GSM mobile telephony operators have resisted any move to levy entry charge for 3G spectrum from existing operators, even as they opposed allocation of additional spectrum to CDMA-based mobile service providers.
As the reports trickled that the permission for the use of twin-technology would benefit the aspiring Reliance Communication, an Anil Ambani group company, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) shot a letter to the government saying that such a permission was against the existing policy and is tantamount to favouring a few.
The fall in GSM-based cellular subscribers growth continued with just 979,000 additions in May 2004, at 2.81 crore (28.1 million), with the Bharti Group cornering over one-fourth of the market at 73.43 lakh (7.34 million) customers.
Global telecom industry body the GSM Association on Thursday said it has decided to cancel the 2020 edition of the sector's largest event Mobile World Congress due to health safety concerns around novel coronavirus outbreak.
According to sources, Idea Cellular has agreed to provide interconnection to RCom thereby not becoming a part of Cellular Operators' Association of India's likely petition against Trai's directive on the same. Besides, other operators to provide interconnectivity to RCom GSM network are Aircel and Spice Communication.
GSM operators added 8.89 million subscribers in June, taking the total number of subscribers using the technology to 315.8 million.
According to figures released by Cellular Operators Association of India today, Bharti Airtel maintained its leadership position with a market share of 31.88 per cent although its net subscriber additions during the month declined marginally at 2.03 million, against 2.06 million in September. The company has a total subscriber base of 50.90 million across the country.
The GSM-based mobile subscriber base has gone up by 994,000 in April at 2.71 crore (27.1 million) customers with the Bharti Group cornering almost one-fourth of the market with 67.58 lakh (6.76 million) customers.
In an apparent lack of desired response to its much hyped OneIndia tariff plan for fixed line services, state owned BSNL on Tuesday lowered its rental to Rs 225 a month from Rs 299 and also offered 25 free calls in a month. \n\n
Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel maintained the top slot with a market share of 32.18 per cent and a total user base of 57.41 million. The company added 2.25 million users in January, up from 2.2 million added in December. COAI did not provide subscriber numbers of Reliance Communications, even though the CDMA major has GSM operations in the country's north-eastern circles.
Market leader Bharti Airtel added the maximum 17.22 lakh (1.72 million) new users during the month to take its base to 19.65 crore (196.5 million) at the end of November.
The attack reflects the open schism in the association, in which TTSL is a new member with other Unified Access Service Licence holders such as Loop Telecom , Etilasat DB, Uninor and STel. The older, established, operators are represented by Bharti, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular.
The country's two top telcos, Reliance Jio and Airtel, are working overnight to undertake one of the fastest global roll-outs of 5G services in any country just a month down the line. India might be late in the game (already 70 countries have some kind of 5G and there are 698 million 5G subscribers across the world), but it's moving at breakneck speed. In his speech at the Reliance Industries AGM, Mukesh Ambani unveiled his plan to roll out the fastest 5G network in the world, starting from four metros in October but hitting every town taluka and tehsil - there are some 5,600 of them - in the country in 18 months.
Reliance Jio has suggested an alternative plan to the The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) under which spectrum required by non-geostationary orbit satellite (NGSO) operators to run their gateway terminals should be auctioned geographically, based on districts, rather than circles as done for mobile services. For spectrum which would be required to connect user terminals (like individual homes), Jio has suggested it should be auctioned frequency-wise and exclusively to an operator at a pan-India level. The move is significant as the auctioning of satellite space spectrum has been vehemently opposed by low earth orbit satellite operators (satellites which circle at low altitudes of 200-2000 km).
This move gives Airtel and Chinese major immense benefits.
The report forecasts that by 2020, four out of every five smartphone connections worldwide will come from the developing world.
In a strong attack on the telecom tribunal, Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has argued in its petition to the Delhi High Court that the tribunal has erred in law and on facts in ignoring the three cardinal principles of grant of interim injunction.
BSNL, Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications, who also provide GSM technology-based services, are not part of the report.
The telecom regulator in the second ultimatum to GSM operators, including Bharti, Vodafone and BSNL, has given August 21 as the deadline to give interconnections to the RCom GSM network. Trai has cited it as a licencing condition to provide interconnection among the service provider implying if a mobile operator does not give interconnection to another based on mutual commercial agreement, it is a violation of license condition attracting penalty.
Lack of a commercial agreement between RCom and GSM operators is a major reason for the lack of inter-connectivity agreements. RCom is unwilling to re-negotiate the terms of interconnection and this is hindering interconnect issues, COAI said in a letter to Trai. However, there arises a need to 'mutually establish the technical and commercial terms of interconnection for RCom's new GSM network, and consequently establish the physical interconnectivity for the same,' it said.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel led the growth in segment with net addition of 1.31 million subscribers.
GSM operators in the country have added 14.49 million new users in the month of March, taking the total GSM subscriber base to 569.55 million, an industry body said.
It had also led to delays in allocating even start-up spectrum.
Chinese telcos hold 60-100 MHz of spectrum, while Indian companies hold 13-15 MHz of spectrum.
The petition filed by a host of GSM operators along with COAI also sought quashing of department of telecommunication's decision, dated October 19, to allow enhanced subscriber-linked criterion for spectrum allocation. They also sought non-implementation of these decisions terming them unfair, unjust, illegal, arbitrary and violative of level-playing field and principles of natural justice.
The government is looking at a time frame within the first two weeks of July to kick off and complete the upcoming 5G auctions, according to discussions between officials and stakeholders. It is expected that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will give its recommendations on the base price by March, after which the necessary cabinet clearances will be given. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had earlier looked at undertaking the auction in the first quarter of 2022 but decided to push it back. Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had also said that the auctions are likely to take place in April-May.
The Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) upholds government's decision on dual technology for RCom.
India added over 13.5 million new GSM mobile subscribers in August, with Bharti Airtel adding a little over two million users to achieve close to 30 per cent market share.
Inching towards the 50 million mark, the GSM subscriber base in India touched 44.92 million in June, 2005 adding 1.57 million users with telecom operator Bharti enjoying a market share of over 27 per cent.
The GSM operators have asked the government to remove Permanent Account Number (PAN) as a requirement to acquire mobile connection to increase tele-density in the rural areas and also sought rationalisation of multiple taxes and duties in the sector.
Mobile user base, both GSM and CDMA, went up to 3.4 crore during April this year with GSM based cellular operators capturing 2.71 crore subscribers and CDMA based operators like Reliance and Tatas 74.16 lakh.
The initial euphoria over reduction in mobile termination charges (MTC) seems to be dying down, with telecom service providers now alleging that the process is completely "flawed".
GSM based mobile service providers jointly added over 44 lakh new customers, taking their cumulative customer base to 67.88 crore in September, according to data released by industry body COAI on Wednesday.
Indian mobile handset market was worth Rs 8,805 crore (Rs 88.05 billion) in 2004-05 out of which share of GSM handset was 84 per cent at Rs 7,384 crore (Rs 73.84 billion) with Nokia capturing a sizable chunk of marketshare at 62.3 per cent.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal will hear the petition, asking for a stay against the government order permitting crossover allotment, on Wednesday. In its petition, the COAI has said the DoT's decision has been taken with 'unseemly' haste to benefit a few operators that have made a 'backdoor entry' on the basis of 'invalid applications' given in February 2006.
The government on Tuesday started allocating GSM spectrum to new telecom players, commencing with the Tamil Nadu circle including Chennai, in a move that would infuse more competition in the mobile telephony space.Five new players -- Videocon-promoted Datacom, Idea Cellular, realty major Unitech, Swan Telecom and Loop Telecom -- have been given start-up 4.4 MHz GSM spectrum in Tamil Nadu circle.
Virtually bringing the entire industry into the picture, telecom tribunal TDSAT on Monday directed Reliance Communications, HFCL, Shyam Telelinks, BSNL and MTNL to become a party to a petition challenging changes to spectrum allocation norms among others.
Delhi HC has refused to stay the process of spectrum allotment to RCom, giving a major setback to GSM operators.
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