Honest

Telcos will have to pay for spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz: Raja Business Standard l 21 Oct Clearing the air on the contentious issue of charging the incumbent telcos for excess spectrum, Union Minister for Communication and Information Technology, A Raja today said that telcos would have to pay for spectrum beyond 6.2 Mhz. Speaking at the sidelines of a conference here today the minister said, “We’ve decided to go ahead with the increase charge of the spectrum fee, what will be the modalities we will tell later.” The issue has been a bone of contention between the GSM and CDMA operators. Both parties had expressed strong views and even approached the Prime Minister for a resolution to the matter. This current move will affect major telecom operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, which posses spectrum above 6.2 Mhz, which was allotted to them without any additional cost. The proposal, however, has to be cleared by the Telecom Commission, the policy making arm of Department of Telecom, before it is taken forward. Earlier this year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended that allocation of a one-time charge beyond 10 MHz for GSM operators and five MHz for CDMA operators should be made by incumbents on a pro-rata basis for each additional MHz of spectrum that they would get. The regulator had suggested that for every additional one MHz beyond 10 MHz in Mumbai, Delhi and category A circles, operators should be charged Rs 16 crore. Further, Raja also indicated that the much waited auction of third generation (3G) spectrum could be delayed by 10-15 days. He said, “We will try to complete it by December 31. However, because of Christmas and holidays, we could postpone it for another ten days. However the deadline is December 31, subject to a little changes,” he added. The finance ministry had written to the Department of Telecom (DoT) expressing its concern over the delay in commencing the auction process. Commenting on the letter, Raja said, “It is a routine letter, the finance minister asks for a time line usually, that does not mean they are pushing us or asking for a delay. We will finish it (the auction process) by January 15, the operators have to submit the money by January 31.”

Google releases Android open-source code Economic Times Google on Tuesday released the open-source code which powers its Android mobile operating system and invited outside programmers to tinker with the software to develop their own features. "Today is a big day for Android, the Open Handset Alliance, and the open-source community," wrote Dave Bort, a Google software engineer, on source.android.com, the site where the code is available for downloading. "All of the work that we've poured into the mobile platform is now officially available, for free, as the Android Open Source Project," Bort said in a blog posting. "It's a complete, end-to-end software platform that can be adapted to work on any number of hardware configurations," he said, inviting outside computer programmers to download Android and begin developing their own applications. "Have a great idea for a new feature? Add it! As an open-source project, the best part is that anyone can contribute to Android and influence its direction," Bort said. The expected release of the Android open-source code came on the eve of the arrival in stores of the Android-based T-Mobile G1 phone, Internet search king Google's challenge to the hot-selling Apple iPhone. The Mountain View, California-based company unveiled its long-awaited smart phone last month, the first of what is expected to be a generation of devices built on the Android operating platform. The phones, which cost 179 dollars, 20 dollars cheaper than the iPhone 3G, go on sale in the United States on Wednesday, in Britain in early November and in other European countries served by telecom carrier T-Mobile in early 2009. The G1 offers many of the features of the iPhone and Research in Motion's popular BlackBerry including a touch screen similar to that of the iPhone, a trackball for navigation, high-speed Internet browsing, Wi-Fi, email, instant messaging and SMS texting. Google hopes to establish Android as the standard operating system for mobile phones and to improve the quality of web-browsing for handset users. This would drive traffic to the company's websites. Google has already held the first of what is to be an annual "Android Developers Challenge" and given away five million dollars in prize money for innovative software tailored to the platform. The Android-enabled "G Phone" can incorporate applications from any number of developers while the iPhone, for example, runs on Apple software. But Google software faces fierce competition from the world's biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia, and its Symbian system. US software giant Microsoft also has a Windows system for mobiles and a separate consortium is working on an open-source Linux solution. Google announced the Open Handset Alliance in November of last year to develop Android. It includes China Mobile, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Telefonica, LG and eBay.

Wow, thats a great news my dear Hetal. Hope your handset arrive on time. At what price are you getting the same ? Regards.

Freedom Fighter

^^^ So you get it solved of your own my dear Ramesh. Thats great. Congrats for the same. Cheers !

^^^ Oh thats great. CHINESE HANDSETS are better than FLY handsets. We will remember this forever. Regards.

My dear friends, I'm trying to set GPRS on my O2 Mini XDA. I want to use BPL GPRS on this handset. Their seems to be no option for Port Number in the settings for GPRS in this handset. So, techies can you help me out for this. Regards.

Yes my dear Asit, I know about these settings. But the problem here is that, these settings are for POSTPAID subscribers only. I'm having a PREPAID connection of BPL. So need the settings for the same. Regards.

^^^ Your Idea seems to be good my dear Amit. Regards.

Kranti

^^^ My dear Daga Sahab, actually I was comparing Fly handsets with Chinese handsets, but I forget to mention the same. Regards.

^^^ My dear friend, you can select the memory card as primary storage for data recieved via Bluetooth also. For this just switch on the Bluetooth. Select Settings, their you get the option for Shared Folders. In Shared Folders you can select your Memory Card as the Primary Storage. Thats it. Regards.

^^^ My dear friend, Fly brand is good if compared to the quality. Infact their Dual Sim handsets are selling like hot cakes in the market. Regards.

Pran

Mobile Phones Can Cause Skin Ailments Beware! Your phone may lead to a visit to the doc Here comes another reason to stay away from your mobile phone. In the past, mobile phones have been blamed for causing serious illnesses like cancer and infertility. Now, the latest one to hit the stands is "mobile phone dermatitis" -- as the new phenomenon is being termed, is nothing but the irritation and related side-effects caused by metals used in manufacturing mobile phones. The main culprit here is thought to be nickel, which is widely used in mobile phones today. It is estimated that almost one third of people are sensitive to nickel which can lead to redness, irritation, blistering and cracking of skin. It is pertinent to not that the areas around the buttons and screen have a fairly large amount of nickel presence and these happen to be the places where most of the skin touches while talking. The British Association of Dermatologists has said that all doctors should be alert about the possible risks of contracting dermatitis and should inform their patients about the possible risks if they are the kinds who use their phones for prolonged lengths of time. A British Association of Dermatologists spokesperson, Dr. Graham Lowe says, "The allergy results from frequent skin contact with nickel-containing objects. Prolonged or repetitive contact with a nickel-containing phone is more likely to cause a skin reaction in those who are allergic. If you have had a previous reaction to for example, a nickel-coated belt-buckle or jewellery, you are at greater risk of reacting to metal phones. In mobile phone dermatitis, the rash would typically occur on the cheek or ear, depending on where the metal part of the phone comes into contact with the skin. In theory it could even occur on the fingers if you spend a lot of time texting on metal menu buttons. It is worth doctors bearing this condition in mind if they see a patient with a rash on the cheek or ear that cannot otherwise be explained." Across the Atlantic, in a separate study conducted by one of the authors from Brown University, Rhode Island, scientists tested as many as 22 popular handsets for traces of nickel and found considerable amounts in ten of them. It has been so far noted that ladies are far more prone to mobile phone dermatitis than males. Courtesy : Techtree

UTStarcom bags BSNL contract UTStarcom has received a Rs 300-crore contract from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd to roll out the broadband network that will support 1.1 million subscribers. This is the second phase of a countrywide network launched by BSNL in December 2007. UTStarcom has already deployed a network that supports 1.3 million broadband subscribers during the first phase of this project. During this second phase, UTStarcom will deploy its solution in 962 cities throughout India to enable the addition of 1.1 million new broadband subscriber lines. The network expansion will help BSNL accelerate its existing broadband connections on subscriber lines by more than 30 times the current speed. “We worked closely with BSNL to successfully complete Phase I of this multi-play broadband network and we are pleased that the company has chosen to extend its relationship with us for Phase II of the deployment,” said Mr Vijay Yadav, Vice-President and Managing Director of UTStarcom’s South Asia operations “The existing broadband connection on current networks uses the ‘Plain Old Telephone System’ (POTS) that delivers only 64 kilobits per second (kbps) of broadband speed. The new ADSL 2+ technology provided by UTStarcom will provide speeds beyond 8 mega bits per second (mbps), which is more than 30 times faster than the existing speed,” said a press release. Courtesy : Business Line / Money Control

Meridian Mobile unveils new range for festive season Business Line l 20 Oct l Chennai Meridian Mobile has launched a new range of mobile handsets under the Fly brand for the festive season. The handsets, priced in the range of Rs 1,700 to Rs 11,000, include dual SIM series and music and entertainment series. The brand was introduced in the Indian market in 2006. According to Mr Rajiv Khanna, who heads Meridian’s India operations, Fly, with presence only in top 35 towns as of now, has garnered 2 per cent share of the overall market and is maintaining a growth rate of 20 per cent. “These are the towns that account for one-third of the overall market,” he says. Reliance tie-up Fly has also tied up with Reliance Communications for supply of dual SIM handsets which can be used both for CDMA and GSM. Besides, under an agreement with Vodafone, it supplies GSM handsets for the latter’s bundle offers in some circles. Says Mr Khanna, the brand’s middle and high-end handsets are well received in markets such as Delhi and Mumbai. The UK-based Meridian Mobile’s India operations registered a turnover of Rs 207 crore in 2007-08. Besides, India, the brand is available in Europe, part of the US and Russia. Elaborating on its India plans, Mr Khanna said, “The key focus is to expand its footprint to over 150 towns by the end of this year. Also on anvil is the launch of ultra slim handsets with technologies including TV on mobile.” The company recently signed on Bollywood actor Malaika Arora Khan and cricketer Ishant Sharma to endorse the brand here.

^^^ My dear Rahul, I think the chain of HOTSPOT RETAIL PVT LTD, are the authorised service centres for Spice Mobiles. But still I'm not 100% sure. You can contact any Hotspot outlet and confirm the same. Regards.

^^^ My dear friend, they will launch their services in the Southern India within coming 2-3 months. We can expect their services in Mumbai and Delhi only after their launch in Southern India. Regards.

^^^ Very correct my dear Sitansu.

Karz

^^^ My dear Mahesh, it will not work with Reliance network in India. So you can try at your own risk. Regards.

My dear friends, using hands free could be the best and safest way to avoid such kind of problems. Regards.

GIF

My dear friends, Chinese handsets with proper IMEI numbers will not be banned at all. Regards.