ravi_patent

:clap:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2010/04/05/stories/2010040550020100.htm In February this year, a relatively unknown Internet services provider from Mumbai — Tikona Digital Networks — announced plans to offer wireless broadband services utilising unlicensed spectrum. The company started out with the service in 10 cities and is targeting 50 cities by the end of this year with an investment of Rs 500 crore. At a time when as many 15 telecom operators have tied up billions of dollars to buy spectrum for offering broadband services, the move from Tikona to offer up to 2mbps speed on free air waves has raised many eyebrows. Use of unlicensed spectrum is not new in India. Globally, and in India, frequency bands in 2.4 Ghz, 5.8 Ghz and 3.3 Ghz have been kept aside as free spectrum that can be used by anyone without taking a licence or paying a fee to the Government. Small Internet Service Providers (ISPs) across the country have been using unlicensed spectrum over the past few years. But Tikona's aggressive roll-out plan is looking to be a potential game-changer for two reasons. Until now, Internet services on unlicensed spectrum were being deployed only in tier-3 cities where the subscriber base is not very dense. Now Tikona has dared to roll out into top cities, including highly dense cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, using the free air waves in 2.4 Ghz band and 5.8 Ghz band. Second, the quality of service on unlicensed spectrum has been a question mark due to interference from hundreds of other users for free air waves. Tikona claims to have resolved this issue by deploying some of the latest technology available. “We are deploying wireless broadband services on the Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (MIMO) platform using about 110 Mhz of free spectrum. Though there are multiple users on this band, we have taken care of interference issues through a unique network architecture. Subscribers can get up to 2Mbps speeds, which is the fastest wireless broadband services in the current market,” says Prakash Bajpai, Founder, MD and CEO, Tikona Digital Networks. The company has already set up 16,000 receivers, which are in the form of micro base stations, and plans are afoot to increase it to 90,000 this year. So, if Tikona can use free spectrum to offer high-speed broadband, why can't others? According to Ruckus Wireless, one of the technology partners of Tikona, there are other ISPs and operators who are already looking at unlicensed spectrum in a new light. Sudarshan Boosupalli, Country Head of Ruckus Wireless, says, “We are talking to a bunch of players who have shown interest in using free air waves for offering broadband based on 802.11n standards. We have developed technology that addresses the single biggest concern of using unlicensed spectrum till now, i.e. interference.” Ruckus Wireless has developed a patented software-controlled multi-antenna array that forms and directs signals over the best performing signal paths in real time, on a per packet basis. The California-based technology firm claims that its platform automatically selects better signal paths to increase performance and minimise packet loss, thereby ensuring good, consistent user experience. To address the concerns of wireless security and unauthorised access, operators can deploy WPA2, which is the highest level of security available on wireless networks. Once service quality issues are taken care of, unlicensed spectrum offers other advantages compared with licensed air waves. For one, operators do not have to pay anything for using air waves in the free bands, as against a few thousand crore rupees required to buy licensed spectrum. Second, the overall cost of rolling out a network in unlicensed spectrum is much lower. “Use of unlicensed spectrum is the ideal cost-effective solution to the broadband needs of India. Apart from saving on the cost of buying spectrum, the capital expenditure required to set up a meshed network in unlicensed spectrum is five times lower compared with rolling out a WiMax network in licensed spectrum. This will, in turn, enable the service provider to offer cheaper broadband services to consumers,” says Boosupalli. Agrees Rajesh Chharia, President, Internet Service Providers Association of India, “The base price for the upcoming auction for broadband spectrum has been kept at Rs 1,750 crore. There is no business case for anyone to offer broadband services at that cost. For ISPs, unlicensed spectrum continues to be a more attractive proposition.” Chharia owns an ISP business called CJ Online and caters to the mofussil areas of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh riding on free spectrum. ‘unreserved vs air-conditioned' The clamour for using unlicensed spectrum is also growing globally. Technology firms including Microsoft and Google are making a case at various regulatory forums for promoting use of more free spectrum bands. “Having seen what is possible in the 2.4 GHz but also in several other bands (such as 5 GHz) as well, it is easy to imagine possibilities if similar type of de-licensing happens in lower frequency bands, especially with respect to the much better propagation characteristics,” states a letter from Microsoft to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Microsoft is pushing its own technology platform, White-Fi, which allows any service provider to utilise unused spectrum at any given time in an area dynamically, without causing interference to existing players. But traditional telecom operators do not see any scope of comparison between licensed and unlicensed spectrum. “It is like comparing passengers travelling in the unreserved compartment of a train to the ones in the air-conditioned coach. Unlicensed spectrum can never match the quality and reliability offered by licensed air waves. Once we own spectrum, we can control it to optimise according to the traffic and usage. But in unlicensed spectrum there are many users with no control, so there is bound to be trouble,” says a large telecom operator. None of the large telecom operators are therefore looking to use free air waves as of now. Tata Communications, one of the big players which until now was offering broadband on unlicensed spectrum, also sees limited use. “Interference issues in dense urban areas is still a major issue. Seems to be fine for semi urban or rural areas,” says a Tata Communications executive. The company has put in its application for bidding for broadband spectrum in the upcoming auction clearly indicating its preference for licensed air waves. Some of the established Internet Service providers also do not see much benefit in the unlicensed spectrum story. Says Naresh Ajwani, President, Sify Ltd, “If anyone says that unlicensed spectrum can be deployed for broadband then one should ask them to prove the business case first. Technology and other things come only after it can be established that there is a viable business case.” However, Tikona's Bajpai reckons that the opposition from the incumbent telecom players is not surprising since they have to justify their investments in their existing networks. “None of the incumbent telecom players can replicate what we are doing at Tikona. For that they will have to rip apart all their existing networks rolled out with investments of billions of dollars. Therefore they have no option but to buy spectrum to protect the investments made until now.” Despite the optimism towards unlicensed spectrum, interestingly, even Tikona has joined the bid for buying broadband spectrum. That could be to boost its services in urban areas even as it continues to use free spectrum in tier-2 and 3 regions. According to ISPAI's Chharia, there is huge scope for deploying unlicensed spectrum in non-urban areas. “There are only a few areas where the broadband user density is high. In other parts of the country unlicensed spectrum is an effective medium. I know ISPs who offer connectivity in Bihar and Orissa using free air waves,” says Chharia. Market watchers reckon that unlicensed air waves could also become a back-up plan for those telecom players who do not win spectrum in the upcoming auctions. There are 15 companies in the fray for three slots of 3G spectrum and two slots for broadband wireless access. This means that there will be at least 10 players who will not get any spectrum. Assuming that none of these players would want to miss out on the huge broadband market, expected to be over 40 million subscribers in the next few years, using unlicensed spectrum could just be their Plan B.

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssTechMediaTelecomNews/idUSBOM45587420091202 Telenor to launch mobile operations in India on Thursday BANGALORE, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Norwegian telecom firm Telenor will become the 12th operator in the Indian market when it launches its operations on Thursday, a company statement said. Intense competition has been a hallmark of the telecommunications industry in the world's second-most populous country, where it is driving drastic cuts in call charges. Last year Telenor bought into a nascent telecom firm floated by Indian realty Unitech Ltd, and it will launch its services under the Uninor brand in different parts of Asia's third-largest economy. Telenor's move into India is likely to be followed by new launches by United Arab Emirate's Etisalat and Bahrain's Batelco BTEL.BH, as existing firms scramble to sign up users by drastically dropping call charges. Tata Teleservices, the No. 6 operator, was the first to launch per-second billing earlier this year, deviating from the industry norm of per-minute billing. The offer was a roaring success. Mobile services leaders Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone Essar have all followed suit and launched the per-second billing that, analysts said, will significantly dent profit margins of the operators. Last month, Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas said the company would price its call charges in India competitively but would not be the most aggressive. The company is aiming for an 8 percent share within five years of the India launch.

what an idea sirji!(stupid ofcourse)

now the craziest part is their bid for 3g http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/Videocon-bids-for-3G-airwaves-eyes-overseas-partners/articleshow/5700961.cms

@kanagadeepan for the pittance they are paid , u cant expect intelligence from these call centre fellows.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Telecom/Telcos-oppose-Trai-move-to-charge-for-new-numbers/articleshow/5655998.cms Telecom operators, including BSNL and MTNL, have opposed the Trai move to charge a price for allocating new numbers, saying an additional levy is totally unwarranted. Sectoral regulator Trai’s main reason behind suggesting a price on allocating new numbers is that the numbers are not being efficiently utilised and it feels a price can make the operators not to dole out numbers to lure more customers. It has also sought opinion on the methods of pricing. The existing National Numbering Plan was formulated for a projected forecast 450 million mobile and 300 million basic subscribers. Due to the tremendous growth in subscriber numbers, the plan has fallen way short of designed capacity in case of mobile numbering resources as the current subscriber base is more than 550 million. State-run BSNL has told Trai that numbering resources is the most basic need for accessing any telecom service. The service providers are already paying licence fee for operating telecom services, of which these numbering resources form an integral part. “No pricing for numbering resources should be implemented,” BSNL said. Country’s largest private mobile player and number one operator Bharti Airtel said operators are already paying 30% of their gross revenues towards levies and duties despite major fall in tariffs and ARPU (average revenue per user). So, proposing another additional levy in terms of pricing would be completely unwarranted for the industry. “New block of numbers are alloted only after demonstrating 60 and 80% utilisation stringently for mobile and fixed line respectively,” said Bharti.

S tel has taken DOT to court and got a favourable decision.. DOT is now showing who is more powerfull

we in india want nokia cdma and gsm devices where as in the USA the nokia is least cared..strange

btw how many really need 4g speeds in india

http://www.business-standard.com/india/new...xt-week/356561/ Despite its run-in with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Mumbai-based GSM telecom service provider Loop Telecom will launch its services in the Tamil Nadu and Orissa circles by next week. “To comply with the norms laid down by the government, we will launch with 10 per cent coverage in Tamil Nadu and Orissa,” said a senior executive. “We will roll out in three other circles in South India within 10-15 days of our launch in the first two circles. We are not doing a large-scale commercial launch at this point in time. This is to meet regulatory requirements,” said the executive. Loop Telecom, a subsidiary of Loop Mobile (formerly BPL Mobile Comm), is one of the eight new players given a mobile service licence. Last year, the company got the licence to start GSM operations in 21 telecom circles in the country. It has been allocated spectrum in 20 circles. The licence says operators are required to cover at least 10 per cent of each district headquarters in a circle in the first year. Loop recently contracted with Chinese network equipment vendor ZTE. With next week’s launch, the company will become the first new GSM operator to launch its services, in an already crowded market. Besides the presence of incumbents like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, the recent entry of CDMA major Reliance has brought a new wave of declining rates in the sector. Aircel also made its foray into the mainstream GSM space with the launch of operations in Delhi and Mumbai.

as long the govt favors someone litigation is for sure and obviously gains will be delayed for us http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sunil-jain-stop-picking-winners/384219/ As the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) finalises its recommendations on a new regime for spectrum pricing (fees) and allocation, it may be a good idea to examine just who is paying what for using this scarce spectrum. In the bad old days when firms like Reliance started CDMA-mobile services, it was well known that the government was favouring them over GSM-mobile phone companies like Bharti — CDMA-mobile firms paid no licence fees, got paid each time a call was made to their network, had different pulse rates and so on. The problem is that, to a large extent, the government is still playing favourites, and this is what Trai needs to keep in mind while finalising its new recommendations on the Subodh Kumar report on this issue. The principal problem area, as the Kumar committee pointed out, is that of differential charges — a CDMA players pays a 2 per cent revenue share for up to 5 MHz of spectrum, 3 per cent when it rises to 6.25 MHz; a GSM firm pays 2 per cent for up to 4.4 MHz, 3 per cent for 4.4-6.2 MHz, 4 per cent for 6.2-10 MHz, and so on. So, we’re at a stage now when several players like Reliance Communications (RCom) and Tata Teleservices have more spectrum than the GSM lot (that’s because RCom and Tata Tele now offer both CDMA and GSM services) but pay a lot less spectrum fee. Which is why the committee was of the view that the government needed to move to one uniform fee, regardless of whether a firm used CDMA or GSM and whether it had 5 MHz or 10. Just look at the allegations against RCom about showing a part of its mobile revenues as internet ones (there is no licence fee on the latter) and it’s obvious one flat rate will reduce arbitrage opportunities — imagine the confusion when firms start sharing spectrum and when there’s yet another rate for 3G players! The differential spectrum charges are defended by the government and the CDMA players, by arguing that CDMA makes more efficient use of spectrum and so it is only right that they pay less. The problem, however, dramatically worsened when dual technology was allowed and firms like RCom/Tata Tele got GSM spectrum in addition to the CDMA spectrum they already had — while Trai was in favour of clubbing the GSM and CDMA spectrum to charge a higher fee, the government turned this down and so, RCom, which has an average of 9.1 MHz, paid Rs 44.6 crore of spectrum fee in the September 2009 quarter, Tata Tele paid Rs 44.9 crore for its 7.8 MHz versus Bharti Airtel’s Rs 291.4 crore for 7.6 MHz and Vodafone Rs 192.5 crore for its 6.5 MHz. In other words, while Bharti paid Rs 38.4 crore per MHz and Vodafone Rs 29.5 crore, RCom paid Rs 4.9 crore and Tata Rs 6 crore! If you look at it in terms of subscribers, Bharti paid Rs 26.4 per subscriber, Vodafone Rs 23.3, RCom Rs 5.2 and Tata Rs 9.6. In other words, the government is getting a lot less revenue, thanks to its present fee structure. Another issue proving to be problematic in the Trai consultation — which is why its recommendations are getting delayed! — is the difference on whether to accept the Subodh Kumar recommendation on auctioning all spectrum. After the furore over Communication Minister A Raja allotting 4.4 MHz of spectrum to a few firms in 2008 at prices discovered in 2001, the committee took the view that while what was done was done, this had to be prevented in the future. The newcomers and the minister, however, argue that they should be given another 1.8 MHz free since their licence allows this. While the Delhi High Court decision on the matter (STel had challenged Raja’s actions in the court) makes it clear the allocation procedure was faulty — so the licence “rights” are really irrelevant — what’s interesting to note is what this additional allocation will cost. A good idea is to take the base price of Rs 3,500 crore that the government has fixed for the 3G auctions. Given that 5 MHz are to be allotted, that’s Rs 700 crore per operator per MHz at an all-India level, do the maths for the number of operators who will have to be given the 1.8 MHz in each circle, and that’s around Rs 9,500 crore the government will lose by way of entry fees! Equally important for the Trai, especially since it is in favour of one-second pulse rates and other measures to drive down prices to the current suicidal levels, is to realise the consequences of this on government revenues. In the September 2008 quarter, the government earned Rs 98.1 for each of the 315.3 million subscribers the industry had; by September 2009, this had fallen to Rs 70.1 for each of the 471.7 million users — that’s a loss of around 1,800 crore on an annualised basis, or around a seventh of government revenue from the sector, a figure which has worsened after the introduction of 1 paise per second rates. So, the government loses at least a seventh of its potential revenues as operators lower rates to grab more subscribers and this will, if 1.8 MHz of spectrum is given out free, cost it another Rs 9,500 crore of lost revenues!

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2010/02/01/stories/2010020150100300.htm On October 22, 2009, high-level executives from Microsoft Corporation met officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, including the Chairman, J S Sarma, to demonstrate how vacant spectrum can be used to provide broadband services at a fraction of the cost incurred by existing players. Researchers at Redmond have been working on this technology for more than two years and believe that it has the potential to be a game changer. They call this technology White-Fi. It allows any service provider to utilise unused spectrum at any given time in an area dynamically, without causing interference to existing players. Paul Mitchell, General Manager, Policy and Standards, Entertainment and Devices, Microsoft Corp, says, “There are empty fragments scattered between used spectrum, which we call ‘White Space'. This space can be utilised for offering long-range, low-cost wireless broadband without causing interference to existing users. While this can be done over any frequency band, the most efficient band is the one currently being used for TV broadcasting.” According to analysts, only a small percentage of the existing air waves is being utilised currently. Yet operators face a severe crunch in spectrum due to a legacy of inefficient allocation and utilisation. Microsoft has developed a platform that will dynamically scan the air waves and transmit data using the white space in spectrum. Though this is similar to a Wi-Fi network, proponents of White-Fi claim that their technology offers a much wider range and higher throughput. “White-Fi is much more powerful than existing Wi-Fi networks and much more cost-effective than other broadband technologies such as WiMax. If a Wi-Fi network can transmit data through 200 feet, White-Fi can take it over 2 km,” says Mitchell. One other advantage with this technology is that since it uses vacant spectrum, operators need not take a licence to offer services - just like Wi-Fi operators. “While telecom operators have to pay upwards of Rs 1,000 crore for a Wimax or a 3G spectrum, White-Fi operates on unlicensed air waves which cuts down the operator's cost and thereby enables cheaper broadband access. This could be a good solution for India's rural penetration,” says a market watcher. Microsoft, along with other large technology giants including Google, HP, Philips and Dell, is backing this new idea globally to convince regulators that the white spaces should be opened up for the use of unlicensed applications. In fact the US regulator, FCC, ruled last November that companies could build devices that transmit over White Spaces but also gave strict requirements that this should not interfere with existing broadcasts, both from TV stations and from other wireless devices that operate within the same spectrum. Google, in its submission to the FCC, asked the Commission to designate Google as one of potentially several administrators of a white spaces geolocation database. “It is required that such a database be deployed before consumer electronics companies could start selling PCs, smart phones, e-book readers or other devices that use this spectrum. Before sending or receiving data, these devices will be required to connect to the database to determine what frequencies can and can't be used in a particular location. Licensed television and wireless microphone signals will be fully protected from harmful interference,” states Google's Policy blog. Back in India, Microsoft has given a demonstration to the Indian regulator, given that TRAI is looking at refarming spectrum from analog TV broadcasting. But unlike the US, where there are a number of broadcasters offering analog TV, in India there is only the State owned Doordarshan using radio waves for terrestrial broadcasting. Therefore the chances of any interference between analog TV and operators deploying White-Fi based broadband will be minimal. If TRAI permits the use of white space in the 700 Mhz band then users will be able to seamlessly access Internet services on their devices. “Just like you have the option of choosing between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, White-Fi will become another option on your devices but one which offers much wider coverage and efficient usage of spectrum,” says Deepak Maheshwari, Director, Corporate Affairs, Microsoft India.

whatever be the reason/motiff govt cannot formulate policy so here comes the latest http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Telecom/3G-auctions-DoT-wings-find-fault-lines/articleshow/5521970.cms The much-delayed 3G auctions are set to face fresh hurdles that can derail the entire process for good. In what may well be a major embarrassment for the communications ministry and telecom minister A Raja, two internal wings of the department of telecom (DoT) have pointed out a slew of loopholes in the proposed policy for the auction of 3G airwaves. The two wings, which include the DoT’s finance wing and wireless division, have pointed out as many as eight policy loopholes that must be addressed first before the airwaves sale can take place. These two divisions have even questioned the legal implications of having the 3G auctions for CDMA operators in addition to raising concerns over the department’s move to restrict the CDMA auction only to existing players. They have also pointed out that for standalone players or new foreign players, who bag the airwaves in the auction, the amount of 3G spectrum that they get through the sale process ‘does not provide a viable business proposition’. They have also added that while the draft norms for the 3G auctions lists out the annual spectrum usage charges, which successful bidders will have to pay; this levy structure has not been formally approved by the government and hence cannot be part of the 3G policy. The finance wing has stated that the communications ministry’s plan to make the winning bids in each circle for the upcoming 3G auctions, as the base price for all airwaves sale in the future, must first be approved by the government. They have also questioned, as to how bidders could be informed of these policy changes when the same was not officially endorsed by the government and publicly unveiled, as being part of the 3G telecoms policy. ET had first reported on January 20 that the latest policy flip-flop by DoT could drive away foreign players from the upcoming 3G auctions by denying them a fair chance of getting 2G spectrum, which is vital for offering a full complement of telecom services. Global telcos, with no presence in India, are unlikely to enter the 3G race unless they can offer full-fledged mobile services. Fresh entrants in India’s telecom scene that win 3G spectrum — essential for offering value-added services such as video conferencing and ultrafast internet on mobiles — in the auctions to be held next month will be placed last in the queue of the 343 applicants for 2G airwaves, DoT had said in response to bidders’ queries. This sudden policy flip-flop by the communications ministry meant that new entrants, which win 3G spectrums, don’t stand a chance to get 2G spectrum. As per the country’s 3G policy, successful bidders will get 5 MHz of 3G airwaves. While this is not enough for new players entering the telecom market, it will be enough for existing GSM players to migrate to 3G. The DoT had earlier said standalone 3G winners would get 2G spectrum on a priority basis. The wireless advisor as well as the DoT’s finance wing have also now pointed out that new entrants, who bag 3G spectrums, cannot launch services in India with just 5 MHz or units of airwaves, and said: “This clause will effectively deter new entrants from participating in this auction, as there would be no guarantee of allotment of 2G spectrum to them. In order to address the problem, it would have been appropriate to have a separate category of services licence for 3G services. Further, for a standalone 3G operator, the amount of spectrum does not provide a viable business proposition.” In mid-January, yet another policy flip-flop, DoT had clarified that foreign participation in the upcoming 3G auctions would be limited to GSM space only. Allowing international operators to participate in the 3G auctions for GSM telcos hold no risk, as they cannot launch mobile operations in India with standalone 3G airwaves. In the case of CDMA operators, both 2G and 3G services are offered using the same airwaves or spectrum — therefore, allowing international players to participate in the upcoming auctions could have possibly allowed new entrants to launch full-fledged CDMA services using their 3G airwaves they secure in the auction. Asking the department for an explanation on this, the finance wing of DoT said: “For (CDMA), it is proposed to auction only one block and keep existing spectrum for future allocation, instead of auctioning the entire available blocks at present. The reason for this differential treatment is not clear.” The DoT is fighting several court cases on allocation of airwaves to new entrants in the past. In early 2008, DoT had awarded new licences to eight new telecom companies, and the move had resulted in widespread allegations that the department and telecoms minister A Raja had tweaked the laws to favour select firms. The CBI, the Central Vigilance Commission, the CAG and other government investigation arms are probing alleged foul play in awarding these new licences. The DoT in its legal defence has always maintained that it was going by sector regulator Trai’s recommendations, which said 2G spectrum, on which all current mobile services currently operate must not be auctioned, and only airwaves for future services such as 3G must be awarded through a competitive bidding process. However, in the case of CDMA operators, the airwaves for awarding 2G and 3G services are the same 800 MHz band. The internal DoT wings have said auctioning 3G services for CDMA amounts to violating the department’s public and legal stance that 2G frequencies which are currently being used for offering mobile services are not being sold through a bidding process. “If therefore, we auction 3G frequencies in the 800-MHz, this stand may be in contravention of the stand taken so far before the standing committee, replies to Parliament questions and to the Central Vigilance Commission queries. A decision, therefore, needs to be taken on the auction of 3G airwaves in the 800-Mhz,” said the two internal divisions of DoT. The government had recently decided to hike the existing spectrum usage charges by up to 2%. Currently, all mobile services in the country are offered on 2G frequencies and telecom operators pay 2-6% of their annual gross revenue (AGR), depending on the amount of spectrum they hold, as usage charges to the government. Now, telcos will pay 3-8% of AGR, depending on the amount of spectrum they hold, as usage charges to the government. The decision to hike 2G spectrum charges will have an impact on the upcoming 3G auctions also. This is because, the 3G draft norms said telcos offering both 2G and 3G services will have to pay an additional 1% fee, if they secure airwaves to launch 3G services. The change in 2G user charges will imply that these operators will now have to shell out 4-9% of the total annual revenues to the government, if they offer both 2G and 3G services. But telcos, who enter the Indian market for the first time by offering high-end data services, will have to pay only 3% of their aggregate revenues to the government for the use of these airwaves. Again, the finance wing and the wireless advisor have pointed out the new spectrum charges were not in policy yet, and therefore, cannot be included in the 3G norms. These developments come even as the law ministry has warned that the government will be exposing itself to the danger of heavy financial penalties, if it auctions 3G airwaves not in the possession of the telecom department — most likely leading to another delay in the sale of spectrum for high-end telecom services such as ultrafast internet on mobiles. The law ministry has advised that it is not prudent to auction airwaves not yet freed by the armed forces because under the terms of a telecom department proposal, the winning bidders can ask for their money back plus interest, if they are not handed the 3G spectrum by the end of this year. The ball is now in the court of the finance ministry, headed by Pranab Mukherjee.

u right ramesh,that the issues are related to software and could be easily resolved..however dont expect the chinese to do this(the can only copy with perfection ,but cannot write softeare) and dont expecr videocon to do this( coz they know only to sell)..

http://greenpeace.in/safefood/the-biggest-baingan-bharta-ever/?utm_source=bharta&utm_medium=email&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=BtBrinjal

^ delhi has no spectrum..thats y u r being deprived of docomo..vodafone/airtel's style of competing by hoarding spectrum

Dear kumaar thanks a lot for the help..

@vinayak been using haier c6000 ..battery good others aspects just ok..i have written sometime back in more detail in rimweb

@hitesh in an oct09 interview with pwc ,mts india ceo has denied gsm aspirations..the interview was more canid than news paper ones..

olive is nothing but a reincarnation of haier as pointed by aalok

^^ is this poor coverage an inherent problem of using 1800 mhz

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/Per-second-billing-unsustainable-Aircel/articleshow/5446584.cms Aircel Cellular, promoted by Malaysia’s Maxis Communications, on Thursday said it was targeting 100 million users by 2012, over three-fold increase from the current base of 31 million. However, Aircel’s strategy for subscriber addition will be data driven and not tariff driven. “Per-second billing is unsustainable. It constrains EBIDTA margins. We will see these tariffs for another year-and-a-half after which consolidation will set in,” Aircel COO Gurdeep Singh said after announcing an agreement with GTL Infrastructure to sell its towers. He pointed out that for operators, the cost per-minute is 40 paise and tariffs below 50 paise per minute did not make a business case. “With tariffs hitting all time low, only value-added services could increase revenues,” he said. Currently, data services constitute 7% of Aircel’s revenues and the company is targeting to take that to 11% by 2012. “Differentiation can come through only value-added services,” he said. The company is targeting to complete pan-India footprint by June this year. It is currently present in 18 out of the 23 telecom circles.

well the never happening 3g auction , will keep on twisting rules..this seems to be latest

trust these stupids on security..america sells defense equipment to pak and also to india..will they refrain from buying..these r oretexts on behalf of some vested interest..