Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Cisco Systems Inc. last week disclosed plans to spend US$265 million over the next five years in Saudi Arabia. The plan includes adding about 530 employees, opening a technology and entrepreneurial demonstration center, and donating networking equipment and training services for use in poor areas of the country.
Cisco President and CEO John Chambers, who announced the investment plans during a visit to Saudi Arabia, said that the networking vendor is increasing its operations there because of the country's increasing role in the global economy.
Chambers said Cisco plans to increase its Saudi workforce from about 70 people to 600 and set up 100 additional networking training centers, where its personnel will work with local universities to provide technical programs. The company currently has 42 training centers in Saudi Arabia.
Cisco also plans to provide incubation space for Saudi start-up companies and R&D operations, plus equipment, training and support services for Internet connections to 2,000 homes in underprivileged areas, according to Chambers.
Nokia expands mobile research lab in China
SICHUAN, China -- Nokia Corp. last week announced that it is expanding an R&D center in Chengdu, China, so the facility can work on a wider range of mobile network infrastructure products.
Nokia opened the center in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, a year ago to develop IP-based multimedia communications applications. That work will be increased, and capabilities for developing products such as carrier-grade middleware, intelligent packet subsystems and network gateways that support the Wireless Application Protocol will be added as part of the expansion plan.
Espoo, Finland-based Nokia said it expects the expansion of the Chengdu facility to contribute to its global sales efforts and help it respond more quickly to the needs of customers in China.
IT outsourcing boom benefits Indian firms
BANGALORE, India -- Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Technologies Ltd. and Wipro Ltd. all credited continued growth in the Indian outsourcing business for significantly improved financial results during the fiscal year that ended March 31.
Tata, India's largest outsourcing vendor, posted a 36 percent year-over-year increase in annual revenue to 132.5 billion rupees (US$2.94 billion) and a 41 percent increase in profits to 29.6 billion rupees. Infosys and Wipro reported full-year revenue growth of 35 percent and 30 percent, respectively.
The New Delhi-based National Association of Software and Service Companies is estimating that India's total software and services exports grew 32 percent to 1.1 trillion rupees over the past 12 months.
Briefly noted
-- Hewlett-Packard Co. has opened an intellectual property licensing center in Singapore in an effort to generate additional revenue by licensing its patents and technologies to companies in India and northern Asia as well as Singapore, HP said.
-- Amdocs Ltd., a maker of billing software and other applications for telecommunications carriers, last week said it will buy Qpass Inc. in Seattle for $275 million. Qpass develops software designed to help network operators manage and deliver digital content. Amdocs is based in the British Channel Islands town of St. Peter Port and has its principal operations in Israel.
-- Taiwan residents who fail to recycle mobile phones or optical discs, including CDs and DVDs, face fines of up to $6,000 New Taiwan dollars (US$184) under a law that went into effect last week. An official at Taiwan's Environmental Protection Administration said the idea to fine violators was hatched after a trial run of residential recycling in three major cities.
Global fact
771.1M: Number of cellular connections in the Asia-Pacific region (including Japan) in last year's third quarter, up 5 percent from the Q2 level.
Source: Gartner Inc.