Top Stories 

RCOM plans to increase calling rates by 25%: reports

Reliance Communications is reportedly planning to raise calling rates by 25%  to improve its operating margins.

This move will be the biggest tariff hike effected by the company and will be the second bold step undertaken by the debt-ridden telco.

 RCOM's revised call rates will initially affect new customers and will be extended to its existing users when the validity of their current tariff plans expire, says report.

The company reported that it has revised its base price from 1.2 paise per second to 1.5 paise and this has initially been implemented in four states and be rolled out across the rest of the county within a month.

RIL plans low-cost telecom towers: reports

Reliance Industries is planning an ultra-low-cost base stations, used to transmit signals for telecom services, costing just Rs. 1 lakh each, according to reports.

Reports stated that cost of the proposed towers would be as low as 1/40th of the base stations deployed by some leading mobile phone service providers.

Some leading telecom companies are using telecom towers costing as high as Rs. 30-40 lakh, while some of the low-cost towers cost Rs. 15-20 lakh,report says.

There are reports that the rentals for telecom towers also varies between Rs. 30,000-50,000 per month, making the proposed base stations of RIL group a very cost-effective model.

Fresh from the nail biting win at the Italian Grand Prix and one week prior to the Singapore Grand Prix, a visibly thrilled Lewis Hamilton said, “It’s amazing how each time I come to India, the experience gets better. I wish to thank Vodafone for giving me this opportunity and for putting up such a fantastic show on a large scale.

I feel privileged to have presented India’s first night street race show on behalf of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. The fans in Mumbai are simply the best and the unbridled love and adulation that I receive here in India is addictive and makes me want to come back for more action and adventure. I am really looking forward to racing in India next month and I am sure Indian fans will have a great show to look forward to.”

In focus Stories

IIFL on Vodafone India: Cautious optimism

IIFL Institutional Equities, a part of the IIFL Group, one of the leading players in the Indian financial services space, in a recent report on Vodafone India said that from our recent interaction with Vodafone India MD and CEO, Marten Pieters, we came away optimistic on penetration-led growth in voice, mobile broadband, enterprise services and mobile money.

However, challenges include regulatory uncertainty, hyper-competition, and rising costs.

IIFL Institutional Equities is of an opinion that competitive intensity has shown signs of receding with targeted efforts of the incumbents to reduce churn and lower subscriber adds.

Start-ups telcos face high spectrum prices for continuing operations. Inorganic options will also be expensive. Hence for the present, chances for incumbent telcos to exploit penetration upsides remain bright in the medium term,brokerage added.

The report was published by IIFL’s Institutional Equities Research desk

Domestic News

Cabinet approves hiking FDI cap in broadcast carriage services to 74%

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion for Review of the policy on Foreign Investment (FI) in companies operating in the Broadcasting Sector.
 
Enhanced access to foreign investment is expected to expand the reach of broadcasting services, thereby improving accessibility of these services, and bring in international best practices. The proposal will make the foreign investment policy for the broadcasting sector consistent with that of the telecom sector, because of the convergence of technologies involved in these two sectors, and thereby bring in greater investments into quality infrastructure for the broadcasting carriage services.
 
The CCEA, after review, has liberalised the policy on foreign investment, for companies operating in the broadcasting sector, as below:
 
Teleports (setting up up-linking HUBs/Teleports): Direct to Home (DTH); Cable Networks (Multi-System-Operators operating at National or State or District level and undertaking upgradation of networks towards digitalization and addressability):
Currently, foreign investment, up to 49 percent, is permitted in these activities. It has been decided to now increase the foreign investment limit from 49 percent to 74 percent, with the proviso that:
 
Up to 49 percent be permitted under the automatic route and
Beyond 49 percent and up to 74 percent be permitted under the Government route

Cabinet approves financial restructuring of Prasar Bharti

The Union Cabinet approved the proposal of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for financial restructuring of Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India). The proposal is based on the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Prasar Bharati (PB), constituted under the chairmanship of the Home Minister, to examine various issues pertaining to the functioning of Prasar Bharati.

On the basis of the recommendations of GoM, the Cabinet has given its approval for the following in order to improve the overall financial management of Prasar Bharati (PB):-

During the next five years from 2012-13 to 2016-17, Government non- Plan support will be made available to PB for meeting 100 per cent expenses towards salary and salary related expenses. All other operating expenses to be borne by PB out of internal revenue earnings.

Plan capital support by the Government to PB will be in the form of grants-in-aid only and not in the form of loan.

Accumulated interest on loan-in-perpetuity, interest on capital loan and penal interest thereon payable by PB to Government will be waived off.

Tata DOCOMO enters into partnership with mCarbon

mCarbon, a leading mobile Value Added Service (VAS) provider, has entered into strategic technology partnership with leading telecom service provider Tata DOCOMO. Under this partnership mCarbon will provide technological support for Tata DOCOMO’s caller ring back tone (CRBT) service.
 
mCarbon’s CRBT service is not just an application; it is an end-to-end solution. By providing service management with every deployment of CRBT, mCarbon will enable Tata DOCOMO to achieve a rapid return on investment as well as benefit from its extensive experience of running CRBT services across rapidly growing markets globally. mCarbon is live with CRBT in 4 circles Kolkata, UP East, Bihar and Rest of West Bengal.

Vodafone brings night street race experience to India

Vodafone India, one of India’s leading telecommunications service providers, brought a first-of-its-kind night street race experience to India, as international FI champion Lewis Hamilton burnt rubber at Mumbai’s commercial street corridor at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) this evening. Driving his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car, Lewis enthralled the crowd of over 60,000 motor racing fans and loyal customers of Vodafone. He put his famed driving skills on display and performed hallmark F1 hot laps and ‘donuts’ to the delight of the mesmerized audience. Few lucky customers of Vodafone India got the opportunity of a lifetime of riding with Lewis in the sleek Mercedes AMG sports car.

The roar of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car was rivaled by the loud cheers of the crowd, spanning young and old alike, comprising an eclectic mix of socialites, celebrities, politicians, bureaucrats, and the general public.  Popular TV presenters and hosts Manish Paul and Mandira Bedi kept the audience entertained and on their toes, prior to the race and there was a dazzling spectacle of some sporty wizardry and stunning acts by international artists during breaks. Lewis also interacted with the finalists of the on-going Vodafone ‘Drive into the Big League’ contest for SMEs in India, which gives one winner of the Grand Finale, a money-can’t-buy-chance, to get their logo on the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car that will race in second season of motor racing event in Delhi next month.

Smart Card Exposition to be held in Delhi

MMA announces finalists for first Smarties India Awards

Global News

Apple takes orders for 2 million iPhone 5s: reports

Apple Inc has announced that it took orders for more than 2 million iPhone 5s, according to reports.

Reports stated that that was more than double its previous mark of 1 million iPhones ordered the first day of pre-sales in October for the iPhone 4S.

The world's most valuable company is worth nearly $656 billion — about six times its value in June 2007, when it released the first iPhone, report says.

ZTE sets new world record in 400G high-speed transmission 

ZTE Corporation a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment, network solutions and mobile devices, announced at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC), that it has set a new world record in 400G high-speed transmission.

In the experiment, ZTE used its patent technology to achieve 40 DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing) channels of 400Gb/s single-carrier polarization division multiplexing QPSK (PDM-QPSK) signals to successfully transmit 2800 km in standard single-mode fiber, smashing the world record of 1200 km transmission distance of single-carrier 400G.

ECOC is an important and influential high-level international academic conference in the optical communications. The conference is used to address the development of current and future application of optoelectronics and optical communications. Following the experiment, global experts from ECOC evaluated the results and presented ZTE with a certificate during a meeting on 17 September.

Micromax introduces with “FREE” messaging services

Over 200 BenQ Professional gaming Monitors featured at Intel Extreme Masters Season 7