Soon, Bluetooth data sharing may get faster

Your Bluetooth device may soon become faster at transferring data!

Researchers are looking into ways information can be shared quickly and effectively using Bluetooth technology.

Bluetooth technology is the most widespread standard wireless communication. One of its applications is the creation of electronic sensor networks.

Researchers at the University of the Basque Country in Spain studied the performance of Bluetooth networks and measured the delays taking place in information transmission time.

Transmitting the information received quickly and effectively is essential if a sensor is to successfully carry out its function.

"Let's suppose that we need a system for monitoring vital signs in a home for the elderly; preferably a wireless system. Using the deployed standard, the sensors that will be communicating via Bluetooth are connected to each other," said Josu Etxaniz-Maranon from the university's Electronic Design Research Group.

"The elderly individuals in the home are fitted with these sensors which are used to measure their body temperature, heart rate, etc and to forward the data to the nursing department," said Etxaniz.

Time is a critical factor in a network of this type, and the interval that elapses between measuring a person's heart-rate and receiving the data should be as short as possible, he added.

The research group has designed a hardware platform with specific cards that communicate via Bluetooth and form networks.

"We have transferred the data from one end of the network to the other, and then brought them back," said Etxaniz.

In multi-hop systems, the data pass through more than one node as they make their way towards the "finishing post".

Researchers carried out numerous tests with the platforms and changed the parameters that could affect time performance: how the connections between the nodes work, type of data chunk assigned by the standard used for communications, etc.

They also developed two specific methodologies for gathering information on the times.

They determined the behaviour of some of the support nodes of the standard Bluetooth, as well as how the data processing and communication tasks affect the general delay.

"One of the results which attracted our attention most was when we confirmed that there isn't the slightest delay when the nodes are permanently on; on the other hand, the delay varied between one hop and another," said Etxaniz.

In this mode of working, the delay displays a parabolic trend. According to Etxaniz, it is essential to take this factor into consideration so that the Bluetooth networks can be effective.

Source: B.S

4G & Its Challenges

Telecom technology has taken a giant leap and India continues to be the prime destination for the mobile operators and network providers for its ever growing smart phone user base. India, one of the fastest growing markets for mobile phones can be full of surprises.

The next thing to disruptively make a difference in wireless broadband services in India is 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution). 4GLTE is the next generation in mobile network development and will offer faster data transmission than 3G is capable of. 4G LTE is a radio access technology that operates on 2300 Mhz band in India where as it is available at 1800 Mhz in many countries.

LTE is not compatible with 2G and 3G, so when buying a device in India, one has to check if the phone is compatible with 2300 MHz. 4G is designed to provide up to 10x the speeds of 3G networks for portable devices like smartphones, tabs, netbooks, notebooks and wireless hotspots. 4G technologies will enable voice, data and multimedia streaming @ 100 Mbit per second and up to as fast as 1 Gbit @ per second.

This much speed means you can stream clear and crispy video content, download songs in time and apps will download as soon as you click on install tab. India is a price sensitive market and 3G did not pick up as expected by telecom providers, the data plans have been expensive and people would rather wait for download on 2G than pay extra. If Indian history is followed, then the prices of data transfers of 3G may go down. After a pan India launch of 4G. However, phones compatible with 4G LTE may not support 2G or 3G. This may give India disruptive growth and encourage users to update to 4G compatible devices. It will be a challenge and it is interesting to see what strategy operators adopt to face this challenge.

Source:TOI

5G services for super-fast internet in offing

Researchers are now close to finding how software-defined cellular networking might be used to give smartphone users the next generation of super-superfast broadband - 5G . A collaboration between NEC Electronics Samsung and several academic centres in China and Iran have assessed the latest developments aimed at 5G systems .

They have proposed their own novel end-to-end (E2E) software-defined cellular network (SDCN) architecture which, they say, offers flexibility, scalability, agility and efficiency.bMoreover, it will be sustainable for providers as well as profitable. The team is currently building a demonstration system that will allow them to utilise several promising technologies in their architecture for 5G including cloud computing, network virtualisation, network functions virtualisation and dynamic service chaining.

"The approach could overcome bandwidth shortage problems, improve quality of service so avoiding delays and data loss, as well as reducing the vast number of error-prone network nodes needed for such a system," explained Ming Lei of Samsung Research and Development Institute China.
As yet, there is no single standard for 5G although various systems are being touted based on rebuilding the cellular networks to be super-efficient and exploiting different frequencies with their capacity for greater data rates.

The hope is to be able to achieve download speeds of perhaps 10 Gbits/second. Ming Lei is working with Lei Jiang of NEC Laboratories in Beijing and colleagues at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Chengdu, Beijing Jiaotong University and the University of Kurdistan.
The paper was published in the International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems.

Source: Business Today

Broadband Offers Big Opportunity In India

Dr. Jerome Booth is an economist, entrepreneur, investor, commentator and an expert on emerging markets. Through his private office, New Sparta, he manages a number of his investments. He is the principal shareholder and chairman of UK phone services company New Call Telecom, which recently picked up a 70 per cent stake in Nimbuzz for $ 175 million. He is also the chairman of the investigative news journalism company ExaroNews.

Booth was in India recently. There is his book - "Emerging Markets in an Upside Down World - Challenging Perceptions in Asset Allocation and Investment" - that is aimed at institutional and retail investors. Booth was ranked by Sunday Times at number 425 on its 2013 Rich List with a personal wealth of £189m. BW|Businessworld’s Anup Jayaram spoke to Booth on his India initiatives and also delved deep to understand his interpretation of the world economy today.

Excerpts:

Immediately after the FIFA World Cup, the BRICS leaders met in Brazil. What is your opinion on the formation of the BRICS Bank? Is that the way forward?

I am quite supportive of the initiative. I don’t have a crystal ball. So I can’t tell you whether it will work, but I do hope it does. Development is not a technical problem. It’s a myth that it is a technical problem. Thinking up policies is relatively easy. It is certainly true in development banking. The enormous need for infrastructure is very well met by development banking norms. And after the Latin American crisis we have two things that we did not have in the 1930s, which was the last time we had a similar crisis. One, Keynes invented macroeconomics and second we do have the potential for massive global exit norms from emerging markets.

And if you want to do that, the obvious target in a non-inflationary way is infrastructure and housing. Primarily the need is clearly in infrastructure. That needs trillions of dollars in India and in many other countries as well. I think an organisation that can start to address that in an effective way, particularly in building on the experiences of China and other developing countries is very important. I have had lot of discussions in the central bank area. When we look at some problems in recent times in the developed world, central banks have been in some respects not as quick or not as knowledgeable about crisis management as countries in emerging markets. So when Northern Rock had its problems in the UK, I was really quite shocked at the length of time it took the central bank to react. And partly that was because of the responsibility being split three ways.

So I think there is a very real role for the BRICS Bank. And I would certainly hope that it takes off. There is a wide range of developing countries and obviously not just the five. On the ownership issue there are some parallels. If you don’t have ownership you lose some business.

How do you see the US quantitative easing (QE) affecting emerging markets?

It’s a bit like bad weather, we can all complain about it. But, all you have to do is bring your umbrella out and it becomes bearable. QE for emerging markets is an excuse to whine about things. It is not really something that you cannot deal with because policy makers have the policy tools. I am not saying that it is not the problem, but it needs to be put in context. Realistically, you can never expect a central bank of a single country to subjugate its own monetary objectives to the needs of the international community. It’s never going to happen.

QE I think has been very deliberately mis-sold. We had the banking crisis of a systemic nature for hundreds of years. The first really big one in modern times with money printing was in 1720 in France.  When you have a banking problem, you seize the bank. There are hundreds and hundreds of cases. You seize the bank, sack the management and the fiscal authorities directly control the bank and you decide what lending activity has to be promoted to continue lending. You recapitalize the bank. And you do that quickly. For ideological and political reasons, government in Western Europe, United States did not do that.

So you have depression-like conditions emerging. That happens when you have mass uncertainty, which is the best way to create a systemic banking crisis. So QE was a technique to bolster the balance sheets of banks. You see that in not just in the fact that banks could recapitalize, but the asset prices were pushed up which helped banks recapitalize themselves.

Keynes told us that when you have a lot of uncertainty, entrepreneurs will not invest, they will not employ people. And that will in create uncertainty for others. That is why you get depression. If the policy makers are so worried and that they are taking desperate action to avoid depression scenario, the last thing they want to tell investors is that is what they are doing.  People then stop all investments. So you tell them that everything is fine. And you tell them that QE will stimulate the economy. So there was this sort of double thinking. That’s the genesis of QE. Because people thought that it would stimulate the economy, they also thought that there was liquidity in the economy.

If you go to the US, the idea that it is recovering is a nonsense argument. If you look at the measures of underemployment, remembering that there are lot of people on the unemployment register, people are not signing up, because they don’t qualify for unemployment insurance. It is very difficult to measure, but the measures are available. Underemployment in the US is between 15-17 per cent of the working population.

It is still a good scenario compared to where we might be. There are 46 million people on food stamps in the US now and it peaked at 47 million. So you could say that we are getting better. But the idea that there is a recovery in the US is absurd. We had a very strong inventory cycle. It looks good for a couple of quarters then it will look worse again. So the economy won’t actually recover, till you get a consumer-led boom again which is traditionally the main driver of US growth. And that is not going to occur until you get a household debt to income that is much, much less. It has to come down to that 90 or 80 per cent. That will take at least three years or so.

One of the other things is that there has not been a global rebalancing. It has a lot to do with interest rates. So when historians look back at international monetary history, one of the great anomalies was the Asia crisis. It was this massive export of savings from poor countries to the United States and Europe. One reason why you got the bubble bursting was the lack of proper regulation of banks. And the second was the massive savings from emerging markets, effectively pushing down the US yield curve creating an artificial benchmark of risks.

Today, the really big reserves are with the emerging market central banks. They account for 85 per cent of global reserves. There are 20 more countries in emerging markets that have more reserves than the United States. There are countries like Algeria and Angola that could cause major disruptions in the treasury market if they started selling.

I consider India’s reserves large and very sufficient, there’s no need to build it any further. The goal should be to stabilise. In other words, one should not be worried about a current account deficit in India. It’s a good sign of confidence in a country. The role of the central bank in managing reserves is to diversify them, certainly in line with trade patterns.

Where do you see India in all of this?

Our understanding of risk is very perverse. What it means for India is that India should not subscribe to the finance theory view of the world that risk is some linear thing and that US treasuries are non risk.  That’s complete nonsense. There’s no such thing as risk free. Everything is risk; risk is a much more complex thing than volatility. My book is a frontal assault on finance theory. Basically, it’s misapplication. It’s not a critique of the academics. What you have is a lot of theories that are not relevant. Friedman himself said if a theory had unrealistic assumptions and no tactical results, then it’s perfectly useless. And about 80 per cent of finance theory falls in that category.

Practically for policy makers in India it means that one should be thinking about foreign investment when it comes to allowing pension funds that are based abroad. That has not happened yet in India. But when it does, you need to have a different perception of global risk. China has its own sovereign rating agency Dagong, and frankly their ratings of the sovereign are much more realistic in my opinion than using the most established rating agencies.

Could you provide some details on your investment in telecom in India?

We see huge potential in India’s nascent Internet, broadband, instant messaging/data sharing markets. With e-commerce newly arrived in India and the government focus on broadband access, we hope to generate and expand a number of new/traditional revenue streams across our growing international telecoms business.

We have New Call, the sixth largest provider of broadband in England. We achieved that very quickly by being deft and nimble in a competitive and fast changing market. We are a virtual operator, so we don’t have huge infrastructure. We know how to operate without owning the infrastructure. We are the best value for money broadband provider in the UK. We see a huge opportunity in India.

The incumbents in India are very, very focused on mobiles. They have sunk billions into the licences and the infrastructure. And of course, they are all fighting for market share. The real great opportunity in our view is broadband. In India it is lower than in Africa. And broadband not just in the home and office, but also in public spaces which is what we particularly want to concentrate on. We want to do that by using other people’s infrastructure.

We are not competing with the large mobile companies. We want them to get into business opportunities that they would not have otherwise got into. That’s what we are doing.  We are in new areas of the digital economy. We faced a similar regulatory environment in the UK. We have managed to compete with BT and Virgin on their home ground. We can partner with the big operators like in the UK.

What do you offer in the UK?

We offer access to broadband at a value for money that other providers cannot provide. We offer connectivity to people who are not connected still in the UK. Here, it is massive. So the opportunity here is huge compared to the UK. We have spent many, many months looking at the best companies to acquire. We don’t have any deals to announce yet. We wanted to do this before the change of government. We are excited by the 100 cities agenda of the government and its priority to get broadband into every village. We feel we can contribute.

Source: Bussiness World

India’s wireless tele-density reaches 74.55%: Trai

India's tele-density reached 76.55%, with the total subscriber base reaching 957.61 million that includes 569.56 million in urban and 388.05 million in rural regions, data on the sector regulator's website showed.

The number of telephone subscribers in India showed "a monthly growth rate of 0.61%," the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in its report.

The wireless subscriber base grew 0.6% to touch 930.20 million at the end of September, or a tele-density of 74.55%, while the wireline subscriber base declined from 27.52 million August to 27.41 million at the end of September, giving it a tele-density of 2.20%, the regulator said.

India's total broadband connections reach 75.73 million that includes 60.61 million urban subscribers, Trai said.

The regulator also added that 3.26 million consumers sought mobile number portability in the month of September while the cumulative requests increased to 132.81 million as of September-end, 2014.

Source: ET

45% Indians will be on LTE by 2020: Ericsson Mobility Report

India is leading mobility growth globally and has the fastest growth for new mobile subscriptions with 18 million net additions in Q3 2014, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report. This is a substantial chunk of the 180 million connections added globally, just under rest of Asia (excluding China) and Africa as a whole, and largest for any country.

However, the most interesting aspect of this growth will be that by 2020, 45 per cent of the country’s population will be covered by LTE. At present the number under LTE in India is insignificant. By then, more than 95 per cent of the Indian population will be covered through GSM/EDGE technology, and over 90 per cent on WCDMA/HSPA networks, says the report. Globally, the growth of LTE will be at the cost GSM/EDGE, shows the report.

How the mobile landscape will change

The report says “mobile data user demographics are evolving fast in India, with mobile broadband starting to bridge the digital divide  between the rural and urban populations”. “Mobile data usage and services are becoming increasingly mainstream, with a growing proportion of people from lower-income groups now downloading apps and streaming video content from the internet using mobile devices,” it adds.

The report shows that mobile usage is becoming increasingly data driven. In fact, mobile broadband users now send 40 out of every 100 messages through instant messaging apps, rather than SMS, thanks to lower cost, ease of use, ease of content sharing, and a better overall user experience. Similarly, on an average, 3G smartphone users download 10 new apps per month, of which chat and gaming apps account for more than 35 percent

While 61 percent of mobile broadband users are more willing to pay extra for an improved indoor connectivity experience, 80 per cent of mobile broadband users in India want to pay more for rich experience indoors.

Source: Indian Express

Big Boost To Telecom As Ministries Settle Spectrum Issue

It has been the most contentious issue in the Indian telecom sector for years. Finally, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. That emerged after a meeting between the ministers - Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. The issue all along has been the vacation of 15MHz of spectrum in the 2100MHz band by the defence services. That band was auctioned for 3G services in 2010.

Basically what that means is that there will be a swap of spectrum between the two ministries in the 1900MHz and 2100MHz band. Once that happens, 15MHz of spectrum in the 2100MHz band would be provided to telecom service providers. That means three operators can get 5MHz each in the band to provide 3G services. That's critical for the sector since no operator currently has nationwide spectrum in the band. However, it will depend on the timeline adopted for swapping the spectrum.

The two ministries had initially agreed that the spectrum in the 1700-2000MHz band would be equally divided between the two, each getting 150 MHz. However, since the procedure for division wasn't decided it became a contentious issue.

The spectrum in the 1900MHz band had been reserved for providing telecom services using CDMA technology. However, over the years, existing CDMA operators - Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications - became dual technology operators. There is only one pure play CDMA operator in Sistema Shyam, which offers services in nine circles. Also, there has been a steady slide in the number of CDMA subscribers in the country.

This move could prove to be quite beneficial for GSM-based operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular who have invested in 3G. As things stand, out of the 22 telecom circles, Bharti, Aircel and Reliance Communications offer 3G services in 13 circles, followed by Idea Cellular (11 circles) and Vodafone and Tata Teleservices (9).

That could mean that the government could conduct spectrum auctions in the 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz bands simultaneously. That decision would make it easier for operators to bid.

Source: Business World

Moody's: Asia-Pacific telecom industry outlook stable on steady growth, shrinking capex

Moody's Investors Service's outlook for the Asia-Pacific telecommunications industry remains stable, reflecting the rating agency's expectation of steady revenue growth, increased earnings, and reduced capital expenditures.

Moody's industry outlook reflect the rating agency's expectations for the fundamental business conditions in the industry over the next 12 to 18 months.

"Moody's-rated telecommunications companies' average aggregate year-on-year revenue growth will be around 4.0%-5.0% over the next 12-18 months, similar to the growth rate in 2014," says Dhruv. "Although EBITDA will continue to increase, companies' average EBITDA margin will contract slightly, and capital spending will decline, as telecom companies complete their 3G or 4G investments.

"Deepening mobile-phone penetration, continued competition and increased revenue contribution from data services will continue to pressure margins, but it will remain healthy", adds Dhruv. Moody's expects the average EBITDA margin for telecom companies to be 38.0% in 2015, slightly lower than the 38.2% in 2014.

Moody's expects growth rates to be 1%-2% in developed marketsSingapore, Japan and Koreaand 5%-8% in emerging marketsChina, Thailand and Indonesiaafter excluding the impact of China's new value-added tax. Aggregate absolute EBITDA will increase about 2% year on year.

Finally, average capital spending as a percentage of revenue will decline to around 23% in 2015. Debt-to-EBITDA ratios will also decline, driven mainly by EBITDA increases, says Moody's.

Steady recurring cash flows continue to support industry liquidity and resilience even during economic downturns, says the rating agency, and telecom companies still benefit from easy access to bank funding and capital markets.

Source: B.S

Reliance Jio 4G Services to be rolled out in March 2015

After 2G and 3G, the people of India (at least in the metros) are waiting for 4G services to begin. We had reported that Reliance JIO will bring the 4G services in early 2015. The date has been set and in March next year we will see Reliance JIO rolling out the fast speed mobile internet in India.

According to an ET report, the company is also looking to hire a man power of 3,000 people at state level, to manage and expand the retail and distribution 4G Business. They already have two ex-Google honchos, Neeraj Bansal and Nikhil Rungta for this initiative.

Reliance has already spent a huge sum on the Indian 4G-LTE setup. Rs 70,000 crores have been disbursed on it, which includes a sum of Rs 24,000 crores on airwaves. Reliance has revolutionised the mobile and telecom industry in the past with cheap offerings and now they are trying to take it to the next level. They have operating license in all 22 circles (2,300 Mhz) in India that gives them the edge over any other service provider like Airtel or Vodafone in the country.

With the launch these services, price of 3G facilities are expected to come down by a lot and people can opt for 4G packages at the current price of 3G (or slightly higher). The consumers will be able to watch HD videos, play multi-player games and more with ease on mobiles or tablets. Word from other Indian telecom service providers is yet to come. Let's see in what manner Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular respond to Reliance's new offerings in the coming months.

Source: http://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/corporate-news/reliance-jio-4g-services-to-be-rolled-out-in-march-2015/45188115

Reliance Jio set to raise $1.5 bn to refinance loans

Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (RJIL), the telecom unit of tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd, is raising a combined $1.5 billion from more than two dozen overseas banks to refinance loans taken in 2010 and guaranteed by the parent firm. The money has been secured at “significantly better terms” than in 2010, Reliance Jio said in a statement on Monday.

It will comprise a $1 billion tranche maturing in five-and-a-half years, and a $500 million facility that will mature in seven years—“the longest average maturity for an unsecured syndicated loan of similar size in Asia this year”, RJIL said. A total of 26 banks participated in the deal, including 15 mandated lead arrangers and book runners (MLABs), namely Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ), Bank of America N.A., Barclays Bank Plc., BNP Paribas SA, The Bank of Nova Scotia Asia Ltd, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, Citigroup Global Markets Singapore Pte. Ltd, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, DBS Bank Ltd, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd (HSBC), Mizuho Bank Ltd, The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, Standard Chartered Plc, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Westpac Banking Corp.

 “Reliance has a relationship with many global and local banks and all banks have queued up to finance this loan. This loans will be backed by the parent RIL. The company has already got a letter of commitment from banks and it is likely that the loan money will flow to the company within a month,” said a person related to the deal, requesting anonymity because some terms of the deal are not public.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi P.J.S.C. and United Overseas Bank Ltd also participated as lead arrangers, while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Societe Generale SA, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd, Land Bank of Taiwan, Mega International Commercial Bank Co. Ltd, Bank of Taiwan, CTBC Bank Co. Ltd., The Iyo Bank Ltd and The Hyakujushi Bank Ltd were the banks that joined in at the syndication stage. A second person close to the deal said the money is being raised at around 160 basis points above the three-month or six-month Libor (London interbank offered rate), an international benchmark rate. “There are no Indian banks because Reserve Bank regulations prevent them from lending for refinancing loans,” the person said. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. This is RJIL’s second funding deal within two months. On 24 September, the company signed a $750 million loan backed by the Korea Exim Bank and also guaranteed by parent RIL, but “primarily used to finance goods and services procured from Samsung Electronics for the infrastructure roll-out of RJIL,” the company had said in a note on its website. Eleven other foreign banks had funded the loan.

At RIL’s annual general meeting (AGM) earlier this year, chairman Ambani had said the company will spend Rs.70,000 crore to roll out 4G services through RJIL, which would raise RIL’s overall debt 33 times. But Ambani said the company expects to be debt-free by 2017-18. “It is fairly understandable that Reliance Jio would raise more loans, as the company wouldn’t want to fund its entire 4G roll-out cost through equity alone,” said a consultant who requested anonymity because he works with the company on some projects. “One of the main reasons the company may be looking to raise loans is because it is planning a bigger launch than it originally envisaged—it was thought the company would roll out 4G in Mumbai and Delhi only, to begin with, and expand to other metros and smaller towns later,” he added. “However, as per the AGM announcement in June, in the first phase, the company will be launching 4G services in 5,000 towns and cities and 215,000 villages in India, with a target to expand to 600,000 villages,” the consultant said.

Source: livemint.com

GSM mobile operators add 62.8 lakh users in October: COAI

The GSM subscriber base in the country rose marginally to 76.23 crore in October with mobile operators adding 62.8 lakh users during the month, industry body COAI said yesterday.

The GSM user base stood at 75.60 crore at the end of September 2014, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said. ”All India GSM cellular subscribers as of October 2014 stood at 762.36 million. The GSM subscribers increased by 6.28 million in October 2014 (0.83 percent increase from previous month),” COAI said. COAI, which represents telecom players like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, said the data does not include GSM subscriber number of Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices.

Reliance Jio Infocomm had also joined the body but the company is yet to start telecom services. Country’s largest mobile operator Bharti Airtel added the maximum users during the month with 18.59 lakh subscribers joining its network. Its overall user base increased to 21.34 crore at the end of October with a market share of 27.99 percent. Idea Cellular added 18.50 lakh new subscribers to take its base to 14.54 crore whereas Vodafone added 10.13 lakh users to take its base to 17.48 crore during the reported period.

Aircel added 9.54 lakh subscribers and Uninor added 4.20 lakh. The user base of operators stood at 7.68 crore and 4.22 crore respectively. Videocon added 1.71 lakh users whereas state-run MTNL added 11,907 subscribers during the period.

Source: bgr.in

4G could address connectivity issues of e-commerce: Prasad

Logistics and connectivity issues affecting e-commerce in the country could be addressed with the launch of high speed 4G mobile services, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.  He met Flipkart co-founder and CEO Sachin Bansal and assured him that the government will provide full support in resolving issues related to logistics and connectivity.

"Sachin Bansal has been a great success story in the field of e-commerce. Certain hurdles he talked about... connectivity, logistics issue. Those are issues that could be addressed with the arrival of 4G when connectivity becomes richer," Prasad said. Bharti Airtel and Aircel are offering 4G services in select circles. Reliance Jio Infocomm has pan-India licence to offer 4G and is likely to launch the services next year.  The minister said it is a very proud moment that young, fresh IIT graduates like Sachin have chosen the path of innovation and establish a very successful company like Flipkart.

"The company has around 2 crore customers and Flipkart is employing about 15,000 people, about 900 engineers for innovation and research. These are very exciting and shining example of new India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to promote this new India in a big way," Prasad said. Asked about his views on FDI in e-commerce, Bansal said the government is the best judge to look at the matter.  Speaking about the postal department's performance, Bansal said: "In the last six months we have seen lot of improvement in India Post services and we have started using these more and more. We hope to see more improvement over time and also more roll out of 4G, looking forward to that." Post offices are viewed by some experts as an important link for the growth of e-commerce. India Post has over 1.55 lakh post offices of which more than 1.39 lakh are in the rural areas. On an average, a post office serves an area of 21.21 sq km and a population of 7,175 people. According to a joint study by consultancy firm PwC and industry body Assocham, the e-retail industry is poised to touch USD 10-20 billion by 2017-2020 and e-commerce firms are expected to spend up to USD 1.9 billion by 2017-2020 on infrastructure, logistics and warehousing.

Source: Moneycontrol

Samsung, SAP team up on mobile apps for businesses

Samsung and SAP have announced initial plans to work together to create enterprise mobility applications for a number of industries. In a joint statement, the companies said they would partner “to build on the popularity and reach of Samsung’s mobile innovations and the SAP Mobile Platform”. They added that the resulting enterprise mobility ecosystem would create tools that can help companies create custom business apps based on Samsung hardware and the SAP HANA cloud platform. In addition, the two companies revealed that they are currently developing an integrated on-the-go payments offering.

Samsung and SAP said the collaboration will initially focus on the creation of apps for mobile devices and wearables in the retail, oil & gas, healthcare and financial services industries. In the retail sector, the partners said SAP's software will be integrated into wearable devices to help employees enhance customers’ in-store experience. Other possible ways in which SAP platforms can be combined with Samsung's wearable devices include an application that can help field workers in heavy industries use hands-free gesture commands to receive information and respond more quickly and safely to urgent issues with minimal disruption to their work.

In the finance sector, the partners said they intend to co-develop mobile banking apps and devices to enable a more secure and user-friendly experience for banking and insurance customers. The companies are also aiming to integrate the SAP HANA cloud platform with Samsung’s mobile devices to create customised apps for the healthcare industry.

Source: telecompaper.com

Xiaomi to invest in 4G chip making solutions

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi and China-based IC design company Leadcore Technology have come together and formed a joint venture to develop 4G chip solutions according to sources familiar with Digitimes.

According to the sources in the Taiwan handset supply chain, Xiaomi will hold a 51% stake in the joint venture whereas Leadcore Technology will have a 49% stake. Leadcore Technology is a subsidiary of Datang Telecom, a leading Chinese telecom company. It is being said that the main idea behind the joint venture is for Xiaomi to be able to save cost on 4G chips, which will enable it to launch competitively priced 4G smartphones.

So far Xiaomi has been using system on chips by manufacturers such as Qualcomm, MediaTek and Spreadtrum Communications. This joint venture, say sources, will most likely affect sales of Spreadtrums shipments to Xiaomi.

Xiaomi recently came out as no.3 in terms of global shipments of phones for Q3, 2014, before the Lenovo – Motorola acquisition closed (a day later). It has managed to sell 17.3 million handsets, thereby being the only company to have jumped up by 200 per cent in terms of year-on-year shipment numbers. With an affordable 4G handset, Xiaomi may just push those numbers further in the next round up. Looking at the response to their flash sales in India, its popularity is unquestioned here.

With 4G circles already present in India and many more expected to come out next year, the time is ripe to woo customers with 4G handsets. Although there are a lot of 4G handsets around, if Xiaomi is indeed going ahead with its joint venture, an affordable 4G handset from it will certainly have many buyers here.

Source: firstpost

Data Tariffs May Fall 20 Per Cent With Reliance Jio's Entry: Fitch

Reliance Jio Infocomm's entry in the telecom space will intensify competition and may bring data tariffs down by at least 20 per cent, Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday.

It, however, said no tariff wars are expected as witnessed during the 2009-2013 period.

"The likely entry of new telco (telecom company) Reliance Jio, which is a part of Reliance Industries Ltd in 1H15 will intensify competition in the data segment, and may cause data tariffs to decline by at least 20 per cent," Fitch said in its 2015 outlook for Indian telecommunications services.

Reliance Industries had announced that it would launch commercial 4G telecom service of RJio in 2015 entailing investment of Rs. 70,000 crore.

Fitch said Jio will focus largely on data and may have a limited impact on the incumbents' core voice business, given a weak "voice-over-LTE" technology ecosystem and lack of affordable 4G-compatible handsets in India.

"We do not foresee a re-run of the tariff wars of 2009-2013, which led to a severe decline in industry tariffs," Fitch said.

The rating agency expects the top four Indian telecom firms - Bharti Airtel Limited (Bharti; 'BBB-/Stable'), Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications - to increase their revenue market share to around 83 per cent by 2015 from the current 79 per cent in the $30-billion industry.

"Industry revenue will grow by at a mid-single-digit rate in 2015, driven by data services. The top four telcos' 2015 average operating EBITDA margin will be mostly unchanged at 32-33 per cent (2014: 32 per cent) as a decline in data tariffs will offset a gradual rise in voice tariffs," it said.

Fitch said the top four telecom companies will generate a minimal free cash flow (FCF) margin due to higher capex and flat Ebitda; the 2015 industry capex/revenue ratio could rise as fast-growing data traffic requires supporting investment.

Source: NDTV

Govt asks telecom firms to implement full MNP by May

Government has asked telecom firms to implement full mobile number portability by 3 May, a move that will enable subscribers to retain their numbers when they shift to other states or licensed service areas. Currently, MNP norms allow users to retain their numbers while changing their operators within the same service area. India has 22 telecom circles, or service areas. Under the full MNP regime, a subscriber in Delhi NCR, for instance, will be able to switch to the network of either the same or any other telecom operator in a different state while retaining the same mobile number.

“Intra licensed service area MNP has already been implemented in the year 2010-11. Now, it has been decided to implement the facility of full MNP in the country which will enable the subscribers to port their mobile numbers across the licensed service area also,” Department of Telecom (DoT) said in a letter to telecom operators dated 3 November. DoT said that in order to implement full MNP, the word ‘each intra’ is modified to be read as ‘inter and intra’ in the instructions for MNP, which were issued on 6 May, 2009.

 “The telecom service providers are being given six months time to implement full MNP from the date of issuance of these instructions,” DoT said. As per the data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), about 13 crore people had requested for MNP facility as on 31 August.

Source: Livemint

Little spectrum on offer, next auction could be brutal

Telecommunication companies' fears that spectrum scarcity will inflate its price in next February's auctions are coming true.

An internal committee of the department of telecommunications (DoT) has rejected almost all the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on freeing up spectrum and auctioning it only when enough is available.

If the Trai's proposals were accepted, mobile operators would have been able to bid for an average six slots of 5 MHz in the 900, 1,800 and 2,100 MHz bands. With more than five operators bidding in each telecom circle, competition for spectrum would not have been cut throat. If the DoT committee's proposals go through, however, there will be only three or four slots of 5 MHz available, and spectrum prices could again hit the roof.

The DoT has rejected the regulator's advice to have the military vacate 15 MHz of spectrum in the 2,100 MHz band in all circles and swap it with spectrum in the 2,100 MHz band. This would have put three extra slots of 5 MHz up for auction.

The DoT does not expect the military will vacate spectrum in the 2,100 MHz band in the near future, although talks are on. It argues the auction should not be tied to spectrum availability and has rejected the TRAI's suggestion that the 2,100 MHz band be sold along with the other bands.

It has also rejected the proposal asking state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) to surrender 1.2 MHz of spectrum in the 900 MHz band in 18 circles. The DoT has no jurisdiction to take back spectrum from BSNL under the licence agreement, the committee said. With this chunk of air waves unavailable, there will not be more than two blocks of 5 MHz spectrum in each block of the 900 MHz band.

The committee has also rejected the Trai's suggestion to reconsider the proposed extended GSM band, which would have freed up another block of 5 MHz for auction. The two incumbent operators in each circle whose licences expire in 2015 will want to retain this valuable spectrum to ensure services are not disrupted. However, mobile operators that do not have data spectrum will also be bidding up the price here.

Competition in the 900 MHz band will intensify because there is not more than one block of 5 MHz in the 1800 MHz band in key circles and that too not contiguous, making it unusable for data services. Also, if the DoT's recommendations are accepted, there will be no spectrum available in the 2100 MHz band, forcing operators to bid up the limited spectrum in the 900 MHz band.

The DoT committee's report has asked the Trai to review all key issues and will go to the Telecom Commission for a final decision. The commission can accept the report or send it back to the Trai.

If the DoT's views prevail, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications, which must give back their 900 MHz spectrum, will have to bid aggressively to retain it. Also, newer players like Uninor are looking to expand from voice to data services.

The DoT's view that the defence forces will not swap spectrum in the 2100 MHz band has been questioned by telecom companies. They argue this is a turf battle between ministries. The defence ministry has agreed to swap bands provided the DoT notifies a "defence band" in which it will have no say. Telecom companies that won spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in February do not have contiguous spectrum because this again needs a swap with the military. The DoT has asked the military to vacate the band but it has not told operators to also shift out of the defence bands. This is not acceptable to the military.

Chief executives of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications last month wrote to the DoT, saying without enough spectrum, auctions could lead to a crisis in the telecom sector. "The inability of operators to win back 900 MHz spectrum will lead to the market leaders in these circles being forced to curtail operations due to inadequate spectrum," the telecom bosses said in a joint letter to Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister for communications.

The committee has also rejected the Trai's suggestion to liberalise existing 1800 MHz spectrum after licensees the pay auction-determined price.

CALL DROP?

SPECTRUM SWAPPING: DoT panel has rejected Trai's suggestion to ask the defence services to vacate 15 MHz of 2,100-MHz spectrum in all circles and allow swapping of that with 1,900-MHz

BAND DISTINCTION: Says auction of 2,100-MHz spectrum cannot take place simultaneously with 900-MHz and 1,800-MHz bands

NO SURRENDER: Rejects the proposal asking state-run BSNL to surrender 1.2 MHz of 900-MHz spectrum in 18 cricles

NO EXTENSION: Rejects the suggestion to reconsider the proposed extended GSM band, that may have provided another block of 5 MHz for auction

LITTLE ON OFFER: If the committee's report is accepted, there will be more than five players bidding for three or four slots of 5 MHz each in 18 circles

Source: BS

2G to 4G: Will Indian telecom revolution give 3G a miss?

After creating a telecom revolution over the past decade, India may leapfrog from existing 2G technologies by directly hopping on to the 4G bandwagon, giving 3G adoption a miss, a report by JPMorgan has said. Analysts at the firm base this projection from similar experiences in other countries where launch of 4G services have witnessed drying up of subscriber additions to 3G, falling prices of 4G-enabled handsets, demographics/profile of data-hungry Indians as well as less-than satisfactory data experience on existing 3G technologies.

Adoption of 3G services has been slow in India yet, with only 5 percent of total mobile subscribers progressing on to the technology. This compares to double-digit penetration in other emerging economies such as Brazil (20 percent) and even higher for developed countries such as US and Japan. This has prompted concerns whether Indian subscribers will adopt 4G in any meaningful way. But analysts at JPMorgan wrote in a report that the markets may be overlooking the “evolution of the Indian telecom industry towards 4G” and the associated financial implications for stocks. The four-point explanation is this. The international perspective South Korean operators launched 4G in the fourth quarter of 2011 and its 3G net subs additions turned negative starting from second quarter 2012. “At the end of first quarter 2013, after five-six quarters of launch, total 4G subs were much ahead of total 3G subs (about 35 percent more than 3G subs). Also, the 4G net additions are consistently higher than decline in 3G subs -- subscribers shifted directly from 2G to 4G skipping 3G,” analysts wrote.

A similar experience was seen in Japan and China. The behavioural perspective If companies are able to launch 4G serves which deliver superior data experience (say five times faster than 3G) while being priced slightly higher, will it not achieve an attractive price-value equation? Analysts asked, while admitting that ultimately the data experience will also depend on the operator in question. How will 4G succeed when 3G has failed? JPMorgan wrote that the failure of mass adoption in 3G was partially a result on users perceiving that the 3G experience was not a significant improvement in experience over 2G as a result of lack of operator investments in technology and also because early on, 3G handset affordability was a concern (which is now no longer becoming an issue).

“Channel checks in China suggest that price points for 4G-enabled handsets have come down steeply. Tri-mode handsets are already available at about USD65 (RMB400 or INR4,000), while quad mode and penta-mode (five-mode) devices are available at about USD 160 (RMB1,000 or INR10,000),” JPMorgan wrote. Is the market for data big? Finally, analysts suggest that the concern about low data use (on average, the Indian subscriber uses 85 MB data per month on 2G and 350 MB on 3G) may be confusing cause and effect. That is, “once better quality data is available at much higher speeds, there is no reason why for example, YouTube user count and usage (interestingly Facebook, for which India has second largest subscriber base, also drives traffic to Youtube through video sharing) cannot increase significantly,” they asked. The report does not focus per se on the strategy of to-be-launched Reliance Jio, owned by Reliance Industries  , but says the company, which has a pan-India licence to offer 4G services, may “provide the trigger/impetus for the non-linear migration” from 2G to 4G. Airtel  is also another player with large 4G plans. The other view Others have their concerns about whether 4G could disrupt the traditional telco business model. “India is a voice-centric market, with 85 percent of sector revenue being voice. As a result, a new entrant with no viable low-cost voice strategy may struggle to get subscriber traction as a pure data approach has struggled globally,” analysts at HSBC wrote.

They pointed to the fact that long-term evolution (LTE) technology can only be used to offer data services, and even in developed markets such as US, the voice-over-LTE technology that 4G operators have rolled out (which involves making voice calls using data, similar to applications such as Skype) is too recent to be judged a success. “RJio has the alternative to sign 2G roaming agreements with any of the incumbent operators (such as RCom) for voice services. Though there are no indications of any such agreement currently, we expect RJio’s strategy to evolve over time,” JPMorgan analysts wrote. "How RJio will provide voice services in the absence of legacy 2G/3G services remains the most critical and ‘make-or-break’ question." “We think if RJio gets its initial service right at the appropriate price-value equation, it could provide the ‘nudge’ towards 4G investments in the sector. Thus, we do not see any reason why 4G cannot surpass 3G in terms of subscriber count/revenues within 3 years of its launch,” they added.

Source: Moneycontrol

A long, winding road for mobile telephony

In the early 90s, the promoters of Essar Cellphone decided to build a mobile network in Delhi for 100,000 subscribers. The decision took competitors by surprise, as they were building networks a quarter of that size. At Rs 17 a minute for both outgoing and incoming calls, mobile was meant for the well-heeled alone.

Cut to 2014. India has about 900 million subscribers. With penetration of 74.5 per cent, the number of mobile subscribers is more than the number of those with television or those enjoying Coke or Pepsi. At 60 paise a minute, the rate is the cheapest globally.

The history of mobile telephony in India has seen many highs and lows. In 1994, the government opened cellular services to private operators, offering two licences in each of the four metros. A year later, the sector faced its first crisis when, buoyed by ambitious projections, operators forked out Rs 27,000 crore for licences in 19 circles. A study by ICICI showed at least eight operators were making huge losses and almost were clocking revenues lower than the annual licence fee they had to pay.

In 1999, the government came out with a solution. Under a new settlement, drafted by then attorney general Soli Sorabjee, operators migrated from an annual licence fee to a revenue-share model. The new policy also did away with the duopoly model (two private players in each circle) and allowed state-owned operators to offer mobile services. In 1999-2000, the interconnect regime was introduced, ensuring a level field.

Soon, another crisis unfolded. In 2002, the government decided to allow fixed-line operators to offer limited mobility within their circles. But GSM operators felt this was an attempt to provide a backdoor entry to Reliance and the Tata group. Though the tussle reached the Supreme Court, then communications minister Arun Shourie pushed the two sides to arrive at an out-of-court settlement.

Reliance's attempt to stir a data revolution was ahead of its time. Its Monsoon Hungama offer, through which it gave mobile phones bundled with data and talk-time for only Rs 501, was lapped up by customers. But the rates weren't sustainable; Reliance was forced to write off Rs 4,500 crore from its books as losses.

In 2003, the government made incoming calls free, cutting customer costs by half. This led to a huge increase in the mobile subscriber base - from 10 million in 2002 to 47 million in 2004.

Subsequently, then telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran pushed operators to cut roaming charges up to 56 per cent and introduce one-year validity cards. Two more operators were allowed in every circle and the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap in the sector raised from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. Between 2004-05 and 2005-06, FDI inflow jumped from Rs 541 crore to Rs 2,751 crore.

At that time, mobile companies were making good money and it seemed the sector was about to take off.

In 2007, two key decisions by then minister A Raja brought the sector to its knees. First, he successfully conducted a 3G auction but limited the spectrum to five MHz an operator (against 20 MHz globally), leading to fierce competition. Operators forked out a staggering Rs 67,000 crore for limited 3G spectrum. Even the most aggressive of bidders, such as Bharti Airtel and Vodafone, did not have the cash to acquire pan-India 3G spectrum. This resulted in slower investment in service roll-out. Also, operators were unable to offer 3G at affordable rates, which blocked a data revolution.

Raja's second decision took a greater toll. Allegedly, he changed the rules on giving new licences on a first-come-first-served basis, to help those close to him. The decision, which brought four-five new licensees and doubled the number of operators in each circle, came under scrutiny. What ensured was cut-throat competition - rates fell to levels seen in 2005.

Subsequently, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) brought out a report, saying the government had a notional loss of Rs 1,76,000 crore by giving away spectrum at virtually throw-away prices. Raja was jailed and the case was subjected to a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation. Also, the Supreme Court cancelled 122 licences, including those to Etisalat, Telenor and Sistema and Indian companies such as S Tel. These companies lost huge sums, prompting global investors to question India's investment environment.

The crisis, however, paved way for a new structure. With five-six operators out of action, the sector did away with cut-throat competition and financial strain on operators' balance sheets. Companies consolidated and, for the first time, increased rates and realisations per minute without losing customers.

Slowly, operators cleaned up non-paying subscribers, which helped increase average revenue per user, amid the Centre deciding additional spectrum wouldn't be linked to the number of subscribers. Also, the government decided to take the auction route for all spectrum allocations. And, with the pushing off of the unified access service licence regime, spectrum was de-linked from services, giving operators the opportunity to launch 2G, 3G or 4G on any spectrum band.

Following operators refusing to participate in auction of the cancelled spectrum licences due to high prices, the government cut the base price about 25 per cent.

Now, operators are increasingly realising data is the next big draw. About 180 million consumers use internet on their mobile phones and Morgan Stanley has projected the number to exceed 500 million by 2018.
Reliance Jio Infocomm is investing about Rs 70,000 crore for 4G services, to be rolled out next year. Bharti Airtel has already rolled out 4G services in select circles. Others, including Vodafone and Idea Cellular, are readying themselves for the 4G war.

The future will, undoubtedly, be fuelled by data.

Source: BS

Reliance Jio applies for network test before 4G launch

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 per cent 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 per cent 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.

Source: BS

4G gift: From new year, download movie in few seconds

 From new year, entire country will get a new super fast internet speed, a speed so fast that a movie of  three hours which we download now in 15-20 minutes, will  be downloaded in merely 14 seconds.

In the Madhya Pradesh Reliance Jio is installing 4G network and during testing got a speed upto 150 mbps.

Company will provide this service via Wi-Fi in selected  parts of the  Bhopal district and after the completion of the project common people will also be able to take its benefit under which they will be able to get speed upto 70mbps.

An arm of Reliance industries, Reliance Jio is preparing the network for 4G in the entire country. Company will give a Mifi device. As small as match stick box, where ever you will take this device, the nearby area will become Wifi zone.

4G cell phones

Company will also launch 4G inbuilt cell phones. With the help of these phones too you can run internet on other devices. All you have to do is, put   your cell phone on WiFi mode.

Source: http://daily.bhaskar.com/