Indian Telecom Folder

[Drevin]

Recently bought the Nokia 5610 XPresMusic phone.(Rs. 11,600/-)

features,
3.2mega pixel camera, twin-flash(not a light but a real camera flash ), auto-focus
vga camera above the main display lcd for 3G picture calls

supports stereo bluetooth music
512mb inbuilt card upgradable to 4gb or more
5-band graphic equalizer thats a bit treble friendly
sound volume automatically adjusts based on ambient noise level so you almost never have to use the volume controls

quadband world phone, gsm and 3g modes
supports almost all music formats including apple's formats
call reception quality is fantastic

With such features flooding the asian market the iphone will be hard pressed to make a mark at Rs. 24000/- approx.

[Singha]

aye for 11-15K you get really good phones. my 15k N81 has wifi too. most
hotels and coffee bars have free wifi nowadays. I went to a restaurant attached to a hotel yesterday night and could easily keep track of IPL.

Indian's arent the latte drinking mac fanboys...we demand bang for buck.

[Drevin]

Yes Singhaji indians are bang-for-buck folks. I expect Nokia to continue dominating this segment.

My phone even comes with Opera Mini, with Java support, Youtube support and what-not. When an iphone owner comes and talks to me i'd be feeling real warm inside and carrying a smug expression.

Nokia zindabad! jmt.

btw: i have to check if my phone has wifi .....
added later: doesn't have wifi but who cares ... at 11,600 it is a steal.

[Singha]

I had gone to a large Shoppers Stop yesterday. after a while, me & my son started checking out the luggage and toys while wife went to see clothes.
when I pulled my cell out to call her, I see a message "would you like to
receive messages from shoppers stop via bluetooth now?"

I pressed "yes"

some 5 ads and sale notices came to my inbox in seconds!

had read about it in futuristic networking rants 10 yrs ago when ERNET
ruled the roost at 64 kbps.

slashdot has a article about tech to use a customers cellphone signals and
do some triangulation work , tracking their paths inside the store....

[Vipul]

ABTL to dilute 20% stake to Providence Equity for $640 mn.

Aditya Birla Telecom (ABTL), a wholly-owned susidiary of Idea Cellular, on Thursday said it would dilute 20 per cent stake to US-based private equity firm Providence Equity Partners for Rs 2,560 crore.

"The fund will be used to carry out the firm's network roll out and ongoing expansion programmes and for future use," Idea Cellular's Managing director Sanjeev Aga said in Mumbai.

The transaction, however, is subject to regulatory approvals and expected to be closed by August this year, he said.

Providence Equity Partners have already invested around $400 million in Idea Cellular, a leading GSM player of the $28 billion Aditya Birla Group.

With the transaction, Aditya Birla Group's stake in the firm would come down to 80 per cent from cent per cent earlier, Aga said.

ABTL is set to launch its GSM service in the Bihar circle within the next three to four months. The Bihar circle includes two eastern states - Bihar and Jharkhand.

"We are very close to launching our service in the Bihar circle, probably in the next three to four months. We will provide top-notch coverage, network and quality service in that area. We are building business for the long term," Aga said.

Refusing to give the number of cell sites ABTL intends to set up in the cricle, Aga said the company would target to capture 20 per cent market share there.

Bharti Airtel is the dominating player in the Bihar circle and apart from Vodafone, all existing telecom service providers have presence there.

[MN Kumar]

Chinese cos get to bid for BSNL’s 93 mn GSM lines
[quote]New Delhi, May 19: In a major deviation from its earlier stand, government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has allowed telecom vendors who do not have manufacturing facilities in India to participate in its tender for 93 million GSM lines. This will make Chinese major Huawei eligible for bidding in the world’s largest telecom tender.

The size of the order for supplying equipment and installing the GSM network is likely to be as high as Rs 40,000 crore, if one goes by the lowest bids submitted by Ericsson in the last tender. The technical conditions have been framed in such a way that another Chinese major, ZTE, too will be able to qualify for the tender. It will be the first GSM tender in which any Chinese telecom vendor will participate without the threat of being disqualified.

The tender conditions envisage, “The eligible bidder company or its parent company shall be a manufacturer of GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN). Such a bidder company shall also be registered in India to carry out telecom related activity.â€

[Ranvijay]

some 5 ads and sale notices came to my inbox in seconds!

Bluetooth. Just be careful to not accept incoming from other cell phones. Usually dumb virii but can sometimes be used to open your address book and make calls, copy details and other dutty dutty things.

Ahh, and I chose something different compared to your average cellphone. I chose a cheap 3000 buck phone to make calls, and invested money into a psp. You have no idea what all you can do with it. Internet radio, games, movies, homebrew apps make it possible to use google maps, convert the whole thing into a PDA, use it as a wardriving tool, use it as a freaking VNC viewer to control your computer, ebooks, comics, jpegs, RSS streaming..absolutely no limit.

Masterpiece.

[Singha]

what is psp ?

[armenon]

what is psp ?

Sony Play Station Personal Clicky

[jahaju]

When A Raja became Union communications minister following Dayanidhi Maran’s resignation, the first major decision he took was to reduce the quantity of the order by 50 per cent to 22.5 million lines. He also directed BSNL officials to reduce the price to $95 per line from the lowest quoted price of $107 per line.

In short thus ensuring that bsnl fell from the no 1 position. pity the bsnl ipo didnot go throu or it would have ensured a bit more of pressure against this kind of whimsical decisions.

[BhairavP]

what is psp ?

Sony Play Station Personal Clicky

Play Station Portable

Awesome device. Movies, Skype, games, music, RSS, ebooks.. the works. Awesome huge mod community for it as well.

[vsudhir]

South Africa-India telecom deal collapses (IHT)

NEW DELHI: The world's largest corporate deal in an emerging market, a tie-up worth nearly $50 billion between two telecommunication companies, Bharti Airtel in India and MTN Group in South Africa, came to a screeching halt Saturday.

Bharti called off negotiations after MTN turned Bharti's takeover plan upside down - proposing to take over Bharti instead. After bankers from both sides agreed in principle to a Bharti-controlled structure on May 16, MTN's board met this week and proposed a different transaction, in which Bharti Airtel would become a subsidiary of MTN, Bharti said Saturday.

Err, not to be nitpicky but shouldn't the headline then read the 'India-South Africa telecom deal', eh?

"This convoluted way of getting an indirect control of the combined entity would have compromised the minority shareholders of Bharti Airtel and also would not capture the synergies of a combined entity," Bharti said in a statement.

"More importantly," Bharti added, "Bharti's vision of transforming itself from a homegrown Indian company to a true Indian multinational telecom giant, symbolizing the pride of India, would have been severely compromised." The situation was "completely unacceptable," Bharti said.

Dunno why Bharti had to drag in 'Indian pride' and all that in here. Unless there's an economic advantage (more investors willing to buy into an 'India' venture types), that is?

The lead bankers from Bharti and MTN had agreed to structure the deal so that Bharti Airtel would be the parent company. MTN's counterproposal would have made Bharti Airtel a subsidiary of MTN but given Bharti's parent company, Bharti Enterprises, a controlling stake in the combined company, said one Bharti executive briefed on the negotiations. Even though Bharti Enterprises would control the new telecommunications giant, that was not acceptable to Bharti, he said. "Our vision is to become a global Indian telecom," he said, adding that the collapse of the deal is "really about Indian pride."

Or is it the western press seeking to push some buttons here through spin and all that? Maybe folks around think that India is a save-face kinda society and that subtle ego-manipulation works well against Indians, who knows....

JMTs and all that.

[Singha]

right decision by Bharti - they have 700 million unserved home market to
feed on. what does MTN have ? today they have equal-equal subscribers,
in 3 yrs they will likely be miles apart.

[Vasu]

while Anil still has some unfinished business in SA.


RCom initiates talks with MTN Group

According to sources, RCom has formally approached MTN Group on Thursday and the company has started discussions for a possible takeover.

When contacted, an RCom spokesperson declined to comment.

This is the second attempt by RCom to acquire MTN Group, as earlier last year the company had initiated talks with the South African company. RCom chairman Anil Ambani had met MTN Chief Executive Officer Phuthuma Nhleko last year, even though the talks were not "successful".

[Drevin]

Bharti has wised up to 3G.

The future will bring in Intel in the form of,
4G + WiMax(802.16e)
Sprint is building such a network by 2009/2010.

These are bullish times for cellphone operators.

[svinayak]

right decision by Bharti - they have 700 million unserved home market to
feed on. what does MTN have ? today they have equal-equal subscribers,
in 3 yrs they will likely be miles apart.

Bharti was trying to make a deal with a Rothschild company. THey are the kings in acquisition and Bharati was right in backing off.
Indian negotiators are just learning the real world.

[Vipul]

right decision by Bharti - they have 700 million unserved home market to
feed on. what does MTN have ? today they have equal-equal subscribers,
in 3 yrs they will likely be miles apart.

Singhaji,MTN is projected to have Total 240 Million Subscribers in another 3 Yrs in the markets it operates in,while Bharti itself is projecting 125-130 Million subscribers by 2010 end.Therein is MTN's strong attraction.

[Singha]

rothschild ? no wonder they operate in 21 countries across a most despotic swathe of the world between Iran to west africa. must be A1 in currying
favour with any type of regime.

[svinayak]

rothschild ? no wonder they operate in 21 countries across a most despotic swathe of the world between Iran to west africa. must be A1 in currying
favour with any type of regime.

You dont know. They are the EIC
http://www.iamthewitness.com/DarylBradf ... schild.htm

[bart]

rothschild ? no wonder they operate in 21 countries across a most despotic swathe of the world between Iran to west africa. must be A1 in currying
favour with any type of regime.

You dont know. They are the EIC

"I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man who controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply,"

-Nathan Rothschild.

[svinayak]

You dont know. They are the EIC

"I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man who controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply,"

-Nathan Rothschild.

Also they own Bank of England and print the British Pound notes for the govt of Britain.

[Drevin]

"I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man who controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply,"

-Nathan Rothschild.

What is he referring to here ... i can't get hold of the logic in his statement. The man is either really dumb or extremely brilliant.

[Singha]

Acharya, with minor changes in name the following is why all sorts of
delhi based riff raff are able to use 'connections' to land liberal arts schols
in top intl univs wherein they study eco, political science, social issues
then come back to infest the indian media and public life.

seems like a well oiled plan to award schols to the offspring of all nations
who external actors want to influence.

2) The faculties of colleges and universities were to cultivate students possessing exceptional mental ability belonging to well-bred families with international leanings, and recommend them for special training in internationalism, or rather the notion that only a one-world government can put an end to recurring wars and strife. Such training was to be provided by granting scholarships to those selected by the Illuminati.

3) All influential people trapped into coming under the control of the Illuminati, plus the students who had been specially educated and trained, were to be used as agents and placed behind the scenes of all governments as experts and specialists. This was so they would advise the top executives to adopt policies which would in the long-run serve the secret plans of the Illuminati one-world conspiracy and bring about the destruction of the governments and religions they were elected or appointed to serve.

4) To obtain absolute-control of the press, at that time the only mass-communications media which distributed information to the public, so that all news and information could be slanted in order to make the masses believe that a one-world government is the only solution to our many and varied problems.

[bart]

"I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man who controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply,"

-Nathan Rothschild.

What is he referring to here ... i can't get hold of the logic in his statement. The man is either really dumb or extremely brilliant.

The thing is, that he really DID control the money supply to the British Empire. The Rotschilds had a history of financing British wars, projects like the Suez Canal etc. For example he financed the war against Napoleon, and in fact got the news of the victory at Waterloo one full day before the official messengers could get the news to Queen and Parliament. They were rich enough that several times they have bailed the Bank of England out of a crisis.

[Drevin]

What is he referring to here ... i can't get hold of the logic in his statement. The man is either really dumb or extremely brilliant.

The thing is, that he really DID control the money supply to the British Empire. The Rotschilds had a history of financing British wars, projects like the Suez Canal etc. For example he financed the war against Napoleon, and in fact got the news of the victory at Waterloo one full day before the official messengers could get the news to Queen and Parliament. They were rich enough that several times they have bailed the Bank of England out of a crisis.

Thanks for explaining bart. So its his ability to provide hard currency in terms of british pounds for large causes that overwhelm the bank of england that makes him such an important figure for the b. empire.

[satya]

Thanks for explaining bart. So its his ability to provide hard currency in terms of british pounds for large causes that overwhelm the bank of england that makes him such an important figure for the b. empire.

Money gave this family the entrance in the power circles , but its the keeper of secrets( dealings & deeds of Brits )role over the years/generations tht gave this family the ultimate power tht make them first among equals.

[abhischekcc]

Indian's arent the latte drinking mac fanboys...we demand bang for buck.

I wouldn't know anything about that. I have never banged anyone for a buck.

[abhischekcc]

Acharya, with minor changes in name the following is why all sorts of
delhi based riff raff are able to use 'connections' to land liberal arts schols
in top intl univs wherein they study eco, political science, social issues
then come back to infest the indian media and public life.

seems like a well oiled plan to award schols to the offspring of all nations
who external actors want to influence.

2) The faculties of colleges and universities were to cultivate students possessing exceptional mental ability belonging to well-bred families with international leanings, and recommend them for special training in internationalism, or rather the notion that only a one-world government can put an end to recurring wars and strife. Such training was to be provided by granting scholarships to those selected by the Illuminati.

3) All influential people trapped into coming under the control of the Illuminati, plus the students who had been specially educated and trained, were to be used as agents and placed behind the scenes of all governments as experts and specialists. This was so they would advise the top executives to adopt policies which would in the long-run serve the secret plans of the Illuminati one-world conspiracy and bring about the destruction of the governments and religions they were elected or appointed to serve.

4) To obtain absolute-control of the press, at that time the only mass-communications media which distributed information to the public, so that all news and information could be slanted in order to make the masses believe that a one-world government is the only solution to our many and varied problems.

Points 2 and 3 apply frightening well to manmohan singh.

And you can see the media behaving like the puppet of the dictators.

[John Snow]

"I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man who controls Britain's money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply,"

-Nathan Rothschild.

What is he referring to here ... i can't get hold of the logic in his statement. The man is either really dumb or extremely brilliant.

Ardhath

It is inconsequential who rules ("placed upon the British Throne") the empire, as he who controls Brotains money supply controls the British empire (and it happens Nathan Rothschild controls the British money, consequently controls the British empire)

Analogus to what Sir Waltyer Raliegh said

“Whosoever commands the sea commands the trade;
whosoever commands the trade of the world commands
the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.â€

[Paul]

The thing is, that he really DID control the money supply to the British Empire. The Rotschilds had a history of financing British wars, projects like the Suez Canal etc. For example he financed the war against Napoleon, and in fact got the news of the victory at Waterloo one full day before the official messengers could get the news to Queen and Parliament. They were rich enough that several times they have bailed the Bank of England out of a crisis.

Thanks for explaining bart. So its his ability to provide hard currency in terms of british pounds for large causes that overwhelm the bank of england that makes him such an important figure for the b. empire.

I remember reading about the Reuters in the non detail English NCERT book in my VIIth class.

1. Reuters reached an agreement with Napolean III not Bonaparte.
2. The news that reuters got was about Napolean declaring war on Germany or Austro-Hungary ( one of those two).

the agreement was that reuter would not break the news until the emperor of the IIIrd republic announced the declearation of war in parliament. They synchronized their watches, and as they say, the rest is history.

[bart]

Whats the link (if any) between Reuters and the Rothschilds?

Sorry for the OT discussion.

[Vipul]

Datacom Solutions seeks Rs 15k cr GSM bids.

Between RCOM, BSNL and Datacom tenders are out /will be out for 215 Million Lines.

[Vipul]

India adds 6.3 mn GSM mobile users in May.

Indian mobile firms added 6.28 million users on the dominant GSM platform in May, an industry body said on Wednesday, maintaining growth momentum in the world's second-largest and fastest-growing wireless market.

Top operator Bharti Airtel signed up 2.46 million new users in May to take its total user base to 66.8 million, data from the Cellular Operators' Association of India showed.

India had 205.5 million subscribers on nine GSM networks by end-May, the data showed. The figure does not include No. 2 operator Reliance Communications Ltd's May additions.

Reliance operates mainly on the rival CDMA platform but has also some GSM subscribers. The company releases its additions later. Third-ranked Vodafone Essar, in which Vodafone Group Plc owns a controlling stake, added 1.69 million new users, taking its subscribers to 47.5 million at end-May, the data showed.

Unlisted state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the No. 4 player, added 314,281 subscribers, taking its total to almost 37 million.

Idea Cellular, sixth ranked, got 1.1 million new GSM users in May to take its total to 26.1 million. Fifth-largest operator Tata Teleservices also runs mobile services on the CDMA platform and its subscriber additions are not yet out.

Including CDMA operators, India had added 8.21 million wireless subscribers in April and had a total of 269.3 million mobile users.

[Raj]

Bihar, MP drive mobile growth

DELHI: The growth of Indian telecom market is propelled not just by the subscriber base of metros and large cities, but by otherwise under-developed states of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, according to a report by industry body Assocham. Bihar registered maximum increase in annual telecom subscribers, registering a growth of 88.2 % in 2007-08 compared to 51.1% in 2006-07, the report states.

According to Assocham’s state-wise analysis of mobile subscription, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, North East and Orissa have registered an upsurge in user base during the previous year. Owing to government's initiative in promoting infrastructure sharing, major telecom players have forayed into the unexplored markets of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

[Singha]

Spice telecom has started selling a Rs 600/- phone in punjab coupled with a cheap rate plan.

600...thats $15 cellphone

[Vipul]

Reliance Comm adds 1.63 mn users in May.

Vodafone now displaces RCOM as the 2nd largest Operator in India (47.5 Million V/s 47.4 Million).
Idea has for the first time been able to add more then a million subscribers in a month.

[Vipul]

'India will have over 1 billion phones by 2020': Video of Sunil Mittal's speech at the US-India Business Council award ceremony.

[Vipul]

Idea set to ring in ops in Mumbai.

Idea Cellular is close to launching operations in Mumbai, which generates the highest avaerage revenue per user (ARPU) in India. The AV Birla group telco will start services by August to become the seventh player in the highly competitive circle. Idea is also expected to roll out in Bihar before September, sources told ET.

With these launches, Idea will cover 70% of the country. After the impending acquisition of Spice Communications, having 4.4 million subscribers in Punjab and Karnataka, Idea will have a foothold in all the major circles of India.

The company is investing Rs 650 crore from IPO proceeds for the rollout in Mumbai. It has awarded a four-year contract to Ericsson, valued at $100 million. In Bihar, the investments have been made from internal accruals.

Mumbai, with 14 million subscribers, is the highest-revenue generating market. According to telecom regulator Trai, the blended average revenue per month per user (pre-paid+post-paid) is the highest in Mumbai at Rs 274. The post-paid ARPU is as high as Rs 630. However, wireless penetration in the financial capital is as high as 70%, signalling tough competition for Idea.

“But since no operator has launched services in the circle since 2004, the entry of Idea may shake-up the market. Idea is expected to wean subscribers away from BPL Mobile, which has failed to gain users amid dispute between the Ruias and Vodafone Essar,” an analyst told ET. BPL Mobile, once the most popular brand in Mumbai, has less than 10% share in the circle with 1.3 million users. Other operators present in the financial capital are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Tata Indicom, MTNL and Reliance Communications.

The Mumbai circle has been adding nearly 0.35 million subscribers every month while Bihar has over 10 million users and is adding 0.5 million on a monthly basis. Mumbai and Bihar jointly account for nearly 8% of total monthly wireless net additions in the country.

“Mumbai launch will offer Idea an opportunity to increase ARPU in comparison to other circles as there is substantial national and international traffic out of the city. Bihar, on the other hand, is an under-penetrated market and leaves ample scope for Idea to grab subscribers,” said the analyst.

Idea is the market leader in Maharashtra circle with around 23% share while it ranks second in Gujarat with 15% market share. “Expansion will lead to low termination and interconnect charges, resulting in savings,” he said. In Mumbai, Idea will use towers of Indus Towers.

[shyam]

Would like to ask conspiracy theorists:

Did Vodafone make Arun Sarin the CEO, to enter Indian market? It is not clear why he had to leave immediately after starting Indian operation.

[bart]

Would like to ask conspiracy theorists:

Did Vodafone make Arun Sarin the CEO, to enter Indian market? It is not clear why he had to leave immediately after starting Indian operation.

I think it was quite the reverse. He took a lot of flak for trying to expand into new geographies.