Mobile service providers to trace absconding accused

In a bid to trace those who have jumped bail, furlough or parole, the Maharashtra government has turned to mobile service operators and election commission for help. Additional public prosecutor Ajey Gadkari informed the Bombay high court on Thursday that the government has sent a list of absconding accused to operators to check if they have any records on those names.

The government has also approached the election commission to verify if it has any records of those on the list.

A division bench of justice AM Khanwilkar and justice AR Joshi asked the government to file by March 21 an affidavit giving the updated statistics since the constitution of special cells.

Following the court’s suggestion, special cells were set up at all police stations in the state last year to trace absconding accused and missing people.

Earlier, the personnel of these special cells would report to the officer in-charge of the police station. “Now, the cells will directly report to the deputy commissioners of police in the city and superintendents of police at district-level,” said Gadkari.

During the last hearing, the court had suggested that there should be integrated data system so that even local police stations could update the list of absconding accused and missing persons. The government said it was also working streamlining such a system.

The court had taken up suo moto cognisance of Ramzan Sabit Hussain, a murder convict who jumped bail in 2003 after his bail was cancelled. Later, the court had clubbed the issue of missing persons after several habeas corpus [produce person in court] petitions were filed.source

Telecom Operators in India should take charge of Mobile Advertising

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that telecom operators in India - and not ad networks, VAS companies, content creators or gaming companies – need to lead the mobile advertising charge. Advertising needs to become for them, a strong in-house function, with someone strategically working with agencies and advertisers, to figure out how to leverage advertising on the mobile. We know the reality of the telecom market in India – the average revenue per user, and more importantly, the average revenue per minute (indicative of tariff) has dropped to all time lows, where it is hoped to have plateaued.

There is a perceptible shift taking place in India towards data, and it is only a matter of time before data supercedes other Value Added Services. For some it probably already has. But there’s a problem: spends on data are cannibalistic, and from anecdotal evidence, we believe that, in a multi-SIM environment, the average balance in a prepaid account is between Rs. 20 to Rs. 40. Sure, there will be ‘Pocket Internet’ data only recharges, but I’m not sure if this mode of consumption will scale, especially since it requires a separate purchase each time.

In a media business, the alternate to subscription is Advertising, and telco’s need to start thinking of themselves as a media business, looking at another revenue stream to offset the crunch they can be expected to face. To do this, they do have their own advertising setup, one which works with their clients to offer customized advertising solutions, acquires content which they can monetize through advertising alone, or by using advertising to subsidize content.

I’m not saying that there aren’t VAS companies or agencies who can’t do this – many have tried, and some may have succeeded, but to a limited extent: it hasn’t scaled. You can’t leave it to ad networks, since they are typically bottom feeders if not doing site representation. The delivery of content and advertising can be outsourced, but right now, when both consumers and advertisers look at advertising on mobile with suspicion, as spam, it is important for someone in-house to ensure that the advertisers objectives are met, consumer experience is not spoilt, and most importantly, the telecom operators access/subscription business is not compromised. But it is important for advertising on mobile in India that telecom operators to put their weight behind it, as a strategic area of focus, and send a message out to doubters that mobile as a medium for advertisers should be taken seriously. It’s the only way mobile advertising will scale quickly.

Maybe a telco needs to take a long term punt and buy Mobile rights to the a Cricket tournament, make live streaming or live audio commentary cheap or free, and look to sell advertising.source

Mobile Call Charges Likely To Rise

he Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), on Wednesday, has recommended a six-fold jump in 2G spectrum cost for operators. This is after the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) findings that the exchequer has lost an estimated amount of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore in 2008 by selling 2G licenses bundled with start-up spectrum at Rs. 1,658 crore to pan-India operators.

The operators are currently paying Rs. 1,658 crore for the contracted 6.2 MHz spectrum for pan-India license but TRAI has come out with a new rate of Rs. 10,972.45 crore. Also, each MHz of additional spectrum held by operators should cost a one-time charge of Rs. 4,571.87 crore (all India). However, this would vary from circle to circle and operators would be required to pay only for those circles, where they hold extra spectrum. TRAI has also recommended that the suggested prices should be made effective from April 1, 2010.

This would mean that our mobile bills are going to multiply in the coming days. Imagine the call rates being Rs. 5 or Rs. 6 per minute, for local calls. That would be “disastrous”, as the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the general body for GSM service providers, says.

“This would mean that my mobile charges are going to triple or even more. My father lives abroad and if the call charges are going to be hiked, all I can do is reduce my dependency on mobile phones and make use of cheaper internet based services like Skype or GTalk,” says Arun Shajan, Quality Controller, Hilton Hyundai, Trivandrum.

“Also, in the long run, this is going to cause heavy loss for the government as more and more people would turn to the aforementioned services,” he adds.
Major telecom operators like Bharti and Vodafone have raised their concern over the new recommendations by TRAI, terming them as “flawed, illogical and discriminatory” against the old operators. The COAI also commented that it is like “changing the goal post in the middle of the game.”

However, the telecom operators in Trivandrum, when contacted chose not to comment on this. “I’m not aware of any such issues and as such I have not been intimated about any call charge hikes,” says Jyothi Shankar, XX, BSNL, Trivandrum.

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal also criticised the CAG for the methodology used to arrive at the presumptive figures.  source

Alcatel-Lucent Partners with DeviceAnywhere to Help Mobile Operators Launch New Services

Alcatel-Lucent, a major telecom infrastructure equipment provider, and DeviceAnywhere, a provider of mobile application testing, have partnered to help developers and mobile operators launch new services more quickly.

Both companies are trying to accelerate application testing and certification, reducing development costs and removing fragmentation barriers. By offering laptop access to service provider’s mobile devices in the cloud, the companies make it easier for service providers to fill their apps stores with new voice, data, multimedia and video services.

With the integration of Alcatel-Lucent’s Developer Platform andDeviceAnywhere’s (News - Alert) TestCenter, developers can instantly and remotely test and certify their apps across thousands of mobile devices on live global networks.

 “Application submission and certification is arguably the biggest challenge for operators to overcome before they can successfully launch their own application storefronts,” said Faraz Syed (News - Alert), CEO and co-founder, DeviceAnywhere, in a statement. “By introducing proof-based certification on live, networked devices, operators can empower their developer partners to manage their own certification process, yet still retain full control of the testing results.”

Besides improving the end-user reach, this cloud-based testing improves subscriber discovery of cool new Web, mobile and video apps, which accelerates return on investment for operators and developers alike.

“The integration of DeviceAnywhere’s technology further strengthens Alcatel-Lucent’s Developer Platform, which is the industry’s most comprehensive solution for helping service providers open up their networks and manage their own application storefronts,” said Scott Monson, director of Alcatel-Lucent’s (News  -Alert) application services, in a statement.

Developers can use their personal computer to quickly and economically verify their apps to ensure that they are running smoothly on networks, devices and operating systems. This kind of cloud-based testing helps speed up the introduction into apps stores, company officials said.

A recent report from Multimedia Research Group (MRG) said Alcatel-Lucent is leading the IPTV (News  - Alert) Access market worldwide. The company has been leading the IPTV Access market since 2007. Read the full report here.