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Govt waives license fee on rural fixed line, to lose Rs 200cr 24 Jul, 2008, 1508 hrs IST, PTI NEW DELHI: Department of telecom has waived the license fee on rural landlines to promote use of telephone in rural areas, where the usage of telecom services remain low, a move which will make the Government lose about Rs 200 crore revenue per year. The decision is also intended to give a boost to e-governance through provision of more broadband services in villages, thus reducing the digital divide, an official statement said here. The Telecom Commission, in its latest meeting took this decision. The waiver will amount to Rs 200 crores per year, it said. The Commission also decided to reduce the levy towards the Universal Service Obligation (USO) from the present five per cent to three per cent of the Adjusted Ground Revenue (AGR) in the case of those telecom service providers, who have already covered more than 95 per cent of rural areas. The Universal Service Obligation Fund has been set up to create infrastructure support in rural and remote areas for providing telecommunications service to people at affordable and reasonable prices. The latest decisions of the Telecom Commission are in line with the Government's policy to promote rural telephony and accessibility of telephone in remote areas. The aim is to achieve rural teledensity of 25 per cent by means of 200 million rural connections at the end of the 11th Plan. The rural teledensity stood at 8 per cent as on December 31, 2007.

TRAI moots steps to push rural telephony Economic Times l 17 Dec l New Delhi In a bid to improve rural telephony, telecom regulator TRAI on Tuesday proposed that all operators who offer communication services in rural India and share their infrastructure with other players be given financial support from the telecom development fund. At present, all telcos pay 5% of their annual revenues towards this fund—Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). As of September 2008, the urban teledensity (number of telephones per 100 persons) was 72.47% against rural teledensity of only around 12.72%. TRAI also pointed out that during the last two decades, though several attempts have been made to extend the benefits of the telecom revolution to rural masses, the gap between urban and rural teledensity has only widened. The regulator has, therefore, called for several measures to improve rural telephony, and said: “India’s rural majority today accounts for more than $100 billion in consumer spending i.e. the largest buyers as a group in the country and contributing significantly to India’s GDP. Cellphone makers are eyeing the rural markets to push growth beyond the present 7 to 9 million new mobile connections every month. Broadly, we can say that if a country has a one per cent higher mobile phone subscription rate than another, its GDP per capita will be about $200 higher.” TRAI’s proposals come as a large chunk of this money available in the USOF remains unutilised. For instance, as of last year, over Rs 20,000 crore has been collected from telcos towards the USOF, but only a little over Rs 6,700 crore has been utilised for improving rural telephony. TRAI has also called for setting up of separate facility based operator funded by the USOF for providing the fiber connectivity. “The fibre laid should be given free of cost for next five years to any operator who provides services in the villages,” TRAI said. Currently, telcos shy away from offering bundled handsets at subsidised rates to their customers. This is because the original cost of the handset is included in their annual gross revenues (AGR) and they are subjected to a revenue share in this component also.

Finmin backs plan to limit 3G play to 5 per circle Economic Times l 17 Dec l New Delhi The finance ministry has endorsed the communications ministry' decision to limit the upcoming 3G auction to five players per circle for private companies and state-owned telcos. This comes as the communications ministry had explained to the finmin that even in those circles where more players could be accommodated, it would not be prudent to auction away all the radio frequencies. Further, the communications ministry has also added that the government should always hold some spectrum in reserve. The auctions of 3G spectrum which will enable telcos to offer high-end services such as faster downloads of video clips, music files and movie trailers, video calls, amongst other services is slated to happen on January 16. At present, all telecom services in the country are offered on 2G radio frequencies. But, in nine of India's 22 telecom circles, where there is no adequate spectrum to accommodate five players, the DoT has decided to go ahead with the auctions for only the available slots. The proposal by the finmin to have full-fledged auctions in these nine circles and put operators on a waitlist until they awarded 3G spectrum has also been shelved, said a government source close to the development. Meanwhile, industry bodies representing operators on both platforms - GSM and CDMA - have written to the government seeking clarifications as well as changes to the proposed auction guidelines. The Cellular Operators Association of India, the body representing all GSM players on Tuesday said that since 3G spectrum was limited, successful bidders can wait till this resource is made available for simultaneous allocation to all'. COAI also added that bidders who have to wait for spectrum should not be asked to match the highest bid as specified in the 3G policy. As an alternative approach, the COAI said, in case there are three slots available, then the second highest bid will be deemed as the winning bid and where two slots are present, all successful players be mandated to pay the price quoted by the third highest bidder. The Association of Unified Service Providers of India, the body representing CDMA operators have demanded that the government specify the auction roadmap for telcos on this technology platform. The Jan 16 auctions are only for GSM players. The industry body has also asked the DoT to clarify on what would be the entry fee for new entrants who bags 3G spectrum during the auctions. Besides, it has also asked the DoT if these new entrants who bag 3G spectrum will be given 2G frequencies.

Govt seeks reply from WPC, BSNL Economic Times l 17 Dec l New Delhi The communications ministry has asked its Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing as well as state-owned BSNL to submit their replies over allegations that they had favoured Swan Telecom, a new entrant that was granted telecom licences earlier this year. The move comes after the Prime Minister’s Office had asked DoT to look into these allegations following complaints from a member of parliament. In fact, many of the existing operators have also alleged that there were several irregularities with regard to the allocation of spectrum to Swan. The department has asked BSNL to provide details of its roaming agreement with Swan Telecom. As per the deal, Swan Telecom can use the state-owned telco’s networks on a national basis for offering mobile services. However, existing operators as well as members of parliament have questioned as to how BSNL, which so far has refused to open its networks to other players, entered into a deal with a new entrant who did not even have a single subscriber. “BSNL, which has never done any roaming agreement with any operator, was forced to do a roaming agreement with Swan Telecom. The same favour was not extended to any other operator. I am told that the policy was made by BSNL only to suit Swan Telecom,” Rajya Sabha MP Dharam Pal Sabharwal said in his communication to the prime minister. The department has also asked the WPC to explain if two of its officials - R J S Kushwaha and D Jha were transferred over the issue of spectrum allocation to Swan Telecom. It is alleged that these officials were transferred as they did not allot spectrum to Swan Telecom.

@lostjournal So what my dear friend if you purchased the handset a little bit costlier. You are happy and satisfied after the purchase of the handset. Thats make the difference. Enjoy your new handset.

Thats the good ones my dear Mr. Flop. Keep it up buddy.

Blackberry for Windows Mobile Cometh! Windows Mobile users can access Blackberry services on the device, complete with the UI and feel of the Blackberry OS First announced back in 2007, the virtual Blackberry application for Windows Mobile devices seems all set to see the light of day. Let's go back in time a bit. In April 2007, RIM (Research in Motion) had proudly announced that they're working on a virtualization application that would enable Windows Mobile users to access Blackberry services on the device, complete with the UI and feel of the Blackberry OS. The euphoria was short-lived though. After the announcement there was a rather long lull, and its now, almost a year and a half later, that we finally have some news about it. BerryReview, the Blackberry fan site, has managed to scoop up this interesting image, which shows what looks like the Blackberry OS 4.2 being virtually run on an HTC Touch Pro. Courtesy : Techtree

Acer Reduces Aspire One Prices The Linux-based netbook will now be sold at Rs. 17,499 and the Windows XP Home version for just under Rs. 20,000 Intel had already spilled the beans yesterday. Now official word has come from Acer about the price reduction of Aspire One netbook for Indian consumers. The Linux-based netbook will now be sold at Rs. 17,499, while the Windows XP Home variant will go for just under Rs. 20,000. These prices are excluding taxes. The specifications are still the same for the netbook. It has an 8.9-inch screen, an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, a 1GB RAM, a 160GB HDD, and battery life of more than 3 hours. Acer is selling the netbook in different color options of Sapphire Blue, Brown, Black, Pink, and White. Courtesy : Techtree & Tech2

Acer Reduces Aspire One Prices The Linux-based netbook will now be sold at Rs. 17,499 and the Windows XP Home version for just under Rs. 20,000 http://tech2.in.com/media/images/2008/Dec/..._aspire_one.jpg Intel had already spilled the beans yesterday. Now official word has come from Acer about the price reduction of Aspire One netbook for Indian consumers. The Linux-based netbook will now be sold at Rs. 17,499, while the Windows XP Home variant will go for just under Rs. 20,000. These prices are excluding taxes. The specifications are still the same for the netbook. It has an 8.9-inch screen, an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, a 1GB RAM, a 160GB HDD, and battery life of more than 3 hours. Acer is selling the netbook in different color options of Sapphire Blue, Brown, Black, Pink, and White. Courtesy : Techtree & Tech2

^^^ No, my dear Amit, Mobile Broadband is not available in India right now. It will be available only after 3G is introduced in India. Regards.

COAI offers ideas for allotting 3G to waiting-list bidders Moneycontrol l 16 Dec The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has suggested two approaches to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for allotting 3G spectrum to bidders in waiting list. The COAI has asked the DoT to allot spectrum at bidder’s final prices. In cases of circles with three slots, the government should decide on the second highest bid price. In cases of circles with two slots, the government should decide on the third highest bid price. In case of circles with one slot, the government should decide on the fourth highest bid price, the COAI has suggested.

TRAI Mandates Changes To Short Code Services; Holes In The DNC Bucket This is important for the VAS companies sending out SMS’: The TRAI has mandated mobile operators prefix a service provider and service area code in order to allow the authority to track unsolicited SMS’. Thus, an SMS received from the Hard Rock Café in Mumbai, if sent via Vodafore, will have to be displayed as VM-Hardrock. This is in order to help crack down on alphanumeric SMS’, the source of which was difficult to track. The deadline for the change has been set for Feb 2009, since the SMSCs that Reliance Communications and Reliance Telecom have, will have to be upgraded. I’ve been received unsolicited messages from the Hard Rock Café, after I’d given my number there to book a table, and MeraMobi, after I’d downloaded its app to try it out for a story. All these notifications are steps in the right direction, but there really is no update on what the TRAI is doing about the DNC complaints. I’ve made several complaints since signing up over a year ago, and over the past four months, I’ve received no updates or calls from my service provider (Airtel) on what has been done regarding the complaints, despite calling up and requesting an update. Are mobile operators being held accountable the TRAI? In the final quarter of the financial year, the Insurance companies will up the ante, and the unsolicit call problems will resurface…so who is eventually accountable? It’s not as if the DNC hasn’t helped, but it is still not very effective. Courtesy : Medianama

On Bookmyshow’s Airtel Partnership Ticketing company Bookmyshow.com will offer Airtel subscribers across India access to tickets for movies, concerts, events, plays and sport events via a mobile application, Bharti Airtel’s on-deck WAP portal Airtel Live (http://live.airtelworld.com), and voice call at 54321-91, which gets redirected to the Bookmyshow call center for tele-booking. The price for telebooking isn’t mentioned in the release, but customers are going to be in for a rude shock if they’re charged standard voice portal rates (Rs. 6/min) for dialling 54321-91. But why does Bookmyshow need to partner with Airtel? Does the direct to consumer model not work for Mobile Ticketing? Partering with the mobile operator gives the company the opportunity to reach out to a larger customer base. Mobile ticketing has been piloted in the past - by PVR Cinemas and Fame Adlabs, but we really haven’t heard of them after their launch; I don’t think they’ve achieved any kind of scale. I had tried out the PVR application two years ago (it’s been that long. One problem has been that PVR and Adlabs only launched the mobile app, which means only those with GPRS and those who know how to download, install and use an app use it. Frankly, apps are a dime a dozen, and perhaps there’s room for a single app that aggregates all, or no app at all so that usage shifts to the Mobile Internet. I downloaded Bookmyshows application directly via their wap site m.bookmyshow.com, since Airtel’s Mobile Office plan doesn’t allow access to Airtel Live. I wasn’t able to access Airtel Live. I think Bookmyshow needs to get its application sorted out - I selected Delhi as my city, and while looking for concerts, I was offered tickets for the Sunburn Festival in Goa. In case of movies, the app allows users to select their seats, and sends a confirmation SMS, which needs to be shown alongwith the credit card for payment at the venue. Nevertheless, it is one of the smoother apps I’ve used. Courtesy : Medianama

Get Ready, Android Fans: Docs to Go Coming Huge news, any current or potential Android users — DataViz, the company responsible for Docs to Go software, has indicated that the Android platform is their next target. In the last 10 years, Docs to Go has enjoyed a presence on Palm, Symbian, Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices. Such software enables users to not only view their much-needed Office and PDF Documents, but create and edit them as well. And now DataViz has let it be known on their company blog that further expansion into Android phones will be coming this next year. We suppose it’s not much a surprise, really, but we can’t shake the feeling that DataViz has just been waiting a while to see if Android would actually catch on and launch successfully before investing so much into such a project. This particular screenshot of SheetsToGo was shown on DataViz’s blog, but not much more detail was provided. Frankly this looks like a nice little teaser shot, enough to get some Android users drooling. The company says they have a team working on the project as they speak. Don’t keep us waiting too long, guys! Courtesy : Unwiredview

^^^ My dear Ankur, actually this is not the problem of your handset. But it seems to be a Network Problem. Reliance CDMA network now a days has similar problems in many circles. So try to file a complaint to Reliance for this matter. Regards.

Yahoo! Mail Gets Smarter Yahoo! has introduced enhancements to Yahoo! Mail, with a "smarter inbox" experience that will begin rolling out to users on a limited basis over the coming months. The Yahoo! Mail smarter inbox experience hopes to address the changing communications needs of consumers by streamlining access to the most relevant and useful information. It features a new Yahoo! Mail Welcome Page which surfaces messages, information and activity updates from the users' closest kin as well as an updated inbox and folder view that filters messages from those personal connections. The smarter Yahoo! Mail inbox also gives users immediate access to relevant third-party applications that can leverage the user's email content, calendar and contacts with the user's permission. Yahoo! Mail's smarter inbox will provide a filtered view of the users' messages and bring applications from across the Web right into Yahoo! Mail. New features include: - Connections: Users can "connect" with others using Yahoo!'s universal profile service and designate the people whose messages and activity updates are most important to them. - Filtered View of the Inbox and Folders: Yahoo! Mail users can now view a prioritized view of the inbox and folders based on their connections. - New Welcome Page with Messages from Connections and Updates: Users receive a preview of messages from their connections, see connection suggestions made by Yahoo!, and have the ability to send and receive connection invitations. Users can also see activity Update feeds from their connections, including activity across Yahoo! and, in the future, across the Web. - Applications and Gallery: Users have new ways to communicate and be more productive, with new communications applications included in Yahoo! Mail's left-hand navigation panel. Developers from the Web's top brands will soon have the ability to integrate their services right into Yahoo! Mail. The 'Updates' feature in the new Yahoo! mail will bring together various forms of communication in one place and allow users to stay up to speed on a range of their connections' activities and interests. The initial integration of 'Updates' into Yahoo! Mail will include user activity related to new connections, the universal Yahoo! profile, Yahoo! Buzz, and Yahoo! properties such as TV, Music and Travel. Third-party Web sites can also integrate their users' activity streams with Yahoo! Updates using the Yahoo! Social Platform and developer APIs or via applications deployed through the Yahoo! Application Platform into My Yahoo!. Yahoo! has also started a limited beta test bringing third party applications into Yahoo! Mail. Initial applications include: - Family Journal: build a family tree inside Yahoo! Mail and easily share with relatives. - Flickr: share Flickr photos with friends and family right from the inbox. - Flixster: share movie show times, trailers and reviews instantly from the inbox. - WordPress: post photos, links, and more from the inbox to a WordPress blog. - Xoopit: see and share all the photos stored in email, including attachments and links to photo sharing sites, in one organized ‘photo view' of the inbox. - Yahoo! Greetings with American Greetings: use the autocomplete email address feature to send an ecard seamlessly from Yahoo! Mail. Select Yahoo! Mail users in the United States and Australia will begin to experience the social features of the smarter inbox experience, including the new Welcome Page, inbox and folder-view enhancements, and connections and Updates functionality beginning today. A more limited group of users based in the United States will begin beta testing the open applications today. Yahoo! plans to bring together the social and open features into Yahoo! Mail in the first half of 2009. Courtesy : Tech2

Raja comes under AIADMK fire in Rajya Sabha TelecomTiger l 16 Dec l New Delhi The controversy surrounding the 2G policy decisions made by DoT and A Raja in particular simply refuse to die down. Keeping its ante against the minister, today opposition party AIADMK, which also is fierce rival of DMK, A Raja’s political party in TN, demanded the resignation of the minister terming the whole controversy as a scam. AIADMK demanded a joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the issue. The issue came to light as AIADMK leader, V Maitreyan raised it during zero hour labeling it as greatest ever scam in recent times and was quickly supported by members from the BJP and the CPM. The leader surpassed all estimations of loses as he said that the loss amounted to Rs 100,000 crore. He said that the allocation was done to mysterious companies and to those companies without any experience in telecom like Unitech. The AIADMK demanded cancellation of the licences. DMK members Kanimozhi and her party colleagues as also some Congress members came out in support of the Minister.

Govt set to reject TRAI's 3G admin tax proposal Economic Times l 16 Dec l New Delhi The telecom ministry is set to reject a proposal to impose an 'administrative tax' on successful bidders of 3G wireless frequencies, fearing such a tax could impair revenue collections at the upcoming auction of spectrum by more than Rs 5,000 crore. Last week, telecom regulator TRAI had proposed that successful bidders at the January 16 auction of 3G spectrum pay 2% of the highest bid amount each year as administrative charges for utilising the 3G spectrum. However, the government's department of telecom (DoT) has told the Telecom Commission that this tax 'will reduce the revenue received in the January 2009 auctions for 3G spectrum by about Rs 5,000 crore', according to a letter sent by the DoT. The commission, the country's key telecom decision-making body, generally follows DoT's advice. All its members are top DoT officials, making its chances of rejecting the department's advice absolutely slim. The Telecom Commission is to debate the TRAI proposal on December 19. Analysts expect the auction of 3G spectrum, which will allow services such as high-speed internet and video-calling on mobile phones, to fetch the government up to Rs 30,000 crore ($6 billion), although communications minister A Raja has said the amount could be as much as Rs 40,000 crore. Justifying its opposition to TRAI's proposal, the DoT has told the telecom commission that all bidders will factor in this 2% annual charge for the next 20 years - the 3G spectrum is allotted for this period - when they put in their bids. The DoT fears that companies could substract the amount they would have to pay as taxes from their spectrum bids. Setting out its argument, the DoT said if the highest bidder at next month's auction offered to pay 2.5 times the reserve price of Rs 2,020 crore, the administrative tax that would apply to the 3G sector spanning five operators in each telecom circle would be around Rs 500 crore a year. This would work out to around Rs 10,000 crore over the licence period of 20 years, which would mean about Rs 5,300 crore in today's money assuming a discount rate of 7% to factor in inflation. The DoT has also pointed out globally telecom operators pay administrative taxes or share a percentage of their annual revenues, but not both. In India, TRAI has proposed both. "As per TRAI's recommendations, the winners of the 3G spectrum will have to pay upfront the bid amount, plus annual spectrum usage charges and an administrative charge of 2% which seems to be on the high side," DoT said. Meanwhile, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), an industry body of GSM players, on Monday said that the industry viewed TRAI's proposal to impose this additional charge as a retrograde step. It said TRAI's proposals were "a serious setback to both the potential Indian as well as foreign bidders for 3G and would create a serious negative perception of the auction process". "The Indian telecom sector is already burdened with a plethora of duties and levies adding up to as much as around 30% of the revenues of the industry...The last thing the industry needs is yet another levy in the form of an administrative charge," COAI director general T V Ramachandran said in a statement. Mr Ramachandran noted that at a time several industry sectors were seeking bailout packages, the Indian telecom sector continued to perform well and had the lowest tariffs in the world. "In these circumstances, the industry would expect some support from the regulator and government to reduce the imposed burden on the sector. At the very least, we expect that the burden would not be increased in such an unwarranted manner as is being recommended by TRAI," he added.

^^^ Agreed my dear Kumaar, the comparison is between Cdma handsets only. If this handset has Java and Wap then obviously its good. But I have noticed one thing that Samsung handsets are always overpriced. Regards.

^^^ Never mind my dear Kepal. But for the same you also have the option of PM. Regards.

My dear friend, as per the reports till date, it seems that Reliance Gsm is going to be launched on 28th Dec. Lets wait and watch. Regards.

^^^ CDMA handsets are always overpriced my dear friends.

^^^ My dear Kepal, please don't take the thread off-topic. If you want to buy / sell anything then please post your querry in the BUY / SELL FORUM. Regards.

^^^ Their is one more plan from Vodafone : Rs.699/- monthly rental : 1 GB free usage and 5p / 10KB usage after that.

Agora Android Handset Gets a Bit of 'Plastic' Surgery A little while ago we had mentioned a second Google Android-powered handset called the Agora and Agora Pro that would be out in January by Kogan. However, there could be a possible delay in the release of the said handset as there seem to be a few design alterations. The design changes are minor but very relevant, for comfort of use. The soft keys have now been replaced with what looks like a Windows Mobile Home key and the return key has taken the place of the second soft key. The nav-pad and corresponding keys look a little better designed than before. On the whole the key pad and navigation controls have had a face lift and it looks like this variant would do much better in terms of usability. All other features have been retained. Courtesy : Tech2