The prime minister's directive comes in the wake of telecom minister A Raja seeking his intervention for early resolution of BSNL's tender controversy.
Departments of electronics, excise, I-T launch probe into Rs 251 smartphones
The telcos have assured the government that things would improve over the next 45 days.
It also issued notice to the Centre and the IT department on Vodafone's plea.
Income Tax Department has slapped fresh tax notice on Nokia India, tax authorities said.
The reference will also seek the court's view on a more fundamental issue: whether the judgement lays down auction as mandatory for allocation of all natural resources across all sectors and in all circumstances.
Capital dumping is being used by foreign e-commerce firms to subsidise and engage in predatory pricing, oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) has told the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) in an internal document. The document alleges that this is leading to massive unemployment and financial distress among small merchants and kirana stores. It consists of various recommendations and proposed changes that deal with Press Note 2 of 2018 (PN 2), which RIL wanted Assocham to present to the government, according to sources.
A key prosecution witness in the 2G spectrum case on Wednesday told a Delhi court that former Telecom Minister A Raja had communicated to the prime minister about the policy for distribution of licences 'at his level' and the issues involved in it were 'not processed' in the DoT files.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) expects to finalise the norms for mergers and acquisitions and spectrum sharing by the end of June. It also plans to approve the National Telecom Policy (NTP), 2012, by the end of July.
The regulator has also agreed to the one-nation, one-licence proposal, which will make roaming free across the country. But it wants to decide the modalities of the issue.
India's stand is important against the backdrop of US FCC's decision to roll back its net neutrality rules adopted in 2015
In a move that will not augur well for companies which have been awarded 2G licences recently, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has rejected proposals by new telecom entrants for a relaxation of rollout obligations.
The government on Monday asserted that there was no loss to the exchequer due to allocation of 2G spectrum to some telecom companies in 2008.
In a move that could pave the way for open auction of the 2G spectrum released from 122 cancelled operators, a draft Cabinet note prepared by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has recommended the spectrum price be discovered through an auction involving "existing players and new parties".
Ten central trade unions except Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh are observing one-day general strike on Thursday to protest against various government policies.
Across the world, there are around 150 trials on 5G currently going on and India has lagged behind. The government has now formed a committee which will look exclusively at developing a model for conducting 5G field trials, reports Kiran Rathee.
Denial of interconnection "appears to be with ulterior motive to stifle competition and is anti consumer", Trai said.
Tier-II and tier-III towns have a reason to rejoice.
The Department of Telecommunications' restriction on this service flies in the face of both policy precedents and market logic.
US-based technology major IBM is contesting a claim of the revenue department which has increased the company's taxable income substantially to around Rs 11,000 crore (Rs 110 billion).
A merger between state-run telecom firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd is the best option because it would create the country's largest telecom company, said Kuldeep Goyal, chairman and managing director of BSNL.
The recommendations on the subject will be sent in due course to the government, according to an internal communication of DoT
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to indicate the formula used in international markets to fix the ratio between the reserve and the discovered prices of 2G telecom spectrum. Trai has assumed that the base price should be 80 per cent of that of the auction discovered price which is much higher than the internatioanl norm of 50 per cent.
Former telecom minister A Raja, who has so far not cross-examined any witness in the 2G case trial, is likely to open his defence next week by questioning his former additional private secretary Aseervatham Achary, a prosecution witness, sources said.
In May, Trai had gave its recommendations on a 'Spectrum Management and Licencing Framework', in which it had said that consequent to the merger of licences in a service area, the total spectrum held by the resultant entity post-merger shall not exceed 12.4 MHz for GSM technology, or 10 MHz in case of CDMA technology.
The commerce department has said that earnings through the new tax will equal the losses faced by Indian industry after the US tariffs on steel and aluminium.
The Cabinet is believed to have asked the Department of Telecom to examine imposing a Swachch Bharat cess on spectrum charges paid annually by service providers.
To speed up the vacation of additional 2G and 3G telecom spectrum, the government will likely make a Rs 5,000-crore (Rs 50 billion) provision in the Budget for an alternative network for defence services. The spectrum released in lieu of that would increase the availability for civilian use.
The storm is likely to impact Mumbai, Thane and other coastal districts of Maharashtra like Raigad and Palghar along with Valsad, Navsari, Surat, Bhavnagar and Bharuch districts of Gujarat and Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Preparations for the impending cyclone were discussed at a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, a home ministry statement said.
The books of these companies had come under a cloud after it was alleged that many of them had not been paying the goverment's share of revenue by showing the revenue earned under other categories. Under a suggestion of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, a special audit of all the integrated telecom companies will be undertaken once in 3-5 years.
Access spectrum is airwaves used for transmitting wireless signals on mobile devices from mobile towers.
Some 74 applications for these licences for mobile services are pending with the Department of Telecom.
Telecom Minister A Raja said on Wednesday that the government is considering number portability in the mobile sector.
In order to popularise the social security schemes for the unorganised sector, a Committee on Tuesday suggested PFRDA access the postal department's network and enter into tie ups with mobile phone operators who have vast reach.
The fast growing telecom sector is set to witness another round of mergers and acquisitions with the DoT recommending against lock-in of promoters equity, saying this would only hamper growth and competition.
Vodafone had in December last year sought extension of its licence period for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata circles, which are coming up for renewal in November 2014.
Spectrum was sold at about 68 per cent premium.
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