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Siemens Networks bags Aircel contract
BANGALORE: Nokia Siemens Networks Communications India (NSN) has won its first contract from Aircel, a subsidiary of Malaysia’s Maxis Group, to build and operate a greenfield GSM network in Kolkata. The Rs 3 billion contract includes supply of GSM/EDGE equipment, implementation, project management and managed services, such as operating and maintaining the network infrastructure. NSN will deploy equipment like Flexi base stations, mini-ultra base stations, 3GPP-based mobile soft-switching solution including MSC Servers and Media Gateways PDH, SDH. The network will be supported by the multi-technology, multi-vendor NetAct network and service management system, and will be ready for commercial operations by December 2007. |
As per industry sources, NSN has been a major supplier to all the other GSM service providers’ in India, viz. Bharati, BSNL, Hutch and Idea cellular. In this particular contract, among the other major contenders were Motorola and Ericsson. Ericsson has already supplied equipment to Aircel for their some of their existing circles. The Kolkata circle is their tenth one. An NSN release quotes Maxis ceo and Aircel-director Sandip Das, “Today’s announcement is a critical juncture in our network rollout strategy, as NSN have joined the consortium of our prime network partners. The Kolkata rollout completes our East/North-East geographic footprint, besides lending us its strategic commercial importance in the region.” He added “We chose NSN as they met our three key criteria – rich technology features, extensive managed service experience and speedy network deployment commitment.” |
The release further quotes Aircel ceo-north and east – Rohit Chandra as saying “Our partnership with NSN will provide us with the latest GSM technologies such as the multi-radio Flexi Base Station Platform that will not only help us provide services today but will also makes our network ready for 3G and WIMAX services as and when the regulation permits.” As per the release, NSN – Head India Sub-region Ashish Chowdhary, said with regards to Aircel’s provisioning of mobile services in a greenfield network by going for Managed Services right from the start, “This will not only help them in achieving OPEX savings but also allow them to focus on their customers’ acquisition and service strategies from the first day of commercial operations.” Aircel which was acquired by Maxis Communications Berhad, Malaysia for $1.08 billion, with the deal injecting S280 million cash has a subscriber base of over 6.2 million with a claimed market leadership in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and Assam, and is present in 9 telecom circles -Assam, Bihar, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, North East, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Aircel has secured licenses for the remaining 14 of the 23 telecom circles. Additionally, Aircel has also obtained the nod from Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to provide International Long Distance (ILD) and National Long Distance (NLD) telephony services. |
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
