38.3 Lakh Users opt for MNP

The number of subscribers opting for mobile number portability (MNP) has more than doubled in less than a month, data released by the telecom regulator revealed.

By February-end, around 38.33 lakh people had opted for MNP, a service that allows subscribers to switch service providers but retain their original cellphone number, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said on Wednesday.

Till February 5, about 17.11 lakh subscribers had put in requests for changing their mobile service provider. However, the MNP impact has been limited, given that only a fraction of the 771 million mobile subscribers have so far opted for MNP.source

Indiatimes acquires Mobile & Internet rights of Sarthak Music

Indiatimes 58888, the mobile division of the Internet and mobile content service provider Times Internet (TIL), has acquired exclusive mobile and Internet rights of Sarthak Music. Sarthak Music claims to have the largest music label in the Oriya music industry.

The deal includes rights of mobile content services, CRBT, WAP SMS, STK, IVR, Mobile Radio on 2G and 3G services as well as all rights for content embedding, Internet streaming and downloads. TIL CEO Rishi Khiani said, ''Regional Music is our focus area and acquiring Sarthak Music rights is a perfect way to strengthen our digital catalogue. This also brings us closer to Operators in the region to develop innovative music products and services.”

''Having an extensive network services, Indiatimes 58888 is the largest aggregator in India for music and entertainment content. It is, therefore, a strong natural choice for our distribution partnership. We believe that with the media strength, Times will bring great value to the mobile subscribers,'' said Sarthak Music MD Sitaram Agarwalla.source

SMS-free mobile number verification service launched

ZipDial, SMS-free mobile number verification service is launched by three ecommerce and web businesses - Flipkart, Myntra and TutorVista. The new service enables all end customers of these businesses to shop and transact with verified mobile numbers and eliminates dependency on SMS.


ZipDial is a patent-pending and innovative approach which works on all phones and allows customers to better comply with the new TRAI guidelines on SMS delivery. ZipDial's solution is based on dialing numbers–or giving a missed call – so there is zero dependency on SMS. This solution has several benefits including zero cost and simple for end users, verification without any SMS delivery latency issues, cost savings for the web business and enabling ZipDial to Verify is as simple as embedding a single line of HTML code on one's website.

21 MBPS Speed For Airtel 3G Customers

Ericsson today announced deployment advanced network infrastructure to support launch of airtel 3G services in Delhi and the National Capital Region that can deliver data speed up to 21 megabyte per second.

"This is one of the most robust 3G network setups taken up by Ericsson in India thus far where airtel 3G services in Delhi will have a comprehensive presence, delivering speeds up to 21 Mbps even in indoor environments," said Ericsson in a statement.
In September 2010, Bharti airtel has chosen Ericsson India, Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei Technologies as network partners to launch 3G Services in India.
"Our long standing association with Bharti has reached a new level today with the introduction of data based services.
Thanks to our close collaboration with Bharti, we have successfully rolled out this comprehensive and complex network in a very short time," said Gowton Achaibar, Head of Region, Ericsson India.
Ericsson was selected by airtel to deploy network across eight circles. The network laid down by Ericsson comprises more than 1800 radio base stations, said statement from Ericsson.
"With the mobile phone fast emerging as the primary device for accessing a variety of data services, we believe that strong network capabilities will play a crucial role in delivering a strong and sustained 3G experience," said Atul Bindal, President-Mobile Services, Bharti airtel.

1 in 7 of Tata DOCOMO data users is on 3G

Tata DOCOMO, the first private telecom operator to launch third-generation (3G) services, on Thursday said these were being used by 15 per cent of its data users.

Deepak Gulati, executive president-mobility business of Tata Teleservices, said the company was the largest private sector operator in Indian 3G. He, however, did not mention the number of subscribers on 3G or the total number of Tata DOCOMO’s data users.

Tata Teleservices has a subscriber base of 88 million, which includes GSM (Tata DOCOMO) and CDMA subscribers. However as a norm, dual technology operators do not give a break-up of their subscriber base. “We launched much earlier than others. We already have 100 towns on 3G and a large coverage, and are expanding very fast,” said Gulati. The company launched 3G services last November.

The government companies, BSNL and MTNL, launched 3G in 2009. Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel and Aircel did so in the past two quarters. Bharti Airtel said it has around 600,000 subscribers who’d opted for their 3G services.

Tata says the launch of 3G has already done wonders for non-voice revenues, as the usage of data by their subscribers has gone up. “We are seeing a 30-50 per cent increase in data volumes on a month-to-month basis. And, every month, the adoption rate is increasing,” said Gulati.

The company’s non-voice revenues currently contribute 13 per cent of its total revenues.

Tata paid Rs 5,864 crore to obtain spectrum in nine circles — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, UP (West), Punjab and Haryana. It has planned to forge partnerships with other telecom operators to offer the 3G service seamlessly across the country.

Tata on Thursday also announced it was extending its offer with the Future Group chain to Maharashtra and Mumbai circle, where subscribers would get free talk time with purchases from the latter’s retail chain. The company has already launched these services in 16 telecom circles.source