DoT may cancel rural licence fee waiver

23.07.2009
DoT may cancel rural licence fee waiver (BS)
A bitter battle between the finance ministry and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) over their jurisdiction might force the latter to withdraw its decision to waive licence fees for fixed-line service operators in rural areas.

 BSNL’s mega GSM contract stuck on pricing (HBL)
Apart from legal issues, BSNL’s mega GSM contract for 93 million connections is now stuck on pricing issues. BSNL’s internal vigilance officials have raised concerns that the bid amounts quoted by the two successful companies, Ericsson and Huawei, may be on the higher side.

 
RCom bags Rs 10,000-cr telecom infra deal (BS)
Etisalat DB, will outsource its telecom infrastructure requirements to RCom Integrated telecom major (RCom) has bagged a Rs 10,000-crore ($2.2-billion) telecom infrastructure outsourcing deal from new entrant Etisalat DB Telecom (formerly Swan Telecom).

 MTS widens coverage in West Bengal (EFY)
Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited (SSTL), a joint venture between Sistema of Russia and Shyam Group of India, is expanding the coverage of its telephony service brand 'MTS' to six new districts of North Bengal.

 
Spice Comm posts Q1 net loss of Rs 35 cr (FE)
Telecom service provider Spice Communications on Wednesday said its net loss narrowed to Rs 34.91 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2009. The company had a net loss of Rs 136.45 crore in the same period last year.

 
GSMA Urges Bangladesh Government to Eliminate SIM Card Tax (C-N)
The GSMA has urged the Bangladeshi Government to eliminate the tax on SIM cards. The GSMA says that the growth of the mobile industry in Bangladesh has come to a halt due to increases in taxes across the board on mobile services.

Fly launches dual SIM handsets in India (EFY)
Fly, a UK-based company, has come up with a new range of feature-rich Dual SIM handsets. The new range of Dual SIM handsets includes: DS 100, DS 150, DS 170, DS 200, DS 440 and E 106.