VNL

The eye of the tiger 30 Mar, 2008

In 2007, Indian companies acquired more than $18bn worth of western companies. And in the past four years, the Indian economy has grown by 9% every year.

A prime example of the Indian acquisition trend is the recent takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata. The world economy has, as Aditya Chakrabortty just wrote for the Guardian, tilted. In the favour of Asia.

But the big impacts of the new Asian economies aren’t mainly the acquisitions. It’s the prices of oil and commodities like steel that have burst through the ceilings thanks to a highly increased demand from the likes of India and China.

It’s quite logical. As The Guardian puts it;

India and China have such big populations that, as they get tied into the global economy, they can’t help but have huge impacts on the rest of the world.

Read the full article at guardian.co.uk »

The data explosion 27 Mar, 2008

1,800 exabytes. 1,800 billion gigabytes. That’s how much electronic data that will be in existence in 2011, according to a white paper from IDC.

The figure is based on a compound annual growth rate of almost 60% from 2006. And already now, in March of 2008, the number of bits stored exceed the estimated number of stars in the universe.

Clearly, the impact of the digital universe is bigger than we thought. And it goes without saying that we need to bridge the digital divide — to ensure that everyone has access to humanity’s collected information and collective intelligence.

As far as mobile communication goes, VNL’s WorldGSM™ system is a viable way forward to bridge the gap and connect the previously unconnected.

Learn more and download the whitepaper at emc.com »

The world in numbers 26 Mar, 2008

6.6 billion people. 18 million more every year. 6.4 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions, yearly. And over 1 billion internet users.

These are just some of the figures presented in the “World Clock” — an overview the human impact on our planet.

Continuing the theme of our previous post “Shocking images of unsustainability“, the World Clock paints an equally fascinating and terrifying picture of what is going here on our pale blue dot by presenting key figures for everything from population growth to total number of bicycles produced.

All things considered, it’s no surprise that sustainability has climbed high up on many agendas.

Check out the numbers »

(Thanks to Ben at Cartridgeworld for the tip)

India soon second largest 25 Mar, 2008

A recent report from TRAI (India’s Telecom Regulatory Authority) points out that India is set to soon become the world’s second largest mobile phone market.

Current figures (February end) show that the largest is undoubtedly China, with 540.5 million users. The US has 260.5 million wireless users, and India is third with 250.9 million.

Considering that Indian subscriber growth is around 8 million users per month, compared with US figures of 2 million, it won’t be long until India becomes the second largest.

Found via: Telecom Tiger

Close to half a billion phones. Per year. 20 Mar, 2008

IDC analyst Aloysius Choong predicts that mobile phone sales in India will grow by 19% this year.

Both Economic Times and Financial Express report that mobile phone sales in the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan are set to grow an annual 10% to 400 million units in 2008.

The current mobile penetration rate in India is 20%. In China, the rate is 40%.

The Pyramid research report “The Next Billion: How Emerging Markets Are Shaping the Mobile Industry” says:

“India, not China, will add the most to the next billion.”

- Pyramid Research
October 2007

We believe they’re right.

Read more: Economic Times / Financial Express