1. Nokia Siemens Networks may lay off 20% of its direct workforce (nearly 2000 people) in India as it carries out a global restructuring exercise to cut losses, India’s Economic Times reported. The company had last week said that it would cut 17,000 jobs globally.
“Bulk of the cull in India will involve wireline assets, deemed non-core and out of sync with the company’s focus on mobile broadband and services. Nokia Siemens has internally classified as “old tech” several business verticals in its Indian arm. These include its fixed-line voice over internet protocol (VoIP), wireline broadband access, WiMAX, carrier ethernet, business support systems (BSS), microwave transport and the communications & entertainment solutions businesses,” two people with direct knowledge of the matter were quoted by ET as saying.
2. India’s top telecom bureaucrat, R Chandrashekhar, Monday said the Telecom Commission expects to conclude discussions on TRAI’s proposal on 2G spectrum pricing and M&As in the telecom sector within a week.
“We have not taken any final decision,”Chandrashekhar was quoted as saying in media reports. He also said the commission will meet again on December 1 to consider the proposals.
3. In a move which is seen as a relief to the telecom sector, Indian Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has said that no more penalties will be levied on telecom operators till a reasonable procedure for imposition of fines is evolved.
“I have passed an order that no fine will be imposed henceforth till such a time we evolve reasonable procedures for imposition of fine. If the government fines Rs 50 crore, then people will go to court, nothing comes to the government, not useful for anybody,” he was quoted as saying by ET Now, an Indian business news channel.
The Department of Telecom, currently levies maximum penalty of up to $9.6 million for all cases where license conditions are violated.
4. The Delhi High Court Monday granted bail to DMK MP Kanimozhi, Karim Morani, Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Directors Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal in the 2G spectrum case. Last week, India’s apex court, the Supreme Court of India, granted bail to five top corporate executives in the same case.
5. Former Indian Telecom Minister Sukhram was on Monday released on bail after the Delhi High Court suspended his five-year jail sentence. Sukhram was earlier sentenced to five-year imprisonment for taking a bribe of $5800 for a contract to a private firm in 1996.
