Yang Steps Down, As Yahoo Looks For A New CEO

An uneasy year so far for Yahoo has perhaps worsened with co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang stepping down, and the search for a new CEO…maybe even a CEO who will be able to negotiate a sale for the troubled company. Yang had replaced Terry Semel as CEO in June 2007.

The real trouble for Yahoo began when Microsoft made a public, and almost boisterous $44.6 Billion, $31 per share bid for Yahoo in February this year. At that time, Yahoo was trading at around $19 per share. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, blasted Yang for being hostile towards the Microsoft deal, as Yahoo declined the offer. After the deadline for negotiations to be concluded lapsed, Microsoft withdrew the offer in May. Icahn, who owned almost 5% of Yahoo, tried to garner support for renegotiations with Microsoft, despite the announcement of an advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo, around Yahoo Search.  Eventually, Icahn settled for three board seats at Yahoo - including one for himself. 

However, a recent threat of an anti-trust lawsuit against the Google-Yahoo deal made Google withdraw. Read their blog post on the same here. That’s when Yang again sent out feelers to Microsoft, saying Yahoo willing to re-negotiate the deal though this time, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer declined.

BoomTown reported that Yang was stepping down - they published an internal mail sent out by Yang to Yahoo employees, here. Yang will return to his previous role as Chief Yahoo.

None of this is good for Yahoo - such an uncertain environment for a company impacts growth as potential partners may defer deals, and employees may look for more secure environs.

Microsoft Launches Navteq Powered Maps For India; For How Long?

Microsoft has launched listings and street maps for India, powered by the Microsoft Virtual Earth platform, and with map data from Navteq and the Goverment of India.

In India, the service has street level data for 9 cities, business listings across 29 cities and highway networks to 20,000 cities and towns. Try out the internet version at http://maps.live.co.in and mobile version at http://m.live.co.in

It’s important to note that while, last year, Microsoft had signed “multi-year deal” with Navteq, Navteq itself was acquired by Nokia. This puts Nokia and Microsoft in an interesting competitive situation - since Nokia has its own plans for Navteq, particularly around local information, perhaps extending to location based services. Navteq had launched Maps for India last year.

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SMS 2.0 Integrates Search From Google, MSN, AskLaila And Others; The Opportunity For Affle

(Updated: To add Monster, Sulekha and Indiaproperty search via SMS 2.0)

Affle has integrated search into its popular SMS 2.0 application. I installed the application on Sunday and gave it ago. The search services included in SMS 2.0:

Airtel Live: Web Search powered by Google
Web-Live Search: Web Search powered by MSN
City Search: Powered by AskLaila
Job Search: Powered by Naukri (Info Edge), Monster and maybe others. Also pushing alerts - Rs. 10 for 10 days of SMS alerts
Property Search: Powered by 99Acres (Info Edge), Sulekha, Indiaproperty and maybe others. Also Rs. 20 for 10 SMS alerts

Some issues:
– The job search needs work. Only one job/property is displayed per search, and that too doesn’t utilize the location input offered by the mobile. For example - I searched for “Designer” and got a result from Mumbai, though I’m searching from Delhi. No option to switch from a Jewelery designer to a Web designer (Context). Verdict: Fails
– City search utilizes the locational input, but doesn’t have the option to change cities. For example, if I’m looking for a particular shop in Mumbai, but searching from Delhi, I don’t have a choice.

The opportunity for Affle
At over 750,000 subscribers (claimed), apart from the SIM Toolkit from a mobile operator or the mobile menu of a handset manufacturer, SMS 2.0 might just be the most well spread or distributed mobile application in India. Yet, the distribution of the mobile operator and handset manufacturer will be limited by their user base, while Affle has the opportunity of being pan-operator, and pan-handset manufacturer. Regular usage is also guaranteed, given that the application replaces the handsets default SMS application. Thus, with just upgrades alone, SMS 2.0 can integrate more services into the application.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these service providers or even content owners are actually paying for their content being displayed on SMS 2.0, or for enabling their search. A year or so ago, at a Mobile Monday in Delhi, the opportunity for a mobile desktop for services had been mentioned. The challenge for Affle lies is ensuring that the application remains uncomplicated, despite the integration of more services. The next big step for Affle would be to tie up with a mobile handset manufacturer for a pre-loaded application, or to offer their services to subscribers of other mobile operators as well. They can’t remain an Airtel-only app.

But above all, Affle needs to offer local language SMS capability, given that that’s where the next level of mobile growth is coming from.

What surprises me
is that no one has put out a competing product in the market, with other operators.

Disclosure: Affle’s Job and Property searches are powered by Info Edge India, of which I have a small number of shares.

Hemant Sachdev Quits Bharti To Join Microsoft India

Update: A Bharti spokesperson informed us that Sachdev will be serving out his notice period at Bharti till the end of October. His replacement hasn’t been finalized yet.

Original Story: Hemant Sachdev, the Group Director for the Bharti Group has joined Microsoft India as the Joint Managing Director for its consumer and online business. Microsofts consumer business covers software, windows mobile, MSN and search. We’ve contacted Airtel for details on who’s taken over from him, or who is currently handling his mandate at Bharti. Details on Bharti’s organizational structure here.

Looks like Sachdev will be heading in India, Consumer and Online International, a sales and marketing organization that Microsoft has created, covering 22 countries. Also important in this context, is the move of Maya Hari, former head of Consumer Marketing for Microsoft, who left to take up entreprenurship - she’s launched an e-commerce portal Stylkist.com

TRAI Open House Discussion On Mobile VAS - Off-Deck vs On Deck, Licensing, Interconnection , Dispute Resolution and Revenue Share Threshholds

The gloves came off at the TRAI Open House discussion on regulating Mobile VAS, and despite the sedate start, VAS companies and mobile operators were clearly at loggerheads with each other. Some important points made:

1. No Network Neutrality of Indian Mobile Networks: Telecom operators block access to services and sites, and there is no unregulated access. The telecom operator decides, instead of being “just a pipe”. Microsoft questioned the neutrality of the operator networks, saying that just like the ISPs don’t block sites unless specified by CERT-IN, Microsoft believes that mobile operators should not block access.

2. Impact on different sets of VAS companies -
– On Deck: are VAS companies that provide white labeled vendor services to the carrier/telecom operator - using his infrastructure, branding and promotions. These include the likes of OnMobile Global, Bharti Telesoft, Cellebrum, One97, ValueFirst and others.
– Off Deck (or Direct to Consumer): are VAS companies that use carrier infrastructure and billing for their products and services, but the marketing and branding is independent of the mobile operators. For example - Indiatimes’ 58888, Netcore’s MyToday, Webaroo’s SMS GupShup, Dada Mobile’s in.dada.dj.

Mobile Operators and their representative bodies - the COAI, AUSPI and others mentioned repeatedly that the issue of VAS is an internal agreement with a vendor, and TRAI should not get involved in commercial agreements or negotiations. Reliance Communications dismissed it as well, saying that “Negotiation is our right”. However, the IAMAI and Atanu Mandal (President, ACL Wireless), said that On-Deck and Off-deck services should be looked at differently. On Deck services form a vendor agreement, but Off Deck has the has the branding of the service provider.

3. Need for an Interconnect agreement and transparent costing: Ajay Vaishnavi, Director Telecom for Times Internet (58888) said that there needs to be transparency for an interconnect agreement between offdeck VAS companies and the service providers. Operators should define a fixed cost - Every operator prices the same service differently to the consumer, so this confuses the consumer. The costing should be transparent. (ed: I think he was also hinting at cumbersome negotiations for interconnect agreements).

4. Need for Dispute Resolution Guidelines: Rajesh Jain, MD of Netcore (MyToday) called for clear guidelines and a mechanism for settling disputes, saying that there is only a perception of a fairplay environment (which operators kept hinting at). Netcore’s MyToday services were curtailed for no apparent reason, and there was no way of dispute resolution then. AUSPI (CDMA Operators) responded, saying that the high courts are there for dispute settlements. Airtel said that when they sign an agreement, everything is clear regarding litigation. An operator is like a Big Bazaar (Shopping Centre). The responsibility for the product lies with the content owner.

On Short Code Services, VAS Infrastructure setup, Licensing, the Core Issue and possible solutions - (more…)