An internal committee of Department of Telecom had alleged that Bharti Airtel had continued to route national and international calls as local calls under a scheme till 2005 despite being told to stop it in 2003.
There is nothing sinister or diabolic about Union minister Kapil Sibal's latest argument regarding the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India pertaining to the loss to the exchequer from 2G telecom licences in 2007.
NTP 2012, approved in May, aims to abolish roaming charges and allow mobile phone subscribers to use same number across country without having to pay extra charges for services once they are outside their telecom circle.
NTP 2012, approved in May, aims to abolish roaming charges and allow mobile phone subscribers to use same number across country without having to pay extra charges for services once they are outside their telecom circle.
'Aakash', the world's cheapest tablet, will be fully indigenous soon and its improved version will be launched by the government at the same price.
A high-powered ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday"tentatively resolved" all issues concerning a proposal to levy one-time fee on existing telecom operators, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said.
Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal Monday said he was "deeply saddened" by the arrest of two girls over their Facebook post questioning the shutdown in Mumbai for Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray's funeral and said the IT Act should not be used to "throttle dissent".
The government has approved mergers between telecom companies with a combined market share of 35 per cent and rejected spectrum-sharing among 3G operators while restricting it for 2G operators.
The government will send notices to 85 companies asking why their licences should not be cancelled for suppressing facts, said Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday.
Days after the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licenses for 2G spectrum, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday held consultations with senior Cabinet colleagues on its impact on the telecom sector and the way forward. The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Paranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Law Minister Salman Khurshid.
With the government moving a resolution in the Lok Sabha to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G spectrum issue, the battle lines between the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party have become more tightly drawn with the Congress preparing its ammunition to target the BJP during its National Democratic Alliance government, in a bid to expose the actions of their telecom ministers.
The Finance Ministry, which is under immense pressure to meet the fiscal deficit target during the current financial year, has also written a letter to the department of telecommunication to auction spectrum to earn additional revenues.
Company also called for clarity on jurisdiction and role of the TRAI and TDSAT.
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group stocks plummeted on Wednesday after ADAG chairman Anil Ambani reportedly met Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal.
Rubbishing government's claim of any wrongdoing in the 2G spectrum allocation, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday asked why was A Raja forced to quit as telecom minister if the loss to the exchequer estimated at Rs.1.76 lakh crore was not true.
The government on Wednesday said the guidelines for the Gen Next mobile services (3G) that includes video calls will be issued soon addressing all security concerns raised by the home ministry.
The telecom industry has come out in support of new Communication and IT Minister Kapil Sibal for his observation that the sector should not be viewed as source of revenue for the Finance Ministry.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday contested the claims of former Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura over a December, 2007, meeting held regarding entry fees for 2G licences, in which he had said the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram and former Finance Secretary D Subbarao were present.
A month after releasing the three-digit emergency number for women in Delhi, the government Monday said it will make available the '181' women helpline number to all states of the country.
After banning telecom equipment from Chinese manufacturers like Huawei suspecting spy software embedded in the gadgets, India has now appointed Huawei to filter imported equipment for malicious software.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday said the new version of the low-cost Aakash tablet PC is expected to be available to students on November 11.
The proposal gains significance because the merger plan was given a quiet burial under former telecom minister A Raja.
Even if the company's merger issue was sorted out, it would have a lot of ground to cover in order to attract subscribers.
Earlier, the Telecom Commission, a decision-making arm of the Telecom Ministry, had recommended that the government pick up a majority stake in the special purpose vehicle created to execute the sale of surplus land lying with VSNL (now Tata Communications).
To stop the menace of pesky messages, telecom regulator Trai on Monday said only 100 SMSes in a day per SIM card will be allowed at concessional rates. For every SMS beyond the cap of 100 SMSes, a charge of minimum 50 paise will be applicable.
A day after Arvind Kejriwal put his name on a list of corrupt politicians, Union minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday shot back, saying that the Delhi chief minister should prove his allegations within two days or resign.
Home Minister P Chidambaram was on Friday appointed the head of the Empowered Group of Ministers on spectrum auction that was reconstituted after Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar declined the job.
In a letter to Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, Tata Communications chairman Subodh Bhargave gave a summary of the sequences of events since 2005, which also have concurrence of two directors nominated by the government.
With the Opposition adamant on the cancellation of coal blocks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday deliberated with the party top brass in the midst of the logjam in Parliament. Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal was also called for the Congress Core Committee meeting and so were Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal.
Dismissing the view that the Supreme Court's judgement cancelling 122 2G licences was an indictment, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday said that the government will move forward in the issue after regulator TRAI make its recommendations.
While Baba Ramdev walks the red carpet laid out by the government, we ask you our readers for your views on the issue.
The government may earn about Rs 50,000 crore (Rs 500 billion) from the new telecom spectrum policy, which seeks to delink licences from spectrum, if it decides to fix the price based on the figure discovered through last year's 3G auction.
The government on Monday said that it had not violated any election code of conduct in connection with its ambitious direct cash transfer scheme as it was announced in the budget speech by the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
A Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukhejree is likely to meet on Monday to vet London-listed mining group Vedanta Resources' $ 9.6 billion acquisition of Cairn India.
Kapil Sibal says there is a need to look at IT differently and not just as a cash cow.
Arun Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, takes on the government, especially Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal and Home Minister P Chidambaram.
"Mobiles have the potential to be more effective than TV, PC, outdoor or digital displays, as it has the ability to influence the consumer at the last mile of transaction. It is observed that a person on a single day remains exposed to one screen more as compared to any other, and that is their mobile phones," says Vishwanath Alluri, Founder, Chairman and CEO, IMImobile.
'If Parliament had not been obstructed, even the Indian media would not have realised that such a monumental scam had taken place,' says Arun Jaitley.
The government on Thursday said that it will evolve a consensus on rules for control of internet content after talking to various stakeholders including MPs and industry representatives.
Government on Thursday said that it will evolve a consensus on rules for control of internet content after talking to various stakeholders including MPs and industry representatives.
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