DoT identifies more spectrum, to expand auctions from earlier estimate of five in each service area.
The Vigilance Commission has asked DoT to justify its decisions regarding spectrum allocation to GSM operators.
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.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to allocate one block of 3G spectrum in each service area except Delhi and Mumbai to state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) at a price equivalent to the highest bid in the respective service areas.
The Department of Telecommunications has decided to hike four-fold the reserve price for broadband wireless access services in the country.
DoT opposes the auction of 2G spectrum as anti-consumer and warns PMO that such a move can result in monopolising of mobile services in India.
As part of measures to curb unsolicited commercial calls, the government asked telemarketing companies on Wednesday to register themselves with telecom service providers and with the department of telecommunication.
The department of telecommunications has referred the issue of using multiple technologies under a single unified access services licence to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Currently, ISPs pay only Re 1 as annual licence fee while Internet telecom service providers, or telecom operators providing Internet services, pay 6 per cent of their annual gross revenue as licence fee.
Upping the ante in the ongoing spectrum war, Reliance Communications chairman Anil Ambani has shot off a missive to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), accusing GSM operators of having cornered spectrum under the valuable 900 MHz.
Even as India's external affairs ministry has reportedly assured Canada that the Department of Telecommunications is trying to resolve the issue of a potential threat to India's security posed by BlackBerry phones, Research in Motion, the makers of the phones, said it is committed to addressing all aspects of the issue.
The view follows a detailed review of the matter by DoT since March this year, after Dayanidhi Maran, then communications minister, asked officials to provide details about the possibility of the Tata-owned VSNL being allowed to retain the land. This latest recommendation, made in September, comes despite the fact that the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs had, in December 2005, approved hiving off the land bank into a separate company.
The department of telecommunications is planning to seek details from four operators - Bharti-Airtel, Hutchison-Essar, Tata Teleservices Ltd and Reliance Communications - on the fulfillment of rollout obligations under the mobile telephony licence.
Says cap breached on account of Singh, Ghosh stakes.
Government is close to finalising the guidelines for new entrants in the telecom sector, with a possibility of existing players getting priority in allocation of radio waves. The department of telecommunication has received about 300 applications from 30 companies for starting telecom services.
Wannabe telecom operators will take a while to know whether they have passed the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's test. But that hasn't stopped them from taking the next step: tying up with infrastructure providers such as tower operators for rolling out their nation-wide operations.
It was discovered that state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited was given additional spectrum of up to 10 MHz for GSM technology services in over 16 circles even as private competitors have been waiting to be allotted spectrum by the DoT.
There are about 140 new proposals from various companies seeking universal access service licenses to provide services across the country, the world's fastest-growing telecom market.
You telephone bills will become cheaper if the finance minister P Chidambaram heeds to the telecom operators' demand for a reduction in levies.
The Department of Telecommunications, which has been mandated to simplify the multifarious levies, would introduce the new regime in phases.
DoT is also planning to carry out verification on operators' premises to check the technologies they employ.
Defence officials contend that the services do not use spectrum for 'commercial purposes' and therefore do not need to pay for it.
Telecom operators pay 30 per cent of their revenue as levies like annual licence fee, spectrum charges, contribution to universal service obligation fund and the total burden adds up to 40 per cent along with service tax.
The licensor has asked Bharti Airtel, Hutch, Reliance Communications and BSNL why they should not be asked to pay Rs 50 crore or Rs 500 million (per circle) as penalty for violation of the licensing agreement, official sources said.
In its efforts to check the use of mobile phones in terror activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs is likely to advice the Department of Telecommunication to direct all mobile phone operators to get two existing cellular customers as guarantors before issuing SIM card to new customers.
The department of telecommunication is expecting defence ministry to soon vacate the spectrum for mobile services, including 3G, as discussions with the armed forces are in final stages, a senior ministry official said on Wednesday.
During the proceedings, Spice Telecom's counsel Mukul Rohatgi contended that DoT decided not to allow the licence as the operator had a turnover of only Rs 1,100 crore (Rs 11 billion). The decision was discriminatory, he said. However, Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal declined to pass any interim relief to the firm.
The move will deprive millions of the freedom to choose service providers without changing their phone numbers.
Vodafone Essar seeks withdrawal of show cause notices, as according to the company no licenced condition has been breached.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has mooted a proposal under which operators will pay a one-time fee for all spectrum allotments beyond 6.2 MHz.
Amid reports of a possible delay in release of spectrum by the defence forces, DoT is going ahead with regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's recommendations on auctioning the airwaves with a reserve base price.
Recommendations may encourage consolidation.
The mobile phone manufacturers are planning to plead with the government that the new rules suggested by the DoT could leave them with no option but to stop introducing new phone models in the country if the stringent rules are eventually approved.
The spectrum tangle has also resulted in the fall of telecom share prices as investor confidence was eroded after the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) decided to permit CDMA (Code division multiple access) players operate GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) services in their existing circles.
In a detailed reply to a missive from the Prime Minister's Office, the DoT has said its recent move to allow use of dual-technology to mobile operators is based on existing policies. According to government sources, the DoT reply, has also rejected the contention of private GSM operators that the department has shown undue favour to any particular company. It also pointed out that its moves are aimed at introducing more competition and fair play in the mobile services market.
A note prepared for Communications Minister A Raja by the DoT officials cites the October 18 meeting and offers various options available before the ministry given that it does not have enough spectrum to meet the needs of the 46 companies who have made 575 applications for spectrum in 22 telecom circles across the country.
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