The regulator has suggested that all spectrum will be auctioned as opposed to the current policy of bundling it with a 2G licence. A beginning has been made with the auctioning of spectrum for 3G services, which is due later this year. Trai has also suggested that licences for any telecom service should be auctioned as opposed to the current policy, where it is given on a first-come-first-served basis. The new policy is expected to be ready by the end of December this year.
In a move to soften the blow of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy in the Indian stock and asset markets, four banks are set to take over its structured products businesses in India.
Barely a fortnight after it launched international operations and integrated low-cost carrier Simplify Deccan with it, Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines plans to lay off at least 300 employees, official orders for which are to be conveyed on Monday.
At least three major broadcasting companies have held discussions on forming a combine, the first of its kind, to counter the might of media buying houses in dictating commercial air-time rates.
Barclays and BNP Paribas are considering the acquisition of Lehman Brothers' investment banking and brokerage businesses in India.
According to travel management companies, travel budgets of financial sector majors have seen a fall of 40 per cent this year compared with the decline in other segments, like manufacturing, which has shrunk by 20 per cent and IT, which has seen a drop of 10-15 per cent. Global travel conglomerates like Radius, which have a formidable presence across the globe because of the travel agents' network, said times are tough as a majority of businesses are shrinking.
Value-carrier JetLite, formerly full-service airline Air Sahara, which was bought by Naresh Goyal last year, will offer a voluntary separation scheme to 750 employees who have been with the airline for one year or below, Chief Operating Office Rajiv Gupta confirmed on Friday.
Confirming this, Jet Airways' CEO, Wolfgang Prock-Schaeur, said, "In the process of integrating the airlines, which is a must to keep JetLite afloat, there will be a shift of certain employees from JetLite to Jet and the workforce for both the airlines will be combined."
UK flag carrier British Airways plans to tie up with an Indian domestic carrier in a franchise partnership.
India will be one of the key centres for design and development of the A350 aircraft, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus' answer to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
It is not clear, however, whether the two players are considering a majority stake or would be content as investors with 26 per cent.
Low-cost carrier Simplify Deccan will be rebranded Kingfisher Red, a separate brand identity from Vijay Mallya-promoted full-service carrier Kingfisher Airlines.
To add to company's 'three-screen' strategy of mobile phones, IPTV and broadband.
Outbound travel from India to the south east Asian destination of Malaysia is expected to see a dip of 20 to 40 per cent with the Malaysian government cancelling the visa-on- arrival facility for Indian travellers, effective August 1.
However, operators said the chief beneficiary would be the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, which have already been given the spectrum for 3G services, as well as Reliance Communications, which is still to roll out its 2G GSM network.
The Rs 1,808-crore modernisation and expansion plan for Chennai airport, which was recently cleared by the Public Investment Board and expected to begin this September, may not be sufficient to cope with projected growth in passenger traffic.
Vacationers are showing a preference for areas that are near to their cities and preferably, can be reached by car. The areas in demand are hill stations or beaches four-five hours away from a city. For hotels in the vicinity, this is the right time to rake in the moolah. For instance, room rentals at some of the vacation spots near Mumbai have gone up by as much as 30-150 per cent.
Talks have failed between the Dhoots of the Videocon group and Mahendra Nahata of Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd to buy out the latter's 36 per cent stake in all-India mobile licence-holder Datacom Solutions.
3G mobile services, to be launched in India on August 22, is set to have serious competition. The reason is simple: if you are looking for high quality video streaming of movies and want to play multiplayer on-line games, it's not 3G services alone you need to look at.
Stringent visa procedures, astronomical hotel rates and a scarcity of event tickets have proved a dampener for Indian visitors to the Beijing Olympics, which began today.
