Telecom India Daily- news sample

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Telecom India Daily
07 March 2008
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National.......

Ø    DoT pulls up RCom for missing rural targets       (HBL)
The Department of Telecom has asked Reliance Communication to pay liquidated damages for missing out on the targets for rolling out Rural Community Phones under the Universal Services Obligation fund. As per the agreement between DoT and RCom, 21,431 phones were supposed to be set up by September 2007. Reliance has, however, rolled out 16,248 phones. While the company met its targets in the first two years, it fell way short of the committed number in the third year of implementation. Out of 8,573 community phones supposed to be set up in the third year RCom could manage only 1,321 phones. 
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Ø BSNL places 5 mn GSM lines order with existing vendors in South  (Mint)
The value of immediate order for the Southern zone is close to Rs800 crore and the quantity to be supplied by the two American vendors would be in equal ratio. Concerned over delays in enhancing GSM capacity due to tender controversy last year, state-owned BSNL has placed an order with the existing vendors Nortel and Motorola for adding five million lines in the Southern region. "We have decided to place the order with the existing vendors for immediate requirement. Meanwhile, we are coming out with a tender for the Southern zone for adding 25 million GSM lines," said Kuldeep Goyal, chairman and managing director of BSNL.
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Ø Airtel launches mobile phone back-up service in Punjab    (ET)
Telecom services provider Bharti Airtel on Thursday announced the launch of a mobile back-up service, which will allow subscribers to create a back-up for their phone data. The 'Airtel Mobile Phone Back-up Service', which has been started in Punjab, safeguards the data of a customer's mobile phone including contacts, calendar, SMS, photos, videos and music, depending on the phone model of the subscriber, the company said in statement.The service would be available for both GPRS and non-GPRS phones, the statement said, adding that the monthly subscription charges for the service is Rs 30. 
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Ø Airtel to use Singtel expertise for 3G services rollout in Lanka   (ET)
Bharti Airtel will leverage the expertise of Singtel to roll out third generation services in Sri Lanka. This is because Singapore-based Asian telecom major Singtel, which owns a little over 30% in Bharti Airtel, is a major player in the 3G space as it has already third generation networks in several markets across Asia. "We plan to launch second and third generation mobile services in the island nation by September 2008.We will use the expertise of Singtel," Bharti Airtel's president (mobile services) Sanjay Kapoor told ET. 
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Ø Samsung dials Nokia distributors to grab market share     (ET)
Korean electronics giant Samsung is luring major distributors of world's largest cell phone player Nokia to switch side in its bid to double the market share to over 15 per cent in India this year. "The distribution network of Samsung's mobile will be strengthened with SSK-the largest distributor of Nokia in the West, and Link - another Nokia distributor in the East, moving to the Samsfold," Samsung Telecommunications India Country Head Sunil Dutt told reporters. 
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Ø Use cell phone for banking (ET)
A little over a month from now, you will be able to access your bank accounts and transfer money from one account to another through mobile phones. US-based mobile payments company, Obopay, plans to launch this convenience-packed person-to-person mobile payment service in the country soon, a top company official said. "We are in talks with more than 15 banks and are close to sealing deals with three banks. We hope to launch our service here within a month," Obopay Vice-President Business Development Balachandra Unni said on the sidelines of a conference here. 
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International.....
  
Ø Optical networking market hits another 6-year high         (TID)
Ovum RHK today announced its preliminary quarterly results for global optical equipment networking vendors. The global optical networking (ON) market reached a new post-2001 high of $4.4 billion in 4Q07, for a 16% sequential and 30% year-over-year gain. "The blockbuster results for 4Q07, led by Alcatel-Lucent's and Huawei's never-before-seen $1 billion and $800 million revenue postings, respectively, pushed annual spending to $15 billion, which is $300 million over our optimistic expectation," remarks Ovum's VP Optical Networking, Dana Cooperson. "That isn't pocket change, even for Bill Gates." 
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Ø NSN in E-Plus 3G radio network deal       (TT)
Nokia Siemens Networks and Germany's mobile operator E-Plus Group said Thursday they have extended their frame cooperation to cover an expansion and upgrade of the E-Plus 3G radio network until 2010. The upgrade will allow the operator to increase network capacity and to offer new, high-quality services.Nokia Siemens Networks also will provide the E-Plus Group with its microwave transmission equipment for the transport network.With 15 million customers the E-Plus Group is the third-largest mobile network operator in Germany and a member of the KPN Group.
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Ø Vodafone Australia chooses Ericsson (TT)
Ericsson Thursday said Vodafone Australia has appointed the company as the primary hardware and software vendor to support its national mobile broadband rollout, based on High-Speed Packet Access, or HSPA, technology, scheduled for completion in December.Vodafone and Ericsson will deploy network engineering teams in all states and territories simultaneously to ensure more Vodafone customers in regional and rural Australia can enjoy the benefits of HSPA mobile broadband coverage this year.
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Ø China Mobile plans lower international roaming fee       (TA)
China's largest mobile operator China Mobile is negotiating with overseas partners to lower its international roaming fee. Wang Jianzhou, the company's board chairman said the company called for cutting the fee for many times and had made some achievements by now. Before that, China hammered out a scheme to lower the ceiling of domestic roaming fee. The scheme will be fully implemented by China' s two mobile operators, China Mobile and China Unicom on April 1. 
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Ø Algeria sees telecom privatisation by end of June    (Reuters Africa)
Algeria will privatise dominant telecom service provider Algerie Telecom by the end of June, a government minister said on Wednesday."Be it the launch of third-generation mobile services or the opening of Algerie Telecom's capital, all must be completed by the end of the first half of this year," said Algeria's communications minister Boudjema Haichour in comments carried by state news agency APS.Among companies said to be competing for a stake are Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Telecommunications Corp (Etisalat) and Kuwait Mobile Telecommunications Co. (Zain).
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Telecom Station........

Can Value Addition Be Reality In Indian Telecom Market?      (TID)
Vasu Reddy from Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com
On March 2, 2008 Virgin announced its entry into the ballooning Indian mobile market via value added services targeting youth segment with a franchise agreement with Tata Teleservices.  Virgin provides value added services in various mobile markets around the world.  Virgin doesn't actually hold any wireless licenses.If the Indian Telecom market has to look at value addition seriously, the technology challenges are minimal whereas the legal implications become onerous.
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Telecom Junction.......

Code red: Cellphone firms are caught in a colour bind   (DNA)
If colour is the message, then leading players in the country's mobile telephony carry the same message: red. Airtel and Vodafone have red as their primary brand colour. So do the new service on the block, Virgin Mobile. Brand consultant Harish Bijoor feels the use of primary colours signifies the strength of a network.He said: "Red is a primary colour. In a business like mobile telephony, the network has to be strong. The strength of the network is communicated through the use of such strong contrast in colours — red and white." 
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WiMAX Interfering with Satellite Communications       (Cellular News)
The Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group (SUIRG) has published the results of tests it has carried out which is warning that WiMAX communications pose a significant interference threat to satellite signals transmitted in the satellite C-band frequency.The trade group says that the results of the testing showed that the WiMAX transmit signal could cause significant problems to a satellite digital signal well in excess of 12 km distance.
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-------------------------------------------Disclaimer-----------------------------------
This is a compilation of news from various sources. 
Telecom India Daily doesn't hold the responsibility of validity of news. 
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