Honest

Bharti Airtel beats all CDMA cos put together Economic Times l 27 Nov 2008 l New Delhi NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, has outperformed all CDMA players put together in terms of mobile revenues, net subscriber addition and revenue share in the last four months. In October, the company increased its lead over the combined CDMA wireless user base to 1.24 million. At the beginning of calendar year 2008, Bharti had 55.16 million mobile subscribers. CDMA players Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, HFCL and Shyam Telecom together had 57.05 million users. Bharti surpassed the total CDMA wireless subscriber base in July this year when it increased its user base to about 72 million, compared to the 71.8 million CDMA subscribers in the country. In October, it added 2.7 million mobile users to take its base to nearly 80.2 million users. CDMA operators added 2.29 million users and their total wireless base now stands at nearly 79 million. The net wireless subscriber addition in the year to date has been 25.04 million for Bharti Airtel and 21.89 million for the CDMA players. While CDMA is considered a better technology in terms of its spectrum utilisation, it’s GSM which has found favour with users not just in India but globally as well. “There is a global inclination towards GSM and three-fourths of global subscribers use this technology. The sheer volumes in case of GSM will have a big effect on R&D and equipment costs, bringing them down,” Gartner principal research analyst Anshul Gupta said.

CDG in talks with govt for auction in 450 Mhz band Economic Times l 26 Nov 2008 SAN DIEGO: The CDMA Development Group (CDG), an international consortium of companies who have joined together to lead the adoption and evolution of 3G CDMA wireless systems around the world, is in talks with the Indian government on auctioning radio frequencies in the 450 MHz band for operators who use this technological platform. India is slated to have third generation (3G) spectrum (airwaves on which telecom signals travel) auctions in January 2009. 3G will enable operators to offer high-end services such as high-speed Internet, faster downloads of movies and music, video conferencing, interactive gaming amongst features. For CDMA players such as Reliance Communications, Tatas and Shyam Telecom, the 3G auctions will be limited to a single frequency band—800 MHz. While telecom regulator Trai had recommended that CDMA players be awarded 3G spectrum in 800 MHz, 1,900 MHz and 450 MHz bands, the government in its 3G policy decided to restrict the auctions to only the 800 MHz band. We are in talks with the Indian government on this issue. As far as we are given to understand, radio frequencies in the 450 MHz may be available within the next couple of months,” CDG’s chief operating officer James S Person told ET. Expressing confidence, Mr Person said that so far there had been significant progress on talks with the Indian government on this issue. He also added that it was important that India allocate this band for 3G operations as it had excellent propagation characteristics and could therefore be used to deploy low cost but efficient networks in rural India.

Centre's spectrum policy comes under judicial scrutiny Press Trust of India l 26 Nov l New Delhi NEW DELHI: The spectrum allocation policy followed by the Centre in recent years has come under judicial scrutiny as the Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought response from the government on a petition challenging the policy. A bench comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar issued notice to the government and fixed the matter for further hearing on December 10. The petition filed by an NGO, Telecom Watchdog, contended that the government alloted the spectrum without following any policy and cellular operators were provided excess spectrum without charging them for the scarce resource since 2001. "The government should withdraw the excess spectrum from the operators by applying the tougher of the two spectrum allocation norms suggested by TRAI and TEC," contended advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO. The Court, however, refrained from issuing notice to cellular companies.

Raja, Behura differ on rollout obligations TNN l 26 Nov 2008 l New Delhi Telecom minister A Raja and his secretary S Behura on Tuesday were not quite on the same page on the controversial issue of rollout obligations for new operators. At a press conference, Behura said, “Rollout conditions are an irritant. Globally they have been removed”. According to him, “No company in India has ever violated rollout obligations till date or ever paid penalties”. Raja has said that new telecom companies will have to face licence termination and subsequent surrender of spectrum if they fail to start services within the stipulated three-year period. According to the licence terms, in the first year, telecom companies are required to cover at least 10% of each district headquarter in a circle and 50% of the districts within three years from the date of allotment of spectrum. In metros , the companies have to cover 90% of service area within one year. When asked under which section of the licence the DoT will take back spectrum, Raja failed to respond. When asked why he removed the linkage between rollout obligations and M&As that were recommended by the TRAI in August 2007 while formulating M&A guidelines in April 2008, Raja asked Behura to respond. Behura, in turn, said rollout obligations in general were impractical since the DoT could neither monitor nor penalize violation of rollout violations.

Rollout norms for new telcos may be scrapped Economic Times l 26 Nov l New Delhi In a volte-face, telecom minister A Raja on Tuesday said the rollout deadline mandating new telecom operators to cover 10% of districts in a telecom circle in the first year is likely to be scrapped as ‘the government could neither monitor nor penalise errant telcos’. Another norm mandating new telcos to cover 50% of the circle within three years remains. Under current norms, any company that gets the government nod to launch mobile services must ensure its services are available in least 10% of the districts in that circle or area within the first year of obtaining the licence, and 50% of the districts within three years of the effective date of licence. Clarifying the move, the department of telecom (DoT) said it wants to liberalise rollout norms and has proposed that telcos be monitored only after three years. “The one-year obligation to roll out 10% of services is unfair and an irritant. The existing players have also appealed to us regarding the obligation and we have sent the matter to the Telecom Commission for review. The three-year time period is fair and realistic,” telecom secretary Siddharth Behura said on the sidelines of the Economic Editor’s Conference. Relaxation of the rollout norms would benefit new telecom players such as Swan, Unitech, Datacom, S Tel and Loop Telecom. These companies, which received licences in January this year, are mandated to roll out their services by January 2009. A new operator needs to invest about Rs 22,000 crore to meet the rollout obligation in the first year, in case of a pan-India network. In the wake of the credit crunch, new telcos are finding it difficult to raise funds to meet the obligations. Licensees failing to meet the one-year deadline are levied a maximum penalty of Rs 7 crore per circle. The telecom minister has also sought the opinion of telecom regulator Trai and corporate affairs ministry on imposing a three-year ‘lock-in’ on sale of promoter equity in telecom start-ups. Ironically, this comes after the Telecom Commission, which is the apex decision-making body within the DoT, approved the lock-in period to rein in potential windfall gains of start-up promoters. In a late realisation, Mr Raja said this move may amount to tinkering with licence conditions and so has now sought Trai’s recommendations.

3G Gets Delayed; Limits Players Auction now on February 9 Communications and information technology minister A. Raja informed that NM Rothschild and Sons Ltd has been chosen as the independent auctioneer to help it sell licenses for the third-generation (3G) mobile phone radio spectrum. According to a a report published today, "details of the 3G policy available so far show that Delhi and Gujarat will have three 3G operators each, Uttar Pradesh (west) and Himachal Pradesh - four, and West Bengal - two. Rajasthan and the north-east will not have 3G services because spectrum is not available in these regions. All other circles will have up to five operators." At the same time, consumers waiting for private telecom operators to offer 3G services will have fewer options since the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to shrink the number of 3G players up to 5 per circle, including state-owned BSNL and MTNL. We will also see further delay in the launch of 3G services in India. Earlier, the auction was scheduled for January 15, but now will be held on February 9. The information memorandum that will detail the 3G auction process will come out on December 8 and the final date for operators to bid in the auction has been fixed as December 31. Courtesy : Techtree

3G competition to result in lower tariff: A Raja CNBC-TV18 Communications and IT Minister A Raja said most foreign players are interested in bidding for 3G. Termination charges are being discussed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, or TRAI, he said. The minister believes either lower termination charges or competition will result in lower tariff. Raja believes intra-circle call can be 25 paise, while all-India can be about 40 paise. He said the ministry will not be putting more leverage on operators by collecting one-time spectrum changes. Telecom Ministry, he said, has no role in the security aspect of foreign operators.

Foreign telcos’ 3G bid set to get DoT booster Economic Times l 27 Nov SAN DIEGO/NEW DELHI: The department of telecom (DoT) will soon unveil a series of measures to encourage foreign telcos to participate in the upcoming 3G and WiMax auctions and give them an ‘equal footing’ with existing Indian operators. The DoT’s 3G bid document (a copy of which is available with ET) states that new entrants will be permitted to use the networks of existing operators (in those areas where they do not have a presence) until they build pan-India networks and that mobile number portability will be introduced to enable them gather subscribers from incumbents. It also adds that foreign players will be permitted to participate in the auctions without obtaining telecom licences (as 100% entities). This implies, only those operators who are successful in the upcoming auctions need to obtain a licence and find an Indian partner (as existing regulations restrict foreign holdings to 74% and mandate that an Indian entity holds the remaining 24%). Besides, to ensure that foreign players are not at a disadvantage, the bid document also states that intra and inter circle roaming will be mandatory between the networks of all operators. The document also proposes that auctions for WiMax radio frequencies be held on January 16, 2009, while the bids for 3G spectrum has been pushed back to February 9. This implies that the earlier plan to have WiMax and 3G auctions simultaneously to avoid the possibility of manipulation by operators has been shelved. Currently, all telecom services in India are offered using second generation (2G) cellular technology. Indian telcos are looking at deploying 3G or WiMax, and perhaps, even both technologies as they look to expand their offerings to the next level. 3G will enable telcos to offer high-end services such as video conferencing on the mobiles, faster downloads of movies and music files, interactive gaming and high-speed Internet access. While WiMax is largely used for data applications, it could also be used to provide voice services and is, therefore, considered a threat to third generation (3G) telecom technology, since both platforms are used for similar applications. As per the pre-bid document, all telcos interested in participating in the auctions must submit their applications by December 31, 2008. Interestingly, the document also adds that a mock auction will be held on January 12 –13 to familiarise all bidders of the entire process. The government’s 3G bid document also provides clarity on the quantum of spectrum available for 3G auctions.

^^^ My dear Sumal, sure anyone can file a complaint with Customer Care if the handset / parcel being in Hold. And they do release the parcel after some formalities. Nothing to worry. Regards.

Update My dear friends, the update as per now according to News in Media, their are 4 Blasts in all in Mumbai till now. 18 Dead and 50 Injured.

Update My dear friends, just got the update that their are two blasts also in Mumbai. One near Centaur Hotel and one in Vile Parle.

How your Gmail can get hacked All those Gmail fans out there, here's an important piece of security news for you. A blogger, Brandon Partridge, on Geek Condition has reported that a security vulnerability in Gmail may allow an attacker to hack into Gmail users accounts. Read on to find what it does and how it works... What exactly it is According to the blog, the security vulnerability may allow an attacker to set up filters on users' email accounts without their knowledge. Web developer Partridge warned that an attacker can force unsuspecting Gmail users to create malicious message filter without their knowledge. Through this, the attacker can hijack messages sent to the victim's Gmail account by redirecting specific messages into the trash and forwarding a copy to the attacker, or so Partridge claims. Victim can lose his domain In the post on Geek Condition Brandon writes that the vulnerability has caused many people to lose their domain names registered through GoDaddy.com. GoDaddy is one of the largest domain name registrar and is the flagship company of The Go Daddy Group Inc. The security flaw in Gmail allows a hacker to forward GoDaddy account reset information by the victim without his/her knowledge or consent. This is done by creating a filter that forwards GoDaddy's `change of password' mail to the hacker and deletes it from users' inbox. How hacker creates filters Wondering is it possible to create a malicious filter without having access to a user's Gmail username and password? No, it is not. However, hackers can force users to create the filter without their knowledge. When a user creates a filter in Gmail account, a request is sent to Google servers to get it cleared. The request is in form of a URL with many variables that the browser doesn't display. However, web browser FireFox and a plugin called Live HTTP Headers, displays exactly what variables are sent to Google servers. Through a process of elimination, the role of each variable can be ascertained. A particular variable is equivalent to the username which is permanent. Other variable can be determined by tricking the user to visit a web page that has a malicious code. This malicious code steals the cookie from the user and creates an iframe with a URL containing the variables that authorise Gmail to create filter for the user's account. How can you prevent it In order to prevent hackers to exploit this loophole, frequently monitor your filters. In case you find something suspicious, report it immediately. Firefox users can download an extension called NoScript that helps prevent such hacks, suggests Brandon. And always remember being cautious can help you save from many such attacks. Also, to avoid becoming a victim to such attacks, Gmail users should log out of their accounts when they are not in use, as well as avoid visiting websites you don't trust. How Google can help To avoid such vulnerabilities, Brandon says that Google needs to device a mechanism which makes variables or session authorisation Key expire after each request than expiring after each session. Meanwhile, a Google spokesperson reportedly told media that the company was trying to contact Brandon for specifics on his proof of concept. The company representative said that Google is trying to reach the blogger making this claim for more details, but we haven't seen evidence that this would be specific to Gmail. Courtesy : Indiatimes Infotech

More Nokia E75 Images Leaked Out The sliding out QWERTY keyboard has pretty flat keys Two of Nokia's E series models were spotted before a month and half, the E72 candybar and the E75 slider. Now, more images of the emerged on the web. The screen appears to be close to 2.4 inch and the 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus also has flash. The sliding out QWERTY keyboard has pretty flat keys though it has multi-tap keypad on the front panel. Basically, it has two keypads and both are flat, which might not be appreciated by many users who re used to bump keys. Enough said, just check the pics. Courtesy : Techtree

Opera Mini 4.2 - Now Indianized ! India ranks amongst the Top 3 countries using Opera Mini After the release of Opera Mini 4.2 Beta on November 11, it is now time for the final version of it to make its mark on the mobile landscape. Opera has just launched the final version of Opera Mini 4.2 for handhelds. After adding support to Hindi with the beta, Opera Mini will now be available in 12 Indian languages as well. The new version adds support for Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Kashmiri. To use this feature though, your phone should have support for Indian languages. Apart from the new language additions, almost everything is similar to the beta release, which saw the addition of skins and Opera Link support. According to Opera, India currently ranks third in worldwide Opera Mini usage. Opera's latest State of the Mobile Web report, released in October, showed that more Indians now use their mobile phones to access a host of various services and information and that Opera Mini is the preferred choice for these users. The report adds that India remains amongst the Top 3 countries using Opera Mini. No wonder the company has decided to Indianize the browser with regional language support. Post-beta launch a few weeks ago, users have noticed a speed gain of almost 30% with the Opera Mini thanks to the new server allocated for the USA. This, according to Opera, has also helped its Indian user base to experience faster browsing speeds while browsing web pages of American or Indian origin. There is also this interesting comic strip that Opera has released. Have a look at them here. A video depicting the usefulness of the browser too has been released. Here's the video : Opera also announced the availability of the browser for the Android platform. I leave you with some images of the browser doing duty on the Android platform. To download Opera Mini, head to The Opera Mini website or hit mini.opera.com on your mobile browser. Courtesy : Techtree

^^^ I second that my dear friends. And to add with the above, the availability of the browser for Android Platform is also one of the good part. Regards.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Launch Delayed Comes to India in January 2009 Contrary to the reports about Nokia's much talked about touchscreen mobile phone -- Nokia 5800 XpressMusic coming to India in November, the phone is now going to hit stores in January 2009. Along with being first touchscreen, the phone is also the first offering from Nokia to run on Symbian S60 5th Edition OS. The phone is priced at Rs. 21, 839 and is being touted as the 'iPhone killer'. The phone boosts of features like, 8GB memory, stereo loudspeakers, 3.2 megapixel camera, motion sensor and GPS. Nokia is also gearing up to launch its first online music store in December. The beta version of Nokia Music Store, a part of the OVI, promises to deliver over a million tracks from global hits to local artists. Nokia has tied up with international music companies -- Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI and Warner -- and also independent Indian record labels including T-series, Big Music, Yashraj. Courtesy : Techtree

But my dear friends, in this regard our beloved RIMWEB is better then this newly launched Mobile Help Forum from Google. Techies at RIMWEB are really best among many mobile forums. Regards.

MTNL 3G rollout in Delhi by Dec: A Raja CNBC-TV18 l 25 Nov Here is a verbatim transcript of Telecom Minister A Raja’s speech aired on CNBC-TV18. We had allotted 3G and WiMax spectrum both to BSNL and MTNL in the month of September 2008 with a view to ensure early rollout of the 3G and WiMax services in the country. MTNL will be launching services in December 2008 in Delhi and BSNL is likely to start its services in January 2009 in Chennai. They will pay the same price of spectrum as discovered through the auction. Another major decision that I have taken recently is introduction of mobile number portability. This policy decision will enable customers to change their service providers without changing their mobile numbers and thereby provide increased choice of the consumers. It will encourage service providers to give better quality services at competitive rates, so as to retain customers. Mobile number portability will be available by June 2009 in four metros and thereafter will be extended in a phased manner to the rest of the country. The DoT is also actively considering increasing revenue from various sources. The license fee and spectrum charges of more than Rs 55,000 crore have been collected since 2003 till the first quarter of this financial year, when the USL regime came into effect. Every year telecom revenues are growing by about 15%. In addition, the telecom commission has taken a decision for increasing annual spectrum charges for 2G spectrum. This decision when implemented will realise additional revenue of about Rs 1,200 crore per year. As per the new telecom policy of 1999 – government decided to foster more competition in the telecom sector so as to reduce tariff for consumers and increase tele density. TRAI has also recommended issue of new licenses. Consequently to this recommendation government has issued new licenses and when these operators rollout their network within three years, rural tele density as well as revenue receives of the government will increase sharply. Due to various measures taken by the government, the telecom sector in India has become more vibrant and the FDI inflow has gone up from USD 470 million in the year 2006-07 to about USD 1,261 million in 2007-08.

Govt sets 5 blocks for pan-India 3G licences CNBC-TV18 l 25 Nov Here is a verbatim transcript of Siddharth Zarabi’s comments on CNBC-TV18. The government gave out some estimates today. It said that there will at least be 5 blocks of pan-India spectrum for 3G licenses. The reserve price according to the government is estimated to yield at least Rs 10,100 crore. If you were to look at a multiple of at least three-four times, this is what we have been hearing from industry, you are looking at a ballpark figure of Rs 40,000 crore, which would mean good news for the fiscal. Similarly for the broadband wireless services, the government is looking at a total reserve price – all India four blocks – of around Rs 4,040 crore. Similarly, we could at least expect a multiple of two times and therefore you are looking at significant amounts being raised from these auctions for the government. The 3G auction will be a two-stage process. The first process will be the clock stage where blocks of spectrum are available in each circle. It ranges from two to four. Delhi for instance has two 3G slots, apart from the one that has been given to the state-owned operator. It has already been promised to them. Mumbai has four slots. So, bidders will keep bidding, and this will continue to escalate till a stage where all the four or two slots have been exhausted. Then we have a second stage, which is called the assignment stage where the bidders will actually be given specific frequencies as they identified and they might have preferences for particular slots. That will complete the two-stage process. So, we are looking at between two-four licences in the metros and in certain other areas like the North-East there are more licences available for grabs. BSNL and MTNL will pay the same amount as licence fee as has been discovered through this auction.

DoT to meet potential bidders between Dec 11-13: Sources CNBC-TV18 l 25 Nov The DoT, or Department of Telecom, said it will meet with potential bidders between December 11 and 13 and will hold 3G and broadband pre-bid conference on December 19, reports CNBC-TV, quoting sources. DoT’s final date for submitting applications for 3G and broadband auction is December 31. The pre-qualification of bidders will be on January 5, sources said. Mock auction of 3G and broadband spectrum is scheduled on December 12 and 13, while the first phase of 3G and broadband auction is on January 16. The Second phase is to be held on February 9, sources added. Earlier today, it was learnt from a source from the DoT that the government is short of 5-25 MHz 3G spectrum in nine circles. "There is no 3G spectrum shortage in Mumbai, so six companies can offer 3G. Delhi can have three companies offering 3G services, and is short by 15 MHz."

India presses ahead with 3G spectrum sale despite crisis Press Trust of India l 25 Nov l New Delhi India said on Tuesday it would press ahead with an auction of airwaves to offer so-called third generation or 3G mobile phone services despite the global financial crisis. All radio frequencies for providing 3G services would be offered through an auction process in which telecoms companies -- existing operators, licence holders and international players -- can bid. Communications Minister Andimuthu Raja said "broad guidelines" for the 3G bidders have been issued and independent auctioneer N.M. Rothschild had been chosen to conduct the auction. The auction process is expected to start in a few days and be completed in mid-January, officials said in New Delhi, although no detail was available on how many licences would be issued. The government has set a floor price for a licence of 20 billion rupees (400 million dollars) but the "government expects to realise significantly higher amounts," Raja told an editors' conference. He earlier said the auction could fetch the government a total 400 billion rupees (eight billion dollars). However, even if it appears the sale will bring in less money than expected due to the global financial turmoil, Raja said on Tuesday that India would go ahead with the auction as "it is the progress of the country that counts." The move will give mobile users access to high-end data applications on their phones, including high speed interactive gaming and Internet access, video conferencing, video streaming and other multimedia features. The plans to stage the auction to allocate new spectrum came as data showed Indian mobile telephone operators signed up a record 10.42 million users in October, bucking a slowdown in the rest of the economy. The new additions were up from 10.07 million new subscribers the month before, data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India showed. India still lags far behind China which has over 600 million mobile users. Teledensity, the number of users per 100 people -- stands at 30.64. With the mobile sales boom, scarce spectrum has become a sore issue with Indian mobile operators who are eager to get next-generation frequencies to ease airwave congestion in the country of over 1.1 billion people.

Termination charges should come down: Raja Press Trust of India l 25 Nov l New Delhi Mobile telecom tariffs may come down with the government admitting that termination charges should be reduced from the existing level of 30 paise a minute and has sought Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (Trai) recommendations on the same. "I feel that termination charges should come down. We have asked Trai's recommendations on a priority basis (on this issue)," Telecom Minister A Raja said at the Economic Editors' Conference here. Asked by how much the termination charge should be reduced from the existing level of 30 paise a minute, the minister refused to indicate saying "that is Trai's job to work it out". Termination charge is the money given by an operator on whose network a call originates to the operator on whose network the call terminates. The termination charge at 30 paise a minute per call for mobile telephony is considered high, especially by the new players. It was fixed five years ago and since then cost parameters and the traffic volumes have changed considerably. Although it is over four months since Department of Telecom (DoT) referred the matter, Trai is yet to review charges for fixed and mobile services. In June 2008, DoT asked Trai to review the termination charges based on present and projected cost and traffic on the premise that the volume has gone up. "Given the central aim of the NTP'99 to provide telecom services at affordable rates and the unprecedented expansion of telecom services, DoT suggests that a review of the mobile termination charges, based on present and projected cost and traffic, is undertaken by Trai on priority basis and in a time bound manner," DoT officials said. The new mobile operators, who have been given licenses in January this year and as they are in the process to start services, review of termination charges would be crucial for them to compete in the market especially in the urban areas.

BSNL selects Dilithium for Mobile Video Services 25 Nov 2008 l AGENCIES l CALIFORNIA Dilithium, the global leader in high-quality multimedia delivery over mobile and broadband networks announced on Tuesday that BSNL, India's largest telecommunications company, has selected Dilithium solutions for the deployment of new mobile video and streaming services over 2G and 3G networks. BSNL plans to roll out Live TV services in early 2009. Dilithium has partnered with HCL Infosystems Ltd. to provide end-to-end delivery solutions for BSNL's live mobile video services. The solution includes the Dilithium DTG® 3021 multimedia gateways and the DCA video streaming solution, enabling 2-way video calling and other advanced video services. "It has been an honor to help BSNL bring mobile video solutions to the India market," said Uno Mehta, Senior VP of Dilithium's Value Added Services Business Unit. "Our ability to provide comprehensive end to end solutions for both circuit switched and packet switched video made us a good fit for BSNL's requirements."

Very Correct my dear Kumaar. CC or CMO are sitting their just to create CONFUSIONS and nothing else. Regards.

^^^ Lets hope for the best my dear Jayanth. Regards.