Honest

BSNL to start BlackBerry services next month Press Trust of India l 28 Nov l New Delhi State-run telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd on Friday said it would startBlackBerry services by next month. "We are well on track to launch our BlackBerry services by next month," BSNL Director (Finance) S D Saxenatold reporters on the sidelines of a CII conference here. Five mobile service providers -- Airtel, Vodafone, BPL, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices -- are currently offering BlackBerry services in India. BlackBerry services were introduced in India in October 2004. However, it came under the government's scanner last year when security agencies could not access the data stored in the Blackberry network. India has earlier asked Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of Blackberry, to route all its calls and e-mails through servers based in India to allow security agencies to read them as it fears its usage by terrorist outfits. This is because calls and e-mails exchanged within BlackBerry handsets cannot be intercepted as the servers are based in Canada.

Mobile Number Portability Tenders Invited Bids to be opened on 5th February 2009 As reported, the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has been pushed to mid-2009. The Department of Telecom recently put up a Mobile Number Portability tender document online inviting bids. The bids will be opened on 5th February 2009. The best part in the tender conditions that will interest consumers is: the number porting process should be finished in two working days with maximum of two hours of break in service. The MNP service zones are geographically divided into two where operators can apply for both zones. However, license to only one zone will be granted to them. Check the table below for regions in specific service zones. Courtesy : Techtree

More than 20 firms line up for BSNL's WiMax project Business Line l 28 Nov l New Delhi Intel, Motorola, Huawei in fray. ________________________________________________________________________________ Some Indian firms have offered to partner the multinational companies but are asking for a premium for an equity stake. ________________________________________________________________________________ At least 20 companies have lined up to become a franchisee for rolling out WiMax based broadband services by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. While big firms such as Intel, Motorola, Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent have expressed interest, smaller and relatively unheard Indian firms such as Aban Informatics, Adina Telecom, Cals Refineries, Wellcom Communications and Digitelco Communications have also queued up. BSNL had invited bids from prospective franchisee partners on a revenue-sharing basis. The companies which win the contract will use BSNL’s spectrum and infrastructure to offer WiMax based broadband services. The catch, however, is that foreign companies cannot directly own the entire franchisee. This means companies like Intel and Motorola will have to partner with an Indian entity if they want to participate in this project. According to industry sources, some of the Indian firms, which are in the fray, have offered to partner the multinational companies but are asking for a premium for an equity stake. “Some of these companies exist only on paper. Recent windfall gains by some Indian promoters by acquiring cellular licences and then selling off equity at a premium may have inspired some of these companies to join the fray. They are hoping to make a quick buck at the cost of BSNL,” said an executive of a large multinational company. BSNL has earmarked close to $750 million for its WiMax roll out. As per the expression of interest document floated by BSNL, the franchisee will be selected after a two-stage bidding process. The bidder shall submit both techno-commercial and financial bids at the initial stage. BSNL will choose a franchisee for each circle. The PSU has already chosen US-based SOMA Networks to roll out WiMax across three States — Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. This was done without floating any tender. BSNL officials said that since WiMax is a new technology, the company wanted to start services on a pilot basis in few areas and therefore SOMA Networks was chosen before the tender was issued. BSNL wants to be the first to roll out wireless broadband on the 2.5-Ghz band. While private telecom companies have to bid for spectrum in this band, BSNL and MTNL have got automatic allocation. Broadband services on WiMax technology promise high-speed Internet access on laptops and mobile handsets.

Market forces should have determined 2G license fee: TRAI Press Trust of India l 28 Nov l New Delhi In the midst of a controversy over allotment of spectrum to new players, telecom regulator TRAI today said that market forces should have determined the price of a licence, which includes start-up spectrum. "We have said a mechanism should be evolved for licence giving which must capture the market price," TRAI Chairman Nripendra Mishra said adding "because the spectrum was bundled in the licence for 2G therefore separately it was not feasible to auction 2G spectrum so that the licence had to capture the market price of the spectrum." Asked whether DoT bypassed TRAI's recommendations for pricing the 2G licence, he said DoT had not sought regulator's views on whether spectrum was to be auctioned or not. He, however, said that TRAI's recommendations of August, 2007 needed to be looked at as an integrated document and not as an observation separately from the recommendations. Mishra said that section 2.73 of its recommendations of 2007 state, "In today's dynamism and unprecedented growth of telecom sector, the entry fee determined then (2001) is also not the realistic price for obtaining a licence. Perhaps it needs to be reassessed through a market mechanism." Mishra further said "Instead of making judgement who is right or wrong ... we should be really looking at if there is scope for getting more revenue for the national exchequer... if there is, is there a way we could find out." Telecom Minister A Raja has been saying he went on by TRAI's recommendations while giving licences and allotting spectrum, however the regulator claims it did not favour auction of 2G radio waves.

<< Topic Merged >> Topic Merged and Topic Title Updated.

Update My dear friends, Oberoi Hotel and Nariman House is now Secure. But firing is still on in Hotel Taj.

^^^ Thats what I'm trying to say from the begining my dear friends. Regards.

^^^ Not possible my dear Vikas Ji. Regards.

@Dr. Mufaddal My dear friend, theirs no harm to take advice of anyone be it our co-members or be it anybody else. But at the same time I just wanted to tell that if anyone declare the goods correctly then their would not be any problem with the parcel. The problem will only be their if anyone FILES A FALSE DECLARATION. And our beloved friend PRAWIN is so responsible person, that he will not let any of our co-member in problem. Regards.

But HFCL's Tariffs are the most reasonable my dear friends. Hope they start services in other states also.

Update My dear friends, total Casualities upto now is 132 Dead.

Review of termination charges may take time Business Line l 27 Nov l New Delhi Operators not providing data, says TRAI. The telecom regulator has said that review of termination charges, as suggested by the Department of Telecom, is a complex exercise especially since the operators are not forthcoming in providing adequate data. Termination charges are paid by the operator on whose network the call originates to the operator on whose network the call ends. This fee is determined by the TRAI and has been fixed at 30 paise a minute. The Department of Telecom has now asked the regulator to review this fee on the grounds that lowering the charge would enable cheaper mobile tariffs. New operators who are about to launch their mobile services are also keen to have a lower termination rate. While TRAI has said that it will issue a consultation paper to discuss the issue in December, it said that a review cannot be done in a hurry. “There is no short cut to this exercise. It would be pertinent to mention that British regulator Ofcom initiated preliminary consultation on termination charge in June 2005 and detailed consultation in March 2006 and the regulatory statement was finally issued in March 2007.” Sources indicated that Indian authorities may also take at least a year before new termination charges are finalised. “As evident from all previous consultation processes, the IUC review exercise is a complex exercise and any undue haste may prove to be detrimental to the industry and the consumers and give rise to avoidable litigation. Any half-baked effort may re-open issues that have already been fairly settled,” the TRAI said. As part of the pre-consultation process all the operators were asked to submit the cost-model, data assumptions and the result of their calculations. However, most service providers have not provided the data. “This makes the job of review even more complicated for TRAI. Also the industry has presented different viewpoints including methodology to determine interconnection usage charges,” the regulator said.

Sonim XP3 Most Rugged Handset Yet For the rugged outdoors-techie Sonim Technologies has got exactly what you need. Noted for their earlier totally rugged handset that we talked about last year, the XP1, their latest offering is the Sonim XP3 Enduro that takes it up a notch. The handset, according to the company can be kept underwater (up to 1 meter) for almost 30 minutes. It will also be able to survive a drop from 2 meters onto a concrete surface. Some of the other specs that the company has provided on their website include an IP-57 protection rating and an 810F Military grade rating for salt, fog, humidity, transport and thermal shock. The keyboard buttons are tested to function beyond 500,000 pushes while the Sonim XP3 is capable of operating as long as it's needed under temperatures ranging from -20C to +60C. It also comes with an anti-glare, shock-resistant display. As compared to the previous model, the XP3 is a little thicker (24.6mm) than its predecessor. The company has provided users with a three year warranty with no questions asked. It’s priced at approximately Rs. 18, 316 (290 Euro) and while it may not be available here right now, we can only hope that in a regularly monsoon drenched country like ours, the company may just decide to ‘drop’ it in on us. Courtesy : Tech2

Samsung and Hugo Boss Reveal New Handset Fashion houses are still fighting their way into the mobile industry and the latest to make its break after big names like Giorgio Armani with Samsung and Prada with LG, is Hugo Boss who’s also gone with Samsung. Of course the handset's designs don’t seem be getting any more interesting than they initially were. A few edges trimmed here a slightly larger display there, a few buttons rearranged and voila, a brand new handset that doesn’t look too different form the last. According to reports, Samsung hasn’t even gone with a new design; instead Hugo Boss has simply opted for a variant of the F480 TouchWiz for their flagship model. The handset will come equipped with a 2.8-inch TFT touch screen display, 3G connectivity, Bluetooth with a customized Bluetooth headset as an accessory, and a 5 megapixel auto focus camera. The interface is apparently going to be customized for Hugo Boss as well. And keeping in tune with the pretend that the world is not really undergoing a recession, the handset is due to hit shelves in Europe through the company’s official outlets this December for the price of Rs. 30,255. Hey if you got it… flaunt it right. Courtesy : Tech2

@Dr. Mufaddal My dear friend, here you are 100% wrong. I had seen many people importing mobile handsets from US to India without any hassles. Thats why I told that in my post. Again I will say different people have different experience about this. Regards.

Update My dear friends, TAJ again caught Fire at its rooftop. Its a huge fire and can be seen at prominent news channels right now.

Update Casualities increased my dear friends. Its now 101 Dead.

^^^ The setup file is their in post number 18 of this thread my dear Sourabh. Regards.

<< Topic Cleaned >> My dear friends, please do not go off-topic. As this is a very serious matter for our country. Just discuss on the main issue.

^^^ My dear Sumal, actually if the declaration of the product is correct then their won't be any problems even with DHL. Thousands of Indians Import products from US without any hassels. What do you think, that all their products / parcels been hold by them ? No. ^^^ My dear friend, conditions could be different with different people. Regards.

Samsung Unveils Unique Phone Demos foldable OLED screen phone at FPD 2008 expo in Japan Samsung has showcased an un-named phone with an amazing foldable display at the FPD 2008 expo in Japan. The device has a neat foldable OLED display, which is shown to open and close automatically. The large internal screen is the one that folds into half and reveals the much smaller external one. The external screen seems to be a touch-sensitive one. While no official word on the spec sheet is out, we do have some information regarding the screen itself as seen in the video grab. It seems to be a WQVGA screen with 16 million colors. As of now, no one has any word on when this technology will be out in the mainstream mobile phone market. However, looking at the prototype, it does seem a distinct possibility in the near future. Drool on the video in the meantime. Courtesy : Techtree

Update My dear friends, the Casuality increased a lot. As of now 80 Dead and 250 Injured.

Reliance Comm undersea cable snaps again Business Line l 27 Nov l New Delhi Cable cut near Spain may have minimal impact on India. __________________________________________________________________ Split wire RCom’s FLAG marine team is sending a ship for repairing the cable The expected time taken for the repair is not known yet This is the second time this year when an undersea cable developed a snag __________________________________________________________________ A cut in an undersea cable owned by Reliance Communications has disrupted communication networks in the Gulf region, especially Kuwait. The cut on Reliance’s FEA Cable System happened between Italy and Spain on November 24. The Internet and telephone traffic between Kuwait and Spain, the UK, the US, Switzerland, Italy and India were affected by the cable cut, according to the local authorities in Kuwait. Kuwaiti communication companies, including Zajil Telecom, Fast Net and Quality Net, were also hit. The impact on Indian ITeS and BPO units are not known yet. Industry sources said that since there are alternative cable systems in the region the disruption in communication may be minimal. Mr Rajesh Chharia, President, Internet Service Providers Association of India, said, “There has been no visible impact on India till now. We are still collecting information from the industry but it seems Reliance has learnt from its previous experience earlier this year and has made alternative arrangements.” Ship being sent RCom officials confirmed the cable cut. This cut is suspected to be at 8.75 km from Estepona (Spain) on local route between Estepona and Porthcurno-Palermo Segment. RCom’s FLAG marine team is sending a ship for repairing the cable. The expected time taken for the repair is not known yet. This is the second time this year when an undersea cable owned by RCom has developed a snag. Earlier this year, RCom’s submarine cable system Falcon — connecting five West Asian nations, Indian sub-continent, Sudan and Egypt — was cut, 56 km from Dubai on the segment between the UAE and Oman. This had a major impact on Indian ITeS and BPO units prompting the telecom regulator to step into get other cable owners to provide alternate links. Reliance had approached the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India seeking its intervention on the grounds that the other cable operators did not co-operate with it to provide an alternative route. RCom’s main concern was that Bharti Airtel had allegedly sought much higher tariffs than the prevailing market rates for additional bandwidth.

^^^ Hmmm..... If this is the scene then we can't expect better services from CC of Reliance my dear friends. Regards.

Nokia Unveils 6260 Slide Nokia has introduced the 6260 slide that features quick access to search engines, points of interest straight from the home screen and the new 360° navi-key. Nokia's newest arrival features quick speeds over both cellular and Wi-Fi networks and comes with the latest 3G technology, with high speed uploads (HSUPA) and downloads (HSDPA) The 6260 features a 5 Megapixel Carl Zeiss camera with flash, a music player, web browser, Nokia Maps and Ovi services. It also features assisted GPS on the Series 40 software platform for the first time. The Nokia 6260 slide is expected to begin shipping at the beginning of 2009 for an estimated retail price of EUR 299, before taxes and subsidies. Courtesy : Tech2