Page 23 - Telecom Services

PLI good for telecom, need to adjust for others: NITI Member Virmani

Virmani said that industry needs to reach the minimum efficient scale (MES), otherwise they cannot compete by themselves and will need subsidies to compete

Centre mulls proposal to allow satellite firms provide wireless service

According to experts, the move to provide mobility services authorisation to GMPCS licence holders will prepare the way for firms such as Elon Musk-owned Starlink to compete with telecom firms

India 6G vision gets global play with acceptance by ITU Study Group

India's vision to have ubiquitous coverage under 6G technology has been accepted by UN body ITU's Study Group in its meeting held at Geneva-- a move that is expected to reduce the cost of deployment of the next generation technology. ITU is responsible for developing international mobile telecommunication standards. "In the current meeting, despite resistance and attempts to reverse our progress by few member states, the Department of Telecommunications was able to successfully include 'Ubiquitous Connectivity' and ratify the framework document," an official statement said on Wednesday. The proposal was accepted by ITU Study group (SG-5) meeting in Geneva held on September 25-26, 2023. IMT 2030, also known as 6G, is being developed by Working Party 5D of ITU-R Study Group 5. India in its 6G vision document, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has proposed 6G technology implementation should be affordable, sustainable and ubiquitous. In the previous meeting of Study group In

Lowering entry barriers

Trai's recommendations are unlikely to bring more operators

Trai moots 'concurrent PLI scheme' to boost telecom gear manufacturing

TRAI has mooted 'concurrent PLI scheme' focussing on components and sub-assembly manufacturing to facilitate collaborated production activities, as it released an extensive set of recommendations to promote manufacturing of networking and telecom gear in India through tax benefit, dedicated master fund and other sweeteners. With a sharp gaze on goals of scaling domestic production and local value addition in global value chains, TRAI in its recommendations favoured additional two per cent benefit under the design-led PLI scheme for product lines meeting a certain criteria, while also talking of a dedicated 'Networking and Telecommunications Equipment Development' fund. In order to spur innovation and encourage industry's drive towards beneficially owned resident Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), lower corporate income tax has also been recommended. This would apply if the enterprise is continuously engaged in R&D driven manufacturing and attains half of its turnover based on ...

All OTTs using telco data should pay fair share charge, says COAI

COAI had earlier suggested levying a licensing fee of 8 per cent on OTTs on a recurring basis

Elon Musk's Starlink may soon get a licence to start its services in India

The telecom ministry is expected to hold a meeting later this month to discuss the proposal of Starlink for a GMPCS service license, and it is likely to be passed

SC junks PIL seeking to scrap Centre's relief to stressed telecom sector

The Supreme Court has dismissed a PIL seeking cancellation of Centre's decision of September 15, 2021 to grant relief to the stressed telecom sector from paying statutory dues, saying these are all matters of policy and decision-making is on the basis of experts' opinion. In a breather to telecom service providers struggling to pay Rs 93,520 crore of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) related dues, the top court on September 1, 2020 gave them a 10-year period to clear their outstanding amount to the government. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said that no doubt, the apex court by its judgment had issued certain directions with regard to the telecom sector but in the backdrop of the COVID-19 challenges, with huge surge in data consumption, online education, work from home, etc., reform measures were found necessary to boost the proliferation and penetration of broadband and telecom connectivity. "In our view, these are all matters of policy and decision-making which is

Nigerian Ministers call for higher investments, closer ties with India

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu discussed potential incentives for Indian industrialists at business roundtable

With 'Choice' initiative Vi allows postpaid users to modify plans

'Choice' initiative allows users to opt for lifestyle benefits across entertainment, food, travel and mobile security

Revenue sharing between apps, telcos will violate net neutrality: IAMAI

Any framework that may lead to revenue sharing between over-the-top players and telecom operators will violate net neutrality norms, industry body IAMAI said on Thursday. In its submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) said revenue-sharing mechanisms would essentially mean charging twice for the same service as consumers already pay telecom service providers (TSPs) for the data they consume. "Any 'collaborative framework' which may result in establishing a revenue-sharing mechanism between OTTs and telecom service providers (TSPs) will violate the net neutrality framework notified by the Ministry of Communications in 2018," IAMAI said. The pending Telecom Bill also floats the idea of bringing OTT services under the ambit of telecom licenses, as per the draft that was put for public consultation. "Such demands are based on the erroneous notion that OTT service providers consume bandwidth, and disregard the f

Rs 10 lakh fine on telcos if found flouting new SIM card sale rules: DoT

Sale of SIM cards through unregistered dealers will lead to a Rs 10 lakh penalty on telecom operators as per new rules, the Department of Telecom (DoT) said in a circular on Thursday. The new rules that aim to check fraudulent sale of SIM cards will come into effect from October 1 and telecom operators need to register all 'Point of Sale' (PoS) before September 30, the circular said. "If the licensee(s) permit any new PoS i.e., after September 30, 2023, to enrol customers without registration, then a financial penalty of Rs 10 lakh per PoS per instance shall be imposed by concerned LSA (licensed service area) on each licensee, the circular said. All mobile connections activated through unregistered PoS shall also need to be re-verified as per the existing instructions, according to the circular. All the existing PoS will also need to submit documents and register by the end of September. "In case, a Licensee appoints a PoS for doing recharge/ billing activities only and not for ..

Trai issues discussion paper to review norms of PMRTS, CMRTS licenses

Telecom regulator TRAI on Tuesday initiated consultation for review of terms and conditions of public and captive mobile radio trunking services (PMRTS and CMRTS). In the consultation paper, TRAI has sought stakeholder views on various issues, among them, the manner in which the conditions can be amended including scope of the PMRTS license, roll out obligation, technical conditions, network interconnection and security conditions. In all, the discussion paper dwells on more than 30 questions ranging from whether there is a need to review the provisions relating to service area for PMRTS authorisation under Unified License, to whether providers should be permitted internet connectivity with static IP addresses. Earlier, Telecom Department (DoT), through its reference in 2022, approached TRAI to provide recommendations on the terms and conditions for issue of fresh licenses for CMRTS and PMRTS Services especially with respect to technical conditions.. These include aspects like ...

UST acquires MobileComm to bolster its position in telecom vertical

UST has a strong presence in India with over 20,000 employees, out of its total headcount of about 30,000

Vodafone Idea rises 6% in weak market; stock surges 12% in 5 days

According to reports, the debt-ridden telecom operator plans to clear about Rs 2,400 crore of dues to the government by September

Telecom sector AGR rises 2.5% sequentially to Rs 64,494 cr in Q4 FY23

The sector's Average Revenue per User (ARPU) for the mobile business rose to 142.3

Telecom services' AGR up sequentially to Rs 64,494 cr in March qtr: TRAI

Telecom service sector's adjusted gross revenue rose 2.5 per cent sequentially to Rs 64,494 crore in March 2023 quarter, according to data released by sector regulator TRAI on Monday. Seen year-on-year, the adjusted gross revenue increased 9.5 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year. Another notable takeaway from the TRAI report was around the metrics of monthly Average Revenue Per User or ARPU, which showed a sequential decline in the case of postpaid, and a quarter-on-quarter rise for the prepaid category. Overall, the monthly ARPU for wireless service increased a tad 0.83 per cent. The gross revenue (GR), Applicable Gross Revenue (ApGR) and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of the Telecom Service Sector for the quarter ended March 2023 was pegged at Rs 85,356 crore, Rs 78,631 crore and Rs 64,494 crore, respectively. While the GR decreased by 3.19 per cent, ApGR increased by 2.62 per cent and AGR increased by 2.53 per cent in March 2023 quarter, as compared to the

Trai sees rise in call drops complaint, begins service quality rules review

Telecom regulator Trai on Friday said that it has been receiving a number of call drop complaints from subscribers triggering the need to review existing quality of service rules to measure network performance at the district level and bring 4G-5G services also under its ambit. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said that even with the technological advancement in mobile telecommunications and advancement in performance management tools, the quality of experience (QoE) of consumers has not improved as expected though such quality of service (QoS) requirements are supported by technology standards. "Even with widespread coverage of 4G networks in the country and rollout of 5G services, there are increasing number of complaints of call drops, call muting, low data throughput etc. which raises question marks on the network design and provisioning of required network resources," Trai said. The regulator has proposed to tighten call drop parameters, call success rate etc ..

Telecom service providers wary of regulatory sandbox proposed by TRAI

The telecom regulator had suggested a national level controlled live testing environment for new products or services

Need entire 6 GHz band for deploying 5G: Telecom group writes to DoT

Telcos and tech majors have been locked in a fight over the crucial spectrum band