Going by application dates, companies like Spice, Birla-promoted Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications (through Swan and Cheetah) and Hindustan Futuristic are in the lead for licences in different circles. The only new player in the list is the little-known ByCell.Several incumbents like Idea Cellular, Maxis-Aircell, owned by a Malaysian promoter, and Vodafone-Essar lead the list of applicants for initial spectrum allocation since they already hold licences.
BBC is likely to rope in music company Saregama as its partner for the venture. BBC Worldwide holds the DVD rights for all its drama and comedy series including Yes Minister, Yes Prime Minister, collections of Shakespeare, the Sherlock Holmes series and several classics and drama series.
The rush to enter the world's fastest-growing mobile services market has attracted a wide range of applicants for telecom licences with the Department of Telecommunications.
Currently, the base price (Rs 5) is also the maximum retail price for pay channels in CAS areas. The biggest impact of price revision will be on the forthcoming 55-city roll out of CAS, as proposed by Trai, and also the extension of CAS in rest of the three metros.
It was discovered that state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited was given additional spectrum of up to 10 MHz for GSM technology services in over 16 circles even as private competitors have been waiting to be allotted spectrum by the DoT.
Tensions between private telecom players and the government ratcheted up a notch after it was discovered that state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd was given additional spectrum of up to 10 MHz for GSM technology services in over 16 circles even as private competitors have been waiting to be allotted spectrum by the Department of Telecommunications since December 2006.
The cost of acquiring direct-to-home subscribers could be 70-80 per cent higher for new players like Sun Direct, Bharti and Reliance Bluemagic than the existing players like Dish TV and Tata Sky due to superior technology and expensive set top boxes
The move is significant as the ministry has announced its intention to set up another committee to evaluate the success of CAS in areas where it has been implemented. The committee is likely to submit its report by December.
Telecom firms like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and MTNL have shown interest to start IPTV services, where television signal is carried to homes through telecom lines and broadband.
Govt puts populist schemes on fast track.
It is not the urban centres alone that are powering India's phenomenal growth in mobile telephony. Data on rural telephony, compiled by the telecom regulator, shows people in villages are subscribing to mobile services in large numbers
Under the new provisions, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has made it mandatory for the broadcasters to offer their channels on a-la-carte basis (individual channels) and bouquets.
The telecom regulator explains how he's hobbled by government policy and clarifies some parts of his latest recommendations.
Move to impact joint ventures in telecom, insurance, broadcasting.
The UPA government is likely to close this financial year with around a billion dollars (around Rs 4,100 crore) as receipts from divestment of minority shareholdings in four public sector undertakings.
Sterlite had acquired a 51 per cent stake in unlisted Balco as part of the government's strategic sale of its shareholding in March 2001 for Rs 551.50 crore (Rs 5.51 billion).
Indian cable companies may lose close to $200 million (about Rs 800 crore) in foreign investments this year as companies like Macquarie, Carlyle, Providence and Liberty Global
Rupert Murdoch-promoted Star Group will take at least four years to cross the $120-million-mark in operating income that it commanded till 2006
Petroleum ministry rejects conclusions of two reports ahead of EGoM.
Railways to introduce touch-screen TVs for individual seats.
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