MOVING ON THE FAST TRACK

S. Mohini Ratna,
Editor-VARIndia

Internet is being transformed by the rapid adoption of cloud computing. The number of devices being connected to Internet is increasing exponentially. This massive increase in Internet- enabled devices is primarily due to the mobility devices, such as smartphones, mobile tablets and laptops.

With over 826 million mobile subscribers in India, the mobile revolution in India has reached a stage which was unimaginable a decade ago. What is more, far from being the preserve of a handful of handset makers, the landscape is now crowded with an ever-increasing number of vendors. Domestic handset brands are giving their foreign counterparts tough competition. The emerging homegrown brands now command a 24-per cent share of the Indian handset market.

Like 2010, the Indian handset market is expected to continue growing approximately 20 per cent in quantity in 2011, thanks to overall better economic growth, better services in the form of 3G from service operators.

The Government of India also has set the ambitious plan in implementing the mission mode National e-Governance Plan and the recent directive on infrastructure has approved a scheme of a national rollout of the e-district mission mode project in all 640 districts of the country at a cost of Rs.1,663.08 crore. The pilot project for e-district mission mode project is under way in 41 districts in different states. This project is to be completed in the next four years.

Telecommunications contributes significantly to the overall socio-economic development of the country. TRAI has made recommendations on formulation of the Telecom Equipment Manufacturing Policy, which aims at considerably enhancing the use of indigenous products. C-Dot is also working towards maximum use of indigenous products and technology. The reason is that the telecom service providers are expected to spend Rs.2,70,500 crore on CapEx over  the next five years.

The Indian M&A market is on the upbeat. Schneider Electric's acquisition of Luminous Power Technologies, Digilink and electronic security systems business of Zicom Electronic Security Systems Ltd is a case in point.

Since technology has become part and parcel of business, we should believe in the cloud to derive maximum from minimum...