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.
Amid reports of telecom operators not responding to the grievances of the subscribers, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Tuesday directed service providers to assign a fixed number for registering their complaints.
The wireless user base grew by 9.06 per cent during the April-June quarter of this year to 42.72 crore (427.2 million) from 39.17 crore (391.7 million) in the preceding quarter, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said.
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.
A group of officials from the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank ) are in India to meet officials from the finance ministry, Reserve Bank and market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India to discuss regulatory matters related to the deal.
The government is set to participate in the business of television ratings that is primarily meant to guide the broadcasters, the media agencies and the advertisers, to determine their programme scheduling, advertising spends and the placement of the advertisements.
International long distance carrier Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited on Friday urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to scrap the access deficit charge as it was leading to smuggling of international calls.
The move ended week-long speculation the government might have to appoint an acting chairman before a final decision.
Retaining the same number while changing the service provider may become a reality for Indian subscribers, as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India would issue a consultation paper on 'number portability' in a month's time.
As per TRAI norms, Vodafone and Airtel are close to getting added spectrums, given their growing subscriber rates.
As per the data reported by the service providers to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, by the end of February 2011, about 38.33 lakh (3.83 million) subscribers have submitted their requests to different service providers for porting (shifting) their mobile number.
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.
About 11.90 million wireless (GSM, CDMA and WLL(F)) subscribers were added in April 2009 as against an addition of 15.64 million during the previous month, taking the total subscriber base to 403.66 million, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said. The total telecom (wireless and wireline) subscriber base stood at 441.47 million at the end of April 2009 as against 429.72 million in March 2009, it added.
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.
Trai also recommended allocation of 3G spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band through auction in tranches of 2x5 MHz. And if this spectrum band was not adopted, it would be possible to provide spectrum only to two to three operators, apart from state-owned companies (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Mahanagr Telephone Nigam Limited).
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has suggested reduction of customs duty on mobile phones to five per cent from 10 per cent
Telecom service providers have got 15 days more to finalise their tariffs under the revised IUC regime as Trai on Tuesday postponed its implementation in view of some of the operators seeking clarification on various issues.
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.
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.
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.
The Department of Telecommunications has mooted a proposal for increasing additional spectrum charges and has also suggested slashing of one-time fixed spectrum charges.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
The DMK is having a meeting on Saturday to discuss the situation arising out the raids and what steps the party needs to take and what kind of reaction to formulate.
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.
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.
