Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish at the loss of lives in Uttarakhand and noted that rescue operations are underway to help the affected.
The Swadeshi Jagaran Manch has pointed out that these firms pose a threat to domestic manufacturing and retailing as they do not pay relevant taxes such as GST, giving them a huge edge over local players.
The Telecom Ministry, which has sought a legal opinion on cancellation of some telecom licences for failure to meet roll-out deadlines, on Friday said the process of issuing notices over 35 licenses will be completed by March next year.
In July 2012, TDSAT gave split verdict where one of the bench member ruled in favour and other member ordered against it.
'He will conduct aerial surveys and take part in review meetings, where aspects of relief and rehabilitation will be discussed,' the PMO said in a tweet on Thursday night. Cyclone Amphan has left 72 people dead and thousands homeless in West Bengal, battering several parts of the state and washing away bridges and swamping low-lying areas.
Telcos in line of fire over call drops, inflated bills
Ahead of the coming auction of 2G telecom spectrum, the government has decided to allow all players to bid for all bands.
The Telecom Commission, which is the highest decision making authority within the Department of Telecommunications, on Wednesday, accepted the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on full-fledged mobile number portability.
People familiar with the proceedings said independent cybersecurity experts from a private consulting firm, technology lawyers, government officials and WhatsApp representatives were asked questions about the Pegasus spyware and the larger issues surrounding surveillance, hacking and remedial measures.
A barrage of requests by security agencies to a leading telecom company for telephone tapping led it to say a polite no even to the country's premier external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing.
Supreme Court had asked the government to issue RCom a NoC for spectrum sale to Reliance Jio Infocomm by December 9 if it furnishes a corporate guarantee of Rs 1,400 crore
Firms to pay Rs 24,700 cr if spectrum formula is accepted.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has sent a letter to the Pilibhit District Election Officer seeking necessary action against Bharatiya Janata Party MP.
Former Telecom Minister A Raja chose not to cross-examine today a key Central Bureau of Inmvestigation witness' testimony in the 2G spectrum case in a Delhi court saying he would wait till another accused to confront the witness.
The decision is likely to bring additional amount of about Rs 1,500 crore or Rs 15 billion (including interest) in the books of MTNL as refund from government for the pension that the PSU paid to its employees.
'Considering that an Internet company's market value is largely determined by its direct access to consumers for digital services, and largely served outside a sovereign country's control, it would appear reasonable in trade terms to discuss fees for a seat at the proverbial 'table' of opportunities in the largest open consumer market,' argues Venki Nishtala.
The proposal gains significance because the merger plan was given a quiet burial under former telecom minister A Raja.
The prime minister's office on Sunday dismissed suggestions that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sought to look the other way in issuance of controversial 2G spectrum licenses and said suggestions had been made informally to the Department of Telecom to ensure that there was level-playing field between the existing operators and new entrants.
'We don't have any agenda in that, there will be no discrimination against anyone. Constitution will be Gita in that'
Newer telecom operators and dual technology entities are opposing the department of telecommunications (DoT)'s decision to ask the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to give its view on whether the price of spectrum being offered in the coming 2G auction should be valid for 10 years instead of 20 years.
The minister said the companies have given representation which is being examined by the DoT before taking a final decision.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia asked the company to file its representation before the IT department.
Delhi High Court says it can do so under the TRAI Act, rejects petitions filed by telecom associations.
RIM says it cannot provide access to the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution as it does not possess any key and the security architecture is the same around the world.
Handset firms Karbonn and Lava International launched their smartphones, while Maxx Mobiles introduced its feature phone targetted at the rural market.
The income tax department has moved the Supreme Court stating that private telecom service providers are liable to deduct tax at source for the payments made to state-owned BSNL and MTNL for inter-connectivity.
Reliance Industries, which holds pan-India 4G telecom spectrum for data services, has applied for a licence to offer mobile telephony.
Bharti Airtel, the country's largest mobile operator, has already joined the global Seamless Alliance to provide in-flight connectivity.
Former Telecom Secretary D S Mathur on Tuesday told a Delhi court that he did not find the Department of Telecom officially processing some key letters on the 2G spectrum allocation issue, exchanged between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and erstwhile Telecom Minister A Raja.
In a relief to the incumbent telecom operators, who have more than 6.2 MHz spectrum, the department of telecom (DoT) on Friday clarified the retrospective fee on spectrum beyond 6.2 MHz would be calculated based on the 2001 auction price, indexed to the prime lending rate (PLR) of a state-owned bank.
'At least three top bureaucrats have been declared guilty in recent years in connection with scams where they had no pecuniary benefit.' 'But in the telecom case, a money trail is declared irrelevant because no scam has been proved in the first place.' 'Fair enough; so we must punish illegality without criminality, but ignore possible criminality as suggestive of illegality,' points out T N Ninan.
The government will send notices to 85 companies asking why their licences should not be cancelled for suppressing facts, said Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday.
Terming unsolicited calls by the telemarketers as a "menace", Minister of State for Telecom Sachin Pilot said the government will soon put a complete curb on such calls and SMSes.
Mobile subscribers from May 3 will be able to port their numbers anywhere in the country.
Telcos demanding OTT players to come under some sort of regulation as they are eating into their SMS and voice revenues.
The Government had earlier asked the operators to take security clearance before buying any key telecom gear.
To make the scheme attractive, the government has announced a rate structure wherein the operators may take the optical fibre on lease and provide broadband connectivity to customers.
Bharti recorded $5 billion liability for past-due AGR fees, but is still completing its self-assessment to determine the final amount.
It is learnt that the defence ministry is refusing to let go of its 100 MHz spectrum, which was allotted earlier. In that case, the department of telecommunications (DoT) will be left with only 175 MW of 5G spectrum of the total 300 MHz.
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