Bharti Airtel on slammed telecom regulator TRAI's recommendations on spectrum fee, saying they are retrograde and arbitrary.
State-run BSNL has questioned the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's powers and jurisdiction in matters relating to interconnection between the PSU and other private service providers.
It is not the urban centres alone that are powering India's phenomenal growth in mobile telephony. Data on rural telephony, compiled by the telecom regulator, shows people in villages are subscribing to mobile services in large numbers
Move to ensure deals do not hit govt licence fees, revenue share.
In a setback to the telecom regulator, the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has barred TRAI from intervening in any dispute arising between two operators on the terms and conditions of interconnection.
The Delhi high court on Thursday fixed a timeframe for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
Dish TV and Tata Sky, the two major DTH companies, have sought compensation from the government for the upgrade of the existing DTH set-top boxes due to the mandatory upgrade proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
The regulator's directive implies that operators will have to end the practice of splitting monthly fixed charges.
Cellular operators have accused Reliance Infocomm of offering predatory prices in Chennai and rest of Tamil Nadu, and sought immediate intervention of the telecom regulator.
As if alarmed by the spate of tariff cuts being offered by telecom players, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has asked leading companies including Bharti, IDEA and Hutch to hold on till it evaluated their tariff packages
Trai and telecom companies are divided in their views on the issue of raising the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in various media-related activities like cable television, direct-to-home, etc. Trai has proposed across-the-board increase in the FDI limit across cable (49 per cent), DTH (49 per cent), HITS (no existing limit) and satellite radio (no existing limit) to 74 per cent, as allowed in the telecom sector. Companies like Bharti Airtel are supporting this proposal
Telecom regulator TRAI has said private GSM operators were acting as a "cartel" against MTNL and BSNL and charging higher tariffs from customers for calls terminating in the networks of the two state-run companies.
As per TRAI norms, Vodafone and Airtel are close to getting added spectrums, given their growing subscriber rates.
Total wireless subscribers increased from 1.1 billion, in January to 1.2 billion in February, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.72 per cent.
The telecom regulator on Friday released a list of 40 "defaulter" principal entities, including large banks like HDFC Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank, that are not fulfilling the regulatory norms on bulk commercial messages despite repeated reminders. Hardening its stance on the issue, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) warned that defaulting entities should comply with the stipulated requirements by March 31, 2021 "to avoid any disruption in the communication with customers" from April 1, 2021. "As sufficient opportunity has been given to principal entities/ telemarketers to comply with the regulatory requirements and that the consumers cannot be deprived of the benefits of the regulatory provisions any further, therefore it has been decided that from April 1, 2021, any message failing in the scrubbing process due to non-compliance of regulatory requirements will be rejected" by the system, TRAI said in a statement.
Both Airtel and Vodafone claim they did everything possible to resume services.
Continuing its pressure on wireless in local loop operators whose tariffs do not meet the criteria specified by it, telecom regulator TRAI has sought clarifications from Tata Teleservices though the company maintained that its WLL tariffs.
But half the 'profit' should be ploughed back into the company, says Trai.
A government panel on Net neutrality has proposed to regulate domestic calls made using Internet-based calling applications such as Skype, WhatsApp and Viber at par with phone call services offered by telecom operators.
Telecom operators are not opposed to over-the-top service providers like Skype, Viber, WhatsApp but looking to work in synergy with them, Bharti Enterprises Vice Chairman Akhil Gupta said on Wednesday.
The telecom regulator on Monday flayed the action of cellular operators to hike tariffs following the implementation of new IUC regime, saying its own calculations showed there was no justification for an upward revision in call charges.\n\n\n\n
Apex telecom industry body COAI has asserted that spectrum pricing should be kept conducive to market conditions as 5G entails upfront capital investments with monetisation spread over a long-haul, and pricing radiowaves high will only push the players up against the wall. The stage is set for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to come out with its recommendations on 5G spectrum pricing and other modalities for upcoming auctions, and the announcement from the sector watchdog is expected anytime now. Norms will also be worked out for new frequencies such as 526-698 MHz and millimetre band, that is 24.25 - 28.5 GHz, in addition to bands such as 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz.
India's largest telecom operator Reliance Jio gained over 79 lakh mobile users in March, comfortably surpassing the combined net adds by rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea during the month, according to data released by TRAI on Friday. Bharti Airtel added 40.5 lakh wireless users, and interestingly Vodafone Idea gained 10.8 lakh customers during March (compared to the previous month). Reliance Jio added a staggering 79.18 lakh wireless subscribers in March, taking its customers base to about 42.29 crore.
Attempts are being made to balance the need for health of the sector, consumer interest while complying with the Supreme Court order on statutory dues.
Close on the heels of reducing the tariff for international bandwidth, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Thursday slashed tariff for domestic bandwidth (domestic leased circuit) between 3 to 70 per cent, a move which would boost broadband
The Rs 200,000 plus perks hike for regulators proposed in the Sixth Pay Commission is likely to attract good talent. It would be sufficient incentive for both private sector executives and serving bureaucrats to join as watchdogs. The Commission has recommended that the remuneration of chairpersons of regulatory agencies like the Sebi, Irda, Trai, CERC as well as the Competition Commission of India be hiked to Rs 300,000 if they do not avail of perks like cars and housing.
New Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Nripendra Misra said on Wednesday there were no differences between the regulator and the Department of Telecom.
India has average monthly spends of $4 per user; it is over $20 in other Asian markets
The telecom regulator on Wednesday said it will soon look at steps to address the issue, in order to make net access more affordable.
The petitioner had sought enforcement of existing laws on call drops.
The Internet is too important to let a few private telecom players decide what the rules will be for consumers, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, independent member of Parliament who was one of the key petitioners seeking the scrapping of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.
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Indian telecom sector has at present around 13 mobile phone service providers with some of them expected to go for consolidation once the final guidelines are in place.
There has been a huge controversy over the Net neutrality issue.
'At a time when massive strides are being made in bringing 5G technology to India, and with TSPs ramping up their infrastructure, it is unacceptable that a large number of complaints over quality issues continue to come in, even from major urban areas.'
Call drops may end as govt allows telecom spectrum trading
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