India’s 2G Spectrum Up for Sale – Takers Anyone?

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The Supreme Court of India delivered a strong verdict recently, cancelling all of the 122 licenses which were allotted during the shady 2G spectrum auction, and creating ripples amongst the industrial and political circles. TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has been instructed to come up with new framework for the fresh allocation of licenses and it would mostly be modeled upon the recent 3G auction which fetched rich gains for the government.

However, the dust hasn’t settled yet and neither does it show any signs of settling down soon with hurt investors promising to take the battle back to the court. Several mobile operators have openly declared their intentions to challenge the ruling and the protests might also hurt further telecom investments in the country. While most operators are busy promoting their 3G plan powered services, many are yet to come to terms with the revenue loss due to 2G cancellations.

Mid-February has been set as deadline for a 360 degree industry feedback. Though the signs of a renewed interest are slowly on rise, a muted response on this verdict by Indian majors is a chief cause of concern for smaller operators. It’s probably the common man who will have to bear the brunt in his monthly mobile bills.

Now Airtel to charge less for additional broadband services – Bringing Down the Cost on Pockets

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Bharati Airtel, one of the most visible private sector telecom operators in India as of today, has come out with yet another scheme to benefit its broadband customers. As of now, Airtel broadband customers, like customers of other service providers, have been accustomed to bills much more than their expectations in case of excessive usage and, in extreme cases, having their internet services put out of order. Now, with Airtel internet’s Smartbyte package, that is patently a thing of the past.

Indeed, for what Airtel Smartbyte offers is an additional quota of usage per month in lieu of a monthly addition of rupees ninety-nine to your bill. With this quota, even if you exceed usage, you can be sure to not entail payments at those high costs which you would otherwise be obliged to when you normally exceed your usage limit. That is because you are then charged at rates higher than those you are when you are within your usage limit. With the Smartbyte package, even though you don’t get unlimited internet, you do get some security of cheap internet and a leeway in usage.

BSNL suffers loss – Is Redundant Technology still Useful today?

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In a global scenario wherein technologies get updated on a daily basis and the new becomes old in a matter of weeks, to rely on fixed technological structures and not have reliable, timely updates and still expect to be pertinent is sheer folly. In the telecom sector in India, this point is amply illustrated by BSNL’s surrendering broadband services in as many as 17 circles throughout the country in order to seek a refund from the government in face of continuing losses.

This shocking revelation was made in October last year. BSNL broadband, by far one of the oldest internet providers in the country, has apparently not been able to keep up with rapid changes in technology and has, as an obvious enough result, suffered huge losses. Many commentators blame this on BSNL internet still being based on Wimax technology and on the losses incurred by the PSU as part of its acquiring 3G and BWA spectrum.

Be that as it may, one thing is as certain as BSNL’s continuing losses: BSNL broadband services are sure to suffer. In an overall public mood in which all things official and government are tainted with tags of inefficiency and incompetence, it is imperative that PSU’s try their level best to at least not lose their share of the market.

Making Mobile Banking Simpler – Airtel Launches Money Services

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Going to the bank is increasingly becoming redundant today. Instead, as an excellent alternative, we have a fitting range of convenient, easy to access banking services which enable us to handle almost all bank related work away from the bank. With these recent developments, going to the bank has lost its charm as well as utility for more regular activities. ATMs, internet banking and mobile banking have all changed the way we interact with our banks. Now money is transferred over phone calls, via messages and through the internet.

Airtel has contributed to this process by creating Airtel Mobile Banking services. These are part of Airtel’s larger Airtel Mobile Internet services which allow customers to access Airtel internet from their mobile phones. With Airtel’s Mobile Banking services, customers can shop, pay bills and get recharge done from their mobile phones: all this at reasonable rates with special Airtel mobile plans. Further, mobile banking allows customers to access their bank accounts and handle bank related work – make and review transactions, amongst others – just as they would on their computers as part of internet banking. You can use this service if you are an Airtel customer and if your bank has a tie up with Airtel and allows mobile banking.

Vodafone to Disconnect Inactive Prepaid Users, Wishful Thinking or a Forced Decision

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If you’re an irregular Vodafone customer, you’re in for some inconvenience. Vodafone’s latest decision to weed out all irregular users has come as a bad news for its subscribers. Before Vodafone, Bharti Airtel had taken this road and discontinued all connections inactive for 60 days or more and caused a furore in the market. Vodafone’s decision follows the Department of Telecom’s inflexible guidelines for allocation of new number series. They blame an acute shortage of new numbers for this unfortunate event.

While this decision won’t quite hurt regular customers, it is most certainly bad news for those prepaid subscribers who have not used their numbers for a long time. So whether you’re a student  studying away from your hometown, a professional constantly travelling all over the country and using multiple numbers to avoid roaming charges or simply someone who’s currently checking out different providers to find the one that best suits them, Vodafone isn’t a friendly option anymore. This decision is also bound to hit the lifetime subscribers who recharge once in six months to keep the SIM active. To keep your Vodafone numbers from being disconnected, we suggest you recharge every two months.

Online Recharge Leader FreeCharge makes internet recharge easy

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Free recharge, launched in 2010, has already garnered popularity and emerged as a leader in online recharge options in Indian internet scheme. It offers prepaid mobile, DTH recharge and options of internet recharge of Data Card plans. The innovative services offered in the recharge space have helped freerecharge.in bag the pole position in the domain. Not just that, but its recent tie ups with Mastercard have ensured it maintains its lead and spreads its wings beyond the realm of internet users. This multiyear partnership has ensured that more Indians are attracted by Data Card Recharges and other online transactions, mainly due to the ease of its use.  

Prepaid Mobile Plans are its freebie attached services- one of its special attractions. Attractive offers and coupon system is employed by it and home delivery of coupons to the customers availing online recharge services tops it up to drive home an amazing online recharge experience. This offer is in tie up with top brands like McDonalds, Cafe coffee Day etc. Free recharge clearly knows what its customers i.e. students and working professionals need and it has delivered high on that. All in all, it’s indeed one of its kind services, a pioneer in online recharge system.

Airtel joins hands with Softbank to offer mobile internet services- What difference would it bring?

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With Indian telecom market players looking to penetrate into or expand every possible hue of mobile service that is being offered or can be a major draw, Bharti Airtel has steadily earned a name for itself an aggressive competitor. Its recent announcements about its foray into internet eco structure of Indian telecom users has attracted attention of many a trade pundits with some calling it as game changer in long term. As Airtel Internet introduces its 4G services in near future, the game gets fascinating.

BSB( Bharti Softbank holdings), Airtel’s joint venture with Japanese telecom operator Softbank has provided Airtel Mobile Internet with Softbank’s wealth of experience in social media and e-commerce domains. Soft bank also brings the knowledge of catering to a strong 27 million subscriber base to the table. With Japanese gaming industry at an all time high, BSB is sure to take India’s budding internet gaming industry to the next level.

Airtel Mobile Plans that Bharti formulates from now on will focus a lot on involving the BSB endeavours in its basic offerings in 3G and 4G sectors, so all Bharti users should keep an eye on the new announcements of Airtel Postpaid Plans. Christmas is arriving early for you this year!

It’s Reliance this time – Reliance to Bring 4G Services in 2012

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Trust that big R to stay in tune with the needs of the lowest denominator and come up with alluring plans of mass appeal. Internet, they say, will never be the same again once 4G is launched here, and mid 2012 is the date Reliance internet has zeroed on for the launch. Reliance 3G has already tasted a resounding success and it’s on the back of the same wave that 4G services are being launched.

The Mukesh Ambani led company has already announced its plans to offer 50-100 mbps services and these premium offerings will be available in about 700 towns across the country. Now that’s what you call hitting the souk with a vengeance. RIL’s Infotel license will play a major role in this epic enterprise.

After the 3G tablets flooded the market this year, next year is likely ruled by android tablets powered by the performance of Reliance Mobile Internet’s 4G services. Insiders claim talks are on with Chinese and Taiwanese tablet providers for the same. If Reliance continues to offer them at economical prices as is its tradition, it will be interesting to see who matches the Reliance Mobile Plans come next summer.

3G failure: Users move away from services predicted to change the mobile experience

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The hype surrounding 3G has proved to be its undoing. 3G services for all their marketing frenzy have proved to be a dud and the sceptics are rejoicing. With doubts being raised about the market operators technical capabilities to deliver on the promised speeds way before their launch, only a stellar showing would have dispelled the doubt mongers. But rising instances of call drops, slow speeds coupled with high prices have ensured that the percentage of customers intending to switch to 3G remains same the same as last year.

Idea 3G, Idea Netsetter 3G, Reliance 3G and Docomo 3G are few of the gainers in the 3G race. But even their speeds seem to have fallen to low levels as compared to the speeds offered in initial few days. Though customers are being assured that this is just a passing phase and the speeds will be back to their blazing self, it’s not enough an assurance they are willing to gulp down. Some have already started switching back to their 2.5G enabled services as the speeds are similar to 3G offerings.

With over 20 billion dollars being spent by telecom majors in Indian circles for 3G launches, this certainly is a setback to them and raises questions over future generational launches too.

Regulation on SMS limit – Will it make life more peaceful?

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Though TRAI (telecom authority of India) decided to rein in the telemarketers who sent SMS in bulk to many subscribers, leaving them irate, the medicine seems to have ruffled quite a few common people. Its decision to limit the SMS to 100 per day from any given number has resulted in deaf society being hit the most. SMS was the primary medium of easy communication amongst the hearing-impaired and their family. Now these people have been sent scouring for cheap, cost saving mobile plans.

Another badly hit community due to curtailed SMS packs is the stock brokers. Already reeling under the effects of downhill economy and shrinking margins, they have also been unable to communicate with their clients and take inputs.

If this is not enough, even the taxi and car rental agencies have been left in distress. Most of their cab availability status, driver confirmation details and cab details were sent via SMS to the customers and now this has been a growing cause of concern for them; ditto with ‘Dial an Auto’ initiatives.

But a bright spot, and a major one at that, is the instant strap effect on pesky telemarketers who bombarded people with messages at all ungodly hours. Although for students who count on cheap and easiest communication medium of SMS to save their pocket money, this has indeed been a setback. It’s a classic case of people at large being affected due to few rotten oranges.