FIPB Defers DBCorp, Rajashtan Royals Decision

India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board has deferred a decision on DB Corp’s plan for an IPO, which involves a sale from existing promoters, upto 26 percent of the companys post-IPO paid up share capital. A decision on Jaipur IPL Cricket Pvt. Ltd (Rajasthan Royals), which plans to induct 100% foreign equity by way of “issue of shares for consideration other than cash inflow” has also been deferred. [release]

Airtel-MTN Deal Not Done Yet

Reacting to media reports claiming that a preliminary agreement has been reached between Bharti Airtel and MTN, Airtel has categorically denied any such developments. “The discussions are still on. As and when there is any development, we would be happy to share the same with the media,” the company said in a statement.

Hungama T-Series Deal Is Till 2011

The deal between T-Series and Hungama which extends up to 2011, reports Afaqs. Strangely enough, though, Siddhartha Roy says that aggregation is just 10 per cent of the companys business, saying “we don’t just hand over the content to the operator.” So you may well ask about how much of the business is from repurposing-and-distribution of aggregated content, or for that matter, how much of the business is dependent on content received from T-Series. A detailed story on Hungama at Afaqs.

MTS Rolls Out Mobile Telephony Services In Jharkhand

MTS, the mobile telephony services brand of Sistema Shyam TeleServices Ltd (SSTL) was launched in Jharkhand yesterday, with 60% of the planned coverage in the state, covering 7 districts of Ranchi, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Lohardaga, West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum and Diridih in phase 1. MTS will be available in Devghar and Sahibganj by mid-September, and complete its Jharkhand rollout by the end of October. MTS is currently available at 6500 retail outlets in Jharkhand, and will be available at 10, 000 retail outlets by end of this year. Sanjeev Garg is the Chief Operating Officer of SSTL for Bihar & Jharkhand.

In India, MTS already has a subscriber base of over 1.7 million and is present in 6 other telecom circles including Bihar, Kolkata, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. The telco had launched in Bihar in July, and covers 28 of 37 districts. The telco plans to complete its all India rollout by Q3 of 2010.

ATC Looks To Buy Majority Stake In Essar Telecom Infrastructure: Report

American Tower Corporation has begun negotiations to buy majority stake in Essar Telecom Infrastructure (ETIPL). ETIPL has been valued at $450 million, with 4000 towers. Appears that five private equity companies are also eying the infrastructure company. ATC had bought XCEL Telecom, which has 1700 towers, earlier this year. Note that this is source based and unconfirmed. More at Economic Times.

Orkut Enables Friend Suggestions

Better late than never: Google owned Orkut has enabled “Friend Suggestions” to allow users of their social networking sites. An algorithm to automatically generates a list of people on Orkut who a user might know. This feature has been available on Facebook for a rather long time now. [Orkut Blog]

NDTV Hindu Launches On BIG TV

NDTV Hindu, the Chennai focused news and features channel has now been made available on Reliance BIG TV DTH, on Channel no. 459. [release]

Ebay Motors Pricebook Powers Used Car Prices For Autoxchange

eBay Motors PriceBook, a used cars & bikes guide for consumers, will power car pricing for print readers and online visitors of AutoXchange, a monthly print & online auto magazine. eBay Motors PriceBook was launched in December 2008. [release]

Indiamart Appoints Quasar As Its Agency On Record

Online B2B marketplace Indiamart has appointed WPP group company Quasar Media as its digital agency on record. Quasar will be responsible for IndiaMART’s digital marketing campaigns, media planning and media buying. Quasar Media has Microsoft, Monster.com, VISA, Kingfisher Airlines, Maruti Suzuki, GE and MakeMyTrip.com in its client list and is one of India’s largest digital services agency. [release]