– Google: While the search giant continues to see growth in sales on the back of its search business, the mobile business continues to boom too. Some of the mobile numbers that came out of the earnings call:

350,000 Android activations per day. That shows the continuing and fast growth of Android — it’s a big increase on the 300,000 activation figure tweeted by Google’s Android head Andy Rubin back in December; up by 50,000 per day in just four months.

More than 3 billion Android apps have been installed. A nice, round number — but not at all indicative of how much those apps are getting used on a repeat basis. And given that a majority of Android apps downloaded are free and rely on advertising to make revenue, that still leaves question marks on how much money content publishers are making out of these on the platform.

Mobile operations now a “billion” dollar business. That’s mainly from mobile advertising rather than its own-branded devices or new services like in-app billing. Ad requests from Android and iOS devices have grown by 50 percent in the last four months, while search on mobile devices has grown by 500 percent. Google didn’t break down the kinds of advertising that are selling strongly but in the past the bread and butter has been search-based ads, while in-app ads are still small, but growing, part of the pie.

One area to look out for in the next earnings report will be in-app billing. Google only introduced its In-App Billing service the other week, and it will be interesting to see how many developers and publishers take Google up on their 30/70 offer.

– Nokia: The Finnish handset vendor is the latest to feel the heat in India over push-based email services. According to an article in the Times of India, the Department of Telecommunications has asked mobile operators in the country to prevent use of the “pushmail” service until they can implement a system for monitoring the content of those emails. The Nokia system allows phone users to integrate different email services such as those of Gmail, Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), and Indian email provider Rediff (NSDQ: REDF) onto their devices.

The news comes after weeks of tension between RIM and the Indian government over requests to be able to monitor emails delivered over RIM’s BlackBerry service.

– AT&T/T-Mobile: The Federal Communications Commission has issued a formal public notice to initiate its review of the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA by AT&T. Among the criteria that the FCC will explore are whether the deal is in the “public interest,” and whether it violates in any way the U.S. Communications Act or FCC rules.

Separately, New York’s attorney general’s office will be carrying out its own review of the acquisition; and Sprint has (predictably) voiced its opposition.

– Meanwhile in the UK, T-Mobile and France Telecom have announced a press conference for next Monday. The two announced in February that they would be looking to collaborate further together, after what they determined was a successful integration of the T-Mobile and Orange networks in the UK as Everything Everywhere.

And for a little Friday diversion… T-Mobile UK today released a pretty amusing video to promote its brand in the lead-up to the Royal Wedding:

Absolute predecessor Virgin Radio was the first radio station in Europe to begin webcasting.

The arrangement will see Ipercast manage the network for Absolute, but it seems it will also get to use it for much more – Ipercast says it will “position itself as a technology partner for web radio and other broadcast, media and telecoms companies”.

For the eight-year-old, Paris-based company, whose website you can’t read if you don’t have Silverlight installed, it means growing its content delivery network’s international footprint, and targeting the UK.

The CDN market, of course, is already dominated by Level3, Akamai (NSDQ: AKAM) and Limelight, each of which are used by BBC’s iPlayer, for example, so Ipercast will have some ground to make up, but there’s still plenty of growth left in online video custom.

Absolute, in the release, tells us its CDN “spans multiple countries with peering connectivity in London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, New York and Los Angeles” and streams 150TB of content every month for Absolute stations alone.

The disposal, which seems to amount also to an outsourcing, “leaves us free to concentrate on developing the best possible content and services”, says Absolute’s technology head Paul Brown.

*****
The Times Audience Network, the digital video arm of the Times Group (BCCL), has partnered with Vuclip to make available video content from all its channels to mobile users. Videos from the group’s business channel ET Now (v.etnow.tv), news channel Times Now (v.timesnow.tv) and music channel Zoom (v.zoomtv.in) are being made available through Vuclip’s proprietary mobile video platform, the company said.

*****
NDTV group editor Barkha Dutt, one of India’s best known journalists, has won an Internet domain dispute at the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (via PTI). Dutt approached the organization’s Arbitration and Mediation Center in September against a Hyderabad-based cybersquatter that was using Barkhadutt.com. We are only likely to hear of more similar cases in the future.

According to a source, Tamang is joining Indiatimes as VP. We are awaiting comment from an Indiatimes spokesperson.

Prior to joining Web18, Tamang worked at Times Internet Ltd (Indiatimes) for three years. He has also worked at the online units of The Indian Express and the India Today Group.

CCI is an autonomous regulator that works to prevent anti-competitive practices.

Telecom regulator TRAI had recommended seven months ago that ISPs should be allowed to use telephone lines to make Internet Telephony calls. The Department of Telecom has not acted on it yet. Once this is allowed, calls generated on an Internet Telephony service such as Skype can terminate on a regular telephone or mobile connection. This will result in cheaper calls and greater telecom penetration, it is expected.

****
The Editor’s Guild of India today condemned the “increasing trend of mistreatment and life threatening abuse” of journalists in Manipur in the hands of the state police. Several instances of criminal intimidation by police have been reported from that state recently, the Guild said in a statement, adding that despite displaying identity cards issued by the state government, journalists are being accused of colluding with insurgents. The offenders must be “held accountable for their threats to punish journalists with bullets”, the Guild said.

****
The first ever TED conference in India begins in Mysore on Thursday and many sessions will be webcast live by Times Internet at ted.indiatimes.com. After the conference, five talks will also be made available on the site and on mobile, the company said in a statement.

Times Internet Ltd CEO Rishi Khiani told contentSutra that the concept will soon be introduced on EconomicTimes.com, too. He said the company will also roll out a mobile version of the 2-minute newspapers soon.

The memo, that was sent out on Friday to staffers at India’s largest media company, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, Dhariwal adopts a sequential narrative, starting with: “Last time I wrote to you, a few months ago, we were in the midst of a perfect storm”. Dhariwal goes on to describe what was wrong in the business environment (high newsprint prices, ad slump), what measures were taken (cost cutting, putting future projects on hold) and what the measures have achieved (cost base is at “where we want it to be”).

The memo details other important changes BCCL management has worked on. “We have restructured our Private Treaties proposals, and they seem to be working well. We have a whole new approach to our rate card, and am sure, this will go down well with our clients. We are determined to tap both the high-end, and, the small retail advertisers with specialized products. Expanding Response efforts to smaller towns will also result in better revenues.”

And, in a line that is perhaps far more important than it sounds, Dhariwal wrote: “And today our organization is more aligned, nimble and flexible.”

For the staffers, the best part came the last, where Dhariwal announced a partial payout of a variable component of salaries for 2009-10.

Below, we are publishing the 637-word memo in full as it elegantly articulates the pain and hardwork behind a steady, if gradual, turnaround at an important media company.

There is a recovery story playing out at many media firms and we hope to cover this part of the curve as closely as we did the downward slope. We are hearing unconfirmed stories about salary reinstatements and raises being handed out selectively.

If you know about signs/stories of recovery at your company, please let us know. You can use the anonymous tip off form, or mail me at sk [AT] contentsutra [DOT] com.

******************************************THE MEMO*********************************************

Dear Friends,

Last time I wrote to you, a few months ago, we were in the midst of a perfect storm. On the back of astronomical newsprint prices, and our own expansion, our costs had galloped. As this was happening, Advertising revenues skid on fears of an impending recession. For the first time in many years, we saw a severe margin compression. For a few months we actually lost money. It was clear that we needed to take a serious course correction.

We took several measures to restore the company back to some semblance of financial health. We cut unnecessary expenditures, postponed some of our future projects, scouted the world for cheaper newsprint and also trimmed our organization. Looking back, it was one of the most difficult periods in my career.

In the last few months, there is reason for us to look at the future more optimistically. Whilst revenue growth is still a challenge, we have been able to bring the cost base to where we want it to be. We have restructured our Private Treaties proposals, and they seem to be working well. We have a whole new approach to our rate card, and am sure, this will go down well with our clients. We are determined to tap both the high-end, and, the small retail advertisers with specialized products. Expanding Response efforts to smaller towns will also result in better revenues. And today our
organization is more aligned, nimble and flexible. Best of all, I see our creative juices flowing once again.

We are working to make significant developments in our brands. With the launch of the Times of India Crest edition in Mumbai & Delhi, we will add authority to the TOI brand; and there are more ideas in the pipeline, and am confident that most of them will resonate well with our readers. I can also share with you that we are working on several projects which will continue to increase the affinity the Times brand has with our readers and advertisers. On ET too, the launch of ET Now has gone better than what we expected, and you will see more energy and synergy coming down in both ET and ET Now.

All-in-all, I feel a lot more optimistic about our future, even in the short and medium term. We will get back our advertising revenue, we will grow our circulation, we will increase our readers, we will expand TOI to new geographies, and we will add significantly to our printing capacity in key areas. We are going to try even harder to bring that extra rupee of revenue, and that extra copy of circulation. This year’s plan is really growth oriented, and with the increased production capacity and creative product ideas, we are confident that we will be able to achieve this plan. What also helps is that the newsprint prices are where we want them to be; above all, we are restless to do more. All in all, there is reason to look at the future optimistically. The way you all rallied forth makes me absolutely sure.

With this background, I am happy to inform you that our VC and our MD have asked me to do something very pleasant. We are going to make an advance pay out of 1/3rd of the TVP amount planned for the year 2009-10. You will receive this soon, in the next few days. This amount will be adjusted once we complete the year closing in July 2010 and work out the TVP due to us as per company policy. I am sure, this money is welcome in our pocket. I also think this is a measure of our combined optimism about our future.

I thought I should share this with you before we hit the festive season.

Warm regards,

Ravi Dhariwal

Rajshekhar headed TIL between March, when CEO Dinesh Wadhawan quit, and August, when Rishi Khiani replaced him.

Chinnen Das, who was president at Vijayanand Printers, has been named director, business development, southern region for BCCL. Both Das and Rajshekhar will report to BCCL CEO Ravi Dhariwal.

The offending story–Two ITBP Jawans Injured In China Border Firing–ran on the front page of India’s most read English newspaper on 15 September. The report, by Nirmalya Banerjee in Kolkata and Prabin Kalita in Guwahati, said this was the “first incident where bullets have been fired since the landmark 1996 Sino-India agreement in which both sides pledged not to open fire, no matter what the provocation…,” and attributed the information to “a highly placed intelligence source”. “ITBP officials at its headquarters in New Delhi declined to confirm the incident,” the story said.

A ministry of external affairs spokesperson termed the report “factually incorrect” the same day. TOI carried a clarification the next day on page 17, as part of a package of related stories.

The TOI story was among a stream of reports and analyses in newspapers and television channels over the past month or so, about “Chinese incursions” into Indian territory. “If you’ve tuned into one of the more hawkish Indian television channels or are reading the views of the many experts on India and China, it might seem like the two countries are at each other’s throats,” the BBC noted.

During the past week, the Prime Minister, the national security adviser as well as the highest-ranking general of the Indian Army have made statements to the effect that the reports are exaggerated and there is no unusual activity on the Indo-China border.

It’s unclear what charges, if at all, the government will press against the reporters. According to PTI, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), has filed a complaint with the Delhi Police against the reporters. A spokesperson at the home ministry was unavailable for comment as were other government officials, due to a public holiday.

“We do not give comments on news items as a practice and I have nothing to say on this issue,” wrote Amit Rai, director, legal, at Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd, publisher of The Times of India, responding to an email asking for comment about the story that appeared in The Hindu. A spokesperson for BCCL did not respond to an email requesting comment.

If the matter does go to court, it might reach a stage where a court could ask the reporters to reveal their sources. “If there is a criminal charge against you, you have to defend yourself. You can refuse to reveal your sources, but then you should be prepared to go to jail,” said Prashant Bhushan, a well-known public interest lawyer in the Supreme Court of India.

Bhushan said it was high time the media was held accountable for irresponsible reporting that buys into plants by motivated sections of the society and affects national security or disrupts communal harmony. “A lot of what has been passing for journalism in this country amounts to criminal offense,” Bhushan said. “If an intelligence agency has planted this story, let the source be revealed,” he added.

B.G. Verghese, a former editor and a member of the press council, said that it would be foolish for the state to press charges. He added that while a lot of reporting on the border situation has been equally foolish and irresponsible, there were other ways to deal with the situation. “This is a political problem. It’s not wise to seek a legal solution to a political problem.” He suggested that peer pressure works well to restrain media and the government could also complain to professional associations such as the Editors’ Guild or the Press Council of India.

“My suggestion is that a reporter can be asked to reveal to a judge, privately in his chambers and not in the courtroom, what the source is. If the judge is convinced that it is a reliable source and the reporter indeed got the story from there, he or she can then decide to let the matter rest,” Verghese said.

Medianama first reported about Anand’s movement.

UTV Global Broadcasting operates four channels–Bindass, Bindass Movies, UTV Movies and UTV World movies.

Zoom is broadcast by Zoom Entertainment Networks (ZEN), a subsidiary of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. A PE fund owned by Merrill Lynch had picked up a 25% stake in ZEN in April last year.

In a related development, Shantonu Aditya, executive director of UTV Global Broadcasting, will move out of that role and focus on UTV News Ltd, people familiar with the development said. One person said an internal memo has been sent out effecting changes in the reporting structure, under which many executives in the broadcasting business who have been reporting to Aditya, have now been asked to report to UTV chairman Ronnie Screwvala till a further announcement is made.

Aditya could not be reached for comment and did not respond to a text message left on his mobile phone. Aditya has been doubling up as CEO of UTV News from the time former CEO Arun Anant stepped down in June last year.

UTV and Bloomberg announced a strategic partnership last week, under which, UTVi will be branded Bloomberg UTV and the channel will feature content from Bloomberg TV.

A UTV spokesperson declined comment on both movements.