Steinmann helps Indians save

Market research Swiss Telecontrol AG has secured a major contract from overseas: Decision Craft Analytics (DCA), a partner company of the McCann-Erickson World Group in the field of data processing, wants to measure TV usage in India, a market worth billions, by setting up a panel of 20,000 Telecontrol boxes. Last fall, DCA already set up panels for the Indian cities of Bombay and Ahmadabad with 1,000 devices; now it is requesting the remaining 19,000 units, although the Indians cannot afford such a quantity of Telecontrol boxes, which cost 1,200 francs. That is why Telecontrol CEO Matthias Steinmann is working on developing a cheaper device. And he already knows how it will work: The "inner workings" of his multifunctional Mediawatch are to be used, which will be connected to a GSM modem, making the device half the price. The former SRG subsidiary Telecontrol is now wholly owned by the German GfK Group.
(mk)