DoT asked to take action against BhartiAirtel and Hughes
Business StandardThe Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to take action against BhartiAirtel and Hughes Communications for failing to provide data for specific user location and thereby not complying with conditions in their licence agreement. In a letter to DoT, the Intelligence Bureau, under the MHA, said, "Despite providing with Internet protocol (IP) addresses, dates and exact stamps, some telecom service providers (Airtel and Hughes) have been unable to provide details of the actual user in case of communications over GPRS/ Internet. As a result, we have been unable to trace our targets."
New analysis shows telecom tariff to rise at least by 26 paise
Economic TimesWith just two days left for the meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers, analyst and research firm Ernst&Young has said that telecom tariff will go up by 26 paisa. "TRAI's assessment does not include the cost of license extension in addition to the cost of spectrum to be auctioned. Taking into account these two factors the estimates are that the impact on cost per minute will be more than six times the 4.4 paisa (for FY'13)," a partner in E&Y, PrashantSinghal, said. The analysis comes in the back drop of the steep spectrum base price of Rs 3,622 per unit of airwaves to be auctioned, as recommended by TRAI.
No case for interim relief to Uninor on bank guarantee: TDSAT
Economic TimesTelecom tribunal TDSAT on June 1, held that Uninor has not made out a case for any "interim relief" in its plea to reduce the financial bank guarantee (FBG) to Rs 84.50 crore from Rs 630 crore which it had submitted before the government at the time of licence and spectrum allotment. A TDSAT bench headed by its Chairman Justice S B Sinha said at this stage, the tribunal can not go ahead on such issues without going through any detailed reply from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
Telecom Minister to continue to finalise new licence norms
Business StandardThe Telecom Minister will continue to be vested with powers to finalise guidelines for new telecom licenses despite the Planning Commission demanding that such authority be exercised only by the Cabinet or a ministerial panel. "The guidelines for new licences will be finalised at Ministry level by the Telecom Minister after recommendations are made by the Telecom Commission," a senior government official said. Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar on Thursday had said that DoT will take two to three months to work out details of Unified Licences. New telecom companies looking to start business in India, specially the companies whose permits have been cancelled by Supreme Court, will have to take Unified Licences. These new licences will be different from existing telecom licences for mobile telephony.
Analysts hail new telecom policy, call it forward-looking
IBNLive.comLeading analysts have welcomed the new telecom policy, saying it is forward-looking as it will not only help consumers but will also aid the troubled operators in the long-term. "The policy is clearly forward-looking for aspects such as increasing broadband usage, increasing rural tele-density, promoting domestic manufacturing," KPMG India Telecom Head RomalShetty said. But for the policy to be effective and growth-conducive it will need to detail out the aspects such as spectrum management, exit policy, excess 2G spectrum, he added. Significantly, the new policy has omitted a controversial clause in the draft version which said revenue generation will continue to be a secondary objective of the government, and instead states that affordability and availability of effective communication will be core objectives of the policy.
JPC not to ask govt to put on hold decision on 2G entry fee
Economic TimesDespite demands from some of its members, the Joint Parliamentary Committee on telecom will not ask the government to put on hold any decision on TRAI recommendation on 2G spectrum auction till it forms an opinion on the issue. JPC Chairman P C Chacko is learnt to have told members that he is not mandated to ask the government to put on hold any decision on TRAI recommendations on 2G auction pricing. This came in response to a recent JPC meeting, when Congress, BJP, and CPI members had urged Chacko to ask the government to put on hold any decision on enhanced entry fees for 2G spectrum auction.
FinMin opposes sops to BSNL for servicing naxal-affected areas
Economic TimesThe Finance Ministry has opposed the subsidy of over Rs 5,800 crore to BSNL for providing telecom services in naxal-affected areas, saying that the operator was not selected through a tender process and the demand was several times the current incentives. DoT has sought approval from the Cabinet for aRs 5,809.38 crore subsidy to BSNL from the Universal Obligation Fund (USOF) for commissioning and maintaining 2,199 sites in naxal-affected areas for five years.
TDSAT pulls up govt for imposing fresh penalty on Idea
Zee NewsTelecom tribunal TDSAT has pulled up the government for imposing fresh penalties on Idea Cellular despite an earlier order setting aside a similar fine due to the operator's alleged delay in service roll-out obligations in five circles. A TDSAT bench headed by its Chairman Justice S B Sinha said it has already set aside the penalty on Idea Cellular on December last year observing that "principles of natural justice" were not followed by Department of Telecommunications while imposing the aforesaid liquidated damages. "We, therefore, are of the opinion that the impugned demands cannot be sustained. They are set aside, accordingly," said the Tribunal and asked DoT to pay Rs 50,000 to Idea Cellular as cost of litigation.
10-yr spectrum price may create confusion
Hindustan TimesThe Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) move to fix the price of spectrum for 10 years, rather than the duration of the entire licence period of 20 years, is likely to create confusion in the telecom sector, which is already passing through uncertainty. Currently, telecom operators pay the price of spectrum for 20 years. Cellular operators have opposed this move. Rajan S Mathews, Director General of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said, "The operators have to make huge investments in setting up infrastructure," adding, "Ten year scenario for allotting spectrum is very short. That is why all the existing licences for 2G, 3G and BWA are issued for 20 years."
Hot Android to-do list app, Any.DO, comes to iOS and web
TechCrunchAny.DO, the to-do app for Android, has finally made its way to the iPhone and the web. Developed by the team behind Taskos, one of the most popular to-do list applications on the Android Market, Any.DO was launched last November backed by $1 million in angel funding. Besides the basics of to-do list management, the app supports gestures, auto-predictive text, and voice-to-text recognition, all of which are packaged in easy-to-use and attractive interface. Any.DO focuses on integrations with other services, like Facebook and Twitter, as well.
Connected security systems tether homes to owners' smartphones
Phys.OrgComcast's "Xfinity Home" a wireless technology system, is part of the growing interest in "intelligent home" systems, which let consumers - wirelessly from any location using their computer, tablet or smartphone - check their home's security system, as well as flick on the lights, adjust the heating/cooling, even detect if there's been a water spill under the fridge or an intruder in the bedroom. Comcast is possibly the first to wirelessly connect home security and energy savings - accessible from anywhere - via a customer's mobile phone or computer keyboard.
ETSI approves design for a smaller SIM card
Cellular NewsThe European Standards body, ETSI has approved a new SIM card design aimed at smaller, slimmer mobile phones. The fourth form factor (4FF) SIM card will be 40% smaller than the current smallest SIM card design, at 12.3mm wide by 8.8mm high, and 0.67mm thick. It can be packaged and distributed in a way that is backwards compatible with existing SIM card designs. The new design will offer the same functionality as all current SIM cards.
Nintendo reveals Wii U controller, MiiWaraWara social network
BGR IndiaNintendo has finally unveiled the Wii U gamepad in a pre-E3 presentation. This next generation console has a touchscreen and will also connect with a television for viewing action on a bigger display. Nintendo has tweaked the design a bit from the prototype it had showed last year and added joysticks as well as an NFC reader/writer along with gyro and motion sensors. It can also act as a TV remote control. Nintendo also showed off what it calls MiiWaraWara that will be a social network of Wii U gamers.
Integrating Healthcare: The Role and Value of Mobile Operators in eHealth
GSMAMobile operators have clearly expanded their remit from direct-to-consumer health solutions, to solutions that support core clinical and operational processes within the hospital. From this traditional base mobile operators are moving to solutions that connect the various stakeholders in the healthcare system to the patients to provide fully integrated care. Effective and efficient integration of mobile technologies and infrastructure into the healthcare system creates significant value for both stakeholder groups.
The Evolving Security Paradigm in an increasingly Mobile World (Premium) - View Free Sample
As more and more employees use personal mobile devices to access enterprise networks and applications, there are increasing risks to the security of confidential information through new entrance points for potential attacks. Mobile technology today is taking communications and security to a whole new level. Consumers are increasingly looking to bring their smartphones, tablets and other devices that have transformed their personal lives to work. This means people can work anywhere at any time, creating new efficiencies for businesses -but also new challenges for protecting enterprise data. Rapid adoption of mobile technology will soon make security concerns in the wireless environment at least equal to those in the wired world. While these risks may persuade IT departments to think twice about deploying the latest mobile technologies, the headwind favouring delivery of broader access to applications and emerging cloudbased services underlines the fact that mobile devices are now an essential business productivity tool.
1G Solution for a 3G World (Premium) - View Free Sample
With the introduction of expensive 3G in 2011 and 4G in 2012 in India, here is an effective application which will help one to stay connected at reasonably less cost. 2011 started with a lot of anticipation around the onset of 3G and recent introduction of 4G--how they would change the mobile landscape. There was a heightened sense of anxiety, and common perception was that the game-changing technology would forever alter the way users used their phones. After all, 3G itself was arriving after a very long wait and tremendous investments into spectrum. Although talking of 4G is too early now, but as far as 3G is concerned, in hindsight, it turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax. What did not happen overnight is the explosive proliferation of the mobile internet. I was fortunate to witness this whole cycle play out in both Egypt and Indonesia, not so long ago, in exactly the same fashion. Of course, 3G means better data speed for existing data users but that literally touches only one in 10 mobile users in India today. The IAMAI report pegs mobile data users at 46 mn, while mobile users are over 600 mn.Why Smartphones will make a difference in Advertising (Premium) - View Free Sample
A recent study conducted by Google and IPSOS indicates that India will soon be a 'mobile first' nation for communication. The challenge of advertising on mobile platforms is the most over-rated concern in the digital advertising domain in India. While presence of brands on digital media has only been increasing every year, along with spends, mobile advertising garners a rather negligible share in the total advertising pie. As per recent industry estimates, mobile advertising constitutes not more than 1% share of the total ad spends in the Rs 266 crores advertising industry. An obvious reason for this is slow adoption of smartphone and mobile internet in India. As per data released in the third quarter of 2011, the smartphone market in India was not growing over a 6% rate. However, a recent study conducted by Google in association with IPSOS continues to rely heavily on the potential of mobile media, which is arguably the only omnipotent multi-media device in India.
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