Services to non-IMEI phones stopped from Apr 15
April 5, 2009

GSM service providers are ready to stop connectivity to mobile handsets not bearing the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number from April 15 onwards.

The IMEI is a unique 15 digit code that appears on an operators network whenever a call is made. The number would help to prevent the use of stolen handset and to identify when a call is made from a stolen handset.

National security concerns had prompted the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to ask operators to disconnect non-IMEI handsets.

Telecom MNCs face penal action
April 5, 2009

Four telecom MNCs – AT&T, British Telecom (BT), MCI Worldcom and Equant – may face legal action for providing long distance services in India without having the requisite license.

These MNCs are alleged to have deprived the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of the license fee plus a percentage of the telco’s revenue.

India soon may have 11-digit mobile numbers
April 4, 2009

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is considering an 11-digit number system for mobile phones, since operators may run out of 10-digit numbers soon.

The rapid growth in the mobile phone subscriber base has forced a re-think of the 30 year numbering plan that the DoT had come out with in 2003.

FIPB approves ByCell’s investment plans
April 4, 2009

A week after Swiss telco ByCell had taken the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) after the government had failed to approve its application, the FIPB has approved ByCell’s investment plans in India.

ByCell had letters of intent for starting mobile operations in Assam, Bihar, the northeastern states, Orissa and West Bengal, but its licenses had been withheld for 15 months over failure to obtain FIPB clearance.

Now FIPB has approved its investment plans worth Rs. 2500 crore.

TDSAT stays BSNL’s notice to Vodafone
April 2, 2009

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has stayed a notice issued by state-owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) to disconnect Vodafone Essar from the BSNL network.

The notice was issued by BSNL following a dispute over Rs. 3.54 crore and the alleged wrong routing of international calls.

Govt. orders special audit on pvt. telcos
April 2, 2009

The Indian government has ordered a special audit of private telecom companies like Airtel, Idea, Tata Teleservices and Vodafone. The audit is aimed at discovering any discrepancies in the reported revenues of these telcos, particularly whether the telcos have included revenues from the sale of bundled handsets in their books.

Telcos pay a certain percentage of their annual revenues as license fees and spectrum charges to the government. Under-reporting of revenues would reduce the amount paid to the government.

TDSAT against preferences to state telcos
April 2, 2009

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has told the government that it cannot show preferential treatment to state owned telcos MTNL and BSNL as regards spectrum allotment. It has asked the government to take immediate corrective action.

The TDSAT has directed the government to withdraw such additional spectrum allotted to BSNL and MTNL that exceeds the criteria specified by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in January 2008.

The DoT’s criteria for allotting additional spectrum to telcos mandated that players increase their subscriber base by 2-6 times in order to get additional spectrum. But even before implementing these norms, the DoT had allotted additional frequencies to BSNL and MTNL based on 2006 norms.

CDMA players can also offer GSM: TDSAT
April 1, 2009

The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has upheld the government’s decision to allow CDMA players to offer GSM services on a single license. TDSAT had also said that GSM players are not entitled to more than 6.2 MHz of spectrum – an observation that will allow the government to impose a one time fee on GSM players like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar for radio frequencies exceeding this limit.

This decision had been challenged by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the industry body representing GSM players.

TRAI criticizes DoT for restricting net telephony
March 31, 2009

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has criticized the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for suggesting that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) pay a higher entry fee (matching the fees paid by telecom operators) to be able to offer unrestricted Internet telephony services.

TRAI pointed out that the entry fees paid by telecom operators include spectrum charges while the license for ISPs does not give them any spectrum, so any direct comparison between ISPs and telecom companies is unfair.

BSNL challenges TRAI interconnect charges norms
March 30, 2009

State owned telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) has challenged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) interconnect usage charges norms before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

Termination charges are paid by an operator on whose network the call is initiated to another on whose network the call ends. BSNL alleges that TRAI norms, which have reduced the mobile termination charges from 30 paise per minute to 20 paise per minute, would hurt its revenues.

The state owned telco wants the mobile termination charge to be 3-4 times more for fixed lines, since most mobile calls do terminate on BSNL’s fixed lines which are spread all over India.