BSNL in talks with RCOM for interconnection

NEW DELHI: Directed by telecom regulator TRAI, state-run BSNL is in dialogue with Reliance Communication (RCOM) to work out an amicable interconnection arrangement for the Anil Ambani group firm's GSM network.

"We are in a dialogue with them (RCOM)... There has been no conclusion yet on the outcome of our talks on a agreeable interconnection arrangement," BSNL CMD Kuldeep Goyal told reporters.

When asked whether BSNL would challenge the TRAI directive, he said "Whether we will challenge the TRAI directive on providing interconnection to RCOM or not depends on the outcome of these talks. Let us see what happens before August 21," he added.

On August 14, TRAI had directed GSM players Idea Cellular, BPL, Voadafone Essar and Bharti Airtel to interconnect with RCom by August 21.

It has also asked state-run BSNL to link up with RCom but the PSU is not a part of the COAI petition.

In a related development, Aditya Birla Group company Idea Cellular is understood to have also worked out a similar interconnection pact with RCOM, according industry sources.

However, it could not be confirmed as Idea Cellular Chairman Sanjiv Aga declined to comment.

A company official, however, said Idea was negotiating with RCOM on the interconnection. But he declined to comment on the outcome.

When contacted T V Ramachandran Director General of COAI, the GSM operators' body, said he had no idea about Idea Cellular's interconnection pact with RCOM.

"But if Idea agrees to interconnect with RCOM it does not become a part of our proposed petition to TDSAT. However, our position to challenge TRAI directive stands," Ramachandran said.

Bharti, Vodafone and BPL now are part of COAI's petition.

Source : Economic Times

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Net telephony freed, call rates set to plunge further

NEW DELHI: Consumers will soon be able to make STD calls as cheap as 10-40 paise and possibly make free local calls from their computers. Telecom regulator TRAI on Monday removed all curbs on internet telephony in the country, allowing internet service providers (ISPs) to terminate internet telephony calls on phones, including mobiles.

Till date, a call from a computer could legally be made only to another computer within the country, and not to a phone. (The policy regime, though, allowed domestic users to make international calls to a phone from their computer.)

For consumers, this means they can make calls from PCs to fixedline and mobile phones in India. They can also make a call to personal computers from their handsets.

The move ensures that rural India will be the biggest beneficiary as users would be able to make ultra-cheap calls from PCOs using this technology. Broadband growth is also likely to get a boost. Also, WiMax, a wireless broadband technology getting ready for launch in India, is a potential gainer from the move. Challenges remain in the form of low PC penetration—3.6%—in the country. The move is also aimed at clamping down on the grey market in the country where players have been offering such services illegally.

At present, voice calls over the internet can be made only between two computers and not between a computer and a mobile/fixedline phone. Net telephony allows ISPs to challenge the dominance of telcos in the domestic communication market. Most telcos are ISPs as well.

But net telephony can also hit the revenues that telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar and others earn from long distance services. This has resulted in telecom operators already protesting TRAI’s move on the grounds that it would destroy their business viability. Telcos also said that they would lobby with the government against accepting TRAI’s proposals to open up the sector.

For ISPs, internet telephony will open up major new revenue channels. Additionally, cheap internet telephony can also lower the operating expenditure of domestic call centres and BPOs.

Net telephony can also bring in new revenue streams to many national long distance (NLD) licence holders and act as an catalyst for them to extend their fibre networks beyond metros and tier-I cities.

Source : Economics Times

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Apple updates iPhone software to fix glitches

NEW YORK: Apple Inc has issued a software update for the latest iPhone to help fix connection problems that led to a flurry of online complaints from customers, a European mobile service provider said on Tuesday.

T-Mobile, owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, said the software was available for users to download to their iPhones on Tuesday, but that it was not yet clear if the upgrade would fix all the connection problems.

"We have had complaints about connectivity in the Netherlands but have not had more complaints than usual for a 3G phone in Germany. Our technicians said today Apple has issued a software update but it is too early to tell if the problems are solved," a T-Mobile spokesman said.

AT&T Inc the only US network operator carrying the iPhone, confirmed that Apple had provided a software update but declined to give details about what it was aimed at fixing.

Apple, which sold about a million iPhones around the launch weekend in July, was not immediately available for comment.

One of the key attractions of the latest iPhone is its faster, third-generation (3G) Web connections when compared with the first iPhone that was launched in mid-2007.

However, users around the world have complained about dropped calls and inconsistent Internet speeds, with the phone often reverting to a slower technology known as Edge even in 3G areas.

Nomura analyst Richard Windsor and media reports have blamed faulty software on an Infineon Technologies AG chip for the problems. Infineon declined to comment about iPhone but noted that its chips work on 3G phones from suppliers such as Samsung Electronics Co without problems.

The iPhone 3G has gone on sale in about 22 countries since its launch on July 11.

Source : Economic Times

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Apple's iPhone raises concern over Data security

And you thought Google's got the goods on you. Sure, the Web search leader keeps tabs on the searches that emanate from your PC. But consider the data dossier that could be drawn up on users of Apple's iPhone.

Subscribers use the music-playing mobile phone not just for storing music, photos, and contact lists, but also for e-mail, Web surfing, and software downloads from Apple's iTunes.

Concern over how Apple and software developers that work with it might use some of that intel surfaced in recent days with reports that the company built in a "kill switch" that lets it disable applications it considers malicious, even after they've been downloaded onto a subscriber's phone.

"The idea that Apple can choose what functionality my applications should have frightens me," Jon Zdziarski, who discovered the existence of the kill switch, recently wrote on his blog.

"How about legislation that requires a mandatory kill switch be integrated into every human being, so that the police can kill an individual without even needing to dispatch an officer to a scene?"

But for all the unease over the kill switch, concerns over how Apple may use iPhone subscriber data may be misplaced, industry experts say. Apple isn't alone in monitoring the applications used on its phones.

Carriers keep close tabs on what's being downloaded onto users' handsets. Mobile software retailer Handango regularly removes offending games and utility applications from its site if they appear to infringe on another company's copyright.

"We have to do this all the time," says Handango CEO Bill Stone.

Overriding Privacy Laws?

Companies across the industry already collect oodles of user data. Handango, for instance, knows which phone model its customers use and which applications they buy, so it can recommend additional products.

Microsoft (MSFT) and Nokia (NOK) gather information on people who sign up for their newsletters and mobile online communities. Windows Mobile devices come with an application that lets users volunteer to participate in market research.

Phones of people who opt in send the Redmond (Wash.) giant information on how and when they are used. Microsoft uses the data to regulate the wireless bandwidth usage of phones.

Members of the Windows Mobile Total Access community provide Microsoft with name, location, phone purchase date, e-mail address, and job information. And both Nokia and Microsoft have their own "kill switch" tools—though they're more limited in scope than Apple's.

But as a rule, companies that collect user data comply with stringent privacy laws, and can typically view only aggregate user data. Apple didn't respond to multiple requests for comment but says in a disclaimer on its Web site:

"We collect information regarding customer activities" through sites, including iTunes. "This helps us to determine how best to provide useful information to customers and to understand which parts of our websites, products, and Internet services are of most interest to them."

Apple's "Holy Grail"

Though Apple is hardly alone in gathering user data, it has the potential to collect more data than rivals. According to a survey of 460 iPhone users by market researcher Rubicon Consulting, 40% of the device's owners plan to download additional software.

That means a huge percentage of iPhone users are now making purchases through the iTunes App Store. Thanks to iTunes, Apple already knows their tastes in music. Now it also knows which games they like to play, and which productivity applications they like to use.

Other handset makers rely more on piecemeal data shared by carrier partners or collected from small focus groups. The extra information could help Apple more quickly develop features and software its users want.

Apple can also track the quality of wireless networks its devices use by noting how fast downloads occur. "No one's been able to do that before," says Richard Doherty, director of consulting firm Envisioneering Group. "That's the holy grail.

By continually monitoring how consumers are using the phone, they are able to be super-responsive to glitches." Apple can also push software updates onto phones. Users of some other mobile devices have to seek out software updates themselves.

Don't be surprised if those other manufacturers start following suit.

Source : Economic Times

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COAI may challenge TRAI's directive on RCom interconnection

NEW DELHI: GSM operators may approach TDSAT challenging TRAI's directive, which asked them to give interconnection to Reliance Communication GSM network.

"We are certainly examining legal option and will take a call on this today," GSM operators association COAI Director General T V Ramachandran told reporters.

The telecom regulator in the second ultimatum to GSM operators, including Bharti, Vodafone and BSNL, has given August 21 as the deadline to give interconnections to the RCom GSM network.

TRAI has cited it as a licencing condition to provide interconnection among the service provider implying if a mobile operator does not give interconnection to another based on mutual commercial agreement, it is a violation of license condition attracting penalty.

GSM operators on their part said, Reliance GSM has a new network for which commercial term has to be re-negotiated. The existing arrangement between RCom and GSM operators are for the CDMA network.


Source : Economic Times

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BSNL to start 3G services by Dec; places orders for equipment

NEW DELHI : State-owned BSNL has set an ambitious target of starting next generation 3G mobile services in December to take a lead over private operators and has placed the purchase orders for the northern, eastern and western zones.

In a communication to all Chief General Managers of telecom circles or districts, BSNL has asked them to take further necessary actions at their end so that 3G services are launched by December, 2008.

While announcing the 3G policy, Communication and IT Minister A Raja had given the advantage to telecom PSUs BSNL and MTNL of allocating 3G spectrum ahead of others with a condition that both will pay the price equivalent to the highest bid.

This was done keeping in mind the cumbersome process to procure equipments by the PSUs vis--vis by the private players.

"The 3G Purchase Orders (POs) issued earlier by the circles of north and east zones were kept in abeyance because of non availability of 3G spectrum. As the 3G spectrum has now been allocated to BSNL, the 3G POs will become effective from the date of issuance of this letter (August 11, 2008)," BSNL said in the letter.

Whereas for the western and southern zones, the POs for 3G equipments has been placed with the ITI under reserve quota.

While releasing the radio frequency for the PSU, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has said that one time spectrum fee at a price equal to highest bid as determined in respective areas is payable by BSNL.

"Further, BSNL is also to pay annual spectrum usage charge of one per cent of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) after a period of one year from the date of earmarking of frequencies that is August 8, 2008," BSNL said.

Source : Economics Times

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Govt to finalise 3G spectrum auction process by Sept 30

NEW DELHI: Government is working towards finalising the online auction process of 3G spectrum by September 30.

"Technical and financial details are being discussed. Once that is done, this e-auction process for 3G spectrum would be finalised by September 30", Sidhharth Behura, Telecom Secretary said on Monday.

An inter-ministerial committee, with members from the Telecom Commission (DoT's apex body) and the finance and information technology ministries, will first set rules on who can bid or request interest in the bidding, DoT sources said. It would also shortlist eligible firms through technical evaluation and then the e-auction would be held, they added.

Earlier telecom Minister A Raja had said the government expects to finalise terms of auctioning five 3G phone service licences by October. With auctions slated to start by October, government is bullish about meeting good response to the bidding process to raise raise up to Rs 40,000 crore.

A 3G mobile phone service allows customers to surf the internet or download content, including music and video, at speeds faster than current technologies.

Depending on spectrum available number of licenses could be extended up to a dozen. One slot has been reserved for MTNL, in Mumbai and New Delhi and BSNL for the rest of India.

At least two to five operators can be accommodated.

Source : Economics Times

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