Vodafone & Airtel both face an uncertain future thanks to India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) rejecting their requests for interim extension of 2G licenses. What’s going to hurt these companies further is that these licenses are for the prime circles of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Why are these players being targeted? Vodafone as well as Airtel has always been one the most active...

The soon to be auctioned 2G Spectrum has come under heavy criticism for apparently favoring a particular set of companies. As per the revised norms, Vodafone India feels the spectrum auction guidelines, are “illegal, discriminatory and benefiting one set of players”. The core of the matter is the three separate ‘Bands’ of spectrum that have to be tabled for auction. At present Indian operators...

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released data which shows that mobile subscriptions are falling. The data shows that subscriptions fell from 965.52 million in June to 944.81 million in July, a difference of 20 million and that too just in one month! This marks the first ever telecom subscriber decline witnessed by a country where the telecom segment flourished like no other in...

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is about to unleash additional trouble for telecom companies as it contemplates cancellation of 19 more licenses of 2G spectrum. Indian telecom scenario has been going through very tough times thanks to the 2G scam that rocked the nation & ultimately witnessed cancellation of 122 licenses issued by the erstwhile tainted telecom minister A. Raja. While the...

Major Telecom operators in India have jointly accused Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) of imposing atrocious recommendations. Top executives of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Uninor and Videocon have blamed TARI for it’s “highly retrograde set of recommendations on spectrum auctions” that will invariably increase burden on customers. Supreme Court had earlier cancelled all the 122...

After years of lamentable broadband speeds and assorted other challenges in setting up a data transmission infrastructure in India, relief may just be around the corner for us! The Government may soon initiate the process of auctioning the 700 Mhz spectrum band for broadband use. Yes, you heard that right! We may have 4G very soon (The auction may start by May or later, so it depends) The Department...

A few days ago, we had reported that the head honchos of major telecom operators in India had met up with key government officials including the Prime Minister, Finance and Communications ministers to discuss key issues plaguing the industry as a whole. A major concern which evolved out of the meeting was regarding the sharing of 3G networks for roaming. In a nutshell, telecom companies are using...

GSMA, the association of mobile phone operators in the country, believe a 10-per cent growth in mobile broadband will add Rs3,50,600 crore ($80 billion) to India’s GDP by 2015. Analysys Mason has prepared this report for GSMA to assess the direct and indirect economic impact of wireless broadband in India. The exclusive findings of the Analysys Mason report reveal that allocating just 5MHz of additional...

Normally, you would associate ‘bailout’ with the painful recession of 2008. This one is not so much about that. Over the past 12 – 18 months, news has consistently flooded us with launches of mobile service operators with a little more competitive pricing, 3G auctions (good, bad AND a lot of ugly!), mobile revolution and a certain “cheapest tariffs in the world” all related to the Great Indian...

Dynamics of the Indian Communication Industry have been on a drastic revolution spree since last few months. Be it Price wars, MNP or 3G. Already pegged as the next big thing in Indian telephony, 3G seems to be the only rescuer of this slowly sinking ship. Each player in the current times has so much at stake just to acquire one out of the 4 slots earmarked for each circle. 3G in India has seen lots...