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GSM players: No extra spectrum for CDMA operators
New Delhi: The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has urged the Communication Ministry to reject the recommendations made by the telecom regulator on allocating additional spectrum to CDMA-based mobile operators.

In a letter to Dayanidhi Maran, Minister for IT and Communication, the COAI said: "The CDMA operators stated in written submissions in court that CDMA is five times more efficient than GSM. Even TRAI, in its Consultation Paper, had stated that CDMA is `most efficient available technology' and that the CDMA networks had no congestion."

It added: "All the above effectively imply that GSM needs at least 25 Mhz to have level-playing field with CDMA. Thus, there can be no basis at all for diluting the present guidelines of the Government."

This is the first letter that COAI has written to the Government after TRAI announced its recommendations on spectrum issues. TRAI had suggested that both CDMA and GSM operators be given equal amounts of radio frequency to provide a level-playing field.

However, the COAI said, "There is no justification whatsoever for CDMA operators to get any spectrum beyond 5 MhZ. In fact, in most places in India, they do not justify even three carriers and, rightfully speaking, should actually be surrendering some spectrum."

The GSM cellular operators have said that they are "aghast to note that TRAI is actually recommending a dilution of the Government's subscriber- linked spectrum allocation criteria for CDMA."
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L&T bags orders worth $30 mn in China
Beijing: Engineering and construction conglomerate, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has secured three major contracts worth nearly $30 million from China. L&T, which ventured into China in 2004 has already secured orders worth over $100 million, he said.

Since September 2004, the company has received three major orders from Chinese hydro-carbon sector worth nearly $30 million.

As part of its long-term commitment to the Chinese market, L&T this week opened its Beijing representative office, the company's second office in China.

He said L&T, which opened its Shanghai representative office in 2004, envisages engagement at multiple levels with Chinese industry.
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Jain Irrigation and Taiyo Kagaku tie up for frozen foods
Mumbai: Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd has announced that it has entered into a formal agreement with Taiyo Kagaku Company Ltd, Japan, for production of individually quick frozen (IQF) food products.

An IQF facility as per the Japanese standards has been set-up at Jalgaon and trial production has commenced. Taiyo has established a 100 per cent EOU facility at Aurangabad, as a joint venture with Lucid Group. This plant produces high value edible fibre using Taiyo's proprietary technology.

Under the agreement, Jain Irrigation will initially produce frozen mango slices and dices and, thereafter, venture into other fruits such as banana, guava etc.
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Wasim Akram to endorse Roche diabetes monitor
Mumbai: Roche Diagnostics has roped in former Pakistani cricketer, Wasim Akram, to endorse its flagship brand, Accu-Chek, a blood-glucose monitoring device. Akram will be exhorting diabetes patients to `Live life - The Way you want' in a television commercial that debuts today.

This is the first time a diagnostics company is going through a "consumerisation process" and communicating directly to the consumers, company officials said.

Roche Diagnostics's portfolio was earlier marketed in India by Nicholas Piramal. Roche Diagnostics has, since going solo, brought down the price of Accu-Chek, from about Rs5,000 to Rs2,400 for a kit. The kit includes a blood glucose meter, 10 test strips, a lancing device, and lancets (used like a needle to prick the finger for blood droplets). The reduction of price was because research revealed that affordability was a barrier to category growth, company officials said.

The company expects the price and the promotional advertisements to help ramp up volumes. The estimated Rs120-crore category is growing at about 25 per cent, it said.
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Sun Micro seeks collaboration on Mustang development
Bangalore: Sun Microsystems has called upon Indian software developers to contribute and actively participate in the development of Mustang, the next generation of Java. Mustang is the code name of the next major Java release.

Delivering the keynote address at the technology event `SunTech Days' on Thursday, Jeff Jackson, Sun Microsystems' Vice-President for Java Developer Platform and Strategy, invited the developer community to actively contribute to the development of Mustang.

Sun allows developers to contribute and participate in the development of the platform and review it, he said. Stressing the need to work together and collaborate with the Java community, Mr Jackson said Indian developers could provide leadership, as efforts were being made to take Java to the next level.

Java was becoming more visible in development, Jackson said, and added that developers like to see codes and check how to get their bugs fixed for Mustang.

Emphasising on India's role as a key contributor to the success of the Java, Matt Thompson, Director of Technology Outreach, Sun Microsystems, told a press conference that collaboration of Indian developers was the key to the next level of Java.

India and China are the two countries where Sun is making most of its investments in building the developer base, he said. The Indian IT industry has evolved despite the Chinese Government pushing hard for the development of the IT sector there, he said.
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Hyundai to reach out to semi-urban and rural areas
Visakhapatnam: Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) is planning to expand its dealer network from the present 146 to 180 this year to reach out to semi-urban and rural areas and to increase its market share from the present 20 per cent, company officials have said.

The company had sold eight lakh cars during the past seven years and made rapid strides. Hyundai has emerged as the largest exporter of cars with an export turnover of Rs1,700 crore, exporting to quality-conscious European and American markets. The company has set its export target the year at 75,000.

The company has recorded combined sales of 2,15,630 during the calendar year 2004, registering a growth of 43 per cent. The company was planning to expand its capacity to 4 lakh cars by 2007 by setting up another plant in Chennai with a capacity of 1.5 lakh units per annum. The existing plant's capacity was 2.5 lakh units.

Apart from the popular Santro, the newly-launched Getz was being received well in the market, he said. The new car was selling in the range of 1,500-1,800 per month.
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Corporate Results: Tata Steel
Tata Steel's fiscal net up 96 per cent
New Delhi: Tata Steel has reported a 44.4 per cent jump in net profit at Rs908 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2005, up from Rs629 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The steel major's sales for Q4 have soared to Rs4,273 crore, up 22.4 per cent from Rs3,490 crore. The other income is down by 25.5 per cent to Rs29.74 crore, from Rs39.84 crore of the quarter ended March 31, 2004.

The company has declared a dividend of Rs13 per share.

For FY05, the net profit has surged 96 per cent to Rs3,473 crore, up from Rs1,764 crore.
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