RCom signed up a deal recently with HTC to sell the CDMA version of the Touch Diamond (P3051) phone. It might be good news for some people but with the price tag it carries, it surely is way out of budget for majority of the RCom users. They are selling it for freakin 40K or Rs. 39,900 to be precise. Agreed its got all the goodness of TouchFLO 3D on a 2.8-inch VGA screen, 4GB memory, Windows 6.1 OS, 3.2-megapixel camera and much more but paying 13K premium over the GSM version of Airtel doesn’t look justified to me. Ok, you argue that CDMA radio gives good voice clarity and better data rate transfers but paying 13K more for that is not a viable decision for me. Don’t you think?

TRAI has released the official subscriber figures for the month of August which makes the wireless subscriber count to pass the 300 million mark. This feat was possible because of the 9.16 million wireless subscribers which were added during the month.

Every player managed add an adequate number of subscribers but Bharti Airtel managed to cram up more than 2 million subscribers which makes it the leader of the wireless segment.

Russian telecom giant Sistema’s Indian subsidiary Shyam Telecom was the few new telecom operators to get the Pan-India license to start their services in both GSM and CDMA space.

The word has it that they will be initiating their services in Rajasthan followed by some southern states in the next 2-3 months. The company has already set-up 800 plus towers in Rajasthan to start its services. They will first go by the CDMA route trying to give some competition to major players like RCom and Tata Teleservices. Let us wait and see how it goes.

RCom a couple of days back added the Nokia 2505 to its range of handsets. This stylish clamshell comes with a sleek and elegant body and a 65,536 colors display with 128 x 160 pixels resolution. It is equipped with a Quick-press flashlight and FM radio. It also has a two-way handsfree speakerphone.

RCom is offering this bundled offer of connection + CDMA handset for Rs. 3099. Along with this, it is offering free talktime worth Rs 600. The sad part is, this talktime can only be used to make local calls from Reliance Mobile to Reliance Mobile and it is allotted to you in installments of Rs 50 per month for 12 months.

On the whole, this offering is not lucrative enough to tempt buyers to immediately go and grab it; on the contrary if you are looking to buy a Reliance connection then this offer can be given a thought.

Monday: Last week marked the sixth death anniversary of Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani and we at Tele Gyaan decided to pay him a small tribute.

Tuesday: Check out the cheapo vBling from Virgin Mobile. A flap phone for tight pockets. The latest update in the 3G spectrum scene is that DoT denied the allocation for CDMA operators. We know that these operators won’t gulp this pretty easily.

Wednesday: As one of our commenter points out “i hav been hearing since last yr
god knws when idea really hitz in mumbai circle”. And we thought the same initially but now they are raring to go. August is the month of the expected launch.

Thursday: Reliance is offering Jaadu Pack for Rs. 35. Check out the details here.

Friday: MTNL’s lifetime prepaid Jeevan Saathi has got cheaper. Now available for Rs. 149.

Department of Telecom has scrapped its plans to auction 3G spectrum for CDMA operators even as it is close to finalizing the policy for 3G services for GSM operators.

Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Shyam Telelink and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd are the major CDMA operators in the country which were supposed to auction for 3G services. But DoT has blocked this option on the grounds that it will clash with the spectrum of GSM players, thus leaving 71 million CDMA subscribers face an undecided future with regard to the availability of third generation mobile services.