Tag Archive for ‘Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’ at LIRNEasia

Tag Archive for 'Telecom Regulatory Authority of India'

India adds 9.22 million mobile users in July

on August 26, 2008

Indian mobile telecoms firms added 9.2 million users in July, taking subscribers in the world’s fastest growing wireless market to nearly 300 million, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said on Monday.

Leading mobile firm Bharti Airtel signed up 2.7 million customers, enough for it to overtake state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd as India’s largest telecom firm by total subscribers, including fixed-line subscribers.

Second-ranked mobile firm Reliance Communications added 1.75 million customers, and No. 3 Vodafone Essar, controlled by Britain’s Vodafone Plc, added 1.76 million.

India is the world’s fastest-growing market for wireless services and the second-largest market for such services after China, with growth fuelled by cheap handsets and call rates as low as 1 U.S. cent a minute.

See the full story in Reuters here.

…

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Tags: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, Bharti Airtel, Britain, China, India, Reliance Communications, Reuters, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, United States, Vodafone Plc, wireless market, WIRELESS SERVICES.

Internet telephony is open: Call charges set to decline in India

Chanuka Wattegama

on August 25, 2008

The complete opening of Internet telephony, as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) a few days ago, will not only lead to steep fall in all type of call charges, be it local, national or international, but also help in increasing broadband penetration, an area where India lags behind.

Industry analysts say person using Internet telephony to make calls would see his call charges falling by as much as 50-60 per cent compared to a normal telephone call today. This will benefit an ordinary home user as well as corporates and other industries alike. Internet telephony would help telecom penetration in rural India.

Till now Internet telephony was allowed only between personal computers or to mobile or landlines abroad. But complete Internet telephony would…

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Tags: Broadband, India, Internet Telephony, IP telephony, normal telephone call, person using Internet telephony, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Nripendra Misra: The last protocol

Chanuka Wattegama

on August 25, 2008

August has been a busy month for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and its chairman, the redoubtable Nripendra Misra, a dyed-in-wool bureaucrat who has in his regulatory avatar done arguably more than any of his predecessors on the job. He has plenty of support and equally bitter critics who wish he would give up on forbearance, cut rentals, mandate cheaper roaming and ensure per second billing instead of per minute.

On August 20, the authority allowed India’s estimated 295 million telecom subscribers the freedom to use different long distance service providers without changing their service provider. Two days earlier, it had unshackled internet telephony (voice transmitted over internet protocol networks). Two weeks before that, it had opened the doors for virtual mobile networks, virgin…

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Tags: India, internet protocol networks, Internet Telephony, IP, IP telephony, Nripendra Misra, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, virtual mobile networks.

Don’t charge more for calls to fixed lines, India mobile operators told

Chanuka Wattegama

on January 28, 2008

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has said that mobile operators may be pushing consumers to give up fixed line telephone by charging a higher tariff for cell-to-fixed line calls. The regulator has asked the operators to stop the differential tariff as it was not justified.

“The differential and higher charges levied by cellular service providers for calls to fixed lines do not have adequate justification. This can be viewed as an attempt to promote substitution of fixed line traffic by mobile traffic and may lead to forced substitution of fixed lines by mobiles, thereby reducing the target market for fixed line broadband,” senior TRAI officials said.

Read the full story in ‘The Hindu - Business Line’ here.

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Tags: Broadband, fixed-line telephone, India, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

India Telecom regulator issues guidelines for mobile TV

Chanuka Wattegama

on January 25, 2008

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday (Jan 23) recommended guidelines for rolling out mobile television services to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry on various issues related to licensing and technology.

TRAI has suggested that the choice of broadcasting technology should be left to the service providers but should be recognised by an authorised body.

There are broadly two routes for providing mobile television services. One is operated by using the telecom network with spectrum already allotted to Unified Access Service License (UASL) and Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS) licensees, and the other using broadcasting method using separate spectrum.

According to TRAI, telecom operators with CMTS or UASL licenses will not require any further licence or permission for offering mobile television services on their own network…

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Tags: Cellular Mobile Telephone Service, India, India Telecom, Information and Broadcasting Ministry, mobile television services, telecom network, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

TRAI to issue Mobile TV licences

Chanuka Wattegama

on January 4, 2008

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Thursday (Jan 3) recommended open bidding process for granting licences for mobile television service in the country. Allocation of spectrum to mobile TV licensees should be automatic for successful bidders and should not require any further selection process. The FDI limit for mobile television service providers should be 74 per cent, it said.Releasing its recommendations on issues relating of mobile TV service here, TRAI said there were two routes for providing the services — one by using the telecom network with spectrum already allotted, and the other using the broadcasting method — and both can be used for launching the service.

Telecom operators, having the Unified Access Services License (UASL) or the Cellular Mobile Telephony Service (CMTS) License,…

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Tags: Cellular Mobile Telephony Service, India, mobile telephony, telecom network, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

India takes a tough call on broadband; why not others?

Chanuka Wattegama

on January 2, 2008

Responding to complaints from harassed consumers who are offered “broadband” at speeds much slower than those stipulated by the government, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has taken a tough call.

It has written to operators saying they can no longer advertise broadband services that say they offer “up to” 256 kbps speeds, thereby circumventing the rules by offering services at far lower speeds

Instead, Trai has directed all operators to clearly mention the minimum guaranteed download speeds in various packages. The regulator said operators have promised to abide by the new direction.

Meanwhile, the regulator has also mooted a discussion paper, which was released today, on whether the present level of 256 kbps defined as the minimum speed for a broadband connection should be raised to…

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Tags: Broadband, broadband services, Business Standard, France, India, Singapore, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Coverage for LIRNEasia book

Rohan Samarajiva

on December 31, 2007

Click on the links to see the full articles covering LIRNEasia’s book, ICT Infrastructure in Emerging Asia: Policy and Regulatory Roadblocks.

‘BSNL’s monopoly over infrastructure a hindrance to growth’ - Financial Express (India)

Rural connectivity is now the focus of every telecommunication player in the country. Almost all stakeholders, from handset manufacturers to service providers, believe that the next wave of growth is in the rural areas.”However, India’s roll out (of telecom services) in rural areas has been slow. BSNL has the backbone infrastructure but is not yet ready to share it with private players,” he added.

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Tags: access networks, Ashok Jhujhunwala, Asia, ATM, Ayesha Zainudeen, backbone infrastructure, Bangladesh, cellular telephone, Chennai, Department of Telecommunications, Financial Express, GSM, Harsha de Silva, IDRC, India, Jhunjhunwala, LIRNE asia, Madras, mobile phones, Pakistan, Rohan Samarajiva, rural telephony, Social Science Research Council, Sri Lanka, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, telecom services, telephony, Yahoo Tech Group.

India’s Mobile Phone Market Fastest Growing in World?

Chanuka Wattegama

on October 29, 2007

India’s mobile phone market has become the fastest growing in the world, with Indians adding nearly six million new connections every month. As Anjana Pasricha of VoA reports from New Delhi, much of the growth is among low-income consumers.

Telecom companies are going all out to woo such customers, offering them deals that make cell phones affordable for even those who earn as little as $125 a month.

Handsets are available for $45. Users can buy new pre-paid phone cards for less than 50 cents. Companies offer consumers the option of paying one lifetime fee of about $25, and never having to pay for incoming calls again.

As a result, low-income, self-employed people like maids, cooks, taxi drivers, plumbers, and construction workers are snapping up mobiles at a…

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Tags: cell phones, cellular telephone, cents, India, mobile phones, New Delhi, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, USD.

Cellular operators urge Indian Govt. to go slow on Mobile TV

Chanuka Wattegama

on October 26, 2007

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New Delhi, (PTI): Cellular operators in the country have asked the Government to go slow on devising regulations on Mobile TV, saying that the technology is “nascent” and the customer behaviour still uncertain.

“This is a nascent business and therefore, no decision should be taken which will restrict the development of the market or foreclose technological options,” the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has told the telecom and broadcast regulator TRAI.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had last month issued a consultation paper for the stakeholders on issues relating to mobile television.

“Various technology solutions are being tested in the global marketplace. It is also important to recognise that customer behaviour and demands are also evolving,” the operators…

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Tags: Cellular Operators Association of India, India, New Delhi, technology solutions, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

TRAI issues rules for cheaper bandwidth

Abu Saeed Khan

on October 17, 2007

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has issued regulation on domestic leased circuits in a bid to provide cheaper bandwidth to IT companies, BPOs and ISPs. The regulation imposes obligation on all service providers who have the capacity of copper, fibre or wireless, and who have been allowed under the licence to provide leased circuits, to share it with other service providers.

For service providers, these regulations open up the possibility of meeting customers’ demand for end-to-end leased circuits, the regulator also said. Tariff ceilings for local leads and ports were also prescribed and the service providers were allowed to offer discounts on a transparent and non-discriminatory basis.

TRAI can regulate broadcasting: Delhi High Court

Abu Saeed Khan

on July 10, 2007

The Delhi High Court has upheld the powers of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to regulate the country’s broadcasting sector. The court also said that it was in the regulator’s powers to fix the terms and conditions of the interconnection agreement between broadcasters and service providers. Read more.

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Tags: Delhi High Court, India, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Privacy on the agenda of Indian telecom sector

Rohan Samarajiva

on June 7, 2007

For those who believed that privacy issues will take a long time come up in South Asia . . . The relevant definition is “the ability to control the boundary conditions of social interactions.”

BBC NEWS | South Asia | India cell phone curbs welcomed

Indian cellular phone companies and phone users have welcomed a government move to curb unsolicited calls and text messages from tele-marketers.The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said on Tuesday that in three months time subscribers would be able to register on a “do not call” list.

Firms breaking the rules face a fine of 500 rupees ($13) for each call or text.

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Tags: BBC, cellular telephone, India, rupee, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, USD.

Telecom Regulatory Environment survey results from 6 countries released in India

Divakar Goswami

on December 21, 2006

The TRE 2006 results [PDF Download] of the first Telecom Regulatory Environment (TRE) survey applied across six Asian countries were released in New Delhi yesterday. The TRE Assessment, developed by LIRNEasia and already implemented in a number of countries, is a perceptual index which gauges regulatory performance across six dimensions. The TRE survey carried out in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand as part of a multi-component study, closely reflected regulatory reform actions undertaken in the respective countries along with sector performance.
The Hindustan Times, a leading newspaper in India, covered the findings from the TRE surveys [PDF Download] focusing on the comparison between India and Pakistan’s scores.

Pakistan Bests India in Telecoms Regulation by M. Rajendran, Hindustan Times, Dec 20, 2006.

[..]A survey by research agency LIRNEAsia says Pakistan…

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Tags: fixed and mobile services, Hindustan Times, India, Indonesia, LIRNEasia, Mahesh Uppal, New Delhi, Nripendra Misra, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Thailand.

India’s International bandwidth capacity grows 95 pc

Divakar Goswami

on September 24, 2006

The Hindu Businessline, Thomas K Thomas, New Delhi , July 13Increasing usage of broadband and Internet-based services has prompted Indian international bandwidth providers to raise their capacity by 95 per cent over a one-year period.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, bandwidth owned by various gateway service providers such as VSNL, Reliance Communication and Bharti has gone up to 12.7 Giga bytes in March 2006 compared to 6.5 Giga bytes at the end of the previous financial year.

Explaining the growth, Mr Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom, said: “Bandwidth requirement is largely being driven by the IT industry, particularly the BPO sector, and also rapid Internet adoption at homes. In addition, it is being fuelled by requirements of a growing economy. Everything is moving towards data…

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Tags: Bharti, Broadband, broadband services, dial-up Internet users, India, Internet Service Providers Association of India, Internet services, Internet Telephony, Internet-based services, IP telephony, Kiran Karnik, leased line Internet services, Nasscom, New Delhi, rapid Internet adoption, Reliance Communication, sample product, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, telephony, Thomas K Thomas, VSNL.

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