Telecom Industry

Telecom industry

y Telecommunications industry deals with the activities and

services of electronic systems for transmitting messages through cables, telephone, radio or television.

History of Telecommunication

y Telecommunication is the assisted transmission of signals over a

distance for the purpose of communication. y In earlier times, this have involved the use of Primitive Sign Language, smoke signals, drums, semaphore, flags, or heliograph. y Drums were used by natives in Africa, New Guinea and South America whereas smoke signals were used by natives in North America and China. Contrary to what one might think, these systems were often used to do more than merely announce the presence of a camp. y In the 1790s the first fixed semaphore systems emerged in Europe; however it was not until the 1830s that electrical telecommunication systems started to appear.

Distance telecommunications

y Visual signals (non-electronic): y Prehistoric: Fires, Beacons, Smoke signals y 6th century BC: Mail y 5th century BC: Pigeon post y 4th century BC: Hydraulic semaphores y 490 BC: Heliographs y 15th century AD: Maritime flags y 1790 AD: Semaphore lines y 19th century AD: Signal lamps

y Audio signals: y Prehistoric: Communication drums, Horns y 1838 AD: Electrical telegraph. See: Telegraph history. y 1876: Telephone. See: Invention of the telephone, History of the

telephone, Timeline of the telephone y 1880: Photophone y 1896: Radio.

Advanced electrical/electronic signals:

y 1927: Television. y 1930: Videophone y 1964: Fiber optical telecommunications y 1969: Computer networking y 1981: Analog cellular mobile phones y 1982: SMTP email y 1983: Internet y 1998: Satellite phones

Evolution of the industry-Important Milestones

y 1851 First operational land lines were laid by the government y y y y

near Calcutta (seat of British power) 1881 Telephone service introduced in India 1883 Merger with the postal system 1923 Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company (IRT) 1932 Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and Cable Communication Company (IRCC)

y 1947 Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication

companies to form the Posts, Telephone and Telegraph (PTT), a monopoly run by the government's Ministry of Communications y 1985 Department of Telecommunications (DOT) established, an exclusive provider of domestic and long-distance service that would be its own regulator (separate from the postal system)

y 1986 Conversion of DOT into two wholly government-owned

companies: the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) for international telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) for service in metropolitan areas. y 1997 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India created. y 1999 Cellular Services are launched in India. New National Telecom Policy is adopted. y 2000 DoT becomes a corporation, BSNL

Company Name

Market Cap in Crores

Bharti Airtel Reliance Communications Idea Cellular Tata Communications Tata Teleservices Spice Communications MTNL GTL GTL Infrastructure OnMobile Global HFCL Infotel ITI Him.Fut.Comm Astra Microwave Gemini Communications

108066.23 32683.44 14368.92 13181.25 4393.06 4136.13 4044.6 2475.12 2210.49 1403.52 457.73 413.28 386.99 241.88 125.71

Avaya Global Shyam Telecom Nelco XL Telecom & Energy Limited Goldstone Infratech Ltd Nu Tek Kavveri Telecom Krone Communications Mobile Telecommunications Ltd Valiant Communications Pun.Communi. Nettlinx Aishwarya Telecom Ltd Interg.Digit Vital Communications

118.54 64.58 63.55 55.96 52.6 48.16 26.51 24.52 17.37 16.58 16.19 12.68 9.86 3.15 2.81

INTRODUCTION
y Telecom industry in India has undergone a

revolution in the recent years. The country is ranked second worldwide in terms of having the largest telecommunication network, after China. y With the ongoing investments into infrastructure deployment, the country is projected to see high penetration of Internet, broadband and mobile subscribers.

y Telecommunications industry deals with the

activities and services of electronic systems for transmitting messages through cables, telephone, radio or television. y Two major factors responsible for the growth of telecommunications industry are use of modern technology and market competition

y One of the products of modern technologies is

optical fibers, which are being used as a medium of data transmission instead of using coaxial or twisted pair cables. y Optical fibers can carry a high volume of data and are easier to maintain and install. Use of communication satellites make this telecommunications industry a booming industry.

Employment opportunities in telecommunications industry
y Telecommunication industry has created immense

employment opportunities. y Most of the employees in this industry are engaged in large establishments, although there are some small establishments, where a large number of small contractors are involved. y Fifty five percent of all workers are engaged in office and administrative support occupations. The other occupations of this industry relate to installation, maintenance, and repair .

Telecom industry overview

y With a growth rate of 45 percent, the Indian telecom

industry is booming. Apart from providing mobile and broadband subscriptions, the telecom industry is also involved in the manufacture of telecom equipment.

Growth Potential
As economic growth continues at a stable 8% p.a., as Indian customers continue to embrace the currently under-penetrated mobile technology, and as regulatory policy continues to favor investment in the sector, this growth path is likely to continue. India's telecom service revenue was ~USD 30 billion in 2008, and Ernst and Young analysts believe it is projected to almost double to ~USD 55 billion by 2012, thereby contributing over 6% to the GDP.

Market Structure
 Divided into 22 circles  4 metros  19 circles
Jammu & Kashmir Himachal Pradesh Punjab Haryana Uttar Pradesh W North Eastern States

± Further divided into A, B and C category based on economic parameters and revenue potential
 Each circle has a licenses  Licenses are saleable

DELHI Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh E Bihar Gujarat Madhya Pradesh West Bengal

Maharashtra MUMBAI Andhra Pradesh Karnataka

Orissa

KOLKATA

METRO Circles
CHENNAI Tamil Nadu Kerala

A Circles B Circles C Circles

20

Source :COAI

21

22

TRAI
y The TRAI acts as an independent regulator of the business of

telecommunications in the country, which is funded by Central Govt. y TRAI follows the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act-1997 which was amended in 2000. y The mission of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is to ensure that the interests of consumers are protected and at the same time to nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications, broadcasting and cable services in a manner and at a pace which will enable India to play a leading role in the emerging global information society.

Objective
y The main objective of TRAI is to form a transparent and fair

policy environment that encourages fair competition.

y TRAI has issued from time to time a large number of regulations,

orders and directives to deal with issues coming before it and provided the required direction to the evolution of Indian telecom market from a Government owned monopoly to a multi operator multi service open competitive market.

The various powers and functions of TRAI are that

y The authorities recommend the timing and need for the

introduction of a service provider that is new, ensure successful inter- connection and technical compatibility between various service providers. y Suggest the terms and conditions on which license would be provided to a service provider. y Issue directions to service providers. y The authority sees that terms and conditions that it has formulated are being followed

y Regulate the arrangements between the service providers in

order to ensure that they share the revenue that are derived from supplying telecommunication services y Suggest license revocation when there is non- fulfillment of terms and conditions of the license.

y Give advice to the government at the center on subjects that are

connected with the development of the telecommunication technology. y Charge fees at rates that may be fixed by regulations y Perform functions that the central government may entrust, and also carry out functions that are necessary according to the TRAI Act, 1997.

y Efficient management of available spectrum. y Ensure compliance of Universal service obligation (USO). y Monitor the service quality, and also conduct survey periodically

of the service that is being provided by the service providers.

y Settlement of disputes that arise between service providers y Resolution of disputes between Government (in its role as

licensor) and any licensee. y Maintaining a register of the agreements that are interconnected.

Current Industry Structure
Ministry of Communication & Information Technology Licensor Dept of Telecom Regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Judiciary Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal
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Unified License Operators Fixed Line Operators National Long Distance Operators CDMA International Long Distance Operators Wireless Operators GSM 900 & 1800 1800Mh z

FDI in telecom recently revised to 74%. Government gets 15% of revenues from Unified Licensing

Rank in world in network size Tele±density (per hundred populations) Telephone connection (In million) Fixed Mobile Total Village Public Telephones inhabited (Out of 5,93,601 uncovered villages) Foreign Direct Investment (in million) March 2010) (from April 2000 till

3rd 52.74

36.95 548.32 621.28 5,69,385 4070

Licenses issued Basic CMTS UAS Infrastructure Provider I ISP (Internet) National Long distance International Long Distance 2 38 241 219 371 29 24

Performance of telecom equipment manufacturing sector

y Government policy, progress has been achieved in the

manufacturing of telecom equipment in the country. y There is a significant telecom equipment-manufacturing base in the country and there has been steady growth of the manufacturing sector during the past few years

(Rs. in crore) Year 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Production 14400 14000 Export 402 250 400 1500 1898 8131 11000

16090 17833 23656 41270 48800

2009-10

50000

13500

y Rising demand for a wide range of telecom equipment,

particularly in the area of mobile telecommunication, has provided excellent opportunities to domestic and foreign investors in the manufacturing sector. The last two years saw many renowned telecom companies setting up their manufacturing base in India

y Ericsson set up GSM Radio Base Station Manufacturing facility

in Jaipur. Elcoteq set up handset manufacturing facilities in Bangalore. y Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks have set up their manufacturing plant in Chennai. y LG Electronics set up plant of manufacturing GSM mobile phones near Pune. Ericsson launched their R&D Centre in Chennai. y Flextronics set up an SEZ in Chennai. Other major companies like Foxconn, Aspcom, Solectron etc have decided to set up their manufacturing bases in India.

y The Government has already set up Telecom Equipment and

Services Export Promotion Council and Telecom Testing and Security Certification Centre (TETC). y A large number of companies like Alcatel, Cisco have also shown interest in setting up their R&D centers in India. y With above initiatives India is expected to be a manufacturing hub for the telecom equipment.

Components and factors responsible behind the growth of telecommunications industry

y Two major factors responsible for the growth of

telecommunications industry are use of modern technology and market competition. y One of the products of modern technologies is optical fibers, which are being used as a medium of data transmission instead of using coaxial or twisted pair cables. y Optical fibers can carry a high volume of data and are easier to maintain and install. y Use of communication satellites make this telecommunications industry a booming industry.

y The use of mobile network has a crucial role behind the growth of

an improved telecommunications industry. Leading companies are showing their interest to invest in this telecommunications industry. y Telecommunications industry is going to be a digitized one. Use of ISDN (Inter Services Digital Network) makes this telecommunication industry a total digitalized system and eventually enhanced the speed and quality of digital communication.

y The introduction of these advanced technologies makes the

telecommunications industry a competitive one, where a number of multinational companies have shown their interest to invest in this industry and consequently the prices are reduced, the quality is also improved. During the period of 1990, the telecommunication industry showed a speedy growth in terms of investment and eventually increased the competition. The competition between the companies led to the decline of revenues.

World Telecom Industry

y World telecom industry is an uprising industry, proceeding

towards a goal of achieving two third of the world's telecom connections. Over the past few years information and communications technology has changed in a dramatic manner and as a result of that world telecom industry is going to be a booming industry. Substantial economic growth and mounting population enable the rapid growth of this industry.

Research works associated with world telecommunication industry

y A number of research works are being carried out all over the

world to improve the quality and speed of transmission. Research works are also done on the basis of the users' needs. The objective of the research work is to provide quality and affordable service to the consumers.

Market potentiality of world telecommunication industry

y The world telecommunications market is expected to rise at an 11

percent compound annual growth rate at the end of year 2010. The leading telecom companies like AT&T, Vodafone, Verizon, SBC Communications, Bell South, Qwest Communicationsare trying to take the advantage of this growth. These companies are working on telecommunication fields like broadband technologies, EDGE(Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution) technologies, LAN-WAN inter networking, optical networking, voice over Internetprotocol, wireless data service etc

Economical aspect of telecommunication industry

y World telecom industry is taking a crucial part of world economy.

The total revenue earned from this industry is 3 percent of the gross world products and is aiming at attaining more revenues. One statistical report reveals that approximately 16.9% of the world population has access to the Internet

Present market scenario of world telecom industry

y Over the last couple of years, world telecommunication industry

has been consolidating by allowing privateorganizations the opportunities to run their businesses with this industry. The Government monopolies are now being privatized and consequently competition is developing. Among all, the domestic and small business markets are the hardest.

U.S. Telecom Industry

y U.S. telecom industry is the most prosperous telecommunication

industry in the world, which covers a wide range of areas and services like telephone, television, Internet, radio and so many. U.S. telecom industry primarily deals with the services of transmitting message through mediums like cables, satellites etc.

Principal divisions of U.S. telecom industry

y U.S. telecom industry specifically consists of three primary

sections namely technical, regulatory and economic. These three sectors work together to make the U.S. telecom industry a prosperous one. U.S. telecom industry began with the telegraph industry and gradually focus towards wireless and online services

Components and services of U.S. telecommunications industry

y Components and services of U.S. telecommunication industry

include wireless technologies, digital technologies and mobile network services. y Wireless technology is a form of technology for data communication without wires, which is alternatively called radio transmissions. This technology is more affordable and easy to use. American engineers started using digital technology from the mid-twentieth century and with the use of ISDN(Inter Services Digital Network), information will be transmitted in a completely digital fashion.

Economic perspective of U.S. telecom industry

y Telecommunication industry is the key force of American

economy. U.S. telecommunication industry extends it's activities in almost every sector, from education to health care or banking and finance. U.S. telecom industry enables an overall of 75% U.S. labor productivity gains.

Prime objectives of U.S. telecommunication industry

y U.S. telecommunication industry designed to achieve the target of

creating more than 212,000 jobs in it's telecommunication industry. Besides creating new job opportunities, some other objectives of U.S. telecommunication industry include adding customer value by providing them innovative services like VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), creating an overall of $58 billion capital investment opportunities and generating $113 billion new revenues in it's telecom industry.

China Telecom Industry

y China telecom industry has an enormous business potentiality

and is targeting on the development and application of advanced technologies specifically on wireless and broadband services. China telecom industry is rapidly prospering towards the world's leading market in telecommunication industry and consequently employment opportunities are also growing. Government of China is also encouraging this industry by adopting technical support and expert services from Canadian Aprel Laboratories for the development of wireless telecommunication industry.

Recent developments of China telecom industry

y China telecom industry is trying to issue 3G(third generation)

mobile licenses. Only 12 countries have issued '3G' mobile communications, which is a combination of wireless mobile technology with data transmission capabilities. The three 3G standards comprise of WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), TD-SCDMA(Time DivisionSynchronous Code Division Multiple Access) and CDMA 2000 (Code Division Multiple Access). TD-SCDMA can be treated as one of the most advanced technologies for mobile operators.China telecommunication industry is also going to enhance the Internet accessibility for the users throughout the world.

Leading telecommunication service providers of China telecom industry

y A number of state run companies are primarily involved with

China telecom industry. Some of the leading providers of telecom services include China Telecom and China Netcom, who are engaged in fixed line business activities. China Mobile and China Unicom are engaged with the mobile sector of China telecom industry. Some minor companies include China Tie Tong, China Satcom. China Government is also encouraging foreign operators to access the telecom industry.

Economic perspective of China telecom industry

y China telecom sector is prospering rapidly. The growth rate of

this industry from year 1997 to 2000 was about 20%. Out of China's overall telecom sector, the mobile operators have invested an average of 25 billion US dollars in a year. With respect to the number of subscribers, China possesses the world's largest fixed-line and mobile network industry.

Telecom Industry Analysis

y Telecom industry analysis uncovers the fact that this industry has

a huge business potentiality and is going to be a booming industry. Telecom industry analysis also reveals that this industry will provide an immense employment opportunity in the coming years.

Statistical report

y Phoenix Center research revealed that in the coming years, there

will be a healthy competition among the providers of telecommunication services. At the same time, the price will be lower and quality will be higher. The new telecommunications technologies will replace the traditional telecom services. Statistical data also reveals that the telecommunications industry is going to be a dynamic and booming industry in the near future. The telecom industry comprises of complex network of services like telephones, mobile phones and internet services.

Telecom industry trends

y Throughout the world, telecom industry are being controlled

by private companies instead of government monopolies. Traditional telecom technologies are also being replaced by modern wireless technologies, specifically in case of mobile services. One of the major objectives of telecom industry is to enhance the quality and speed of Internet technology.

y These days, telecom industry is more concerned with texts and

images (Internet technologies), rather than voice(telephone service). Most of the research works are going on Internet accessibility, specifically on data applications and broadband services. The other major division of telecom industry is mobile network sector, where lots of innovative research works are going on. Previously the traditional telephone calls used to earn the maximum revenues, but these days mobile service is going to replace traditional telephone services.

Telecom industry analysis from the experts point of view

y Telecom industry is a vast and diversified industry and needs a

huge capital to invest. That is why the competitors of this industry should be such that they can meet that demand. From the investor's point of view, it can be said that they should be well aware of cash flow in this industry.

Bharti Airtel number one telecom company: Survey
 Bharti Airtel retained its leading position among telecom service providers and posted a growth of five per cent to end 2009-10 fiscal with revenues of Rs. 38,800 crore, the survey said  Telecom service provider Aircel recorded the highest growth of 37.2 per cent among operators in 2009-10, while Bharti Airtel retained its leading position, according to a survey by journal µVoice and Data¶  Aircel, which recorded the highest growth among the top 10 telecom players, posted a revenue of Rs. 4,700 crore to move to the number eight slot, the survey by telecom industry journal µVoice and Data¶ revealed.

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y Bharti Airtel retained its leading position among telecom service

providers and posted a growth of five per cent to end 2009-10 fiscal with revenues of Rs. 38,800 crore, the survey said. y Vodafone recorded 13.7 per cent growth to emerge as the third largest player with revenue of Rs. 23,200 crore, it said. y Leading public sector telecom giant BSNL saw a drop in its revenue for the second consecutive year to post Rs. 30,240 crore, a drop of 14 per cent, even though it retained the number two position among telecom players.

y The company¶s mobile subscriber base grew by a third to touch

70 million, the survey found. y ³Reliance Communications reported a negative growth of 3.5 per cent with revenue of Rs. 22,130 crore to occupy the number four slot,´ the survey pointed said. y Idea Cellular, Tata Communications and Tata Teleservices retained their slots at number 5, 6 and 7 with revenues of Rs. 11,390 crore, Rs. 11,000 crore and Rs. 6,900 crore, respectively.

y The other public sector telecom giant MTNL¶s revenue dropped

nearly by a fifth - highest among the top 10 players - to Rs. 3,650 crore, it revealed. y The third Tata group company, TTML, ranked number 10 among the Top 10 telecom players, with revenues of Rs. 2,300 crore helped the group earning go past the Rs. 20,000 mark.

Stricter guidelines soon for mobile radiation

y The Union government finally seems to have woken up to the

health hazards related to radiation from mobile towers and handsets. The Ministry of Communications and IT is considering a high-level study to find out the level of electromagnetic frequency (EMF) radiation from towers and handsets in order to frame stricter regulations to rein in erring operators and handset manufacturers.

y ³It is high time we addressed the issue of radiation, as

strong objections have been raised by experts and civil society over the uncontrolled spread of mobile towers and import of cheap handsets that could have serious impact on the health of people. I will soon be meeting health and telecom experts to evolve a strong monitoring mechanism for the same,´ Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot told TheHindu.

All post offices to be computerised by 2012

y Union Minister of State for Communications and Information

Technology Sachin Pilot on Sunday said all post offices across the country would be computerised by 2012, and that Rs.1,877 crore has been sanctioned for the same. Selected post offices have already been included in µProject Arrow' to enable them to join the telecom revolution, he added.

y Addressing a postal insurance function at Bhudol

village in Ajmer district, Mr. Pilot said new schemes were being executed in the postal department with a vision for the future. As many as 140 post offices in Rajasthan are presently being modernised. y He said the postal insurance scheme would make life easier for the rural people and labourers in the unorganised sector. ³Their life will be insured on the payment of a premium as low as Rs.20 to Rs.25 a month.´

News

Union Budget 2010: Nothing Special for Telecom Industry
y The union Budget 2010-11 neglected the telecom

industry's special demands. y Telcos were looking at a rationalisation of tax and levies, uniform license fee of one per cent of the AGR. Telcos wanted a re-look at direct tax, tax holidays and section 81 (A), a re-look at licenses and indirect taxes.

y As far as infrastructure products are concerned, oeprators

were hoping for a boost in telecom infrastructure and wanted telecom to be included as part of infrastructure, so that all tax holidays applicable to infrastructure are applicable to telecom. y Telcos wanted FM to remove bank guarantees for telecom.

Top 10 Mobile Phone Networks in India 2010

August 6, 2010 y Voice and Data magazine from CIOL Network has released the data regarding the top telecom service providers in India 2009-10. As per the data the top 10 telecom companies are ranked as below 1. Airtel Rs. 38,800 crore 2. BSNL Rs 30,240 crore 3. Vodafone Rs 23,200 crore 4. Reliance Communications Rs 22,130 crore 5. Idea Cellular Rs 11,390 crore 6. Tata Communications Rs 11,000 crore 7. Tata Teleservices 6,900 crore 8. Aircel Rs 4,700 crore 9. MTNL Rs 3,650 crore 10. TTML Rs 2,300 crore

Egypt imposes restrictions on news text messages

y Egypt has imposed new regulations to monitor the news

and advertisement text messaging, a move criticised as an attempt to prevent anti-government ideas ahead of November's Parliamentary elections. y The National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) told companies which provide such services that they must first have authorisation from the the supreme council for journalism and Information Ministry to send SMSs.

y Meanwhile, sources said the decision was an attempt to

prevent anti-regime ideas, meddling with the stock market or instigating ethnic violence. y An official at the NTRA denied there were political dimensions to these regulations noting that they targeted adjusting the status of 30 companies that operate in Egypt without a definite legal frame. y over and above the regulations are meant to abort an agreement the Muslim Brotherhood finalised with one of the sms advertising companies to send out hundreds of thousands of text messages prior to the parliamentary elections next month.

y A head of one the service providing companies said that

there had been meetings with the NTRA over the past two weeks with a representative of the state security investigations attending . y During these meetings the new regulations were presented to the service providing company managers including censoring the texts and cutting off 3 per cent of the revenues of the company to fund the censors' salaries. y It is worth noting that Egypt had refused to place a ban on the use of the Black Berry texting feature, contrary to many other Arab countries

India To Have Mobile Number Portability From Oct 31
y The telecom regulator of India on Thursday said

mobile number portability (MNP) will be rolled out nationwide from Oct 31. However, the service was delayed many times due to improper infrastructure. his operator while retaining the number.

y The MNP is a service that allows a mobile user to change

y "There will be no further delay in the implementation of

MNP," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman J S Sarma said in New Delhi.

y The Department of Telecom (DoT) also asked the telecom

operators to ensure all inter-operator tests for porting the numbers from one service provider to another before Sept 1, 2010. MNP as per the scheduled deadline, they will be disqualified from launching any new commercial services from Sept 1. service in any area with effect from September 1, 2010 shall be given to only those licensee(s) who are MNP compliant," said DoT in a statement.

y The DoT also made it clear that in case they fail to implement

y "It has been decided that permission to launch commercial

y State-run Bharat Sanchar Nagar Nigam and Mahanagar

Telephone Nigam Limited have said they are ready with the infrastructure to implement the MNP service.
y Previously, the service was delayed three times. Last time,

the MNP service was to be implemented from June 30, 2010.

BSNL To Launch 'Mobile Money Transfer' Service
y BSNL, as a part of extending facilities to its customers,

will be starting the money transfer service soon. The telecom major has tied up with the State Bank of India (SBI) in this regard.
y The customers of BSNL network, under the service

would be able to pay their mobile bills and also landline bills just by calling their banks and requesting for money transfer, the BSNL's (Bihar Circle) General Manager Vijay Kumar said.

y Besides, talking about the network congestion in

Kishanganj district, he noted that a proposal to set up 10 new BTS in the region has been made to fix the setback.
y BSNL, with its telecom circles in all over India including

Andaman & Nicobar, has about 66.88 million customers as of June 2010 and the company plans to increase it to 160 Million by March 2014. Currently, BSNL ranks as the third largest cellular service provider in India.

TRAI Suggests 10-Digit Telephone Numbers For Landline Connections

y A ten-digit phone number for fixed landline connections

are likely to be introduced in India. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has suggested bringing ten-digit numbers for fixed landline phones to meet the growing number of landline connections.
y "Both fixed line and mobile phones will have a 10-digit

number. This would make available enough numbers to cater to expansion of existing services and introduction of new services for the next 30-40 years," TRAI said.

y Given the current growth rate, it is being anticipated that the

numbers for telephone connections would be completed and there could be shortage of numbers in future. It is expected that the system could be implemented by December next year.
y TRAI also noted that the existing 10-

digit numbering for mobile telephones has to be continued. TRAI said, "The existing 10-digitnumbering scheme for mobile telephony should be continued to avoid inconvenience to the customers that would accompany any move to shift to an 11digit numbering scheme."

Smartphone Market To Capture 54% Of Asia-Pacific Market By 2015
y Smartphone market is expected to capture about 54 percent of the

Asia-Pacific region, according to an industry report.

y The report said the smartphone market is likely to generate

around $38 billion for telecommunication operators in Asian markets. With this the smartphone segment would cover about half of the Asian market.

y ³The Asia-Pacific market is particularly interesting for

smartphones as there has been significant uptake in emerging markets like China, India and Indonesia, even among prepaid users," Consultancy Frost and Sullivan¶s industry manager, Marc Einstein was quoted as saying in the report.

y Apple¶s iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry are

reported as being most liked brand among the business professionals. y Smartphones are the mobile phones or handheld devices that usually come with connectivity features and run on operating system. Initially, smartphones entered markets to cater mainly to corporate professionals. Now with the development of smartphone market in emerging countries in Asia-Pacific region including India and China, smartphones are largely purchased for even non-corporate purposes like gaming and social networking. This has led to drastic expansion in the segment. Further, it is expected a total of 477 million units of smartphone sales by the year 2015.

Nokia To Set-Up Its Server In November
y Nokia has today said that it would set up its server in India

in November to adhere to the country¶s security issues. y "We are launching the server on November 5 in compliance with all the rules and regulation in the country...It is for hosting mail and ensuring that the government has access (to the data)," Nokia India Managing Director D. Shivakumar was quoted as saying. y Nokia¶s move would probably force BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) also to set up its server in the country.

y Indian government has been serious with regard

to security issues and asked RIM to provide solution over the deeply encrypted data. y The data, which is said to be highly completed, could be misused by militants to carry attacks on India. The data is also difficult to monitor because of its complication. y Now RIM is being expected to set up its server in India to operate in India. y Nokia comes with announcement of setting up its server amidst the RIM¶s security issues remaining unsolved.

Government Set To Allocate 3G Spectrum To Operators
y he 3G spectrum will be allocated to Bharti Airtel, Reliance

Communications, Vodafone and other service providers today, the Department of Telecom said on Tuesday. y The government will be allocating the 3G services with Defence agreeing to provide radio airwaves. y September 1 was scheduled as the last date for allocating spectrum to operators. And the services are expected to be rolled out by the end of this year or during early 2011. y With the 3G and 2G services, operators would launch of high-speed broadband access in India. Through the spectrum allocation, the operator would now use radio waves to provide high-speed connectivity.

y Besides offering high-quality voice calls, users will also

be able to enjoy high-speed internet connection and access TVs, movies and music. y The third generation spectrum went on auction recently and the overall sale brought about Rs. 67,000 crore to the government.

India To Demand Data Access From Google And Skype?
y ndia could issue notices to Google and Skype demanding to

set up their server and data access in the country, sources said. y G.K. Pillai, the Home Secretary was reported as saying, µsimilar demands would be made to Google and Skype¶ also. y The Indian government had asked BlackBerry to provide access to its encrypted data and set up its server in the country. Fearing about the militants¶ misuse of information on the Internet, the Indian government had imposed a deadline on August 31 to come up with a solution. The company had finally agreed to set up its server in the country.

y BlackBerry has faced similar issued in Saudi Arabia also,

where the government had warned the company that it would ban the BlackBerry services. y Meanwhile, Nokia on Monday said that it would set up its server in India, a move that would force even other major telecom operators for similar action.

AKAI Forays Mobile Market By Launching 10 Models
y KAI, the consumer electronics firm, has forayed into the mobile

handset market by launching 10 new models under its brand. y AKAI¶s new mobile phones come with dual SIM capacity, full touch 3-D user interface, e-book capability and social networking sites. y The Japan-based consumer electronics firm has entered the mobile phone market with the target of making 40 percent of its total revenues from mobile phones. y "We are expecting an overall turnover of Rs.435 crore by July 2011 and mobile sales are expected to contribute around 40 percent of the total revenues with targeted monthly sales of one lakh handsets from October onwards," said Pranay Dhabhai, managing director, AKAI India.

y The handsets come priced between Rs.1,895 and Rs.7,995. y "We hope to become a prominent player in the Rs.700

billion mobile handset market in the coming years," he added. y Headquartered in Singapore, the company is into manufacturing consumer electronics including televisions, microwave ovens, washing machines, DVD players, and home theatres.

Vodafone Sells $6 Billion Stake In China Mobile
y odafone Group is selling its 3.2 percent stake worth $6.6

billion in China Mobile, the company announced. Accordingly, the company sells a share at HK$79.2, sources said. y The world¶s largest telecommunication service provider Vodafone sells the China Mobile shares as a move to sell off the minority stakes. It is noteworthy, that Vodafone had earlier said that it would reconsider about holding minority stakes. y The announcement comes as the company¶s lock-up period on the stake had ended recently. The telecom major now has plans of focusing on core markets including Europe, India and Africa.

y Eight major banks including Bank of America, UBS,

Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and HSBC are reportedly managing the placing. y The share prices of China Mobile were seen down by 4.15 percent on Wednesday. y The UK-based Vodafone Group plc is the largest telecom operator by revenues and has over 300 million subscribers worldwide as of June 2010. The company has a market capitalization of 80.2 billion Pounds as of August 2010.

Tata Teleservices Touches 75 Million Subscribers, Becomes Fourth Largest Telecom Operator
y Tata Teleservices today announced that the company has crossed

the 75-million subscriber mark. With this the telecom operator becomes the fourth largest telecom service provider in the country. y The company saw a consistent growth in subscriber base in the last year. Now it has touched 76.9 million subscriber base. In August alone, Tata Teleservices added about 2.1 million new subscribers. y Telecom industry in India has immense competition and Tata Teleservices, following the low price strategy has attracted as many subscribers to survive in the battle. y Besides, other major telecom operators including Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance are reportedly having more than 100 million wireless subscribers.

y Tata Teleservices operates mobile services under three

brand names including Tata Indicom, Tata DoCoMo and Virgin Mobile besides providing GSM and CDMA services. y The telecommunications industry in India is one of the fastest growing industries with 688.38 million telephone subscribers and 652.42 million mobile phone connections as of July 2010. The major drive behind the growth of the industry is price war, due to which the call and messaging rates have reduced significantly in India.

Tata Indicom- Rx Healthcare Magic Jointly Bring Medical Services Over Phone
y Tata Indicom on Wednesday introduced its new emergency medical

service called µdoctor on call¶ in partnership with Rx Healthcare Magic Private Ltd. With the new service, customers of Tata Indicom and Tata Walky can call up to doctors for medical assistance y Based on the intensity of the problem, doctors would offer suitable suggestion to callers via phone. Accordingly, patients are divided into three categories including acute, chronic and emergency. y In case of acute condition, doctors would suggest home remedy and in case of chronic patients would be suggested to take preventive measures. In case of emergency, the patient would be asked to rush to the hospital nearby. y To determine the condition of the patient, doctors would ask medical history of the patient and other details including age, gender and marital status.

y Initially, patients would be charged with Rs. 9 per minute, Tata

Indicom said. y "Today advanced mobile telephony is offering complete mobility services in the interest of the common man and having introduced the medical emergency service we have ensured that our subscribers get the best in class value- added services at a nominal fee," said Vineet Bhatia, regional head, Tata Teleservices Limited y Tata Teleservices recently crossed the 75-million subscriber mark becoming the fourth largest telecom service provider in the country. The telecom major with the launch of medical services over phone seems to be still endeavoring to expand its subscriber base.

Bharti Airtel To Sell African Business Zain To Bharti Infratel?
y Bharti Airtel is likely to sell its recently acquired African

business, Zain, to its arm Bharti Infratel to meet the cash requirements, reports said on Thursday. y The deal, which has been priced between Rs. 12,000 and Rs. 15,000 crore, would be completed by December, according to the report. y Falling subscriber base could also be the reason for the company¶s move as it expected aggressive growth there. However, a company¶s statement said that no decision has been finalised in this regard and declined to comment on these speculations.

y The company¶s African business is reported to have made

Rs 224 crore loss in the June quarter. However, there is no official word from the company regarding the deal. y Bharti Airtel had acquired Zain Africa for an enterprise valuation of USD 10.7 billion on June 2010. The acquisition made it the world¶s fifth largest wireless telecom company with 179 million subscriber base in 18 countries.

BlackBerry Maker RIM Reports Huge Revenue At $4.62 Billion In Q2
y BlackBerry maker Research In Motion¶s revenue for the second

quarter has reached sky high with about 31 percent growth at $4.62 billion. The company¶s higher profit comes despite it facing several difficulties including threat of ban from few countries including India. y The company attributes its whopping revenue mainly to the huge sales of BlackBerry Torch 9800. The BlackBerry Torch 9800 model was not much appreciated smartphone and was not expected to make such overwhelming sales. y Despite growing apprehensions about its network security, the company has added nearly 4.5 million new users in the quarter. RIM still hopes to make stronger sales in the coming quarters as well with more new products coming up in the smartphone lineup.

y "RIM set another new record in the quarter by shipping

over 12 million BlackBerry smart phones. This accomplishment and RIM's solid financial results during the second quarter were driven by effective business execution and strong demand for RIM's portfolio of BlackBerry smart phones and services in markets around the world," said RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie. y RIM, currently, is reported to have 50 million subscribers.

Beetel Teletech Enters Into Mobile Phone Market, Launches 8 New Handsets
y Bharti Group is entering the mobile phone market with the

launch of eight new handsets. Bharti¶s arm Beetel Teletech Limited,the telecom major, has forayed into the growing mobile phone market and targets for top five position in three years. y ³The market is huge and there is a room for Indian players... Phones in the price range of Rs 2,000-6,000 are witnessing 30 per cent growth and we plan to offer a good combination of feature-rich phones at affordable prices,´ Beetel Teletech Limited Executive Director and CEO Vinod Sawhny said during the announcement. y The mobile phones launched ranges from Rs 1,750-7,000. Beetel says it was µimportant for it to enter the handset market with a product for masses¶.

y The Beetel range of phones comes with exciting features

including Facebook, Yahoo, Opera Mini, Ibibo and much more that attracts youth population. y Bhrati¶s Airtel, which one of the major telecom service providers with large number of subscriber base, is also from Bharti¶s Group. On answering whether Airtel services would be put together with the Beetel handsets, he said, ³We shall be talking to all the GSM players for bundling our handsets and it will not be restricted to only the group's flagship company.´

EZ Texting Sues T-Mobile For Blocking Text Messages
y A marketing firm called EZ Texting has sued T-Mobile

for blocking text messages related to a lawful marijuana dispensary. y According to the lawsuit, T-Mobile willingly blocked the text messages related to a marijuana dispensary. However, the lawsuit says that the company can censor or block text messages which seem to be unlawful. y Meanwhile, T-Mobile has also announced that it would increase the tariff on text message soon.

y Shane Neman, the CEO of EX Texting, said, ³The fact is

T-Mobile ... put my business in jeopardy without any warning, without any justification, and without any appeal. It's like the Wild West out there. You don't know what the rules are.´ y It is not the first case of such a lawsuit as a similar lawsuit was filed against Verizon in 2007. However, it later allowed the text messages on the network.

18.18 Million Subscribers Added In August
y early 18.18 million subscribers have been added in the

y y

y

y

month of August, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today said. With this the overall Indian mobile phone subscriber base has reached 59.63 percent at 670.60 million. The wireless subscriber base has increased from 652.42 million in July, 2010, to 670.60 million in August showing the growth rate at 2.79 percent. The telecom operator Vodafone has contributed maximum at 2.30 million users taking its subscriber base to 113.77 million. Besides, the total number of telephone subscribers in India has reached 706.37 million by the end of August.

y The Indian telecommunication network is the second

largest network in the world after China. The country¶s telecommunication industry has witnessed tremendous growth in the past decade. As of 2001, there were only 5 million mobile subscribers in the country which has grown over 650 million by 2010. Moreover, the subscriber base is expected to cross 97 percent by 2014.

BSNL¶s Rs 2,395 Crore Request For Rural Broadband Rejected

y BSNL¶s request for Rs 2,395 crore additional grant to set up rural

broadband infrastructure has been rejected by the government. y The state-owned telecom major had requested for an additional Rs 2,395 crore grant for bringing WiMax rural project. y ³...BSNL is seeking only Rs 2,395 crore against rural deployment and BSNL has absorbed Rs 6,650 crore as its own cost by apportioning only 20 per cent spectrum cost. With the present allotted grant for Wi-Max, BSNL will be able to cover about 17,000 Common Service Centres (CSCs) using Wi-Max Broadband access instead of 62,000 CSCs planned originally,´ BSNL said in its letter to the Department of Information Technology (DIT).
y

y As BSNL¶s request has been rejected, the company would

now limit the WiMAX deployment to 1,798 base stations for the rural broadband project which has been granted by DIT. y ³In case the DIT rejects the request, the company would be forced to limit the WiMAX deployment to 1,798 BTS as per the DITgrant received so far,´ the letter stated.

Samsung Earnings Likely To Fall In Q3
y Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker has

announced that its third quarter profit has come down as compared to the previous quarter's record profit signalling the declining global demand. y The South Korea-based company expects consolidated operating profit of between 4.6 trillion won and 5 trillion won ($4.1 billion to $4.5 billion) for the quarter ended Sept. 30. y Last quarter, the company earned 4.22 trillion won in the third quarter last year. However, its second quarter of 2010 showed some good results when the company earned more than 5.01 trillion won. y Meanwhile, Samsung shares fell 2.5% to 773,000 won in the ongoing week fuelling rumours of declining Asian stocks.

y The US economy would grow slower, said an

International Monetary Fund statement on Wednesday. Many other major economies in Europe are also expected to grow slowly. y Samsung is the world's second largest handset maker after Finland's Nokia Corp. y The company recorded net profit of 3.81 trillion won in the third quarter of 2009.

Telecom companies¶ profit margins to remain under pressure: Analysts

y With rock-bottom tariffs and spiralling business

expenses, the profit margins of domestic telecom players is expected to remain under pressure in the coming months, feel marketmen. y ³Tariff wars and heightened cost of business have taken a toll on the telecom sector. As we expect tariff wars to re-emerge and competition to intensify in the medium term, it is believed that margins will remain under pressure,´ a research report by Edelweiss Capital said.

y In the past 10 months, headline tariffs have been stable, but

revenue per minute (RPM) has declined 22 per cent. y After implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) on October 31, and launch of 3G services, analysts anticipate re-emergence of tariff wars. y While the street is arguing that operators will be rational in pricing 3G services, having paid significant licence fees, marketmen believe, operators will be under pressure to build scale in these services and will likely price them attractively to achieve scale, the report added. y According to market experts, Idea, Aircel and Tata Docomo will utilise the MNP opportunity to target Bharti¶s and Vodafone¶s high usage customers.

y The street and incumbent operators believe that MNP will be a

non-event as it has been delayed and since customers already possess dual-SIM phones that enable the use of same handset for two numbers. y It is expected that subscribers possessing a dual-SIM phone would be indifferent to MNP. y The entry of mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) will lead to further pressure on business for incumbents. This, combined with expensing of interest cost and amortisation of 3G licence fee will lead to lower profitability. y Analysts expect some operators (Tata Docomo, RCom, Idea, Aircel and BSNL) to utilise the MNP opportunity to lure the high usage customer base of incumbents, especially, Bharti and Vodafone.

WorldSIM offers global roaming SIM

y WorldSIM, a leading mobile virtual network operator,

has launched its international roaming SIM, WorldSIM, in India. It appointed Hash10 Telecom Pvt. Ltd. as its exclusive master distributor for India. y Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, M. S. Abu Thahir, CMD and K. Vaidhyanathan, CEO, Hash10 Telecom, said the card would enable customers get free incoming in 80 countries and could make outgoing calls from over 200 countries at competitive rates.

y Mr. Vaidhyanathan said Hash10 was launching this card as

pre-paid and the all outbound travellers could top-up through vouchers and online through the web portal. The card, priced at Rs.2,750 (including Rs.500 talktime) would be available with both a U.K. and U.S. mobile number on the same SIM. In future, multiple local numbers would be added to the SIM, he said. Mr. Vaidhyanathan said India was the fastest growing outbound travel market. More than 45,000 people were travelling abroad daily and growth of outbound travel was increasing by 20 per cent annually. y He said, the card, as per the government guidelines, would not work in India and the same would work when they go out of India.

Reliance Industries re-enters telecom through 95 per cent stake buy in Infotel

y The removal of the non-compete clause from their family

settlement has allowed Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries (RIL) to re-enter telecom ² through the broadband wireless route. y RIL has picked up 95 per cent stake in Mahendra Nahatapromoted Infotel Broadband Services, which has bagged the maximum 22 circles for Rs 12,848 crore in the just concluded auction for broadband wireless. y RIL will invest about Rs 4,800 crore into Infotel. Nahata is one of the promoters of equipment maker Himachal Futuristic Communications that bid an astounding Rs 85,000 crore for the original telecom licences in 1994, a bid that nearly scuttled India¶s nascent telecom industry then.

y RIL will now compete with Reliance Communications

(RCom), Bharti Airtel and Vodafone and nine other players, including five new players in broadband wireless. RCom in its earlier avatar as Reliance Infocomm was controlled by Mukesh Ambani. However, it went to Anil Ambani when the brothers split. Though technically voice telephony can be offered under BWA licence, the telecom policy and the internet service providers (ISP) licence prohibits use of voice telephony. Currently, ISP licencees are allowed to offer PC-to-PC voice telephony only.

y However, with the definition of PC getting blurred and

their sizes shrinking to handheld devices, it may not be long before voice services emerge on BWA too. At policy level there is a precedence. In 2002, a ministerial group on telecom and information technology allowed basic service licence offering limited mobility to provide full mobility to subscribers. For widespread usage, though, low-cost BWA handsets are a must.

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