Barcelona, Spain -The world's largest telecoms manufacturer insisted there was no "crisis" in the phone business despite the worldwide economic slump, as the industry's main trade fair opened in Barcelona on Monday.

"There is no telecoms crisis," Ericsson's chief executive Carl- Henric Svanberg told reporters at the Mobile World Congress.

Mobile networks are suffering from fluctuating exchange rates, and with it how much companies can charge, but the telecoms business was not shirking the challenge of the downturn.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communication (RCOM) has signed an agreement with US-based Ditech Networks to deploy the latter's voice enhancement solution on its recently unveiled GSM network.

The deal is estimated to be worth Rs 50 crore and deployment is expected to enhance voice clarity on Reliance Mobile by approximately 30 per cent'.

Under the arrangement, RCOM will initially deploy Ditech's voice enhancement solutions across Top 10 towns and then extend coverage across other locations.

It should be noted that on Thursday, RCom has already commenced trial runs on Ditech's network

Helsinki  - Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, Wednesday said it planned to concentrate its mobile research and development to fewer sites in Finland and introduce temporary layoffs to counter lower demand.

The site for mobile research and development in the city of Jyvaskyla, was to be closed by the end of 2009, impacting some 320 employees, the group said.

Research and development sites were to remain in Tampere, Oulu, Salo and the greater Helsinki area.

To guarantee level playing field for themselves, the new mobile operators have urged the telecom regulatory body, TRAI to lessen the mobile termination charges.

But on the other hand, the subsisting telecom operators are asking for the highest rates possible.

Presently, the three major pan-India telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular charge a termination fee of 30 paise per minute from an operator on whose network the call ends.

Asim Ghosh, Vodafone Essar chief executive would leave his post on March 31 after serving the company for over 10 years. However, he would serve in the Vodafone Essar's board as a non-executive member.

Marten Pieters, director on the board of Luxembourg-based Millicom International Cellular, will be appointed as new CEO of Vodafone Essar. He served as CEO of Celtel International BV, the second largest telecom operator of Africa, from August 2003 to January 2007.

Vodafone Essa