DoT talks on spectrum pricing
The Department of Telecom on
Thursday met the telecom operators to discuss issues relating to spectrum
pricing and efficient utilisation of radio frequency.
GSM operators, lead by the Cellular Operators Association of India, made a
presentation pushing for additional spectrum to the existing players. The
discussion will continue on Friday when rivals CDMA operators are expected to
present their views. The DoT had earlier issued a
questionnaire seeking views on crucial issu es such as how spectrum should be allocated.
— Our Bureau
Source:
The Hindusthan Business Line
GSM mobile cos add 56 lakh subscribers in Sept
Our
Bureau
Vodafone has now emerged as the
clear number two player in the GSM cellular market with 3.55 crore subscribers, ahead of BSNL, which has just over 3 crore . Bharti Airtel continues at the
top without much challenge with nearly 4.9 crore
mobile subscribers. Other operators such as Idea Cellular are far behind with
less than 1.9 crore subscribers.
In terms of geography, Andhra
Pradesh is now the single largest GSM market with 1.13 crore
subscribers, overtaking the previous hot spot —
Though the growth in September is
slightly lower than August when 59 lakh new mobile
users were added, market watchers expect the growth rate to be maintained, with
operators targeting to reach 50 crore subscribers by
2010. However, crucial policy decisions on spectrum allocation and guidelines
for new applicants for telecom licences is expected
to be announced this month and this could have a bearing on the growth rate
going forward.
Source:
The Hindusthan Business Line
DoT working out plan to improve rural
coverage
|
Operators
fulfilling roll-out obligations will get incentives |
Thomas
K. Thomas
At present, they contribute 5 per
cent of their annual revenues to the USO fund. A three per cent reduction in
charges would mean savings of nearly Rs 2,000 crore for the entire industry.
As per the scheme being worked by DoT, operators who cover below 50 per cent of the district
will continue to pay 5 per cent of their revenues. Those who complete 70 per
cent will get 1 per cent rebate, while those who cover 90 per cent of the
district blocks will have to pay 3 per cent of their revenues to the USO fund.
While the telecom regulator had
earlier suggested that all operators completing up to 75 per cent of their
roll-out obligations should be given a 3 per cent rebate, DoT
is of the opinion that the incentive should be given to only those who complete
100 per cent roll-out. “If we give incentive for covering only 75 per cent of
the obligation, then it is feared that the toughest 25 per cent of the district
blocks would be left out by the operators,” said a DoT
official.
Licence condition
As per the licence
condition, mobile operators are required to provide network coverage in each
block of a district in a circle. The obligation also stipulates that the
coverage should be available within buildings. However, most of the existing
operators have defaulted in their obligation.
Defaulters
Recently DoT
had issued show cause notice to seven operators with a suggested penalty of
about Rs 450 crore for not
fulfilling the roll-out conditions. Despite stringent penalty norms stipulated
in the licence conditions, operators have not been
able to improve their connectivity especially in remote areas.
By reducing the licence fee, the Government is now trying to set incentives
for connecting the rural areas since punitive measures are clearly not working.
Tele-density (number of phones per hundred people) in urban areas is nearly 40
per cent compared with just around 3 per cent in rural areas
Source:
The Hindusthan Business Line
BSNL contests TRAI’s order
Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Ltd has challenged a recent order from the
telecom regulator, which made it mandatory for all operators to allow access to
their domestic leased circuit to each other. BSNL, being the largest operator
of domestic leased line services, does not want to give up its advantage of a
nationwide network by sharing it with private operators even for a fee. In an
appeal filed with the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal, the
State-owned company has co ntended that implementing
the TRAI order would hurt its business significantly. Admitting BSNL’s petition to stay the regulator’s direction, the
tribunal issued notice to TRAI asking it to file its reply within four weeks. —
Source:
The Hindusthan Business Line