(c) Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad, July 2000. Read the Copyright Notice. Reproduction strictly prohibited and will be prosecuted without warning.

(Published in The Telegraph, Calcutta, India, on Tuesday, 18 July 2000, Edit Page)

Old Obligations Are Costly

by Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad

First Tagline: Rational regulations are needed before corporatizing telecom services

Second Tagline: In spite of the 1999 telecom policy, 292,000 villages still do not have a single public phone

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  Labour unions of the department of telecom services vehemently oppose its corporatization since they would lose their status as government employees, with the attendant benefits. To justify their stand they are arguing that a corporation would not have the same commitment to rural telephony that a government department does, and have emphasized that none of the private operators are anywhere close to fulfilling the rural coverage mandated in their licenses.

DTS employees are not alone in opposing corporatization. The labour unions of many incumbent operators -- British Telecom, France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica Spain, and Nippon Telephone and Telegraph - had resisted corporatization, privatization, and competition. They too had used the argument of universal service obligation to justify remaining government departments operating as monopolies, but were eventually forced to admit defeat.

Theodore Vail, then head of AT&T, developed the USO concept in 1914 to avoid antitrust litigation by USA's department of justice. In return for AT&T's monopoly being continued, Vail proposed that no person who wanted a telephone connection would be denied one, no matter how remote the area she lived in, how much it would cost AT&T to lay a cable to her, or how few calls she made. Irrespective of the cost, AT&T would provide her the same range and quality of services at rates identical to those it charged in metropolises. Other USO terms were providing emergency services at no charge and installing large numbers of public payphones.

Eager to prove their pro-poor sympathies, several governments adopted the USO concept. Since the prevailing economic wisdom then was that telecommunications was a natural monopoly, they set up operators as government departments or public telephone and telegraph systems. These PTTs set tariffs according to social objectives, with no relation with fixed or operational costs. They artificially kept tariffs for international and long distance telephony very high to subsidize local and rural telephony. Many PTTs provided local calls free. This was in spite of a typical breakup of capital expenditure being approximately 50 % for the local loop, 20 % for long distance circuits and 30 % for international circuits, and the operational cost of a call depending mostly on the volume of traffic at that particular instant. Since they generated very little traffic, both fixed and operational costs in rural areas were several times that in cities, but they were charged the same tariffs. The capital cost to DTS for providing a new connection is about Rs 20,000 in a metropolis, about Rs 100,000 in a typical village, and several times that in remote areas. Nevertheless, the deposits, installation charges, monthly rentals, and call rates charged by DTS are approximately the same in all regions of India.

Technological innovations in the 1980s enabled several value-added services to be provided over the same phone line, rapidly changing the financial structure of the telecom sector from economies of scale to economies of scope. Legal battles in USA permitted the entry of competitors to AT&T and eventually led to its breakup in 1984. Several countries followed Margaret Thatcher's lead and opened their telecom sectors to competition. In India too the Athreya Committee in 1990 recommended the corporatization and privatization of the department of telecom.

PTTs who faced competition from new entrants demanded compensation arguing that the latter had not incurred heavy expenditure for decades in fulfilling USOs. Since most PTTs had no estimates of how much USO cost them, it has been difficult for regulators to formulate appropriate solutions. Telstra, Australia's erstwhile monopoly, submitted a USO reimbursement claim of 1130 million dollars for 1998-99 for serving 493,000 rural users. A new entrant, Cable & Wireless Optus, countered that rural subscribers numbered just 330,000, and that Australia's annual USO burden should be no more than 112 million dollars.

Regulators have attempted several methods, with varying degrees of success. France, Britain and Germany imposed USO on their erstwhile monopolies but not on new entrants. Since it was more probable that a rural subscriber was nearer a switch of the incumbent compared to one of a new entrant, it would be cheaper for the incumbent to fulfill the USO. In addition, their decades of monopoly gave them a head start which more than compensated what they had spent on USO.

Conversely, many developing countries with large rural populations imposed USO on new operators but not on their erstwhile monopolies, arguing that the amounts spent by their incumbents on fulfilling USO had not been recovered. Further, since new operators installed the latest technologies, they would skim off the best paying customers.

Several countries, including India, imposed USO on all operators as part of their license conditions -- failure to implement USO would lead to cancellation of their licenses. In practice, this has not worked since operators use their political clout to avoid having their licenses cancelled. DTS has installed only 374,600 village public telephones in 120 years of its existence. Even though the 1999 Telecom Policy mandated that all villages would be provided voice and low-speed data services and that telephones would be available on demand in all parts of India by 2002, 292,000 villages still do not have even a single VPT. The record of private operators has been far worse. Tata Teleservices has not installed even a single VPT in Andhra Pradesh; nor have Hughes Ispat in Maharashtra, Essar in Punjab, Reliance in Gujarat and Shyam Telelink in Rajasthan. Bharti Telnet has installed just 12 VPTs in Madhya Pradesh. They have all put forth the argument that cancellation of their licenses would cause immense hardship to their subscribers. This has also occurred in Brazil, Thailand, and Philippines. However China has implemented this approach successfully, adding around 35 million phones annually in rural areas.

USA, France, Australia, and Argentina established national funds to compensate USO providers. These were financed by having all operators contribute a certain percentage of their revenues (typically 3 to 4 per cent) or by imposing access charges on long distance operators. In India, since imposing USO as part of license conditions has not worked, the 1999 Telecom Policy proposed the formation of a USO fund: "Resources for meeting USO would be raised through a universal access levy. UAL would be a percentage of the revenue earned by all operators under various licenses. This percentage would be decided by the Government in consultation with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. UAL is required for providing VPTs and rural telephones and should cover both capital expenditure and recurring expenses. USO for rural and remote areas would be undertaken by all fixed service providers who shall be reimbursed from the funds raised from the UAL. Other service providers shall also be encouraged to participate in provision of USO subject to technical feasibility." TRAI is currently holding public hearings on these issues.

Even though India's private operators are willing to compensate DTS for taking over their USO burden, a USO fund may turn out to be litigious. Operators in USA, Australia and France are in constant disputes with each other and with regulators over reimbursements. Federal Communications Commission of USA, following disputes over reimbursement claims by local service providers from its 1.8 billion dollar USO fund, recently opened an investigation into the mathematical models used by them to calculate costs. FCC's Jack Zinman stated that the models currently used by Baby Bells substantially overestimated their actual expenses. Ken Rust, director of federal regulatory affairs of Bell Atlantic countered that it drastically underestimated them. Iain Osborne, director of regulatory affairs of Global TeleSystems Group, stated that the USO costs calculated by all European incumbent operators were severely distorted. In view of these disputes, Germany, Brazil, Spain and Portugal are currently reconsidering their earlier decisions to start USO funds.

In 1994, Chile pioneered a solution which has worked well -- auctioning of the USO burden. Bidders were asked how much subsidy they required from the public exchequer to provide USO. The lowest bidder in each province was given a license to provide basic and value-added services. It has cost taxpayers only 17 million dollars over five years to provide universal service in Chile.

The most remarkable success is from Bangladesh where Grameen Telephone Company has provided universal mobile access to 100 million villagers in 70,000 villages. Grameen Bank gave soft loans to village women to purchase GSM cellular handsets, who then charged villagers for making and receiving calls. GTC is one of the few rural telephony companies that are profitable and paying dividends.

India should emulate the successful approaches of Bangladesh and Chile, though they may not work to the same extent in a large country. India should be wary that the UAL being finalized by TRAI might lead to further litigation over calculation of USO costs, especially since DTS has not kept accurate accounts.

 by Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad  

Published in The Telegraph, Calcutta, India, on Tuesday, 18 July 2000, Edit Page

http://www.telegraphindia.com, Click on Archives, Go to issue dated 18 July 2000, Click on Editorial, Click on "Old Obligations Are Costly".

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Ravi     Visvesvaraya     Prasad 

Master of Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, U.S.A., 1986. 

Master of Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, 1985. 

Certified Lead Assessor Diploma ("with honours"), European Union ESPRIT BOOTSTRAP Institute EEIG, for System and Software Quality Assessments, 1993. 

Master of Science, Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, 1982. 

(c) Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad, July 2000

Reproduction of any portion of the above article in any manner, including paraphrases, rewording, translations, abridgements, excerpts, etc., in any medium, in any jurisdiction, in any language, for any purpose, without the prior written permission of both Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad and The Telegraph, is strictly prohibited, and will be vigorously prosecuted in criminal and civil courts without any prior warning. We continuously monitor the contents of the Web as well as all downloading and copying operations from our web-site for violations of our copyrights.

 

Ravi  Visvesvaraya  Prasad  &  Associates
Consultants in Telecom, Datacom, Networking, Internet, Electronic Commerce, Software, Information Systems, Multimedia, Computers, Electronics, and Broadcasting Sectors in India

We represent multinational vendors of telecom and datacom equipment and services in India.
We have marketed telecom and datacom equipment and services to Indian basic telecom operators, GSM cellular mobile operators, Internet service providers, VSAT service providers, POCSAG paging operators, software exporters, etc.

We specialize in sales to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), large organizational customers, and private service providers. 

We obtain all regulatory permissions and licenses from central, state and local governments, obtain type approvals and interface approvals from the Telecom Engineering Centre, perform public and media relations, and introduce our clients to influential government officials, politicians, and print and television journalists. 

We perform customer requirements analysis, project feasibility analysis, return-on-investment analysis, risk analysis, financial closure, identification of joint venture partners, due diligence, contract negotiations and documentation.

We have provided such advisory services to equipment suppliers, basic telecom operators, GSM cellular mobile operators, Internet service providers, VSAT service providers, POCSAG paging operators, radio trunking operators, etc.

We market GSM cellular handsets of most major international brands at the best rates in North India.

 

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad & Associates

Consultancy Services Provided and Deliverables

1. Market Demand Surveys

(a) Formulation of marketing strategies.
(b) Identification of major customers.

(c) Assessment of their technical and quality requirements, their quantity and schedule requirements, their budgetary constraints, etc.

(d) Analysis of their Price - Quality - Features - Quantity Trade-offs.

(e) Assistance in financial and technical negotiations and contract documentation.

(f) Market Forecasting by Product and Geographical Segments.

(g) Assessment of suitable distributors.
 

2. Government Permissions and Public Relations

(a) Advice regarding all governmental policies, regulations, and procedures.
(b) Discreet introductions to leading politicians, government officials (Foreign Investment Promotion Board, Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Department of Telecommunications, Department of Electronics, Software Technology Parks, Electronic Hardware Technology Parks, Customs, etc.), industrialists, business leaders, and journalists.

(c) Assistance in obtaining all licenses and permissions from central, state, and city governments such as the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, Secretariat for Industrial Approvals, Reserve Bank of India, Software Technology Parks, Electronic Hardware Technology Parks, Telecom Engineering Centre, etc.

(d) Discreet public relations with the electronic and print media, arranging of interviews of our clients with television channels, newspapers, and magazines.

 

3. Negotiations with Indian Parties

(a) Assessment, Specification, Valuation, and Pricing of Product and Process Technologies, Plant Machinery, Capital Goods, and Raw Materials suitable for transfer to Indian joint venture partners, technology licensees, and customers.
(b) Assessment of suitable financial joint venture partners, technology licensees, distributors, marketing agents, sub contractors, suppliers, vendors, etc.

(c) Assistance in technical and financial negotiations and contract documentation with distributors, marketing agents, joint venture partners, technology licensees, suppliers, subcontractors, etc.
 

4. Project Implementation

(a) Detailed Techno-Commercial Feasibility Studies; Return-on Investment, Discounted-Cash-Flow, and Profitability Analysis.(b) Estimation of Schedules, Materials and Resource Requirements.
(c) Assessment of Market, Technical, Financial, and Project related Risks.

(d) What-If Analysis; Trade-Off Analysis.

(e) Project Progress Monitoring and Feedback Control.

(f) Assistance in negotiations and contract documentation with Financial Institutions and Banks for Project Finance, Export Finance, Working Capital, External Commercial Borrowings, etc

 

How to Contact Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad & Associates

E-Mail

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rvp@mailcity.com

rvp@excite.com

r-v-p@yifan.net

Faxes

+[91] (11) 526-6868, +[91] (11) 567-6386 

Phone : +[91] (11) 526-5439

Mail

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad & Associates

19, Maitri Apts., CIS Off Soc

A - 3, Paschim Vihar

New Delhi, 110 063

India



Telecommunications and Datacommunications

Assignments Performed

For a North American corporation, assessed the Indian market for its splitterless full-rate Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) technologies. Advised it on the approvals required by the Telecom Engineering Center as well as on establishing research-and-development linkages with Indian corporations and academic institutions (1999-2000).

For a European corporation, assessed the Indian market for its High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) technologies. Advised it on the approvals required by the Telecom Engineering Center as well as on establishing research-and-development linkages with Indian corporations and academic institutions (1999-2000).

For a European corporation, assessed the Indian market for its Voice-over-Frame Relay technologies, especially regarding approvals required by the Telecom Engineering Centre. Advised it on establishing research-and-development linkages with Indian corporations and academic institutions (1999-2000).

For a European corporation, assessed the Indian market for its SDH add-drop multiplexers, especially regarding approvals required by the Telecom Engineering Centre (1999-2000).

For a European corporation, assessed the Indian market for its Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technologies, with emphasis on regulatory aspects. Advised it on establishing research-and-development linkages with Indian corporations and academic institutions (1999-2000).

For a European corporation, assessed the Indian market for its General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technologies, with emphasis on regulatory aspects. Advised it on establishing research-and-development linkages with Indian corporations and academic institutions (1999-2000).

For a European corporation, assessed the Indian market for its Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technologies, with emphasis on regulatory aspects. Advised it on establishing research-and-development linkages with Indian corporations and academic institutions (1999-2000).

Advised a European manufacturer of Direct Sequence CDMA Point-to-Multipoint fixed wireless access systems on Indian regulations (1999).

Advised a US manufacturer of Fiber Drivers, Wireless Fiber Drivers, and Wireless Traffic Drivers on Indian regulations (1999).

Advised a US manufacturer of 38 GHz broadband fixed wireless access systems on Indian regulations (1999).

Advised a US manufacturer of 10 base T Ethernet interface products and DB25 serial interface products on specifications and regulations of the Telecommunications Engineering Centre (1999).

Advised a US manufacturer of fiber-optic passive components (connectors, adapters, cable assemblies, couplers, attenuators) on specifications and regulations of the Telecommunications Engineering Centre (1999).

Advised a US manufacturer of cache server management and load balancing devices on specifications and regulations of the Telecommunications Engineering Centre (1999).

Advised a US manufacturer of subscriber management solutions on specifications and regulations of the Telecommunications Engineering Centre (1999).

Advised a US manufacturer of add-drop multiplexers, digital loop carriers, access concentrators, and digital cross-connects on specifications and regulations of the Telecommunications Engineering Centre (1999).

Advised a US manufacturer of V5.1 and V5.2 simulators and load and traffic generators on specifications and regulations of the Telecommunications Engineering Centre (1999).

Advised a European manufacturer of Real-Time Network and Traffic Management Systems and Switch Surveillance Systems on sales to the Department of Telecommunications (1999).

Advised a European manufacturer of ATM analyzers on sales to the Department of Telecommunications (1999).

For a European telecom consulting corporation, wrote a report on the proposal of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to introduce the Calling Party Pays (CPP) regime in India, as well as on CPP-related litigation in the High Court of Delhi (1999-2000).

For a European telecom consulting corporation, wrote a report on the proposal of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to permit competition in domestic long distance telephony in India (1999-2000).

For a European telecom consulting corporation, wrote a report on the proposal of the Prime Minister's Group on Telecom to permit Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in India (1999-2000).

Advised seven Indian corporations regarding becoming Internet Service Providers. Advised them on making the applications for an ISP license and for establishing gateways (1999-2000).

For a North American corporation, assessed the Indian market for its Unified Messaging Solutions (1998).

For a North American corporation, assessed the Indian market for its Structured Cabling products and services. Identified Indian System Integrators and Distributors (1997).

For a European corporation, assessed the Indian market for its proprietary Deep Fiber Broadband Access technologies. Advised it on establishing research-and-development linkages with Indian corporations and academic institutions (1999).

Advised an Indian corporation on establishing a strategic alliance with a European corporation to develop TDM over IP products that convert E1 / T1 circuits into IP packets and reconvert them at the destination (2000).

Advised an Indian corporation on establishing a strategic alliance with a North American corporation to develop E1/T1 multiplexers for IP and Ethernet networks that converted E1 or T1 circuits to IP packets for transmission over gigabit Ethernet-based IP backbones (2000).

Advised an Indian corporation on establishing a strategic alliance with a North American corporation to develop and test wireless packet switching technologies permitting large bandwidth-on-demand for bursty transmissions (1999-2000).

Advised an Indian corporation on establishing a strategic alliance with a North American corporation to develop and test 26 GHz point-to-multipoint (PMP) broadband links (1999-2000).

Advised an Indian corporation on establishing a strategic alliance with a North American corporation to develop and test dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) products (1999).

Advised an Indian corporation on establishing a strategic alliance with a North American corporation to develop and test optical cross-connects for end-to-end bandwidth management (1999).

Advised an Indian corporation on establishing a strategic alliance with a North American corporation to develop and test Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS) for Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) stacks (1999-2000).

Advised three conglomerates bidding for the basic telecommunications services tender. Reviewed the financial bids prepared by the foreign partners in these conglomerates and suggested modifications of the bid amounts (May 1994 - Nov. 1995, performed as a subcontract).

Advised four conglomerates bidding for the GSM cellular telecom services tender. Reviewed the financial bids prepared by the foreign partners in these conglomerates and suggested modifications of the bid amounts (May 1994 - Nov. 1995, performed as a subcontract).

For a European financial institution, interviewed eight bidders for the GSM cellular services tender regarding their perceptions of the comparative featurewise technical advantages and disadvantages of Siemens, Nokia, Ericsson, Alcatel, and Motorola GSM Cellular Infrastructure Equipment (Nov. 1995 - Sept. 1996, performed as a subcontract).

For a European financial institution, interviewed eight bidders for the GSM cellular services tender regarding their perceptions of the comparative technical features and price advantages and disadvantages of Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson, Siemens, Panasonic, and Sony GSM cellular handsets (Nov. 1995 - Nov. 1996, performed as a subcontract).

Assessed several potential distributors and dealers for an independent European distributor of GSM cellular phones and other customer premises telecom equipment (Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996).

Advised an Indian telecom equipment manufacturer for preparing its technical and financial bids for the Department of Telecom's tender for 6 / 15 and 16 / 90 Analogue Line Concentrators (Oct. 1995).

Advised an Indian telecom equipment manufacturer for preparing its technical and financial bids for the Department of Telecom's tender for 15 / 120 and 30 / 240 Digital Line Concentrators (Nov. 1995).

Advised an Indian telecom equipment manufacturer for preparing its technical and financial bids for the Department of Telecom's tender for 18 GHz 8 Mbps Digital Microwave Terminals (Nov. 1995).

Advised an Indian telecom equipment manufacturer for preparing its technical and financial bids for the Department of Telecom's tender for 6 GHz Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) Microwave Systems, and for STM-1 / STM-4 / STM-16 SDH Analyzers (Dec. 1995).

Advised an Indian telecom equipment manufacturer for preparing its technical and financial bids for the Department of Telecom's tender for 6 GHz 140 Mbps (extended C band) Microwave Terminals (Jan. 1995).

Reviewed the business plans of a European corporation which was seeking an Indian partner for bidding for the Department of Telecom's tender for ISDN feature phones. Provided our assessments of the potential Indian partners that it had shortlisted (Jan. 1995).

Advised an Indian telecom equipment manufacturer for preparing its technical and financial bids for the Department of Telecom's tender for 6 GHz, 7 GHz, and 11 GHz Waveguides, and associated Pressure Windows (Feb. 1995).

Advised two Indian business houses for filling the tender documents for seventeen cities for the Department of Telecom's tender for providing Mobile Radio Trunked Services (Jan. 1995).

Advised an Indian business house for filling the tender documents for the Department of Telecom's tender for 6-fibre, 12-fibre, and 24- fibre optical cables. Assessed the technologies offered by three foreign parties (Dec. 1994).

Advised an Indian business house for filling the tender documents for the Department of Telecom's tender for Extended C-band HUB Stations and Satellite Network Operational Control Centres (June 1994).

Advised an Indian business house for filling the tender documents for Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.'s (MTNL) tender for 24-fibre optical cables (June 1994).

Advised an Indian telecom equipment manufacturer for preparing its technical and financial bids for the Department of Telecom's tender for STM-1 / STM-4 / STM-16 Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) Optical Line Terminating Equipment (OLTE) (July 1995).

Advised an Indian telecom equipment manufacturer for preparing its technical and financial bids for the Department of Telecom's tender for 13 GHz 34 Mbps Digital (1+1, 2+1, 3+1 configurations) Microwave Terminals (March 1995).

Advised an Indian telecom equipment manufacturer for preparing its technical and financial bids for the Department of Telecom's tender for Multi Channel Per Carrier Very Small Aperture Terminals (March 1994).

Conducted a market survey of radio paging operators to determine the demand for POCSAG pagers for a major Indian business group (Jan. 1994 - Dec. 1995).

Obtained export orders worth US$ 435,800 to Tunisia, Senegal, Benin, Guatemala, and Ecuador for an Indian manufacturer of small EPABXs (1993).

Assessed nationwide marketing and distribution channels for a Singapore reseller of high-end facsimile machines (1992-1993).

Assessed the Indian market for wireless EPABX's and Computer-Telephone Integration for a European manufacturer (1992-1993).

For a European manufacturer, assessed the Indian market for Digital European Cordless Technology (DECT), in anticipation of the Department of Telecommunications' tender for Wireless-in-Local-Loop (WiLL) (March - Nov. 1996).

For a North American manufacturer, assessed the Indian market for Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) in anticipation of the Department of Telecommunications' tender for Wireless-in-Local-Loop (WiLL) (March - Nov. 1996).

Introduced a Japanese multi-company delegation which came to India to promote the Japanese Personal Handyphone Radio Access System (PHS) standard RCR-STD-28 to several Indian telecommunications equipment manufacturers for exploring possible business opportunities (1996).

For a European manufacturer, assessed the Indian market in 2000 AD for European Radio Message System (ERMES) paging, in anticipation of the Department of Telecom granting permission in the future for ERMES paging (1996).

For a North American corporation, assessed the Indian market for Direct Broadcast Satellite / Digital Pay Television Services (Jan. - Nov. 1996).

For an international satellite telephone consortium, estimated the potential number of customers in 2000 - 2002 AD, and assessed the Indian market in 2000 - 2002 AD for dual mode GSM cellular and satellite phones (Jan. - Aug. 1996).

For a North American corporation, assessed the Indian market for spread spectrum wireless digital modems (April - Aug. 1996).

Introduced a US manufacturer of ISDN transmission and recovery management systems to senior officials of the Department of Telecom (1996).

Introduced a European vendor of Customer Relationship Management Systems to senior officials of the Department of Telecom (1998).

Introduced a European vendor of Customer Care and Billing Systems to senior officials of the Department of Telecom (1997).

Introduced a European vendor of scalable Interconnect Accounting Solutions to senior officials of the Department of Telecom. Advised them on adapting Element-based charging, Distance-based charging and Zone-based charging to Indian requirements (1997).

Prepared the Type Approval Application to the Telecom Engineering Centre for a US manufacturer of 2 MBps Echo Cancellers (1995).

Advisors to Vital Communications Ltd. for Enhanced Messaging Solutions and Integration of Message and Speech Technologies on Open Systems Platforms (in collaboration with Pulsepoint and Digital Sound), 1997 onwards.

Advisors to Vital Communications Ltd. for Interactive Voice Response Systems and Computer-Telephony Integration, 1997 onwards.


Computer Software and Information Systems 

Assignments Performed

Assessed the business plans of 29 leading multinationals for establishing software development subsidiaries or joint ventures in India. Prepared their applications to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, Software Technology Parks, Reserve Bank of India, Secretariat for Industrial Assistance, Customs Bonding, etc. Introduced their executives to senior Indian government officials, politicians, and print and television journalists. Got the companies profiled and the executives interviewed in newspapers, magazines and on television. Continued liaison with government departments until all approvals were obtained from central and state government authorities (1987-2000).
Advised a US vendor of statistical software packages on outsourcing four projects on Windows 95, Windows NT, UNIX, IBM OS/2 platforms to South Asian software developers (1995-1997).

Advised a US vendor of mathematical software packages on outsourcing five projects on IBM RS6000, Sun SPARCStation/Sun OS, Solaris, Silicon Graphics, IBM OS/2 platforms to South Asian software developers (1995-1997).

Advised a European vendor of graphics and simulation packages for mechanical engineering, civil engineering, metallurgical and aerospace applications on outsourcing two packages to South Asian software developers : (a) Simulation of Fatigue Crack Growth, and (b) Structural Analysis of Thin Shells, Panels, and Pressure Vessels; both in C source code, on DEC VAX/VMS, DEC Alpha AXP, Digital UNIX, ULTRIX, IBM RS/6000/AIX, HP 9000 Series 700, HP Apollo, Sun SPARCStation/Sun OS, Sun4/Sun OS, Solaris, Silicon Graphics IRIS platforms (1995-1997).

Assessed Indian software subcontractors for a US firm developing C++ and Small Talk V Object Oriented Programming Systems (1995). 

Assessed Indian software companies for a US corporation for maintenance and documentation of telecom network planning software (1994). 

Assessed Indian software development companies for a US firm marketing third party engineering, finite element analysis, structural analysis, graphics, M-CAD/CAM, and GIS software (1989-1993). 

Formulated detailed action plans for a multinational in the fields of software and circuit design for establishing a 100 % Indian subsidiary and obtained all approvals from central and state governments (1989-1990). 

Advised a US computer hardware and software systems integrator in its negotiations with Indian software companies for sourcing third party systems and applications software (1989-1992). 

Assessed Indian software development companies for a European value added re-seller of CIM, MRP-II, and GIS software (1990-1992). 

Assessed Indian software subcontractors for a German firm developing multimedia and animation educational and game software (1994). 

Assessed Indian software subcontractors for a US firm developing World Wide Web Internet multimedia software (1995-1996). 

Assessed Indian software subcontractors for a US firm developing Digital Signal Processing Algorithms and MPEG-2 Software (Jan. 1995 - April 1996). 

Assessed Indian software subcontractors for a US firm developing Network Performance and Internode Call Congestion Profiling Software (Jan. 1995 - April 1996). 

Assessed Indian software subcontractors for a US firm developing 2 B + D OSI Layered and Real-Time Network (3rd) Layer Protocol software (April 1995 - Aug. 1996). 

Obtained finance of Rupees Twenty Eight Million for an Indian startup to develop microbrowsers based on Wireless Markup Language (WML) and WMLScript for PDAs (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Twenty Two Million for an Indian software developer specializing in WebLogic and WebSphere (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Forty Million for an Indian software developer specializing in NetDynamics and Cold Fusion (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Forty Three Million for an Indian software developer specializing in Cold Fusion and Silverstream (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Seventeen Million for an Indian CRM vendor specializing in Siebel (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Eleven Million for an Indian CRM vendor specializing in Vantive and Clarify (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Eight Million for an Indian e-commerce developer specializing in BroadVision (1999-2000).

Assessed the business plans of an Indian e-commerce startup specializing in Vignette for obtaining venture capital and private placement of equity and debt (1999-2000).

Assessed the business plans of an Indian e-commerce startup specializing in Ariba for obtaining venture capital and private placement of equity and debt (1999-2000).

Assessed the business plans of an Indian e-commerce startup specializing in Silknet for obtaining private placement of equity and debt (1999-2000).

Assessed the business plans of an Indian e-commerce startup specializing in Tradex for obtaining private placement of equity and debt (1999-2000).

Assessed the business plans of an Indian e-commerce startup specializing in Blue Martini for obtaining private placement of equity and debt (1999-2000).

Assessed the business plans of an Indian e-commerce startup specializing in Bowstreet for obtaining venture capital and private placement of equity and debt (1999-2000).

Assessed the business plans of an Indian e-commerce startup specializing in Net.commerce for obtaining venture capital and private placement of equity and debt (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Sixteen Million for an Indian middleware developer specializing in Tuxedo and CORBA (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Fourteen Million for an Indian software startup specializing in CORBA, Active X, and COM/DCOM (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Twenty Two Million for an Indian software startup specializing in Jbuilder, PowerJ, and Apache (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Fourteen Million for an Indian software startup specializing in Java Beans, RMI, UML, and ASP (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Twenty Seven Million for an Indian startup specializing in Frame Relay and SS7 (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Seventeen Million for an Indian startup specializing in Wireless Access Protocol WAP (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Twenty Two Million for an Indian startup specializing in Blue Tooth (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Twenty One Million for an Indian startup specializing in Verilog (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Twenty Six Million for an Indian startup specializing in Data Link Protocols and Router Development (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Twenty Three Million for an Indian startup to develop WAP-based and HTML-based microbrowsers for handheld thin clients (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Sixteen Million for an Indian startup specializing in Vx Works and PSOS (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Twenty One Million for an Indian startup specializing in ODBC, JDBC and Perl (1999-2000).

Obtained finance of Rupees Seventeen Million for an Indian startup specializing in Viador (1999-2000).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US provider of Internet Security Systems for development of a multihoming SYN Firewall, SYN packet interceptor, and connection mediator supporting virtual networking, remote accessibility, and programmable transparency. The platforms were Sun SPARCStation/Sun OS, Sun4/Sun OS, Solaris, Silicon Graphics IRIS, HP/HP-UX (1996-1997).

Obtained an export order for an Indian software company with a US provider of Internet Security Systems for development of an enterprise firewall with features such as envoy technology, multilayering, multihoming, multiple levels of encryption, programmable transparency, out-of-band authentication, scalability, enhanced logging, address re-user, and both remote and on-site configuration and administration. The platforms were Sun SPARCStation/Sun OS, Sun4/Sun OS, Solaris, Silicon Graphics IRIS, HP/HP-UX (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US provider of Internet Security Systems and Services for performing feature enhancements, porting, verification, validation, and testing, adaptive maintenance and perfective maintenance, and documentation of a Web-based network management architecture which provided real-time dynamic management information regarding integration, reporting, and security. The platforms were Windows NT, Windows 95, UNIX compatible, Java and HTTP source code, TCP/IP Network support (1996-1997). 

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US provider of Internet Security Systems for development of a permanent connection security firewall, combining an integrated front-end server, a proxy server, and a virus detector, for providing a single, secured route for all data traveling between LANs / WANs and the Internet. The platforms were Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 3.x, Apple Macintosh, IBM OS/2, UNIX System V, SCO UNIX, HP/HP-UX, DEC VAX/VMS, TCP/IP Network support (1996-1997).

Obtained an export order for a leading Indian software developer from a US vendor of Internet Security Systems for development of a hybrid, turn-style firewall system combining packet filtering with proxy services, using user-defined, rule-based authorization programs to accept or deny access. Platforms were Sun SPARCStation/Sun OS, Sun4/Sun OS, Solaris, Silicon Graphics IRIS, HP/HP-UX, DEC Alpha AXP, Digital UNIX compatible. C, C++ source code. Novell Netware, Banyan, Ethernet, Token Ring, TCP/IP network support (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US provider of Network Gateway and Switching software for development of a Branch CommServer combining an IPX/IP router, bridge, SNA gateway, concentrator, frame relay access device, CSU/DSU, hub, and SDLC to LLC2 converter within a single unit. Platforms were MS DOS, AT&T UNIX System V compatible, IPX network support (1996-1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US provider of Network Gateway and Switching software for development of an SDLC converter that converted SDLC traffic to LLC2 and then carried it over a LAN-based internetwork. Platforms were MS DOS, AT&T UNIX System V compatible. Token Ring, Ethernet network support (1996).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US provider of Network Gateway and Switching software for development of a Virtual Central Office (VCO) Integrated Provisioning Platform providing access-on-demand to public network services for enhanced voice, data, and video applications, and featuring SNMP-based network management capabilities and subscriber access to voice services, digital leased and switched data services, ISDN, frame relay, SMDS, and ATM (1996).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US provider of router software for development of a multiprotocol datagram encapsulation and transport component across Frame Relay WANs, providing interfaces for SNMP management. Platforms were Windows 95, Windows 3.x, MS DOS, Apple Macintosh, UNIX compatible. ANSI C source code. Novell Netware network support (1995).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US provider of router software for development of an IPX WAN protocol stack component of software architecture which provided Novell compatible negotiation and configuration of various IPX network and router information, used for estimation of WAN link delays, negotiation of IPX routing, compression protocols and common IPX network numbers, and discovery of adjacent router names and primary network numbers. Platforms were Windows 95, Windows 3.x, MS DOS, Apple Macintosh, UNIX compatible. ANSI C source code (1995).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US provider of router software for development of a sequenced packet exchange protocol stack which provided transport layer services for embedded applications in Novell Netware IPX / SPX environments (1995).

Obtained an export order for an Indian software company from a US provider of CASE Tools for development of a CASE tool for maintenance and reverse engineering of Pascal and Fortran source code, providing complexity analysis, graphical results, acceptance criteria and documentation, test case execution, histograms, test case definition, code restructuring and source code browsing. Platforms were HP 9000 series 700, Sun 4 / Sun OS, Solaris, IBM RS 6000 AIX, DEC Alpha AXP compatible. Pascal and Fortran source code (1993).

Obtained an export order for an Indian software company from a US provider ofsoftware debugging and testing tools for development of a Test Case Generator using AI search engines (1993).

Obtained an export order for an Indian software company from a US provider ofsoftware debugging and testing tools for development of an automatic error detection tool for Win 32 applications running on Win 32 platforms that would automatically find and identify API errors, stack memory overruns, invalid Windows API parameters, invalid Windows API return code, invalid ANSI C parameters, invalid C return codes, memory locking problems, null pointer manipulations, resource and memory leaks, data and heap corruption, and ensure Win 32 compliance. C++ source code (1993). 

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide Ada, Apex, Rose, C++, UML services on a continuing basis (1999).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a French customer to provide Oracle 7x/8/8i services on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide CICS and DB2 services on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide Visual Interdev, MTS and MIIS services on a continuing basis (1999).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Danish customer to provide Oracle Designer and Rational Rose services on a continuing basis (1999).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a French customer to provide Power Builder 6.0 / 7.0 services on a continuing basis (1998).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide SQL Server 7.0 and Oracle 8.0 services on a continuing basis (1998).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide MVS, JCL, DB2, CICS services on IBM S/390 OS/390 platform on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Canadian customer to provide OS/390 customization and installation services, TSO/E, REXX, RACF Administration, DB2, DBA services on IBM S/390 platform on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Canadian customer to provide DB2/400, CL/400, RPG IV, SQL/400, CICS/400 services on IBM AS/400 platform on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Canadian customer to provide LabView, ObjectTime, and Swing services on a continuing basis (1998).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a German customer to provide SNMP, CMIP, and CMIS services on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide FPGA design services on a continuing basis (1996).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide Enterprise Java Beans and JavaServlets services on a continuing basis (1999).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Spanish customer to provide Netscape Application Server and Netscape Enterprise Server services on a continuing basis (1999).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Canadian customer to provide EJB, mySQL, DBI, and Flash services on a continuing basis (2000).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a German customer to provide Javabeans, JSP, EJB, RMI, IIS, MTS services on a continuing basis (2000).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Canadian customer to provide MFG/PRO services on a continuing basis (2000).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with an Austrian customer to provide SQL Engine and VLDB services on a continuing basis (2000).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Canadian customer to provide Swing, EJB, JDBC, RMI, JNDI, JTS, JNI, JMS services on a continuing basis (2000).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Canadian customer to provide Net.Com, Java 1.2, VBScript, Visual Interdev, MTS, XML services on a continuing basis (2000).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide Power Builder and Crystal Reports services on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide Natural / Adabas services on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide Synon services on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide Clear Case, PVCS, BPCS services on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a British customer to provide JD Edwards, IEF, ADW services on a continuing basis (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US customer to provide Palm OS, Embedded 68 K, Mcore, and QNX services on a continuing basis (1999).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Canadian customer to provide MSMQ and MQSeries Middleware services on a continuing basis (2000).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a Danish customer to provide Tuxedo and CORBA Middleware services on a continuing basis (2000).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US customer to provide OMC, OAMP, SNMP, SS7, C++ services on a continuing basis (1998).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a European telecommunications vendor for development and maintenance, in NODAL C, of payphone access indicators and calling party category information, customized interactive voice responses, and subsequent call handling and routing (2000).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US customer to provide SS7, TCAP/IS-41, TCP/IP, IPC, C++ services on a continuing basis (1999).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US customer to provide QA Partner and MS Test services on a continuing basis (1999).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US customer to provide Visual Test and XRunner services on a continuing basis (1999).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US customer to provide Win Runner and Purify services on a continuing basis (1999).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US customer to provide TCP/IP internals, UNIX Kernel, Device Driver programming services on a continuing basis (1996).

Obtained an export order for an Indian software company from a US customer to provide RP / OSFP / BGP services (1999).

Obtained an export order for an Indian software company from a US customer to provide X-Windows, X/MOTIF, TCL/TK services (1997).

Obtained a strategic alliance for an Indian software company with a US corporation specializing in Wireless Application Protocols (WAP) to develop a lightweight protocol stack to minimize bandwidth requirements and enhance security (1999-2000).

Advised an Indian business group intending to establish a software export unit in its negotiations with potential foreign collaborators and customers (1994). 

In conjunction with our US counterparts, obtained four export orders from USA worth US$ 384,200 for two Indian software companies for maintenance and retrospective documentation of local area networking software. Services provided by our US counterparts and us included feasibility studies; user requirements analysis; estimation of schedules, resources, and costs; contract negotiations; risk assessment; advice on project management and process quality; and obtaining 90 day export financing from Indian banks (1989-1993). 

In conjunction with our US counterparts, obtained two export orders from USA worth US$ 138,700 for an Indian developer of real-time process control software. Services provided by our US counterparts and us included feasibility studies; user requirements analysis; estimation of schedules, resources, and costs; contract negotiations; advice on project management and process quality; and obtaining 90 day export financing from Indian banks (1990-1992). 

Obtained three orders from Defence Research and Development Organizations for an Indian circuit design firm. Services provided by us included user requirements analysis; feasibility evaluation; estimation of schedules, resources, and costs; contract negotiations; and quality assurance (1989-1992). 

Reviewed and assessed the business plans and market penetration strategy for India for a French vendor of Software and associated Hardware for Real-Time Process Control of Thermal Power Plants (1992-1994, subcontract).

Reviewed and assessed the business plans and market penetration strategy for India for a US vendor of Software for Modelling, Simulation, and Visualization of the Thermal Cycles of Thermal Power Plants (1992- 1994, subcontract).

Reviewed and assessed the business plans and market penetration strategy for India for a US vendor of Software for Modelling, Simulation, and Visualization of Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (1992-1995, subcontract).

Reviewed and assessed the business plans and market penetration strategy for India for a German vendor of Software for Simulation and Real-Time Feedback Control of Electricity Generation, Transmission, and Distribution (1992-1995, subcontract).

Assessed the process maturity of six Indian software development organizations utilizing both the Process Capability Maturity Model of the Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, and the European Community's BOOTSTRAP Institute. Advised them on transitioning to a higher process maturity level. (Performed as subcontracts from Quality Assurance Institute India Ltd., 1992-1994).

Consultants to Quality Assurance Institute India Ltd., 1992 onwards, for strategy and marketing.

 


Electronics and Computer Hardware

Assignments Performed
Estimated the demand in India for hard disk drives, tape drives, motherboards, monitors, and printers, and identified and evaluated potential Indian importers and distributors for a Hong-Kong trading company (1989-1991). 

Reviewed the market entry plans, and identified and assessed potential Indian partners for a US manufacturer of ruggedised industrial sensors, data loggers, and control instrumentation (1992-1993). 

Reviewed and assessed the business plans and market penetration strategy for India for a large European manufacturer of office automation and customer premises telecom equipment (1991-1993). 

Prepared the applications for two multinationals for establishing export units under the Electronic Hardware Technology Park Scheme (1993-1994). 

Advised an Indian manufacturer of electromagnetic components on expansion, diversification, domestic and export marketing (1989-1996). 

Identified potential Indian customers for a Singapore value-added reseller of i860 RISC workstations (1991-1992). 

Estimated the demand in India for notebook computers and modems for a Taiwanese manufacturer, and identified and evaluated potential Indian importers and distributors (1993-1995). 

Advised a major Indian importer of 486 and Pentium computers regarding establishment of a distributor and dealer network in the Delhi region (1994). 

Assessed the Indian market for a Korean manufacturer of 256 K, 17 ns, 5 volt SRAMs, and evaluated potential Indian distributors (1994-1995). 

Assessed the Indian market for a Korean manufacturer of MPEG-2 decoders, and evaluated potential Indian distributors (1995-1996). 

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of embedded control Digital Signal Processing ICs, and evaluated potential Indian distributors (1996). 

Assessed the Indian market for a Japanese manufacturer of 32-bit RISC engines with DSP and power management functions (Jan. 1995 - Aug. 1996). 

Assessed the Indian market for a Korean manufacturer of 4 MB 5-V 44TSOP Flash Memories, and evaluated potential Indian distributors (1995-1996). 

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of 10-bit Analog-Digital converters, and evaluated potential Indian distributors (1995-1996). 

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of low-voltage low-offset op-amps, and evaluated potential Indian distributors (1995-1996). 

Assessed the Indian market for a Japanese manufacturer of 20-MHz 5-V 50-ns 16-bit microcontrollers, and evaluated potential Indian distributors (1995-1996). 

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of micro-miniature and cable-assembly RF connectors, and evaluated potential Indian distributors (1996). 

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of embedded-control field-programmable gate-array coprocessors (March - Aug. 1995). 

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of 8-bit 40-pin 160 ns 25 MHz RISC-based one-time-programmable microcontrollers (March - Aug. 1995). 

Assessed the Indian market for a Japanese manufacturer of 32-bit 38 MIPS 33 MHz 5-volt singlechip RISC Microcontrollers (Aug. - Dec. 1995). 

Assessed the Indian market for a European manufacturer of satellite bitstream decoding and demultiplexing, and video decompression integrated circuits (1995-1996). 

Advisors to Vital Communications Ltd. for marketing of Compaq and IBM products, 1997 onwards.

 


Power and Electricity

Assignments Performed

Reviewed and assessed the business plans and market penetration strategy for India for a French vendor of Software and associated Hardware for Real-Time Process Control of Thermal Power Plants (1992-1994, subcontract).

Reviewed and assessed the business plans and market penetration strategy for India for a US vendor of Software for Modelling, Simulation, and Visualization of the Thermal Cycles of Thermal Power Plants (1992- 1994, subcontract).

Reviewed and assessed the business plans and market penetration strategy for India for a US vendor of Software for Modelling, Simulation, and Visualization of Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (1992-1995, subcontract).

Reviewed and assessed the business plans and market penetration strategy for India for a German vendor of Software for Simulation and Real-Time Feedback Control of Electricity Generation, Transmission, and Distribution (1992-1995, subcontract).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of 3.3 to 33 KV On-Off Load Isolators in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (1988-1989).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Digital AC Drives in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (1988-1989).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of 110 kV Air Break Isolators in its technology transfer negotiations with a UK manufacturer (1989-1990).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of AC Variable Frequency Drives in its technology transfer negotiations with a UK manufacturer (1989-1990).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of 11 kV Ring Main Units in its technology transfer negotiations with a UK manufacturer (1989-1990).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Metal Clad Vacuum Switchgears in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (1989-1990).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Bulk Oil Circuit Breakers in its technology transfer negotiations with a UK manufacturer (1989-1990).

Identified potential technical collaborators, and Assisted an Indian manufacturer of 72.5 KV / 145 KV spring tripping SF6 Gas Circuit Breakers in its technology transfer negotiations with a European manufacturer (1988-1990).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of 132 KV XLPE Insulated Power Cables in its technology transfer negotiations with a UK manufacturer (1989-1990).

Identified potential technical collaborators, and Assisted an Indian manufacturer of LT 3-Phase Squirrel Cage Induction Motors and LT Slipring Motors in its technology transfer negotiations with two US manufacturers (1990-1992).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of PCB Mounted Miniature Relays in its technology transfer negotiations with a UK manufacturer (1991-1992).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Moulded Case Circuit Breakers in its technology transfer negotiations with a Canadian manufacturer (1993).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of 16-63 Amp, 2-pole & 4-pole Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers and Miniature Circuit Breakers in its technology transfer negotiations with a German manufacturer (1994-1995).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of High Voltage Rectifiers in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (March - June 1994).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of 6.3 MVA 33 KV Distribution and Power Transformers in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (1994-1995).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Mixed Dielectric High Voltage Power Factor Correction Capacitors in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (1992).

 



Metallurgy and Materials Processing

Assignments Performed

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Seamless Steel Tubes for Boilers and Heat Exchangers in its technology transfer negotiations with a UK manufacturer (1994).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Seamless Steel Tubes for Automotive Axle Casings in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (1994).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Cold Rolled Steel Sheets and Coils in its technology transfer negotiations with a Canadian manufacturer (1996).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Ductile, Grey, and Malleable Iron Castings for Automobiles in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (1994).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Induction Hardened and Tempered Rear Axle Shafts in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (1992).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Copper Alloy Forgings for Traction Control Gears in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (1989).

Advised an Indian trading group to tie up with a US toll smelter wherein the Indian party would export copper reverts, copper spent anodes, and copper anode slime, and then import back into India, the copper wire bars and copper cathodes, as well as the nickel, selenium, gold, and silver produced by the US toll smelter (1989-1992).

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of nickel bars, rods, and profiles, and evaluated potential Indian distributors (1991, subcontract).

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of misch metal (1995, subcontract).

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of Aluminium containers for compressed and liquefied gases (1990-1991, subcontract).

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of unwrought sintered Tungsten bars and rods (1990-1991, subcontract).

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of unwrought sintered Molybdenum bars and rods (1991-1992, subcontract).

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of unwrought sintered Tantalum bars and rods (1992-1993, subcontract).

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of Magnesium raspings, turnings, and granules (1994-1995, subcontract).

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of unwrought Cadmium, unwrought Titanium, and unwrought Zirconium (1990-1993, subcontract).

Assessed the Indian market for a US manufacturer of Beryllium, Vanadium, and Indium (1990-1993, subcontract).

Assessed the Indian market for a UAE exporter of unrefined sulphur (1990, subcontract).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Cadmium Copper Catenary Wires in its technology transfer negotiations with a UK manufacturer (1989-1990).

Assisted an Indian manufacturer of Cold Rolled Non Oriented Silicon Steels in its technology transfer negotiations with a US manufacturer (1989-1990).

 

 

Other Consultancy Assignments Performed

Prepared a report for a Swedish think tank on software piracy, software copyright laws, and patent laws in India (1991, updated in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999).

Prepared a report for a Swedish think tank on the implications of India joining the World Trade Organization, especially on signing the Paris Convention on Patents (1994, updated in 1995, 1997, 1999).

Prepared a status report for a German think tank on laws governing electronic commerce in India (1999).

Prepared a status report for a US organization on the proposed Broadcasting Bill (1998, updated in 1999).

Prepared an analysis report for a European think tank on the dissolution of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in January 2000 (Jan. - Feb. 2000).

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad worked as a team member on the following eight projects when he was Research Associate at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1985 - 1986. These eight projects were performed under the supervision of Dr. Raj Reddy, Director of the Robotics Institute, and then President of the American Association of Artificial Intelligence.

  • "Automation in the Semiconductor Industry - Technical Trends and Commercial Implications", for United Nations Development Program (UNDP). 

  • "Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Education", for UNESCO, which used it to introduce computer based education in Senegal. 

  • "Automation in the Semiconductor Industry - Technical Trends". 

  • "Potential Use of Expert Systems in Wafer Fabrication". 

  • "Expert System Based Design of Gate Arrays and Standard Cells". 

  • "Automated Production of Magnetic Recording Media". 

  • "Expert Systems for Real-Time Feedback Process Controls and Thermal Modelling for Continuous Casting of Alloy Steels". 

  • "Expert Systems for Generation of Multicomponent Alloy Phase Diagrams and Prediction of Mechanical & Electronic Properties".



Deliverables


Our   Management   Team

 

Ravi     Visvesvaraya     Prasad 

  • Master of Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, U.S.A., 1986. 

  • Master of Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, 1985. 

  • Certified Lead Assessor Diploma ("with honours"), European Union ESPRIT BOOTSTRAP Institute EEIG, for System and Software Quality Assessments, 1993. 

  • Master of Science, Physics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, 1982. 

Prior Experience of Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad

Indus Technologies Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A, 1985-1990. 
Assisted Dr. Raj Gopal and Dr. P. Rai-Choudhuri of Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and Dr. Raj Reddy (Advisor to President Bill Clinton on Information Technology, and then Director, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University) in founding Indus Technologies Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Performed the following start-up and incorporation functions for Indus Technologies Inc.  : 

  • Interacted with attorneys to incorporate Indus Technologies.
  • Assisted the Board of Directors in complying with legal requirements of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. 
  • Performed feasibility studies; prepared detailed project reports. 
  • Participated in negotiations with venture capitalists and financiers.
  • Identified US corporations for marketing and for strategic alliances and participated in negotiations with them. These included : 
  • Embedded Software for Real Time Control Systems : Westinghouse. 
  • Real-Time Software for Controlling & Monitoring Electricity Generation, Transmission & Distribution : Westinghouse, Bechtel. 
  • Computer Aided Design & Manufacturing : Martin-Marietta, Boeing, Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, Ford, General Motors, Westinghouse. 
  • Seismic Data Processing : AlphaGeo, Houston Geophysical, GeoData. 
  • Design & Manufacture of VLSI Integrated Circuits : TRW, Hughes, Westinghouse, AT&T, IBM, Motorola, Intel, VLSI Technology. 
  • Design & Manufacture of High Power Semiconductor Devices : RCA, Harris, Rockwell, Powerex, International Rectifier, Westinghouse. 
  • Manufacture of Polycrystalline & Single Crystal Silicon : Siltec, Motorola, Monsanto, Hemlock, Union Carbide, Texas Instruments. 
  • Manufacture of Specialty Alloys: Allegheny-Ludlum, Allied-Signal. 
  • Manufacture of Magnetic Recording Media : 3M, Kodak, Polaroid. 
  • Components for Fibre Optic Communication Systems : STC of U.K.

Research Associate, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 1985 - 1986. 

Reported directly to Dr. Raj Reddy, Advisor to President Bill Clinton on Information Technology, Director, Robotics Institute, and President, American Association of Artificial Intelligence. Participated in preparing two reports for the United Nations together with Dr. Raj Reddy. 

  • "Automation in the Semiconductor Industry", for UNDP.
  • "Artificial Intelligence Techniques in Education", for UNESCO, which used it to introduce computer based education in Senegal.
Participated in the following projects at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie-Mellon : 
  • "Automation in the Semiconductor Industry - Technical Trends". 
  • "Potential Use of Expert Systems in Wafer Fabrication". 
  • "Expert System Based Design of Gate Arrays and Standard Cells". 
  • "Automated Production of Magnetic Recording Media". 
  • "Expert Systems for Real-Time Feedback Process Controls and Thermal Modelling for Continuous Casting of Alloy Steels". 
  • "Expert Systems for Generation of Multicomponent Alloy Phase Diagrams and Prediction of Mechanical & Electronic Properties".




Our Public Profile

Our staff frequently publish articles in journals such as Economic Times, Observer of Business & Politics, Telegraph, Asian Age, etc. on information technology, electronics, and telecom. 

Our staff are frequently interviewed on television and in journals and newspapers on information technology, electronics, and telecom. We often appear on CNBC, Star TV, Zee TV, Jain TV, and Doordarshan and are frequently quoted by Bridge News, Fortune, Reuters, Associated Press, Dow Jones, Economic Times, Observer of Business & Politics, Telegraph, Asian Age, etc.

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad delivered the keynote address and chaired several sessions of the Wireless Local Loop India Conference organized by IBC Asia / Informa in New Delhi in September 1998.

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad delivered the keynote address and chaired several sessions of the Call Center India Conference organized by IBC Asia / Informa in New Delhi in November 1998.

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad was chairman of the Sponsorship Committee of the First Software Engineering Process Group Conference organized by Quality Assurance Institute India Ltd. and Carnegie Mellon in Bangalore in February 1999.

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad was chairman of the Sponsorship Committee of the Second Software Engineering Process Group Conference organized by Quality Assurance Institute India Ltd. and Carnegie Mellon in Bangalore in February 2000.

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad was chairman of the Sponsorship Committee of the First Software Testing Conference organized by Quality Assurance Institute India Ltd. in Bangalore in December 1999.

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad was  Rapporteur of the International Seminar on "Universal Telecommunications Through GSM Technology", January 1995, organized by the official international GSM MoU, Department of Telecommunications of the Government of India, and Telecom Industry and Services Association of India (TISA). He summarized each session, briefed the press, and edited the proceedings. 

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad was an Expert Referee / Pre-publication Reviewer for UNIDO's "Handbook of Telecommunications Software, 1994". 

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad was an Indian Delegate to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's "Workshop for Asia and Pacific Region Representatives from the Telecommunications Software and Equipment Industries", New Delhi, Sept. 1992. 

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad is Associate Director, Centre for Telecommunications Management and Studies. On invitation, he testified several times before the Parliamentary Committee on Telecommunications regarding privatization; constitution of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India; overhaul of the 1885 Telegraph Act; basic telecom services tender; GSM cellular mobile services tenders; radio paging tenders; mobile radio trunking tender; tariffs and interconnections; value- added services, etc. 

Our Participation in Professional Organizations

Industry Member, Regional Institute of Environment Technology, Singapore (promoted by the Commission of the European Union and the Government of Singapore). 

Electronics and Telecommunications Committees of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). 

Electronics, Information Technology, and Telecommunications, and BISNET Committees of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). 

Electronics & Telecommunications and Industry Committees of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). 

Electronics and Telecommunications Committee and the Quality and Productivity Committee of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

Indian Council of Arbitration. 

Electrochemical Society (USA). 

Ten Societies of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA. 

Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), UK. 

American Society for Metals. 

The Metallurgical Society of AIME (USA). 

National Association of Corrosion Engineers (USA). 

Association of Iron & Steel Engineers (USA). 

American Ceramic Society. 

Institution of Electronics & Telecommunications Engineers (India).

 

How to Contact Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad & Associates

E-Mail

r_v_p@pmail.net

rvp@mailcity.com

rvp@excite.com

r-v-p@yifan.net

Faxes 

+[91] (11) 526-6868, +[91] (11) 567-6386

Phones : +[91] (11) 526-5439

Mail

Ravi Visvesvaraya Prasad & Associates

19, Maitri Apts., CIS Off Soc

A - 3, Paschim Vihar

New Delhi, 110 063

India

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