Snippets

Communication sector to be the single largest contributor to GDP by 2014-15 says Nokia study

A study by Nokia India highlights the increasingly significant role of the Communication sector in driving growth across rural and urban India. The study entitled Economic Impact of the Communication Sector in India was carried out by Dr. Rajesh Shukla (Senior Fellow) and K A Siddiqui (Associate Fellow) of the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

The study indicates that the communication sector is predicted to emerge as the single largest sector of India’s economy, with a 15.4% share (equivalent to Rs. 865,031 crore) of GDP by 2014-15. In India’s transformation from an agrarian to a services economy, communication is recognized as the fastest growing sector, growing by 25.7% during 2001-08.

The sector’s ranking in terms of contribution to total GDP has moved up from #17 in 1980-81 to #8 in 2007-08 and is expected to surpass all other sectors by 2014-15, assuming that all other sectors grow at the average growth rates observed during 2001-08.

At the same time, the communication sector’s share of total GDP has increased from just 0.7% in the 1980s and 1.0% in the 1990s to 3.6% during 2001-08. In 2007-08, the sector accounted for 5.7% of GDP.

The communication sector has also had a significant impact on employment in the country. The study predicts that the sector will generate an additional 8.5 million jobs by 2014-15, taking the total number of jobs in the sector to 10.3 million.

According to Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, President and CEO of Nokia Corporation, “This study reinforces the view that the communication sector will continue to be an engine of the Indian economy over the next years. There is plenty of potential for growth in the sector considering that teledensity is currently only around 39.8%.”

He added, “It is critical to empower every individual to connect to people, information and services regardless of their location or income. This is a key element in the vision of a truly inclusive knowledge society. Connected people can create, accumulate and disseminate knowledge, eventually leading to enhanced productivity and equitable socio-economic development. This latest study reiterates communication’s growing importance as an agent of transformation.”

*As per Input-Output table, CSO, Government of India, the Communication sector includes postal, telephones, telegraph services rendered by postal and telegraph department and overseas communication services.

IBM inks multi-year IT services deal with Nomura India

IBM has announced that Nomura Services India Private Limited, a subsidiary of the leading financial services group, Nomura, will implement IBM's end-to-end business continuity and resiliency services to bolster it's business continuity, disaster and system failure response strategies. The multi-year IT services agreement will also provide Nomura Services with an in-city Work Area Recovery solution to recover critical business functions in the event of an interruption at a primary site.

Additionally, endeavors will be made to foster awareness and "plug gaps" through regular disaster recovery drills. A comprehensive solution comprising backup offices through IBM's Work Area Recovery Center in the outskirts of Mumbai, and a backup technology capability center have been established by IBM to ensure Nomura the necessary level of business continuity should disaster strike.

Neeraj Sharma, Director, Integrated Technology Services, IBM India/South Asia, said, "We are confident of helping Nomura make its operations highly resilient."

Executed in July 2009, this agreement further cements IBM's leadership position in the managed resiliency space in India. It demonstrates IBM's focus to help clients 'Do more with Less' by engaging in an increasingly popular operational expense (OPEX) model. It also leverages IBM's global experience of over 40 years to provide end-to-end business continuity and resiliency services to help clients minimize the costs and timeframes associated with recovering business operations in the event of a disaster.

Oracle appoints Redington as National Value Added Distributor

Oracle has appointed Redington India Limited as its National Value Added Distributor (VAD) to market, sell and implement Oracle Applications and Technology products through its reseller network. In the first phase, Redington will engage 300 resellers from Jaipur, Bhopal, Indore, Lucknow, Baroda, Surat, Nasik, Kolhapur, Cochin, Ranchi, Dehradun to serve customers in industries like auto ancillaries, chemicals, consumer goods, engineering & construction, non-banking financial services, industrial manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, media & entertainment, professional services including IT/ITES, real estate, retail, travel & transportation including logistics, gems & jewelry among others. As part of the agreement, Redington will market the Oracle e-Business Suite, Oracle Database and Oracle Database Options as well as Oracle Fusion Middleware. Redington's resellers will gain access to resources and tools within the Oracle's online resource pool from Oracle PartnerNetwork.