J.S. Sarma new chairman of telecom regulator

September 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's telecom regulator Wednesday issued guidelines on mobile number portability (MNP) that will allow subscribers to change operators while retaining the original number, but only within a particular circle. The new facility will become a reality from Dec 31 in metros and by March 20, 2010 in the rest of the country, said a statement from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

September 22nd, 2009 MUMBAI - Telecommunications provider Reliance Infratel, promoted by Reliance Communications and part of the R-ADA group, will come out with an initial public offer to the tune of 10 percent of its paid-up equity capital, group chairman Anil Ambani said here Tuesday. Addressing shareholders at Reliance Communication's annual general meeting here, Ambani said the draft red herring prospectus for the issue would be filed by group company Reliance Power with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India.

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'.

July 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel and South African telecom giant MTN are yet to finalise their much-awaited merger deal, a senior official said here Friday. There is nothing as of now, a Bharti spokesperson said adding the company would update markets only Monday.

July 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Defending the policy of giving licenses without auctioning spectrum, Communications and IT Minister A. Raja Monday said his decision to issue telecom licenses at nominal rates has led to higher tele-density and fetched huge revenue for the government.

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.

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 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Leading telecom player Bharti Airtel emerged as the most congested mobile network in the GSM space in October-December 2008 with competitor Vodafone close behind, the telecom regulator said Monday. As per the analysis by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the period under review, Airtel had 14 congested points of interconnection (POI) - the geographical location where two networks interconnect and exchange traffic.

March 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's telecom regulator Thursday asked direct-to-home (DTH) service providers to carry out repairs of equipment during the warranty period free of cost and leave packages unchanged in the first six months of enrolment of a subscriber. 'Visiting charges and maintenance charges of DTH equipment will be carried out free-of-cost during the warranty period.

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 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 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.

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.

January 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Providers of value-added telecom services (VAS) do not require separate licences, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said Wednesday, a point of view that has come as a big relief to many firms. 'The authority does not envisage any separate category of licence for value-added services,' TRAI said in a recommendation paper.

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.