Call on sending notice to Vodafone likely after two weeks
Business Standard
A decision on sending a tax notice to Vodafone on its acquisition of assets in Hutchisson-Essar (now Vodafone India) through a $11.1-billion deal is likely to be taken after two weeks. The Income Tax Department had issued a Rs 11,000-crore tax notice, including interest, on Vodafone, saying it should have deducted tax at source from Hutchison. However, the Supreme Court had turned down the department's plea that it had jurisdiciton to tax Vodafone. A senior legal advisor to the finance ministry said Budget 2012-13 had been passed recently, and a decision on the notice to Vodafone would be taken after two weeks.

Essar sees $35-bn sales on Prime Minister's investment pledge
Business Standard
The Essar Group, owned by billionaire brothers Shashi and Ravi Ruia, is targeting $35 billion in revenue in three years as it taps demand for infrastructure in Asia's third-largest economy. Sales may rise 30 percent by 2015 from $27 billion in the year ended March 31, Chief Executive Officer Prashant Ruia said in Mumbai. The group also plans to exit the telecommunications business and sell stakes in a US steel unit and a business process outsourcing company, he said.

Call drops higher in Gujarat than most states
Times of India
Call drops have been higher in Gujarat with even leading telecom players not giving subscribers as much satisfaction as they have been in most other states, says a survey by the telecom sector regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). TRAI's latest network audit released for the assessment of Quality of Service (QOS) to assess customer satisfaction of telecom services in various states was released last week. The data created out of customer responses compares voice quality, network availability, call set-up success rate, call drop rate, metering and billing credibility, and help services, among other things of various telecom players in different states of the country.

RCom undersea cable unit IPO approved, launch likely in 5 weeks
Economic Times
Reliance Communications said the Singapore Exchange has approved IPO of its undersea cable unit which is likely to be launched in four to five weeks. "On June 12, 2012, the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd., has granted an 'eligibility to list' to the business trust, subject to the requisite conditions being satisfied," the company said in a filing to the BSE. Meanwhile, an industry source privy to development said, "This unit will be called Global Telecom Infrastructure Trust." RCom plans to divest as much as 75 percent stake in its undersea cable unit and estimates that the company will raise Rs 5,000-6,000 crore from this transaction. The bankers for the issue include Deutsche Bank, DBS of Singapore, Standard Chartered and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

Bharti Airtel, RCom, Idea Cellular surge after RBI gives go-ahead to mortgage spectrum
TelecomTiger
Bharti Airtel, Reliance communications, and Idea Cellular surged on Wednesday after the Finance Ministry and Reserve Bank of India decided that telecom spectrum be treated as 'tangible' security. This came as a major boost and relief for telecom firms. The move which will provides greater security to lenders and clear the air of uncertainty to some extent in the wake of the cancellation of spectrum licences, has come at a time when there is near freeze of bank funding.

DoT pushes for defence spectrum vacation
Business Standard
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plans to expedite the process of vacation of 55 MHz spectrum from the defence forces, as the proposal of refarming of spectrum mainly held by incumbent operators in all the 22 circles cannot be implemented without the release of this frequency. They have to vacate a total of 110 MHz in 2G and 3G bands, but the Department will ask them to release the 2G frequency immediately, because of the strict timeline of the 2G auction, the official added. This spectrum will be released in the 1,800MHz band, which will be included in upcoming 2G auction.

Department of Telecom may seek Law Ministry view on Tata Tele licences
Economic Times
The Department of Telecom (DoT) may seek the Law Ministry's opinion on the 19 licences that were granted to Tata Teleservices on the same date as the now quashed 122 mobile permits. The Department is considering whether the fate of these 19 licences should be examined separately from the Presidential Reference, according to an internal DoT note. The government, in its Presidential Reference, has asked the Supreme Court to clarify the status of dual technology spectrum granted by the Telecom Department in 2007 to cross-over telcos, such as Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices.

TEMA Slams Radiation Restriction Delays
Light Reading India
The Telecom Equipment Manufacturing Association (TEMA) has slammed the Indian government for postponing measures designed to keep check on the radiation levels emitted from telecom towers. According to TEMA, while the steps taken by DoT are in a positive direction, it is not happy with the constant delay and says that this is impacting the credibility of the government. The Department of Telecommunications had issued a directive on tower radiation levels, based on recommendations from the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), in November 2011 and set April 1, 2012, as the implementation deadline. But in April that deadline was pushed to September.

Aircel moves TDSAT seeking additional spectrum
Economic Times
Aircel has approached the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) seeking its directive to the government to award the company an additional 1.8 MHz of airwaves in Delhi, Mumbai and Rajasthan within 30 days. The tribunal would take up the matter for hearing on July 3, people familiar with the development said. Aircel becomes the second telecom operator after Reliance Communications to seek additional spectrum from the government.

1,930 applications filed for Net's new domain names
Business Standard
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today published the list of 1,930 applications received for general top-level domains (gTLDs). Among the Indian applications, Directi, the Mumbai-based registrar of domain names, has applied for 31 strings of gTLDs. Also, 21 domain name suffixes have been applied for by Indian companies, including .tata, .sbi, .reliance and .lupin, among others. Meanwhile, Net4, an ICANN-accredited registrar has filed applications representing several Indian companies that include .sbi and .statebank (State Bank of India), .airtel (Bharti Airtel), .bharti (Bharti Enterprises Holding), .ril (Reliance Industries Ltd), .Indians (Mumbai Indians/Reliance Industries), .tata (Tata Sons), among others. Domain names are divided into two segments: generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). The evaluation process by ICANN could take between nine months to 20 months for completion.

Apple's Passbook could be a platform, not just another mobile payments rival
TechCrunch
Apple introduced a new application called "Passbook," at the WWDC, meant to function as an organizer for all your passes. It supports store cards, gift cards and coupons out of the gate, replacing their plastic counterparts, and providing an Apple-approved way to get consumers paying at checkout with their mobile phones. Besides the gee-whiz factor of having scannable cards organized in a pretty interface within the iPhone, the most interesting thing about Passbook is that the digital cards are able to make use of the iPhone's geolocation capabilities.

India racing against time to adopt new web address system IPv6
Economic Times
India, the world's third largest internet market, is working against a ticking clock to adopt IPv6. Asia Pacific Network Information Centre ( APNIC), the internet registry for India, has run out of IPv4 addresses with barely a few left for transition to IPv6. The Department of Information & Technology had directed all states and the central government to switch to IPv6 by March 2012. That plan is running behind schedule. Also behind schedule is the transition process to make all government websites compliant. According to data by search giant Google, IPv6 adoption is highest in Romania (6.91%), France (4.63%), and United States (1.01%) and the rest of the world is in early stages of adoption. In India, IPv6 adoption is at 0.04%.

Phone makers resist price hike despite falling rupee
Hindu Business Line
Despite the rupee depreciating against the dollar, mobile handset makers are hesitant to increase prices because of high competition. Local players such as Lava Mobiles and Fly Mobiles, which import all of their phones, are taking the biggest hit due to the rupee depreciation. "There is pressure, but we cannot pass on to the customers every now and then. Even big players like Samsung are not increasing prices because of such reasons," Mr S N Rai, Co-founder and Director, Lava Mobiles, said. With over 100 local brands and at least 10 foreign players in the market, mobile handset players are willing to ride out the currency devaluation.

NCR makes wireless withdrawals possible in under 10 seconds at the ATM
Business Standard
New software from NCR Corporation will allow consumers to initiate cash withdrawals from their banking accounts on mobile devices and then complete those transactions at an ATM by scanning a 2D barcode. NCR Mobile Cash Withdrawal will make ATM transactions faster and more secure, by removing cards and PINs from the process at the ATM. The entire transaction, while the consumer is in front of the ATM, can take less than 10 seconds. Consumers can use any iOS or Android smart phone at any location and at any time. NCR is looking for partnership opportunities with select financial institutions to pilot this new solution.

Realising the potential of informal learning through mobile

GSMA

mLearning has a crucial role to play in improving the education and life prospects of young people in emerging markets. This report explores the day-to-day lives of young people and gives voice to their aspirations, employment and learning needs. It demonstrates that the time is right for the mobile industry, international development community and Governments to collaborate and create services that will have a profound, lifelong impact on the lives of young people. The report has been structured into four main sections designed to be as insightful and reader-friendly as possible.