Karthik R

MoD spectrum usage charges work out to Rs.1.31 lakh cr : DoT The Telecom Ministry has informed the Finance Ministry that the charges for spectrum (other than 2G and 3G bands) used by the Defence amount to whopping Rs.1.31 lakh crore. The Telecom Ministry has informed the Finance Ministry that the charges for spectrum (other than 2G and 3G bands) used by the Defence amount to whopping Rs.1.31 lakh crore. According to the Department of Telecom (DoT), the spectrum charges (for 2G and 3G bands) of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) from August 1, 2009 to July 31, 2010 amount to Rs.187.45 crore. "As regards spectrum charges other than 2G and 3G bands, the spectrum actual in use and pan-India works out to be Rs.14,087.08 crore and Rs.1,17,517.16 crore, respectively," DoT has said in a communication to the Finance Ministry. However, it was not clear whether DoT has sought the amount from the Defence Ministry or it has just brought this matter to the notice of Finance Ministry. Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar has said in a letter to R Gopalan, Secretary, Department of Economic Affair, that spectrum usage charge for Defence networks in 2G and 3G bands -- between June 1, 2004 and July 31, 2009 -- amounted to Rs.937.236 crore, which was waived off by the Finance Ministry. A High level Committee on Efficient use of Spectrum, in 2004, had suggested that spectrum charges should be charged from all users. The New Telecom Policy -1999 envisaged that for optimal and efficient utilisation of spectrum, a fee shall be charged from all users including Government Departments. DoT wants the Ministry of Defence to vacate additional spectrum for commercial use as soon as possible, which the latter is reluctant to do. The matter has now been referred to the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM). Via : governancenow

Kanimozhi, stepmother in new 2G scam chargesheet, to be filed by CBI on Monday. Source : NDTV

The private sector in Manipur is virtually non-existent due to the activities of militant groups who are now callously targeting the mobile companies that they perceive as the last vestiges of organised private sector in the state. According to reports, there is a scramble for SIM cards of BSNL in Manipur as their services have not been affected so far.

While Intel still is the world’s largest chip maker, it has to compete against ARM’s army which presently dominates the tablet market Note here that ARM doesn’t make chips itself. It designs a general architecture and its licensees such as Qualcomm, Marvell, Broadcom, and Nvidia develop chips based on the architecture that are used in mobile devices.

As per TRAI's regulation, the donor operator have to refund the security deposit within 60 days from the date of closure.

Samsung retaliates - files 10 patent infringements against Apple. - Engadget This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone: in the latest chapter of the Apple-Samsung dispute over their smartphones' resemblance, the latter company has just retaliated by filing lawsuits against Apple in three countries. Sammy's load of ammo include five patent infringements in South Korea, two in Japan, and three in Germany, though we've yet to hear more details about these claims. Now we just sit back and enjoy the show - popcorn, anyone?

700 mAh battery with Nokia BL-4C compatibility doubt it coming with 5 hours talktime as claimed.

Vodafone Essar’s 33% stake worth more than $5 B, argues Essar Group New Delhi/Chennai : High Court verdict rejecting Vodafone's plea opposing the merger of the two Essar group companies, the Indian conglomerate on Thursday said its 33% stake in Vodafone Essar was worth more than the $5 billion that Vodafone was offering it. Essar's stance counters Vodafone Group Plc Chief executive Vittorio Colao's arguments on Tuesday that its JV partner agreed to sell its 33% stake for $5 billion as it could not get a higher valuation. The Madras High Court on Thursday approved the merger of India Securities with Essar Telecommunications Holdings Pvt Ltd that owns an indirect 11% stake in Vodafone Essar. Vodafone had opposed the merger, saying this could be misinterpreted as a fair market value for unlisted Vodafone Essar, India's second largest telecoms company by customers. "We have always believed that the fair market value of Vodafone Essar is higher than the underwritten value, and this is especially so in light of the recent stellar performance of the company," an Essar spokesperson said, adding that the verdict vindicated the company's stand that "Vodafone did not have any locus standi in relation to this merger as it was neither a shareholder nor a creditor of the relevant companies". UK-headquartered Vodafone said it was "disappointed" that the Madras High Court did not feel it necessary to further investigate the merger. It said the verdict would not affect a separate deal to buy out Essar from the joint venture and was confident that the process would be "completed no later than November this year". Executives close to Essar also said despite the high court order it was too late for public shareholders of ISL to benefit from this decision as Vodafone had already announced it was buying out the Essar Group's one-third stake in its Indian JV. The high court also struck down the opposition of the income-tax department to the merger. Rejecting Vodafone's plea against the merger, Justice Vinod Kumar Sharma said the company had no locus standi to file an objection. The agreement between Vodafone and Essar was formed in two parts: one, a put, or sell, option for 22% held by the Essar group overseas and, the other, a call, or buy, option for Vodafone to buy 11% stake the Essar group held in India. Essar had the first right to exercise its option, but if it tendered its entire 22% stake, Vodafone's option would become valid. On Tuesday, Colao had told ET that it would not pay more than $5 billion for buying out the Ruias' 33% stake. "Essar had two options: sell their entire stake for $5 billion as per the earlier agreement, or appoint an independent entity to arrive at a fair market valuation. That they choose the underwritten floor price proves they could not get a higher valuation (than $5 billion)," he had said. He also added that Ruias' seeking a higher price was a "psychological" tactic that all entrepreneurs employ during negotiations. While Vodafone's announcement was aimed at ending months of bickering between the two partners and giving it complete ownership of the Indian entity, ET had recently reported the outbreak of peace was shortlived as both partners appeared to be headed for a new round of confrontation as the Ruias' were seeking to extract a higher price for its stake. Essar has also argued that its 11% stake held in India is being bought by Vodafone is subject to the Reserve Bank regulations. The April 2010 RBI resolution, which sought to protect domestic companies from aggressive multinational buyers, mandates that Indian shares in privately held firms should be valued under the discounted cash flow method. Under this method, Essar's 11% stake in Vodafone Essar is worth $1.7-1.8 billion, compared with the purchase option that pegs it at $1.2 billion "RBI is also examining whether it would permit Vodafone to purchase these shares for $1.2 billion against the discounted cash flow valuation of $ 1.7 billion," one of the executives said. The executives also said that both partners had "appointed Standard Chartered Bank, Goldman Sachs and UBS to determine a fair market value of Vodafone Essar, in advance of the put options, but the valuation exercise by the banks never actually got completed and Essar was forced to exercise the fixed price option as time was running out". They also objected to the Vodafone chief executive's announcement that the company was looking at its Indian operations by the year-end following the exit of its JV partner. According to them, Essar last year pushed for listing Vodafone Essar but was unsuccessful as "Vodafone refused to dilute its its shareholding". Via : Economic Times

Helpful post. Thanks Ravi I have done some 50+ transactions in ebay and baring two stray incidents where defective products were send to me (and later replaced on raising issue) everything worked smooth. Points to note : Learn all you can about the item. Read the item description carefully. Read Seller’s feedback. From the item page, click on the number in brackets after the seller's User ID. From here you'll see what other buyers have had to say about doing business with the seller. This is an important piece of information about the seller. You can alsu use ‘Contact eBay Member’ feature to ask a buyer his experience with the seller. Research the item's value. Look at similar completed eBay listings using the completed listings search. You can also visit online shops that sell similar items and ask friends to help determine what the item is worth. Review the seller's current items to get an idea of this person's areas of expertise. For example, if the seller has only sold recipes, and then lists a plasma television, make sure that you’re comfortable with the transaction before you bid Have used Flipkart couple of times without any pain. You may also want to read my earlier post on safe online shopping.

Weak specs - 600MHz processor and 168MB of RAM. Small screen. I doubt it getting the Froyo update. It is going to be another mega flop if they dont price it in the sub Rs. 10,000 band.

Court approves Essar group firms' merger New Delhi: Essar Group firm India Securities said on Thursday an Indian court has approved its merger with another group firm that owns an indirect 11 percent stake in a local mobile joint venture with UK's Vodafone. Vodafone said in a statement it was "disappointed" by India's Madras High Court's decision to approve the merger of the Essar firms, but added it would not affect a separate deal to buyout Essar from the joint venture. Vodafone and Essar had locked horns this year over the planned merger of the two Essar Group firms, with the former saying India Securities' value may be inaccurately used to calculate the value of their joint venture Vodafone Essar. But late last month, Vodafone said it will buy out Essar's 33 percent stake in the joint venture for $5 billion and both the sides have said they expect to close the deal by November. Essar Group, which had earlier said that Vodafone had nothing to do with the planned merger of the two Essar Group firms as it was neither a shareholder nor a creditor to the companies, said on Thursday the court decision vindicated its earlier stance. "The objections filed by Vodafone were intended to delay the merger, and serve their own commercial interests to prevent the discovery of a fair market value of Vodafone Essar Ltd through a market mechanism," Essar Group said in a statement. Via : Economic Times

Reminder : You own a fascinate

What You Can Do An important thing to note is that Apple says it will collect almost no location information from your phone if you don't have location services turned on. To adjust your preference open up your device's Settings app (the silver cog) and toggle 'Location Services' to 'Off' if you don't want to be tracked.

Nokia's Q1 2011: smartphone share down to 26 percent, 'more challenging' times ahead Nokia has just published its first quarterly results in the era of its Microsoft partnership and things aren't looking too bright. Smartphone market share, which had been at 41 percent this time last year and 31 percent in January, has now dipped to 26 percent, while operating profits have taken a 17 percent tumble relative to last year. The company managed to ship one percent more phones in Q1 2011 than in Q1 2010, but its 108.5 million units was an 18 percent drop from last quarter's totals. CEO Stephen Elop describes the first quarter as solid, but warns that the second will be "more challenging." The impact of Japan's disaster earlier in the year will be felt more strongly in Q2, we're warned, with respect to component supply and logistics, while new products won't figure too strongly as Nokia intends to "start shipping the majority of our new products in the second half of the year." Elop is, however, encouraged by the "roadmap of mobile phones and Symbian smartphones" that Nokia has in store for 2011, which sounds good on the surface, but we'd be more comforted if he'd have inserted the words "Windows Phone" or "MeeGo" in that sentence too. Hit the links below to see the full financial details. Source : Nokia (PDF)

Nokia and Microsoft sign definitive agreement, bring Windows Phone handsets closer to realization Microsoft and Nokia's industry-altering announcement of a strategic alliance back in February has today been bolstered with the signing of a definitive agreement between the two companies. In announcing the inking of the paperwork, the Microkia crew point out that they're already hard at work developing "a portfolio" of Nokia Windows Phone devices, which will be shipping "in volume" in 2012, but there's still a twinkling hope that they can get something out on the market in 2011. Nokia devs have started porting key applications and services to Windows Phone, with mapping and navigation getting a highlight mention, while there will indeed be a "Nokia-branded global application store that leverages the Windows Marketplace infrastructure." Notably, this is described as a single portal where devs can serve their apps to users of Windows Phone, Symbian and Series 40 devices -- it'll be interesting to see how they work out the details of that. There's also confirmation that Microsoft will pay Nokia multiple billions of dollars as part of the agreement, some of which will be spent on completing an intellectual property-sharing agreement between the two teams. So yes, the third ecosystem is well and truly on its way. Press Release Nokia and Microsoft sign definitive agreement ahead of schedule Nokia Corp NOK | 4/21/2011 6:12:28 AM Espoo, Finland, Apr 21, 2011 (Thomson Reuters ONE via COMTEX News Network) -- Key contributions to new global mobile ecosystem agreed and significant progress made on engineering of new products Nokia Corporation Stock exchange release April 21, 2011 at 13.10 (CET +1) Espoo, Finland and Redmond, US - Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) today announced the signing of a definitive agreement on a partnership that will result in a new global mobile ecosystem, utilizing the very complementary assets of both companies. Completed ahead of schedule, the definitive agreement is consistent with the joint announcement made on February 11. In addition to agreeing to the terms of their partnership, including joint contributions to the development of the new ecosystem, Nokia and Microsoft also announced significant progress on the development of the first Nokia products incorporating Windows Phone. With hundreds of personnel already engaged on joint engineering efforts, the companies are collaborating on a portfolio of new Nokia devices. Nokia has also started porting key applications and services to operate on Windows Phone and joint outreach has begun to third party application developers. "At the highest level, we have entered into a win-win partnership," said Stephen Elop, President and CEO of Nokia Corporation. "It is the complementary nature of our assets, and the overall competitiveness of that combined offering, that is the foundation of our relationship." "Our agreement is good for the industry," said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. "Together, Nokia and Microsoft will innovate with greater speed, and provide enhanced opportunities for consumers and our partners to share in the success of our ecosystem." The relationship is structured around four broad areas: A combination of complementary assets, which make the partnership truly unique, including: Nokia to deliver mapping, navigation, and certain location-based services to the Windows Phone ecosystem. Nokia will build innovation on top of the Windows Phone platform in areas such as imaging, while contributing expertise on hardware design and language support, and helping to drive the development of the Windows Phone platform. Microsoft will provide Bing search services across the Nokia device portfolio as well as contributing strength in productivity, advertising, gaming, social media and a variety of other services. The combination of navigation with advertising and search will enable better monetization of Nokia's navigation assets and completely new forms of advertising revenue. Joint developer outreach and application sourcing, to support the creation of new local and global applications, including making Windows Phone developer registration free for all Nokia developers. Opening a new Nokia-branded global application store that leverages the Windows Marketplace infrastructure. Developers will be able to publish and distribute applications through a single developer portal to hundreds of millions of consumers that use Windows Phone, Symbian and Series 40 devices. Contribution of Nokia's expertise in operator billing to ensure participants in the Windows Phone ecosystem can take advantage of Nokia's billing agreements with 112 operators in 36 markets. [*]Microsoft will receive a running royalty from Nokia for the Windows Phone platform, starting when the first Nokia products incorporating Windows Phone ship. The royalty payments are competitive and reflect the large volumes that Nokia expects to ship, as well as a variety of other considerations related to engineering work to which both companies are committed. Microsoft delivering the Windows Phone platform to Nokia will enable Nokia to significantly reduce operating expenses. [*]In recognition of the unique nature of Nokia's agreement with Microsoft and the contributions that Nokia is providing, Nokia will receive payments measured in the billions of dollars. [*]An agreement that recognizes the value of intellectual property and puts in place mechanisms for exchanging rights to intellectual property. Nokia will receive substantial payments under the agreement. With the definitive agreement now signed, both companies will begin engaging with operators, developers and other partners to help the industry understand the benefits of joining the new ecosystem. At the same time, work will continue on developing Nokia products on the Windows Phone platform, with the aim of securing volume device shipments in 2012. The scale of both companies' mutual commitment is significant and is in keeping with the intention to build a new ecosystem based on this long-term, strategic partnership. About Nokia Nokia is committed to connecting people to what matters to them by combining advanced mobile technology with personalized services. More than 1.3 billion people connect to one another with a Nokia, from our most affordable voice-optimized mobile phones to advanced Internet-connected smartphones sold in virtually every market in the world. Through Ovi (www.ovi.com), people also enjoy access to maps and navigation on mobile, a rapidly expanding applications store, a growing catalog of digital music, free email and more. Nokia's NAVTEQ is a leader in comprehensive digital mapping and navigation services, and Nokia Siemens Networks is one of the leading providers of telecommunications infrastructure hardware, software and professional services globally. Courtesy : Engadget

Highly unlikely as they (DoCoMo) have invested as much as Rs. 13,000 crores for a 26 per cent stake in Tata Tele and even put in Rs. 800 crores in the rights offering last month to maintain stake. The additional investment is being described as a part of their ongoing business strategy to expand presence in India - the fastest growing mobile market in the world. They are in for a ''long term relationship''

Breached the 250 signatures mark. Good going guys

The oft-rumored iPhone 5 will hit store shelves in September with a faster processor and a similar look to the iPhone 4, according to reports going rounds.

2G scam: DB Realty, Unitech, Reliance Comm fall as court rejects bail pleas NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of five corporate honchos including promoter of Etisalat DB, Sanjay Chandra, in connection with the 2G spectrum case. The order came on the bail applications of Swan Telecom Director Vinod Goenka, Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra, and three top officials of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) - Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara. They are likely to be sent to jail. The five executives, who were named in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet, were not arrested during the probe. Shares in Unitech, the Indian joint ventures of Norway's Telenor and the UAE's Etisalat, closed 5.13 percent down, DB Realty closed 4.22 percent down and Reliance Communications shares closed down 1.99 percent. The investigating agency had on April 15 sought the detention of five corporate executives chargesheeted by it for their alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam, saying that they might abscond and impede the trial. The CBI, which opposed their bail pleas, said that some of the key witnesses, belonging to the corporate world, directly worked under them and the possibility of the accused winning them over could not be ruled out. The investigating agency had earlier issued summons to corporate leaders, who have not been arrested in connection with the scam. Former Telecom Minister A Raja, former Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura, Raja''s personal secretary R K Chandolia and Swan Telecom Promoter Shahid Usman Balwa are already in judicial custody and have been supplied with the copy of the chargesheet. All the accused have been booked under sections 120( B ) (criminal conspiracy), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 109 (abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where no express provision is made for its punishment) of the Indian Penal Code. Raja was forced to resign from the Union Cabinet last year after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) faulted him for undervaluing spectrum to favour companies who were largely ineligible for 2G spectrum, and added that the government had probably lost Rs.1.76 lakh crore in estimated revenue. Via - Economic Times

Vodafone May Consider IPO in 9-12 Months MUMBAI -- Vodafone Group PLC Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said the telecom giant might consider an initial public offer for Vodafone Essar Ltd., its majority-owned Indian venture. "I would not exclude that in nine months from now, twelve months from now, we will start thinking seriously if we should also have the general public as partner," he said, cautioning that Vodafone had to deal with a number of issues before deciding whether to take an offering. Earlier this month, a person familiar with the situation said Vodafone's $5 billion buy-out of its Indian partner in the venture would pave the way to a possible initial public offering of stock in Vodafone's Indian operations. On March 31, Vodafone had ended drawn-out negotiations with its Indian partner--the Essar Group--to buy out its 33% stake in the venture. In an interview with a local TV station, Mr. Colao said Vodafone had been approached for an out-of-court settlement on its impending tax issue with the Indian government. He didn't elaborate when asked if Vodafone had been approached for such a settlement. Vodafone has had a tough time in India since it bought Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.'s 67% stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd. for $11.2 billion in 2007. The Indian tax department said Vodafone had failed to withhold tax on behalf of the department and asked the company to pay as much as $2.6 billion in taxes and interest on the tax on behalf of Hutchison. Separately, it also asked Vodafone to pay a penalty for failure to withhold taxes. Vodafone has appealed against the demands in Indian courts saying the deal was between two foreign-registered entities outside India. The British group had to book a GBP2.3 billion impairment charge on its operations in India last year due to stiff competition and a fierce price war. Despite problems, Vodafone's Indian business reported a 15% rise in service revenue for the six months ended Sept. 30, 2010, compared with a year earlier, after adding 14.7 million customers during the period. The company now has over 127 million customers in India. Vodafone expects to comply with Indian regulations--which limit foreign ownership of an Indian telecom company to 74%--in the next six months. As part of its deal with Essar, Vodafone will eventually own 75% of the venture. - The Wall Street Journal

What is the make of the USB modem? Is it unlocked?

The mentioned phone supports only Gprs speeds and is not 3G capable.

Technology companies often sue each other over patent infringement, a practice referred to as competition through litigation. Many big companies also stockpile patents in order to fend off infringement claims from competing companies. The basic concept of this defense is "mutual patent destruction." In other words, if you sue me into oblivion, I'll do the same to you.

excellent suggestion Parin Mails will surely elicit a better response from fellow members.

Govt mulls giving cellphone location info to VAS providers New Delhi : The government is studying the feasibility of giving value added service providers access to information related to the location of a cellphone as a part of the National Telecom Policy 2011. Once given a go ahead the service has the potential to locate lost cellphones, tracking people anywhere in the country, by simply feeding the mobile number in a web application even if the handset is not GPS enabled. "Location based services (LBS) is going to be part of content enablement under NTP. It is important for VAS and everybody knows that VAS is going to be name of the game," R Chandrashekhar, secretary, Department of Telecommunications told PTI. The content enablement provision of NTP 2011, lays down the guidelines for VAS service providers for providing all kind of content over mobile phones like MMS, SMS, Alerts. The government is, however, contemplating how much information related to location of a mobile phone can be given out to public keeping in mind privacy issues and security concerns. "We are vetting it to decide how much of it can be opened for public," he added. There are various companies in the telecom sector that provide location-based services on request like information about nearest restaurants and hospitals etc. of a particular area where the user is positioned. The information is provided to the user when he types the name of the location on an mobile application on his cell phone or sends a SMS to a particular number. At present, the location of a cellphone can be traced by public only if the handset is GPS enabled. The location-based information of all other (non-GPS enabled) mobile phones can be only accessed by security agencies using mobile phone towers. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has also invited comments on mobile value added services report released by Assocham in January as pre-cursor to a consultation paper on VAS. Assocham report has also referred to applications based on location based information of mobile phone. - Economic Times