Cellular mobile network congestion rises at alarming levels: TRAI

The staggering additions to mobile phones in the country are resulting in Indian phone users struggling with the increase in network congestion, which has shot up from 390 to 616 Points of Interconnections (PoIs), TRAI said on Friday.

Kolkata, Anand, Tarantaran and Hoshiarpur recorded 100 per cent congestion levels, the telecom regulator said, adding that the worst affected POIs, where congestion levels was 80 per cent or more, came from private operator to BSNL.

The congestion in percentage for calls from Bharti, Hutch, Reliance Infocom Limited, Idea Cellular Limited and Tata Tele to BSNL in Sasaram (86.21 per cent), Himantnagar (93.03 per cent), Junagarh (89.17 per cent), Surendernagar (88.26 per cent) and Jammu Tax Level1 (80.24 per cent).

The network gets jammed in Shillong-Home Subs (82.90 per cent), Sirohi (89.40 per cent), Churu (89.11 per cent), Nagaur (87.58 per cent), Jaunpur(94.40 per cent), Hamirpur (92.50 per cent), Gazipur (87.00 per cent), Durg (100 per cent), Pune (95.40 per cent), Balasore, (83.50 per cent), Alwar (80.90 per cent), Bhadohi (100 per cent), Kolkata (100 per cent), Anand (100 per cent), Dharampuri (100 per cent), Hoshiarpur (100 per cent), Tarantaran (100 per cent), Shahjapur (80.73 per cent) and Patna NLD (84.47 per cent).

The POIs congestion in the network is on account of inadequate junctions between the two networks and this leads to loss of calls and consequent poor quality of service to the consumers.

TRAI has been monitoring the level of congestion at POIs between various service providers on a monthly basis. This parameter signifies the ease by which a customer of one network is able to communicate with a customer of another network.

This parameter also reflects as to how effective the interconnection between the two networks is.

The benchmark notified by TRAI in the QoS Regulation of July 2005, for this parameter is 0.5 per cent. This means out of 200 calls between two operators only one call should face congestion problem. The result of the monitoring reveals that in a number of areas, the degree of congestion between the operators is alarming.

In a number of cities, the level of congestion between the networks of different operators is far more than this benchmark and the number of such places are increasing.

TRAI has been releasing data on POI Congestion from time to time. The POI congestion Report for the month of January, 2006 to May, 2006 shows that the number of POIs having congestion has increased from 390 in January, 2006 to 616 in May, 2006.

India not to import mobiles by 2007

India could stop importing mobile phones by the second quarter of 2007 with telecom majors setting up their production units in the country, Union IT and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran said.

"Nokia is already producing over two million phones from its facility in Chennai every month and Motorola, which is expected to begin operations on January 14, 2007, is expected to produce about 1.3 million phones every month," he said.

Speaking at the Regional Annual Meeting of Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, Maran added that 80 per cent of mobile phones needed in the country will be manufactured in Chennai.

Maran said that Germany is India's fourth largest trading partner after the US, UK and Japan. "It has crossed record $8 billion last year. Indian imports grew by almost 35 per cent, while India's exports to Germany rose by 12 per cent."

He said that it was time for the small and medium entrepreneurs to make their mark in the Indo-German trade relations. He also called upon the German companies to participate in developing the infrastructure in the country.

Bernd Muetzelburg, Ambassador of Germany to India, said his country wanted India to continue the reforms process it started in the early 1990s.

He said India has to overcome the "red tapes" that still existed in its system.

"You will have to improve conditions for inclusive growth. Connect the 800 million people in villages with the 200 million who are enjoying the economic miracle that is happening in India," he added.

DoT now puts blame on ISPs, asks for selective blocking

On Thursday, the Department of Telecom (DoT) sent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) yet another letter—this one ‘‘ordering’’ them to selectively block only those websites that it had specified in the July 13 ban order.

All other websites, DoT has told the Internet companies, must continue to be accessed ‘‘unhindered’’. In a statement issued today, DoT has said that by blocking more websites than the 17 in the hot seat, ISPs are in ‘‘contravention’’ of its orders.

This is the first time that DoT is placing its cards on the table on the July 13 ban, but its position is remains marred, since not all ISPs seem to have the required technology to selectively block webpages maintained on blogs.

But the government is not playing along with niceties. The official statement issued today paraphrases the new order as saying: ‘‘It has come to notice that in some cases the parent website had been blocked in contravention to what was stated in its earlier order.’’

As if on cue, the ISP Association of India (ISPAI) has also said that there is technology available to block websites and web pages selectively, and that though not all ISPs may have it now, they can acquire it soon.

On Thursday, one representative of a Delhi-based ISP confirmed that the July 13 order did only mention a few blogspot.com pages and some other websites. ‘‘That’s why ISPs cannot block blogspot.com completely,’’ he said. This is complicated, because the blocking of pin-pointed 17 websites was not effective and most bloggers had railed against the extensive nature this ban had taken on.

The Thursday order, however, has given some bloggers more teeth to bite the official hand with. An informal coalition-in-the-making of bloggers has now decided to address the government on the blog issue by bringing up tricky legal questions.

‘‘By next week we will approach the Supreme Court and sue the government and ISPs on restricting everybody’s access to the Internet,’’ says Sarbajit Roy, who plans to lead the bloggers. Roy says he had previously, in 2004, sued all telecom companies in Delhi over restricting calls.

The pivot of this legal action is ironically to be based on the Information Technology Act, 2000. This Act defines ‘‘hacking,’’ in Section 66, as gaining illegal access to any website, or preventing access to a website through illegal means.

‘‘If this is Section 66, isn’t the government and the ISPs both in contravention of the law by preventing thousands of bloggers from getting online? Now, even the government says the ISPs had no right to block access to blogspot.com except those sites mentioned in the July 13 order.’’ says Roy.

Tired of bad publicity, the DoT has turned against ISPs in its July 20 order. It has asked ISPs ‘‘Why action (should) be not taken against them for blocking unintended websites/webpages.’’

DoT forced us to block sites: ISPs

Three days after the department of telecom got internet service providers to block access to various blogs and websites, the ISP Association of India (ISPAI) said they were being forced on the issue. But DoT officials said internet service providers had not been asked to block entire websites or blogs.

ISPAI Secretary Deepak Maheshwari, however, defended the blocking of complete websites and blogs. “We had advised our members to block web pages and websites from the domain or server level, as per the DoT order. Their action of blocking entire websites was a precautionary measure, as they could not block individual links,” he said.

Maheshwari added that despite the access blockade within India, some blogs were still accessible. “We have advised the service providers to block only the particular sub-domain,” he said.

Of the 17 websites, ISPs were able to block 12 webpages at domain levels. However, they were unable to block the www.hinduhumanrights.org/hindufocus.html at the domain level and ended up blocking the whole website.

The website contained four pages of objectionable literature against the government and only those should have been blocked at the subdomain level, the ISPAI official said.

The blocking of www.princesskimberley.blogspot.com was questioned by some users at the Wall Street Journal in the US, as the site did not contain anything objectionable.

“Another website - hinduunity.org - was blocked as it contained material against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi,” a source said.

Reliance reduces ILD rates

Reliance customers will now be able to call all numbers in the US, Canada, and South East Asia at Rs 4.50 per minute; they will be able to call UK landline numbers at Rs 6.00 per minute, and UK mobile numbers at Rs 8.00 per minute; whereas all calls to Gulf countries will cost them Rs 8.00 per minute.

Further, subscribers will be able to call all numbers in Australia and New Zealand at just Rs 6.00 per minute, down from the earlier Rs 18.00 per minute.

According to Reliance Communications, the new tariffs are among the lowest in the country, and will be available on Reliance Global Call Card across all denominations.

The Reliance Global Call Card can be used on Reliance Mobile and Reliance Hello phones in both pre-paid and post-paid categories. The card offers the convenience of PIN-less dialing, wherein customers are not required to pay any security deposit for availing ILD facilities.

Announcing the slash in ILD rates, S P Shukla, president - wireless, Reliance Communications, said, "We are committed to offer convenient and affordable connectivity solutions to our many million customers. Be it the industry s first 'One Nation' plan, or the revolutionary on-net plans, innovative domestic and overseas tariffs have been Reliance Communications key growth driver."

Vodafone to hike stake in Bharti Group

Global mobile telecommunications major Vodafone Group Plc of the UK is open to the idea of hiking its stake in India's Bharti group from its existing level of 10 per cent. The company, however, has no plans to do so immediately, said Mr Arun Sarin, CEO of Vodafone Group Plc, while talking to newspersons here on Saturday at the sidelines of the 52nd Convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT-KGP).

"We are open to the idea of hiking our stake in Bharti from the existing level of 10 per cent. However, there are no immediate plans to do so," he said. It may be recalled that Vodafone acquired a 10 per cent stake in Bharti last year in an all-cash deal aggregating to 820 million. The acquisition gave Vodafone a footprint in India.

TATA not for subscriber based spectrum allocation

After raising questions over the current subscriber-based policy for allocation of additional spectrum, Tatas have now extended this stand on the 3G spectrum saying such a criteria should not be followed.

On the same issue in their response to TRAI's 3G spectrum consultation issue, Reliance Communications, Cellular Operators' Association views remain more or less similar.

While COAI is asking for continuation of the present approach based on equitable assignment to GSM/CDMA, the CDMA association, AUSPI said 5Mhz should be the initial allocation and reservation of another carrier and is seeking equal spectrum for all operators.

On the issue of criterion and principles for identification of specific bands for 3G services, COAI wants globally harmonised common spectrum identified by ITU-R. With interference-free operations, optimal use of spectrum (minus guard band who cause wastage), global roaming and global availability of equipment, COAI sought allotment in 2.1 Ghz as identified by WARC-92, saying other countries are reframing 1,900 Mhz to this band.

AUSPI has sought sufficient upfront allocation for better planning therefore allocation in 1900 Mhz for CDMA.

Tatas seek 1870-1910 Mhz for CDMA, 1920-1940 Mhz for GSM while Reliance wants 800/1900 Mhz for CDMA service.

ProwerGrid now to offer NLD services

The state-owned power transmission company, Power Grid Corporation of India (PowerGrid), has reportedly bagged the National Long Distance (NLD) License provided by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

It is believed that this move will help the company enter the country's growing telecom market. According to sources, an agreement to this effect was signed on July 5, 2006 between senior officials of PowerGrid and DoT in New Delhi.

PowerGrid, in a statement, said that in the post-NLD period, the company is looking to explore more options and opportunities in terms of growth in customer segments, customer base, and provision of value-adds to customers.

There are immediate plans for PowerGrid to start providing these services to various corporate and government agencies in the near future.

The newly-acquired NLD license will allow the company to better deploy their infrastructure across the country. The license will also allow PowerGrid to address the bandwidth requirement of those corporate customers, who cannot be served under the present IP-II, IP-I, and ISP licenses.

Business avenues too will be widened greatly, as the license will allow direct access to, and provide connectivity with, various bodies including banks, corporates, financial institutions, educational and research institutions, defense services, etc.

Telcos to have same Cell Towers

Cellphone users across the country, especially in big cities like Delhi and Mumbai, which face heavy network congestion and poor coverage, can look forward to better quality of services.

Cellular industry has finally launched a network infrastructure sharing programme, under which mobile operators will put up their equipment on a single tower.

The move will not only cut down infrastructure costs but also reduce sprouting of 'ugly towers' all around big cities. Besides, it would cut down time spent on seeking permissions and security clearances that each operator requires separately.

India is the fastest growing cellular market adding five million subscribers a month. It has over 100 million cellphone users. Within in a couple of years, the number is projected to more than double.

According to COAI DG TV Ramachandran, India would need 1.4 lakh towers by 2007 and 3.5 lakh towers by 2010, up from 70,000 at present."

To tackle these issues, communications and IT minister Dayanidhi Maran called a meeting of all mobile operators in March to launch infrastructure sharing programme.

On Wednesday, within three months of that meeting, Maran, along with urban development minister Jaipal Reddy and cellular operators, unveiled three 'flagship sites' — Delhi High Court, Rajokri and Dhansa — where up to six operators have mounted their equipment on a single tower. Maran said the industry was looking at sharing about 1,800 sites by next year.

Airtel launches its own version of FWP

In a bid to tap the fast-growing market for fixed wireless phones - desktop phones that work on a wireless network and allow stable internet surfing speeds - leading GSM cellular service provider Bharti Airtel today launched a similar service that runs on its GSM technology platform.

The tariff for the Bharti service - christened Airtel Mega - has been kept at Rs 1.20 for a three minute local, intra-circle call to mobile phones. Calls to fixed phones will be charged at Rs 1.20 per minute, while STD calls will cost Rs 2.40 per minute.

Bharti Airtel will roll out services in 4000 towns and villages, but plans to offer the services progressively in the rest of the country wherever its network has a footprint.

The company is targeting 1 million subscribers in the first year and the service will be available with a pre paid and post paid tariff option.

The FWP will have a ten digit number. The phones will look like desktop phones, with one cordless option. As part of the launch offer, the company is offering free home to mobile calls.

"The fixed landline market is India is currently under-served, specially in smaller town and villages, on account of inadequate infrastructure. With this, we will be able to target about 200 million households in the country. The FWP subscribers are likely to increase at 5 million per annum. This service will have all the facilities available to mobile users," Sanjay Kapoor, joint president (Mobility) at Bharti Airtel, said.

"Our research has shown that 70-80% of outgoing calls are to mobile phones and we have fixed the tariff accordingly," Vishal Sehgal, vice president, FWP services of Bharti Airtel, said.

BSNL held for Interconnectivity

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has pulled-up state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for not giving sufficient points of interconnect (PoIs) to private mobile operators, leading to a high level of congestion as also poor quality service.

TRAI, which had earlier issued show cause notices to private operators over this issue, has now hauled-up BSNL and told the PSU that this is one of the primary causes of increase in network congestion levels across the country.

The networks of private operators and BSNL are connected via PoIs, through which the traffic flows. The higher the traffic, the more the number of PoIs that are required to ensure that networks are congestion-free.

In a strongly-worded letter by TRAI secretary, Rajendra Singh, to BSNL chairman and managing director, A K Sinha, the former has brought to the notice of Sinha, the very high level of congestion that private mobile operators are facing at points of interconnect with the BSNL network.

As per this letter, the degree of congestion in many places is alarming. As of April 2006, in 404 PoIs the degree of congestion was greater than 5 percent, in 264 PoIs it was more then 10 percent, in 101 PoIs it was more than 40 percent, and in eight places the degree of congestion was more than 100 percent during peak hours.

Further, the letter says that the number of congested PoIs has increased from 336 in January 2006, to 517 in April.

The TRAI letter vindicates the charge private operators have often leveled against BSNL that they face delays and severe problems with BSNL as regards interconnection.

TRAI has also slammed BSNL over the fact that as many as 606 PoI requests from private operators are pending with the latter for which payments have already been made.

Significantly, TRAI's letter to BSNL comes at a time when the regulator has also written to the government, asking for it to make amendments in the TRAI Act so as to empower the regulator such that it can also enforce interconnect rules.

Hello Capital Plan

Reliance Communications today announced the launch of its latest exciting offer 'Hello Capital Plan', which enables Reliance customers to make calls between state capitals at the local call rates of 40 paise per minute.

Under the Hello Capital plan, a Reliance Hello customer (with '32' series numbering plan) will enjoy a special tariff of Rs 1.20 per 3 minutes (same as local call charge of 0.40 paise per minute) for a Reliance Hello to Reliance Hello call between state capitals. Applicable on all the tariff plans in postpaid and prepaid Reliance Hello phones, this plan will benefit the entire gamut of customer segments including traders, small & medium entrepreneurs, executives, families residing in state capitals. In other words, an individual working in Delhi can make calls to his relatives & friends in Mumbai, Chennai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kolkata and many more capital cities at local call rate. Reliance Hello Capital is a step towards shrinking the distance between the 19 state capitals by changing the dynamics of Long Distance tariffs to Local call rates.

Announcing the Reliance Hello Capital Plan, Mr. S P Shukla, President (Wireless business), Reliance Communications said, "In our constant endeavour to give the best to our customers, we have formulated this fabulous plan. I am sure this plan will bring Reliance Hello customers closer to his near & dear ones; and connect the business partners than ever before without worry for high telephone bills."

The Company has taken up a massive awareness building campaign for the product through print, audio and audio-visual media in all the state capitals across the country. This tariff is available to all Reliance Hello customers in 19 state capitals with '32' numbering plan.