US-based Qualcomm, the dominant supplier of the chips that drive code division multiple access mobile phones, and Reliance Communications have agreed to expand the use of the technology in India.
Mobile subscriber base touched 5.29 crore (52.9 million) in April with the addition of 396,000 CDMA based mobile users during the period.
Arun Shourie had legitimised Reliance Communications' CDMA-mobile phone offerings on its fixed line licence in 2002 and Telecom Minister A Raja decided to treat its CDMA-licence as a GSM-mobile one to award it GSM spectrum. With such things falling in place for RCom, the firm asked the ministry to allow it to use the 880-890 MHz band. Such incidents indicate that favourable spectrum allotment for RCom & its smooth sailing in the current spectrum issue is not mere coincidence.
The CDMA-based mobile subscriber base of private operators touched 80.68 lakh (8.06 million), adding 343,000 customers in June this year.
India's mobile subscriber base, both CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), went up by 17.97 lakh
Announcing the rollout, Anil Ambani told reporters that the company has invested over Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in the project, which was completed six months ahead of schedule. Reliance Communications mobile users will now have a choice of both CDMA and GSM services, Ambani said, adding, "the project was completed within 15 months", six months ahead of schedule.
Tata Teleservices on Wednesday became the second major CDMA operator, after Reliance Communications, to get GSM radio frequency under the dual technology along with other new telecom players.Tata Teleservices has been given start up 4.4 MHz GSM spectrum in Tamil Nadu along with five new telecom players, company officials said.
Reliance Communications launched a new 'Simply Reliance Plan' on its CDMA and GSM networks, which offers a single rate of 50 paise per minute across the country with no hidden charges.
Reliance Infocomm Ltd will promote movies over its CDMA-based WLL service, IndiaMobile, even as it is set to promote Yash Johar's Kal Ho Naa Ho as its maiden initiative.\n\n\n\n
Reliance Communications (RCom) has paid Rs 1,651 crore as licence fee to start pan-India GSM operations.
From a policy point of view, India's telecom industry is getting exciting once again. After a lull of a few years, we're back to the same half-truths from regulators/policy makers, and the all too familiar attempts to help favoured firms.
New tariffs to apply to all customers with immediate effect and the move is aimed at bringing in greater RPMs (revenue per minute) and profitability.
According to sources, with this deal and some others in the anvil Reliance would be able to double its network capacity(GSM and CDMA) from 35 million lines currently.
CDMA technology developer Qualcomm on Tuesday said it was not negotiating with Indian telecom players, including Anil Ambani group company Reliance Communications, on lowering the royalty paid by them.
A note prepared for Communications Minister A Raja by the DoT officials cites the October 18 meeting and offers various options available before the ministry given that it does not have enough spectrum to meet the needs of the 46 companies who have made 575 applications for spectrum in 22 telecom circles across the country.
The empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on telecom headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday decided to impose a one-time fee on incumbent operators prospectively for spectrum beyond 4.4 MHz in GSM and 2.5 MHz in CDMA.
Nokia and Reliance Communications have joined hands to market the Nokia 1255 mobile handset that costs just Rs 1,999. \n
Reliance Infocomm Ltd has commenced work on setting up its telecom network in Jammu and Kashmir, while the private telephony major is all set to commission its operations in Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Nine million subscribers opt for mobile number portability in first three months of its launch.
The mobile phone user base in the country has crossed the 33 million mark at the end of the last fiscal with Reliance topping the list with over 7.2 million followed by Bharti with 6.5 million users.
TTSL is now behind only Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone, the company said in a statement.
RCom will use Motricity's m-Core platform to deliver advanced services and applications on its 3G, GSM and CDMA mobile platforms.
The government has raised over Rs 38,300 crore (Rs 383 billion) from the 16-day long auction for Broadband Wireless Access spectrum, which closed on Friday.
The company added 2.8 million wireless subscribers on its GSM and CDMA platforms in the month of June, RCom said in a statement. RCom offers telephony services on both GSM and CDMA platforms.
The Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) upholds government's decision on dual technology for RCom.
In February, Wang Jianzhou, China Mobile's chairman and CEO, told Business Standard at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that the company was keen to expand to India. China Mobile has over 450 million subscribers. RCom, which offers CDMA mobile telecom services and started GSM services a few months ago, has over 70 million customers. An RCom spokesperson declined to comment and an email query to China Mobile was unanswered.
Reliance Communications announced a new rate plan - Simply Unlimited Pack - with unlimited talk time on a single monthly recharge for its CDMA pre-paid customers.
Reliance Communications (RCom) has served legal notice to the government on allocation of additional spectrum to existing GSM operators.
Reliance Communications is believed to be in advanced talks with Canadian firm Iseemedia Inc for mobile mail gateway agreement that will provide email facilities to low-end handsets.
Ambani termed COAI's appeal to the telecom tribunal against the government granting RCom dual-use technology (CDMA and GSM) as "unnecessary and unwarranted". RCom, the country's largest provider of CDMA mobile services, recently received permission to start GSM services under its existing licence for which it paid a fee of Rs 1,651 crore (Rs 16.51 billion).
Tata Teleservices spokesperson confirmed the development, and said: "We have written to theDoT seeking clarity on the issue."
Buoyed by the entry of new telecom players and entry of Reliance Communications in the GSM space, the Indian telecom industry clocked the highest subscriber-addition in a month, by adding 15.87 million subscribers in March 2009.
RComm will get GSM spectrum along with other players like Vodafone, Airtel and Idea. This move will bring RComm actively in the GSM field.
Corporate giant Tatas on Tuesday asked the government to seek surrender of excess spectrum lying with GSM operators, a line being aggressively pursued by Reliance Communications chief Anil Ambani. With this, the top two CDMA players have joined forces against GSM operators like Bharti and Vodafone to seek return of spectrum beyond the contractual amount of 6.2 Mhz.
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.
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