Government forms EGoM to supervise 3G telephony

August 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - An 'Empowered Group of Ministers' (EGoM), constituted by the Government to supervise the spectrum for 3G telephony, on Thursday fixed the reserve price for pan-India 3G spectrum at Rs 3,500 crore. It also decided to allow only five operators to offer the high-speed mobile services in the first phase, where one existing operator - BSNL or MTNL - in their respective circles will be given the spectrum along with four new operators.

July 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The wait for third generation (3G) telecom services in the country has got longer as the first meeting of a key ministry panel, set up to take decision on the pricing of 3G auctions, has been postponed. The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was scheduled to meet July 31.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday constituted an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to look into matters concerning third generation (3G) spectrum auctions scheduled to happen this year. The nine-member EGoM will be headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, a Department of Telecommunication (DoT) official told IANS.

February 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Monday referred back the Internet telephony issue to the telecom regulator even while providing flexibility to calling card customers, official sources said. Internet telephony, if approved, will allow consumers to make calls from their personal computers or laptops to fixed lines or mobile phones in India or abroad.

September 11th, 2009 CHENNAI - The pre-bid conference with prospective bidders for third generation (3G) mobile telephony services is likely to be held Oct 12 where the procedure and schedule of spectrum auction will be discussed. "Department officials are going to Geneva to attend a conference, so the pre-bid meet will be held around Oct 12," said IT and Communication Minister A.

July 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The wait for the auction of radio waves to start third generation (3G) telecom services in India has got longer. A key ministry panel that will take a decision on crucial issues like pricing is scheduled to meet only at the end of the month.

March 26th, 2009 CHENNAI - Hinduja group's business process outsourcing (BPO) arm Hinduja Global Solutions will manage mobile telephony player Sistema Shyam Teleservices' customer care centre. The mobile telephony player launched its Tamil Nadu operations here Thursday and plans to scale it up across the state.

May 19th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - IT solutions major Sai Infosystems India Tuesday launched voice-and-video facility on BSNL broadband service in the city. Launching the service, Sunil Kakkar, chairman and managing director of Sai Info, said video communication has a huge business potential to be tapped.

September 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharti Airtel, the country's largest telecom operator in terms of subscribers, Wednesday said it will launch third generation (3G) mobile telephony services by October 2010. "If everything goes well on time with regard to spectrum auction, by February or March we should receive spectrum allocation, Bharti Airtel chief executive Manoj Kohli told reporters on the sidelines of a telecom conference here.

July 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Only three telecom operators can roll out third generation (3G) services in Delhi due to a spectrum crunch, Communications and IT Minister A. Raja said Monday.

January 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In a move that will delay the launch of third generation (3G) mobile telephony in India, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) has referred the issues relating to spectrum auction to a Group of Ministers, the government said Thursday. 'We are looking for an early decision from the Group of Ministers,' Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, told reporters here.

February 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With the proliferation of new and emerging media like Internet, Internet TV and FM radio, the government is seriously considering a proposal to set up a commission to frame comprehensive guidelines to cover all media. The charges of irresponsible reporting by some TV news channels following the Mumbai attacks in November last year has stirred the government into taking a fresh look at emerging media and ways to regulate them.

April 15th, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO - Online auction house eBay said Tuesday that it plans to spin off its online telephony business Skype via an initial public offering by the middle of next year. The announcement was seen as an admission by the auction powerhouse that its $2.6-billion purchase of Skype in 2005 had not worked out as expected.

January 8th, 2009 HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI - The government Friday evening superseded the Satyam board and dismissed three remaining directors, including two independent ones, of the tainted IT major. The government has cancelled a Satyam board meeting scheduled for Saturday in Hyderabad.

January 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought a response from the government on auctioning of radio frequency for next generation mobile services, better known as 3G. A division bench headed by the Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to file a response by Jan 24.