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A Raja gets bail in 2G case

A trial court in New Delhi granted bail to tainted former Telecom Minister A. Raja in the long-running case involving irregularities in allocation of new 2G licences.Raja was in Tihar jail since February 2011.

The Delhi court has granted bail to the DMK MP on a personal bond of Rs 20 lakh and two sureties of the like amount. “The bail application is allowed,” sais special CBI Judge, O.P. Saini.

Raja cannot visit Tamil Nadu without the court's prior permission. He also cannot go to the office of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).The Delhi court, in its 14-page bail order, also stated that Raja would not try to influence any witnesses while on bail.

Last week, the Supreme Court granted bail to former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura besides also upholding the bail to A. Raja’s former Private Secretary, R.K. Chandolia, by the trial court. Behura and Chandolia were arrested by the CBI along with A. Raja on February 2, 2011.

Bharti close to buying Qualcomm's broadband license

Qualcomm Inc is asking Bharti Airtel Ltd to pay about Rs50 bn for its Indian unit as the two companies seek to conclude talks in the next two weeks, according to reports.

Reports stated that Bharti may purchase the unit in installments over two years.

Under the plan, Bharti would initially purchase a 26% stake in the unit, currently held by Tulip Telecom Ltd. (TTSL) and Global Holding Corp., and Qualcomm will own 51% of the division for at least two years after that, says report.

Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank announce strategic alliance for financial inclusion

Bharti Airtel, through its wholly owned subsidiary Airtel mCommerce Services Limited, and Axis Bank today announced a partnership for extending banking and payment services to India’s unbanked millions through the ubiquitous mobile platform. This alliance will leverage the companies’ respective strengths in telecom and banking sectors to empower financially excluded citizens of India with banking products and services towards enhancing their livelihood and quality of life.

With the partnership announced today, no-frills savings account of Axis Bank will be opened for customers on the Airtel Money platform called ‘airtel money Super Account powered by Axis Bank’ offering customers banking transactions including cash deposit, money transfer and withdrawal. These accounts will provide convenient, safe and secure savings avenue to Financial Inclusion customers’ paying them savings account interest and also enabling them to make remittances.

In focus Stories

TEMA refutes Booz & Co Report on Indian Telecom Manufacturing

The Telecom Equipment Manufacturer's Association (TEMA) of India has raised concern in a response to the recent report on the Indian 'Indian Telecom Equipment Manufacturing sector'. In a communication to the Honorable Minister of Communication & IT Kapil Sibal, TEMA has pointed out that the report is an attempt to polarize and paralyze the efforts of Government of India to incentivise the local innovation and manufacturing.

The study done by Booz & Co was sponsored by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). According to TEMA, contrary to the Government of India's thought process, the report seems to conclude that there is not much scope for the Indian Telecom Equipment Manufactures in the current world scenario. According to the Booz & Co report, "India will account for only three (3) percent of the global market by 2020, therefore self-reliance is not a viable tool to drive the globally competitive economies of scale".

According to the TEMA communication to the Honorable Minister of Communication, the telecom equipment market is expected to grow to US$40 billion by the year 2020, up from current level of US$ 10 billion, is in itself is attractive proposition for the current foreign equipment suppliers to discourage home grown telecom equipment manufacturers.

TRAI proposes to lower CDMA reserve price

In its ‘clarification’ sought by the Department of Telecom (DoT), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India stuck to most of its recommendations for the fresh 2G spectrum auction to be held by August this year, reports said.

However, the regulator proposed to reduce the reserve price of CDMA spectrum but made no change in its price recommendation for GSM spectrum auction.

The TRAI suggested a reduction in the reserve price of CDMA spectrum from twice to 1.3 times the base price recommended for the 1,800 MHz band. The reduction will be valid only in states where airwaves less than 5 MHz are available for auction.

Domestic News

Bharti Airtel declines on money laundering probe

Shares of telecom major Bharti Airtel declined on news that the company was being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged money laundering, reports said quoting Junior finance minister S.S. Palanimanickam.

However, in response to a query in Parliament, the minister said it was not in the interest of the ongoing investigation to provide any further details.

Airtel announces all new affordable tariffs for 3G customers

Bharti Airtel announced the launch of all new range of affordable and easy to understand tariff plans for its 3G services.

Airtel has also introduced Smartbytes additional data usage packs for its postpaid Airtel mobile customers on 3G – thus becoming the first in the market to offer customers with the choice of subscribing to incremental 3G data usage packs.

With Airtel 3G Smartbytes, postpaid mobile customers will now be able to continue enjoying uninterrupted access to high speed browsing on their mobile devices even after exhausting their monthly data limits.

Rahul Khullar succeeds JS Sarma as TRAI Chairman

Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar has been picked to succeed JS Sarma as the Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, reports said.

Khullar, who still has a year to go in the commerce ministry said he would resign soon and would be taking up his new duties on Monday. He will have a three-year term.

Khullar has joined the telecom regulator at a time when the TRAI has received severe flak from operators after it proposed to increase the base price of the fresh auction of 2G airwaves to Rs. 181.11bn from Rs. 16.59bn that telecom companies paid in 2008.

Vodafone launches Bada Bonus Card in Andhra Pradesh

Vodafone India, one of India’s leading telecommunications service providers, today announced the launch of its Bada Bonus Card - Rs 197 for its pre-paid customers in Andhra Pradesh.

The ‘Rs 197 Bada Bonus Card’ provides 42,000 seconds talk time on any local network, with a validity of 4 weeks and is available through e-top-up, at all exclusive retail outlets and multibrand outlets.

Samsung tops eBay India's Battle of Gadgets Rankings

eBay India, India’s leading eCommerce marketplace, released the Battle of the Gadget Rankings for the most popular gadget models & brands based on an analysis of all gadget transactions on eBay India from January 1, 2012 to March 31, 2012. The research report showcases interesting trends of India’s Top Gadget Cities, Models & Brands across 4 popular gadget categories of Laptops, Cameras, Mobile Phones & Televisions.

The most popular gadget brand has been retained by Samsung with 31% of market share across the gadget categories of Laptops, Cameras, Mobile Phones & Televisions on eBay India. The most popular brands are Samsung in the Mobile Phones category, Nikon in the Digital Camera category, Apple in the Laptop category & Samsung in the TV Category. On an average day on eBay India, A mobile handset sells every 3 minutes, A laptop sells every 13 minutes & A digital camera sells every 25 minutes.

Abhimanyu Lal, Head–Categories, eBay India, says, “Gadgets are amongst the most popular purchases for the eBay shopper. We have an extensive range of gadgets across brands, models & budgets which enables our consumers to get easy access to the best deals & widest selection online.

TRAI pays no heed to industry concerns

Uninor emerges as 2nd highest subscriber additions in Bihar & Jharkhand circle

Idea Cellular ties up with Delhi Metro

Airtel Talk2Me with Sachin Tendulkar

Qualcomm Incorporated announces third edition of its venture investment competition in India

Dish TV Q4 net loss at Rs490.20mn

Go Tech unveils 2 Tablet PCs in India at affordable price

DoT celebrates World Telecommunication and Information Day

Curse of Damyaan, chhota Bheem App launched for Windows Phone

TimesDeal.com mobile recharge deal gets 70,000 orders in one day

Global News

Worldwide mobile phones sales down in Q1 FY12 : Gartner

Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users reached 419.1 million units in the first quarter of 2012, a 2 per cent decline from the first quarter of 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. This is the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that the market exhibited a decline.
 
“Global sales of mobile devices declined more than expected due to a slowdown in demand from the Asia/Pacific region,” said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. “The first quarter, traditionally the strongest quarter for Asia – which is driven by Chinese New Year, saw a lack of new product launches from leading manufacturers, and users delayed upgrades in the hope of better smartphone deals arriving later in the year.”

HTC delays U.S. launch of new smartphone

Apple's new iPhone to have larger screen: report

ClickSoftware sparks evolution in business mobility with its new ClickAppStore

ZTE signs agreement to provide managed services to Comcel

Nokia launches two new low-end mobile phones

EduKart.com and IAMAI launch online course in Digital Marketing

Mobily hands MVNE Solution and Services contract to XIUS

XAGE unveils M738 SPEED handset