Airtel partners with Axis Bank for mobile banking services (India)
India’s leading telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, has entered into a partnership with Axis Bank, enabling customers to carry out basic transactions such as transfer money as well as deposit and withdraw cash via Airtel Money.
As per reports, Bharti Airtel chief executive, India and South Asia, Sanjay Kapoor said that following the recent pan-India launch of Airtel money, they are today excited to collaborate with Axis Bank to further strengthen their m-commerce proposition for customers.
He added that the services will first be offered in Delhi and Mumbai on the sending side, and Bihar and East Uttar Pradesh on the receiving side. Thereafter, these services may be extended to other remittance corridors in the country.
Kapoor also said that according to estimates, nearly 43 per cent of the country’s population does not have bank accounts-the ‘Airtel money Super Account powered by Axis Bank’ acts as a no-frills bank account that comes with remittance capabilities.
Axis Bank MD and CEO Shikha Sharma said that their alliance with Airtel will help the bank to reach out to excluded segments of their population, both in rural and urban centres, with reasonably priced banking and financial services.
Uninor launches talk time transfer service in Bihar, Jharkhand (India)
Uninor has launched ‘Talk Time Transfer’ offer for its customers in Bihar and Jharkhand. This facility allows Uninor prepaid subscribers to transfer as well ask for talk time for their family, friends or associates.
Customers can ask for talk-time even at a zero balance. Subscribers can transfer balance amounts ranging from a minimum of US$0.11 to a maximum of US$1.11. On any given day, a maximum of seven such transactions are allowed.
This facility is available only between two MSISDNS of Bihar circle, anywhere in the country. Every transfer of talk-time would be intimated through SMS to both the parties and US$0.04 will be deducted as processing fee from the amount transferred. Subscriber has to do minimum of two recharges, while being there in Uninor network, before being able to use the balance transfer functionality.
Reliance Communications launches 3G services in Jharkhand (India)
Reliance Communications has launched the first 3G network in Jharkhand. In the first phase, the services will be available in 6 towns of Jharkhand including Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Hazaribagh and Jharia. Recently, Reliance Communications had launched 3G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chandigarh.
The network is capable of offering peak speeds up to 28 Mbps.
Reliance Communications will be launching Reliance 3G services across all 13 telecom circles, where it holds 3G licenses, by end of Fiscal 2010-11. The company is aiming to offer national 3G coverage through associations with other 3G licensees in the balance 9 telecom circles during the course of next year.
Reliance Communications holds 3G licenses in the telecom circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Orissa and Assam.
RCOM rolls out 3G services in Bihar (India)
India’s second largest mobile network operator, Reliance Communications (RCOM) has reportedly announced that it has launched its 3G services in Bihar (including Jharkhand).
Initially 3G services in the Bihar circle were restricted to the city of Patna, but the company has stated that a further nine cities Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Chhapra, Ara, Katihar, Begusarai , Biharsharif and Hazipur — will be covered by the end of this month.
In Jharkhand, meanwhile, six cities — Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Jharia and Chas — will be covered in the first phase. According to Reliance Communications’ regional head, Vivek K Garg, Reliance 3G places them in a unique position with their suite of offerings covering 3G, CDMA, GSM and mobile broadband data services on the wireless platform.
3G connections to reach 400 mn mark in four years (India)
A new study has revealed that the number of 3G subscriber connections in India are predicted to reach 400 million mark within four years, representing almost 30% of the country’s total mobile connections.
According to the study, 3G connections are set to grow three-fold between 2011 and 2015 as operators ramp-up launch of new 3G networks.
It added that Indian operators spent a combined $15 billion in acquiring Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) 3G spectrum at an auction last year and are forecast to jointly invest a further $2.5 billion in building the new networks and launching 3G services in 2011. More than 80% of 3G connections would be based on WCDMA in five years, with the remaining 20% on CDMA-based 3G networks. Competition in the Indian 3G space is likely to be intense as most operators have set ambitious targets.
The study notes that India’s Circle A and Circle B service areas would account for 75% of the country’s 3G connections by 2015. Even though initial 3G launches are concentrated in the so-called metro areas (Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata), they will soon be outstripped by fast-growing demand for 3G in more populous regions such as Punjab, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.
According to the study, by 2015, 3G market shares will more closely resemble the overall national picture: Bharti — India’s largest operator — is forecast to command the largest 3G share (18 per cent), followed by Reliance (15 per cent) and BSNL (13 per cent).
Ericsson win contract for 3G launch in six circles (India)
Ericsson, a telecom equipment maker has won a contract for launching 3G network infrastructure across six circles.
According to Ericsson, Aircel has selected Ericsson for the launch of 3G/HSPA network across six out of its 13 circles, which currently provide over 100 million subscribers. Ericsson will be Aircel’s largest partner for 3G implementation.
According to Aircel COO Gurdeep Singh, the company is confident that with this partnership, Aircel will be benefited from Ericsson’s global expertise of 3G deployments, and will be able to offer customers a world-class 3G experience.
With the roll out of 3G services, Aircel customers would have the access to the services like video telephony, mobile broadband, mobile TV and faster downloads on their handsets.
As per the agreement, Ericsson will provide core, radio and transmission network equipment along with network rollout, network technology and consulting and other support services.
The six Aircel circles cover — Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, North East and Assam. The framework contract will be implemented from 2010 to 2012.
The company did not disclose financial details of the contract.
Batelco’s 3Q net profit drops 24%; mobile users more than doubled
Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) has recorded a 24% year-on-year plunge in Q3 net profit to lower revenues in its domestic market, while the results also revealed its share of losses from STel, its start-up mobile joint venture in India.
According to Batelco’s chairman Shaikh Hamad Bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, net income for the three months ended 30 September 2010 dropped to US$51.1 million, down from US$67.10 million in the corresponding period of 2009.
As per reports, over the first nine months of 2010 Batelco’s total revenues were as US$678.29, with net profit falling 17% year-on-year to US$175.06million. Nine-month operating profit of US$214.31 million represented a 3% decline compared to the same period in 2009.The group’s total number of customers stood at 7.9 million at end-September 2010, including a mobile subscriber base of around 7.5 million, up 53% from 4.9 million a year earlier.
Umniah, Batelco’s 96%-owned subsidiary in Jordan, reached a mobile customer base of 1.8 million, while Sabafon in Yemen, in which the group holds 26.9% equity, reached 3.2 million subscribers.
Saudi venture Etihad Atheeb (15% owned by Batelco, offering services under the GO brand) recorded a total of 92,000 customers, up 5% quarter-on-quarter. Subscriber numbers at STel rose to 1.64 million across its operations in Bihar, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh and the recently launched Assam and North East telecoms circles of India.
Batelco’s mobile customer base in Bahrain down by 4% quarter-on-quarter to 836,000 at the end of September 2010, while broadband users also declined in the quarter to 86,000 customers, representing a 2% drop.
According to the company, loss of profitable market share at home, particularly in the key areas of mobile, broadband and International Direct Dial (IDD), has presented Batelco with tough challenges in the home market … Batelco’s transformation into a lower cost organization is underway.
BSNL to expand its networks in Naxalite Areas
India’s government has ordered BSNL to spread out its networks in poorly served areas which are presently suffering from naxalite terrorism. These areas have been inadequately served by mobile networks, either due to economic reasons, or because of the ongoing terrorist revolt.
The Naxalites are Maoist communist group in India, leaders of the Naxalite-Maoist riot. They have a method of attacking mobile phone networks and taking down their towers – after claiming that the police use the networks to track their mobile phones.
According to a government official, the move to level mobile communications is part of the UPA Government’s inclusive growth agenda.Once people get access to mobile services it can strengthen their economic condition, which in turn have an enduring force on naxal activities.
BSNL has been inculcated to roll out 500 new base stations across 31 districts in Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The districts being enclosed include Dantewada, Dhanbad and Singhbum, which are some of the worst naxal- affected areas in the country.
There are already about 1,500 mobile towers in these 30 districts covering about 40% of the geography. The additional 500 towers would take the coverage to about 50%.
BSNL to launch ‘Mobile Money Transfer’ service
BSNL will soon launch ‘Mobile Money Transfer’ service to offer banking facilities to its customers.
According to General Manager Vijay Kumar, BSNL Bihar, with this service, customers would easily pay their bills via mobile or fixed line phones. Customer can avail this service by simply calling their banks to transfer money for the payment of the bill.
The BSNL has sealed the deal with State Bank of India (SBI) for the execution of the proposed money transfer scheme.
Referring to the jamming on the BSNL network in Kishanganj district, the company proposed to set up 10 new base transceiver station (BTS) in the district to reduce the problem.
ByCell license cancelled by India’s DoT
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The mobile network operator licenses awarded to Russian-owned, Swiss-registered ByCell has been revoked by India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on the grounds of security concerns. The operator was allowed to launch services in five circles; Assam, Orissa, Bihar, North East and West Bengal.
According to the letter from the regulator to ByCell’s CEO, the five letters of intent (LoI) are hereby withdrawn as the security clearance and all the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approvals granted to the company have been withdrawn.
The entry fee and performance guarantee, paid by the telco as part of its concession award, totalling INR860 million (USD19.33 million) will be refunded by DoT.
In May 2009, a report came as per which the approval granted to ByCell by FIPB to roll out a GSM network was withdrawn on the back of renewed security concerns after calls by the revenue department and the Ministry of Home Affairs to review the operator’s application. Company’s source of funding and shareholding structure was the reason of concern for both the government bodies.
