Arun

DUMeter is good, you can install them in each PC in your LAN.

LOL ! He is not even the richest Indian, but he is now within striking distance of dethroning Lakshmi N Mittal

Business Standard October 05, 2007 09:48 IST Call blocking is one facility that telecom service providers claim is meant for the chosen few, for instance, the celebrities. Not withstanding its niche appeal, service providers in the country are in various stages of implementing the technology. GSM service provider Vodafone Essar became the prime mover in introducing a call filtering service for its users, while BPL Mobile is in the advanced stage of installing it. Other players such as Mahanagar Telecom Nigam (MTNL [Get Quote]), Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) and Aircel are also planning to introduce the technology. According to Vodafone Essar Director (marketing & new business) Harit Nagpal, "We received a lot of calls from subscribers asking if calls from certain numbers could be blocked, as these were harassment calls. These are not telemarketing calls, but calls made by people who knows the user, in most cases film stars and cricketers." Even though the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has launched its Do Not Disturb Registry (DNDR), this doesn't protect users from unscrupulous elements. This had prompted Vodafone Essar to roll out the service to protect its customers, he added. The benefit of this service is that it can be activated on a normal cell phone and does not require a high-end or smart phone. It is also available to both post- and pre-paid subscribers. The company charges a fee of Rs 99 per month. BPL chief executive officer S Subramaniam said: "There were complaints from many users of repeated harassing calls from certain numbers. Even though, this issue was raised only by a fraction of our users, we decided to install a suite to block rogue callers". The Mumbai-based GSM service provider is close to launching the service and has already developed a suite for this. The service works much like the spam blocking facility on e-mails, but only for calls. A user can list certain numbers with the operator from which he does not want to receive calls, and calls from these numbers would be blocked. Around 10-15 numbers can be blocked, while the caller will get a "busy tone or a recorded message". Reliance Communications [Get Quote] uses a different method to block persistent calls that create problems for its customers. The company has introduced a spam controlling software in most of its handsets that can block up to 10 prior-listed numbers. S P Shukla, president (personal business), said: "A majority of our handsets have spam call blocking facility, while the remaining would be taken care of by the telecom ministry's DND registry. The service being on the handset, we don't charge additional fees".

There you go: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=77689 For other email clients, check: https://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=75726 Its similar to setting up a POP account, just the difference in address and port.

IMAP offers better synchronisation than POP. If you are accessing email from multiple devices, IMAP is recommended. So the changes you do from one device will also be seen when you access from the other device. For instance, if you have already read some emails using your PC's email client, it will be marked as "read" when you access from your mobile device's email client as well. from gmail.com....

But aren't all Reliance Mobile handsets already listed in the drop down ? Sure, let them get the spectrum first though

Is auto answer mode enabled under Call Settings ? Doesn't it disssappear even after removing and inserting back the battery ?

More new handset models added now. Please update your profile ! Please let me know if any handset model # is missing in the list !

R-Com plans to roll out GSM services in 100 cities in 6 months Business Standard / New Delhi October 22, 2007 To offer dual-chip phones for both its CDMA and GSM networks. CDMA-technology service provider Reliance Communications (R-Com) has prepared a plan to roll out its GSM services in over 100 cities and towns within six months of the government providing it spectrum (radio frequencies that enable wireless communications). This will be part of the first phase of its pan-India GSM services launch. Sources said a launch of GSM services in all 15 circles would be completed in around 12 months. The company is also expected to offer dual-chip phones that will operate both on its CDMA and GSM networks. Sources said the company would invest around $2 billion over two and a half years to put together a network to support GSM services. The company has set itself a target of over 100 million customers by 2010. Some analysts have predicted that by then around 30 million R-Com customers would come from its GSM operations The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group-controlled company received permission, and has paid the fee, for dual-spectrum use last week. The company operates mainly CDMA services but has GSM operations in some eight circles. Before last week, the company was permitted spectrum for either one or the other of the technologies in each circle but had requested the government for spectrum for GSM services under its existing licence in February 2006. The request followed serious differences with Qualcomm, sole global proprietors of CDMA technology. The initial marketing focus is on cities and towns where the churn of GSM customers is high by offering them an attractive alternative. An R-Com spokesperson, however, declined to comment on the issue. R-Com has already signed flexible agreements with leading telecom equipment companies like Chinese major Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent that will reduce the time needed to roll out the GSM network. Also 95 per cent of its over 14,000 towers are linked to a fibre optic backbone that eliminates the need for a micro-wave link, which also requires spectrum and therefore adds to delays. The company is investing heavily to set up 37,000 towers by March next year. The company, however, has to wait till the department of telecom acquires around 20 MHz of spectrum from the defence services. Except in Mumbai, where it is number three in the queue for spectrum (Aircel and Idea are ahead), R-Com is number two in all other areas for which it has applied for GSM spectrum. The company has also applied for a fresh pan-Indian licence through two companies, Swan Telecom and Cheetah, in which it has less than 10 per cent equity. It is one among 30 companies that recently put in their applications. Analysts said the applications were primarily an alternative plan if the government decided to disallow dual spectrum allocation.

Yahoo doesn't allow free POP access, its available for Yahoo! Mail Plus users only. Or else you can use something like YPOPs!

October 21, 2007 Press Trust of India - Mumbai Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications has become the first Indian telecom company to launch international data roaming that would provide Internet connectivity to its consumers in their laptops and computers through their mobile phones while travelling in the US. An agreement was signed by Reliance Communications with US telecom major Verizon for this purpose last week, company's President S P Shukla told PTI here. "We are the first CDMA operator in India to offer data roaming facilities to travellers to the US. They can now seamlessly connect for making calls, checking e-mails or even surfing the net," he said. RCom introduced international voice roaming two years ago to the US and its charges are 67 per cent lower than other telecom operators who provide this facility on mobile phones using GSM technology. Shukla said after the US, the company proposed to launch this international data roaming facility in Canada, followed by Latin America and then to Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, China and other countries which used CDMA technology for their mobile phone services.

October 9th, 2007 Business Wire India Search Engine Major Google has launched search services for mobile users in India. Mobile phone users will be able to search Google by just sending SMS. The tool has been released as beta service. The service will be helping all mobile users as one may not even need an internet enable mobile to search Google now. This beta offering brings the power of GoogleT Search to users' fingertips, making information available on the move, without the need of a computer or an Internet-enabled phone. Services on offer include Local Search, Weather, Glossary, Movies, Q&A, Translation, Web Snippets, Calculator and Currency Conversion. Google SMS will offer business listings by common locality names. If a user sends SMS regarding inquiry for any locality, the results will be sorted by distance of business from the location. Google is most used Search Engine on internet and offers many innovative solutions. Google also offers local search for online users to find business listings in a particular area. Google SMS will make use of similar technology. Users will have to pay Premium SMS rates as per their provider’s plan. The Google SMS services will offer information about business listings, show timings and many additional services. The SMS number is 54664 or 5GOOG. Mr. Vinay Goel, Head of Products Section for Google India is confident that the services will be very useful for mobile subscriber base in India. Airtel has 50 million mobile users and the numbers are rising every month. The service is currently available in metro cities only and will soon be launched in other cities as well. Airtel, Reliance, BSNL, BPL and Aircel users in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai will be able to use Google SMS services. Check out www.google.co.in/sms for an online demo and additional features, and the attached appendix for more information on how to use Google SMS.

Yahoo! India launches SMS search Business Standard / Mumbai October 19, 2007 Internet media company Yahoo Inc has announced that it will be introducing the Yahoo! oneSearch SMS facility in India. Customers can avail search facilities from their mobile phones by sending their queries to 58242 and get results via the same. Yahoo! oneSearch is a new offering from the Sunnyvale, Calif-based company that is designed entirely for mobile users. According to Yahoo, oneSearch gives users help make an informed decision, including product reviews, images of different models and where to buy. “India is one of the fastest-growing mobile markets in Asia. Yahoo! is committed to providing Indian consumers easy-to-use mobile products and services to help them access the Internet," said Pranesh Anthapur, Chief Administrative Officer, Yahoo! India. When it comes to internet search it is very well understandable with the amount of space both Google and Yahoo occupies but here comes another race apart from web and is the mobile search. The Indian budding mobile market is the next one that search engine service providers are eyeing for. The latest development in the corner is the ‘OneSearch SMS’ service from Yahoo. Yahoo, the most visited web search engine on Friday add another service to its quality product and service list with the launch of OneSearch SMS service. With this mobile user can easily access any information by sending a SMS to the service number very like the web search. It is certainly an effort to capture space of the Indian mobile market that is set for a period of fast growth. The SMS service offers consumers to find information related to news, education, weather, stock market and various others. Besides, Yahoo has also added some more content options to its OneSearch WAP product by adding some other data content with local business directory, flight status information and Yahoo answer content. At present the search operation is available in almost all major mobile service providers including Airtel, Reliance Mobile, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, BPL Mobile, Aircel, Tata Indicom and Spice Telecom. But it is currently limited to all the four metros but soon the company is intended to cover other parts of the country. "The pricing would depend on as per the SMS charges by the respective mobile operators," Yahoo India's Chief Administrative Officer, Pranesh Anthapur told reporters. In fact Yahoo in the month of May launched mobile local search as a beta version in Indian market and since then it’s in continuous effort to add more and more features in its OneSearch tool. With OneSearch SMS service the company will target the largest number of consumers by offering instant information for any search query via SMS. Earlier in this month search engine giant Google had launched SMS Search service offering local info like restaurant location, movie timings, business listing etc. With the competitiveness from both the search service providers the wireless search business has become a horse race. However, as far as acquisition of mobile search market is concerned the latest business research on mobile market suggests a clear signal of Google’s forward step. On one hand Yahoo emphasises more on academics that has helped in understanding public psychology and perception but on the other it is Google’s marketing strategy that puts it in the front seat.

well, Defense ministry has to vacate the 45MHz of spectrum first... November end is what everyone is expecting, but still unsure as Defense ministry hasn't confirmed...

Reliance Communications pays Rs 1,651 cr for GSM business, gets considered for allocation of GSM spectrum Friday, October 19, 2007 (New Delhi): Reliance Communications Ltd has announced that the Company welcomes the DoT's new initiatives towards ensuring further acceleration of tele-density in India and in creating a level playing field. The acceptance by the DoT of TRAI's recommendation of the enhanced subscriber linked criteria for spectrum allocation will ensure the much needed spectral efficiency and a greater competitive environment. This will facilitate meeting the telecom objectives of the country of attaining 500 Million customers by 2010. The Unified Access Service Licenses are technology neutral and the grant of approval to Reliance Communications for offering nationwide GSM services reaffirms our stand. Reliance Communications would shortly commence its GSM operations on a Pan India basis in addition to existing CDMA services. The Company has today made a payment of the requisite fee of Rs 1651 Crore for this initiative. As per DoT's media release, the Company will be considered for allocation of GSM spectrum from October 19, 2007 i.e. the date of payment of the prescribed fee. It has been a rather anxious wait of over a year and half for Anil Ambani. But he can now be rest assured as his big bang GSM plans may finally kick-start. In one stroke Ambani stands ahead of any other player waiting for GSM spectrum. On late Thursday night not only did the Telecom Minister A Raja approved the use of dual technology paving the way for RCom's pan India play but also ensured that Anil Ambani get GSM spectrum to roll out services. Because the minister has accepted TRAI's recommendation of enhanced subscriber linked criterion. He has also decided on allocation of spectrum for alternate technology to UAS licensee on the payment of prescribed fee, which Reliance promptly paid on Friday morning. By paying Rs 1,651 crore as fee for GSM spectrum, the company also applied for GSM spectrum before the WPC wing of Department of Telecom (DoT). GSM lobby The company now has an edge over all in waiting. There are three categories of entities waiting for spectrum. Existing licensees with additional spectrum requirement, licensees waiting for spectrum to start up and lastly eligible applicants waiting for licenses. Enhanced subscriber linked criterion has done away with any waiting queue. It has obviously got the GSM lobby up in arms against the decision. "By changing the rules of the waiting list, the government has managed to wipe out the waiting list itself," a top source in the GSM industry said. In fact there is a possibility that the GSM lobby could be moving court over what they call malafide inaction. The government could have well laid the ground for RCom's mega GSM play but whether Anil Ambani will gradually but steadily move to GSM entirely is what analysts are not willing to bet on. However, one thing is for certain, RCom's entry into the GSM space will trigger another price war and that is reason enough for the subscribers to celebrate.

The Hindu Thursday, October 18, 2007 : 1920 Hrs Chennai: Lap-top users will soon have uninterrupted connectivity even as they travel from one place to another. Thanks to a massive network expansion initiative of the Reliance Communications Ltd. (RCOM), an ADAG Group outfit, a `non-stop data experience' will become a reality for lap-top users even as they are on the move. As part of its effort to become a leader in data communication field, RCOM has gone in for a two-pronged approach. This involves beefing up the network infrastructure to cover more population, on the one hand, and launch of a suite of Reliance Net connect products, on the other. Some of the Reliance products such as USB (universal service bus port) modems, PCMCIA, pen drive and data cards could be used to connect to Internet from lap-tops and desk-top PCs. In an interaction with The Hindu, V.G. Somasekhar, Hub Head (Tamil Nadu and Kerala), said RCOM had plotted Rail routes, Highways and even places of worships so as to ensure that its customers - irrespective of the communication devices they used - had anytime connectivity and data access from anywhere. ``Our expansion programme is on schedule. And, the project is expected to be complete by mid-December,'' he said. He was confident that Reliance customers in these two states would have a whole new experience vis-à-vis their ability to have data access. Mr. Somasekhar said RCOM would focus on youth, especially college students, in its bid to emerge as a leader in data communication. In this context, he said RCOM would make available pre-paid data cards to benefit the students, who had limited financial leeway. He said ARPU (average revenue per user) was twice in the data business when compared to the voice business.

...and remember that the usage shown will be atleast 24 hours old. Sometimes especially during month end, the usage may not update for more than 24 hours.

its all clear now for Reliance Communications ! DoT clears way for CDMA players to enter GSM; COAI opposes (naturally!) 18 Oct, 2007, 2158 hrs IST, Press Trust of India Government is believed to have cleared the way for cellular mobile operators to offer services using both technologies - CDMA and GSM - a move that has irked the powerful cellular association which cried foul. As the reports trickled that the permission for the use of twin-technology would benefit the aspiring Reliance Communication, an Anil Ambani group company, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) shot a letter to the government saying that such a permission was against the existing policy and is tantamount to favouring a few. While Reliance Communication Spokesman declined to comment on whether the company got a government nod on its year-long application, no official confirmation could be obtained from the Department of Telecommunication (DoT). The news about Reliance Communication as also Shyam Telecom and Mahendra Nahata-promoted HFCL started doing the rounds this evening, coinciding with the meeting of the Telecom Commission here. RCom had approached DoT last year seeking spectrum to start GSM-based mobile services in all states other than the eight in the eastern region where the company is already having GSM operations. The DoT is understood to have cleared the proposal based on the recommendations of telecom regulator TRAI in this regard. Protesting against the move, COAI said in its letter to DOT that "Without prejudice to our submissions that such crossover/dual allocation of spectrum cannot and should not be permitted, it is submitted that even if the same were to be allowed, it can only be done through change in both policy as well as license as also after following the process of law." GSM foray of 3 CDMA players gets nod Business Standard Reporters / New Delhi / Mumbai - October 19, 2007 The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has granted three companies – Reliance Communications, HFCL and Shyam Telelink – the right to use GSM technology in their existing licence areas, where they currently offer mobile services using CDMA technology. Late tonight, sources said the approval letters had been issued to the operators. When contacted, two operators confirmed the development, but declined to give details. The move makes Reliance, which runs GSM services in seven circles (the North-East, Assam, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar) ready to operate GSM services in rest of the country. All that the company needs to do now is to pay the required licence fee of Rs 1,617 crore to the DoT and install the relevant equipment. According to sources, Reliance Communications is ready to pay the fees immediately and is in a position to get the network up and running within four to six weeks time. The DoT will grant the company an additional 4.4 MHz in the 1,800 MHz band across the country for this purpose.This will be in addition to the existing CDMA network that Reliance runs nationwide. Even Shyam and HFCL are eligible to get GSM spectrum in Rajasthan and Punjab respectively, where they run CDMA-based networks. Once Reliance’s GSM network is up and running, it would provide stiff competition to the likes of Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar in a bid to gain market share. This will also impact CDMA vendors like Qualcomm, which receive royalties for the CDMA handsets that operators like Reliance use. With Reliance moving to a competing standard, there is a downside for the US-based company, analysts said. Reliance had applied to the DoT for GSM spectrum for 15 circles in February 2006. HFCL had applied for 21 circles in May 2007. Shyam Telelink — in which Russian Sistema recently acquired a 10 per cent equity stake, applied in late September this year for nationwide licences. The DoT had recently cleared the policy, allowing dual usage of technologies (CDMA as well as GSM) to existing licensees. The department’s move came at the end of an action-packed day, which started with representatives of the three companies being called to Sanchar Bhawan for discussions. As the news broke, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents GSM operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and others, cried foul and said the move was a violation of norms. In an attempt to ward off the DoT move, the COAI shot off a letter to the DoT stating that crossover allocation of spectrum or dual frequency allocation is not permissible. Director-General TV Ramachandran said: “We are greatly disturbed to hear rumours that the government has issued, or is considering of issuing, a letter to a large CDMA operator, permitting the company to hold a crossover allocation of spectrum. This is based on application filed by the company in February 2006, when such crossover allocation was clearly not permissible”. The GSM operators’ body also claimed that crossover of technologies is not permissible under the present policy and license regime had been recognised by both DoT and Trai. Further, Trai had also stated that “such crossover is not permissible”, even though the same may be allowed through an amendment in license.

Rich Man, Poor Country by Sheelah Kolhatkar, Portfolio.com November, 2007 Mukesh Ambani does business on an absurdly large scale, from his $1 billion house in Mumbai to the biggest oil refinery on earth. But with his country torn between wealth and poverty, has India’s richest man gone too far ? Read the full article here !

Reliance does it again ! Business Standard Sunil Jain / New Delhi October 15, 2007 From a policy point of view, India’s telecom industry is getting exciting once again. After a lull of a few years, we’re back to the same half-truths from regulators/policy makers, and the all too familiar attempts to help favoured firms. So, earlier last week, the Telecom Commission, which is headed by the telecom secretary, okayed Reliance Communications’ February 2006 proposal to offer GSM-cellular technology for its mobile services — currently, Reliance uses CDMA technology to offer mobile services. On the face of it, the clearance seems trivial, given how telecom licences are technology agnostic — you can use GSM or CDMA, how does it matter? Actually, it does and it doesn’t. Sure it doesn’t matter if Reliance gives its subscribers connectivity by using either CDMA or GSM technology. But the catch is that Reliance cannot use GSM technology on the spectrum airwaves allotted to it — each type of equipment typically works on pre-specified spectrum bands and, so, CDMA works on the 800 MHz band while GSM-cellular works on the 900 and 1,800 MHz band. So, by virtue of allowing Reliance to use GSM, the Telecom Commission has said that Reliance will now get fresh spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band as well! Interestingly, six years ago, GSM firms asked the government to allot them CDMA spectrum since the licences were now technology-neutral, but the government told them to get lost — they were told that while they could use GSM or CDMA, it would have to be in the spectrum bands already allotted to them. What this means is that while over 500 players slug it out for fresh spectrum in various telecom circles, Reliance will definitely get it. Right now, Reliance Communications associates Swan and Cheetah are 3rd or 4th in the line to get spectrum in most telecom circles. But since the government is going to get only 20 MHz of extra spectrum once the defence forces vacate it, and it has to keep at least 10 MHz to meet the expansion needs of the existing players, only two new players can get spectrum in most circles (the minimum each firm will get is 4.4 MHz). So, Swan/Cheetah may or may not get the spectrum (the others, like real estate firms DLF/Parsvnath may as well go home!) — but once Reliance Communications’ dual-use spectrum is approved, the company moves up to second position and it becomes certain it will get GSM spectrum! Imagine the irony, and the lesson to be drawn. Reliance (then owned by Mukesh Ambani) decided to use its fixed-line licence to provide mobile services in 2001, so the government legalised that and said they could do CDMA mobile on it — now the same CDMA licence is to be treated as a GSM one. Sure, the company will have to pay Rs 1,660 crore for it, but that’s a pittance compared to what the spectrum is worth. That, of course, is just one part of the story. Ever since the great spectrum sale began, and columns such as this one pointed out that first-come-first-served would just allow firms to get scarce spectrum cheap and then trade in it, officials have been pooh poohing this. Various parts of the Trai recommendations are cited in this context. There’s a rollout obligation — unless firms roll out their networks, they cannot merge or get acquired (Section 5.27iv) or get fresh spectrum (Section 5.27ii) — in addition, the government is contemplating putting in a lock-in, whereby the firm getting spectrum will not be allowed to change shareholders for a certain period of time. All of this sounds very good, but all of it is hogwash. One, in 1997, the fixed-line providers had rollout obligations for village phones by 2000 that entailed a capital expenditure of Rs 5,000 crore — firms fulfilled just 12 per cent of their obligations by 2003, and all that happened was the obligations were rolled back. Rollout obligations for long-distance services existed, but also got rolled back. So, there’s no reason why these ones shouldn’t. In any case, the rollout obligations aren’t onerous — you have to reach 30 per cent of the country’s district headquarters within three years. If you don’t, under the current policy, you have to pay a maximum fine of just Rs 1 crore (for GSM) to Rs 7 crore (for CDMA) — while your licence was to be terminated if the rollout delays were 20-52 weeks, TRAI has recommended that no termination be done and that, instead, a monetary fine be levied (5.27i)! In any case, TRAI has made a separate recommendation that “active infrastructure” sharing be allowed — that is, Company A be allowed to use the towers/radios of Company B to provide services for its customers. Once this is allowed, rollout obligations have no meaning since, if Company A does not want to invest in infrastructure, all it needs to do is to sign an active infrastructure-sharing agreement with Company B to cover its rollout obligations! As for a lock-in period before share transfers are allowed, this was the policy in 1995 as well. The reason why it was changed was simple, bankers couldn’t lend to firms as long as this was in place! After all, if Company A takes a loan of Rs 100 crore but goes bankrupt, bankers/creditors need to take over the assets — but they can’t if the law prevents them. The moral of the story: there will be trading in spectrum and the benefit of this won’t go to the government, but to the companies just by virtue of them being first in the queue — even lotteries don’t reward people for being the first in line to buy tickets.

Telecom — Making sense of the licence rush The Hindu - Business Line Sunday, Oct 14, 2007 In the rush to apply for Unified Access Services Licence, telecom players are jostling with competition from the real-estate sector. Here’s taking a look at who might finally call the shots. 300! That isn’t the name of the recently released English movie. It’s the number of new applicants for the UASL (Unified Access Services Licence) telecom licence. The driving force behind this deluge of applications is the desire to participate in the fastest growing telecom market in the world — India — which is seeing over 7 million mobile telephone subscribers being added every month. Before we categorise and analyse the prospects of the applicants, it must be highlighted that any new player would have to contend with the following: Although the UAS licence allows provision of the entire gamut of wireless and wireline voice and data services, this rush for licences could be purely by players interested in tapping the mobile telephony market. For a player who bags the licence, a countrywide (23 service area/circle) UASL entry fee may cost at least Rs 1,400 crore — licences are usually issued through the auction route. In addition, there is an annual fee of 6-10 per cent linked to revenues, as well as spectrum charges of 2-6 per cent of revenues. Spectrum, the band of airwaves used for communication that is licensed, is scarce and its allocation to operators is based on subscriber numbers and satisfaction of the Department of Telecom’s (DoT’s) stiff service area rollout obligations. A current countrywide rollout of fresh network is estimated to entail investments of about $1 billion for a normal 2G network. If it is to be an Internet Protocol-based NextGen Network or any advanced technology rollout (EDGE, WCDMA, EVDO, HSDPA or TD-SCDMA), it could be much more. There could be a two-three year timeline involved in a nationwide rollout. Given the substantial investments as well as staying power involved in a successful telecom foray, we evaluate which among the recent crop of applicants is likely to enjoy success. Real-estate, telecom synergies ? Real-estate companies have been the most prominent set of applicants in this particular phase, with DLF, Unitech, and Parsvnath among the key players in the fray. There is speculation that some of these players may be in talks with overseas telecom companies for a joint foray into Indian markets, but nothing is confirmed as yet. Real-estate players, although they have no previous expertise in running a telecom business, have a few factors favouring them. Most of them have huge land banks to build townships. This could be used to house a part of their tower infrastructure, thus reducing rental costs, a key part of operational expenditure involved in telecom operations. In this context, players such as DLF, Omaxe and Parsvnath are flush with cash after their successful IPOs as well as other fund-raising over the past couple of years. This might allow them to operate at low or even negative profitability for the first few years of operation, which is inevitable. But with most of the leading real-estate players having significant land banks in the metros or major cities, the land holdings may not offer any edge to these players in telecom rollouts in rural areas or even tier 2 towns. DLF and Parsvnath have some land banks in these areas and may be able to put part of them for productive telecom usage. While these players have staying power, a tie-up of such companies with a domestic or international telecom operator could bring in the business expertise required for telecom operations. In that event, the time for the combined entity to roll out operations could also be reduced. Existing players on firm ground A good number of existing players from telecom and related businesses, such as Idea Cellular, Spice Communications, Reliance (ADAG), Maxis-Aircel, Tulip IT Services, BPL and Hinduja TMT are also among the prospective applicants. The first four companies have existing operations on a regional/national scale and their applications are directed towards having a wider footprint across India. Each of these applicants is approaching its foray with a different strategic intent. Idea Cellular, which has operations in 11 service areas, applied for licence to commence operations in Mumbai and Bihar nearly a year ago and is awaiting spectrum allocation. As the company is a leader in the Maharashtra market, this move appears synergistic. Reliance Communications’ application appears to be a move to expand its GSM footprint. The telecom regulator TRAI (Telecom and Regulatory Authority of India) has, incidentally, allowed a single operator to offer both technologies (CDMA and GSM) within a circle. Spice Communications has ambitious plans of becoming a national player from the 2-circle player that it currently is. Aircel, which has operations in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and the North-East (under the name Dishnet Wireless), has also applied for licences to create a more pan-India footprint. The above applicants appear to stand a better chance of obtaining licences in new areas, given their existing operations. There are indications that applications would be considered as per existing guidelines on a first-come-first-served basis, which suggests preference to these players, on a case-to-case basis. However, even if some of the new applicants manage to secure licences, spectrum allocation remains an issue. Even on this score, the existing players appear better placed than the rest. A separate committee has been set up to look at licensing and spectrum allocation norms for new entrants into the telecom space. Given the current spectrum crunch, new players may also have to contend with very stringent norms for rollout as well as usage norms for spectrum. Tulip IT, which is a countrywide provider of data connectivity, has applied for licences in six circles. With its VPN and network integration expertise, Tulip has the expertise to enter the fray as a service provider. But, as mentioned earlier, this would mean huge capital expenditure and low margins in the first few years of operation. Pact with global players Mahindra & Mahindra appears to be the only applicant in this category that has confirmed interest. The company plans an alliance with AT&T for this foray. Tech Mahindra, a telecom software company in which M&M holds a 44.4 per cent stake, has substantial experience in working with telecom service providers as well as equipment vendors and has a strong relationship with AT&T. This trio appears to be a strong contender to offer significant competition to the entrenched players. An alliance with AT&T brings with it the latter’s expertise from running a highly successful telecom business in the US as well as its earlier experience partnering Idea Cellular in India; both appear to be huge pluses. Alternative routes to a telecom foray All the prospective applicants, however, need not take the traditional route to rolling out telecom services. Here are a few alternative avenues that they can explore: MVNO (mobile virtual network operator): These kinds of operators do not own any spectrum or network infrastructure but buy it from existing operators and act merely as resellers. MVNOs usually have a strong brand image in one line of business and look to leverage on that in another business. Virgin Mobile, Disney Mobile and Tesco Mobile are a few successful examples. This might work especially well for leading real-estate players such as DLF and Unitech, which have high visibility for their brands and may use this for providing connectivity to their townships. However, this concept is yet to evolve in India and the telecom regulator has asked operators for their opinion on this and is looking at evolving guidelines for the same. Inorganic growth: The option of acquiring a presence through inorganic growth or acquisition of regional players is a route that is open to all applicants. There are a few regional and relatively small players, such as Shyam Telecom, HFCL Infotel, and Spice Communications, which may not be growing at a rapid pace. These companies (if they are open to stake sale) may offer new players an entry point into the market through the M&A route. Such acquisitions may offer a prospective entrant a readymade subscriber base and spectrum to work with. Bidding for 3G alone?: A comprehensive policy on 3G services is still awaited from the telecom regulator/DoT. 3G services, at the most basic level enable provision of feature-rich voice, data and video services with a much faster throughput. In this regard, new players may win licences and choose to focus only on high-end 3G services, if there is an auction for 3G spectrum, and new players are allowed to bid. These are high revenue earning services, though predicting the market for such services in the Indian context is a challenging task.

Indiantelevision.com Team 11th October 2007 3:00 PM MUMBAI: Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) has tied up with One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation in an alliance to promote e-learning for children. Under the initiative, Reliance Communications would provide internet connectivity, network backbone, logistic and support to the OLPC initiative in India, using its state-of-the-art network that would cover over 25,000 towns and 6,00,000 Indian villages by March 2008. "The ethos of Reliance Group and the vision of OLPC Project, to enable 150 million school children across the world, gel perfectly. We are glad to be in a unique position to be a part of this initiative to provide children in India with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express," said Tina Anil Ambani announcing the collaboration. She also announced the launch of OLPC's first pilot in India under which school children in a tribal village at Khairat (near Karjat, Maharashtra) have been provided with OLPC XO laptops and teacher training for incorporating the new way of imparting education. Reliance Communications is providing the connectivity to these internet learning devices. According to an official release, OLPC provided laptops to 5 million schoolchildren across the world and aims to cover 150 mn schoolchildren by 2008. Global Corporates like AMD, Google, News Corp, Nortel, eBay, Citigroup, Seagate, Adobe have partnered in setting up the OLPC Foundation, backed by United Nations

Thanks for the headsup Rajiv, I've registered at bwtorrents now !

Broadband loses speed 12 Oct 2007, 0000 hrs IST - Times News Network A consumer recently complained that his broadband speed continues to be lower than claimed in the plan and brochures. He opted for it in February. “Everytime I lodge a complaint with the customer service staff, the same is closed without resolution,’’ he says. Another consumer says his broadband works less than 5% of the time. Yet another has not got his connection in the first place- he’s been waiting for almost a year. Despite Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) quality of service regulations, complaints of this nature keep pouring in. TRAI chairman Nripendra Misra admits, “There is tremendous scope for improvement in broadband services to consumers.’’ As Pritee Shah of Ahmedabad’s Consumer Education & Research Centre, who herself faced a broadband breakdown during a weekend, says, “Broadband providers don’t give a guarantee for speed in writing. This needs to be questioned.’’ On its part, TRAI has mandated service providers to give a testing link in their websites where a customer can test the speed. “It must be (at least) 80% of the prescribed limit,’’ says a TRAI official. The official and Rajesh Chharia, president at Internet Service Providers’ Association of India (ISPAI), however, add that speed also depends on the PC, modem and the visited sites. They advise consumers to check whether their PC is virus-free. Shah though says, “These are standard answers.’’ The TRAI official draws attention to the fact that while bandwidth utilisation should not cross 90% of the total capacity, some have reached 92-94%. “Service providers have promised to improve it in the coming quarter.’’ To gauge consumer satisfaction, Consumer Voice of Delhi is independently conducting its own mobile and internet quality of service survey in the four metros. Its report will be ready in the next two months. “Broadband will penetrate very fast. And once that happens, the quality of service (issue) will have to be addressed,’’ says Voice’s Sri Ram Khanna. TRAI’s Quality of Service of Broadband Service Regulations, 2006, specify that a connection must be activated within 15 working days, subject to technical feasibility. In case a service provider expects delay in activation, Chharia says, the applicant must be immediately informed. If the consumer has already paid for the connection and yet the activation gets delayed, TRAI guidelines state, “A credit at the rate of Rs 10 per day, subject to a maximum installation charge or equivalent usage allowance shall be given to the customer, at the time of issue of first bill.” Fault repair and restoration time must not cross three working days. Faults pending for 15 days would draw a rebate equivalent to one month of minimum monthly charge or equivalent usage allowance. The regulations also state that billing complaints should be under 2% per 100 bills and all resolutions must happen within four weeks. Refund of deposit after closure must take place within 60 days. Yet, the above-mentioned cases remain unresolved.

Reliance BroadNet (wireline) is available in many cities/towns now, but they are trying to provide it through WiMAX as there are many hassles in the last mile wiring. Reliance Broadband through Fixed WiMAX is already popular in Bangalore and Pune.