New 3G customers in seven circles can’t be added by telco major Bharti Airtel as per the decision ruled out by the Supreme Court & as a result of this company’s shares have fallen gradually.

Already the petition has been put to hold by apex regarding cancellation of intra-circle roaming in seven different regions where it used the services of Vodafone & Idea.

3 G Intra-circle roaming facilities to be continued by Bharti Airtel as one of India’s largest mobile operator given by HC order.

Already last week DoT issued a fresh order to stop Airtel’s 3G intra-roaming services in 7 circles of India by putting 350 cr rs penalty i.e 50 cr rs per circle, since the company has violated the terms & conditions like providing services where it does not possess spectrum.

Again all the earnings from 3G services should be kept aside in a separate account & to be showcase on May 8 in front of HC

“3G roaming to continue until the final order but an interim order will be passed later on Airtel’s plea for stay of the government’s order” commented by Rajiv Shakdher, Justice.

A stay order has been issued by the court on the same petition filed by Idea Cellular.

Again Telecom Ministry was challenged by Bhart Airtel to be ask for stopping their 3G services in those seven circles where the company do not possess airwaves & running the services via. mutual agreement with other telco operators.

The Delhi High Court order sought a rule of prohibiting mobile service provider from moving into 3g intra-circle roaming agreement.

Another clause of indent was added to mobile operators as per telecom department in unified license 3G spectrum couldn’t be shared between any telecom operators.

The plea raised by the Idea Cellular Ltd on the Govt. moves on the seven circles where it brought 2G spectrum.

“UL(AS) does not permit provisioning of 3G service using the 3G spectrum of any other service provider using any kind of arrangement,” as per rule given by the Govt.

 Senior Advocate Maninder Singh appearing for the Idea Cellular told that earlier in an intra roaming agreement operators can mutually operate on those circles where they do not possess license & over a year this process was taking place & Govt. was silent on it.

 ”As per the previous licence conditions, 3G roaming was not permitted. This ambiguity cannot be carried forward and, therefore, it has been stated in the new licences that are being issued,” as per commented by Additional Solicitor General Rajeeve Mehra. 

BH Telecom will deploy 3G HSPA+ radio network & additional services with the help of Nokia Siemens Network in northern and eastern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Nedzad Rešidbegovic, CEO of BH Telecom “Our customers are increasingly adopting advanced smartphones and tablets which require the best quality possible in terms of coverage and network performance.Subscribers will soon enjoy high-speed mobile broadband services such as video downloads and internet browsing with data speeds up to 30Mbps.’’

 Flexi Multiradio Base Station one of most energy efficient & global award winning product from NSN will help BH Telecom for 3G deployment on the 2100MHz and 900MHz bands for greater coverage, as well as Dual Cell HSPA+ for higher data speeds. Again it is confirmed from NSN’s end that it will improve & upgrade the multivendor network management system NetAct to efficiently monitor, optimize and configure BH Telecom’s networks.

Elvedina Vugic, BH Telecom account manager at Nokia Siemens Networks “Maintaining growth and market leadership requires constant innovation and improvements”.

There is some exciting news for Virgin Mobile Customers that company is restricting download speed up to 2 Mbps.

Again few users launched a compliant in a support forum about slow speed in their 3G network but as per officials report it is confirmed that the speed cap have been finalized last month.

 The officials tell us the reason to slow the download speed cap as to accomodate more users within their gen bandwidth.

Again, as per knowledge upload speed will be 0.5 Mbps & download speed will be 2 Mbps.

 ”we are currently trialling measures to help manage data across the mobile network more effectively to ensure all our customers continue to enjoy the benefits of mobile data on the move,” as Virgin Mobile Official Spokesperson.

The company is again actively monitoring the result customer may face with regards to speed & if necessary company may increase their speed in the future.

The trial is continuing on our network & we are listening on the customer feedback via. customer care, channels, forums, etc.

Apple has unconstrained its newest software modernize for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, with iOS 5.1.1 fetch a quantity of insignificant bug fixes.

The new edition of the mobile OS can be downloaded above the air, and develop the dependability of the Air Play video quality which was under-performing “in some situation.”

iOS 5.1.1 also bid a secure to progress the “dependability of by means of HDR option for photos taken using the Lock Screen shortcut.”

Prelude to iOS 6?

The modernize also solves problems for customer when switching between 2G and 3G networks, while issue syncing bookmarks and the Reading List by means of the Safari browser have also been address.

Finally, iOS 5.1.1 puts rewarded to a pop-up message inform customer a booming acquires has been disastrous.

The update approachs among reports that the release of iOS 6 is little over a month away.

The company’s annual WWDC developer’s convention has been booked for June 11 in San Francisco and has often provided the location for important software declaration.

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As per latest news Bharti Airtel has planned  to consolidate its status  in Africa. Presently this   operator has more than 53.1 million customers across  17 African countries with average revenue per  subscriber at $6.8 per month.

As  the quarter ended March 31, 2012,it was seen that  it has got loss of about  Rs 3.40 billion in African market  and total revenues of Rs 53.87 billion.

Now, it is expected that at the end of  next quarter generating annual revenues will be about $5 billion. In fact, it has already earmarked $1 billion as capital expenditure in Africa for the 2013 financial year.

Before this,the operator has  posted its results for the quarter ended March 2012. As per  reports the company has got a 28.2 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 10.06 billion for the period under consideration.

The operator has attributed this decline to 3G licence fee amortisation (Rs 1.06 billion), 3G interest costs (Rs 840 million), losses  that caused by fluctuation in forex (Rs 1.32 billion) and also tax provisions (Rs 1.98 billion).

Meanwhile,  the total revenue of Bharti  Airtel  has grown by 15 per cent to Rs 187.29 billion.

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Norway’s Telenor has informed it will depart from India if the government admit the telecom regulator’s suggestion to auction airwaves at 13 times the price used in 2008, highlighting the indecision shrouding a sector till lately seen as a poster child for liberalization. 

Telenor intimidate to door out India if govt accepts Trai's suggestions

The head of the company’s Asia unit said it would be “impossible” to continue operations in the country of more than a billion people, in which it has invested over $3 billion since buying a majority stake in the telecom business ofUnitech, a Delhi-based real estate company, in 2008.

“If these recommendations become policy, we will be forced to exit India. It will be impossible for us to continue operations here,” Telenor Executive Vice-President & Asia head Sigve Brekke said in an interview. “This is not a threat, it is a reality,” he said.

Brekke’s comments come just a day before the Telecom Commission, the highest decision-making body in the sector, meets to decide on the recommendations put forward by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

But two analysts said quitting India would impact Telenor’s growth potential as the Scandinavian telecom major has been depending on Asian and emerging markets for growth, with business in Europe, its main territory, declining.

“The India exit will mark a monetary loss, but will also mean a three-year setback to Telenor on growth in the next two years,” said one. They asked not to be named.

Telenor had forecast a breakeven for Uninor, its Indian unit, in 2013.

Not in line with SC orders, says Brekke
Telenor’s India operations were among the worst affected by the Supreme Court’s February 2 order quashing licences awarded in the controversial 2008 sale by former telecom minister A Raja. The court asked the government to issue new permits through an auction.

Trai last week recommended that the government auction 5 MHz of airwaves in the 1800 MHz band in which Telenor operates, a quantum of airwaves sufficient for only one company to operate, though nine companies have lost licences after the court decision.

The regulator also said mobile phone companies will have to pay a minimum Rs 3,622.18 crore for every unit of 2G spectrum, a 13-fold increase over what they paid in 2008 when Raja dished out pan-India permits that came bundled with 6.2 MHz of 2G spectrum for Rs 1,659 crore. Trai further said the first round of auctions would help establish the value of airwaves, which would be used as the base price for the next round to be held in 2013.

Brekke, who is also the head of the Scandinavian company’s India operations that offer mobile services under the Uninor brand, said Trai’s recommendations were not in line with the Supreme Court’s orders.

“The Supreme Court said new licences should be given through auctions. But according to Trai’s recommendations, only one licence, and not licences, can be issued. Even this is theoretical as incumbents can take away spectrum in the first round of auctions and companies like us are therefore finished,” he said.

“The main focus of the recommendations is refarming (redistribution) of airwaves in the 900 MHz band. To accommodate this, Trai has said only 5 MHz of airwaves in the 1800 MHz band can be auctioned. This is not what the court ordered. The SC simply said re-award the new licences through auction. The SC couldn’t be any clearer,” he reiterated.

Trai has recommended that incumbent operators such as Bharti and Vodafone surrender a part of their airwaves in the 900 MHz band by 2014 and replace it with spectrum in the 1800 MHz band. As a result, it has not recommended the auction of airwaves freed up after the Supreme Court-ordered cancellations. Brekke said while issues like spectrum price are of concern, Telenor may not even wait for price discovery in the auction, given the nature of the recommendations.

Rollout obligations impossible to meet
The Uninor MD said the company’s primary concern was the quantum of airwaves to be auctioned as well as requirements that the company establish its presence in a certain number of locations, known as rollout obligations.

“With 5 MHz, the government would be setting a deliberate policy to reduce competition that has brought affordability. Auctioning 5 MHz when more than 20-30 MHz is available is nothing but creating an artificial scarcity to jack up prices. This will be the smallest spectrum auction in the world,” he added.

Brekke added that Telenor would not be able to continue operations if the government insisted on imposing Trai’s rollout obligations.

“It isn’t logical to ask each operator to set up its own tower in every village when this is done smarter through collaboration and sharing between operators. Why use last decade’s mindset to solve this decade’s priorities?”

Uninor would require an additional 120,000 towers to meet the rollout obligations, making its business here unviable, Brekke said.

Brekke also slammed Trai for setting a steep price for airwaves. “We are being charged high spectrum prices and asked to recover them by using this spectrum for 3G and LTE (since this is liberalised spectrum) instead of using it for basic voice telephony that 90% of India uses. This is equivalent to taking from the masses and giving to the classes and goes against the political intention of the government,” he added.

The Trai recommendations enable telecom operators to use airwaves for all purposes, including data, to recover costs. However, for most operators, this implies massive replacement of infrastructure, which is unviable, Brekke explained.

Some of the mobile phone companies plan to file a fresh petition in the SC, stating that Trai’s recommendations are against the court’s orders, according to people familiar with the plan.

Brekke said he had ‘heard of this plan’ and added that ‘Uninor had not yet decided to be party to this petition’.

The Supreme Court last week ordered the government to conduct 2G spectrum auctions and grant licences by August 31, rejecting the Centre’s plea that it required 400 days to complete the process, even as it allowed the nine mobile companies whose licences were cancelled earlier this year to continue operations till September 7, extending its earlier deadline of June 2.

“The regulator seems determined to complicate this and bring in every telecom issue it possibly can. If this is what the SC wanted, then 400 days would have been allowed. But it wasn’t,” Brekke said. For now, the apex court seems to be done with its guidelines, and little more can be awaited on that front, he added.

ET reported last week that the DoT may first examine Trai’s recommendations to auction 5 MHz of airwaves in the 1800 MHz band and later consider the other proposals submitted by the regulator.

Some sections of the telecom department are of the view that setting aside most of Trai’s proposals and focusing solely on auctioning 5 MHz of airwaves will enable the government meet the August 31 deadline set by the Supreme Court. But this will result in a limited auction, and not the re-auction of all the airwaves vacated due to the cancellation of licences by the apex court.

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BSNL  one of the government  owned leading telecom operator launched the BSNL CDMA special offer from Tuesday onwards to 30th April 2012.

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It is really a awesome offer for the BSNL CDMA subscribers that BSNL is contributing full talktime on the special recharge vouchers.

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Now BSNL CDMA Subscribers can get full talktime at Rs 100  and  above recharge by regular top–up vouchers and also on the flexi top-up vouchers.

The Indian telecoms regulator on Monday suggested that government authorize all communication armed forces beneath one license with an entrance fee of Rs 15 crore balance to Rs 1,658 crore at current. 

But these pan-India mobile permits will not come bundled with spectrum or airwaves, and companies that obtain them must buy radio frequencies by participating in auctions. Currently, a pan-India permit comes bundled with 4.4 MHz of start-up GSM spectrum or 2.5 MHz of CDMA airwaves in all the 22 regions.

In January, Trai had proposed that the unified license that is technology neutral and allows companies to provide any telecom-related facility – mobile, landline, long-distance services, internet and satellite amongst others – have an entry fee of Rs 20 crore.

But, the regulator has slashed this to Rs 15 crore in its final recommendations that were sent to the telecoms department on Monday. In line with its earlier proposals, Trai has recommended that companies be allowed to apply for these permits at state or district levels.

Again, the regulator has halved the entry fee from its earlier proposal and said that service level permits (equivalent to a state or a metro city) be given at Rs 1 crore each except Jammu & Kashmir and North East where the entry fee is at Rs 50 lakh each. For the district level license, Trai has said that the entry fee should be fixed at Rs 10 lakh each.

The regulator has also recommended lowering the maximum penalty to Rs 10 crore from Rs 50 crore, and linking penalties to the nature of the infringement besides determining the quantum of penalty on the number of such violations. The regulator has also differentiated between major and minor violations and recommended separate set of penalties for each category.

The minimum penalty begins from Rs 10 lakh for a major violation and Rs 1 lakh for a minor breach of licence condition, going up to Rs 10 crore at the fifth violation and beyond. Similarly, the fifth minor licence breach and those following, may be fined Rs 25 lakh each. Trai reiterated its recommendations of including tower providers in the unified licence regime and that they would have to pay a fee to obtain unified permits.

To apply for the permits, a company would have a minimum net worth and paid up equity capital of Rs 25 crore for national level permit. Currently, telecom companies need separate licences for each type of service such as GSM, CDMA, 3G, broadband wireless (4G), internet, Direct-to-Home (DTH) and radio.

For instance, India’s largest telco by both revenues and customers, Airtel, has separate permits for mobile, internet, satellite services, fixedlines, DTH, national long-distance and international long distances in addition to holding a individual licence for each state. Under the new regime, Airtel can replace all its existing permits with a single unified licence.

All existing rules under the current regime, including a foreign holding cap of 74%, resident Indians holding top positions and other security guidelines will apply to the new permits, Trai said. Mobile phone companies can migrate to the new regime after paying Rs 15 crore. But they will be placed in a separate category called Unified License (Restricted), whose validity will be equivalent to that of their current permits.

Following the expiry of their existing permits, when telcos renew the same, the new unified license will no longer be under the ‘restricted category’, Trai added. Such a spectrum-neutral permit could benefit firms that are limited by licence conditions to offer data services, although technology allows them to easily offer more lucrative voice services.

Some of the biggest beneficiaries of the move could be winners of the 2010 broadband wireless access (BWA) auction. Industry experts say a unified licence of this sort will allow the Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries to make a strong comeback into the telecom sector by becoming a full spectrum telecom operator offering advanced 4G services.

The current rules don’t allow the company to offer voice services, but it can do so on migrating to the unified licence regime. Telecoms minister Kapil Sibal had announced new rules on licences, spectrum, mergers and acquisitions in February, barely a fortnight after the Supreme Court’s verdict of canceling 122 mobile permits belonging to eight telecoms companies.

The minister had said that the new rules would delink spectrum from licences, allow those with licences the right to launch any telecom or Internet service and institute a uniform licence fee at 8%. The minister had added that a final view on the implementation of the unified licence regime would be taken after detailed guidelines, terms and conditions were received from Trai.

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