Global telcos mull units in India

NEW DELHI: Indian Minister of Communications and IT Dayanidhi Maran is currently in France to take part in the Third GSM World Congress at Cannes. During his meetings with the international vendors, Maran invited them to set up manufacturing units in India and hoped that in-country manufacturing would play a key role in achieving this objective.

Responding to the Minister's appeal, Alcatel chairman Serge Tchuruk announced that the company was examining the possibility of setting up a global research center on WiMax in India with the collaboration of a leading R&D facility. He accepted the invitation extended by Maran to visit India to finalize the company's strategy. CEO of Ericsson Carl Svanberg reiterated that the company was intending to set up an infrastructure-manufacturing unit.






Nokia chairman and CEO Jorge Ollila affirmed that the company had already announced its intention to set up a handset manufacturing unit and also indicated that it would set up a committee to also look into the possibility of infrastructure manufacture. He also agreed to bring the board members of the company to India in May this year to finalize this issue. Motorola Asia Pacific senior VP Simon Leung indicated that the company would explore the possibility of setting up a manufacturing base in India.





During the meeting with the GSMA Board, GSMA along with Motorola announced a special initiative to launch a $30 handset for emerging markets. Maran stressed the need to reduce other costs especially, the roaming costs. He stated that roaming was a USP of GSM and it must be made more affordable for consumers and told the GSMA to look into this matter.