The uniform SUC, if implemented as per recommendations made by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, will provide relief for mobile operators such as Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, but will increase rates for broadband wireless access spectrum holders like RJIL.
The much-awaited soft launch of Reliance Jio's next-generation mobile services has been delayed by another month.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd is preparing to apply for permission to set up a nation-wide broadband telecom network for internal (non-commercial) use.
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).
BSNL, Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications, who also provide GSM technology-based services, are not part of the report.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
RCom, which launched its nationwide GSM services in January last year, currently offers telephony services on both the GSM and CDMA platforms.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has received permission to offer CDMA services across the country (except Delhi and Mumbai) under the crossover technology policy. Under the policy, existing GSM operators are allowed to offer CDMA service and vice versa within the same licence after paying a fee.BSNL is the third company after Reliance Communications (which is in CDMA and wanted to operate GSM service) and Tata Teleservices (similar to Reliance) which has been given licences
In his third letter in the last one month to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani has lambasted GSM operators.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel led the growth in segment with net addition of 1.31 million subscribers.
Idea cellular trebled its share in the Mumbai market, albeit on a low base. RCom, for its part added five million (including GSM) subscribers during the month, numbers that have both surprised and confounded the market.
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications said on Tuesday the government's move to introduce mobile number portability would help GSM players Aircel, Idea and Spice as they enter new circles. The government had on Monday announced that the mobile number portability, under which users would be able to switch operators while retaining their existing cell phone numbers, would be allowed by next year.
Upping the ante in the ongoing spectrum war, Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani has shot off a missive to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), accusing GSM operators of having cornered spectrum under the valuable 900 MHz.
The Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) upholds government's decision on dual technology for RCom.
Reliance Communications on Friday said it has been allotted a brand new 8080 series by the DoT for roll-out in Mumbai.
Currently, subscribers pay 50-60p for an SMS. By comparison, Tata Teleservices charges a paisa per word, for up to 15 characters.
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.
The district consumer court in its recent order directed the service provider to pay Rs 5,000 towards the mental trauma, and physical and financial losses incurred by Subhash Kharat and Rs 1,000 as litigation expenses.
RCom had recently received spectrum in 13 circles under the new cross over technology policy, in which a code division multiple access operator can also operate GSM services with the same licence. IT operates GSM in the remaining circles.
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.
Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications on Saturday reacted sharply to rival Bharti Airtel's statement that others have equal opportunity to succeed, saying "if Bharti honestly believes in competition, it should welcome entry of RCom and other new players in GSM" segment.
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.
Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Authority had on December 12 refused to stay the government's process of awarding new licences and allocating airwaves to mobile firms, a decision which existing GSM players say would hurt them Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular are the major GSM players in Cellular Operators Association of India, but it is learnt that there is no consensus within the lobby group over moving the high court.
Anil Ambani's Reliance Communications, which offers GSM and CDMA mobile services, said it added 1.62 million new mobile users in March.A company official said the net additions from January to March this year stood at 4.83 million. RCom, the country's largest CDMA operator, added 1.6 million mobile users each for the first two months.
What's happening in the telecom sector are classic bullying tactics - do the wrong thing, threaten to do worse, get the threatened party to sue for peace, and walk away smelling of roses after a "compromise".
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.
Following Reliance Communications' move to break the sub-Rs 1,000 price barrier in the black and white CDMA sets, mobile phone manufacturers are working hard to break the sub-Rs 2,000 barrier for GSM colour mobile phones.
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.
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