satishdave 2 Report post Posted December 17, 2010 Dec. 16: The government has asked three telecom service providers — Airtel, Tata and Reliance — to put on hold their video calling services on 3G until interception facilities are cl-eared by security agencies. In a letter sent to these companies, the Telecom Department (DoT) said the shortcomings in interception facilities of video calling on 3G services for the agencies need to be addressed before their launch. The three companies were to start the video call facilities by the end of this year. According to an exhaustive note sent by the Union home ministry to the DoT, a demonstration was organised by Reliance, Tata Teleservices and Bharti during which the law enforcement agencies pointed out that online delivery of video call intercepts “in real time” could not be carried out by any of the telecom operators. The contents of such calls were displayed only after five minutes of the completion of these calls as against the requirement of the agencies which want such details and interceptions on real-time basis, official sources said. The DoT asked these operators to put on hold their services being offered under 3G until they address the concerns raised by the security agencies. During the demonstration carried out by these telecom service providers, it came to light that long duration video calls, both incoming and outgoing, could not be intercepted, official sources said. “Outgoing and incoming video calls after eight minutes could not be intercepted and displayed,” they said. The service providers are pushing the contents of the calls in raw format to the server of agencies, which requires use of decoders to view and listen to them, the sources said. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karthik R 246 Report post Posted December 17, 2010 How come the state players, BSNL and MTNL who started offering 3G services well over a year ago are compliant with the stipulated security norms while the recently joined private telecos fail to get a pass? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted December 17, 2010 Earlier around Aug2010 (not sure about date though) even the video calls of PSUs were stopped for the security blah blah... Then after making necessary changes, BSNL/MTNL got clearance fastly... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rajanmehta 4,056 Report post Posted December 18, 2010 (edited) Order to shut down 3G video call discriminatory, say private telcos Seek Kapil Sibal's intervention as BSNL, MTNL continue to offer the service. DoT had issued notices to Tata Tele RCom and Bharti airtel not to launch any 3G service which does not enable snooping by security agencies on a real time basis Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices on Friday told the Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, that the order to shut down video calls on third generation (3G) platform was discriminatory as the two State-run telecom companies, MTNL and BSNL, were continuing to offer the service despite having the same security monitoring capabilities. The two operators, through the Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI), also urged the Government to withdraw the shut-down order issued on Wednesday as it was hurting their business plans. DoT had issued a notice to the two operators and Bharti Airtel asking them not to launch any 3G service which does not enable snooping by security agencies on a real-time basis. "The direction by the Department of Telecom for stopping video-based 3G service is depriving our customers of the next generation telecom services while the same services are available from BSNL and MTNL for more than a year now. It is pertinent to mention here that BSNL and MTNL do not have better Lawful Interception Monitoring (LIM) capability than the private operators. The direction only to private players is seriously distorting the level playing field," AUSPI said in a letter to Mr Sibal. AUSPI is the industry body representing CDMA players, including Tata Tele and RCom. The basic problem is that intelligence agencies are not able to intercept services such as video calls and instant messaging flowing through 3G networks. While, on the one hand, the issue is about national security, on the other, it is impacting revenues of telecom operators who have paid billions of dollars to acquire 3G spectrum. "This is resulting in a colossal waste of national resource as the huge investment made by operators in the 3G spectrum and the network remains unproductive," said Mr S.C. Khanna, General Secretary, AUSPI. Technically unfeasible The operators said that the demand from security agencies to access video calls on a real-time basis was technically not possible. "The monitoring system put up by the operators is as per global standards and the current standards do not have a provision for real-time video call content to be made available. Thus, decoding of intercepted video content is possible only at the end of the call,' said one of the operators. This is not the first time security agencies have asked telecom companies to shut down services due to their inability to monitor traffic flowing through communications networks. Earlier, a ban threat was issued to BlackBerry device makers if they did not make provisions for interception. Security concerns were also raised against Chinese telecom equipment on grounds that there could be spyware embedded into these networks. Operators said that while national security was important, the Government should formulate a monitoring policy which takes into account emerging new technologies as well as business interests. Source: Business Line Edited December 18, 2010 by rajanmehta Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rajanmehta 4,056 Report post Posted December 29, 2010 Govt allows pvt cos to roll out 3G After acting tough on the security interception issues in the 3G services, the government is now willing to relent and may allow private operators to roll out the 3G services, provided they give an undertaking to comply with the interception requirements within six months. A top government source on Tuesday said that telecom secretary R. Chandrashekhar and home secretary G.K. Pillai had a meeting on Monday and there is now a view that private operators could be allowed to roll-out the 3G services on the condition that they would provide real-time interception mechanism of applications like video calls by the end of June in 2011. "The operators will have to give an undertaking to the government promising they will have such a mechanism in place within the next six months. They may be then allowed to roll-out (3G services)," the source said. Till last week the ministry of home affairs (MHA) had said that private operators cannot roll out 3G services till they come up with a mechanism to allow interception of facilities like video calls in real-time. This led the department of telecom (DoT) to ask Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications (RCom) to put their 3G services on hold on December 14. In fact, MHA officials were saying till last week that it is better to first get the realtime interception issue settled before the roll-out, rather than chase the private operators after the roll-out to comply with the same. However, with the state-owned telecom operators Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) already offering 3G services and private operators - who paid huge amounts to procure 3G spectrum - being asked to wait, the government may have a change of mind now. A source said that there is now a view that the Blackberry model could be followed by the government for the 3G services as well, whereby time could be given to private operators to offer mechanism for real-time interception even as the 3G services are rolled out. All major private operators have plans to launch the 3G services early next year. The home ministry had earlier this year given Canada-based Research in Motion (RIM) time till January 31 to offer live interception of Blackberry services like Blackberry Messenger and Blackberry Enterprise Service, which are being used by thousands of subscribers in India. The same model may now apply to 3G services with a rollout being allowed and the realtime interception issue being settled over the next six months. Telecom minister Kapil Sibal had said last week that the security concerns regarding 3G video calls will be resolved soon. The government wants realtime interception by way of which the security agencies can monitor and intercept video calls as it happens. Till now no private operators have been able to come up with a mechanism for the online delivery of video call intercepts in real-time. The contents of such calls were displayed only after five minutes of the completion of these calls as against the requirement of the security agencies for interception on a real-time basis. Mail Today Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kesav 127 Report post Posted December 30, 2010 (edited) If the article is true, then it's bad precedent to be set by Govt. Govt. must learn certain lessons from BB issue. RIM is playing war of attrition with Govt. since their services are live and will be very difficult for the Govt. to ban them. Till date, although deadline of 31st Jan is fast approaching, there is no light at the end of the tunnel for BB issue. Indeed, RIM is not at all working for solution, it's actually working with media 24X7 to generate mass hysteria against Govt. using privacy as a tool. BB issue is more than 2 years old, so each and every operator knows the real need of the security agencies quite long back. Crying now, saying there's no technology is utterly stupid and mischievous. On technical point of view, I feel it's very very easy to offer real-time monitoring of video calls since it's not based on public-private key encryption. This crisis is purposely created to push the Govt to allow the services now and later with the help of 'payable' media play with the Govt. Just think, when Govt. finds so difficult to tame a service like BB which is used by < 1 % of Indian population, what can it do with video call service which may get adopted by > 25% of Indian population by June 2011. Indeed, it's time for operators to work with technology providers instead wasting time with Govt if they're really interested in launching services. Come on Govt !! Don't make a same mistake and fall prey to operators' trap. Edited December 30, 2010 by kesav Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted December 30, 2010 Just think, when Govt. finds so difficult to tame a service like BB which is used by < 1 % of Indian population, A very valid point Kesav ji... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arun 795 Report post Posted December 31, 2010 Reliance Communications rings on likely approval for video call service IndiaInfoline Dec 31, 2010 Reliance Communications jumped 3.15% at Rs 142.55 at 9:42 IST on BSE on reports the company can restart providing video calls in the new year as part of its 3G services. The government has reportedly approved telecom operators' video calls facility after operators gave an undertaking that within the next six months, they would start providing real-time interception of video calls. According to reports, a tripartite agreement is being drafted between the security agencies, telecom industry associations and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that real-time monitoring of such calls will be available in the next six months failing which such calls will be barred. Video calls are interactive calls where the callers can view each another on mobile phones or computer displays. While the immediate beneficiaries will be Reliance Communications (RCom) and unlisted Tata Teleservices who have already launched 3G services, others like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar and Idea Cellular, all of whom plan to roll out such services shortly, will also gain. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted December 31, 2010 While the immediate beneficiaries will be Reliance Communications (RCom) and unlisted Tata Teleservices who have already launched 3G services, others like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone-Essar and Idea Cellular, all of whom plan to roll out such services shortly, will also gain. No pvt operator will benefit much, when they are NOT ready to charge for video-calls reasonably like BSNL/MTNL... BSNL videocalls are 70p/min for Local and Rs1.00/min for STD/ROAMING video calls... FYKI Docomo's BIGG MOUTH needs upto Rs3/min (5p/sec) for video calls and the beauty is that DoCoMo is the only private operator who said 3G will be affordable Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rajanmehta 4,056 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 3G services can go ahead while monitoring is put in place: PC NEW DELHI: In a move that could see GenNext mobile services including video calls being available to customers, the government today said telecom operators can roll out 3G telephony while working on the modalities to provide monitoring facilities to the security agencies. Responding to questions at his monthly press conference called for giving the report of Home Ministry for December, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said the Department of Telecom and his ministry were working together in putting in place some rules and norms for intercepting or monitoring of 3G transactions in the interest of national security. "We are putting place certain mechanisms to monitor and intercept 3G services where it become necessary on the grounds of national security. "The idea is not to interrupt or delay the 3G services. The idea is to allow 3G services to go forward even while monitoring mechanisms are put in place," Chidambaram said. "So no one need to fear that the 3G services will be interrupted or delayed," he added. Earlier, DoT had issued notices to a few telecom operators asking them to stop the GenNext mobile services -- 3G -- which includes video calling facility -- asking them to put on hold the new services till they adhered to security norms for its legal interception. The DoT and central security agencies had convened a meeting of industry officials in December 20 last year and asked them to stop roll-out of 3G services till they demonstrate interception facility. 3G mobile services mainly include voice call, video calls and data services. In the data services, operators are claiming to offer high-speed internet service and required to offer monitoring facility. The DoT had sent a letter to both TTSL and RCom asking them not to launch 3G services on commercial basis till they demonstrate lawful interception facilities. Source:Economic Times Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HetalDP 947 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 Believe it or not all CDMA or NGN Network were first to Introduces 3G like BSNL, TATA, Reliance Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kesav 127 Report post Posted January 6, 2011 (edited) Guidelines on 3G video calls soon: Sibal The government on Wednesday said the guidelines for the next generation mobile services that include video calls will be issued soon addressing all security concerns raised by the Union Home Ministry. “3G issue is almost resolved, soon you will be able to see new guidelines,” Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said in New Delhi. The comment from Mr. Sibal comes a day after Home Minister P. Chidambaram sought to downplay problems in beginning the 3G mobile services saying the telecom operators can roll out 3G telephony while working on the modalities to provide monitoring facilities to the security agencies. The Department of Telecom (DoT) and the Home Ministry were working together to frame rules and norms for intercepting or monitoring of 3G transactions in the interest of national security, Mr. Chidambaram had said. Earlier, the DoT had issued notices to a few telecom operators asking them to stop the 3G services, which includes video calling facility. It also asked them to put on hold the new services till they adhered to security norms for legal interception. The DoT and central security agencies had convened a meeting of industry officials in December 20 last year and asked them to stop 3G services rollout till they demonstrate interception facility. 3G mobile services mainly include voice call, video calls and data services. In the data services, operators are claiming to offer high-speed Internet service and required to offer monitoring facility. The DoT had sent a letter to Tata Teleservices and RCom asking them not to launch 3G services on commercial basis till they demonstrate lawful interception facilities. The letter had pointed about shortcomings in interception facilities of video calling on 3G services for the agencies which need to be addressed before their launch. According to an exhaustive note sent by the Union Home Ministry to the DoT, a demonstration was organised by Reliance, Tata Teleservices and Bharti during which the law enforcement agencies pointed out that online delivery of video call intercepts “in real time” could not be carried out by any of the telecom operators. The contents of such calls were displayed only after five minutes of the completion of these calls as against the requirement of the agencies which want such details and interceptions on real-time basis, official sources said. During the demonstration carried out by these telecom service providers, it came to light that long duration video calls, both incoming and outgoing, could not be intercepted, the sources had said. According to sources, operators have also offered to work with experts to provide interception of video calls. The government, meanwhile, has permitted the service providers to offer services while security mechanism was being put in place. source :: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1035559.ece Hope Govt. will not commit the same mistake("Allowing services initially and later begging with operators to setup monitoring mechanism") as done in the case of BB. India has already waited for more than 4 years for 3G and so no one so worried if it gets delayed for another 2-3 months for the meaningful purpose of ensuring security. :confuse: Edited January 6, 2011 by kesav Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shashank 8 Report post Posted January 6, 2011 ^^When such technology is not there in any part of the world what can our indian ops do about it? And i support Blackberry in Indian Govt Vs BB fight. Indian govt has the habit of misusing everything that they can. Whats the guarantee that they don't read all the mails of a company and alter the tendering process..? there are many things that those dogs do with such highly confidential information. Frankly speaking, i will NEVER EVER use blackberry for any corporate mails if i know that govt is happily reading all those. Everyone is just going to feel insecure. Anyways, lets hope that atleast this time sibal's 'SOON' is really soon! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raccoon 53 Report post Posted January 6, 2011 Indian govt has the habit of misusing everything that they can. Whats the guarantee that they don't read all the mails of a company and alter the tendering process..?. There is only one guarantee - that they will certainly misuse it. You need harbor no doubts about that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Honest 836 Report post Posted January 13, 2011 Telecom ministry allows video phone calls 13th January l New Delhi l Reuters Telecom ministry said on Thursday it has allowed mobile carriers to offer video calls on their third-generation networks, on condition that they would provide interception capabilities by July 31. The government had earlier asked operators to stop services such as video calls as security agencies were not able to intercept them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amit.shah 51 Report post Posted January 13, 2011 gr8 news... seems.. january 2011 is going to bring many rejoice to telecom customers... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karthik R 246 Report post Posted January 14, 2011 Next stop - July 31, 2011. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karthik R 246 Report post Posted January 17, 2011 Okay, I received this msg from Tata Docomo, Hi! 3G Life services like Video Calling, Prayer, Fortune, Video SMS, Video Mail and Mobile TV are restored on your 3G mobile with immediate effect. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
