Friday, August 31, 2007
CDMA Subscribers Surpass 50mn
The CDMA Development Group (CDG) has reportedly announced that India's CDMA2000 subscriber base has surpassed 50 million fixed- and mobile- device users.
Significantly, the milestone has been achieved within just 4 years of introduction of the technology. While it has taken GSM over 10 years to reach the same figures, CDG claims.
As per CDG, in June 2007, there have been up to 2.01 million net subscriber additions, with CDMA2000 having grown at 5 percent vis-a-vis GSM at 4.1 percent. CDMA2000 devices have seen nearly 50 percent year-on-year growth since 2003.
CDG says the factors that have contributed to the phenomenal growth in CDMA2000 subscriber base are: economic delivery of differentiated value-added services, network expansion into rural areas of the country, and growing availability of very low end (VLE) devices.
Rapid expansion of CDMA2000 networks in rural areas of the country is a prime factor with India leading in introduction of affordable fixed- and mobile- broadband access to under-served markets.
Reliance has embarked on one of the largest CDMA2000 network expansions -- with plans to reach over 20,000 towns and 300,000 villages.
Besides, most CDMA2000 operators are preparing to adopt the next level of broadband technology, i.e. EV-DO Rev A. BSNL has already announced tariff plans for 1X and EV-DO broadband data services, supported by PC cards and USB thumb-drive modems; Tata too has introduced 1X USB thumb-drive modem to support its Plug2Surf wireless Internet services; and so on.
Another factor that has attributed to CDMA growth is India's global leadership in selection and availability of very low-end (VLE) handsets. Currently, there are 45 VLE CDMA2000 devices available from 14 suppliers -- all in the price bracket of below $50. And the number is expected to increase hereon thanks to increasing availability of single-chipset devices that are capable of reducing prices associated with current multi-chipset VLE devices by nearly 50 percent.
Last but not the least, CDMA2000's record breaking growth is being attributed to an extensive selection of over 1 million new and differentiated value-added services. These include: mobile television, Internet radio, daily news in local languages, Bollywood ring tones, music- and movie- clip downloads, daily prayers, cricket score updates, high-speed Internet search, instant messaging, location-based services, push-to-talk, distance learning, et al.
Labels: CDMA New Technology
QUALCOMM, Dialog Telekom and USAID Partner to Bring High-Speed Wireless Data Services to Rural Communities, Leveraging 3G HSDPA Technology
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QUALCOMM Incorporated , a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies and data solutions, today announced the launch of its Wireless Reach(TM) initiative in Sri Lanka through the opening of a Last Mile Initiative (LMI) Center in Wennappuwa. The center, known as Easy Seva, is one of 15 that will be launched in the country with support from QUALCOMM, Dialog Telekom, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the National Development Bank (NDB) and Synergy Strategies Group (SSG), which, through a bulk purchase package of equipment, software, content and services, have created a new, market-driven approach to establish rural community-based centers. The centers will carry the name of this unique Easy Seva brand and are expected to provide unprecedented quality of service to the communities they serve.
The goal of the Easy Seva centers is to develop entrepreneurs in the Information Communications Technology (ICT) sector in Sri Lanka by deploying 3G mobile broadband Internet service at the village level and enabling them to offer access to affordable ICT-enabled services and content. The centers are enabled with 3G mobile broadband connectivity based on Dialog's HSDPA network. They will employ an innovative franchise approach, which will aim to create a profitable and sustainable business model for extending ICT services and connectivity to rural consumers.
"We are very pleased to be partnering with Dialog Telekom and USAID on our Wireless Reach initiative to empower rural communities in Sri Lanka," said Kanwalinder Singh, president of QUALCOMM India and SAARC. "We congratulate Dialog Telekom for being the first operator in the SAARC region to launch HSDPA for rural applications. It reaffirms that 3G HSDPA has the versatility to deliver next-generation services to all consumers, rural and urban, while offering a compelling business opportunity for operators and rural entrepreneurs."
The Easy Seva centers also will help rural residents to acquire employment skills through online training, explore new job opportunities, receive micro-loans and other banking services, as well as to call relatives and friends overseas at low rates. The centers use a unique private sector model to facilitate financial sustainability with an innovative, highly-standardized package of equipment, services, training and market support for the franchisees called the "Easy Seva Franchise in a Box." By standardizing these offerings, the franchise model will reduce barriers to entry while simultaneously reducing operating costs for the franchisees.
Labels: CDMA New Technology
Tata Indicom’s gameshow
The show’s curtainraiser will be telecast on Saturday, 1 September, on Zee TV at 7.30 p.m. while the first game show episode will be shown the next day. Tata Indicom ~ Fun on the Run will follow the teams as they as they squabble, scramble and navigate their way across India and face a new challenge every day. All they have to help themselves on this journey is a series of clues sent through their Tata Indicom devices.
At the launch, Mr Abdul Khan, vice-president, marketing, Tata Teleservices Ltd, said: “Tata Indicom connects to its consumers in a unique and exciting way via this show. We have showcased the power of our network across India alongwith a range of value added services such as multimedia messaging service, video downloads and voice portals among others.”
Mr Tarun Mehra, head of marketing, Zee TV, said: “We at Zee TV are known for our differentiated content on weekends and we are sure that it will appeal to our audiences. We have tasted success with similar innovative programming before and we are sure that our second attempt would be equally successful.” The entire show will be encapsulated in a 13-episode series, to be aired on Zee TV every Saturday at 7.30 p.m. beginning 1 September.
Labels: CDMA New Technology
Bharti, Hutch quietly raise local call rates
New Delhi, Aug. 14 (PTI): After raising STD call rates, Bharti Airtel and Hutch (now Vodafone Essar) have now quietly increased local charges within their own network to Rs 1.20 per minute for prepaid customers from Rs 1 a minute.
The new call charges, which come into effect from today, will be for prepaid customers for Airtel-to-Airtel and Hutch-to-Hutch calls, officials of both the companies said.
The two operators have also increased local SMS rates to Rs 1.20 per message for all users -- both prepaid and postpaid -- from Re 1 earlier.
While even minuscule reduction in rates are announced with fanfare, the companies refrained from publicising the tariff hike and brought out customary notices by way of small advertisements tucked inside newspaper pages.
Other operators like Idea, MTNL, BSNL, Reliance and Tata could also respond to the hike in local call rates after the revision by two of the country's largest service providers.
Officials said with subscriber base increasing, it is difficult to maintain networks to support huge additions of new users without raising tariffs. Since prepaid users constitute about 80 per cent of both the operators' customer base it is more useful to tinker with prepaid rates, they said justifying the tariff increase.
Hutch-Essar and Bharti Airtel had early this month, in a similar fashion, increased STD rates.
While prepaid users of Hutch will pay Rs 2.65 from Rs 2.40 previously for STD to all other networks, Bharti Airtel's prepaid and postpaid mobile customers in Delhi region would pay STD rates of Rs 2.65 and Rs 2.40 a minute respectively from Rs 2 earlier.
Labels: GSM
Airtel customer wins motorcycle
Airtel customer Ali Muhammad Sheikh from Srinagar emerged as the lucky winner for the grand prize of motorcycle. Vishal Sehgal, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Airtel, J&K presented the prize to the winner at a function organized at Airtel Office Srinagar, a spokesman of the company said.
Giving details the spokesman said the ‘SMS Karo, Bike Jeeto” was a very simple and unique contest for all Airtel postpaid & prepaid customers.
He said the customers “sending one person-to-person SMS per day for 30 days or 30 SMS in the month of July were eligible to participate in the contest, starting from July 1 to July 31.”
Labels: GSM
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