Arun

Economic Times 11 Dec, 2007 - Mumbai Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications has been adjudged the world's top CDMA operator at the Global CDMA Industry Achievement Awards. The company has won the award under the 'Operator Leadership' category for having demonstrated leadership in the wireless community through the expansion of 3G CDMA system deployments and the unique implementation of 3G CDMA technologies in a specific market, a release issued by the company here today stated. An official communique from the CDMA Development Group (CDG) said: "Reliance Communications is the fastest-growing CDMA operator in the Asia-Pacific region that has deployed one of the largest all-IP networks in the world to serve more than 25 per cent of India's mobile market share." "Reliance is a leader in network coverage, overall call quality and customer service in India," it added. CDG announced the recipients of the 2007 3G CDMA Industry Achievements Awards, at a reception jointly hosted by the CDG and the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) in Hong Kong on December 4. Reliance Communications' Head (Branding & Marketing) Sanjay Behl said "we are pleased to receive this honour from such a reputed body... Reliance has always been innovating with its service offerings to enhance customer experience and this award motivates us further to explore new and innovative ways of implementing wireless technologies."

PM steps in battle for telecom giants for spectrum CNN-IBN - Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007 The multi-crore telecom spectrum battle between India's corporate giants has taken a new turn with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervening in the ongoing allocation war. On Wednesday, Singh said that spectrum should be allocated in a manner that there is no entry barrier for new comers. At the same time no hindrance should be created for existing CDMA players. Prime Minister also clearly batted for auctioning for spectrum allocation saying it’s a medium of revenue generation for the government. “The policy regime for making spectrum available should be transparent and equitable. It should not create entry barriers to the new comers or barriers to the continued growth of this important sector,” Singh said. However, he expressed concern saying that the spectrum availability can be constrain for the growth of telecom sector in future. Prime Minister said that the government has taken steps for vacating airwaves by the existing users. He asked all the spectrum users to use this scare resource optimally "all technological options must be explored to maximise its utilisation." The Department of Telecom (DoT) and the regulator have successfully enabled the rapid growth of this sector Singh said adding, "I believe that working closely with the independent statutory regulator, we can balance multiple objectives in a fair manner." So far the DoT has not allowed spectrum to be auctioned, a decision, which has made GSM players in particular very upset. The allocation of spectrum has pitted India's largest corporates against each other. On one side is the Anil Ambani owned Reliance Communication and on the other side are Sunil Mittal controlled Airtel and Ratan Tats'a Tata Indicom. Demonstrating the divide among GSM mobile players for acquiring additional spectrum, AV Birla group firm Idea Cellular Ltd on Tuesday offered to pay Rs 1,650 crore for extra airwaves -- a sum that is far less than that proposed by bigger GSM operator Bharti Airtel. In an offer made to the government, Idea Cellular sought additional 4.4 Mhz start-up spectrum that is equal to the "de-facto second licence" to rival CDMA operators. Although Idea did not name any competitor, Anil Ambani-led CDMA player Reliance Communications has paid Rs 1,651 crore and has been allowed to start GSM services in 14 telecom circles.

using keyloggers or phishing sites to steal passwords comes under "social engineering/hacking", not really black hat / white hat hacking.

If you give the required documents, they might give the item back to you for no extra charges. I had to pay about 50% of the item cost to get it back, when an an electronic item was similarly held by the Customs Office in Cochin some time ago.

along with some political support too... 19 MPs seek PM's intervention on spectrum issue Press Trust of India - 6th December, 2007 Pressure is mounting on GSM mobile operators to return "surplus" spectrum, with several lawmakers belonging to various political parties now seeking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to ensure that these airwaves are given to players waiting to start services. "For the sake of fair competition, consumer benefit in terms of lower tariff and better services, it is imperative that the government allows new players in the cellular mobile sector," a letter signed by 19 Members of Parliament said. The MPs include N Y Hanumanthappa, D Narbulla and D Vittalrau (Congress), A V Bellarmin (CPM), M Appadurai (CPI) and Gingee N Ramachandran (MDMK) among others. The parliamentarians have supported the recommendations of Telecom Engineering Centre and regulator TRAI, saying their technical capabilities are second to none. The main GSM operators have questioned these recommendations for the sole purpose of retaining their hegemony, they said. According to them, the dominant GSM players have cornered 10 MHz of spectrum across all circles. "This is in clear violation of licensing conditions which stipulate that each operator is entitled to get only 6.2 MHz of spectrum." These firms have hoarded frequency and it is estimated they have close to 60 MHz with them illegally. The government must order a CBI enquiry to fix responsibility and bring the culprits to book for obtaining this illegal allocation and consequent revenue loss to the exchequer, the MPs said. The GSM players, led by Bharti Airtel, and CDMA companies -- mainly Reliance Communications -- have been slugging out in public about their claims on spectrum. The GSM operators have said they have only 25 MHz of airwaves, while CDMA players claim these companies have 60 MHz excess spectrum. Chandrababu Naidu joins spectrum war, writes to Prime Minister for GSM spectrum return Times News Network - 6th Dec 2007 Chandrababu Naidu is also contributing to the steady stream of letters to the PM on spectrum. The president of the TDP, in his second letter on the subject to the PM, dated December 4, says he has discovered "certain new facts which need to be considered as the government makes its policy decisions, in the interest of the telecom sector". The letter lists nine points, all representing the views already stated by the country's CDMA players. Naidu believes that GSM players should accept the tightened subscriber-linked spectrum norms prescribed by the TEC, as even the TEC criteria needs to be further tightened by 3 to 4 times. He points out that a "dominant GSM operator added over 50 million subscribers in the last 18 months without additional spectrum. It meant they not only had enough spectrum to manage the existing operations but also some excess spectrum, which they should be asked to surrender". Naidu said he was compelled to write to Singh after watching alarming developments in the telecom sector. "I have been a storng proponent of using technology to overcome hurdles in the shortest possible time frame and I am of firm belief that through use of technology, India can deliver econopmic benefits faster and to cross sections of our society," he said. One of the shining examples of India's technology-led sector has been telecommunications. It not only serves as a vital backbone for India's IT industry, but has created millions of jobs and connected the length and breadth of India, including remotest parts, he added.

After seeking the surrender of spectrum, Reliance Communications (RCom) Chairman Anil Ambani is seeking installation of frequency-efficient technologies such as synchronised network and FemtoCells that can be used at no additional cost. Ambani listed seven technologies to improve mobile network efficiency in the country. In a presentation to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ambani said that in synchronised network the towers were synchronised using global positioning system or suite. This technology helps in improving radio network capacity by 20 per cent. Another technology suggested by Ambani is the dynamic frequency & channel allocation (DFCA), which eliminates possible frequency collision. Usually, the frequencies used by two network nodes may cause interference to each other when the two nodes move too close. To avoid this, there is a need to dynamically assign frequencies to network nodes. According to Ambani, DFCA enhances radio network capacity by 60-90 per cent. Ambani further suggested the installation of 6-sector base transceiver station (BTS) in place of the present 3-sector BTS. The 6-sector BTS, an emerging technology for towers, doubles the capacity of 3-sector BTS in the spectrum. Stating that this system nearly doubles network capacity, Ambani added that the group operated 200 6-sector sites through Reliance Communications (CDMA) and Reliance Telecom (GSM) services in the country. Vodafone used this system in Hyderabad, informed Ambani. The fourth technology Ambani advocated for adoption is adaptive modulation rate (AMR). This technology increases network capacity by 150 per cent at no additional cost. Even though, networks in the country are not AMR-compliant, the handsets being launched after 2003 are AMR-enabled. At present, there are over 110 million AMR-enabled handsets in use in the country. Single antenna interference cancellation (SAIC) is another technology suggested by Ambani. This technology cancels or suppresses interference by means of signal processing without multiple antenna. Ambani stated in his presentation that SAIC handsets were available in the market since 2004 and majority of Nokia phones were compatible with this technology. Nokia has a market share of 70 per cent in the country, and it would not be difficult for service providers to implement this technology. FemtoCells, a new technology that boosts indoor coverage of mobile phone networks, thus reducing call drops and signal failures – is another technology suggested by Ambani. The technology also improves spectral efficiency by releasing BTS capacity for outdoor use. Over 100 million FemtoCells are expected to be operational by 2011. Ambani has also suggested use of In Building Solutions such as splitters and couplers, radio frequency feeder and indoor base stations to help in saving spectrum. He also quoted a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) survey which stated that 70 per cent of calls in a cellular network were in-building calls. Seven technologies to save spectrum Synchronised Network Dynamic Frequency & Channel Allocation (DFCA) 6-sector towers Adaptive Modulation Rate (AMR) Single Antenna Interference Cancellation (SAIC) FemtoCells In Building Solutions

Business Standard Mumbai December 5, 2007 The stalemate on spectrum allocation not withstanding, Reliance Communications is planning to provide on-network calls that straddle its CDMA and GSM technologies. The move is expected to be beneficial to the company’s 5.4 million subscribers, who would be able to make calls at a cheaper rate. Even though all operators provide on-network services, Reliance Communications will become the first company to provide it across the two technologies. On-network calls are those that originate and terminate on a company’s own network, and these services are offered at lower than normal call rates. This is because the operator does not have to pay handover (exchange of calls between one operator to another) and termination charges to another operator. “Reliance Communications is close to rolling out on-network services in circles where it provides both CDMA and GSM technologies. The technology is available and the company is in advanced stages of finalising the tariffs, with an announcement expected by the end of this month,” a source close to the development said. Reliance Communications is a CDMA service provider with around 3.3 crore subscribers and operations in all the 22 circles in the country. The company through its subsidiary Reliance Telecom also provides GSM services in eight circles - Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Kolkata, the north east, Assam and Bihar. When contacted a Reliance Communications spokesperson declined to comment on the development. At present, the company offers CDMA services in most of the GSM circles it has operations in and services over 5.4 million customers. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recently permitted usage of dual technology for providing telephony services in the country. Meanwhile, Reliance Communications is planning to place an order for 70 million GSM lines that is valued at up to $5.6 billion. The order is likely to be placed sometime next year. Reliance Communications is in talks with Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Motorola for the order.

Reliance Telecom (GSM) was a member of COAI until September 2007 after it disagreed with the legal notice that COAI has served to the Department of Telecom and disassociated itself from COAI. Reliance Telecom seems to be listed under AUSPI ( http://www.auspi.in/members-profile.asp ) along with Reliance Communications now.

more tie-ups for GSM ! Reliance invests in E-Band Communications EE Times (12/04/2007 11:15 AM EST) BENGALURU, India — Reliance Technology Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Mumbai-based Reliance ADA Group, has invested an undisclosed amount in E-Band Communications, a San Diego-based designer and manufacturer of multigigabit wireless communication systems. The Reliance funds are part of a Series B funding round for E-Band, which builds wireless equipment for the 71- to 86-GHz millimeter wave band. Other investors includes an undisclosed U.S. telecom company, Investec and Hercules Technology Growth Capital. "E-Band provides wireless last-mile access and backhaul, which is complementary to 4G, WiMax, distributed antenna systems and remote radio heads," said Harshal J. Shah, chief executive of Reliance Technology Ventures Ltd. Another Reliance company, Reliance Communications, is India's largest CDMA-based wireless phone services provider. It is now moving into GSM-based services, hence the E-Band investment may be linked to Reliance Communications' plans. Reliance said E-Band's technology enables wireless transmission speeds up to 10 gigabits per second. E-Band has a license to co-develop communication systems around the 71 to 86 GHz millimeter-wave radio technology along with Northrop Grumman Corp. Just noticed this job ad posting by Reliance Communications: http://jobs.monsterindia.com/details/4570831.html GSM/GPRS/UMTS Handset Testers posted right after they paid the GSM license fee !

formatting is fine, its the plans that are horrible

Times News Network 4 Dec, 2007, 0216 hrs IST Even as the rollout of third generation services on mobile phones remains stuck due to the spectrum row, Korean IT & telecom major SK c&c has initiated discussions with RCOM for providing value-added services on the 3G platform. “We are in an advanced stage of talks with the Anil Ambani group company and hope to finalise the deal very soon as there is interest from both sides,” a S K c&c official said. Confirming the development, company’s president and CEO S K Yoon said that as the company has expertise in providing services on the CDMA platform and they are interested in leveraging upon the same in India. Back home in Korea, SK c&c provides value-added 3G services using the CDMA technology. When contacted, an RCOM spokesperson declined to comment. However, officials of S K telecom said that the company is also discussing the possibility of a tie-up for offering IPTV services. This is despite RCOM’s tie up with Microsoft for roll-out of internet TV by March next year. S K c&c is part of the SK Group of companies and is presently in the process of charting out aggressive India entry plans, which may include possible take-overs. The company has formed a three-pronged strategy to take on the Indian market. In the first phase, the company plans to source expertise from the Indian players through partnerships and alliances. It also plans to hire around 1,200 consultants between India and China. Most of the appointments are expected from the Indian sub-continent as India looks more promising than China, said Mr Yoon. In the second phase, it plans to have equity partnerships including joint ventures, while the plan for third phase includes introduction of as many as 230 value-added services for which talks are on with leading telcos in the country.

Rediff.com November 27, 2007 16:33 IST Just give a second thought before you perch the laptop on your lap -- it can affect your fertility. Researchers in the United States have carried out a study and found that the heat generated by the laptops raises the risk of infertility in men who balance the machines on their lap, the WebMD reported. "Working on laptop computers in a laptop position causes significant scrotal temperature elevation as a result of heat exposure and posture-related effects," says lead researcher Prof Yefim Sheynkin. Prof Sheynkin and his fellow researchers at the State University of New York came to the conclusion after studying 29 healthy young men, aged between 21 and 35, for two one-hour sessions in a climate-controlled room. Participants were all similarly dressed in casual wears. After having their body temperature taken and standing in the room for 15 minutes to adjust to the room's internal temperature, they sat down and were given working and non-working laptop computers. The men balanced the computers on their laps. The researchers then removed the nonworking computers, instructing the participants to hold the position for the rest of the session. Participants with working laptop computers kept the computers in place throughout the session. The men's scrotal temperature was recorded every three minutes. The temperature on the bottom of the working laptops was also monitored. According to their findings, scrotal temperature rose with the working and non-working computers. The working ones prompted a greater increase in scrotal temperature -- around 2.7 degrees Celsius -- enough to cause infertility.

The "View New Posts" link will list all the topics which have been updated (with replies) since your last visit to the forum, and not from the "last 00.00 to till time before". May I know how you have searched for this week's posts ? Was it using the Search page ? What were the keywords and options selected when searching ? There wasn't any change in the mode recently. You can try clearing the cookies using the link mentioned in the forum main page (see attachment for exact location) and removing cookies through your browser will also help reset such issues.

GSM players pulling up a rip-off: Anil Ambani Business Standard New Delhi November 26, 2007 In a scathing attack on GSM players, Reliance Communications Chairman Anil Ambani has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh questioning how there can be a net increase in GSM subscribers month on month if there is an acute shortage of spectrum. In his letter dated October 19, Ambani points out that while the top three GSM players — Bharti, Vodafone-Essar and Idea Cellular — have acquired an additional 52 million subscribers in the past few years without allocation of any additional spectrum, something they have constantly told the government that they do not have sufficiently. “If there was no spectrum, how did they add 25% to the current subscriber base,” he asks in the letter. GSM operators have been adding four to five million subscribers every month for the past many months even as the spectrum shortage issue has been boiling. Cellular Operators association of India director general T V Ramachandran, however, declined to comment on the points raised by Ambani. Ambani has also demanded that Bharti, Vodafone-Essar and Idea Cellular should return an aggregate of 50 MHz-plus of spectrum which they have preemptively taken in excess of their entitlement or make appropriate payments to the government for the scarce resource. Under the licence agreement, the government is contractually obliged to give up to 6.2 MHz of spectrum to a new operator per circle. However, all these players have received spectrum much beyond the figure in various circles. Ambani has also voluntarily agreed to return spectrum that Reliance Telecom, which operates GSM services in seven circles, holds in excess of 6.2 MHz (Bihar circle). Ambani has suggested that this excess spectrum should be re-farmed to new players who are waiting to enter the sector (there are over 29 companies waiting in the wings for a UASL). In his letter, Ambani suggests spectrum of up to 6.2 Mhz should be given to new players, at first, in the same frequency and on the same terms as the existing players in order to create a level playing field. Ambani says that the excess spectrum with the GSM players has lead to a saving in capital expenditure of over Rs 20,000 crore for the operators. Apart from loss of revenue to the government, it has also prevented new players from coming in. IN EXCESS? > Spectrum in excess of 6.2 mhz * Bharti: 21.4 mhz * Vodafone Essar:20.2 mhz * Idea: 12.6 mhz

Nice online utulity to do DNS checks and fast results too !

Business Standard Reporter New Delhi November 13, 2006 Reliance Communications has tied up with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) under which its 80 million subscribers will now be able to access 1-800 toll free services provided by either operators, paving the way for network-independent access to 1-800 services in India for the first time. Reliance has also tied up with HFCL (Punjab) and is in talks with all major operators for network independent access to 1-800 services across the country. 1-800 or all toll free numbers are useful for the customers as they can call companies or service providers without incurring any phone charge. For instance, you could call a company’s toll free number and find out details of a product you want to buy or make a complaint to your cable operator about the service on a toll free number. For companies it is much more easier to advertise one toll free i.e. 1-800 number nationally and place such a number in their advertisement or any other mass media communication. This is a major relief for them where today they have to advertise a series of different numbers in different cities. Currently 1- 800 numbers are accessible from BSNL and MTNL phones only. With the new tie up they can be accessed from Reliance CDMA and landline phones. Reliance will be the first telecom operator, which has tied up with BSNL. At present there is around 600 toll free numbers in the country. With this tie up 80 million subscribers (55 mn BSNL and 25 mn Reliance) can call the toll-free numbers provided by Reliance and BSNL once the interconnects are implemented. Talks are also on for introducing premium rates and tele-voting services through the toll free numbers. But these might take off after a few months. Industry estimates that the market for this service is around 300 million STD minutes annually and Reliance hopes to get around 80 million minutes once the agreement is implemented. Telecom experts say that in the next two to three years the toll free numbers could generate revenue of over Rs 800 crore to operators and become an important source of revenue. Operators make money on toll free numbers by charging a fee from the companies to host a toll free number on their network. They also share the revenue on each call made by a subscriber on the toll free number. With the new deal, customers of BSNL who dial a toll free number hosted by Reliance will be paid a certain revenue share by the state owned company and vise versa.

It is slow for you at all times of the day ? Have you checked it at different times of the day ? What speed do you get when downloading a file ?

Dual tangle hangs spectrum November 21, 2007 at 2308 hrs IST Financial Express The ongoing telecom tangle is likely to get murkier. GSM players, who have taken the department of telecommunication (DoT) to court for “twisting rules to benefit one operator” (Reliance Communications), have found a new ammunition. After dual technology licence and spectrum allocation, it is the mode of spectrum charges that is irking the GSM lobby. The DoT decision to levy separate spectrum charges for two technologies, GSM and CDMA, has once again led the GSM lobby to allege that the government is favouring Reliance Communications by adopting dual standards and going back on its earlier stand on the issue. They have also alleged that this will cost the exchequer loss of revenue. Though the move to this effect has backing of the Telecom Commission, the highest apex policy-making body in the DoT, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and later a DoT committee favoured levying combined charges for GSM and CDMA spectrum. Separate spectrum charges for two technologies works out cheaper than the combined licence fee on the total revenues as the CDMA players pay lower rate of spectrum usage charges. While the GSM players have already opposed the move, what may add fuel to the fire is the fact that the DoT has actually deviated from its earlier stand of charging fees on combined spectrum. According to documents available with FE, a year back the DoT had levied combined spectrum charges on Bharti Airtel. Bharti, which is basically a GSM operator, was holding separate licences for both fixed as well as cellular services in Madhya Pradesh before the introduction of unified access service licence (UASL) in 2004. Under its fixed licence service, the company was providing WLL (mobile) services through CDMA spectrum in far-flung areas of Madhya Pradesh. Later, Bharti migrated to UASL and surrendered its fixed service licence. However, it requested the DoT to allow usage of CDMA spectrum under its another UAS licence to avoid discontinuation of WLL service. While the DoT allowed the usage of CDMA spectrum, it levied charges on a combined spectrum basis. Bharti made several requests against combined spectrum charges but to no avail. Bharti was later made to surrender the CDMA spectrum as it was not meeting the required subscriber norms. Now, in a total turnaround from its last year’s stand, the DoT has decided to levy separate spectrum charges separately on Reliance Communication. Further, the DoT move is against the recommendations of the telecom regulator. Trai in its recommendations, while allowing cross-technology under one licence, had stated that combined spectrum will be taken into account as per the prescribed spectrum charges. To review the Trai recommendations, the DoT constituted an internal committee, which upheld Trai’s recommendations. However, the Telecom Commission finally decided to levy separate spectrum charges for the two technologies. The move will benefit Reliance, which is predominantly a CDMA operator and has applied for pan-India GSM spectrum. According to rough estimates, as a result of the DoT’s move, Reliance will pay about Rs 400 crore less in spectrum charges to the government than in the case if combined levy was made applicable as in case of Bharti in the past. When contacted, a senior DoT official refused to comment saying the matter was sub-judice at the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). He, however, added all decisions were taken as per the due process of law.

@sashank: LOL ! common' well, it looks like that only from today's much anticipated meeting.... Telecom operators meet Secretary; deadlock continues 2007-11-21 18:02:20 - MoneyControl.com All the telecom operators met the Secretary at about 11 in the morning. The meeting went on for a little over an hour and a half, and again no solution came out of that. All the GSM operators presented their case and of course Anil Ambani also presented his case there. No concrete offer for a settlement was made from the DoT, say sources. The DoT at this point in time is not revealing its cards. Sources have indicated in the past that they are willing to settle for the TRAI norm and that could be the benchmark that DoT is looking at. But they haven’t yet made that offer to GSM operators, as they also want to understand the GSM operators’ point of view. GSM operators post that meeting, again met at the COAI office in Delhi. All the operators again are going to be meeting the Telecom Secretary. Sources say that a resolution is unlikely at least in today’s meeting. This is a very tricky issue. It could go into at least three-four rounds of negotiations; the minister could get involved in the next stage. So, at this point in time it does look as if the deadlock continues. GSM operators aren’t very hopeful of a solution, at least not today. No consensus between mobile firms, DoT Business Standard - New Delhi November 21, 2007 No consensus emerged between the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the mobile service providers on the spectrum allocation issue at a two-hour long meeting held today. The meeting was held between the telecom Secreatry D S Mathur and the heads of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communications among others. Senior DoT officials however continued to meet the heads of mobile companies individually to resolve the issue of spectrum allocation to new and existing telecom companies. Bharti Airtel chairman and managing director Sunil Mittal declined to talk to the media after the meeting saying "the operators have been asked not to make any comment". Vodafone-Essar MD Asim Ghosh was also present in the meeting among others. As there was no consensus among the operators, Mathur asked operators to meet him individually later today, sources said. According to sources, Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani raised the issue of extra spectrum being held by GSM operators. Some of the operators also demanded that Letter of Intent for new telephony licences should be issued immediately as in the last two years the government has granted over 50 permissions or LoIs under the same policy. According to industry sources, Mathur requested GSM operators to withdraw their petition from TDSAT. Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has challenged government's new norms including enhanced subscriber base and allowing of dual technology by a single operator under the same licence. However, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) today did not take cognizance of the affidavit filed by the COAI on Tuesday. Sources said there was no direction to COAI by the tribunal to file either a rejoinder or an affidavit in reply to the one submitted by DoT to defend its new telecom norms that allowed dual technology for mobile services and enhanced subscriber linked criteria for spectrum.

Trai opposes Raja's move on 3G auctions 21 Nov 2007, 1215 hrs IST - Times News Network Telecom minister A Raja's bid to move to open auctions for three blocks of 10 MHz of 3G spectrum — his first strong move to promote real competition since he assumed office — is being opposed by no other than telecom regulator Trai. In a three-page letter to the DoT, Trai contests that this move towards open auctions is not consistent with its recommendations. Trai's opposition is all the more curious considering that Trai chairman N Misra was seated next to the minister and DoT secretry DS Mathur during the announcement, which was made to the press on November 12. In 2006, Trai had concluded, "government should not treat the allocation of 3G spectrum in continuation of 2G spectrum". However, it went on to contradict itself by saying 3G auctions should be reserved for existing 2G players alone. "Following one recommendation is practically impossible without deviating from the other," says a DoT official. When contacted by ToI, Misra denied having written the letter. However, a senior DoT official confirmed receipt of this letter from the Trai chairman. In its letter, Trai has defined four primary areas of opposition to open auctions for 3G spectrum. First, it wants auctions to be limited to existing 2G operators and UAS licence holders. Trai says it never recommended new entrants in 3G and neither did it envisage new 3G-specific licensing. This, Trai says, "will be unfair and create serious issues of level playing field". Second, Trai says introducing only three new players in 3G through a 10 MHz allocation instead of Trai's proposal of only 5 MHz each, will discriminate against several existing operators. This is because government-owned BSNL/MTNL will be one of the three 3G service providers, which means only two/three of the rest five-eight private operators will migrate to 3G. Third area of disagreement relates to DoT's decision to disallow mergers in 3G for 5 years. Trai believes this is unnecessary since all UAS licensees will be guided by general M&A guidelines. Imposing 3G-specific M&A guidelines is a "contravention of existing M&A guidelines and could lead to litigation", it says. Lastly, Trai says DoT's attempt to restrict spectrum trading is also redundant as the existing UAS license already restricts trading/reselling. The letter is a signal of a complete ideological breakdown between the Trai and DoT, and also shows Trai's growing discomfort with the DoT's frequent alterations to its recommendations. Under law, DoT is required to refer any recommendations that it plans to modify back to Trai for reconsideration before taking a final decision. Several parties, including the GSM industry, have recently accused the ministry of willfully violating legal procedure. aw well there we go again

Thats cool ! I guess this was the topic: http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=5623

Wireless broadband providers may have to take licence test 19 Nov, 2007, 0242 hrs IST - Times News Network In a move that has implications for telecom customers, the government plans stringent norms for wireless broadband services providers such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Tata Indicom and MTNL. All companies seeking to offer broadband services would have to qualify a test to get or renew the licences. The department of telecommunications (DoT) is planning to formulate a uniform national standard for broadband operations. All players in the field and those who wish to enter would have to conform to the standards. It is felt that standardisation would result in better services for broadband customers and smoother implementation for value added services like IPTV and VoIP (internet telephony). “Licensing terms and conditions may also change in order to make such companies follow the standard norms,” a source associated with the development said, adding that the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) would prescribe test norms in consultation with the present stakeholders. DoT will appoint a third party to assess whether the companies desirous of offering such services are adequately equipped. The assessment is usually done by conformity assessment bodies (CAB) which have the technical capability to carry out such reivews. All broadband service providers would have to qualify a test given by the CABs. DoT would take appropriate action if the companies do not conform to the prescribed norms. The move is expected to help the government in smoothly implementing the Next Generation Network (NGN) programme under which it has plans to increase the penetration of value-added services offered through the broadband route. The government is keen to ensure smooth rollout for services like IPTV which are expected to be introduced on a large scale in the coming years. Officials said DoT is not happy with the problems being faced by users of the services due to poor inter-operatibility among service providers. DoT has initiated discussions with the stakeholders and decisions would be taken only after taking all broadband service providers into confidence, he said.

3G spectrum services in six to nine months: TRAI IRIS - 16 November 2007 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has said that advanced 3G spectrum services would be launched within the next 6-9 months in the country. "The launch of the 3G spectrum services would also decongest the mobile telephone networks, which presently run on 2G spectrum," TRAI chairperson Nripendra Mishra said talking to UNI here this afternoon. Speaking on the mobile number portability announced recently by the Telecom Ministry to be introduced next year, Mr Mishra said it would entail an investment of around Rs 900 crore for the telecom companies to upgrade their infrastructure to offer the service. "A National Directory Inquiry would be set up to offer number portability, which would facilitate mobile phone consumers to switch their cell numbers between different operators," he explained. Mr Mishra was here to address the Lucknow Management Association (LMA) Convention 2007 on 'Making of a Modern & Prosperous State -- Challenges & Strategies'. The TRAI chief said India has the lowest mobile phone tariffs in the world, which was an outcome of competition and not regulation or government control. Replying to a question, Mr Mishra admitted to the rivalry between the GSM and CDMA lobby over the issue of spectrum allocation, but noted that slowly convergence of technology was taking place. "The CDMA operators including Reliance and Tata are also planning to launch GSM operations, subject to allocation of additional spectrum," he added. Mr Mishra further said about six million mobile phone consumers had registered with the national Do Not Call (DNC) registry so far, out of the almost 225 million telecom subscribers in the country.

Times News Network 16 Nov, 2007, 0253 hrs IST In a bitter blow to consumers, the Department of Telecom (DoT) is learnt to have shelved its plan to mandate all telcos to increase broadband speeds to a minimum of 512 Kbps. The DoT has decided that broadband speeds in India will continue to be defined at a minimum of 256 kbps. According to a top government source, this decision has been taken because the country is far behind its broadband targets and the mandate to increase the minimum speed would only result in the broadband base shrinking further. In fact, telecom regulator TRAI, which was also consulted by the DoT on this issue is learnt to have favoured retention of the current policy, which classifies broadband as an internet connection which offers a minimum download speed of 256 kbps. Internationally, a ‘broadband’ offering is one which offers a minimum speed of 2 mbps. Despite retaining the current speed, the country sees no possibility of meeting its broadband target of 9 million subscribers by 2007-end. According to the latest figures released by TRAI, the total broadband subscribers base reached 2.67 million by the end of September, 2007. The addition during April-September 2007 was 0.33 million compared to 0.47 million in the year-before period. Meanwhile, TRAI is taking steps to ensure that telcos and internet service providers ensure that the minimum speed of 256 kbps is maintained at all times. This follows a series of complaints from customers that connections sold as ‘broadband’ by most service providers in India seldom offered 256 Kbps speed. While the DoT is not asking the telcos to increase their broadband speeds, it is however directing state-owned telcos BSNL and MTNL to upgrade all broadband connections to speeds upwards of 2 mbps. Besides, Bharti Airtel recently announced the launch of 8 mbps broadband service, India’s fastest.

Business Standard November 14, 2007 18:33 IST Mobile tariffs in India, already among the lowest in the world, can fall by as much as 50 per cent when new players start operations after getting spectrum, according to the department of telecom. According to an internal note prepared by DoT, mobile tariffs could fall by over 50 per cent to about 40 paise per minute assuming four new players enter the fray and with the implementation of new norms such as usage of dual technology, number portability and allocation of spectrum to new players. At present, there are only three pan-India operators - Bharti Airtel [Get Quote], Reliance Communications [Get Quote] and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, while Vodafone-Essar and Idea cellular [Get Quote] are waiting for additional spectrum to start services in some of the circles. At least 13 companies have applied for pan-India licences including AT&T, HFCL, Bycell, Parsavnath Developers, DLF and Shyam Telecom [Get Quote]. On the issue of spectrum availability to accommodate new players, a DoT official said: "There is enough scope for allotment of spectrum to a few new operators even after meeting the requirements of existing operators and licensees." The government is processing the 575 applications and may issue Letters of Intent soon. With the increase in competition tariffs are bound to fall in all segments of services, be it local calls, roaming, national long distance or one-India call, DoT officials said. Asked by when LoIs would be issued to new applicants, officials said, "the process is on... each applicant has submitted voluminous documents... A final decision will be taken soon."