Honest

Whats the source of info my dear Amit ?

Desktop-like Web Browsing on Your Mobile Haven't you ever wished that your mobile phone could double as your laptop? Of course you have! Such a device would obviously minimize the necessity to carry multiple gadgets. In today's world the mobile phone is fast getting there – while not exactly a replacement to a laptop, it's come pretty close. There are plenty of web browsers (such as Opera, or the iPhone’s Safari) that can give users a very easy-to-navigate feel while they are logged in to the Internet. Skyfire, the latest attempt, aims at providing Windows Mobile users a full-fledged desktop-like view while surfing the web on their devices. Skyfire is equipped with integrated Flash support to enhance user experience. Unlike most other mobile browsers, Skyfire can actually play embedded videos. The developers claim the idea is to provide users with the most realistic computer-like interface for navigation. Skyfire is compatible with both Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0, touchscreen or otherwise. It also promises users great speeds while browsing. The best part is that it's freeware. For more information and to sign up, check out the Skyfire website.

BSNL's 'Free Internet' Offer Local call rates -- Pulse rate@450 seconds from 0730-2230 and 900 seconds from 2230-0730, pay along with telephone bill. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has offered an extension to its so-called free dial-up internet surfing facility to subscribers until December 2008. This is the company's 'account-free' Calling Line Identification (CLI) based 'Net One' dial-up internet service. This means, if you use a BSNL landline, you need not pay anything to get started on the internet. To start surfing: 1. Connect your telephone jack to your PC or laptop. 2. Initiate a dial-up connection with the access code 172222. 3. Enter a username (STD code without zero + your telephone number), followed by a password of your choice. Once you're connected, you will be charged only for the local calls -- Pulse rate@450 seconds from 0730-2230 and 900 seconds from 2230-0730. You'll receive the Internet bill along with your telephone bill. We aren't sure whether we should recommend any of the BSNL helpline numbers (they seldom work) to obtain more details on this subject. In the mean time, you could visit the BSNL website for your respective state (click here) for more information. Courtesy : Techtree

Net woes: RCom asked to detail back-up plans Business Line l 25 Dec l New Delhi The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has asked Reliance Communications to give details of measures it had taken to deal with cable cuts. TRAI said the company was told in February to make available adequate bandwidth on alternative routes to take care of such eventualities. Internet services in the country were thrown out of gear after three cables, including RCom’s FLAG, got cut last week in the Mediterranean Sea. “You would recall that in January and February of this year SEA-Me-We 4 and FLAG cables were damaged and Reliance Communication was in a similar situation. During the meeting, you were asked to plan for such eventualities in future so that adequate restoration bandwidth is available on the alternative routes and Indian consumers and business organisations served by you do not suffer. You are requested to intimate the arrangements made for routing the traffic via alternative routes in cases of such failure,” TRAI told RCom. The TRAI move follows a complaint by RCom against rival Bharti Airtel. While Bharti Airtel and Tata Communication’s cable network were also affected due to the cable cuts, they have been able to cushion the impact as they own capacity on alternative routes.

Anyone in India can steal a phone or buy a stolen one Economic Times l 25 Dec The ban on mobile phones that have no identification number, also called International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI number, is too little, too late. Even now, anyone in India can steal a phone, or buy and use a stolen mobile. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in a directive, has blocked phones that do not have an IMEI number. The 15-digit IMEI number is unique to every mobile handset, and even some satellite phones. You can usually see it by typing *#06# on most branded phones. This would mean that 25 million users of cheap Chinese knock-offs - that don't have IMEI numbers - might get disconnected Jan 6, or March 31 if that gets extended. (If this directive had come two years ago, we wouldn't have to worry about millions of affected users.) First, about 26/11. Maybe the terrorists did use Chinese phones. It makes little difference. The bigger issue was that they used legitimate SIM cards, bought with fake identity papers. Second, some irony. While 25 million users of cheap Chinese handsets, most having bought them in good faith and without knowledge of IMEI numbers, will get disconnected, millions of cellphone thieves and their customers will continue with phones without fear of persecution by police or service provider. The industry has developed software that can be uploaded to a phone, giving it a unique IMEI number, if it doesn't already have one. The software is being tested. But at some point, perhaps March 31, the IMEI-less users would have to be blocked. Still, they would have got advance warning, and time to act. Telcos can SMS them reminders: it's easy to pick out the ones without IMEI numbers from caller data records. A second idea: Let the government use this opportunity to come up with a citizen ID. Use Rs.300 crore (Rs.3 billion) from the money collected for the Universal Service Obligation fund from all telcos for this. The problem is the very few organisations that can drive such citizen projects, like the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), do not have the time. So government agencies like the Election Commission, the ITO and food and civil supplies will continue with a dozen different citizen identities, wasting billions. But the IMEI-less phone is not the only or even the main issue. As long as regular branded phones (with IMEI numbers) get stolen and re-used without trouble, terrorists can buy them much cheaper than the IMEI-free clone phones. Because service providers are so reluctant to go after a thief, or a customer who bought a stolen phone, it's really quite safe to steal a phone in India. Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) members' track record in tracking IMEI is poor. A Wikipedia entry says this of the IMEI number: "It's used by the GSM network to identify valid devices and therefore can be used to stop a stolen phone from accessing the network. The owner whose phone is stolen can call his network provider and instruct it to block the phone using its IMEI number." That is, if you lose your phone, you could call your network provider and it could block that IMEI number so it cannot be used with any other SIM card, or flag it as "hot". 'Could' is the operative word. Actually, the provider won't. Its stance is: "We do not want to harass a customer who has bought a second-hand phone in good faith". Even if that phone is stolen. Can you imagine that applying to cars? You buy a stolen car, and the authorities say, oh, poor fellow, let him keep it, he bought it in good faith? Now, telcos might say the phone could be used on any other network, but in this day of roaming interconnect and settlement, tackling that is no big deal. A credit card company does not tell you that a lost card will be blocked only if the thief uses it on 'their network'. Oh, and an Airtel or a Vodafone will not block a stolen phone even on their own network, unless they're pressured by the police. If you thought things would be easier with CDMA (code division multiple access) providers, where there are no SIM cards to change, it's actually worse. Tata Indicom refused to block a very poor painter's phone which was stolen; he finally had to change the number he had got printed on his card. He went through a police report, but no luck. We tried to help him, but couldn't budge Tata Indicom. This, then, is the bigger danger, but the one that is easier to tackle. The good news is that the police have begun to act on FIRs (first information reports) filed on stolen handsets. We know of a case in Delhi where a handset was recovered in a few days through the IMEI number. The bad news is that less than one in 10 phone thefts gets even reported, let alone an FIR registered. So if directed by the police to track a stolen handset, the telcos can do it. On March 31, 2009, they should block not only the IMEI-free handsets but also stolen handsets, after reporting theft (when a handset reported stolen turns up with another SIM card number, they can report that, before blocking it.) And the COAI should create a database for stolen handsets that would get blocked, at least in India. Self-regulation? I must be dreaming. So I hope the DoT issues the diktat to block stolen handsets along with IMEI-free handsets. This will put the squeeze on the grey market, on thieves, and, in a small way, on terror. And the next time you lose a phone, take the trouble to report it to the police. You might just get it back, and deprive the grey market. Or a terrorist.

New cell phone connection may be required two guarantors 10 Aug, 2008, 1500 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: In its efforts to check the use of mobile phones in terror activities, the Ministry of Home Affairs is likely to advice the Department of Telecommunication to direct all mobile phone operators to get two existing cellular customers as guarantors before issuing SIM card to new customers. The MHA, which is all set to approach the DoT very soon, is likely to suggest that the mobile phone operators must have the guarantors on the lines of opening a bank account. "We wanted to have a mechanism where a common person can get a SIM card without any hassles and other security concerns are also met," Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said. The issue was discussed in great detail at Friday's meeting of top civil and police officials of the state convened by the Home Ministry in the wake of back-to-back serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad. Mobile phones are being used by terrorists to trigger IEDs at Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad in May 2007 as well as passing messages to their handlers in Pakistan and Bangladesh, sources said. Gupta said his Ministry intended to have a "focussed discussion" with the Department of Telecommunication on the issue of SIM cards. "Various problems (on SIM cards) have been identified. We want to deal with them," he said. The Ministry is likely to suggest the DoT to come out with a guidelines that makes it mandatory for SIM card vendors to take instant photograph of new customers, sources said.

Govt to DoT: Ensure strict verification for SIMs Economic Times l 24 Dec l New Delhi In the backdrop of mobile phones having Indian SIM cards and UAE's Thuraya satellite phone used by Pakistani terrorists during Mumbai attack last week, the home ministry on Wednesday asked the department of telecommunication (DoT) to quickly devise a mechanism of a "strict consumer verification" exercise and formulate a comprehensive policy on "monitoring and intercepting" sat phones. The ministry's concerns were conveyed to DoT after the issue came up for discussion in a high-level meeting chaired by home minister P Chidambaram who reviewed all aspects of telecom having security implications. The issue of use of Chinese mobile phone handsets — which do not have International Mobile Equipment Identities (IMEI) — also came up for discussion. Since it is the IMEI number which mainly helps agencies to trace the handset user, the intelligence agencies had recently pitched for a ban on Chinese handsets. The minister was, however, informed that DoT, taking such concerns in mind, has already "directed all the access service providers to make provision of Equipment Identity Registry (EIR) so that calls without IMEI or Electronic Serial Number (ESN) or those with IMEI or ESN with all zeros are not processed, and rejected". Besides senior home ministry and DoT officials, the meeting was also attended by senior officers of IB, RAW and the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO). The NTRO keeps track of technological aspects of intelligence in coordination with other agencies. Sources in the ministry said that DoT had proposed to set up a National Surveillance Grid to create a centralized communication monitoring agency. The Grid would help remove multiplicity of authorities in telecom/internet/Voice Over Internet Protocal monitoring exercises as currently it is being done by different agencies, they added. At present, interception of sat phones is a big problem in India as none of the international operators have a hub here. Since these phones — provided by operators like UAE's Thuraya and a consortium led by Inmarsat — do not need interconnectivity with the network of any country's domestic network, they can be used anywhere in the world without any hitch. An official said that sat phones could be intercepted only with the help of the country where it is licensed — which is time-consuming and often ineffective. The problems of interception and the absence of hubs come because India does not provide licences for operating satellite phones on a commercial basis, he added. After having discussed such issues, the ministry asked DoT to come out with a solution within a month so that the government could formulate a comprehensive policy on sat phone monitoring and interception. As far as safety mechanism of SIM cards is concerned, the ministry suggested that DoT consider a system of "gurantor" for getting a new connection. It was earlier proposed that the consumers can carry reference numbers of two existing mobile phone customers as "guarantors" for getting new SIM cards — the way it is currently being done while opening a bank account. The reference numbers of guarantors — which will be verified by the service provider within a day or two -- will be in addition to the other identity and residential address proofs. The home ministry also suggested that DoT come out with a guideline which makes it mandatory for SIM card vendors to take instant photographs of new customers using web cameras and to pass them on to the service provider with the reference number.

^^^ Here is the code my dear friend : Restore factory settings : *#987*99# OR *#66*# OR Default User Passwords : 1122, 3344, 1234, 5678

India should impose a BAN on Nokia handsets atleast upto the resoltution of this issue.

^^^ My dear Santhosh, just upload the file to an external sites like Imageshak and then insert the image here. It will then animate. Regards.

^^^ Thanks my dear Praveen.

Wish all our Rimwebians and their families a very very MERRY CHRISTMAS.

^^^ Thanks a lot my dear Pankaj Bhai. ^^^ And to add to the above list of Top Posters are Arun, Kshah, Hetal, Ashoka the Great, Tanveer, Ashokjp, Akshat, Supernova, Saurav, Raccoon, Amit Jain, Copperco2, Ani_Meher. ^^^ Yes my dear Ashoka The Great, mehnat ke alawa, Time bhi laga.

My dear friends, actually these foreigners are always been unfaithful to India. See the example of BBC. In the recent Mumbai terror attacks when two Terrorists enter CST Station at Mumbai, the same has been reported by BBC as : TWO GUNMEN ENTER CST STATION AT MUMBAI. Now what the hell it is. They are saying that these men were not TERRORISTS but GUNMEN. So, if these men were really GUNMEN in the eyes of BBC then Why don't BBC employ such kind of Gunmen at their headoffice.

^^^ Yes my dear friends, its really a insult to our Nation. We should boycott NOKIA until they Apologise.

iPhone camera with Xenon flash? Snapture Labs says yes Ever wished for your iPhone’s camera to have a flash? Or, even better, a Xenon flash? I’m sure many of you would like that, and it looks like an accessory will be able to help you soon. Snapture Labs, a company known for providing a popular software for iPhone cameras, has recently presented its patent-pending “Xenon attachment for iPhone”. This looks somehow like a protective case and, obviously, it adds a Xenon flash to the handset’s camera. The Xenon camera accessory is only a prototype for the moment, meaning that you still cannot make your iPhone a good photography tool in low light conditions. However, Snapture Labs is working on the product and it will commercialize it sometime in the future, for both the iPhone 2G and the iPhone 3G. No word yet about the exact release date and the price of the Xenon wonder, but you can get on a waiting list for it by visiting the Snapture website. Courtesy : Unwiredview

Nokia 6208 Classic has a touchscreen and an alphanumeric keypad While Nokia N97 is the Finns’ first smartphone to feature a touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard, the unannounced Nokia 6208 Classic is (almost) the first to have a touchscreen and a regular, alphanumeric keypad. Yes, you’ve heard well, the giant company is getting ready to launch yet another touchscreen handset under the name of Nokia 6208 Classic. What’s weird is that, from the info known by now, the 6208 Classic does not run on Symbian 9.4 S60 5th Edition (like the N97 and the 5800 XpressMusic). Instead, it might come with an S40 interface tweaked to work with a touchscreen. Design-wise, Nokia 6208 Classic is not what you’d call a beauty, but it’s not an ugly phone, either. Here it is: I think Nokia might have drawn its inspiration from the old 6708 when creating the 6208 Classic. Anyway, here are the known specs of the new handset: 2.8 inch TFT display (touchscreen, as I already mentioned), with 16 million colors and 240 x 320 pixels Quad band GSM connectivity with GPRS, EDGE 27MB of internal memory MicroSD card support 3.2MP camera with autofocus and flash 130 grams 109.8 x 49.3 x 14.7 millimeters Nokia 6208 Classic could be a handset destined only for the Chinese market, but until some official info about this appears, we can’t say for sure. Obviously, pricing and release date are also uncertainties, for the moment at least. Courtesy : Unwiredview

Samsung W690 has an AMOLED display and GPS In a move bound to diversify its mid-end phone offering, Samsung has just launched the Samsung SCH-W690, a new clamshell that should be soon available in South Korea, via SK Telecom. The W690 comes in two color versions (black and white) and looks quite elegant. Its alphanumeric keypad seems to be very user-friendly, thanks to those large keys. One of the phone’s nicest features is the 2.6 inch internal AMOLED screen that supports 240 x 320 pixels and 262K colors. Nokia’s N85 Nseries smartphone packs a similar display, with the difference that the N85 one supports 16 million colors Anyway, here are the other features of Samsung W690: GSM and HSDPA connectivity GPS 1.5 inch OLED external display with 128 x 128 pixels and 65K colors MP3 player Bluetooth 2MP camera 800 mAh battery 123 grams 101 x 51.6 x 16.95 millimeters Courtesy : Unwiredview

Samsung SCH-W690 Anycall Origin launched in Korea Samsung is targeting so-called “Active Seniors” with its newest handset, the SCH-W690, or simply, the Anycall Origin. And while Samsung didn’t make it entirely clear what exactly Active Seniors were, well, I think the terms “active” and “senior” in there more than sum it up. One of this new handset’s key features is its 2.6-inch AM-OLED screen, giving it great readability. There’s a front-facing camera that can presumably be used for video calls as well. Besides which, there’s also a 2-megapixel camera on board, with FM radio, GPS, 8GB of internal memory. While this simple-looking mobile phone looks, um, simple so far, it’s features actually go a lot further than they first seem. For example, its 2-megapixel camera is said to have a smile-shutter feature that makes it automatically capture photos of subjects when they smile. Plus, it’s equipped with a bunch of health-related features that many “active seniors” will surely love. Pricing and availability of this phone has not yet been specified. Courtesy : Unwiredview

Govt may tweak telecom M&A norms 17 Jul, 2008, 0350 hrs IST, ET KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: The Department of Telecom (DoT) is tipped to review the norms on M&As in the telecom sector, which were notified in April 2008. In a bid to clamp down on speculators and weed out non-serious players, the government is planning to restrict start-up telecom companies from selling out within a certain time period. At present, telecom start-ups are free to sell a controlling stake in their companies at any point unlike established telcos who have a three-year lock-in period. DoT, while announcing the merger guidelines in April 2008, had said that an operator must complete three years in a circle before it can merge or be acquired by another operator. Under this clause, several existing players such as Idea, Aircel and Vodafone Essar, who were recently awarded new licences in many circles cannot go in for mergers in these zones. However, such restrictions do not apply to new entrants like Datacom, Unitech, Swan and Loop Telecom, who were granted telecom licences earlier this year. Existing players had complained that these norms would help new entrants, who got licences for a mere Rs 1,651 crore, to make a quick buck by selling a majority stake. In addition, DoT, in consultation with telecom regulator TRAI, is trying to bring in more clarity on computing spectrum transfer charges and spectrum enhancement charges, which will be applicable to existing as well as new players. While DoT’s earlier norms had said spectrum transfer fee would have to be paid in the event of an M&A between existing players, it had not quantified this charge. Sources said DoT, while reviewing norms, will explicitly define spectrum transfer charges following an M&A transaction. The revenue implications are likely to be factored in and submitted to the finance ministry. Another key issue likely to be addressed is the quantum of spectrum charges that a company would have to pay if it had more radio frequencies than its entitlement after a merger or acquisition. DoT had earlier said following a merger, the combined entity would have to return excess spectrum within three months. It added that after the expiry of this period, charges for the excess spectrum would be doubled every three months. The industry, especially GSM operators, had sought a review of this clause on grounds that post-merger, it would not be technically feasible for the combined entity to return excess spectrum within three months. ET has learnt that even TRAI has hauled up DoT on this issue. “We have told the government that following an M&A, the operator should be given a minimum timeframe of nearly a year. Only if telcos don’t reach the requisite subscriber base within the 12-month timeframe, should they be asked to surrender excess spectrum,” a top TRAI official said. Some operators have also proposed an alternate framework where DoT works out a mechanism to charge telcos for this excess spectrum (following a merger) until they reach the subscriber-linked eligibility criteria. Sources close to the development also said DoT would take a relook at Clause 1 of the M&A guidelines, which made it mandatory for telecom players to secure government approval for a merger even at the concept stage. “DoT officials privately concede that not every proposal needs the Centre’s go-ahead at the concept stage. They merely need to take a call once an intra-circle M&A transaction gets consummated to ensure regulatory compliance,” added a government source. The industry too has told the government that such prior approval for any deal cannot be sought as talks between companies are held in secrecy. Besides, the industry had also objected to this clause on grounds that if DoT was to be informed of merger talks, then the same information must also be provided to markets (Sebi) and this, in turn, would violate the ‘non-disclosure agreements’ or confidentiality agreements that the two companies have entered into. While it couldn’t be independently confirmed, DoT is also under a fair bit of pressure to tweak the present M&A clause that imposes the restriction of a 10% limit on cross-holdings between existing telecom operators, but in the same breath, allows telecom start-ups to sell off up to 74% equity to overseas entities. “Though the 10% cross-holding restriction is meant to prevent the creation of telecom monopolies, the present rule makes M&As with existing operators nearly impossible while it encourages a new entity to cash out to an international player by resorting to the valuation game on the strength of its start-up spectrum allocation from DoT,” explained an industry source.

Telecom's M&As at $9 bn despite downturn: Assocham Press Trust of India l 24 Dec l New Delhi The fast-growing Indian telecom industry has seen mergers and acquisitions valued at over USD nine billion this fiscal, unfazed by the global slowdown that resulted in fewer worldwide M&A deals, an industry survey said today. Consolidation in telecom accounted for one-third of the total M&As in the country. The largest of around 20 deals this year was Japanese major NTT DoCoMo's purchase of a 26 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices, an Assocham EcoPulse study said. The USD 2.7 billion deal "enabled the Japanese giant's entry into the world's fastest-growing telecom market, which has over three times the number of subscribers in Japan," the study said. In another deal, Dubai-based Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) bought a 45 per cent stake in Swan Telecom in cash for USD 900 million. Idea Cellular acquiring a 40.8 per cent stake in Spice Communications for USD 679 million was among the major domestic deals in the last eight months this fiscal. The study says of the USD 9 billion M&A deals, foreign companies infused USD 8.06 billion. "The robust deal activity in the telecom sector gains significance in the backdrop of decline in the global merger volume by almost a third in 2008 due lack of credit," the study said, adding the sector is expected to continue to grow at rapid momentum despite all odds. Indian telecom market is the fastest growing in the world, where it is adding about 10 million subscribers per month. The industry has shown outstanding results. Sales for the top firms have increased by 30 per cent for the quarter ended September 2008.

Net woes: RCom writes to telecom regulator Business Line l 23 Dec l New Delhi Blames Airtel for not giving access to extra bandwidth. The move follows disruption in Internet and international data services after three undersea cables got cut in the Mediterranean Sea. Even as Internet services continued to be disrupted in the country, Reliance Communications has written to the telecom regulator that other long distance telecom operators, especially Bharti Airtel, was not co-operating in giving access to its infrastructure. The move follows disruption in Internet and international data services after three undersea cables got cut in the Mediterranean Sea. One of the cables- FLAG- is owned by Reliance. “In order to improve the availability of bandwidth to customers in India, we had also requested Bharti to grant us immediate access to its Chennai Cabling Landing Station. We have filled the requisite application and have also made the payment to them. We have requested Bharti to expedite the process, however we have not yet got the access as yet,” said Reliance Communications in a letter to the telecom regulator. RCom said that international carriers in other countries have cooperated but Bharti Airtel is holding up the available capacity. While Bharti Airtel and Tata Communication’s cable network was affected due to the cable cuts, they own capacity on alternative routes. For example, Bharti moved its customers to its i2i cable routed from Chennai to Singapore. However, RCom has only FLAG cable system, which has also developed a snag. Bharti’s response Responding to RCom’s letter to TRAI, Bharti Airtel spokesperson said: “We are taking all necessary steps for restoration of services and is currently routing traffic on alternative routes like its i2i undersea cable. This cable is currently being used to meet our own requirement as well as the requirements of other impacted operators. “We are working overtime to ensure that the requests for additional bandwidths are addressed as soon as the equipment to enhance capacity are available with us. We received request from Reliance Communications only yesterday and are trying our best to resolving their problem in the current situation as soon as possible.” This is the second time that RCom has approached the telecom regulator after one of its undersea cables got cut. Earlier this year, its FLAG cable had developed a major cut which disrupted Internet services in the region in a major way. Even in that instance Reliance had sought the regulators intervention alleging Bharti Airtel and Tata Telecommunications were asking for a fee that was higher than the prevailing market price. TRAI had called for a joint industry meeting in a bid to get the operators to co-operate with each other.

DoT seeks Cabinet nod on spectrum usage charges Business Line l 23 Dec l New Delhi The Department of Telecom has sought the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affair’s approval on three decisions taken last week related to spectrum usage charges. The Telecom Commission, on December 19, had decided to increase spectrum usage charges for the existing 2G players. It had also decided to scrap the proposals to impose a one per cent spectrum usage charge and an additional two per cent administrative fee on 3G players. All the three issues have been referred for ratification by the CCEA. Though these issues are well within the domain of the DoT, it has been decided to take the Cabinet into confidence to avoid any controversies. The DoT’s earlier decisions on 2G spectrum allocation has run into rough weather with the telecom regulator, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT and the Central Vigilance Commissioner raising questions on the process. According to the Cabinet note prepared by the DoT, it has also referred the issue of limiting the proposed 3G auction to 5 blocks in each circle. “The Minister of Communication and IT has approved the recommendations of the full Telecom Commission and desired that this matter be put up to the CCEA as TRAI has changed its earlier recommendations, which was accepted by the Government,” said the note.

Shyam-Sistema brings international brand MTS to India Press Trust of India l 24 Dec l New Delhi Shyam Telelink on Wednesday announced a strategic tie-up with Mobile TeleSystems of Russia that will bring the globally acclaimed brand MTS to India for offering telecom services. Shyam Telelink, which is in a partnership with Russia's Sistema, has the licence to offer mobile services throughout the country and has already launched services in Rajasthan about two months ago. The services can now be offered under global brand MTS. MTS is the largest mobile phone operator in Russia and in the CIS. In April 2008, MTS brand was recognised as one of 100 most powerful brands, a ranking published by the Financial Times and Millward Brown, a leading global market research and consulting firm. Under the terms of the agreement, Shyam Telelink will have the right to use the MTS brand in all its marketing communications and advertising in India. STL's decision to introduce the MTS brand in India is in line with the company's vision to introduce the world class services and offerings in the Indian market and to pursue global standards in India.

^^^ Can't say my dear friend. Let the time come and see what will happen. Till then enjoy what you have at the fullest.