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Your opinion is important to us

We at Network Magazine (India) continuously endeavor to improve our publication. Although our new initiatives are driven by industry feedback, we would love to implement your suggestions.

So Dear Reader, we want to know your thoughts about our magazine. If you like something in particular... or think we can improve certain sections...or you just have a story idea, send us mail.

You can send us feedback by e-mail or write directly to any of us here in the editorial department. You'll find our writers' e-mail addresses at the end of their respective articles. We look forward to hearing from you.

Technology Senate

I enjoyed sitting through the presentations and interacting with CIOs at the Technology Senate 2004, Sri Lanka. The tracks had useful content and were not marketing and sales pitches. It was useful to have the presentations available for download on the Web.

The leisure activities were ideal for relaxation. The travel and stay arrangements were handled well too. TS 2004 was a memorable experience and I look forward to Technology Senate 2005.

Regards
S R Karode
Dy General Manager (IT & SAP)
Crompton Greaves
Ambad, Nashik

Dear Mr. Karode

Thank you so much for your appreciation.

We are glad that the event has been of help to you. We will keep you updated on the events that we host through the year and hope that you will find them informative as well.

The legality of using VoIP

We are evaluating the possibility of starting back office operations for our company in Mumbai. Can you let me know if it is legal to use VoIP in India?

I intend to use Vonage (US-based VoIP provider) for our office. We use a router from Linksys with voice ports. It sits on the existing broadband connection and uses VoIP to connect to gateways in the US and then routes calls using landlines.

Regards
Atul Kunte
Kraftware Inc.

Dear Mr Kunte

The use of VoIP in India is legal provided that the technology is used within a Closed User Group (CUG). This means that only registered offices of a company at different locations that are connected by Internet links can make or receive calls using VoIP.

If you have a registered office in Mumbai and a registered office in the US, and a leased line links the two, it is legal to use VoIP to make voice calls between these two offices. This is irrespective of the hardware you use. That said, you cannot make calls beyond the office to other telephone numbers in India or the US.

Survey figures and cities

This is related to the Infrastructure Strategies 2004 survey that was jointly conducted by Network Magazine and IMRB.

1) Among which 'A' class Indian cities was the survey conducted?

2) Did the figures of predicted expenditure in specific industry verticals refer to the average per company or was it the total expenditure for the vertical?

3) What was the sample size break-up of the companies in the 'A' class cities?

Regards
Avik De
Senior Executive-Product
Hughes Escorts Communications
Gurgaon, Haryana

Dear Mr De,

The figures mentioned in the survey are the average spends per company in each vertical from seven cities: Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkatta, Pune, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad.

The sample size is:
BFSI 29
Chem/Pharma 27
Manufacturing/Eng 79
FMCG/Consumer Durables 23
Govt/PSUs 24
Telecom/IT/ITeS 23
Services 29
Auto & Auto Components 20