ITV

Category: Telecom

  • BSNL partners Bangladesh cable co. to bolster broadband reach in NE India

    BSNL partners Bangladesh cable co. to bolster broadband reach in NE India

    NEW DELHI: In an effort to strengthen Digital India, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has partnered with a Bangladesh company to improve internet connectivity in the northeast part of the country.

     

    BSNL will provide international bandwidth for internet from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh to Agartala, while the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd (BSCCL) will provide the international port (IP) transit service from Cox’s Bazar Cable Landing Station.

     

    The terrestrial route in Bangladesh will be Cox’s Bazar-Chittagong-Comilla-B.Baria-Akhaura for primary link and Cox’s Bazar-Chitagong-Comilla-Dhaka-Narshindi-Bhairab-Akhaura the secondary link.

     

    The Bangladesh Telecommunications Company has to lay optical fibre cable (OFC) of the 30 km approximate distance from Brahmanbaria to Akhaura, which adjoins Tripura.

     

    BSNL will set up international long distance (ILD) gateway at Agartala along with associated equipment.

  • Come December, Reliance Jio sojourn set to begin

    Come December, Reliance Jio sojourn set to begin

    MUMBAI: Come December and Mukesh Ambani’s ambitious 4G project – Reliance Jio is all set to sail on its commercial juggernaut.

     

    After expending money to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore in acquiring spectrum rights across the country, the company is targeting to provide 4G services across India with an investment of more than Rs 70,000 crore.

     

    Addressing shareholders in its annual general meeting, Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh D Ambani said that 2016-17 would be the first full year of commercial operations for Jio.

     

    Ambani also highlighted the path travelled and the roadmap ahead for Reliance Jio.

     

    Read on:  

     

    Current Jio Scenario

     

    Jio is now present in all of the 29 states of India, with a direct physical presence in nearly 18,000 Indian cities and towns. Jio’s wireless footprint extends even further and covers over one lakh villages. The company is expanding this footprint to cover nearly 80 per cent of India’s population by the end of this year.

     

    “Our roadmap is to have 100 per cent national coverage within the next three years. In rural areas, we are prioritizing connectivity to thousands of schools. This is to ensure that the benefit of our broadband initiative is first and foremost felt by students who stand to gain the most by accessing the information highway,” said Ambani.

     

    Jio Progress

      

    Jio has deployed a network of nearly 250,000 route kilometres of fibre optics, thereby creating a future-proof digital backbone across India. Over the next three years, Jio will gather more than double this fibre footprint by deploying fibre optics in the last mile.

    “We are using this deep fibre network also to ramp-up our fibre-to-the-home deployment. By April of next year, we would have connected over one million homes via fibre with a capability of rapidly scaling up in the top 50 cities of India,” he informed.

     

    To support India’s prominent participation in this revolution, Jio has operationalized nearly half a million square feet of its own next-generation Cloud data centers. Work is underway to double this capacity over the next year. The Jio team now comprises 17,500 full-time employees, who have successfully managed dozens of world-class technology partners and more than 150,000 people on the ground to achieve this rollout.

     

    Jio Technical Achievements

     

    “Even as Jio undertakes this mammoth rollout, we continue to take steps to further strengthen its competitive position. Our acquisition of wireless spectrum during the spectrum auctions conducted in March of this year is a case in point,” said Ambani.

     

    In addition to the existing Pan India 2300 MHz spectrum and 1800 MHz in 14 circles, Jio invested over Rs 10,000 crore during this year’s auction to acquire 800 MHz spectrum in 10 circles and 1800 MHz spectrum in six circles.

     

    Total Jio Investment

     

    Having invested a war chest of Rs 34,000 crore in spectrum assets, Jio now has the largest footprint of liberalized spectrum in the country, acquired in an extremely cost effective manner.

     

    “We have an end-to-end initial capacity to serve in excess of 100 million wireless broadband and 20 million fibre-to-the-home customers, with capability to easily expand further as the business scales up. We are currently in the pre-launch testing and stabilization phase of this large and complex network. Over the next few months, we will initiate an extensive beta launch involving millions of friendly customers across all our markets. This beta program will be upgraded into commercial operations around December of this year,” Ambani asserted.

     

    Full Fledged Jio Launch

     

    Ambani said that the financial year 2016-17 will be the first full year of commercial operations for Jio.

     

    It is interesting to note that in China 4G LTE devices as a percentage of overall device shipment has increased from 10 per cent to over 84 per cent in just the past year and Ambani expects a similar trend to emerge in India.

     

    “The combination of Jio’s strong initiatives and a supportive global environment, gives me the confidence that we will see 4G LTE smartphones in India at prices below Rs 4,000 by December of this year,” he said.

     

    Reliance Jio’s Stand

     

    Touting Jio as much more than just telecom services, Ambani said that it is well positioned to emerge as a global Tier-1 telecom operator.

     

    “The three-pronged combination of broadband networks, affordable smartphones and the availability of rich content and applications has created a global information tsunami,” Ambani said.

     

    In April this year, Reliance launched first mobile application, Jio Chat, which is a communication application that integrates chat, voice, video calling, conferencing, file sharing, photo sharing and much more in a single application. In just the first few weeks of operations, Jio Chat acquired over a million active users, without any paid promotions or paid advertisements whatsoever.

     

    Upcoming Jio Apps

     

    Switch-and-Walk app: Allows customers to seamlessly copy everything from their old phone to a new phone. The app will help to sync all contacts, messages, photos, music, media and applications from one phone to another, wirelessly, with a few easy clicks.

     

    Jio Drive: It is an application that will bring powerful cloud capabilities to every smartphone. Using Jio Drive, anyone can store, sync and share any content between their own devices and also with their friends. This is the type of capabilities that only large enterprises are able to provide to their employees. With Jio Drive, every consumer and small business owner will have this ability.

      

    Jio News and Entertainment Innovations

     

    Network 18 has 17 news channels, 14 entertainment channels, in eight languages and a strong set of internet businesses that will be transited to the Jio platform.

     

    “We are working to transform all of these to build and sustain leadership in each of these areas. By 2017-18 it will be the most integrated TV mobile set of content in India. I am privileged- to have Adil Zainulbhai from the Board to guide this initiative,” added Ambani

     

    Jio MSO License

     

    Earlier this year, Jio also applied for a pan-India cable television multi-system operator (MSO) license and has plans to enter the broadcast TV distribution. Ambani told shareholders that he would apprise them of further progress in the forthcoming AGM.

     

    “We have created a legacy free, next-generation voice and broadband network, which can be seamlessly upgraded even to 5G and beyond. We will deliver the gold standard for coverage and capacity, and push to raise the bar even further with small cells. In everything that we have done at Jio, we have lived by the three mantras of ‘Simple, Smart and Secure.’ However, I believe that Jio’s role is much larger than just offering its own services,” Ambani concluded.

  • Five US broadcasters form news streaming venture NewsON

    Five US broadcasters form news streaming venture NewsON

    MUMBAI: Five major broadcast television stations namely The ABC Owned Television Station Group, Cox Media Group, Hearst Television, Media General and Raycom Media have formed a new venture called NewsON.

     

    NewsON (www.NewsON.us) will provide live and same-day local TV newscasts on demand from leading stations around the country to consumers’ mobile and selected connected TV devices.

     

    The free, advertising-supported NewsON service, which is expected to launch to the public in the fall of this year, will be delivered through apps available for download from mobile and connected TV app stores. NewsON will enable users to watch live and on-demand newscasts from their local markets or from any of the 112 participating news stations, in 84 viewing markets across the country, whose owners have already contracted to deliver their news streams through NewsON. These include stations in eight of the Top 10 U.S. TV markets and 17 of the top 25.

     

    Multiple stations will be available through NewsON in 21 markets, giving viewers the opportunity to “change channels” as they wish. The number of participating TV stations is expected to grow in the months ahead as additional broadcast TV station groups activate their streams into NewsON.

     

    Leading this new venture is Louis Gump, who has signed on as NewsON’s chief executive officer. Gump presided earlier in his career over benchmark-setting mobile businesses for The Weather Company and CNN, before becoming CEO of mobile media and advertising company LSN Mobile. Gump has also served in various capacities within industry organizations including the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Online Publishers Association (OPA), and he served for more than a decade on the board of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). He will be based in Atlanta where NewsON will scale up its organization.

     

    “The sheer amount of live news coverage – from TV stations around the country – that has been assembled for delivery through NewsON’s apps is unprecedented. Americans place a great deal of trust in their local news teams, who are typically the first informers from the local scene of the biggest news developments around the country. NewsON will bring instant access to live local news to a generation of viewers accustomed to using mobile and connected TV platforms to stay informed,” Gump said.

     

    “And this is just the start,” Gump noted. “We’ll welcome the participation of other TV station owners, as this service only gets better with each additional station.”

     

    A recent study underscores local TV’s leading role as a news source. According to the March 2015 report “Local News in a Digital Age” by the Pew Research Center, local TV stations remain the dominant source of news for Americans in markets both big and small. The appetite for local and neighborhood news, the staple of TV station newscast coverage, is up to twice the appetite for national and international news, the study found. 

  • Ravi Shankar Prasad to inaugurate free Wi-fi connection for tourists at Taj Mahal

    Ravi Shankar Prasad to inaugurate free Wi-fi connection for tourists at Taj Mahal

    NEW DELHI: Within days of Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s announcement about strengthening broadband base throughout the country, BSNL has said visitors to the Taj Mahal in Agra will get free Wi-Fi internet facility across the sprawling campus for 30 minutes from 16 June.

     

    However, any browsing or usage like downloading, surfing after this period would invite charges at Rs 30 an hour, a Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited official said.

     

    The trials have been completed and the service will be launched by Prasad in Agra on 16 June.

     

    While the bandwidth is being provided by BSNL, the system integrator – Bengaluru based Quadgen – is providing the wireless support.

     

    Due to security and other reasons, the ASI has only permitted the Wi-Fi availability in a radius of 30 metres from the main gate of the Taj Mahal, officials further said.

     

    Millions of domestic and foreign tourists visit the Taj Mahal, often considered as the epitome of love as it was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.

     

    The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had requested the BSNL to work on the project to start the facility in the complex. Wi-Fi internet facility at public places in Agra is currently available only at the Agra Cantonment railway station.

     

    If the trials are successful, BSNL may extend the facility to Fatehpur Sikri as well.

  • Full mobile number portability from July: Ravi Shankar Prasad

    Full mobile number portability from July: Ravi Shankar Prasad

    NEW DELHI: Communications and Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that full mobile number portability will become operational across the country from July and consumers will get to keep the same numbers even when changing the telecom service provider.

     

    He also announced on 2 June 2015 that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will offer free roaming all over the country from 15 June.

     

    The telecom minister further added that spectrum sharing and trading policy would go to the Cabinet this month.

     

    Last month, BSNL introduced an unlimited free calling scheme from 9 pm and 7 am to revive its landline business. BSNL has the largest number of landline customers, with a market share of 62.26 per cent.

     

    The Minister regretted that BSNL, which had shown profits in 2004, was showing a deficit at present.

     

    When asked about frequent call drop complaints by consumers, the Minister said he has asked officials if a scheme of disincentive for the operators can be put in place.

     

    “Call drops are due to lack of towers. As far as installation is concerned it is subject to local law. No point to raise bogey of cell tower radiation and then complain of call drop,” Prasad said.  

     

    Additionally, answering a question relating to the controversial Section 66A of the IT Act 2000, Prasad said that the government fully backs freedom of speech.

     

    Section 66A defines the punishment for sending “offensive” messages through a computer or any other communication device like a mobile phone or a tablet. A conviction can fetch a maximum of three years in jail and a fine.

     

    The Supreme Court is already examining the constitutional validity of Section 66A of the amended IT Act following a batch of petitions alleging the section impinges upon the Fundamental Right to freedom of speech and expression.

     

    The Minister said, “The case was pending in the court before I joined the ministry.”

  • Hughes supplies broadband satellite system to IPSAT

    Hughes supplies broadband satellite system to IPSAT

    MUMBAI: IPSAT Sdn Bhd, headquartered in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, has purchased a Hughes HX broadband satellite system comprising a hub and remote terminals. Implementation of the hub is underway in Malaysia and is expected to complete in June 2015.

     

    IPSAT is a service provider in Malaysia specializing in VSAT (very small aperture terminal) communications over both Ku-band and C-band satellites, with a broad range of market offerings ranging from managed networks to high-speed Internet access.

     

    Privasia Technology Bhd CEO Puvanesan Subenthiran said, “We are very pleased to have chosen Hughes to supply its new HX satellite hub and terminals, which will enable us to support our existing and future customers utilizing both Ku- and C-band capacity. IPSAT will now gain flexibility in configuring and designing the network and packaging services to meet the diverse needs of the corporate and enterprise market.”

     

    “Hughes has long been very active in Asia/Pacific and we are proud to add IPSAT to our list of customers in the region. The new system will enable IPSAT to grow its business in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries, such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia,” added Hughes executive vice president of the international division Bahram Pourmand.

     

    With the new HX solution, IPSAT will be able to expand its offerings beyond broadband Internet access to include VPN, VoIP, multicasting, SCADA and Telemetry services to the corporate and enterprise sector. IPSAT plans to penetrate other markets in addition to Malaysia, including Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia. 

  • Indians consume 76% mobile content on Android device: Outbrain

    Indians consume 76% mobile content on Android device: Outbrain

    MUMBAI: As new technology and platforms come in, digital content consumption witnesses a wave of change. In a scenario like this, highlighting the key digital content consumption trend in India, an Outbrain research titled ‘Content Consumption Trends’ shows that the Indian mobile market is clearly dominated by the Android user, where a staggering 76 per cent of the overall content consumed on smart phones is consumed on an Android device – second only to Malaysia.

    According to the report, in Southeast Asia, Android is now in a truly dominant and almost unchallengeable position, probably due to its more affordable price-point and its availability on a much wider range of models. On the other hand, in a number of key markets such as Australia, Japan, the UK and the US, Apple’s iPhone still enjoys its best engagement rates, according to the report.

    Additionally, the report also shows that India is the most engaged market when it comes to consumption through mobile devices like tablets and smart phones and is overtaking the US market.

    The report is the first in its kind in the region and compares India to other mature markets: Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, UK and the US.

    Data reveals a powerful connection between the growth in mobile technology and the increase in content consumption on smart phones and tablets. For example, in Singapore, Japan and the UK, people consume more than half of their content on a smart phone or tablet.

    On the other hand, when it comes to content preferences, factors like cultural differences and seasonality play an important role. For example, for the period analysed (October to 31 December, 2014), of the overall health-related content consumed in Australia, a stunning 39 per cent was about nutrition. That could be due to the upcoming summer season in the Southern Hemisphere, when people try to get in shape and lose some extra pounds.

    As per Outbrain’s study, effectively measured content marketing is not easy, but those who measure and optimise the right metrics will be the ones who ultimately see the greatest return on investment.

    In the next chart, the company has measured engagement on PC, smart phone and tablet by looking at a combination of Page views per Session and Minutes per Session.

    Outbrain GM India and SEA Gulshan Verma said, “The Content Consumption Trends report aims to highlight some of the key facts, figures and trends on how people are reading and watching online content. It’s fascinating to see both the similarities and differences in terms of how and when content is consumed in India compared to other major markets globally. The report not only delivers analyses of consumption trends, but also helps to provide marketers with insights to help them better understand how to develop and place their content.”

  • Vodafone invests Rs 1000+ crore in Maharashtra and Goa circles

    Vodafone invests Rs 1000+ crore in Maharashtra and Goa circles

    NEW DELHI: Vodafone India has invested over Rs 1050 crore on ramping its network and distribution and retail presence in Maharashtra and Goa circle over the past 12 months (April 2014-March 2015) in line with its policy of ‘Customer First’ approach.

     

    According to an announcement made in Pune today, Vodafone has been focusing on closer engagement and enhancing customer experience in an endeavour to be future ready, claiming to be one of the preferred mobile services providers in terms of subscriber base, revenue, market share and retail touch points.

     

    Pursuing an accelerated growth strategy since April 2014, Vodafone has expanded its network footprint by adding over 3000 new 3G and 2G sites across Maharashtra in the last financial year. During this period, Vodafone also increased its exclusive retail footprint by rolling out 17 Vodafone Stores and 200 Vodafone Mini Stores.

     

    Vodafone India business head – Maharashtra and Goa Ashish Chandra said, “Gaining the trust of our customers and winning the distinction of being one of the most preferred mobile services provider in Maharashtra and Goa circle is not incidental. We have won the hearts of our customers by pursuing a continued and consistent customer centric strategy to bring the best connectivity solutions to our valued customers. It is their trust and support that has enabled us to further strengthen our position in Maharashtra and Goa across key parameters – Network, Subscriber base, Retail footprint and Revenue Market Share. We remain committed to continue investing in bringing the best in class, innovative, relevant products and services to win customer delight in the years to come.”

     

    Having set up one of the largest networks in the circle, Vodafone claims to have has 5000+ 3G sites in Maharashtra and Goa. Specifically to spread awareness and increase adoption of mobile internet, Vodafone has been hand holding customers through on ground engagement and education initiatives. 3G has shown tremendous uptake and has been growing at 100 per cent YoY. Overall data contribution to circle service revenues is 18 per cent.

     

    Presently, Vodafone has more than 900 retail outlets (largest and exclusive) in Maharashtra and Goa. Over the past 12 months, Vodafone has launched 22 Global Design Stores in Maharashtra and Goa.

     

    Vodafone M-Pesa, which was launched in October 2013 in Maharashtra and Goa, currently has 7115 + agents in these states, and a customer base of over 2.96 lakh. 

  • CCI to await TRAI report even as Parliamentary Committee studies net neutrality

    CCI to await TRAI report even as Parliamentary Committee studies net neutrality

    NEW DELHI: Even as a Parliamentary Committee is meeting to discuss the net neutrality issue, Competition Commission of India (CCI) chairman Ashok Chawla has said net neutrality is a policy issue and Telecom Regularity Authority of India (TRAI) should first take a stand on it.

     

    Chawla said CCI would look into the matter when it will come to it. “It has not come to us. We will see when it comes. This is a policy issue. The regulator has to decide first. Based on whatever happens in terms of behaviour as in conformity and non-conformity of policy, we will see and in any case if they are going to interact with us they are welcome,” Chawla told reporters on the sidelines of an annual day function of the CCI.

     

    TRAI has already touched upon net neutrality in its Consultation Paper on over the top (OTT) services.

     

    Meanwhile, Parliamentary Ministry sources said that the Committee may hold more than one meeting on the issue, and will then place its report in the next session of Parliament. Representatives of some telecom companies are understood to have presented their views on the issue.

     

    CCI orders a probe only if there is prima-facie evidence of a violation of competition norms.

     

    The development comes at a time when some telecom operators have entered into tie-ups for offering free access to certain mobile apps and websites. Such activities have raised concerns on net neutrality. The last refers to equal treatment for all Internet traffic.

     

    Last month, Bharti Airtel launched Airtel Zero, an open marketing platform that allowed customers to access many mobile applications for free, with the data charges being paid by startups and large companies.

     

    Over the past few months, operators such as Reliance Communications and Uninor have partnered Internet companies such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Wikipedia to offer free usage to consumers.

     

    Such moves are being seen as being opposed to net neutrality, particularly to the extent that they affect communication OTT services like Viber, free calls on WhatsApp etc.