Govt may bar mobiles without identity code

NEW DELHI: Mobile phones which do not have a unique identity number may soon go out of circulation. The Department of Telecom (DoT) is planning to block cellphones which do not bear the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number.

Many handsets assembled locally or imported from China do not have IMEI numbers. The DoT has also proposed a bar on all mobile phones with IMEI numbers bearing all zeroes or no zeroes. IMEI numbers can be checked by dialing "*#06#" in any keypad.

Investigations into the recent serial blasts revealed that mobile phones used by terrorists did not bear valid IMEI numbers. If they had valid numbers, the phones could have been tracked from their origin to the point of purchase.

It is estimated that there about 1.6 crore handsets in India which do not have valid IMEI numbers, which is a unique 14-digit number used to identify valid devices. If the DoT move goes through, mobile operators will snap services to these phones.

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 3,500, against at least Rs 5,000 for a similar branded phone.


According to Indian Cellular Association (ICA) president Pankaj Mohindroo, at least one crore users will be affected if the calls are barred. Many local dealers circumvent the limitation by offering to change the IMEI number if it is all zeroes, or add a zero if it doesn’t have one. Change of IMEI is not legal in India, unlike in the US and the UK.

Enterprising customers can also change the IMEI number with free software available on the web. The DoT note does not address these issues.

Many sellers of stolen handsets too attempt to change the IMEI numbers. This is done to ensure that a telecom operator is unable to lock the phone and the SIM card once the original owner reports the theft.

Mobile operators usually store IMEI numbers of stolen mobiles in an Equipment Identity Register. Changing the number ensures that the stolen mobile can continue to be in circulation.

Branded mobile phone makers have welcomed the DoT move. Said Nokia’s director for corporate affairs Ambrish Bakaya, “It will definitely have a negative impact on the Chinese phone market. It will encourage people to shift to branded handsets. It’s a very positive step for us and I am sure DoT will take care of the loopholes.” ICA said it is working on a solution that can take care of the loophole and identify fake IMEI numbers.

“From the national security point of view, it is a crucial step and it will also discourage consumers from using handsets with illegal IMEI numbers,” said Samsung Mobile Businesses country head Sunil Dutt. All users would do well to check if they have a valid IMEI number.

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BSNL gears up for global 3G, prepaid and GPRS roaming

NEW DELHI: Ahead of its 3G services launch, state-run BSNL is getting ready to offer international roaming facility to its subscribers for prepaid
, GPRS and 3G services.

Presently, international roaming facility for BSNL subscribers consists of having a triple solution in SIM Cards for postpaid users.

One solution is for the home network, other for international roaming through 'Direct International Roaming Agreements' with foreign operators and the third by piggy- backing on an existing international roaming service provider hub.

A senior BSNL official said, as of now BSNL has signed GSM international roaming agreements for 339 networks in 170 countries, out of which 164 networks in 94 countries have been commercially launched for postpaid customers only.

Connectivity has been established with a leading global GRX service provider for GPRS international roaming services. Testing with each of the operators is required for launching the GPRS international roaming services.

Prepaid and 3G international roaming services are in the process of being launched in the BSNL network and accordingly the testing and launching of these services would also be involved, he said.

The direct agreements of BSNL involves only one set of testing for whole of BSNL with the foreign operators for postpaid services. For GPRS, Prepaid and 3G services testing would involve the four zones of BSNL. All the testing would be carried out from BSNL's Kolkata office.

BSNL has invited proposals from companies for carrying out testing in regard to international roaming service with the foreign GSM mobile operators and subsequent commercial launch of the service.


Source : Economic Times

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Ping launches mobile for Rs 499

CHANDIGARH: HFCL Infotel Limited on Monday announced the launch of colored handsets of its Ping brand of mobile at a rate of Rs 499 in the Punjab
market, aiming to penetrate urban, semi-urban and rural markets.

"Our aim is to make telephony available to people in all walks of life," said G. D. Singh, COO, HFCL Infotel Ltd in a statement issued here on Monday.

The Rs 499 handset comes bundled with a predefined activated mobile number which can be recharged with special tariff packs for Rs. 151, Rs. 201 or Rs. 251. The local call rate of one paisa per second and STD at Rs 1.50 per minute shall be available on these plans. The subscriber can also enjoy the validity of 30 days and STD call rate of rupee one per minute on the minimum recharge coupon of Rs. 33.

Ping, a CDMA mobile service, has achieved a total customer base of 2.5 lakh within a year of launch, he said.
Pings mobile services are available across 270 towns and 2050 villages in Punjab and Chandigarh through a distribution network of 8000 retail outlets.


Source : Economic Times

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BSNL dials BlackBerry, Apple for 3G rollout

NEW DELHI: The much sought-after 3G iPhone and BlackBerry may soon be available in the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) network.

The country’s largest telecom service provider, BSNL, is in talks with Apple and BlackBerry to launch the services in India in its own network.

According to BSNL executives, talks with BlackBerry are at an advanced stage and this handset is likely to be available to BSNL’s customers by the year-end.

On the other hand, subscribers on the PSU’s networks may have to wait longer for access the 3G iPhone as talks with Apple are still lingering in preliminary stage, BSNL executives added.

If BSNL were to tie-up with Apple, the state owned telco would be the third player after Airtel and Vodafone to offer 3G iPhone in India.

However, BSNL will be the first player in the Indian market to offer 3G service on the iPhone. Airtel and Vodafone will only have 3G spectrum if they bag these radio frequencies in the upcoming auctions.
The government has already granted BSNL 3G radio frequencies and the telco is expected to launch high-end services on its 3G network early next year.

“We are in talks with Apple to launch 3G iPhone in our network since we will be the first ones to launch the 3G services here. We are also awaiting the launch of BlackBerry in our network by end of this year,”said BSNL CMD, Kuldeep Goyal.

Source : Economic Times

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Unitech gets start-up spectrum in Bihar circle

NEW DELHI: Realty major Unitech on Friday said its telecom arm has been alloted start-up radio waves or spectrum for rolling out its services in
Bihar circle.

"The Department of Telecommunications has issued the letter to the company's telecom subsidiary for allotment of 4.4 MHz of spectrum in 1800 MHz GSM band in respect of Bihar Service Area," Unitech said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

With this, the company has been alloted initial spectrum in 13 service areas out of total 22 service areas, it said.

Source : Economic Times

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Sistema to invest over $1.5 bn to expand Shyam Telelink network

JAIPUR: Sistema, one of the largest public diversified corporation in Russia and the CIS, on Tuesday announced that it would invest over $1.5 bn i
n India next year to build a pan-India telecom network on the CDMA platform.

The Russian major, which holds a majority stake in Shyam Telelink, also announced the launch of CDMA services under the brand name Rainbow in Rajasthan.

“We have already invested $1 bn in Shyam and will further invest over $1.5 bn in the company next year.

This marks the beginning of the expansion of Shyam Telelink’s pan-Indian mobile network. The company intends to provide its services to more than 35 mn subscribers by 2012, which represents approximately 7% of the Indian market,” Sistema’s chairman Vladimir Evtushenkov said.

According to him, while Sistema has been focusing on launching pan-India services on the CDMA platform, it is keeping its options open with regard to offering mobile services on GSM.

“We have applied for GSM spectrum. We will take a call on GSM soon. In Russia, we offer mobile services under the MTS brand, and we will decide over the next one month whether to bring this brand to India,” he added.

Shyam Telelink-Sistema is the first among nine new companies that were given licences earlier this year to launch mobile services.

Shyam -Sistema’s entry is also set to see a new round of tariff wars between India’s telecom operators. The company has already announced that it will offer all local calls and SMS for just 50 paise a minute in addition to offering a bundled handset for Rs 999 with lifetime validity.

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You may soon use your mobile phone as credit, debit card

NEW DELHI: In a development that could completely liberalise mobile commerce, the department of telecommunication (DoT) will soon write to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking guidance on linking telephone networks with banking services.

While the RBI recently announced certain guidelines for mobile banking in India, it only provides for a few basic banking services which can be undertaken through mobile phones. The new DoT move will allow consumers to virtually use mobile phone as a debit or credit card.

Sources told SundayET that the ministry would seek RBI's consultation to provide full-fledged mobile banking services to the customers, in line with discussion held between the 13th Finance Commission team and DoT officials on September 18, 2008. According to a senior DoT official, the ministry has so far not taken any initiative on linking telephone networks with banking services, but is keen on it as it will generate revenues, in addition to giving more value to telephone customers. "These services can increase the share of value-added services from the existing 7-8% of total revenues from the sector to almost about 25% which is the case in the developed countries," DoT said to the Commission's team. SundayET has a copy of the discussion paper prepared by DoT.

Explaining how the new initiative would help Indian consumers, Romal Shetty, director at KPMG India, said it would change the entire face of banking in the country. "So far, consumers can make only a few basic transactions through the mobile, but this will mean using your mobile as your credit or debit card. All you have to do is to send a message to make a payment," he said.

Mobile commerce in India has been limited primarily to basic banking transactions, purchase of travel tickets and payment of some utility bills, checking your account balance and last few transactions. Sanjiv Mittal, vice-chairman, Bharti Telesoft, that provides mobile banking facility to the customers in collaboration with Barclays Bank feels that both, banking and telecom industry, will have to come together to make mobile commerce a success in India. "There are certain laws to be considered regarding money remittances. Considering the IT security condition, coming together of both is a good sign," he said.

Vodafone also offers services like querying bank balance, requesting for cheque book, making stop payment etc. These services are available in association with banks such as HDFC Bank, ABN AMRO and Kotak Mahindra Bank. "Mobile banking is necessary to create access to the remotest of areas. Any kind of convergence is good for promoting mobile commerce. There is nothing better than both the systems coming together to provide a framework," said a Vodafone official.

The DoT's interest in the matter is sending positive signals to industry. "If the ministry takes up the matter with the RBI, it will definitely speed up the process. It will not only help the mobile users but will boost banks and even mobile operators to grow further," added Mr Shetty.

The DoT has informed the Finance Commission's team that revenues from auction of spectrum for 3G and BWA services could go up to Rs 30,000 cr. The 13th Finance Commission asked the DoT to give the revenue projection from the telecom sector between 2010 and 2015.

Source : Economic Times

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