Honest

HTC Dream Likely to Come on Sept 23 Eagerly awaited Android phone finally seeing light of the day T-Mobile and Google's Android based phone is likely to hit markets in couple of weeks as per 'sources'. Duetsche Telecom's T-Mobile unit is rumored to make an announcement about a mobile phone based on Google's Android operating system this month in New York City. Though, T-Mobile and Google refrained from comment anything. Earlier this month, HTC Dream running Android was spotted in the wild. The logo of T-mobile is clearly visible on the leaked Dream photos. So, it looks like a reality that we will get to hear about the T-mobile branded HTC Dream in couple of weeks. Unfortunately, there is no word when we - in India -- will get to see the much awaited gadget. Courtesy : Techtree

NVIDIA, Opera Team Up For Mobile Devices NVIDIA and Opera Software are collaborating to bring the full desktop Web-browsing experience, including support for JavaScript, accelerated vector, and video content, to smartphones and mobile Internet devices. NVIDIA will offer an optimized Opera 9.5 browser in its suite of pre-integrated, in-house and third-party software for the NVIDIA Tegra family of computer-on-chip Windows Mobile and Windows CE solutions. "Seamless, effortless Internet access is critical to any state-of-the-art connected mobile device, and the combination of Opera 9.5 and NVIDIA Tegra will deliver the full Web experience into the palm of your hand," said Neil Trevett, vice president of mobile content at NVIDIA. "Opera and NVIDIA are cooperating to create a powerful browsing experience that will truly make the Internet an integral part of the advanced Tegra mobile visual computing experience." "Full Web browsing is a key feature for mobile phones and mobile Internet devices today. End users are demanding a mobile-browsing experience that mirrors that of their home and work computers," says Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera Software. "Opera 9.5 combined with NVIDIA Tegra will deliver a powerful and visual browsing experience for the next generation of smartphones and mobile Internet devices." The Tegra family of computer-on-chip solutions integrates high-performance ARM CPUs, extensive media acceleration and integrated GeForce GPUs that enable Opera 9.5 to provide mobile users with a browsing experience. Devices with the Opera browser powered by NVIDIA Tegra hardware are expected to be available to consumers in 2009. Courtesy : Tech2 & Techtree

Finmin wants telcos to pay higher licence renewal fee 11 Sep, 2008, 0232 hrs IST, ET NEW DELHI: After sparring over spectrum-linked charges, the finance ministry now wants the department of telecom (DoT) to consult it on the fee that telcos will have to pay to extend the tenure of their licences. The licences of all existing operators (which were awarded for 20 years) are set to expire in the next few years. While DoT has proposed that an existing operator should pay Rs 825 crore for a 10-year extension, the finmin wants this fee to be much higher. The issue of licence extension has cropped up now because of the upcoming auction for 3G spectrum. All successful bidders — both existing operators and new entrants, including foreign telcos — will be given spectrum for 20 years. But the licences of all existing 2G players — which were given in the 90s for a 20-year period — are set to expire over the next couple of years. “Since the licences of existing operators would expire on different dates before the end of the 20-year period of 3G spectrum allocation, they would not be allowed to use the third generation frequencies for the full tenure,” the DoT said in an internal note. Earlier too, it had said that the 2G licence tenure of existing operators that bag 3G spectrum should be extended to ensure the two licences have the same tenure. The finance ministry, during a meeting on August 27, asked the DoT to inform all telcos that their licences would not be extended automatically, but at a ‘price determined by the government’. The finmin plans to have consultations with the DoT to determine the ‘renewal fee’. The development also implies that the DoT may have to rework its proposed formula for calculating the renewal fee. The DoT’s current proposal works as follows: If a telco needs to extend its licence by 10 years, it would have to pay about Rs 825.5 crore. This figure is arrived at by taking the entry fee (for a telecom licence) of Rs 1,651 crore multiplied by 10 (the number of years for which the licence needs to be extended), and the total is divided by 20 (the number of years for which the telco can use the 3G spectrum). Using the DoT’s formula, the government can garner an additional Rs 3,000 crore. The finmin, however, wants a new methodology and a higher renewal fee. Telecom regulator Trai has already objected to the DoT formula. The regulator has told the telecom department that ‘the renewal of licence should not be linked with auction of spectrum for 3G’. “At present, the government is thinking of auction of spectrum for 3G, while in the future some more spectrum may have to be auctioned for telecom services which would again necessitate extension of some licences, if this practice is followed,” Trai had said in an earlier communication to the DoT on the issue.

^^^ Point to be noted My Lord.

No, doubt my dear friends, this handset is really seems to be cool. Regards.

19,000 mobile towers soon to connect all villages 10 Sep, 2008, 2139 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: India's state-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) will erect 19,000 towers in two phases to extend mobile phone connectivity to all villages in the country, the government said on Wednesday. "Some 8,000 mobile towers will be erected by the end of this year under Phase-I of the shared mobile infrastructure scheme," India's Telecommunications Minister A. Raja told a parliamentary committee here Wednesday. Another 11,000 towers will be erected in the second phase, he said while addressing members of the Consultative Committee of Parliament attached to his ministry. BSNL will also procure 93 million GSM lines so that people in all villages in the country having a population of more than 1,000 can avail of mobile phone services, he said. GSM stands for Global System for Mobile communications and is the world's most widely used mobile phone technology. "The government is giving the highest priority to extending telecom facilities to rural and remote areas of the country," he said. To provide broadband connectivity, the government will initially connect 5,000 blocks, the smallest administrative unit in India, by wireless broadband, he said. Villages coming within a radius of 10 km of a block headquarter will be covered by such connectivity. This will benefit schools, public health centres, village administrative bodies (panchayats) and the community service centres (CSCs) meant to provide e-governance and data services to rural areas. This will be done soon after new spectrum is allocated to the various telecom operators. This activity will be funded with the support of the universal service obligation (USO) fund, he said. The USO fund is created from a 5 percent universal service obligation levy that the government charges all telecom operators in India. The fund is meant to support extension of connectivity to areas where private operators do not enter for lack of adequate profitability. To ensure widespread rural connectivity the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition government has kept a target of 500 million telephone connections by 2010 and 750 million connections by 2012, Raja said. He hoped that this target would be surpassed. He said to promote expansion of rural wire line and wire line based broadband services, the government has recently decided to waive off the license fees for rural wire line. The government has also decided to give USO fund support to BSNL and reduce USO levy from 5 percent to 3 percent for covering more than 95 percent of the development blocks, he said. This was in accordance with a recommendation of India's telecom regulatory body Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), he said. The Minister also said that BSNL will launch during the current year value added services like mobile banking, mobile advertisement, tele-education and lost mobile tracking systems. BSNL will also provide wireless broadband services and upgrade its mobile network to third generation (3G) levels. It will also provide high-speed data services.

Nokia N95 8GB Updated Nothing substantial in terms of revolutionary feature additions, but the change log does throw in some surprises After the recent release of firmware version 30 for the N95-Classic, the N95 8GB too received an update. While nothing substantial in terms of revolutionary feature additions, the change log does throw in some surprises including support for flash videos. This essentially means that you can now play .flv files using the default Real player. Here is the list of new additions with this update. Nokia Maps updated to 2.0 Full N-Gage client added Nokia Search 4.0 now with Google plug-in Share online 3.0 Enablers for Comes With Music Download! application updated (v 3.1.50) Upgrade to Music Player, with new visualizations Update for Flash Lite 3 New baseline for VoIP If you are an N95 user, use the Nokia Software Updater to get the latest version. A word of caution here. Make sure you backup all your files prior to the update and yes, it's advisable to use a trustworthy (and a reasonably fast) connection. The procedure does involve a 110 MB file download initially and you cannot interrupt the process once started unless you wish a visit to the nearest service centre! Courtesy : Techtree

^^^ My dear friends, the looks of the above Spice model is just like Chinese Dual Sim handsets. Regards.

Six telecom vendors bid for BSNL GSM lines contract 10 Sep, 2008, 1752 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: As many as six telecom vendors, including Nokia-Siemens Network, have bid for the BSNL's 93 million GSM lines contract, a top official of the state-run company said here on Wednesday. "Six telecom vendors Nokia-Siemens Network, Ericsson, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent, Nortel and ZTE have bid for state-run BSNL 93 million GSM lines contract," BSNL Chairman Kuldeep Goyal said. Surprisingly, Motorola has not bid for the contract.

BSNL to procure 93 million GSM lines to serve rural population 10 Sep, 2008, 1816 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: State-owned telecom operator BSNL will procure 93 million lines to extend coverage of GSM mobile services to all the villages having population more than 1,000 persons. Through this expansion, BSNL will also introduce value added services like mobile TV, mobile broadband, MMS, location based services etc. This was announced by Communications and IT Minister Thiru A Raja while addressing the Members of the Consultative Committee of Parliament attached to his Ministry in New Delhi on Wednesday. The Minister informed that value added services like mobile banking, mobile advertisement, tele-education and lost mobile tracking system are also planned to be launched by BSNL during the current year. BSNL is going to provide wireless broadband services Wi-Max through the franchisee route. Raja informed the Committee that BSNLs mobile network is being upgraded to 3G level, for which order and equipment are likely to be progressively commissioned by July 2009. BSNL has planned to provide high-speed data service (up to 2.4 Mbps) on CDMA WLL network. It has also planned to commercially launch prepaid services on WLL from this month. The Minister said that 8,000 mobile towers would be erected by the end of this year under Phase-I of the shared mobile infrastructure scheme. Another 11,000 towers are planned under Phase-II of this scheme. Government will initially connect 5,000 blocks in the country by wireless broadband soon after the allocation of the spectrum. The UPA government has set a target of 500 million telephone connections by 2010 and 750 million connections by 2012, Raja said.

^^^ Ditto. It will be great my dear Kalpak. Many members here also use GSM services, this will be of great help to all of them. Regards.

Tata Will Help Unclog Internet Tata Communications' tie-up with BitGravity will bring bandwidth management to the masses Tata Communications and Silicon Valley based BitGravity, a Content Delivery Network startup are bringing interactive broadcasting to the masses across Tata's vast Single ASN global IP network across Asia, Europe and North America. BitGravity, like other CDN providers help ISPs reduce the bandwidth required to distribute large files by storing it in a way that allows it to reach the customer directly instead of the standard way of routing across networks. The result is beneficial for both parties involved -- the end user and the ISP. For consumer, this translates to lesser wait times and buffer time for high bandwidth content like online content streaming. For ISP's this will result in better bandwidth management. Reliance Globalcom too has signed up with another CDN provider Internap services starting off a new trend for India based global telecom majors. Courtesy : Techtree

Expect the Great Apple Update this Friday iPhone update to fix flaws Many of us were hoping that the new iPhone would be everything one could hope for, and then some... but only if wishes were horses. Nevertheless, there is always the hope that Apple will introduce software upgrades that'll slowly fade away the iPhone negatives. This coming Friday is expected to be the day when Apple will offer one of such update. The iPhone 2.1 update is meant to fix a bunch of bugs that prevail in the current version of the phone. After installing the update, users can expect to anticipate less call drops, crashes, better battery life, and also a faster sync. However, the iPhone 2.1 update will not bring along the much yearned for features such as copy and paste. As for the iPod Touch users, they'll need to shell $10 to get this new software, unless they've purchased version 2.0. if you've recently purchased an iPhone or an iPod Touch, then this update is free for you. Courtesy : Techtree

Nokia Phones Get Microsoft's Email Solution Rejoice all you Nokia S60 phone users, now access mails on the move. Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync will now be available to Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices. The new collaboration is set to benefit around 80 million Nokia phone users, who will be able to access their official mails on the move. Available on around 43 Nokia phones, this feature will make Nokia's device range the largest ever to support the Microsoft's email solution. Nokia users can obtain this software through the download folder on their devices. All the future releases of Nokia E series and Nokia N series devices are set to incorporate this email application. Let's see how BlackBerry faces this challenge. Courtesy : Techtree

Telenor eyes 26% in Unitech arm for $500 m 10 Sep, 2008, 0131 hrs IST, ET NEW DELHI : Norway's telecom firm Telenor is learnt to be close to picking up a 26% stake in Unitech Wireless, the telecom arm of real estate firm Unitech for around $500 mn. The likely deal is understood to have valued the start-up at $2 bn, though it is learnt that Unitech is negotiating hard for higher valuation. Unitech managing director Sanjay Chandra denied having finalised a partner for the business. “We have not closed any deal as yet. We are still negotiating with many parties and are at least a month away from finalising the partner,” Mr Chandra said. Sources in the telecom industry, however, indicated that Telenor may have already agreed to buy stake in Unitech Wireless. Unitech has held talks with several foreign telcos for a partnership since the beginning of the year. The company had shortlisted three telecom players including Telenor, Telecom Italia and a South-East Asia-based telecom firm for the last lap of negotiations. The deal with the Asian telco didn’t make much headway, while negotiations with Telecom Italia reached a dead-end after the European player stuck to a valuation of $1 bn for Unitech Wireless. Promoters of Unitech, the Chandra family, have been expecting a valuation of $3 bn, but potential foreign partners have been quite stingy on that count. Moreover, with the Chandra family unlikely to cede control, potential foreign partners saw little reason in supporting a higher valuation. But, sources say, Telenor has now agreed to a $2 bn valuation for Unitech Wireless. Unitech has obtained licence to operate in all 22 telecom circles and also received spectrum for six circles. The company expects to roll out its services in the first quarter of calendar year 2009. The company had earlier said it expected to invest Rs 20,000 crore in its telecom business over the next three years. It recently raised Rs 1,200 crore for its telecom venture from a syndicate of public sector banks led by Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank. Unitech is one of the six new companies that were successful in winning GSM licences earlier this year. The others include Datacom, Loop Telecom, S Tel and Swan. All these companies are scouting for funds and are at various stages of negotiations. The market meltdown has come as a blow to all of them as they were anticipating much greater valuations than what are being offered now. In the case of Unitech, it has been a bit of a double whammy as it has seen the value of its real estate business erode considerably.

Vodafone announces festival offers Business Line Vodafone Essar has announced special festival offers for its customers in Kerala. For its pre-paid customers, the company announced a special Rs 222 full talk time recharge plan, along with a validity of 365 days. This special recharge includes regular talk time of Rs 11, a bonus talk time of Rs 100 spread across five months and also free minutes worth Rs 111 to local Vodafone numbers for the first 30 days. Furthermore, Vodafone also introduced Rs 11 Bonus Card that offers 80 minutes of free talk time to local Vodafone numbers between 11.00 p.m. and 08.00 a.m. Mr Suresh Kumar R., Senior Vice-President, Vodafone Essar Kerala, said it had also announced a special offer called ‘Vodafone Tuesdays’ for its post-paid customers. This scheme will enable customers to get flat 20 per cent discount on all ISD calls made on Tuesdays. Also, on the occasion of Onam, post-paid customers can gain free STD minutes ranging from 20–40 minutes while making ISD calls in September. During Ramzan, all post- paid customers get a special ISD call rate of Rs 6.99 a minute between 12 midnight and 8 a.m. for making calls to the Gulf region. In addition, post-paid customers with no outstanding dues will be eligible for two promotional packages free of charge for a month. This includes ‘STD@Re.1” for which the monthly rental of Rs 31 will be waived off for a month and ‘Calls to Local Vodafone @10p’ for which the monthly rental of Rs 49 will be waived off for a month. .

My dear friends, here is the pic of above Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220. Courtesy : Tech2 Regards.

New players get more GSM spectrum Business Line New Delhi, Sept. 9 The Government has released start-up GSM spectrum to new telecom players including Datacom and Unitech, in four circles of Mumbai, Maharashtra, Punjab and UP (East). Tata Teleservices, which has got GSM licence under dual technology policy, has also been given spectrum in the lucrative Mumbai circle. With this, new players can now roll out services in 10 circles as the Government has already released spectrum in six circles of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karmataka, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. In Punjab, only three players have been accommodated as only 15 MHz spectrum was available.

^^^ Very correct my dear Kumaar. It could be like that only. But at the same time, I would like to state that when new operators jumps in the field and competition arise then they could definetely again offer extra TT above the basic value. Regards.

^^^ Its good for their reputation my dear friend. Regards.

DoT may take finmin call, hike 3G charges 10 Sep, 2008, 0043 hrs IST, ET NEW DELHI: Successful bidders at the upcoming 3G spectrum auction may have to shell out more as spectrum usage charges. In a bid to pacify the finance ministry, the department of telecom (DoT) plans to increase the spectrum usage charges for telcos that plan to offer 3G services. The DoT’s response comes after the finmin, following an August 27 meeting, demanded that the base price for pan-India 3G radio frequencies be hiked to Rs 2,500 crore from the existing Rs 2,020 crore. The DoT, in a counter-proposal, is learnt to have suggested that spectrum usage charges be increased by 1% every year for 3G operators rather than hike the base price by Rs 500 crore. As per the existing policy, 3G operators will not be charged during the first year and pay 1% of total revenues during the second year as usage charges. However, if the finmin agrees with the new DoT proposal, 3G players would have to share 2% of their total revenues towards spectrum usage charges in the third year and 3% in the fourth. The proposal does not specify as to how long the DoT intends to go ahead with this 1% incremental increase formula. At present, all mobile services in the country run on second generation (2G) radio frequencies. Currently, telcos pay between 2-6% of their total revenues as spectrum usage charges for 2G services. According to sources, the August 27 meeting was convened by the finance ministry to find common ground with the communications & IT ministry over the recently announced 3G policy. The meeting came against the backdrop of finmin asking the DoT to put the 3G policy on hold as it was not consulted on the financial implications of the guidelines. The finance ministry had also added that DoT has contravened an earlier Cabinet decision that had stipulated that spectrum pricing be finalised by both ministries. The finmin, during the meeting, had also asked the DoT to clarify how spectrum would be allotted to CDMA players in the 800 MHz band. As reported first by ET, the DoT has already made changes to the 3G policy and said that CDMA players would also be subject to an auction for 3G radio frequencies in the 800 MHz band. DoT had earlier decided to allot 3G spectrum in the 800 MHz band to the CDMA player with the highest subscriber base, without resorting to auction as mandated for GSM players, provided it was willing to pay the same price that the highest GSM operator was paying in that particular circle. This gave Reliance Communications, with the largest subscriber base in all circles except Delhi and Maharashtra, the right of first refusal for offering 3G services in the 800 MHz band.

^^^ Very correct my dear Raccoon. Idea's services are really great in many circles. Dear member if we compare then why to compare within only 3 operators. We should compare with all service providers, including TAT, BSNL and others. Regards.

3G iPhone on BSNL soon ! Indiatimes Infotech The much sought-after 3G iPhone is coming to state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) network. The country's largest telecom service provider BSNL plans to launch Apple iPhone by December 2008. Quoting a senior BSNL executive, a leading business daily reported that BSNL will introduce Apple's 3G iPhone for its subscribers across the country by December along with the launch of the third generation network. The official said that BSNL is scheduled to hold a meeting of its circle heads at the end of this month, where it may take a decision on making iPhone available to consumers. This means, unlike rivals Vodafone and Airtel, who currently hold licence for 3G iPhone in India, 3G iPhone on BSNL may actually support 3G services right from its launch. BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) are the first two government operators to get 3G licence. BSNL along with MTNL was given a head-start by the Department of Telecom (DoT) to roll out 3G services in the country. While the private telecom companies have to acquire 3G spectrum through a process of bidding, both the public sector units have already been allotted spectrum on a pro-rata basis. MTNL is reportedly installing 1.5 million 3G lines in the first phase in Delhi and Mumbai and plans to tie up with the content providers on revenue-sharing basis to enrich its high-end services. According to company officials, MTNL's network should be ready in the next two months in Delhi and four months in Mumbai.

And see the SMS charges in Roaming also my dear friends. Vodafone the biggest looter is charging Rs.3.45 for every outgoing SMS while in Roaming. God knows when did this loot been stopped. Regards.

Hope MTNL too launch the 3G Iphone alongwith BSNL in December my dear friends. Regards.