However, there is one window of possibility of cleaning this pricing conundrum. Very soon, many licences will be coming up for renewal. Trai has been reiterating that the contracted spectrum is 6.2 MHz with respect to GSM and 5 MHz with respect to CDMA. The licensee applying for renewal should then be assigned spectrum up to the committed amount as per the current licence. Any additional spectrum that these licensees require to carry out their operations should be priced through a transparent auction.

Industry experts say it is an obvious phenomenon, with handsets turning in to a swiss-knife kind of solutions. Rural mobile penetration is now the focus of the service providers in these countries where the mobile markets are heading towards maturity.

In India circles like Chennai are touching near 100% mobile penetration in that case the operator has to go to new markets. The mobile is fast becoming a one-stop-shop solution. And the manufacturers are building products on applications that click with the buyer and these rewards are resulting in rewards as big as over 10 mn handsets sold every month.

Interestingly, earlier the market was inundated with FM chipset handsets, which were largely of interest to those living in urban cities. The users look for value for money, any manufacturer that can not realize the needs of his potential buyer will not survive.

Tata Teleservice’s ‘Radio Phone’ is a respite for a user in the area that does not have an FM radio. The model is the first of its kind in India that can access Am radio services and also among CDMA phones in the world. This enables telecom users in rural and semi-urban locales to listen to radio services.

CB [cell broadcasting] is an intrinsic feature of GSM, UMTS and IS 95 CDMA networks, and is thus available in the two Maldivian networks. But it must be activated. Most handsets are capable of receiving CB messages but the feature must be turned on. However, in the early stages, getting customers to turn on the feature could be an effective way of educating them of mobile-based public warning.

Following stakeholder meetings that included sharing of information on the ongoing CB channel-standardization work of Study Group 2 of the Telecommunication Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) and experience in attempting to use CB for public warning in Sri Lanka, the recommendations to TAM are being finalized. They include the constitution of a “trust protocol board” to develop the terms of access to the CB broker server to ensure security and the conduct of live demonstrations on a test channel that will not be seen by the public. The latter is likely to bring up technical issues that require resolution before full-scale implementation.

Above is a quotation from a box on pp. 29-30 of the 2009 World Disasters Report, published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, titled “Focus on early warning, early action.” The box, written by Rohan Samarajiva, addresses one of the most difficult problems of public warning, that of ensuring that warnings reach not only the citizens but tourists, which, at peak amount to 1/5th of the population of the Maldives.

The work was carried out at the request of the Communications Authority of the Maldives under our ongoing Mobile 2.0 research program. It is expected that the report, prepared by Natasha Udu-gama, will be released next month.

The IFRC report quotes extensively from LIRNEasia research and publications, in addition to the inclusion of the box.

Four widely used packages – two from Dialog GSM and two from Mobitel will be tested. We have checked with AirTel but were informed their inability to meet the demand in short notice, with a waiting list of 600 prospective subscribers.

If interested, please mail chanuka@lirneasia.net for more details.

Thalakumbura is 17 km off Hali-Ela, in Badulla District, Uva province – one of the least connected in Sri Lanka. Strictly speaking, the village, just 10 km from the famous ‘Bogoda Bridge’, is connected – not to one but three mobile networks. However, the signal strength is not adequate to carry out a continuous conversation except when at the second floor of the three storey temple building. (See photo) So the villagers’ frequent visits to temple may not be with strictly spiritual objectives.

Despite this, more than 50% houses now have at least one mobile, confirms the chief incumbent priest. Not all see visiting temple appropriate, especially at night and have opted for the next best option: use SMS. They use roman characters to write in local language. So the use of SMS has become exceptionally high, a phenomenon we have not significantly witnessed among the bottom of the pyramid in Sri Lanka.

Market share, I am told, now divided almost equally between three operators – Dialog GSM, Mobitel and Tigo. Needless to say the first to erect a tower in the vicinity will catch at least 7,000 prospective users in this and surrounding villages. Let is watch who will be the early bird.

Dialog Telekom PLC in collaboration with its partners Dialog University of Moratuwa Mobile Communications Research Laboratory and Microimage Technologies together with the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) of Sri Lanka launched Sri Lanka’s first ever mass alert warning system; the ‘Disaster and Emergency Warning Network’ (DEWN) yesterday under the patronage of Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister, Mahinda Samarasinghe.

Speaking on the launch of DEWN Group Chief Executive Officer, Dialog Telekom PLC, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya said that “There are 10 million people in this country who have access to telecommunication and mobile services. Now the mobile has become a powerful tool which could be called as a ‘Digital Empowerment Device’ and our citizens are digitally empowered into the digital network”. Dr. Wijayasuriya went onto say that now one can even provide banking and other information services via a mobile phone unit adding that the Dialog News Alert service has now reached 350,000 subscribers.

DEWN is a system that was being tested by the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) to alert Dialog mobile users of potential disasters via a method called ‘Cell Broadcast’. Users only need to configure area information reception settings on their Dialog mobiles to receive the alerts issued. The DMC takes the responsibility to adequately verify any emergency situation and issue alerts. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Dialog Telekom PLC and Disaster Management Centre to start the DEWN. In a potential disaster scenario, the DMC will first use DEWN to alert emergency personnel on their individual phones, and public alerts will be issued only when a threat is adequately verified. In addition to alerts received on the mobile phones, specially designed DEWN remote alarms will also be used to alert nominated emergency personnel. Cell Broadcast is currently available only on the Dialog GSM network and not yet available on #G mode.

Addressing the gathering Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe said that “since December 26th 2004, when we lost 38,000 lives and when the tsunami caused serious damage to the assets of our economy and development of the country, the Government has moved into make Sri Lanka a safe place”. The Minister also highlighted the importance of private sector corporate social responsibility projects that enhance and enrich the lives of people. “Disaster prevention and mitigation in this country is essential for rapid economic strategy and sustainable economic development of Sri Lanka” Minister Samarasinghe said adding that the 24 hour operating Disaster Management Centre will be the focal point when sending the alerts via Dialog network.

Read the full story in Daily Mirror here.

The Board of Investment of Sri Lanka granted investment approval to a new mobile (GSM) and fixed (SCDMA) telecommunications network provider. Mr. Dhammika Perera, Chairman / Director General signed the agreement on behalf of the BOI and formally presented the BOI Certificate of Registration to Mr. B.A.C. Abeywardena, Director of RTEC Mobile Lanka.

FDI, which has been successfully attracted by the BOI has played a major role in the development and modernization of Sri Lanka’s telecommunication.
RTEC Mobile Lanka (Private) Limited signed the agreement to set up and operate a mobile and fixed telecommunications network. The venture is an investment of US $ 100 million sponsored by Global Electroteks Limited, UK. The project will create 320 new employment opportunities in high technology field.

The committee, which was set up to suggest annual spectrum charges for 3G, has recommended that due to the efficiency in capital expenditure and synergy in operations, operators having 2G spectrum and acquiring 5 Mhz of 3G spectrum should be charged at a higher rate.

GSM 2G operators get 4.4 MHz and CDMA players get 2.5 MHz of start-up spectrum with their telecom licences, on which they have to pay an annual fees of 2 per cent of their aggregate gross revenue (AGR). For spectrum up to 6.2 MHz, the operators have to pay 3 per cent of their AGR, while for spectrum up to 8 MHz they have to pay 4 per cent of their revenues and so forth.

Therefore, for a stand-alone 3G operator, the rate will be equivalent to the 5 MHz slab rate of 2G spectrum or 3 per cent of the AGR. But operators having both 2G and 3G spectrum will have to pay one per cent over and above the present 2G slab rate.

Read the full story in Business Standard here.

If they got it earlier, there would have been no need to change the description in the phone bills from mobile subscriber levy to telephone subscriber levy.

Hopefully this will also end the anomaly of taxing the same broadband service differently.

Of course, this is not the only telecom relevant item in the Budget. More as we get the news.

Tata Teleservices, which has got GSM licence under dual technology policy, has also been allotted spectrum in the lucrative Mumbai circle while it is yet to get the radio frequency in other three circles.

With this, new players can now roll out services in 10 circles as the government has already released spectrum in six circles of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.

In Punjab, only three players have been accommodated as only 15 MHz spectrum was available. HFCL, a CDMA player, has got GSM spectrum in Punjab under the dual technology policy. Idea Cellular and Unitech are the other beneficiaries.

Similarly in the UP (East) region, Unitech, Datacom, Swan Telecom and Tatas have been allotted the airwaves.

In Maharashtra, Datacom, Spice (Idea) and Unitech have got the spectrum, official sources said here.

In the CDMA space, Shyam Telecom is the only new company that has got pan-Indian spectrum and is in the process to roll out network.

Source: Business Standard

Asia Pacific telecom operators had a big party in Colombo this week. They were celebrating the 21 st anniversary of the global mobile standard, GSM. Despite a few puzzlingly sexist comments about the significance of the 21 st birthday to a “Young Girl” (as though it was not significant for a male) it was a good party.

Anyway, the point is that it was not just fun and games. The conference that followed was a serious one. In the industry leaders’ forum LIRNEasia was also given a place. I have been to many of these events, both at ITU Telecom when they used to be the preeminent industry gathering place and at other industry fora, and I have never seen anyone other than CEOs and government ministers or regulators invited for these kinds of headline sessions. I think industry is beginning to see the value of organizations such as LIRNEasia which bring evidence to bear on issues and allow for independent assessment of policy and regulatory actions.

Industry events can be, and are, used to stroke the egos of powerful government officials and build industry camaraderie. It is good that they are being used for more than that. Stroking egos is necessary when government officials hold so much discretionary power and the independence of regulatory agencies is a thin façade that only the ITU believes in. But it is important to try to get beyond this culture. After all, how can the telecom industry claim to be laying the foundation for a knowledge economy if it does not give weight to knowledge and evidence?

In addition to the Leader’s Forum, LIRNEasia organized a regulatory and policy session which had as participants Adam Denton (Head of Regulatory Affairs at the GSM Association), Samir Satchu (the Government and Regulatory Affairs head of Roshan, the heroic Afghan operator), M. Aslam Hayat (a regulatory expert from Pakistan) and Helani Galpaya of LIRNEasia. Helani’s and Aslam’s slides are worth taking a look at, providing new ideas on how to think about international roaming and license renewal among other matters.

The slides are here.

Aslam Hayat

Helani Galpaya

With Viviane Reding, EU telecoms commissioner, poised to propose a new round of price caps this month, mobile operators claim their capital spending has already slipped from 13% of revenues in 2005 to 11% last year – and could fall further.

The GSM Association – the global trade body representing more than 750 GSM mobile phone operators – citing data from a study by management consultants, says the industry’s return on capital employed was as low as 7% in 2007 or less than half that of other significant sectors such as steel and software.

Sources said this gives the lie to Reding’s claim that it is making excessive profits from “roaming” services in the EU.

Read the full stiry in the Guardian here.

The Association, which represents operators of GSM and 3G networks, says providers across Europe, Asia and North America are all reporting huge increases in the uptake of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), with the uptake said to have increased by 44 per cent in the past 10 months.

It says the number of networks offering commercial mobile broadband services has risen sharply in the past year. Broadband on mobile phones is available in 73 countries from 166 operators, up from 96 networks commercially deployed in 3 countries.

Meanwhile the Global mobile Suppliers Association, which represents the makers of infrastructure and end user equipment, said 637 HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) products have now launched, representing an annual growth of 150 percent.

Read the full story in EETimes here.

At the CTIA wireless show in Vegas AT&T Mobility chief, Ralph de la Vega said,
“I like it a lot more than I did before… It’s something we would want in our portfolio.”

His conversion on Android came after Google executives showed him that AT&T would be able to load its own applications on any Android handset it sold. Previously, the company had been fearful the handset would be geared too much towards the Google brand. Too be fair, however, AT&T’s tepid response would not have prevented Android devices from getting on its network. AT&T’s network has long been open to any device that operates on the right frequency, is GSM based (as opposed to Verizon’s CDMA cellular technology), and can accept a SIM card.

Read the full story here.

HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) is an advanced form of 3G deployed by cellular operators that use GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) technology. Worldwide, GSM is the most widely-used cellular technology; it is used by AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile in the U.S. HSPA currently offers speeds ranging from 1.8 Mbps to 7.2 Mbps.

There are now more than 32 million HSPA connections worldwide, compared with 3 million a year ago, according to the GSM Associaton.

Read the full report in ‘Computer World’ here.