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Tag: COAI

  • COAI vs. TRAI: Is incumbents’ wrath justified?

    COAI vs. TRAI: Is incumbents’ wrath justified?

    When an industry organisation goes out on a limb to hit out against one of its own members, it raises questions. When the industry body is a powerful one like Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI), it should raise eyebrows all round.

    In a rare instance, COAI, an apex body representing Indian and global telecom companies providing telecoms-related converged services (voice, broadband, VAS, content, etc) in the country, went public with its grievances against Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) alleging the regulator’s actions (rather proposed ones) were biased against incumbent players.

    What COAI meant is that a discussion paper of  TRAI, which has a possibility of forming basis of a regulation in future, is designed to favour new players in the telecoms convergence arena (read Reliance JIO).

    Oh boy! This industry body-regulator face-off  is not only juicy but is a curious one on many counts too.

    First, it’s rare for an industry organisation comprising companies with  competing business interests to go public with a view that hits out against one of its own members.

    Second, the under-current of panic (or is it arrogance?) amongst existing established telcos at the arrival of  a  newcomer may indicate to lack of self-confidence though it must be admitted that the cash-rich new kid on the block has the potential of starting a pricing bloodbath that can turn the bottomlines of existing players scarlet.

    Third and last, going public accusing the regulator of bias and appealing to the government to intervene may not be the correct way to address the issue of bias, if at all it exists. Simply because getting the government involved as a third umpire could be slippery slope.

    So, why is COAI hitting out at TRAI and insinuating that the regulator’s discussion papers on inter-connects and related issues are drafted to benefit Reliance JIO, which has publicly stated has invested about Rs. Rs. 1,34,000 crore so far in the project?

    COAI’s allegations revolve around  the way  telecoms business is done via inter-connections (where a service provider lets its customer hook on to another network in the absence of its own infrastructure in an area), the charges levied therein and the fact that certain aspects of the business is being tried to be removed to ease the entry path of newcomer Reliance JIO. The latter has  claimed to have 15 lakh customers in a test/trial phase with over 50 per cent call drops in the absence of other telcos refusing to interconnect despite the fact Reliance JIO’s network is quite widespread in the country.

    An industry and trade organisation normally settles differences and conflicting interests of members (that is bound to exist and should be allowed to flourish in the true spirit of transparency and democracy)  beyond the pale of public glare as a divided house is not taken as seriously  by  target audience.

    But by washing part of the dirty linen in public via the executive office, COAI may end up undermining its own credibility as an organisation representing the telecoms sector in India.

    Thus, even if there are differences of opinion (and business interest) within COAI, the dissenting note(s), if there were any, also should have been played  out so transparency was maintained.

    This brings us to incumbents’ sense of entitlement.

    Existing telcos (and many other players in other businesses too), all claiming to have subscriber bases in millions in the world’s largest market in terms of numbers, have often cried foul at the arrival of a disruptive newcomer or technology saying in the interest of a level playing field the new entities should also be regulated and restricted.
    Reliance JIO could turn out to be as ruthless and apathetic to customer satisfaction as some other existing players in the future, but that’s no reason to create more hurdles in its path or object to its test services.

    One wonders where was the level playing field when Indian telecom customers, plagued by indifferent implementation of consumer protection laws and falling quality of services, turned towards cheaper and newer technologies to communicate? And when it became apparent to incumbents that the new techs were more efficient (for example, OTT services, including Skype, WhatsApp, etc), again the bogey of level-playing field was raised to seek regulatory interventions.

    A status quo is the best scenario for existing players all over the globe; and especially so in India where any change or possibility of  betterment of consumer satisfaction is resisted more efficiently than providing a service. The recent Delhi taxi and auto-rickshaw unions stir against cab aggregators like Ola and Uber is a great case in point of the sense of entitlement that existing players in business and politics want to have in India; irrespective of (pathetic) quality of services and low customer satisfaction.

    Though Reliance JIO is capable of  taking care of  its interests in all possible ways, as is evident in the letter it sent out to Telecoms Secretary JS Deepak earlier this month rebutting COAI’s allegations point-by-point,  the double-standards of existing telcos is not only confounding but also goes against the grain of level-playing field that COAI and its members have flaunted so often in the past.

    (The author is Consulting Editor of Indiantelevision.com)

  • TRAI-COAI spar on interconnect charges consultation paper

    TRAI-COAI spar on interconnect charges consultation paper

    MUMBAI: Telco watchdog  the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has garbaged allegations by the Cellular Operators Associaiton of India (COAI) that its latest consultation paper on call connect charges was “unfair” on incumbent operators and favouring newer entrants. TRAI chairman RS Sharma told PTI that the allegations against the regulator are “baseless.”

    TRAI maintained that it will continue to work according to its mandate. “Trai will continue to work in the areas in which it is mandated to work…We will continue to perform functions assigned in the Trai Act, with regard to consumer protection, Quality of Service, encouraging competition, fair play and growth of industry,” Sharma said.

    COAI had questioned the regulator’s urgency in initiating the process of  reviewing interconnect charges – paid by one operator to another for connecting calls, which the association claimed “favours new entrants.” TRAI  said it had undertaken this review in the backdrop of 4G and internet telephony changing the way consumers communicate.
    Currently, termination charges for a mobile to mobile local and national long distance call is pegged at 14 paise per minute while the termination charges for international incoming call to wireless and wired line stands at 53 paise per minute.

    Trai had sought fresh views on whether this should be continued or whether a new way of computing could be considered which is Bill and Keep (BAK) – to maximize consumer welfare, adoption of more efficient technologies and growth of the telecom sector. Under the BAK method, each telco bills its own subscribers for outgoing traffic that it sends to the  other interconnecting network and keeps the revenue received from its subscribers.

    COAI has finger pointed at the regulator’s suggestion, saying it essentially favours new operators as they would  not have to pass any payments to existing older operators, while the latter would end up incurring costs. “This is a misguided effort from the TRAI that will help new entrants at the cost of the incumbent. We are extremely disturbed by this, this further tilts the level playing field,” COAI director general Rajan Matthews had stated yesterday.

    This is not the first time that India’s private sector telecom operators have tried to put pressure on the regulator.
    Even in the case of net neutrality and zero-rating plans of telecom operators, the telcos had termed certain orders of TRAI without any basis that did not give the telcos a level playing field against new technologies (OTT services like WhatsApp, Skype, etc) and their backers.

    Matthews told PTI that his association   had sought a meeting with the telecom minister and secretary “so that the matter can be debated in a transparent manner.”

    The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd, which has a pan-India licence for providing telecom services by a subsidiary company under Reliance Jio brand name, is slated to launch its services formally later this year. Reliance Jio is also slated to offer its consumers hi-speed 4G broadband services on low-priced Lyf handsets at  monthly subscription rates, telecoms observer opine, that are likely to start a blood-bath in the telecoms sector.

    RIL also controls the Network18 media group, founded by Raghav Bahl, which owns several TV channels and online and digital properties.

    In recent times, incumbent telecoms operators have been severely criticised within and outside the government for the low quality of services and rampant call-drops that TRAI had tried to rectify by proposing fines to benefit consumers.

    This move and other such regulatory initiatives too were criticised by telecos and various telecom industry bodies like COAI and Broadband India Forum.

    Interestingly, Reliance Jio  is also a member of COAI, though, according to media reports, its position on the present round of TRAI bashing by telcos is not known and unclear.

    ALSO READ:

    BIF bats for OTT regulations & level-playing field for all in Net Neutrality debate

  • TRAI-COAI spar on interconnect charges consultation paper

    TRAI-COAI spar on interconnect charges consultation paper

    MUMBAI: Telco watchdog  the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has garbaged allegations by the Cellular Operators Associaiton of India (COAI) that its latest consultation paper on call connect charges was “unfair” on incumbent operators and favouring newer entrants. TRAI chairman RS Sharma told PTI that the allegations against the regulator are “baseless.”

    TRAI maintained that it will continue to work according to its mandate. “Trai will continue to work in the areas in which it is mandated to work…We will continue to perform functions assigned in the Trai Act, with regard to consumer protection, Quality of Service, encouraging competition, fair play and growth of industry,” Sharma said.

    COAI had questioned the regulator’s urgency in initiating the process of  reviewing interconnect charges – paid by one operator to another for connecting calls, which the association claimed “favours new entrants.” TRAI  said it had undertaken this review in the backdrop of 4G and internet telephony changing the way consumers communicate.
    Currently, termination charges for a mobile to mobile local and national long distance call is pegged at 14 paise per minute while the termination charges for international incoming call to wireless and wired line stands at 53 paise per minute.

    Trai had sought fresh views on whether this should be continued or whether a new way of computing could be considered which is Bill and Keep (BAK) – to maximize consumer welfare, adoption of more efficient technologies and growth of the telecom sector. Under the BAK method, each telco bills its own subscribers for outgoing traffic that it sends to the  other interconnecting network and keeps the revenue received from its subscribers.

    COAI has finger pointed at the regulator’s suggestion, saying it essentially favours new operators as they would  not have to pass any payments to existing older operators, while the latter would end up incurring costs. “This is a misguided effort from the TRAI that will help new entrants at the cost of the incumbent. We are extremely disturbed by this, this further tilts the level playing field,” COAI director general Rajan Matthews had stated yesterday.

    This is not the first time that India’s private sector telecom operators have tried to put pressure on the regulator.
    Even in the case of net neutrality and zero-rating plans of telecom operators, the telcos had termed certain orders of TRAI without any basis that did not give the telcos a level playing field against new technologies (OTT services like WhatsApp, Skype, etc) and their backers.

    Matthews told PTI that his association   had sought a meeting with the telecom minister and secretary “so that the matter can be debated in a transparent manner.”

    The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd, which has a pan-India licence for providing telecom services by a subsidiary company under Reliance Jio brand name, is slated to launch its services formally later this year. Reliance Jio is also slated to offer its consumers hi-speed 4G broadband services on low-priced Lyf handsets at  monthly subscription rates, telecoms observer opine, that are likely to start a blood-bath in the telecoms sector.

    RIL also controls the Network18 media group, founded by Raghav Bahl, which owns several TV channels and online and digital properties.

    In recent times, incumbent telecoms operators have been severely criticised within and outside the government for the low quality of services and rampant call-drops that TRAI had tried to rectify by proposing fines to benefit consumers.

    This move and other such regulatory initiatives too were criticised by telecos and various telecom industry bodies like COAI and Broadband India Forum.

    Interestingly, Reliance Jio  is also a member of COAI, though, according to media reports, its position on the present round of TRAI bashing by telcos is not known and unclear.

    ALSO READ:

    BIF bats for OTT regulations & level-playing field for all in Net Neutrality debate

  • Telcos support net neutrality but root for checks on OTT platforms

    Telcos support net neutrality but root for checks on OTT platforms

    NEW DELHI: While supporting net neutrality and firmly holding that access should be made available to all on a non-discriminatory manner, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has said that there is a need to evolve the regulatory framework for Over The Top (OTT) communication services to prevent various regulatory imbalances between the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and the OTT communication players.

     

    It is response to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) consultation paper on OTT, COAI has said a “common regulatory framework for businesses providing the same services is the need of the hour and will benefit all players as it will reduce legal ambiguity and prevent unnecessary litigations.”

     

    At the outset, COAI said it welcomed the entry of OTT players and believes that they play an important role and offer many new services. However, the body added that, “it is pertinent to note that some of the services that are offered by the OTT players such as messaging/instant messaging and VOIP telephony are perfect substitutes of the services that can be offered by the telcos. These OTT players have rightly been classified by the Authority as “OTT Communication Services” players and their services are in direct competition with the licensed communication services offered by the TSPs.”

     

     The COAI wants not only net neutrality, but also net equality – the need to connect the one billion citizens of India, who are still not connected to the internet, by facilitating an open, inclusive and affordable access to the Internet, and with the same rules being made applicable to the same services.

     

    There is a need to review the regulatory framework and “we submit that the time is ripe for a comprehensive review to build a regulatory neutral, forward looking and transparent framework that ensures that the principles of “net equality” and “same service, same rules” are implemented.”

     

     “The need of the hour is to connect the 80 per cent of India’s population, which is still unconnected; and our campaign “Sabka Internet, Sabka Vikas” reaffirms our commitment to the Government’s vision for “Broadband for All” and Digital India, for socio-economic inclusion of all strata of the society. We believe a customer should be free to choose the device, technology and access platform – paid or subsidized, as long as the Internet is always open in terms of access in a non-discriminatory manner. Also, we offer choice and do not block or provide preferential access to any website or application, thereby safeguarding Net Neutrality,” COAI said.

     

    Some stakeholders have suggested that there are already adequate laws controlling the operations of OTT players such as Information Technology Act, Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code etc. It is pertinent to point out here that such laws are general laws, which in its terms and effect apply to the entire country irrespective of the sector and framework in which they operate. While these laws are important and useful in a general context, they cannot be said to be a substitute of a common regulatory framework, which would govern and regulate similarly placed service providers and give them a common platform for the provision of services on common terms, which would ensure a level playing field.

     

    The telecom industry has already invested over Rs 7,50,000 crore in setting up world class mobile networks over the last 20 years and is looking at investing another Rs 5,00,000 crore in the next five years to roll-out into rural areas and also upgrade existing networks to connect one billion Indians to the internet. Moreover, going by the Government’s commitments, the Digital India Programme itself will require investments to the tune of Rs 113,000 crore. Additionally, the Planning Commission’s 12th Five Year Plan requires an investment of Rs 943,899 crore with 93 per cent of the total investment expected to come from the private sector.

     

    The Indian mobile telephony industry today, is in dire financial straits with a cumulative debt of over Rs 300,000 crore, and a one per cent return on investments, with many operators even making negative returns on their investments. This situation puts at risk the nation’s agenda of “Broadband for All”, as private operators will be unable to attract additional investments in the sector, required to support the ambitions of the government.

     

    COAI said there were various regulatory imbalances that existed between the telecom operators and OTT communication players. “We would like to submit that the TSPs bear the cost of infrastructure, spectrum, and payment of license fees and spectrum usage charges, which are not applicable to the OTT communication players. The TSPs also have the obligations related to roll-out, meeting quality of service parameters and security related obligations. Many of these do not apply to OTT communication players, which result in an arbitrage opportunity. The National Security and consumer security, safety and privacy are of paramount importance, and should not be compromised at any cost. The security framework has evolved over the years along with the growth and proliferation of telecom services and all the telecom operators provide these services under a strict licensing framework, including compliances with the security conditions and service standards. The extensive and stringent security conditions laid down and required to be met by the licensed TSPs are not applicable to the OTT Communication players. Most of the OTT players do not meet the encryption and decryption requirements of the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA).”

     

    In response to a Parliamentary question on security threats from OTT applications, COAI said that the Telecom Ministry has acknowledged the fact that security/LEAs are facing difficulty while dealing with encrypted communication services provided by OTT service providers and the same may also be used by anti-national and criminal elements, posing a security threat. Lack of regulation on communication related application services could lead to serious national security and data privacy implications because they bypass the regulatory regime enforced on licensed service providers. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that the principles of “Same service, Same rules” are implemented.

     

    Referring to claims by some stakeholders that Internet Based Services (IBS) players should not pay for use of the TSPs network over and above data charges paid by customers, COAI highlighted that increased data usage fails to compensate for loss of revenues to TSPs arising due to OTT services. Further, these services demand high-speed networks that require substantial investment in infrastructure, particularly for the development of the broadband infrastructure both from the fixed and mobile perspective. “We hereby advocate for the Open and Pro-innovation Environment wherein pricing flexibility is provided to the operators and the choice is provided to the customers.”

     

    On traffic management for different OTT services, COAI said traffic management allows operators to secure their networks, prioritize time-critical services and match scarce network resources to service requirements. It is an essential function of networks to meet the performance expectations of different types of traffic to ensure better customer experience. Traffic management is a tool for consumer benefit not consumer harm as it provides a number of clear benefits to end users in terms of improved performance, innovation, consumer protection and efficiency.

     

    On the contention that TSPs should not be allowed to implement non ­ price based differentiation as it would be grossly uncompetitive and would kill competition leading to all traffic being cornered by a few, the Association said there is a need to look at the internet as a two sided market, which involves the consumer and the content app provider. The TSP is the platform that market together and needs to be given the flexibility of implementing based differentiation.

  • COAI’s net neutrality campaign garners support of 40+ lakh Indians

    COAI’s net neutrality campaign garners support of 40+ lakh Indians

    MUMBAI: Cellular Operators Association of India’s (COAI) campaign – ‘Sab ka Internet, Sab ka Vikas’ – for net neutrality, net equality and consumer choice, has received support from over 40 lakh Indian mobile users in under a week.

     

    Launched on 22 April, 2015, the campaign is about making the internet accessible and affordable for every Indian. In addition, it is about ensuring that everyone has the right to choose what they want to access, ensuring access to solutions that make the internet affordable for all, and applying the same rules for the same services to all. 

     

    The campaign was announced by CEOs and representatives of the member companies of COAI on 24 April in New Delhi. 

     

    COAI members had reaffirmed their commitment to the government’s ‘Digital India’ programme and to promote net equality, so as to facilitate an open, inclusive and affordable access to the internet for every Indian.

     

    COAI director general Rajan S. Mathews said, “The campaign championed the cause of customers choosing what they would like to access in the web space, benefitting from affordable internet packages and with the same rules being applicable to services as well. COAI started the outreach effort to ensure mobile customers have the freedom to benefit from the power of the internet in the way they would wish to. This includes the choice of platform, device and technology.”

     

    “We respect the choice of our customers and support the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digital India.’ #SabkaInternet has always been the essence of our philosophy and the billions of dollars investments made by all the telecom operators in the space,” added Mathews.

     

    SMSes and voice calls were leveraged to promote the core thought of the campaign and to garner the support of a large number of people across the country. To ensure ease of understanding, the messages were conveyed in 12 local languages across India. This medium was intentionally selected so as to be able to reach out to and include the views of the millions of mobile customers who are yet to be connected to the internet.

     

    In the past week, more than 40 lakh people showed their support for the cause, while about 10 per cent chose to opt out.

  • COAI reaffirms support for net neutrality; industry speaks in favour too

    COAI reaffirms support for net neutrality; industry speaks in favour too

    MUMBAI: While the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has reaffirmed its support to net neutrality, the body has also made a strong pitch for ‘Net Equality’ that will enable access to Internet for a billion Indians as part of the Government’s Digital India vision.

     

    The Association has urged all stakeholders to have a comprehensive and informed debate on the subject of net neutrality keeping in mind the requirements of India and its citizens. “An important and complex subject such as this, which is still being debated in many countries, and has taken years to conclude in many other countries, is the subject of litigation in some, should not be left to the opinion of a few,” COAI says in an official statement.

     

    Clearing misconceptions that have arisen from the recent public debate over net neutrality and concerns over operators who are trying to control the consumers’ access to the Internet, COAI said, “We support an open Internet and believe that consumers should decide what to do online. Our job is to enable consumers to benefit from that freedom. We offer choice and do not block or provide any preferential access to any web site or app.”

     

    COAI also underlined its commitment to the ‘Digital India’ story and has called for an open, inclusive and affordable Internet access for every Indian. The industry association added that India’s telecom revolution has empowered over 950 million citizens through affordable services and the Internet revolution must now touch every citizen of the country.

     

    The Association has said that its members are fully committed to investing in the Government of India’s ‘Digital India’ vision and need an enabling environment that promotes the growth of the entire Internet ecosystem.

     

    Create an enabling and equal environment

     

    COAI has pointed out that without infrastructure and investment, there will be no Internet access. “The operators have invested billions of dollars in license and spectrum fees as well as network roll-outs. Yet the industry still makes negative return on the capital employed,” read the statement.

     

    The industry estimates that the country would need an additional capital outlay of Rs 300,000 – Rs 500,000 crore over the next 10 years in spectrum, new technology, equipment, towers, optical fibre backbone, etc., to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Digital India’, and connect one billion Indians to the world of Internet. The need of the hour, therefore, is to have a sustainable industry that has the ability to invest in growth of data services and connectivity to all.

     

    Promote innovation to enable Internet for all      

     

    India has over 950 million mobile subscribers, which is the second largest in the world. This growth was enabled by innovation across the ecosystem – in the ever expanding complex networks, outsourcing models, infrastructure sharing, innovative pricing structures – that allowed operators to offer customers some of the most innovative and affordable call rates in the world.

     

    “We need the same spirit to connect a billion Indians to the Internet. This means innovations across the ecosystem – affordable smartphones, more efficient networks, even more broad ranging applications (especially in areas such as education, health, governance) and pricing flexibility – that promotes greater digital inclusion. Only then can our citizens in rural India, or from a lower economic strata, be empowered through Internet access,” said COAI.

     

    Industry Speak

     

    Earlier last week, Times Group committed to withdraw from Internet.org and appealed fellow publishers to follow suit and support net neutrality.

     

    The Times of India and its language websites like Navbharat Times, Maharashtra Times, Ei Samay and Nav Gujarat Samay, who have together been spearheading the movement for net-neutrality in India, appealed to all publishers to jointly withdraw from Internet.org.

     

    The group’s properties such as TimesJobs and Maharashtra Times, where its competitors are not on zero-rate platforms, will also pull out of Internet.org. As forThe Times of India itself, the group has committed to withdraw from Internet.org if its direct competitors – India Today, NDTV, IBNLive, NewsHunt, and BBC – also pull out.

     

    The group, through a letter, also encouraged its fellow language and English news publishers like Dainik Jagran, Aaj Tak, Amar Ujala, Maalai Malar, Reuters, and Cricinfo to join the campaign for net neutrality and withdraw from zero rate schemes.

     

    “We support net neutrality because it creates a fair, level playing field for all companies – big and small – to produce the best service and offer it to consumers. We will lead the drive towards a neutral Internet, but we need our fellow publishers and content providers to do so as well, so that the playing field continues to be level,” said a Times official.

     

    Meanwhile, Airtel has come out in open to explain Airtel Zero. Through a statement, Airtel said, “Airtel Zero is a technology platform that connects application providers to their customers for free. The platform allows any content or application provider to enroll on it so that their customers can visit these sites for free. Instead of charging customers we charge the providers who choose to get on to the platform.”

     

    “Our platform is open to all application developers, content providers and Internet sites on an equal basis. The same rate card is offered to all these providers on a totally non discriminatory basis,” it further said.

     

    Airtel said that it stands fully committed to net neutrality to ensure the goals of the Prime Minister’s vision of digital India are met.

     

    On 22 April, the Indian telecom regulators are preparing to recommend changes that are required in the current telecom regulatory framework. Telecom operators are concerned primarily because of the excessive use of Internet leading to congestion and bandwidth difficulties. About 10 per cent of mobile users consume 90 per cent of operators’ bandwidth. Internet companies are not in favour of regulation that could tilt the balance in favour of telecom operators, but are advocating legislation to keep the Internet open.

     

    Expressing his views on net neutrality, TRA CEO N Chandramouli said, “The crux of the situation is simple – the idea that Internet service providers give their customers equal access to all lawful websites and services on the Internet, without giving priority to any website over another. At one level, it is being linked to the right to freedom of expression and the right to information and correctly so. From a brand point of view we can already see it is impacting and hampering the equation with telecom brands such as Airtel, which decided in December 2014 to charge more for calls made through services like Skype and Viber, but had to roll back the decision after outrage on social networks.”

     

    Shoptimize & Cooliyo co-founder & CEO Mangesh Panditrao believes that it is important to not let differential pricing and performance creep into the Internet. “Budding online brands in India are already struggling to reach the target audience due to the huge marketing and advertising barriers created by large players. It will become even more difficult for them if they have to pay to maintain a level playing field in terms of bandwidth. One of the things that has really worked well for our app Cooliyo is the fact that we show products purely on the basis of their merit and popularity thus keeping away any bias. It would be quite ironic if we now suddenly have to face a bias while we try to reach our own community. It would be a massive setback for several startups such as ours.”

     

    Internet is an essential service and should be provided without any discrimination, feels Askme group CMO Manav Sethi. “Zero rating platforms can seriously affect the freedom and growth of the billions of entrepreneurs, quite against the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ vision of our government. Any violation of Internet neutrality can have a serious bearing on effective and fair competition in the market place. We feel it’s the government’s responsibility to ensure a level playing field for home grown entrepreneurs and at the same time protect the interests of netizens,” he opined.

     

    Speaking in support of net neutrality, OYO Rooms CEO Ritesh Agarwal said, “Net neutrality is absolutely essential for a free and competitive market especially now since there is a start- up boom in the country particularly in the online sector. Most importantly Internet was created to break boundaries and as concerned industry players, we should maintain that. We support net neutrality and will do all needed to build this further.”

     

  • 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.

  • Facebook joins COAI as associate member

    Facebook joins COAI as associate member

    NEW DELHI: The leading mobile communications association in India, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), has announced the induction of Facebook India Online Services as an associate member.

     

    COAI’s associate membership comprises companies that manufacture or support the functioning, promotion, research development and evolution of mobile communications services. The induction of the Mark Zuckerberg-led company in COAI will help it in getting a bigger platform to interact with the leading mobile operators.

     

    Facebook, public policy director – India and south Asia Ankhi Das said, “Over 85 per cent of the world’s population lives in areas with existing cellular coverage, yet only about 30 per cent of the total population accesses the internet. Affordability and awareness are significant barriers to internet adoption. Facebook believes that overcoming these barriers and connecting people has immense value, from empowering people to exercise their rights to freely express themselves, promoting transparency and democratic values and allowing people to access affordable data services in areas such as health care, education and information, which they otherwise cannot afford. Access = opportunity – creating more economic, social and political opportunities for everybody.”

     

    She further added, “Joining COAI as an associate member reflects our focus on mobile technologies, access and our continued desire to work in collaboration with the industry to increase connectivity. We look forward to playing an active role as a member.”

     

    Founded in 2004, the social media giant Facebook aimed to is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Facebook has more than 1.32 billion monthly active users globally, including over 100 million monthly active users in India.

     

    COAI’s other associate members include Alcatel Lucent India, Cisco Systems India, Ericsson India, IBM India, GTL Infrastructure, Huawei Technologies, Indus Towers, Intel Corporation, Nokia Solutions and Networks, Qualcomm India  and ZTE India.

     

    Commenting on the induction COAI director general Rajan S Mathews said, “We welcome Facebook India Online Services to the COAI family. Social networking, especially Facebook, has changed the way Indians work, play, communicate, socialise and do business. We believe this will further grow to become a crucial part of and influence the socio-economic culture in the country. We feel that Facebook’s active participation in COAI activities will result in mutual value addition and bring the much needed synergy of functioning between the service providers and the content/VAS players.”

     

    Having started as an association for mobile service providers, COAI, today, has members including cellular service providers, telecom infrastructure companies, and telecom equipment manufacturers; and still expanding to include other allied and critical stakeholders of the sector.

  • Sanjay Kapoor joins PVR Board as Director

    Sanjay Kapoor joins PVR Board as Director

    NEW DELHI: PVR Cinemas, the largest cinema exhibition company in India, has announced the appointment of Sanjay Kapoor as the Director on the Board of PVR with effect from 31 January.

     

    Sanjay brings with him expertise and understanding to the rapidly growing and changing Indian market. With an experience of close to three decades, global business acumen, perspective and intelligence, Sanjay will advise the PVR Company to achieve greater milestones.

    “We are pleased to welcome Sanjay to our board of directors”, said PVR Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Bijli. “His brand expertise, experience in building large service businesses, digital penchant and consumer insights will be invaluable as we continue to expand our business of exhibiting quality cinema in the country. Our board is looking forward to the perspective Sanjay will provide to our strategy and operations as we continue to focus to give the best to our audience.”

     

    On accepting the new responsibility, Kapoor said, “I am very excited to contribute to the largest multiplex chain in India. PVR is the most respected name in the film exhibition industry and I look forward to sharing my experiences and contributing to the growth of the leading multiplex chain in India.”

     

    With a robust career spanning over 28 years, Kapoor, an Ex-CEO Airtel (India & South Asia), has been instrumental in shaping the growth and diversity of India’s largest integrated telecom service provider and held key leadership positions in the Bharti group till 15 May 2013. Prior to joining the Bharti Group, Sanjay worked with Xerox India as Director – Operations Support.

     

    Kapoor’s leadership extended well beyond the confines of Airtel and he elevated himself as an industry spokesperson globally. For more than 13 years he has played an active role in various industry forums like CII, COAI and NASSCOM. He has been a Board & Executive committee member of GSMA and the Board member of Indus Towers. Presently, Sanjay is a board member of Bennett, Coleman & Co.

     

    Kapoor holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management (UK) and is a Graduate of The Wharton Advanced Management Program. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Commerce ( Hons ) from Delhi University.

  • 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.