Today in Tech: Mphasis to buy Digital Risk; Dubai Internet conference and More

Mphasis to buy Digital Risk for $175 million +

Today’s news from Mphasis did not come entirely out of blue. One, its cash reserves were going up.

Two, the concerns over revenues from HP channel, which accounts for more than half, were on the rise. Analysts were downgrading the stock, and investors were worried.

For a company facing these two issues, making a big acquisition would seem an obvious way forward, and that’s pretty much what Mphasis did. It agreed to buy Digital Risk, a mortgage risk and compliance management solutions provider with 1500 employees in the US, for USD$ 175 million in an all cash deal. The transaction is expected to close by January 31, 2013.

The sub-prime crisis in the US shaved several percentage points off global economic growth, but it also opened up new opportunities for enterprising businesses. Indian outsourcing firms tapped a few of them. This is yet another example of a company attempting to do that. But, the fact that Mphasis is a part of HP, which is facing one of its worst times globally, makes it more interesting to watch.

World Conference on International Telecommunications starts in Dubai today.

Here's a selection that gives you enough to get started.

• "The brutal truth is that the internet remains largely the rich world's privilege. ITU wants to change that." - Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the UN's International Telecommunications Union (BBC)

• The conference.. largely pits revenue-seeking developing countries and authoritarian regimes that want more control over Internet content against U.S. policymakers and private Net companies that prefer the status quo.” - Reuters

• In all, representatives of 193 countries will come together to review the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR) agreed in Melbourne 25 years ago. Singing from the same songbook as Web juggernaut Google, the U.S. government is strongly opposed to any changes to the treaty, arguing the Internet has nothing to do with 'traditional' telecommunications, and -- more ominously -- that freedom is at stake. In contrast to this 'no changes proposed' plan, other member states are likely to bring different perspectives and ideas to feed into discussions at the 11-day event. The fight is growing increasingly vocal. - Jean-Christophe Nothias (Huffington Post)

• The most hotly contested proposals come from European telecommunications providers and African and Arab countries that want big content providers to pay to send data across their networks. The concept—known as “sender pays”—would radically alter today’s Internet economics. Some countries say their networks are groaning under video and other content provided in large part by U.S. companies such as Facebook, Netflix, and Google. These countries suggest that fees on content providers would help defray local infrastructure costs. - Technology Review

Also of interest

• The storm behind DataWind’s Aakash tablets | Business Line
  DataWind denied there were any commitments on its part to manufacture the tablets in the country. “Although we are big proponents of manufacturing in India, and there are significant efforts to enable numerous manufacturers to be able to produce tablets in India, there was no commitment to make the product in India,” DataWind Chief Executive Officer Suneet Singh Tuli said in an e-mail reply to Business Line.

• China's dot-com darlings tap cheap global credit | Reuters
  Ultra-low interest rates on U.S. government bonds, the benchmark against which most debt is measured, have driven down borrowing costs around the world. That has been a boon to corporate borrowers who are finding plenty of yield-hungry investors willing to extend long-term credit. "The mature guys, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, these guys need to fund new growth. They are incredibly dominant in China, so they need to expand into international markets and create new products," said Sean O'Rourke, an analyst at Shanghai-based Redtech Advisors.

• Building an Arduino-based gyrocopter that can follow a child | Spectrum
  On school-day mornings, I walk my grade-school-age son 400 meters down the hill to the bus stop. Last winter, I fantasized about sitting at my computer while a camera-equipped drone followed him overhead. So this year, I set out to build one.

The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.