welcome to 3G Technology

        THE termination of the proposed merger with MTN has clearly postponed the global aspirations of Bharti Airtel. But the company and its shareholders can take heart from the fact that it preserves Bharti’s financial muscle for bigger battles.  Inida’s biggest telecom company can now focus on its expansion into 3G space in India without stretching its finances.

            The regulatory authorities have set a reserve price of Rs 3,500 crore for an all-India licence for 3G services. Currently, telecom operators are struggling to cope with the limitations of the existing 2G networks while serving the 455 million strong subscriber base that is growing at a break-neck pace of 12-13 million per month. An entry into the 3G arena would resolve the pressure on the networks by offering more bandwidth.

            Undoubtedly, 3G is going to be the next big thing in the domestic telecom space as operators will be able to cater to a bigger subscriber base. Further, 3G will be a rare commodity since only four licences will be offered per circle notwithstanding the entry of several new players in the 2G space in last few months. Bharti looks comfortably placed with enough financial muscles to take on 3G expansion. By the end of June 2009, the company had Rs 6,307 crore in cash and investments that can be easily converted into cash. If the deal with MTN were to happen, Bharti would have had to take fresh debt on its books, which could have strained its balance sheet.

               Now that the deal is called off, this sets Bharti free to plough its resources into domestic expansion. Also, after successfully operating pan-India networks, Bharti appears to be far more comfortable in the current scenario, both financially and functionally, compared to other ambitious players such as NTT Docomo, which has partnered with Tata Teleservices. 3G also throws open opportunities in the non-SMS services including data, music, and video. This calls for more investments from the operators and here again Bharti looks on a comfortable footing.

              Apart from 3G, another growth area in the Indian market is consumer services such as direct-tohome (DTH) and TV service based on internet protocol (IP). Bharti has entered both the segments and faces stiff competition from players including Reliance Communications and Tata Sky. Investments in the consumer services space would be key to Bharti’s future progress given that the wireless telecom space, which is inching towards 50% penetration, would soon reach a point of saturation.

               They are some of the closest friends and well-wishers of Sunil Mittal. They live in the same neighbourhood in Lutyens Delhi.With some, he is a tennis partner and hangs around, while with others, he bounces off ideas and shares his anguish. Mittal is known to trust his friends a lot and build bond with them, which goes beyond business. Which is why they feel more ‘let down’ that the proposed Bharti-MTN alliance broke than perhaps Mittal himself. Naturally, they were quite dis-heartened to learn, some from ET, that the deal had fallen through as some of them were following the twists and turns of the deal closely.

Mobile number portability from January 1.

From January 2010, mobile users can change their telecom service provider while retaining their phone numbers as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on 23/09/09 Wednesday issued regulations for implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) stating January 1, 2010, as the deadline to begin MNP in metros and category A circles. The service would be available in the rest of the country from March, 2010.
The regulator, however was silent on the most important aspect of 'porting charge' which is the amount that a mobile user shall have to pay for porting the number. The regulations come a year after the government had announced MNP implementation. The communications and IT minister, A Raja had last August said that MNP would be implemented last year however the process kept getting delayed.
According to a statement issued by the regulator, MNP facility shall be available only within a given licensed service area.
A subscriber holding a mobile number is eligible to make a porting request only after 90 days of the date of activation of his mobile connection. If a number is already ported once, the number can again be ported only after 90 days from the date of the previous porting.
The subscriber who wishes to port his mobile number should approach the recipient operator (the operator to whom the subscriber wants to port his number). The subscriber may be required to pay porting charges, if any, to the recipient operator. Also, the subscriber must clear all the bills issued prior to the date of porting. The subscriber shall give an undertaking that he has already paid all billed dues to the donor operator as on the date of the request for porting.
Also, he shall pay dues to the donor operator pertaining to the mobile number till its eventual porting, and that he understands and agrees that in event of non-payment of any such dues to the donor operator, the ported mobile number shall be liable to be disconnected by the recipient operator.
A subscriber may withdraw his porting request within 24 hours of its submission to the recipient operator. However, the porting charges shall not be refundable. Access providers are required to implement the all call query method.
The originating operator shall be responsible to route the call to correct terminating network.

open internet plan

            THE top US communications regulator plans to unveil proposals on Monday for ensuring Web traffic is not slowed or blocked based on its content, sources familiar with the contents of the speech said on Friday. Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski will announce plans to ask his fellow commissioners to adopt as a rule net neutrality and four existing principles on internet access issued by the agency in 2005, one of the sources said.
            Net neutrality pits open internet companies like Google against broadband service providers like AT&T, Verizon Communications and Comcast, which oppose new rules governing network management.    Advocates of net neutrality say internet service providers must be barred from blocking or slowing traffic based on its content.
           But service providers say the increasing volume of bandwidthhogging services, like video sharing, requires active management of their networks and some argue that net neutrality could stifle innovation. “He is going to announce rulemaking,” said one source familiar with the speech due to be delivered at the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank. The rule proposal will also try to seek greater clarity into what constitutes “reasonable” network management by internet providers. The FCC could formally propose the rule aimed at both wireless and landline internet platforms at an open meeting in October.
         Because of the implications for applications such as internet phone calling services, like those provided by eBay’s Skype and Google, agency staff are expected to propose setting a lengthy public comment period before any final action.
          The Monday speech coincides with a deadline for the FCC to file a court brief in a case against Comcast, which is challenging whether the agency has the authority to regulate actions involving the internet. The FCC is expected to defend its position by arguing that the agency has broad authority under the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Public interest groups praised Genachowski for moving forward with a rule that would protect speech and commerce, predicting the policy move would be a big win for consumers.
         “It will be a big win for consumers if the FCC delivers strong net neutrality rules that apply across all technologies,” Ben Scott, policy director at Free Press, said in a statement. 

Time to Bid Goodbye to VoIP

Just as the Department of Telecom, or DoT, has taken a call to bury IMEI-less handsets that could play into the hands of terrorists, reports suggest that your untraceable Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP services may not live very long too.

Reportedly, India's Intelligence Bureau (IB) has instructed the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to block all Internet telephony services in and out of India till DoT can devise a method to track such calls.

According to the report, "In the absence of Caller Line Identification (CLI) parameters of calls landing from abroad, it's next to impossible to identify the country of location of the caller. The calls passing through the VoIP/IP route contain inadequate parameters rendering it impossible to trace the actual callers. As DoT had conveyed that it is not possible to mandate transmission of CLI from abroad, IB has approached DoT to block such calls till a technical solution is found."

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended the lifting of restrictions on Internet telephony in the country in August 2008.

As per TRAI, there are around 34 companies providing VoIP services in the country. If the block is implemented, it is likely to disrupt the habits and businesses of many.
Source of information is: http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Is_it_Time_to_Bid_Goodbye_to_VoIP/551-106383-613.html
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EBay Is Said to Have Deal to Sell Skype

Update: The announcement has been made. Some details from the press release:

eBay signed a definitive agreement to sell its Skype in a deal valuing the business at $2.75 billion. The buyer, who will control an approximately 65 percent stake, is an investor group led by Silver Lake and includes Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board. eBay is expected to receive approximately $1.9 billion in cash upon the completion of the sale and a note from the buyer in the principal amount of $125 million. The company will retain an approximately 35 percent equity investment in Skype. The transaction, which is not subject to a financing condition, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Do you think Skype is worth $2.75 billion? Tell us what you think.

EBay Is Said to Have Deal to Sell Skype

SAN FRANCISCO — EBay plans to announce on Tuesday a deal to sell its Skype Internet calling division to a group of private investors, according to two people briefed on the company’s plans.

The investment group is likely to include Andreessen Horowitz, a new venture capital firm headed by the Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen, these people said. One of the people added that Index Ventures, a London-based venture capital firm that was an early investor in Skype, and the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners were also involved. A price was not disclosed, but eBay has said it wants around $2 billion for Skype, which is on track to take in more than $600 million in revenue this year.

Alan Marks, an eBay spokesman, would not comment on the matter. Mr. Andreessen is on eBay’s board of directors.

EBay acquired Skype in 2005, outbidding Google and Yahoo in a deal that has come to be viewed as one of the worst technology transactions of the decade. Including payouts to Skype’s founders, the price ultimately topped $3.1 billion. EBay later wrote down $900 million of Skype’s value, after it became clear that the company was not a good fit with eBay’s main e-commerce and online payment businesses.

Although eBay has said it was planning an initial public offering for the Skype division next year, it has been talking to various companies and investment groups interested in buying the service. Skype’s founders, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, approached private equity firms earlier this year in hopes of making a bid for their old company. But they did not meet eBay’s price, and separately the parties are fighting in a British court over ownership of the core peer-to-peer technology behind the Skype service. The case is due to be heard by a British court next year.

Last month, eBay also negotiated with Google over buying Skype, according to a person briefed on those discussions. But Google ultimately walked away from a potential deal, fearing that continued litigation could leave it vulnerable to immense damages.

Google also worried that owning Skype might alienate wireless carriers, which offer their customers phones running Google’s Android software, the person said.

It is not clear if Skype’s founders are involved in the new deal and have agreed to relinquish their legal claim.