Govt releases 3G services rules and guidelines

The government today set the ball rolling for introduction of next generation (3G) mobile services, as also mobile number portability that would allow users to switch operators while retaining existing numbers.

The new guidelines for 3G spectrum, released today, provides for a reserve price for availing of radio frequency.

The price for a 2x5 Mhz block of spectrum for Mumbai and Delhi and category-A shall be Rs 160 crore and for Kolkata and category-B Rs 80 crore and for category-C Rs 30 crore.

Government has also decided to allow up to 10 players in the 3G space, including eligible foreign players.

The guidelines for Mobile Number Portability, also released by the government today, proposes dividing the country into two zones for implementing the scheme that is prevalent in most mature telecom markets.

Rest of the news...

I have a feeling everything is being rushed and the news has been announced just before the launch of iPhone 3G. That says something..Hmmm..

i did read the policy and there some sad news for users in Delhi & mumbai., also with present policy, there are chances at iphone won't be available with 3G, even if it is then there would be only one provider.

India's 3G Policy Announced, Some Key Points to Note.

gary4gar said:
i did read the policy and there some sad news for users in Delhi & mumbai., also with present policy, there are chances at iphone won't be available with 3G, even if it is then there would be only one provider.
India's 3G Policy Announced, Some Key Points to Note.

One provider ? I am sure there is some misunderstanding. What do you mean by iPhone wont be available with 3G ? If you mean there will be no 3G when iPhone is launched, then you are correct.

BSNL and MTNL won't need to take part in the auction since they are state-owned entities.

However, only one of them is available in any city in India. Similarly, in Mumbai and Delhi, only MTNL has presence. This leaves two spots open for two key players.

This is done due to the reason that there is not enough spectrum available.

Aint there any huge one time license fee? Or am I missing it?

there are can only be 3operators in delhi & mumbai. there would reservation for State PSUs. so there is strong possibility that there would be only 1 private operator giving iphone service under the present regime, unless the policy changes. also the costs of service would be higher for users in delhi & mumbai than rest of country
for more
read my blog post and the policy document(available on dot's site).
you will understand.

There is. Mumbai and Delhi - Rs. 160 Crore.

But then again, the profits will be huge too.

gary4gar said:
there are can only be 3operators in delhi & mumbai. there would reservation for State PSUs. so there is strong possibility that there would be only 1 private operator giving iphone service under the present regime, unless the policy changes. also the costs of service would be higher for users in delhi & mumbai than rest of country
for more
read my blog post and the policy document(available on dot's site).
you will understand.

3 Operators in Mumbai and Delhi respectively. So that still leaves two slots open in each of the circle.

gary4gar said:
there are can only be 3operators in delhi & mumbai. there would reservation for State PSUs. so there is strong possibility that there would be only 1 private operator giving iphone service under the present regime

MTNL in Mumbai for example. Which leaves 2 more slots for private providers, Airtel and Vodafone. I cant understand whats the problem

@preshit: You beat me by a minute

there is also reliance and IDEA, did you forget them?

gary4gar said:
there is also reliance and IDEA, did you forget them?

There is no reliance gsm or Idea in mumbai yet. Not sure about delhi.

Let's take Mumbai for example.
Reliance has CDMA presence only, here. IDEA is absent.

The only other GSM provider left in Mumbai is BPL, which well, is as good as Winamp's Llama.

I don't think Reliance has GSM presence in Delhi either.

Now, Airtel/Vodafone are much bigger providers than any other private provider in the country. So I'm pretty sure they'll throw in lots of moolah for their respective licenses.

Pat said:
There is no reliance gsm or Idea in mumbai yet. Not sure about delhi.

but they have got the License and will start the service soon.
maybe they would refrain from making aggsive bids but people would pay more than rest of country is paying for same service.

The iPhone sure can make people move quickly! That is the power of this amazing device.

^^^^
Disclaimer:its only meant to be read by Apple lovers, rest can be offended. so please skip

Was reading about this on Tech2. The minister A. Raja guy said that there will be 2 players in Mumbai & Delhi and MTNL need not bid. This means that MTNL+ some lucky operator & not MTNL+2. Is it?

I dont think Iphone had anything to do with the launch of 3g services whatsoever.TRAI had a fight with DOT over the intial license fee for more than 2 years. Now, finally it has been resolved and we can move forward.

Thanks for the info...

H

Am I missing something or did they forget Bangalore?!

Hitboxx said:
Am I missing something or did they forget Bangalore?!

Bangalore what?

Is that the north-eastern city of nowhere?

H

LoL ok I get it. Anybody remember railwire...

IDEA is present in Delhi, but i guess their customer base is not as large as Vodafone and Airtel. Anyways, its a good news that finally things are moving forward. And if mobile number portability comes in place, situation will be a lot better than today.

the charges will be rocket high, i guess.
still its rushed through

T

Hope Airtel gets the spectrum in Delhi. MTNL/BSNL shouldn't have been given a preference as their service can't match that of Airtel and Vodafone.

Well, Idea users in Delhi won't be missing much. Idea's call rater r preety cheap compared to Airtel or Vodafone...& for Rs 600 we get unltd GPRS/EDGE which can be used in phone as well as PC, I get 24KBps easily when I connect the computer using my friends Nokia 5700 to net. Not a bad deal at such prise

ThinkFree said:
Hope Airtel gets the spectrum in Delhi. MTNL/BSNL shouldn't have been given a preference as their service can't match that of Airtel and Vodafone.

Not just the service, but their subscriber base too is very small compared to the others. Their market share consists of people who just need to enjoy cheap voice calls.

gx_saurav said:
Well, Idea users in Delhi won't be missing much. Idea's call rater r preety cheap compared to Airtel or Vodafone...& for Rs 600 we get unltd GPRS/EDGE which can be used in phone as well as PC, I get 24KBps easily when I connect the computer using my friends Nokia 5700 to net. Not a bad deal at such prise

Rs. 600? Isn't that a tad bit too much?

preshit.net said:
Rs. 600? Isn't that a tad bit too much?

For us Mumbai guys that seems expensive. But that is how it is everywhere outside Mumbai. We Mumbai guys are lucky that we get such stuff at much lower rates. I get the same stuff that gx mentioned at 450 bucks per month on Airtel.

well, idea will try hard to get 3g septrum, by only this way they could become a major player in market. also 3g is a profitable business.

i am glad number portability is comming next year.

gx_saurav said:
Well, Idea users in Delhi won't be missing much. Idea's call rater r preety cheap compared to Airtel or Vodafone...& for Rs 600 we get unltd GPRS/EDGE which can be used in phone as well as PC, I get 24KBps easily when I connect the computer using my friends Nokia 5700 to net. Not a bad deal at such prise

Is your iDEA postpaid ???? I have prepaid and dont know of any such offer(600 UL offer). please reply as i need it urgently.

krazzy said:
For us Mumbai guys that seems expensive. But that is how it is everywhere outside Mumbai. We Mumbai guys are lucky that we get such stuff at much lower rates. I get the same stuff that gx mentioned at 450 bucks per month on Airtel.

I get the same stuff you mentioned for 199/month

^^ You are on Postpaid na?

Yes, I am.

preshit.net said:
I get the same stuff you mentioned for 199/month

You mean you get unlimited EDGE for just 199/month?! :shock:

Here in bihar the price for the same GPRS/EDGE is Rs. 250. But the speeds are lame

T

gx_saurav said:
Well, Idea users in Delhi won't be missing much. Idea's call rater r preety cheap compared to Airtel or Vodafone...& for Rs 600 we get unltd GPRS/EDGE which can be used in phone as well as PC, I get 24KBps easily when I connect the computer using my friends Nokia 5700 to net. Not a bad deal at such prise

You get the same for Rs. 499 on Airtel with better coverage.

For me it is 450/mo (15 per day) unlimited internet. IDEA cellular.

goobimama said:
For me it is 450/mo (15 per day) unlimited internet. IDEA cellular.

Exactly same here. 15 bucks per day. Unlimited.

Thats cheap! Spice charges 720bucks pm Unlimited(24 per day). And I'm pretty sure that the speeds and connectivity will suck.

Yep. I pay Rs. 199/m for Unlimited EDGE on postpaid. Others actually pay Rs. 499/m while prepaid users pay Rs. 450/m (was Rs. 210 previously)

^^ Are you on a corporate plan or something ?

No, I'm on Airtel's 199 Good Value plan.
Voice Plan.
Rental: 199/month
A2M - 30 paise
A2Local - 50 paise
STD - 100 paise

Data Plan
Rs. 199/m

The 199/m data plan is available from Airtel for select customers. It is only available with new connections and you specifically need to 'ask' for the same.

K

I just switched to airtel's 249 plan. which is pretty nice for me since i have a very basic phone
*imshopping.rediff.com/shopping/pixs/4081/b/B100.jpg

H

currently enjoying 249pm unlimited net on Airtel.charges r high on my Delhi sim.hope get 3G for 1000 bucks in Delhi.

guys you are going way off topic, Please read the topic and reply

Idea GPRS

Offtopic

gx_saurav said:
Well, Idea users in Delhi won't be missing much. Idea's call rater r preety cheap compared to Airtel or Vodafone...& for Rs 600 we get unltd GPRS/EDGE which can be used in phone as well as PC, I get 24KBps easily when I connect the computer using my friends Nokia 5700 to net. Not a bad deal at such prise

Rs.600!!!! u must b kidding me... in kerala its only Rs.9 per day (frm talktime) which wil easily come under Rs.300 per month and for airtel its Rs.250 pm although they dnt hav edge... but fully happy with my idea....

I M using Idea prepaid with GPRS at Rs 20/day which is about Rs 600 a month. Right now I don't get EDGE speed in my K750i but I get it in roommates Nokia 5700. I get speed of 25 KBps in phone & when connected to PC. For airtel BB I have to pay total Rs 900 for 256 kbps unltd so Idea EDGE is actually cheaper for me. just that right now I have a K750i with GPRS & going to buy N82 soon with EDGE & 3G

I won't switch to Airtel as there call rates R high.

how much will it cost guys ??

wil lthey give out in week/day/months plan just like in airtel... u know

T

Re: Idea GPRS

george101 said:
Offtopic

Rs.600!!!! u must b kidding me... in kerala its only Rs.9 per day (frm talktime) which wil easily come under Rs.300 per month and for airtel its Rs.250 pm although they dnt hav edge... but fully happy with my idea....

It depends on area. Charges vary from Rs. 245 to 499

H

hope that Airtel launches 3G by the end of this year.its already been a long wait.

no chance, Boss. you have to wait till june-july next year

ThinkFree said:
Hope Airtel gets the spectrum in Delhi. MTNL/BSNL shouldn't have been given a preference as their service can't match that of Airtel and Vodafone.

Yes but unlike private operators they are not Chor either! We get unltd EDGE at 400 rs, taxes included - Complete unltd and all ports open. And MTNL network is way better than !dea here!

And BTW:

*www.ciol.com/Technology/Mobility/F...-3G-in-six-months,-MTNL-in-four/2808108580/0/

Hmm, should I switch to MTNL? do they have tarrif cards

I'd highly advice against that. Their call rates are usually the cheapest, but so is the service and the network. Your call.

T

kumarmohit said:
Yes but unlike private operators they are not Chor either! We get unltd EDGE at 400 rs, taxes included - Complete unltd and all ports open. And MTNL network is way better than !dea here!

And BTW:

*www.ciol.com/Technology/Mobility/F...-3G-in-six-months,-MTNL-in-four/2808108580/0/

I will prefer Airtel for Rs. 561(including taxes) for unlimited use , thanks to their better network, services, customer care compared to MTNL or others.

gx_saurav said:
Hmm, should I switch to MTNL? do they have tarrif cards

I won't advise anyone to do so.

MTNL mobile sucks.

Looks like the only Viable option I have left for me is Idea Mobile. Last month I made outgoing calls of 12 hrs (Rs 720) & 700 SMS (300 local & rest with STD cards, Rs 29 for 50 STD SMS), so the total cost was about Rs 1,020 +GPRS charges. Reliance was separate at Rs 500, hmm...I guess I am spending a lot on my phone. Need to control the communication..