Mobile Services
HDFC Bank joins hands with Happay
NEW DELHI: Happay, a business expense management solution provider, in collaboration with HDFC bank, has introduced a new prepaid card linked T&E (Travel and Entertainment) expense management solution to enable Indian enterprises efficiently manage their business travel expenditure.
HDFC Bank and Happay are launching this solution at a time when Indian business travel is on the rise and Travel and Entertainment (T&E) expense still remains the second most difficult operating expense to control in an organization as per Forrester Research.
With Happay-HDFC Bank prepaid cards and Happay mobile app in their pockets, business travelers will be able to easily seek trip advances, get trip itineraries pre-approved by management, do trip bookings and file trip expenses digitally and on the move.
Management, on the other hand, will be able to manage employee cards online – from loading and withdrawing funds from cards, setting card limits, activating and deactivating cards. They will also be able to pre-authorise trip itineraries, track travel expenditure as it happens, approve travel claims, implement travel policies and view travel spend analytics from a single, cloud-based platform.
Prior to this initiative, HDFC Bank and Happay had joined hands in 2016 to help businesses go cashless and have seen huge success till date. One of their solutions, Happay-HDFC Bank’s Fleet Xpress program launched in 2016 November, enabled 1000+ transport and trucking companies to move to digitization, post demonetization. HDFC Bank’s wide reach, huge customer network and strong brand name, played a key role in enabling Happay to scale up its efforts towards helping businesses go digital.
Mr. Parag Rao, Country Head – Card payment products, merchant acquiring and marketing, HDFC Bank, quotes, “Our partnership with Happay has been very encouraging so far. With the new T&E solution, we hope to see even better response from our enterprise customers. Together with Happay, our aim is to completely reinvent the way Indian corporates manage their business payments. With Happay’s powerful and unique technology, data analytics and highly configurable platform, we hope to continue to strengthen our market position and provide enhanced value to our corporate customers.”
Anshul Rai, Co-Founder & CEO, Happay, “When we rolled out Happay’s B2B solution in 2015, our mission was to accelerate the pace of innovation and digitization in the B2B payment industry. HDFC Bank gave us the opportunity to scale up fast in a short period of time. Their strong brand name and relationship with corporate customers helped us overcome the challenges we faced with some companies skeptical of exploring digital and cloud-based solutions. The success we saw is testimony to the resilient and scalable infrastructure we have built. We hope to continue to offer greater business value with our new offering.”
Founded in 2012 by IIT Kharagpur graduates Anshul Rai and Varun Rathi, Happay has 4500+ clients across 30+ business verticals. With an overall employee base of 250+, Happay is present in 10 cities, with partners in 27 cities in India.
Happay recently raised $10 Million (INR 65.13 Crore) in a Series B Funding round led by existing investor Sequoia Capital and Singapore-based Axiom Capital. AME Cloud Ventures (the venture fund led by Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang) and existing investor – Prime Venture Partners among others also participated in the round and continued to show support to Happay’s long-term vision of being an end-to-end business spend management platform. The company plans to use the fresh influx of funds for building a deeper payment and spend management platform, expanding its team, launching new products and acquiring larger Enterprise customers (Enterprises with employee size of 1000+). Happay is building the right partner ecosystem and with more capital is aiming to reach 10000 customers by 2019.
NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel, India’s telecommunications services provider, today announced the launch of its ultra-fast 5G services in 125 cities. Airtel 5G Plus service is now available to customers in over 265 cities in the country.
Airtel 5G Plus has three compelling advantages for customers. First, it runs on a technology that has the widest acceptance in the world with the most developed ecosystem. This ensures that all 5G smartphones in India seamlessly work on the Airtel network. Second, the company promises to deliver the best experience – between 20 to 30 times higher speeds than today coupled with brilliant voice experience and super-fast call connect. Finally, Airtel 5G Plus network will also be kinder to the environment with its special power reduction solution. Powered by the reliable Airtel network infrastructure, Airtel 5G Plus will provide superfast access to High-Definition video streaming, gaming, multiple chatting, instant uploading of photos et all.
Commenting on the launch, Randeep Sekhon, CTO, Bharti Airtel said, “5G has revolutionized the world of internet, ushering new era of connectivity and communications that will prove to be a game-changer for the country. At Airtel, we remain committed to delivering the highest quality of network and service to our customers as we roll-out 125 more cities today. Airtel was the first in the country to offer 5G services in October 2022, and today’s mega launch is our promise to connect every Airtel customer in the country with ultra-fast Airtel 5G Plus. Our 5G rollout is on track to cover all towns and key rural areas by March 2024.”
Airtel 5G Plus service availability will continue to rapidly expand – including service in all towns and villages in the country soon – as the company is working towards offering nationwide coverage. Airtel is now offering its 5G services in every major city from the upper northern city of Jammu to the southern tip of Kanyakumari.
In the last one year, Airtel has demonstrated the power of 5G with a host of powerful use cases that will change the way customers lead their lives and do business. From India’s first live 5G network in Hyderabad to India’s first private 5G network at the BOSCH facility in Bengaluru to partnering with Mahindra & Mahindra to make its Chakan manufacturing facility, India’s first 5G enabled auto manufacturing unit, Airtel has been at the forefront of 5G innovation.
NEW DELHI: Apple Inc has rolled out a beta programme to enable 5G on Apple devices as the upgrade lets users try out pre-release software.
This software upgrade enables 5G access on Apple devices, as and when service providers Jio, Airtel and Vodafone enable 5G network access, sources said.
Apple Users have to enrol for the Beta Programme on the website, install a profile and download the software.
Jio users using iPhone 12 and above, in cities where JioTrue5G has been rolled out, will be invited to the Jio Welcome Offer. Jio Welcome Offer provides unlimited 5G data at up to 1 Gbps speed to users at no additional cost. However, there is a condition that prepaid users must be on active Rs 239 and above plan. All Postpaid users are eligible for this trial.
Airtel is not providing any special 5G offer like Jio to their users. In the cities/areas in which the Airtel 5G network has been launched, users can trial 5G services as a part of their existing plan, once they have updated the latest Apple Beta software.
While an email sent to Apple did not solicit an immediate response, the firm had last month stated: “We are working with our carrier partners in India to bring the best 5G experience to iPhone users as soon as network validation and testing for quality and performance is completed. 5G will be enabled via a software update and will start rolling out to iPhone users in December”.
Airtel and Jio customers on iPhone 14, iPhone 13, iPhone 12 and iPhone SE (3rd generation) models can experience 5G as part of Apple’s iOS 16 Beta Software Program. The Apple Beta Software Program is open to anyone with a valid Apple ID who accepts the Apple Beta Software Program Agreement during the sign-up process.
If a user has an iCloud account, that is an Apple ID, it is recommended they use that. If they do not have an iCloud account or any other Apple ID, they can create one.
Customers who want to try the beta software should back up their iPhones before installing the beta software. It is recommended to install the beta software only on non-production devices that are not business-critical. Users can also provide feedback to Apple on quality and usability, which helps Apple identify issues, fix them, and make Apple software even better.
The iOS beta comes with the built-in Feedback Assistant app, which can be opened from the Home screen on the iPhone or iPad or from the Dock on the Mac.
Source: Press Trust of India
5g
Nokia wins multi-year deal with Reliance Jio India to build one of the largest 5G networks in the world
NEW DELHI: Nokia has announced that it has been selected as a major supplier by Reliance Jio to supply 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment from its comprehensive AirScale portfolio countrywide in a multi-year deal. Reliance Jio is India’s number one mobile operator and has one of the largest RAN footprints in the world.
Under the contract, Nokia will supply equipment from its AirScale portfolio, including base stations, high-capacity 5G Massive MIMO antennas, and Remote Radio Heads (RRH) to support different spectrum bands, and self-organizing network software. Reliance Jio plans to deploy a 5G standalone network which will interwork with its 4G network. The network will enable Reliance Jio to deliver advanced 5G services such as massive machine-to-machine communications, network slicing, and ultra-low-latency.
Akash Ambani, Chairman Reliance Jio, commented: “We are pleased to be working with Nokia for our 5G SA deployment in India. Jio is committed to continuously investing in the latest network technologies to enhance the experience of all of its customers. We are confident that our partnership with Nokia will deliver one of the most advanced 5G networks globally.”
Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO at Nokia stated: “This is a significant win for Nokia in an important market and a new customer with one of the largest RAN footprints in the world. This ambitious project will introduce millions of people across India to premium 5G services, enabled by our industry-leading AirScale portfolio. We are proud that Reliance Jio has placed its trust in our technology and we look forward to a long and productive partnership with them.”
Nokia has a long-standing presence in India. This new deal will mean that Nokia is now supplying India’s three largest mobile operators.
