Extra telecom services don’t need separate licences: Regulator

September 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's telecom regulator Friday made it mandatory for operators to twice seek confirmation from cell phone users before they subscribe to value-added services (VAS). Under the amended rules, subscribers will be required to first confirm their subscription by pressing any cell phone key other than '*' (star) or '9'.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government is mulling a uniform licence fee for various services offered by telecom operators, a top official said here Monday. "The DoT (Department of Telecommunications) is considering implementing a uniform licence fee," said Telecom Secretary Siddhartha Behura at a conference organised by the Internet Service Providers Association of India.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Economic Survey 2008-09 tabled in parliament Thursday has sought to end the controversy surrounding allocation of radio frequency by advocating an open and transparent auction process. "Spectrum should be auctioned and be freely tradeable among companies having a telecom licence, the survey said.

May 21st, 2009 KOLKATA - Telecom operator Sistema Shyam Teleservices, a joint venture between Russia's Sistema and India's Shyam group, Thursday launched its CDMA services for the West Bengal circle, and said it would invest $150 million in this telecom service area over the next four years. The company had earlier launched CDMA services in the Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Rajasthan circles.

May 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - French telecom infrastructure firm Alcatel-Lucent Friday said it had bagged a $150 million contract from Unitech Wireless to support its launch of GSM operations. Unitech Wireless is a joint venture between real estate major Unitech Ltd and Norwegian telecom giant Telenor.

May 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - J.S. Sarma, a member of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, Thursday took over as the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), succeeding Nripendra Mishra.

March 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's telecom regulator Tuesday slammed the Department of Telecom (DoT) over its suggestion to charge a higher entry fee on internet service providers (ISPs) for rolling out internet telephony. In a reply to DoT, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said: 'The authority proposes no change in entry fee for ISPs to provide Internet telephony...

March 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Hong Kong-based telecommunications major Pacnet Tuesday said it has increased its stake in its joint venture with FutureWorld India to 74 percent and will shortly apply for international long-distance (ILD) and national long-distance (NLD) licences. 'Together with our joint venture partner, FutureWorld, we have further capitalised Pacific Internet to support our network roll-out in India after receipt of ILD and NLD licences,' Pacnet chief executive Bill Barney told reporters here.

March 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Hong Kong-based Pacnet, one of Asia's leading telecommunications service providers, Tuesday said it will invest $200-300 million in India over the next two-three years. The company also said it has increased its stake in its Indian joint venture, Pacific Internet India, from 55 percent to 74 percent, and that it would shortly apply for international long-distance (ILD) and national long-distance (NLD) licences.

February 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The country's telecom watchdog, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Wednesday said broadcasters should not have any control over distribution operations and vice-versa. 'Any entity having more than 20 percent equity participation in a broadcasting company cannot have more than 20 percent equity in a distributor (operators of cable, DTH, or mobile TV operators) and vice-versa,' TRAI said in a statement.

February 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government Wednesday said it has accepted the telecom regulator's proposal to allow companies to offer mobile phone services without owning network infrastructure or spectrum. The government decision would pave the way for foreign and Indian companies to set up mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) in India which can roll out wireless telecom services by renting spectrum and networks from existing telecom companies.

February 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The country's telecom watchdog Friday recommended that the content of value-added services (VAS) should be subject to regulation and should comply with prevailing copyright laws, including digital management rights. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in its recommendations on 'Growth of Value-Added Services and Regulatory Issues' said the VAS market offers great scope of growth for telecom access service and content providers.

February 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - The telecom sector watchdog is considering penalising telecom operators for below-par services, a top official of the statutory body said here Friday. The penalty could follow a telecom operator's inability to provide voice and other services according to established standards relating to 'quality of service to customers', said Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Nripendra Misra.

January 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The telecom regulator Wednesday extended the last date for receiving the industry's views on the proposed lock-in period on equity sale in new licence holding companies to Jan 27. On Jan 9, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had sought the industry's views on the lock-in period by Jan 20.

December 30th, 2008 NEW DELHI - Inddia's telecom regulator Wednesday sought the industry's views on reducing the interconnect usage charges (IUC), a move that may lead to a further fall in call tariffs. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has issued a consultation paper to industry leaders in this regard.