Policy

DoT Committee Restricts Web Based SMS? - 1 Comment
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Fri 07 Mar 2008 04:40 AM PST

Update: You may download the DoT order here (pdf), courtesy one of our readers who wishes to remain anonymous. Looks like FE interpreted the document incorrectly. (Original Story) A committee…

With An Eye On Convergence, Indian Government To Review Foreign Investment Limits In Media - 0 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Wed 05 Mar 2008 09:11 AM PST

The convergence of broadcasting and telecom is making the Indian government take another look at policy - specifically, the Foreign Investment limits that govern the sectors. As we’ve mentioned before…

The Union Budget 2008: Games More Expensive; E-Governance; Data Cards; Set Top Boxes - 8 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Thu 28 Feb 2008 11:34 PM PST

Updated with inputs from the Budget, speech available ( here), other documents here. From the Union Budget 2008: e-governance: The finance minister just announced an increased allocation to the Department…

ADVERTISE ON CONTENTSUTRA

Telecom Roundup: Reliance, TATA Announce International Partnerships, New Licenses, Return Of The Spe - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Wed 27 Feb 2008 08:37 AM PST

[by Cerius Shah]—Reliance Globalcom, the newly formed consolidated entity we recently covered, has struck a deal with Du, a telco based out of the UAE. The deal will include Reliance…

YouTube Down For Two Hours After Pakistan Blockade - 1 Comment
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Tue 26 Feb 2008 04:55 AM PST

[by Cerius Shah] As a result of the Pakistan’s Telecommunications Authority’s (PTA) ban on Youtube there was a worldwide outage of the video sharing behemoth for around 2 hours. Pakistan…

Free Internet On Shatabdi, Rajdhani Trains? - 1 Comment
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Thu 14 Feb 2008 09:59 PM PST

I wonder when the announcements will be followed up with actual deployment: Business Standard reports that the Indian Railways is expectged to launch free Internet on select Rajdhani and Shatabdi…

Law Ministry Turns Down TRAIs Proposal To Regulate PC To PC Internet Telephony - 0 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Tue 12 Feb 2008 05:31 AM PST

The Law Ministry has nuked TRAI’s recommendation of allowing foreign internet telephony firms to register in India and host their services in the country. The recommendations sought to get foreign…

Eye On New Media Revenues, Indian Producers Want Copyright Life Extended - 1 Comment
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Mon 11 Feb 2008 01:21 AM PST

Eying revenues from new revenue streams like the Internet, mobile and with the advent of multipleses, FICCI and Bollywood production companies are pushing to get the copyright of films extended…

Details Of India’s National E-Governance Plan - 2 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Wed 06 Feb 2008 11:16 PM PST

IT For Change has compiled list of list of documents detailing the rollout of the National E-Governance Plan (NeGP), which involves a massive rollout of the Common Services Centres (CSCs).…

I&B Says Yes To IPTV Over Cable TV - 1 Comment
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Mon 04 Feb 2008 11:20 PM PST

[by Cerius Shah] Big news for cable TV operators: the I&B ministry, based on TRAI’s recommendations, has approved cable TV operators to provide IPTV services. Importantly, this authorizes broadcasters who…

Andhra Government Plans A Digital Entertainment City; To Partner With Biggies - 1 Comment
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Tue 22 Jan 2008 03:31 AM PST

[By Cerius Shah] The Andhra Pradesh government in collaboration with FXlabs, Suresh productions, Gemini TV and DQ Entertainment is attempting a Media City of sorts. Around 100 to 200 acres…

Spice Joins the Fray Along With TRAI and COAI; Fists of Fury Fly at DoT - 0 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Thu 17 Jan 2008 01:09 PM PST

[by Cerius Shah] If it reads like a fight it probably is one. In what seems to be the start of DoT vs World, Round 2, the Department of Telecom…

India’s Do Not Call Registry: A Failure - 37 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Wed 16 Jan 2008 11:22 PM PST

As far as I’m concerned, the India’s Do-Not-Call registry has failed. I registered on September 11th 2007, and calls from telemarketers were supposed to stop by the 25th of October…

Videocon Not To Tie Up With Verizon For Mobile; Subsidiary Datacom Pays License Fees - 1 Comment
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Wed 16 Jan 2008 02:17 AM PST

This is interesting: Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is not Videocon’s partner for mobile services in India, Videocon Chairman Venugopal Dhoot has told Sify. Dhoot says though they have a partnership with…

Zee: MobileTV Recommendations Are Operator Skewed - 3 Comments
Posted By Rafat Ali - Mon 14 Jan 2008 03:25 PM PST

[by Cerius Shah] Zee is apparently annoyed at the TRAI for giving MobileTV recommendations that are operator skewed. This is not the first time they have been at disagreement with…

GSM Spectrum For RCOM; Letters Of Intent For Others - 0 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Mon 14 Jan 2008 12:51 AM PST

[by Cerius Shah] The DOT played rebel rebel to the court disputes regarding the allocation of GSM spectrum to Reliance by giving the CDMA operator 4.4mhz of GSM love in…

Verizon Gets Long Distance Telephony Licenses In India; To Deploy More Nodes - 1 Comment
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Wed 09 Jan 2008 11:23 PM PST

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) Business India, the telecom operators joint venture with India’s electronics major Videocon Group, has received licenses for international and national long distance services. Verizon owns an ISP…

Power Grid In Talks For Entertainment And Internet Services - 2 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Tue 08 Jan 2008 04:34 AM PST

This is interesting: The state-run Power Grid Corporation of India has said that it is in talks with a consortium of Cable Operators to provide TV, Internet and entertainment services…

Telecom Performance Report: ARPU Declines, VoIP Grows; 46.37 Wireless Internet Subs - 5 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Tue 08 Jan 2008 12:48 AM PST

Quite a few of our readers inquire about the total number of GPRS users India; as per the TRAI’s quarterly telecom performance indicator report, the total number of Wireless Internet…

TRAI Recommends Infrastructure Sharing, Separate Licenses For Terrestrial And Satellite Mobile TV - 3 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Fri 04 Jan 2008 08:42 AM PST

Broadcasters are probably not very pleased: as per the draft recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to the Indian government, no broadcasting company or group of…

Proposal To Censor Games In India - 1 Comment
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Fri 04 Jan 2008 02:33 AM PST

Update: High placed sources inform us that there was never any proposal by the Censor Board; rather: the chairperson of the Censor Board had her own issues with violence in…

TRAI Backs Down On Unbundling Of Last Mile; Recommends Franchising For Growth Of Broadband - 1 Comment
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Wed 02 Jan 2008 09:09 PM PST

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) appears to have backed down on it’s earlier recommendation of unbundling of last mile, since the government has clearly stated that they’re not…

TRAI Decides, Deliberates And Now Delays Recommendations On Mobile TV - 2 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Fri 21 Dec 2007 03:51 AM PST

The TRAI has been forced to delay its recommendations on terrestrial spectrum for Mobile TV due to differences between the Ministry of I&B and Ministry of Communications, reports the Hindu.…

TRAI To Recommend Auction Of Mobile TV Spectrum - 5 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Sun 16 Dec 2007 09:40 PM PST

The TRAI has decided to recommend the auction route for allocation of spectrum for Mobile TV services in India, reports the Economic Times. To me, this appears to be another…

Railways To Set Up Voice Portal For Ticketing - 4 Comments
Posted By Nikhil Pahwa - Mon 10 Dec 2007 08:54 PM PST

In Indian Railways is setting up a voice portal (or Interactive Voice Response System/IVRS) to enable prospective travelers to book tickets via the mobile, reports the Indian Express. The Railways…