MTNL Delhi Unlimited 3G Plans at Rs.750 per month

BSNL was the first to Unlimited 3G plans in India. Now MTNL Delhi users can rejoice as the operator has come up with Promotional Offers for providing Unlimited 3G Data to both Prepaid and Postpaid users.These plans from MTNL are slightly more expensive compared to BSNL but its more than welcome ! Do find the Prepaid and post paid tariffs after the break. You can get unlimited data for as low as Rs.750 per month if you pay 6 months rental in advance(Rs.750×6=Rs.4500).
There is a soft cap on the downloads at 200GB and MTNL Delhi claims that excess charges can be waived off.
These new plans will be available on the Etopup system.
This promotional offers will be valid from 31st Jan 2011 to 30th Apr 2011

MTNL Delhi Unlimited 3G Prepaid Plans

S.N.	MRP	Validity	Free Data	Data Rates Beyond free usage	Talk Time	Free Minutes			Free
	(Rs.)								SMS
						Voice Calls		Video Calls
						Local	National	Local only	Local
1	1650	1 Month	Unlimited*	N/A	96p	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
2	3000	2 Months	Unlimited*	N/A	97p	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
3	4500	6 Months	Unlimited*	N/A	98p	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

MTNL Delhi Unlimited 3G Postpaid Plans

Postpaid users will be billed according to billing cycle

S.No	Fixed Monthly Charges (Rs.)	Duration	Free Data Usage	Data Rates Beyond Free Usage	Bonus Airtime(Rs)
1	1650	1 Month	Unlimited*	N/A	N/A
2	3000	2 Months	Unlimited*	N/A	N/A
3	4500	6 Months	Unlimited*	N/A	N/A

Airtel Money – Mobile Payment Service launched

Airtel has launched it’s mobile payment service under the Airtel Money banner. The service is initially available in Gurgaon. This is the first time a Mobile Operator has launched such a similar in India.Airtel already inked tieups with several merchants in Gurgaon including coffee shops, restaurants etc. to accept payments. The service will gradually be scaled to over 3,000 merchants in the city.“The mobile phone is fast emerging as a device that enables our lives in more than many ways. Taking this a step further, we are proud to launch airtel money as a first-of-its-kind  service from a telecom operator, that transforms the mobile phone into a secure and convenient wallet which customers can use to load money and use it for shopping and making payments. We see a huge potential for mCommerce services in India and are confident that the launch of airtel money will facilitate a paradigm shift in the way consumers transact” said Mr. Atul Bindal, President – Mobile Services, Bharti airtel
This is how you can start using the Airtel Money Service

• Register by filling in the application form and submitting KYC documents (2 photocopies of proof-of-identity, 1 copy of proof-of-address and a passport size photograph).
• After the above, your existing airtel SIM will be upgraded to the new 64K airtel SIM with airtel money.
• Activate your airtel money account by choosing your MPIN.
• Load cash into your airtel money account by visiting your nearest airtel retailer
• You are now ready to send commands through the airtel money application on your phone and transact anytime, anywhere!

airtel money has been launched in Gurgaon first and will soon be launched in Delhi NCR and several other key cities in India. To know more about the service customers can dial 12121 (toll free) and  non-airtel mobile customers can dial 8800012121

State Bank of India and Airtel announce joint venture for mobile banking

State Bank of India (SBI) and Bharti Airtel have announced a joint venture to offer banking services to consumers who don’t have access to traditional banking services.   Consumers can open a bankaccount with SBI at Airtel’s customer service points and avail banking services.We are really trying to get more information how this tie-up with actually work and what part of it is mobile banking. But for now we only have the official statement.

Find the press release below

SBI and airtel join hands to usher in a new era of financial inclusion for unbanked India

- Form joint venture to target financial inclusion on the ubiquitous mobile platform -

New Delhi, 12^th January 2011: State Bank of India, the country’s largest commercial bank, andBharti airtel, India’s largest telecommunications company, today announced that they have entered into a Joint Venture (JV) agreement to make available banking services to India’s unbanked millions. The newly formed entity, will harness the power of State Bank’s strengths and airtel’s mobile telephony to add value to the banking and financial services sector and empower millions of financially excluded in the country to enhance their livelihood and quality of life. The Joint Venture will become the Business Correspondent of SBI and offer banking products and services at affordable cost to the citizens in unbanked and other areas.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. O. P. Bhatt, Chairman, State Bank of India said, “State Bank of India has always been in the forefront of Financial Inclusion initiatives. More than 67% of its massive (13,000) branch network is in rural and semi urban areas. In the last four years, the bank has set up more than 15,000 Customer Service Points of Business Correspondents as well as 13,000 Business Facilitators, to increase its outreach. The Bank has already reached out to more than 1 lakh unbanked villages. This joint venture which brings together the commitment of two of India’s greatest institutions, one in the financial services sector known for its innovation and dedication to the under privileged sections of the society, the other in mobile telephony whose drive for growth and excellence is unmatched, will enable the bank to fulfil its mandate of reaching out to every Indian leveraging the distribution network of airtel to provide banking services in a cost effective and secure manner. With this, we look forward to taking the benefits of banking to the Indian masses and building a more inclusive society thereby carrying forward State Bank’s vision of being the Banker to every Indian”.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti airtel said, “This historic collaboration between SBI and airtel brings together two sectors that have made the most impact in addressing inclusive growth. The services offered by the JV will enable financial inclusion and economic empowerment for people across India. This will be a complete game changer, leveraging SBI’s expertise in the banking sector along with airtel’s 150 million strong customer base and ecosystem of over 1.5 million retailers and distributors across India. Together, we will create a scalable operation that will address the banking requirements of millions of Indians through the mobile platform.”

With the penetration of mobile teledensity standing at a strong 60 percent, the market possesses great potential for a collaboration that combines the strengths of both banking and telecom sectors.

airtel is the country’s largest telecom operator, present across 5,101 towns and more than 500,000 villages, with its network covering 85% of India’s population carrying an average of over  200 billion minutes per quarter. airtel will leverage its strength in distribution, highly scaled product and service design, low-cost operations and technology in making inclusive financial services a viable model.

SBI is the largest commercial bank in India with more than 13,000 branches (8,800 in rural/semi urban areas) serving 210 million accounts  and peak transactions of about 43 million per day. SBI is rightfully ‘the banker’ to every Indian, has the consumer’s trust and has been at the forefront of driving inclusive growth.

The JV as Business Correspondent will engage airtel’s retailers as Customer Service Points (CSP) all over India in a phased manner. With this, existing and new airtel mobile customers will be able to visit these outlets and open new SBI bank accounts and avail of other banking products and services available at the CSPs. Additionally, existing SBI customers will also get serviced at these outlets.

This partnership between India’s leading mobile and banking service providers represents a first-of-its-kind collaboration aimed at making the concept of inclusive banking a reality for customers in India.

The JV incorporation between SBI and airtel will be concluded by 31^st March, 2011.

Addition of 18.98 million subscribers done in October – TRAI

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recently released its data which states that in the month of October this year a total number of 18.98 million subscribers were added.  As per the data Bharti Airtel stood at the first position for grabbing the largest number of subscribers with 3 million.

After Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar grabbed the second position whereas Unitech stood at the third position for having the largest number of added subscribers. The state owned telecom operators BSNL and MTNL grabbed the major combined share of 82.3%.

The month of October witnessed a growth of 2.76 % as compared to the previous month. The base of mobile subscriber in September this year was 687.71 million which rose to 706.69 million in October. The data by TRAI also revealed that the teledensity of wireless increased to over 59.52 %.

As compared to mobile phones, the landline subscribers in the country witnessed a drop as in September it was 35.57 million whereas in October it became 35.43 million.

Enjoy Koffee with Karan on your Mobile Phone

Koffee with Karan is a popular show on TV and if you are also an ardent fan of the program and hate to miss it while going out for some work, then just relax as now you can enjoy the program on your mobile phones.

Hungama Mobile which is the leading VAS provider in the country has recently made an announcement about the launch of its latest services which will enable the users to enjoy the mobisodes of Season 3 show. So now, no matter wherever you may go, you can enjoy your favourite program.

To get the access of the services is also very easy and the user needs to pay Rs. 3 per minute for it. This latest service has been launched by various providers including Tata Indicom, Reliance Mobile (GSM & CDMA) and Vodafone.

Moreover now the users of this latest service by Hungama can participate in the rapid fire round of Koffee with Karan on their mobile phones for which they will be given a gift hamper on winning.

Turf War between DoT and TRAI over regulation of pesky calls

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the Department of Telecom has recently entered into a war over the regulation of the pesky telemarketing calls. The main spar between these two authorities is concerned with the control of these calls from 1^st of January 2011.

As per Department of Telecom (DoT), TRAI is not technically competent enough so as to oversee the registration of the telemarketing companies which falls under the provision of Indian Telegraph Act 1885 in the internal note. Moreover as per one of the DoT official, the telecom minister needs to consider the circumstances and decide whether the TRAI has enough technical capabilities for handling of the telemarketing registration.

In response to the apprehensions of DoT, TRAI stated that they do not have any conflict with DoT regarding their role. It was further stated by them that an amendment has already been issued for the new launch of the system from January but there can be a delay of around 15 days.

Techonology Minister meets with three India telecoms bigshots

Kapil Sibal , Union Communications and Information Technology Minister recently met with three bigshots of India’s telecom industry — Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Mittal, Reliance Communications’ Anil Ambani and Tata Teleservices’ Ratan Tata. They talked about the current situation faced by the telecoms industry and the scandals that have rocked it in recent months, among them allegations of corruption and underhanded corporate lobbying.

Sibal heard the views of the three telecoms giants and regarding allocation of spectrum; the creation of a new telecom policy, and the slow growth of the broadband industry.

According to reports, the official assured the telecoms firms of complete fairness and transparency in the formulation and finalization of all telecom-related decision of the government. He is also said to have told the telecoms firms that the government will not discriminate against any player.

The three telecom heads in the meantime said that they were concerned about the spectrum shortage which as behind the slow growth and network expansion of the broadband industry.

Cellphone radiation levels in Delhi India are below permissible

Cellular phones in India need not worry anymore by radiation from their units and from cellular phone towers.

An independent t study commissioned the Indian telecoms recently revealed that the radiation level from cellular services in Delhi is way below the permissible limit . According to the Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWIT), radiation levels emitted by the  mobile towers in Delhi are 100 times below international safety standards set by the  Munich-based International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). This means that cellphone subscribers are in no immediate danger even if they use their handsets regularly.

Academic institutions IIT Madras and Thiagarajar College of Engineering also concurred with the findings that were result of tests measuring emission levels in over 180 locations across Delhi. It was found that the cumulative measurements were safely lower than the compliance threshold ICNIRP defined. ICNIRP is in charge of setting permissible radiation levels for telecom installations, base stations, mobiles and handhelds worldwide.

4G on testing phase in India, download@80 Mbps

Following  Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance (RIL)’s acquisition of Infotel Broadband Ltd, the industry has been awash with unconfirmed reports that Mukesh’s Reliance will be coming up with India’s fastest internet connection. Even as the Indian market remains eager for the formal implementation of 3G network by major players, Reliance has already begun testing 4G connections.

Based on new rpoets, the RIL team at Navi Mumbai began trials of the 4G connection and succeeded in getting an 80Mbps download speed and a 20Mbps upload speed. These connection speeds are way faster than existing 3G connection speeds at 3.1 Mbps or 7.2 Mbps.

Tata Indicom (Docomo) and Reliance Communication (Anil Ambani’s ) have also begun to provide 21 Mbps download speed on their supported devices. As for Reliance it has been making use of equipment from Ericsson for its tests on 4Gtechnology. The goal of Wireless India still way ahead but already, smartphone makers from the US and the United Kingdom have started to market various smartphones in the country.

Bharti Airtel Launches Direct Terrestrial link Between India, China

Bharti Airtel in association with China Telecom has set up a direct terrestrial underground link between India and China. This network will provide seamless connectivity to customers from India or China.

In India, the Bharti Airtel’s high-speed network will span from Siliguri in west Bengal to Nathula in Sikkim via Pedong on one way and the second path will reach Siliguri from Nathula via Gangtok, thus forming a ring like structure.

This network will address the surging international traffic and diversity requirements of both the nations,’ the company said in a statement. ‘It will offer the shortest alternate route between India and China alongside the existing sub-sea routes,’ it added.

‘The launch of India-China link further strengthens our commitment to create state-of-the-art network for our customers through innovation and connects two fastest growing economies of the world on a low latency path,’ said Ajay Chitkara, Bharti Airtel’s chief executive officer for global data business.

Bharti Airtel has also signed a MoU with China Telecom to develop Network to Network Interconnect (NNI) which will allow wide connectivity to the combined regional and global network resources of both the operator.