BSNL Teams Up With Microsoft, Launches Managed Business Mail

State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has entered into a long-term partnership with Microsoft to launch BSNL Managed SaaS (Software as a Service) in India. This partnership will enable BSNL to offer hosted solutions on core productivity, collaboration and line of business applications to business customers. BSNL has also launched BSNL Managed Business Mail today – the first offer resulting from this partnership.

Based on Microsoft Exchange platform, BSNL Managed Business Mail moves beyond conventional e-mail options to empower businesses with tools to increase productivity, mobility and collaboration at an affordable monthly fee. This will provide a range of services for businesses across enterprise, SMBs and public sector segments to enhance communication coordination by enabling them to share e-mail messages, contacts, calendars, task lists and documents from any device (PC or mobile phone).

The partnership and launch marks BSNL's foray into managed business solutions based on the SaaS model. Since this service will be delivered via the Internet, users will save on upfront costs related to hardware, licences and installation for their IT infrastructure. Business owners will also be able to focus on their core business tasks – without any disruptions and distractions pertaining to IT headaches like security patches, software updates, monitoring and backups. In turn, this will eliminate need for in-house IT management manpower.

Commented Kuldeep Goyal, chairman and managing director, BSNL, "We are proud to announce a long-term partnership with Microsoft India to offer a wide range of managed services based on the SaaS model and are confident of the value that this will deliver to our customers. We are equally proud to launch BSNL Managed Business Mail as our first SaaS-based managed service and the first under this partnership. Managed Business Mail is an innovative messaging and collaboration service for Indian businesses that will provide enterprises and SMBs with rich enterprise-class e-mail applications that deliver 24X7 access and significant productivity benefits – all at an affordable price."

BSNL Managed Business Mail will be available in four editions at affordable prices starting from Rs 420 per month.

"The unique feature of BSNL's Managed Business Mail will be its availability from the mobile platform. This implies that the service will be accessible on smartphones of any service provider. This unique facility will seamlessly extend the best in class experience benefits of the service to end consumers on the move," added Goyal.

Commenting on the partnership, Rajan Anandan, managing director, Microsoft India, said, "Customers find value in a combination of software plus services delivered via the Internet, thus making owning and managing IT more affordable and convenient. We believe that BSNL's foray into the S+S model will provide ample value to businesses looking to leverage technology to maximize productivity while ensuring lower spends - especially in today's cost controlled environment. We are excited about our partnership with BSNL for their managed services business and look forward to further strengthening our association."

"We believe that Microsoft Hosted Exchange is a compelling proposition that will help us deliver more choice, flexibility and affordability for customers. We shall continue to work closely with Microsoft India in the near future to bring a wider range of hosted applications to the market," added Goyal.

Thing Labs to Launch New Twitter App In Coming Weeks

Jason Shellen, founder of Thing Labs, the startup formerly known as Plinky, is keeping details about its new social media product tightly under wraps — except to say that initially it will only work in conjunction with Twitter. While other application developers focus their attention on multiple social network sites, Thing Labs decided to develop its latest application for the API friends and fellow ex-Googlers Biz Stone and Evan Williams created.

Thing Labs is primarily familiar with the Twitter API via the friendships of Shellen and VP of Technology Chris Wetherell with Stone and Williams, so it seemed natural to start building its new application on that platform first. Wetherell, a former senior software engineer at Google, even spent a few months working on projects at Twitter after he left the search giant earlier this year.

"Chris and I have been using Twitter for about three years now — we were in the first group of users." Shellen said. "We're big fans and believers in Twitter as a platform and it's a great place to invest our time."

The upcoming release of this new social media product — which is expected to launch in a few weeks — was also the impetus behind Thing Labs' name change. Shellen's startup was originally named after its first social media product, Plinky. Launched six months ago, Plinky is a web application that prompts users to answer a question — topics run the gamut from movies to travel — and lets them to post their answers on Facebook, Twitter or blogs.

Shellen said the Thing Labs' social media application will roll out in a few weeks. In addition to Wetherell, who joined the company a few months weeks ago, Dolapo Falola is leaving a senior engineering position with Google and will join the startup in July, making Thing Labs a popular destination for the growing network of ex-Googlers.

After Indians, Sri Lankan students attacked in Australia

After Indians, a group of students from Sri Lanka have been allegedly attacked in Australia, with three men smashing the windows of their home and taunting them with "racist insults" in capital Canberra.

Police are investigating allegations of attacks against a group of Sri Lankan students at their home, ABC News reported.

It is alleged that three men smashed the front windows of the students' house in Macquarie in north Canberra after an unsuccessful attempt to crash a party.

The students said a car window has also been broken and that they have been taunted with "racist insults".

One of the students, Dijula Wijesuriya, said he has been threatened with a knife. "This guy comes up and takes out a knife and says 'get out of our streets'," he said.

Wijesuriya said they have been living in fear, especially considering the recent violence against Indian students in Sydney and Melbourne.

"We really didn't go anywhere else, we just stayed at home, just go to uni and come back home straight away and lock the doors and stay inside."

India Australia Association of Canberra president Madhu Kalia said she is surprised by the incidents.

"So far Canberra, it has been alright, there have been no attacks on students," she said.

Police said they have investigated several incidents but have not received any reports that they have been racially motivated.

WHO declares swine flu pandemic

The World Health Organization told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic on Thursday - the first global flu epidemic in 41 years - as infections climbed in the United States, Europe, Australia, South America and elsewhere.

In a statement sent to member countries, WHO said it decided to raise the pandemic warning level from phase 5 to 6 - its highest alert - after holding an emergency meeting on swine flu with its experts.

The long-awaited pandemic decision is scientific confirmation that a new flu virus has emerged and is quickly circling the globe. It will trigger drugmakers to speed up production of a swine flu vaccine and prompt governments to devote more money toward efforts to contain the virus.

"At this early stage, the pandemic can be characterized globally as being moderate in severity," WHO said in the statement, urging nations not to close borders or restrict travel and trade. "(We) remain in close dialogue with influenza vaccine manufacturers."

On Wednesday, WHO said 74 countries had reported nearly 27,737 cases of swine flu, including 141 deaths.

The agency has stressed that most cases are mild and require no treatment, but the fear is that a rash of new infections could overwhelm hospitals and health authorities - especially in poorer countries.

Still, about half of the people who have died from swine flu were previously young and healthy - people who are not usually susceptible to flu.

Swine flu is also continuing to spread during the start of summer in the northern hemisphere. Normally, flu viruses disappear with warm weather, but swine flu is proving to be resilient.

The last pandemic - the Hong Kong flu of 1968 - killed about 1 million people. Ordinary flu kills about 250,000 to 500,000 people each year.

Many health experts say WHO's pandemic declaration could have come weeks earlier but the agency became bogged down by politics. In May, several countries urged WHO not to declare a pandemic, fearing it would cause social and economic turmoil.

"This is WHO finally catching up with the facts," said Michael Osterholm, a flu expert at the University of Minnesota who has advised the US government on pandemic preparations.

Despite WHO's hopes, raising the epidemic alert to the highest level will almost certainly spark some panic about spread of swine flu.

Fear has already gripped Argentina, where thousands of people worried about swine flu flooded into hospitals this week, bringing emergency health services in the capital of Buenos Aires to the brink of collapse. Last month, a bus arriving in Argentina from Chile was stoned by people who thought a passenger on it had swine flu. Chile has the most swine flu cases in South America.

In Hong Kong on Thursday, the government ordered all kindergartens and primary schools closed for two weeks after a dozen students tested positive for swine flu - a move that some flu experts would consider an overreaction.

In the United States, where there have been more than 13,000 cases and at least 27 deaths from swine flu, officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the move would not change how the US tackled swine flu.

"Our actions in the past month have been as if there was a pandemic in this country," Glen Nowak, a CDC spokesman, said on Thursday.

The US government has already taken steps like increasing availability of flu-fighting medicines and authorizing $1 billion for the development of a new vaccine against the novel virus. In addition, new cases seem to be declining in many parts of the country, U.S. health officials say, as North America moves out of its traditional winter flu season.

Still, Osterholm said the declaration was a wake-up call for the world.

"I think a lot of people think we're done with swine flu, but you can't fall asleep at the wheel," he said. "We don't know what's going to happen in the next 6 to 12 months."

France Telecom & Telstra in talks with Maxis to buy minority stake in Aircel

France Telecom and Telstra of Australia are in talks with Malaysia's Maxis Communication to buy a minority stake in Indian telecom operator Aircel, in yet another sign that the ongoing slowdown and credit crunch are having a negligible impact on deal activity in the telecom sector.

The talks between the two overseas players and Maxis revolve around France Tele buying a 20-25% stake in Aircel, a dominant player in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. Aircel, which is one of the major regional players in India, is in the midst of a $5-billion expansion plan that will see it becoming a pan-India player.

Meanwhile, Saudi Telecom, which owns 25% in Aircel parent Maxis, is likely to increase its stake in the company to 35% for about $1 billion. The money from the sale of Maxis' stake will also be used to invest in Aircel. Goldman Sachs is advising Saudi Telecom in its transaction with Maxis. The deal with Saudi Telecom is expected to be completed within a month.

Estimates of the valuation of Aircel, which has a subscriber base of 19.6 million, vary between $7 billion and $8 billion. France Tele, which is not looking to buy a majority stake, will end up paying about $1.4-2 billion if the deal goes through at this valuation, people close to the development said.

The Indian telecom sector is perhaps one of the few sectors in the economy that is still witnessing strong M&A deal activity despite an economic slowdown. In the past 10 months, about $5 billion of deals have been concluded, including a mega $2.7-billion transaction that saw Japanese giant NTT DoCoMo buying 26% in Tata Teleservices.

Indian telecom companies, too, are growing at a scorching pace with monthly subscriber additions rising to more than 10 million a month. At this rate, Indian subscriber base is expected to leap past the 500 million mark in double quick time.

Aircel on course to widen pan-India reach by June 2010

The continued high growth is of great interest to foreign investors. Impending developments such as auction of spectrum for 3G (third generation) and broadband wireless access (BWA), besides the entry of MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators), offer further growth opportunities," said Salil Pitale, head (telecom & media), at Enam Investment Banking.

For France Telecom, Europe's third-largest phone company which owns the Orange brand, it will be an opportunity to re-enter the world's fastest growing telecom as it faces a slowdown in its home turf and in other mature markets.

In response to an e-mail, an Aircel spokesperson said, "We are not aware of any discussions with France Telecom about this matter. Maxis Communications and its partners remain firmly committed to the accelerated growth and development of Aircel to be a successful pan-India operator." A France Telecom spokesperson said, "We do not comment on market rumours."

France Telecom first approached Maxis in August last year, just before the global market meltdown. "At that time, it was also in talks with Tata Teleservices (TTSL). Negotiations with Maxis were revived after NTT DoCoMo clinched the deal with TTSL," a person familiar with the discussions told ET.

Maxis was also in talks with AT&T last year for selling a similar stake, but the deal could not go through because of differences in valuation. Talks between France Tele are still at a preliminary stage and the deal may also fall through because of Maxis' insistence that the prospective investor also purchase a small stake from Maxis. France Tele, on the other hand, wants the investment to go into the company, that is Aircel, and is not keen on buying directly from Maxis.

Maxis owns 74% in Aircel while the rest is held by Chennai-based Reddy family, promoters of Apollo Hospitals. France Tele had held a stake in Mumbai-based BPL Mobile for many years before exiting in 2003. In 2007, its group company Orange Business Services acquired GTL's enterprise and managed services division. Subsequently, it bagged NLD and ILD licences in India. A stake in a mobile firm now will complete France Telecom's India story.

Aircel is currently in a money-guzzling mode, with the target to complete pan-India footprint by June next year. Ananda Krishnan, the owner of Maxis, also needs money to pump into Natrindo Telepon Seluler, a telecom firm in Indonesia which has a 3G licence. Plus, he bought out NTT DoCoMo from Sri Lanka Telecom in 2007 and that business also requires continued investments.

In a bid to fund these plans, Ananda delisted Maxis in June 2007 in a $12-billion deal and within days, he sold 25% of it to Saudi Telecom for over $3 billion. Due to this, Saudi Telecom has an effective 18.5% stake in Aircel. Dilution of another 25% in Aircel will help Ananda's Maxis raise around $2 billion at a time when global credit scenario is not very positive.

At the same time, India's telecom growth story continues to attract international investor interest, with all the major telcos making a beeline for India. This is despite the presence of 12 players and entry of four more telcos later this year. For Ananda, stake sale could be an opportunity to raise money without giving any controlling rights.

Low-profile billionaire Ananda Krishnan, whose business empire stretches from telecom and media to power and construction, is known for buying and selling businesses. In May last year, he sold Excel, the giant exhibition venue in London's Docklands, for around $230 million, to a group backed by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi. He then bought a 20% stake in British regional newspaper chain Johnston Press and is widely believed to be interested in setting up a global media empire.

Infy, EDS & IBM bag $1.2-billion Telstra deal

Australian phone firm Telstra on Tuesday said it has awarded around $1.2-billion outsourcing contracts to Infosys, EDS and IBM, as
part of a major vendor consolidation exercise the company started last year.

ET had reported in March earlier this year that Infosys has won over $100 million contract from Telstra, and EDS and IBM were front-runners for new outsourcing contracts to be awarded by Telstra.

As part of Telstra' latest outsourcing contracts, EDS and Infosys will share $450 million application development and maintenance contract over five years, and IBM will walk away with $750 million deal for managing the phone firm's IT infrastructure.

"EDS, IBM and Infosys are important IT transformation partners and we look forward to continue our relationship," said John McInerney, Telstra CIO and GMD Information Technology.

While Telstra did not comment if Satyam continues to be a vendor, experts said Satyam (now a Tech Mahindra company) has lost the Telstra account.

Telstra had undertaken a vendor consolidation exercise to reduce its IT service providers from four — EDS, IBM, Infosys and Satyam — to three.

The consolidation was aimed at bringing down the cost of managing its IT systems. The phone firm plans to bring down the number of IT systems from about 1,350 now to almost 300 by 2010.

Foul play not suspected in Motwani's death: Police

Police do not suspect foul play from preliminary evidence gathered in the mysterious death of India-born Stanford professor Rajeev
Motwani, the mentor and adviser of founders of top companies like Google and PayPal.

There is no initial evidence of foul play in the drowning mishap, Atherton police Sgt Tim Lynch was quoted as saying by local newspaper San Jose Mercury News.

Lynch said an autopsy report is awaited to carry forward the probe into the incident.

"We're kind of in limbo... It could have been a simple accident or many other things," he added.

Motwani (47) was found dead in the backyard swimming pool of his Palo Alto home in California on Friday.

Local media reported that Motwani, who did not know how to swim, may have slipped into the pool and drowned. Paramedics were summoned when his body was found.

Lynch said firefighters and a police officer pulled Motwani's body from the bottom of the pool.

The news of Motwani's death sent shock waves throughout the Silicon Valley and the tech world globally, as he was known to be the master brain behind several key advancements in the world of Internet, including Google and PayPal.

Meanwhile, friends and family members of Motwani have opened the "Rajeev Motwani Foundation" in his honour, requesting people to send in their contribution.

Google, Microsoft hiring under scanner

The US Justice Department is probing possible collusion in hiring by Microsoft Corp, Google Inc and Yahoo! Inc and several other compa nies, said two people familiar with the investigation.

The investigation may include a dozen technology companies, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Justice Department faces the difficult task of proving that there is an explicit agreement between the companies that they wouldn't hire employees from their rivals, said David Balto, a former antitrust attorney with the Federal Trade Commission.

The investigation adds to the scrutiny of technology companies under President Barack Obama's administration. The makeup of Google's and Apple's boards has already drawn the scrutiny of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, and the Justice Department is looking into a settlement with publishers over Google's book-scanning project.

Google, based in Mountain View, California confirmed it has been contacted by the Justice Department and is cooperating with the investigation, said spokesman Adam Kovacevich. Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, is also cooperating, said company spokeswoman Kim Rubey. Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans, declined to comment.

Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona declined to comment.

Technology companies often trade workers as they seek to lure the best talent, and sometimes end up in conflict. In 2005, Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, sued after Google lured away Kai-Fu Lee to run a development center in China. The companies settled the suit.

Satyam may lay off 5,000

full board meeting of Satyam Computer is likely to be held on June 11 after its new owner Tech Mahindra assumed charge and the boar d may draw a consensus on the sensitive issue of laying off as many as 5,000 employees in phases.

Sources said the meeting is scheduled to be held on next Thursday or Friday and for the first time the full board -- six government-nominated members and four member from Tech Mahindra (through its arm Venturebay Consultants) -- will discuss the business strategies.

A company spokesperson said as and when the meeting takes place, there will be comprehensive discussions on all related issues. He, however, did not divulge details of the agenda or whether or not the meeting would look at ways on how to rationalise the employee strength.

Sources said given the sensitivities of the situation, the board is likely to draw a consensus on the 'lay offs' to be undertaken which may take the shape of keeping 5,000-10,000 people on the bench (reserve).

Tech Mahindra CEO Vineet Nayar had recently said Satyam has 10,000 surplus staff and the company would look at the 'least painful' ways to handle the situation.

"It is a question of revival and viability", they said. Last week, Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurseed had said the government will not turn a blind eye to any lay offs in Satyam.

Google launches 'Google Squared'

Google, already the king of Internet search, rolled out an experimental new search product called "Google Squared."

Google Squared does not provide a list of links to Web pages, like with a traditional Google search, but presents information derived from a query in a spreadsheet-like grid called a "square."

Users of google.com/squared can then build, modify and refine their "square" through further Web searches.

"Unlike a normal search engine, Google Squared doesn't find webpages about your topic -- instead, it automatically fetches and organizes facts from across the Internet," Google said in a preview of the product last month.

In a blog post on Wednesday, Google said Google Squared could be useful when a user needs to make multiple searches to find the information they want.

"It essentially searches the Web to find the types of facts you might be interested in, extracts them and presents them in a meaningful way," Google said.

"If your square isn't perfect at the beginning, it's easy to work with Google Squared to get a better answer," Google added.

The Mountain View, California-based Internet search giant cautioned that Google Squared remains experimental and the technology behind it "is by no means perfect."

Yahoo, eBay look to sell start-ups

Many Internet and media companies that were busy buying start-ups in the boom years could shed assets they no longer deem central to the ir business, as the recession imposes an age of frugality.

Scathed by the heavy losses they incurred when the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, tech companies moved quickly to cut costs and focus on staying profitable as the current recession hit.

Now, as the doldrums linger, many are taking a hard look at the start-ups they bought during the good times, many of which were never a good fit. Some of those acquisitions could wind up right back on the sales block.

Venture capitalists, who invest in start-ups and recover their money by taking them public or selling them, say the dealmaking has already begun. Many expect more sales and spin-offs in the next few months as companies squeeze their assets for cash and reassess business strategies.

"In good times, companies acquire, in bad times, they divest," said Todd Dagres, a venture capitalist whose firm Spark Capital funded hot microblogging site Twitter.

Dagres and other venture capitalists said companies increasingly are seeking out private investors to gauge their interest in dealmaking. The talks usually center on small units that don't carry their own weight, or are no longer considered strategic.

"What you're seeing is very active triage," said Dan Nova, a venture capitalist at Highland Capital Partners. "As Fortune 500 companies focus or refocus their core strategic mission, they're deciding if those acquisitions are still consistent with that mission," Nova said. "If they're not, (they will) try to sell or shut them down."

In recent months, top Web companies like Yahoo Inc and eBay Inc have begun cleaning out their closets. As part of a turnaround strategy under its new chief executive, Carol Bartz, Yahoo has begun axing money-losing properties, such as Geocities, which it acquired in 1999.

Online auction giant eBay recently said it would spin off Skype, the popular Web-based phone company it bought for $2.6 billion in 2005. eBay also sold back StumbleUpon, a start-up that helps people discover online content, to its founders and venture capitalists, two years after buying it for $75 million