Struggling US telecom giant Motorola is exploring the possibility of shifting part of the manufacturing facility it is closing in Singapore to India. China and Thailand are also on the radar. Top sources said India is high on the list since Motorola already has a plant in Chennai and a large domestic mobile phone base of over 120 million phones annually.
The politics of Deve Gowda and that of the bureaucrats who badmouthed and helped kill a remarkable public-private initiative like the Bangalore Agenda Task Force have been the city's nemesis.
In November last year, Communications Minister A Raja had announced the implementation of MNP, which permits users to change the operator without giving up their existing mobile number, by the fourth quarter of 2008. "The department of telecommunications has to form a consortium of operators, which, in turn, has to set up a central database of operators and their subscribers. "This is a long-drawn process," an official in the government pointed out.
The farm loan waiver announced in the Union Budget is like a key crossroads from which major roads go out in different directions, each signifying opposite journeys and consequences. It is the biggest event of its kind, the fiscal payout of Rs 60,000 crore (Rs 600 billion) being virtually three times larger than the Rs 20,800 crore (Rs 208 billion) recapitalisation process that set Indian public sector banking on its feet.
The Anil Ambani group company is in advanced talks with France Telecom for a branding, marketing and franchisee agreement. The company plans to launch the brand by the second quarter of FY09, according to sources close to the development. Initially, the Orange may be launched on RCom's CDMA network -- spanning across 23,000 towns and 5 lakh villages in India -- and later extended to its 8 GSM circles. The Indian company has a total of 44.5 million subscribers in India.
The operators believe that the industry is not ready for these services, even though such plans are good for users in Singapore. The service charges in the country are already lowest in the world and will not slide further for sometime. Moreover, this is also against the existing practice of an operator trying to match every scheme launched by competitors.
Now the cell phone has ended boredom and solitude. You are never alone, never at a loss for not knowing what to do, so long as you have your cell phone next to you
Consumer durables major Videocon Industries has firmed up its telecom plans and is making an initial investment of Rs 6,000 crore for rolling out GSM services, notwithstanding spectrum and legal issues besieging the sector. The services will be launched through its subsidiary, Datacom Solutions, by May. In case of a delay in spectrum allocation, the company may opt for taking spectrum on lease.
Richard Branson, after a dramatic launch of Virgin mobile in India, is keen on his India venture and is also exploring the possibilities of using bio-fuel for his aviation arm.
In a major development, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has cleared applications of nine telecom aspirants and is close to issuing them Letters of Intent. This will be followed by issuance of universal access service licences and allocation of spectrum.
In a move that would result in the mellowing of the spectrum issue and enabling the new service providers to commence operations, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has begun identifying the quantity of unused spectrum across 23 circles in the country.
By 2026, India will add 220 million to its urban population. That is, about 30 Bangalores!
DoT is asking the public to help to check illegal routing of international calls, which is causing the dept a loss of Rs 5000 cr.
Firming up its plans to rollout direct-to-home (DTH) television services, telecom firm Reliance Communications (RCom) has booked capacity on Malaysian satellite system, MEASAT-3. The deal size could not be confirmed, while it is understood that the deal is signed for around 15-20 years. RCom has booked four transponders, with an option to add four transponders after a year on MEASAT-3.
There is a growing number of celebrities who are regular bloggers and make it a point to chat with their fans logging on at a pre-decided time.
The Department of Telecommunications has mooted a proposal for increasing additional spectrum charges and has also suggested slashing of one-time fixed spectrum charges.
To differentiate itself from Wal-Mart, Tesco, through its Fresh & Easy chain, has gone in for convenient neighbourhood stores which stock fresh foods, which is not a thrust area for Wal-Mart. But cost is one area where the two cannot avoid clashing, and this is where Tesco Hindustan Service Centre steps in.
The high mobile telephony penetration in India's major metros and cities is expected to lead to a dramatic churn in the space
Mobile call rates are declining in face of fierce competition. In this price war, PCOs are likely to be the first casualty.
While the extent of Iran's isolation was unclear, many blogs alleged that the cable cuts and outages in West Asia were a ploy by an intelligence agency to disrupt Iranian commerce, targeting an emerging petroleum exchange that the country was shortly hoping to roll out.
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