We will decide on spectrum sharing in 2 mths: Scindia

NEW DELHI: The government may allow telcos to share spectrum and a decision on this will be will be taken within two months, junior telecom minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said at an Assocham event here on Friday. Indian regulations allow telcos to share all infrastructure except radio frequencies. While spectrum sharing is not permitted in any country globally, this is seen as a feasible option to address the crunch and enable more players to enter the telecom space.

Countries such as the US, however, allow operators to trade spectrum.

Mr Scindia’s comments, however, contradicts the views expressed by telecom secretary Sidhharth Behura. Just a day ealier, Mr Behura had said that the DoT was not considering any such proposal: “I am not aware of any such development,” he had said. Even as Mr Behura denied any such development, ET has learnt that Mr Scindia has already held a round of discussion with the DoT on the issue of spectrum sharing last week. DoT in an internal communication last week had listed out the pros and cons of becoming the first country in the world to allow spectrum sharing.

Source : Economic Times

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Qualcomm plans Rs 4,000 3G mobile

MUMBAI: In a bid to make 3G handsets affordable, US-based chip giant Qualcomm is working with handset manufacturers and telecom operators (both CDMA and GSM) to launch 3G-enabled mobiles for as low as Rs 4,000 in India.

These handsets, which will offer Internet on mobile besides other features, will be available early next year. Also, 3G smartphones, on the lines of Apple iPhone and Nokia’s N96, will be rolled out in the second half of 2009 with an entry-level price tag of Rs 10,000.

“We are in talks with all operators to explore, along with our OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), how this space can be penetrated so as to increase the addressable market. We are working to make sure 3G entry-level phones start at Rs 4,000. Affordable 3G smartphones, beginning at Rs 10,000, will bring in a new dimension to enterprise connectivity,” Qualcomm India and South Asia president Kanwalinder Singh told ET.

Qualcomm will provide the chipsets for mobiles and other devices. These are used by low-cost manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE to make handsets while telecom operators bundle them with their services because it increases their revenues from new applications and value added services (VAS).

The San Diego-headquartered company is also bringing together its OEMs and GSM operators to offer data card connectivity solutions comparable to CDMA operators. “3G USB modems will bring ‘always on’ wireless broadband connectivity to laptops and desktops. These modems will enter the market in the Rs 3,500 price range,” he said.

Currently, the data card market in India is dominated by Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications (RCOM). Till now, Qualcomm has only been associated with CDMA operators. However, as 3G comes to India, Qualcomm is also working with GSM service providers including Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea. This is because for evolution to 3G services, the GSM community has chosen wideband-CDMA radio interface, which increases data transmission rates in GSM systems.

Globally, GSM 2G is transitioning to 3G. “In India, we will drive a similar trend and bring in affordable tiered solutions to stimulate mass market adoptions. While the key application of all 3G handsets will be no-compromise-access to mobile Internet, various price points will provide experience of different kinds. We expect all devices to support downloading and uploading of videos,” Mr Singh said. According to technology research firm IDC, 3G feature phones and smartphones in the range of Rs 4,000 and above will account for 30% of the Indian handset market.

Source : Economic Times

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First Google Android phone to cost $199

NEW YORK: The first mobile phone to use Google Inc's Android mobile operating software will cost $199, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Wednesday.

The phone, which features a slide-out keypad, is being manufactured by Taiwan's HTC Corp and will be sold by Deutsche Telekom's, T-Mobile USA unit, which plans to unveil the device at an event in New York on Sept 23.

AT&T Inc, the only US operator selling Apple Inc's iPhone, set the price of the latest version at $199 in July, setting a benchmark for smartphones that can surf the Web, manage email and other multimedia features.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said T-Mobile USA plans to release new data service plans in conjunction with the Google phone that will be "aggressively priced."

Google, HTC and T-Mobile USA declined comment on the pricing for the phone.

Source : Economic Times

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Global cos may shun 3G auctions

NEW DELHI: The meltdown of Wall Street’s blue-blooded banks and the growing fear that the contagion will spread to some European banks could directly impact India’s upcoming 3G spectrum auctions by keeping away global bidders.

The absence of global players is expected to seriously restrict the value of the bids placed for 3G spectrum, which jeopardizes the government’s Rs 40,000 crore revenue target from this spectrum sale.

Typically, it is large global banks like Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch that are intimately involved in supporting the financial bids of both existing operators and new entrants. They also have a strategic role in the M&As that follow such bids.

With the weakening of the financial sector and a general nervousness around money supply, it is highly likely that even if global telcos do participate, the bidding will be far more conservative than it would have been under normal circumstances.

“The financial meltdown is at its peak. India’s 3G auctions could not have come at a worse time. The weakness in financial markets is bound to impact bidders confidence,” a leading global banker told TOI.

Apart from the fundamental weakness in financial markets, these international banks have very close relationships with global telecom service providers where long term debt, bridge loans and IPO’s are concerned. With the collapse of these banks, many global telcos have started tightening their belt and frozen future investments, M&As and even hiring.

“The entire sentiment is negative. Don’t expect global telecom service providers to swim against the tide and put out massive bids in a market like India which is already littered with regulatory uncertainties,” says a global telecom operator whose company has been in the Indian market for investments for nearly two years.

Source : Economic Times

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Google, T-mobile to unveil iPhone competitor next week

SAN FRANCISCO: Google will next week launch the first mobile phone running its Android software in a joint initiative with T-mobile, the companies have announced.

The open-source Android system is seen as Google's answer to Apple's successful iPhone and as a key initiative in the internet giant's quest to extend its dominance to the mobile web.

Google has worked closely with US carrier T-mobile and Taiwan electronics maker HTC to develop the new phone, which is to be called Dream.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Dream will have a large touch screen, a swivel-out keypad and a trackball for navigation. The Dream will also feature a built-in 3 megapixel camera, a music player and purpose-built access to Google services like Gmail, Maps, and Search.

The launch announcement gave no pricing details or availability dates. But press reports said that the Dream would go on sale to existing T-mobile customers later this month for $149, with delivery expected in mid October.

Source : Economic Times

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Foreign telcos can’t launch 3G services with 5 MHz: DoT

NEW DELHI: Amidst tall claims from both communication minister A Raja and the government that India’s 3G policy was friendly towards all players, the department of telecom (DoT) has officially admitted that it would not be possible for foreign telcos to launch 3G services with a mere 5 MHz of spectrum. DoT secretary Siddarth Behura and the department’s wireless advisor R P Agarwal have communicated this to junior telecoms minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in a letter dated September 9.

The 3G policy announced by Mr Raja in August states that a telco can bid for a maximum of 5 MHz of 3G radio frequencies.

“It may be mentioned that 15 MHz in 2.1 GHz band is ideally required for 3G services. However, for proper growth, planning of 3G networks 10 MHz shall be for practical purposes needed. As only 5 MHz is presently available and in order to have adequate competition in a service area with 4-5 players, it has been decided to allot 5 MHz,” the DoT’s wireless advisor Mr Agarwal said in his reply to Mr Scindia. The minister had sought clarity from the DoT on how foreign players could launch 3G services under the existing policy.

New players, which include international communication majors, need at least 10 MHz to launch 3G services as they also require additional start-up spectrum while existing telcos need only 5 MHz to migrate to 3G.

DoT secretary Siddarth Behura, while acknowledging that 5 MHz would not be enough has, however, told Mr Scindia that foreign telcos have three options: First, wait in line for 2G spectrum after acquiring a UASL licence. Second, foreign telcos can acquire up to 74% in any of the existing 2G licence holders and third, they could merge with an existing player. Mr Behura also said that that the merger norms were recently amended to enable this to happen.

Last week, the DoT had amended its 3G policy and said that the existing merger norms will apply only to existing licence holders. This implies foreign telcos, which are successful in their 3G bids, can now buy an existing licence holder without having to wait for three years, the lock-in period specified earlier. The larger implication is that foreign telcos who bag 3G licences can now buy out existing operators who hold 2G radio frequencies. However, industry experts say that despite relaxing the merger norms, foreign telcos will still find the going tough — this is because, existing 2G licence holders such as Datacom, Swan and Unitech amongst others are demanding astronomical valuations.

Source : Economic Times

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Government norms likely to compulsorily secure WiFi links

NEW DELHI: In the wake of the terror emails being sent from unsecured wireless fidelity (WiFi) networks, the government is examining the possibility of issuing new norms that will make it illegal to leave such internet connections open. The new norms may also put the onus on telcos and internet service providers (ISPs) who sell WiFi connections to educate their customers of keeping them secure.

The department of telecom will work with the home ministry and intelligence agencies to put in place steps to secure WiFi internet connections, which are increasingly being used in homes and offices across the country. WiFi networking companies may also be asked to limit WiFi signal right down to a defined radius by installing access points around the signal.

However, internet service providers (ISPs) say that it is customer who is to blame. “Internet service providers are taking steps on their own to secure WiFi connections. All ISPs are installing AAA servers and firewalls. But, if you look at the terror mails, they were sent from hacked or open WiFi accounts – there is nothing we can do about this.

When people take a broadband connection, then take routers and make their homes and offices WiFi enabled, and then leave it open, there is nothing ISPs can do about it,” explained the president of the Internet Service Providers Association of India’s president Rajesh Chharia.

Industry experts say that regulations will not help much since most home and corporate users use minimal security to lock their WiFi networks making them an easy target to hack into.

Security experts suggest that WiFi users should never broadcast their SSIDs (service set identifiers) and change their access passwords. “Most routers which come in the market have a password 1234 and login id – as admin. One should immediately change it after installing. Also one should block the router’s SSIDs from broadcasting the WiFI networks and allow only particular machines to access it,” says Aujas Network Founder and COO Sameer Shelke.

Generally a WiFi router is configured to advertise its SSID to all neighbouring WiFi devices. One can block the SSID from advertising so that only by typing the name, the particular WiFi network appears.

The Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) connection of a Mumbai based power company was hacked into by suspects in Chembur, who sent the e-mail to news organisations while the serial blast continued in the capital which killed about 25 people and left about 100 injured on Saturday.

Experts say that digital forensics still holds the key to catch suspects who have even challenged security agencies to catch them.

Accessing the WiFi router or the wireless access point’s log files (present in Mumbai’s Kamran Power Company in this case), one can find out the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the WiFi card which accessed the WiFi point of that company.

Source: Economic Times

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BSNL allows roaming with private telcos

NEW DELHI: Mobile subscribers are likely to enjoy seamless connectivity throughout the country soon, as state-run BSNL has decided to share its network with private telcos for roaming agreements.

In a Management Committee meeting recently, the PSU approved a proposal in this regard.

"The MoU in this regard may be signed with the seeking operators initially for six months only on non-exclusive and experimental basis," a BSNL internal circular of the Management Committee meeting said.

BSNL will sign the first roaming agreement with new telecom operator Swan Telecom, the circular said.

The committee has decided to levy roaming charge of 52 paise a minute per outgoing call.

"The Management Committee, after detailed discussion, has decided that roaming charge of 52 paise per outgoing call may be offered for the intra-circle roaming service seeking operators," it said, adding BSNL would review the charge after initial six months and it could be revised up or downward based on prevailing conditions and volume of business.

The committee said only the idle capacity of the network will be used to earn extra revenue. The incremental additional cost of of the upgradation of equipment to provide roaming will be borne by the seeker operators.

With this, subscribers of private operators will finally be able to roam on BSNLs nation-wide network. While all private telcos have roaming agreements with each other, BSNL, till date, has not opened up its networks for roaming deals.

Source : Economic Times

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