Mumbai: An empowered group of ministers (EGoM) led by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet on Tuesday to take a final call on key issues of 2G spectrum auction such as pricing and refarming, officials said. The EGoM would go through the analysis report of the Telecom Commission on the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) proposals and their impact on tariffs, and the department of telecom's own recommendations and...
04:41 AM, Jun 05, 2012
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Thursday approved a new telecom policy that proposes to abolish roaming charges on mobile phones and allow users to retain the same number across the country. The Cabinet approved the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012, which aims to provide free roaming to telecom users and allow them to retain the mobile number even outside their circles without having to pay any extra charge. Here's the...
10:59 PM, May 31, 2012
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Thursday approved a new telecom policy that proposes to abolish roaming charges on mobile phones and allow users to retain the same number across the country. The Cabinet approved the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012, a senior minister said after the meeting of the Cabinet. The NTP 2012 aims to provide free roaming to telecom users and allow them to retain the mobile number even...
01:24 PM, May 31, 2012
New Delhi: The Cabinet is likely to consider on Thursday the National Telecom Policy (NTP) that provides for abolition of roaming charges and allows users to retain the same number across the country. Last week, the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, deferred the NTP pending clarifications on certain aspects by the Department of Telecom (DoT). Departments under ministries like Finance and Commerce had raised objections on the new...
08:33 PM, May 30, 2012
Loop Telecom moved the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) on Tuesday for compensation for its cancelled 2G licence. ...
07:22 PM, May 29, 2012
New Delhi: Loop Telecom on Tuesday took the government and TRAI before the sector's tribunal TDSAT seeking refund of Rs 1,454 crore paid for 2G licence and sought Rs 1,000 crore damages for loss of reputation after its cancellation. In its petition, Loop Telecom has submitted that the Supreme Court has cancelled the UASL license issued to it by the government under its "flip flop' first-come-first-serve policy and it had...
06:09 PM, May 29, 2012
New Delhi: TRAI chief Rahul Khullar on Tuesday is expected to appear before the Joint Parliamentary Committee that is looking into the 2G spectrum scam. This is in connection with the Telecom regulator's recommendations to the government which Telecom companies are pressuring the government to nullify. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had last month suggested an auction starting price that is nearly 10 times of what carriers had...
07:18 AM, May 29, 2012
Nairobi: Bharti Airtel said on Sunday it would roll out 3G services in Rwanda in the next quarter and reiterated plans to invest $100 million in the central African country. Airtel launched its mobile services in Rwanda in March, and presently runs a 2G network. It said then that IBM and Ericsson would help build and manage its network. "Although Kigali is currently operating on a 2G network, the company...
01:57 AM, May 28, 2012
Beijing: China has successfully launched telecommunication satellite "ChinaSat 2A" to boost broadcasting and multimedia transmission. A Long March-3B carrier rocket sent the satellite into the orbit from the southwestern Xichang Satellite Launch Centre yesterday. The satellite, developed by China Academy of Space Technology, will be used to meet the demands for China's radio and TV broadcasting and broadband multimedia transmissions, China Satellite Communications Co Ltd said. The launch marked the...
10:14 AM, May 27, 2012
New Delhi: Essar promoters Ravi and Anshuman Ruia, and Loop Telecom's Kiran Khaitan and IP Khaitan have been charged with conspiracy while Essar's Director for Strategy and Planning Vikash Saraf has been charged with cheating and conspiracy in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. The Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court also granted them bail on a surety bond of Rs 5 lakh each while charging them. Advancing arguments on...
04:22 PM, May 25, 2012
New Delhi: A Delhi Court will pronounce its order on Friday on farming of charges against Essar group and Loop Telecom promoters for allegedly committing offences of cheating and criminal conspiracy for obtaining the 2G spectrum licences from government. "Put up for order on May 25. All the five accused person shall remain present in the court in person (on May 25)," Special CBI Judge OP Saini said after the...
11:53 AM, May 25, 2012
New Delhi: The government is likely to take final decision on Thursday on the National Telecom Policy, which if approved will pave the way for abolishing of roaming charges and allowing users to use retain the same number across the country. "NTP is part of Cabinet's meeting agenda tomorrow (Thursday). We are expecting a positive decision on the same," a senior government official said. The policy, if approved, will replace...
09:05 AM, May 24, 2012
London/Mumbai: Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao ramped up the rhetoric in his fight with the Indian government on Tuesday, accusing the country of deterring foreign investment but warning that he would not walk away. The result, the company said, was that it was now unlikely to float shares in the business this year. "There has been widespread concern in India and in the world about this," Colao said. "It is...
12:51 AM, May 23, 2012
A day after getting out of Tihar Jail on bail, DMK MP A Raja has attended parliamentary proceedings on Wednesday. ...
12:57 PM, May 16, 2012
New Delhi: Following is the chronology of the events in the 2G spectrum allocation scam in which the prime accused and former Telecom Minister A Raja was on Tuesday granted bail: May 2007: A Raja takes over as telecom minister. August 2007: Process of allotment of 2G spectrum for telecom along with Universal Access Service (UAS) Licences initiated by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). September 25, 2007: Telecom ministry issues...
04:02 PM, May 15, 2012
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to former telecom minister A Raja in the 2G spectrum scam. The court has asked A Raja to submit Rs 25 lakh as surety. Raja has also been directed not to visit Tamil Nadu without the court's prior permission. A Raja had been in jail for the past 15 months and this was the first time that he had applied for...
12:46 PM, May 15, 2012
New Delhi: On, February 2, 2011, the first arrest in the Rs 30,000 crore 2G scam was made as former telecom minister A Raja was arrested. Fifteen months and 13 days later, the main accused, A Raja, is all set to walk out of jail after he was granted bail on Tuesday. This was the first time that the former telecom minister sought bail from the 2g court, even though...
09:48 AM, May 15, 2012
New Delhi: Conceding to a major demand of broadcasters, telecom regulator TRAI on Monday barred Multi-System Operators (MSOs) from demanding 'placement fee' from channels in lieu of placing them in select slots. In a statement issued on Monday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said it had issued amendments to the Interconnection Regulations which were earlier issued on April 30, and applicable to Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems. "Multi-system operator...
11:23 PM, May 14, 2012
New Delhi: India's telecoms regulator on Sunday reaffirmed most of its proposed rules for an auction of mobile airwaves, including a steep base price for bids, despite howls of protests by carriers in the world's second-biggest mobile phone market. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had last month suggested an auction starting price that is nearly 10 times of what carriers had paid in a 2008 state grant process...
06:05 PM, May 14, 2012
New Delhi: The government is understood to have approved the appointment of Rahul Khullar, at present the Commerce Secretary, as Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Khullar, a 1975 batch IAS officer of Delhi cadre, would succeed JS Sarma, sources said. Sarma's tenure ended on Sunday. Khullar will head TRAI at a time when the regulator is in the line of fire of telecom operators for its...
05:34 PM, May 13, 2012
