Ray of hope for telecom firms on base price revision
Business Standard
In a move that could hold a flicker of hope for telecom operators who have been opposing the high base price for the auction of 2G spectrum, the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) has quietly modified the key objective of the auction. The text of the objective has been tweaked from "revenue maximisation" to "maximising revenue but within set parameters" determined by the government. These parameters, which will now be added, include affordability, increasing telecom density, and accessibility. A second meeting of the EGoM, where the base price of spectrum for the auction will be finalised, is slated for after June 20.

Airtel's 4G launch plans in Delhi, Mumbai face hiccups
IBNLive.com
Airtel's plans to launch 4G services in Delhi and Mumbai is in trouble as the Competition Commission of India has asked Qualcomm to apply afresh for merging its four broadband subsidiaries (a subsidiary each for 4 circles that it acquired spectrum for) into Qualcomm Asia Pacific. Airtel has recently bought 49 percent stake in the BWA venture of Qualcomm (after it had applied with competition commission) and that is the reason why the commission wants Qualcomm to submit fresh application again. The commission said that Airtel being already present as telecom operator it would be important for the commission to look into how it affects competition in the sector.

DoT won't allow home ministry to intercept private communication
mydigitalfc.com
Laying emphasis on civil liberties, the telecom department refused to heed to the Home Ministry's demand to intercept private communications disregarding individual privacy under the pretext of national security. A cabinet note on draft telecom policy said that the Telecom Department was against allowing tapping of private communications by law enforcement agencies without any respect to individual privacy. The Telecom Department however agreed to Home Ministry's proposal to incorporate interception facilities into any new telecommunication services launched in India.

RIL to make its own 4G mobile handsets
The Mobile Indian
Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries (RIL), which is set to launch its own 4G services, will make its own mobile phones and rely on cloud computing to reduce the price of its handsets. Cloud computing allows computing to be done on a remote server reducing the hardware requirement on the handset itself. This reduces the cost of the handset without impacting the performance and also makes people use data services more. The company has also said that it will set up its own tower infrastructure.

New telecom policy dilutes emphasis to promote domestic manufacturing
The Hindu
The New Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012, details of which were released late on Monday, 11 days after the Cabinet approved the policy, reveals major compromises in the government's proclaimed thrust on domestic manufacturing of telecommunications equipment. Among other revisions, an entire section in the draft policy on provision for "preferential market access for domestically manufactured products with special emphasis on Indian products for which IPRs reside in India" as well as one section addressing market distortions, incentives and market accessibility for indigenous manufacturing, has been dropped in the final policy. Further, the policy objective "to meet 80% Indian telecom sector demand through domestic manufacturing with value addition of 65% by the year 2020" has been considerably modified.

Reliance Communication seeks additional spectrum before auction
Economic Times
Reliance Communications has moved a Delhi court seeking that the government undertake spectrum auction only after setting aside airwaves for the company. The Anil Ambani-promoted telco, in its petition before the telecom tribunal (TDSAT), has said that government must award the company an additional 1.8 MHz of airwaves across the country at no additional cost before carrying out the airwaves sale. The tribunal on Monday accepted RCOM's petition and has asked the telecom department to file its reply.

DoT to roll out uniform revenue share across platforms from July 1
Economic Times
The telecom department (DoT) plans to roll out the process of charging uniform licence fee or revenue share across all communication services from July 1, after it had deferred its plans to move to this new structure from the beginning of the current financial year, an official aware of the development said. The new regime will be introduced in a phased manner over a two-year period. DoT has also accepted the Finance Ministry's demand that a minimum amount be specified to be quantum of revenue share. This implies, if 8% of the company's annual revenues were to be below this figure, the operator must pay the minimum quantum specified.

No dilution of green norms for telcos: DoT
Business Standard
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has made it clear that it will not relax the environmental norms set for the sector, despite repeated request from telcos. In a communication to the various telecom associations, DoT said though it was open to dialogue and discussions, "the green technologies in the telecom sector have already been defined... any discussion in this regard with DoT shall not justify any delay or dilution of the implementation timeline." According to DoT's directives, at least 50 percent of all rural towers and 20 percent of the urban ones are to run on hybrid power by 2015, while 75 percent of rural towers and 33 percent of urban towers are to be run on hybrid power by 2020. Service providers have also to aim at carbon emission reduction targets for their mobile network of five percent by 2012-13 and 17 percent by 2018-19.

PGCIL postpones tower lease plans
Livemint
State-owned Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd., (PGCIL) has put its plan to lease 200,000 of its transmission towers to the telecom sector on the back burner, reflecting the Indian telecom sector losing its sheen. The public sector unit (PSU) had plans to expand its telecom business by leasing out 15,000 transmission towers to firms such as Bharti Airtel Ltd., Vodafone India Ltd., and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. However, it has only leased out 800 towers in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. Experts feel that there may be compatibility issues regarding the use of the power transmission utility's towers for telecom services.

Wi-fi will soon reach its limits
Phys.Org
Wi-Fi, the well-known standard for wireless internet, is reaching its technical limits. Its efficiency drops significantly in busy surroundings (sometimes to 20 percent) where many different networks and numerous wireless internet enabled devices are operating. Yet more and more wireless networks are being set up, and there has been a huge growth in the number of devices that use Wi-Fi connections. It is important that manufacturers explore ways of improving the Wi-Fi standard in busy scenarios, so that this great technology can be used for many years to come, say researchers from the University of Twente's CTIT Research Institute, Netherlands.

Will Internet telephony be a threat to telecom operators?
Livemint
Though the national telecom policy (NTP) 2012 approved by the cabinet last week allows Internet service providers (ISP) to offer telephony over Internet, or Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), to ensure adequate competition in India's telecom sector, industry experts are interpreting the move as too little, too late. Moreover, issues such as extremely low voice call rates, lack of large-scale penetration of smartphones (a must for VoIP) and security concerns may limit the popularity of the service. The launch of VoIP which has the potential to to drive the next phase of communication services in India, will also depend on how quickly the government follows through with more policy support. However, a 23 April report by HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt. Ltd has argued that VoIP is still some distance away from being a major threat to telecom operators in India.

Top 15 telecom operators in India based on revenue market share in fourth quarter
telecomlead.com
According to TRAI data, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011-12, Bharti Airtel continues to dominate the Indian telecom market with Rs 13,803.52 crore gross revenue; the second largest mobile operator is Vodafone with Rs 9769.48 crore; Idea Cellular is third with a gross revenue of Rs 6248.96 crore; and state-run BSNL is in fourth position with Rs 5210.72 crore. The Indian telecom service providers recorded gross revenue of Rs 49,243.26 crore.

Leading Strategies for Mobile Communications in Higher Education

Mongoose Research

When colleges and universities first focused their attention on mobile websites, the campus community seemed most important. Campus bus schedules, for instance, were often featured among the first visible links. For possible future students, that created a large set of unmet needs. This paper reveals leading strategies and techniques for mobile communications as part of an effective student recruitment communications plan.