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Connect-World India 2004     Magazine introduction Connect-World series of magazines is the leading magazine in the telecom and ICT industry that brings together the leading industry players, regulators, associations and governments, to discuss how technological integration and digital inclusion helps reduce the gap the leading industry players, regulators, associations and governments, to discuss how technological integration and digital inclusion helps reduce the gap between the developed and developing world.     Theme: Digital India, a Giant on the March Articles Contributors Feature articles     Article no.: 1 Topic: Socio-economic growth of India in a networked world Author: Mukesh Ambani Title: Chairman and Managing Director Organisation: Reliance Infocomm Limited PDF size: 52KB   About author: Mukesh D. Ambani is the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, India's largest business house and the first and only private sector company from India to feature in the 2004 Fortune Global 500 list of 'World's Largest Corporations, Mr Ambani is also the Chairman of Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. and a Director of Reliance Europe Ltd. Mr Ambani is currently involved in rolling out Reliance Infocomm Limited – one of the world's largest and most complex information and communications technology initiatives. Mr Ambani is the Chairman of the Foundation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, in Geneva. In India, Mukesh D. Ambani is Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, and the Chairman, Board of Trustees of The Indian Institute of Software Engineering. Mr Ambani is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry, the Board of Governors of the National Council of Applied Economic Research; the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); and of the Advisory Council of the Indian Banks' Association. Mr Ambani earned his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Bombay and an MBA from Stanford University, USA. Mr Ambani is the recipient of a great many prestigious national and international awards and honours.   Article abstract: Information and communications technology will be central to the networked society. It will not be only a question of hardware. Ubiquitous communications and social networking software will facilitate the organisation of social interactions and forge new communities. As wireless moves ahead, it will redefine how government interacts with citizens and transform the lives of people in remote areas. Networks will reform the structure of societies and redefine the business landscape. Technology can propel India to leadership in a networked world.   Read the article     Article no.: 2 Topic: Vision and opportunities in the Indian Telecom sector Author: Prithipal Singh Title: Convenor Organisation: National Advisory Council, India-Tech Foundation’s TELECOMM India 2004 PDF size: 52KB   About author: Mr Prithipal Singh is currently the Convenor of the National Advisory Council of India-Tech Foundation’s TELECOMM India 2004. Prithipal Singh previously served as the CMD of BSNL, India's largest telecom company. Mr Singh was founder Director, Operations of BSNL Board. Before, Mr Prithipal worked as Chief General Manager, Rajasthan Telecom Circle, PGM, Chandigarh and in different posts in the Department of Telecommunications. Mr Singh is a graduate in Electrical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College.   Article abstract: Although telecommunications in India began in 1853, it was only in the last decade that market-based reforms of the telecom sector began to provide service for the vast majority of the county’s people. Since then, tele-density has increased five-fold and service tariffs have gone down substantially. Nevertheless, although urban tele-density is close to the global average, rural tele-density is considerably lower, and sharp regional variations exist. Bringing universal access and universal services to India will require heavy funding and massive efforts.   Read the article     Article no.: 3 Topic: India’s intellectual capital – its neural network Author: Dr Jon Earith Title: Chief Technology Officer Organisation: MBT PDF size: 76KB   About author: Dr Jon Earith is MBT’s Chief Technical Officer. Before MBT, Jon held senior positions at IBM Global Services, Sema, Cable and Wireless and BT where, working at Syntegra, he led the UK systems and consultancy integration team. Subsequently, Dr Earith founded Telecoms Consultants and Management Ltd one of the UK’s leading independent Telecoms consultancy companies. Jon obtained a PhD from Nottingham University. Dr Earith’s research focused on fibre optic communications and culminated in the design and installation of the first long haul system in the UK. Dr Earith, an engineer and MBA as well, has had extensive overseas experience in North America, Brazil, Asia, India and China.   Article abstract: India is transforming itself, and the nation’s economy, through the exploitation of its intellectual capital, is building upon education to drive the country from service provider to innovator and technological leader. Indian companies have long offered IT services internationally. At first, they provided coders for ‘western’ software, but, over time, added genuine expertise in design and consultancy. Today, companies in search of overall value look to Indian offshore partnerships for the distinctive skills and high performance they offer.   Read the article     Article no.: 4 Topic: From tortoise to hare: the transformation of Indian telecom Author: Dr Arun Mehta Title: Chief Technical Officer Organisation: Net Radiophony India PDF size: 72KB   About author: Dr Arun Mehta is currently the Chief Technical Officer of Net Radiophony, India; a Director of Kaleidoscope Private Limited a film and TV production company and the President of the Society for Telecommunications Empowerment (STEM), which seeks to bring the benefits of modern telecommunications to the poor. Dr Mehta, an electrical engineer and computer scientist is also a high profile social activist, an ex-President of the Indian Section of Amnesty International and was the co-host of a weekly IT news programme. The multi-talented Dr Mehta, a consultant to firms and organisations, large and small, for many years is the author of eLocutor, a system to meet the communication needs of Professor Stephen Hawking. Arun Meta studied and taught in India the US and Germany. Dr Mehta earned his Doctorate from Ruhr University, Germany, a MS in Computer Science from the State University of New York and a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering (First Class with Distinction) from IIT Delhi. He speaks Hindi, English, German, and French.   Article abstract: Government controlled Department of Telecommunications or DOT was India’s primary supplier of phone services and its telecom regulator. When India opened its market, private companies had little choice in the technologies they could use; DOT could use anything. New entrants paid high licence fees; DOT paid none. To level the field and attract investors, a regulatory agency–TRAI–was established, but court battles, and DOT’s resistance, defeated its efforts. A special court now handles telecom disputes and the sector is growing.   Read the article     Article no.: 5 Topic: Networking India’s Interior Author: Venkat Kedlaya Title: Managing Director Organisation: Convergent Communications, India PDF size: 60KB   About author: Venkat Kedlaya is the Managing Director of Convergent Communications India Pvt. Ltd, located in Bangalore, India. Before joining Convergent, Mr Kedlaya served as the General Manager of Motorola Information Systems Group’s Networking division in South Asia and as Director of Motorola’s transmission products group in Hong Kong. Previously, Mr Kedlaya worked as the Product Engineering Manager at Modi Xerox, as a Project manager with Rank Xerox UK, as Project manager with International Power Semiconductors and as project engineer at the Radar Project Centre in Mumbai. Venkat Kedlaya currently heads the Southern Region Committee of MAIT, an IT industry organisation in India. Mr Kedlaya earned his MSc in electronics and M Tech in Electronics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, completed the management programme at Ashridge College in England and attended the Centre for Creative Leadership at Greensboro US.   Article abstract: The interior of India, as in remote regions throughout the world, is far behind the country’s urban areas in the use of ICTs. Many government programmes, often in cooperation with NGOs and private interests, are working to bridge this gap. Information kiosks, where the rural population can access the Internet, for governmental, healthcare, educational, financial and other services have been successful. Building the infrastructure, providing wireless connectivity, developing local language content and applications and making it affordable have been a challenge.   Read the article     Article no.: 6 Topic: Managed telecommunication services and a vibrant economy Author: Thomas White Title: Senior Vice-President & General Manager, Communications Solutions Group Organisation: Agilent Technologies PDF size: 76KB   About author: Mr Thomas White is senior vice-president and general manager of Agilent Technologies' Communications Solutions Group. White's experience in electrical engineering began in Hewlett-Packard Company's London offices, where he started as a staff engineer in the Test and Measurement sales office. Since then, Mr White has held numerous managerial positions in field sales and services as well as in the Manufacturing Divisions in the United Kingdom, was promoted to general manager of the Telecoms Systems Division (TSD) in Scotland and then general manager of the Computer Peripherals Bristol Division. Mr White was later appointed vice-president and general manager of the Communications Solutions Group until his appointment as Agilent's senior vice- president and general manager, Communications Solutions. Mr White is also Country General Manager for Agilent UK Ltd. White was born in Newark, Nottinghamshire, England. Mr White received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Liverpool University.   Article abstract: India’s growth as a global economic power depends in large part upon its telecommunication infrastructure and high quality services. Telecom operators need strategies for effective network and service management, especially for their highly profitable corporate accounts. Corporations, though, want guaranteed quality of service. To deliver world-class services, telecom operators need OSS–operational support systems. Systems that collect, consolidate, and prioritise information, to present an aggregated, ‘real-time’, view of service quality for targeted customer accounts are essential.   Read the article     Article no.: 7 Topic: ICT and New India Author: Sudhir Rao Title: Managing Director Organisation: Bartronics India Limited PDF size: 72KB   About author: Mr Sudhir Rao is the Managing Director of Bartronics India Limited. Mr Rao joined Bartronics to establish and lead its marketing. He was later named Chief Operating Officer and then Managing Director. Before joining Bartronics, Mr Rao spearheaded the Indian operations of a software development company. Mr Sudhir Rao started his career with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Mumbai in the Management Consultancy Division. After TCS, Mr Rao joined a pharmaceutical exports company and then moved on to work with one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of India.   Article abstract: Today, due to governmental programmes over the years, every Indian can talk to anyone throughout the world. With mobile telephony, India’s people can keep in touch while on the move. India is now part of the ‘always connected’ world. After the technology revolution of the 1990s, Indian software engineers are working in large corporations around the globe. Every new technology is available in India within days, and newer, better, more productive business processes are used in every sphere of business.   Read the article     Article no.: 8 Topic: India Destination for the World Author: Deepak Jain Title: General Manager, IT Solutions, Telecom Industry Organisation: Wipro Infotech PDF size: 52KB   About author: Deepak Jain, is the General Manager of IT Solutions for the Telecom Industry at Wipro Infotech. Mr Jain has risen through a series of post in his long career at Wipro. Among his many executive posts, he has served as Head of Sales for Service and as regional Head for Customer Service. Most recently, Mr Jain headed Wipro’s pioneer effort in the Infrastructure Management Business. Deepak graduated from the Delhi College of Engineering with a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics & Communications Engineering.   Article abstract: India is a world leader in information technology and business process outsourcing (IT & BPO) services. The government, recognising the role telecom plays in India’s economic development, issued licences to a number of new players to compete and offer telecom services. The resulting improvement in India’s telecommunications has been a great help to many industries. International FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) companies running centralised applications have shifted their data centres to India–to telcos offering data centres and reliable global connectivity.   Read the article     Article no.: 9 Topic: Bringing Up VAS in Indian Markets Author: Sanjiv Mital Title: CEO Organisation: Bharti Telesoft Intl. Pvt. Ltd PDF size: 48KB   About author: Mr Sanjiv Mital is the CEO of Bharti Telesoft Intl. Pvt. Ltd, a market-leading provider of VAS products and services to wireline and wireless carriers. Before joining Bharti Telesoft, Mr Sanjiv served as CEO of Bharti BT, a joint venture between the Bharti group and British Telecom, providing VSAT services and satellitebased corporate communication solutions. Mr Sanjiv previously worked with IBM, Wipro, Unisys and ORG Systems, primarily in India, but has wide international experience with IBM in Singapore and Unisys in USA. Mr Sanjiv graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur where he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering. Mr Sanjiv earned his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta.   Article abstract: Wireless telephony has overtaken fixed telephony in India. With 41.6 million wireless subscribers and one billion strong population, India’s market potential is enormous, but market fragmentation is a challenge. The success of vernacular FM broadcasting shows the potential of local language service offerings to boost mass acceptance. Vernacular voice services can bring large numbers of India’s text averse and text illiterate subscribers to an operator’s fold. Astrology, Bollywood and cricket–all Indian passions–currently dominate VAS services in India.   Read the article     Article no.: 10 Topic: Communications and commerce in digital India Author: Ramesh Krishnan Title: Director of Operations Organisation: VeriSign Communications Services, India PDF size: 76KB   About author: Mr Ramesh Krishnan is the Director of Operations for VeriSign Communications Services in India. Before joining VeriSign, Mr Krishnan held senior positions at Lucent Technologies, Quintus Corporation where he led the Siebel business unit, and Avaya Communication. Mr Krishnan actively participates in various industry events, and has spoken and chaired sessions at conferences such as NASSCOM, CTI, and Supercomm. Mr Krishnan received his Masters degree in Economics and Business from the University of Delaware (Newark/DE, USA), and is an alumnus of Wharton Econometrics (Philadelphia, USA).   Article abstract: Today, the urban Indian is a mobile carrying, e-mail savvy consumer who is reaping the benefits of a global digital revolution. India’s 300 million strong relatively affluent middle-class has huge buying power. Income levels are up significantly, with India’s emergence as the world’s back-office and software development super-power. India’s people, educators, private sector, multinational corporations and government, needs to work together and harness the country’s energy and transform the world’s largest democracy into the largest digital economy on the planet.   Read the article     Article no.: 11 Topic: Digital India - The underwater connection Author: Peter Ford Title: CEO Organisation: Global Marine Systems Limited PDF size: 56KB   About author: Peter Ford is the CEO of Global Marine Systems Limited, a provider of submarine fibre optic cable installation and maintenance services. Mr Ford is an experienced business manager having been Managing Director or CEO of numerous companies in many sectors for over 15 years. His background is telecommunications begun with BT during privatisation in the 1980s. Mr Ford later worked within the sector with a number of private organisations. Mr Ford is the chairman of a specialist data centre fit-out company Waterfields, which has built over 500,000sq ft of space occupied by the world's leading telcos.   Article abstract: India’s success providing outsourced services worldwide has shown that, with education and commitment, developing nations can conquer international markets. The growth of international connectivity is crucial to continue India’s international commercial success. Satellites and submarine cables can carry the traffic, but cables, historically, have been too expensive and satellites do not have sufficient capacity. New technology, though, has reduced the cost of submarine systems and developing countries can now afford regional systems to compete against the developed countries in global markets.   Read the article     Article no.: 12 Topic: VoIP - Opening the Way for India Author: Amit Chawla Title: Executive Vice-President, Global Marketing Organisation: Veraz Networks PDF size: 76KB   About author: Mr Amit Chawla is the Executive Vice-President of Global Marketing and Member of the Board of Directors of Veraz Networks. Previously, as CEO of NexVerse Networks, Mr Chawla spearheaded the company’s merger with ECI Telecom’s NGTS division to create Veraz Networks, a leading provider of end-to-end Voice-over-Packet solutions. Before Veraz, Mr Chawla worked at Nortel Networks as the VP of Product Line Management, for Succession Networks. Mr Chawla began his career at Unisys in Canada. Mr Chawla holds a Masters of Science from the University of Manitoba, Canada, and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from University College, University of London, England.   Article abstract: India has one of the top ten telephone networks in the world. Still, penetration is low and demand for basic telephony, national and international long distance, cellular and other services is high. India’s growth as a major provider of outsource services depends upon its communications. India has embraced VoIP, expanded its IP networks and increasingly uses IP phones for voice. The government is working to liberalise and deregulate India’s telecommunications sector to facilitate competition and the entry of new service providers.   Read the article     Article no.: 13 Topic: Enable seamless services with softswitching Author: Parmindra Kwatra and Venkat Eswara Title: (Parmindra Kwatra) Country Head, Director and General Manager, Global Telecom Solutions Sector and (Venkat Eswara) Senior Marketing Manager of Systems Marketing and Portfolio Management, Global Telecom Solutions Sector Organisation: Motorola, India PDF size: 52KB   About author: Mr Parmindra Kwatra is country head, director and general manager for Motorola India’s telecom infrastructure business (Global Telecom Solutions Sector). Before joining Motorola, Mr Kwatra served as Vice-President and Head of Sales, for the Mobile Networks business (India and South-East Asia) at Siemens India. Kwatra also served as the Marketing Director for AT&T’s Wireless business. Mr Kwatra began his career with the Tata Group, and then moved on to BPL. Parmindra Kwatra earned a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering, holds a Post Graduate qualification in Management and is a Fellow of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers. Mr Kwarta has also attended senior management programmes at the AT&T School of Business, Siemens - IMI, Lusanne University and the Siemens-Fuqua School of Business, USA on leadership, strategic management and financial discipline. Mr Venkat Eswara is a Senior Marketing Manager in the Global Marketing Organisation of Motorola's Global Telecom Solutions Sector. His current focus is in the areas of next generation wireless core networks –softswitches, IMS–and the evolution to IP-based converged core network services. Before, Mr Eswara worked in Strategy, Product Management, and Product Development in the area of wireless infrastructure. In addition to the eight years he brings to the telecommunications market, Mr Eswara also has over five years of experience in engineering consulting in the electric power industry.   Article abstract: Operators expect converged core networks to reduce the infrastructure investment needed to deliver a diverse, competitive, range of services. India’s unified licensing plan, which lets operator’s select access alternatives for each service, fundamentally changes the market. Softswitch / IP-based, architecture provides low cost, seamless service and covers wide areas with simpler infrastructures than traditional networks and minimises backbone connection, backhaul, costs. Seamless connections between a wide variety of wired and wireless network technologies and service platforms are facilitated.   Read the article     Article no.: 14 Topic: Training and future of India Author: Dr Ashok K. Chauhan Title: President, Amity Institute of Telecom Technology and Management (AITTM) & Founder President, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (RBEF), Chairman AKC Group of Companies Organisation: Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (RBEF)/AKC Group of Companies PDF size: 52KB   About author: Dr Ashok K. Chauhan is the President of Amity Institute of Telecom, Technology and Management; President of Amity Law School (ALS); the Founder President of the Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (RBEF); and the Chairman of the AKC Group of Companies. Dr Chauhan, as Chairman and CEO of the AKC Group, was considered the most successful NRI (non-resident of India) in Continental Europe. In 1992, he was named ‘Man of the Year’ in a ceremony in London. Dr Chauhan earned his MSc in Chemistry in India and proceeded to, then, West Germany to pursue higher studies. Dr Chauhan began his career as a researcher and rose to head Research and Development at Daetwyler in West Germany. Dr Chauhan has served as the NRI member of Committees for India’s Prime Minister, its Finance Minister, Commerce Minister and the UP Chief Minister. Dr Chauhan has earned honours around the World including: from the President of India for his contributions as an NRI in the field of technology; from the German Government as the biggest non-German investor in, then, East Germany; from the International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England, and the Centenarian Award in 2004 from Centenarian Trust of Mahaswami of Kanchi. Dr Ashok K. Chauhan is the Chancellor of Gurukul Mahavidyala, Jwalapur and Amity University, Raipur. Dr Chauhan is the Founder-President of the Ritnand Balved Education Foundation and leads the 88 Amity Educational Institutions, with their 18 campuses 22,000 students and 130 programmes.   Article abstract: Today, ICT (Information and Communiction Technology) drives economies throughout the world. ICTs, though, both create and destroy of work opportunities, as labour intensive jobs are replaced by machines. This poses a challenge for higher education. India has some 200 million adult illiterates, but projects such as the ‘Computer Based Functional Literacy’ (CBFL), that teach adults to read 400 - 450 words in their own language through a multimedia puppet show progamme, provide a modern solution to a traditional problem.   Read the article     Article no.: 15 Topic: Preparing for Mobile Growth Author: Tero Laaksonen and Marianne Tikkanen Title: (Tero Laaksonen) President and CEO and (Marianne Tikkanen) Market Analyst Organisation: Comptel PDF size: 72KB   About author: Tero Laaksonen is the President and CEO of Comptel. During Mr Laaksonen’s long career in IT and Telecommunications, he served as the Managing Director of Telia Finland Oy; Senior Vice-President Nokia Telecommunications Oy / Information Networks; Director of the Financial Services Business Division at ICL plc; Managing Director at ICL Data Oy; and Managing Director at Nokia Data Oy. Mr Laaksonen previously held various positions at Nokia Data Oy / Nokia Electronics and at Outokumpu Oyj. Mr Laaksonen has a MSc degree in mathematics. Marianne Tikkanen is a Market Analyst at Comptel. Ms Tikkanen served previously as Comptel’s Business Programme Manager. Before joining Comptel, Ms Tikkanen worked for Ericsson in a series of managerial, sales and R&D positions. Ms Tikkanen has a Master of Science degree in telecommunications.   Article abstract: India’s three-digit mobile growth rate is a ‘happy problem’, but a problem nevertheless. Extraordinary growth requires the expansion of everything. Flexibility to grow is a prime reason for using mediation and service provisioning systems. These act as flexible rubber bands between the network and other back office systems such as billing, fraud and CRM. Provisioning lets the network provided the subscribed services and mediation registers what was used. During a system changeover, mediation is indispensable as it provides uninterrupted billing.   Read the article Confirmed authors (Order by article no.)   Mukesh Ambani Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Infocomm Limited   Prithipal Singh Convenor, National Advisory Council, India-Tech Foundation’s TELECOMM India 2004   Dr Jon Earith Chief Technology Officer, MBT   Dr Arun Mehta Chief Technical Officer, Net Radiophony India   Venkat Kedlaya Managing Director, Convergent Communications, India   Thomas White Senior Vice-President & General Manager, Communications Solutions Group, Agilent Technologies   Sudhir Rao Managing Director, Bartronics India Limited   Deepak Jain General Manager, IT Solutions, Telecom Industry, Wipro Infotech   Sanjiv Mital CEO, Bharti Telesoft Intl. Pvt. Ltd   Ramesh Krishnan Director of Operations, VeriSign Communications Services, India   Peter Ford CEO, Global Marine Systems Limited   Amit Chawla Executive Vice-President, Global Marketing, Veraz Networks   Parmindra Kwatra and Venkat Eswara (Parmindra Kwatra) Country Head, Director and General Manager, Global Telecom Solutions Sector and (Venkat Eswara) Senior Marketing Manager of Systems Marketing and Portfolio Management, Global Telecom Solutions Sector, Motorola, India   Dr Ashok K. Chauhan President, Amity Institute of Telecom Technology and Management (AITTM) & Founder President, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (RBEF), Chairman AKC Group of Companies, Ritnand Balved Education Foundation (RBEF)/AKC Group of Companies   Tero Laaksonen and Marianne Tikkanen (Tero Laaksonen) President and CEO and (Marianne Tikkanen) Market Analyst, Comptel