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<keyword id="1017412" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Aruna-Sundararajan">Aruna Sundararajan</keyword>, secretary of IT and electronics will now be taking full charge of the department of telecom (DoT), which till now was an additional charge given to her in May. A notification to this effect was issued by the department of personnel, Wednesday, according to which <keyword id="213726" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sundararajan">Sundararajan</keyword> will be at the helm of telecom department filing a vacancy created by posting of former telecom secretary <keyword id="3030164" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="JS-Deepak">JS Deepak</keyword> to the WTO as India representative. After Deepak, power secretary <keyword id="3258053" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="PK-Pujari">PK Pujari</keyword> was handling DoT as additional charge for a few months before Sundararajan was brought in. Ajay Prakash Sawhney will take over as secretary for electronics and IT, the government notification added. One of the key challenges ahead of Sundararajan is the critical condition of the financial health of the sector, for which telecom minister Manoj Sinha and the secretary will be meeting promoters of leading Indian carriers on Thursday. The meeting - to be attended by Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal, Reliance <keyword id="6379089" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Communications">Communications</keyword> chairman Anil Ambani and chief executives of Reliance Jio, Tata Teleservices and Idea Cellular - is part of deliberations on solutions for the massive stress on the sector's financials. Banking sector puts the debt associated with telecom at Rs 7.29 lakh crore. An inter-ministerial panel consisting of members from telecom, <keyword id="25455" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="finance">finance</keyword> and revenue, is already looking into this issue, even as the department has sought for cutting of non-tax revenue estimates for 2017-18 by 37% to just over Rs 29,500 crore.

Aruna Sundararajan gets full charge as DoT secretary, Ajay Prakash Sawhney new IT secretary

The telecom ministry is planning to hold another <keyword id="67427" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="spectrum-sale">spectrum sale</keyword>, for both the pending spectrum from the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/India-biggest-spectrum-auction-what-can-consumer-expect/articleshow/54629274.cms">last sale</a> and the higher frequency bands. Telecommunications secretary <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Telecom-Secretary-JS-Deepak-says-the-upcoming-spectrum-auction-will-separate-men-from-boys-/articleshow/54406206.cms">JS Deepak</a> told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/spectrum-sale-likely-in-second-half-of-this-year-js-deepak/articleshow/57400555.cms">ET</a> that the auction would most likely happen in the second half of this year. 
 However, Bharti Airtel chairman <keyword id="6442632" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sunil-Bharti-Mittal">Sunil Bharti Mittal</keyword> had said that local telecom operators have a surplus of spectrum, and are in no need of buying more airwaves this year. He had also added that the government might not even hold an auction in the coming fiscal. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Sunil-Bharti-Mittal-calls-Reliance-Jio-unfair-competition/articleshow/56501750.cms">Sunil Bharti Mittal calls Reliance Jio unfair competition</a> 
 
Deepak, on the other hand, said that Indian telecom companies now have sufficient opportunity to buy airwaves from each other or the government. 
 
During the Mobile World Congress, an event Deepak was a part of, global industry body <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Bharti-chief-Sunil-Mittal-new-chairman-of-GSMA/articleshow/55094268.cms">GSMA</a> termed India a lighthouse and said that Indian reforms and ease of business policies could be emulated by other nations. 
 
Deepak, in his address, went on to compare the annual sale of bandwidth with the business at a supermarket. 
 
"If a supermarket doesn't sell all its goods in one day, it doesn't get a heart attack or high blood pressure. It will sell the next day, next week, next month,” he said. 
 
When talked about the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/4G-to-be-pass-soon-5G-is-just-round-the-corner-and-look-what-India-is-doing-to-be-an-early-adopter/articleshow/54952894.cms">5G technology</a>, he said that one can expect a policy on use of higher band spectrum (including 5G) in the next three to four months. 
 
(Image source: Economic Times)

Next spectrum sale likely to be held in second half of 2017

According to Telecom Secretary <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=JS+Deepak&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">JS Deepak</a>, men will be separated from boys in the upcoming spectrum auction, as the companies that don’t fix the holes in their bandwidth portfolios will be left behind. 
 Deepak said the government was offering unprecedented quantum of airwaves in the auction that starts October 1, giving telcos an opportunity to acquire data and voice spectrum."Operators who don't fill their gaps will be left out. This auction will separate the men from boys.” He also pointed out that incumbent operators now being accused by <keyword id="2003276" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword> of denying points of interconnection (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=PoIs&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">PoIs</a>) had leveled similar charges against <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Bharat+Sanchar+Nigam&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Bharat Sanchar Nigam</a> 15-20 years ago. 
 "When <keyword id="30351" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSNL">BSNL</keyword> was the incumbent and new players were coming in, there was the issue of these very players complaining <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=BSNL&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">BSNL</a> was not giving PoIs. Today, they are on the other side of the table," Deepak told ET. 
 
Jio filed a complaint against <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Bharti+Airtel&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Bharti Airtel</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone</a> and Idea, that they weren’t providing adequate PoIs, which leads to call drops. "It is like entering a crowded train. People inside resist but it settles down, so I expect this to settle down as well," Deepak added. 
 
Deepak turned down the incumbents, who cited low termination charges as a key reason for denial of PoIs by saying “the two cannot be linked. It is essential that subscribers of one network are connected to the other. That is the requirement and not related to what the commercial arrangement is regarding termination charge.” 
 
The auction will see sale of about 2,300 MHz of spectrum, which is more than that held by top 4 telcos. 
(image:EconomicTimes)

Telecom Secretary JS Deepak
says the upcoming spectrum auction will separate men
from boys.

The incessant war of words among <keyword id="6354776" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Telecom">telecom</keyword> players over <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>’s free data has now reached the top office of the country. Telecom operators wrote to the Prime Minister’s office complaining that the telecom regulator was biased against incumbent players. Telecom industry had earlier said in a release that they see a “pattern of bias” emerging in <keyword id="6356988" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="TRAI">TRAI</keyword>’s decision. 
 On the same concern the telecom operators have now sought an appointment with principle secretary at <keyword id="6365387" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="PMO">PMO</keyword>, Nripendra Misra. Telecom industry body <keyword id="6373028" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="COAI">COAI</keyword> has said that it is “shocked that some of the (TRAI) papers seem to have crafted and timed to serve the interest of new players” hinting at a bias for Relaince <keyword id="2003276" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword>. In the letter sent to the PMO, Rajan Mathews, director general of COAI, said "These papers along with other TRAI decisions seem to point towards a pattern of discrimination against existing mobile operators". 
 
The telecom regulator had recently floated consultation papers on mobile termination charges, termination of internet telephony charges and quality of services and COAI is of the view that all these papers "bode ill for investments, industry's growth, and customer services and upset the well ¬established level playing field paradigm". 
 It all started with Reliance Jio’s extensive trial test of it voice and data services where it allowed customers to use its services free of cost for three month. And that clearly did not go down well with the existing telecom operators which triggered the whole spat and led to the operators now reaching the power corridors. Earlier the top telecom operators like <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>, Vodafone, Idea wrote to the Telecom Secretary asking the Department to stop Reliance Jio’s test trial immediately. COAI in its letter to Telecom Secretary, <keyword id="3030164" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="JS-Deepak">JS Deepak</keyword> said that Jio has already rolled out their complete services under the guise of testing. "This is no test. This is the provisioning of full-¬blown and full--fledged services masquerading as tests”. <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> led Reliance Jio promptly responded with a letter to the telecom regulator saying "steps taken by COAI in last few days by issuing press releases, alleging unfounded biases with the regulator and by writing letters against test trials are in fact attempts to sabotage the market entry of RJIL”. 
 
Also Read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Airtel-Vodafone-Ideas-asks-govt-to-stop-Jios-free-data-trial-offer/articleshow/53647221.cms">War of Words: Reliance Jio’s ‘free-data-for-three-months’ plan under attack</a> 
 
COAI’s letter urging quick intervention from the PMO says "We hope the TRAI will take a more balanced view on issues impacting the entire industry and ensure a level playing field" as the industry is of the view that all the recent consultation papers floated by the TRAI is biased towards new players, not naming but hinting at Reliance Jio.

Telco’s spar over Jio’s free data reaches PMO

<keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>’s extravagant trial offer that allows customers to use unlimited data for free for three months is facing backlash from the top <keyword id="6354776" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Telecom">telecom</keyword> operators of the country. 
 India’s top telecom operators <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>, Vodafone, Idea wrote to the Department of Telecom to stop Reliance <keyword id="2003276" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword>’s test trial immediately. Telecom industry body <keyword id="6373028" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="COAI">COAI</keyword> in its letter to Telecom Secretary, <keyword id="3030164" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="JS-Deepak">JS Deepak</keyword> said that Jio has already rolled out their complete services under the guise of testing. "This is no test. This is the provisioning of full-¬blown and full-¬fledged services masquerading as tests, which bypass regulations and can potentially game policy features like the IUC (interconnection usage charge) regime, non¬ predatory pricing, fair competition etc". In an indirect response to the incumbent telecom players, <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> led Reliance Jio promptly wrote to the telecom regulator saying "steps taken by COAI in last few days by issuing press releases, alleging unfounded biases with the regulator and by writing letters against test trials are in fact attempts to sabotage the market entry of RJIL” Calling the allegations “malicious, unfounded, ill informed and frivolous”, Reliance Jio's letter says that the COAI's campaign appears to be an exercise to promote the vested interests of the incumbent dominant players. 
 Jio initially began testing its voice and data services with employees only scheme and now the company has over 1.5 million customers after they extended their free data <keyword id="6356988" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="TRAI">trai</keyword>l offer to retail consumers. And this figure has not gone down well with the existing telcos "In order to ensure compliance to licence conditions and the Trai regulations and guidelines, we request your (DoT) urgent intervention in this matter and instruct the said licensee to stop such practices. Further, they should be instructed to immediately disconnect all such connections provided to general public under the guise of test connections," COAI said. 
 
Reliance Jio’s launch has been long awaited and Jio puts the onus of delay in the commercial launch of its services on the incumbent players saying they are not offering the requisite interconnection bandwidth and that incumbents are using their dominant position to stifle other operators. 
 
The key challenge however for the operators new and old is to maintain and grow their subscriber base and incumbent players accuse Jio of porting subscribers with the “so called trial offer”. In the letter to DoT, COAI said, "(Jio) has also tried to port subscribers from other operators, even though this is a pre¬launch test period". 
 
While the war of words is in full swing between the telecom players now it’s time for the telecom department and telecom regulator of the country to give their verdict. 
 
Image Source: AndroidCentral

War of Words: Reliance Jio’s ‘free-data-for-three-months’ plan under attack

Indian markets looked very tentative on the first trading day after budget 2019 was announced. The recovery in the last hour of trade helped the Sensex and the Nifty close with gains, but the momentum came largely from the rebound in Reliance Industries in late trade. The gains in India's stock markets are underwhelming given the fact that global risk appetite has improved and Asian peers are near a four-month high. Companies that would benefit from higher demand, thanks to the many sops announced in the budget for the rural areas and the middle class, did not attract buyers. Stocks in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), healthcare and auto stocks witnessed heavy selling pressure. "While the government's growth assumptions appear reasonable, we think the government will continue to face challenges in meeting its fiscal targets, primarily due to structural increases in spending and difficulties in raising revenue further," Gene Fang, from global ratings agency Moody's, reportedly said. There are others who also fear that the finance ministry may be underestimating the deficit- the excess of expenditure over the earnings. "Market is fearing a fiscal slippage because of various announcements in the Interim Budget, like the higher borrowing programs by the government," Rusmik Oza, Head-Fundamental Research, Kotak Securities, told IANS. If indeed the fiscal deficit is more than what the government has projected, it would weaken the rupee, make imports costlier and push up inflation. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 There could be many reasons for why the deficit may exceed the target. "the government's estimate of GST collection in FY19 is on the higher side. The nominal GDP growth rate of 11.5% is also difficult to achieve," Oza said. The capital expenditure for the next year is 6%, which is very low according to Oza. Spending less on capital expenditure means the government is investing less on assets that will generate income in the future. India already spends a lot more on running the government than on assets that can produce growth. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 The market will continue to evaluate the budget proposals for a few more days. "Fears of slippage is because of governments fiscal deficit target of 3% in FY21. The 3.4% target for next year is also not good. It is not possible to reduce 0.4 per cent in a year," Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities told the IANS. --With inputs from IANS

Markets just can't believe India's latest budget math

<ul><li>After tweeting a global map of the <keyword id="107096" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tesla">Tesla</keyword> Superchargers, <keyword id="6355315" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="elon-musk">Elon Musk</keyword> received queries about why Tesla isn’t present in <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> yet. </li><li>Musk responded stating that the delay is due to the Indian government’s ‘challenging’ regulations. </li><li>Local automobile manufacturers have also asked for clarity on the policy regarding <keyword id="6354973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="electric-vehicles">electric vehicles</keyword> in India. </li></ul>In a recent Twitter storm, the global map of Tesla Superchargers tweeted by Elon Musk received an onslaught of queries regarding why there weren’t any Teslas in India. The map shows locations in the US, Mexico, Australia and even China, but none within the subcontinent. 
 
 
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It was a particular “No Tesla in India” tweet that caught Musk’s attention. Apparently Tesla would ‘love’ to be present in India, but it’s the country’s ‘challenging’ government regulations that are keeping the company at bay. 
 
 
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He even substantiates his statement adding that the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Deepak Ahuja, who’s from India himself, is looking into the matter. Not the first time Elon Musk had plans of bringing Tesla to India by the summer of 2017. Since then, sources initially reported that Tesla had to back out from India because the country wasn’t a ‘viable market’. Later it was clarified by Musk himself, that it was the ‘Make In India’ policies that were keeping the company from making headway. 
 
 
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 However, the government was quick to respond and schooled him on how foreign direct investment (FDI) in the auto industry works in India. 
 
 
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Various automakers have asked for <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Industry/OSlNhNaWuLNyEWfgzFY6yH/Electric-vehicle-makers-to-reach-out-to-NITI-Aayog-PMO-for.html">clarity</a> regarding government norms when it comes to electric vehicles in India. Looking at the last two years, the government initially said that it’s planning for 100% electric vehicles in public transport and 40% in personal mobility by 2030. But earlier this year, their stance <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Industry/mmhL6JOC61yIfeiIQKlLZN/Govt-drops-the-idea-of-an-India-EV-policy.html">flipped</a> to formulating a policy for electric vehicles that isn’t constrained by rules and regulations. The Centre’s uncertain back and forth may have an <a href="https://inc42.com/features/how-the-govts-flip-flop-on-policy-is-slowing-down-ev-adoption-in-india/">adverse</a> effect on the adoption of electrical vehicles. On the other hand, state governments have their vision sorted with clear policies already in place. Electric vehicles may not be the answer for India It was only yesterday that the International Energy Agency published their <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/electric-vehicles-could-increase-net-carbon-emissions-in-india-iea-118053000358_1.html">report</a> claiming that electric vehicles may actually cause more harm than good in countries like China and India. The life-cycle of emissions is as such that these countries have a carbon-intensive power generation mix. As of now, 85% of India’s installed capacity is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-might-have-second-largest-power-capacity-in-asia-this-year/articleshow/64357534.cms">dependent</a> on energy derived from coal. That essentially means, that even if cars switch to electricity instead of petrol, they’ll still be burning carbon, just at different stages of the life-cycle.

Elon Musk explains why Tesla isn’t in India yet

Indian telcos have committed to invest around Rs 12,000 Crores in the next three months to improve networks which should help check the call drop issue in the country, <keyword id="6354776" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Telecom">telecom</keyword> secretary <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=JS+Deepak&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">JS Deepak</a> has said. 
 
"The mobile phone operators have promised to add 60,000 new cell sites where they need to improve their quality of service," <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=JS+Deepak&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Deepak</a> told reporters on Friday. 
 
"The government believes in the telecom sector. The quality of service must improve and industry has responsibility," he said. Telecom operators present at the meeting included <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Bharti+Airtel&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Bharti Airtel</a> CEO (India, South Asia) Gopal Vittal, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Vodafone+India&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Vodafone India</a> CEO Sunil Sood, Idea Cellular Managing Director Himanshu Kapania and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Reliance+Jio&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Reliance Jio</a> Infocomm MD Sanjay Mashruwala. 
 
"We discussed with the telecom secretary how we plan to address the issue and the concerns of the sector," Rajan Mathews, director general of industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said after the meet. 
 The meeting comes at a time when ties between the telcos and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (<keyword id="6356988" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="TRAI">Trai</keyword>) have reached a low with both parties adopting aggressive stance against one another on several issues. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Telcos
will spend Rs. 12,000 Crores in next three months to tackle call drop

<ul><li>A twitter post from <keyword id="6355315" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="elon-musk">Elon Musk</keyword> revealed that Tesla plans on having ‘partial presence’ in India by importing completely-built-up (CBU) cars. </li><li>Tesla’s expansion into India is a part of the company’s larger plan to expand into Eastern Europe, China and Japan. </li><li>As per Musk’s previous tweets, he wanted Tesla’s Indian debut to be with Model 3 — the most affordable car produced by the company so far. </li></ul>After months of anticipation, Elon Musk asserted that the luxurious car manufacturer is mulling over having a ‘partial presence’ in India in a recent tweet. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Tesla’s new plan to import completely-built-up (CBU) cars from the United States has come in after the Indian government did not make an exception for Tesla Motors ‘FDI in retail’ which bounds a foreign company to source 30% parts locally. The American company’s expansion into India is a part of its larger mission to cover regions where Tesla still lacks a presence, like Eastern Europe, China and Japan by the end of 2019. The India-Musk story Tesla Indian debut first came into <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/auto/car-news/great-news-for-tesla-lovers-elon-musk-said-this-about-tesla-coming-to-india/1186997/">news</a> when bookings for the Tesla Model 3 were opened to the public. Elon Musk even asserted that the company is soon going to open bookings in India. Despite the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Silicon valley in 2015, Tesla Motors and the Indian government did not make any plans for market expansion. But, come 2017, Musk announced that the company wanted to mark it’s Indian debut with Model 3 — the most affordable car produced by the company so far. But Indian market remained untouched due to tough FDI norms that dictate that at least 30% of the products used for manufacturing have to locally sourced. Musk came out and <a href="https://www.latestly.com/auto/elon-musk-says-regulations-in-india-preventing-teslas-launch-in-the-country-191171.html">stated </a>that India doesn’t have the supply to support production yet. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Despite Musk’s request asking for temporary waiver on import duties and other restrictions, the Indian government did not ease any norms. Although, it did clarify the situation in a twitter post. <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> has previously <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/musk-says-challenging-govt-regulations-stalling-tesla-s-entry-to-india/story-PdzPp7iJtK1VQrlyKpHJzK.html">claimed</a> that 1,400 archaic laws were removed to help business to operate smoothly. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Tesla’s entry into Indian market can be a win-win for the Indian government as well as Tesla Motors. India’s electric car market is still at its <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/musk-says-challenging-govt-regulations-stalling-tesla-s-entry-to-india/story-PdzPp7iJtK1VQrlyKpHJzK.html">nascent stage</a> with the vast majority of Indian people preferring to buy normal budget cars that run on run on petrol and diesel. So, Tesla will have the somewhat of a ‘first-mover advantage’ in the Indian market since most car manufacturers are yet to foray into the production of electric vehicles. And, it’s induction will also support PM Narendra Modi’s 'National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020'.

Elon Musk plans on Tesla Motors having ‘partial presence’ in India by 2019

As reported earlier, India’s top telecom companies have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Reliance-Jio-is-breaking-rules-says-rival-telcos/articleshow/53632414.cms">approached the telecom department </a>about Reliance Industry’s telecom leg Jio breaking rules. To this, RIL officials have said that the GSM industry body representing India's top telcos is trying to "sabotage" Jio’s name before its debut this month, trying to "malign its name". 
 
Jio chairman RS Sharma wrote identical but separate letters to telecom secretary JS Deepak and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman RS Sharma on August 10th, calling the GSM Industry body's recent allegations against it, "malicious, unfounded and ill-informed." 
 
The letter added that since Jio is set to bring a completely new technology to Indian telecom market in the form of end to end IP-based network, they need to test the network at the fullest possible load, hence the large number of users. 
 
<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/photo/51523559.cms">Image source</a>

Rivals are trying to malign our brand name before debut, says Reliance Jio

India’s top telecom operators have targeted <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword> Infocomm, the upcoming telecom leg from Reliance Industries Limited. The operators have asked the telecom department (DoT) to ask RIL to take back the Jio connections that it has provided to 1.5 million users under the name of test connections, since it is breaking the law by offering full-fledged services to them before its launch. 
 
In a letter written to Telecom Secretary JS Deepak, telecom lobby group Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said that as per present licence conditions, testing or trials of free voice and data services is not allowed for such large numbers, and Jio was instead offering full fledged services to its users. 
 "This is no test. This is the provisioning of full-blown and full-fledged services masquerading as tests, which bypass regulations and can potentially game policy features like the IUC (interconnection usage charge) regime, non-predatory pricing, fair competition etc," said the letter written by Rajan Mathews, director general of COAI, of which Jio is also a member along with <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>, <keyword id="15492" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vodafone">Vodafone</keyword> and <keyword id="41511" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="idea">Idea</keyword>. 
 
RIL is expected to launch Jio's commercial services this month, and it has officially said that its free voice and data services will be upgraded into full-blown commercial services soon. 
 Consumers buying <keyword id="3222534" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reliance-LYF">Reliance LYF</keyword> phones and 14 Samsung phones are being offered three months of free unlimited data and voice calls from Jio. 
 
<a href="https://www.whatsuplife.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/3038b-chairman-mukesh-ambani.jpg">Image source</a>

Reliance Jio is yet to be launched, but is already breaking rules

The mobile handset makers have argued the decision of the telecom department, which announced mandatory GPS on all mobile phones, including feature phones, from January 2018. 
 
The mobile phone makers argue that the decision is not in the interest of people as adding GPS in feature phones will make the phones costly. 
 
Handset makers say the price of basic phones would go up by Rs 400 as the cheapest phone available in the market is for Rs 500. 
 
READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/FromJan-2017-women-in-distress-can-press-the-panic-button-on-their-mobile-phonesfor-immediate-help/articleshow/51990969.cms">From Jan 2017, women in distress can press the ‘panic button’ on their mobile phones for immediate help</a> 
 "Implementation of GPS in new mobile handset will not be in the interest of consumers at the bottom of the pyramid," ET quoted a letter from <keyword id="63784" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Cellular-Association">Indian Cellular Association</keyword> (ICA) president Pankaj Mohindroo to telecom secretary JS Deepak. 
 
Instead, Mohindroo has suggested A-GPS or Alternative GPS, which can also track mobile phone users in distress. 
 
Reportedly, the GPS component would cost up to Rs 66.7 and the required software would hike the overall cost to Rs 400. 
 
While numeric keys 5 and 9 were identified as push buttons for an emergency in feature phone handsets, in smartphones, handset manufacturers will have to provide an 'emergency' button or a facility to send an alert by short-pressing the power on/off button thrice in quick succession. 
 
Meanwhile, the handset makers are fine with the ‘panic button’, that will be mandatory in all phones from January 2017 as it would just require a software change, an easy task. 
 "We are already working on incorporating the panic button in our phones and should be able to meet the timelines prescribed by the ministry," Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, head-mobile business, <keyword id="6366627" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Intex">Intex</keyword> Technologies, told ET. 
 
(Images: Thinkstock)

Mobile phone makers say the GPS ruling is not in the interest of consumers. Here’s why

The telecom industry is seeing one of the biggest, baddest infighting over the <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> led <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword>'s trial offer. This trial test pack from <keyword id="2003276" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword> offers unlimited data services for free for three months to customers on their yet to be commercially launched 4G services. Jio’s extravagant trial offer did not go down well with the incumbent telecom operators like <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>, Vodafone, Idea and they approached the top offices in the country including the <keyword id="6365387" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="PMO">PMO</keyword> to stop <keyword id="10926" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Reliance">Reliance</keyword> Jio's trial testing immediately. 
 But a source in the company told Business Insider, “There is no reason to stop the three month free services for customers. The trial offer will continue as promised” the source said. Which is a relief for the customers as most of them had to purchase Jio’s Lyf mobile handsets in order to avail the particular offer. The company source also said “We will abide by what the <keyword id="6356988" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="TRAI">TRAI</keyword> or the govt instructs us but we are certain that TRAI will not stop the trail service as that will impact the consumers”. 
 
This after a huge war of words between the existing telecom operators and Reliance Jio where telecom industry body COAI wrote to the Telecom Secretary, JS Deepak, "we request your (DoT) urgent intervention in this matter and instruct the said licensee to stop such practices. Further, they should be instructed to immediately disconnect all such connections provided to general public under the guise of test connections," COAI said. Reliance Jio did not take it lying down and called the allegations "malicious, unfounded, ill informed and frivolous" in an indirect response to the incumbent telecom players through a letter written to the telecom regulator Jio said, "steps taken by COAI in last few days by issuing press releases, alleging unfounded biases with the regulator and by writing letters against test trials are in fact attempts to sabotage the market entry of RJIL". 
 
COAI pointed out that the elongated free trial testing is helping Jio poach customers, it said, "(Jio) has also tried to port subscribers from other operators, even though this is a prelaunch test period". Jio initially began testing its voice and data services with employees only scheme and now the company has over 1.5 million customers after they extended their free data trail offer to retail consumers. Reliance Jio's launch has been long awaited but Jio puts the onus for delay (of their commercial launch) on the incumbent players saying that the existing operators are not offering the requisite interconnection bandwidth and that incumbents are using their dominant position to stifle other operators.

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