The Telecommunications Bill, 2023, which was passed by a voice vote after a short debate, also allows the Centre to take possession of a telecom network in case of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group is said to be planning a surprise entry into the race to acquire telecom spectrum, which will pitch it directly against Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio and telecom czar Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, sources said. Applications for participating in the July 26 auction of airwaves, including those capable of providing fifth-generation or 5G telecom services such as ultra-high-speed internet connectivity, closed on Friday with at least four applications. Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea -- the three private players in the telecom sector -- applied, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
The government on Wednesday notified its decision to permit 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) under automatic route in the telecom services sector. In a press note, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said foreign investment in telecom services will be subject to the condition of Press Note 3 of 2020. Accordingly, cases requiring prior government approval under the provisions of Press Note 3 will continue to be in place.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has awarded international long distance (ILD) and national long distance (NLD) licences to global telecom major Cable & Wireless.
Aditya Birla group company Idea Cellular and US-based wireless operator Verizon are all set to get the Letters of Intent for long distance services following clearance of their applications by the Department of Telecom (DoT). Official sources said the applications have been put forward for the Telecom Minister's approval. Idea is awaiting LoI for International Long Distance services while Verizon's application is for both National and International Long Distance services
Expediting the launch of its international long distance service, state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam has signed an agreement on commercial and technical aspects with an overseas operator regarding exchange of traffic.
Reliance Infocomm has offered 83 paise per minute across five sectors, including the United States and Canada.
India's largest telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam's dependence on routing its international long distance traffic through private players like Reliance, Videsh Sanchar Nigam
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.
Another aspirant has opted out of the race for international long-distance services with Net4India approaching the department of telecom to surrender its Letter of Intent.\n\n
Complaint says Singapore Telecommunications sold services illegally in connivance with Bharti and Tata Communications.
According to sources in the know, Anil Ambani-led RCom will be providing all infrastructure - towers, fibre, backhaul as well as its national and international long distance facilities-- to RIL's high-speed broadband services.
Plans majority stake in JV; to offer NLD, ILD, ISP services.
To make cheap ILD calls over mobile VOIP, all a mobile phone user has to do is download the 100 kb application iTel mobile dialer developed by Reve Systems, the global pioneer in VOIP
The industry had seen a robust growth of 20 per cent in revenues at Rs 1,55,683 crore (Rs 1,556.83 billion) in 2008-09.
In its recommendations to the government, Trai said the provision of calling cards would allow consumer to exercise choice of long distance operator for the national and international calls. The authority has, therefore, recommended amendment of NLD/ILD operators licence conditions to allow them to access customers directly for national and international long distance calls, respectively.
The wise men who formulated the National Telecom Policy 999 broke the vertically integrated National Telecom Network into three segments, i.e., Access (Fixed and Mobile), National Long Distance and International Long Distance. This has resulted in a dramatic reduction in tariffs and improvement of Quality of Service.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said on Friday that cable landing station facilities, which are owned by few operators, should be opened up for other international long distance operators, a move which will boost competition.
In another instance of Indian tax authorities adopting a hard-nosed stance to prevent abuse of tax avoidance treaties, the revenue department recently opposed a proposal of a Cyprus-based company to increase its stake in an Indian telecom services company from 40 per cent to nearly 74 per cent.
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".
Tata Teleservices spokesperson confirmed the development, and said: "We have written to theDoT seeking clarity on the issue."
RComm has reportedly acquired an African firm for $500 million to offer telecom access services in Uganda.
The department of telecom has issued letters of intent to BT for national and international long distance services for offering managed services to corporate customers having sites in India.
BlueWings offers a position in customer service. No previous work experience is required.
The revenue of telecom services, including that of cellular, fixed line, national long distance, international long distance, broadband, radio trunking and VSAT services, has risen to Rs 1,30,561 crore, registering a growth of 21.3 per cent, a survey by Voice&Data revealed. Among the services, cellular segment contributed a major chunk of around 59 per cent to the total revenue.
Players such as Net4, Sify and Worldphone Internet Services are offering International long distance (ILD) calls that work out to less than a rupee a minute by using a technology called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Around 80 million minutes worth of calls are made via VoIP every month (legally), according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
For national long distance calling, the government had proposed 'One-India' in a bid to create uniform call rate across the country and for this it had invited four telecom players.
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