Latest Telecom News (15th August - 22th August)

1.    Google to acquire Motorola Mobility Business for $12.5 billion.  

·         Google Inc has announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility Business, the cell phone business that split from Motorola for $40 per share in cash or $12.5 billion.

·         Google paid a premium for the deal, with the price offered being 63% more than the closing price on Friday last.

·         Motorola phones use the Android platform.

·         Android OS launched in 2007, is now being used in over 150 million devices and across 39 device manufactures.

·         This deal would enable Google to compete head on with Apple and Microsoft.

·         There has been some pin pointing in recent times with Google accusing Apple and Microsoft of anti-competitive strategy as the latter two formed a consortium to purchase 6000 patents from Nortel Telecommunications, a Canadian firm.

·         Google had purchased over 1000 patents for $4.5 billion from IBM. Motorola has more than 17000 patents.

2.    SEBI wants powers to view phone call, email records.

·         The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has sought powers to view phone calls and email records from telecom providers.

·         The request has been sent as a written request to the Parliament.

·         SEBI wants to be in the league of CBI and IB.

·         SEBI wants the access to keep a tab on Circular Money. Circular Money is money owned by Indians, that is routed back to India via tax havens and thus avoid paying taxes.

·         A formal request also has been sent to the DOT.

3.    DOT to ask Bharti Hexacom to pay 20% dividend.

·         DOT is likely to ask Bharti Airtel, leading telecom operator, to give at least 20% dividend to public sector TCIL which holds 30% stake in Bharti Hexacom (BH).

·         BH provides mobile services in 6 north eastern states (excluding Assam) and Rajasthan and has over 15 million subscribers.

·         The government owns 30% stake through Telecom Consultants of India Ltd (TCIL).

·         The 20% dividend share is what Airtel paid out its own shareholders.

4.    Tata Docomo’s USP is now a paid service.

·         Tata Docomo’s unique VAS offering, Missed Call Alert service, is now a paid service.

·         Missed call alert enables customers to get information about calls missed when their number was not reachable/ switched off.

·         It is now available at Rs 7 per month or the customers can enjoy the PULL sms option, which will give you 3 unique caller identification details every time a pull sms is sent, for just Rs 0.25/sms.

5.    A 10% increase in broadband penetration in India will boost various sectors.

·         GSMA has announced that a 10% increase in broadband penetration in India will contribute $80 billion of net revenues across the transport, education and healthcare sectors by 2015.

·         The numbers were as a result of the study commissioned by GSMA and conducted by Analysys Mason, on the economic impact of Mobile Broadband growth on these key industry sectors.

·         According to Analysys Mason, a 10% increase in broadband penetration will lead to net growth revenue increases of 42% in the healthcare sector, 36.8% in education and 18.8% in the transport sector.

·         Broadband connectivity is a driver of socio-economic improvement thereby fuelling growth of various sectors and culminating in contributing to the GDP.

·         The National Spectrum Act proposed by Kapil Sibal needs to be enacted quickly so as to meet the demand of broadband services.

6.    Government clears FDI proposals worth Rs 123 Crores.

·         The Government on Wednesday cleared 18 FDI proposals for Rs 122.79 Crores.

·         The clearance was given by Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). FIPB offers a single window clearance for those investments which don’t qualify through the automatic entry or route.

·         Among the 18 FDI proposals cleared, Dish TV India Ltd was allowed to induct foreign equity through a transfer of shares to carry out the business of telecommunication equipment manufacturing.

·         The board however deferred a decision on the proposed acquisition of a 5.48% stake in Vodafone-Essar by two Mauritius based companies for about Rs 2700 Crores. In essence it has deferred transfer of shares from resident to non-resident.

7.    Bharti Airtel under regulators scanner.

·         Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Namo Narayan Meena told Rajya Sabha that the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has started enquiries against Bharti Airtel about alleged contraventions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

·         Market regulator SEBI is also looking into allegations that Airtel had increased the promoter’s shareholdings without following due diligence.

·         It is alleged that the shareholding was increased from 60.91% as on June 30, 2007 to 67.15% as on September 30, 2008 without making a public offer. This is a violation of Regulation 11 of SEBI regulations.

·         Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also received complaints that Airtel has not followed appropriate accounting treatment of licence fee and spectrum charges.

8.    YOU broadband customers in for a Zapak treat.

·         YOU broadband has announced its new association with Zapak Digital Entertainment to provide PC games to its customers.

·         The service includes two plans – 3 month Gold Pack at Rs. 297 and 1 month Gold Pack at Rs. 99.

·         With broadband being the next big thing or revolution in India, the tie up provides YOU broadband to provide exciting features through broadband thereby providing enriched experience.

9.    Beetel launches Android tablet Magiq.

·         Beetel Teletech, a Bharti Enterprise company, has announced the launch of its 3G enable Android smart phone BEETEL MAGIQ.

·         Magiq comes with voice and video calling feature, 7.0 inch TFT touch screen, 2MP camera, 8GB internal memory.

·         It also consists of WiFi and 1GHz Qualcomm snapdragon processor, Bluetooth, stereo speaker and HDMI port.

·         It comes bundled with 2G free 3G data for 2 months from Airtel.

Latest Telecom News (9th -14 th August)

          1.    Piramal buys 5.5% stake in Vodafone’s India unit.

·         Piramal Healthcare is set to dish out Rs 2856 Crores for a 5.5% stake in Vodafone’s India unit.

·         With this transaction, Vodafone has now satisfied the regulation of 26% of having the company’s shares with Indian investors.

·         Piramal Healthcare with this transaction is contemplating various exit mechanisms.

·         Currently, Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) and Mr. Analjit Singh, Chairman of Max India, hold 24% stake in the company.

·         After Vodafone’s buy back of Ruias’ 33% holding in Vodafone Essar and this current transaction, it will have approximately 69.8% in the venture.

      2.    2G: Reliance Telecom denies allegations.

·         Reliance Telecom Ltd (RTL) has denied allegations that Swan Telecom (ST) was its front company.

·         CBI has alleged that RTL used ST as its front company to circumvent the telecom policy.

·         The moot point was that RTL has a stake of 9.9% in ST.

·         The regulations laid out by DOT say that a telecom company with licence, from holding over 10% stake in another telecom company.

·         RTL has reiterated that at the time ST was granted 2G licence, it didn’t have any stake in the latter and hence can’t be held liable for criminal conspiracy.

·         RTL has also said that Swan was not its associate company, adding that it did not have any say in deciding Swan’s board members.

            3.    Tata Comm posts Rs 258 Crore loss and MTNL widens loss to Rs 850 Crore.

·         Tata Comm reported a net loss of Rs 257.9 Crores for the first quarter ended June 30, 2011. In the same quarter-previous year, it reported a net loss of Rs 240.4 Crores.

·         Meanwhile MTNL has widened its net loss by 88.45% at Rs 850 Crores. It was mainly due to expenditure on staff cost and retirement benefits.

·         MTNL’s operating revenue stood at Rs 813.18 Crore during the period as compared to Rs 952.95 Crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

·         Its revenues are under tremendous stress on account of being present in Mumbai and Delhi only and growth in telecom sector reached a saturation level.

             4.    Uninor, Etisalat DB among most congested networks: TRAI

·         Uninor, Etisalat DB and Aircel have the most congested mobile networks, according to a report by TRAI.

·         TRAI has been monitoring the congestion levels at Point Of Interconnection (POI).

·         POI is a parameter which signifies the ease with which a customer of one network is able to communicate with a customer of another network.

·         TRAI has notified the operators that they should have less than 0.5% congestion levels. So out 200 calls between two operators, only one call should face congestion.

·         Uninor, with 27 million subscribers, has blamed the larger operators for not giving adequate points of interconnection.

·         Overall, TRAI report shows that the congestion has improved. The number of POIs having congestion has decreased from 153 in December 2010 to 102 in March 2011.

5.    Vihaan Networks get award.

·         The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) under the Department of Telecommunications has awarded certificate of successful completion of project to Vihaan Networks Ltd (VNL) for a new technology to address the challenges of the rural telecom services.

·         VNL had entered into a MoU with the USOF in September 2009, and has successfully completed the pilot project for demonstration of the capabilities of its rural solution in Alwar District of Rajasthan.

6.    Reliance Communications, Tata TeleServices worst hit by MNP.

·         Reliance Communications and Tata TeleServices were the biggest losers due to introduction of MNP, according to Department of Telecom (DOT).

·         Reliance has lost around 11.5 Lakh subscribers and Tata TeleServices has lost 3.7 Lakh subscribers.

·         State-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd lost 40,366 and 5,73,142 subscribers, respectively.

·         MNP was launched in Harayana on November 25, 2010 before a pan India layout on January 20, 2011.

·         As per TRAI, about 13 million subscribers have requested for a change in service providers until June, 2011.

·         Surprisingly, the incumbent giants are the ones that have gained the most.

·         The maximum number of porting request have come from Gujarat (12.98 lakh) followed by Maharashtra (10.32 lakh) till June 30. About 10.5 million subscribers had used MNP as on May 31.

7.    Reliance Communications increases call tariffs by 20%.

·         Following the other incumbents, Reliance Communications (RCom) has increased call rates by 20% for both GSM and CDMA.

·         The rates have been increased from 1 paise to 1.2 paise.

·         RCom has said that the hike in tariffs is in response to the inflationary pressure in the country.

·         For GSM services, hike applies to within Reliance’s network and on other network.  For CDMA, hike applies only to calls made to network of other telecom operators.

·         As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India data, RCom added 2.10 million new subscribers in June, taking its user base to 143.26 million.

8.    DOT gets info on eligibility of 85 new licences.

·         Last year, DOT had served 119 show cause notices to various operators of which 85 were for those ineligible to get licences.

·         Telecom ministry has received information from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs with regard to the eligibility of these 85 new licences.

·         The Telecom Ministry is also seeking the Attorney General’s view for the legal view, stated DOT secretary Mr R Chandrasekar.

·         Earlier the Telecom Ministry has informed Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the show cause notices that it had issued to the 13 companies for the termination of their licences.

ü  DOT has said that the main objectives of NTP-1999 were to increase teledensity and affordability, while maintaining a level playing field.

ü  It pointed out that TRAI had not recommended any methodology for auctioning 2G spectrum in its report of 2005, 2007 and 2010 related to telecom licences and spectrum allocation.

ü  DOT had pointed out that the CAG had not considered recommendation of TRAI made that spectrum in the 800, 900 and 1800 MHz band (presently used as 2G spectrum) should not be subject to auction.

9.    Now build your own web site.

·         Mahan agar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) has tied up with Akmin Technologies Pvt Ltd to launch ‘Mobile Web Site Builder Service' for its 8 million mobile subscribers in Delhi and Mumbai.

·         Users will be able to build and own a website at just Rs 75 a month.

·         It will immensely benefit small businesses and government agencies.

·         The service allows users to create and publish a website on a mobile or PC.

·         To initiate the service, MTNL mobile users will need to send SMS “MSITE” to 55012 from their MTNL mobile phone.

·         Mr Sridhar Pai T., CEO of Tonse Telecom, an independent telecom research and consulting firm has said that as India's Internet usage builds up, the need to quickly create and publish personalized Web sites will grow.

10. Retail may help 3G gain customers.

·         Researchers at IDC have said that the use of SMS on basic mobile phones to keep in touch with the customers could increase the chances of these customers gradually shifting towards 3G enabled mobile phones.

·         Mr Ivano Ortis, Head-International, IDC Retail Insights, said rather than be held down by basic phones, retail could boost the growth of smart phones. “Retailers should use a mixed-mode approach so that both smart phone users and people who use basic phones can benefit,” he said. Through a correct mix of traditional channels and innovative features like Quick Response (QR) codes, a barcode made up of geometric shapes instead of stripes that smart phones can read, retailers can invite consumers passing by high-traffic locations close to an outlet to take advantage of promotions, he pointed out.

·         People who use such SMSes on their basic phones are expected to graduate to smart phones because scanning QR codes is more convenient than sending SMSes.

·         Retail is one of India's largest industries and according to a study by AT Kearney, the retail sector in India is expected to touch $635 billion by 2015.

11. Reliance Communications (RCom) launches 3G Tablet.

• RCom has launched a tablet priced at Rs 12,999, bundled with attractive offers. RCom’s aim has been to leverage its 3G network.
• The tablet is a 3G and WiFi enabled Android device that works on RCom’s IP-based 3G network.
• It supports 32GB of data storage, GPS, card reader and push email services.
• The tablet was manufactured by China’s ZTE.

Latest Telecom News (1st August - 8th August)

1.    RIM unveils new Black Berry handsets.

·    Research in Motion (RIM) has announced the launch of new Black Berry handsets viz. Bold 9900, Torch 9850/9860, and Torch 9810 each equipped with Windows 7 OS.

·     The Bold models come with Near Field Communication (NFC), a technology that will equip the mobiles to pair among themselves, with other accessories (which are also NFC enabled), read smart poster tags etc with a simple tap of the smart phone.

2.    Tata Walky Groove Station launched at Rs 2999.

·     Tata Indicom announced the launch of Tata Walky Groove, a CDMA fixed cordless color handset with an unparallel feature of a “Pod” docking, globally.

·    It has other features like Color screen, USB/Micro SD slot, FM station and MP3 player, thereby combining different features and brings them down to a single platform.

·    It also comes with stereo speakers, alarm, calendar etc.

·    So it serves dual benefits of a handset as well as an entertainment tool.

3.    Nokia plays traffic cop comes out with Tselina with Nokia E5.

·    Nokia has tied up with the Gurgaon Traffic police to launch a traffic management project called “3^RD EYE”.

·    The pilot project has been going on since June 2011 and the traffic cops are equipped with the software Tselina enable Nokia E5 handset.

·     The software helps the cops to capture and report traffic violations.

4.    Bharti Airtel net down 28%.

·    Bharti Airtel announced a dip in net profits for the quarter ended in June 30, 2011. Net profits dipped 28% to Rs 1215.2 Crores.

·    But the total sales, at Rs16982.8 Crores, were up by 38%.

·    Revenue from African Operations has been steady with annual growth of 21%.

·    Income before taxes reduced on account of higher interest payments (Rs 344 Crores), 3G investments and amortization (Rs 159 Crores).

·    The tax effective rate in India was increased to 29.9%, mainly due to reduction in tax holidays, which hit the net profits in a negative manner.

5.    100% mobile penetration in 97 countries.

·    Ninety seven countries have achieved the feat of 100% mobile penetration, out of which 17 countries have crossed the 150% level penetration, according to International Telecom Union (ITU), a UN body.

·    In 2002, only two countries achieved the feat of 100% penetration namely Israel and Luxembourg.

·     Those which crossed 150% include Kuwait, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Hong Kong, Maldives etc.

·    ITU said mobile spread in the developing world has reached 70% at the end of 2010, with Africa registering 45.2% growth and Asia-Pacific 69%.

·    Europe registered 118% and the Americans 94.5%.

6.    Telecom Panel Okays new licence fee for operators.

·    Telecom Commission, the apex decision making body of DOT, has given its consent for imposing a uniform fee of 8.5% on all telecom operators.

·    Currently the fee ranges from 6% to 10%.

·    For big operators in metro areas, this move will boost their revenues as currently they have been paying 10%.

·    Now, Internet Service Providers and Long Distance Telephone operators would have to pay more.

7.    Telecom Commission upholds DOT’s views.

·    Telecom Commission has upheld DOT’s claims and rejected TRAIs suggestion that the operators should cover 10,000 people with two years and 2000 to 5000 in the next 4 years.

·    DOT has said that as per the pre-existing terms, geography not population was a criteria and it would be legally untenable to change the norms at this juncture.

·    TRAI had also suggested it is seeking more powers to scrutinize spectrum usage by Government agencies like defence forces. This too was shot down by the apex decision making body of DOT and said that TRAI should only look at spectrum usage by operators.

8.    BSNL and MTNL lose to private players.

·    Mobile Number Portability launched this January has inflicted considerable ill effects on BSNL and MTNL.

·    For BSNL, due to MNP, it added 3.49 lakh users and lost 9.33 lakh users.

·    For MTNL, which operates in Delhi and Mumbai, it has added 11,593 and lost 67,198 users.

·    These two companies faced a similar issue due to the advent of mobile communications 6-7 years ago.

·    In March 2008, BSNL had a market share of 80% in landlines and 15.64% in mobile phones. In December 2010, it was 73.71% and 11.53% respectively.

·    For MTNL, it had a market share of 65% in Delhi and 78% in Mumbai in March 2008. As on December 2010, the figures are 55% and 64% respectively.

9.    ZTE ties up with BSNL.

·     ZTE Corporation, global provider of telecommunication equipment, has entered into a strategic partnership with BSNL to advance the broadband services across the country.

·     Under this venture, ZTE will deploy high speed ADSL2 + next generation VDSL2 + broadband devices across BSNLs network.



Latest Telecom News (28th -31st July)

    1.    Karbonn to unveil tablets.

Ø  Bangalore based Karbonn mobiles plans to launch its tablet PC.

Ø  Priced at Rs 10,000, the tablet will be launched this October

Ø  The tablet will be available in three forms – 7 inch, 9 inch and 10 inch.

Ø  Under its expansion policy, Karbonn has also tied up with Disney for its expensive phone segment with Disney features.

Ø  The Rs 1,500-crore Karbonn Mobiles, which has about seven per cent of the mobile phone market share in India, targets to sell one million mobile phones a month by October this year and hopes to see a growth of 30 per cent in revenues by next year.

Ø  Also Karbonn is planning an IPO in next 2-3 years.

     2.    Supreme Court seeks details of Interconnection usage charges (IUC).

Ø The apex court has asked TRAI to explain and inform about the methods for computing charges for interconnectivity among operators for carrying calls of one network through another.

Ø  The Supreme Court directed TRAI to give the figures reached by computation of IUC by including capital cost and also without it.

     3.    MediaTek invests $20 million in Spice Digital.

Ø Media Tek Inc, a semiconductor company for wireless communications invested $20 million into Spice Digital, a BK Modi promoted company.

Ø  Spice Digital offers mVAS and has over 30 million subscribers.

Ø  Mobile Internet is the way forward and presents a wealth of opportunity for Media Tek.

Ø  India’s IVR and mVAS market is booming and according to Analysys Mason, mVAS is expected to be Rs 67100 Crores market.

Ø  Media Tek is looking to capitalize on Spice Digital’s market potential and strong operator relationship.

Ø  For Spice Digital, the investment would help to enrich its digital services offered to the customers and therefore increase its subscriber base.

4.    mVAS to become a Rs 67100 Crore market.

                         Ø  Mobile value added services (mVAS) has the potential to become a Rs 67100 Crore market by 2015, contributing over 31% of the overall wireless revenue, according to Analysys Mason.

      Ø  A research paper was released by the research firm Analysys Mason, in association with IAMAI, which charts the evolution of mVAS in India.

      Ø  The mobile platform will account for 54% of overall mVAS market by 2015.

                        Ø  It is mentioned that with increasing pressure on margins and decreasing ARPU, the growth is stunted and it the right time to focus on mVAS for the carriers.

      Ø  The paper also discusses about the issues plaguing the mVAS sector.

                        Ø  It includes the billing mechanism for Off Deck VAS providers, lack of standards for local language text SMS etc.

      Ø  The paper also states that the Mcommerce market is expected to touch Rs 20 Billion by 2015.

      Ø  The core segment for mVAS currently remains mobile information and social networking.

Ø  Vodafone, Idea increase per second tariff.

      Ø  Following in the footsteps of Airtel and Tata Communications, Vodafone and Idea have increased their tariffs by 20% to 1.2 paise per second.

                        Ø  It is understood that the biggies of Indian telecom operators are trying to see the market reaction before making rolling out the new prices on a pan-India basis.

                       Ø  Vodafone has raised the prices in Delhi, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

                       Ø  Idea has raised the prices in Delhi and few other circles for Off-Net calls.

     5.   Nokia unveils Nokia 500

Ø  Nokia has officially has brought out Nokia 500, the latest addition to its Symbian Anna family.

Ø  It comes along with a 1GHz processor, 5 MP camera, and 3.2 inch touch display.

     6.    MTNL Delhi to launch “Independence Day” Recharge.

Ø  MTNL has announced that it will launch two Independence Day recharge vouchers for its “Trump” prepaid service subscribers to commemorate the 64^th Independence Day in Delhi telecom circle.

Ø  Recharge vouchers (RCV) are priced at Rs. 64 and Rs. 1508. RCV 64 enables full talk time and RCV 1508 provides talk time of Rs 1947.

Ø  The offer is valid only for 7 days from 12^th to 16^th August 2011.

      7.   Smart Browser to counter the Data Cap.

Ø  With the spectrum crunch and increasing number of users using the mobile internet, there has been a spurt in congestion.

Ø  Operators are planning fighting this global menace. The operators are also requesting the customers to reserve their heavy duty jobs for their home broadband.

Ø  Data cap has been the latest trend in the recent times.

Ø  To resolve the above issue, Opera Software has come up with its own browser named “OPERA TURBO”.

Ø  Turbo is meant for the server side compression to help users browse the web by using far less bandwidth than other browsers.

      8.    Windows phone “Mango” given a go ahead for manufacturing.

Ø  Windows teams signed off on the release to manufacturing (RTM) build of “Mango” – the latest version of Windows Phone OS and the one to power the first Nokia device.

Ø  The phone comes with IE 9.0, Apps multitasking and support for new HTML 5 websites.

     9.    Smart phones and Tablets on the rise.

Ø  The tablets market is booming with both local and international brands crowding the market.

Ø  MNCs have already launched their tablets in India. Apple iPod, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Dell Streak, HTC Flyer, Motorola Xoom, Acer Iconia Huawei Mediapad etc.

Ø  Not to be left behind are the Indian companies. Olive has launched Olivepad a year ago. HCL, Spice, Beetel etc are all in the race.

Ø  The Smart phones segment is also on the rise with a 72% jump in 2010 as compared to 2009 – courtesy Gartner.