VARINDIA IT MAGAZINE

A question comes on why the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman R S Sharma dared to give personal detail of his Aadhar card number in Twitter. In response to a challenge by a Twitter user to publish Aadhaar details online, on Saturday tweeted his Aadhaar number with an open challenge to users to show him any example with “you can do any harm to me.” It always says, PPT (People, Process and Technology), Yet now everyone is getting dependent on Technology, by forgetting the people and the Process. Whereas, People plays the important role in every organisation, then they have to define the process. By getting influenced by the technology companies, vendors and consultants, we implement the technology in the organisation, which we are seeing the result. But the fact is Technology companies are fully aware of the respective country wise laws on how to find the loop holes. Need of the hour is,we would need for a digitally secured Aadhar card/Number.... Read More

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has approved the proposal of in-flight connectivity in the Indian airspace. The proposal was on the use of internet and mobile communications on board aircraft flying in the 9.6 million sq. km. Indian airspace (includes space above the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal). As per the reports, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said that almost all the recommendations made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on this have been accepted. The government is accelerating the process and within 3 months it should be ready. As part of the in-flight connectivity proposal, the Telecom Commission will initially allow Wi-Fi on flights and slowly get into voice services as well. Now airlines will be free to offer Wi-Fi services to passengers. As of now, no decision has been taken on the pricing. In January, TRAI issued a recommendation to allow both telephony and Internet services on domestic flights. Both the domestic

In today's digital age, consumers and business are now embedded in newer technologies. More technology means more jobs. To win in the new Digital Age, there is a race among companies to get the required tech talent they need to help them transform. Sustained technology investment has led to millions of skilled employment opportunities across the country. Technology is a great leveler. Digital India is the programme to improve digital connectivity and uses IT services to deliver various services and information to people in India. We are in the sweet spot on the demographic curve, with the majority of our population young and productive. The programme recognizes at the onset that the young Indian talent still remains untapped. The potential of Information Technology needs to be channelized and innovations like recharge sachets of Rs 5 and Rs 10 can fan a revolution that will transform India into the world’s second-largest telecom market in terms of mobile phone users and

Considering the TRAI’s recommendations on Net Neutrality, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) has said that the recommendations are progressive in nature and are in line with the debates in the industry and user groups that have been raging for the last two years. For the industry, the recommendations are pragmatic in the sense that it recognizes the requirements of expansion of digital services in the country, when it makes reasonable exceptions for specialized services, reasonable traffic management practices or fulfilling international treaty agreements. Special provisions for IoT, specialized services and CDNs reflect forward-looking recommendations that take into account the needs of the foreseeable future. The TRAI recommendations ensure level-playing field in enabling emerging service providers to reach out to target audiences on the same terms with their peers. At the same time, recognition of special sectors like IoT, CDNs ensure that emerging sect

To increase the broadband penetration in the country. The mission made project BharatNet is to provide 100 Mbps broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats. India has plans to reach 600 million broadband connections as per National Telecom Policy 2012 says Minister for Communications Manoj Sinha.  Manoj Sinha said, “As per information provided by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), there were 422.19 million broadband subscribers and the internet penetration was 32.86% in the country as on March 31, 2017.”  In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Manoj Sinha said that the National Telecom Policy 2012 envisages 600 million broadband connections by the year 2020.... Read More

Reliance Jio today launched Jio Welcome Offer starting at Rs 19 and Rs 149. Mukesh Ambani, CMD, RIL said, “Domestic voice calls to any network across the country would be free for Jio subscribers even beyond the Jio Welcome Offer. Domestic roaming services would also not be charged separately. Average data prices would be around Rs 50/GB, which would be amongst the lowest in the world.” Jio Welcome Offer starting at Rs 19 plan is valid for a day and offers 300 MB data, all local and STD voice calls free in home and national roaming and free local and national SMS. On the other hand Rs 149 plan is valid for a month and offers 300 MB data and free local call and national SMS... Read More

In a recent report released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) ,The total telephone subscriber base in the country rose marginally in March to 105.88 cr. on the back of growth in wireless as well as wireline users. The overall user base stood at 105.18 cr. at the end of February.The wireless subscriber base increased by 0.68% to 103.36 crore at the end of March, from 102.66 crore last month. As for the wireline, the subscriber base arrested its decline and rose marginally to 2.522 crore at the end of March, from 2.521 crore in February. The overall tele-density in the country went up to 83.36% at the end of March, from 82.89% last month. The urban tele-density grew to 154.01% and rural tele-density to 51.37%. In the wireless space, private access service providers held 91.30% market share whereas BSNL and MTNL accounted for only 8.70%.In wire line though, the two state-run companies enjoy a market share of 72.42% while private operators’ stood at 27.58%

The Government has recently taken initiatives to harmonize spectrum in select bands and reduce the subscriber usage charges (SUCs) which will lead to growth of telecom sector. Vodafone India has welcomed the government’s initiative. Commenting on the proposed spectrum harmonization, Sunil Sood, MD & CEO, Vodafone India , said, “Harmonizing the available spectrum to offer additional quantum via auction is another progressive step by the Government (after spectrum trading and sharing), to maximize efficiency of this precious resource. With Digital India as the guiding vision and consumer demands evolving from voice to data, the telecom industry increasingly needs more of quality spectrum to be made available at reasonable prices. An efficient spectrum also directly results in providing customers with a superior network experience.” Read more

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman R. S. Sharma has said that TRAI will come out with recommendations on call drops and compensation that may be paid to the consumer in 15 days. Earlier also, TRAI has floated an information paper on call drop. TRAI is circulating another information paper which is going to bring out the quality of service of calls specifically in the areas of Delhi and Mumbai. Thereafter, such surveys shall be extended to other cities, he added while inaugurating “11th National Summit on e-Governance and Digital India”, organized by the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). “After 15 days, we will check whether they are able to improve the situation or not on the issue of call drops. Otherwise, we will take a call as what are next step to be taken. The regulator has asked stakeholders to send in suggestions by September 21 while counter-arguments need to be submitted by September 28. TRAI will submit their final r

In line with the TRAI’s Telecom Tariff (60th Amendment) Order, Videocon Telecom has slashed the National Roaming rates effective 1st May, 2015, as per the TRAI’s guidelines. The drop in tariff is to the extent of 75% on Local and National SMS; 40% on Incoming calls; and 23% & 20% on STD & Local calls, respectively while roaming. For outgoing local voice call while on national roaming, the telco has slashed the price to Re.0.80 per minute from the previous Re.1.00 per minute. Videocon Telecom subscribers can now make Outgoing long-distance (inter-circle) voice call while on national roaming at Rs.1.15 per minute with a 23% price drop from earlier Rs.1.50 per minute charge. The price of Outgoing long-distance (inter-circle) Short Message Services (SMS) while on national roaming has been slashed to Re.0.38 per SMS from the earlier price of Rs.1.50 per SMS... See more

Rahul khullar, TRAI Chairman, said, “‘Shrill voices’ won’t win the Net Neutrality debate in India and the concept is not ‘practised strictly’ even in countries like the US and the UK. A raging debate has broken out in the country by the launch of platforms like Airtel Zero and Internet. The uproar continues in favour of Net Neutrality. The Net Neutrality campaign targets start-ups as well as Net neutrality: Airtel Zero is a threat to Digital India plan. Anurag Thakur, IT Standing Committee head, bats for Net Neutrality. India needs to follow global best practices. MakeMyTrip joins the Net Neutrality chorus. TRAI has floated a discussion paper on this topic. In response to its paper, for which public comments have been sought till April 24, TRAI has already been flooded with over 8 lakh petitions against any attempt to throttle ‘net neutrality’ concept. The debate had begun after the telecom major Airtel decided to charge separately for Internet-based phone calls in December, w

The Cabinet has fixed the starting price at Rs 3,705 crore per MHz for the auction of 3G spectrum which is slated to start on  March 4 . By this the government is aiming to earn a net profit of Rs 17,555 crore. However, operators are afraid that the high starting level could drive up voice and data tariffs. The winners of the auction will have to make an upfront payment of 33% of the final bid amount to the government within 10 days of the close of the bandwidth sale. Rest amount can be paid after a moratorium of two years in 10 equal installments. A 5 MHz block of 2100 MHz airwaves typically used for 3G services will be offered in all service areas except Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Punjab. Thus, a total of 85 MHz in 17 service areas is being put to auction. The Centre expects to generate Rs.5,793 crore from the 3G sale alone this year.  However, the overall proceeds from auctions will rise substantially, as including the 2G (800 MHz, 900 MH

VARINDIA- INDIA'S FRONTLINE IT MAGAZINE Telephone Service providers have claimed that Telephone tariffs are likely to go up. This is hence believed to hit customers hard if TRAI accepts the sector regulator's proposals on spectrum auction. Sanjay Kapoor, CEO, Airtel said, "Our belief is that the implication could be as high as 100 percent of the existing rates to be compensated by the customers. This would vary circle to circle and doesn't take into account any spectrum re-farming, which would actually push prices even further. The TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) recommendations are flawed and retrograde, regressive and uncertain, which will harm consumer interest, and will ring the death knell for the Indian telecom industry." For More Details See www.varindia.com

VARINDIA- INDIA'S FRONTLINE IT MAGAZINE   Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has launched a facility to monitor complaints from telecom consumers, called Telecom Consumers Complaint Monitoring System (TCCMS) portal www.tccms.gov.in.  It is believed to facilitate the telecom consumers in locating the "Consumer Care Number", "General Information Number" and contact details of the complaint centre and Appellate Authority of their service provider. The portal would also help access the website of their service provider's complaint monitoring portal to track the current status of their complaints or appeals lodged with their service provider complaint centre or Appellate Authority. This portal is also said to help TRAI in monitoring the status of redressal of complaints lodged by the consumers with the service providers.   For More Details See www.varindia.com

VARINDIA- INDIA'S FRONTLINE IT MAGAZINE   The GSMA has stated that the TRAI's recommendations on the "Auction of Spectrum" will set India back in its goal to deliver "Broadband on Demand" to the citizens of India. The proposals disregard international best practice in spectrum policy and jeopardize the investment of billions of US dollars in new mobile infrastructure in a sector that either directly, or indirectly, employs almost 10 million people and serves more than 911 million consumers.   "Efforts to squeeze money out of mobile operators for some perceived short-term gain will only reduce investment in networks, inhibit growth of mobile services and drive up consumer prices - limiting the value the public will derive from the spectrum resource in the long term," said Franco Bernabe, Chairman of the GSMA and Chairman & CEO, Telecom Italia Group. Earlier this month, the GSMA announced that India was positioned to surpass the US a

VARINDIA- INDIA'S FRONTLINE IT MAGAZINE The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has ordered all Mobile Operators to offer their customers a tariff plan of one paisa per second along with other offerings. It is now said to become "mandatory" for service providers to provide in each service area at least one tariff plan each for both postpaid and prepaid subscriber with a uniform pulse rate of 'one second'. TRAI claimed that, "It has been observed that per second billing system is more acceptable among the majority of subscribers, because it enables the subscriber to pay only for the actual usage. The service providers will be at liberty to offer alternative tariff plans with any pulse rate within the overall ceiling of 25 tariff plans." The operators are believed to offer up to 25 tariff plans, but at least one should be on 'per second pulse' basis. For More Details See www.varindia.com

VARINDIA- INDIA'S FRONTLINE IT MAGAZINE The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has claimed to purview new unified regime to issue licences to telecom companies. This is said to be the part of the regulator's final recommendations on the new unified licensing regime. The regulator has shared that since spectrum and licences are being separated, the Government could focus on allocating airwaves while the licensing function should be entrusted to TRAI. For More Details See www.varindia.com

VARINDIA- INDIA'S FRONTLINE IT MAGAZINE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has announced that total 22769 subscribers have been disconnected for making pesky calls or messages through individual numbers. It is strictly enforcing the regulations from Unsolicited Commercial calls and SMSs. The regulator has also imposed penalty on 94 telemarketing companies for violating the rules on commercial calls and SMS. Four telemarketing firms have been blacklisted. According to TRAI, "As per the regulations, if unsolicited commercial calls and SMSs are sent from individual numbers, notice will be served to the customer and his number will be disconnected on second violation." For More Details See www.varindia.com

VARINDIA- INDIA'S FRONTLINE IT MAGAZINE Post the TRAI guidelines restructuring, Enterprises relying on Messaging for their critical communication were hit the most. With a lack of clarity on what constitutes transactional versus promotional messaging, enterprises and brands were unsure of how to go about migrating to more expensive communication platforms. TRAI's latest recommendation that allows enterprises to white list users who wish to receive particular information. A workaround was first innovated by UNICEL Technologies. This Opt-in solution allows enterprises to resume communication with their employees, partners and associates with 100% compliance to the NCPR Guideline. This solution is aimed to bring back vital services like: Cab updates SMSes for BPO's, sales force automation, Disaster Management, HR Solutions, etc. This has resulted in several companies registering their Virtual numbers to stay in touch with their target audience & employees. For More Details

VARINDIA- INDIA'S FRONTLINE IT MAGAZINE The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has issued new rules in a proposal to cease unwanted telemarketing SMS being rout through international operators. It has issued a direction to all for blocking the bulk international SMS that begins with alphanumeric combination. Several telemarketers were routing SMS through the servers located at international destinations to beat the TRAI regulations on pesky calls and SMS. According to the regulator, it was noticed that generally such SMSs originated from foreign locations. The regulator claims that, "If any source or number from outside the country generates more than 200 SMS per hour with similar 'signature', the same should not be delivered through the network." The Regulator is believed to ask the operators to implement the new within 30 days. For More Details See www.varindia.com