RCom partners with US firm for mobile conferencing

September 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Reliance Mobile, the GSM arm of telecom operator Reliance Communication (RCom), Wednesday said it would launch a new mobile number series beginning with the digit "8" in the Delhi-National Capital Region circle. Reliance will be the first telecom operator to shift from the practice of beginning a cell phone number with the digit "9".

September 15th, 2009 LONDON/MUMBAI - Eagle Conferencing (www.eagleconferencing.in) today launched their charitable donation scheme in the UK for conference calls. The scheme, managed by Charity Technology Exchange (CTX) www.ctxchange.org, enables UK charities to operate audio conferences with their partners in India without incurring international call charges.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Telecom majors Reliance Communications (RCom) and Aircel are on the verge of signing a $300-million agreement for sharing telecom infrastructure like towers, sources close to the deal said Monday. "The deal will offer RCom a revenue upside of over Rs.1,500 crore.

August 22nd, 2009 TAIPEI - China Mobile Ltd, the world's largest mobile phone carrier, has decided to pick Taiwan's electronics giant Hon Hai Group as its supplier of electronic readers, a top company official said Saturday. "We have picked Hong Hai Group to make electronic readers for us and we believe the electronic reader market will be huge," said Wang Jianzhou, chairman of China Mobile, on the second day of his nine-day visit to Taiwan.

July 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Etisalat DB, a joint venture between Dubai-based telecom major Etisalat and Mumbai's Dynamix Balwas group (DB), and the Anil Ambani-promoted telephony operator Reliance Communications (RCom), have entered into an agreement to share infrastructure for 10 years, a RCom statement said Wednesday. The agreement, which will enable Etisalat DB to share tower and transmission infrastructure owned by RCom and sister company Reliance Infratel, is expected to increase RCom's revenues by Rs.10,000 crore ($2.2 billion), the company said in the statement.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - On the lines of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Calcutta, which launched a business programme through video conferencing, the Mudra Institute of Communications (MICA) has announced the setting up of four centres in the UAE and 50 across India to teach research and analytical skills, through the same method. Open to undergraduates, graduates and even professionals, the certificate programme will enable one to be absorbed in all research based, data analysis and marketing research industries like BPO, knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and so on.

June 22nd, 2009 BARCELONA - The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a global leader in money-transfer services, announced today the launch of its Digital Vendor Program intended to extend the reach and accessibility of Western Union Money Transfer(r) services to mobile finance initiatives in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. "Establishing a strong mobile vendor program is a critical step in the delivery of our 'Western Union Anywhere' service proposition," said Matt Dill, SVP and Head of Western Union Digital Ventures.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite the overall slowdown and driven by unprecedented demand for mobile phone connections, the Indian telecom equipment industry grew 20 percent last fiscal to top $24 billion in revenues, says a new survey. Interestingly, though, the market for mobile and fixed-line handsets grew just 6 percent because of crashing prices and focus on rural market, said the annual survey by Voice and Data, a telecom industry journal of CyberMedia group.

May 26th, 2009 MUMBAI - Reliance Communications (RCom), India's second largest telecom operator, Tuesday said it has received approval from its shareholders for the demerger of its optic fibre division and subsequent merger with wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Infratel. "The demerger will help reduce set-up and operating costs resulting in cost efficiency coupled with greater financial flexibility, the company said in a regulatory statement.

April 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Video conferencing started in all trial courts of the capital four years ago but some flaws are yet to be ironed out, hampering the work of an already overburdened judiciary. On Thursday, the use of video conferencing during a city court's hearing of the multimillion fake stamp paper case involving scamster Abdul Karim Telgi was far from smooth.

March 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The video conferencing facility in courts and jail premises has reduced the burden of the police but a noted lawyer and human rights activist has opposed the idea. 'The use of the technology (video conferencing) is not the solution of any problem but it is just an aid, so we should not forget about the rights of the people while using it,' eminent criminal lawyer Colin Gonsalves said.

February 24th, 2009 MUMBAI - Reliance Money, part of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG), Tuesday introduced a new facility that enables investors to trade equities and commodities through mobile phones. The new facility is available across all mobile platforms.

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Reliance Communications (RCom), the country's only telecom operator offering both CDMA and GSM services, Friday said it has recorded five million subscribers in a span of 30 days on its fully-IP enabled, next generation wireless network. 'We continue to experience acceleration in the growth momentum as we keep launching our GSM services in new geographies and offering a slew of attractive recharge options,' S.P.

February 5th, 2009 JAMMU - Telecom operator Reliance Communications (RCom) Friday launched its GSM services in over 50 towns and more than 5,000 villages in Jammu and Kashmir, and said its nationwide footprint has been completed. 'National and state highways, rail routes, tourist locations and places of worship have been covered,' said Arvind Kumar, RCom's head of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab circle.

January 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - CDMA telecom service provider Tata Teleservices will roll out GSM services by the end of this year on an investment of $2 billion, the company said here Monday. 'We have already got spectrum (2G) for most of the circles and will roll out the services by the end of this year hopefully,' company managing director Anil Sardana told reporters.