A total of 10.42 million wireless (GSM, CDMA and WLL) subscribers have been added during October 2008 against 10.07 million wireless subscribers added in September 2008, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said. The total wireless subscribers stood at 325.73 million at the end of October 2008.
Responding to queries from the Central Vigilance Commission amid allegations from political parties that Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) was squandered in distribution of spectrum, telecom ministry said it had gone by the book and had done nothing wrong.
The department of telecommunication has so far considered applications for telecom licences that were received till September 25, 2007, and is yet to take a decision on those that came between September 25 and October 1. This had led to widespread speculation that the applications after September 26 would not be taken up at all and there would be a cap in that sense.
At least 50,000 units of new residential property are set to come up over the next three years
TRAI has decided to fine defaulting tele-marketing firms upto Rs 20000 for non-complaince of directives.
Value-added services (VAS) and mobile-content providers may soon come under a licensing regime. Security concerns regarding VAS have come to the forefront in the ongoing debate over security issues surrounding Blackberry services in India.
In stark contrast with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommendation that only Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) licence-holders should participate in 3G auctions, Communications Minister A Raja today suggested that foreign telecom companies, too, would be permitted to bid for 3G spectrum.
The operators are willing to accept auction of second generation spectrum beyond what has been contracted. According to them, they are allowed to have spectrum up to 10 Mhz.
TDSAT Chairperson Justice Arun Kumar directed the Trai and MSOs -- Hathway Cable and Indusind Media, who were later impleaded as parties, to file their replies by December 3 and counter affidavit by the leading broadcasters - Zee Turner, Set Discovery and Star India by December 10.
Leading broadcasters Zee-Turner and Set Discovery have challenged in TDSAT sectoral regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's guidelines on pricing of cable TV charges in non-conditional access system areas. Trai regulation directs them to provide their channels on a 'la carte' basis.
Unless security is given paramount importance, it is difficult for real estate activity to pick momentum in J&K.
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.
"As the existing licensees have already made huge investments in the infrastructure and their systems are in place, therefore, they will be in a better position to deliver 3G services efficiently at low incremental cost," Trai said in its views on permitting new entity for 3G Services.
The union government has decided to reconsider the cap on foreign capital investment in the information and broadcasting sector, the Rajya Sabha was told on Wednesday.
Mobile TV -- basically an application that enables television services on handhelds such as mobiles, handheld TVs, car TV, GPS terminals, game devices, laptop PCs, and other portable devices -- is a step closer to seeing the light of day in India.
The three undersea cable station owners were asked by Trai to submit the Cable Landing Station - Reference Interconnect Offer,' containing the terms and conditions, charges and time limit for providing access. Now, Trai has approved the RIO of four cable landing stations of VSNL in the country and one each of Bharti and Anil Ambani's Reliance.
As a result of the TDSAT order, over 65 pay channels like Star One, Colors and Star Cricket would be able to raise prices, which were capped by Trai. The TDSAT rejected Trai's tariff order of October 2007 that had capped prices in different categories of cities based on population.
About 11.90 million wireless (GSM, CDMA and WLL(F)) subscribers were added in April 2009 as against an addition of 15.64 million during the previous month, taking the total subscriber base to 403.66 million, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said. The total telecom (wireless and wireline) subscriber base stood at 441.47 million at the end of April 2009 as against 429.72 million in March 2009, it added.
Every telecom service provider, who does not comply with the provisions of the regulations will be fined up to Rs 5,000 for the first instance. The operator could be fined up to Rs 20,000 every time the offence is repeated, Trai said in a release on Monday.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said on Friday that cable landing station facilities, which are owned by few operators, should be opened up for other international long distance operators, a move which will boost competition.
All operators would have to shift to NGN networks in near future. NGN is a single network of services and infrastructure functioning over an Internet Protocol network. This digital mode is superior to the existing network.
Another priority is to prepare the country for the fourth generation (4G) technology. It will not only improve teledensity and improve data services, but also ensure that the country is prepared for all the future developments, says J S Sarma.
Mobile users can expect a sharp fall in tariffs and access to a range of sophisticated services if the government accepts recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to permit mobile virtual network operators.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is recommending the cancellation of sports broadcaster ESPN STAR Sports' downlinking licence for non-compliance with the DTH platform's pricing formula.TRAI's proposed action follows its direction and a show cause notice to ESPN Software India in the last two months asking it to fall in line with its DTH pricing formula.
Consumers may now be insulated from any tariff increase for a period of 12 months if the recommendations made in a consultation paper of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) are accepted. At the moment, consumers have a protection against any hike for just six months.
Deliberations by the government is being carried out to keep cost and charges at a level so as not to discourage subscribers willing to change their service provider, an optional facility, and at the same time make the service providers a viable business model. The charge is directly linked to the number of subscribers, who would seek the change in service provider out of the total mobile user base of about 400 million.
IDR listing norms are to be changed to attract foreign companies and to make BSE more competitive.
Tata has 6.13 million followers on Twitter and has tweeted only 119 times since he joined the microblogging platform in April 2011
Cable TV operators can register under the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1995, to provide Internet Protocol Television services without requiring any licence, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has said. In its recommendations, TRAI has also said that the IPTV operators are required to register as cable operators to provide services in the country.
The current termination charge is 10 paisa a minute.
According to the World Health Organisation, 10 candidate vaccines for COVID-19 are in the clinical evaluation and 126 are in the pre-clinical stage.
The eight-member committee set up to look into new subscriber-base norms for spectrum allocation has left it to the Department of Telecom to consider either the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or Telecom Engineering Centre, DoT's technical wing.
According to the Trai latest report, only around 18 million telephone subscribers out of the total subscriber base of more than 344 million have opted to register in NDNC. Of these, urban areas like Delhi and Mumbai constitute around 40 per cent along with states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa.
Though almost all channels have agreed to a government-mandated code of conduct, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority issued a letter to them on Tuesday, saying some "channels are airing live coverages and taking live telephone calls from the public which contain baseless propaganda against Pakistan and incites people to violence". The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists termed the PEMRA letter an "attempt to silence the free media."
Trai has submitted 26 recommendations to the government and released 30 consultation papers so far this year, up from seven and 20, respectively, in 2007. Few of its recommendations are actually accepted by the govt.
Ask for file notings on dual spectrum, new licence issues.
All cable operators will have to regulate the charging and billing procedure to follow the new telecommunication (broadcasting and cable) services (second) tariff (eighth amendment) order, 2007, from December 1, issued in a notification recently by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. According to the new regulations, every cable operator of a multi-system operator or a broadcaster will have to give to every subscriber the bill for the charges due.
Interconnect user charges are paid by one telecom service provider to another for enabling calls from one network to the other. The present interconnect charge of 30 paise per incoming minute was fixed in 2003. The price was considered high even then. Now, with equipment prices falling, a revision was called for, said industry analysts.
The service provider has to ensure that outsourcing arrangement to an agency does not absolve them of their responsibility to fulfil their obligation to consumers and it should not affect the rights of consumers against service provider, Trai said. All companies should set up a formal code of conduct for outsourced agency and its employees or agents for collection of outstanding dues from customers.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India favoured on Monday auctioning spectrum for third generation mobile services to firms which already provide second generation services, a development that could be a setback to new players who wish to offer only the advanced telephony system. The regulator also said entry fees for new mobile licensees in all the circles should be raised as there is good growth potential in the telecom sector.
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