Tata Docomo, the GSM brand of telecom major Tata Teleservices, has announced new tariff plans for its subscribers using GPRS services. The offers that have been launched for pre paid customers vary between Rs 5 and Rs 95.
The tariff plans come bundled with high data usage and the operator believes this to be one of the best GPRS packages available in the country. Gurinder Singh Sandhu, head, marketing, Tata Docomo, said in a company statement, “Our new GPRS packs are the best in the industry, offering high usage data plans unanimously at minimal cost at any given point in time during the day.”
The GPRS packs are available in five denominations. While the GPRS pack that costs Rs 5 entitles subscribers to free usage of 10MB till midnight on the day of recharge; the Rs 15 GPRS pack allows subscribers to avail 500MB data usage and is valid for three days. Similarly, the Rs 33 GPRS pack offers data usage of 1GB over 30 days from 11pm to 7am; the GPRS pack of Rs 48 allows data usage of 2GB over 30 days and the Rs 95 pack allows 6GB of data usage over 30 days.
In case a user exceeds the data limit, he will be charged at the rate of one paisa for every 20 KB that is in excess of the limit.
Tata Docomo launches GPRS plans starting at Rs 5
Global mobile phone sales grew 17 per cent in Q1: Gartner
As per a recent study by Gartner, the USA-based global research firm, worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totalled about 314 million units in the first quarter this year. This is a 17 per cent increase from the same period in 2009.
The report also states that smartphones accounted for 17.3 per cent of all mobile handset sales in the first quarter this year, up from 13.6 per cent in the same period in 2009. Also, the sale of smartphones to end users reached 54.3 million units, which is an increase of 48.7 per cent from the first quarter of 2009.
In the first quarter of this year, Nokia’s mobile phone sales to end users reached over 110 million units, a 1.2 per cent decline in market share year-on-year. Although Nokia’s mid tier products sold well, the company lacks a volume driver in the high-end.
Samsung sold almost 65 million devices in this period, which in an increase of 26.3 per cent year-on-year. The company saw healthy margins in the first quarter this year and was also able to expand its presence in developing markets such as India and the Commonwealth of Independent States, which include Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia etc.
RIM, the maker of BlackBerry, sold 10.6 million mobile phones in the first quarter of the year, a 45.9 per cent increase year-on-year. RIM is now among the top five mobile handset manufacturers worldwide.
Sony Ericsson sold enough units to remain among the top five mobile handset manufacturers, but its market share declined by 2.3 percentage points in the first quarter this year.
For Apple, this was the strongest quarter yet, which placed the company in the seventh position with a 112.2 per cent increase in mobile devices sales.
In the smartphone operating system (OS) market, Android and Apple were the most popular brands in the first quarter of the year. Android moved to the fourth position, displacing Microsoft Windows Mobile for the first time. Both Android and Apple were the only two OS vendors among the top five to increase market share year-on-year. Symbian remained the most popular, but continued to lose as Nokia remains weak in the high-end mobile range.
Carolina Milanesi, research vice president, Gartner, said in a company statement, “This quarter saw RIM (Research in Motion), a pure smartphone player, make its debut in the top five mobile devices manufacturers, and saw Apple increase its market share by 1.2 percentage points. Android’s momentum continued into the first quarter of 2010, particularly in North America, where sales of Android-based phones increased 707 per cent year-on-year.”
She further added, “Increasing sales of white-box products in some emerging regions, in particular, India, also drove sales of mobile phones upward. We expect sales of white-box products to remain very healthy for the remainder of 2010, especially outside of China”.
Coolpad plans to launch 15 low cost CDMA phones this year
Coolpad Communications, the Indian subsidiary of Hong Kong-based China Wireless Technologies, is planning to launch 15 CDMA handsets in the sub- Rs 5,000 price range, during this fiscal. It has also rolled out an ultra low cost touchscreen CDMA phone, S100, in Maharashtra.
Following the launch of these 15 handsets, it will target one million handset sales in India every year and expects the Maharashtra telecom circle to contribute nearly 20 per cent of these volumes.
Sami Al-Lawati, managing director, Coolpad Communications, said in a company statement, ” Currently, the operator pushed CDMA handsets are primarily in the sub-Rs 2,000 price bracket. However, amongst the 120 million CDMA subscriber base in India, almost 30 per cent use CDMA smartphones. This captive customer base of CDMA smartphones offers Coolpad an opportunity to address the CDMA segment with the right products, at very attractive price points.”
Raj Maharshi, circle head, Maharashtra and Goa, Reliance Webstore, added, “In Maharashtra, Reliance Webstore will market Coolpad CDMA handsets, including the newly introduced S100, across twenty top cities in the state. We expect a substantial growth in the overall handset volumes sold in Maharashtra through Reliance World and Reliance Mobile Stores over the next two to three quarters.”
As per the statement, Coolpad has already launched its Dual-Mode (CDMA and GSM) handsets in India, but S100 is its first CDMA handset in the country. The company entered the Indian market last year through a distribution deal with Reliance Webstore Limited, which was signed in October 2009.
Longcheer plans to invest over Rs 20 crore in India
Longcheer, a mobile design firm based in Singapore, has commenced operating in India to cater to the mobile handset design needs of domestic brands here.
“The design services,” said Michael Fu, vice president, Longcheer Technology, Shanghai, “would be based on the needs and requirements of Indian handset manufacturers and it would be our priority to help establish (each of) our customers as a brand with unique product identity so that it is easily distinguishable from other products available in the market.”
He also revealed that the company has planned an investment of around $5 million (over Rs 22 crore) in India for the next three years.
Manu Nagar, chief executive officer, Longcheer Technology, India, added that the company’s Indian unit is eyeing revenue of $6 million (close to Rs 27 crore) in the next three years from its design services alone.
Talking about mobile design, Nagar said, “We would be focusing on localising the product and catering to India specific demand. For example, the phone should be sturdy as people keep dropping them, plus with the climate of India, they need to be heat and dust resistant, and also sweat resistant. We would also focus on phones with good loudspeaker volume, plus the ability for noise cancellation.”
The company will charge handset manufactures different rates for designing particular models, while the price point for the end user will be decided by the handset manufacturer. Though the company refused to reveal the names of its present clients, it did confirm that it is already working with six of the top domestic handset manufacturers in India. Longcheer recently tied up with Wynncom, the mobile handset brand launched by Luminous. Under this tie up, Longcheer has designed a mid level multimedia device which comes in a candy bar form. This will soon be available in the market.
Talking about the scope of the handset design market in India, Manu pointed out that the size of the domestic handset market is around seven million units per month, and that hence there is tremendous opportunity for a company such as Longcheer.
Although the area of preference for Longcheer India is industrial and mechanical design, it also plans to focus on user interface. Eight to nine months from now, the company plans to gradually move into the applications space as well. It believes that people would want to focus more on applications with office or enterprise abilities, rather than those that are useful for personal purposes. Longcheer also specialises in developing products and services in wireless communication, data communication and mobile Broadband technology.
Longcheer has a range of mobile handsets and applications based on GSM and CDMA with inbuilt GPRS, EDGE and WiFi, and sells its products in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan, India and Vietnam. It also has mobile telecommunication laboratories in Shanghai which specialise in mobile related environmental issues, fatigue testing, LCD optics, audio, testing etc.
RCom offers free Facebook access
Reliance Communications claims to be ofering subscribers free mobile browsing on its new 0.facebook.com site. This will enable RCom subscribers to access Facebook from a mobile web Browser without incurring any data charges for at least one year. (Though the operator may decide to change the time period for which this offer will be valid.)
Facebook’s 0.facebook.com site is a faster and lighter version of Facebook’s mobile site m.facebook.com. The site does not have graphics or photos and its pages have been designed for the RCom network. Standard data charges will apply when a person leaves 0.facebook.com to view photos.
According to Anil Pande, value added services, Reliance Communications, the service is free of any data charges and thus, there is no monetisation angle to it. Apart from Reliance Communications, Videocon GSM mobile services had also announced a tie up with Facebook for the same service recently.
Hindustan Times launches iPhone application
Hindustan Times has extended its mobile phone presence beyond its mobile website, available at Hindustantimes.com. The English print daily has developed a dedicated mobile application for Apple iPhone, through which it will offer news content to iPhone users.
The application was ready in April but the media company has formally launched it now. HT Media claims that it is the first news media organisation from India to launch an iPhone application. Some prominent international newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Financial Times already have their iPhone applications.
Speaking to afaqs!, a spokesperson from HT Media says, “The application will primarily target iPhone users or non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the West.” The number of iPhone users is relatively low in India.
In the first phase, Hindustan Times will serve content from five verticals – national, world, business, Bollywood and cricket – and photos from Hindustan Times – on the application daily. Later, news from various other sections will also be made available.
There are plans to serve non-news content as well in the future, the spokesperson indicates. He adds, “In the next phase, the application will be customised according to the requirements of local markets.”
The application will be offered for free and users will be allowed to download it from the iPhone online store, called iTunes. “Though there are no advertisements embedded inside the application as of now, the company plans to monetise the application by serving advertisements in future,” indicates the spokesperson.
He also reveals that HT Media is planning to revamp its existing mobile site and will develop mobile applications for Nokia phones as well.
Incidentally, Hindustan Times launched its Kindle edition in December 2009 in order to tap the traffic from Western markets.
Wynn Telecom ties up with Longcheer
Wynn Telecom, a mobile handset brand launched by New Delhi-based power and energy storage company Luminous, has announced a tie up with Longcheer Limited. Longcheer is a Singapore-based mobile design firm.
Talking about the tie up, Arvind Vohra, co founder and managing director, Wynn Telecom, said, “Any mobile user is attracted to a mobile device more for its looks, and the features of the phone follows. Aesthetics is very important. Hence, Longcheer, being one of the biggest handset designers, would give us a great deal of advantage.”
Vohra also said that while the mobiles designed by Longcheer will take a couple of months to hit the Indian market, the company will be launching seven Wynncom handsets on 21 May.
The mobiles designed by Longcheer will be available across all price segments and will not be restricted to the high end.
Wynn Telecom is an extension of the SAR Group of Companies, which has Luminous as the flagship brand. Luminous Power Technologies delivers inverters, UPS, batteries and renewable energy products. It also has business interests in consumer appliances, information technology and networking solutions. The company had announced its entry into the Indian handset market under a separate entity, Wynn Telecom, in April this year.
Longcheer has a range of mobile handsets and applications based on GSM and CDMA with inbuilt GPRS, EDGE and WiFi, and sells its products in Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Japan, India and Vietnam. It also has mobile telecommunication laboratories in Shanghai which specialise in areas such as mobile related environmental concerns, fatigue testing, LCD optics, audio, conventional testing etc.
Aircel, Hungama launch new music service
Aircel and Mumbai-based VAS company Hungama Mobile have launched a new service that allows mobile subscribers to listen to, download and share songs of their choice either through interactive voice response (IVR) or via mobile internet.
Using the MusicConnect service, subscribers can listen to music they choose, set dialler tunes, and download music to their mobile phones. They can also update their friends on the music they are listening to and share playlists online on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
The service covers music in 19 languages under categories such as Bollywood, international, regional, devotional etc. The subscription charges are Rs 30 per month for 100 minutes through voice, while streaming via mobile internet is free of cost.
Albert Almeida, chief operating officer, Hungama Mobile, said in a statement, “The past decade has witnessed a paradigm shift in the way Indians consume entertainment. The mobile phone is no longer a communication device, but the most preferred device for entertainment and social engagement. With Aircel, Hungama Mobile has an opportunity to introduce a service which not only makes entertainment easily accessible to all, but also allows you to share your preferences with friends.”
Hungama Mobile is a part of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, an aggregator, developer, publisher and distributor of Bollywood and South Asian entertainment.
TRAI sees no tariff hike due to excess spectrum charge
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) says that there will not be any increase in tariffs due to the one-time charge on excess spectrum that some telecom operators in the country need to pay. Last week, the Authority had announced its recommendations on ‘spectrum management and licensing framework’ and had said that operators such as Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL and MTNL, who are holding more than 6.2 MHz spectrum, are expected to pay an amount equal to the current 3G price, for that excess spectrum.
Speaking to reporters at an open house discussion here, JS Sarma, chairman, TRAI, said, “The amount is going to be quite small and I don’t think it is going to matter either in terms of their (telecom operators’) operating profits, or tariffs.”
Sarma said that he does not see any hike in tariffs due to three reasons. Firstly, the impact of this on those telcos who have to make the payout will be very limited. Moreover, he said that those telcos who cover a certain percentage of habitation will get incentive in terms of reduction of licence fee.
“The amount of payout will be only Rs 14,457 crore for all the operators put together. This is less than the price of one block of 3G spectrum. So for each operator it will be less than Rs 3,500 crore,” added Sarma.
Secondly, in the present situation, not more than two to three operators will be paying out for this excess spectrum.
Thirdly, said Sarma, the payout will be amortised for a number of years. Whatever is going to be paid will be in the form of capex (capital expenditure) and the impact of capex in price fixation will be lower than that of the opex (operating expenditure).
Sarma made it clear that TRAI is not going to rework the recommendations. He said that the Authority has already met the operators and discussions have been held, but that they are still open to discussions as and when required. He also said that it is difficult to say whether the price of excess spectrum will go up or down, and that for the present, has been equated to that of 3G.
Sarma said that the final report on this will be ready in the next few weeks, most probably by June end.
3G auction: Delhi most sought after circle, pan-India price Rs 15,814 cr
The bid for 3G spectrum in Delhi on Saturday crossed Rs 3,032.85 crore, a nearly 10-time jump over the base price of Rs 320 crore, making it the most in demand circle.
As the pan-India bid on Saturday touched Rs 15,814 crore on the 31st day of auction process, the government is assured of Rs 63,885 crore revenue from the sale of spectrum for 3G mobile services.
The government had estimated a revenue of Rs 35,000 crore from sale of 3G radio waves and Broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum combined.
With excess demand for spectrum in only a few circles such as Kolkata, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa, the auction is likely to end early next week.
Mumbai is the next most expensive service area after Delhi as its bid stood at Rs 2,998.66 crore.
The base price for a national 3G licence was fixed at a low Rs 3,500 crore.
Nine leading mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, RCom and Tatas, are up against one another to grab spectrum.
The government is selling three blocks of spectrum in most of states and four slots in five states of Punjab, Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
Telecom Minister A Raja had recently expressed confidence that the government might garner up to Rs 55,000 crore from the 3G and BWA spectrum auctions.
After the closure of auction for 3G, the government would start the auction for BWA for which as many as 11 operators are in the fray. The reserve price for BWA spectrum has been fixed at Rs 1,750 crore and only two slots of 20 MHz each are on the block.
Third generation or 3G telephony allows subscribers to download data at high speed and stream videos on mobile phones.
The radio waves are being auctioned across 22 circles and the bidding would be closed once the price is discovered in all the service areas simultaneously.