KumaarShah

I agree with Honest, it is a bit expensive because you can get 500 x 3 mts duration to all fixed lines under Plan 500 of RCL (FWPs), in MTNL you get 500 x 1 mt duration to all networks. However, there may be takers for these plans also.

Whether the end'2007 will really come by december 2007 or 2008 or 2009?

very fast thinking from RCL, huh?

If you plan to use bitpim etc, then go in for serial cable only. USB is still not recognised by bitpim. for rconnect either one is good. you may decide on whatever suits you.

You can try your luck with the nearest LG ASC. Or maybe you have inserted the handsfree, try removing if that helps.

Its going to be a very long wait for us as usual...

CCI tells DoT not to drag feet on number portability 22 Oct, 2007, 1110 hrs IST,Gireesh Chandra Prasad & Joji Thomas Philip, TNN NEW DELHI: After attacking the department of telecommunications (DoT) on spectrum allocation policy, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has now told the DoT that mobile number portability (MNP), which allows a subscriber to retain the number even after changing the service provider, needs ‘urgent consideration’ as it is of vital importance to competition and consumer sovereignty. “It (MNP) is a crucial element for providing choice to consumers and for maintaining competition in the telco markets. It will reduce the consumer’s dependence on the existing service provider. Therefore, competition dimension and consumer interest would be better served by allowing number portability unless there are very specific and good reasons for not doing so. The issue needs urgent consideration,” the commission has told the telecom department and other key ministries. The CCI is of the view that it is only voicing the concerns of a large number of mobile phone users who are dissatisfied with their service providers, but are reluctant to subscribe to another company’s service as they have to forgo their existing mobile number. The Commission’s only endorses the results thrown up by numerous market surveys, which reveal that up to 50% of all mobile users in India are unhappy with their operator, and are willing to switch to another service provider, if allowed to retain their number. The Commission has also brought the issue to the attention of other wings of the government like the finance ministry, Planning Commission and the corporate affairs ministry. The CCI has now joined telecom regulator TRAI, which has been pushing for MNP since March 2006. Last year, despite pressure from TRAI, DoT had set aside the issue of introduction of MNP, but department sources said that they were ‘actively considering’ the introduction of number portability because of the recent tariff hikes by some service providers despite stiff opposition from the regulator and telecom minister A Raja. Number portability has so far been introduced in Australia, Korea, Japan, Canada, the US, the UK, most of Europe and Pakistan. According to reports, its introduction has been followed by up to 50% subscribers switching operators in most of these countries. Sources said that the telecom department is considering setting up a steering committee comprising representatives of operators, industry associations and Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), Trai’s technical arm, to work out the fineprint on the implementation issues. The committee, after due consultation and also considering the cost aspects of different solutions, will issue guidelines on billing and other operational and administrative issues that have to be addressed before MNP can be rolled out, sources added. Indian telcos have been vehemently opposing the introduction of mobile number portability, arguing that it would cost several thousand crores to upgrade their networks to implement this. They have also said that the market is not mature to support MNP and this be introduced only when the country achieves a high telecom penetration. India’s current tele-density is less than 20%. If MNP is introduced, it will result in a significant churn in the telecom market and is likely to impact well-entrenched, bigger players the most. Subscribers, who stick to an operator because they find changing numbers inconvenient, will have the option to migrate to service providers offering better services and lower tariffs. Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/CCI_te...how/2479432.cms Looks like another move to bring MNP once again, but will it succeed at all?

All the above is alright, but then the GSM gangsters will not allow RCL to enter freely. It will fight it out legally before the TDSAT and then the courts also if necessary. IMHO, It appears to be a long wait for RCL still.

Verification a sham: Here's a SIM in home secy's name 19 Oct 2007, 0030 hrs IST,Pradeep Thakur,TNN NEW DELHI: Two terror attacks, one at Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad and the other at Dargah Sharif in Ajmer, were triggered by mobile phones. Investigations revealed that in both the cases, the SIM cards were taken in the same fictitious name — Babulal Yadav — and the picture given for the purpose of verification was that of a Noida-based yoga teacher, Tarak Nath, who protested when his photo was published as a suspect after the Hyderabad blast. What was the motive behind spinning the same story for procuring mobiles for the deadly missions? At one level, it was to proclaim that the same terror outfit had carried out the attacks. At another, it was done to mock at our security system. The procedure for getting a mobile phone connection, you probably know, has been tightened — the service providers can't give it without verifying the subscriber's identity and bona fides. Obviously, the jihadis were thumbing their noses at this "tightening". You would imagine that after this gratuitous taunt, the authorities would have plugged the holes. But, no. Only two days ago, TOI acquired two SIM cards under fictitious names. It could have been under any name. We chose the names of home secretary Madhukar Gupta and Intelligence Bureau director P C Haldar. It's not that any one service provider is lax, most of them are, with the exception of state-owned BSNL and MTNL. The connection in the name of Gupta is a post-paid one from Vodafone (9873310143) and Haldar's a pre-paid Airtel connection (9958784077). The shady agent who got us the connections bragged that he could provide any connection, under any name. Given the speed with which he delivered the new SIM cards — all of 48 hours — and activated the connections, this didn't seem an idle boast. We might have identified the agent if that would have plugged the hole in our security. But the entire apparatus of identity checks is really a sieve — it leaks at all places. In the race for getting more customers, the mobile phone operators have appointed area agents who, in turn, have recruited boys — neither of whom have any appreciation of security needs; their aim is to simply boost numbers. As a result, not only are connections given with flimsiest of checks, there is proactive help for the necessary paperwork — identity proof and the rest are "arranged" by the boys. We, for instance, merely gave the names in which we wanted the connections. We don't know whose pictures or what addresses have been used or who confirmed proof of residence. All we had to do was pay Rs 200 for the post-paid connection and Rs 150 for the pre-paid connection. Truly, it's a frightening situation. After recording a terror toll that's the highest in the world after Iraq, it is frightening that India takes its security so casually. Link: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Verific...how/2472027.cms

Another nail in nokia's coffin.....

Reliance charges Rs 25 extra for detailed billing which includes details of all local and STD/ISD calls made. However no data of SMS sent is available. If you want this also, then you have to go to the nearest WW and pay Rs 50 and get the details for that particular month. Data usage charges includes SMS charges, internet usage and RMWorld usage. IMHO, RCL billing nowadays do not charge for anything extra. However, you may subscribe for detailed billing maybe for a few months, cross check with your usage and then un-subscribe if you feel the billing is right perfectly. Thanks

@ bal1961, Since you want to move to move to GSM and you also want data access, I would suggest you to take up Airtel. They will give you good network coverage plus data access plus good roaming rates also. If you take up a CUG plan with them, you will also get very good SMS packages. Of course as regards billing problems and voice clarity, I do not have much idea. You may browse this forum for various topics on these issues. All private GSM operators follow Airtel for tariff revisions. They are the market leaders. All others follow suit. Vodafone, Chennai/TN do not have good network and they also have costly GPRS. BSNL / Aircel has severe congestion problems always. Under these circumstances, Airtel is better.

@ arun, Excellent article though it did not dwell in detail on the rich-poor divide. More of what MDA was, is and will be. Anyway makes very very interesting reading. A Must read for all Indians. Thanks for posting it.

^^^ I agree with the above but what happens when one has not contacted CC at all? Anyway email to them and maybe you will get a full refund and also extract something extra from them. Don't leave them as it is. @sachinrocks, One more thing - all our conversations with CC are recorded for internal quality training purposes etc. This is what many IVRs drawl out when you ask to be connected to a CSE. I am not sure how long they keep this on their records. How many such conversations can be seriously recorded? All this is debatable. Can we ask them to give us the transcripts of our conversations with CC in cases of disputes like the one above? Or can they refuse to give it to us? How else can we prove our positions? If at all we go to courts, can we ask for these transcripts?

^^^ you are absolutely correct in your interpretation of the CDMA scenario. CDMA players should give some discounts etc to people who have lost their handsets and yet wish to remain with them. But this they will never do.

AFAIK, I don't think Nokia PCSuite for CDMA will backup your SMSs at all. This is because there seems to be some HW lock or something which prevents the backup of SMSs @ drali2, Is the smscaster E-marketing CDMA software available for free or is it chargeable. Another thing most of your SMSs are truncated to 127 characters and the meaning of the SMS is totally lost. Are you using this SW for fwds? Try fwd one to yourself or to your other number and you will also notice it.

IMPOSSIBLE because Nokia and RCL/TATA have conspired to limit the store capacity and there is nothing we can do about this now.

All are crooks here - be it telecom, mobile, broadband etc etc. And the worst part is that all from the govt. owned to the private mega companies - all are the same, no distinction. We have to be wary and careful. Why not pay once the connection is up and running to our satisfaction? Why pay in advance? If the service providers are so confident of their products/services, then they should wait for our payment, what say? In any case, if we do not pay up, they have every right to terminate / suspend our services.

Qualcomm Investors Brace for Price Drop in Nokia Patent Fight By Ian King and Amy Thomson Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Qualcomm Inc. earned more than $11 billion in royalties from its cell-phone technologies this decade. Just as the company bet those payments would accelerate, some of its customers are starting to balk. Nokia Oyj, the largest mobile-phone maker, is seeking to persuade a U.S. trade judge that its mobile phones don't use some of Qualcomm's patents. An initial decision is due next month. A loss could force Qualcomm to cut its fees, at a time when its chip designs are taking over the industry. At stake is a patent-licensing business that provided 76 percent of operating profit last year. Qualcomm may have to make concessions, said patent lawyer David Airan of Leydig, Voit & Mayer in Chicago. That could prompt other handset makers to demand price cuts, eroding San Diego-based Qualcomm's position in the $39 billion market for mobile-phone chips. ``Qualcomm will not be able to take its royalty model further, that's absolutely clear,'' said Dresdner Bank AG analyst Per Lindberg in London, who rates the shares ``sell'' and expects them to fall as much as 41 percent to $25. ``This saga will become more and more embarrassing for Qualcomm.'' Qualcomm, the second-largest maker of cell-phone chips behind Texas Instruments Inc., commands a high share price because of its success at charging others to use its technology. The company has a market value equal to 8.2 times trailing 12-month sales, more than twice the average of companies in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, reflecting the high percentage of Qualcomm sales that turn into profit. The shares fell 35 cents to $42.30 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. Royalty Risk Qualcomm's price-to-earnings ratio fell to 21 in mid- August, the lowest ever, on concern royalty rates would come down. RCM Capital Management sold some of its Qualcomm holdings in June, said Walter Price, who helps oversee $120 billion in San Francisco. ``Any risk to that royalty stream has implications about the valuation.'' U.S. International Trade Commission Judge Paul Luckern will decide Nov. 13 whether three Qualcomm patents on its Code Division Multiple Access mobile-phone technology are valid and apply to Nokia's new phones using Wideband-CDMA, a derivative of CDMA that is taking hold globally for phones that offer high- speed Internet access. ``There is a race to get the first ruling in your favor,'' said attorney Lyle Vander Schaaf at Bryan Cave LLP in Washington. ``Those decisions have significance outside the U.S. market.'' New Standards CDMA is used on Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless networks in the U.S. and in 18 percent of handsets shipped globally, said analyst Will Strauss at Forward Concepts Inc. in Tempe, Arizona. He estimates WCDMA shipments will grow 60 percent to 150 million this year. The fees Qualcomm gets on WCDMA phones are about 4.4 percent of sales, similar to the company's CDMA fees, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Cody Acree said. Qualcomm began licensing its patents in the 1990s, spokesman Bill Davidson said. ``Competitors, which haven't been able to beat us in the Marketplace, have decided they are going to try the court system and trying to appeal to government regulators,'' Chief Executive Officer Paul Jacobs, the son of founder Irwin, said in an interview. ``The legal battles are going to go on for a while.'' Court `Impetus' Because of the dispute, Qualcomm won't recognize royalty revenue from Nokia in the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, costing 5 cents a share in profit. Jacobs, 44, said discussions haven't yielded progress and an outside force may be needed to forge a solution. ``Maybe this will be an impetus,'' Jacobs said of Luckern's decision. ``We have some flexibility, but we're not going to give up what we've worked so hard to achieve.'' Nokia spokeswoman Laurie Armstrong said the company, based in Espoo, Finland, is committed to negotiations. ``When it comes down to the facts, we are confident in our position.'' A settlement that reduces Qualcomm's royalty fees could lead other licensees, including Samsung Electronics Co., to ask for concessions. ``I don't really understand how Qualcomm can work out a deal without compromising their deals with other customers,'' said Bill Gorman, an analyst at PNC Institutional Investments in Philadelphia, which owns Qualcomm shares. The shares' volatility, based on a 100-day average of daily price changes, has risen 24 percent since Aug. 3 compared with 10 percent for the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Other Cases Qualcomm lost rulings in a separate patent dispute with Broadcom Corp., temporarily averted a ban on imports of phones using its chips into the U.S. and faces an antitrust investigation in Europe. ``If they were coming off a string of wins against Broadcom, they'd be a lot bolder in negotiations'' with Nokia, said lawyer Airan. Jacobs shored up his legal team last month, hiring Donald Rosenberg as general counsel from Apple Inc. Qualcomm ``didn't have the process in place for this sort of large-scale multicompany attack,'' Jacobs said. The shares would be worth almost $54 if the disputes didn't exist, said James Faucette, an analyst at Portland, Oregon-based Pacific Crest Securities who has an ``outperform'' rating on the stock. ``It'll pop'' with a favorable ruling from Luckern, said Daniel Morgan, who helps oversee $5.4 billion including Qualcomm stock at Synovus Securities Inc. in Atlanta. To contact the reporters on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net ; Amy Thomson in New York at athomson6@bloomberg.net Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...&refer=home So will this make Nokia and others to come back into CDMA? Lets wait and watch.

Reliance ADAG Eyes Retail On Mobile By Anupama Chandrasekaran - Sun 30 Sep 2007 06:21 PM PST The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group could launch a multi-product retailing business via its mobile phone network under the brand name Mobi-Retail around the first quarter of 2008 with a sales target of Rs 4,000 crore in the first year itself, reports Business Standard. The company has already started talks with suppliers to create a nationwide vendor base. The service will be offered to the 35 million subscribers of Reliance Communications, who will be able to use their handsets to buy over 100,000 products ranging from fresh vegetables to groceries, readymade garments, toys and electronics with the option of home delivery or picking up products from a delivery point. The group plans to piggyback on its 300,000 outlets in 10,000 towns in formats like Reliance World, Reliance World Express, Reliance Money, Reliance Insurance, Big Flicks, and Adlabs as the delivery points. Reliance Communications is working on creating an easy menu on the phone (for both CDMA and GSM customers) and has already started initial testing of formats like Mobi-HyperMall (in this menu, all the products can be assessed), Mobi-Mall (smaller than a hyper market), Mobi-Store (for products that can be bought in neighbourhood stores), Mobi-Fresh (vegetables), Mobi-Groc (groceries) and Mobi-Express (products that are needed regularly). Link Courtesy: http://www.contentsutra.com/entry/419-reli...tail-on-mobile/

One more news report as follows: - DoT favours dual tech: RCom gets a boost Nivedita Mookerji | Thursday, 11 October , 2007, 09:51 The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which is in the process of framing fresh licensing norms for the telecom sector, is in favour of allowing dual technology by mobile phone operators, it is learnt. The DoT line of thinking is in sync with the recent recommendations issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on the matter. If allowed, the new norm is expected to benefit leading CDMA player Reliance Communications, which has ambitious plans of expanding its 8-circle GSM service to all across the country. In August, TRAI had issued recommendations on new telecom licensing norms. While DoT, through its series of internal meetings, has discussed several issues related to the new licensing conditions, the Telecom Commission chaired by the DoT secretary D S Mathur will meet shortly to firm up things. Finally, communications minister A Raja's nod will be required before the new policy can be finalised. Although DoT is in favour of allowing dual technology, the final decision will depend on spectrum availability, according to sources. Among other issues, DoT is likely to continue with the subscriber-based spectrum allocation criteria and first-come-first-serve licence policy, rather than introducing an auction-based regime. The telecom regulator, in its recommendation, had opposed any cap in the number of operators in a circle, and had increased the cross-holding limit from 10 per cent to 20 per cent in case of merger, thereby encouraging the sector to grow even further. Also, it had favoured access providers using combination of technologies, though at a price. Besides, it had lowered the limit of market share of merged entity from 67 per cent to 40 per cent. The regulator had even imposed a one-time fee for spectrum allocation beyond 10 mega hertz. In addition, looking at the current spectrum consTRAInt, it had enhanced the present subscriber criteria norms for allocation of spectrum. On cross-technology or dual technology, TRAI said that an existing licensee may be permitted to use alternate technology to provide wireless access service, on payment of an upfront fee at least equal to the entry fee for an unified access service (UAS) licence in that service area. Link: http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14541384

Really good tunes ali and aks, thanks dosts.

That is exactly what I stated earlier, it is not possible to remove the sound. Foolish LG has once again done it. Maybe the last option for you would be to lower your ring volume to the lowest level possible. However, this may be at the cost of not hearing the calls. Nothing much can be done.

^^^ I don't think it is 3G phone.

Well I too got it, but ani_meher, I am happily married.