Telecom regulator amends value added services rules

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 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Five telecom firms will be audited for suspected misreporting of revenues by them, the government said Thursday. The telecom operators that are under the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) scanner are Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular and Tata Teleservices.

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 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Over 11 million telephone connections were added in May, though the increase was slightly less than that registered in the previous month, India's telecom regulator said Friday. "A total of 11.44 million telephone connections (wireline and wireless) have been added during May as compared to 11.75 million connections a month before, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in a statement.

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 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.

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 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - You may have to wait a little more longer than expected before you start paying less to access the Internet through a high speed broadband network, as the telecom watchdog is yet to come out with the guidelines on the next generation network (NGN) that will enable telecom operators to offer better services at lower rates. Telecom operators have been asked to submit their comments on NGN by March 10, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said here Wednesday.

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 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Tuesday issued a consultation paper on next generation networks (NGN), seeking the views of the industry stakeholders on migrating to the new platform. NGN enables telecom operators to offer a range of new services from lower tariffs to high-speed broadband and intensive services including, internet protocol television (IPTV), high definition television (HDTV), videoconferencing, voice over internet protocol (VoIP), instant messaging and e-mail.

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.