The New Rage in Emerging Markets

Voice SMS, a worldwide hit with users, is a huge opportunity that can be tapped with better customization suited to Indian users
SMS has become a part and parcel of our daily communication. A phenomenon which started as just another form of communication and was an alternative to voice call, slowly crept into our lives. It has now become an integral part of the way we keep in touch with our social and professional network. Despite its massive usage, SMS is still 'puzzling' for a vast majority of users, who solely rely on voice as a communication medium. In India, almost 60% of the subscriber base has never sent an SMS.
As the technology evolved, voice SMS or 'an SMS with emotional touch' caught the imagination of the operators and subscribers alike in emerging markets across APAC, Middle East, and Africa. What are the reasons for popularity and the massive growth of voice SMS products in these markets? Why have similar services not seen an uptake in India despite the innovative marketing campaigns designed to attract subscribers to use voice SMS proactively?

Mobile penetration and awareness about the usage of sophisticated phones in emerging markets are low as compared to developed countries. Traditionally, the major chunk of the population resides in the suburban and rural areas, and relies on voice for communication. With limited written skills, they prefer not to type an SMS. The simplicity of a VAS service is the key to its success. Voice SMS is supposed to bridge these gaps, and plays an instrumental role in smooth and easy communication for this segment. Let us look at few of the success stories of voice SMS as a solution in some of the emerging markets. MTN Uganda, the leading African operator, saw a very impressive uptake of its voice SMS solution, and had to upgrade to triple the capacity of the voice SMS system within a few months of its launch. Within 3 months of its launch in November 2009, the service had seen an 11% penetration!
A Pyramid Research report rates voice SMS as the top next generation SMS based application that targets the low income subscribers in the Africa and Middle East region. Etisalat confirmed that out of its 7 mn subscribers in the UAE region, half a million voice SMSes were sent within 6 days of the launch of service. Analysts are of the opinion that the simplicity, cost-effective, and non-intrusive nature of the service will surely help in the uptake of the service with Nigerian operators like Visafone and Glo Mobile. Telenity has worked with operators in the Middle East and African region for making successful voice SMS deployments, and opened new VAS revenue streams.
Within the APAC region, 2008-09 saw various voice SMS deployments with operators across countries like Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Tajikistan. The success of the service in Africa and the socio-economic similarity in the regions clearly indicates that this service has a potential to be successful in these countries as well. Also, the operators have been promoting the service effectively by launching special campaigns like free voice SMS usage during festive seasons.

Why would a service like this be a 'good fit' for the Indian market? With English literacy levels low, a huge chunk of population struggles to communicate using SMS as a medium. SMS is complicated for this user segment. Handset manufacturers tried fixing the problem of English language by introducing SMSes in more languages than English, so that the users can send messages in Indian languages like Hindi and Tamil but that is a little complex. In addition, we also have a large chunk of literate users like senior citizens who are not very comfortable in using a mobile handset, and consider a voice call as the most convenient mode of communication.
Since the urban market for mobile phones in India is near saturation, the rural market will provide the next big wave of growth. Voice SMS, though was marketed by operators like Airtel and Vodafone as a product with a huge potential as it could address a need for subscribers in the suburban belts, has not seen the take rates that were expected.
One of the key reasons that voice SMS in India is still not so successful here because India is a price sensitive market. With call rates falling and the introduction of per second bill plans, subscribers would prefer making a call with the cost of a few paisa rather than spending money on SMS. Voice SMS is no different. As of now most of the operators have kept voice SMS at a price point of 75 paisa, and this need to become more competitive so that the operators can effectively exploit the full potential of the service.
The history of VAS application that have been a hit in a market like India shows that the Indian subscriber welcomes products and services that are simple to use and integrated in the call flow of making a regular call. CRBT-the killer VAS application in the last few years-is a case in point. This is the only service in India that has achieved a greater than 20% subscriber penetration across all the operators.
Going by this logic, the success of a high potential service like voice SMS also depends on the simplicity and ease of use from a subscriber perspective. The current voice SMS services being offered by the operators wherein the subscriber needs to dial * and a number and record the message, is still quite complex for the user segments that we are talking about. Telenity's solution, for instance, is based on an integrated technology where a subscriber is given the option to record a message in case a voice call is not completed (a person does not answer a call, is busy or out of coverage area). This integrates the service in a standard call flow of making a voice call and if priced competitively to a voice call as has been done by the operators in Africa, its penetration and usage will see a sharp rise. This also enables a much higher call completion by the operators and a big spike in their revenue.
Currently voice SMS as a service is not widely used in our country but the opportunity is huge. There is a massive suburban, rural subscriber base that uses only voice services. They use the phone only to make calls. This enables them to communicate and get their message across in all conditions. In a hyper competitive market like India with plummeting tariffs, the key question is not if this service will see mass adoption but by when will this happen.
The operators need to apply the learning from other emerging markets and price the service appropriately so that the non-VAS savvy subscriber segment can benefit from this service.
Telenity Voice SMS Solution
The above table showcases the revenue potential for operators through a voice SMS solution wherein a subscriber uses the service in case a call cannot be completed. It is an additional source of revenue for operators in case a voice call is not completed.source

The Future of Telecom

Mobile phones will be tools for wholesome entertainment as well as commerce in the near future India is a unique market with the largest number of operators in the world, 15, servicing 700 mn mobile phone connections with lowest mobile tariffs globally. With the upcoming 3G services, value added services (VAS) are expected to drive conspicuous consumption. Service providers are relying heavily on VAS such as high speed data applications and mobile entertainment options including 'TV everywhere'.
In the recent years, the Indian telecom industry has witnessed phenomenal growth. The last year, in fact, has been one of the most exciting years for the industry with the 3G auctions and MNP being launched. A conducive business environment, favorable policies, and political stability have spurred the growth of this sector (notwithstanding the telecom ministry woes). The number of people using mobile handsets currently to access the web is 5-10 times more than those using a PC. As the telecom revenues continue to grow aggressively, telecom service providers are now beginning to make all endeavors to enhance their profitability amid dropping ARPUs, low tarrifs and cut-throat competition.
The introduction of 3G and WiMax technologies along with Mobile Number Portability (MNP) will be game changers in the Indian market. As per Trai estimates, India will have 19 mn WiMax subscribers by 2012 and nearly half of current mobile users as 3G subscribers. In the near future, we will see powerful devices backed by huge databases of applications helping consumers (individuals/businesses or both) benefit from mobile broadband that will offer mobile computing experiences beyond imagination.
With the launch of 3G services by the private operators, post the successful conclusion of 3G auctions by the government, incumbent operators are spending huge sums of money to get their networks 3G ready. There are going to be exciting times ahead, though it remains to be seen how 3G will impact both enterprises and retail customers when all the service providers initiate 3G services next year. However, one cannot ignore the power of mass entertainment medium that a mobile is soon going to become.
In the 3G age, the services will be provided under 4 core areas of access, video, applications, and gaming. Mobile phones will become a one-stop-shop for your daily needs. It will be used as a gateway to Internet access, passkey for high security commercial transactions, and an entertainment and information keeper. M-commerce, m-banking, m-trading, m-wallet, location based offers and mobile TV, have become the most talked about trends in the industry today. For enterprises, big or small, smarter devices combined with third generation wireless networks and an increased demand for workforce mobility will make business applications more attractive and popular.
The last few months have seen the market for tablet devices warm up with several vendors launching smarter products to garner market share and mindshare. The market has seen traction since the launch of Apple's revolutionary iPad device. The much sleeker tablet allows surfing the net, sharing documents, reading e-books, exchanging emails and nearly all multimedia functions such as listening to music, watching videos, and making calls. In the future, 1 device (essentially mobile phone and/or tablet) will be taking care of all the daily chores. It will act as a credit card for the daily purchases, cash for online bill payment, and a bank for the banking needs.

With the newer and faster technologies coming on the horizon, the access technologies such as screen size becoming smaller, advanced and more efficient, gone are the days when a large sized screen was needed to access the Internet and download favorite entertainment content. Now customers have a plethora of options to choose from that is, mobile phones, tablet PCs, and netbooks, etc, for accessing the worldwide web and their favorite content (mobile entertainment content such as audio, video, etc).
Mobile entertainment services have come a long way with the operators today delivering huge gamut of services such as streaming audio and video, interesting multi-player games, and the hugely popular mobile gambling across high speed 2.5G networks on advanced handsets. According to a Portio Research report estimates, mobile entertainment services (including mobile music, mobile games, and mobile video services) would generate worldwide revenues of $47.2 bn by end of 2013.
Gartner predicts that more than 4.5 bn apps will be downloaded in 2010 across all platforms, generating $6.8 bn of sales. It estimates that this will increase to 21.6 bn downloads and $29.5 bn of revenues by 2013. However, another interesting trend would be that a quarter of these mobile app revenues will come from advertising in free apps, rather than paid downloads.
Leading Indian operators have launched their own version of app stores in the still nascent app market, just like the global telecom majors such as Nokia and Apple. This enables them to gain a small yet significant share of consumer's wallet. However, in India where the propensity to buy depends on the value addition that the app brings, future will see apps being sold as part of bundled package with handsets, and cost recovered by running ads within it. The mobile ad market in India is already estimated at $25 mn and predicted to be in vicinity of $100 mn in the next 2 years.
Now the next question arises that what kind of app will be most popular in the future? The emergence of mobile TV and mobile commerce applications would be seen as the single most important event in the future of telecom industry.
The broadcast industry is undergoing one of biggest transformations in its history. Over the next few years or may be less, the entire television industry will make the transition from analog broadcast to digital services. This will be a major leap ahead for the entire broadcast industry. Slowly and steadily consumers have started streaming shows, news and movies from the web not just to their television sets and laptops, but also to their smartphones and iPads.
Mobile TV will change the paradigms of mobile entertainment. Television will no longer be limited to households, and each individual will carry his own personal entertainment in his pocket. The day is not far when the mobile TV will become ubiquitous and revenues will be earned through personalized ads, thanks to the personal data (even likes, preferences, and needs) of the consumers available with the service provider. In the next couple of years, India will have more than 200 mn mobile TV users primarily because of anywhere, anytime entertainment capability.

The recently announced tablets with phone capabilities and 5 inch and 4.8 inch screen sizes by Dell and Acer, respectively suddenly mark the reappearance of a large enough personal screen to enjoy TV and video content. Given the propensity of Indian innovators to bring down price points on mobile phone advances, the widespread availability of such devices will be possible really soon.
Bandwidth is the other scarce resource in a mobile environment. With the new 3G networks coming up, this problem will be more or less solved. The only question is how soon the operators will deploy the additional spectrum for data services.
Mobile commerce or m-commerce-the conduct of business transactions over the Internet enabled wireless devices-is the other huge trend slowly becoming a dominant force in the business and society. M-commerce is one of the fastest growing mobile applications in recent history. M-commerce has become such a popular concept that a number of sub applications have been developed around the concept such as m-banking, m-trading, m-wallet among many. The enabling feature such as anytime, anywhere banking/payment flexibility, and ease of use have made it one of the most downloaded apps across the world.

Like every enabling technology, m-commerce is also not without issues. Information sharing especially in today's cybercriminal world is fraught with risks. Identity thefts are as common as mobiles today. Personal information such as credit card information location, personal details, and location details can easily be misused. Many countries strictly regulate the collection and use of personal data by business entities and government departments.
There is no doubt that m-commerce is the future of banking and all m-commerce applications have a very promising future. However, there are several limitations an m-commerce user faces. Small screens on wireless devices, limited processing power, modest memory, low speed data transmission, non-ubiquitous coverage, unproven security, and scarce bandwidth are some of them. We know by experience that many of these limitations are expected to diminish, if not being eliminated, over time.
With the upcoming 3G networks bestowed with higher security, higher speeds, higher capacity, and intelligent infrastructures, m-commerce applications will be unqualified success. With improved wireless security and privacy through data encryption and user education, m-commerce will become the most dominant method of doing business transactions.
The future of telecom will be to enable the applications and technologies developed by Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) or Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to vastly improve our standard of living. Telecom will become the springboard to the future creation and expansion for an information society. Telecom will play a huge role in the society and will spur innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth.source

Idea Cellular Takes The Lead On MNP Launches India Wide Helpline

Idea Cellular,today announced the launch of  a Toll Free Number 1800-270-0000 to guide over 700 million mobile subscribers on various aspects and procedures of number portability, prior to the national launch of the service on January 20th, 2011.

With this, Idea continues to lead the industry in MNP communication through a series of new advertisements.Idea is now promoting the Toll Free Number and the Date of MNP launch in the series of new ads.

The earlier ads, the first such campaign on MNP in India, showed Idea proposing the idea to unhappy mobile consumers to switch to a network that offers better services, better products & tariffs, and better network, through the message – ‘No Idea, Get Idea’.

Mobile users across all 22 circles can call up the Toll Free Number 1800-270-0000 and register their requests for porting on the Idea network.

Idea has also launched a microsite www.getidea.co.in – an information portal for MNP for online users. SOURCE

PERFORMANCE REPORT - INDIAN TELECOM

The Indian telecom sector continues to grow at a breakneck speed. Needless to point out over here, that idle funds always chase growth sectors where the prospects of gaining superior returns are far out-weighed.
This wave of optimism is also being echoed by a Boston Consulting Group report which says that the Indian telecom market will surpass a psychological $100 billion-mark by 2015, despite host of concerning factors such as intense competition on the back of low-tariff structures and ensuing decline in ARPUs in the sector.
Recently, telecom regulator TRAI released a report on “Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report” for the period covering July to September 2010, spanning across key parameters in Wireless and Wire-line telecom, Cable TV and Radio Broadcasting services in India.
The study, compiled from the data furnished by the telecom operators, presents an informative summarized view into the latest trends within the relevant sectors in terms of subscriber growth, preferences and geographical spread for various services.

Growth in Telecom Subscriber Trends

The number of telecom subscribers, from July to September last year, grew from 671.69 million to 723.28 million, registering a growth of 7.68%. Now, just compare this burgeoning growth rate with a decade-ago figures which stood at 7.3 million cellular subscribers as on June 2002; it’s a 100 times jump.

However, the optimistic subscriber growth figures notched in Q3-2010 does not get reflected on the ARPUs front for GSM services which declined from Rs.122 at the start of June-10 to Rs.110 by Sept-10. The trend is no different on the CDMA front too.
The overall Tele-density in India reached 60.99% as on September 2010. The Urban Tele-density at the end of Sept-10 stood at 137.25, which indicates that every 1 out of 4 urbanites holds multiple mobile connections.
The Rural Tele-density increased from 26.43 to 28.42 during the quarter July-Sept. However, these figures are woefully low when it comes to penetration levels of the operators in the remote rural areas which still remain highly untapped.

What further pinches me is that the rural subscription recorded a decline in rate of growth during the quarter from 9.18% to 7.81% in Sept-10, despite low tariffs.
Even as the wireless subscribers log a smart growth, the wire-line subscriber base declined from 36.18 million at the end of June-10 to 35.57 million as on Sept-10. However, the fixed line network is likely to be sustained, though on a very small footprint going forward.

Growth in Internet Subscriber Trends

Incidentally, even the internet subscribers are growing at the almost the same rate as that of telecom subscribers. It surged from 16.72 million in July to 17.90 million in September.
The number of broadband subscribers surged from 9.47 million at the end of June to 10.30 million in Q3 of 2010. As India’s mid-age population turns more affluent, the demand for broadband services has also surged. The share of Broadband subscription in total internet subscription stood at 57.6% at the end of Sept-10.

Cable TV and Radio Broadcasting Trends

The increased promotional spending by the Corporate India has spurred more and more new channels launches to grab a pie of the popular TRPs. The number of channels with Ministry of I&B has soared to 526 as on Sept-10 end, an addition of 11 channels from a quarter ago period.
However, the quarter July-Sept saw no change in the status of number of FM Radio stations at 248, which have gained immense traction over the last 5 years.
The age of digitalization of television broadcasting is here which provides advantages of satellite transmission of digital television signal. This has seen the number of Set Top Boxes (STBs) installed in prime metro locations go up to 775,876 until Sept end.

Telecom Growth Snapshot

SOURCE
Will the Indian telecom industry be able to sustain its scorching pace of growth?

Pesky calls: Now more stricter norms for Players

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s decision to enforce stricter norms on unsolicited calls and text messages may well be a boon in disguise, feel organised mobile marketing companies.
The mobile marketing sector currently has innumerable small outfits engaged in the business of sending marketing communication. The new guidelines will make it tough for vendors to stick to the policies. As a result, only serious players will survive. Mobile marketers say culling out selected vendors is not the only good news, but even customers will be more receptive to chosen communication patterns. Targeted communication would reach more willing consumers, bringing in more value to mobile marketing.
“There is a cost of compliance for the new norms, where systems have to be set up to ensure that you are not on the wrong side of the law. Fly-by-night operators who would not be able to do this, might leave the business,” said Shubho Ray, President of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).

Last month, Trai issued a set of new guidelines for both marketers and regulators and warned of penalties ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2,50,000 for defaulters. According to these, consumers should receive marketing calls and text messages only if on the National Customer Preference Register. Subscribers would have the freedom to choose from specific segments where they would want to get marketing communications.
These rules would require both companies and operators to set up compliance and auditing tools and platforms to classify text messages according to customer preference and segregate these. Operators who have been made responsible by Trai should have firewalls to block unwanted test messages if these do not fulfill the requirements specified by the customer.
“A lot of smaller vendors who do not comply to norms either deliberately or due to lack of ability will be forced out of business. If they have specific value-add, they would be compliant,” said Vishwanath Ramachandran, Chief Technology Officer, SMS Gupshup.
“Once the spam is controlled, it will reduce the irritation factor associated with mobile marketing. Bigger brands, too, will choose this path, since mobile marketing will become much more responsible,” said Rajiv Hiranandani, Directors, Mobile Marketing Association, Asia Pacific.
Experts say the regulations, to be enforced from February, might not reduce the number of subscribers who would eventually receive pesky calls and SMSes. If the number of receivers was reduced, it would be detrimental to this business, which works on large volumes. However, experts say such choice to consumers would not hurt marketers monetarily.
“If you look at the number of people registered on the Do Not Call Registry, they are just around 10 per cent of the total telecom subscribers. So, we expect it to only have only a minuscule impact,” said Ray.source

Violations, Timeline in 2G Spectrum Scam

I am just outlining the violations/timeline of the 2G Spectrum Scam and other related telecom scandals. This is just a synopsis of the biggest scam the country witnessed.
# A Raja becomes Union Minister for Environment and Forests in May 2004 and shifts to Ministry of Communications and IT on May 16, 2007. Raja’s friendly real estate companies want to become telecom operators and he informs his decision to Telecom Secretary DS Mathur for granting new licenses and spectrum to new players. But Mathur objects and argues for transparent auction and competitive pricing (as recommended by TRAI from 2003 onwards). Raja wants to grant licenses as per First-Come-First-Serve method (in a peculiar way – who first pays license fee and not who first applied) and old pricing fixed in 2001. In 2001, there were only four million mobile subscribers and it crossed 350 million in mid 2007. So Manju Madhvan, Member (Finance) of DoT, Finance Ministry also pointed out new competitive prices. But all ignored by Raja and he sent the file to Law Ministry for opinion and started procedures.
# On September 24, 2007 DoT issues a press release (released in the late evening and appeared in next day newspapers), citing the last date of application (cut-off date) fixing to October 1, 2007.
#Without Cabinet approval Raja allots Dual Policy or Cross Technology to Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices and Shyam Telecom in October 2007 at a rate fixed in 2001. This technology allows CDMA operators to change to much wanted GSM Technology. CDMA operators were in bad shape and Raja’s decision became a boon to them. Here the corruption part is on allowing the much wanted GSM license at a six year old price. This move is Raja’s first major corruption in Telecom, which gave him courage to go ahead with 2G Spectrum allocation to new companies.
# On Nov 1, 2007, the Law Minister HR Bhardwaj rejects Raja’s plan and directs to constitute an Empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) to form transparent procedures for 2G Spectrum allocation and new licenses.
# Next day on Nov 2, 2007, by 8pm Raja wrote a letter to Prime Minister, objecting on Bhardwaj’s direction. “Law Ministry is out of context,” wrote Raja. This letter was delivered to PM’s residence
# Within an hour (9pm), same day (Nov 2, 2007) – might be alerted by Bhardwaj- PM wrote to Raja to stop all procedures and directs him to get his concurrence in all future actions. This letter was delivered to Raja’s residence. Citing several wrong practices in the past, PM directs Raja to adopt transparent method by auction and new pricing.
# In the mid night, Raja gave an evasive rely to PM, hushing up the directions for auction, competitive pricing. This letter dated Nov 2, 2007 was also delivered to PM’s residence
# A very senior Law Officer (doing all unlawful activities and advisor to all illegal activities) was present in Raja’s residence on Nov 2, 2007 from 7pm to 11:30pm. He drafted all the two letters to Prime Minister by Raja. He was elevated in UPA-2 due to his nexus with all unholy elements in politics and corporate world. How a Law officer can advise against Law Minister’s direction? Rule 8(1)(e) of Law Officers (Conditions of Service) Rules 1972 says : “A Law Officer ( includes AG/SG/ASG or any other law officer) shall not advise any Ministry or Department of Government of India or any statutory organization or any PSU unless the proposal or a reference in this regard is received through Ministry of Law and Justice, Department of Legal Affairs.
# Finance Secretary Mr. D. Subba Rao wrote to Telecom Secretary Mr. DS Mathur on November 22, 2007 – objecting the pricing policy of 2G Spectrum and arguing for auction. In the letter the Finance Secretary objected the dual policy (cross technology) implemented (2\Oct 2007) to help CDMA operators like Reliance and TATA to more revenue earning GSM technology at a cheap rate fixed in 2001, without cabinet approval.
# Regarding this controversial allotment of dual policy (This was Raja’s first big corruption in Telecom Ministry), in the November 2, 2007 late night letter PM said to Raja : “I came thorough the media on the allotment of dual policy or cross technology)
The CAG report says around Rs.36,000 crore lost over this allotment of dual policy which benefited mainly Reliance and TATA. There is a separate headline : “undue influence to Reliance” in the CAG report which figures the total loss to Rs.1.76 Lakh crores, including the loss on the dual technology.
# Strong resistance by Telecom Secretary DS Mathur and Manju Madhavan prevents Raja from moving ahead. For suggesting series of steps for auction, Raja snubs Manju Madhvan, in an internal note dated Dec 4, 2007 who took VRS soon.(she applied well earlier).
# After 50 days, on Dec 26, 2007, Raja wrote a letter to PM, saying that he was “further enlightened” by Pranab Mukherjee (then External Affairs Minister) and G Vahanvati (then Solicitor General) to go ahead with “pre-emptive and pro-active” decision to allot 2G Spectrum and new licenses. In these letters also Raja argues for reversing the cut-off date o limit the players. PM did not reply, but simply gave a routine acknowledgement on Jan 3, 2008.
# On Dec 31, 2007, DS Mathur retires. Raja brings his trusted man Siddarth Behura as new Telecom Secretary, who worked as an Addl. Secretary with him Ministry of Environment and Forests. Within 10 days (Jan 10, 2008) at 2:45pm DoT uploads a press release saying that cut-off date was reversed from October 1, 2007 to September 25, 2007. The press release asked the new players to remit fee (huge money ranging from Rs.1500 cr- Rs.1600 cr) between 3:30pm -4:30pm on same day. It is a mystery that how Nine new companies made and remitted huge fee by demand draft within 45 minutes.
#Here is the conspiracy angle. All the nine company owners/brokers had a meeting with Raja on Jan 9, 2008 at his residence. All were informed by Minister 24 hours before the issue of press release. The cut-off date was reversed to September 25, 2007, because of Raja’s favorite company Unitech applied on Sept 24. Another favourite company Shyam Telelink also applied on Sept 24.
# On Jan 10, 2008, the CEOs Swan and Unitech (most favoured companies of Raja) sit at Private Secretary RK Chandolia’s cabin in Sanchar Bhavan. DDG Access Service (AK Srivastava) directs officials to go Chandolia’s cabin at 3pm. Chandolia asks official o collect application and demand draft from CEOs and directs to give No : 1 status to Swan and No : 2 status to Unitech. Then only counter was opened at eighth floor of Sanachar Bhavan to receive application/ fee from other seven companies. There was a mad rush to become first in the queue and physical fight taken place between rivals. Bouncers were brought. CEOs quarreled with each other while some telecom officers were manhandled.. Though police arrived, no case was registered by instruction of Chandolia.
#TRAI Chairman Mr. Nripendra Misra’s letter to Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura on January 14, 2008 – objecting the policy, reversal of cut-off date and manipulating his recommendations. Later in the media Misra described DoT had “cherry picked” his recommendations.
#As per the Sec 11(1)(a)(ii) and Sec 11(1)(d) of the TRAI Act, DoT is mandated to get the recommendation of TRAI, if they issue license to new operators. But Raja never sought recommendation of TRAI when he allotted license to new operators like Swan Telecom – changed name to Etisalat DB Telecom, Unitech group companies changed name to Uninor, Loop Telecom (license was granted in the name of Shipping Stop Dotcom India Pvt Ltd!!!!!), Datacom – changed name to Videocon, STel and Allainz Infra (merged/amalgamated with Etisalat later with their license in 2 circles…any smell of corruption or conspiracy?. Let CBI or ED investigate)
#DoT allots spectrum/licenses (including additional spectrum to existing players to settle anger) on March/April 2008. All files were signed by Raja. Unitech applied licenses in different names – Unitech Infrastructure, Unitech Builders and Estates, Aska Projects, Nahan Properties, Hudson Properties, Volga Properties, Adonis Projects and Azare Properties. Later Unitech Group forms eight companies – Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu), Unitech Wireless (North), Unitech Wireless (South), Unitech Wireless (Kolkata), Unitech Wireless (Delhi), Unitech Wireless (East), Unitech Wireless (Mumbai), Unitech Wireless (West).
#Dubious order was issued by Siddhart Behura on April 22, 2008 for facilitating merger (leaving the word acquisition). This helped Unitech to merge all their licenses and helped all to waive the mandatory three year lock-in-period in selling of their shares.
# On Sept 13, 2008, Raja forces BSNL CMD Kuldip Goyal to enter into a un-precedented MoU with Swan, known as Intra-Circle Roaming Agreement. This MoU will help Swan to use all infrastructure (Towers, optical network etc) of BSNL. This MoU was executed just a week before, Swan’s Rs.4500 Cr deal (sale of 45 per cent shares) with Etisalat. Swan gives unsolicited application to BSNL. The BSNL management committee demands 52 paise/call from Swan. But this clause was absent in the MoU. Raja also transfers senior officials in WPC (Joint Wireless Adviser RJS Kushwaha and Deputy Wireless Adviser D Jha) for objecting Swan’s proposals to BSNL and DoT.
# In Sept/October 2008 – Swan offloads 45 per cent shares to UAE based Etisalat for Rs.4500 Cr. (Swan got license for Rs.1530Cr). Etisalat invested Swan through its Mauritius unit. Unitech offloads 60 per cent of shares to Norway based Telenor for Rs.6200Cr. (Unitech got license for Rs.1621 cr). Telenor invested through its South-Asia division. Telenor is a major operator in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
# On Nov 4 2008, Swan informs DoT that – it allotted Rs.380Cr worth shares (9.9%) to a Chennai based newly floated company Genex Exim. This is believed to the kick back from Swan to Raja. Genex was incorporated on September 17, 2008, with two directors — Mohammed Hassan (58) and Ahamed Shakir (41). The company was represented by Ahmed Syed Salahuddin (32) on the board of Swan. The three belong to Kilukarai, a small coastal village in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu link now gets strengthened. Ahmed Syed Salahuddin is the younger son of Syed Mohammed Salahuddin, an NRI business tycoon heading the Dubai-based real estate conglomerate, ETA Ascon Star Group. This was part of the letter to DoT informing the Rs.4500 crore deal with Etisalat.
# ETA Group had several real estate projects cleared (on in Bangalore) during Raja’s stint in Environment Ministry. More over the ETA owner Syed Mohammed Salahuddin is having four decade long association with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi. Most of the Fly Overs, new Secretariat complex were built by this man, who was also a distributor of Karunanidhi’s films. Star Health Insurance, owned by this man is running the state government’s group health insurance scheme. Sayed Salahuddin was also named in Justice Sarkaria Commission report in 1976. The Commission was instituted by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, after dismissing Karunanidhi for gross corruption.
# On May 29, 2009 (48 hours after Raja sworn in again as Telecom Minister), Delhi High Court (Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Valmiki Mehta) on hearing the PIL against First-Come-First-Serve (FCFS) policy observed: “It is like selling cinema tickets. We find it very strange that public exchequer and valuable resources have been involved and misused in this way. We are completely astounded.”. The Delhi High Court in 1994 termed the FCFS policy as a barbarian and said not a suitable one to a democratic government]
# July 1, 2009 – Justice GS Sistani of Delhi High Court quashed the DoT’s decision to reverse the cut-off date. The case was filed by STel. On Nov 24, 2009 – Delhi HC Chief Justice upheld the Single Bench verdict and rejected the appeal of DoT. Shockingly in these two courts DoT filed an affidavit that Raja got Prime Minister’s concurrence. How Law Ministry and Attorney General GE Vahanvati vetted such an affidavit? The affidavit filed by Telecom Department (mentioned in the Para No : 5 of the verdict given by Delhi HC Chief Justice) only says Raja’s letter to PM on Nov 2, 2007 seeking his consent for reversing the cut off date (last date of application). But the Telecom Department, Minister Raja and the Attorney General Vahanvati cleverly and criminally hushed up PM’s objections and directions to Raja on the same date.
This wrong affidavit was not included in the SLP in the Supreme Court, when The Pioneer reported on misquoting PM in the Delhi High.
# DoT approaches Supreme Court through SLP to quash the HC verdicts. Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy impleads into the case. Sensing danger, Raja wanted the STel to withdraw from the case. On March 5, 2010, Friday evening after office hours, DoT issues an order asking STel to close its operation in three states, citing security reasons. There was no show cause was issued to STel and later Home Ministry revealed that they never raised any sort of security concern. Arm twisted STel surrendered before Raja on March 8, 2010 on Monday and declared that they have no troubles with DoT policy. Vahanvati produced STel’s surrender letter to Supreme Court, which was rejected and directed the company to file an affidavit. Due to Subramanian Swamy’s presence, Raja’s design failed and court said that thy will not interfere into the HC order declaring the change of cut off date as illegal.
# It must be remembered that STel offered to DoT and later to Prime Minister Rs.17,752 crore (mentioned in the Para No : 11 of the verdict of Delhi HC Chief Justice) for pan-Indian license/spectrum. But they got only three circles, due to change of cut-off date. Raja sold out Pan Indian license/spectrum for just Rs.1651 crore, the value fixed in 2001. The figure/rate quoted by STel in letters to DoT, Minister Raja and PM exposes the actual rates of 2G Spectrum in 2007-08 and huge loss to exchequer by Raja’s fraudulent action. This huge offer of STel became one of the basic factor for CAG in assessing the loss happened in 2G Spectrum allocation, including Dual Policy to Reliance and Tata
The figure Rs.17,752 crore offered by STel, mentioned the judgments is typographical error. The actual figure is Rs.13,752 according to CAG, after verifying the DoT papers.
#On October 14, 2009, Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha orders to CBI to probe the spectrum scam under Sec 120B of IPC (criminal conspiracy) and Sec 13d of Prevention of Corruption Act. CBI registers FIR on October 21, 2009. The FIR said the loss was Rs.23,000 crore. Later Enforcement Directorate also registers cases. Nothing happened till the Supreme Court intervened in September 2010 on the PIL filed by Prashant Bhushan, leading to the Supreme Court monitoring of the investigation. How can CBI and ED act, when Raja was kept on power till November 2010?
# By September 2010, the cases filed in Supreme Court by Subramanian Swamy and Prashant Bhushan started in the Bench of Justice GS Sighvi and AK Ganguly. Thankfully the mindset of the courts changed after SH Kapadia became the Chief Justice of India Raja finally submits resignation on November 14, 2010.
# The CAG found that out of the 122 licenses, 85 licenses are illegal according to the DoT guidelines itself, amounting to immediate cancellation at any point of time.
CAG found that the licenses given to Swan (13), Unitech(22), Loop(21), Datacom(21) STel(6) and Allianz Infra (2) are totally illegal according to DoT guidelines itself, apart from violations in Companies Act. The CAG tabled the report in Parliament on November 16, 2010 – finding a presumptive loss up to Rs.1.76 lak crore due to the illegal allotment of 2G spectrum including Dual Policy.source

Centre to launch mobile tech to save mothers

The Union ministry of health and family welfare is planning to adopt a mobile-based technology on the lines of the 108 ambulance services. This would be available in states, which do not have the 108 service.
The project would be implemented in 65 most backward districts in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Jharkhand as a first phase pilot, where maternal mortality rates are higher and no ambulance services are at present.

Sanjay Gupte, ex president, Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), said, “In rural areas, where the 108 ambulance service is not available, this mobile and SMS technology will be available at the village level by setting up call centres.”

India currently has the highest number of mobile users in the world and through this service they can have access to junior practitioners and doctors in remote areas, he added.
The project is expected to cost Rs 500 crore.
The Cetre’s National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scheme was facing a shortage of skilled persons, right from consultants to practitioners.even after the Rs 33,000-crore Budget allocation for the project.
The maternal mortality rate has come down to 250, from 300 per 100,000 deliveries two years ago, and is expected to further come down to 100 by 2015 to meet the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal.
According to a UN report, occurrence of a maternal death is 41 times more likely in India than in the US and 10 times more than in China. Every five minutes a pregnant woman dies in India, taking the number to 200 per day. The current pregnancy death risk is one in every 40 cases.
According to him, in Gujarat, two third of the emergencies are related to maternal death. In Sri Lanka, the district medical officer has been given the power to call the Army, helicopter in emergency cases to save the mother.
He said the project plan would be finalised next week when the Union home minister holds a meeting here.source