Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GO*QCOM who wrote (15254)	9/21/1998 7:39:00 AM
From: Greg B.	Respond to of 152472

I want a pdQ and can't wait to replace a psion 3a. On 9/23, Jacobs will host "This way to the future", a perspective on the current 3G standards dispute and prospects for convergence. Regards

To: GO*QCOM who wrote (15254)	9/21/1998 7:47:00 AM
From: Jeff Vayda	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

All: Interesting article on Nokia in India. It would be nice if the Q could pump out enough phones to be able to taylor to individual markets like Nokia. Also(end of article) why is the Q not bidding on Indian contracts? INDIA - INDUSTRY/ CELLULAR PHONE: Finnish Telecom Nokia - All Out to Woe Indian Customer South Asian Business Analyst NEW DELHI, September 21 (SABA)---The Indian cellular market with one million subscribers already on, cellphone vendors are planning new and innovative strategies to connect with consumers. Take for instance, the cellular major, Nokia. The Finland-based digital mobile phone manufacturer Nokia Telecommunication has a plan to expand its software development activities in the country.. As a tribute to India's 51st independence anniversary, Nokia has unveiled the 5110 cellular handset with the tricolor (of Indian flag) emblazoned on it. And that is not the cellphone's only selling proposition. With Pandit Ravi Shankar's assistance, Nokia has added another unique tribute to India; one of the cellphone's 30 ringing tones is 'Saare Jahaan Se Achhaa', composed by the great maestro himself. "It is the national tune recognized by every Indian. We are trying to build an emotional bond with the consumer." Says Mr.Parikshit Bhasin, joint managing director, Nokia Private Limited. In a plateauing cellular industry with one million subscribers already on, this strategy may be able to connect with consumers. Since its entry four years ago, Nokia has established its presence in eight major cities of the country. The first GSM call in India was made in a Nokia-supplied network in 1995.Nokia has built GSM networks for Indian operators such as SkyCell Communications, Modi Telstra, Fascel, Tata Communications, BPL US West Cellular and Evergrowth Telecom. After getting GSM equipment contracts from the metro cellular operators, the company repeated the performance in the mobile phones market and soon built a leadership position for itself. Though aggressive marketing and bundling schemes have eaten into its market share, Nokia is still the number one company as far as the GSM market is concerned. The various cellphone models of the company -- Nokia 9000 Communicator, Premium-8110 and Nokia-3 810 -- would continue to come from the Singapore plant till a production plant was set up in the country, he said. Nokia has signed three more research and development projects with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, with which it already had two projects on GSM technology. Nokia funded all projects under a three-year agreement in areas of mutual interests enabling exchange of scientists between the two and to offer advanced training in telecom to IISc students. Nokia has a good line of transmission products such as microwave. It remains to be seen how it positions itself in the fixed wireless handset market. The company's dream to repeat its success in the basic services market, however, has not been realized so far. The main reason behind this is that for the two major requirements of a basic telephone network - the switching and access equipment - the company's offering are still not very popular in India. Nokia has put its cellular phone-manufacturing project in India on hold but is going ahead with plans to open its first-ever software development center in the country, a top company official said. "Prevailing market conditions have forced the company to temporarily shelve the cellular phone project," said Mr. Hannu Karavirta, India Operations Chief of the US$9.8-billion Finnish company, but reiterated the company's resolve to go ahead once conditions improved. "The software development center would meet Nokia's global requirements, mainly for the GSM cellular test platform and the built-in GSM cell phones," Mr. Karavirta said, adding that the project site would be Bangalore, Hyderabad or Gurgaon. Nokia's decision to set up the center in India was influenced by advantages like easy availability of qualified software professionals and its volume requirements, he said. The company, which started its operations in India in 1994, has been outsourcing software from two Indian companies for a year-and-a- half, and the final decision to open the center would depend on the performance of these business partners. Nokia does not have a software development center anywhere in the world, and the proposed center would be its first foray into the software industry. Mr. Karavirta said the company would invest more in India to upgrade the GSM cellular test bed it had set up in Delhi a few years ago. This was necessitated because of the planned introduction of the next generation of cellular phones in the country. Nokia's wireless access solution is based on DCS 1800, which has not really taken off in India. The company now promotes the concept of hybrid networks and is behind the WCDMA third generation standard. The company has established a customer service center and product competence center in New Delhi to enhance its ability to offer turnkey solutions. [ Motorola ] , Nokia, Siemens and Ericsson are among the global cellular majors who have shown interest for setting up Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited's (MTNL) proposed mobile telephone network in Delhi and Mumbai. MTNL is planning for a huge capacity -- both in terms of subscriber numbers and traffic density -- for its cellular network. The sheer size of the proposed network dwarfs the existing networks of the cellular operators. The MTNL network is to have 100,000 subscribers each in the two cities in the first year of operations, which will rise to a million each by the fifth year of operations. MTNL has received among the lowest-priced quotes in response to its tender. Seven cellular equipment vendors-Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Alcatel, Siemens, Tata-Lucent Technologies and Nortel-- quoted among the lowest prices in the world for the system MTNL wants to buy. Will Nokia bag the order is a million dollar question. (Copyright 1998) _____via IntellX_____ Publication Date: September 20, 1998 Powered by NewsReal's IndustryWatch