3G Auction:- April 9

3G Auction Time Table

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Idea Cellular 1000Cr Tamil Nadu Investment

Idea has given contract for Network Rollout to Huawei.
Telecom major Idea Cellular will invest Rs.1,000 crore ($205 million) over the next three years in Tamil Nadu to expand its network, a top company official said Thursday.

"The company will invest Rs.1,000 crore to expand its cell sites to 2,400 by 2010 and presence to 1,200 towns in the state. By 2011 the number of cell sites will be 4,000 and the presence will be in 3,300 towns," Himanshu Kapania, director (operations) of Idea, told reporters while launching the company's services here Thursday.

Idea, which launched services in Tamil Nadu last month, now has has 1,700 cell sites in 600 towns in the state and has enrolled over 100,000 subscribers so far.

Citing Idea's successful penetration into the telecom market in the state, Kapania said: "It only shows that subscribers are not satisfied with the existing service providers. The call drop numbers are huge. We hope to garner subscribers with our service quality."

Idea will also set up a 2,086-km optical fibre network.

He added that 12 million of its total 43 million subscribers are in Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

In Tamil Nadu the company will open 60 outlets to roll out its services.

Idea will will invest around Rs.7,500 crore this year to expand its services into new areas, Kapania added.

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Tata GSM will be Tata DOCOMO

The website is live. Check the link below.

This just in. NTT DOCOMO who owns a 26 percent stake in Tata Teleservices have announced a name and branding of Tata’s GSM service. It will be known as Tata DOCOMO and will launch its services in southern India this month. They also have a website which will apparently be accessible after 1PM IST.

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ZTE SDR Multimode Station on Record Sales

A variety of multi-band and multi-standard wireless communications systems can be implemented with SDR technology, such as CDMA2000, GSM/UMTS, TD-SCDMA, LTE and WiMAX. Subscribers benefit from a single platform for multiple technical standards

ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”) announced that its SDR base station recorded a total volume shipment of 107,000 units in less than one year: since its latest product advancement in October 2008 through April 2009. ZTE attributes this business achievement to its strong R&D and the growing popularity of SDR (Soft Defined Radio) technology favored by global operators, including those in fast developing mobile markets such as China and India. A variety of multi-band and multi-standard wireless communications systems can be implemented with SDR technology, such as CDMA2000, GSM/UMTS, TD-SCDMA, LTE and WiMAX. Subscribers benefit from a single platform for multiple technical standards, allowing for customisation and access to a variety of new features with an easy upgrade path. With its SDR platform, ZTE takes the lead in achieving multi-mode or dual-mode network solutions, including GSM/UMTS dual-mode, GSM/UMTS/LTE multi-mode, CDMA/LTE dual-mode and TDD/FDD LTE multi-mode, to name a few. As a socially responsible company, ZTE is committed to providing environmental-friendly solutions to the worldwide market. Its SDR’s low power consumption features offer power efficiency up to 45%, highlighting its leading position in driving green technology development. “Innovation, integration and sustainability, along with cost-effective features, have become the key requirements and trends in the wireless industry,” said Zhao Xianming, Senior Vice President of ZTE Corporation. “To date, ZTE’s SDR wireless platform has experienced tremendous success in the market due to our focus on innovation and high product quality. ZTE’s more than 100,000 SDR base station shipments demonstrate that we have entered the ranks of leading wireless equipment providers in the industry.” In October 2008, ZTE’s SDR products won an InfoVision award at Broadband World Forum (BBWF) Europe 2008 from IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), reinforcing ZTE’s position as a market leader in network innovation. In February 2009 at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, ZTE’s SDR solution was also nominated for GSMA's 14th Global Mobile Awards, representing the only nomination for a Chinese company. ZTE earlier this year partnered with CSL Hong Kong to launch the world’s first SDR-based HSPA+ commercial network with download rates of up to 21Mbps, considered the world’s fastest 3G commercial network ever developed. ZTE helped CSL realized its goal as a four-band GSM / UMTS multi-mode network operator. Through its proven track record, the Company is recognized as a reliable and innovative supplier for global operators and equipment providers in the area of SDR base stations.

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MTNL 3G in Mumbai

Dolphin inaugurates 3G in Mumbai. Service will be Offered Shortly.

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BSNL’s $6-b GSM contract:-Ericsson, Huawei shortlisted

equipment major Ericsson and Chinese manufacturer of telecom gear Huawei have been shortlisted by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd for its mega 93-million-line cellular project. The project size is estimated to be around $6 billion, making it the single largest contract in the world.

While Ericsson has been shortlisted for North and East zones, Huawei has qualified for West, East and South zones. Other bidders, including ZTE, Nokia Siemens and Alcatel Lucent, have been disqualified on technical grounds. Some of the vendors disqualified, including Nokia Siemens, have supplied equipment to BSNL earlier

Quoting prices

With only one vendor having qualified from three zones, the financial bids submitted by the qualified companies may have lost their relevance. Since there is no second qualified bidder in North, West and South, BSNL will have to give the contract at the price quoted by Ericsson and Huawei respectively. The project envisages both GSM and 3G network rollout.

However, BSNL cannot award the contracts immediately since the Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to give its clearance from the security point of view.

The Ministry had raised concerns regarding some of the foreign vendors, especially about Huawei from China. A committee was set up by the Ministry to evaluate the background of the bidders before the contracts are awarded. This committee is yet to submit its report.

Seeking to open bids

Meanwhile, BSNL has written to the Department of Telecom seeking permission to open the bids submitted by Ericsson in the North zone even before the Ministry submits its report.

BSNL has told the DoT that it was facing acute shortage of GSM capacity and since Ericsson was already an established vendor on its network, the contract for the North zone should be awarded to the Swedish company for this region.

The project is part of a major expansion plan aimed at giving BSNL enough capacity to expand its subscriber base. While private operators have been adding over 2.5 million new users a month, BSNL is adding just over a million.

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Mobile TV will do good in Indian Market

Despite regulatory hurdles and spectrum issues, the world of television or TV on mobiles is making a promising start in India with players like UTV and National Geographic channel joining the increasing number of players like Reliance Communications, MTNL and BSNL.

While the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has approved the access of TV on mobiles, service providers still cannot stream live TV channels on to the handset due to spectrum allocation from the Ministry of Information and Broadcast. However, since the regulations do not allow a direct transmission of TV channels, service providers as well as content providers have started using a technology called Unicast which provides content to end-user on a one-on-one basis. One handset pulls content from a central repository and transmits it through a wireless network.

Public service broadcaster Doordarshan currently offers limited mobile TV services in Delhi. However, the market has seen increased activities from various stakeholders including technology providers, network equipment vendors and mobile service providers.

For instance, UTV New Media — the digital arm of UTV — recently announced the launch of a music video channel on Mobile TV. Branded as UTV@play, this will provide users an exclusive mobile channel where they can access videos and music with a click of a button. With a catalogue of 15,000-20,000 songs, UTV with this launch is expecting to garner at lest 10,000 subscribers in the very first year. T N Prabhu, CEO, UTV New Media feels there are users who are interested in such content. “We have seen that users from India stream video’s from International sites. We are sure there is enough users who are looking for such content on the mobile handsets,” said Prabhu. The National Geographic channel, too, has joined the fray by launching Nat Geo Mobile.

With over 300 million mobile phone users in India, and an addition of almost 10 million users every month, mobile TV does hold a promise. Springboard Research, in a recent report, estimates that mobile TV services market in India could reach $360 million (around Rs 1,780 crore). The report says that in the first year of operation, mobile TV could reach a penetration level of 5 to 6 per cent (of the total mobile subscriber base) in India. If taken at the current subscriber base of 375 million, this would mean that India will have over 20 million mobile TV subscribers within the first year of the launch of service.

Reliance Communication, through its R-world has been providing mobile TV for quite some time now. “While its difficult to quantify the number of users, Reliance has revenues in a few lakhs every month through its mobile TV offering. We are currently offering 11 news channel. A user can watch TV on the handset with a lag of a few minutes as they are not transmitted live,” said Krishna Durbha, Head Business and Marketing, VAS Reliance Communications. But he believes that there are still lot of barriers.

Shiva Bayypunedi, director and founder of Apalya Technologies, provides technology support for mobile TV for service providers like MTNL, BSNL, Spice, UTV among others feels that the Indian mobile TV market is still very nascent. “Other than the spectrum issues, constrain in handset, standardisation of technology platform are some of the barriers for the growth of this segment. Moreover, India is still predominantly a prepaid market. In such a scenario getting the volumes is difficult,” adds Bayypunedi.

A Springboard research indicates that 50 per cent of respondents (base of 1,215 users) said they would be very interested in mobile TV, while another 34 per cent said they would be fairly interested in it if it were available and affordable. Besides, a high percentage (86 per cent) of those surveyed said they would be either among the first to try or would definitely try a new service if somebody showed them how to use it.

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Bharti Airtel Planning launch Virtual Phone.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel is planning to launch "Virtual Phones", a technology that allows users to use as many as 10 different numbers from a single phone, reports the Financial Chronicle.

Developed by Bharti-owned Comviva Technologies, the application comes embedded with the SIM card and offers users to "opt" for his number whenever the user requires it. The user group will be password protected with each user having his own password to access his phone. Airtel is reportedly undertaking field trials of the service. Comviva, in co-operation with South African operator MTN, already has the service in South Africa. Airtel expects the technology to be operational in two months time and India might see the first services roll out in the rural areas of the country.

According to Airtel, no other operator in India has a similar technology currently and for the same reason, the implementation of this technology will provide Airtel an early head start in this segment.

The idea is to provide subscribers more value with just a single instrument. While there have been cases of one SIM using two numbers, if Airtel's plans bears fruits, it will be the first time that users will get as many as ten numbers from a single SIM and that too, with just one handset. Singapore's SingTel and UAE's Etisalat already have this system in place where users have been assigned two numbers on the same SIM card.

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Bharti & Alcatel-Lucent in JV

Alcatel-Lucent will hold 74 per cent and Bharti the rest.

Bharti Airtel and Alcatel-Lucent, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of fixed-line phone equipment, announced a joint venture to manage the Indian telecom major’s fixed-line and broadband internet businesses.
Alcatel-Lucent will hold 74 per cent in the venture and Bharti Airtel the remaining equity.
Bharti has also signed a five-year $500 million (about Rs 2,500 crore) managed services deal with the new company for five years.
Apart from managing the broadband and fixed-line network, the joint venture will also install the services in consumer premises and upgrade the network. The joint venture will also offer services such as high-speed internet and video conferencing.
Alcatel Lucent will run the joint venture. The bulk of the 4,000 staffers for the joint venture will come from Bharti Airtel and the rest from Alcatel-Lucent. The joint venture will not, however, entail an asset transfer from Bharti and the subscribers and their revenues will be on Bharti Airtel’s books.
This is the second India deal for Alcatel. Last year, it signed a 70:30 joint venture with Reliance Communications for managed services for CDMA and GSM networks, also a five-year $500 million and for five years.
This is the first joint venture that Bharti has signed for managed services. The telecom company has signed several other multi-million dollar outsourcing contracts with Nokia Siemens, Ericsson and IBM. Explaining the reason for the change Manoj Kohli CEO and joint managing director of Bharti Airtel, said: “Unlike in wireless where you have to just put in a passive network and subscribers can roll in, the broadband business is very different. You have to go to consumer homes, install the equipment, explain how it works and that requires a lot more engagement. We thought for such a business a joint venture would be a more effective structure.”
Kohli added that the deal would help Bharti Airtel save costs but he did not quantify the savings. Bharti has only three million broadband customers and fixed-line customers in 95 cities across India and finds the need to scale up the numbers, if the government's target of 20 million broadband subscribers is to be met by 2010 (India has 6.2 million subscribers).

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MapmyIndia maps now on Garmin GPS device

MapmyIndia maps now available to Garmin GPS device users

Safe and secure travel for Indian and foreign travellers carrying Garmin devices

New Delhi, March 31, 2009: MapmyIndia, India's leading map and GPS navigation services provider, has announced that users of Garmin GPS devices can now install MapmyIndia’s highly detailed and accurate India maps on their devices. With this new development Garmin device users will have access to maps of 202 cities, 130,000 towns and villages, 450,000 point of interests, and navigate to 640,000 unique reachable destinations across India. Garmin device users – especially foreign travellers to India – who have so far been unable to make full use of their GPS devices, can now use MapmyIndia maps to make travel in India, safe, secure and stress free.

With the launch of maps for Garmin devices, MapmyIndia has opened a new market in India for retailing of maps for GPS devices popular in other countries. Till now users could buy GPS devices abroad but these became almost useless because of a lack of exhaustive and accurate maps dataset in India. The availability of MapmyIndia’s maps for Garmin GPS devices provides them the familiarity of the Garmin device interface with India’s most exhaustive navigable GPS data set powering it.

Compatibility
The MapmyIndia maps for Garmin devices are compatible with a range of Garmin devices including Nüvi 2xx, 2xxW, 6xx, 7xx and 13xx series. Visit navigator.mapmyindia.com/garmin_mmi_map_offer.html for a complete listing. The maps are available on an SD card and incorporate technology provided by Garmin, to fully integrate with the Garmin device and give users the best GPS navigation experience.

“With the growth in demand for MapmyIndia Navigators we also received queries from users of other GPS devices. They were interested in knowing if, and when, they would be able to use MapmyIndia maps on their devices. There were similar queries from foreign travellers – both business travellers and tourists – who could not use fully utilize their Garmin devices in India because of lack of good quality digital maps. Therefore, it was natural for MapmyIndia to make available the India maps for other devices, starting with Garmin devices,” says Rakesh Verma, Managing Director, MapmyIndia.

Price and availability
The MapmyIndia maps for Garmin devices are available at INR 7000 (MRP). The maps can be bought online at navigator.mapmyindia.com/buy.html#anc_buy_garmin. MapmyIndia customer care will take users through the process of installing MapmyIndia maps on their devices.

Garmin compatible devices that can use MapmyIndia maps
nüvi 200, nüvi 200W, nüvi 250, nüvi 250W, nüvi 260, nüvi 260W, nüvi 270, nüvi 215T, nüvi 215W, nüvi 255, nüvi 255W, nüvi 265, nüvi 265T, nüvi 265WT, nüvi 275T, nüvi 300, nüvi 310T, nüvi 710, nüvi 760, nüvi 770, nüvi 765T, nüvi 775T, nüvi 860, nüvi 865T, nüvi 5000, nüvi 205, nüvi 205W, GVN 53, nüvi 755T, nüvi 785T, nüvi 1300, nüvi 1350, nüvi 1370T, nüvi 1390T, nüvi 1200, nüvi 1250, nüvi 1260T, nüvi 855, nüvi 885T, nüvi 215, nüvi 215W, nüvi 350, nüvi 360, nüvi 370, nüvi 600, nüvi 610, nüvi 650, nüvi 660, nüvi 670, nüvi 680, nüvi 750, nüvi 780, nüvi 850, nüvi 880, nüvi 550, nüvi 500.

About MapmyIndia
MapmyIndia (CE Info Systems (P) Ltd.), a New Delhi-based ISO 9001-2000 Company founded in 1992, is India's leader in premium quality digital map data and consumer navigation services. Since 1994, through continuous field surveys and state-of-the-art mapping technology, the company has built its proprietary MapmyIndia Maps, the most comprehensive, accurate, robust and reliable navigable map dataset for all India. MapmyIndia is driving the Indian navigation industry by providing internet, mobile and in-car navigation products to end consumers directly as well as in partnership with leading international and national players. The company has been providing GIS based enterprise solutions to over 500 leading corporate and government organizations in every vertical. In 2004, MapmyIndia was short listed by NASSCOM as a showcase company for IT innovation in India. Most recently, MapmyIndia's Managing Director was elected by GPS Business News as the "World's GPS Businessman for the year 2007" for driving the navigation industry in India.

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Everest soon in mobile coverage.

Thursday, April 23, 2009: The world's highest mountain peak will soon be getting cell phone service with Nepal Telecom (NT) announcing plans to install a satellite antenna in Gorak Shep, located at an altitude of 5,160 metres. Nepal Telecom will be providing both GSM and CDMA handsets with cell reception on Mt. Everest starting in June.

Anoop Ranjan Bhattarai, chief, satellite division, Nepal Telecom, told myrepublica.com, "We are planning to commence the service by mid-June this year. We hope it will provide an alternative to those currently relying on satellite phone services such as the one provided by Thuraya."

NT has installed satellite antennas in around seven locations in the Mt Everest region, including Lukla and Namche Bazar, located at 2,800 metres and 3,440 metres above sea level, respectively. "All these antennas can smoothly handle around 3,000 calls at once. But we will increase the number of terminals depending on the traffic in the region," said NT.

Nepal Telecom currently has around 2.8 million cellphone subscribers across the country.

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Huawei Jumping Frog

Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is on course to break into the top-four telecom equipment vendor ranking this year, and may even leapfrog its way into second place in the revenues table if it meets its targets and other vendors suffer from the economic downturn.

Huawei today unveiled its annual report for 2008, which includes its audited financial figures. According to the vendor, it generated revenues of $18.33 billion last year, and net income of $1.15 billion. (See Huawei Reports 2008 Revenues of $18.3B.)

In the telecom vendor league table, that puts Huawei in fifth position, which is where it was last year too: In fact, the 2008 vendor ranking order hasn't changed year-on-year.

Table 1: How Huawei Stacks Up Against Other Vendors

	2008 revenues in US$*	2008 revenues in local currency
Cisco**	$39.5 billion	Not applicable
Ericsson	$24.47 billion	208.9 billion Swedish kronor
Alcatel-Lucent	$21.97 billion	€17 billion
Nokia Siemens Networks	$19.78 billion	€15.3 billion
Huawei	$18.33 billion	125 billion Chinese Yuan Renminbi
Nortel Networks	$10.4 billion	Not applicable
ZTE	$6.49 billion	44.3 billion Chinese Yuan Renminbi
* Converted at exchange rates sourced on April 22, 2009 ** Revenues for Cisco from most recent full fiscal year ending July 26, 2008

What has changed, though, is how close Huawei is to the leading pack: Check out this Light Reading story from last year to see how far behind Huawei was lagging in 2007.

Now, though, the Chinese giant is breathing down the neck of Nokia Siemens Networks , and, if Huawei can maintain its momentum and convert contract wins into revenues in the same manner as it has done for the past two years, it could find itself much higher up the ranking for 2009.

With so much 3G rollout business to be won in China this year, and with its feet firmly embedded in many of the markets that are still growing despite the global economic mess, Huawei has estimated that the value of its 2009 contract sales -- quite different from reported revenues -- will be $30 billion. (See Huawei Predicts 29% Growth in 2009.)

As one of the tables in our story on Huawei's reported 2008 revenues shows, the ratio of actual revenues to contract sales has averaged at 78.6 percent during the past two years. If it can maintain that ratio and hit its contract sales target of $30 billion (and Huawei has a history of achieving, and often exceeding, its targets), it's on course to generate revenues of $23.6 billion this year.

Given the forecasts that have been made by the likes of Nokia Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), and Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) during the past few months, it's just possible that Huawei, in terms of revenues expressed in U.S. dollars, could climb the vendor ranking table all the way to second place, with only Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) to catch.

It could even be argued that with Cisco's enterprise customers generating a sizeable portion of its sales, Huawei might even be on course to be the largest supplier of equipment and services to the telecom operator community this year.

That's only a possibility, of course. Currency exchange fluctuations and any number of other factors, including the performance of Huawei's chief rivals and even potential acquisitions, could still leave it chasing the pack by the end of this year. What's clear, though, is that Huawei has joined the elite club of major vendors, and its aggression and international aspirations are likely to keep it there. (See NSN Linked to Nortel Asset Bid.)

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3.1 Mbps Wireless internet options (Mumbai)

Two Options:-

1)Reliance Netconnect Broadband⁺

Features - Get the Reliance Netconnect Broadband⁺ advantage:-

Wireless Broadband for laptop & desktop

20 times faster with speed upto 3.1Mbps in Reliance Broadband + Network.

Fastest uploads at a speed of upto 1.8 Mbps

Downward compatible with Reliance High Speed 1X network to ensure seamless connectivity across 20000 towns & 4.5 lakh villages, as well as along major highways, railway routes, airport lounges and remote locations in India

Optimized for running rich media / heavy applications such as video conferencing, video streaming, electronic surveillance, online multiplayer gaming and heavy file transfers.

Simply plug & play

Broadband tariff Plans

Plan Name Monthly Rental Bundled Usage Usage Charges beyond Free Usage Roaming Pay As you Go Rs. 299/- Nil Rs. 2/- per MB Nationwide* Unlimited@Night Rs. 499/- Unlimited*** Night 50 paise per minute during day (between 6 AM – 10 PM) Nationwide Broadband+ 1 GB Plan Rs. 650/- 1 GB Rs. 2/- per MB Nationwide Broadband+ 2.5 GB Plan Rs. 850/- 2.5 GB Rs. 2/- per MB Nationwide Broadband+ 5 GB Plan Rs. 1099/- 5 GB Rs. 2/- per MB Nationwide Broadband+ Citywide Unlimited Plan Rs. 1099/- Unlimited*** Rs. 2/- per MB Citywide Broadband+ Unlimited Plan Rs. 1750/- Unlimited*** Rs. 2/- per MB Nationwide Unlimited Night Add-on Pack** Rs. 199/- Unlimited*** Night NA Nationwide

* Nationwide coverage will ensure Reliance Netconnect Broadband+ coverage in 35 major cities and seamless integration with High Speed 1X for National coverage.
** Unlimited Night Add-on Pack (applicable on Pay As You Go, Broadband+ 1 GB, 2.5GB, 5GB Plan). It cannot be used as a standalone pack. Add-on pack will be available from 01-05-2009
*** Unlimited usage plans will have a fair usage policy of 10 GB/month. Beyond which the customer will be charged at Rs. 2/- per MB.

2) TATA Photon+

Tata Indicom introduces Photon+, its new Wireless Broadband Service. Photon+ - the next generation technology offers a great wireless internet connectivity solution. With Tata Indicom’s Photon+ you now have access to the internet at never before speeds

The new USB Modem enables you to experience Tata Indicom’s Photon+ service from wherever you are. So now go ahead and subscribe to this innovative new service from Tata Indicom along with the new USB Modem & enjoy a truly world class, first of its kind internet experience.

Never before speeds:
With Tata Indicom’s Photon+ - Wireless Broadband Service you now have access to internet at super fast speeds using the new USB modem.

Internet on the go:
With the new USB Modem you also now have the convenience of being able to access Tata Indicom’s Photon+ service (Wireless Broadband Service) from wherever you are.

Plug and Play:
All you now need to do is just plug the USB Modem into your Laptop/Desktop PC and you are ready to access a whole new world of High speed internet connectivity.

Style statement:
With Tata Indicom’s new sleek and stylish USB Modem , you are now completely free from wires.

USB interface:
With the USB port interface you can now simply plug the USB Modem device into either a Laptop or your Desktop PC & get ready to access high speed internet connectivity.

Tata Indicom's Photon+ - Wireless Broadband Service can be accessed only in those areas where Tata Indicom has Photon+ service coverage.

Tariff Details

Available in Mumbai

Plan Name	Monthly Rental	Free Usage	Additional Usage Charges
Pay as you Surf	299	NIL	Rs 2/MB
Get Started 400	400	150 MB	Rs 2/MB
Night Surf *	499	Night Unlimited** 10pm – 7am	Rs 2/MB 7am – 10pm
Photon+ 1	650	1 GB	Rs 2/MB
Photon+ 2.5*	850	2.5 GB	Rs 2/MB
Freedom Plan*	1250	Unlimited**	Rs 2/MB

Add On Pack Details

Plan Name	Monthly Rental	Free Usage	Additional Usage
High Speed - Night Unlimited Add on Pack	Rs.199	Unlimited Usage between 10pm to 7am*	Rs.2/Per MB (7am – 10 pm)

Terms and Conditions:

• As per fair usage policy, 10 GB free usage will be available in Freedom plan, Night Unlimited plan(10pm to 7am) and Night Surf Add on pack(10pm to 7am). Usage above 10 GB would be charged at Rs.2 per MB
• Night Surf add-on pack will be applicable on all plans except Pay As You Surf plan, Night Surf & Freedom Plan

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Mobile numbers 10 to 11 digits

With phone operators expected to run out of 10-digit mobile numbers soon, the Department of Telecom (DoT) is now considering an 11-digit numbering system.

"With so many telecom service providers and a growing customer base, the need for new numbers and their consequent shortage will be felt soon," a senior telecom official, who did not want to be identified, told IANS Saturday.

India has reportedly added 10.81 million mobile subscribers in December 2008.

"The TEC (Telecom Engineering Centre, DoT's technical arm) has recommended the new numbering plan that has been forwarded to the government for the final decision," the official said.

The telecom department had come up with a 30-year numbering plan in 2003 but the fast growth in the telecom subscriber base has forced the authority to relook into its policy and consider 11-digit numbering system.

"The infrastructure is ready and this should be implemented within two years," the official said.

Telecom operators said the new policy would not cause any technical problems.

"With such a robust growth, we would require new (number) series very soon. There would be no technical issues as such but the customers may have to face some problems initially," Aircel chief operating officer Gurdeep Singh told IANS.

Every telecom operator is allocated a series of mobile numbers on requirement basis - for six months or a year depending on the customer base it has.

"The change, however, will be in the software only and it will not take more than a month to upgrade the changes," the telecom official said.

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RCOM Mumbai Fight

Mumbai, Jan 4 Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications on Sunday announced the launch of its GSM services in Mumbai.

This follows the launch of its countrywide GSM services, across 11,000 towns, on December 30, 2009.

Along with the Mumbai launch, R-Com also announced a Customer Experience Programme that offers up to 100 per cent savings to sub-Rs 300 ARPU mobile customers in the city of Mumbai at a one-time subscription charge (including GSM SIM) of Rs 25, said a press release issued by the company.

According to the plan, customers will get Rs 900 minutes of talk time on local calls and SMS to any network that can be accrued by Reliance Mobile GSM customers in daily tranches of Rs 10 spread over 90 days.

In addition, customers choosing the CEP can make unlimited calls between 11 pm to 6am to any Reliance numbers in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa. The sub-Rs 300 ARPU segment is the largest and fastest segment of mobile subscribes in the country, said the press release.

The release also quoted Mr Dinesh Gulati Regional Head (West), Reliance Communications, as saying, “The Customer Experience Programme, Reliance Mobile GSM’s first offering, is in line with Reliance Communications’ Philosophy of making world-class telephony services accessible and affordable to the masses.”

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RCOM`S GSM

Roll-out done 6 months ahead of schedule.

– Paul Noronha

New service: Mr Anil Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Communications, addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday.The company announced the launch of its nationwide enhanced GSM service, which will cover 11,000 towns across the country (Report on Page 4).

Our Bureau

Mumbai, Dec. 30 The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications on Tuesday announced the launch of its nationwide enhanced GSM service.

It will cover 11,000 towns across the country in the initial stage and will span across the nation within a few months. “Starting tomorrow, our GSM service will be available in 11,000 towns in India. We will be doubling it in next few months to over 24,000 towns and six lakh villages. Our GSM service will cover all railway routes and national and state highways,” said Mr Anil Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Communications.

Reliance Communication has spent Rs 10,000 crore for the rollout of the nationwide network of the GSM service. Mr Ambani said the company would spend a few thousand crore more as the incremental investment into the venture. He said that the company’s GSM rollout project is six months ahead of its schedule. “Reliance completes in 15 months what other operators have taken 15 years to complete,” he said.

Wider range

With the launch of its enhanced GSM service, Reliance’s customers will be able to use the widest range of 300 handsets and devices, according to Mr Ambani. “Through our global partnership on both CDMA and GSM services, our customers will now able to roam on more networks globally in more than 200 countries,” he said.

R-Com, which already possesses the nation’s largest CDMA network, will now have a nationwide GSM network also. Mr Ambani hinted at aggressive marketing initiatives on the back of two strong networks. “Through our nationwide GSM launch coupled with our continued focus on CDMA network, we will endeavour to rewrite the rules of the industry,” he said. He made it clear that the two technology platforms will be under an integrated brand.

Mr Ambani did not give details about the call rates and price range of the handsets. “This will be announced in next few days,” he said.

The company also plans to launch its GSM services in Sri Lanka and Uganda, where it has recently obtained licences to operate mobile services.

Orders for handsets

The company sources said that RCom is placing orders with LG, Samsung and Motorola for GSM technology handsets. The entire order is estimated to be worth $ 770 million. “The company is expected to order approximately 7 million handsets from these handset manufacturers. The average cost of each handset will be around Rs 4,000 per piece,” said sources.

On the company’s plans to enter the 3G space, Mr Ambani said the company was looking forward to participating in the 3G bandwidth auction. It plans an investment of between Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 crore for its foray into 3G services.

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New Year may make cheap calling.

Cheaper calls

TRAI indicates that mobile termination charges could be 13 paise a minute compared with 30 paise now

Carriage charges can be as low as 16 paise for each minute compared with 65 paise now

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New Delhi, Dec 31 If the telecom regulator’s proposal to bring down various charges payable between operators goes through, mobile tariffs could come down by 20-30 per cent in the New Year.

In a consultation paper issued to review the interconnection usage charges (IUC), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has indicated that mobile termination charges could be as low as 13 paise a minute compared to the existing rate of 30 paise a minute. Termination charges are paid by the operators on whose network the call originates to the operator on whose network the call ends.

This means that if a mobile user is currently paying Re 1 per minute for making a local call, he may be able to make the same call at 80 paise a minute.

Mobile users could get further discounts on long distance calls as the regulator has also proposed to reduce the ceiling charges for carriage from the current level of 65 paise a minute. TRAI said that carriage charges can be as low as 16 paise for each minute. Carriage charges are paid by cellular and fixed line service providers to long distance telephone operators.

New players may gain

New players stand to gain if the proposals go through as their pay out in the form of termination charges to existing players will come down substantially. This is expected to be passed on to the subscribers.

Mr Rajiv Mehrotra, Chairman, Shyam Group, said, “TRAI should bring the mobile termination rates to 9 paise a minute. If these charges are lowered then local calls rates will come down to lower than 50 paise a minute.” Shyam is one of the new players, which has partnered with Russian conglomerate Sistema to offer CDMA based mobile services across the country. Other new players include Swan Telecom, Unitech, Datacom and Loop Telecom.

Existing CDMA based mobile operators said that a reduction in termination charges will bring down tariffs. Both Reliance Communication and Tata Teleservices are practically new players in the GSM segment and could gain if the regulator decides on a lower charge.

Mr S.C. Khanna, Secretary General, Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India, said, “A reduction in termination rates will encourage new players. It will also benefit the customers as the new operators will be able to offer tariffs that are substantially lower than the existing charges.”

Revenue loss

However, pan-Indian GSM operators who have a large customer base, will stand to lose on revenues earned from collecting the termination fee. “If international methods are adopted then it would not come down to the levels as is being proposed by the regulator,” said a Cellular Operators Association of India executive.

Going by the division in the industry over the proposal, the telecom regulator will have to do a balancing act.

While TRAI has indicated a lower charge for both carriage and termination charges, the regulator has also given a higher value in the consultation paper.

For example in the case of mobile termination charges, the TRAI has indicated that it could be 28 paise a minute in which case there will be no impact on the tariffs at all. TRAI said that the proposed charges are only indicative.

“The preliminary estimates of ranges in termination and carriage charges are only indicative as the Authority would make appropriate analysis after the methodology and various inputs going into the methodology are firmed up,” TRAI said in a release.

A final decision is expected by March 31, 2009 after taking inputs from the industry. Fixed line subscribers could also benefit as the regulator has indicated that the termination charges for fixed line services could also come down to 19 paise a minute from 30 paise.

But such a move will impact state owned BSNL’s revenues since it will receive lower charges from private operators who terminate their call to any of the PSU’s 35 million fixed line telephone users.

Source:- HBL

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4G Coming in New Year

Verizon CTO heard saying LTE technology to be up and running by "this time next year"

The just demoed LTE technology seems to be hot and happening with folks at Verizon who are sounding upbeat about implementing it very soon.

Verizon's chief technology officer Dick Lynch was overheard saying that he expects LTE technology to be up and running by "this time next year". The comment came during an informal meet with reporters covering Cisco's C-scape conference held earlier this week, according to Ars Technica.

Mass deployment of LTE networks was not a priority until now for most wireless carriers owing to the fact that consumers were still unhappy with the existing 3G coverage. A jump to an entirely new platform, especially after investing lot of dough building up the existing 3G infrastructure might have not made sense. However, that sentiment seems to be weakening by the day.

While carriers themselves had predicted an expected 2010 to 2012 deployment of LTE, the pace seems to have gotten much faster. Additionally, with constant improvements with LTE chips it is possible that you will see LTE networks seeing the light of the day sooner than you expected.

As for India, we do have some happy news in the form of the 3G launch which finally happened at Delhi with MTNL offering users an initial look at the service. For the uninitiated, LTE is unofficially termed a 4G technology!

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3G Spectrum Allocation Details

The stage is all set for Indian Telcos to fight it out in one of the fiercest battles for 3G spectrum. The day - 16th of January. Yes, the Indian Govt. has officially declared the details of the much awaited 3G auction. Here’s how the timeline looks like:

• 23rd Dec: Pre-Bid Conference
• 5th Jan: All applications to be submitted by this day
• 9th Jan: Declaration of the eligible Telcos
• 12-13th Jan - Mock Auction
• 16th Jan - The Day

From a capacity standpoint, reports of inadequate room for all players holds true, with space for only about 2-4 players available in each circle. Given below is the availability in some circles:

• Delhi: 2 players
• Mumbai: 4 players or more
• Himachal: 3 players
• Gujarat: 3 players
• UP: 2 players
• West Bengal: 1 player

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BSNL Early on 3G.

State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) Monday reaffirmed its decision to launch third generation (3G) in Chennai in January.

The public sector undertaking has already received a licence and spectrum rights to roll out 3G services in most parts of the country as it is one of the two state-run phone companies and is given preference over private firms in offering new technologies.

However, the telecom operator has to pay the same fees as private operators who eventually win the right to offer a service.

"We will start our rollout of 3G services from Chennai in January," BSNL director (finance) S.D. Saxena told IANS.

3G entails higher expenses for telecom operators, but Saxena said efforts would be taken not to burden the customer.

"Affordability is going to be a major concern but we will offer a number of schemes to ease the burden," he said.

Referring to the 93 million lines tender floated a few months back, he said, "We will take more time to announce the results as the evaluation is still going on."

While the slowdown has affected most parts of the economy, Saxena said the telecom sector, and "especially" BSNL, has been isolated from its repercussions.

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