Key proposals not feasible for BSNL, says telecom official.
According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authoroty of India, the total number of GSM subscribers of RCom at the end of September was 41.2 million, while the CDMA base was 55.28 million.
MNP allows a subscriber to change his or her service provider without changing the mobile number.
Key government departments have come to a consensus on the definition of a "group company" in the context of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the wholesale cash & carry trade. Under current policy, while 100 per cent FDI is permitted in wholesale trade, a cash & carry entity can sell only up to 25 per cent of its turnover to group companies.
The department of telecommunications (DoT) has pulled up mobile service providers for offering the National Anthem as a ringback tone.In a notice to all telecom service providers, the department said this was a breach of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, and executive instructions relating to the anthem.
For over a year Sanjay Chandra, managing director of the Unitech group, has been under a cloud for various reasons.
Telcos say tariffs could be cut by up to 20 per cent. While post-paid customers constitute only 5 per cent of the total customer base of 670 million, they make up over 15 per cent of revenues thanks to their relatively higher average revenue per user (Arpu).
The ministry of home affairs has expressed its dissatisfaction over the BlackBerry email and web browsing interception solution offered by service providers saying that the mechanism was not user friendly.
The department of telecommunications (DoT) will soon start looking into the issue of ineligibility of recent licensees such as Unitech, Loop and Datacom, in the wake of the Comptroller and Auditor-General's scathing report. And, take action, if it thinks it is required.
A committee of secretaries will be meeting soon to consider a draft proposal, which suggests that decision-making on all policy issues pertaining to FDI be transferred from the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) in the Ministry of Finance.
The government plans to issue UID numbers to 600 million people by 2014.
GE India is embarking on a major localisation drive under which 60-70 per cent of the products that it sells will be manufactured in the country in the next five years. At present, the localisation is about 10 to 20 per cent.
BSNL had earlier cancelled its tender for 5.5 million GSM lines and called for bids again after revising the guidelines, following an amendment in the licence conditions for security purposes.
State-owned National Aviation Company of India Ltd (Nacil), which runs Air India, has approached the government to raise $2.3 billion through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) as part of a plan to restructure its high-cost working capital debt.
Regulator wants the power to fine errant telecom companies.
After Research In Motion (owners of BlackBerry), the home ministry will now turn the screws on Microsoft, Google, IBM and Oracle. These companies provide technology and services for the virtual private networks (VPNs) run by various operators in India. The government will ask them to conform to regulation that allows intelligence agencies to lawfully intercept data. Failure to do so could result in the termination of VPN services by operators using their technology.
Communications Minister A Raja's promise to let people switch their mobile service operators while retaining their telephone number has got delayed once again - the deadline for the implementation of mobile number portability has been postponed from October 31 to December 20.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has thrown a spanner in the works of a government proposal to liberalise the pricing guidelines of hybrid securities such as foreign direct investment (FDI)-compliant instruments.
The staff cost for NTPC, the country's biggest power producer, is likely to go up by about 16 per cent as the company plans to spend about Rs 2,800 crore in the current financial year on its employee benefits and renumeration. It had spent Rs 2,400 crore in 2009-10.
Moving beyond selling application forms, the Department of Posts has started offering a complete package to agencies and companies for their recruitment process.