Worldwide subscribet figures has increased to 139 million by covering the base in 15 countries like Asia, Africa & Middle-east. Already 29 percent of total revenue growth was shown in consolidated revenue operations.

300 megabits per second is the speed providing by the world’s largest mibile network operator Etisalat. Fiber optic cables in the UAE had been deployed which run over three million kilometres & proving as country’s one of the best connected nations in the world.

There was an announcement came from annual general meeting at the company’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi to pay full 2012 dividends of 70 fils per share as  duly approved from board members.

Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Group commented “In the coming year, Etisalat Group will continue to aggregate its global customer base, which has already reached over 139 million people in 15 operating markets.”

 CEO Mr. Julfar quoted that “We will continue to grow our revenues and global customer base with the application of award-winning innovative technology, investing in line with our global strategy and focusing on the high-growth potential of digital services.”

“On behalf of Etisalat board members, I would like to thank the leadership of the UAE and the UAE government for their significant ongoing efforts to continue to enhance the leading position of the UAE, and also for their ongoing strives to support the technology and ICT sector in the UAE, particularly through its advanced laws and regulations.” as per comment passed on by Eissa Al Suwaidi, Chairman of Etisalat.

Etisalat one of the largest telco opertor in Middle-East has announced to deploy LTE network with the help of its new partner named ” Ericsson”. As per agreement Ericsson will provides its mult-standard base station named as RBS 6000 for carrying out the implementation of 4G network.

As per Ericsson this kind of base station is actually good for environmental condition together with operting expenses providing ultra fast mobile broadband services.

Etisalat CEO Saeed ElHamly in Egypt told that” voice & data services popularity is day by day increasing. This is why we are always striving to cater to our subscribers’ needs by continuously upgrading our network and adopting the latest technology.”

This deal will help us to cater the mobile subscriber base with good coverage & faster internet speed. This unique partnership will help to transform radio network into converged information and telecom services, which will allow for energy-efficient and cost-effective operations.

As per CTO of Etisalat Egypt  Haitham AbdulRazzak said that” Etisalat will invest to upgrade its technology that enhance service experiences for customers by maintaining technology and broadband leadership in the market.

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Recently the Telco watch dog of India TRAI has issued a strict guidelines for all tel-co operators to maintain high quality standards in their wireless services.

Already TRAI has recommended all Wireless Service Providers to set up a test consisting of servers & test probes in those geographical locations where the providers possess licenses as per Wireless Data Services Regulations, 2012.

TRAI has recommended Wireless Service Providers to maintain following benchmarks like: activation or provision of data services, download/upload data transmission successful attempts from a test server, as per tariff plans maintain download speed from the test server, average Throughput for Packet data from a test server for all tariff plans, latency for data services from a test server, PDP Context Activation Success Rate and data Drop rate.

Lastly, the Wireless Service Providers must mention all the tariff plans & the kinds of data services available as per circles in their websites.

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In a recent meeting held the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) under the leadership of P Chidambaram allow the existing operators like Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, BSNL and MTNL to retain the 2.5 MHz band spectrum in the more efficient 900 MHz band.

Already in an earlier meeting under the supervision of Telecom Commission re-framing of all spectrum in the 900 MHz band must take place.

As per our tel-co minister Mr. Kapil Sibal announced in a meeting that the operators need to pay market regulated price when 900 MHz spectrum go for auction in the upcoming year.

Again as per instruction give by telecom panel to the TRAI to retain up to 2.5 MHz spectrum & also re-look over this matter.

Trai had suggested the reserve price for spectrum in the 900 MHz band, at over Rs 36,000 crore and Rs 14,000 crore for the 1,800 MHz band. This was vehemently opposed by the telecom firms.

Author: Biswajit Biswas (Technical Writer)

in.linkedin.com/pub/biswajit-biswas/17/2a6/3b5

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The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal reserves its order in the Reliance Infratel-Etisalat DB issue.The Reliance Infratel-Etisalat DB issue has taken another row as  the Telecom as TDSAT has reserved its order on the issue as per news.

TDSAT assets its order in the Reliance Infratel-Etisalat DB problem

Reliance Infratel has approached TDSAT and has filed a petition against Etisalat to recover outstanding dues worth Rs 12 billion, for providing its telecom infrastructure to the operator. It has also  filed a similar case against S Tel in hope to recover 700 million RS  from the operator.

Before this TDSAT had asked Etisalat DB to react to Reliance Infratel’s appeal within two weeks. As per news reports, Standard Chartered Bank, a creditor of Etisalat DB, willing during the case’s dealings. The bank allegedly disputed Reliance Infratel’s claims on grounds that the case was already filed before the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT). Therefore, it was essential that the bank give its estimation as well.

As per Reports TDSAT has  barred S tel the operator from transferring its property to a third party until the Delhi High Court takes a final decision on this issue. Also, the tribunal asked Reliance Infratel not to bar the company from accessing its towers.

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The new operators persist to face challenges in the Indian telecom space.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in the 2G case, numerous new players, with Etisalat DB and S Tel proclaims their tactics of exiting the sector. Meanwhile, others like Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL) and Uninor took rapid steps to protect their benefit in the country.

In so far, S Tel has ended air force in all its circles and is currently in the procedure of negotiate the conditions of a final resolution by means of its partner firms. Temporarily, Etisalat DB had invented that it premeditated to take act beside its Indian joint venture partners on grounds of fraud and falsification.

The company had begun legal measures against Vinod Goenka and Shahid Balwa, both promoters of DB Realty and Majestic Infracon Private Limited, a DB Group company. Meanwhile, the company had advise its customers in India to relocate their mobile number to another operator.

Now, however, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked both companies to reinitiate their services within three days.

According to the regulator, the Supreme Court had obviously affirmed in its judgment that the operators facing licence cancellation had four months to wind up their operations. Also, TRAI said that existing licence conditions instruct that the operator has to preserve the superiority of service in the intervening period before yielding the licence.

The regulator also pointed out that operators are mandatory to give a 60-day notice before closing operations.

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Although all their efforts to maintain functioning in the Indian telecom space, operators facing licence cancellation as per the Supreme Court’s decision in the 2G spectrum case have endure a solemn setback.

Supreme Court discards petition of operators facing licence cancellation

The Supreme Court took a stand on the issue in February this year and revoked 122 licenses issued under A Raja’s tenure. This includes 21 licences of Videocon, 22 licences of Uninor, 9 of Idea Cellular, 3 of Tata Teleservices Limited, 21 of Loop, 6 of S-Tel, 21 of SSTL, 15 of Etisalat and 4 of Spice.

These licences were granted after January 2008 and were cancelled for being outside the eligibility criteria for allocation of 2G spectrum.

Licence cancellation apart, these operators were also required to pay heavy penalties. The Supreme Court imposed a penalty of Rs 50 million each on Unitech Wireless (Uninor), Swan Telecom and TTSL, while Loop, STel, Allianz and Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited has been fined Rs 5 million each.

Post the verdict, all operators swung into action.

To safeguard their interests, Uninor, SSTL, Idea Cellular, Etisalat DB, S Tel, Tata Teleservices Limited and Videocon filed a review petition in this context.

Thereafter, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had identified a three-pronged game plan in this regard.

As part of the proposed strategy, DoT had said that the government ought to file a review petition; a presidential reference should be taken to gain clarity on the legal implications of the judgment and a clarification petition covering operational issues should be filed.

DoT’s proposal to file a review petition broadly entailed the government requesting the Court to reconsider its decision pertaining to the first come, first served policy. The Court had said that the policy was invalid under the Constitution.

In this context, DoT had argued that the Court’s findings encroached upon the executive’s jurisdiction to frame policies.

Its suggestion to file a review petition stemmed from its opinion that the Supreme Court’s judgment overlapped with the area of policy-making. So, the Court contradicted the principles of separation of powers and extended beyond the limits of judicial review defined in several of its own judgments.

Regarding its recommendation that the government opt for a presidential reference, DoT had argued that the court had considered only the 122 licences issued on or after January 10, 2008 and had not mentioned the other licences granted under a similar policy. In this context, therefore, the legality of the licences issued earlier came into question.

DoT added that it was unclear whether, as per the judgment, the dual technology licences issued in 2008 were illegal or not.

Also, it said that in view of the judgment, it should be clarified whether any priority could be given to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) recommendations pertaining to spectrum, even at a price determined at the auctions.

Thirdly, DoT said that an opinion ought to be taken on whether a ceiling on spectrum acquisition, as recommended by the regulator, is required.

DoT also said the four-month time limit stipulated by the Court for auctions to take place was very short and it would take 400 days at a minimum. In this regard, it recommended that the government file an appropriate application to the Supreme Court.

Now, as per news reports, the Supreme Court has taken a decision on the petitions filed by the operators facing licence cancellation and DoT.

The Court has reportedly rejected the petition of these companies to review the verdict, on grounds that the same did not have any errors in it.

Further, it is believed that DoT’s petition will be heard on April 13, 2012.

Operator reactions

Meanwhile, the Court’s decision seems to have made Uninor and SSTL more determined to stay in the sector.

According to a statement issued by Unitech Wireless, the company will now file a curative petition in the court.

The statement said, “By entertaining the review petition and hearing the case again, the Supreme Court would have been able to appreciate arguments and evidence that challenged the very basis of its order. We are disappointed that the court has declined to do so. We will now move a curative petition and again urge the Supreme Court to keep its order in abeyance until these arguments are seen and appreciated by the new bench. The court must ensure that no one has any reason to hold grievance that their evidence was ignored, especially when considering it would only strengthen the sanctity of any order.”

Meanwhile, SSTL said that it would continue to tackle the issue from a legal aspect. It issued a statement as well, which said, “SSTL has maintained that being a pure play CDMA operator, its legal case is significantly different compared to other mobile operators. It is extremely disappointing to know that SSTL’s review petition has not been accepted. To protect its interests further, SSTL currently is in the process of deliberating its future course of legal actions.”

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As per the Supreme Court’s judgment in the 2G spectrum case, the operator faces termination of 15 licences. After that, the company announces its strategy to depart the Telecom market by 31st March 2012.

cheers to exit

Soon after that, it was reported that Etisalat was taking action against its Indian joint venture associates on basis of deception and misrepresentation.

The company had initiated lawful actions against Vinod Goenka and Shahid Balwa, both promoters of DB Realty and Majestic Infracon Private Limited, a DB Group company.

In 2008, Etisalat had paid $900 million for a 45 per cent stake in Swan Telecom, later on renamed Etisalat DB, with Majestic and other minority investors owning the rest.

Now, as the next step, the company has advised its consumers in India to relocate their mobile number to another operator earlier to the planned suspension of its services on March 31, 2012.

In a declaration, Etisalat said, “Customers are encouraged to change their Cheers number to a network of their pick immediately by subsequent the process approved by India’s telecommunications regulator the TRAI.”

“Customers may logon to www.cheersmobile.in or call 121 for information on carrying out the changeover.”

“Cheer’s wishes to express gratitude its subscribers for their custom and regrets any problem caused.”

Cheers Mobile GSM service of Etisalat DB whose mobile service licenses has been irrecoverable by the Supreme Court beneath 2G decision, has inform its consumers to reassign their mobile number to a further operator via MNP prior to the planned suspension of Cheers Mobile services on 31st March,2012.

Cheers Mobile – Etisalat DB signifying consumers to Port out from Its Network prior to 31st March

In a declaration posted in its official portico Cheers Mobile / Etisalat DB said “Customers are optimistic to ‘port out’ their Cheers mobile number to a network of their alternative as soon as possible (till 31st March,2012) by following the course prescribe by India’s telecommunications regulator the TRAI.

Cheers Mobile (Etisalat DB) a combined endeavor with real estate main DB Group and Dubai (UAE) based Etisalat has united Services Access License in 15 circles counting 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.

Former the Company said that the choice to complete its India an operation has been taken in order to defend the benefit of all stakeholders and to avoid acquire promote costs at this time of hurried change and continued uncertainty in the Indian telecommunications sector.

Alcatel-Lucent jointly with Etisalat, the top mobile telecommunications operator in the United Arab Emirates, have effectively accomplished a technology test with the ground breaking lightRadio™ portfolio highlighting how it can assemble fast-growing customer require for high-bandwidth mobile broadband services.

 This is the first mobile broadband connection made in the United Arab Emirates made possible by Alcatel-Lucent’s lightRadio architecture over a working 4G LTE network.

Alcatel-Lucent showcased the capabilities of its new lightRadio Metro Radio Outdoor (MRO) product at Etisalat’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, making the lightning-fast data connection over Etisalat’s commercial 4G LTE network, also powered by Alcatel-Lucent. This new offering is part of Alcatel-Lucent’s market-leading lightRadio Small Cells product family, and based on the lightRadio cube.  It extends a service provider’s LTE network to provide hot-spot coverage in densely populated areas such as shopping malls, airports, and sports stadiums.

In the United Arab Emirates, demand for high-speed connections to mobile broadband services such as videoconferencing and on-demand TV has been driven by the mass take-up of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. In October 2011 Alcatel-Lucent and Etisalat signed an agreement to jointly develop the most sustainable and efficient way to meet this demand using the groundbreaking lightRadio portfolio. This successful trial of the latest technology marks a major milestone in turning that promise into a reality.

Tests conducted prior to the successful trial showed that service providers deploying the MRO in their LTE network could see improvements in capacity and performance that would allow them to realise cost savings of up to 40% while delivering high-quality, lightning-fast 4G LTE data services to subscribers.

H.E. Ahmad Abdul Karim Julfar, Etisalat Group Chief Executive Officer said: “Etisalat is proud to be part of this program, helping to shape the future of mobile broadband networks to satisfy our customers’ growing demand. With lightRadio we will not only be able to accommodate this growth in traffic, but we will also be able to offer our customers the most innovative solutions so they can easily access the latest and greatest mobile data applications on their mobile device of choice.”

Stephen Carter, President, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Alcatel-Lucent said: “We are happy to have the opportunity to work with Etisalat to leverage lightRadio to address their business needs.  The work completed as part of this successful project has yielded valuable data about how service providers such as Etisalat can very easily deploy Alcatel-Lucent’s metrocells to transform the mobile broadband experience for their customers, while at the same time reducing their power consumption, costs and equipment footprint.”

The successful mobile data connection was made using Alcatel-Lucent’s new 9768 lightRadio Metro Radio Outdoor (MRO) product based on the lightRadio cube.  Visit our website to find out more about Alcate -Lucent’slightRadiosolution.