India-specific Web pages. AltaVista already has similar country-specific search engines for France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK as well as the world's largest index of Web pages. The launch of the India-specific site marks the first direct entry of AltaVista into the Asian continent.

Martin Keogh, international business development director, AltaVista, told Computers Today: "AltaVista recognises the unique position of India as a leading player in the emerging Internet economy and plans to be part of this Internet revolution. AltaVista brings to India the largest index of Indian content available today-over 1,250,000 pages. It will also provide access to the AltaVista global index of over 350 million pages of Web content." Already, more than 250,000 Indian Net surfers are using AltaVista services, he said.

The launch of in.altavista.com is only the first of what AltaVista plans to offer the Indian market. Having already integrated over 1.2 million Indian Web pages, it plans to update the index on an on-going basis. It will aim to enhance user experience by offering a lot of "personal search options" such as save search and search alerts. Being aware of the Indian telecom industry catapulting into the world of WAP, AltaVista will also offer a WAP-enabled version of the Indian search site.

Pramati Unveils New Partnership Programme

Pramati Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the Hyderabad-based software products company focusing on enterprise Java servers, will now market its flagship product Pramati server and Pramati studio in the country through its new programme. The company is planning to join hands with system integrators and solution vendors who have chosen to make transition to a world based on server side component standards. Says Jay Raghavendra, CEO of Pramati Technologies, "Systems integrators and independent solution vendors who make the transition will be viewed by customers and investors as leaders in the new economy. We believe that this is a transition that is needed before we can build massively complex systems that will make up the infrastructure of the Net economy." Pramati's application server will be at par with BEA and IBM, considered essestinal for E-businesses. The firm was fast to adopt to the newly-introduced Java standards.

TELECOM & ISP
Motorola Exits from Indian Paging Joint Venture

Global telecom giant Motorola has sold out its four paging licenses to New Delhi-based Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL). Industry sources said Motorola and its Indian partner seem to have written off close to Rs 125 crore investments in Page Point services, which runs services in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. HFCL group chairman Mahendra Nahata said that the acquisition of Motorola-promoted paging venture with over 90,000 subscribers had happened "at zero cost". "It is a no-cost acquisition for us and also brings into our fold a company with zero debt," Nahata added. Motorola's exit comes close on the heels of Hong Kong-based Hutchison's exit from the Indian paging market, even as many paging service operators are finding it difficult to operate in the Indian market-overshadowed by the cellular technology.

BPL Cellular Plans $200 million ADR Issue

BPL Cellular Holdings Ltd (BCH), the holding arm of the BPL Group's telecommunications and Internet businesses, has decided to go in for a $200 million American depository receipts (ADR) issue. Sources say that the company has informed the government that it plans to list on either the technology-heavy NASDAQ or the New York Stock Exchange. In light of the proposed ADR issue, BPL Cellular Holdings Ltd (BPCH) has acquired its ISP arm BPL Net.Com Pvt. Ltd and long-distance arm BPL Broadband Networks Pvt. Ltd (BBNL).

According to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, managing director, BPL Group, "BBNL, now a fully-owned subsidiary of BCH, has been set up to provide broadband services for enabling domestic and international long-distance traffic to basic, cellular, Internet service provider, cable and long-distance operators."

Modi Telstra will now be Known as Spice Cell

The B.K. Modi group is extending its Spice cellular brand to its Calcutta operator, Modi Telstra Ltd, that has now been renamed Spice Cell Ltd. The group's joint venture, Spice Communications, already operates in the Punjab and Karnataka circles. Spice Cell chairman Dilip Modi said that eventually the group would be looking at a merger of Spice Cell and Spice Communications.

Modi said, "We have a tripod like presence in India and would like to have some presence in the Karnataka-Punjab and Punjab-Calcutta belt in the future." Spice Cell will be spending around Rs 5 crore on publicising the change in name. The company has earmarked another Rs 40 crore for improving the infrastructure in Calcutta. The Spice brand now claims to have the largest subscriber base in the country at 260,000 in the three areas in which it now operates.

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