In 2009, when Satyam Computer Services was going under in the wake of its founder’s confession that the books were fudged, rivals were busy setting up crack sales teams to woo the Hyderabad-based outsourcing firm’s multimillion-dollar clients in the US and Europe.

Sure, this may seem vulture-like behaviour, but it made business sense then. And it does now. This time around, the battle is in the telecom sector, and for around 66 million mobile telephony subscribers.

Source:http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-02-04/news/31024895_1_uninor-sstl-operators

ASC a leading global provider of innovative solutions to record, analyze and evaluate multimedia-based communications announced it will be providing its award-winning communications recording solutions for Old Mutual SA (South Africa), a financial services group providing leading investment and savings solutions.

ASC’s solutions are part of the biggest telecom outsourcing deal in the financial services sector. The contract has been signed with Dimension Data, South Africa, supported by Telkom, Nashua Mobile and Siemens Enterprise Communications. The total cost of the project is expected to reach about 229 million Euros (2.5 billion Rand). The agreement represents a substantial success for ASC’s new partnership with Nashua, the leading provider of Siemens Enterprise Communications and Panasonic technology in southern Africa.

Guenther Mueller, Chairman & CEO of ASC, said, “Old Mutual has built its reputation on the pursuit of excellence, and its decision to choose ASC for communications recording speaks volumes about the quality and reliability of our solutions as well as the ongoing service by our technical support staff. We are also particularly pleased to kick off our partnership with Nashua with such a momentous undertaking.”

Source:http://www.sourcingfocus.com/site/newsitem/4725/

Trade unionists have given South Africa’s top telecommunications companies two weeks to address the issue of reduced benefit packages for retired workers and other grievances or face “total shutdown” industrial action.

Among other demands of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) sent to Telkom, Vodacom and South African Post Office (Sapo) is outsourcing which the union claims is cutting jobs.

CWU Chairman for Gauteng Aubrey Tshabalala said the union would host its General Shop Stewards Council following the dispute on substantive negotiations at Sapo and Telkom SA.

“As CWU in Gauteng, we consider what has been tabled at the negotiations by Sapo and Telkom SA an insult, and we note that there are allegations of corruption in the ICT sector in general. As Gauteng we’re calling for a total shutdown (strike) at Sapo; Telkom and subsidiary companies of Vodacom should address our demands by end of this week,” said Tshabalala.

He said the looming strike would include Vodacom SA subsidiary companies arguing that there was reduction of benefits for workers as a result of outsourcing of some departments in Vodacom.

“Our members are ready to go on the streets and it will be one of the biggest industrial actions ever experienced in the industry.To us one job lost is one too many,” said Tshabalala.

About 6 000 workers were either retired or persuaded to go on retirement by Telkom and Vodacom with the unions accusing outsourcing as the root cause of job losses.

Source:http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2011/08/telecom-trade-unions-issue-strike-ultimatum/

Maintaining customer satisfaction while creating efficient savings is crucial for telecom service providers, especially during a period of economic uncertainty. As every provider knows, meeting the service expectations of customers is critical.

Even if a customer’s experience has been largely neutral or positive, it is the few negative experiences that will stick in his mind. Telecom service providers can’t afford to neglect the impact of negative customer experiences associated with services.

Competition in fixed line and mobile markets is increasingly intense and customers are even more willing to shop around. According to a report commissioned by Pitney Bowes, a provider of mailstream services, customer churn in mobile telecoms hit 38 percent last year – up from 33 percent in 2005.

Additionally, Google, Youtube, Facebook and Hulu are emerging as top providers of person content. These companies are deflecting the key position of telecom service providers by offering end users personalized content. If this trend continues, telecom providers will have to deal with a greater amount of customer churn. Consulting firm Bain & Company determined that it is six times costlier to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one.

Telecom service providers are increasingly turning to outsourcing companies to import their expertise on improving the quality of customer service. Using well-established methodologies such as Six Sigma and LEAN, outsourcers can implement incremental changes in processes that can improve the customer experience while also cutting out waste.

For instance, one outsourcer created templates that advisors can fill in to make after call notes – rather than expecting them to type notes from scratch. This has helped reduced average handling time (AHT) by over two minutes in some cases – creating estimated efficiency savings for a telecom service provider client of over USD 1 million per year as well as reducing wait times for the customer.

The review of another telecom service client revealed communication issues between offshore customer service operation teams and technical teams onshore. A direct communication channel was established in order to reduce resolution times which helped in receiving updates on “escalated cases” and creating a speedy resolution of customer issues within 24 hours.

Process excellence initiatives carried out for one telecom company to increase the “right first time” experience led to cost savings of USD1.6 million and an overall impact on the business.

Outsourcing companies can also help to steer customer behavior away from expensive-to-process calls and help to reduce call volumes. For instance, when customers call with routine matters like checking account balance or paying bills, they can be reminded that this can be done online. Outsourcers have discovered that significant costs were incurred simply by processing the one in five calls that came from customers calling for confirmation that a task that they had already requested had been completed – for instance the ordering of a new handset or the dispatch of a replacement SIM. ‘Reassurance calls’ can be cut down by proactively texting or leaving a message for customers when a task has been completed.

If outsourcing companies are able to reduce the number of simple calls, then contact center staffs are free to deal with more detailed calls that need expert support and advice. In recent years, the increase in device complexity has created a need for more technical support and contact center agents who are trained to answer a wide array of customer inquiries.

The level of technical support needed for users can be costly, and the expertise of an outsourcing company in dealing with these kinds of calls can be essential in keeping costs under control (e.g., by providing support when it is needed at peak call times rather than having advisors available at all times).
And it is not just a matter of understanding technical specifications. Contact center staffs require good interpersonal skills. Tasks like the collection of overdue bills require empathy. Customers must be encouraged to cooperate rather than to ignore the problem. And, even more important, call center staff need to be persuasive when a customer calls with the intention of canceling their contract.

Equally, telecom service providers have to strike a balance between encouraging self service to reduce call volumes and retaining an incoming flow of customer enquiries which provides a window of opportunity to cross-sell additional products including broadband and landline services.

Telecom companies are realizing that outsourcing companies can provide added value in the area of turning ‘cost centers’ like customer service into ‘profit centers’ by selling customers new products. This obviously has to be done with subtlety and care. No one wants to feel that they are on the receiving end of a hard sell from their mobile provider when they had simply called up to check their balance or add a data bolt-on before a trip abroad. Using their deep-rooted experience in what has succeeded and what has failed, outsourcing companies can advise companies and import customer service lessons from areas like banking and insurance.

Many telecom service providers are already doing this. Business Analysts Datamonitor predicts that the telecoms outsourcing industry will grow to more than $51 billion by 2013. With customers now wanting to communicate via online chat and give feedback on a telecom service provider’s performance via comments on Twitter or Facebook, the world of customer service is changing at a faster rate than ever. Balancing the need to keep customers happy and persuade them to buy more products while also making efficient savings is no easy task – and it is one that outsourcing companies can help telecom providers achieve.

Source:http://www.informationweek.in/Telecom/11-08-09/Can_outsourcing_transform_telecom_customer_service_from_cost_to_profit.aspx

Telecom will bring back in- house hundreds of information technology jobs outsourced to Hewlett-Packard, ending fears that as many as 1500 jobs might be lost to India.

Spokesman Ian Bonnar said yesterday that a significant proportion of the work outsourced to HP would in future be done by Telecom’s Technology & Shared Services division, which is based in Wellington.

Telecom had cancelled a tender that could have resulted in it repackaging and outsourcing that work along with other IT functions, he said.

Mr Bonnar would not comment on a claim by Labour communications spokeswoman Clare Curran that some jobs might nevertheless be lost in the transition, which will take place in the next few months.

One effect of the rethink would be that some work now done for Telecom by HP overseas would be repatriated, he said. “These jobs are definitely in New Zealand.”

Hewlett-Packard NZ inherited the Telecom contract through its US parent’s 2008 acquisition of EDS. Former Telecom chief Theresa Gattung outsourced many of Telecom’s IT functions to EDS in a 10-year $1.5 billion deal in 1999.

Ms Curran was pleased Telecom was “contemplating bringing jobs in-house and keeping them in New Zealand as opposed to outsourcing them” but concerned about the overall impact on jobs.

The Government’s “inability to make concrete decisions” about its ultrafast broadband scheme was causing too much uncertainty, she said. “The jobs of hundreds and potentially thousands of New Zealand workers are uncertain.”

Mr Bonnar said HP would retain some work and it would be reasonable to expect some HP staff might be offered Telecom jobs.

Source:http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/4338263/Telecom-cancels-plan-to-send-IT-jobs-abroad

“Devoteam Group”, a leading information and communication (ICT) consulting company in Europe, is planning to open a representation in Tunisia , reported the webmanagercentre website on Thursday. The group operates a network of 5,000 consultants and is present in 23 countries around the world.
According to webmanager centre the website Devoteam’s Tunisian subsidiary will be led by Tarek Akrout.

Devoteam already operates in the Tunisian in telecom, banking sector and in Public Service.

Created in 1995 following the deregulation of the telecom market in France, Devoteam has gradually specialized in providing customized service, comprehensive covering all the needs of its customers’ market strategy, marketing, governance, operational, IT transformation, telecom expertise and outsourcing.

Source:http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20101002062003

Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP’s) managed legal services division has secured a second deal that has seen IT company Colt transfer its employment law team to the City law firm.

The multimillion-pound agreement has seen the telecoms and IT provider turn to BLP to conduct all of its employment legal matters across the 13 European jurisdictions in which Colt operates.

Colt’s sole in-house lawyer dealing with employment matters has been transferred to the division and will be assisted by a lawyer from BLP’s locum lawyer service, Lawyers on Demand.

The deal was agreed by BLP corporate head John Bennett – who oversees the managed legal services division – and Colt general counsel Robin Saphra. The agreement will run for five years with a three-year break clause. If successful, it could see the company hand over more in-house legal functions to the division in future.

The move comes after BLP earlier this year sealed a groundbreaking deal with Thames Water to transfer the bulk of its in-house legal team to the newly-created division.

The agreement, understood to be worth £5m a year to BLP for the next five years, saw the firm take on 13 of Thames Water’s in-house legal team and three administrative staff to carry out all of its longstanding client’s legal work.

Bennett (pictured) commented: “This deal is interesting because we always said Thames Water was a concept that could be applied in different ways. This work is for a particular area of practice across a number of jurisdictions applying the same concepts we have previously developed to achieve different benefits – so an interesting application for our managed legal services division.”

Source:http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/1733949/tech-firm-colt-hands-blp-outsourcing-arm-deal

In February, India’s largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, launched an app store, giving its consumers access to 1,250 applications. Vodafone followed, offering around 800 applications.

As telecom companies play the numbers game with the applications they offer, they have now started outsourcing this to specialised application developers. “There are hundreds and thousands of applications in the market. It is not possible for telecom companies to develop all these apps in-house,” said Neeraj Roy, managing director and CEO of Hungama Digital Entertainment.

Reliance Communications has tied up with American application developer Get Jar. This will give its subscribers access to GetJar’s catalogue of over 65,000 applications, available for free.

If an application is developed in-house, a telecom company can earn from a licence fee charged when an app is downloaded. However, many companies (such as Reliance) are not focusing on that revenue. Instead, they are banking on the data usage generated as subscribers consume more data to download and use these applications.

“RCoM’s application store strategy is directly linked to increase in data traffic, increase in data plan adoption and sale of other services through the use of free applications. This strategy will help achieve mass mobile data plan adoption and mobile internet use,” the company said.

Loop Mobile has recently launched a mobile application developed by SMS Gupshup. Called ‘Reply all’, this allows consumers to SMS to a group of seven people at the cost of one SMS. If one of the consumers in the group replies, the response will be sent to all the users, allowing a chat conversation in a group, giving the same utility as a reply-all e-mail.

“Applications are not great technologically innovative products. Application development is all about generating good ideas and telecom companies can never aggregate as many ideas. This has to be driven by market forces and should come from a wider community,” said Alok Shende, principal analyst and co-founder, Ascentius Consulting.

‘Not our expertise’

Outsourcing also helps telecom companies convert fixed costs into variable costs. While most telecom companies have an in-house team which work on applications, this is not the core business of a company. “Engaging a team takes up a lot of bandwidth. Besides, so many app developers are working independently and our aim is to launch a product as quickly as possible. We always get better developed products from outside,” said Surya Mahadevan, COO, Loop Mobile.

Telcos that have to cater to a wide range of tastes also look at niche value-added services (VAS). This could be better achieved by sourcing from specialised developers. CanvasM, a subsidiary of Tech Mahindra, focuses on utility-based, VAS-like, commercial transactions and mobile banking. SMS Gupshup specialises in social networking-based applications. A telecom company can pick and choose different types of applications across categories from each of these developers.

“We can get different kinds of content-based apps as well. Some offer jokes and some offer beauty tips. Adding these apps happens on a continuous basis as we keep offering different kind of products to our customers,” said Mahadevan.

Experts also note that exclusivity in apps is also reducing, as companies have stopped developing these in-house and developers license these to many operators. A lot of revenue models are followed by companies with regards to apps, the most popular being revenue share, where the developer gets a part of the revenue. There is also a minimum guarantee model, where a telecom operator pays an upfront amount, even if the application does not generate any revenue. The telecom company will enjoy all the upside if the application becomes successful.

Currently, telecom companies prefer to take the lesser risk of a failure and share the rewards. A telecom company also invests in the success of a value-added service by spending on promotion and advertising the application. But the focus is to decrease churn and increase consumer stickiness to their network, which they attempt by regularly offering innovative products.

“Once consumers are tied to an application, they are tied to a network. This is one of the many reasons why telecom companies need to build an ecosystem of applications,” said Shende.

Source:http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/telcos-bankoutsourced-apps-to-ring-in-revenue/406301/

As network operators continue to look for new ways to reduce operating costs, telecom equipment vendors are nearing a tipping point at which the managed and professional services they provide will deliver substantially more revenue than infrastructure sales, according to a major new report from Heavy Reading(www.heavyreading.com), the research division of Light Reading (www.lightreading.com).

Driven by network operators’ desire for cost savings, simplified network operations, and shorter time to market for new services, managed and professional services have become a rapidly growing business for telecom equipment vendors over the past five years. Today these services account for 35 percent to 48 percent of total revenues for leading vendors, and this figure is forecast to reach 60 percent within the next seven years.

Turnkey Networks: The Future of Managed & Professional Services examines the current and future state of the managed services landscape, explores how the shift to managed services has indelibly altered network and business models for both telecom vendors and telcos, and considers what lies ahead as this market continues to grow. The report analyzes the portfolios of 18 telecom vendors, consultants, IT specialists, outsourcing specialists, and systems integrators that compete in this market. This analysis is augmented with real-world case studies from Orange and Sprint, to provide insight into the realities associated with adopting a managed services model.

For a list of technology suppliers analyzed in this report, please see:http://img.lightreading.com/heavyreading/pdf/hr20100823_companies.pdf

“From 2000 to 2009, an unprecedented number of managed and professional services deals were signed, as network operators took measured but aggressive steps to reduce opex,” says Jim Hodges, Senior Analyst with Heavy Reading and author of the report. “As a result, vendors seizing the business opportunity have rapidly morphed from hardware-centric infrastructure purveyors to managed services specialists and consultants.”

The strong growth of managed and professional services is largely due to the explosive growth in emerging markets of wireless services, which have relied heavily on managed services resources to launch greenfield networks, explains Hodges. “But in established markets, many wireless and some fixed operators are also now embracing managed services to reduce ongoing operational costs, as margins for legacy voice services continue to contract.”

Key findings of Turnkey Networks: The Future of Managed & Professional Services include the following:

Wireless technology will continue to fuel the managed services market. In 2009, Heavy Reading estimates there were more than 4.2 billion wireless subscribers. Yet based on vendor claims of subscribers served, only approximately 31 percent of these are currently served by some form of managed agreement. By 2017, we forecast this number will increase to 45 percent.

Major acquisitions are likely as competition intensifies in managed services. Given the competitive dynamics, very large acquisition or consolidation deals will be required in order for any one vendor to achieve true market dominance, and this possibility should not be discounted. Such deals would result in the creation of an entirely new class of network equipment provider – a “SuperNEP” – capable of controlling more than 40 percent of the managed services market.

The partnership model among the major players will remain extremely fluid and dynamic. Although telecom vendors, IT outsourcers, systems integrators, process consultants, and OSS specialists will continue to collaborate to win new business, the lines between them will continue to blur, and they will increasingly become competitors.

The notion of the network as a competitive differentiator is outdated. A large number of Tier 1 wireless operators have outsourced, or even share, their infrastructure. Rather than relying on the network, these operators are focused on differentiating at a “customer experience” level. Since managed and professional services can shorten time to market and enhance service capabilities, they are seen as having a positive impact on customer service interaction.

China could be the spark that propels the managed services market to the next level. While the outsourcing trend has yet to take hold, any decision to turn to managed services will have an immediate impact in a market that represents more than 770 million wireless subscribers, spread among just a few carriers.

Turnkey Networks: The Future of Managed & Professional Services is essential reading for a wide range of industry participants, including the following:
•
• Telecom service providers: How will the increased emphasis on managed and professional services influence the competitive landscape in your market? Are you utilizing the best third-party managed services providers to serve your needs? How will the widespread use of managed services influence the emergence of new telecom service business models? How can managed services help your company to enhance the end-user experience and provide highly personalized services for your customers?
• Telecom equipment vendors: What does the growth of managed and professional services mean for the future of your business? How will your company differentiate itself in a market in which the majority of revenue is from managed services and consulting, rather than infrastructure equipment? How will acquisitions shape the managed services arena, and will your company have to acquire other providers as competition intensifies – or will your company be acquired? Which of your competitors is seen as leading in the managed services sector, and which players are poised to dominate in the future?
• Investors: How will the pursuit of new managed services opportunities shape the competitive landscape among telecom vendors? As infrastructure sales plateau and vendors look for new approaches to gain managed services market share, how is future consolidation likely to take shape? How is the managed services model likely to develop in China, which represents the next big market opportunity? How will new network management technologies and business models influence winners and losers in this growing marketplace?

Turnkey Networks: The Future of Managed & Professional Services costs $3,995 and is published in PDF format. The price includes an enterprise license covering all of the employees at the purchaser’s company.

Source:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/managed-services-revenue-to-surpass-infrastructure-sales-for-major-telecom-vendors-new-report-finds-101396729.html

It’s not often that a vendor pays a call on a client and comes away with a new job, a new country of residence, and a new life. But that’s effectively what happened to Telecom Group CTO David Havercroft.

After seven years in Singapore working for IBM and with his daughter moving back to the UK, he and his wife were looking for a change of scene. Havercroft happened to be visiting Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds to discuss IBM’s business when the CTO role at the telco became vacant.

“I’d love to say it was New Zealand I wanted to come to and all that, but really I was just taken with some of the things that Paul (Reynolds) needed to be done and the exec needed to be done and what T&SS (Technology and Shared Services — the division that straddles all three of Telecom’s business units) was tasked with and it’s come up well.”

His role expanded earlier this year when chief transformation officer Frank Mount fell on his sword over the series of XT outages and Havercroft became the company’s Group CTO. The mobile network outages were a kind of baptism by fire which the telco has not shied away from discussing both publically and internally — a profile of Havercroft in the Telecom staff magazine features a series of photos of him taken during the height of the crisis, clutching his glasses and looking, well, worried.

But the XT outages were just one of the challenges that Havercroft has dealt with. There have been emergency 111 call outages, which after an investigation led Havercroft to publically announce that the service should come under government guidance.

There was the uber outsourcing deal that didn’t happen, despite political and media speculation that first Tech Mahindra, and then IBM, were set to carry away the $1.5 billion contract from HP (formerly EDS).

According to his bio on Telecom website, prior to taking up the CIO role Haverscroft was “responsible for the development and delivery of strategic outsourcing for telecommunications clients for IBM in Asia Pacific.” So it’s perhaps not surprising that one of his first tasks was to reassess the massive HP deal, and that the first place he looked to was India.

“The purpose of the Tech Mahindra process that we were running was to look at whether there was any value in further offshoring of jobs. Was there political pressure — do it or don’t do it — no there wasn’t,” he says.

“There was real focus on could it bring additional value to Telecom and customers. Could we get access to the latest thinking and technology and skills. That’s my experience of India, it’s the heart of where everything’s at at the moment, in IT in particular.

“The conclusion we’ve come to is there still a case for looking at particular areas of certain bits of technology to say we just haven’t got the skills in New Zealand and we never will have.”

So, no uber deal, but maybe some pieces of work going offshore over time. In the meantime Telecom continues to work with a number of third party vendors including HP, IBM, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Datacraft.

Telecom was an early adopter of outsourcing and the arrival of Havercroft has also put other relationships under the magnifying glass. He says they’ve just signed a heads of agreement deal with NEC around longer-term commitments to maintaining the PSTN.

Havercroft has also been forced to make employees redundant in the T&SS. Of the 200 management positions Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds indicated would be culled in April, 50 have come from his division.

Havercroft says telcos around the world are facing the issue of dealing with the complexity that has built up over time and trying to rationalise and simplify their operations. This involves taking cost out and often that translates as job losses. “It’s never easy or particularly pleasant,” he says referring to the recent redundancies. “But the teams did it with a lot of professionalism.”

This has left him with a team of 1500 staff to deal with the challenges around operational separation, the possible move to structural separation under the Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) intiative, and the future upgrade of XT to Long Term Evolution or 4G services.

At the time of meeting Havercroft, submissions on the latest variation request to operational separation requirements had not closed. His view is that the undertakings are incompatible with the government’s move to the UFB scheme.

“They don’t make sense to us, and we think to the industry, to continue doing these sorts of activities. Because they put cost not just on us but also on the industry when the industry’s moving to a fibre world and the government wants us to move to a fibre world. And we do support that, we’re absolutely on the page that that’s the right way to go,” he says.

As for the move to LTE, Havercroft says Telecom will be making decisions with regards to “technology trials and choices” at the backend of this year.

“That won’t be a commitment to sign big contracts with people, we will start looking at what’s a good process for us, that might segue neatly into where the industry is going in New Zealand,” he explains.

He’s not ruling out platform sharing with other telocs in order to build a 4G network, but one of the first things to be sorted is spectrum allocation, which isn’t likely to become available until at least 2013.

When the telco does progress to LTE, Havercroft expects it will done in the main cities first. Computerworld asked if the new network would cost as much as XT (publicly claimed to be $524 million at launch). “I don’t think you could afford that kind of investment immediately, it’s got to be done gradually,” he says.

Source:http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/telecoms-it-taskmaster

Business-grade telecommunications company Macquarie Telecom has announced its new plans for a $5 million contact centre in the Sydney CBD.

The centre will house 40 specialist staff to field enquiries bucking the trend of telecommunications providers outsourcing their customer support service.

Communications minister Eric Roozendaal was on site to launch the new centre, which is located on the upper floor of a CBD building where Macquarie was already renting office space.

Mr. Roozendaal said he was very happy to see a customer centre remaining on Australian shores in spite of the outsourcing precedent established by other providers.

“It’s a refreshing change to see a contact centre not being moved offshore.”

Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy was also present, offering his support for the new site.

“In an industry often dominated by poor customer service, it is fantastic to see an Australian telecommunications provider setting the global standard for the care of its customers.”

Macquarie Telecom CEO David Tudehope said that the decision to keep the contact centre onshore came after a study of 10 contact centres in the US, reaching the conclusion that personality is the most important ingredient in creating success.

“We didn’t want anyone from the telecoms industry or the call centre industry. Needless to say we interviewed over 1000 people.”

Source:http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/articles/articles-news/macquarie-telecom-launch-new-contact-centre-in-cbd-0001.html

State-run telecoms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd plans to outsource its third-generation mobile services and is working on details for a franchisee agreement, the Business Standard reported on Monday.

The company will invite expressions of interest by the end of this month, the newspaper quoted BSNL Chairman Kuldeep Goyal as saying.

The paper said outsourcing would help BSNL reduce investments it needs to roll out the 3G services.

Goyal told the paper the franchisee could be an existing mobile service provider or a company that had not won or bid for 3G spectrum.

The franchisee will manage customer acquisition, marketing and sales of BSNL’s 3G services across the country, he said.

Vodafone and Bharti Airtel paid a combined USD 5.1 billion for 3G mobile licences in India last month, ending an epic auction that yields a bonanza for a deficit-strapped government.

Source:http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/bsnl-to-outsource-3g-mobile-services_467894.html

Macquarie Telecom (ASX: MAQ), today announced it has signed a three year outsourcing deal with Matrix, a Queensland construction and project management group. The agreement will see Macquarie Telecom manage and host the company’s full corporate IT suite and provide fully redundant internet and voice services underpinned by a full SAN Storage and Managed Back-Up capability. The company selected Macquarie Telecom based on its partnership model, which demonstrated how Matrix could control costs and aggressively grow its business, and its ability to provide a whole-of-business offering.

With an aggressive growth strategy, Matrix identified its existing infrastructure was unable to meet rapidly increasing demands and looked externally for a business partner capable of supporting both its current and future requirements. Macquarie Telecom was selected amongst managed server hosting, voice and data providers and Systems Integrators to outsource and manage Matrix’s corporate infrastructure, voice and data services. Key to the decision criteria was Macquarie Telecom’s flexibility, capability and scalability in developing a solution to support Matrix’s overarching business strategy. Further, Matrix recognised the value of having its IT staff support business critical applications rather than spending valuable time looking after its dedicated server infrastructure.

Macquarie Telecom’s strength in ensuring data protection coupled with a rapid and smooth deployment and migration were critical decision factors for Matrix. Matrix requires the ability to access records up to six years after the project they refer to has passed; its previous in-house solution relied heavily on Recall boxes, making it unsuitable for compliance purposes. Macquarie Telecom offers its customers the highest-levels of local security certifications and accreditations (ISO and ASIO T4), making its data centre facilities amongst the most secure in Australia.

Commenting on the agreement, Robert Barron, CFO from Matrix said: “We needed a replacement strategy that tied in with an overall risk mitigation strategy. We felt that risk could only be mitigated by dealing with a publicly listed company that possessed accreditations pertinent to a corporate environment. The key requirement for Matrix was to partner with a company that could support Matrix’s aggressive growth strategy and allow Matrix to improve service to its customers through a reliable high speed communication platform”.

Aidan Tudehope, Managing Director of Macquarie Hosting said: “Matrix selected Macquarie Telecom for its ability to provide a whole-of-business offering and its expertise in managed server hosting for mission critical applications. The partnership model we offered became a major differentiator for Matrix and clearly demonstrated how they could better utilise their company resources whilst supporting expansion. The agreement will mean the Matrix IT team can now focus on solving strategic business problems, rather than worrying about the day to day running of the IT infrastructure”.

Matrix’s IT infrastructure will be managed by Macquarie Telecom in its ISO and ASIO T4 certified data centre, the Intellicentre. Matrix has offices in Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns and Darwin and operates throughout Queensland, Pacific Islands, Asia and the Middle East.

Source:http://australia.tmcnet.com/news/2010/06/18/4854983.htmhttp://australia.tmcnet.com/news/2010/06/18/4854983.htm

TTI, the leader in Telecom Expense Management (TEM) software solutions (WinBill®), and Enterprise Call Accounting and CDR reporting software solutions (WinCall®), is pleased to announce three new client partnerships in the past 60 days. All three companies are leaders in their industry and have chosen to answer their organization’s TEM needs with TTI’s WinBill® Telecom Inventory and Expense Management Software solution.

One of the world’s largest publicly traded bio-technology firms headquartered in Northern California has contracted with TeleManagement Technologies to purchase the WinBill® licensed solution to better manage and control telecom and IT related expenses and inventory. As part of the solution, TTI’s Professional Service team will provide industry Best Practices as it relates to process flow of telecom invoices, help in managing telecom vendor contracts, as well as audit, optimization and recovery services.

TTI has also been selected for a major WinBill® outsourcing contract with a New York Stock Exchange traded Financial Management and related financial products software provider located in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA. Under the agreement, TTI will host and manage WinBill® on behalf of our client, who is outsourcing the telecom expense process including landline, data, wireless mobile management (WMM), monthly audit and recovery services, wireless procurement and provisioning, and wireless help desk.

“TTI is very excited to grow our outsourcing client base.” said Charles Coakley, Vice President of Sales for TTI. “TTI has always been known as a leader in the TEM licensed space, but many don’t realize we can provide even more value, expertise and results for clients who choose an outsourced solution.”

Finally, a New Jersey Advertising and Marketing company has selected both WinBill® TEM and WinCall® Call Accounting licensed solutions for their TEM and CDR reporting needs. The client has upgraded to the Avaya VoIP PBX platform and chosen WinCall® CDR Call Accounting. As a marketing and advertising company, the firm has very specific client tracking and bill-back needs. WinCall fits this unique need to track all calls made on behalf of a specific client(s) or project(s) and provide detailed reporting and the ability to generate client invoices, along with WinCall’s other powerful features.

After 23 years as a Telecom Expense Management and Call Accounting solutions leader, TTI is pleased to continue to provide value in the TEM marketplace for our clients and expand the focus on our Professional Services and outsourcing offerings. As businesses look to recover from the tough economic climate over the last 18 months, TTI is seeing an increase in outsourcing requests from new and existing clients as efficiency, scalability and deploying new workforce business models take center stage.

Source:http://enewschannels.com/2010/06/15/enc11845_045724.php

Globe Telecom Inc. registered dramatic growth in its fixed line data business during the first quarter of the year, hauling in P1.2 billion in broadband revenues, up 84 percent year on year, while its fixed line data revenues reached P831 million, up 16 percent versus the same period in 2009.

Robust demand from the local outsourcing industry helped sustain the growth momentum in the telco’s corporate data business. Globe Business, the company’s corporate arm, remained strong in the market with the continued expansion of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and services sector.

Furthermore, its wireline data business continued to increase, fueled by the expansion of Globe Business’ network of high-speed data nodes, transmission links and international bandwidth capacity that serve the requirements of enterprise customers.

“We hope to maintain the gains we have achieved in the enterprise market by focusing on the needs of our customers and continuously investing in our network. Enterprise customers value premium service and require more capacity and quality network services,” says Gil B. Genio, Head of Globe Business.

“We continue to serve the growing demand of the BPOs especially for corporate data services as we bring more bandwidth and faster connections to enterprise customers,” explained Jesus C. Romero, Head of Enterprise Segments at Globe Business.

“We’ve introduced innovative solutions such as Carrier Ethernet services that conform to MEF 9 (Metro Ethernet Forum) specifications for service providers, improved international capability through our submarine cable systems, Hosted Contact Center Solution and Enhanced Managed Voice Solutions that would address their need for cost efficiency and reliable connectivity in the business,” he went on.

“All these we make available to enterprise customers through our more responsive and customer focused account engagement framework.”

Globe Business provides network infrastructure and managed solutions as well as other telecommunications services to enterprises big and small.

Among the latest innovations that Globe Business introduced in the market is Business +, which offers various postpaid subscriptions with unlimited call and text features that can be customized to one’s business needs. Business + gives enterprise customers the flexibility to subscribe only to what they want and pay only for what they need.

Source:http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/261625/globe-telecom-broadband-revenues-soar-84-p12-billion-first-quarter

IBM appears to be a clear favourite to become Telecom’s outsourcing partner.

“That’s all we’ve heard in the past 72 hours,” says one well-placed industry insider.

Computerworld spoke to five other disparate sources who were all hearing the same thing.

Telecom is replacing the 10-year, $1.5 billion outsourcing contract signed with EDS in 1999.

It’s understood the replacement deal is as much about taking Telecom into the cloud as about direct outsourcing. To that end, the telco is understood to have built a set of requirements that potential outsourcing partners would have to meet.

Those companies that made the shortlist have been reported as IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Infosys.

Big Blue has advanced cloud capability, developed over many years, that is thought to fit well with Telecom’s plans.

Telecom’s chief technology officer, David Havercroft, formerly ran IBM’s Asia Pacific services for telcos.

Telecom spokesman Mark Watts says the company doesn’t comment on rumours and speculation.

Source:http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/ibm-tipped-to-become-telecom-outsourcing-partner

Indian technology giants Tech Mahindra and Wipro are bidding for a huge information technology outsourcing contract at Telecom in competition with IBM and Hewlett-Packard, according to a report from Mumbai.

Telecom confirmed this month that it had shortlisted three companies to take over a $1.5 billion contract it awarded to EDS in 1999.

They were believed to be IBM, Hewlett-Packard, which has since taken over EDS, and an Indian outsourcer.

India’s Economic Times identified Tech Mahindra and Wipro as bidders. It did not identify which company was leading the bid, or whether they might have submitted competing proposals.

Sources said a bid led by Tech Mahindra – one of seven companies to have originally submitted proposals to Telecom – would come as no surprise.

Last year Telecom awarded Tech Mahindra a contract worth more than $20 million to overhaul its retail technology systems and provide customers with more self-service options.

Up to 300 people were expected to work on that project, in New Zealand and in India.

Telecom spokesman Ian Bonnar said no announcement was imminent on the project, dubbed Technology Future Mode of Operation (Tech FMO).

Telecom is debating whether to split into two separate companies and sources speculated that could affect its ability to negotiate a contract this year.

Labour communications spokeswoman Clare Curran fears as many as 2000 jobs could be sent overseas as a result of any new outsourcing arrangement. Telecom has dismissed that as “wildly speculative”.

Source:http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/3635467/Indian-companies-interested-in-Telecom-contract

Three companies have been shortlisted to take over a giant information technology outsourcing contract with Telecom.

It awarded EDS New Zealand a contract worth $1.5 billion in 1999 to manage its IT infrastructure. That contract is due to expire this year.

Industry sources said the shortlisted suppliers were likely to include IBM and Hewlett-Packard, which has since taken over EDS and is expected to re-tender for the work.

The third bidder is most likely an Indian outsourcing firm, sources speculated. Telecom spokesman Ian Bonnar says no decision is imminent on the project, now dubbed Tech FMO (Technology Future Mode of Operation).

Sources have suggested the work may be carved up and that more work could be handled in-house by Telecom’s IT services arm Gen-i, especially if an Indian contractor wins a piece of the pie.

A leaked proposal by Hewlett-Packard suggested 400 to 500 New Zealand jobs might go and more work would be “offshored” if it succeeded in regaining the contract.

Telecom’s former chief information officer Dave Havercroft has meanwhile been promoted to the role of chief technology officer, filling a vacancy in the executive team that resulted from the departure of American chief transformation officer Frank Mount in February.

Mr Bonnar says that has coincided with a restructure that is likely to change some reporting lines, but which is unlikely to result in redundancies. Mr Havercroft joined Telecom in October from IBM, where he was responsible for managing outsourcing arrangements for telecommunications clients in the Asia Pacific.

Source:http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/3546800/Telecom-shortlists-IT-bidders

This is because towers are essential to the business and once they invest in a tower business and once they sell it out, they will obviously have to pay lease rentals to use them and the tower company which buys their towers and use the same tower to put on let’s say the antenna for other users also and thereby distributes the cost over many players.

So that is why the tower business are being hived off. It is economical for the company. So overall when a company hives off the tower business, the profitability overall improves and although there are one time gains, then the cash flow outflow also starts in terms of the rental but all in all, it makes good sense to sell these towers to purely in tower outsourcing companies.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Views/Recommendations/Telecom-firms-should-sell-towers-to-outsourcing-companies/articleshow/5697001.cms

The Government of India has begun an ambitious programme to wire up the entire northeast and remote border regions with telecom, wimax and broadband connectivity and unleash an IT revolution in the region, Minister of State for IT and Communications Sachin Pilot said.
“I believe that the northeast can become a big centre for attracting investments from the private sector – in business process outsourcing (BPOs), knowledge process outsourcing,” Pilot said.
“Young people there have a lot of talent and are easier to train and impart skills to for this kind of work. If we can have rural BPOs then I am sure we can have BPOs in the northeast,” he added.
A bulk of the money under what is called universal service obligation fund, collected by the government from private players to meet the demands of rural connectivity, will be deployed in the northeast, he said.
At the start of this fiscal, more than Rs 18,000 crore was available under this fund.
On a mission to do a “lot more” in the northeast that “has not been done so far”, Pilot said Assam, for example, will see optical fibre cables laid across the state — seen as a must for large data transfers required by such service providers.
“We are launching optical fibre cables at the panchayat level in Assam soon. This will be the first state in India to have it,” Pilot said, adding Wimax services had already been unveiled there last month.
“We launched Wimax in Chaygaon, on the outskirts of Guwahati in Assam. It’s a wireless, high speed internet broadband connectivity — such that people living in a radius of 15 kilometres can access the internet easily,” he said.
Moving beyond Assam, Pilot said the government is also planning a software parks project at Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, which will be an export-oriented scheme for developing computer software and extending related professional services.
“I have already met the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. We are hoping to start this project soon. The state will then have a lot more money from the government of India, which it can’t afford now,” he said.
India’s northeastern region covers the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
Pilot said he is also planning to give the satellite phone facilities to villages in the northeast, which are cut off from others due to their location, along with a much-subsidised tariff.
“There are some places of Arunachal Pradesh, which are 12,000 feet to 14,000 feet high — no spectrum, no mobile phones. Therefore, besides the paramilitary forces, I am trying to give satellite phones to these villages and reduce the call charges,” he said.
In Sikkim, Pilot said, the IT ministry has helped in the setting up of a small business process unit and launched 3G services through the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam.

Source:http://www.igovernment.in/site/india-plans-big-telecom-revolution-ne-37069