Tata Indicom has launched the BlackBerry Bold 9650, which is the first combined CDMA-GSM 3G smartphone in the BlackBerry Bold series. The handset will cost around US$567. The company will also provide the users with a special offer- for first two months, customers will receive a free data pack worth US$20.26 per month, as well as 500 MB of tethered modem data usage. Moreover, the phone will come packed with Tata’s live TV (Photon TV) service.

The BlackBerry Bold 9650 is equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS and a microSD memory card slot.

According to Mr Sunil Batra, President of CDMA Operations at Tata Teleservices Limited, as the youngest dual-technology telecom service provider in India, the addition of a Smartphone like the BlackBerry Bold 9650 to the company’s portfolio of products and services from Research In Motion is an important step in strengthening offerings to consumers. Tata’s pan-India reach, supported by the traditionally strong speeds on TTL’s cutting-edge CDMA network, will provide users with an exceptional voice and data communication experience, enhanced by the ability to share and experience multimedia, chat and social networking on the go.

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Tata Indicom in collaboration with Rx Healthcare Magic Private Ltd has launched an emergency service, “doctor on call”, to offer consultation to all Tata Indicom and Tata Walky subscribers at minimal rates.

The service is based on an interactive voice response system. Through this service users can directly consult the doctors. The doctors would ask the medical history of the caller, including details such as age, sex, marital status and location. The doctor will then determine if the case falls under three categories– acute, chronic or emergency.

If it would be an acute condition, the doctor would suggest some home remedy to the caller for immediate relief. In chronic condition, the patient will be asked to take preventive measures and if it is a case of an emergency, the doctor would suggest that the patient be rushed to the emergency ward of the nearest hospital.

According to Vineet Bhatia, regional head (North-Central), Tata Teleservices Limited, today advanced mobile telephony is offering complete mobility services in the interest of the common man and having introduced the medical emergency service the company has ensured that the subscribers get the best in class value- added services at a nominal fee.

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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.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A franchisee agreement has been signed between Tata Teleservices and Kishore Biyani owned Future Group to launch Talk 24 (or T-24), under the tagline ‘Shop More, Talk More’. A similar franchise agreement has already been signed between Tata Indicom and Virgin mobiles.

Though the details regarding the agreement are unavailable, it seems to be based on the concept of exchanging shopping benefits and talk time. According to Tata Teleservices spokesperson, the two firms will jointly work on integrating the billing systems but nothing has begun as the company has only signed the agreement.

The companies will begin to roll out the GSM SIM cards of T-24 shortly. Tata Indicom GSM connections will be sold by the Future group at all its retail outlets Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, eZone, FutureBazaar.com, Central malls, Food Bazaar, Fashion Station, Depot (books and music) and Shoe Factory.

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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.

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www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Mobile users can now avail the facility of mobile broadband service Tata Photon Plus on the Prepaid platform, after the success of Tata Photon in the postpaid segment of the Tata Teleservices Limited (TTML).

The latest broadband service is 20 times faster than the existing mobile wireless technology. Besides, it is also offered on the congestionfree Tata Indicom network as reported by Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Thus, by paying Re. 1/MB, the users can surf net at a very high speed and can also use 10GB free data usage through attractive recharge.

According to Sr. Vice-President Strategy and Special Projects, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited, Raja Srinivas, the company has received tremendous response from the postpaid segment and its launch on the prepaid platform will further penetrate it, catering to the needs of the wider segments.

Oberthur Technologies the world’s second largest provider of Smart Card based solutions today announced the commercialization of its OMHTM (Open Market Handsets) SIM cards for CDMA (Code Development Multiple Access) networks. OMH SIM cards contain subscriber, network and service configuration data that allow subscribers the freedom to easily change and upgrade their handset, but maintain their network configuration.

Oberthur Technologies collaborated with Tata Teleservices Limited, one of India’s fastest growing private telecom service providers, and Qualcomm Incorporated, a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA and other advanced technologies, to introduce OMHTM SIM cards into the India market.

Olivier Leroux, Head of the Mobile Product Line for the Card Systems Division at Oberthur Technologies said, “Oberthur Technologies is the first to commercially launch OMHTM SIM cards. We are pleased to partner with industry leaders such as Tata Teleservices and Qualcomm who are enhancing the subscriber experience for Indian consumers.”

The OMHTM SIM card, referred to as a removable user identity module (R-UIM), is a state of the art smartcard that stores operator and subscriber specific configuration parameters, separate from the handset memory. By having this configuration parameters located on the OMHTM SIM card rather than the device, subscribers can more easily switch or upgrade their handsets. These cards allow CDMA network operators to increase the selection of devices and services while lowering distribution and inventory costs.

“These are exciting times in the Indian telecom space where innovation, research and development are the key to success and remain competitive in the business. In our constant effort to redefine the telecom space keeping customers at the central point, Tata Teleservices decided to partner with Qualcomm and Oberthur Technologies to further develop the Open Market Handset initiative and offer more choice to customers”, said Lloyd Mathias, Chief Marketing Officer, Tata Teleservices Limited.

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“Qualcomm is pleased to work with Oberthur Technologies for its leadership as one of the first companies to develop OMH SIM cards,” said Nakul Duggal, Senior Director and OMH Project Lead, Qualcomm Corporate Engineering Services. “The OMH initiative is focused on increasing device variety by offering new channels and distribution options within the CDMA ecosystem to provide greater subscriber flexibility.”

About Oberthur Technologies

With sales of 882 million Euros in 2008, Oberthur Technologies is a world leader in the field of secure technologies. Innovation and high quality services ensure Oberthur Technologies’ strong positioning in its main target markets:

– Card Systems: The world’s second largest provider of security and identification based on smart card technology and associated services for mobile, payment, transport, digital TV and convergence markets. – Identity: Leading international supplier for the manufacture and personalization of secure identity documents such as passport, identity card, driving license or health care card – traditional and electronic – and associated services for both governmental and corporate markets. – Security printing: World’s third largest private security printer specialized in high security for the production of banknotes, checks and other fiduciary documents in more than fifty countries. – Cash protection: World leader in the emerging market of intelligent systems to secure cash-in-transit and ATM.

Close to its customers, Oberthur Technologies benefits from an industrial and commercial presence across all five continents.

Oberthur Technologies S.A. is a limited liability company (societe anonyme) registered in France with its registered office at 50 quai Michelet 92 532 Levallois Perret, France. Oberthur Technologies S.A.’s corporate registration number is 340 709 534 R.C.S. Paris.

Website: http://www.oberthur.com

About Tata Teleservices Limited

Tata Teleservices Limited is one of India’s leading private telecom service providers, having a pan-India presence across all of India’s 22 telecom Circles. The company offers integrated telecom solutions to its customers under the Tata Indicom, Tata DOCOMO, Photon and Walky brands, and uses both the CDMA and GSM technology platform(s) for its wireless networks. Tata Teleservices Limited, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited, operates in more than 325,000 towns and villages across the country. In November 2008, Tata Teleservices entered into an agreement with Japanese telecom major NTT DOCOMO, and this transaction marks a key step in the strategic evolution of Tata Teleservices Limited. Tata DOCOMO has so far launched GSM services in eight telecom Circles, and the remaining part of the country is also expected to be covered shortly. In December 2008, Tata Teleservices announced a unique reverse equity swap strategic agreement between its fully-owned telecom tower subsidiary-Wireless TT Info-Services Limited-and Quippo Telecom Infrastructure Limited, thereby becoming the largest independent entity in this space. Tata Teleservices’ bouquet of telephony services includes mobile services, wireless desktop phones, public booth telephony and Wireline services.

For details, visit http://www.tatateleservices.com, http://www.tatadocomo.com or http://www.tataindicom.com.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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.

Anil Ambani group’s Reliance Mobile, which is looking to spread its GSM telephony tentacles across the country, is believed to have roped in a constellation of six celebrities for a big-bang advertising campaign.
 
While cricket star M S Dhoni is almost certain to be a part of the star cast, industry sources say the company is also in talks with film star Abhishek Bachchan. (The junior Bachchan already endorses Motorola’s cellular phones.) Others in the campaign – to kick off by the end of this month – will be from the fields of sports and entertainment.
 
Speaking to Business Standard, Reliance executives confirmed that the campaign would be a multi-celebrity campaign involving cricketers, music industry stars and film stars. Sanjay Behl, head of branding, Reliance Mobile said: “We are in an evolutionary stage in growth and imagery. The communication will reflect that.”
 
The new campaign is being executed by creative shop Cartwheels, run by JWT’s former creative head, D Ramakrishna.
 
Behl is not willing to disclose if Abhishek, or Hindi music director and singer Himesh Reshammiya, is a part of the cast, though he claims that there might be about six celebrities who will endorse Reliance Mobile.
 
Celebrities are not new to cellular phone service providers. While cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has been associated with Airtel since 2003 and Rahul Dravid bats for Hutch, former Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly has featured as the ambassador for Tata Indicom. Apart from Ganguly, Tata Indicom has also used star couple Kajol and Ajay Devgan in its campaigns.
 
But Reliance has reason to be aggressive. Apart from its CDMA services, which form the bulk of Reliance’s approximately 22 million subscriber base, the company is in the midst of scaling up in the GSM space, where it will find itself up against formidable rivals like Airtel and Hutch. While Hutch associates itself actively with cricket, theatre and art, Airtel has played up its music association through ringtones using its brand ambassador, A R Rehman.
 
In February this year, Reliance had applied for GSM spectrum in markets like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Uttar Pradesh (east and west circles), and Jammu and Kashmir.
 
It already operates GSM (900 MHz) mobile services in circles like West Bengal (including Kolkata), Assam, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and the Northeast.

Source- http://www.business-standard.com

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