Intel India : New Business Initiative

Intel India plans new businesses surrounding new technologies, markets & models

BANGALORE: Bringing a successful global practise to its Indian operations, chip major Intel is planning to spawn entrepreneurial ventures within its India technology centre. The core idea is to create an environment of innovation and business-building apart from pure technology. The added upside is that such an initiative has the power to retain some of its top performers from logging out of the company to jump-start ventures.

Intel’s internal business incubator, New Business Initiative (NBI), is currently executing comprehensive pilots in low-cost technology platforms and commercial launches are expected in the middle of 2008 in India. For time, NBI has been extended out of US in 2006 to India.

NBI is conceptualised around building new businesses surrounding new technologies, markets and models. Globally, the group has been incubating new businesses for 10 years with achievements such as WiMax.
Intel Capital, part of the Intel group, invests and supports several startups and ideas outside of the company. So, the internal business incubator backs those ideas that are not in the same space as those supported by the VC arm of the chip maker.

Talking to ET, Intel India President Praveen Vishakantaiah said, “We have got very good responses to the initiative internally.” Successful businesses either stay internal and complement Intel’s offerings or could be spun out as new entities. Currently, NBI is incubating two businesses in India in retail technologies and low-cost rural networks.

Engineer-entrepreneurs in Intel are working on a low-cost technology platform for kiranas and pharmacies by building point-of-sale and marketing devices like digital signage, coupons, and loyalty programs. These devices could be loaded with value-added services like billpay, mobile recharge, tickets, courier on the same platform. It is expected that service providers and consumers would be attracted to online service delivery model with offline cash payments. NBI is partnering with FMCG companies, service providers and Intel’s channel partners to support retailers.

At the same time, Intel is also looking at tune these ideas from the employees to demands of the marketplace. Mr Vishakantaiah said it has the “blue buddies” programme where it encourages its engineers to go and interact with the potential customers to understand what technology they would really require.

The other pilot is on building a rural network with low-cost, long-range WiFi technology developed in Intel’s Berkeley Laboratory. This network aims to bridge the link between villages and nearest wired network, often in district headquarters. NBI is partnering with many financial institutions and communication companies for this venture.

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The Carbon Calculus

NY Times published a nice acrticle on the impact of charging companies for their carbon footprints, and price points for carbon at which alternative energy sources would become a more viable option. Many alternative energy sources such as Wind and solar would become more economical and so wouldseveral carbon-neutral fuels such as ethanol and synthesisgas. Here's the link.

Waste Management Investments in India

UTI Ventures invested Rs 32 Crore in Waste Management firm PESCO BEAM

VC Circle Reports:

The company is involved in the ‘waste management’ (waste oil recycling and recovery) and alternate energy systems. This is a proprietary deal sourced by UTI Ventures, as in no intermediaries are involved. S N Rajesh, Director, will represent UTI Ventures on the Board of PESCO BEAM.

PESCO BEAM is one of the leading manufacturers of turnkey skid mounted waste recovery and recycling plants, a release said. It has developed technologies in various environmental fields primarily in areas of waste management and alternate fuels. It is involved in the design, engineering, manufacturing and installation of equipment sub systems as well as complete turnkey plants for both waste management and the alternative fuels industry. It has customer across the globe. The company’s order book is worth $200 million.

PESCO BEAM was co-founded by Luke Staengl and A Subramaniam, both veterans in the process equipment industry. The company operates out of offices and manufacturing facilities in Virginia (USA) and Chennai (India).
Raja Kumar, CEO and M.D, UTI Ventures, said PESCO BEAM will be their fifth investment relating to alternative energy. They have invested earlier in Naturol bio energy, Shriram EPC, IND Barath Power and Shree Renuka Sugars.



Here's a link to the Social voices raised in India on waste managment

US Energy Bill Update: Will Renewables Be a Part of the Political Landscape?

[RenewableEnergyAccess.com] After much concern about whether or not key provisions for renewable energy will be a part of this year's energy bill, it appears that tax incentives and a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) are still options on the table, according to industry sources in contact with staffers working on the legislation. Click to read the story.

Here's a little background: U.S. Energy Bill -- Early Christmas Present or Lump of Coal?

Govt to auction spectrum for 3G, Wi-Max services - Hindu

Updates:

BSNL Plans To Roll Out WiMax Services…But Will They Follow Through?

Telecom Roundup: RCom-VAS; Telecom Licences, Tariffs; CDMA Subs; 3G vs 4G


Link to the opriginal post in The HIndu BusinessLine

Also at ContentSutra:India To Auction 3G Spectrum; Introduces Phased Number Portability



Move opens doors for Deutsche Telecom, AT&T and new Indian players



New Delhi, November 12 In yet another blow to the existing GSM operators, the Communication Ministry has decided to auction spectrum for third generation (3G) mobile services and wireless broadband services through technologies such as Wi-Max.

The auction will be open to new companies wanting to foray into the telecom sector as well as established foreign telecom players. The existing operators had wanted the auction for 3G services to be limited to the licence holders.

The Ministry’s decision to open up the bidding to all players is also a move away from the telecom regulator’s recommendations that it be restricted to existing operators. The move gives a chance to the likes of Deutsche Telecom, AT&T and new Indian players such as Unitech and Hindujas, which may not get spectrum in the 2G band given the huge rush, to enter the high growth telecoms market. This means that existing GSM operators such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, after being asked to rope in more subscribers for being eligible for more spectrum for 2G services, will now have to fight it out for a piece of 3G spectrum.

As per the guidelines worked out by the Communication Ministry, 30 Mhz of spectrum in 2.1 Ghz band for 3G services is available which can accommodate between 3 and 6 players depending on whether the Government allocates 10 Mhz or 5 Mhz per operator. A decision on this and other modalities such as the date for the auction will be taken shortly by the DoT.

CDMA operators


For CDMA operators such as Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications, the Government has identified the 800 Mhz band in which 1.25 Mhz will be given to each operator. There will be no auction for the CDMA operators wanting to offer 3G services but they will have to pay an amount that is proportionate to the highest bidder in the auction for GSM players.

This is good news for CDMA players as they are currently using the 800 Mhz band for offering 2G services and, therefore, can start offering low-cost 3G services using the same equipment with minor investments. However, the DoT has not allowed the use of 1900 Mhz band and 450 Mhz band for CDMA players for now, which means that they will have only 1.25 MHz in all to offer 3G services.

In another major decision, the Government has decided to auction spectrum for Wi-Max services in the 2.5 Ghz band. Three operators would be given 10 Mhz each based on an ascending e-auction. The base price would be 25 per cent of the amount quoted by the highest bidder for 3G spectrum.

Besides the initial one time spectrum charge, an additional spectrum charge of 0.5 per cent of the operator’s annual revenues will be levied on both 3G and Wi-Max operators. Mergers will not be allowed during the first 5 years to prevent reselling or trading of spectrum. Both 3G and Wi-Max technologies will enable consumers to access high- speed data and entertainment services such as Interent Protocol TV and Video on Demand on mobile handsets. These technologies also allow the operators to offer better quality of service.


Mobile number portability in phases

Mobile Number Portability, which allows subscribers to change their operator without having to change the phone number, is finally here. The Minister of Communication, Mr A. Raja, has decided to introduce this system in phases, starting with the four metros.

This facility is likely to be available to the mobile subscribers by the fourth quarter of 2008. All the investments required to launch number portability will be made by the mobile operators.

Though the telecom regulator had recommended introduction of this system more than a year ago, the Government was facing resistance from the operators who were concerned about losing subscribers to rivals.

Al Gore's next act: Planet-saving VC

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The recovering politician is teaming with a legendary venture capitalist and bigtime moneyman to make over the $6 trillion global energy business. A Fortune exclusive>

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