Spice Mobiles unveiled C-5300 handset

Spice Mobiles has unveiled a new mobile phone called the C-5300 in the open market CDMA segment.

The most appealing aspect of the mobile phone is its digital camera which captures clear and crisp images. It has a Customizable Home screen and a Big Screen of 4.5 cm. Users can be well entertained through the exciting MP3 player and can also record any song playing on the radio. They can store lot of content as the phone offers an expandable memory with a long battery life of 1000mAh.

It allows users to operate the phone in their desired language and users can add or change the menus on home through the Customizable Home Screens option. The phone is well protected and secured as users can track their phone anywhere anytime using the mobile tracker feature. They can avoid unwanted calls by using the call blacklist that stops calls from unwanted numbers. It comprises of a one touch torch and a Phonebook that saves up to 1000 contacts.

The Spice C-5300 is acquirable for a price of Rs. 3549 and will include a Free USB card reader.

Samsung unveils rugged marine phone in India

Samsung has released its outdoor phone dubbed Samsung Marine (B2100) in India. This submersible phone bundles up stylish design with robust durability. It is capable of withstanding bumps, bangs, scrapes and resists dust and water, thanks to its shock urethane material case.

It meets the IP57 certification which ensures that it is dust-proof and can stay under one meter of water for about half an hour. It also meets the Military Standard 810F (MIL-STD-810F) of the US Defence department. This means that it can adapt to humidity, sand, rain, fog, and extremely hot and cold temperatures.

“Samsung Marine is the perfect companion for consumers who enjoy active outdoor activities.” states Sunil Dutt , Country Head , Samsung Mobile Division.

This phone provides ample of multimedia features like built-in camera, FM radio, camcorder and music player. It also comes with an expandable memory of up to 8GB.

“Product innovation is an integral part of our overall marketing strategy and products like our recently introduced ‘Solar Guru’ and ‘Samsung Marine’ exemplify the same .Based on our innovative product launches and range enhancement across different segments , we are expecting to double our sales volumes this year.” states Mr Dutt.

Samsung Marine also incorporates outdoor friendly features like noise cancellation, loud external speakers and flash light. Users can enjoy the multimedia features while performing outdoor activities. It comes in red and green colors.

This Samsung Marine (B2100) is available in India for Rs 7030.

TRAI issues draft guidelines for mobile number portability

It seems TRAI wants to leave no stone unturned for smooth implementation of Mobile Number Portability in India. It has therefore issued a draft legislation to clear the uncertainty surrounding the introduction of mobile number portability.

The draft guidelines describes the rights, obligations and duties of both the telecom operators in consideration for the changing of telecom operators by subscribers.

The draft guidelines lays down major rules such as:

1. A mobile subscriber shall be eligible to make a request for “porting” (changing) his mobile number upon expiry of a period of ninety days from the date of activation of his present mobile connection.
2. The recipient operator, within five days of receiving a written request, has to carry out subscriber verification according to the guidelines for acquiring a new user.
3. Upon verification, the request is to be forwarded to the donor operator (to whose network such mobile subscriber number currently belongs) for seeking its clearance.

This draft guideline mainly implies that a user would be able to switch telecom operator in a week (upto five days). The question regarding the charging of MNP still remains unanswered by TRAI. TRAI has asked for comments from stakeholders on the proposed draft guidelines by July 14.

MNP allows a user to change their telecom operator without changing the mobile phone number. TRAI had earlier indicated that it expects MNP to be implemented by 20 September 2009 in all metros and some states,the MNP charges are rumored in the range of Rs. 250-400. DoT has already selected two companies – Syniverse Technologies and MNP Interconnect – to implement and manage MNP.

What remains to be seen is how many people will actually avail of this facility to shift operators. In a competitive telecom market like India’s it’s unlikely that people would change unless they are extremely dissatisfied with the service. Also, since almost all the players provide similar services and prices, the Rs. 250-400 transfer cost might prove to be a deterrent.

This however could serve as an opportunity for new entrants in the industry. New telecom operators might decide to bear the cost of transfer on themselves in order to lure users to change. Of course, the implementation of MNP would only improve competition between service providers, the benefit of which will come to the user. It could also urge providers to initiate “loyalty programs” which could offer benefits to users who agree to a long-term contract with the provider.

The MNP reform has been hanging for a long time and with its implementation in sight, better guidelines would only help the cause. WATBlog earlier reported the benefits which could be accrued by Telecom VAS players through the introduction of MNP. Now the attention would be mainly on the pricing of MNP and fingers would still be crossed so that it finally sees the light of the day.

Spice Launches New Dual Mode Phone

Spice Mobiles has announced the launch of its latest dual-mode mobile phone, the D-1111, with support for both GSM and CDMA networks. The D-1111 is a Windows Mobile powered smart phone that comes preloaded with hordes of VAS and applications.

The phone includes applications from Nimbuzz, Mitr, Opera and Reuters. The smartphone comes with a pretty basic 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and expandable memory support upto 2GB. The phone also comes with support for email2SMS, a software that will allows users to check their e-mails via SMS. The phone uses Windows Mobile 6.0 by the way. Wi-Fi seems to have been given the slip. The phone will retail at a price of Rs. 18,499 and is now available across all Spice dealers.

LG KM900 Arena Now in India

LG has launched its new stylish and fully-loaded multimedia phone, LG KM900 Arena, in India.

The phone features a new 3D S-class user interface meant to provide quality audio and video output. Arena is the first phone in the global market to use Dolby Mobile from Dolby Laboratories meant to deliver enhanced sound experience while listening to music content, the company said.

As per the company, its 3-inch WVGA screen with 16M colors has four times sharper resolution than standard QVGA screens. D1 recording capability with a 5 MP camera captures DVD-resolution video that looks great even when played back on a large TV through TV Out. Moreover, Arena can record 120 frames per second slow motion video to catch every detail.

Hundreds of music and movie files can be handled with expanded 40GB storage, including 8GB of internal memory and a 32 GB micro SD slot. LG claims that this phone's battery offers up to 30 hours of MP3 playtime, and video and photos can also easily be shared on social networking sites. Other features include Google Mobile Service, GPS and geo-tagging.

The phone packs in a sleek metal design with tempered glass over the touch screen. Priced at Rs. 24,990, LG Arena is available in silver and black titanium color schemes at all retail outlets.

Bharti, Vodafone to bring new 'iPhone 3G S' to India in August

India’s leading GSM telecom operators -- Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar -- are set to bring Apple’s latest iPhone, called iPhone 3G S, to India in August. The new iPhone 3G S, which offers faster data speeds, a new camera, video recording, compass and voice control, was unveiled in US earlier this week.

In India, Apple has exclusive tie-ups with Bharti and Vodafone and this is one of the few markets where the US-based technology firm has a tie-up with two operators. Bharti and Vodafone jointly account for over 170 million of the over 400 million cellphone users in the country.

Apple had issued a guidance, saying the iPhone 3G S would make its debut in India in August, but refused to specify the date and the pricing for the country. The guidance also added that the handset would be launched in 31 other countries in August. Additionally, as per information made public by Apple, the iPhone 3G S will go on sale in 10 countries, including the US on June 19, and another 32 countries in the month of July.

Both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar did not offer comments to a detailed query sent by ET.

In India, the new iPhone from Apple is set to face competition from smartphones such as Nokia’s N97 and similar offerings from BlackBerry and Samsung. Another handset that can be a potential threat to Apple’s new product is the Palm’s Pre which has just hit the US market, but is currently not available in India.

But, unlike handsets such as Nokia’s N97, the new iPhone 3G S will have a unique advantage as it has over 100,000 applications and also enjoys the support of the most vibrant and innovative developer community in this space. This implies, Apple’s product is more than just a technically superior handset, but more of a software platform with thousands of custom-made applications.

However, the catch is that the earlier model of the iPhone’s India entry has been a huge failure both in terms of sales (due to an unviable distribution model) coupled with a steep price tag and poor advertising which resulted in the brand failing to connect with customers here.

Also, customers in India who had followed Apple’s pricing globally during in other countries and believed that the iPhone would sport a similar price tag of $199 here were put off by the fact that they would have to shell out more than three time the amount to buy the product. Worse still, market watchers say that neither Apple nor Bharti and Vodafone Essar put in the efforts to explain the difference in market dynamics in India which led to the higher pricing here which left customers confused.

Market watchers and analysts also say that Apple’s decision to go in with only Bharti and Vodafone Essar in India was flawed, especially considering that GSM operators here are not major players in the handset retail space. This is because, GSM players rarely bundle handsets and restrict such offering to the lower-end phones in non-urban and rural markets.

For consumers, some of the new features that come with the iPhone 3G S include its ability to remember text that has been entered once, thereby eliminating the need to retype e-mail addresses, postal addresses or usernames, the digital compass which aids in navigation and a host of features that make it friendly for the disabled. Besides, it also comes with Apple’s own earphones along with a multi-button remote, but with a single control key and a mic.

Reliance Offers BlackBerry Rs. 299 Plan

After a rather late revision of tariff, Reliance Mobile has introduced the affordable 'Reliance E-Lite' plan for BlackBerry" smartphone users in India.

With the 'Reliance E-Lite' plan, users can have unlimited access to email and instant messaging (IM) on their BlackBerry smartphones for just Rs. 299 per month.

Airtel and Vodafone already offer similar plans which costs subscribers Rs. 299 per month.

The Reliance E-Lite service plan offers unlimited access to the widely used email and instant messaging features, allowing Reliance customers to access up to 10 supported POP3/IMAP email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts such as Yahoo! Mail and Google Mail).

The service plan is offered with all BlackBerry smartphones available from Reliance Mobile, such as BlackBerry 8703e, BlackBerry 8830, BlackBerry Curve 8300, BlackBerry Curve 8900, BlackBerry Pearl 8110 and BlackBerry Pearl 8130.

Samsung launches solar-powered phone

Leading mobile handset manufacturer Samsung launched a low-cost solar-powered mobile phone, and said it was planning to introduce about 20 more models by year-end.

The new handset, launched under its low-cost line of products -- "Guru" -- at a price of Rs 2,799, has a solar panel on the back, which can be used to charge the battery anywhere the sun is shining."We have developed this phone keeping in minds the needs of the consumers, especially for people in areas where the electric supply is unstable," said J S Shin, president and chief executive of Samsung, Southwest Asia.

The phone, christened the "Guru E1107", can provide around 5-10 minutes of talk-time with one-hour of solar charging when the handset is turned off and sunlight has adequate intensity.

"Solar charging can give you enough time to make few important calls when there is no electricity or you are not close to a plug point," said Sunil Dutt, country head of Samsung India. The battery will attain full power with about 40 hours of solar charging.

"But that is really not the intention behind the launch of this phone. It is to enable customers to make a call when there is no electricity," said Dutt.

The handset, the 11th model in the Guru series, will be in shops by month-end. The first few batches of Guru E1107 will be imported from South Korea. Samsung has already launched about 20 models this year and plans to take this number to about 40 across categories.

Asked whether the company would consider introducing solar charging features in high-end phones, Dutt said, "We would definitely consider doing so." Samsung, which has invested about $44 million in developing its mobile manufacturing facility in Noida, also has ambitious plans for the huge Indian mobile market.

"Our market share is in the early double digits currently. We plan to increase it by about 5-6 percent this year," said a company official.The company is also planning to introduce in India its solar-powered touchscreen mobile handset, Blue Earth - unveiled at a technology conference in Barcelona, Spain early this year.

Airtel Launches 'My Airtel My Offer' Service

Bharti Airtel has introduced an initiative called "My Airtel My Offer" for its subscribers.

My Airtel My Offer enables customers to know about the various Airtel offers to suit individual requirements and specific needs.

To get started with this service, customers need to call 12131, a toll-free number. This will get them information about personalized offers like best value tariff recharges, validity vouchers, new value-added services, etc. - all this without being disturbed by unnecessary SMSes.

The offers that are made to existing customers will be based on the customers' past usage, current recharge behavior, and VAS preferences. On dialing 12131, customers can listen to the offer of the day in Marathi, Hindi, and English.

Aircel-GSM Launched In Mumbai

Aircel the Malaysia's Maxis Communication and Apollo Hospital group-owned Aircel the Seventh Telecom operator in India launch its GSM services today at Mumbai.Aircel is present in 11 telecom circles (Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir,Kerala, North East, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Delhi and Now at Mumbai) and with licences secured for the remaining 10 of the 23 telecom circles, the company plans to become a pan-India operator by 2009. Aircel are well-known through one of the sponsors of the Indian Premier League Cricket Team Chennai Super Kings captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Aircel Main competatior in the Market-
Airtel
BSNL
Reliance
IDEA
MTNL
Spice
Vodafone

BSNL launches BlackBerry services across India

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has launched BlackBerry services across India. The telecom behemoth has launched the services in association with Research in Motion.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam is World's 7th largest Telecommunications Company providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India. The company has installed Quality Telecom Network in the country and now focusing on improving it, expanding the network, introducing new telecom services with ICT applications in villages and wining customer's confidence. Today, it has about 47.3 million line basic telephone capacity, 4 million WLL capacity, 20.1 Million GSM Capacity, more than 37382 fixed exchanges, 18000 BTS, 287 Satellite Stations, 480196 Rkm of OFC Cable, 63730 Rkm of Microwave Network connecting 602 Districts, 7330 cities/towns and 5.5 Lakhs villages.

BSNL is the only service provider, making focused efforts and planned initiatives to bridge the Rural-Urban Digital Divide ICT sector. In fact there is no telecom operator in the country to beat its reach with its wide network giving services in every nook & corner of country and operates across India except Delhi & Mumbai. Whether it is inaccessible areas of Siachen glacier and North-eastern region of the country. BSNL serves its customers with its wide bouquet of telecom services.

BSNL cellular service, CellOne, has more than 17.8 million cellular customers, garnering 24 percent of all mobile users as its subscribers. That means that almost every fourth mobile user in the country has a BSNL connection. In basic services, BSNL is miles ahead of its rivals, with 35.1 million Basic Phone subscribers i.e. 85 per cent share of the subscriber base and 92 percent share in revenue terms.

Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) to launch GSM services later this year

Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) is expected to launch GSM services in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa by the second half of calendar 2009, previously it only offers the CDMA services.

Mr Mukund Govind Rajan, the company’s managing director told on Wednesday that “You will hear a lot from us in subsequent months on our strategy for our GSM launch,” .

Mumbai has nearly 15 million mobile subscribers and is the highest-revenue generating telecom circle in India. Last year, the Tata group company had received spectrum in the 1800 Mhz band to offer GSM services in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa.

American Tower to buy XCEL Telecom

American Tower Corporation on Tuesday said it would acquire XCEL Telecom Private Ltd., an Indian telecom infrastructure firm that owns and operates around 1,700 wireless communications tower sites.

ATC’s Mauritius subsidiary — American Tower Mauritius — has entered into a definitive agreement with Horse-Shoe Capital, Mauritius (an affiliate of Q Investments, U.S.), under which it will acquire XCEL, a joint statement by both companies said. The transaction details remain undisclosed.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2009, subject to customary closing conditions and the completion of customary regulatory and other approvals, the statement added.

“India is one of the fastest growing telecom markets, with the tower market seeing record growth. This deal will strengthen our base in India and give us access to a new set of clients and geographies where XCEL has established connections,” said ATC Executive Vice-President and President for Asia Amit Sharma.

According to XCEL Telecom Director Pranav Parikh: “This represents a significant milestone for XCEL and is beneficial to all its stakeholders. XCEL will benefit from ATC’s commitment and expertise in managing and growing such businesses globally.”

When combined with ATCs operations in India, the acquisition would create an independent tower company with a combined portfolio of about 2,000 tower sites in 15 telecom circles and a team of 240 employees.

Airtel Removes '95' Dialing from Fixed Line Phones

Airtel announced the withdrawal of '95' dialing for long distance calling on its fixed line service as per the directive from Department of Telecom (DoT), Ministry of Communications and IT, Government of India. This withdrawal will come into effect from midnight of March 9, 2009.

Airtel's fixed line customers will now be able to call these telephone numbers (earlier accessed through 95) by activating the STD facility and dialing the city STD code prefixed with 0. For example - to call Mysore, Airtel fixed line customers in Bangalore will need to dial 0821 instead of 95821. Similarly, to call Bangalore, Airtel Telemedia customers in Mysore will need to dial 080 instead of 9580.

Airtel customers within 500 kms of a telecom circle and less than 50 kms of the adjoining SDCA can do without activating STD facility. They will need to dial the city STD code prefixed with 0. To access numbers outside of this perimeter, the customer will have to activate his STD facility by calling 121 from his Airtel fixed line number. The customer will continue to be billed for all calls as per the prevailing tariff.

BSNL to expand 3G services over 700 cities by June

BSNL is betting big on 3G services and the head start advantage gained by it over the private operators who are yet to enter 3G domain due to policy delays. The PSU now aims to launch 3G services across 700 cities by June.

"We plan to bring 3G to north and east India by June," said BSNL Deputy Director General (VAS) S S Sirohi. “The services would be launched in east and west Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam. We plan to cover over 700 cities in the next three months,” he added.

The expansion of services will be at an estimated investment of Rs 2,700 crore.

mobile broadband, mobile television, online gaming, video streaming, full track downloading and video telephony are the features and applications which the company aims to offer to its 3G subscribers.
Other Stories in this Section

Motorola to spin off its Chinese mobile handset factory

Motorola’s joint venture in China, Hangzhou Motorola Cellular Equipment is reportedly intending to spin off its mobile handsets division as it has called for a freeze on production of mobile phones in the following month.

According to the Motorola China spokesperson, Chen Lei, the mobile phone sector will be incorporated into the production lines in Tianjin Motorola after the first quarter of this year.

Further he added that the Hangzhou Motorola will concentrate on TV set-top-box business, broadband and mobile network equipments.

The move is also directed to help Motorola reduce its costs as the handset industry in Tianjin offers better potential.

Motorola’s ISC Hangzhou Site is a joint venture founded in 1996, and has around 5,000 employees working at two manufacturing plants-- Hangzhou Motorola Cellular Equipment and Hangzhou Eastcom Cellular Phone.

RIM carves out its own App World: Will it work?

Research in Motion launched its BlackBerry application store—dubbed App World—and the pricing model will immediately draw comparison’s to Apple’s App Store set-up. That comparison, however, only goes so far.

For starters, RIM’s App World pricing model has raised a bit of a ruckus since it veers a bit from Apple’s scheme (Techmeme). But a business audience isn’t going to sweat a $2.99 application compared to a 99 cent minimum priced app. And RIM’s audience is likely to even pay higher prices if the App World can actually deliver software with a real business use. And there are so many tiers to the App World model that RIM could have said “charge what you want.”

But the biggest takeaway from the App World pricing model is that higher prices mean more for developers (see FAQ). RIM needs more developers on its bandwagon since the iPhone is the shiny object in the mobile world. Simply put, money talks and RIM plans to use it. Matthew Miller notes that RIM’s pricing model shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

Sure RIM does offer free apps, but developers aren’t likely to offer them. Given developers pay an upfront fee why would you pay RIM to distribute a free app? RIM’s message with App World appears to be: Frivolous and fun apps need not apply.

Will RIM’s App World work?

My hunch is that RIM’s App World will do well, but isn’t going to a success as measured by Apple’s store. RIM’s store is likely to be more BlackBerry-ish—the applications will be more business focused, tool oriented and won’t feature hot games.

RIM also has an app management issue on its hands. Apple’s App Store has to support just the iPhone and iPod touch. RIM’s applications will work on these models:

* BlackBerry Bold 9000 smartphone
* BlackBerry Storm smartphone
* BlackBerry Pearl Flip Series
* BlackBerry Curve 8300 Series
* Black Berry Curve 8900 smartphone
* BlackBerry 8800 Series
* BlackBerry Pearl Series

The experience on all of those models will vary. For instance, a game on the Storm will be different than the Bold and Curve. How will RIM navigate that conundrum? As a developer those models mean more complications.

Other takeaways from the RIM App World effort:

* A PayPal account is required with App World for customers and developers;
* Developers from around the world can contribute except for those from Belarus, Myanmar/Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
* To submit an application there’s a $200 fee, which will be refunded if the software is rejected.

Airtel Introduces New BlackBerry Service Plan

Airtel and Research In Motion (RIM) have introduced a new service plan for Airtel BlackBerry customers in India.

Now, the BlackBerry Personal Mail service plan will offer subscribers unlimited email and instant messaging services for Rs. 499.

According to Airtel, this is the first service plan priced at less than Rs. 500 to offer unlimited email and IM services to BlackBerry smartphone customers in the country.

With this tariff, the company is trying to target a wider market, making the service affordable for people like young professionals, small business owners, and students.

The BlackBerry Personal Mail service plan offers unlimited access on the BlackBerry platform, allowing Airtel customers to access up to 10 supported POP3/IMAP email accounts (including the most popular ISP email accounts such as Yahoo! Mail and Google Mail) as well as various instant messaging services (including Windows Live Messenger, GTalk, Yahoo! Messenger, and BlackBerry Messenger) from a single device.

Tata, Etisalat to launch enterprise network service

Tata Communications, the USD 62.5 billion Tata Group subsidiary, has joined hands with UAE's based telecom service provider Etisalat to launch an enterprise network services.

The agreement will enable the companies to offer a range of dedicated ethernet services to customers seeking connectivity in the UAE and across the globe.

Etisalat can now leverage Tata Communications' Ethernet portfolio to offer advanced network services to its customers who are expanding globally into new and emerging markets, looking for a service provider who provides the best connectivity options, a company statement said.

Tata Communications' ethernet services span across five continents.

Commenting on the partnership Tata Communications Chief Operating Officer Vinod Kumar said, "Expansion into the UAE in partnership with Etisalat achieves a key milestone in our strategy of building connectivity into emerging markets and being the provider of choice, delivering seamless solutions to meet the varied and wide spread network needs of our global customers."

The company is eyeing key enterprise segments such as airlines, media, real estate, logistics, banking & finance and other companies.

Etisalat business solutions Vice President Abdulla Hashim said, "Through this partnership, Etisalat will offer benefits of dedicated end-to-end bandwidth through a superior variety of global Ethernet solutions in addition to offering value added services."

Etisalat also plans to extend its global footprint by either setting up its own nodes or by partnering with the best telecom operators across the globe.

The company currently has partnerships with 15 major telecom providers worldwide has been offering international connectivity solutions to major customers.

BSNL's third generation services launches in 11 cities

India's Biggest telecommunication company State-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) today commercially has launched its third generation (3G) mobile phone services simultaneously from 11 cities, namely, Jaipur, Agra,Jalandhar, Ambala, Jalandhar,Haldia, Dehradoon, Shimla, Lucknow, Ranchi, Durgapur, Patna and soft launch in Jammu.

BSNL also announced tariff plans for third generation mobile services under both pre-paid and post-paid voice, video and data plans. The voice call will be available for as low as 10 paise per minute under full value 1,000 plan and local SMS is at Rs 10 paise per SMS under super 1,350 plan. Video calls starting with Re 1 under unlimited 2,500 plan and Rs 2 for STD video calls.

BSNL has invested Rs 2,700 crore to make 3G services available to the consumers of this country. BSNL has planned to cover all district headquarters and important commercial towns in its first phase.

Earlier this week, BSNL had launched its 3G services in Chennai. The 3G services will bring high quality voice services along with high speed data and video services. The data speed is expected to go up to 2 Mbps or higher. Applications like, video telephony, mobile, broadband, mobile television and video on demand shall be offered to the consumer with immediate effect. It is expected that services like music downloads, video tones, instant messaging, on line gaming, bill payment among others will be offered shortly.

Subsequently, other cities and towns will be covered as per the experience of its first phase.

Last month, another state-owned unit, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) was the first company to launch 3G services in the country. MTNL now offers 3G services in Delhi, and is expected to launch services in Mumbai and other operational areas soon.

Tata Indicom offers 100 percent cash back on handset

Tata Telecommunication services(Tata Indicom) (Maharashtra), the leading telecom service provider across Maharashtra and Goa, announced an exciting 100 percent pay back offer on handsets for its post-paid costomers.

This ‘never-before’ offer comes with an assurance of a full refund of the full value of the handset. There are three attractive, feature-rich, colour and FM handsets under the plan: Samsung Super Hero (Rs1,800), Radio phone (Rs1,800) and Motorola W212 (Rs1,200).

This scheme comes coupled with the Great Value 199 postpaid plan at a monthly rental of Rs199 which offers:

Local call rates/minute STD call rates/minutes SMS local/national
Mobile Tata Indicom – Tata Indicom 30p Tata Indicom – Tata Indicom Rs1.5
/ min Tata Indicom – Tata Indicom 50p
Others 50p Others
Fixed line Tata Indicom – Tata Indicom Re1 Others National
Others Re1 International Rs5

The offer is on till February 28, 2009.

Shashank Pore, general manager – marketing, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) said, “This is yet another initiative from Tata Indicom to offer customised and first-of-its-kind services to its esteemed subscribers. Through this unique 100 per cent cash back offer, we are delivering an amazing value proposition to the consumers. We are confident that this offer will set new benchmarks in the industry.”

Vodafone close to signing deal on new 'Google phone'

Vodafone is close to signing a deal with Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer HTC for the next version of the so-called Google phone.

Vodafone and HTC are understood to be in discussions about the next generation of device based on Google's Android operating system – dubbed the G2. Both parties hope to have a deal signed in time for an announcement at Mobile World Congress, the mobile phone industry's annual tradeshow in Barcelona which opened on Monday.

HTC was responsible for the first Gphone, the G1, which rival T-Mobile launched last autumn under an exclusive deal. While that device has done well in the US, recent numbers from T-Mobile in the UK suggest it has struggled to compete with Apple's iPhone, available exclusively on O2.

Several mobile phone manufacturers including Motorola, LG and Samsung are working on their own handsets that run Andriod but so far the G1 is the only device using the search engine's software available to the mass market.

Google's entry into the mobile phone market follows the success of Apple's iPhone and the search engine company is hoping that its operating system will help persuade more mobile phone users to access the internet on their devices and become the platform of choice for developers of mobile phone applications.

While Apple's iTunes currently dominates the so-called mobile "apps" space, Android already has about 800 applications available even though there is only one device in the market. It hopes that its share of the market will increase as more mobile device manufacturers release products.

Executives from Samsung admitted last week, however, that the launch of their Android phone will not happen until next week.

For Vodafone, meanwhile, grabbing the next Android phone would give it another weapon in its armoury against the iPhone in markets where Apple has supplied the phone exclusively to one operator, such as the UK, Germany and the US.

Neither Vodafone nor HTC would comment.

Vodafone did announce the launch of its "most affordable" phone ever. Aimed at the developing world, the Vodafone 135 has just a two-line black and white display and is meant just for calls and texts.

Telecom industry faces moment of truth

The world's mobile telecom industry will gather in the Spanish city of Barcelona next week, hoping to find ways to outwit the downturn, powerful new rivals and software developers threatening to steal their thunder.

Mobile World Congress, the phone industry's biggest annual gathering, comes on the heels of a season of miserable 2008 results reports dominated by lowered profit outlooks, deep job cuts and slashed capital spending.

The mobile phone sector is grappling with formidable new rivals from the computer industry and web such as Google and Apple who have been faster to realize the potential of the convergence of phone and Internet features.

This year, a host of PC makers will join the fray.

Taiwanese notebook manufacturers Acer and netbook pioneer Asustek are poised to debut new smartphones, and speculation is rife that PC maker Dell is also looking to revamp itself as a phone maker.

Bengt Nordstrom of telecoms management consulting firm Northstream says notebook makers have developed relationships with operators as mobile broadband has become a reality, easing the next step to marketing their own phones.

"Dell, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Acer -- they're very well-connected. Laptops have become an integral part of the mobile broadband market," he says. "And those companies are very good at logistics, streaming production."

The mobile communications industry, formerly controlled by huge, integrated former state monopolies, has fragmented so that hardware, software and services can now easily be provided by different suppliers, lowering barriers to entry

TATA INDICOM-Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL)

Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) is a part of the Tata Group of companies, an Indian conglomerate. It runs under the brand name Tata Indicom in India, in various telecom circles of India. The company forms part of the Tata Group's presence in the Telecommunication Industry in India, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML) and TATA COMMUNICATIONS LTD.

In February this year, TTSL announced that it would provide CDMA mobile services targeted towards the youth, in a joint venture with Virgin, UK,on a Franchisee model basis.

Company background

Tata Teleservices is part of the INR Rs. 2,51,543 Crore (US$ 62.5 billion) Tata Group, that has over 87 companies, over 330,000 employees and more than 2.8 million shareholders. With a committed investment of INR 36,000 Crore (USD $7.5 billion) in Telecom (FY 2006), the Group has a formidable presence across the telecom value chain.

Tata Teleservices spearheads the Group’s presence in the telecom sector. Incorporated in 1996, Tata Teleservices was the first to launch CDMA mobile services in India with the Andhra Pradesh circle.

Starting with the major acquisition of Hughes Telecom (India) Limited [now renamed Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited] in December 2002, the company swung into an expansion mode. With a total Investment of Rs 19,924 Crore, Tata Teleservices has created a Pan India presence spread across 20 circles that includes Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Gujarat, J & K, Karnataka, Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai, North East, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (E), Uttar Pradesh (W), Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

Having pioneered the CDMA 3G1x technology platform in India, Tata Teleservices has established a robust and reliable 3G ready telecom infrastructure that ensures quality in its services. It has partnered with Motorola, Ericsson, Lucent and ECI Telecom for the deployment of a reliable, technologically advanced network.

The company, which heralded convergence technologies in the Indian telecom sector, is today the market leader in the fixed wireless telephony market with a total customer base of over 3.8 million.

Tata Teleservices’ bouquet of telephony services includes Mobile services, Wireless Desktop Phones, Public Booth Telephony and Wireline services. Other services include value added services like voice portal, roaming, post-paid Internet services, 3-way conferencing, group calling, Wi-Fi Internet, USB Modem, data cards, calling card services and enterprise services. Some of the other products launched by the company include prepaid wireless desktop phones, public phone booths, new mobile handsets and new voice & data services such as BREW games, Voice Portal, picture messaging, polyphonic ring tones, interactive applications like news, cricket, astrology, etc.

Tata Indicom redefined the existing prepaid mobile market in India, by unveiling their offering – Tata Indicom "Non Stop Mobile" which allows customers to receive free incoming calls. Tata Teleservices today has India’s largest branded telecom retail chain and is the first service provider in the country to offer an online channel www.ichoose.in to offer postpaid mobile connections in the country.

Today, Tata Teleservices Limited along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited serves over 28 million customers in over 5,000 towns. With an ambitious rollout plan both within existing circles and across new circles, Tata Teleservices offers world-class technology and user-friendly services in 20 circles.

Tata Teleservices has also acquired GSM licenses for specific circles in India.

Idea cellular

IDEA Cellular is a publicly listed company, having listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in March 2007.

Idea Cellular is a leading GSM mobile service operator with pan India licenses. With a customer base of over 36 million in 15 service areas, operations are soon expected to start in Orissa and Tamil Nadu-the first steps in providing pan India services covering over 90% of India's telephony potential.

A frontrunner in introducing revolutionary tariff plans, IDEA Cellular has the distinction of offering the most customer friendly and competitive Pre Paid offerings, for the first time in India in an increasingly segmented market.

Customer Service and Innovation are the drivers of this Cellular Brand. A brand known for many firsts, Idea was the first to launch GPRS and EDGE in the country. Idea has received international recognition for its path-breaking innovations when it won the GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and Customer Care Solution" for 2 consecutive years.

IDEA Cellular is part of the Aditya Birla Group, India's first truly multinational corporation. The group operates in 25 countries, and is anchored by over 100,000 employees belonging to 25 nationalities. The Group has been adjudged 'The Best Employer in India and among the Top 20 in Asia' by the Hewitt-Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.

The Promoters are -

• Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited
• Grasim Industries Limited
• Hindalco Industries Limited and
• Birla TMT Holdings Private Limited.

Vodafone-Voice data fone

Vodafone is a mobile network operator with its headquarters in Berkshire, England, UK. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a market value of about £75 billion (August 2008). Vodafone currently has operations in 25 countries and partner networks in a further 42 countries.

The name Vodafone comes from Voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones.

On 21 September 2007 Hutch was rebranded to Vodafone in India.

As of 2006 Vodafone had an estimated 260 million customers in 25 markets across 5 continents.On this measure, it is the second largest mobile telecom group in the world behind China Mobile.

In the United States, Vodafone owns 45% of Verizon Wireless.

In 1982 Racal Electronics plc's subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd. won one of two UK cellular telephone network licences.The network, known as Racal Vodafone was 80% owned by Racal, with Millicom and the Hambros Technology Trust owning 15% and 5% respectively. Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985.Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited in 1985.On 29 December 1986 Racal Electronics bought out the minority shareholders of Vodafone for GB£110 million.

In September 1988 the company was again renamed Racal Telecom and on 26 October 1988 Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation valued Racal Telecom at GB£1.7 billion.On 16 September 1991 Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group.

In July 1996 Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own for £30.6 million.On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples Phone for £77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network.In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores.

In 1997 Vodafone introduced its Speechmark logo, as it is a quotation mark in a circle; the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks, suggesting conversation.

On 29 June 1999 Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. Trading of the new company commenced on 30 June 1999.To approve the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in E-Plus Mobilfunk.The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network.
vodafone's original logo used until the introduction of the speechmark logo in 1998.

On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless.The merger was completed on 4 April 2000.

In November 1999 Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter's purchase of Orange, the UK mobile operator.Chris Gent would later say Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory.The hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany and a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resist Vodafone's efforts. However, on 3 February 2000 the Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of £112bn, then the largest corporate merger ever.The EU approved the merger in April 2000. The conglomerate was subsequently broken up and all manufacturing related operations sold off.

On 28 July 2000 the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc. In April 2001 the first 3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network.

In 2001 the Company took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland, and rebranded it as Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's third-largest mobile operator J-Phone, which had introduced camera phones first in Japan.

On 17 December 2001 Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks" by signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of Vodafone international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone. The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where it does not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone services would be marketed under the dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.)

Bharti Airtel-Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL)

Bharti Airtel, formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) is India's largest and world's third largest cellular service provider with more than 82 million subscribers as of December 2008.[1] It also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its TELECOM services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Mittal. The company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 14 circles. The company complements its mobile, broadband & telephone services with national and international long distance services. The company also has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore. The company provides end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers through its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station. SingTel owns over 30% of the Bharti Telecom. Airtel is also a shareholder of vodafone with 31% of the shares. Thus making it a sister company of the brand. It is also a stockholder of other of the cellphone brand Hutch.Group.

Bharti Airtel India’s largest integrated and the first private telecom services provider in all the 23 telecom circles. With its world class products and services, Bharti Airtel since its inception, has been at the forefront of technology and has steered the course of the telecom sector in the country. The businesses at Bharti Airtel are structured into three strategic business units (SBU’s) - Mobile Services, Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services. The Mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles, Telemedia Services business offers broadband & telephone services in 94 cities. The Enterprise services provide end-to-end telecom solution to corporate customers and additionally provides national & international long distance services to carriers. We have recently forayed into Media Business by launching our DTH Services in October 2008. All these services are rendered under a unified brand “Airtel”.

They are serving over 82mn customers as of October 31, 2008; of whom 80,199,747 subscribe to GSM services and 2,549,043 use Telemedia Services either for voice and/or broadband access delivered through DSL. They are the largest wireless service provider in the country, based on the number of subscribers as of October 31, 2008.

The company also deploys, owns and manages passive infrastructure pertaining to telecom operations under its subsidiary Bharti Infratel Limited. Bharti Infratel owns 42% of Indus Towers Limited. This has been incorporated with an objective to provide “Shared Telecom Infrastructure” to telecom operators across the world on a nondiscriminatory basis. It’s commitment towards continuous innovation will enable optimization of future tower rollout and enhance operational efficiencies and result in substantial cost savings for its customers

Reliance Communication-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group

Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance Infocomm), along with Reliance Telecom and Flag Telecom, is part of Reliance Communications Ventures (RCoVL). It is an Indian telecommunications company. According to National Stock Exchange data, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani controls 66.77 per cent of the company, which accounts for more than 1.36 billion shares.[3] It is the flagship company of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, comprising of power (Reliance Energy), financial services (Reliance Capital) and telecom initiatives of the Reliance ADAG. It uses both CDMA2000 1x and GSM technology.

RelCom is also into Wireline Business throughout India and has the largest OFC backbone architecture [roughly 110,000 km] in the country. The company also has licenses in the GSM telecom services space for most of the Telecom Circles (zones in layman's words). It currently operates in 8 circles and plans to launch in the others soon.

Reliance Communications has interests in Direct To Home (DTH) TV also, known as "Big TV". It plans to launch its DTH business by July 2008. Once launched, RelCom will have presence across all B2C communications channel in one of the fastest growing markets in the world

BSNL-Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (known as BSNL, India Communications Corporation Limited) is a public sector telecommunication company in India. It is India's largest telecommunication company with 24% market share as on March 31, 2008. Its headquarters are at Bharat Sanchar Bhawan, Harish Chandra Mathur Lane, Janpath, New Delhi. It has the status of Mini Ratna, a status assigned to reputed public sector companies in India.

BSNL is India's oldest and largest Communication Service Provider (CSP). Currently has a customer base of 73 million as of June 2008.[1] It has footprints throughout India except for the metropolitan cities of Mumbai and New Delhi which are managed by MTNL. As on March 31, 2008 BSNL commanded a customer base of 31.55 million Wireline, 4.58 million CDMA-WLL and 36.21 million GSM Mobile subscribers. BSNL's earnings for the Financial Year ending March 31, 2007 stood at INR 397.15b (US$ 9.67 b) with net profit of INR 78.06b (US$ 1.90 billion). Today, BSNL is India's largest telco and one of the largest public sector undertakings with estimated market value of $ 100 Billion. The company is planning an IPO with in 6 months to offload 10% to public in the Rs 300-400 range valuing the company at over $100 billion.