Videocon plans 26% stake sale in telecom arm
Hindu Business Line
Electronics major Videocon Industries on Wednesday said it plans to sell up to 26 per cent stake in its telecom services venture to foreign players. Videocon was among the new players that had got licences in 2008, though at that time the venture was known as Datacom.

3G bid to raise Rs 45000cr: Raja
Times of India
With telecom players bidding much more aggressively than expected earlier, the government is likely to earn up to Rs 45,000 crore from the auction of 3G and broadband spectrum as against earlier estimate of Rs 35,000 crore.

BSNL may post Rs 3641-crore loss in FY10: Panel
Economic Times
BSNL could register a loss of Rs 3,641 crore in 2009-10, the standing committee on telecom said in a report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.

Telecom Commission to consider BSNL disinvestment soon
Economic Times
The Telecom Commission, the policy-making arm of the Department of Telecommunications, will soon take up the issue of disinvestment in the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja said.

Ericsson to buy LG-Nortel JV stake for $242 million
Economic Times
Sweden’s Ericsson, the world’s top network gear maker, agreed on Wednesday to buy a controlling stake in a telecoms system venture between Nortel Networks and LG Electronics for $242 million.

BSNL seeks exemption from 3G spectrum fees
Livemint
State-run telecom company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has sought an exemption from paying the licence fee for the 3G telecom and broadband wireless access (BWA) services, auctions for which are currently on.

Aricent to hire 1000 engineers in three months
CIOL
With claims of over exceeding targets, innovation, technology and services company Aricent said it would hire 1000 engineers in India, within the next three months’ time to meet requirement of its customers.

Nokia to rollout two new phone series
The Hindu
Finnish mobile handset maker Nokia on Wednesday said it would roll out two new phone series viz. ’Nokia X’ and ’Nokia C’, within this quarter in India to widen its handset portfolio.

Chinese telecom companies ’Indianising’ management
Business Standard
Leading Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corporation, have launched an aggressive ’Indianisation’ drive. The two companies are replacing Chinese nationals with Indians on their board of directors.

Comviva aims to ride on growth in managed VAS
Economic Times
With the telecom domain coming to terms with the fact that plain vanilla voice business alone will not suffice, leading managed value-added-services (VAS) provider, Comviva is hoping to ride a boom with its global reach and expertise in the managed VAS business.

Spectrum bidders give three circles a miss
Calcutta Telegraph
The Orissa, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir telecom circles, which are yet to receive bids from operators betting to get third-generation spectrum, could be crucial for the auction to be successful.

Now, ’Live Aarti’ on cell phones
Financial Express
Telecom major Bharti Airtel has launched its ’Live Aarti’ service, which will allow users to listen to live prayers from revered shrines on their mobile phones.

Mobile payments: Ringing louder
McKinsey
As mobile communication devices grow more prevalent and sophisticated, and as consumers gain comfort in their everyday use, it is time for a fresh look at how mobile payments could impact the payments industry.