Telecom subscribers had it good during Rahul Khullar's watch as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman.
Call rates to be reduced by 35%, text charges by 80%.
The latest move, even if it is symbolic, is the first rate hike after the one announced end of 2019.
The highest number of requests are in Karnataka (39.18 million) and Tamil Nadu (35.56 million).
Trai said, the operators should ensure that payout per month of the 'best fit plan' generally does not exceed the payout per month of existing tariff plan of the subscriber.
According to telcos and analysts, this is due to SIM consolidation happening after the minimum recharge plans were implemented by incumbents.
The programme has triggered a huge debate in India.
The Budget session of the 16th Lok Sabha will begin in the second week of July, revealed Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday.
Andreessen made a objectionable tweet about India after Trai ruled against Facebook's free but restricted internet programme
Google had started the Station as a five-year partnership with the Indian Railways and RailTel in 2015 to provide fast, free WiFi in over 400 stations by mid-2020.
Telecom operators stressed that differential pricing for data is necessary for growth.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has directed the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) to make a presentation detailing the pros and cons of the controversial Indian 5G standard, also known as 5Gi, which the government has been pushing for. The move comes after serious differences emerged among telcos with regard to the technology's efficacy and implementation.
Reliance Jio had proposed that besides satellite connectivity, In-Flight Connectivity can be provided using cellular network as well.
Telecom operators say the reason for the low increase in ARPU in the two metros could be linked to the massive reverse migration of labour.
Roaming will be cheaper by up to 23 per cent.
IAMAI in a statement, which represents digital businesses in India, said Trai's recommendation to formulate standards of anonymisation and de-identification was akin to putting the cart before the horse, and till such time the Srikrishna Committee submits the report, making these standards would be like groping in the dark.
High spectrum charges would lead to rise in mobile services rates and adversely impact government's Digital India initiative by impeding telecom network expansion.
Bidding for the sixth round of spectrum auction for radiowaves worth Rs 3.92 lakh crore will start from March 1, according to a notice issued by the Department of Telecom on Wednesday. The long-awaited spectrum auction is being held after a gap of four years and over two years after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) calculated and recommended base price for the radiowaves. The DoT has fixed January 12 for the pre-bid conference and January 28 as the last date for seeking clarification to the notice.
"I want to reiterate that I went as per the telecom policy of 1999, as per recommendations of Telecom and Regulatory Authority of India and vision contemplated by the government. If there have been any procedural lapses. Let it be investigated. No problem at all," Raja told reporters here two days after he unceremoniously put in his papers.
TRAI today made it mandatory for telecom operators to compensate consumers by one rupee for call drops with effect from January 1, 2016.
Bharti may look at gaining market share pre-merger and benefit from a lower capex intensity
The company at present provides monthly mobile services at starting price of Rs 24 without data, and plans with data service starts from Rs 33 onward. It did not disclose the quantum of hike.
Telecom regulator Trai on Monday recommended about 39 per cent reduction in the reserve or floor price for the sale of spectrum for mobile services, including the latest 5G offering, as it looked to match revenue expectations with the industry's paying capacity. With large swathes of spectrum remaining unsold in the last two auctions, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommended to the government for selling airwaves in all existing bands of 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz and new slots of 600 MHz, 3300-3670 MHz and 24.25-28.5 GHz. It has suggested a lower reserve price for all bands, compared to the prices proposed in the previous recommendations in 2018.
Over the three-month period, Airtel's stock price has rallied from Rs 432 to Rs 540, while Vodafone Idea has risen from Rs 9.2 to Rs 11.8 per share.
'The models that may work in one country may not work in another.'
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The ministry's move to intervene in the matter comes 20 days before implementation, after broadcasters complained they would suffer huge loss because digitisation was still in the first phase across the country.
Raja said he had, in fact, brought a 'revolution' in the telecom sector.
It reported adding 698,3146 subscribers in September, the lowest since it added 6.1 million in November 2017.
The launch of services by Jio in September 2016 had disrupted the whole telecom sector, with operators matching low rates to maintain competitive edge
Of late, net neutrality has generated much debate.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended up 62 per cent reduction in base price of premium 2G spectrum and up to 37 per cent in case of radiowaves freed from the cancellation of 122 licences, compared to the amount fixed for previous auction.
Government's resolution on the contentious issue of spectrum usage fee seems to have found favour with telecom operators with none of them withdrawing their application from airways auction on the last day on Monday.
It has made everything public in the name of 10 lakh comments it got on draft net neutrality proposals.
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.
The call drop rate should not be more than 2 per cent and for worst affected cells it should not be more than 3 per cent.
Trai plans to allow consumers to change operators without changing set-top box
The social media giant had launched a public campaign to defend its platform.
Mobile operators got a reprieve with the Telecom and Regulatory Authority of India allowing them to continue with their existing short messaging codes for SMS services by extending their compliance period.
A Parliamentary Committee will discuss the controversial issue of net neutrality on Thursday at a meeting where officials of telecom companies like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are expected to present their views.
It seems the Congress party's act of bravado in opposing the ordinance on Nripendra Misra witnessed in the Lok Sabha on Friday may prove to be just that: an act. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports.
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