» Telecom http://www.telegyaan.com Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:58:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Tata Comm’s N Srinath ranks ahead of Bharti’s Sunil Mittal http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/tata-comms-n-srinath-ranks-ahead-of-bharti%e2%80%99s-sunil-mittal/ http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/tata-comms-n-srinath-ranks-ahead-of-bharti%e2%80%99s-sunil-mittal/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:56:02 +0000 yogen http://www.telegyaan.com/?p=1593 N Srinath

Global Telecoms Business magazine has published its annual list of 100 business leaders from telecom industry across the world wherein it has ranked Tata Communications’ Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, N Srinath, at number 8 and its Chief Operating Officer, Vinod Kumar, at 60 in its global telecom power list.

The twist is that the magazine ranks Tata Communications N Srinath ahead of Bharti’s Chairman and group CEO, Sunil Mittal in the global telecom power list. Well this doesn’t really comes as a surprise as N Srinath was the sole Indian in last year’s top 10 list. Sunil Bharti Mittal, who is today considered to be one of the most influential man in the Indian telecom industry ranked at number 18.

The other Indians in the top 25 are Punit Garg, President and CEO, Reliance Globalcom (21), and Rajeev Suri, CEO of Nokia Siemens Networks (25).

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]]> http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/tata-comms-n-srinath-ranks-ahead-of-bharti%e2%80%99s-sunil-mittal/feed/ 0 Tata Teleservices crossed the 10 million subscriber mark in Maharashtra http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/tata-teleservices-crossed-the-10-million-subscriber-mark-in-maharashtra/ http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/tata-teleservices-crossed-the-10-million-subscriber-mark-in-maharashtra/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:24:56 +0000 yogen http://www.telegyaan.com/?p=1586 TTML

Tata Group and Tata Teleservices (TTSL) subsidiary, Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd. (TTML) today claimed crossing the 10 million subscriber base mark in the region. The region that comes under TTML comprise of the Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa circles.

Tata Teleservices which operates under both GSM and CDMA technologies has been lately investing a lot in its infrastructure development and researching and developing new products and services.

Expressing happiness and joy, Dr. Mukund Govind Rajan, Managing Director, TTML, said, “We are humbled by the response and the trust our consumers have reposed in us. We will continue to introduce cutting edge products and services and do our best to live up to the market’s expectations.” Further he added that, “TTML has been rated as the only congestion-free network in its geography, in four consecutive reports, by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.”

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]]> http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/tata-teleservices-crossed-the-10-million-subscriber-mark-in-maharashtra/feed/ 0 Aircel and BSNL to share network towers http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/aircel-and-bsnl-to-share-network-towers/ http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/aircel-and-bsnl-to-share-network-towers/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:05:08 +0000 yogen http://www.telegyaan.com/?p=1534 This is a first of its kind deal between a public and private telecom company. Aircel is the first telecom operator to sign a passive infrastructure sharing agreement with the publically owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

Mr Gurdeep Singh, COO, Aircel, said, “This is a historic moment for the company. Aircel will now have access to strategically located sites across BSNL’s 21 circles (excluding Mumbai & Delhi). Leveraging BSNL’s passive infrastructure will help Aircel meet its aggressive network roll out plans in addition to reducing operational cost.”

Mr Kuldeep Goyal, CMD, BSNL added, “We are happy to partner with Aircel. BSNL has a strong nationwide coverage and offers the best value proposition in the Indian telecom market. Our objective is to provide quality and reliable service and thereby increase our partner’s confidence”.

Aircel currently has approximately 32,000 network base stations across the country and post this partnership, it will also have access to BSNL’s 45,000 network towers across its 21 circles.

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]]> http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/aircel-and-bsnl-to-share-network-towers/feed/ 0 India takes on China to become world’s fastest growing telecom market http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/india-takes-on-china-to-become-worlds-fastest-growing-telecom-market/ http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/india-takes-on-china-to-become-worlds-fastest-growing-telecom-market/#comments Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:39:50 +0000 yogen http://www.telegyaan.com/?p=1569 india China

Moody’s Corporation, a global rating agency headquartered in New York City has termed India as the “world’s fastest growing telecom market”. As per the official statement released by the company, India’s net additions of 10 million subscribers per month have far outpaced China’s monthly rate of increase which is now below 8 million. About two years ago, China was having the maximum number of new subscribers on a monthly basis.

Moody’s explained that emerging markets with relatively low penetration continue to have above-average rates of increase in new subscribers, but those numbers tend to slow down in a while. However, in India the numbers seem to be growing by the day.

The agency pointed out that Indian telecom players are using innovative means such as outsourcing network management and sharing mobile infrastructure to keep costs low in extending services to under-served rural areas. Which is why the Indian telecom market operates on the lowest cost in the world and also offers the lowest tariffs to consumers averaging to 44 paise/minute. The Indian market has one of the highest number of operators in the world and the number of operators are increasing each year.

We say

This is definitely a laudable milestone and a great achievement. However, we see this as just the beginning as the penetration of mobile services in India is only 39% when compared to 150% in Hong Kong and 54% in China. The Indian telecom operators still have a huge rural population to tap in and for that they would have to continue with their cost control and innovative operational mechanism. Plus if they get the required support and a little sacrifice from the Government of India than no one can stop India from becoming the largest telecom market in the world.

Source: The Economic Times

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]]> http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/14/india-takes-on-china-to-become-worlds-fastest-growing-telecom-market/feed/ 0 Bharti eying Millicom’s business in Sri Lanka http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/12/bharti-eying-millicom%e2%80%99s-business-in-sri-lanka/ http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/12/bharti-eying-millicom%e2%80%99s-business-in-sri-lanka/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:27:25 +0000 yogen http://www.telegyaan.com/?p=1480 logo_tigo

After having an unsuccessful bid with South African based MTN, Bharti is now considering buying Millicom’s Sri Lankan assets. Millicom International Cellular, also known as Tigo, is a mobile phone network provider operating majorly in America, Africa and Asia. Based in Luxembourg, the company provides mobile services in 16 countries and has recently put its mobile operations in Sri Lanka up for sale.

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]]> http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/12/bharti-eying-millicom%e2%80%99s-business-in-sri-lanka/feed/ 0 TRAI becomes stern – Orders mobile operators to declare all hidden charges http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/12/trai-becomes-stern-%e2%80%93-orders-mobile-operators-to-declare-all-hidden-charges-and-riders/ http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/12/trai-becomes-stern-%e2%80%93-orders-mobile-operators-to-declare-all-hidden-charges-and-riders/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:50:40 +0000 yogen http://www.telegyaan.com/?p=1463 TRAI seems to be getting strict by the day, first it proposed to mandate the per second tariff option, now in a bid to bring more transparency in mobile tariffs, it intends to bring in a rule which will ask the operators to come clean on all hidden charges and other necessary details while announcing a new scheme/plan.

“There should not be any hidden charges and conditions when operators announce a tariff plan. Consumers should be able to understand the scheme being offered and operators should communicate their offers in an intelligible manner. We are planning to take up these issues in a holistic manner,” said Mr J. S. Sharma, Chairman, TRAI.

TRAI is also seeking additional data from operators who had recently announced tariff schemes to ensure that they offer what they promised. To further improve the quality of services, the regulator also proposes to come out with a report containing information on cell sites where call drops occur frequently.

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]]> http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/12/trai-becomes-stern-%e2%80%93-orders-mobile-operators-to-declare-all-hidden-charges-and-riders/feed/ 0 Per second billing to be a mandatory option: TRAI http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/09/per-second-billing-to-be-a-mandatory-option-trai/ http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/09/per-second-billing-to-be-a-mandatory-option-trai/#comments Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:44:23 +0000 yogen http://www.telegyaan.com/?p=1461 The news has been juggling for quite some time, but now it seems that the official word is out; TRAI today released a paper saying that telecom operators will have to provide an optional tariff of per second call tariff along with other packages and plans.


“Per second billing will be one of the options that telecom service providers have to provide,” Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman J S Sharma told reporters when asked about his views about the per second billing compulsion. He also indicated that currently TRAI is in a phase of preparing a consultation paper on this, the official details of which will be out in one to one and a half months.

The idea behind the move is to bring in a plan for consumers which offers per second billing. Currently, apart from Tata Docomo, new operator MTS is also providing consumers with the per second tariff option. Sharma further said, “Operators can offer it along with other plans. It does not mean we will fix the tariff. When we make recommendation on this issue, we will keep in view the interest of operators as well as consumers”.

Let’s hope Mr. Sharma brings in some good news for both the consumers as well as the service providers.

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]]> http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/09/per-second-billing-to-be-a-mandatory-option-trai/feed/ 2 TRAI’s per-second tariff – Good or Bad? http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/08/trai%e2%80%99s-per-second-tariff-%e2%80%93-good-or-bad/ http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/08/trai%e2%80%99s-per-second-tariff-%e2%80%93-good-or-bad/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:03:38 +0000 yogen http://www.telegyaan.com/?p=1441
pay per second

Couple of days back TRAI chairman Mr. J S Sharma came up with a proposal to propel telecom operators towards a new tariff system based on per second usage. In India, telecom operators presently follow the pulse system wherein consumers are charged for a full minute of airtime even if the call is shorter. The per second tariff system was introduced by TATA DOCOMO when it hit the headlines few months back. Now, if this new tariff system is good or bad, the answer is obvious – good for the consumers, bad for the operators.

CEO & Joint MD of Bharti Airtel, Manoj Kohli explains his concern towards this new pricing policy by saying,

TRAI has been following a policy of forbearance so this development comes as a surprise. Natural competitive play in the market has been instrumental in creating affordability in the market in the past and will continue to do so; we are awaiting the launch of TRAI’s consultation in this matter.

Similarly, Samaresh Parida, director (strategy), Vodafone Essar who was equally surprised by this proposal says,

Today the consumer has plenty of choices as you can see in the market place. We believe that free market forces ultimately drive these choices. However, we would be happy to participate in any consultative process with the regulator which is in the interest of long-term and sustained customer benefit.

The Indian telecom market is one of the most competitive markets in the world with mobile tariffs being amongst the lowest in the world. The market has evolved well in the past 10 years and with several other new entrants in the GSM market also expected to launch services with competitive packages will likely put pressure on existing players.

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]]> http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/08/trai%e2%80%99s-per-second-tariff-%e2%80%93-good-or-bad/feed/ 0 TRAI contemplating to mandate pay per second billing http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/06/trai-contemplating-to-mandate-pay-per-second-billing/ http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/06/trai-contemplating-to-mandate-pay-per-second-billing/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:58:08 +0000 Kunal Gangar http://www.telegyaan.com/?p=1433 ITU Telecom conference revealed another thing in addition to the 3G auction delay. TRAI chairman, J S Sharma told that they are looking to make it mandatory for operators to follow pay per second billing method. Tata DoCoMo is one of the adopters of such method and TRAI is looking to float a consultation paper within 2 months regarding the same.

Looks like good (and cheaper) times are ahead for the consumers.

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]]> http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/06/trai-contemplating-to-mandate-pay-per-second-billing/feed/ 1 3G Spectrum auction will now happen by Mar 31, 2010 http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/06/3g-spectrum-auction-will-now-happen-by-mar-31-2010/ http://www.telegyaan.com/2009/10/06/3g-spectrum-auction-will-now-happen-by-mar-31-2010/#comments Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:20:38 +0000 Kunal Gangar http://www.telegyaan.com/?p=1429 This one comes as no surprise. On the sidelines of ITU Telecom World in Geneva, Telecom Minister confirmed (again!) that the 3G spectrum auction will be conducted by March 31, 2010 and not by December 7. A further delay of about 3 months. Why? Well, foreign telcos will be joining in the bid and since the companies are asking for more time coz of the Christmas break, our telecom ministry saw no other viable option other than to delay it.

We Say: Honestly, we don’t want to say anything this time. Indian 3G auction has become a joke in the telecom world where we’re still trying to auction the spectrum for around 1 and a half years. We’ll believe when it finally happens. Oh by the way, do enter the fun little poll below so that we know what you think about it.

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