TRAI’s Views on Spectrum License + Allocation Auction etc
The key regulator of the fastest growing telecommunications market in the world, TRAI shared its views on the various issues plaguing the Indian Telecom Sector. Excerpts from the discussion areas follows, Spectrum Pricing – TRAI expects directives on spectrum pricing – one-time charges and future spectrum costs on license renewals…
Airtel ready to takeover Qualcomm’s BWA / LTE Spectrum
Bharti Airtel is all set to buy Qualcomm’s India broadband wireless licenses for US$ 1.2 bn. Qualcomm has licenses in Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryana and paid US$ 1.1 bn in Jun 2010 during BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) spectrum auctions. So what does this mean for Bharti Airtel’s Broadband /…
m-cash / payment – Game Changer at Lowest Level
As the Telecom Operators established Mobile Phone as the most widely used e-platform in India, the RBI realized it soon that it can be used for daily banking transaction anywhere within India. Over the past 24 months, RBI, Banks and Telecom Companies have met to form the rules of this…
Videocon’s Talk at Zero Paise / Sec
Videocon Mobile launched advertising campaign promoting its zero paisa/sec scheme. Though Talk@Zero p/sec is a great tagline, it is just another scheme that bundles free call minutes with mobile handsets. Details of Talk@Zero p/sec Offer: Customer gets Videocon prepaid SIM at no charge on purchase of Videocon handset. Depending on…
Aadhaar – UIDAI – Next Generation of BioMetric Real Time Commerce – Banking
Nandan Nilekani, the Chariman and Visionary of the Unique ID project in India believes that Indians will now demand M,B,A – Mobile, Bank account and Aadhar. Since its launch in August, Aadhaar has enrolled (collected data) 2.5-3.0mn people and issued numbers to 1.5mn people. The enrolments are currently at a…
2G Scam JPC to Halt Telecom Policy Decisions
The constitution of a JPC probe into the telecoms scandal seems almost certain, going by recent media reports. Previous JPCs have taken between 6 and 21 months to submit their reports. Given the coalition dynamics currently, we expect at least a 12-24 month time frame for a JPC report. In…
Mobile Number Portability – Offers for Post-Paid Users
The lethargic Government of India finally launched the long awaited Mobile Number portability – MNP. To get a sense of the ground realities, we visited the stores of Vodafone, Airtel, Idea, Reliance Communications (RCOM) and Tata Docomo to compare the schemes currently on offer, for postpaid customers. We restricted our…
Reliance WiMax – LTE Dilemma Advantage for 3G Operators
Reliance Industries Ltd [RIL] inherited by Mukesh Ambani is in a dilemma to choose WiMax or LTE for providing wireless broadband services. RIL invested close to USD 1 Bn for PAN India BWA license and since then is quiet on its plans. BWA licences are technology-neutral and both WiMax and…