Singapore group may hike stake in Idea Cellular
New Delhi: Within hours of the Government announcing the new FDI policy, Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte Ltd and TM International Sdn Bhd, said that the consortium would evaluate the option to purchase additional shares in Idea Cellular.

The two companies at present hold 48 per cent in Idea Cellular after it bought out the US major AT&T's stake. The remaining equity is held by the Birla Group and Tata Group.

"The consortium welcomes the decision of the Indian Government to hike the FDI limit in telecom sector from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. This will prove to have a positive impact on the growing Indian telecom market and will lead to long-term players providing better quality services and absolute value to the end consumer. The consortium will evaluate the option to purchase additional stake at an appropriate time," said a statement from the consortium.
Back to News Review index page  
LG's 3G phones hit stores
New Delhi: LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd (LFEIL) has launched a new range of 3G technology handsets. The launch makes LG the first company in India to unveil 3G handsets in the country.

Even though, no service provider is offering 3G services in India at the moment, LG says that service providers in Mumbai and Delhi are working towards launching 3G services, and that movement will be quick, once policies become clear on the spectrum front. LG feels that it is likely that 3G services will be rolled out by different services providers by the end of this year.

LG has launched four 3G models - U8110, U8120, U8130 and U8138. The models launched by the company are UMTS (Universal mobile telecommunication system) enabled and will offer a download speed of 384 kbps as against a normal GPRS speed of 48 kbps. The newly launched handsets have capabilities such as live video streaming, video conferencing, 3D gaming, continuous video recording, auto launch browser and USB port. The launched handsets are priced between Rs16,000 to Rs30,000.

As 3G services in the country open up, the company says it would be looking forward to aligning itself with service providers for marketing these 3G handsets.
Back to News Review index page  

Fire at Hyundai plant may affect output for a week
Chennai: A fire that broke out early on Wednesday in a booth in the paint shop in Hyundai Motor India's plant at Irungattukottai, about 50 km from here, is expected to affect production for a week, according to company officials. No one was injured in the fire that broke out around 5.30 a.m.

The fire was noticed in a feather machine used to polish cars in the paint shop. They said that normal operations would resume on Thursday and it would take at least a week for the system to stabilise. However, the officials said that this would not in any way affect the production at the end of the month.
Back to News Review index page  
Rs.2,700 crore worth of relief measures for BSNL
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved about Rs2,700 crore worth of relief measures for BSNL for the current and the coming financial years. This was announced by the Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, after a Cabinet meeting.

The financial support includes a reimbursement of Rs1,408.9 crore, which is two-thirds of Rs2,113.35 crore payable by BSNL towards licence fee (net of universal service obligation levy) and spectrum charges in 2004-05. The relief measures also include reimbursement of one-third of the licence fee and spectrum charges payable by the telecom corporation in 2005-06.

The Cabinet also approved reimbursement of backlog of Rs591.02 crore on account of shortfall in the reimbursement of licence fee and spectrum charges paid by BSNL between 2001-02 and 2003-04. The relief to BSNL is aimed at facilitating its working as a healthy PSU.

A senior BSNL official, however, said that the measures would not help BSNL meet its rural commitment and that the Government would need to provide additional financial support to help meet the objective.
Back to News Review index page  

IDEA reduces STD/ISD rates
Mumbai: GSM mobile operator IDEA Cellular has reduced the mobile long-distance tariffs. STD tariffs on both pre-paid and post-paid services have been reduced by 35 paise to Rs2.65 a minute.

The international long distance tariff has been reduced by Rs1.75 per minute.
Back to News Review index page  

Corporate Results
DCI to pay 40 pc interim
Visakhapatnam: Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) has decided to pay its shareholders an interim dividend of 40 per cent on the paid-up equity capital of the company.

According to press release issued here on Tuesday, the decision was taken at the board meeting on January 29. The dividend will be paid on
February 11.
Back to News Review index page