ravi_patent

http://www.livemint.com/2009/08/27010558/Tata-Tele-rings-in-more-number.html?pg=2 India’s sixth largest mobile and wireline operator, Tata Teleservices Ltd, has become operationally profitable even as it prepares for more intense competition in the market for Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology standard that’s dominant in India. In an interview, managing director Anil Sardana said Tata Tele had turned profitable measured by Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. “We are very clearly Ebitda positive for last one year,” he said. “Most of the operators who started in 1994 turned Ebitda positive in about eight to nine years’ time, cash positive in 10 to 11 years, and PAT (profit after tax) positive in 11 to 13 years. At Tata Tele, we became Ebitda-positive in three years.” The challenge for the firm is how to stay viable as it prepares to roll out its GSM network nationwide, Sardana said. The company has about 40 million subscribers nationwide, and has earmarked $2 billion for the national GSM rollout. Tata Tele signed up 2.3 million subscribers in July, up from 625,000 additions in June and easily surpassing the company’s record addition of 1.26 million in March, largely on the back of its GSM launch in five telecom circles. The company does not provide a breakup for subscriber additions in the GSM and rival Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) markets. Sardana, a Tata group veteran and an insider who had in the past successfully turned around North Delhi Power Ltd, the electricity distributor in Delhi where the Tatas hold a majority stake along with the state government, came to troubled Tata Tele when expatriate chief executive officer Darryl Green resigned. Some analysts doubt whether the company is completely out of the woods yet although they say Sardana’s entry had put Tata Tele in a bit of a “ramp-up mode” and with a “more visible market presence.” “They have made some progress,” said a management consultant who spoke on conditions of anonymity because he has worked with Tata Tele and other telecom firms. “The business matrix has clearly improved and there are some signs of trending upwards,” he added, referring to the addition of the GSM network and wireless Internet cards business. Mint had on 15 December reported about Tata Tele’s capital restructuring exercise as part of which the company wrote off Rs5,141.28 crore by halving equity capital, and a sizeable portion of the share premium account, and another tranche of Rs1,648 crore by revaluing its stake in Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd, its listed subsidiary. The three-pronged exercise also saw the induction of a new strategic partner NTT DoCoMo Inc, in November 2008, when the Japanese telecom firm paid $2.7 billion (Rs13,070 crore) for a 26% stake in Tata Tele. Sardana, however, denies that it was an asset write-off. Funds invested by shareholders, mainly the Tata group, before the entry of DoCoMo had brought down equity capital and share premium by half, he said. When Sardana took over in August 2007, he spent a month analysing processes and in September the company launched a 900-day plan that was a roadmap for when the company would turn Ebitda and cash positive. “When I came in, I was surprised that we were players in patches, we were not there in many geographies, we were operating in a truncated manner,” Sardana recalled. Now, Tata Tele is a pan-India operator with licences to operate in all 22 telecom circles. Until recently, however, the firm was primarily a code division multiple access, or CDMA, operator. But like Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom), which now has a national presence in both technologies, it started rolling out GSM services, too, becoming only the second provider to offer both. “Whatever numbers we had internally set as a target for the first quarter of our launch, we achieved in just 10-15 days,” Sardana said. A 21 August report by Gaurav Jaitly and Abhishek Gupta, analysts with Reliance Equities International Private Ltd, acknowledged the impact of Tata DoCoMo’s entry into the GSM market. The report noted that July saw net subscriber additions of 14.4 million by all firms nationwide, just shy of the 15.6 million record set in January. “DoCoMo’s impact could be more than a one-month phenomenon,” the report said. “We believe Tata DoCoMo’s ‘per second’ billing plans could cause further disruption in the industry in the near term as the company expands nationwide coverage. In addition, unlike RCom’s GSM launch offering in January, the impact of DoCoMo’s plans could be more sustainable,” Jaitly and Gupta wrote. They also pointed to differences between the two launches that “might lead to Tata DoCoMo having a more sustained impact on industry economics”. While RCom lauched GSM nationwide, write the analysts, Tata DoCoMo has taken a phased approach to its launch. In the five circles where the company launched services in July—Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Orissa—DoCoMo garnered 34% share of net additions. Thus, unlike RCom, “we might not see a similar drop-off in DoCoMo’s net additions in the coming months as it expands nationwide coverage (expected to be completed by the end of October 2009)”, Jaitly and Gupta wrote. Unlike RCom’s offerings, which were driven by low upfront costs to acquire an SIM card at Rs10-25 for a lifetime connection, and promotional plans of 5-10 minutes of free daily talk time for the first three months, Tata DoCoMo’s entry points are in line with the industry (Rs49 for a life time connection). However, the telecom industry consultant mentioned earlier said Tata Tele continues to grapple with a lack of focus. It is now straddling two technology platforms and going forward, could cause its resources to be spread thin, the consultant said. Sardana shrugged off the warning. “For us being a dual technology player is a natural part of our evolution in the telecom space,” he said. “Today, there is a clutter of platforms, and spectrum is limited. Gradually, we will see customers vying for better voice and a better-quality experience. Having a presence on both platforms makes us better equipped to handle demand of the mass market that still looks for pan-India coverage and better voice and network quality.” Tata Tele is not taking its focus off the CDMA market. The company is doing a joint study with the Indian subsidiary of Nokia Oyj, which will see the market leader in mobile phone handsets to offer more of a choice in the number of CDMA compatible handsets it sells in India. Sardana says his team is also working on a project to devise a CDMA SIM card that can be used in any handset, but this will take at least one year to deliver results.. Sardana doesn’t like Tata Tele being referred to as the sixth largest mobile and wireline operator in the country. It is an unfair descriptor, he says, because “others have gone ahead of us because of acquisitions. We are now all pervasive in terms of our reach and our network.” “Being a late entrant in the mobile telephony space, we gained our customers from the bottom of the pyramid,” he says.

The GoM has also decided to auction one slot of 3G spectrum for CDMA players with a base price of Rs 875 crore. Operators who win the 3G bidding will get a chunk of 5 Mhz spectrum and BWA players will get 20 Mhz. Only 1.25 Mhz spectrum has been earmarked for one CDMA player http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/08/28/stories/2009082852060100.htm

offtopic: nice user id ,bringing thoughts of godavari

@k shah : is the 80 gb one which u are refrring to is external hard disk ? @kumaar shah : the price i was quoting was a ritchie street price..where is reliance digital outlet in chennai? the price quoted by dealer in ritchie street was with warranty

launched in kerala also.. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/08/15/stories/2009081551521703.htm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Prices-of-handsets-set-to-come-down/articleshow/4823344.cms Prices of mobile handsets are set to dip and consumers spoiled for choice with US-based CDMA Development Group (CDG) picking India for the launch of a global CDMA Open Market Handsets (OMH) initiative that is projected to add 100 million subscribers in two years. CDMA handsets have traditionally not been available over-the-counter but come bundled with the service. The CDG hopes to change this with its historic expansion of the CDMA ecosystem this year through the OMH launch, expected within October this year. “The CDMA open market handsets will target the mid-to-high income segment offering rich features like Internet browsing, e-mail access, downloading clips, music and video streaming at competitive price points. GSM handsets in the similar price range offer merely voice and SMS,� says Perry LaForge, executive director, CDG. As the world's fastest growing telecom market and also the second largest CDMA market globally after US, India is a natural choice for this global launch. In May 2009 India's CDMA market crossed the 100-million subscriber mark against 315 million for GSM, pushing Reliance and Tata to second and fourth largest CDMA operators globally. India continues to add 2.5 million CDMA subscribers every month (highest in the world). According to LaForge, the CDMA opportunity in India looks even more promising with the entry of new brands, expansion of existing players Tata and Reliance and addition of new operators like Sistema Shyam, Virgin Mobile and BSNL. “India is a promising market both for upgrades for the existing CDMA subscriber base as well as for new subscriber acquisitions. The CDMA-OMH launch will give consumers both choice and flexibility,� he says. The CDG claims that CDMA mobile service in India has grown much faster than GSM. CDMA was launched in 2003 and hit the 100 million subscriber mark in six years in May 2009 with just two operators. GSM, which was launched in 1995, took seven years to hit the 100 million subscriber number, says LaForge. When probed about Tata and Reliance now encouraging customer migration to their new GSM networks, which will hurt growth, LaForge disagreed. “Reliance and Tata continue to be extremely supportive of CDMA. In late May both companies publicly stated that they are only offering GSM because they don't have access to additional spectrum for CDMA." According to the CDG, CDMA has played a central role in making mobile communication affordable and accessible to all in India. Within a year of CDMA's introduction, tariffs dropped 42% and teledensity increased by 1.7%, says LaForge. “The OMH initiative is expected to revamp the CDMA handset distribution network altogether. Its success could further influence CDMA strategies in other countries,� says Nakul Duggal, senior director, Engineering Services Group, Qualcomm, US.

given a chance all of us will rather choose DOCOMO

The Hindu Business Line New Delhi, Aug. 4 If the first few months are any indication, third generation (3G) services in India seem to be catching the consumer attention. According to Qualcomm, which manufactures chipsets for 3G devices, there are already over half-a-million 3G subscribers in the country thanks to aggressive roll-outs by Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. Qualcomm estimates that at least one million 3G devices will be shipped into India by the end of 2009 though new spectrum is yet to be auctioned. While RCom and Tata Teleservices have deployed EVDO (evolution data optimised) network using their existing spectrum in 800 Mhz band, BSNL is rolling out HSPA (high speed packet access)-based 3G services. Over 40 cities have already been covered by the three operators. But most subscribers are latching on to RCom and Tata Tele’s recently-launched high-speed Internet services through USB data cards priced at around Rs 3,000. MAKING IT AFFORDABLE Mr Kanwalinder Singh, President, India and South Asia of Qualcomm, told Business Line, “3G is already happening in India and it is not limited to just the top cities. Operators, including Tata Tele and RCom, are offering high-speed broadband services in cities such as Vijayawada, Coimbatore and Vadodara. Qualcomm is enabling the growth of the 3G ecosystem in India by making available affordable devices through a wide range of partners. 3G dongles, for example, have already moved from $50 to the $40-mark and we are working towards making it available for $25.” Though at present 3G data cards and dongles are being sold by the operators, Qualcomm is working towards making them available off-the-shelf so they can be used with a pre-paid 3G connection from the operators. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/08/05/stories/2009080552220100.htm

http://www.ciol.com/News/News-Reports/CDMA-operators-to-initiate-Open-Market-Handsets/4809123164/0/

shashank i believe rather than Gsm , the attraction is 1 paise tariff both for local and std ...i am doubtfull reg similar subscriber acqusitions after august ,when docomo will supposedly revert to 2paise/sec for STD ...

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/07/27/stories/2009072750190200.htm Tata Teleservices Ltd is planning to further leverage its 3G-ready network to launch a slew of next generation data products, including high speed Internet access on mobile handsets. However, since the Government is yet to throw clarity on 3G guidelines and timelines, the company will be seeking clarity from the regulator before moving ahead on this path. The company has already launched high speed Internet services through USB data cards for laptop users. Speaking to Business Line Mr A. G. Rao, President and Chief Technology Officer, Tata Teleservices, said, “Technically we are capable of offering high speed data services on mobile handsets. We are looking at it, but there are some regulatory issues which need to be clarified before we can move ahead.” At present, Tata Teleservices is basically using a 3G technology called Evolution-Data only (EVDO) for offering high speed Internet access on USB data cards under the brand name ‘Photon plus’. However if it were to extend the service to mobile handsets, GSM-based cellular operators could make it an issue since the Government is yet to finalise policy for 3G mobile services. COAI complaint The Cellular Operators Association of India had earlier written to the Government complaining about CDMA players launching 3G-enabled data services. So far the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) have taken a view that operators with unified access licence can offer any type of service using their existing spectrum. If the regulator sticks to this position even for 3G mobile services, then Tata Teleservices could become the first private player to launch high speed data services on handsets. Apart from offering broadband services, 3G technology will also enable Tata Tele to improve the quality of service. The company’s 2G network has already been ranked as the least congested by the TRAI. “We are investing a lot on keeping our networks congestion-free. While most operators are focused on getting more and more subscribers, our focus has also been on offering good quality of service. Our engineers are trained to monitor the network all the time and we have set up systems that enable them to keep track of each base station,” said Mr Rao. Mr Rao said that every engineer in the company has been assigned responsibility to a set number of base stations which makes trouble-shooting fast. “We have systems in place that let us know in advance as to which base station will develop a problem. So our engineers are ready with a solution when the problem actually happens,” Mr Rao said. Tata Tele is one of the few companies which have not outsourced its Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network to a vendor even though it has adopted the model for its new GSM roll-out. Mr Rao said that the company is evaluating both models and could also look at outsourcing its CDMA network if it works out for the GSM business.

@ganesan thats goood idea from mohan,if you are still in doubt , u can try asking nokia headquarters by sending e mail .

will the porting service providers be able to cope is a doubt in case of such estimates of only 5%, inrush will result in porting requests being pending

read in a website that docomo is launching in mumbai very soon(next few days) ... http://telecomtalk.info/tata-docomo-in-mumbai/6723/

good offerings from mts and thanks siva for informing

Less than 5% of subscribers may opt for portability Syniverse and Telcordia, which have been given licences to set up MNP in India, have told TRAI http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/07/23/stories/2009072351741700.htm Mobile operators fearing large-scale exodus of subscribers on the introduction of Mobile Number Portability can rest easy. Syniverse and Telcordia, which have been given licences to set up MNP in India, have told the telecom regulator that only about 2-4.3 per cent of the total mobile subscribers base may port in the first five years. This means that 25-50 million subscribers are likely to change their operators and retain their mobile number by 2013. MNP will allow subscribers to change the mobile operator and retain their mobile number. TRAI has pointed out that though MNP has been implemented in more than 50 countries, only 154 million people had ported their number by January 2008, which equals to only 4 per cent of global mobile subscribers and 13 per cent of those in countries that have launched MNP. Impact of MNP One of the reasons for the minimal impact of MNP in India could be that already 40 per cent of mobile users change their operators every year without worrying too much about their phone number. Barring professionals who may have given out their mobile numbers to their clients and contacts, not many really attach much importance to their phone number. “However, the other argument could be that if the porting charge is minimal or if the recipient operator is willing to absorb the porting charge, a substantial number of these subscribers may opt for porting of their mobile numbers,” TRAI said. The other reason for MNP not inducing churn could be the life-time pre-paid cards issued by most operators, which offers low-cost connectivity to subscribers and, at the same time, locks them on their network.

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_bad-debts-could-delay-portability_1276432 operators response to trai's draft regulations Even as the government is all set to introduce mobile number portability this September, the industry has raised issues and concerns that could delay the launch. Mobile number portability (MNP) is about retaining your phone number while you opt for another service provider within the same circle. Although it is widely believed that MNP rollout would make telcos focus on network and service quality, service providers and analysts have maintained that portability may not have any significant impact on any player in the longer run. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), representing GSM companies, has pointed out to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) that the issue relating to bad debts should be taken into consideration. "While the subscribers benefit from porting, it must also be ensured that the subscribers pay their dues to the service providers. Hence there is a need to have in place a well designed mechanism which can enable the donor operator to recover its dues." COAI has also sought clarity on how the issue of PCOs and toll free numbers must be handled under the MNP regulations. Among the telcos, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has focused on the matter of porting between CDMA (code division multiple access) and GSM (global system for mobile communications) service providers. "CDMA mobile connections are available only in bundled form with handset while for GSM connections the handset is not bundled with the connections," BSNL has said. Therefore, the handset of CDMA mobile connection cannot be used with GSM connections, it added. Even a CDMA handset of one operator cannot be used with another CDMA operator. According to BSNL, such locking of CDMA handset with a particular operator creates a hindrance for freely porting mobile numbers. "This vital issue has not been addressed in the current draft regulations even when the same was appreciated and discussed in various meetings. This issue needs to be immediately addressed. Otherwise, porting of mobile numbers would not be possible from CDMA to GSM technology and vice-versa," BSNL has told Trai. An NGO, Consumer Care Society, has raised the issue of financial implications of MNP. "We do not agree that a subscriber should pay any charges at all, when the basic reason for opting for change of service provider will probably be poor service of the donor operator," it has said. Also, the recipient operator gains a new subscriber without any marketing or customer verification expense, it added. "If indeed unavoidable, let it be nominal," the NGO has added.

small correction...these are trademarks not patents!

coverage wise reliance tariff wise tata docomo ,and MTS bytheway TN has now the highest mobile operators in india

look is great

airtel seems to be reacting docomo offer.. airtel is selling prepaid sims for 10 rs with 60p/min tariff in chennai

probably docomo effect

http://www.business-standard.com/india/new...powers/67751/on Telecom regulator Trai has written to the Department of Telecom (DoT) to amend the Trai Act seeking powers including imposing penalty on telecom operators for unsatisfactory service to subscribers. A senior DoT official said a proposal to amend the Trai Act has been received from the regulator seeking more powers including imposing penalty on operators and the suggestion is under consideration. With the number of operators increasing, the quality of specially mobile service has declined and the regulator and the licensor have been receiving complaints regarding the quality of service, billing and metering, refund of security deposit, tariffs and unsolicited commercial calls. These complaints are then forwarded to the respective service providers for appropriate action and at present there is no statutory provision in the Trai Act for penalising an operator for not addressing any of these problems on time. Trai has quality of service (QoS) regulations but in the absence of penalty powers, these regulations are not adhered strictly. Telcos had earlier opposed Trai's plans to introduce "special quality of service norms" to monitor performance on call drops, fault repair, refunds, and billing complaints saying "such norms should not form part of regulations" because "the competitive market forces operators to address quality issues to survive and retain their customers". Operators feel regulatory intervention is not required as telcos were already "pursuing marketing strategies designed to differentiate their brand from rival offerings based on dimensions of service quality such as superior network coverage, reliability, and voice quality". At present, only the DoT has penalty powers and Trai has powers to set tariffs. Trai is also considering setting up a grievance monitoring system to protect the interests of consumers and to ensure that telecom service providers address and resolve customer complaints within the stipulated timeframe. Currently there exists no system that could tell if customer complaints like billing or the quality of service has been addressed or not.

@vinayak pai good find,reg 750 m saver in rajasthan however atleast for users like me who dont travel much thats a pretty gud deal(in a sense limited mobility out side chennai but who cares as long as i can carry a second number)

BS also confirms mnp delay! http://www.business-standard.com/india/new...further/363980/