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  • IT services fetch FPT $1B in 2022

    IT services fetch FPT $1B in 2022

    At over VND25.5 trillion (US$1.09 billion), information and technology accounted for 58% of tech giant FPT’s revenues last year. Pre-tax profits were up 22.2% at VND3.42 trillion, or 45% of total profits.

    Revenues shot up by 23.4% to VND44 trillion and profits by 20.8% to VND7.6 trillion.

    Sales in key global markets soared, including 50% in the U.S. 36.4% in the Asia Pacific and 16% in Japan.

    FPT signed 31 large foreign contracts worth $5 million or more.

    Its revenues from telecommunications were up 16% at VND14.73 trillion, and from education, up 53% at VND4.71 trillion.

    Last year the company became a strategic shareholder in Japanese business consultancy LTS Inc, which is expected to bolster its digital transformation consultancy capabilities in the Japanese and Asia-Pacific markets.

    Established in 2005, FPT Japan has 2,000 employees and expects to double the headcount by 2025.

    It also targets becoming one of Japan’s top 20 IT services companies by 2025 and revenues of $1 billion by 2027.

  • US tech giant Hewlett Packard plans up to 6,000 job cuts

    US tech giant Hewlett Packard plans up to 6,000 job cuts

    PC-maker Hewlett Packard on Tuesday said it would layoff as many as 6,000 employees over the next three years as the slumping world economy continues to embroil the US tech sector.

    HP, which has a payroll of about 61,000 people, said it aimed to secure $1.4 billion in annual savings through 2025 as it followed the cost-cutting path of other tech giants such as Facebook-owner Meta, Amazon and Twitter.

    The plan “will enable us to serve our customers better and drive long-term value creation by reducing our costs and reinvesting in key growth initiatives to position our business for the future,” HP CEO Enrique Lores said in a statement.

    Meta said earlier this month it will lay off more than 11,000 of its staff and Twitter saw half of its 7,500-strong employees culled just days after billionaire Elon Musk took over the company in late October.

    “These are the toughest decisions we have to make, because they impact colleagues we care deeply about. We are committed to treating people with care and respect…” an HP spokesperson said in an email to AFP.

    HP, which makes computer hardware and printers, announced the layoff plan as it announced an 11.2 percent fall in revenues to $14.8 billion for the final fiscal quarter of 2022.

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  • IT recruitment demand soars

    IT recruitment demand soars

    Companies in Vietnam have hired 175,370 information technology staff this year, up 36.2% year-on-year, as the country’s tech sector continues to boom with rising investment, a report has found. Recruitment demand for IT staff is set to exceed 229,000 by 2023 and 290,000 by 2024, said the Vietnam IT Market Report 2022 by recruitment platform TopDev.

    Over half of 2,500 employers surveyed, or 55%, said they had hired more developers than in previous years, it said. Six out of 10 (64%) plan to expand their IT team with more hiring this year, it added. It takes an average 51 days to fill a position in the tech industry in Vietnam, TopDev said, explaining that this is a long period due to the high demand for recruitment and shortage of suitable candidates.

    One of the reasons for the upsurge in demand is Vietnam has drawn enough attention from IT companies from other countries, and they are coming in to hire or construct their product development teams, the report said.

    “The creative startup wave in technology sector is becoming stronger, especially after big investments for technology startups, while the the transformation wave of traditional businesses in sectors like tourism, agriculture, real estate all shift to digital transformation and e-commerce.”

    A fresh graduate earns from $331 a month, but that figure quadruples to $1,410 when he reaches the management level five years later. The Chief Technology Officer, one of the highest positions in the tech sector, earns around $5,900 a month. The top industries in terms of recruitment are NFT or blockchain, high tech (artificial intelligence), and fintech.

    Other recruitment platforms confirm the rising need for IT staff. Ha Nguyen, CEO of recruitment platform Adecco, said digital transformation in Vietnam is providing many job opportunities for IT candidates. They can be outsourced to companies in other countries also, she added.

    “Because of the high demand, companies still face difficulties in recruiting candidates with high skills despite offering attractive salaries and benefits.”

    Recruitment company Navigos said in its second quarter report that the Russia-Ukraine crisis has shifted many IT orders to Vietnam, which increases recruitment demand.

    There is a big shortage of IT candidates in the banking and financial sector, as well as in e-commerce, medical services and education, she added.

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  • ZTE Launches Industry’s Smallest 5GC Product

    ZTE Launches Industry’s Smallest 5GC Product

    ZTE Corporation has unveiled the industry’s smallest 5GC product, dubbed the Mini5GC.

    ZTE’s new Mini5GC features miniaturization, lightweight, simple networking, and ultra-high integration. The company states that it can well facilitate safe production, flexible adjustment of work sites, and efficient and accurate emergency rescue in mining areas.

    This is part of its continued innovations in 5G core network products to boost the in-depth development of 5G private networks.

    For Mini5GC, the number of general network functions is customized from more than 10 to just four, and the network communication and resource occupation are optimized. Thus, a lightweight 5GC can be deployed on one 1U server.

    Moreover, the size of the server is reduced to A3 paper, and its weight is reduced to less than 5kg. With high integration, the 5GC product has 5Gbps forwarding capability and excellent performance for the same size in the industry.

    With simple deployment, the Mini5GC can adapt to any rack, and its power consumption is about 100 watts. Also, through pre-installation of software and hardware upon delivery, on-site one-click modification, and plug-and-play the required services can be quickly launched in several hours.

    To date, ZTE’s Mini5GC has carried out pilot verification in five typical fields, including mining, transportation, manufacturing and government affairs. ZTE and SHAANXI ZHIN TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD. have jointly built a mine-use 5GC based on the Mini5GC to provide in-place data distribution for underground mining, so as to improve mining service efficiency and provide a high-availability network to ensure safe production in the mining area.

    Moving forward, ZTE says it will work with more industry partners to integrate product innovation and business model innovation to help operators explore intelligent digital development and boost the prosperity of the 5G industries.

  • SpaceDC to build largest hyperscale data center in the Philippines

    SpaceDC to build largest hyperscale data center in the Philippines

    SpaceDC, a Singapore-based visionary data center provider, is working with JLL, a global real estate services firm, to build a secure, resilient, network-rich, data center called <MNL1, which will be situated in Cainta, part of Greater Manila. The green data center will be fully powered with renewable energy – wind, geothermal – and is slated to open in 2022. 

    At 43,000 square meters, MNL1 will be the largest hyperscale data center campus in the Philippines, and will deliver 72 megawatt of critical power. With an outstanding PUE of 1.3, MNL1 will also lead in terms of energy efficiency and design, to minimize carbon footprint.

    SpaceDC CEO, Darren Hawkins said, “The Philippines ranks second in terms of data center growth in Southeast Asia. With only 47 megawatts of available capacity in the country it is a dramatically underserved market. We are excited to be a first mover in a new market where we see our customers are investing heavily in.”

    “SpaceDC is in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the strong customer interest we are seeing in the Philippines. MNL1’s design is setting new standards in terms of technology, quality and operational excellence in the Philippines.” commented Ralph Davidvon, executive director, data center services for JLL, the appointed project construction manager.

  • Google VPN now available on iPhone

    Google VPN now available on iPhone

    Google’s VPN feature, part of the Google One service, just received three new features on Android. The new features are:

    • Safe Disconnect enables you to use the internet only when the VPN is active.
    • App Bypass allows you to choose specific apps to use a standard connection rather than the VPN.
    • Snooze allows you to disable your VPN temporarily.

    In addition to these new features, Google has also made its VPN service available on iOS, which means that users can now use Google’s VPN on an iPhone as well. But sadly, the new features mentioned above may not be accessible on an iPhone at this time.

    According to Google’s blog post, privacy and security are ‘always core to everything’ Google makes. In this regard, Google’s VPN utilizes ‘advanced’ built-in security, which prevents anybody from linking you to your browsing activity.

    Google also stated that its VPN service has a ‘full certification’ from the Internet of Secure Things Alliance, and because it is an open-source service, it has been audited by an independent party. So, if you have any doubts about whether you can trust Google with your “private” internet browsing, you can even see the report from the audit.

    Google’s VPN service is available only in 18 countries. Some of them are the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, France.

    You can use Google’s VPN on your Android phone or your iPhone by subscribing to Google One’s Premium subscription plan, which costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year.

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  • Manufacturing, IT firms rush to recruit workers

    Manufacturing, IT firms rush to recruit workers

    Manufacturing and tech companies are rushing to recruit workers as foreign companies show rising interest in setting up or expanding their factories in Vietnam.

    Electronics manufacturer Jabil Vietnam is recruiting 500 workers in Ho chi Minh City, with a bonus of VND3.3 million ($145.62) promised to each new employee.

    Other companies in Saigon Hi-Tech Park Training Center, including drugs company Sanofi, along with electronics manufacturers Platel Vina and Intel are also looking for technicians.

    HCMC companies need around 30,000 new workers before the annual Tet holiday, which falls in the first week of February this year, according to the city’s Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

    After Tet, they need up to 75,000 more, it said, adding that information technology, electric and electronics are the main sectors recruiting.

    A recent report by recruitment company Navigos shows that in the north, many new electronics manufacturing projects from China are looking to recruit staff.

    But these factories have difficulties in finding the right people as they are located far away from big cities and there are few fluent Chinese-speaking workers.

    Navigos says there is large competition for workers in the IT industry, especially in artificial intelligence, Big Data and blockchain, due to the shortage of talents.

    Since the last quarter financial companies are also looking for IT personnel, which shows the sector could post higher demand for these workers this year, the report said.

    Global IT companies are investing in Vietnam by establishing representative offices or research and development centers in Hanoi, HCMC and Da Nang City, it added.

    In manufacturing, multinationals are looking for senior Vietnamese leaders to hold key positions like director of the Asia Pacific region or Southeast Asia, Navigos stated.

    “This shows Vietnamese capabilities have risen to secure key regional positions.”

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  • Tata Communications posts 14.9% YoY PAT

    Tata Communications posts 14.9% YoY PAT

    Tata Communications has announced its financial results for the quarter ended 30 June 2021. Consolidated revenue came in at INR 4,103 Crore (USD 556 Mn), growing 0.7% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), and decreasing 6.8% year-on-year (YoY). This YoY contraction is primarily due to reduction in Voice business and moderation of Collaboration traffic in the Data segment.

    Consolidated EBITDA stood at INR 986 Crore (USD 134 Mn); a reduction of 5.3% YoY. This quarter, EBITDA has been impacted by a provision of INR 33 Crore on account of license fee on revenue from pure internet services which was allowed as deduction in the definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) earlier. Despite this impact EBITDA margin has expanded by 40 BPs YoY. CAPEX for this quarter grew to INR 381 Crore as compared to INR 372 Crore in Q1 FY21.

    Data business revenue came in at INR 3,104 Crore witnessing a growth of 0.6% QoQ and a 2.2% YoY reduction. Data business continues to be affected by COVID related slowdown. Enterprise decisions have been slow due to macroeconomic headwinds leading to longer lead time for deal wins. Service delivery was affected by lockdowns during the 2nd Wave of COVID-19 pandemic. EBITDA for the segment stood at INR 932 Crore; up 0.4% QoQ and decline of 2.4% YoY. EBITDA was affected by provision of license fee made during the quarter and despite this impact EBITDA margin is maintained at 30%.

    In Core Connectivity, there is healthy growth in revenue by 1.7% YoY, and EBITDA increased by 0.3% YoY with margins at 42.6%. Digital Platforms and Services were affected by the moderation of Collaboration traffic which was at its peak in Q1 FY21. Revenue strengthened by 2.9% QoQ but reduced by 12.8% YoY. There are early signs of recovery and an uptake of usage-based services in geographies where economies have opened.

    “In a challenging quarter impacted by the second wave of COVID-19, we have delivered a robust performance,” said A S Lakshminarayanan, Managing Director and CEO, Tata Communications. “The global markets are slowly opening up and we are witnessing greenshoots of demand recovery.”

    He added, “Our focus is to continue investing in developing innovative digital ecosystem solutions driven by customers’ needs. Early demand for our recent launches for live sports on our Media Edge Cloud and IZO™ Financial Cloud is testament that we are moving in the right direction.”

    Commenting on the results, Kabir Ahmed Shakir, Chief Financial Officer, Tata Communications, said, “Our focus on growth and profitability continues to deliver results. A healthy profit and free cash flow is empowering us to innovate and accelerate growth while streamlining processes and bringing in further efficiencies. We are well-poised to enable enterprises make the shift with digitalization playing a pivotal role enabling businesses derive positive growth.”

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  • Nepal to debut Internet and telecom services on international airlines

    Nepal to debut Internet and telecom services on international airlines

    The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), an autonomous telecommunications regulatory body, together with the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has approved international airlines to use Nepal’s Internet and telecom services for its passengers.

    Airlines would need to apply to NTA, on top of obtaining permission from the International Civil Aviation  Organisation to tap into internet and telecom services above 10,000 feet in Nepal.

    Nepal is the latest country in South Asia to allow such services to passengers, following the footsteps of India and Afghanistan. Last September, Vistara was India’s first airline to offer in-flight Wi-Fi Internet connectivity onboard international flights.

  • Nokia demonstrates record Optus’ 5G mmWave capabilities

    Nokia demonstrates record Optus’ 5G mmWave capabilities

    Nokia and Optus announced that they achieved a record-breaking aggregate site throughput of 10 Gbps during a downlink speed demonstration using 800 MHz of millimeter Wave (mmWave) spectrum at a live 5G site in Brisbane. Powered by Nokia AirScale Radio, the site demonstrates the huge potential of 5G as it is introduced across future spectrum bands. Once deployed, the speed and a capacity boost from the 5G mmWave layer will unleash lightning-fast speeds for consumers and enterprises alike to support a range of new low-latency, high-bandwidth services.

    The recent demonstration showcased the capabilities of Nokia’s 5G mmWave technology and the benefits of adding it on top of an existing 5G/4G site. The demonstration showed how Nokia’s 5G mmWave technology delivers on the promise of super-fast data rates by boosting the site capacity to 10 Gbps and beyond.

    Nokia’s 5G mmWave technology will allow Optus to focus on scalability, automation, and performance by supporting services that utilize the full capability of 5G. Leveraging Nokia’s solutions, Optus can also harness 5G mmWave to serve the enterprise market and explore new use cases in healthcare, mining, port operations, and smart manufacturing, among other industries.

    The decision to select this mixed commercial and industrial area of Brisbane was made keeping these new use cases in mind as they sought to showcase the many real-world benefits of mmWave to the enterprise; thereby gaining early insights into this new exciting technology before wider rollout in the future.

    This achievement further strengthens the long-standing and collaborative partnership between Nokia and Optus. In early 2019, Optus became the first operator globally to deploy Nokia’s FastMile 5G indoor gateway in a live 5G network. Recently, the two companies also successfully launched 5G services at the Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia.

    Lambo Kanagaratnam, Managing Director of Networks at Optus, said: “We’re committed to keeping Australia connected and at the forefront of 5G. By partnering with global technology leaders like Nokia, we’ve taken an exciting step towards unlocking the massive potential that 5G mmWave will bring to the consumers, enterprises and industries in Australia. Reaching 10 Gbps per site is a crucial step in our 5G development and validates the progress we’ve made with the technology together with Nokia.”

    Anna Wills, Head of Oceania at Nokia, said: “This is another milestone in the development of 5G services and demonstrates the confidence operators have in our 5G solutions. Today’s achievement with Optus shows the potential of mmWave deployments, particularly at a time when connectivity and capacity are so crucial. We’re proud of our long-standing relationship with Optus and the great strides we continue to make together in this new era of connectivity.”

  • Singtel and Hyundai Motor to develop Singapore’s smart manufacturing and mobility technologies

    Singtel and Hyundai Motor to develop Singapore’s smart manufacturing and mobility technologies

    Hyundai Motor Company and Singtel today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on a range of ventures to support smart manufacturing, connectivity for electric vehicle battery subscription service. The MOU follows Hyundai Motor Group’s announcement in October 2020 that it is setting up a new state-of-the-art Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre Singapore (HMGICS) to conduct studies on future mobility and explore innovative solutions, services and disruptive technologies to revolutionize commuters’ transport experience.

    Hyundai Motor will combine its expertise in developing innovative automotive and manufacturing solutions with Singtel’s capabilities in 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), and next-generation info-communications technologies and solutions to develop Industry 4.0 advanced digital solutions to   transform the way vehicles are currently manufactured. The parties will develop and pilot a 5G-enabled smart factory use case for HMGICS’ intelligent manufacturing platform, and potentially scaling it up for deployment across Hyundai’s manufacturing plants globally.

    “Hyundai is delighted to work with Singtel, implementing next-generation communication solutions that will enhance mobility experiences for our customers,” said Hong Bum Jung, Senior Vice President of HMGICS at Hyundai Motor Company. “We also hope to explore future innovative solutions and business opportunities with Singtel to help realise Singapore’s Smart Nation vision.”

    Hyundai and Singtel will also work together on an IoT communications solution for the batteries powering Hyundai’s electric vehicles (EVs) in Singapore. The IoT system enables Hyundai to monitor the telemetry, or automatic data transmission, of the batteries’ real-time status and performance.

    The data-driven insights can enhance the EVs’ reliability, advancing Singapore’s EV ecosystem and Smart Nation vision of connected and sustainable mobility solutions.

    Andrew Lim, Managing Director, Government and Large Enterprise, Group Enterprise at Singtel said, “Our collaboration with Hyundai Motor is timely given the Singapore Government’s decision to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles by 2040 and the recent Budget announcement on new policies to encourage more Singaporeans to switch to driving electric vehicles. By pushing the boundaries of what is possible with 5G, IoT and other advanced technologies, we also want to build up Singapore’s smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 capabilities and strengthen its innovation ecosystem.”

  • IT engineers’ salaries soar as supply cannot meet demand

    IT engineers’ salaries soar as supply cannot meet demand

    IT engineers with five years’ experience are getting paid salaries of VND120 million ($5,200) a month amid rising demand for their skills.

    A software/solutions architect in Ho Chi Minh City earns up to VND160 million while a software engineer gets VND120 million, according to recruitment company Adecco Vietnam.

    A DevOps engineer, who is responsible for software development and IT operations, can get VND90 million and a data engineer, VND80 million.

    As corporations focus on digital transformation, demand for IT personnel is rising, but Vietnam’s pool of qualified candidates is small, it said.

    “With the huge rise in demand for digital media, cloud and security solutions, IT infrastructure roles are highly sought after.”

    IT professionals with good communication skills who adapt quickly to new technology trends have huge opportunities, especially with the rise of artificial intelligence and big data, it said.

    For senior positions such as chief information officer and chief technology officer, the salary could go up to VND400 million.

  • Vodafone Idea acquires spectrums in five telecom circles to enhance 4G capacity

    Vodafone Idea acquires spectrums in five telecom circles to enhance 4G capacity

    Being India’s third-largest telecom operator in the 4G spectrum auctions, Vodafone Idea entered with the largest quantum of spectrum with a very small fraction. “This was administratively allocated and used for GSM services, coming up for renewal,” the company said.

    With the telecom industry gearing up for the 5G revolution, VI hopes that a large quantum of spectrum would be made available for all operators in the future at fair prices. The operator had reportedly submitted an earnest money deposit of Rs 475 crore. Yet, the company did not disclose the exact quantity of spectrum bought.

    In line with the government’s effort to innovate the country’s telecom sector, Vodafone Idea claimed that the Indian telecom segment is well-positioned to drive the Digital India agenda, as long as sufficient spectrum availability and an adequate number of market players are involved.

    Broadly speaking, India has 22 telecom circles. All major telecom operators — Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd, and Vodafone Idea — participated in the auction. According to the department of telecommunication (DoT), they put on the block 2,308.8MHz of spectrum at a base price of ₹3.92 trillion in the auction. Moreover, spectrum in the 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1,800MHz, 2,100MHz, 2,300MHz, and 2,500MHz bands were put up for sale.

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  • Daimler AG And Infosys Announce Strategic Partnership For IT Infrastructure

    Daimler AG And Infosys Announce Strategic Partnership For IT Infrastructure

    Daimler AG and Infosys announced a long-term strategic partnership for a technology-driven IT infrastructure transformation. After the receipt of all regulatory approvals, Daimler AG will transform its IT operating model and infrastructure landscape across workplace services, service desk, data center, networks and SAP Basis together with Infosys. The partnership will enable the company to deepen its focus on software engineering and to establish a fully scalable on-demand digital IT infrastructure and anytime-anywhere workplace. The collaboration will empower Daimler to strengthen its IT capabilities, and Infosys, its automotive expertise.

    As software becomes modular, digital infrastructure continues to play an important role in defragmentation. Daimler will work towards a model that ensures a robust IT infrastructure across its plants and regions and supports consolidation of its data centers, scaling its IT operations, and bringing innovations to the fore. Some of the key deliverables from this partnership include – a smart hybrid cloud, leveraging Infosys Cobalt and leading cloud providers, accelerating the multi-cloud journey with a focus on open source adoption. A carbon-neutral solution, by consolidating and rationalizing data centers across all regions. Standardized technology stack by bringing in an eco-system of best of breed partners. Creation of a state of the art Zero Trust network with seamless technology upgrades. Persona-driven and cognitive, AI-powered anytime-anywhere workplace solution that empowers the end-users.

    As a part of this partnership, automotive IT infrastructure experts based out of Germany, wider Europe, the U.S., and the APAC region will transition from Daimler AG to Infosys. Infosys is well placed to realize this transition as an expert having integrated more than 16,000 employees through other partnerships in recent years with a high acceptance, retention, and satisfaction rate. The transfer will also enable Infosys to bolster and grow its automotive business while offering employees strong prospects for long-term career growth and development.

    Talking about the partnership, Jan Brecht, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz, said, “Software becomes modular and IT infrastructure becomes big. Daimler will take three steps at once to transform its IT infrastructure: consolidation, scaling, and modernization. We need to think of infrastructure beyond the size of our company. With Infosys we found a partner to scale, to innovate and to speed up. Moreover, this is a strategic partnership for Daimler’s IT capabilities and Infosys’ automotive expertise. Infosys wants to grow with us in the automotive industry, which gives career opportunities for our employees. With this partnership, Daimler also strengthens its overall technology investment and partnership strategy.”

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  • The World’s largest wireless carrier is removed by the New York Stock Exchange

    The World’s largest wireless carrier is removed by the New York Stock Exchange

    This past Thursday, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said that it would stop handling transactions involving the securities of China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. The move by the securities exchange comes after U.S. President Donald Trump, back in November, banned American companies and consumers from investing in 31 outfits that Trump said are owned or controlled by the Chinese military.

    Among the three telecom firms mentioned by the NYSE last week, China Mobile is the world’s largest wireless provider. As of last October, the carrier had more than 946 million subscribers. Compare that figure with the 120 million+ subscribers that Verizon counted at the end of the last quarter; the latter is the largest mobile carrier in the states.

    As you might imagine, Chinese government officials are not pleased. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement, “This kind of abuse of national security and state power to suppress Chinese firms does not comply with market rules and violates market logic. It not only harms the legal rights of Chinese companies but also damages the interests of investors in other countries, including the United States.” The Ministry not only said that it will take action to protect its firms, it also asked the U.S. to agree to a compromise over issues like trade and human rights. It isn’t clear exactly what actions China is considering against the U.S.

    Over the last two weeks the outgoing Administration has been even tougher on China than it has been. On January 20th at noon ET, the Biden era begins and China is hoping that the seating of the new U.S. president eases tensions between the two economic powers. Yesterday, China’s senior diplomat Wang Yi said that relations between China and the United States had reached a “new crossroads” and “a new window of hope” is on the way.

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