www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Swedish company, Ericsson has announced in April that it bagged a $1.3 billion contract to expand and upgrade Bharti Airtel’s network in 15 of India’s 22 telecom circles.

As per the company, the agreement will enable Airtel to put in place a converged network and expanded coverage in rural India. Airtel users will enjoy an enhanced voice quality and faster data access. This contract comes within 24 hours of Bharti Airtel sealing the agreement to buy Zain’s African assets for $10.7-billion vaulting into the ranks of the world’s top five cellular players by subscribers.

According to, Bharti Airtel CEO (India and South Asia) Sanjay Kapoor, the extension of our 15 years association with Ericsson is testimony to the strength of the relationship as well as the success of the model.

The deal will ensure that Ericsson supplies radio base stations, circuit and packet core, microwave transmission and intelligent network.

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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.

Chennai, October 06, 2006 ? Aircel the number one mobile service provider in the state of Tamil Nadu, has become the first cellular operator in the region to cross the 3-million subscribers mark. With this achievement, Aircel has once again underlined its regional leadership position while it continues to make steady progress in its efforts to become a pan-India cellular operator.

We are at once humbled and overjoyed in becoming the first mobile operator in the state of Tamil Nadu to cross the 3-million subscribers mark and our achievement clearly validates our customer-centric approach in reaching out to a wider cross section of the public across Tamil Nadu,??? said Mr. KVP Baskar, Chief Executive Officer, Aircel during the ‘3-million Achievement’ celebrations.

As part of the celebrations, Aircel felicitated its 3-millionth subscriber Ms. M. Sharmila from Chennai by offering her Rs. 10000 worth free talk time. The company has also announced that all its subscribers ? both pre-paid and postpaid customers ? can enjoy FREE ‘on net’ (Aircel-to-Aircel) talk-time between 12noon and 3pm on October 6 (Friday), 2006.

Aircel’s network is currently available in more than 700 towns across Tamil Nadu and is likely to cross the 1000 towns mark by the end of 2006. Not only that, the company has recently rolled out its GSM cellular services in Assam, North East, Orissa, West Bengal and J&K telecom circles and has also immediate roll-out plans in Bihar and Himachal Pradesh.

The 3-million subscribers’ achievement in Tamil Nadu has given a new momentum to our pan-India operations and we are confident of becoming the ‘most rewarding cellular service provider’ across varied user profiles and geographies.??? concluded Mr. Baskar.

About Aircel

Aircel is among the leading mobile service providers in the Telecom Circles of North East, Chennai and Tamil Nadu with over 3.7 million subscribers and is now poised to achieve a leadership position in the mobile telephony market in India. For more information, please log on to www.aircel.com

Source- http://press-releases.techwhack.com

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