From the Editors Desk

Wireless spectrum is the backbone of the digital communication era. It plays a vital role in the economy of the nation, earning revenues for both the Government as well as the private companies of the Telecom sector.  However, this common resource comes at a price as far as private Telecom companies are concerned.  As a part of the National Frequency Allocation Plan (2011), the Government seems to have demarcated sufficient spectrum to cater to 2G/3G/and Broadband Wireless Access services, in addition to that set aside for Defence and other Government entities such as the Postal Department.  Despite best intentions, there have been problems with respect to spectrum allocations.

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Week At a Glance  News Ericsson, Huawei, NSN among bidders for BSNL's tender Gemini Comm looking to set up plant for making 4G gear 3G roaming issue faces a roadblock Tata Teleservices, Kavveri Telecom sign 10-year deal for in-building solutions Licences of 35 spectrum holders may be cancelled news After telecom, Sistema plans power, coal & retail foray Govt averts US pressure in telecom mfg Microsoft takes on Apple, Android Telecom ministry wants 'defence PSU' status for ITI Mobile network tariffs to revamp high in 2012 Trends BSNL offers training programs for students Micromax Superfone A85 now cheaper by Rs 3700 India adds 6.68 million GSM subscribers in November to cross 632 million Google Nexus expected in India in January'12 Why telcos must provide personalized services BlackBerry Bold 9900 in pure white launched in India First look: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Google updates Android Ice Cream Sandwich LG to trim presence in low-cost phone segment Samsung Galaxy Y Duos, Galaxy Y Pro Duos Android smartphones announced Insight WiMAX: The First 4G Technology The impact of 4G technology on commercial interactions, economic growth, and U.S. competitiveness Telecom Operators and Working Capital Management 2011 Mobile Learning: All Talk? Guide to Build & Deploy Android Applications   News  Ericsson, Huawei, NSN among bidders for BSNL's tender Economic Times All major global telecoms gear vendors, including Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei, have bid for Indian state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd's mobile equipment tender, India's Junior Telecom Minister Milind Deora said on Wednesday. Alcatel-Lucent and China's ZTE are the other companies that have bid for the tender floated to supply equipment for 14.37 million second and third generation (2G and 3G) GSM mobile lines, the Minister told the Parliament. Gemini Comm looking to set up plant for making 4G gear Hindu Business Line Gemini Communications Ltd., Chennai-based provider of networking products and solutions, is exploring the option of setting up a plant in India for manufacturing of 4G equipment through its subsidiary company Point Red. Point Red, which was acquired by Gemini in 2008, has two manufacturing plants in Taipei. It assembles 4G equipment with an annual capacity of around 60,000 units. Senior official, Mr Venkat said that the company would require Rs 150-175 crore in the next 18-24 months. This includes the amount to set up the new plant, and for marketing and branding. 3G roaming issue faces a roadblock Times of India In an unexpected crackdown, DoT has opposed 3G roaming between operators and is considering punitive measures against those who currently have intra-circle roaming (ICR) agreements. DoT's tough stance follows the aggressive position taken by industry captains - Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel, Vittorio Colao of Vodafone and K M Birla of Idea, along with Anil Ambani of RCOM and Ishaat Hussain of the Tatas - in asking the PM to refund their 3G bid deposits, with interest, if it intends to revoke permission for 3G roaming. Documents reveal that the DoT has concluded that 3G roaming cannot be permitted, following detailed analysis of TRAI's assessment of October 20, 2010 and advice from the DoT's licence fee and access service divisions. "The broad view that is emerging is that it is impermissible," Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar said, adding that the ministry will soon take action. Tata Teleservices, Kavveri Telecom sign 10-year deal for in-building solutions Economic Times Kavveri Telecom Infrastructure, on December 21, entered into a partnership with Tata Teleservices. Kavveri Telecom's Managing Director Shivakumar Reddy said, "Kavveri Telecom Infrastructure has signed a long term agreement for 10 years on built, operate and lease basis with 9th operator (Tata Tele) who is one of the major pan-India cellular operators." Licences of 35 spectrum holders may be cancelled news domain-B The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is in the process of issuing show cause notices to 35 telecom license holders of various companies asking why these should not be terminated for failing to meet rollout obligations, Minister of State for Information Technology and Communications Milind Deora told the the Rajya Sabha on 17 December. Show-cause notices for termination of 16 unified access services (UAS) licenses have already been issued for violation of rollout obligations, he added. After telecom, Sistema plans power, coal & retail foray Economic Times Russia's largest business conglomerate Sistema has a presence in India through telecom firm MTS India and is open to mergers and acquisitions once there is some clarity on the Government's Telecom p,olicy. It now wants to expand its India portfolio by entering the power generation, coal mining and retail businesses with investments of around $1 billion. Vladimir Evtushenkov, Chairman of Sistema's Board said, "We believe that the Indian market is our future." Govt averts US pressure in telecom mfg Times of India The Government, which faces allegations of succumbing to US pressure on the nuclear deal and FDI in retail, retaliated this week by standing up to the US global telecom manufacturing lobby at the Indo-US ICT dialogue. A key factor driving the decision to focus on creating a robust domestic telecom equipment manufacturing industry is a ballooning import bill for electronics manufacturing, projected to touch $400 billion by 2020. According to draft NTP 2011, the demand for domestic manufacturing will be over Rs 2,50,000 crore by the end of the 12th Five Year Plan. A huge domestic manufacturing opportunity in fibre optics is already on the horizon, on the back of ambitious government targets. Further, fears of spyware in imported telecom equipment is forcing the government to ensure testing of telecom equipment at Indian labs by April 2013. Microsoft takes on Apple, Android Business Standard The smartphone market, which until now was majorly dominated by Google's Android and Apple's iOS, is making space for the new entrant - Microsoft's Windows operating system (OS). Code named Mango, this new OS for mobile handsets comes powered with many familiar applications of the most popular operating system in the PC world. Well aware of users' need to have a flourishing app store, Microsoft is said to be working on increasing the number of localised applications that will give its devices an edge. Telecom ministry wants 'defence PSU' status for ITI Manoramaonline In a move to revive the fortunes of state-run IT and telecom products manufacturer ITI, the Telecom Ministry has requested Defence Minister A K Antony to accord 'Defence PSU' status to the company. This would be "for the purpose of procurement of goods and services manufactured and developed by ITI" Telecom Minister Milind Deora said in a letter to Antony, according to sources. Deora mentioned that the Telecom Ministry is in the process of bridging the fund requirement of ITI for procurement of new equipment and the upgrade of existing infrastructure. "This infusion of orders and money will go a long way in speeding up the process of revival of ITI," the letter said. Currently, there are eight PSUs that have been given Defence PSU status. Mobile network tariffs to revamp high in 2012 Siliconindia.com Its bad news for the mobile industry. Mobile tariffs may increase further due to the rising operation cost in the coming year. A hike in call rates by 10 to 15 percent is expected after this holiday season is over, while cancellation of the old tariff plans including voice, data schemes and pulse rates by the operators are on the board. In the light of the numerous problems facing the mobile industry, the focus has shifted towards revenue growth and ARPUs (Average Revenue Per User) to leverage business profits.   Trends  BSNL offers training programs for students Times of India BSNL will offer hands-on training programs for engineering and commerce students interested in the telecom sector.The training institutes are currently located in Chennai.BSNL also offers job-oriented courses and special internships in digital switching, mobile communications information technology and the latest transmission systems. Micromax Superfone A85 now cheaper by Rs 3700 The Mobile Indian Micromax has reduced the price of its 3.8 inch display bearing Superfone A85, which features a dual-core 1 GHz mobile processor, by Rs 3,700. This seems to be a good move by the Android 2.2 Froyo based smartphone, because at its earlier price point of Rs 18,990 it was facing tough competition from couple of other smartphones which were available in the same price. India adds 6.68 million GSM subscribers in November to cross 632 million Economic Times Mobile customer additions rose in November as mobile operators Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, and some others added a total of 6.68 million customers to the country's GSM user base, Cellular Operator's Association of India (COAI) said. Aditya Birla Group-owned Idea Cellular added 2.17 million customers in November, the highest amongst all GSM operators in India, followed by Uninor with 1.8 million customers. These were followed by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, and Aircel. India's GSM subscriber base crossed 632 million subscribers in November, up from 625 million in October. Google Nexus expected in India in January'12 The Mobile Indian After the roll out of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the US and many other countries, it was expected to be made available in India this year itself. However, Samsung India, which is manufacturing the phone for Google, said that Nexus was expected to launch in the last week of January. The Galaxy Nexus has a 4.65 inch Contour touchscreen display based on the Super Amoled HD technology. It houses a 1.2 GHz dual core processor along with latest Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich for speedy operations and houses dual microphones for active noise cancellation as well. Why telcos must provide personalized services CIOL Indian telcos need to evolve from being mere telecommunication service providers to personalized experience providers that are customer-centric in order to bring in newer revenue models to mobile service delivery business. Muralidhar B S, Senior Solutions architect, Technology Services Group, Hewlett-Packard, said, "Despite being the second largest telecom market in size, with 500-700 million active mobile subscriber users, India's telecommunication service providers are at loss because the country's Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is one among the lowest in the world." BlackBerry Bold 9900 in pure white launched in India BGR Research In Motion announced the launch of the BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone in Pure White for India which will be available across authorized retail channels. At 10.5mm with a brushed stainless steel frame, Bold 9900 is the thinnest BlackBerry so far. Powered by the BlackBerry 7 OS along with a next generation BlackBerry browser,the web browsing experience is significantly faster, and more fluid. First look: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich The Mobile Indian Android 4.0, the next generation operating system from Google, dubbed as Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), has been in the limelight for quite some time. Here's what it offers: a new user interface; resizable and scrollable widgets; multi-tasking or switching between open apps; wider looking interface for the messages app, with bigger thumbnails; revamped People app (contacts); visually optimised camera; Gtalk with multiple account sign-ins; and a lighter and faster Gmail. Google updates Android Ice Cream Sandwich The Mobile Indian Google has updated its newly introduced Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. With this, the Android ICS version 4.0 graduated to the version 4.0.3. All device manufacturers and hardware partners of Google will have to include this updated version of the operating system in their devices going forward. Alhough no new features have been introduced through this update, it brings along a long list of improvements over the Android 4.0 operating system. The availability and the roll out of the update will begin in a couple of weeks from now and will be made available to all Google partners. LG to trim presence in low-cost phone segment Economic Times LG India, the country's largest consumer durables maker, will sell less of low-cost mobile handsets as a falling rupee threatens the viability of the category. "The category is not giving us margins. So, we will have minimum presence in the low-cost segment and focus more on the premium category," LG India MD Soon Kwon said. LG, which has less than 2% share in the Indian mobile handset market, will increase its smartphone portfolio in a bid to improve its market share, and focus on handsets priced Rs 4,000 upwards. Samsung Galaxy Y Duos, Galaxy Y Pro Duos Android smartphones announced BGR Samsung has announced two new Android smartphones with Dual-SIM functionality. The Galaxy Y Duos and Galaxy Y Pro Duos will be a part of its affordable Android smartphone series targeted at youngsters, and will be available early next year.   Insight  WiMAX: The First 4G Technology Perception Digital WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a wireless digital communications system that provides fixed and fully mobile Internet access. For the end user, WiMAX is a new wireless platform that delivers a far wider range of applications with high performance, wideband voice, high-quality video and lightning-fast downloads. The impact of 4G technology on commercial interactions, economic growth, and U.S. competitiveness Deloitte To maintain the mobile broadband lead the U.S. achieved during the 3G era and to bolster the nation's economic recovery, it will be important for the United States to compete effectively in the global race to deploy 4G networks Telecom Operators and Working Capital Management 2011 Ernst & Young Facing a period of accelerated industry change driven by technological advances, increased competition and an ever-shifting regulatory environment, telecommunications operators have been focusing on working capital management as a way to drive operational and financial efficiency, enhance customer service, and boost service and network differentiation. Despite these efforts to date, the prize for improving working capital remains significant. With so many challenges ahead, this means it is critical that operators continue to implement increasingly effective management strategies in this area. Mobile Learning: All Talk? Elearnity Limited At the start of 2011, it was widely thought that this was the year when mobile learning or m-learning would reach a tipping point and become part of mainstream learning solutions. So what actually is the reality at the end of the year? What is its role in the learning mix? What are the key opportunities and challenges in the adoption of mobile learning technologies? Guide to Build & Deploy Android Applications Endeavour - The Mobility Company The whitepaper written by Endeavour - The Mobility Company, explores different build and deployment methods which would be useful for developers, testers or users of Android applications. The whitepaper is structured in two main sections, the first section focuses on Android Build and second section focuses on Deployment methods for the application. The section on Android build process involves compiling source and resource files, and then packaging it into an APK file in a zip compatible format which Android VM understands. The section on Deployment covers different deployment methods which can be used to deploy the APK file(s) on Android devices. This is further detailed with practical implementation with details of deployment on both Android market & non-market.

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