Tag: telecom

TRAI Aims to Tackle Call Drops Issue With Regulations; Improve Connectivity Inside Buildings

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will tackle the issue of call drops in the country, while helping the telecom sector grow with a level playing field, according to the regulator’s newly appointed Chairman. In order to tackle call drop issues facing mobile users in India, TRAI is considering the use of stringent regulation and implementation. The telecom regulator is also working towards improving the quality of services (QoS), allocating satcom spectrum, and implementing the Telecommunications Act, 2023 that was passed by Parliament last year.

In his first interaction with the media since he took over as TRAI Chairman on Tuesday, Anil Kumar Lahoti said (via ET Telecom) that the regulatory body’s most important priorities were to improve QoS in the country, and aid in the growth of the telecom sector. Lahoti’s predecessor, PD Vaghela, retired last September.

TRAI will focus on improving QoS for telecom subscribers, who have been complaining of dropped phone calls, and Lahoti says that more “stringent regulation and implementation” were necessary to resolve the issue. The chairman of the regulatory body also said the telecom and construction industries should work together to improve coverage inside buildings.

Now that the TRAI has a new Chairman, the regulator can focus on responsibilities that have been pending since the post was vacant for a four-month period. These include the allocation of spectrum for firms that are seeking to provide satellite connectivity in the country, including Reliance Jio, Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, and others.

Another task that the TRAI will have to tackle is the implementation of the Telecommunications Act that was passed last year. The new legislation replaces three older laws — the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950 — and contains provisions for more stringent punishments for violations of the Act, more flexible and transparent allocation and auction of spectrum, respectively.

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Airtel to Deploy Nokia’s OTN Switches in Pan-India Long-Distance Network Connecting Major Cities

Nokia has announced that it would deploy a next-generation optical transport network (OTN) that will provide telecom operator Airtel with additional capacity, and increased reliability, while cutting costs. Operators have been working to increase their network capacity as they continue to roll out 5G network services across the country. The agreement between the two firms will see Bharti Airtel replace its legacy transport switching infrastructure with Nokia’s hardware across its network that connects different cities in the country, according to the Finnish telecommunications provider.

In a press release issued on Tuesday, Nokia announced the details of its agreement with Airtel stating that the telecom provider would use Nokia 1830 PSS-x P-OTN switches to replace its older transport switching infrastructure. The new hardware from Nokia will be used across Airtel’s national long-distance network that the telecom provider uses across major Indian cities.

The company’s high-capacity OTN switches will help Bharti Airtel increase overall transport capacity and optimise bandwidth efficiency, according to Nokia. Telecom service providers can also benefit from using the L-band wavelengths of optic fibre networks, effectively utilising additional spectrum, the firm said in its press release.

Nokia also cites the increased demand faced by telecom and broadband service providers as a reason for these firms to provide denser 5G networks by supplementing their backhaul transport. Doing so will also allow them to provide connectivity for data centre interconnect (DCI), smart grids, and other emerging business services, according to the firm.

“Our technology will help Airtel to increase the capacity and features of Bharti’s optical transport network to meet growing bandwidth demand driven by the enterprise and hyperscaler segments. It will also provide the service level performance to meet the strict SLAs from Airtel customers,” Chandan Kumar, Head of Optical Network Business Centre for Nokia India said in a prepared statement.

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TRAI Warns Against ‘Illegal’ Fraudulent Calls Threatening Number Disconnection

The telecom regulator on Wednesday cautioned people against fraudulent calls in which callers falsely claiming to be from TRAI threaten to disconnect numbers, and termed such calls as “illegal”. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said it neither blocks nor disconnects any mobile number of any individual telecom customers, and said any such call or message claiming to be from TRAI should be considered potentially fraudulent.

“It has been brought to the notice of TRAI that some companies/ agencies/ individuals are fraudulently asking the public/ customers that they are calling from TRAI and mobile numbers of the public/ customers will be disconnected as the numbers are being used for sending unsolicited messages,” TRAI said in a statement.

Companies, agencies, and individuals indulging in such activities also mislead customers with claims that their Aadhaar numbers were used for obtaining SIM cards and were being used for illegal activities.

They are also trying to trick the customers/ public to come on Skype video call to avoid disconnection of mobile numbers.

“The public at large are hereby informed that TRAI does not block/ disconnect any mobile number of any individual telecom customers. TRAI never sends any message or make any call for disconnection of mobile numbers,” the release said.

TRAI also made it clear that it has not authorised any agency to contact customers for such activities and all such calls are illegal and are to be dealt as per law.

“Therefore, any call or message claiming to be from TRAI should be considered potentially fraudulent,” it added.

As per Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR) 2018 of TRAI, Access Service Providers are responsible for taking appropriate actions against the mobile numbers involved in sending unsolicited communications.

“Affected persons may take up the matter with the service providers concerned directly on their respective customer service centre numbers or on National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal cybercrime.gov.in or call Cyber Crime Helpline Number 1930,” TRAI said.

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JioSpaceFiber Satellite-Based Giga Fibre Internet Service Demonstrated at India Mobile Congress

JioSpaceFiber was demonstrated on Friday at the 2023 India Mobile Congress as the country’s first satellite-based giga fibre Internet service. The mobile network service provider is working towards the launch of its satellite Internet services in India, to bring access to the Internet in areas that are not supported by traditional networks. JioSpaceFiber is expected to compete with rival service providers like Bharti Enterprises’ OneWeb, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, and Elon Musk’s Starlink, which are all looking to offer satellite internet services in the country.

Jio said it has already connected four remote locations across India with its JioSpaceFiber satellite-based giga fibre Internet service. The areas that have access to the new satellite service — presumably for testing purposes — are Gir in Gujarat, Korba in Chattisgarh, Nabrangpur in Odisha, and ONGC-Jorhat in Assam. The company has not yet provided a timeline for the launch of its services for customers in India, or how much it will cost.

According to the telecom provider the JioSpaceFiber satellite-based giga fibre Internet service will rely on Luxembourg-based satellite telecommunications network provider Société Européenne des Satellites (SES). The network’s medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites will provide gigabit-level Internet access using both SES’s O3b and new O3b mPOWER satellites.

“Jio has enabled millions of homes and businesses in India to experience broadband internet for the first time. With JioSpaceFiber, we expand our reach to cover the millions yet to be connected,” Reliance Jio Chairman Akash Ambani said in a prepared statement.

There’s no word from the company on when JioSpaceFiber will be launched in India, and the service will eventually compete with service providers like OneWeb (Bharti), Project Kuiper (Amazon), and Starlink (SpaceX). Jio will also benefit from being one of the first providers to bring fibre-grade Internet services to users in remote regions, adding to its existing 450 million customers is the country. 

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Further reading:
JioSpaceFiber, JioSpaceFiber demonstration, India Mobile Congress, India Mobile Congress 2023, JioSpaceFiber network, JioSpaceFiber support, Jio, Reliance Jio, SES, Satellite Internet, Telecom, India

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India Expected to See 31 Million Users Upgrading to 5G Phones by December: Survey

As many as 31 million smartphone users in India are expected to upgrade to 5G phones between now and December, a report by Ericsson said on Tuesday underlining the accelerated pace at which the world’s second largest telecom market is adopting the ultra high-speed services. 

Ericsson estimates the current base of 5G handset users in India to be between 80 and 100 million.

5G services were launched in India in October last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the past months have seen a rapid rollout of these services across the length and breadth of the country by operators like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

Swedish telecom maker Ericsson’s Consumer Lab’s Global Survey released on Tuesday pointed out that 5G users in India stand out for their high quality daily engagement with apps, such as streaming high definition video, video calling services, mobile gaming and augmented reality.

Among the big takeaways were the 5G satisfaction levels, and the willingness — by a section of those polled — to shell out a premium for innovative services and differentiated 5G connectivity.

On an average, Indian 5G users spend two more hours per week using these services compared to users in other early adopter 5G markets such as the US, the UK, South Korea, China and others.

“We estimate about 31 million users will upgrade to 5G phones in the remainder months of 2023,” Jasmeet Singh Sethi, Head of Ericsson Consumer Labs said during a briefing.

Another key finding of the report was that India’s 5G satisfaction levels rivalled or surpassed 5G early adopter markets.

“A total of 15 percent of Indian consumers are interested in adding application bundles, including video on demand, gaming and music, to their 5G plans, even at a higher cost. They are prepared to pay a 14 percent premium for these services,” the Ericsson report said.

While demand for larger data buckets remains the most prominent expectation among consumers for 5G plans, notably 31 percent of 5G users tend to deplete their data allocations by the end of the month. A larger portion, 58 percent of 5G users find themselves with more than 30GB of unused data by the month’s end.

“This suggests a clear need for service providers to explore more innovative approaches in crafting their 5G monetisation strategy beyond just offering higher data allowances to better align with consumer preferences and usage patterns,” the report advocated.

As 5G coverage expands in India, there is a significant opportunity to unlock greater value.

“By offering segmented 5G propositions using QoS (quality of service) offerings, providers can tap into the 22 per cent of smartphone users who express interest and are willing to pay a 13 percent premium for such enhanced experiences,” it said.

Recently, Ookla said the launch of 5G services in India turbocharged mobile download speeds here, pushing the country’s ranking 72 notches higher to 47th spot in Speedtest Global Index, ahead of nations like Japan, the UK and Brazil.

India’s speed performance has zoomed 3.59 times since the introduction of 5G, Ookla said dubbing the country’s 5G advancement as “remarkable”.

In this global pecking order, India ranked not only ahead of its neighbours like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, but also some G20 countries, such as Mexico (90th), Turkey (68th), the UK (62nd), Japan (58th), Brazil (50th ), and South Africa (48th place). 

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Vodafone Idea Seeks 30-Day Extension to Pay Rs. 1,680 Crore for Spectrum Auction Instalment

Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea has sought 30 days more time to pay around Rs. 1,680 crore for spectrum auction instalment due on Thursday, a senior company official said on Wednesday. The company has proposed to pay the amount with interest.

“We have submitted a letter to DoT that we propose to pay the spectrum auction instalments of  Rs. 1,680 crore towards the 2022 auction, which is due on August 17, by availing the grace period of 30 days with interest, in accordance with the terms of NIA (Notice Inviting Applications),” Vodafone Idea chief financial officer Murthy GVAS said during the earnings calls.

The development comes even after one of the promoters has confirmed to the company that it will provide direct or indirect financial support to the extent of Rs. 2,000 crore in the event of any fund requirement for meeting impending payment obligations.

The company has also acquired a 5G spectrum in mid-band (3300 megahertz) and millimetre wave in the 26 GHz band in July 2022 spectrum auction.

Vodafone Idea Chief Executive Officer Akshaya Moondra during the call said that the company’s discussion with investors and banks has progressed well and expects to close funding in the coming quarter.

“We are making good progress and expect to conclude these discussions in the coming quarter. That is as far as the equity funding is concerned. As far as debt funding is concerned, we have been engaged with a consortium of banks for a long time. Generally, their ask is that equity also needs to be tied up…we expect to conclude these funding arrangements in the coming quarter,” Moondra said.

He said that one of the promoters has given assurance of  Rs. 2,000 crore for payments. Still, there is a need to get external funding. Vodafone Idea’s consolidated net loss widened to  Rs. 7,840 crore in the first quarter ended June 30.

The consolidated revenue from operations during the reported quarter increased marginally by 2.3 percent to Rs. 10,655.5 crore from Rs. 10,406.8 crore in June 2022 quarter.

The total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of June 30, 2023, stood at Rs. 2,11,760 crore, comprising deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs. 1,33,740 crore, and AGR liability of Rs. 66,860 crore that is due to the government.

Debt from banks and financial institutions stood at Rs. 9,500 crore, and money raised through debt instruments stood at 1,660 crore.

With cash and cash equivalents of Rs. 250 crore, the net debt stood at Rs. 2,11,510 crore.

The total subscriber base of VIL declined to 22.14 crore at the end of June 2023 from 24 crore a year ago.

Moondra said that to arrest the complete decline in customer base, the company needs to expand 4G coverage and invest in 5G technology.

The company has had an accumulation of vendor payments, which it expects to start unwinding from the next quarter, he added.

“Once we are through with this quarter and we are able to manage our payments through the support of promoters and non-operational cash inflows that we are looking at, we will then be able to manage and kind of start unwinding vendor dues from next quarter,” Moondra said.

He pointed out that the current level of mobile service rates needs to go up for customers using higher levels of data.

“Today, we are equalising the price for somebody who is using 5-6 GB to 28 GB per month now that is where we believe it is not the correct structure,” Moondra said.

VIL’s average revenue per user (ARPU)– a key growth matrix of telecom operators, increased to Rs. 139 during the June quarter from Rs. 128 a year ago.

Moondra said the ARPU range has compressed from zero to Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 150 with GST, and everyone is able to meet their requirement with plans costing Rs. 500-600.

“Now, the requirement is pay as you use more should apply. At the upper end for higher usage, the ARPU needs to go up. This will happen for sure as we start rationalising the tariff,” Moondra said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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TRAI Imposed Rs. 35 Crore Fine on Telcos for Failing to Curb Pesky Calls, SMS: Telecom Minister

Telecom regulator TRAI has imposed a penalty of Rs. 34.99 crore on service providers for failing to curb pesky calls and SMS on their network, Parliament was informed on Friday.

Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said that as per the reports, telecom operators have disconnected 15,382 and 32,032 connections during the calendar year- 2021 and 2022, respectively, for violating Telecom Commercial Communication Customers Preference Regulation (TCCCPR), 2018.

“TRAI has imposed financial disincentives of Rs. 34,99,98,000 on the Access Service Providers for failing to curb unsolicited commercial communications in their networks from Registered Telemarketers,” Vaishnaw said.

Last month, TRAI directed service providers to develop a unified digital platform in two months to seek, maintain and revoke customers’ consent for promotional calls and messages.

In the first phase, only subscribers will be able to initiate the process to register their consent for receiving promotional calls and SMS, and later, business entities will be able to reach out to customers to seek their consent to receive promotional messages, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had said in a statement then.

Access providers, which include telecom players like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, have been further directed to use a common short code starting with 127 for sending consent-seeking messages.

In survey conducted earlier this year, around 76 percent of respondents claimed that they had noticed a rise in pesky calls or SMS based on their conversations with WhatsApp business accounts and their activity on Facebook or Instagram.

Back in November last year, TRAI had said it was working on various technologies to detect pesky calls and messages along with a joint action plan with other regulators to curb financial frauds.

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Big Tech Gets Support From EU Regulators Against Telcos’ Network Fee Push

EU telecoms regulators’ group BEREC on Friday warned the European Commission against proposing legislation pushed by the sector to get Big Tech‘s help to pay for the rollout of 5G and broadband, saying it did not see a competition problem or a market failure.

The comments from The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) to the European Commission which is now looking into the issue underscores the high-stakes battle between Big Tech and Europe’s major telecoms operators.

“There is no evidence of a competition problem or a market failure to the detriment of end-users regarding IP-interconnection,” the group said.

Echoing Big Tech’s arguments, BEREC said it has its doubts about a mandatory network fee levied on the companies.

“It is questionable that mandatory payments from CAPs (content and application providers) to ISPs (internet service providers) would lead to member states meeting the connectivity targets,” BEREC said.

“On the contrary, it is rather likely that ISPs in already well supplied areas would benefit the most.”

It said a mandatory fee may disadvantage smaller telecoms operators with less economies of scale and bargaining power, while other telecoms companies with their own streaming or cloud services may discriminate and unfairly promote these services.

Such a fee may also lead to price hikes for consumers, disincentivise Big Tech from investments and breach EU net neutrality rules, BEREC said.

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Telecom Italia have been lobbying for Big Tech to shoulder some of the network costs.

Alphabet‘s Google, Apple, Meta Platforms, Netflix, Amazon.com and Microsoft, which telcos say account for more than half of data internet traffic, have rejected the proposal.

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TRAI Gives 30 Days to Telcos to Check Misuse of Telemarketing Message Templates

Regulator TRAI on Friday directed telecom operators to take action against misuse of telemarketing messages templates within 30 days to curb pesky messages.

The regulator in the direction said that it has noticed some telemarketers are misusing headers and content templates of enterprises.

“Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) is a major source of inconvenience to the public and impinges on the privacy of individuals and TRAI has been taking various steps to curb it. Today, Trai has issued a direction to stop misuse of message templates under Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR-2018),” the regulator said.

Instead of mobile numbers, the authorised telemarketing messages display headers which is indicative of the company from which it has come.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed telecom operators to make changes in the code of practices (CoPs) around headers and content templates of telemarketing messages under the TCCCPR 2018 rules and comply with the direction within 30 days.

The regulator said that look-alike message titles or headers are creating confusion among recipients of messages and are being misused by some of the entities for their gains.

TRAI said that the number of variables in a template is not defined in CoPs, which leads to misuse of the same, and moreover, the promotional content is being passed in the variable portions of content templates.

“…in order to minimize the said misuse, the number of variables allowed in content template needs to be limited in a way that not only gives PEs (Principal Entities) enough flexibility to phrase their content but at the same time, there are reasonable restrictions on number and placement of variables,” the regulator said.

TRAI has directed telecom operators to re-verify all headers registered on blockchain based messaging platforms within 30 days and block unverified headers.

It has asked telecom operators to develop a system within 60 days to temporarily deactivate all headers which remain unused for 30 days.

Telecom operators are required to set up an online process to reactivate headers for the messages and ensure that each header is distinct.

TRAI’s direction requires telecom operators to re-verify all content templates within 60 days and block unverified templates.

Telecom operators are required to incorporate procedures for quarterly re-verification of headers and content templates in their respective CoPs, under the TRAI direction. 

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Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel Added 19.8 Lakh Mobile Subscribers in February: TRAI

Telecom operators Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel added 19.8 lakh mobile subscribers month-on-month in February, even as Vodafone Idea lost 20 lakh customers, according to data released by TRAI on Thursday.

India’s largest telecom player Reliance Jio added the maximum number of mobile subscribers at about 10 lakh, taking its wireless subscriber tally to 42.71 crore users in February, as against 42.61 crore in January.

Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel gained 9.82 lakh mobile users during February and ended the month with a wireless subscriber base of 36.98 crore.

Vodafone Idea lost 20 lakh subscribers in the wireless category as its mobile subscriber base shrunk to 23.79 crore, as per data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

“…the total Broadband Subscribers increased from 839.18 million at the end of January-23 to 839.33 million at the end of February-23 with a monthly growth rate of 0.02 percent,” the release said.

The top five service providers constituted 98.38 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of February 2023.

“These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm 435.20 million, Bharti Airtel 239.70 million, Vodafone Idea 123.74 million, BSNL 24.92 million and Atria Convergence 2.14 million,” according to the release.

Overall, total wireless subscribers decreased to 1,141.96 million (114.1 crore) at the end of February 23 from 1,143.02 million (114.3 crore) at the end of January 2023, a monthly decline rate of 0.09 percent.

“Wireless subscriptions in urban areas decreased from 627.13 million at the end of January 23 to 626.37 million and wireless subscriptions in rural areas also decreased from 515.89 million to 515.60 million during the same period. Monthly decline rates of urban and rural wireless subscriptions were 0.12 percent and 0.06 percent, respectively,” TRAI said.

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