The department of telecommunication has decided that the existing variable licence fee structure for telecom operators should be replaced with a uniform one. An departmental note suggests a uniform licence fee of 8.5 per cent for all types of services.
DoT will call operators offering such services within a few days to discuss the issue and make it clear that they may not be left with any option but direct stopping of the services.
The ongoing lockdown in force in other parts of the state will continue during which essential supplies like groceries, vegetables, fruits and milk will be available to the people.
According to sources, various players specialising in e-auction like Deloitte, Metal Junction (it specialises in e-auctions for steel manufacturers and allied industries), Spiderboon Internet Service Pvt Ltd (an e-auction and e-tender service provider), N M Rothschild and Sons (investment banking and advisory firm) were represented.
Besides non-executive employees, over 10,000 engineers are also on an indefinite strike from Tuesday seeking absorption of officers on deputation from the department of telecommunication.
A delay would also result in a loss of opportunity to add at least 10 million broadband customers per year, which would have helped increase broadband penetration. India had a total of 5.65 million broadband connections as on January 31, 2009, way below the 9-million subscriber target set by the DoT for 2007. The meagre growth -- the country is adding around 1 million subscribers per annum -- will make it difficult to meet the government's target of 20 million users by 2010.
Trai has asked the department of telecommunication to 'keep in abeyance' the grant of new 2G (mobile) licences till the watchdog finalises its recommendations.
Park is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is likely to reject the telecom regulator's proposal to charge operators holding excess spectrum at a rate determined on the basis of the ongoing 3G bids.
The report has revealed that BSNL, which contributed around 98 per cent to the financial irregularities, failed to pay a government loan amounting to Rs 7,500 crore (Rs 75 billion) in spite of having adequate cash reserves in short-term deposits with other banks during the year 2005-06 and 2006-07.
A senior department of telecommunication official said the estimated figure for 2009-10 is Rs 10,000 crore and the actual figures could be a little higher.
The inter-ministerial battle over spectrum for 3G telecom services has intensified, with the department of telecommunications (DoT) rejecting a claim by the ministry of defence (MoD) that it has not accounted for 10 MHz of spectrum given to DoT at the end of October in the information memorandum (IM). This document provides potential private bidders with details on the auction process slated for January 14, 2010.
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.
The step comes in the wake of the reports that proper verification is not being done while providing such pre-paid mobile connections by the service providers/vendors.
The BSNL board had last year approved a plan under which the government would divest 10 per cent of its shares to the public. But opposition from the unions backed by the Left parties -- which supported the United Progressive Alliance in the last Parliament -- had stalled the process. That opposition has abated, now that the Left is no longer a factor in the current ruling alliance.
Instead of only government departments and state-owned undertakings, the CAG can now audit private companies, too.
Solicitor General of India Goolam Vahanvati has said no further allotment of spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz should be made to telecom operators till the report of the committee on its pricing and allocation is received.If the opinion is acted upon, it would affect companies like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular and Aircel, which have applied for extra spectrum in other circles.
The sources said that all records pertaining to the allocation of spectrum to new players in January 2008 will be taken to see if there were irregularities in the process.
Mobile subscribers from May 3 will be able to port their numbers anywhere in the country.
The defence ministry has decided to release only that 3G spectrum that is to be auctioned and that too in phases. In fact, the armed forces have not released spectrum already in use as envisaged in their agreement with department of telecommunication.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has asked the Department of Telecommunications to reconsider its decision to issue Mumbai-based Loop Telecom an all-India mobile services licence, suggesting the company had links with Essar Group that violate restrictions on telecom cross-holdings by groups.
The Standing Committee on Information Technology has decided to have briefing on allocating spectrum for the existing services and introduction of 3G services from department of telecommunication, an official communication said. Mobile operators have been demanding additional spectrum from the Government for 2G services, where they have more subscribers.
Going by the guidelines issued in August 2007, the ISP licence was valid for 15 years and the one-time entry fee was Rs 20 lakh (Rs 2 million) and Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) for Category-A and category-B circles, respectively. The new amendments will come into effect immediately.
Suggests ban in 20 states; operators fear price surge, European monopoly.
The committee had recommended a complete junking of the existing subscriber-based criterion for additional spectrum allocation and wanted that spectrum beyond 4.4 Mhz should be auctioned.
Given the ongoing economic turmoil, the DEA has raised concerns that the government may not be able to get the right value for its stake. TCIL has been seeking an exit route for over two years. It first wanted to get the company listed so that it could exit. However, the proposal was turned down by Bharti Airtel, which has 70 per cent stake.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has selected NYSE-listed Syniverse Technologies as one of the two companies to implement mobile number portability (MNP) services in the country.
Trai is working on regulations and on the charges for mobile number portability service. The DoT issued guidelines for MNP implementation in August last year and in March next, two US companies -- Syniverse and Telcordia -- were selected as technology providers for the implementation.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) seems to be in a state of confusion on deciding the number of slots of 3G spectrum to be auctioned. It is now in favour of auctioning only two blocks and immediately assigning the spectrum to the successful winners.
The government, which has received flak for delaying the number portability process, said on Thursday that there is no delay in implementation of number portability.
Government needs to take a call on the DoT-MoD faceoff....
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has awarded international long distance (ILD) and national long distance (NLD) licences to global telecom major Cable & Wireless.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Thursday came out with a notification under which a UASL (Universal Access Service Licence) holder will have a lock-in period of three years or till the fulfilment of rollout obligations, whichever is earlier, before promoters can sell their equity stake.
The commission sent back the proposal of unrestricted internet telephony, seeking more clarity on how it would function, highly placed source said.
The department of telecommunication will soon write to companies, including Idea Cellular and Aircel to start landline operations.
However, portability services, which were earlier expected to be launched by the end of the year in the four metros -- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai -- as well as Tamil Nadu, have now been delayed till February or March 2009 (the DoT has said that it will start operations six months after the licence is granted).
Govt tells PSBs to integrate banking systems, rotate staff as a policy
The Department of Telecommunications is scheduled to auction 3G spectrum starting January 14.
The Budget estimate of 2009-10 includes a sum of Rs 35,000 crore as expected revenue from auction of 3G spectrum, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Budget papers.
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