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  1. Posted · Report reply

    http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/0...10152220100.htm

    New Delhi, Dec 31 If the telecom regulator’s proposal to bring down various charges payable between operators goes through, mobile tariffs could come down by 20-30 per cent in the New Year.

    In a consultation paper issued to review the interconnection usage charges (IUC), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has indicated that mobile termination charges could be as low as 13 paise a minute compared to the existing rate of 30 paise a minute. Termination charges are paid by the operators on whose network the call originates to the operator on whose network the call ends.

    This means that if a mobile user is currently paying Re 1 per minute for making a local call, he may be able to make the same call at 80 paise a minute.

    Mobile users could get further discounts on long distance calls as the regulator has also proposed to reduce the ceiling charges for carriage from the current level of 65 paise a minute. TRAI said that carriage charges can be as low as 16 paise for each minute. Carriage charges are paid by cellular and fixed line service providers to long distance telephone operators.

    New players may gain

    New players stand to gain if the proposals go through as their pay out in the form of termination charges to existing players will come down substantially. This is expected to be passed on to the subscribers.

    Mr Rajiv Mehrotra, Chairman, Shyam Group, said, “TRAI should bring the mobile termination rates to 9 paise a minute. If these charges are lowered then local calls rates will come down to lower than 50 paise a minute.” Shyam is one of the new players, which has partnered with Russian conglomerate Sistema to offer CDMA based mobile services across the country. Other new players include Swan Telecom, Unitech, Datacom and Loop Telecom.

    Existing CDMA based mobile operators said that a reduction in termination charges will bring down tariffs. Both Reliance Communication and Tata Teleservices are practically new players in the GSM segment and could gain if the regulator decides on a lower charge.

    Mr S.C. Khanna, Secretary General, Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India, said, “A reduction in termination rates will encourage new players. It will also benefit the customers as the new operators will be able to offer tariffs that are substantially lower than the existing charges.”

    Revenue loss

    However, pan-Indian GSM operators who have a large customer base, will stand to lose on revenues earned from collecting the termination fee. “If international methods are adopted then it would not come down to the levels as is being proposed by the regulator,” said a Cellular Operators Association of India executive.

    Going by the division in the industry over the proposal, the telecom regulator will have to do a balancing act.

    While TRAI has indicated a lower charge for both carriage and termination charges, the regulator has also given a higher value in the consultation paper.

    For example in the case of mobile termination charges, the TRAI has indicated that it could be 28 paise a minute in which case there will be no impact on the tariffs at all. TRAI said that the proposed charges are only indicative.

    “The preliminary estimates of ranges in termination and carriage charges are only indicative as the Authority would make appropriate analysis after the methodology and various inputs going into the methodology are firmed up,” TRAI said in a release.

    A final decision is expected by March 31, 2009 after taking inputs from the industry. Fixed line subscribers could also benefit as the regulator has indicated that the termination charges for fixed line services could also come down to 19 paise a minute from 30 paise.

    But such a move will impact state owned BSNL’s revenues since it will receive lower charges from private operators who terminate their call to any of the PSU’s 35 million fixed line telephone users.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    http://www.business-standard.com/india/new...c/06/51/344382/

    Chairman and managing director of India’s largest state-owned telecom company, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Kuldeep Goyal talks to I****a Russell about the recent controversies surrounding the company and the company’s future plans:

    Q: BSNL has been given a headstart for 3G services when compared with its private counterparts. How do you plan to capitalise on this opportunity?

    A: We are planning to launch 3G services by the end of next month. We are going in for a large-scale launch, mostly in the northern and eastern parts of the country. We also want to cover important towns in the South, including cities like Chennai. We want to provide a number of premium services through the 3G mode, like video-calling, video games and movie downloads, besides high-speed internet connectivity.

    Q: Do you think cost would be a main differentiator between the state-owned and private operators offering 3G services?

    A: Cost in this case may not be that much of a differentiating factor because the services initially will be used by the higher strata of the society.

    Q: The government has been raising concerns about the dwindling revenues of BSNL. Do you think 3G services will provide the company a huge boost in its revenues?

    A: 3G will of course bring in additional revenue. The capital expenditure which is involved initially may not be equitable initially, but once the customer base builds up, we hope that this will be a really profitable business for us.

    This (cost of 3G infrastructure) is an incremental cost. I can’t give the exact figures, but it is substantial. Orders have already been placed for the equipment. We should have our pan-India rollout by mid-2009.

    Q: With the entry of new private operators in the telecom space, how do you see this market now?

    A: With various new operators and new competition, BSNL is trying to improve the quality of service. We are trying to improve our network quality so that consumers not only find our services affordable but also of good quality, and that is how we would like to differentiate ourselves with the rest of the operators.

    Q: BSNL’s market share, compared with the private operators, has been depleting every quarter. What are the reasons for this and how do you plan to improve the situation?

    A: Our market share was affected due to capacity constraints earlier. But now a capacity of about 37 million lines has been created, along with commissioning of a large number of BTS or towers. We hope that with this we will have a significant increase in the number of customers.

    Q: What is the status on the 96 million line tender that you had issued earlier this year?

    A: That is under our evaluation. It will take some time. It is a very complex tender: there are four zones. In each zone, very intricate evaluation is required. Technical evaluation is still going on

    Q: BSNL has been dragged into the centre of a controversy with its recent intra-circle roaming agreement with Swan Telecom, which has not even begun rolling out its services. Your response to that?

    A: With Swan Telecom, we only have a memorandum of understanding. There is an understanding that if there is an extra capacity with us, we may allow them to have intra-circle roaming and in addition they may have arrangements with us to share their infrastructure. It is only an understanding as of now, no agreement is there. Nothing has been given to them, nor any payments have been received. As and when the capacity becomes available, we may try this out, and if this experiment becomes successful, we may try this out with others also.

    Q: With a host of incumbent operators in the market, why was Swan Telecom chosen?

    A: Intra-circle roaming was permitted by the government only recently. After the government permitted it, someone had to be the first one (to have such arrangement).

    Q: It is also alleged that BSNL’s agreements with Soma Networks were unfair as they did not go through the required bidding process in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh?

    A: Soma Networks approached us quite some time back when there were no other offers like that. We conducted trials and we found that the services that were offered were quite satisfactory. They were appreciated by the government of Gujarat. Therefore, we had an understanding to take the first-mover advantage and start with Soma Networks. Now we have come out with request for proposals (RFPs) for other circles. So this thing came when no other offers were there. Soma Networks had brought in a new technology and therefore we entered an agreement with them.

    Q: Soma Networks has deployed FDD technology in the three states which is obsolete when compared to the TDD mode of spectrum that the private operators want to deploy. Besides, it is not possible for both technologies to co-exist.

    A: When they brought that equipment it was in the FDD mode. But now the government has allotted spectrum only in TDD mode. Therefore, we too have started deploying the TDD mode. These three states had allotted spectrum in the FDD mode, the way trials were carried out. We have requested them (Soma Networks) to switch to latest technologies later.

    Q: Don’t you think that is will stifle the competition?

    A: I would not like to get into that controversy, but if there is such a thing then in any case we are requesting them to come out with the TDD mode equipment also.

    Q: Can you elaborate on you plans for WiMax in the country?

    A: We have already ordered 1,000 BTS for rural blocks from Huawei and Gemini. Bids were opened recently for another tender for Kerala and Punjab. For the remaining states, we have issued an RFP under the franchisee model.

    Q: BSNL had planned to hive off its infrastructure arm into a separate company. What is the progress on that?

    A: We have engaged Boston Consultancy for studying this. We hope to receive their report early next financial year.

    Q: What is the status on the much talked about listing of BSNL?

    A: BSNL Board has passed a resolution and has recommended the government to have an initial public offer (IPO) to list the company by issuing 10 per cent of its shares. Once the government takes a decision, we will again have a dialogue with the employees and make them understand the advantages of listing. Now, because of the downturn in the economy, this is probably not the right time (for the IPO).

    Q: There were also talks about BSNL’s merger with ITI and then MTNL. Is there any progress on that?

    A: As far as the proposal to merge ITI with BSNL is considered, it was felt that this request could be looked into only after the listing of the company. At the moment this is not feasible. Even merger with MTNL can only be considered once BSNL gets listed. So a lot of things depend on the BSNL listing. Listing is what the company requires.

    Q: What kind of a road map do you have in mind for BSNL for 2009?

    A: We want to expand our mobile and broadband services, and launch new services like 3G and other value-added services. Right now, we have about 75 million customers. We hope to add more than 20 million customers next year.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    http://www.business-standard.com/india/new...s/05/36/344169/

    The government expects to come out with the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) policy by January 5, when the auction of 3G spectrum commences.Addressing the pre-bid conference for auction of 3G and BWA spectrum, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Joint Secretary JS Deepak said, “We are hoping to come out with the policy on MVNO before the end of January 5, which is the deadline for (the) application of 3G spectrum.”

    He added a sub-committee of the DoT was looking at it.

    As MVNOs do not have spectrum, they operate through commercial arrangements with licensed mobile network operators, buying bulk minutes of traffic and reselling them to their own subscribers.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Some telcos want delay in 3G auction

    http://www.business-standard.com/india/new...n/05/36/344170/

    The 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum auction is running into further controversies with a section of telecom firms opposing the timing of the auction and internet companies planning to move the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

    Even though Reliance Communications (RCom) is ready with $1-billion investment for 3G rollout, it intends to focus on GSM rollout at the moment. The company is “receptive to the opinion that the 3G auctions should be held at a later date,” a source close to the development told Business Standard.

    This follows a similar move by Vodafone-Essar. The GSM major had earlier written to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) seeking postponement of 3G auctions. The company had said the global financial crisis would make mobilising funds an “extended process”.

    Gartner Principal Analyst Naresh Singh said: “The financial crisis shouldn’t be a concern as the reserve price of Rs 2,200 crore is not too high for any of these companies. The 3G spectrum auction has already been delayed and the industry wants the government to go ahead with the auction. Moreover, a cash crunch in the industry will lead to more realistic auction bids that will be beneficial to the customer.”

    Meanwhile, the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) plans to move the PMO over the telecom ministry’s move to seek surrender of the earlier-issued BWA spectrum.

    “BWA spectrum was allocated to five internet service providers in the country and these firms have been paying for it for the last couple of years. Now the ministry wants us to surrender it and participate in the forthcoming auction,” ISPAI President Rajesh Chharia told Business Standard.

    This, say companies, is not viable as there is no clarity on the issue. ISPAI had taken up the issue with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the telecom ministry “unsuccessfully”. “We are not seeking postponement of the auction but we want to know whether our members will be allocated the same amount of BWA spectrum and at the earlier price,” Chharia said.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    http://www.business-standard.com/india/new...i/06/36/343932/

    The ongoing war of letters between the telecom regulator, Trai, and the telecom ministry on the impending 3G licence auctions throws up several issues, most of which point to one thing: The regulatory system in India has become a farce, and needs to be either scrapped, or thoroughly revamped.

    First, though, it is hilarious to see the telecom ministry arguing against Trai’s recommendation on imposing a 2 per cent administrative charge on 3G licences — the ministry argues an additional charge will reduce the auction bids. Here’s the logic: If a 3G bid goes to Rs 6,000 crore for an all-India licence, a 2 per cent charge adds up to Rs 120 crore a year — so, over the 20-year life of the licence, based on a 5 per cent discount rate, that works out to a net present value of Rs 900 crore. If five such licences are to be auctioned, the government will get around Rs 4,500 crore less.

    What’s hilarious is that the ministry itself is doing its best to ensure the bid values are kept low. It has, for instance, ensured few new foreign players bid — they have to pay Rs 1,651 crore more than the existing telecom firms will pay, and there are several more such barriers. Indeed, though Trai recommendations on 3G were first made in September 2006, the back and forth on what the spectrum and other fees will be is still carrying on more than two years later — all this when the first pre-bid conference is tomorrow!

    Also, Trai’s administrative fee is a lot smaller than what the telecom ministry itself has done by raising spectrum usage fees by 20 to 50 per cent — this will then lower the auction bids by a greater amount! In any case, what’s Rs 4,500 crore compared to the largesse of over Rs 60,000 crore that the ministry handed out earlier this year when it gave 2G spectrum at bargain-basement prices to a favoured few firms?

    What is more worrying, however, is the sanctity of the whole Trai process. Right from the time Dayanidhi Maran was telecom minister to now, the ministry has not hesitated to ignore Trai recommendations whenever it felt like. So, Trai recommendations on 3G, given when Pradip Baijal was Trai chief, were ignored; Trai recommendations on 2G when Nripendra Misra took over were, similarly, implemented selectively; it is true the recommendations were not as clear as they should have been, but when Misra sought to make amends by writing clear letters to the ministry, these were ignored and Misra had to go public saying the government shouldn’t cherry pick; indeed, this time around when the ministry is again picking and choosing from the 3G recommendations, Misra has reiterated that the recommendations have to be accepted in totality.

    The larger point is that, the way the law has been formulated, Trai is a toothless tiger — it works well if the ministry chooses to be gentlemanly and takes the recommendations seriously; if the ministry chooses to assert its authority, there’s little Trai can do. It’s a bit like the President who, after a token refusal, just has to sign everything the government wants. Making Trai’s recommendations binding, as opposed to being recommendatory as they are today, is one solution, but fraught with danger since all it means is that instead of decision-making being concentrated in the minister, it gets concentrated in Trai.

    Theoretically, the solution lies in the appellate, or Tdsat, process where you can challenge policy decisions. But the problem here is that it limits the type of people who can go in appeal. Take the case where 2G spectrum was given at bargain-basement prices to a chosen few firms against Trai’s recommendations. Who got hurt by this? Other firms who were waiting in line for the spectrum? But, under the law, they cannot go to Tdsat; only existing licencees can. It is true existing licencees have filed a case in Tdsat against the 2G allotments, but it’s safe to assume they’re not going to push the case beyond a point. If Tdsat rules the licences were under-valued and, for the sake of argument, says the licence fee should be tripled, this will imply that existing licencees (Bharti/Vodafone/etc) who have been given extra spectrum beyond the 6.2 Mhz specified in their licence will also have to pay on this basis — that’s around Rs 3,000-4,000 crore apiece.

    Similarly, in the current case, both the government and the existing licencees are united in saying Trai’s 2 per cent levy is a bad idea. So, if the levy is in fact a good idea, who’s going to challenge the government, and where? You or I could go to court, but courts typically don’t want to get into government-policy decisions. It would be a good idea to open up the Tdsat process to non-licencees as well — indeed, even give Trai the right to challenge government decisions.

    Postscript: Given the way the government has sought to keep new players out, don’t be surprised if the 3G auctions fetch only a fraction of what the minister publicly said they would. Also, the government will accept Trai’s Voice-over-Internet-Protocol recommendations only after the Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) licences are auctioned — BWA will then become a perfect substitute for 3G telephony but its licence will cost a fraction!

  11. Posted · Edited by Honest
    << Topic Merged >>     · Report reply

    Where There Is A Will .....

    atlast policymakers wokeup and threaten operators,which results in action

    http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/N...538,curpg-2.cms

    25 million Chinese handsets likely to get new lease of life

    Economic Times l 22 Dec l New Delhi

    Over 25 million mobile phone users who have Chinese handsets without an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number won’t have to discard their phones. The industry has jointly developed a software which when uploaded to these handsets will provide the device with a unique number. This comes after a government directive asking all telcos to cut off mobile services to handsets that do not have an IMEI number by January 6, 2009. The government is likely to extend the deadline by another three months to March 31 even as some operators have sought time till July.

    IMEI is a unique 15-digit code that comes with every mobile and helps uniquely identify the handset. This number is reflected in the operator’s network whenever a call is made or received from any handset and therefore allows lawful interception of all calls. Mobile operators store these numbers in Equipment Identity Register (EIR) - so if a handset is stolen, and its owner can provide the IMEI number to his operator to ensure that all calls from this device is barred.

    In October, the DoT asked telcos to install EIR so that calls without IMEI or with IMEI consisting of all zeroes are not processed. This followed investigations by security agencies looking into the bomb blasts in several Indian cities this year which revealed that mobile phones used by terrorists did not bear valid IMEI numbers.

    Industry bodies representing Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Association of Unified Service Providers of India (AUSPI) — will formally approach the DoT this week seeking an extension, the representatives in these told ET. The industry will inform the DoT that customers who use these cheap Chinese handsets without IMEI numbers will not be able to afford a new handset. The industry therefore wants time to educate these customers to go in for a software update to get an unique identity number for their handsets.

    We need time to inform and educate the customer to have this software installed. This software is just being perfected and we will submit this solution to the DoT this week,” explained COAI’s director general TV Ramachandran. “These are genuine citizens who were ignorant about the IMEI number when they bought these handsets — we have to give them an alternative. Customers will have to pay a small fee, maybe about Rs 100, for the software, but this is better than throwing away the handset,” he added.

    Telcos are also set to tell the DoT that since the EIR equipment has to be imported and also tested extensively before it can be installed on the networks, the process cannot be completed by January 6. “In some cases, the ordered equipment is yet to arrive, while in other cases, the equipment that has been obtained is being tested,” Mr Ramachandran added.

    Besides, telcos have also demanded that the government ban the import of handsets without IMEI numbers. They have asked the finance ministry to direct the customs authorities to ban the shipment of such handsets into the country: “If these handsets are illegal and pose a security threat, how can the government allow these products into India. The operators are not to be blamed if these cheap handsets are available in the market,” said a senior executive with a telco.

    Chinese handsets account for about 13.3%, or Rs 4,000 crore, of India’s total mobile market, which is about Rs 30,000 crore a year. Every month, about 16.8 lakh Chinese and locally-assembled handsets are sold in India. A GPRS-enabled Chinese handset costs about Rs 3,000, against at least Rs 5,000 for a similar branded phone. “While most Chinese imports have IMEI numbers, it is only a small percent of the devices from the country that are illegal,” explained another executive with a leading telecom company.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/...how/3849057.cms

    CHENNAI: You send an SMS and it doesn't get delivered. Voice quality cracks and you have to run out of your home to receive a call. And finally, when you call up the help services, you aren't satisfied. Sounds like a mobile connection in Chennai, doesn't it?

    While the city is boasting of rampant telecom growth, customers have many a times been caught on the wrong foot due to poor service. The same has been captured by a survey released by telecom regulator TRAI, which reveals the state of the quality of service and customer satisfaction with telecom services in Chennai.

    Based on tests conducted by independent agency IMRB International (mandated by TRAI), the survey shows that concerns exist in parameters such as share of connections with good voice quality, complaints issued and paging channel congestion.

    Sample this: Against a TRAI benchmark of over 95% connections with good voice quality, Bharti Airtel and Aircel have been able to provide good voice quality with regard to only 84% and 90% of calls respectively. "It is our constant endeavour to augment customer experience by enhancing performance and delivering greater efficiencies," an Airtel spokesperson said, while other telcos remained tight-lipped on the survey and its findings.

    SMS is another service where at least one telecom service provider has faltered. In this service, one of the most important parameters is called paging channel congestion, where paging channels are used to send paging requests for locating a mobile station and for transmitting mobile directed or broadcast messages to mobile station(s) located over a wide coverage area.

    TRAI has a benchmark of less than 1% for this parameter. But the survey reveals that Reliance Communications was graded at over 1.6%, which essentially means there have been instances of customers getting delayed messages and perhaps not receiving them at all. The Reliance Communications spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

    The instances of complaints per 100 issued bills have also been higher than the TRAI stipulated benchmark. Against the benchmark of less than 0.1%, state run BSNL and private operator Vodafone have received complaints for 0.22% and 0.11% for every 100 bills generated. Repeated telephonic attempts for comment from senior BSNL (Chennai) officials were unsuccessful.

    Lastly, customers trying to access helplines also met with dissatisfaction. "The survey reveals that there is need to improve the satisfaction level of subscribers with respect to help services, billing performance and supplementary services across the service providers," TRAI said in a release. Around 30-35% of customers of Vodafone, BSNL and RCom in the city are not satisfied with the help services. The TRAI benchmark says that companies should have less than 10% of customers in this parameter.

    All companies - Bharti, Vodafone, BSNL, R-Com, Aircel and Tata Teleservices - have 71-84% of post-paid customers satisfied with billing performance. The TRAI benchmark is at least 90%. The performance in the prepaid segment is a little better (78-82%) but still far from the TRAI benchmark of at least 90%.

  15. Posted · Edited by ravi_patent · Report reply

    dear kumar you are correct..at the same time gsm lobby is equals ADAG .guess who is fighting tooth and nail from revising the call termonation charges.infact COAI is even saying that the same shall be upwardly revised.The root of the problem lies in the system ..unless the change happens there we will hear this kind of stories again and again

  16. Posted · Edited by ravi_patent · Report reply

    sunil jain of BS has been writing on indian telecom scenario in hard hitting style gibng greater insights into the matters we usually discuss here.

    http://www.business-standard.com/india/new...n/00/11/343219/

    Did Anil Dhirubhai Ambani’s (ADA) Reliance Communications own Swan Telecom at the time Swan applied for a GSM mobile phone licence? This question has assumed centrestage with some MPs writing to the Prime Minister who has, in turn, asked the telecom ministry to look into the matter. If Reliance Communications or other Reliance ADA Group firms owned more than 10 per cent of Swan Telecom when the latter applied for a (GSM-based) mobile telephone licence in March 2007, this was against the law which said no shareholder can hold more than 10 per cent of the equity in two telecom firms in the same licence area — Reliance Communications already operates a CDMA-mobile phone service. In which case, Swan’s licence — Swan is one of the firms which got a licence at bargain-basement prices thanks to telecom minister A Raja — could well come under a cloud, as will the deal Swan entered into with Dubai-based Etisalat to sell part of its equity at a huge premium.

    Also under the scanner is how the state-owned BSNL entered into a roaming agreement with Swan — BSNL does not have such an arrangement with any private telecom firm, so why did it sign up with a firm which doesn’t even have one subscriber? Since this means Swan can offer mobile phone services across the country without having much of its own network, the deal is a winner for it; it offers little to BSNL since Swan’s subscribers will be minuscule for a long time to come.

    The Reliance Communications’ story is an interesting one. And the company’s explanation for the events is so beyond the realm of normal expectations, it can only be classified as a Black Swan event, to use Nassim Taleb’s classification — an event so rare, it happens once in a millennium.

    In March last year, when Swan applied for a GSM mobile licence, Reliance Telecom (a Reliance ADA subsidiary) owned 9.9 per cent of it — this was permissible within the law. The rest was owned by Tiger Traders. The problem, however, was that Tiger’s directors were Reliance ADA Group employees and their address was also that of a Reliance ADA Group firm. Also, Reliance Communications’ annual report showed the firm had, in 2007, given Swan Rs 992 crore by way of 99.2 lakh 8 per cent redeemable preference shares with a coupon value of one rupee — that is, Reliance subscribed to these at a premium of Rs 999 each. In other words, everything about Swan smelt Reliance Communications at this point in time.

    Reliance ADA, for the record, has a different explanation for things, an explanation that is also quite worrying. According to Reliance ADA, a very large group of builders (Dynamix Balwas own the Meridien Hotel in Mumbai and the Hyatt in Goa) approached it to say there was a possibility of getting a telecom licence; but since the builders had no telecom experience, it was decided Reliance ADA employees would be directors of Swan, the firm chosen to apply for the spectrum. According to Reliance ADA, since it was in the telecom business and felt it could do business with Swan if it got a licence (Swan could, for instance, rent out its telecom towers), it didn’t mind doing this.

    Presumably, this is also why it put in Rs 992 crore with Swan. According to Reliance ADA, redeemable preference shares are not equity but are debt — so it never owned more than 9.9 per cent of Swan’s share at any point in time. (In India, by the way, redeemable preference shares are considered as equity, though under the International Financial Reporting Standards they are considered as debt.) Reliance ADA adds that its directors stepped down from Swan on October 10 — that is, long before Swan got its licence in January 2008 and a few days before Raja took his decision to award Reliance Communications’ GSM spectrum under the dual-technology umbrella on October 18, 2007. Talk about timing! Swan also returned Reliance Communications’ money before it got the licence.

    This explanation of Reliance ADA’s dealings, of course, is what the telecom ministry has to examine. It is, of course, curious that the ADA Group should be willing to put so much money into a firm that had little to offer by way of collateral. And since the 8 per cent return Swan was offering by way of interest on the preference shares could only be on the Re 1 coupon value (Reliance Communications paid Rs 1,000 for each share), in effect, it virtually gave the money to Swan for free. And, when the Reliance ADA directors stepped down and Swan gave it its money back, Reliance Communications didn’t get any premium either.

    Whether the help Anil Ambani and A Raja extended to Swan was a black swan event or something else is what needs to be established.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    this is something all operators fight tooth and nail.

    http://www.businessline.in/cgi-bin/print.p...amp;prd=bl&

    New Delhi, Dec. 12 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Friday said that it was looking to move towards a tariff regime where mobile operators charge on a per second basis instead of the current practice of charging every minute.

    If this is implemented it will result in huge savings for mobile users who currently have to pay for an entire minute even if they talked for just 30 seconds. All the operators at present charge on a per minute basis, which means that each time a user dials he will have to necessarily pay for the entire minute. This system of charging proves to be particularly expensive given the number of times the call drops specially in metros such as Delhi and Mumbai.

    The telecom regulator said that though mobile tariffs are under forbearance it will have to look at a per second pulse rate due to the operators not addressing the issue of calls dropping. “Consumers must get what they pay for. Given the frequent call drops we should perhaps have per second based pricing,” said Mr Nripendra Misra, Chairman, TRAI, on the sidelines of the India Telecom Summit 2008.

    Mr Misra also urged the operators to cut SMS charges. “I urge telecom companies to keep in mind the principle of forbearance. But forbearance has not been followed at times. I tell companies, please listen to our persuasion. The request on SMS has been pending with them for a year,” he said. Operators currently charge at the rate of Rs 1.20 per message. However, according to industry analysts, there is no cost accruing to the operator in providing this service. The regulator said that the operators should respond within a week by cutting SMS rates.

    Mobile operators said that the TRAI intervention was not necessary given that tariffs are being determined through the market mechanism. “I do not think TRAI needs to prescribe any new tariffs. We are already offering the lowest tariffs in the world. There are nearly 7-8 operators in each circle which makes it really competitive,” said Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director-General, Cellular Operators Association of India.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Tata-Virgin Mobile lowers STD, local rates

    Press Trust of India / New Delhi October 14, 2008, 12:50 IST

    Taking the competition from GSM players head on, Tata Teleservices and Virgin Mobile today slashed STD and local rates on pre-paid services to 50 paise per minute.

    TTSL-Virgin customers can now call any number, mobile or landline, across networks at only 50 paise per minute after the initial three minutes of the day.

    The first three minutes of a STD call each day would cost Rs 1.50 paise per minute while for rest of the day the long distance tariff would drop to just 50 paise per minute for maximum up to 30 minutes.

    Similarly, for local calls, for first three minutes of the day calls would be at Re 1 per minute, then for the rest of the day the tariff would be 50 paise a minute.

    "Against the industry norm of STD tariff of Re one per minute at an additional monthly commitment, new 50 Paise STD- local will provide the lowest all-India STD base tariff offer with no extra cost," Virgin Mobile India CEO M A Madhusudan said.

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