BSNL launches 3G EVDO plans for internet users (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 3G EVDO plans has been launched by state owned India telco, BSNL, thus adding a spice to the already firing price war in the country. The plan offers substantially lower access charges for consumers on the move. Though the service is a pan India move, it’s still not confirmed whether Delhi or Mumbai are a part of the plan.
No specific cities have been named by BSNL which will receive the 3.1 mbps speed, and which will switch to lower speeds. The move of the company reflects that it is encouraging users to take the unlimited plan, which will cost Rs. 750 per month for users who sign up until the end of March 2010, after which it will increase to Rs. 999 per month.
Idea Cellular offers free mobile tickets for films & travel (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Citizens of Mumbai and Delhi can now become a part of the save paper campaign started by the pan-India network provider, Idea Cellular, by using their mobile phones instead of paper tickets to travel and watch movies.
People can participate in an SMS-based radio contest which would entitle them to a code (sent to them via SMS), which will be valid as a ‘mobile ticket’ to travel free of cost on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai, and the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) toll bridge, as well as watch a movie at PVR Cinemas in these cities.
The first 4,000 people in Mumbai, who SMS ‘Idea Sealink’ to a short code, will receive an SMS which will enable them to travel free of cost and ticket-less on a single journey while the first 200 people who SMS ‘Idea movie’ will win free tickets to the screening of movie ‘Karthik calling Karthik’ at PVR Cinemas on the same day.
Virgin mobile launches GSM service in Maharashtra (India)
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Virgin mobile famous for targeting youths in its promotions has launched its GSM service in the Maharashtra and Mumbai circles. 20 paise per minute for Virgin-to-Virgin calls across any circles will be charged to the subscribers across Maharashtra and Mumbai. The rates would be 40 paise per minute for local and 50 paise per minute for STD calls for other networks.
T
he consumers can also opt for another plan that provides all local and STD calls at 1 paise per second with a recharge of Rs. 12 and with a talk time of Rs. 10.88, valid for 365 days.
Tata DoCoMo has tied up with Virgin Mobile to offer its GSM services in the country and Virgin has tied up with Tata Indicom for its CDMA network. 10% of the market of Virgin mobile comprises of the urban youth segment.
India’s GSM subscribers’ base increased by 11.08m
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The number of people availing the facility of mobile communication is increasing by leaps and bounds in India with an increase of 11.08 million subscribers within a month. According to figures from the industry
association COAI, 366.77 million GSM mobile subscribers by the end of November went up by 355.69 million in October.
With a market share of 31.63 percent and 116 million subscribers, up from 113.2 million GSM subscribers a month earlier, Bharti Airtel remained the market leader. The subscriber base of Vodafone Essar rose to 88.6 million, from 85.82 million in October and its market share was 24.16 percent.
The third place was occupied by BSNL which ended the month with 55.18 million customers, up from 53.96 million, the market share being 15.05 percent. Idea Cellular ended the month with the fourth place with 55.9 million customers and a market share of 15.24 percent. Aircel’s market share was 8 percent and subscriber base of 29.35 million.
Reliance Telecom and MTNL had 14.6 million and 4.5 million customers respectively. Their market share stood at 3.98 percent and 1.23 percent.
Loop Mobile operating only in Mumbai, saw its subscriber base reach 2.59 million and its market share is 0.71 percent.
GSM service soon to be launched in India by Virgin Mobile
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: With the goal of expanding its reach among the people and especially youths, Tata Teleservices youth brand, Virgin Mobile is planning to launch its GSM services.
Virgin Mobile GSM may use TATA DOCOMO’s network and will be first introduced in Chennai and Tamil Nadu Circle and Mumbai & Maharashtra circle.
TATA DOCOMO’s service is yet to roll out all over India while Virgin Mobile will also take time to establish its mark among the masses. Currently, Virgin Mobile is using TATA Indicom’s network to operate.
Highest no. of subscriber during the past 3 months has been recorded by TTSL and TATA DOCOMO is considered to be the major factor behind this growth.
TATA and BSNL enter Network Sharing deal (India)
Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL), India’s fastest-growing pan India telecom service provider, today announced the signing of a landmark ‘Master Services Agreement for Passive Infrastructure Sharing’ with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Becoming the first Indian private telecom operator to enter into an agreement of this nature. The agreement which is valid for 15 years will be applicable to both Tata Teleservices Limited and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited in all of India’s 22 telecom Circles.
This is a moment of pride for us, as we have become the first private telecom operator to enter into such a strategically important agreement with BSNL, one that will allow us to expand our telecom footprint across the country much more quickly,†Mr Madhav Joshi, President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Tata Teleservices Limited, said.
The agreement comes at a very strategic time for Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML), as both companies have been aggressively expanding their network presence on the CDMA side with Tata Indicom, while also rolling out GSM services under the TATA DOCOMO brand name. In the short space of just three months, we have already rolled out our GSM services in nine Circles—Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Orissa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh and Haryana,†Mr AG Rao, Chief Technology Officer, Tata Teleservices Limited, said. This agreement has the potential to not just speed up our network expansion and rollout process, but would also have a substantial impact in terms of reduced costs,†he added.
Under the terms of the agreement, TTSL and TTML will have access to thousands of BSNL towers all across the country.
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
