IBM pens $5m deal

IBM has signed a $5m IT services agreement with Kotak Mahindra Bank, reports MSNBC.

IBM will design, build and maintain a highly scalable, energy-efficient green data centre as well as the converged IP network infrastructure for the client. The solution will help Kotak save over $1.2 million in operational efficiency and reduced energy costs over the next five years.

This implementation will help the India-based bank move towards a shared technology infrastructure services model across all its businesses, including Kotak Securities and Kotak Life Insurance.

The Nigerian government is examining the possibilities and benefits of convergence of IT, telecoms and broadcasting in the country, states The Tribune.

The minister of information and Communication, Professor Dora Akunyili, says: “World over, convergence of technology and services has either taken place or has been placed on the front burner and Nigeria should not be left behind.”

She says the Nigerian president's approval of the private sectors' involvement in the implementation of the Nigeria-Algiers Trans-Sahara Optic Fibre Network is a welcome development. The network will serve as an alternative route to the SAT-3 submarine cable.

Parks Associates forecasts 4.5 billion mobile phone users worldwide by 2013, with many people using these devices as gateways for entertainment services, community information and social networking, says Wireless Design Asia.

The research firm says the increasing importance of the mobile phone will affect other product and service sectors.

"By 2013, there will be over 140 million US consumers paying for mobile broadband, which will extend video, communication, networking and support services to all sorts of devices," says Parks Associates VP and principal analyst Kurt Scherf.