Category: Software

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India today recommended that 900MHz spectrum be auctioned at least 18 months in advance to enable the winning bidders to be ready with the deployment plans..

Trai said the auction of 900MHz spectrum may be carried out in the first half of the year 2013, since the application for renewal of licenses must be made at least 30 months in advance of the expiry of licences.

In its recommendations, Trai said excess spectrum of 2×2.4 MHz should be immediately taken back from the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited.

The Authority recommended that the refarming of spectrum in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands should be carried out progressively at an early date but not later than the due date of renewal of the licences. The spectrum available with the service providers in the 900 MHz band should be replaced by spectrum in the 1800 MHz band, which should be charged at the price prevalent at the time of refarming.

The Government must actively explore the possibility of refarming of the spectrum in the 900 MHz band immediately, by invoking the authority to change the licence conditions.

Trai said all spectrum to be assigned through the auction process in future will be liberalised – spectrum in any band can be used for deploying any services in any technology.

In a Consultation Paper issued in March, Trai had sought views on refarming of spectrum in 800/900 MHz bands, structure of auction, spectrum block size, eligibility criteria for participating in the auction, reserve price, roll out obligations, spectrum usage charges and spectrum trading.

The Supreme Court on 2 February 2012 had cancelled 122 telecom licences awarded when A Raja was Telecom Minister. It termed them illegal and asked the government to conduct fresh auctions within four months.

It had then directed Trai to make fresh recommendations for grant of licence and allocation of spectrum in 2G band in 22 Service Areas by auction, as was done for allocation of spectrum in 3G band, keeping in view the decision taken by the Central Government in 2011.

Trai had therefore issued a pre-consultation paper the next day, and then a Consultation Paper on the basis of the comments received from the stakeholders and considering the international practices.

The present recommendations are based on responses of stakeholders and open house meetings.

The government in the Budget 2012-13 has estimated that Rs. 400 billion would be raised through auction of spectrum, including the airwaves to be freed by cancellation of 122 licences following the Supreme Court order.

Apart from that for 2G services, spectrum is also available with the Ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Defence.

The Department of Telecom in an application filed before the Supreme Court had sought 400 days to complete the 2G auction process. DoT has mentioned that auctions can begin by December 20 and spectrum allocated to bidders in March next year.

In its recommendations, the Authority said the spectrum which is available in at least 75 per cent of total number of districts of the Licence Service Areas including the State capitals should be considered for allocation through auction.

The Authority said circles where the amount of spectrum in 1800 MHz band is insufficient for carrying out fully the refarming exercise, immediate steps must be taken to get the Government agencies to vacate the 1800 MHz spectrum so that the entire 900 MHz spectrum can be refarmed.

Trai:rtially modified its recommendation of the May 2010 recommendations and said for license holders of 800 MHz band spectrum should be assigned in 1900 MHz band”.

The Authority recommended that DoT should immediately arrange to allocate spectrum in the 1900 MHz band for refarming the spectrum in the 800 MHz band, The DoT should immediately carry out the interference study. The spectrum in the 800 MHz band should progressively be refarmed at the time of renewal of licences of such operators.

Trai said the auction of spectrum in 700 MHz band may be carried out at a later date, preferably in 2014 as and when the ecosystem for LTE in the 700 MHz is reasonably developed, so as to be able to realise the full market value of the spectrum.

The Authority recommends the following structure for the auction of spectrum in future:

The auction of spectrum shall be conducted using Simultaneous Multiple Round Auction (SMRA) format.

As regards the auction of spectrum in 1800 MHz and 800 MHz bands to be conducted immediately following these recommendations, it should be held in single stage.

Every auction shall be open to all those holding CMTS licence/ UAS licence / Unified licence or eligible for grant of Unified Licence. Auction shall not be open to those that hold spectrum above the prescribed cap.

If a new entity is successful, then the Authority recommends that such an entity will have to take either the National level or the State level Unified Licence, as the case may be.

In all auctions at least 5 MHz of spectrum shall be offered, except where the spectrum available is less than 5 MHz.

Spectrum shall be offered in blocks of 1.25 MHz each.

For the auction that is to immediately follow these recommendations, the amount of spectrum to be offered will follow the scheme laid out in Para 3.39 above.

The final bid price of one auction in a given band shall be the base price for the next auction whenever it takes place, with the rider that it will suitably be adjusted in the event of gap beyond one year.

The limit for acquisition of spectrum shall be 50% of the spectrum assigned in each band in the respective service area and 25%of the total spectrum assigned in all bands put together in each service area.

MUMBAI: FoxyMoron has signed a deal with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals to design and build a digital platform that will provide a network for Rajasthan Royal Fans all over the world utilising the power of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The agency will handle the franchises all-inclusive social media needs providing the team‘s fans with a rich media experience while interacting with the team on the digital space.

FoxyMoron aims to increase fan interaction on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube through strategies that will enable fans to have an immersive experience on the internet.

FoxyMoron partner Harshil Karia said, “We aim to build a loyal, long term fan following for the team using the power of digital media. Indians feel so passionately about cricket, it was about time this passion transcended online.”

FoxyMoron‘s digital strategy will aim to drive engagement and community participation amongst fans using the wide reach of Facebook. The company will also channelise the power of Twitter to drive conversation amongst fans as well as create interest and excitement around matches.

The agency adds that in a short time it has been able to increase the team‘s Twitter following by 40 per cent. They have also successfully trended two hashtags each time the team has played a match. This is indicative of a large amount of buzz and virility surrounding the team while they are in action.

Fans have also tuned into the teams YouTube channel which hosts behind the scenes content shot by an international crew that travels with the team. “We really want people have an immersive experience. It‘s all about creating a connect that will make fans feel strongly about the team. Cricket is already a passion amongst Indians, we aim to transform this passion into a loyalty, one that transcends reason.” adds Karia.

MUMBAI: Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific is expanding its channel footprint in Indonesia with the launch of Cartoon Network HD on the national cable platform, First Media.

The launch of Cartoon Network HD is part of a regional rollout plan that kicked off in the Philippines in January. The new channel complements Turner‘s existing portfolio of news and entertainment channels currently available in Indonesia including CNN, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies, truTV and Boomerang.

“Indonesia is a priority market for Turner in Asia and we‘re thrilled to be joining with First Media to pioneer the ultimate kids‘ TV viewing experience here. Our young and growing fan base is increasingly sophisticated in their content consumption, and Cartoon Network HD takes the experience of animated storytelling to a whole new level,” said Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific SVP and MD, Entertainment Networks Sunny Saha.

Cartoon Network HD‘s programming line-up features international award-winning comedy series such as The Amazing World of Gumball, Adventure Time, Chowder and all-time classics like the Tom & Jerry Show, Pink Panther & Pals and Scooby-Doo.

For kids seeking adventure, alien-morphing boy hero Ben Tennyson will keep them entertained with all three series, Ben 10, Ben 10 Alien Force and Ben 10 Ultimate Alien.

MUMBAI: Travel XP HD, the high definition travel channel from Celebrities Management, has partnered with En Route Media, the digital in-taxi media provider to offer travel content to the passengers on the move.

Travel XP HD boasts of the biggest HD library of travel content across the world and this content will be provided in short form video and showcased in En Route’s in-taxi screen network – Flo.

Flo is a tablet device embedded in radio cabs. It is an entertainment and advertising medium that brings together benefits to two major stakeholders. While passengers can relax and enjoy, brands get a chance to engage with a niche audience through an interactive, audio-visual platform in the captive cab environment.

Travel XP HD chief managing director Nisha Chothani said, “We partnered with En Route Media as we believe it‘s an extremely innovative and unique platform to reach out to our target audience even when they are on the run.”

En Route’s co-founder Paul Schwarz added, “We are always on the lookout for exciting content which can add value to our passengers’ journey. We are looking forward to this partnership with Travel XP HD.”

En Route Media’s Flo has already attracted brands like Volkswagen, McDonalds, Kotak Life and many more as advertisers. The company currently partnered with leading radio taxi service EasyCabs, with more than 250 screens on the road.They are also in talks with other major radio taxi players in the country to expand their network of screens.

NEW DELHI: Yahoo! India has launched its first-ever full-fledged cricket app for Windows Phone users in India.

Available for free on the Windows Marketplace, it offers a slew of features and user-friendly interaction for the user to follow live matches, and also keep a tab on the recent and upcoming ones.

The app is the first to offer a complete match experience in a variety of ways –with live scores, detailed ball-by-ball commentary which can be filtered by wickets, 4s and 6s; an interactive score card which allows the user to browse through the batting line up, fall of wickets and a complete chronology of how a match progressed.

With this new app from Yahoo! Cricket, Windows Phone users can now catch all international matches and the IPL series – live, on-the-go. On a non-match day, the app will connect the user to specially created photo-galleries, latest news articles on the game, player and team profiles, as well as results of completed matches, and schedules of upcoming ones.

Developed at the R&D centre in Bangalore, this is the third cricket app released by Yahoo!. Following on the success of the earlier apps built for iPhone and Android (the recent Android app has seen 11000 down loads within 10 days of launch), the new Windows Phone app has earned a 5 star rating, and rave reviews from users.

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has put a ceiling of four times on tariff for calls and SMSes meant for participating in contests and games; or for voting in television and radio programmes.

In the amendments to the Telecommunication Tariff Order (TTO), Trai inserted a new Schedule XIII for this purpose. These measures are being issued through amendment in Telecommunication Tariff Order (Fifty First Amendment); The Telecom Consumer Protection Regulations, 2012; and through two sets of Directions relating to publication of telecom tariff plans and preventing misleading advertisements.

Keeping in view the fact that calls and SMS made for participating in competition and voting hardly contain any content, the Authority has mandated that tariff for such calls and SMS shall not exceed four times of the applicable local call/ SMS charges. The amendment also provides flexibility to service providers to apply revision in ILD tariff uniformly for new as well as existing subscribers.

The Authority has decided not to interfere with the currently prevailing ceiling of 25 tariff plans that can be offered by a service provider at any given point of time.

But it has become mandatory for service providers to offer in each service area at least one tariff plan each for both postpaid and prepaid subscriber with a uniform pulse rate of ‘one second’. The rates for Premium Rate Services currently levied by service providers are substantially higher vis-?-vis the normal tariff applicable for a two-way communication due to the fact that the charges levied also include the price for content.

MUMBAI: Uncertainty looms large over India‘s first target of cable TV digitisation in the four metros by 30 June.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is yet to come out with its tariff policy and rules for digital addressable systems (DAS). This is unlikely to happen next week as well with the Supreme Court asking Trai to wait for due turn to hear the sector regulator‘s plea on the tariff order for DAS.

Trai had approached the Supreme Court to permit it to fix the tariff rates as it is constrained by an interim order by the apex court that has allowed broadcasters to charge 42 per cent of their cable rates from DTH and other digital addressable service providers (Trai had fixed 35 per cent).

“It looks like the deadline of 30 June for the complete switchover from analogue to digital in the four metros will get delayed by a few months. There is no urgency on the part of Trai to come out with a policy framework for DAS. The industry needs time to get everything in order for the digital switchover to happen smoothly and effectively,” said the head of a leading MSO on condition of anonymity.

The various stakeholders of the broadcast industry are awaiting Trai‘s order before they can stitch commercial deals with their partners to roll out digital addressable cable. The multi-system operators (MSOs) and last mile operators have to conclude revenue share arrangements. Broadcasters will also have to get into agreements with the MSOs on pricing of their content. Other contentious issues like basic tier need to guided by a policy framework.

The government, however, has stated clearly that there would be no delay. Information & Broadcasting Secretary Uday Varma has publicly stated that the 30 June deadline for digitisation in the four metros “is sacrosanct”.

“Nobody knows whether that 30 June deadline is sacred anymore. The government has stayed firm but the industry needs time to work upon it. This can only happen after the rules are laid down by the sector regulator,” said the head of a television channel distribution company.

The digitisation in the four metros would require a deployment of around 10 million set-top boxes (STBs) and huge investments.

“The companies will have to go to their respective boards and draw up a business plan. They will have to know their cash flows as it would require huge investments. Adequate time should be given for a proper rollout,” said a senior executive who leads operations of a distribution platform.

The remark by Firhad Hakim ‘Bobby‘, the Urban Development Minister who is said to be close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has lent uncertainty to the mood for cable TV digitisation in Kolkata. “We were not consulted on this issue. If Trai or other agencies had discussed it with erstwhile CPM government, we are not responsible for that,” the minister had said.

“Other political leaders have not opposed the deadline for cable TV digitisation yet. So we don‘t know how the remark by a lone minister would influence the deadline. The more important thing is that the rules have not yet come from Trai. We have to be careful that the digitisation is properly implemented this time. People shouldn‘t lose their confidence on digitisation because of faulty implementation,” said the CEO of a MSO who did not want his name to be revealed.

MUMBAI: ETV Network has signed a contract with RRsat Global Communications Network for distribution of its two channels on Dish Network in the US.

ETV Kannada and ETV Marathi are being downlinked at RRsats‘ main teleport in Emek HaEla from Insat 4A satellite. The channels are converted from PAL to NTSC, encoded, and with a time delay delivered by fibre over the RRsat Global Network to Dish Network USA.

“RRsat Global Communication Network provides reliable, good-quality, turnkey delivery solutions,” said ETV Network‘s VP K Bapineedu. “RRsat has been instrumental in delivering signals of ETV Channels to USA with necessary time shift according to one of our requirements.”

RRsat is a content management and global distribution services solutions provider to the TV and radio broadcasting industries.

“We are pleased that ETV has chosen the RRsat Global Network to further expand its global reach to the USA,” commented RRsat VP Sales & Marketing Lior Rival. “ETV is joining our extensive list of customers and we are looking forward to a long term business relationship.”

NEW DELHI: Broadcom Corporation, a global innovation in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, has introduced an affordable cable set-top box.

Broadcom said it has the industry’s most integrated single chip BCM7014 standard definition (SD) cable STB system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution.

The new platform is designed to accelerate the cable TV digitisation in the country with highly cost optimised systems at an affordable price point for wide scale deployment in India’s rapidly expanding digital cable networks.

Broadcom India Managing Director Rajiv Kapur said the technology is designed for India’s growing cable TV market. With the December 2014 analog shut-off deadline, India’s cable TV market is poised for a network upgrade to satisfy the needs of its growing TV viewing population.

Broadcom uses ultra low cost integrated DVB-C tuner, demodulator, MPEG2 A/V decoder, regulators controller, A/V outputs and RF Modulator replacing many discrete components with a single integrated SoC for a high level of integration and cost efficiency.

A new adaptive Volume Leveling Support automatically maintains constant volume across commercial, programme and channel changes.

It has integrated Third Generation Silicon Tuner, field tested extensively in Indian conditions. “This will meet the Indian cable TV operator‘s requirements and integration capabilities at lower overall costs,” said Kapur.

The Fast Boot-up and Ultra Low Power management controller reduces average power consumption up to 65 per cent in a typical day and fast resume technology enable quick booting to video in as little as few seconds.

It comes in a two- layer reference design size of only 4 x 2.5 inches with minimal external components. Broadcom’s field-proven reference software stack and application available in an ultra small memory footprint accelerates design, qualifications and deployment.

This Broadcom product is now shipping in volumes across the globe. STB designs are now ready for immediate deployment in India.

MUMBAI: Film exhibitor PVR Cinemas has chosen workforce management solutions from Kronos Incorporated to manage its workforce.

As one of the largest cinema chains in India with 38 cinemas and 166 screens spread over 22 cities and a plan to grow to 300 screens, centralisation and workforce visibility was a key reason for choosing Kronos to keep pace with the company’s rapid growth.

PVR Cinemas selected time and attendance, absence management, and scheduling solutions from Kronos, in addition to InTouch time clocks and mobile applications for use by all 3,700 employees.

With Kronos, PVR Cinemas will move all workforce data collection to one system, which will enable improved visibility and control. Also, Kronos will help eliminate all paper-based manual processes leading to improved productivity and reduced costs. With Kronos, managers at the cinema will more effectively schedule employees and gain real-time visibility into their workforce and make quicker decisions to ensure better customer service.

Kronos mobile applications delivered as native applications on the Android, Blackberry, and iPhone/iPad platforms will further help managers manage their employees.

Kronos VP, GM international Dick Cahill said, “It is critical for entertainment companies to manage their workforce effectively to ensure prompt and delightful customer service. We’re pleased to be working with PVR Cinemas on a workforce management project that will help improve workforce productivity, ensure customer delight, and help PVR Cinemas’ vision to remain India’s most premium and preferred retail entertainment company.”