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Mumbai City FC teams up with Cisco
NEW DELHI: Mumbai City FC has signed on global technology leader Cisco as its official network technology partner. Cisco will feature on the club's matchdays in the Indian Super League, and at the Islanders' training facility at the Nagoa Village Panchayat Football Ground.
During this three-year-long association, Cisco will support all aspects of the club's business through their networking solutions, and connect the first team to fans in Mumbai and across the country via Cisco Webex.
Cisco director of global sponsorships Brian Eaton said, "The pandemic is giving rise to a low-touch, digital economy, where even the future of sports must be reimagined with technology at its heart. This partnership represents an opportunity to leverage our technology to make a positive impact, not only on the business and operations of Mumbai City FC but on the local community as well. Over the past year, our solutions have helped numerous clubs around the world stay connected to each other, their fans and their local communities during a season unlike any other, and we are excited to work to forge new ground together in Mumbai."
Mumbai City FC co-owner Bimal Parekh said, "We are delighted that Cisco will be a part of the Mumbai City FC family and will partner with us for the next three years. Cisco has shown, especially in the last six months, how valuable its strategic technology solutions are to the future of connecting fans to teams and the sport they love. We look forward to achieving excellence with their support both on and off the pitch for years to come."
City Football Group brokered this partnership as part of its consultancy services to the club. Cisco has a relationship with City Football Group and last year became an official technology partner for five City Football Group clubs – Manchester City, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Yokohama F. Marinos, and Sichuan Jiuniu FC – for which it provides networking and video collaboration solutions.
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Samsung India mobile chief quits after 18 years
Raju Antony Pullan’s exit leaves a gaping hole at the top as Chinese rivals tighten their grip
GURGAON: Raju Antony Pullan has had enough. The senior vice-president and head of Samsung India’s mobile phone business has put in his papers after 18 years at the Korean giant, a tenure long enough to have watched the company stride to the top of India’s smartphone market and then stumble, badly, as Chinese upstarts muscled in.
Pullan, who ran sales, marketing and every last function of the smartphone business, tendered his resignation on Thursday and is currently serving out his notice period. Samsung has not named a successor. It has a second line of leadership waiting in the wings, Aditya Babbar and Hiren Rathod among them, but no decision has been made on who steps up.
The timing is awkward. Samsung has been haemorrhaging market share to Chinese brands and now clings to a top-two position only in the premium segment, where it scraps it out with Apple. Losing the man who stewarded the mobile business through its best and worst years hardly helps steady the ship.
A company that once owned India’s smartphone market is now fighting to stay relevant in it. Pullan’s departure is less a footnote than a flashing red light.
