Expressing concern over frequent internet shutdown without any empirical study, a parliamentary panel has pulled up the department of telecommunications for not maintaining the record of incidents and inaction on several of its recommendations.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against three private cellular companies and former officials of the telecom department for alleged irregularities in the grant of additional 2G Spectrum and causing a loss of Rs 508 crore during the period 2001-2007.
The Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) of the department of telecommunications (DoT) has traced 285,000 lost or stolen mobile phones and blocked 680,000 devices since being launched. However, recoveries remain relatively low at 20,771 devices. According to government estimates, around 50,000 mobile phones are stolen every month in the country. Launched nationwide on May 16, the CEIR is a part of the DoT's Sanchar Saathi portal. It is the primary government platform aimed at protecting mobile phone users from various frauds such as identity theft, forged KYC, theft of mobile devices and banking frauds.
DoT, has decided that it will not cancel the GSM licences of dual-technology companies.
Typically these are high-beta stocks and earnings are volatile
Department of telecommunication and intelligence agencies have long been demanding access to data on Blackberry phones, which is available only to the owners of the handset. RIM executives had met senior DoT officials recently.
Farooqui will have a 15 month tenure at the helm of the Department of Telecom before he attains superannuation age of 60 years in June 2014.
The government has lost Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion) in just over a month after 1,300 group A officers, who constitute the top management and technical cadre in telecom giants BSNL and MTNL, rejected the ''inferior'' absorption offer.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Prasad asked private operators to play a role in skill development.
Telecom sector has seen phenomenal growth over the past decade or so, says the prime minister.
The much-awaited guidelines on foreign direct investment in telecom are expected to be notified this month with companies likely to be given a maximum of four months
The recommendations of the commission will now be put before the empowered group of ministers headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram for a final decision.
This decision was taken at Executive Council meeting of National Association of Software and Service Companies held in Pune.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has significantly tightened the noose on mergers among telecom operators within a circle by imposing a three-year lock-in period, besides making it mandatory for them to take prior permission from the ministry.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has moved the Bombay High Court seeking approval for amalgamating its long distance services arm Infotel with itself.
A senior official in the Telecom Ministry said the government is considering an exit option for the new telecom players who are struggling to roll out services.
Two regional CDMA players - HFCL in Punjab and Shyam Telecom in Rajasthan - have deposited fee for their GSM spectrum as per the dual technology permitted by the government. HFCL deposited Rs 151.75 crore (Rs 1.51 billion) for Punjab circle, while Shyam gave about Rs 32 crore for the Rajasthan circle.
The department of telecommunications, in the draft universal licence guidelines to be signed with telcos which recently won spectrum in the 1800 MHz auction of November, has included a new clause for foreign companies.
The bulk of this money will, however, be spent on buying imported equipment, mainly from Europe and China.
The directive by the department of telecommunication has also made it mandatory for equipment vendors to transfer technology to Indian manufacturers within three years of selling machines to any operator.
Reliance Jio has sent a second legal opinion to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on the subject of the potential allocation of satellite spectrum. The letter is written by retired Supreme Court Justice L Nageshwara Rao and argues in favour of auctions, stating that any other method for allocating spectrum apart from auctions could be constitutionally unsound. Business Standard has reviewed the letter.
The DoT estimates that it will receive Rs 29,524 cr in revenue from the telecom industry in FY18, which is 38% less than the Budget revenue target of Rs 47,300 cr for FY18
This fresh case pertains to the tax assessment done by the I-T department for the year 2009-10.
'We have informed the government multiple times that the situation in the US and India are different.' 'Here, there will be a 500 MHz gap in the frequencies which will safely allow aviation without interference.'
Pointing out to the 133-acre Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City on the outskirts of the financial capital, he said there is huge realty play opportunity that RCom's erstwhile corporate headquarters possesses, and pegged the potential value creation at the site at Rs 25,000 crore.
Electronics major has tied up with Reliance Comm and Tata Tele.
Leading service provider Spice Telecom has said consumer must be given competitive choices to choose from and number of telecom players in a circle cannot be an issue.
DoT's proposal to impact many, including Vodafone
An attempt is to be made over the next month to get over the opposition of staff unions to the Pitroda Committee recommendations on the revamp of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), the state telecom network outside Mumbai and Delhi.
Companies such as Tata Sons and Bharti Telecom, which are unlisted but have listed subsidiaries, may soon have to file periodic financial statements with the registrar of companies under the new provision of the Companies Act. The provision requires greater financial disclosures by a certain category of unlisted companies.
All hell broke loose after the publication of the tapes, recorded by the Revenue Intelligence department between 2008-09, and the Opposition brought Parliament to a grinding halt demanding a certain probe.
13 companies have submitted more than 230 applications for telecom licences and most of these are for a pan-India UASL. DLF and Omaxe join other real estate firms Indiabulls Real Estate, Unitech and Parsvnath Developers to apply for telecom licence.
State-owned power company PowerGrid Corporation Limited has been awarded the national long distance (NLD) license by the department of telecom for its proposed foray into the telecom business.\n\n
Telecom operators will have to pay a penalty and immediately de-activate a pre-paid mobile connection if they fail to follow the new norms issued by the government to strengthen the subscriber verification system.
