ITV

Category: Telecom

  • Merger and Acquisition Policy for Telecom by mid-October: Sibal

    Merger and Acquisition Policy for Telecom by mid-October: Sibal

    NEW DELHI: The government hopes to announce its merger and acquisition policy for telecom companies by mid-October.

    Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal said he had wanted them to in place by the middle of September but this had not been possible.

    Speaking at the Indian Women’s Press Corps, he said the Department of Telecom has plans to meet industry representatives before releasing the final guidelines.

    Meanwhile, Sibal said his top priority was to get Post Banks started in rural area. “Something that is very close to my heart is to get post bank in place for rural India. All post offices should also function as banks. I think we will be able to serve the rural economy and rural folk much better,” Sibal said.

    The Department of Posts has applied for a banking licence. The approval of banking licence by the Reserve bank of India is expected to triple bank branches in the country.

    The Minister wants to ensure that the “next auction is not just successful but phenomenally successful”.

    For the financial year 2013-14, government expects revenue of Rs 40,847.05 crore from other communication services, which include receipt from spectrum sale and one-time spectrum fee levied on old players for holding airwaves frequencies in addition to quantum they were allocated with licences.

    Sibal said that his ministry is working on a policy framework for Optical Fibre Network under which 250,000 village panchayats in the country will get connected by 2014. He wants to move the fibre optics policy framework as quickly as possible so that 600 universities and 3,500 colleges can also be connected with dedicated national knowledge network.

  • Video consumption on mobile phones on a rise

    Video consumption on mobile phones on a rise

    MUMBAI:  have become the prime medium for video consumption. As per the reports sent by sonyliv.com, 53 per cent of viewers watch videos on their mobile phones, 32 per cent view them online while 15 per cent, on their tablets.  

    The data was revealed in the two-quarter report of Multi Screen Media (MSM) operated sonyliv.com. Elaborating further, the report gives insights on the type of audience viewing digital content. The general entertainment content sees higher consumption by females compared to the overall internet video consumption in India. According to the report, video consumption trends 47 per cent female viewers and 53 per cent male; compared to the overall internet video consumption split of 71:29, male to females.

    Additionally, it is interesting to note that elderly people also watch videos online. Though the number is comparatively less, a three per cent, but it puts forth the fact that an upward shift in video consumption is witnessed in this bracket of audience as well. About 46 per cent of viewers are from the age group 15 to 24 years, 32 per cent from the age bracket of 25 to 34 years, followed by 17 per cent between the age group 35 and 44 years.

    The analytics also reveal that comedy and daily dramas have a higher viewership on digital platforms. Nearly 78 per cent of the videos consumed are comedy, drama and thriller. Comedy is viewed by 30 per cent of the audience, followed by drama at 25 per cent and thrillers at 23 per cent. Reality shows and other genres of shows are watched by the remaining 22 per cent.

    “At sonyliv.com, we are captivated with data and analytics and believe in leveraging the insights to drive a superior world class viewing experience. We publish insights based on real data that we study every hour of the day. This is done by monitoring the consumption behavior of over 50,000 unique visitors on an average who log on to our website, across all platforms i.e. online, mobile and tablet,” informs Sony Entertainment Network executive VP–new media, business development and digital/syndication Nitesh Kripalani.

    The report also suggests that viewers today increasingly prefer short content formats on digital platforms. The audiences opt for formats like catch-up episodes, quickisodes and short crunch episodes. As per the data, 64 per cent of viewers watch catch-up episodes, whereas more than one-third of viewers consume shorter crunched episodes, or called as quickisodes.

    The data also reveals that the average time spent by consumers per video has increased from eight minutes to 11.5 minutes (73 per cent of average duration of content) and the maximum number of videos is being watched between, 1pm to 4 pm and 9 to 11 pm.

  • Cellular Association welcomes central advisory to state govt on mobile towers

    Cellular Association welcomes central advisory to state govt on mobile towers

    NEW DELHI: The Cellular Operators Association of India has welcomed the advisory sent by the Department of Telecommunications to state governments on mobile tower guidelines, saying the norms clearly segregate emission aspects from structural requirements.

    The DoT has asked the states to refrain from sealing mobile towers or disconnecting power supply to them without the permission of its unit, TERM cell, on account of radiation related issues.

    COAI director general Rajan S Mathews said in a statement: “We are working closely with the DoT to ensure that all safety norms are made universal and fears of the public about the telecom towers are removed”.

    He said the positive aspect of the guidelines is a clear distinction and segregation of emission (EMF) aspects from structural requirements. “The new guidelines have clearly stated that EMF aspects, compliance of RF exposure field emissions, issues related to SACFA, licence etc are to be handled solely by the DoT’s TERM Cells,” it added.

    COAI said the guidelines encourage a nominal one-time fee, single window clearance, and electricity connection on priority for mobile towers.

    “These are welcome steps for the industry which has been contending with a complex system and procedural delays which are hindrance towards the much required development of telecom infrastructure in the country,” it added.

    India has already implemented stricter radiation norms than are followed by other countries, DoT officials said.

    Industry representatives maintain that due to the lack of awareness on radiation, people object to the installation or working of mobile towers.

    Around 5,000 towers in Delhi and Mumbai were termed illegal by local authorities and shut down.

  • Samsung moves into 9 Indian languages for its Smartphone and tablets

    Samsung moves into 9 Indian languages for its Smartphone and tablets

    MUMBAI: Smartphone and tablet manufacturing giant Samsung has decided to offer user interface and access to content for its users in nine Indian languages. These will be supported on Galaxy Grand, Galaxy S4 and Tab 3. These nine languages will be Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telegu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Gujarati.

    The languages will be available on more affordable phones within this month itself. This initiative has been created especially for the Indian market. Applications from the Samsung store such as Bharat Matrimony, India Property, Times of India will be available in the vernacular languages. Select phones will also have Facebook, Gmail and the likes in the nine languages.

    Samsung Mobile and IT, India Head, Vineet Taneja said “We clearly sense a need and a demand amongst users to communicate in local languages using their mobile devices. That is the reason, as an industry leader, we are taking the lead by offering users the ease of accessing regional language content in their preferred language.”

    More devices will be added as well as more languages.

  • Cellular Association welcomes central advisory to state governments on mobile towers

    Cellular Association welcomes central advisory to state governments on mobile towers

    NEW DELHI: The Cellular Operators Association of India has welcomed the advisory sent by the Department of Telecommunications to state governments on mobile tower guidelines, saying the norms clearly segregate emission aspects from structural requirements.

    The DoT has asked the states to refrain from sealing mobile towers or disconnecting power supply to them without the permission of its unit, TERM cell, on account of radiation related issues.

    COAI director general Rajan S Mathews said in a statement: “We are working closely with the DoT to ensure that all safety norms are made universal and fears of the public about the telecom towers are removed.”

    He said the positive aspect of the guidelines is a clear distinction and segregation of emission (EMF) aspects from structural requirements. “The new guidelines have clearly stated that EMF aspects, compliance of RF exposure field emissions, issues related to SACFA, licence etc are to be handled solely by the DoT’s TERM cells,” it added.

    COAI said the guidelines encourage a nominal one-time fee, single window clearance, and electricity connection on priority for mobile towers.

    “These are welcome steps for the industry which has been contending with a complex system and procedural delays which are hindrance towards the much required development of telecom infrastructure in the country,” it added.

    India has already implemented stricter radiation norms than are followed by other countries, DoT officials said.

    Industry representatives maintain that due to the lack of awareness on radiation, people object to the installation or working of mobile towers.

    Around 5,000 towers in Delhi and Mumbai were termed illegal by local authorities and shut down.

  • BSNL continues to top the list of ISPs in country with share of over 60%

    BSNL continues to top the list of ISPs in country with share of over 60%

    NEW DELHI: The Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) continues to top the list of broadband service providers in the country with a market share of 60.74 per cent in the first quarter of 2013.

    The state-run BSNL has 13.12 million internet subscribers at the end of March 2013, according to the report for the first quarter by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
    Reliance Communications is the second highest provider with 2.49 million internet users followed by MTNL with 1.96 million.

    TRAI says the total number of internet subscribers including internet access by wireless phone subscribers at the end of March 2013 was 164.81 million. This telecom statistics does not include internet accessed by mobile phones.

    There were 21.61 million internet subscribers excluding those subscribers accessing internet through wireless phone at the end of March 2013 as compared to 21.57 million at the end of December 2012, registering a quarterly growth of 0.16 per cent.

    In the internet subscription (excluding internet access through wireless phone), the share of broadband subscription is 69.65 per cent and share of narrowband subscription is 30.35 per cent at the end of March 2013.

    TRAI says the number of broadband subscribers increased from 14.98 million at the end of December 2012 to 15.05 million at the end of March 2013, registering a quarterly growth of 0.45 percent and year-on-year growth of 8.98 percent.

    The number of narrowband subscribers decreased from 6.59 million to 6.56 million.

  • Namo-the new android smartphone

    Namo-the new android smartphone

    MUMBAI: Naredra Modi fans seem to be going all the way to promote him on every platform as well as take advantage of his popularity. The latest is a smartphone called Namo android smartphone that has been created by a group of people who claim to be ‘independent body of fans of Narendra Modi’, the chief minister of Gujarat.

    Namo is the short form of the popular politician as well as an abbreviation of Next-generation Android Mobile Odyssey, the creator of this phone.

    The Facebook page for this already has over 3000 likes as well as coverage across many print and online spaces. The handset features are mentioned as follows on the website: 1 GB RAM + 16 GB ROM, 2 GB RAM + 16 GB ROM, 2 GB RAM + 32 GB ROM, 2 GB RAM + 64 GB ROM, 1.5 Ghz MT6589 Turbo Chipset, 13 MP Camera, Corning Glass 2, Screen 5 inches.

    The launch has already been carried out and the phone is expected to be released to the market soon. They are also looking at getting permission from Modi for using his signature for their ‘signature edition’ of the phones. The phones are said to be China made, which will be imported to India and branded with this name and then sold here at about Rs 15,000.

    The reliability of such phones will surely be under question. However, fans on their Facebook page seem to be keen to buy one. Preloaded videos and applications about the popular chief minister will also be available in the phones.

  • Vodafone India offers free Twitter access for three months

    Vodafone India offers free Twitter access for three months

    MUMBAI: Vodafone India is offering its prepaid and postpaid mobile subscribers free Twitter access for a period of three months starting today (29 July).

    Under the promotion, users will be able to access mobile.twitter.com or the Twitter Android app without incurring any data charges on the Vodafone network. The operator clarifies that access to mobile.twitter.com would be free only when the subscriber uses the native or default browser.

    It also adds that “the Eligible Subscriber would only be charged for connection setup, at 10p/10KB on 2G all circles except Uttar Pradesh (West), Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka and 2p/10KB on 3G and 2G in Uttar Pradesh (West), Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka in case he/she is subscribed to Pay As You Go Tariff at Prevailing Pack Tariff in case he/she has subscribed to any of the Vodafone India Mobile Internet Packs.”

    Free Twitter access is available only when the subscriber sets the APN to ‘www’ in the Internet data settings on the phone. The offer is not available to BlackBerry users.

    Vodafone is also running advertisement messages within the Android Twitter app showing promotional messages under individual tweets and pop-up messages when one tries to compose a tweet.

    It’s not the first time an Indian telecom operator has tied up with Twitter to offer free access. In April, Reliance Communications had also tied up with Twitter to offer a “Twitter Access” program for three months, wherein it offered its GSM subscribers access to Twitter’s mobile website and app without levying any extra data consumption charges.

  • Eros International signs mobile content license deal with Mauj Telecom

    Eros International signs mobile content license deal with Mauj Telecom

    MUMBAI: Eros International has announced that it has signed a license deal involving minimum guarantee revenues with telecom solutions company Mauj Telecom for distribution of mobile content.

    In the past the two companies have collaborated on films including “Omkara” and “I See You”. The deal includes films such as “Namaste London”, “Eklavya – The Royal Guard”, “No Smoking” and “Friends Forever.”.

    “With mobile and wireless connectivity in India growing at an impressive 80 per cent CAGR, the opportunity to monetise Bollywood content through mobile properties such as ringtones, wallpapers, songs and video clips is becoming increasingly lucrative,” Eros said in a statement.

    Eros’ content will be distributed on Mauj’s international telecom network. “The Mauj deal is a significant landmark in Eros’ commitment to tap into the new media opportunities presented by digital convergence. The deal enhances Eros’s recent expansion into music publishing as most mobile content is derived from Bollywood musicals. Mauj has created a niche in the mobile space within a short span of time and we are pleased to be working with them to unlock further value in our mobile content,” said Eros International chairman and CEO Kishore Lulla.

    Added Mauj chairman and managing director Anupam Mittal, “Eros International is one of the largest content owners in the Bollywood business and has a very strong pipeline of forthcoming films. We were keen to secure the deal to distribute that premium content on mobile platforms in an increasingly competitive environment. Eros’ content combined with Mauj’s technical infrastructure and relationships with mobile networks operators make this an attractive deal for both companies.”

  • Spice Telecom plans $150 mn IPO

    Spice Telecom plans $150 mn IPO

    BANGALORE: Karnataka’s first mobile telephony service provider Spice Telecom (Spice) has plans for a public issue totaling $150 million.

    Modicorp (51% stake) along with Telekom Malaysia (49% stake) own Spice. The red herring prospectus will be filed with Sebi and the IPO is likely to open in end March this year with Spice to planning to dilute around 15-20% of their stake.

    Spice has recently been awarded a railway outsourcing contract by IRCTC to provide services to the customers for a payment of Rs 1 billion over 10 years. The scope of work includes providing customers with information services across India, IVR, information and other services. The voice call to IVR ratio is around 20:80 according to Spice officials. The contract commences from March this year.

    Spice is present in 2 circles – Karnataka and Punjab with a customer base of around 2.5million of the total 100 million plus Indian subscribers. India has over 6000 railway stations and almost 80-90% of these are covered by mobile service providers. Spice is in negotiations with other service providers for carriage and other services in the other circles. This contract means that over the next ten years other service providers can provide railway information only through Spice.

    To ramp up and meet the service requirements, Spice plans to set up 4 regional hubs all over the country. This contract has been obtained by an equally shared joint venture between Spice and Spanco Telesystems (Spanco) from Mumbai. Spanco are to be the hardware system integrators for this venture.

    Speaking during a press briefing in Bangalore yesterday, Modicorp chairman BK Modi said, “Railways cover the length and breadth of the country physically, Spice will help connect the country telephonically,” while announcing that Spice planned to have kiosks on every platform in the country, where valid passengers can pick up sub $20/- mobile and with a Rs 50/- chip that can receive incoming calls free.

    “Currently we were lacking in distribution. Now with 6,000 railway stations we can take telephony to the bottom of the pyramid, a mobile is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity, and with 4 billion passengers that travel by train, the aim for reaching a subscriber base of 500 million by 2010 could be met even earlier,” Modi said.

    Spice along with Taiwanese suppliers provide low end as well as high end mobile phone instruments.

    Unconfirmed reports also indicate that Bollywood diva Katrina Kaif has been appointed brand ambassador for Spice. Priyanka Chopra, whose three year contract ends in December 2007, will also continue as brand ambassador, a company source says.