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  • DoT to inquire TRAI about 28 GHz band for 5G service

    DoT to inquire TRAI about 28 GHz band for 5G service

    MUMBAI: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to initiate talks for new bands to support 5G services in the country. The DoT will soon start discussing with the telecom regulator TRAI for 28GHz band for 5G commercial deployments. As per Economic Times, the DoT will also analyse pricing estimates of such airwaves.

    The practicability of this spectrum band in the country for 5G is being checked out by the government of India. The government is exploring the chances of allocating the spectrum band in India as very soon after South Korea auctions these airwaves and the US Federal Communications Commission makes a decision to do so from 14 November.

    According to a senior DoT official, “It is mandatory to refer the matter of assessing suitability of a specific bandwidth and its pricing to TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), and the government shall do so before taking a call on allocating millimetre spectrum in 28 GHz band for early 5G deployments in India.”

    A panel will be soon formed to study the chances of installing 5G systems in the 28 GHz band and coinciding with the working satellite services in the same band.

    As per the DoT official, the government had been interested in this 5G airwave prospect after a recent meeting of Asia-Pacific Telecommunity wireless group in Bangkok. Globally, 28 GHz is perceived as “a frontier 5G band” and considered very crucial for early 5G deployments.

    TRAI’s proposed base price of Rs 492 crore per unit of 3500 MHz 5G spectrum is higher than the Rs 65 crore a unit of the recent 5G auction in South Korea. Hence, specialists say that Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel may skip the 5G spectrum auctions.

  • TDSAT grants permission to RCom to sell spectrum

    TDSAT grants permission to RCom to sell spectrum

    MUMBAI: Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has given permission to Reliance Communications (RCom) to proceed with the sale of its spectrum. The telecom company would have to assure bank guarantees worth Rs 2900 crore as demanded by Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
    In its media release, the telecom company confirmed that it will be able to pay the Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company Ericcsson its Rs 550 crore and the minority investors of Reliance Infratel (RITL) about Rs 230 crore, as agreed by the lenders.

    The official release stated, “Reliance Communications Ltd has been granted relief by the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal vide its Interim Order dated 1 October 2018, whereby TDSAT has stayed the demand of Bank Guarantee of Rs 2,900 Crore by the Department of Telecommunications”.
    “38 secured lenders of RCOM Group have already approved the sale of the above spectrum, and the proceeds thereof will be used for making payments to Ericsson India Private Ltd and to RITL Minority Investors, as per settlement terms,” continued the release.
    RCom even criticised the DoT for creating obstructions in the proceedings of the spectrum sale.

  • DoT may approach Cabinet for 4G spectrum to BSNL, MTNL in November

    DoT may approach Cabinet for 4G spectrum to BSNL, MTNL in November

    MUMBAI: While all major telecom operators have already gained highly from 4G roll-out, state-owned operators BSNL and MTNL have been left behind in the race due to impending 4G spectrum. Survival of both the companies highly depends on 4G services roll-out. However, according to a PTI report, department of telecom (DoT) is planning to seek the Cabinet's approval in the next two months for the allocation of 4G spectrum to these two firms.
    As per a source quoted by news agency, draft Cabinet note is expected to be ready in mid-October after which it will be floated for inter-ministerial consultation. Following the move, DoT(http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/telecom/cabinet-approves-new-telecom-policy-180926) will approach the Cabinet with a revised draft note in November.

    MTNL provides service in two metros Delhi and Mumbai as BSNL operates all over India except in these two cities.
    A detailed project report has already been submitted by BSNL to the government seeking spectrum for 4G services in lieu of equity. Earlier communication minister Manoj Sinha informed Parliament BSNL sought Rs 6,652 crore as equity infusion from the government to fund its spectrum purchase worth about Rs 13,885 crore.
    The corporation is seeking spectrum in the 2100 MHz band for all circles, except Rajasthan. For that particular state, BSNL(http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/telecom/bsnl-ties-up-with-softbank-ntt-for-5g-iot-deal-180924) is looking for spectrum in the 800 MHz band.
    MTNL chairman and managing director P K Purwar requested the government to grant it 4G spectrum in lieu of equity worth around Rs 6,500-7,000 crore and extend its mobile license which is expiring till 2021.
    "I fully agree that survival of BSNL and MTNL without 4G spectrum is tough. There are some decisions of the apex court. We have made a strategy to settle them. I will try by end of this year, it should not be in 2019 but in 2018, the government should decide on the allocation of 4G spectrum," Sinha said earlier.

  • COAI to review implications of SC judgement on Aadhar linkage with sim

    COAI to review implications of SC judgement on Aadhar linkage with sim

    MUMBAI: On Wednesday, the five judge bench of Supreme Court struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act while upholding the constitutional validity of the scheme. It has led to a big no to compulsory linkage of mobile phone numbers to the unique identification number. In response to the verdict, Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI) Wednesday said it will examine and assess implications of the Supreme Court judgement.
    Section 57 of Aadhaar act permitted private entities like telecom companies and banks to use Aadhaar data.
    “We respect the Aadhaar verdict of the Supreme Court, the apex court of India. We are going to review the judgement and its implications. We shall await further orders and instructions from Department of Telecom,” COAI director general Rajan S Mathews said in a statement. He also added COAI member operators as will definitely comply with the law.
    Justice Chandrachud while reading out the judgement said linking Aadhaar with mobile poses threat to autonomy, dignity and privacy. He added though the aim might be legitimate but the means to achieve that aim cannot be lopsided. He also directed the telecom service providers to delete the data they had collected from users.
    As per an Economic Times report, a BSNL official said removing consumer data, if required, won’t be a huge problem as it is largely a software driven function. However, individual telco operators are awaiting a communication from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

  • DoT moves Supreme Court to secure dues worth Rs 33,000 cr

    DoT moves Supreme Court to secure dues worth Rs 33,000 cr

    MUMBAI: A recent move from the Department of telecommunications (DoT) may push telecom players in the country deeper into trouble. According to a report from Economic Times, DoT has moved the Supreme Court for approval to secure dues worth almost Rs 33,000 crore from all operators. The department in favour of the move has argued that existing bank guarantees aren’t enough to cover the “huge public money” at stake.
    According to the report, DoT(http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/trai-stands-up-to-dot-on-use-of-foreign-satellites-for-comms-services-on-aircrafts-180605) filed two petitions pleading the court to ensure that the “government’s interests are secured”. In the separate but identical petitions, they claimed that fresh bank guarantees for Rs 28.70 crore and Rs 32,655.58 crore are needed from the operators.
    DoT(http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/ib-ministry/dot-seeks-views-on-blocking-mobile-apps-like-fb-whatsapp-180807 )said in the petitions that it is “not adequate security towards its outstanding assessed annual license fee and SUC dues” even with existing financial bank guarantees and withholding the performance bank guarantee of the licensee companies.
    Telcos think it will increase the financial burden on them if the court speaks in favour of the petition.
    Shares of telecom companies including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) plunged up to 6 per cent in morning trade following the move of DoT.
    Reliance Communications would be in deep trouble as it is already debt burdened. Any decision favouring DoT could add to its financial liabilities which could lead to delay of the sale of its spectrum to Reliance Jio.

  • RCom replenishes bank guarantees of Rs 774 cr with DoT

    RCom replenishes bank guarantees of Rs 774 cr with DoT

    MUMBAI: Four weeks ahead of telecom tribunal’s deadline, Reliance Communications (RCom) and its subsidiaries have reinstated bank guarantees (BGs) aggregating Rs 774 crore with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) while the deadline was of 10 September.

    The issue stems from the time when DoT issued two show-cause notices to RCom. DoT threatened to cancel its licences in 14 circles and revoke spectrum allotted in 2013 and 2015. The latest move has ensured the non-cancellation of license and spectrum. Following the reinstating, the RCom stock was up 2.3 per cent at Rs 19.94 on the BSE at midday trade Monday.

    “RCom and its subsidiary, Reliance Telecom Ltd, have today reinstated bank guarantees aggregating Rs 774 crore with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), four weeks ahead of the last date of10 Sep 2018 as granted by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT),” said the telco in a regulatory filing on Monday.

    “The reinstatement of the BGs ensures that RCom’s licence and spectrum value of Rs 11,300 crore stands fully protected, and RCom is fully compliant with the guidelines of NIA 2013 and NIA 2015,” the telco added.

    Earlier RCom moved TDSAT against DoT’s notices and told the tribunal in prior hearings that cancelling licences would push the telco back into insolvency as it would not be able to complete deal with Jio. However, RCom expects to raise Rs 18,000 crore from the deal with Jio.

  • Parliamentary IT report cites high charge by Antrix as hurdle to satellite connectivity

    Parliamentary IT report cites high charge by Antrix as hurdle to satellite connectivity

    MUMBAI: Despite the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) citing high cost of satellite-delivered bandwidth to reach remote areas for providing broadband services, parliament’s committee on IT has observed that prohibitive cost should not come in the way of availing of the services as adequate funds are available, including those from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

    Earlier also DoT special secretary N Sivasailam blamed the turf war between the ministry and Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) for delays in taking connectivity to far-flung areas.

    While in phase I of BharatNet project, satellite connectivity was taken up only in one gram panchayat (GP), but in phase II, more than 6407 GPs are planned to be connected. 4938 GPs are in North Eastern Region, 885 GPs in Jammu & Kashmir and 584 GPs are in the rest of the country. 1407 GPs were supposed to be provided with broadband connectivity through satellite by June 2018 by BSNL and the rest were to be completed by December 2018 through a bidding process. BSNL was expected to have completed connectivity to 1407 GPs by now.

    Shortage of satellite bandwidth and huge operational cost charged by “Antrix” are cited as the impediments associated with connectivity through satellite. The high operational cost is due to ISRO’s monopoly and the DoT has informed the committee that with the availability of more bandwidth in two to three years, sufficient capacity shall be available.

    “The capital cost of satellite is very little. But the recurring cost is prohibitive. We provide satellite connectivity on a very small bandwidth to Andaman and Nicobar and it costs us something like Rs 300 crore for that small population to be able to pay for bandwidth. It is typically because of the monopoly of ISRO. In India, satellite communication is 300 times more expensive than in the US. So, satellite is prohibitive. We are going for it only in areas where it is not technically feasible to do any other thing,” DoT secretary stated.

    Areas like Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and the North Eastern states have had basic challenges halting the project’s timely implementation. “The committee recommends that sincere efforts be made to achieve the target of providing connectivity through satellite to all the identified 6407 GPs covering above states,” the recommendation adds.

    When the committee questioned the DoT on the issue of availability of sufficient bandwidth, the representative of the department stated, “We want higher bandwidth for which the USOF and the Bharatnet can make the payment. But the bandwidth is not available. They are going to put two satellites in the orbit this year. With that more bandwidth would be available. But right now, there is a crunch of bandwidth with ISRO in these difficult areas, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir and North-East. So, the issue with the ISRO is availability of bandwidth and the cost is very high. It is higher if we compare it with the international rates.”

    Since heavy investment is involved, the committee even questioned if providing connectivity through satellite will be sustainable in the long run. To this the department stated that with the availability of more bandwidth in two to three years of time especially through High Throughput satellites in Ka-Ku band and Ka-ka band from DOS/ISRO sufficient capacity shall be available. ISRO is planning to launch series of satellites in near future to make available the enhanced satellite bandwidth.

    BharatNet project can enhance the lives of thousands giving them access to information available online and enhanced communication with the privileged part of the country. The ISRO and DoT issue needs to be resolved on priority basis to put an end to the delayed implementation.

  • TRAI releases recommendation on auction of spectrum

    TRAI releases recommendation on auction of spectrum

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 1 August released the recommendations for  “Auction of Spectrum in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz,  2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300-3400 MHz and 3400-3600 MHz Bands”.

    The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) through its letter dated 19 April 2017 requested TRAI to provide applicable reserve price, quantum of spectrum to be auctioned and associated conditions for auction of spectrum in all the bands mentioned above, for all the LSAs under the terms of clause 11 (1) (a) of TRAI Act, 1997 (as amended).

    TRAI sought additional information/ clarifications on some of the issues from DoT. However, to speed up the process, based on the available information, TRAI issued the consultation paper (CP) on 28 August 2017 after which an open house discussion (OHD) was conducted. 

    The salient features of the recommendations are given below:

    • Entire available spectrum should be put to auction in the forthcoming auction.

    • Barring the specific locations or districts where ISRO is using the 25 MHz (3400 MHz-3425 MHz) of spectrum, the entire spectrum from 3300 MHz to 3600 MHz should be made available for access services and should be included in the forthcoming auction.

    • 3300-3600 MHz should be auctioned as a single band and TDD based frequency arrangement should be adopted for this band.

    • Spectrum in 3300-3600 MHz band should be put to auction in the block size of 20 MHz. To avoid monopolisation of this band, there should be limit of 100 MHz per bidder. Since the TSPs are allowed to trade their partial or complete spectrum holding to another TSP, the limit of 100

    MHz spectrum in 3300-3600 MHz band, shall also apply for spectrum trading.  In case a TSP acquires more than one block, the entire spectrum should be assigned to it in contiguous form.

    • No roll out obligations should be mandated for spectrum in 3300-3600 MHz band. However, to avoid any misuse of not mandating any roll-out obligations, the lock-in period for spectrum in this band for becoming eligible for spectrum trading should be five years instead of two years.

    • The revised provisions of spectrum cap (i.e.  35 per cent overall cap and a cap of 50 per cent on the combined spectrum holding in the sub-1 GHz bands) should be extended to 3300-3600 MHz band also. Additionally, in 3300-3600 MHz band, there should be a spectrum holding cap of 100 MHz per licensee

    • There is an urgent need of audit for all allocated spectrum both commercial as well as spectrum allocated to various PSUs/ Government organisations. This should be done by an independent agency on a regular basis.

    • Recommended reserve price for various spectrum bands is as per table given below:

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  • TRAI suggestions on uplink, downlink norms under consideration, says MIB

    TRAI suggestions on uplink, downlink norms under consideration, says MIB

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government has said broadcast and telecoms regulator TRAI’s recommendations on ease of doing business and uplink/downlink norms, some of them quite radical, are under consideration.

    “Government solicited recommendation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)… they are under consideration,” Minister of Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told Parliament last week without giving any time frame or clarifying whether the regulator’s suggestions on both the issues would be accepted in totality or they would be tweaked as and when legislated into regulations.

    Pointing out that because the present policy guidelines for uplinking of television channels from India and those relating to landing rights came into effect in December 2011, it was felt that the government should have them re-examined by the regulator in view of the changing broadcasting environ in the country, Rathore explained.

    However, TRAI in its recommendations on uplink and downlink norms, shot down an idea proposed by MIB that had suggested whether TV channels’ frequencies too could be auctioned on the lines of FM radio stations.

    TRAI also stuck with most of the existing guidelines and norms for uplink and downlink permissions for TV channel and teleports. However, it suggested enhancing of annual permission fees from the present levels, amongst some other changes. The recommendations on uplink and downlink of TV channels and teleports had been awaited eagerly by the industry, already reeling under pressures from various sides, including economic.

    The regulator also said that mandating encryption of broadcast of FTA TV channels was not a good idea, while suggesting that various processes for government clearances should be streamlined and completed within a stipulated time-frame.

    The broadcast industry and independent observers feel that it would help the industry if Minister Rathore’s team at MIB take a quick decision on the suggestions made by TRAI on both the issues instead of keeping the matter pending.

    However, as TRAI’s role is recommendatory, it is not mandatory for government organisations, including MIB, Department of Telecoms (DoT) and Department of Space, to accept the suggestions in any form.

    There have been instances when the regulator’s suggestions have been shot down or tweaked by the government. A recent example being TRAI’s push for its role to be upgraded to that of a converged regulator for broadcast, online and telecoms sectors, which was shot down by the DoT while formulating the final version of the National Digital Communications Policy 2018.

  • NDCP 2018, net neutrality rules cleared by Telecom Commission

    NDCP 2018, net neutrality rules cleared by Telecom Commission

    NEW DELHI: India’s Telecom Commission, the second highest decision-making body regarding telecom policies, yesterday late evening approved the National Digital Communication Policy 2018 and also net neutrality rules, which bar service providers from discriminating against internet content and services by blocking, throttling or granting them higher speed access.

    Some mission critical applications or services like remote surgery and autonomous cars will, however, be kept out of the purview of net neutrality framework.

    “The Telecom Commission approved net neutrality as recommended by TRAI…some critical services will be kept out of its purview,” Telecom Commission Chairman and Secretary Department of Telecoms Aruna Sundararajan told reporters here, according to a Press Trust of India report.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended restrictions on service providers from entering into agreements which lead to discriminatory treatment of content on the internet. It had also favoured tweaking of licensing norms of players to ensure “explicit restrictions” on discrimination in internet access, based on content.

    The Department of Telecom will set-up a multi-stakeholder body for monitoring and enforcement of net neutrality comprising government representatives, internet of things providers, telecom operators, civil society members and consumer organisations. DoT will seek recommendations from TRAI on traffic management for critical services.

    The Commission also approved the new telecom policy — rechristened National Digital Communications Policy (NDCP) 2018 — for seeking approval of the Union Cabinet, Sundararajan was quoted by the PTI report as saying.

    “Everybody in the meeting said that digital infrastructure is even more important than physical infrastructure for India… CEO of Niti Ayog [Amitabh Kant] said that for…districts, we must ensure digital infrastructure is provided at the earliest. Therefore, India must have ease of doing business and enabling policy environment,” Sundararajan said.

    The NDCP, which looks at having more synergies amongst various government organisations and ministries, aims to attract $100 billion investments, 400,0000 new jobs, 50 megabits per second broadband access to every citizen in the digital communications sector by 2022 with the help of reforms.

    A government official, who was part of the meeting, was quoted by PTI as saying that the Telecom Commission has approved installation of around 12.5 lakh Wi-Fi hotspots in all gram panchayats (village administrations) with viability gap funding of around Rs 60,000 million by December 2018.

    Under the Wi-Fi project all police stations, post offices, primary health centres, schools will be connected with Wi-Fi by December 2018 and there will be a couple of  additional hotspots that will be available for round the clock public access.

    The PTI report added that the commission has also approved avoidance of double tax on virtual network operators (VNOs) who provide retail services of telecom operators.

    According to the proposal approved, VNOs will be required to pay levies based on their adjusted gross revenue earned from any value addition that they will be do over the top of service they will buy from telecom operators for selling it to end consumers.

    Earlier, telecom minister Manoj Sinha had said that his department looks to get approval of the Cabinet for NDCP 2018 by July-end.