Monday, July 16: An IBM-led group has announced that it has plans to spend $2.5bn to build an advanced new semiconductor plant and perform related research projects in upstate New York.

IBM, together with top customers such as Sony of Japan and Infineon of Germany, have pledged $1.9bn to build the centrepiece of the project — a new semiconductor plant at IBM’s existing Fishkill, New York facility.

The regional investment consortium was unveiled during Pataki’s annual state-of-the-state speech, his eleventh as governor, according to a statement from the governor’s office.

The plan is set to create 750 new jobs, along with another 250 in various related research projects, to be funded as part of a decade-long drive by the governor to boost the fortunes of a region which has struggled to regain its footing since employers such as General Electric closed older manufacturing plants there in the 1980s.

The 380,000-square-foot plant is scheduled to begin operations in the second half of ’05 for use in producing chips for key IBM customers such as Sony.

IBM is working with Sony to help develop a new generation of microprocessor chip called “Cell”, which Sony has slated to use in the upcoming-generation of its hit video game console, the so-called PlayStation 3.

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Monday, July 9: French equipment vendor Alcatel is planning to venture into railways, aviation and defence as part of its strategy for the Indian communications market.

While Alcatel commands a 13 per cent market share globally, the company, despite operating in India for over two decades, is yet to find a place amongst equipment majors here.

Alcatel had recently bagged contracts to set up a transmission backbone for Railtel (a subsidiary of Indian railways), and a telecom backbone for the Delhi Metro.

This deal apart, the market for signalling equipment and fibre link networks for the railways is over Rs 500 crore annually," he said.

On the telecom front, Alcatel bagged its first major contract last year with its 65 million Euro bid for 3 million GSM lines for BSNL. In April 2005, Alcatel, in yet another significant step, joined hands with the country's telecom research and development institution (C-DOT) to develop broadband access technologies for the rural market.

Alcatel has also tied up with ITI's Rae Bareli plants for domestic manufacture of base stations.

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Monday, July 02: Google, Goldman Sachs and the Hearst Corporation have together combined a $100 million to invest in Current Communications Group, hoping to rapidly expand the reach of broadband throughout the country.

Current Communications, a Germantown, Md.-based company providing broadband over power lines (BPL), said the investment would offer consumers a faster alternative outlet for voice, video and data services.

BPL as a way of delivering high-speed Internet access was scoffed at not so long ago. Broadband transmissions over electric power lines were a major hurdle for the industry, because they are not shielded to prevent radio interference in the same way as telephone and cable lines are.

Without any such shield, BPL can cause interference with certain radio frequencies, prompting protests from amateur radio operators, in particular.

However, in 2004, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved rules clearing the way for commercial deployment of BPL. The decision classified BPL as an unlicensed service, with the rules primarily aimed at limiting interference with licensed radio services.

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Monday, June 25: Infosys Technologies' wholly owned US-based subsidiary Infosys Consulting Inc., focusing on high value business and technology consulting, has completed one year of its operations.

Infosys plans to invest $20 million in Infosys Consulting and hire 500 more consulting professionals in the US and Europe by March 2007. The company expects this increase in headcount to generate 2000 jobs in the downstream business.

Infosys Consulting CEO and MD Stephen Pratt informed that the company is working with over 25 Global 1000 companies to provide consulting services and technology design. It has recruited over 100 consultants in the US for their industry expertise and innovative thinking and these consultants work with over 1800 consultants from Infosys Technologies.

Commenting on Infosys' growth strategy, Infosys Technologies CEO, president and MD Nandan M Nilekani said, “Setting up Infosys Consulting has helped us to win and run enterprise change programs that go beyond technology implementation, to leading business change. The expanding capabilities of Infosys allow us to create more value for our clients than ever before.”

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Monday, June 18: In a move to tap China's huge market by opening a research and development centre in the country, US Internet search powerhouse Google has announced its decision to open R&D center in China.

Google is creating the base to better connect with the growing number of computer users in China's rapidly growing economy and to tap into the talents of Chinese scientists and engineers.

Technology industry veteran Lee Kai-Fu has been hired as president of Google's Chinese operations and will head the new centre, slated to be running by October.

Google officials heralded the creation of the centre as a sign of strong commitment to cultivating Chinese talent as well as its intent to form alliances with universities and institutes.

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