From next year, keep your mobile number when you change operator

September 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Reliance Mobile, the GSM arm of telecom operator Reliance Communication (RCom), Wednesday said it would launch a new mobile number series beginning with the digit "8" in the Delhi-National Capital Region circle. Reliance will be the first telecom operator to shift from the practice of beginning a cell phone number with the digit "9".

August 22nd, 2009 TAIPEI - China Mobile Ltd, the world's largest mobile phone carrier, has decided to pick Taiwan's electronics giant Hon Hai Group as its supplier of electronic readers, a top company official said Saturday. "We have picked Hong Hai Group to make electronic readers for us and we believe the electronic reader market will be huge," said Wang Jianzhou, chairman of China Mobile, on the second day of his nine-day visit to Taiwan.

July 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The country's telecom watchdog has sought the views of the industry stakeholders on mobile number portability (MNP) charges that will help decide what service providers and a customer should pay for switching operators. MNP once implemented will allow subscribers to retain their existing mobile number when they switch from one service provider to another or from one technology to another of the same service provider.

July 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) has incurred a loss of nearly 21 percent in 2008-09, with revenues falling to Rs.11,505 crore last fiscal from Rs.14,499 crore the previous year. The number of BSNL's landline connections, too, fell in the last six months, the government said Thursday.

June 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's telecom regulator Tuesday issued draft regulations for mobile number portability (MNP), highlighting the rights, obligations and duties of service providers. MNP allows users to switch operators without changing numbers.

June 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Text messages, listening to music and surfing the Internet are the most popular activities of the Indian mobile user, while work-related tasks such as checking emails and managing meetings take a backseat, according to a report by a leading IT publication group. "SMS was one of the most popular mobile application with an overwhelming 92 percent respondents using it," said the report by specialist IT media house Cybermedia.

April 30th, 2009 KOLKATA - MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions India plans to implement mobile number portability services in Kolkata, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu circles by September this year, a top official said here Thursday. 'By April 2010, we plan to launch the service in circles in the eastern and the southern parts of the country, including the whole of West Bengal,' Ashok Sapra, managing director of the US-based Telcordia Technologies, which owns a majority stake in MNP, told reporters.

April 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - With phone operators expected to run out of 10-digit mobile numbers soon, the Department of Telecom (DoT) is now considering an 11-digit numbering system. 'With so many telecom service providers and a growing customer base, the need for new numbers and their consequent shortage will be felt soon,' a senior telecom official, who did not want to be identified, told IANS Saturday.

March 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Citibank today announced the launch of Citi Mobile, its mobile banking solution that combines the consumer need for convenient, on-the-go banking with advanced mobile technology that is compatible with popular mobile devices across most GSM operators. Through Citi Mobile, customers can check account balances, send money, issue drafts, pay bills, make credit card payments, register for services like e-Statements, request for a cheque book, stop payments and much more.

March 13th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Telecom operator Aircel Thursday announced it will invest $5 billion over the next three to five years to expand its operations across the country. Aircel, part of Malaysia-based Maxis Communications Bhd, will invest $1 billion this calendar year, and expects to nearly double the existing subscriber base of 17 million.

March 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Tata communications has signed an agreement with Poland-based mobile phone operator Play to route the latter's entire international call traffic, it was announced Wednesday. Play will implement Tata's voice termination product VTS Prime Solution to manage customer call quality.

February 24th, 2009 MUMBAI - Reliance Money, part of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG), Tuesday introduced a new facility that enables investors to trade equities and commodities through mobile phones. The new facility is available across all mobile platforms.

January 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The new policy for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) will be announced next month, Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura said here Monday. Under the policy, a telecom operator can buy airtime for mobile phones in bulk and retail it to subscribers.

January 4th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Reliance Communications Monday announced the launch of its GSM mobile services in Punjab, becoming the first telecom operator in the circle to have both GSM and CDMA services for mobile users. 'The service will cover 460 towns, 11,741 villages and a number of national, state and other highways, tourist and religious places throughout the state,' Reliance regional hub head Arvind Kumar told reporters at the launch.

December 22nd, 2008 NEW DELHI - The government will soon come out with a policy on Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO), a senior official of the Department Of Telecommunications (DoT) said here Tuesday. 'MVNO policy is under consideration and we are hoping to come out with the policy by January 5, 2009, that is the last application date,' DoT Joint Secretary J.S.