Treating the entire country as a single market for telecom services would mean reworking the present licensing regime, in which long distance licence holders have exclusive rights to carry calls across state boundaries. Also there would be pressure to revise local call rates in rural areas upwards, as long distance calls would no longer be able to cross-subsidise local calls.     
 

As per government regulations, the same entity cannot own more than 10% in two operating companies in the same telecom circle. In the case of STT, it is a 100% subsidiary of Temasek, an equity fund that manages the Singapore government's investments. Temasek also owns 65% in Singapore Telecom, which in turn owns a 28% stake in Bharti Tele-Ventures, which operates cellular services in the same circles along with IDEA. Thus, Temasek is the ultimate beneficiary of its stake in both Bharti and IDEA.      
 

Also Mobile multimedia is said to be the ‘next big thing’. Cellular Industry world over is working towards providing real time TV and Video content to cellular phone user anytime anywhere at competitive prices. The increase in cellular phone memory and faster networks are facilitating its advancement. Present quality of video clips delivered is very poor as the frame rates are just 10-15 frames per second. Qualcomm is developing a technology  called MediaFlo that allows 30 frames per second video quarter graphics display. Texas Instruments is developing a chip, Hollywood, that promises to improve mobile video resolution that is comparable to digital  video broadcasts.         

Qualcomm would invest $800m over the next four years to develop a network that will utilise low-power TV towers to transmit content. MeidaFLO USA, which will be spun off by Qualcomm and will set up the network, will bypass the current cellular network to deliver content, thus overcoming capacity constraints. Delivering content over MediaFLO cuts down on battery consumption. The cost is also low as the company  only needs to invest in 2-3 transmitters per city. The content will be delivered at six Mbps and includes 15-20 live streaming channels and 65-70 local non-live channels. Services on MediaFLO will start in 2006 and is expected to come to India simultaneously.         
 

As per Mr. Ramachandran, existing contracts of licences permit operators to offer all types of mobile services, which would automatically include 3G services. Hence, any question of getting new licence(s) and therefore having to pay an entry fee is simply legally untenable. However the association may consider one-time spectrum charge for 3G services, although not as high as Rs.1,500 crore, in the interest of going forward, for the benefit of consumers and all stakeholders, including the government. COAI might endeavour to build an industry consensus for a maximum of one time spectrum charge of Rs.300 crore per operator on all India basis.            
 

On the other hand Mr. Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, has opposed Mr.Tata's proposal arguing that it would increase the cost of mobile services for the consumer. Also India is short of high-quality infrastructure. Any fee by the government discourages infrastructure build-out adding that Rs.1,500 crore can build 5,000 base stations and cover 3,000 small towns and villages.              

According to union communications minister, Dayanidhi Maran, the government is considering both the arguments and will take a decision which is in the best interest of the telecom sector. DoT is also planning to invite views of all the operators on this issue.              
 

So far, there was an artificial separation, by telecom authorities, between some state capitals from rest of the state e.g in the case of Mumbai and Maharashtra, Chennai and Tamil Nadu, Kolkata and West Bengal and it was the same with UP(East) & UP(West). Incidentally, this was not the case with the subscribers in other states, who were free to call anyone, anywhere within the state at local call charges. The difference got created because initially the licences were given to companies to operate GSM services in four metros followed by the licences for state circles. Thus e.g. Mumbai and Maharashtra became two different telecom circles. The government has decided to remove this difference in public interest.               
 

While TRAI has recommended no entry fee for 3G services. Tata chief Ratan Tata has offered to pay Rs.1,500 crore for 3G spectrum for his CDMA-based Tata Teleservices which has triggered a heated debate within the industry.             
 

According to the licence conditions, a company cannot hold more than 10% equity in more than one operating company in a circle. Essar has about 33% equity in Hutch Essar. Therefore, Essar cannot directly acquire 100% equity in BPL as both the companies have operations in Mumbai. This is the reason why the associate companies are buying the equity. ICICI Bank, which leads the consortium of bankers who have given debt to BPL is also involved in the deal as the shareholders have pledged shares with the bankers.               
 

BPL Mobile deal is important for Essar, as the acquisition will help it to raise its stake from the 26.4% that it currently holds in the JV Hutchison Essar, which runs cellular services in 13 circles. Hutchison also stands to benefit since it is not present in the three state circles where BPL Mobile operates, namely, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Also BPL Mobile's Mumbai circle is too attractive for Hutchison. The deal is likely to be finalised by the end of June.               

The acquisition of the Mumbai circle by Hutchison-Essar would, if it goes through, be the first intra-circle merger in the country. The combined subscriber base of BPL Mobile (12.3 lakhs) and Hutch (15.2 lakh) is about 53% of the total mobile subscriber base of 52 lakhs in the Mumbai circle. The merged entity should not have more than 67% marketshare according to DoT guidelines. The acquisition of BPL Mobile, if it happens, would improve valuations for Hutchison-Essar's IPO also.                
 

According to industry sources, a transaction between the BPL Mobile group and its foreign shareholders in BPL Communications had gained momentum with the BPL Mobile group close to an out-of-court settlement with its foreign equity partners in the ongoing arbitration proceedings in London. The international arbitration proceedings against BPL Communications are being spearheaded by AIG-controlled Emerging Markets Partnership (EMP) and Actis (formerly, CDC Advisors). BPL Communications is the holding company and its valuation will be linked to the combined equity valuation of the two operating companies, BPL Mobile (Mumbai licencee) and BPL Cellular (holder of licences in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra).                  
 

TRAI directive has come as mobile operators inform customers about value added premium rate services through SMS, advertisements in newspapers or TV without the cost implication of the service. Sometimes the messages are only followed by the wordings 'T&C apply'. At times, a mobile service provider provides a new value added service free for a limited period, but at the end of this period, the onus to discontinue the service falls on consumers. Worse still, the service provider makes money even on the SMS that has to be sent asking them to disconnect the service. Customers who fail to inform the operator that they are not interested in the service end up being billed for the service. In order to avoid such instances, TRAI has issued a directive asking operators to publish the pulse rate/tariff in all communications or advertisements relating to premium rate services.                   
 

Samsung has lost its market share in terms of units from 17.2% in Oct.'04 to 7.8% in March '05. In value terms the fall is 9.8%.                  
Sony Ericsson's market share in terms of units has improved marginally from 7.1% in October '04 to 7.6% in March '05, although in value terms it has increased to 10.2%. The overall market shares of other players, in terms of units sold, is Motorola at 4.5%, LG  3.6% and BenQ 1.1%. Other players like Panasonic, Bird, Siemens, Philips, Alcatel have a market share of less than 1%, according to ORG GFK estimates of units sold in the top ten towns.                  

The total handsets sold in the top 10 towns in the month of March is 5,05,493 units and total value is Rs.245.6 crore.The ten towns include Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.                   
 

The final rate payable by roaming customers is likely to be higher due to the access deficit surcharge of 30 paise and the interconnect usage charges that varies from 30 paise upwards depending on the nature of the call. TRAI has announced that all calls from national roaming subscribers would be treated as STD calls, while those of global roaming users will be accounted as incoming international calls for ADC calculation. Trai had imposed an access deficit charge of 30 paise only on intra-circle (local) calls originated by a national roaming subscriber (while roaming outside his home network) and terminating in a mobile phone in visited service area.                    
 

Operating profits grew by 42% to Rs.406.6 crore in FY05 from Rs.287 crore in the previous year. The state circles of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala (BPL Mobile Cellular) showed a jump of 51% in revenues to Rs. 461.1 crore in FY05 from Rs. 305.7 crore in the previous year. The Mumbai circle (BPL Mobile Communications) showed a 30% growth to Rs.551.1 crore in FY05 from Rs.422.8 crore. BPL Mobile plans to invest Rs.625 crore during the current fiscal.                    
 

Among GSM operators, Bharti maintained its lead with a market share of over 26.77%, with over 1.09 crore subscribers. The  largest CDMA operator, Reliance, saw its mobile subscriber base dip by 5.34 lakh. It ended March with a total of 93.3 lakh mobile subscribers. Next in line is BSNL with 22.93% market share and a subscriber base of over 94 lakh. Hutch follows with 19.01% market share and over 77.97 lakh subscribers, while IDEA has 12.36% market share and over 50 lakh subscribers.                    

The fall in CDMA subscription is being attributed to strict verification norms introduced by the government. DoT had earlier asked all unified access service operators (GSM and CDMA) to cross-check addresses of all subscribers.                    
 

An Idea subscriber can register by sending an SMS <HELP> to 1920 and start getting updates. IDEA Bazaar Bhav subscription will be offered to postpaid at price of Rs.150 per month and prepaid customers will be able to use SMS Pull feature to get the updates as and when required. This will facilitate customers to participate more actively in commodity trading.                   
 

An Airtel customer can download his personalized portfolio manager application from the Airtel Live! portal. The application then can be launched on the handset and the customer gets connected to the live data feed from BSE. The user can also Add, Modify, Delete & Search from more than 6,900 stocks listed on the BSE, keep tab on number of stock sold, calculate total profit on the basis of his stock holding at any point of time, check the performance of a scrip as per its movement in the market & use E-Mail feature to send the performance for the day in a excel sheet with profit graphs for better stock analysis to any e-mail ID. Rs.150 would be monthly subscription charges.