The prevailing telecom tariffs are likely to undergo a change with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Wednesday announcing its much-awaited revised interconnect charges for the sector.
The Department of Telecommunications has mooted a proposal for increasing additional spectrum charges and has also suggested slashing of one-time fixed spectrum charges.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is planning to put stringent entry-level restrictions on broadcasters launching new television channels. The move is to ensure only serious players enter the business and have effective utilisation of the limited bandwidth available for broadcasting.
Trai's latest proposal to cut ad inventory in channels has already prompted some of the leading broadcasters (Zee News being the latest) to cut their total commercial time and increase rates.
The recommendations are expected to give guidance on key issues, including base price of spectrum, amount of spectrum that should be allocated to a bidder and eligible participants.
In a setback to Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, telecom tribunal TDSAT on Monday upheld the TRAI order on reduction of bandwidth prices and asked the regulator to implement the order immediately while dismissing the petition of VSNL.
Industry body Assocham has released a study paper, titled 'Mobile value added services' a vehicle to usher in inclusive growth and bridge the digital divide' on which Trai is seeking comments from various service operators by February 11, Trai said.
In a major relief to the mobile users, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Friday sought stakeholder's opinion in bringing down the roaming charges by various measures, including fixing a ceiling tariff for services based on usage.
With public sector telecom giants MTNL and BSNL planning to cut their broadband tariffs to nearly half, a move expected to be followed by a host of private operators offering similar services, the number of net surfers will leap-frog to 8 million.
Trai suggested steps to ease regulatory norms for mergers and said that there should be no cap on the number of mobile operators in India.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Tuesday said that it would not intervene in the ongoing telecom tariff war across different services, saying this increases the competition in the sector.
The 40 per cent market share cap suggested by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is likely to make mergers between existing telecom operators extremely tough.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Friday asked telecom operators to stop tariffs plans with misleading titles like zero rentals, and asked them to show all monthly, fixed recurring charges under one head.
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.
In a move that will give major relief to millions of subscribers, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India will on Tuesday announce new guidelines to curb the menace of unsolicited calls by imposing hefty penalties on errant telemarketing firms and operators.
TDSAT has adjourned for a day the hearing on a petition filed on interconnect filed by cellular operators against basic players offering WLL.
The number of mobile phone connections in India rose by 1.96 million in March, after reducing by 1.06 million in February, latest data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) showed. The number of new connections have hit a 9-month high. In these past 9-months, the total number of wireless (mobile phone) subscriptions had reduced on 5 occasions, the data shows.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Friday recommended lowering spectrum charges paid by service providers to the government to 4% from 6% -- a move which may further bring down telecom tariffs.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Wednesday endorsed the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting proposal to reduce the license fee on Direct to Home (DTH) service providers. Trai said it had received a communication from the ministry conveying its decision to continue with the concept of gross revenue for the purpose of License fee on DTH service providers and to reduce the license fee. Trai's opinion also was sought on reduction of licence fee from 10% to 6%.
Divestment Secretary Pradip Baijal is all set to become chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India after his superannuation this month-end with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is likely to clear his name soon.\n\n
Telecom services, cell-to-fixed line phones and vice versa remained crippled for the second day on Saturday even as cell operators shot off letters to telecom regulator and state-owned MTNL.
Reliance Industries vice chairman Anil Ambani on Thursday met Pradeep Baijal, chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Termination charges are paid by an operator from whose network calls or SMS originate to the one on whose network these communications end.
Telecom operators can look forward to offering all telecom and broadcasting services, including cable TV, DTH, STD, ISD and radio, through a single licence by paying a one-time fee of Rs 107 crore (Rs 1.07 billion).
Under attack for not acting tough on inter-connection disputes between public sector undertakings and private telecom operators, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
A Central Do Not Call Registry may be formed as early as next month. The purpose is to stop unsolicited calls to mobile users, who will register on the list.
