Indian Base Station emissions levels below International Standards
According to a survey commissioned by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI), radio emissions from mobile phone towers in Delhi, India have been found to be hundreds of times below international safety standards.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai (IITM), Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai (TCE) and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology, Chennai (CEWIT), while carrying out measurements on electromagnetic radiation at over 180 locations in New Delhi found that in all circumstances, the Cumulative Measurements were well below the compliance limit set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), adopted by the Government for the Telecom sector in India, bringing it at par to International safety standards.
While adopting international standards on public health and safety in 2008, companies in India must by law adhere to prescribed limits for Base Station Antennae for general public exposure.
The study measured cumulative emissions within the 800 to 2000MHZ band of frequency (which includes both GSM and CDMA technologies) across in the nation’s capital using calibrated equipment, as per the Dot prescribed procedure in line with the ICNIRP specifications.. The basic restrictions/proper limits for power density specified in ICNIRP guidelines for safe frequencies between 400 to 2000 MHz are as follows:
| Type of Exposure | 900MHz(inW/m2) | 1800MHz (in W/m2) |
| Occupational | 22.5 | 45 |
| General Public | 4.5 | 9 |
?According to Prof. P.R.Goundan, Joint Director Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology, Chennai,it is one of the first studies carried out in the Indian environment to assess the level of emissions from the Mobile Towers. They are happy to note that the cumulative emissions are well below the prescribed limits and that service providers in India are in compliance with set safety norms.
The study was commissioned in tandem by COAI and AUSPI as a response to growing public concern over myths associated with the emissions from the cellular mobile towers and its alleged health effects on the human body.
Sprint Nextel inks 3-Year IDEN deal with Motorola (USA)
Sprint Nextel has confirmed that it will continue to buy iDEN services from Motorola for at least the next three years. The company lately announced that it will be planning, migrating its iDEN subscribers over to an upgraded CDMA network, but the timeline for the migration is a lengthy one.
The new agreement will formally extend Sprint and Motorola Solutions’ contractual iDEN relationship through 2013 and covers the supply of software and services.
According to Mike Fox, General Manager, iDEN Products and Solutions, Motorola Solutions, Motorola has been a proud partner with Sprint in delivering the industry’s best PTT service for more than 17 years. They are pleased to continue partnering with Sprint to support their iDEN network through 2013, and they are equally excited about the launch of additional iDEN devices for Sprint PTT customers.
Sprint has also announced that several new iDEN handsets will be available in the first quarter of 2011.
According to Mark Shockley, Senior Vice President, Motorola Mobility, in line with Motorola Solutions’ ongoing support of the iDEN network, Motorola Mobility is committed to working with Sprint. They look forward to bringing exciting new devices to market, including compelling next-generation push-to-talk solutions in the coming year.
Wind River and VIA Telecom Collaborate on Android Solution for Smartphones
Wind River has teamed with VIA Telecom on a multiyear project, codenamed Kunlun, to help bring low-cost Android smartphones featuring high-end capabilities to regional original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for the Chinese code division multiple access (CDMA) market. The collaboration delivers an integrated software and hardware Android solution to help OEMs meet network operator requirements and deliver Android devices to market faster with greater engineering efficiencies.
The Android software stack at the heart of Kunlun leverages Wind River Platform for Android, a validated and fully compliant commercial-quality software platform based on the Android software development kit. Designed to lower total cost of ownership and accelerate time-to-market for OEMs, Wind River Platform for Android has been customized to meet the acceptance criteria for Chinese operator networks. VIA Telecom delivered the 3G EVDO Rev. A and 1xRTT modem and telephony software and created the PCBA (print circuit board assembly) phone board hardware. While Kunlun initially targets the Chinese market, this integrated software and hardware offering provides a common PCBA platform to create Android devices that can be easily adapted for other markets.
“Working closely with VIA Telecom, Wind River is able to help OEMs gain quick entry into the lucrative Chinese mobile market by delivering high-quality and low-cost Android devices certified on Chinese operator networks,” said Michael Krutz, vice president of worldwide solutions and services at Wind River. “Kunlun is a reliable turnkey software and hardware Android platform that allows OEMs to bypass complex, expensive and time-consuming engineering hurdles such as integration and testing and focus their efforts on the features that will help them differentiate themselves from competitors.”
“Kunlun helps eliminate significant cost and engineering obstacles for entry into the Android market for OEMs. Our work with Wind River allows us to now deliver Android to our large customer base by providing a powerful yet affordable integrated solution to help regional OEMs get their Android devices to market quickly,” said Dr. Ker Zhang, chief executive officer of VIA Telecom. “It was critical to find a partner who had the expertise to smoothly integrate the many complex elements from each contributor and possessed knowledge of Chinese operator and Android requirements. Wind River seemed the obvious choice.”
“Android’s rapid growth and demand in the market place have made it a key platform for developers and OEMs,” said William Stofega, program director of Mobile Phone Technology and Trends at IDC. “China is the world’s largest mobile market and a prime target for Android devices at all levels, especially low-cost yet feature-rich smartphones.”
Using the flexible Kunlun PCBA platform, regional OEMs are able to bring low-cost Android devices that feature high-end capabilities to new markets. Devices developed from the Kunlun PCBA platform may include features such as GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM radio, camera, touchpad, keyboard and microSD for external memory.
As the primary system integrator of software components, Wind River provided critical elements such as overall system integration, optimization and testing. Wind River Framework for Automated Software Testing (FAST) for Android, an automated software testing solution for Android-based devices, was used to rapidly test and validate software and prove compliance with the Android Compatibility Test Suite. Wind River FAST for Android can be customized for leading silicon architectures, across any device manufacturer or operator in need of testing Android software stacks.
Additional information about Wind River Platform for Android is available at http://www.windriver.com/solutions/mobile-devices/android.html.
About Wind River
Wind River, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation, is a world leader in embedded and mobile software. Wind River has been pioneering computing inside embedded devices since 1981, and its technology is found in more than 500 million products. Wind River is headquartered in Alameda, Calif., with offices in more than 15 countries. To learn more, visit Wind River at www.windriver.com or blogs.windriver.com.
CAT denies renewed talks to acquire Hutch (Thailand)
CAT Telecom has repeated that its attempt to take over the Hutch mobile phone business has collapsed and claims that it has no intention of resuming negotiations.
According to President Jirayuth Roongsrithong, the state telecom enterprise was now awaiting a conclusion from True Move about CAT’s involvement in business.
True Move, the country’s third ranked mobile operator, has stated that it is conducting due diligence following its talks with Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom to acquire the Hutch business.
Mr Jirayuth has also denied media reports saying CAT was re-launching a new conditional bid to purchase Hutch after the Hong Kong partner earlier rejected its offered price as too low. It is also impossible for CAT to propose a new bid to purchase Hutch now that the deal is already closed. CAT was waiting for True Move to complete its deal to clear legal issues and disputes between CAT and Hutch over excise tax, numbering fees and interconnection charges worth more than one billion baht in total.
The state enterprise also wants to know the future business plan for Hutch’s CDMA service if True Move takes over, as CAT does not want to lose benefits.
Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia, a 74:26 joint venture between Hutchison and CAT Telecom, markets the CDMA service under the Hutch brand. The company signed a 15-year marketing contract with CAT that ends in 2015.
Mr Jirayuth added that there was no need for CAT to get involved in a new business structure or takeover price, as that is now only between True Move and Hutch.
According to Supachai Chearavanont – the chief executive of True Corp, his company was close to striking a takeover of Hutch this month after it finishes its due diligence. He declined to give further details.
Kapil Sibal assures to find solutions for department’s ban on some 3G services (India)
Telecoms minister Kapil Sibal has assured that it will find solutions to his department’s ban on offering some 3G services, including the video call facility soon.
On Tuesday, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had sent notices to Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices asking them to withdraw all 3G services that can not be monitored. A similar communication was sent to Bharti Airtel that plans to launch 3G services before December-end.
RCOM and Tata Teleservices are the first two private companies to launch 3G services.
According to AUSPI’s (Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India) Secretary General S C Khanna, the body representing mobile phone companies on CDMA and dual tech platforms, met Mr Sibal on Thursday, who agreed to take up the issue with the home ministry and find a solution.
AUSPI also shot off a communication to the telecoms minister seeking that the ban be revoked. According to the industry body, live-interception of video calls was only possible when the call ended, and added that both vendors to operators were building the technologies that will allow security agencies to do so.
AUSPI also stated that it will take six to nine months to implement this system. The industry body also pointed out that the ban was not treating all players at par since the same services were available from state-run telcos BSNL and MTNL for more than a year.
According to Kapil Sibal, this is seriously distorting further the level playing field. The direction by the telecoms department for stopping the video-based 3G service is depriving the customers of our members of the next generation telecom services.
The AUSPI communication also pointed out that companies who had paid more than US$11.29 billion for airwaves to offer 3G services, and video calls were expected to be huge revenue churners for telcos, but the ban had rendered the received spectrum and network unproductive.
Expresso assures to be different from Kasapa
The CDMA operator in Ghana, Expresso Telecom has stated that it would be completely different from its predecessor, Kasapa, in ways that mobile subscribers have not witnessed in this country before.
According to Marketing Manager of Expresso Ghana, Mr Frederick Quainoo, Kasapa used to do things in very small ways, but Expresso is going to do big things in Ghana and offer Ghanaians innovative services and big events. They are about to unleash products, services and events that Ghanaians have never seen before in this country. Kasapa hardly did any big events or promotions in Ghana, but those days were over. The CDMA technology allows for extended coverage and superior voice quality and Expresso has the capacity to deliver products and services to Ghanaians that were true value for money and the way telecom service was supposed to be. Expresso is the title sponsor for this year’s Joy FM Night with the Stars, and Ghanaians can expect more from Expresso in that direction.
Mr Qauinoo added that the company is yet to launch its big nationwide promotion, but the company has already installed enough equipment to provide nationwide congestion-free coverage, and is also providing dual SIM phones in collaboration with RLG Phones. Their dual SIM phones are the r221 and r222 among the RLG R-series phones, and they are already on the market.
Mr Quainoo further stated that the dual SIM phones allow users to access CDMA service on Expresso and GSM services from any of the GSM providers in the country. Expresso had also introduced what is arguably one of the fasted inter net dongles in the country.
As per Mr Quainoo, the dongle, dubbed: “CLIQ”, is designed to put the world at the fingertips of users, such that one click takes the user straight to what he or she was searching for on the web. The added value CLIQ brings is that often, the service is available in the office and also at home, and the user experiences the same qualit. The unique speed of CLIQ is as a result of the superiority of CDMA Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) revision, which is a technology that powers Expresso’s network.
Mr Quainoo urged Ghanaians to use CLIQ, saying it offers reliable, stable and secure internet connection with real-time video streaming, call and SMS functions and downloading and running of video clips in real-time.
Currently the company operates in Muaritania, Senegal, Nigeria, Guinea-Conakry and Ghana.
Aircel challenges hike in spectrum usage charge (India)
A leading telecom operator Aircel has joined with other three service providers — Bharti, Vodafone and Idea — and moved Supreme Court against hike in spectrum usage charge.
According to reports, the bench, headed by Chief Justice SH Kapadia, has now sought a response from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on the matter, and a date of 27 January 2011 has been set for hearing not only Aircel’s case, but also the petitions from the other three aforementioned cellcos.
The development comes after reports last month that the Supreme Court had stayed an order made by the TDSAT which upheld increases in the charges for 2G spectrum usage. The ruling followed an appeal against TDSAT’s decision by the three GSM operators, prompted by the DoT’s February 2010 unveiling of revised spectrum charges for both GSM and CDMA operators; the DoT proposed an increase of up to 50%, with the charge rising to between 3% and 8% of revenue.
Vodafone has to pay US$30.01 million and the two Bharti firms have a joint liability of US$48.92 milion on account of enhanced spectrum usage charges.
Bharti, Idea back TRAI report on active mobile users
Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular said that the telecom regulator’s report on active mobile users nails the canards and lies spread by a particular set of telecom operators falsely alleging that established and performing GSM operators have been reporting inflated customer numbers.
The TRAI report exposes the double standards of these operators. Paradoxically, they are the ones who have inflated their own numbers as evidenced in the report of their VLR records establishing a very low active customer base both for their long established CDMA operations and the relatively new GSM operations.
With close to 90 per cent active customers for Bharti and 88 per cent for Idea, we have maintained high reporting standards to serve genuine information needs, rather than spurious propaganda needs. We welcome this new initiative of the TRAI to capture the real active telecom user base in the country,†said the joint statement.
Last week, TRAI had released a report which stated that there were only 482 million active mobile subscribers in the country as on September 30.
Regular users
While the mobile operators have reported a total of 687.7 million subscribers at the end of September, TRAI said that only 70 per cent of the total wireless subscribers were found to be regular users.
This is the first time that TRAI has revealed the active number of subscriber base using the Visitor Location Register (VLR). This system of calculating subscribers shows only those subscribers who make calls or send text messages regularly.
According to the TRAI report released on Thursday, Bharti Airtel had the highest number of active subscribers on its network at 89 per cent, while new GSM player STel has the lowest with just 24 per cent of its user base active.
Other new operators including Uninor, Loop and Sistema Shyam have less than 50 per cent active subscribers.
Starcomms settle $81 million tower deal
Nigerian CDMA operator Starcomms has announced the conclusion of a sale and lease-back agreement with Swap Technologies and telecomms for 407 of its 557 base station towers.
As per the terms of the US$81.4 million transaction, Swap will take over the operation and maintenance of the 407 towers, including the physical structures and power components. Meanwhile, the core network and radio components will remain under Starcomms’ ownership and control. The lease agreement is for an initial duration of 15 years, and allows the CDMA operator full access to the towers to operate its network.
According to Starcomms’ CEO, Maher Qubain, by leasing rather than owning these passive infrastructure network facilities, they can free up capital to fund additional growth, reduce debts and operational costs in the company, as well as allow management to focus on its core business.
He added that US$67 million of the sale proceeds will go towards the repayment of a large portion of the company’s bank debts, while the remaining US$14.4 million will be used to fund growth of the business.
Telkom’s Multi-Links plans to exit CDMA market
Nigeria’s premier Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operator, Multi-Links Nigeria is planning to exit the CDMA market, as a part of its strategic repositioning efforts in the Nigerian market.
According to Multi-Links Telkom Nigeria’s Acting Chief Executive Officer, Vincent Raseroka, the decision to exit the market was purely based on business realities. It is strategically, financially and commercially challenging for them to continue to do business in this segment. With a current market share of 2.6% in a market dominated by the GSM technology, it has become imperative that we explore other options and chart a new path to growth and profitability for ourselves as a business by utilising our fixed infrastructure here in Nigeria. A number of contracts have rendered Multi-Link Telkom’s CDMA business unprofitable and unsustainable. His company was committed to reducing costs in a manner that ensures sustainable long-term benefits.
Raseroka added that despite the comprehensive turnaround programme of the company in March this year, the CDMA business in Nigeria is still facing stiff challenges in a highly competitive environment, requiring scale to successfully compete. Despite recent intervention, Multi-Links operating revenue decreased by 1.7%.
Subscriptions and connections revenue decreased 18.2% due to termination of access fees as a result of increased competition. Traffic revenue decreased 24.6% mainly due to decrease in traffic volumes and higher churn rates. For the time being, their CDMA operations will continue to run as usual. Multi-Links will work with the NCC to find a solution. Once the decision is finalized, Multi-Links will notify customers accordingly with sufficient lead time.
