Mobile Broadband will be the key driver of higher income for mobile companies feels Himanshu Kapania, MD, Idea Cellular Ltd. At present, revenue from mobile broadband sways between US$ 400 – 600 Million (Rs. 22,056 – Rs. 33,084 Million). If customer prioritization is carefully managed a 20 fold growth to US$ 10 Billion can be a reality in mere five years feels the MD. Though India’s mobile population...

3G Networks coming to India was a huge step forward in the Telecom business. The auctions had shattered all records and thousand of crores were paid for licenses to provide 3G in various parts of India.  Since no operator had pan-India connectivity, operators got into Roaming Agreements with each other to help out their customers. Unfortunately, the Government did not like this and banned them from...

ESPN Cricinfo has partnered with Ideal Cellular to bring editorial reviews about lack of open spaces in cities of India. The Cricket centric web portal will attempt to highlight the plight of youngsters who want to enjoy the game. But, are unable to do so cause on growing urban jungles eating into the open spaces. How will Idea & ESPN bring about the change? Idea Cellular has taken up the initiative...

While Cricket teams sweat it out on field, Telecom Companies are fighting a different battle on-screen. While the fifth edition of IPL is being played, Mobile Service companies are busy spending on advertising. Vodafone certainly tops the list with innovative advertisement. Last season saw the ZooZoo characters highlighting the various features while this year’s campaign is focused on the Internet...

Idea Cellular has partnered with RealNetworks India Pvt. Limited to offer innovation in RingBack Tones for its customers. Dialer Tones or Ringback tones as a segment has grown steadily over the years & all service operators have this by default. Idea is among the top 10 Cellular operators in the country. On equal footing, Real Networks is spread over 10 Countries around the world with its services...

Idea Subscribers will soon get a customized version of Opera Mini. Country’s third largest Mobile Service company has signed a deal with Opera Software to offer customized or “Co-Branded” Opera Mini mobile web-browser to its subscribers. What’s in it for the Subscribers? Opera Mini is an ultra-light web-browser packed with features that even the built-in browsers lack. Supported with “data-tunneling”...

India’s GSM Market has made analysts from around the world marvel at its growth. With Mobile Number Portability having been around for a year and 3G networks being available on most providers, consumers are spoilt for choice. The larger operators like Airtel and Vodafone still lead the pack in terms of market share, and the two combined make up nearly half of the entire GSM Market. Newly released...

With the number of controversies 3G has caused in the past year, telecom providers must be wondering whether it was really worth it. Providers like Vodafone, Idea and Airtel had entered into roaming agreements with each other. Someone complained about this to the TRAI, who issued a notice to them to stop doing so. The operators in turn said that this was perfectly within their rights, with Vodafone...

Telecom companies have a reason to smile. A New Telecom Policy (NTP) expected to be launched early next year will introduce a pan-India mobile permit, doing away with the existing system of having 22-individual region-specific permits. Thus, the concept of roaming will disappear. Though this policy will resolve the controversy surrounding 3G roaming deals that mobile phone companies have signed amongst...

World’s 5 largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, lashed out at the Government of India for its sloppy handling & frequent penalties on the 3G service agreements between Mobile operators. What many companies felt privately, Airtel has come out & said openly that frequent penalties were imposed & that too opaquely, by the telecoms sectors for granting 3G access to subscribers while roaming....