ITV

Tag: 4G

  • Reliance Retail to develop market for Mukesh Ambani’s Jio

    Reliance Retail to develop market for Mukesh Ambani’s Jio

    MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, which will soon launch its pan-India 4G datacom services under the brandname ‘Jio’, has assigned the mandate to develop the market for compatible devices and drive its growth to its retail arm – Reliance Retail.

     

    As per an IANS report, Ambani in a letter to the Reliance Retail team wrote, “Devices are cornerstone in bringing broadband to the masses. The long-term evolution (LTE) ecosystem for devices in India is nascent.”

     

    Ambani also announced that Reliance Jio MD Sandip Das will step down from his current role and drive the initiative by joining the board of Reliance Retail to mentor the Jio division.

     

    The report quotes sources as saying that Ambani is attaching much importance to the 4G data telecom space and sees it as one of the major drivers of growth within the $75-billion group.

     

    The next-gen of the company, Isha and Akash Ambani, recently, secured approvals to join Reliance Jio Infocomm’s board of directors.

     

    Das had personally sought a shift in his role to mentor the Jio initiative of Reliance Industries, said the report.

     

    “It will take the resources, deep conviction and substantial expertise of Reliance to build an LTE device ecosystem to a level similar to the availability of 3G devices,” said Das, who has been associated with a host of Indian and global telecom firms in the past, in the report.

     

    And added, “As Reliance Retail is building electronic goods sales stores and channels to pioneer and dominate this ecosystem, it will be a wonderful challenge for me to mentor this.”

     

  • Alcatel’s smartphone ‘Onetouch Fire C’ launches on Flipkart’s Big Billion Day Sale

    Alcatel’s smartphone ‘Onetouch Fire C’ launches on Flipkart’s Big Billion Day Sale

    BENGALURU:  A number of companies have said that they are working on the $20-25 smartphone for India. Alcatel Onetouch (Alcatel) has come in close with a smartphone that seems to have features that just about slot it into the smartphone category, a little above the features phone at a price of Rs 1990, or a little more than $30 – the ‘Onetouch Fire C’.

     

    The company is targeting first time users of smartphones that want to upgrade from the basic or the features phone in a very price sensitive market like India. The Onetouch Fire C will be available exclusively through Flipkart starting 6 October, or Flipkart’s Big Billion Day (Sale Day), for which the company has initiated a huge multimedia campaign. Flipkart feels that a lot of first time internet users will access the net on the Big Billion Day and hence push up sales of Onetouch Fire C. Flipkart has not planned a special campaign for individual products which include a Lenovo launch on 6 December 2014.

     

    However, Alcatel plans to push the Onetouch Fire C digitally for now, and through the print media sometime around Diwali. Its creatives are done globally, while media buying is through Ad Syndicate and Zenith Optimedia.

     

    “Even today, 71 per cent of market in India is feature phones, while 29 per cent is smartphones. Of that 29 per cent, between 30-40 per cent of the market is for the Rs 5000 or lower smartphone, and it is this market that we are targeting primarily with the Fire C,” said Alcatel Onetouch regional director APAC BU Praveen Valecha. The Onetouch Fire C is a 2G phone and the company is likely to come up with an upgraded low cost model sometime in November or December this year, which could have 3G or even 4G capability.

     

    “As a launch partner for Firefox OS, we know that our customers love its simple user interface and smooth navigation. We see a great deal of opportunity to bring these benefits to more consumers on a greater variety of devices at most affordable price and we are sure of success as it’s an innovative product selling on Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce platform,” said Valecha.

     

    Here’s what a press release has to say about the Onetouch Fire C:

     

    Offering Firefox OS features at entry-level price; the Fire C is a pocket-sized smartphone that is designed to make sharing simple. Its 3.5” HVGA screen and 1 GHZ processor offer smooth and fast Firefox OS apps experience. Complete with mobile broadband and stereo FM radio RDS, the Fire C2G offers all of the features needed to capture, share and enjoy content. Firefox is totally a web HTML based OS which gives best user experience on-the-go. It constitutes marketplace and best adaptive applications search along with rich media and social messaging apps support. A unique dynamic UI will be a big plus for the phone.

     

    Key features include:

    Onetouch Fire C – 2G: OS version – Firefox 1.3, Compact, pocket friendly design,  3.5” HVGA display, dual sim, 1.0 GHz, 1.3 MP camera; Colour – bluish black and dark chocolate; Multilingual support – English, Bangla, Tamil and Hindi languages.

  • COAI gets a new core member in Reliance Jio Infocomm

    COAI gets a new core member in Reliance Jio Infocomm

    MUMBAI:  In a new addition to the core members of Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI), Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) has joined telecom industry body, reported PTI. With this, its core members have risen to seven.

     

    After being at loggerheads regarding spectrum allocation issues, COAI and RJIL have finally put their problems behind and joined hands. This move precedes RJIL’s pan-India rollout of 4G services next year. The company holds pan India broadband wireless access spectrum that can be used for 4G services.

     

    Prior to RJIL joining the association, COAI had six core members — Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Unitech Wireless (now Telewings Communications) and Videocon Communications (now Videocon Telecom).

     

    Talking about the new member, COAI’s director general Rajan S Mathews said, “We are delighted that Reliance Jio Infocomm has joined us in our common endeavour to roll out innovative and affordable mobile broadband services to the citizens of India.”

     

    COAI represents mobile service providers, telecom equipment manufacturers and other communication services and product companies in India. Members of the telecom body jointly have about 68 percent of subscribers and around 71 percent of revenue share in the market.

     

    Besides its core members, it also has 12 associate members. COAI has opened the associate membership to social media companies like Facebook. Other associate members include Alcatel-Lucent India, Cisco Systems India, Ericsson India, IBM India, GTL Infrastructure, Huawei Technologies, Indus Towers, Intel Corporation, Nokia Networks, Qualcomm India and ZTE India.

     

    Corroborating the news, RJIL’s managing director, Sandip Das said, “We are pleased to join the COAI, where along with other operators, we hope to create an operating environment that will help us realise this ambition for all Indians as an industry, in the overall context of our nation’s development.”

     

    In addition to fixed and wireless broadband connectivity, RJIL also plans to provide various digital services in key domains such as education, healthcare, security, financial services, government-citizen interfaces and entertainment. In the past, the company has also entered into agreements with telecom companies including COAI member Bharti Airtel and its mobile tower arm Bharti Infratel.

  • DoT in favour of 10 per cent custom duty on telecom gear

    DoT in favour of 10 per cent custom duty on telecom gear

    MUMBAI: Following the uproar after the union budget proposed imposing 10 per cent import duty on telecom products not covered under Information Technology Agreement (ITA) 1 of WTO to boost domestic production of telecom products, media reports suggest that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) wants the Finance Ministry to retain the 10 per cent customs duty on specified telecom products as proposed in the budget.

     

    According to a report in Economic Times, a letter written by the DoT to the revenue secretary said, “Imposition of customs duty on specified telecom products will create a level playing field for domestic manufacturers who suffer severe disability due to poor infrastructure and inverted duty.”

     

    India is a signatory of ITA 1 as a member of World Trade Organisation. Under the pact, member countries should allow duty free import of products falling under eight categories covering telecom, computers and semiconductors like mobile phones and electronic chips.

     

    The telecom products mostly fall in the category of 2G, 3G as well as the 4G equipment, including switches and broadband equipment. These products are outside the list of about 220 electronic items on which India has a zero duty commitment under the World Trade Organisation’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA-1).  

     

    The Government, also, recently declared set top boxes as a part of telecom network. The move exempts STBs from various taxes and duties, bringing down prices, which the government hopes to pass on to consumers. In the first and second phase of cable digitisation, imported STBs accounted for about 95 per cent market share.  

     

    The letter also added that “India is under no obligation to allow duty free imports of items not covered in ITA-1.”

  • Reliance Jio to share Videocon Telecom’s towers for 4G

    Reliance Jio to share Videocon Telecom’s towers for 4G

    MUMBAI: In order to make 4G roll out as smooth as possible, Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm has tied up with Videocon Telecom in a strategic tower infra sharing agreement. This includes 500 towers in the areas of Bihar, Jharkhand and west and east Uttar Pradesh.

     

    Through this deal, Reliance Jio will be able to save costs, get better network outreach and offer seamless network services to consumers. In future, Videocon Telecom will explore possibilities with Reliance Jio in terms of 4G network sharing, optical fibre network sharing, internet broadband services and other such opportunities.

     

    Videocon is also looking at rolling out 4G services later in the year in eight states in partnership with Chinese company Huawei. It has already launched its 4G LTE FDD services on 1800 MHz across six circles. The rates for 4G will be at 2G and 3G prices, it had said earlier in the year.

     

    Videocon plans to deploy additional 6000 towers by the end of the year for its 4G services.

  • Reliance Jio to see phase-wise launch in 2015

    Reliance Jio to see phase-wise launch in 2015

    MUMBAI: The annual general meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries was much awaited. With the talk around the company only growing in the past few weeks after it acquired Network18, eyes were fixed on the probable outcome of this meeting. The 40th AGM which was held today, saw RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani highlighting the future of the much awaited 4G broadband network in the country under the brand of  Reliance Jio.

     

    “I had shared the vision of this initiative, Jio- of a digital India- last year and of the unique opportunity that we have to maximise the benefits of the digital age. Digital services will help contribute significantly to the Indian economy and help improve lives of our 1.25 billion countrymen,” he said while addressing shareholders at the AGM.

     

    He also informed the shareholders that limited set of trials for Jio are already underway and the expanded trials would begin from August 2014 which would continue through 2014 and early 2015. “The year 2015 will see the phased launch of Reliance Jio across India. Millions of customers would have started to use the digital platform and services in their daily lives. The fruits of the tremendous value created by this (Jio) Rs 70,000 crore initiative would start to flow,” he stated.

     

    The broadband service will cover all states at launch accounting for 90 per cent urban India and 215,000 villages. Eventually it will cover over 600,000 villages. “They would ensure that every Indian has access to the state-of-the-art digital connectivity and services that are on par with or better than anywhere else in the world,” said Ambani proudly. 

     

    Assuring the shareholders about its future, Ambani emphasised, “Reliance Jio will be one of the largest job-creating and wealth-creating business initiatives in India.” Currently 10,000 full time employees are working on Jio along with 30,000 professionals from Reliance’s partners and vendors across the world. This apart, he said that 100,000 people are working across India in creating the digital infrastructure backbone for the network. “Millions of new entrepreneurs and jobs can be expected to spring up in the tertiary and secondary sectors in new and innovative digital enterprises and services,” he added.

     

    Throwing light on the reason for acquisition of Network18, Ambani said, “The acquisition through an open offer of Network18 media and investments and its subsidiary TV 18 broadcast by Independent Media Trust, the sole beneficiary of which is Reliance Industries is one aspect of the digital services play.” He stated that this would strengthen its 4G business at the intersect of telecom, web and digital commerce and the media through a suit of premiere digital properties.

     

    The reason for strengthening its large projects, one of which is Jio is to get Reliance Industries closer finding its way into the presetigious list of  Fortune 50 companies. He added: “Our efforts and focus over the next two years will be to intensify these initiatives and have them reach out to more citizens across the social spectrum. Reliance will be moving from investing in India’s economic future to integrating deeper with India’s social fabric.” 

     

    The AGM was also significant as it saw the appointment of Mukesh Ambani’s spouse Nita Ambani on the Reliance Industries board. Ambani stated that she was being appointed – as she was an “accomplished individual, the chairperson of the group’s CSR initiative, Reliance Foundation, which has done exceedingly well – “for furthering the group’s growth agenda.”

     

    Industry watchers have been speculating  whether she will have a role to play in the Network18 group, which RIL is in the process of acquiring totally. The megacorp has denied that this “will come to pass, at least for now.”

    Stay tuned in!!!

     

     

     

  • Airtel and Apple launch India’s first 4G on mobile

    Airtel and Apple launch India’s first 4G on mobile

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa along with Apple recently launched India’s first 4G on mobile. Airtel customers in Bengaluru on Apple iPhone 5s or 5c will be able to experience 4G on their mobile at the current 3G prices for a ‘FLYing’ internet browsing experience while on the move. Customers have to just change their existing SIM to a 4G SIM to start enjoying 4G on mobile without any need to migrate from their existing data plan.

     
    Airtel mobile customers both prepaid and postpaid can experience 4G on mobile to experience never before capabilities like high definition video streaming with zero buffering, download 10 movies in less than 30 minutes, upload full holiday albums in less than five minutes by uploading two high quality photos per second and connect multiple devices without any experience constraint. 3G customers in Bengaluru on iPhone 5s or 5c can start enjoying 4G speeds at same price points as their existing 3G plan/pack.

    Customers on 2G/GPRS data plans/packs can also opt for any of the 3G plans/packs available and enjoy 4G speeds. In addition to these plans, for heavy data users, Airtel also announced the launch of a new 4G plan giving customers 10 GB 4G data for Rs 1000. While data browsing will be on 4G network, voice calls will be routed on 2G/3G seamlessly with the CSFB (circuit switched fall back) technology.

     
    Bharti Airtel India director – consumer business Srini Gopalan said: “Airtel has always set the technology trends in India and was the first operator to introduce 4G to the country. The Information Technology capital of India saw the advent of 4G in 2012 and today we are proud to announce the launch of the much awaited Airtel 4G services on mobile in partnership with Apple. We will together give customers in Bengaluru the power to upgrade to cutting edge 4G LTE technology at no additional cost. As a brand we are committed to enriching lives of millions by giving them the best user experience and invite our data savvy customers in the city to enjoy this world class data experience.”

     

  • Brothers Ambani sign telecom deal

    Brothers Ambani sign telecom deal

    MUMBAI: The news shook the corporate world, though it had been speculated about for some time. The brothers Ambani – Mukesh and Anil – who had reportedly been warring for a few years kissed and made up today.

    The duo announced that elder brother Mukesh’s Reliance Jio Infocomm (a unit of Reliance Industries) will be sharing younger sibling Anil’s Reliance Communications 120,000 km nationwide fibre optic network to help roll out his fourth generation broadband and telecom services in India.

    The filing with the Bombay stock exchange says that the deal is worth Rs 12 billion which is being paid as a one time indefeasible right to use (IRU) fee for sharing the fibre optic network. It allows Reliance Communications to reciprocally share Reliance Jio’s fibre optic network infrastructure too.

    The fibre optic network was built by Mukesh when Reliance was one entity, but was then handed over to Anil when the brothers split the empire their father built.

    The deal is likely to help both companies, say analysts. It will accelerate the pace at which Reliance Jio Infocomm gets to market with 4G. It will also help Reliance Communications, which has been saddled with debt in excess of $6 billion (Rs 37,000 crore).

    Both companies say that the deal is the first of many such arrangements they could end up signing.

  • MobiTV moves past two mn subscriber mark

    MobiTV moves past two mn subscriber mark

    MUMBAI: MobiTV, which provides mobile and broadband television and music services in the US and other countries has exceeded two million paying subscribers worldwide.

    It has more than doubled its fan-base in less than one year.

     
    MobiTV CEO, chairman and co-founder Dr. Phillip Alvelda says, “The recent hype in the mobile media space isn’t all that surprising given the new contenders looking to enter the marketplace some time later this year. But nothing tells an unequivocal story of success quite like a subscriber base soaring past two million and growing faster than ever
    before.”

    MobiTV has more than 100 television channels worldwide, and nearly 40 channels in its US offering including many of the very same live television stations available in homes via
    cable; support for nearly all commercial network standards including existing operator networks as well as future 4G networks such as Wimax and DVB-H; a collection of supported mobile and broadband-connected devices; unlimited channel capacity; the first-ever interactive advertising platform complete with m-commerce capabilities; the industry’s highest
    video quality running real live television direct from the networks at up to full NTSC resolution and as high as 30 frames-per-second.

     
    MobiTV president and co-founder Paul Scanlan says, “After more than three years of delivering real live television and video on demand services commercially for millions of customers, on almost every type of mobile or broadband network, MobiTV has quickly become the industry’s go-to resource for mobile content delivery.

    “There’s nothing more satisfying than helping our carrier partners monetize their newly deployed, multi-billion dollar 3G networks with a next generation platform that seamlessly
    transitions for 4G, Wimax and beyond.”