However, this rule will not be applicable to companies holding licences for a period of three years, even if they acquire licences in other circles to expand their operations, according to sources close to the development. The suggestion was made by the DoT to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which will decide on making it a regulation, along with other suggestions on the lock-in period put forward by the licensor.
Ben Verwaayen, CEO, Alcatel-Lucent, does not consider India as a low-cost destination. Rather he does not like to use the word offshore in the context of India. "If it is just about cost then I would not have been in India but to some other low-cost country. For me, India is a high talent country," he adds. As the person who was heading British Telecom's operations before taking over Alcatel-Lucent, he has pushed over a billion dollar of outsourcing work to India.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal will hear the petition, asking for a stay against the government order permitting crossover allotment, on Wednesday. In its petition, the COAI has said the DoT's decision has been taken with 'unseemly' haste to benefit a few operators that have made a 'backdoor entry' on the basis of 'invalid applications' given in February 2006.
The petition filed by a host of GSM operators along with COAI also sought quashing of department of telecommunication's decision, dated October 19, to allow enhanced subscriber-linked criterion for spectrum allocation. They also sought non-implementation of these decisions terming them unfair, unjust, illegal, arbitrary and violative of level-playing field and principles of natural justice.
All operators would have to shift to NGN networks in near future. NGN is a single network of services and infrastructure functioning over an Internet Protocol network. This digital mode is superior to the existing network.
The reshuffle is aimed at speeding up the implementation of the government's ambitious programmes like the SmartCity project and focus on key sectors like Mines, Information Technology and Road Transport.
The dispute between Vodafone and the Ruia-owned Essar Group, its 33 per cent partners in Vodafone-Essar, over ownership of BPL Mobile deepened this week after the UK-based telecom major alleged that Essar had altered the share structure of the Mumbai service provider in violation of a 2006 agreement
In a major development, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has cleared applications of nine telecom aspirants and is close to issuing them Letters of Intent. This will be followed by issuance of universal access service licences and allocation of spectrum.
The Cabinet approved giving Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea Ltd and Reliance Jio an option to avail of a two-year moratorium on payments they were supposed to make in yearly installments for the spectrum bought in auctions.
Many business schools are recognising the need to reach out to a more diverse group of potential candidates, including those who may not particularly intend to work in typical MBA positions. A look at a few.
Also looks at creating a level-playing field for GSM and CDMA players.
Official sources said Verizon's license application was under process and "there should be no problem in issuing them letters of intent for national and international long distance (NLD/ILD) business".
While flight operations have already resumed, inter-intra state train services also were partially operating since Tuesday night, they said.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has finalised the long-awaited policy for 3G services that will permit new international telecom firms with experience in this arena to bid for a licence.
The issue of spectrum allocation has become murkier, with the Association of United Service Providers of India (Auspi) -- the CDMA operators' body -- slamming the move by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to allocate additional spectrum to existing private GSM operators.
Tata Teleservices spokesperson confirmed the development, and said: "We have written to theDoT seeking clarity on the issue."
Formalising flextime may benefit companies, their employees and take the stigma out of asking for time off.
India attracted a major chunk of the record $40.1 billion capital that flowed into South Asia in 2006, but restrictive policies could stunt investment growth leading to slower economic expansion, the World Bank warned in a report.
Deliberations by the government is being carried out to keep cost and charges at a level so as not to discourage subscribers willing to change their service provider, an optional facility, and at the same time make the service providers a viable business model. The charge is directly linked to the number of subscribers, who would seek the change in service provider out of the total mobile user base of about 400 million.
The telecommunications and Internet services provider Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd has formed a fully owned subsidiary in the US, VSNL America Inc, to offer the Internet protocol-virutal private network solutions in that country.
India has banned as many as 106 Chinese apps, including TikTok, a move welcomed by both the Trump administration and the US lawmakers.
The Department of Telecommunication and mobile service providers, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Communications failed to reach a consensus on the spectrum issue during a meeting held on Wednesday. According to sources, Reliance Communications Chairman Anil Ambani raised the issue of extra spectrum being held by GSM operators. He asked how over 6.2 MHz of radio waves have been given to GSM players beyond their contractual agreement.
All cable operators will have to regulate the charging and billing procedure to follow the new telecommunication (broadcasting and cable) services (second) tariff (eighth amendment) order, 2007, from December 1, issued in a notification recently by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. According to the new regulations, every cable operator of a multi-system operator or a broadcaster will have to give to every subscriber the bill for the charges due.
The Department of Telecommunications has called a meeting of the heads of all leading telecom companies offering GSM technology services on November 21 to resolve contentious issues that have arisen following recent changes in telecom policy.
Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura is learnt to have made a request to the Prime Minister's Office to convene a meeting that will include PMO, DoT, telecom regulator TRAI and finance secretary to resolve the controversy over spectrum allocation and pricing. He said the department is in dialogue with the ministry of finance regarding certain issues relating to guidelines for auction of 3G spectrum and pricing of 2G spectrum.
The rush to enter the world's fastest-growing mobile services market has attracted a wide range of applicants for telecom licences with the Department of Telecommunications.
The appointments committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared Bhalla's appointment as OSD in the ministry with immediate effect.
Three telecom giants, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, Videsh Sanchar Nigam and Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd have formed a joint venture and got licence to offer basic telephony.
DoT will have wider consultations with all stakeholders.
This decision was taken at Executive Council meeting of National Association of Software and Service Companies held in Pune.
TCS has received permission to invest $1 mn in Thailand.
The roll-out of 3G or third-generation mobile telephony services, scheduled for this year-end, may be delayed after the Ministry of Finance strongly criticised the Department of Telecommunications for announcing 3G guidelines without consulting it. In a communication with the DoT earlier this week, the finance ministry said the move was inappropriate and contrary to a 2003 cabinet decision.
The current account deficit widened to $10.1 billion or 2.1 per cent of GDP for the September quarter as against 1.2 per cent in the year-ago period.
In a bid to compete with limited mobile services by basic service providers, cellular companies on Thursday announced a uniform mobile-to-mobile STD rate of Rs 2.99 per minute.
The department of telecommunication had earlier said a CDMA operator had written a letter to the government seeking auction of additional spectrum against the current subscriber-led allocation.
Information technology services provider HCL Technologies is close to clinching a $1 billion (about Rs 3,950 crore) outsourcing contract from a European telecommunications company.
The drama over the third-generation, or 3G, telecom services policy took a new twist today with a Delhi High Court Bench headed by the Chief Justice A P Shah directing the Department of Telecommunications to file an affidavit explaining why it cannot auction all the available blocks of spectrum in the upcoming auction of 3G spectrum.
