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technology MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2016 Yahoo board hires investment banks to mull possible sale SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo’s board has on mobile apps and other services most and the company’s legal advisers, growing Internet company in China, and ize in snapping up troubled companies hired three investment banking firms to likely to revive the company’s revenue Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Yahoo Japan. The proposed spinoff with well-known brands such as Yahoo. evaluate potential bids for its Internet growth after years of decline. While the board mulls those alterna- might not be completed until next year, Virtually all of Yahoo’s current market operations in the clearest sign yet that Some Yahoo shareholders frustrated tives, Mayer will continue to pursue a if Yahoo’s Internet business isn’t sold value of $28 billion is tied to its stakes in CEO Marissa Mayer may not have much with a steep drop in the company’s turnaround plan that includes jettison- before then. Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. The holdings more time to turn around the struggling stock price have been pushing for a sale ing 15 percent of Yahoo’s workforce. “We Yahoo Inc. didn’t identify any of the in Alibaba alone are valued at $26 bil- company. of the Internet operations instead. believe that pursuing these comple- potential bidders that it might meet. lion. The move announced Friday comes 2 The board has now responded to mentary paths is in the best interests of Verizon Communications has publicly Analysts still believe Yahoo’s line-up 1/2 weeks after Yahoo disclosed it would that pressure by hiring investment our shareholders and will maximize val- said it might be interested in buying of still-popular services such as email, consider “strategic alternatives” while bankers Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and ue,” Yahoo Chairman Maynard Webb said parts of the company after paying $4.4 sports and finance could fetch several Mayer cuts costs through mass layoffs, PJT Partners to set up a process for in a statement. billion last year to snap up another fad- billion dollars in a sale. office closures and a purge of unprof- meeting with companies interested in Mayer also is trying to spin off ing Internet company, AOL Inc. Yahoo’s stock gained 62 cents, or 2 itable products. buying all or parts of Yahoo’s business. A Yahoo’s Internet operations into a newly Analysts believe Yahoo’s other likely percent, to close Friday at $30.04. The Mayer believes the overhaul will special committee of Yahoo’s directors created company while leaving behind suitors may include AT&T, Comcast and shares have plunged by 40 percent since boost profits and sharpen Yahoo’s focus will discuss the options with the bankers prized stakes in Alibaba Group, a rapidly various private equity firms that special- the end of 2014. —AP Huawei unveils 5 initiatives for digital transformation in the telecom industry DUBAI: Ahead of this year’s meet its customers’ diversified solutions and how they will help commercially on a large scale in Mobile World Congress, Huawei needs, it requires expanding its global telecom carriers and enter- 2016, and will help to accelerate has unveiled its five ‘Big Initiatives’ own vision, opening up pipes, prises achieve agile innovation, the global adoption of 4.5G. for the telecom industry to accel- data, and services to partners, accelerated transformation, and erate its digital transformation. embracing the Big Initiatives for business success in the digital era. NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES The Big Initiatives and the result- digital transformation, and shar- Meeting its latest industry out- Huawei’s IoT solutions will drive ing solutions represent the com- ing resources in complementary look, Huawei has developed open the digital transformation of carri- pany’s long-term commitment to partnerships. platform solutions for 2K/4K video ers’ home broadband services by building a better connected world For the digital transformation which aggregate content and making the smart home a reality. through extensive collaboration of vertical industries, Huawei is enable innovation in video servic- Huawei’s LTE-based Narrow across the industry. collaborating with consultants es. In cloud computing, Huawei’s Broadband IoT (NB-IoT) technology The initiatives represent new and software partners to build priority is working with telecom will enable telecom operators to opportunities for telecom opera- industry-specific ecosystems so as operators to provide cloud servic- deliver ubiquitous, cellular IoT. This tors in the Middle East and world- to provide integrated solutions to es. Huawei’s cloud strategy is to technology will spark new business wide, foreseeing a potential $100 billion video industry market, a $1 trillion enterprise cloud market, NEEMRANA: This photo taken on January 21, 2016 shows an Indian post and the number of IoT connec- office employee working inside a post office in a village in the Rajasthan dis- tions expected to grow 10-fold. trict of Neemrana. While in the United States online giant Amazon and its ilk Huawei describes the five initia- experiment with futuristic drones and one-hour deliveries, in rural India e- tives as Big Video - Everywhere, Big IT - Enabling, Big Operation - commerce retains a distinctly old-fashioned feel. —AFP Agile, Big Architecture - Elastic, and Big Pipe - Ubiquitous. India Post rides e-commerce During this year’s congress, Huawei is also planning to unveil wave as villagers buy online at least one new addition to its rapidly growing consumer device lineup. New agreements are fur- ALWAR: With his rickety bicycle and sack- bigger post offices. Postal workers use bicy- ther expected with leading tele- cloth mail bag, 62-year-old Indian postman cles and old cloth mail bags which make it com operators from across the Chet Ram does not look like a worker at the difficult to transport bigger or multiple Middle East focusing on the devel- vanguard of an e-commerce revolution parcels. Many rural Indians are still new to opment of smart cities, Internet of delivering everything from mobile phones the Internet-up to a billion people are not Things applications and support- to cow manure. yet online in the country-and are wary of e- ing governments’ digital transfor- He pedals miles each day in rural commerce sites, preferring to hand over mation agendas. Rajasthan state, ferrying packages to vil- money only after receiving the goods. Part “Digital transformation is a new lages and takes payments in cash because of the firms’ success has been driven by giv- engine for telecom industry most of his customers do not have bank ing customers the chance to pay cash on growth, and it will also empower accounts, let alone credit cards. delivery-although it takes up to two days to the innovation of other industries,” While in the United States online giant find out if a parcel was accepted by a distant said William Xu, Executive Director Amazon and its ilk experiment with futuris- recipient. of the Board and Chief Strategy tic drones and one-hour deliveries, in rural “It has given a sense of empowerment to Marketing Officer of Huawei. India e-commerce retains a distinctly old- customers who are not confident about e- “Huawei will continue to open up fashioned feel. commerce shopping,” said K.C Verma, an platform capabilities to help carri- Huawei headquarters Yet the dawn of online shopping is assistant superintendent at a post office in ers to build an open, collaborative, changing the lives of people in rural areas- Behror, a town close to Neemrana. One such and win-win industry ecosystem industries such as transportation, co-build an open cloud ecosystem opportunities in smart metering, and is breathing new life into India Post, the customer is Sudesh Yadav, a farmer’s wife in to accelerate digital transforma- energy, government, and finance. with its partners: Huawei will smart parking, logistics tracking, ailing state-run postal network, which has Daulat Singh Pura village in Neemrana who tion.” Huawei is also innovating with focus on building IaaS, enabling and smart cities. struggled with a huge deficit for years. In refused to accept her parcel of a car cleaning upstream and downstream part- PaaS and aggregating SaaS, to Huawei’s Safe City solutions are the past two years the 160-year-old postal kit. “The company has sent the order almost DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION ners to help them adapt to new empower our partners in applica- powered by the latest IoT and giant has tied up with 400 e-commerce a week late,” she told the postman who had According to forecasts, by 2025 telecom trends such as 5G, tion oriented and data driven high mobile broadband (MBB) technolo- companies including Amazon and Indian cycled to her home on a cold January morn- there will be four billion new SDN/NFV, and digital operations. value creation. gies to deliver smart, video-based giant Flipkart to deliver a diverse range of ing to deliver the goods. “We have already broadband users, more than 100 4.5G will deliver mobile broad- security systems for cities. These goods. purchased it from a nearby town. Take it billion things will be digitally con- INITIATIVES OF THE FUTURE band data rates of up to 1,000 systems enable governments and It deploys its vast network of about back,” she said. nected, and every person’s con- In the build up to this year’s Mbit/s, enabling HD voice, 2K/4K municipal authorities to prevent 460,000 employees across 155,000 post sumption of data will increase congress, Huawei further HD video, and virtual reality expe- crises and improve their response offices to take goods to customers in remote FINANCIAL WOES more than 500-fold.