Sixth Pay Commission has urged the government that all Indian Telecom Service (Group A) officers be absorbed in the public sector telecom service providers, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd & Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd, or sent to the surplus pool. It has also suggested winding up of the Telecom Commission saying BSNL and MTNL now provide extensive services along with several private sector operators. The report states there is no need to retain the 2400 cadre strong-ITS (Group A).
The Telecom Commission, the policy-making wing of the DoT, will soon take up the issue of divestment in state-run BSNL, Telecom Minister A Raja said on Wednesday.
The long-awaited 5G spectrum auction is expected to be held in May this year if the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) submits by March its recommendations on the rules regarding the sale process, according to a senior official of the telecom department. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw earlier this month said the Trai has informed that it will submit its recommendations for the 5G auction by March and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is simultaneously firming up other processes to hold the auction at the earliest. "Trai has indicated that they will send it (recommendations) by March. "Thereafter, it will take us a month to make a decision around it," telecom secretary K Rajaraman told PTI.
Availability of Wi-Fi is also expected to provide local airlines an additional source of revenues amid stiff competition in the fast growing Indian aviation market.
The new licences will do away with different kinds of permits that are issued to telecom companies for offering various services.
There are different prices for spectrum up to contracted limit of 6.2 Mhz and for additional airwaves.
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.
All existing emergency numbers will be phased out within a year of rolling out 112, depending upon the awareness about this new facility.
The Cabinet last month approved rules for mega-spectrum auction in which airwaves worth Rs 5.66 lakh crore will be put up for sale.
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TC at its meeting here recommended to an Empowered Group of Ministers that reserve price for pan-India 1800 MHz spectrum be fixed 15 per cent higher than Trai suggested rates.
A DoT panel has suggested completely opening up the telecom sector to foreign direct investment, a move which is expected to bring in fresh funds into the industry that is facing a financial crisis.
Now BSNL customers will be able to make calls using the company's mobile app 'Wings' to any phone number in the country.
The govt is expected to achieve the revenue target of Rs 40,000 crore from spectrum sale this fiscal, Telecom Secretary M F Farooqui said.
The regulator added that a split auction of 2100 MHz, used for 3G services, will 'artificially increase the market price of 2100 Mz in February 2015 (auction) because of the severe supply constraint'.
Telecom players have started protesting against government's move to allow Voice over Internet Protocol. They say Reliance will be the biggest beneficiary.
The framework for new licences will be ready by end of this financial year.
The recommendations of the commission will now be put before the empowered group of ministers headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram for a final decision.
Will Mukesh Ambani disrupt the telecom market by offering consumers voice calls at rock-bottom tariff?
Ahead of the coming auction of 2G telecom spectrum, the government has decided to allow all players to bid for all bands.
Telecom Commission says refarm all spectrum in 900-MHz band to 1,800-MHz band operators.
The telecom industry, with a cumulative debt of around Rs 2,75,000 crore (Rs 2,750 billion), has been mired in various controversies, besides facing intense competition, low tariffs and falling margins.
The Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India, the CDMA operators' body, said mobile services could become dearer by 28 paisa per minute if the recommendations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India are accepted in their current form.
The commission has disagreed with another key proposal -- that of allowing operators a deferred payment scheme after the auction.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said a strong domestic manufacturing base in electronics and telecommunications will mitigate burden of growing imports for the sector.
In a move that could pave the way for open auction of the 2G spectrum released from 122 cancelled operators, a draft Cabinet note prepared by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has recommended the spectrum price be discovered through an auction involving "existing players and new parties".
The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against three private cellular companies and former officials of the telecom department for alleged irregularities in the grant of additional 2G Spectrum and causing a loss of Rs 508 crore during the period 2001-2007.
The Telecom Commission (TC) on Saturday put the onus of deciding the contentious issue of the base price for auction of 1,800 MHz of 2G band spectrum on the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Earlier, the Telecom Commission, a decision-making arm of the Telecom Ministry, had recommended that the government pick up a majority stake in the special purpose vehicle created to execute the sale of surplus land lying with VSNL (now Tata Communications).
Firms to pay Rs 24,700 cr if spectrum formula is accepted.
Regulator puts price at average of 1.65 times 3G cost; Sibal's approval needed for rollout.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday said it had seized "incriminating" documents during searches at 14 places, including former telecom minister A Raja's residence, in connection with its probe into the 2G spectrum scam.
Earlier, during the day, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal met various operators to discuss the national broadband policy.
Despite getting lukewarm response from the earlier two auctions, the government on Monday said it is confident of meeting the revenue target of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) from spectrum sale this fiscal.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday defended Home Minister P Chidamabaram in the Supreme Court in the 2G scam by blaming the Department of Telecommunication for "jumping the gun" in spectrum allocation.
The government on Friday said telecom companies would be heard before a decision is taken on telecom regulator TRAI's recommendations on spectrum related issues, including levying a one-time charge for excess air waves.
A senior official in the Telecom Ministry said the government is considering an exit option for the new telecom players who are struggling to roll out services.
The decision of the Telecom Commission to approve in-flight connectivity won't just bring cheer to the chat-friendly passengers, but even more to the telecom industry facing severe financial stress, says Nivedita Mookerji.
Telecom Minister A Raja has been indicted by the CAG in the 2G spectrum scam, which resulted in a loss of about Rs 1,70,000 crore.
An attempt is to be made over the next month to get over the opposition of staff unions to the Pitroda Committee recommendations on the revamp of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), the state telecom network outside Mumbai and Delhi.
The government has set a total revenue target of Rs 40,874.5 crore (Rs 408.74 billion) this fiscal from spectrum, including auction amount, one-time spectrum charge and annual regular licence fee.
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