(25 June 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Indian firms managed to stitch some meaty deals at the recently concluded BroadcastAsia and CommunicAsia trade event in Singapore. Apart from the obvious visibility and business networking, most companies saw prospective clients expressing interest and feedback in the propositions offered.

Broadcast industry solutions provider Monarch benefited in a big way. It showcased its virtual studio for the broadcast industry. The firm's senior VP broadcast Sandeep N Ohri says that already 15 -20 deals have been confirmed with broadcasters across the region.

However the firm is deciding on the dealers that it will appoint for each country. There have been 40 requests in this regard from prospective dealers and the shipping will start once the decisions are taken.

The firm is taking feedback from clients about the dealers they usually work with. "Interest has come from broadcasters in the Phillipines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore Middle East. We are the first firm to develop a virtual set studio for TV broadcast in house. It works with an SDI output and a live anchor against a green chroma background.

"The set is made using 3D software and the live model is merged with the virtual set to make it look like the anchor is sitting in a sophisticated set. This is particularly useful for broadcasters with low budgets. The presentation can be made to look upscale. The biggest advantage is that the system can have real time shadows and reflections which is a nightmare a lot of the time for firms using a virtual set up."

This system, he says, is particularly useful for game shows, news broadcasts, call ins for music shows and talk shows. The system also has an in-built switcher which allows one to cut to a particular clip. The system has its own hardware cards, 3D engine as well as an in-built recorder. A computer camera also allows you to change angles. One just has to fix a reference point for the real camera.

Amongst several Indian firms at CommunicAsia there was Elitecore Technologies which had two products - Crestel Convergent billing solution for telcos and the Cyber Roam security solutions for the web.

The firm's senior manager corporate communications Lakshmikant Patak says that it has had 150-200 interested clients visit the booth. For Crestel it is looking at partnering with system integration firms in countries like Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam. Crestel is already offering its OSS/BSS platform to Aksh Optifibre which is MTNL's IPTV franchisee.

Meanwhile, Svarn Telecom showcased new products which offered solutions for Wimax and infoor coverage. The firm's CEO Ajay Kumar Gupta says that this event has allowed it to touch base with service providers. It is also looking to form JVs with high tech firms in countries like Korea and Israel with the possibility of bringing new technology to India as well as working together to develop new technology.

Midas is into providing equipment for fixed line as well as wireless, ADSL, XDSL. The firm came to CommunicAsia for the first time and its aim was to improve its penetration in the Far East. The firm's GM marketing R. Srivatsan says that the event has allowed them to get the pulse of the market and find out the requisites it.

Toshniwal provides products for broadcast and telecom equipment testing. A spokesperson says that their principals include Sagem, JDSU. While it has visited CommunicAsia in the past this time the response has been the best because the firm did its homework prior to the event. Mails were sent to customers, principals. He says that the firm is on its way to becoming number one in terms of providing testing equipment for RF services. It managed to get new partners from the US, UK, Malaysia. IPTV is one of the areas where new product lines will be added by the firm.