DoT to lift S Tel ban

FIPB to take a call on S Tel stake hike application today

Bhaskar Hazarika & Sanjeev Sharma

New Delhi: The controversy over the lawful interception issue for new telecom operator S Tel could end in a couple of days.

A top official in the department of telecom (DoT) on condition of anonymity confirmed to Financial Chronicle that the issue had been resolved and the permission for unrestricted services would be granted to the company.

Lawful interception is a technological process through which security agencies can intercept voice as well as data signals transmitted across telecom networks.

"There have been issues over lawful interception in three circles, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar, and for which DoT had sent a notice to S Tel. The matter has been now resolved and the clearance certificates will be issued within a couple of days," the official said.

According to him, the lawful interception permission is granted by security agencies and renewed from time to time.

The official said that the reason why S Tel was told to stop services in the three circles on March 5 was that the operator had failed to maintain the interception guidelines there. "Once the software for interception is installed or restored, as promised by the company, DoT will lift the ban," he added.

S Tel's chief executive officer, Shamik Das, told Financial Chronicle, "We have had talks with DoT and the matter is getting resolved. We are expecting a communication from the department." S Tel also met communications and minister A Raja to resolve the issue of lawful interception.

S Tel had earlier challenged in the Supreme Court the DoT decision to advance the cut-off date for applying for new 2G licences from October 1 to September 25 in 2007.

The company has licences to operate in six circles and has begun operations in three where it has 8,00,000 subscribers. Das said the company was waiting for spectrum to start services in the remaining three circles --North East, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir.

In January S Tel grabbed 20 per cent of all new subscribers. It added to its base 3,64,000 subscribers in that month.

S Tel is a joint venture between the Chennaibased Siva group and Bahrain Telecom Company (Batelco), which has 42.7 per cent in the telecom company. S Tel has sought approval from the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) to hike the foreign direct investment in it to 49 per cent. The application will be taken up for consideration on Friday.

© Financial Chronicle

Price war to infect post-paid and international roaming charges

S Tel and Uninor garner substantial subscriber addition in January

Bhaskar Hazarika & Sanjeev Sharma

New Delhi: The price war sparked by new entrants like S Tel and Uninor in prepaid rates, that has helped them garner a substantial number of subscribers, may now be looming on the postpaid rates, corporate connections, wireless data, international roaming and SMS.

According to analysts, competitive pricing is likely to spread. The director for telecom at KPMG, Romal Shetty, said that the short term would be difficult for the operators but positive growth was possible in the long term.

"We will next see a fall in tariffs of other services such as international roaming, data services and postpaid," Shetty said. In January mobile operators added 19.9 million subscribers. Vodafone added 2.74 million, Bharti Airtel 2.85 million and Tata Teleservices 2.98 mil- lion.

On the other hand, S Tel added 3,64,000 in three circles and Uninor 1.33 million in eight circles.

According to a Macquire equities re- search report, "A further ramp-up and rollout of services by greenfield entrants will likely lead to a further cut in prepaid rates. The report says that as greenfield op- erators Uninor and S Tel ramp up their GSM services, competition will intensify, hurting the revenue market share and profitability of older GSM operators.

Industry net additions, says the report, reached 13.9 million, helped by a ramp-up by the newcomers, with Uninor capturing 33 per cent of the net additions in its eight circles and S Tel cornering 20 per cent in January.

Uninor's executive vice- president of corporate af- fairs, Rajiv Bawa, said that in a market this competitive, there was bound to be price competition in all telecom products. "But our view also is that a differentiation based only on pricing is always shortlived. It will last only as long as the next lower offer. A long- term dif- ferentiation has to be based on much more  better cus- tomisation of the product for distinct consumer needs and an overall focus on quality of service," he said.

"For Uninor, it is much more than how many paise are raised every second," he added.

Commenting on the pressure of margins on oper- ators, Bawa said, "Some op- erators look at subscriber additions at any cost. Others look at a low-margin, high- volume play. Then some others seek to deliver the lowest costs, but to a certain kind of customer. Irrespec- tive of the approach, howev- er, it is clear that the tele- com sector requires a long- term commitment and long- term business ambition.And the model must make for a sound business case."

The CDMA operators lobby, Association of Unified Service Providers of India's secretary-general, S C Khanna, said the market was under pricing pres- sures. "However, we do not see further cuts, but there will be competitive offers and packages for cus- tomers," he said.

The chief corporate officer of Idea Cellular, Rajat Mukarji, said, "We are in a hyper competitive market. But this is not sustainable in the long term for new opera- tors, as they do not have the coverage others have. Serv- ices such as wireless data are niche segments not mass subscriber services. It is difficult to forecast if the competitive pricing will enter these segments."

The CEO of S Tel, Shamik Das, was not avail- able for comment. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone did not respond to the calls made by Financial Chronicle.

© Financial Chronicle

TRAI gears up for 2G allocation policy

Regulator set up a spectrum cell to look at 2G and 3G allocation policy and pricing

Bhaskar Hazarika

New Delhi, February 15: Auctions for third-generation (3G) spectrum may have delayed, but there could be hope for telcos waiting for allotment of 2G spectrum. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is readying itself prior to the allocation of 3G and 2G spectrum by setting up a spectrum cell. The spectrum cell would facilitate recommendations for both 2G and 3G allocation policy.

Department of Telecom (DoT) had received 232 applications for Unified Access Service License (UASL) till September 25, 2007. Of the total 122 applicants have been Letters of Intent (LoI). Apart from existing telecom companies seeking for additional spectrum, new operators such as Sistema Shyam, Uninor and S Tel are in the queue to receive fresh spectrum in some of the selected circles.

This move comes after the regulator received mixed response from the telcos on allocation of additional 2G spectrum. The regulator is yet to take a call on auctioning of 2G spectrum.

A senior official from the ministry of communications and IT told Financial Chronicle that the spectrum cell would include experts dealing with spectrum allocation and auctions. “At present the spectrum cell has two people, one from TRAI and the other from Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC). Additional number of experts are likely to join the cell, which will look at different aspects of spectrum allocation and pricing,” the official said.

He said that the spectrum cell has been created with the objective to look at the minute details on the auction of additional 2G spectrum. “There have been mixed views on the auction of 2G spectrum. The regulator is yet to decide if 2G spectrum should be auctioned to telcos, up and above the start up spectrum of 4.4 MHz or above 6.2 MHz. Also there have been discussions on the pricing of 2G, the expert committee will take a call on formulating the recommendations. It would also look in to sharing and trading of spectrum, cap on the number of service providers in a circle and merger and acquisition,” the official added.

The operators have been demanding early allocation of 2G spectrum, prior to the start of 3G auctions, which is scheduled to take place in September 2010. Telecom regulator is working to come up with a consultation paper on allocation of additional 2G spectrum.

WPC, wing under the Ministry of Communications and IT, is responsible for spectrum management. In a recent move WPC has written to the ministry for hiring experts for managing the 3G spectrum and WiMax auction processes. With 3G and WiMax spectrum auctions round the corner, WPC has sought for additional manpower to manage the auctions. With this initiative from the regulator in setting up the spectrum cell, it is unlikely that the government would grant additional manpower to WPC.

© Financial Chronicle