Vodafone Essar selects Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks for 3G roll-out (India)
Vodafone Essar, India has selected Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson to roll-out 3G network. The financial details are not yet disclosed.
Ericsson will provide equipment to cover India’s largest metropolitan cities; Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata, while Nokia Siemens Networks will supply, employ and manage its 3G network in six circles – Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh (East), rest of West Bengal and Haryana – where it secured 3G spectrum.
Ericsson will provide the RAN system, network rollout services, tuning, spare parts and training services, along with the 3G common core platform and will start the transmission in the coming months.
Nokia Siemens Networks will provide services like network planning and project management to enable 3G network implementation. Nokia Siemens Networks will also operate the 3G network for three years under a managed services contract.
SC notice to Airtel, Vodafone on BSNL plea
The Supreme Court has issued notices to Bharti Airtel and Vodafone on a BSNL petition, seeking that the private telecom operators pay interconnection charges, along with penalty, for transferring to its network their calls that did not identify phone numbers.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia issued notice to Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar Gujarat directing them to file their reply. According to the court, it would hear BSNL’s plea later, along with a similar case where the state-owned firm is in dispute with Reliance Communications.
BSNL had asked Bharti Airtel and Vodafone to pay more than US$1.96 million for routing calls with non-Caller Line Identification (CLI), partial CLI and unauthorized CLI from its Wireless in local loop, or WLL and basic landline phones from May 2003 to August 2005.
According to BSNL, as per the Interconnect Agreement with the private telcos, it is entitled to charge in highest slab, which is for incoming ISD calls.
BSNL has issued disconnection notice to the operators, which was challenged by them before the telecom tribunal TDSAT. The court, passed a temporary order on May 29, 2008, directed Airtel to deposit a sum of US$0.76 million.
However, in February 2010 Telecom arguments Settlement and Appellate court passed its final order and set aside PSU’s demand.
The order was challenged by BSNL in the Court.
It has competed that demand raised by BSNL for the relevant period is legal and BSNL is fully entitled to recover… Even the interconnect agreements signed in the year 2002 (between BSNL and Bharti) entitles it to make and raise demand.
BSNL added, “… Calls with regard to non-CLI, incomplete CLI or unauthorised CLI or wrong hand of call shall be liable to be charges at the highest slab, which is rates applicable to the IUC of incoming ISD Call”
It further submitted, “any handover of non-CLI, incomplete CLI or unauthorised CLI etc has a direct impact on the amount of IUC payable to BSNL and it is fully justified and entitled to raise demands to recover all its dues from the respondent”.
Videocon faces tough competition: Planning to sell 26% of Videocon Telecommunications
Videocon Industries is busy looking for possible buyers to sell 26% of its telecom arm Videocon Telecommunications that has 1.9 million subscribers and has a market share of 0.31%. The company in the recent past had started discussion with South Korean company SK Telecom, UAE’s Etisalat and Turkey’s Turkcell. By selling 26% of Videocon Telecom, the main company will raise around INR 15,000 crores which will be employed to improve services and expand operations to improve customer base.
According to a source, Videocon is struggling to keep up with the major players like Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, and Vodafone due to fewer offerings to the customer.
The telecom company currently operations in Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, Mumbai, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, UP East, UP West and Himachal Pradesh. Videocon recently announced 1 paise/sec international calling to US and Canada. Such schemes may help the company in fetching new customers, but if the company wants a stand in the market it needs to improve service and infrastructure to handle larger customer base.
India’s 3G auction bids total US$973 million
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The third day of the 3G auction ended with the bids totalling Rs. 43.24 billion (US$973 million). The bidding has been done for a single pan-India license covering all the available circles. The three metros remain the richest market with Delhi fetching Rs. 4.16 billion (US$69 million).
However, with five bidders vying for just three available licenses, Gujarat emerged as the winner. West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, and Jammu & Kashmir are the four circles which has not yet got any bidder.
No information has yet been revealed about the companies which have placed their bids in each round of the auction by the Department of Telecoms.
BSNL issues Rs 150 crore recovery bill from operators (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a major controversy surrounding the Indian telecom sector, almost all major mobile phone service providers have been accused by state owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited of not paying correct roaming charges to BSNL. A total loss of around Rs 300 crore has been estimated by BSNL and for the recovery of Rs 150 crore, the company has already issued bills in six circles across the country.
TDSAT has been approached by two companies and they have gained stay against BSNL. It has been claimed by the companies that BSNL has misinterpreted the interconnect agreement. Sanchar Nigam Executive Association (SNEA) first noticed the discrepancies in Gujarat where an alleged irregularities worth Rs 22 crore was detected by a team led by sub divisional engineers D N Shah and B G Patel.
Rs 25 per month for every subscriber are supposed to be paid by the service providers using BSNL infrastructures. According to the agreement, they have to pay only when the subscriber is actually roaming however; it has been argued by the service providers that BSNL wants them to pay for all subscribers who are registered for the roaming service.
Etisalat DB to enter Indian market as Cheers Mobile
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: GSM service of Etisalat DB will be soon launched in India under the brand Cheers Mobile Service. The website of the company has already gone live providing information on various tariff and customer care numbers. Etisalat DB is one of the pre-qualified bidders for 3G spectrum in India, the auction if which is expected to begin on April 9, 2010
The GSM Mobile Network of Telecom Talk has already gone live in Tamil Nadu and Kerala but it is still to come to Delhi. The commercial service of the operators is also expected soon in Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh and other circles. On launching its service in April, the operator will become the fourth telco to launch GSM services in the last 5 months and second this year.
Etisalat DB is a joint venture between Etisalat and Dynamix Balwas Group after Etisalat bought 45 percent share for $900 million in Swan Telecom.
UASL license has been granted to Etisalat DB to operate 2G services in 15 circles including Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Uttar Pradesh (East), Uttar Pradesh (West), Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
Launch of MNP again delayed in India
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The launch of the mobile number portability in India has again been delayed by the government from March 31 to June 30, 2010. Earlier the implementation was scheduled to take place in December 31, 2009 in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai as well as in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
According to the government, operators are yet to test if their networks are ready to launch mobile number portability, or MNP, services and the government has set a deadline of May 15 to complete the tests and on the basis of the successful completion of the action taken (tests)…, the DoT will finally decide the dates for MNP implementation.
The launch has already been delayed twice despite the fact that the government decided to launch MNP by the first week of May, with initial launches in the southern cities of Bangalore and Chennai.
Bharti takes a $2 bn call
MUMBAI: Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd, the country’s largest cellular service provider, plans to invest up to $2 billion in its mobile and non-mobile businesses in the country during the current financial year.
In a bid to expand coverage in the rural areas and provide seamless and congestion-free service in the urban areas, it will add 20,000 cell sites during the year, thereby doubling the number of its cell sites.
Sanjay Kapoor, joint president-mobility, Bharti Airtel, told DNA Money, “For the year 2007, the capex for Bharti Airtel will be in the range of $1.8-2 billion across
India, out of which 70% will be on the Airtel mobile business and the remaining on the Airtel non-mobile business.”
Analysts feel that at 10% mobile teledensity, the telecom industry is bound to witness strong subscriber addition for the next few years.
Given its wide geographical coverage and aggressive marketing, Bharti Airtel could be well-placed to tap this growth.
For the first quarter, the Rs 11,290-crore company reported a 13% quarter-on-quarter growth to Rs 3,856 crore, largely driven by the mobility segment that witnessed a growth of 17.7% on account of strong subscriber addition, lower than anticipated fall in average revenue per user and a significant 2% increase in minutes of usage.
Airtel recently launched the InnoWest scheme for its subscribers in Mumbai,
Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Chattisgarh and
Maharashtra and
Goa under which a subscriber visiting these circles would be charged tariffs as applicable in his home circle and no separate roaming rates would be charged.
Source- http://www.dnaindia.com
Technorati : Bharti Airtel, India, Mobile
Ice Rocket : Bharti Airtel, India, Mobile
