Issue 10 November 2014
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GLOBAL NEWS
ET Knowledge Forum - 1st Panel Discussion Delhi 16th October 2014
News Coverage
Global has been presenting the ET Telecom awards for last three years. This year it started with the Economic Times Knowledge Forum titled “LTE/4G: Next wave of telecom growth in India” held at Le meridian, New Delhi on October 16, 2014.
Many industry experts and stalwarts was a part of the panel as well as in the audience. This forum aimed to provide insight on key issues, challenges and opportunities associated with an evolving 4G market & how operators can upgrade their network in order to continue a profitable business growth.
The discussion will focused on the following topics
Passion for Action - GTL OME
Passion for Action - GTL Corporate
INDUSTRY NEWS
Reliance Jio Infocomm applies for network test before 4G launch
By PTI on Nov 4, 2014 at 1:28 PM.
Gearing up for its pan-India 4G services launch in coming months, Reliance Jio Infocomm has approached the Department of Telecom for a network test conducted along with security agencies.
“Reliance Jio has written to DoT to start test of legal interception and monitoring solution in its network across circles which is conducted along with security agencies and is mandatory before launch of telecom services,” an official source told PTI. Reliance Jio did not immediately comment on the matter. Mukesh Ambani-led RJio has plans to start 4G services across most of the telecom circles by March 2015. Reliance Industries has already announced that it will launch commercial 4G telecom service of RJio in 2015 entailing investment of Rs 70,000 crore.
RJio will initially cover about 5,000 towns and cities accounting for over 90 percent of urban India, as well as over 215,000 villages in India and the target is to expand this to over 600,000 villages. RJio in only company which hold pan-India broadband wireless access spectrum that can be used for 4G services. As per rules, 2015 is last year for all companies who won BWA spectrum to roll out the services in at least 90 percent of the service areas, failing which the DoT will have the right to withdraw the radiowaves.
RJio, Aircel, Airtel, Tikona Digital and Augere Mauritius won BWA spectrum in mid-2010. Airtel and Aircel have partially launched 4G services using BWA airwaves. RJio also acquired spectrum in 1800 Mhz band, widely known as 2G spectrum, for Rs 11,054.41 crore in February across 14 out of 22 service areas in country. The company has said it will use these radiowaves also for 4G services.
DoT Re-Looking At Ways for Telcos to Sell Biz Seamlessly
Communications Today | 04 Nov 2014.
The Department of Telecom is taking a fresh look at formulating an exit policy that will enable loss-making companies transfer their businesses to an existing player without procedural hassles.
“The DoT is firming up a policy for spectrum trading and sharing but even this cannot be an answer to having an exit policy. We are now looking at allowing a player to transfer its business to a stronger player, including all approvals and permissions granted within the licensees,” said a DoT official.
In 2012, the department had wanted to formulate an exit policy but telecom regulator TRAI had shot down the move.
Besides the exit policy, the DoT has listed 15 other issues that need immediate direction, including the dispute relating to 3G roaming deals, the definition of rural districts for fulfillment of the 3G and 4G rollout obligations, and revenue separation by broadband players.
A committee headed by the DoT Secretary has been formed to find solutions for these outstanding issues, which could throttle the telecom sector if left unresolved for too long. Exit challenge
As of now the only way for an operator to exit the market is by either surrendering licensees or by going through the merger and acquisition route.
While the former does not allow the exiting player to recover investments sunk in the business, the rules around M&A make it very tough for anyone to sell out. Operators such as Tata Teleservices and Aircel have been looking to find a suitable buyer for over a year now without much success, primarily because of the existing rules.
Although they continue to operate in the market with fresh funds pumped in by promoter companies, they find themselves locked in.
This situation is not only bad for such telecom companies but also for the overall industry, as spectrum resources currently with these players could have been better utilized had they been able to exit.
Under the existing policy, when an operator acquires the operations of another player, it has to seek fresh permission and authorizations. This can disrupt services, as the clearances take time to come through.
The most recent example is Loop’s agreement to transfer its mobile users in Mumbai to Airtel, which is still awaiting DoT clearance with less than a month to go for the licenses to expire.
-The Hindu Business Line
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