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.
DoT issues notice to Idea, Etisalat DB for cancelling licenses (India)
The Indian government has issued notices to Aditya Birla group company Idea cellular for Punjab circle and new operator Etisalat DB for Delhi and Mumbai for cancelling their 2G licences for missing roll-out obligations respectively.
According to DoT Secretary R Chandrashekhar, a notice has been issued to Idea Cellular for Punjab circle.
Earlier, a similar notice had been issued to Etisalat DB for cancellation of its licence in Delhi and Mumbai circles.
In Idea’s case, the notice has been issued for not meeting launched obligations and for other violations of licence conditions.
DoT issued Letters of Intent (LoIs) to Idea Cellular for providing Unified Access Services in nine service areas– Kolkata, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka, Orissa, North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and Tamil Nadu (including Chennai) on January 10,2008.
71% mobile users active in January (India)
The Indian telecom regulator, TRAI has stated that Videocon lost more than 1 million subscribers, while Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Vodafone Essar added 3 million subscribers each in January this year.
According to TRAI, more than 71% of mobile subscribers in India are active users. Around 548.66 million people were using mobile phones of the total subscriber base of 771 million mobile subscribers.
Bharti Airtel had the highest ratio of active subscribers compared to its total subscriber base at 92.63%, followed by Idea Cellular with 90.34% but Etisalat showed the lowest ratio of 33.55%.
Bharti Airtel also continued to lead the industry, grabbing more than one-fifth of the market share. RCOM and Vodafone Essar were the second and third largest telcos as of January-end. BSNL was the only public telco to have a market share of more than 11.6%.
Jammu & Kashmir has the highest proportion of active subscribers at 81.26% followed by Assam with more than 81% and Maharashtra at 77.58%. In contrast, the financial capital Mumbai has the lowest proportion of active mobile users.
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.
Indian govt extends pre-paid services in Jammu & Kashmir
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A directive has been issued by the Indian government extending permission for the use of pre-paid mobile voice services in the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) circle for a further twelve months. The legislation to use such services was due to expire on February 23, 2010.
After the review of those mobile operators which offer services in the region, the decision was taken ensuring that correct customer verification processes are being followed.
The terms of the permission include- the validity of SIM cards will not be beyond February 22, 2011; no pre-activated SIMs may be sold; recharge of SIMs within last three months of expiry of permission will not have validity beyond February 22, 2011; SIM cards will have no roaming facility outside J&K; service providers can appoint franchises only after seeking clearance from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
Ban on PrePay Phones in J&K lifted by India
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Amidst violence and terror, people of Jammu & Kashmir will get a fresh breeze of air since the ban imposed by India’s Department of Telecommunication over the PrePay mobile services last October has been restored. Existing pre-paid subscribers can start using their phones once their ownership details have been reconfirmed.
The ban was imposed last year on the basis that proper verification is not conducted by the service providers/vendors before providing such pre-paid mobile connections. In some cases, multiple connections had been issued to a single person. Even fake documents and identity cards were used by the vendors to issue the connections.
J&K mobile users has always been at the receiving end since the services are restricted in the contested Kashmir region and the mobile phone coverage is forbidden along the demarcation line between the two countries. Mobile phones were only allowed in J&K in 2003, eight years after the rest of the country.
Vivendi eyes stake in Datacom Solutions
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: In a bid to expand its network in India, Idea Cellular launched its commercial in Jammu & Kashmir. Nearly 300 base stations has been added by Idea covering Srinagar City, Badgam, Anantnag, Mattan, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shopian, Ganderbal, Patan and Sumbalin the Valley, along with its recently launched network in Jammu City, Bari Brahmana, Bishnah, Katra, Udhampur and the Jammu-Katra Highway.
Idea’s EDGE-enabled infrastructure covers twelve districts across J&K. According to Anish Roy, Idea’s chief operating officer for Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and J&K, Idea understood the mobile communication needs of the people, and the unique geography of the region and designed a network that covers large population areas, and a product portfolio suiting the needs and affordability of the local populace
S Tel mobile service launched in Orissa
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: S Tel launched its service in Orissa, India, with a tariff plan of INR 0.01 per second and INR 0.5 per minute for STD and local outgoing calls respectively. The company expects to cover 90 percent of Orissa towns by 2010.
The operator also has ISP license for other states like Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. It is also planning to expand its operations in six category C circles of the country.
Bihar and Jharkhand will also receive S Tel’s mobile services by the year end. Assam and North East can access the service by first quarter of 2010
BSNL superseded by Idea in the Indian market
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With 55.9 million customers, India’s Idea Cellular became the country’s third largest GSM operator, overtaking state-controlled BSNL which had 55.2 million subscribers based on the November figures.
After adding 2.8 million new customers, Bharti Airtel reclaimed the top spot of fastest growing operator. 2.78 million new customers were added by Vodafone.
11 million subscribers as a whole have been added by the GSM industry to take the countrywide tally to 366 million. The fastest growth rates are noticed in the mid-ranked B circles. However, a drop in mobile phone users was reported after recent ban on prepay phones in Jammu and Kashmir.
