MTS eyes India for growth

MTS is looking to India as it shifts from mobile voice to mobile data services, given India's hunger for real-time information and infotainment, reports The Times of India.

The Russian telecoms company expects markets to expand beyond just corporate users for data to include small to medium enterprises (SMEs), students and small households.

India's highest data users are postpaid customers of MTS's competitors like Reliance, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Tata Docomo. “We will fight a battle for new customers. It is very hard to wean existing customers of other operators”, says Vsevolod Rozanov, president and CEO of Sistema Shyam Teleservices.

Bangladesh's Minister for Industries, Dilip Barua, says the government will take initiatives to establish a SME IT park to encourage the IT-based industries that have enormous prospects, states The New Nation.

To make the effort a success, Barua says the government has been giving utmost priority to the potential industrial sectors like ICT, agro-based, and small and cottage industries.

"We are working for the development of software, hardware and human resources," says Barua. "Human resource development, human resource management, and innovation of sustainable technology are undoubtedly significant areas where we need to improve a lot."

Irish e-commerce company Buy4Now Technology Group is to create five new developer jobs based on the growing success of its cloud and software-as-a-service technology, says SiliconRepublic.

The company revealed last week how its technology, which integrates with ERP systems of major brands, has generated 100% online revenue growth at department store Arnotts while at electrical retailer DID online revenues have grown 40%.

The company's chief executive, Michael Veale, said the company, which is 20% owned by Eircom, is expanding into the SME market in Ireland and the UK. “We have won our first three customers in the UK and locally have seen the best few months of sales closures for our pipeline than in the last 10 years, which is really saying something in a recession.”