Reliance Communication To Enter Gsm Services

[kshah 452]

Wary of Anil’s GSM tilt, Qualcomm boss plans visit

Just days after India’s largest CDMA mobile operator Reliance Communications indicated it might migrate entirely to GSM, Paul Jacobs, CEO of CDMA’s global patents holder Qualcomm, is likely to visit India between June 26-29 on a fire-fighting mission.

Mr Jacobs is believed to have sought time for a meeting with Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani in Mumbai. He may try and persuade Reliance to reconsider its plan to migrate to GSM since this move will erode nearly 8% of the global CDMA subscriber base of 318 million.

The Qualcomm chief will have another tough meeting on hand. Though the company refused to comment on the visit, sources said Mr Jacobs would also meet communications and IT minister Dayanidhi Maran for a likely discussion on how Qualcomm can bring down the royalty charged on CDMA chip sets in India.

Department of telecommunications (DoT) officials had told FE on Wednesday that the government would exert pressure on Qualcomm to bring down the royalty rate. It charges 7% royalty from CDMA handset manufacturers, which gets ultimately passed on to consumers by service providers, thus making it difficult for operators to bring down prices beyond a point. In China, Qualcomm charges only 2% royalty.

This was pointed out by Mr Maran at a meeting with GSM Association two days back. DoT sources said that the Government was keen that Qualcomm brings down the royalty.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_st...ntent_id=130764

hehehe

Frankly speaking India need company like reliance, they can bring companies like Qualcom to books and compell them to offer fair and equal deal. I appreciate this move of ADA

[KumaarShah 143]

RCL wants the 3G edge engineering

K YATISH RAJAWAT

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2006 03:10:43 AM]MUMBAI: Reliance Communication’s decision to target a big bang expansion in the GSM space is largely influenced by spectrum scarcity in CDMA and a desire to earn higher margins from big-spending customers who travel around the world and pay top dollar for watching football matches on their mobile.

The company plans to roll out a third generation (3G) GSM network by ’07. Its decision to pursue 3G network on GSM technology has already sent vendors and some competitors into a tizzy. The confusion is compounded by the fact that the company already has a huge CDMA network, and any move to target growth in the rival standard would affect vendors across the world.

CDMA vendor Qualcomm’s top management is said to be discussing RCL’s new roadmap in San Diego. RCL, of course, has not fully communicated its strategy to any vendor yet. Qualcomm also has a 3G network rollout plan for RCL, which involves upgrading Reliance’s existing network.

Telecom vendor Lucent Technologies’ senior management has gone into a huddle with the RCL management at the campus off-Mumbai since the past two days. Other vendors are also keen on understanding Reliance’s new game plan.

RCL is facing a strange problem of growth. The limited spectrum is expected to hit its growth plans in the coming months. Growth is also saddling its balance sheet with the cost of millions of handsets, sources close to the company said. The firm is also unable to target more profitable customers.

RCL’s strategy is being dictated by its ambition and problems. RCL wants to be the dominant telecom service provider and it does not want technology, spectrum or other issues to hold it back.

RCL claims a market share of around 21.5% if its GSM and CDMA subscribers are jointly taken into account. The company wants to maintain its marketshare and even grow it to 25% to become the dominant player in the telecom services market.

In some of the high growth circles, RCL is already touching the upper limit of spectrum usage. Therefore, its network capacity is hampered and it may not be able to add new subscribers if it does not get additional spectrum. The spectrum problem is expected to hit Reliance in the fast growth circles like Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur.

RCL’s CDMA network has been allotted spectrum in the 800 Mhz range. There are four service provider in this range — MTNL, BSNL, Tata and Reliance — and between them, they have exhausted all the available spectrum with very little available for a new carrier or for further expansion.

Reliance is trying to get extra spectrum as a fifth carrier in some of the circles. Moreover, this is just growth spectrum and will get exhausted as subscribers grow. If RCL wants to upgrade its CDMA network to 3G, it will need bigger bands of spectrum, which may not be possible in the 800 Mhz range. This raises the question of its continuation with CDMA technology per se for 3G networks.

Moreover, as the subscriber base for RCL grows and if it maintains its market share, it will have a subscriber base of 100m users four years down the line. With this, RCL will also have the cost of 100m handsets sitting on its balance sheet, which will be a complicated and sticky liability on a balance sheet. In the GSM world , Reliance does not have to worry about the handset cost or carrying it on its balance sheet.

The government will release spectrum for 3G GSM services by the end of this year. GSM service providers will be able to roll out higher and better broadband services in by 2007. 3G services are likely to be used more by higher paying customers and is likely to be have more profitable value added services around it.

This means RCL may lose the higher end of the subscriber base which wants not only need high speed data but global roaming available on 3G GSM. If the existing GSM service providers roll out the 3G network faster than Reliance, the company may lose out. Which is why RCL is trying to pre-empt this with its own 3G GSM network based services.

Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1652202

RCL to alter sector dynamics with GSM, CDMA

K YATISH RAJAWAT

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2006 12:53:04 AM]MUMBAI: Reliance Communication (RCL) strategy to straddle both the GSM and CDMA platforms for growth may serve the dual purpose of confusing its competitors as well as leveraging its existing and future investments.

RCL’s decision to get on to a GSM platform is not a novel move. Some operators across the world are managing both CDMA and GSM networks. However, operators like Telestra have completely vacated CDMA to move to the 3G GSM network.

RCL is likely to let both these technologies co-exist for some time due to the nature of the Indian market. While numbers and subscriber growth is very high in India, the bulk of growth is not from high-paying consumers. The ARPUs are the lowest in India and they may go down as those at the bottom of the pyramid become users.

Hence, it is interesting to track RCL’s strategy in detail over the coming years . If the roll-out of services and networks is in three phases it will look like this.

Phase-I will involve RCL leveraging its existing CDMA physical infrastructure to build a 3G GSM network in Mumbai and Delhi. CDMA towers will see co-location with GSM radios. The fibre optic network will be leveraged to connect it with centralised billing solutions.

The existing expansion of the CDMA network will continue in cities where RCL has spectrum and is adding subscribers. The roll-out of the 3G GSM network from the date RCL gets all its clearance will take anywhere between 6-7 months. This means sometime in Q1 of ’07 or before, 3G GSM services will be provided by RCL.

In phase-II, RCL, might buy GSM licences in other circles. This will be done where its current CDMA network peaks in terms of spectrum-usage and there is still more growth or high-end subscribers to tap. RCL is unlikely to vacate its CDMA infrastructure as it will continue servicing existing and future value-for-money subscribers.

RCL is also likely to launch dual mode phones, which will allow roaming between its GSM and CDMA network. RCL is likely to continue servicing its huge subscriber base at the lower-end on the CDMA network. Firms like Alltel, Sprint-Nextel have been operating GSM and CDMA networks for some time.

In phase-III, RCL, may start offering transition to GSM services to its existing CDMA subscribers as an upgrade and to reduce its handset-related liability on the balancesheet. RCL’s 3G GSM services are expected to be a combination of broadband, roaming, video content.

Depending upon how the spectrum issue for 3G CDMA networks is handled along with changes in the technology, it may continue both technologies or phase one out gradually.

The three-phase plan for RCL described here is based on conversation with officials in the telecom industry. It is also similar to what has been done by operators like Telestra, ALLTEL, Chinook Wireless, China Unicom, Telefonic Movile.

Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1652108.cms

[abhay 0]

Frankly speaking India need company like reliance, they can bring companies like Qualcom to books and compell them to offer fair and equal deal. I appreciate this move of ADA

thats only if AA wanted to actully persue QUALCOM to bring down the CDMA prices!!

if thats true i have never seen such a outstanding statregy ever

if AA really wants to migrate to GSM everything gone down to drain

Edited June 17, 2006 by Arun

[solanky 0]

For those persons who are comparing the GSM with CDMA I wll also add my 2 cents here -

There are two main technoloy for mobiles in world. One is CDMA(Code Division Multilple Access) and other is TDMA(Time Division Multilple Access). The CDMA technoloy is more advanced and new than TDMA.

There are two STANDARDS for mobiles in the world. One is GSM and other is CDMA. GSM standard uses TDMA technoloy while CDMA standard uses CDMA technology.

So one should clearly understand the difference between STANDARDS and TECHNOLOGY.

But now comes W-CDMA which is a next generation GSM standard which will use CDMA technology. So we can say that in near future the difference between GSM and CDMA in the regard of technlogy comparision will end.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Edited June 16, 2006 by solanky

[KumaarShah 143]

khs123 :- CDMA or GSM... RCL keeps them guessing << have already posted it

Yes Abhay, you have already posted it yesterday. Sorry and thanks for bringing it to my attention. Will be careful henceforth.

[Ramchi 0]

Looks like Reliance any way is planning to quit CDMA if not today sometime later. Buying new handsets in Reliance would not make any sense.

[abc123 0]

Ramchi................. Its going to cost them dearly for quitting CDMA and just move on GSM....................... They have invested so much money they will not let it go like tht................

If they really gona quit then for sure TATA will be eying tht network...... or may be other operator will look into it.......

And there was already one news few days back that Reliance was going to sell out GSM biz............ wht happened to tht..

[@ksh@T 20]

well if they quit cdma they goona book huge losssesss....and many ppl will pursue them for a leagal battle......

they wont

DoT seeks GSM details from Reliance

Agencies

Posted Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at 19:26

Updated Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at 19:36

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New Delhi: The Department of Telecom has sought more details from Reliance Communication on its roll-out plans on the GSM cellular front for which the Anil Ambani company has sought spectrum from the Government.

Highly placed sources said, "We have sought more details from Reliance on their roll-out plans on GSM. The company might have to vacate its current CDMA spectrum to get GSM spectrum for its roll-out".

"Our understanding is that they might completely switch over to GSM based mobile services and exit CDMA as they have sought spectrum for GSM wherever it is available in their application."

Country's leading operator Reliance Communication with its nearly two crore CDMA based mobile subscribers was one of the most committed CDMA players of the two major CDMA players in the country. The other one is Tatas.

But some questions related to the plan need to be answered.

How will this affect the already competitive GSM market now that a big CDMA player, Reliance wants to enter?

Is reliance leaving CDMA?

Reliance Communications currently has close to 20 million CDMA subscribers, what happens to them?

As a part of switch over plan, Reliance Communication may have to vacate part of CDMA spectrum in order to get GSM spectrum.

Reliance Communication has already indicated the government its intention to switch completely to GSM over time.

Uncertainty covers RIM CDMA users

Sandeep Gurumurthi

CNN-IBN

Posted Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at 23:32

Updated Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at 23:37

Email Email Print Print

New Delhi: After achieving an impressive subscriber base of more than 21 million in CDMA-based mobile services, Anil Ambani is now eyeing the fast-growing GSM-based service with massive expansion plans in eight circles at an estimated investment of Rs 1,600 crore.

But some questions related to the plan certainly baffle the mobile users.

Is Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications, the country's largest CDMA provider, defecting to GSM technology?

Or is the move to corner more spectrum in a spectrum-starved industry?

How will this affect the already competitive GSM market now that a big CDMA player, Reliance wants to enter?

Is reliance leaving CDMA?

Reliance Communications currently has close to 20 million CDMA subscribers, what happens to them?

If Anil Ambani is going to say goodbye to CDMA is the biggest question.

Sources in the Government say that Reliance Communications has indicated to the Department of Telecom that it plans to switch completely to GSM over a period of time.

The Company has sought GSM spectrum not just in Delhi and Mumbai but wherever it is available, a clear Indication of a Pan India GSM rollout.

But the Government has made it clear that the company might have to vacate part of its CDMA spectrum in order to get GSM spectrum.

Because of 20 million CDMA subscribers, switching completely to GSM is not going to be an easy task.

It won't be easy to migrate all of CDMA users to GSM even though companies in Korea for instance have switched technologies rather successfully.

Not surprisingly, company sources say that Anil Ambani might not do away with CDMA as of now.

But there is no ambiguity on the fact that GSM will drive growth for Reliance Communications going forward.

CMD of Bharti Airtel Limited, the biggest GSM operator in the country, Sunil Mittal, says that Anil Ambani should cut his losses now and exit CDMA once and for all.

"I think Anil Ambani should cut his losses now and exit rather than wait for 4-5 years and then make a switch, it doesn't make sense," said Mittal.

But market analysts don't quite agree with that opinion.

Merill Lynch says a switch to GSM will be a technology risk for Reliance and has cut its price target by 22 per cent to Rs 280.

Edited July 4, 2006 by Chirag

[abhay 0]

Anil's GSM call may be costly for customers

Consumer issues and exorbitant spends upwards of Rs 6,000 crore on new handsets are likely to dominate the unfolding dimensions of dominant CDMA-player Reliance Infocomm's sudden pitch for the GSM business.

Reliance, which runs GSM operations in eight circles under Reliance Telecom, has now applied for Delhi and Mumbai GSM licences. This might have seemed business as usual, had DoT officials not created a stir by suggesting that the company is likely to pull off an absolute walkover to the GSM platform.

While this has successfully thrown the government, rival operators and vendors into a tizzy, the news has more significant implications for Reliance Infocomm's existing customers.

If Reliance does indeed switch over to GSM, rather than develop a parallel and competing business, there could be several implications for its around two crore customers who own CDMA handsets. Though premium CDMA handsets cost upwards of Rs 15,000, the average price is closer to Rs 2,000-3,000.

If the switch becomes a reality, the main challenge for Reliance's customers could be two-fold. Since CDMA handsets do not work on the GSM network and India hardly has any 'dual use' handsets, consumers will be forced to either buy GSM handsets or switch to another CDMA service provider. Consumers would have to make this choice subject to their handsets working on other CDMA networks.

Assuming that Reliance is able to switch all consumers, cost of buying new handsets could be upwards of Rs 6,000 crore. Whether Reliance subsidises this or consumers will have to pay, remains to be seen. It is common practice in the west that handsets are given free with a minimum revenue guarantee.

The other challenge pertains to migrating customers' ability to carry their current number - Reliance currently uses the 93 code while GSM is predominantly on 98.

Experts say despite rumours to the contrary, Reliance may continue with CDMA while rolling out a GSM network. This would minimise consumer implications.

The logic holds considering that at 100 million mobile subscribers, India is still at the tip of the iceberg, projected to grow to 500 million subscribers by 2010.

When contacted, a Reliance spokesperson was unwilling to confirm or deny reports of a complete switch to the GSM platform.

"We are committed to pursue the world's leading mobile technologies, whether CDMA or GSM, to provide the best and most competitive service to customers,"he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/article...625,curpg-1.cms

[@ksh@T 20]

well there shd be indeed a statement from ANil or ne person i reliance infocomm...to make ppl aware that whats in their mind

[h1ghlander 9]

Reliance won't switch completely to gsm, what'll happen to current cdma subscribers who have purchased premium handsets like me and people who are in lifetime validity will anil compensate??. It's good if gsm is introduced parallelly this would give more subscribers to reliance and we cdma users will get lower call rates to reliance gsm hope this works out.

[Ramchi 0]

After reading some of the news item this is what I could make out.

Reliance is opting to move out of CDMA to GSM on the long run.

All indications are in that direction as ARPU is very less in CDMA segment and handset tied technology will not help Reliance to increase its revenue int he future where voice oriented services will not fetch much revenue.

Also, handset distribution is limiting their focus on expanding its service and optimizing its operations.

They might run CDMA and GSM for sometime. Apparently, Qualcomm is ready to upgrade its infrastructure to support GSM networks.

Reliance may buy back CDMA handsets and write-off heavy loss for 'one time' then completely migrate to GSM market at some point in time. Existing customers need not be affected other than going thru the ritual of exchanging handsets with Reliance.

In this respect, number portability across network would solve the concern of existing customers.

Edited June 17, 2006 by Ramchi

[KumaarShah 143]

In this respect, number portability across network would solve the concern of existing customers.

MNP will also add another problem to the free Onnet packs. Consider the following scenario: -

A 93 number switches operator to 98. Under MNP his 93 number will remain the same.

Now when someone (93) who also has CUG or ONNET pack active, calls up the first persons number (still 93xxx in this case), he will assume that calls to that number are free. However the first person has switched operators and is no longer an ONNET customer. So who will foot the bill? Similar is the case with CUG schemes run by GSM operators.

I think if and when MNP is introduced, ONNET packs and also CUG schemes will have to come to an end because it will be impossible to differentiate which customer belongs to which network.

[Arun 795]

Reliance not to exit CDMA

- Rediff.com

Rajesh S Kurup in Mumbai | June 17, 2006 14:25 IST

Reliance Communications has no intention to exit its CDMA business and the application filed with the department of telecommunications for allotment of GSM spectrum is intended at expanding its existing GSM footprint in India.

The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-owned company also maintains its $1.4 billion capital expenditure for FY07 (including $900 million for wireless operations), a part of which will also be used for its GSM rollout.

"The strategy is to offer technology-neutral services to subscribers, and we do not intend to change our CDMA strategy.

However, we are aiming for a full-blown national GSM network (expanding to Mumbai, Delhi and other circles) that will be operated by the company's subsidiary Reliance Telecom," a company source said.

The funding for the project will be done from the $1.4 billion capex, and Reliance Communications expects the GSM rollout to cost around one-third of a greenfield rollout.

It makes good business sense to operate an alternative network, in addition to its CDMA network. The proposed GSM network will help the company in capturing a large chunk of incremental subscribers, leveraging its existing passive CDMA infrastructure.

Moreover, with CDMA spectrum being limited, the company can meet the growing number of subscribers on the proposed GSM network.

It also expects the GSM exposure to result in an increased corporate user base, apart from GSM roaming traffic from international visitors. On the strategy to migrate to 3G/WCDMA, nothing has been firmed up.

"It is too early to comment on the 3G strategy and migration from GSM/CDMA to EVDO/WCDMA. We will take a decision only after the announcement of the 3G spectrum policy by the regulator," he said.

For the allocation of spectrum, the company is in discussions with the DoT and expects to be allocated 4.5 MHz under 1,800 MHz frequency.

[raccoon 53]

I think if and when MNP is introduced, ONNET packs and also CUG schemes will have to come to an end because it will be impossible to differentiate which customer belongs to which network.

I dont see why onnet or CUG would have to be stopped. You may not be able to tell the operator offhand by looking at the number, but there sure as hell are other ways of finding out who the operator is! It would help if someone could tell us what the system is in countries like US, etc, where MNP is in place.

I don't think it will be very good for consumers if RIM gets the GSM spectrum. It will increase their monopoly and reduce competion. Already it has the largest subscriber base; and to augment it further will give Reliance a huge monopoly in the market, which it will obviously exploit...

[Ramchi 0]

Apparently, CDMA bandwidth is already getting consumed by low end users in millions without giving adequate returns (ARPU). There may be compliance issues holding bandwidth in either networks (CDMA & GSM) for Reliance. Only option left out is to go all out for GSM standards and get more bandwidth for their premium segments.

Even if they advance their CDMA networks to EVDO etc…I really doubt whether Reliance low end customers would go for handset specific premium services?

[@ksh@T 20]

whyy the hell they do not make any statement...r they sleeping....new customers will have to think twice now.....

[abhay 0]

Reliance GSM may affect CDMA operators

In one of the first interactions after its GSM plans became public, Reliance Commu- nications outlined the future of the CDMA business and its commitment to GSM in a conference call with analysts.

The company is learnt to have said it does not intend to change its CDMA strategy but will focus on offering technology neutral services to customers. It had earmarked a capex of $ 1.4 billion of which $ 900 million is to be routed into the wireless business. As of now, the capex is not being enhanced for the GSM foray.

Analysts believe this could have negative implications for the CDMA business. Observed one analyst, “In our view, this implies that Reliance Communication Ventures Ltd is likely to shift planned spending for CDMA to the new GSM rollout, which could possibly lead to capacity issues for CDMA in the medium term, or increase in capex guidance in the future.” The company estimates the GSM rollout to cost roughly one-third of a green-field GSM rollout.

In addition, the Department of Telecom has said Reliance may have to surrender some CDMA spectrum. If this happens, analysts note, the company could face capacity issues on CDMA because the spectrum is already scarce, The company has already crossed the 21-lakh subscriber limit for additional spectrum allocation in Delhi. The GSM business could then show more growth than the CDMA.

This apart, the overall net additions in its CDMA subscriber base could be affected by the uncertainty around Reliance's move into GSM. “In terms of perception, we believe this will create some uncertainty in potential subscribers wanting to invest in a CDMA handset.

In the longer run, with one-more nationwide GSM participant, we expect the CDMA operators to be marginalised,” say analysts.

http://www.rimweb.in/forums/index.php?act=...ost&f=10&t=6753

[rajeshkatiyar 3]

Dear Friends

Reliance is getting cheap chinese exchanges. These are to be

installed at the same tower with same power supply and

airconditioning of CDMA exchange. So the istallation cast is

nominal

But the worst thing is CDMA expansions and

EVDO programme will be delayed

[vijaykv 5]

Hi,

I was planning to upgrade my instrument. But If things are going to be this way I feel better wait for a clear picture, than regreting later.

regards

[@ksh@T 20]

well agree vijaykv ...fully...,me too thinks this only

[SexyGurl 0]

One thing for sure has happened --> ADA has brought back some EXCITEMENT into the telecom industry ... with this wonderful GSM Fun

(Offcourse, equally important to ADA's proposal is DoT looking at it favorably. It does seem, DoT has responded constructively).

Looks to be an ace from ADA, in several ways:

1. Brings Qualcomm to it's toes. If it's charing only 2% royalty in China, no way it should be allowed to charge 7% in India.

.... else India will wipe out 8% of the subscriber base which uses Qualcomm's CDMA technology.

Most likely outcome (.. my gut feel) --> The royalty is coming down for India by a big number. Very likely to 2%

(Current CDMA subscribers in India and China are nearly identical, about 30 million in each country .... no reason why Indians should be paying a higher royalty).

2. With the first good effect of royalty being down, in pocket --> ADA is not going to tone down or affect CDMA in anyway. It's runs AS-IS, with the beautiful R-world service (which is infeasibly over GSM networks), Great spectrum efficiency, higher speeds.

What's going to happen is ADA will have CDMA + GSM.

The advantage --> HIGHER CAPACITY UTILIZATION of the backone optic fiber network .... because of additional Reliance GSM subscribers.

The handset costs for GSM is ZERO for reliance. There are already PLENTY of GSM handsets in use by airtel, hutch, bsnl users. They become the natural target for Reliance GSM. It's just a matter of changing the SIM cards from airtel or hutch cards to reliance's SIM card !!!

The key and vital cause for success is going to be cost-effective deployment of GSM base stations. (One-third cost looks not too bad ... but it's true, he'll need more GSM base stations than the current CDMA base stations, as the CDMA towers cover the area covered by 4-5 GSM towers).

The current CDMA mobile subscribers continue to enjoy the premium data serviced available on the CDMA network. GSM can be thrown away cheap ... plain vanilla voice services.

Outcome of the exercise:

1. Qualcomm's royalties go down, under this THREAT of GSM foray. If it doesn't bring down royalties ... focus on GSM will be more (.. at the cost of obstinate Qualcomm's loss). If Qualcomm concedes, CDMA thrives even more than it is now.

2. It is the easiest and cheapest way to attack airtel & hutch subscribers. The key here is, whether ADA has the guts to IMPLEMENT THE "RELIANCE STANDARD" PROJECT EXECUTION !!!

The GSM execution needs to be fast, sharp and ... most importantly cost effective. -- Mukesh Ambani gave plenty of sleepless nights to airtel & hutch by the sheer scale of the Infocomm execution -- It's the implementation of GSM that's vital, if ADA is to give the same nightmares to airtel & hutch once again.

If done well, the Reliance GSM costs ADA less ... hits airtel & hutch hard. I wonder what those sweet dudes at airtel & hutch are thinking, strategising .... just in case, ADA turns out to be another Mukesh. No one knows, how ADA turns out to be ... a Mukesh or a damp squib @#$#?

3. Higher capacity Utilisation on the optic fiber backbone come free, with new GSM subscribers adding on the the CDMA ones.

It's quite immaterial the current CDMA towers serve WLL phones or mobiles ... they key thing is that they continue to catch the telecom traffic and keep transferring it to the backbone.

Personally, I don't think CDMA mobiles will be affected at all ... the advantages with data services are too much ... to just switch them off to actually move the CDMA subscribers to GSM.

A Seemingly BIG PROBLEM:

Some news that DoT may want Reliance to give up the current CDMA spectrum, in exchange for the GSM spectrum.

This doesn't make sense to me at all .... A huge investment in those towers .. why would the government want to switch them off .... there is hardly any other claimant for the portion of the CDMA spectrum. Better have the Reliance CDMA towers continue to work as before.

My guess, is that is exactly going to happen in the end ... Reliance keeps CDMA .. and gets GSM.

My further guess .... LOTS OF FURTHER CRYING, SCREAMING, ABUSING is on it's way from AIRTEL and HUTCH.

That's why I said .... we're back to exciting days in telecom Industry again .... It's always fun to see Sunil Mittal crying and screaming and accusing of foul play

Edited June 18, 2006 by SexyGurl

[Puneet 0]

Welcome back SexyGurl. And a nice analysis which only you could have provided.

[@ksh@T 20]

well today i read in local newspaper that dot has said that id rim wanna go 4 gsm it will hv to vacate cdma spectrum..now whats that

[abhay 0]

DoT Cites UASL, Clears Decks for RC

Following reports of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) having asked Reliance Communications (RC) to offer an explanation as to why the latter has applied for extra frequency in the GSM band, it is now learnt that the company is being considered eligible for offering different services in the same circle, by virtue of possessing a Unified Access Service License (UASL).

However, if Reliance decides to switch-over to GSM, it will be required to part with its CDMA spectrum.

DoT sources confirmed that since Reliance holds a UASL that is technology-neutral, the license conditions allow operation of different services (GSM and CDMA) in the same circle.

The sources even said that Reliance will not be required to apply for a fresh license, and that therefore the question of further payment does not arise.

The sources however said that Reliance will have to surrender its CDMA spectrum, if it chooses to move away from it.

Apparently in its very-first application to DoT, Reliance had asked on its own whether it would stand to get GSM spectrum if it surrendered CDMA spectrum. Besides, the company had sought permission to offer GSM services in around seven circles.

Earlier, the Tatas had been questioned regarding their stake in both GSM and CDMA services in the same circle. However the bone of contention in that case was that promoters in one company cannot be promoters in another company with substantial interest that gives them an equity stake of over 10 percent in the same circle.

In the Reliance case, the company has been asked by DoT to furnish further details regarding its GSM roll-out plan, so that spectrum allocation can happen in due course.

If all goes well, the Anil Ambani company will end-up getting atleast 4.4mhz of spectrum in the GSM frequency.

As of now, Reliance Communications is known more as a CDMA operator with a near 20-million subscriber base. The company does operate GSM services in Kolkata, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, and the North East through its subsidiary Reliance Telecom, and has to its credit more than two million GSM subscribers.

http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/artic...3975&cat_id=613

Edited June 19, 2006 by abhay