Etisalat yet to get an IDEA about Indian Telecom Market


There are lot of speculations in market about UAE telecom major Etisalat's India plans. Some says, like Telenor, it is planning to quit the Indian market while others say that it  plans to invest in India's Idea Cellular. Still others are talking about Etisalat striking a deal with India's Reliance Communications this year. While asserting that it is keeping its options open regarding investment in the fast-growing Indian telecom market, Etisalat is not responding to other speculations. It seems Etisalat is yet to get an IDEA on how to succeed in Indian Telecom Market

Etisalat already has a presence in the Indian market as Etilsalat DB Telecom India Pvt Ltd, which was earlier known as Swan Telecom. On June 3, Etisalat Chairman Mohammed Omran revealed that the telecom firm was evaluating several Indian telecom firms for a possible stake acquisition, but had not reached a final decision.  Etisalat is also waiting for the issuance of tender requirements by the Syrian government that will enable it to bid for Syria's third mobile license.

Will MNP implementation deadline in India be deferred again

It is apprehended that the 31st Oct 2010 deadline for implementing MNP(mobile number portability) in India might be deferred again. It has already been delayed four times. Initially, MNP was to be implemented by December 31, 2009 in all the metros along with the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. 
The deadline was then changed to March 31, 2010 and then to June 30, 2010. The June 30 deadline was again deferred as operators were not ready with the infrastructure to provide the service. 

The latest hurdle could be US-based Telcordia Technologies which, ET reports said, could move court to protect its MNP business ambition through joint venture MNP Interconnection. The telecom department has served MNP Interconnection a show-cause notice, asking it why its licence should not be cancelled, after the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) rejected its proposal citing security concerns. 
Besides MNP Interconnection, the other licencee is Syniverse Technologies India, which has got approvals to implement MNP in India. 

The country has been split into two number portability zones comprising 11 circles each and each zone is to be serviced by a separate MNP operator to avoid a monopoly scenario. Reports said the DoT is planning to tweak the MNP guidelines to allow a single company, Syniverse, to roll out its services nationally. I am not sure on the security issue, but it seems this will soon become the easiest way to counter business interests in India

Meanwhile, State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is said to be ready with the infrastructure to start  MNP by the scheduled Oct 31 deadline. MNP will allow users to retain their mobile telephone numbers even if they switch their operators. 

US regulator rejects proposal for free wireless broadband service - Interesting!!

Federal regulators (FCC- Federal Communications Commission)have shot down a proposal by a startup called M2Z Networks Inc. to build a free, nationwide wireless broadband network using a spare slice of airwaves.  M2Z had requested that the winner of an auction for the radio spectrum would provide free Internet service to anyone who connects to it.  M2Z's business model was - offering free basic wireless broadband access — with speeds of up to 768 kilobits per second — that would be supported by advertising in addition to a faster, premium service.

The FCC is still studying possible uses of the spectrum.

BRICI countries to have 1.2 billion Internet users by 2015 - BCG

According to a new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Internet users in BRICI countries will nearly double by 2015, hitting around 1.2 billion users. In 2009, the BRICI countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Indonesia - had some 610 million Internet users.

 Although there are only 440 million PCs in the BRICI countries at present, this number should more than double by 2015 - and Internet cafés and mobile devices will also act as important means of digital access. The study says that the habits exhibited in the BRICI countries differ markedly from those in the developed markets - for instance, instant messaging is vastly more popular, as are online music and games. There are remarkable variations among the BRICI countries as well. Social networking is more popular in Indonesia and Brazil than in any of the other BRICI countries - or even in the developed markets. And while an extremely high percentage of Indian digital consumers use e-mail, Chinese Internet users have gravitated toward instant messaging.
Among the most prominent trends is that BRICI digital consumers are far more likely to be meeting their digital needs through mobile phones than through personal computers. With PC penetration still quite low, mobile phones are cheaper and more convenient tools for both communicating and seeking out entertainment - already, the BRICI countries have around 1.8 billion mobile-phone SIM card subscriptions, more than four times the combined total of those in the United States and Japan. In fact, as sophisticated handsets become available in the BRICI markets, millions of BRICI digital consumers are leapfrogging over PC usage and going online via their mobile phones, a trend that has significant implications for their Internet-usage habits.
In addition, BRICI Internet users are unusually young - more than 60 percent of digital consumers are under the age of 35 - which means that although the online habits of BRICI consumers are still being formed, these behavior patterns will have broad implications for future online activity.  

LTE Network commercially launched even in Republic of Tatarstan. India still struggling to launch 3G services

Russian WiMAX to LTE network operator, Yota has announced the launch of an LTE network in Kazan, capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan - having installed the citywide network in just two months. Yota has invested $20 million in building the Kazan network, which covers the city's whole population of over one million people with 147 base stations. Kazan is Russia's third city and host to the Universiade (the world university games) in 2013.

Since commercial launch only 14 months ago, Yota already has almost 600,000 customers and recently reported 2010 half-year results of US$66 million. Yota runs successful operations in Russia and Nicaragua and will soon launch its services across Belarus and Peru.

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