AUSPI Opposes One-time Spectrum Charge, Alleges It Will Favour Existing Operators

The Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI), the industry body of new telecom operators, has opposed the one-time charge for spectrum already held by existing licensees for the remaining period, stating it will favour incumbent GSM operators.

The Department of Telecommunications had proposed that once the price of spectrum is fixed for the upcoming auction, the existing operators should be asked to pay the price for the spectrum they currently hold. However, the government is yet to take a decision on the same.

Terming the proposal as “highly discriminatory” against its members, AUSPI said that Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular would have 8, 10 and 9 licenses respectively due for renewal out of 22 licenses in 2014 to 2016 and these companies have paid much lower amount than Rs. 1,659 crores on Pan India basis for acquiring their Pan India licenses.

The association also said that metros and most of category A circles will be due for renewal in 2014 to 2016, which have much higher spectrum fee than category B and C circles. The three incumbent operators Airtel, Vodafone and Idea will be paying only for 2 to 4 years for highly priced circles, Aircel would be paying for 8 to 12 years, while Reliance and Tata will be paying for both GSM and CDMA spectrum for 8 to 12 years, it said.

The DoT has proposed that instead of charging for spectrum held beyond 4.4 MHz, incumbents should be asked to pay for the entire spectrum that they hold in order to ensure a level playing field among operators.

Vaccine Reminder – Never To Miss Your Child’s Vaccination Dates

Now MoMagic Technologies a Noida based mobile solution providing company has developed an application – Vaccine Reminder that keeps a track of all necessary vaccinations new born needs for better protection from diseases.

The Application requires no Internet as well to keep a track. The application itself can do it.User needs to enter the name and Date of Birth of a new born child.

With this information provided, Application shows a list of all the recommended vaccinations like Hepatitis, DPT, Polio, etc. with due date of when the child should receive the vaccination.

Prior to due date and also on the due date of a particular vaccination, an alarm goes off on mobile reminding the user for the vaccination.But sometimes it does happen that user will ignore or forget about a schedule in spite of the alarm.

The Application seems to take care of this as well. Even if the vaccination schedule is missed, Application will still play alarm for missed vaccination.User needs to fill the date on which they give vaccination to their child. This provides them to maintain the history of vaccination.

The Future of Opera Mini 7.0 : Opera Mini Next :) 2012

As you all know Opera one of the leading mobile browser which is smooth, speedy, and makes surfing the Web on a mobile device more fun and efficient than ever. On Monday web browser maker Opera unveiled Opera Min Next for Phone and Tablet at Mobile World Congress.

Although Opera Next gives you a sneak preview of what is to come in future versions of Opera. Users still have the chance explore the exciting new features that are still under development for the next release of Opera Mini. Even opera say’s “Opera Mini Next” is not intended for everyday browsing, but still user have chance to explore the new features of beta version.

So what’s new??

The new Opera Mini Next “O” icon is White instead of regular “O” red icon, since it is a separate version.

The app can be easily moved to SD card to increase the phone memory.

A new home screen, called “Smart Page” will display a collection of regularly-visited Web sites, providing feature phones one-click access to website

The new smart home screen, which will be located next to Opera’s Speed Dial, is customizable, allowing users to bookmark sites they frequently visit.

Smoother Browsing

Smart page will soon be launched on all Opera Mini browser

Android users can download current version 7.0 of Opera Mini Next from Android Market other user can go to m.opera.com/next/ from your phone.

HDFC Bank and Visa To Transform Mobile Payments Services in India

Movida, a mobile payments joint venture backed by VISA and Monitise, has signed an agreement with HDFC Bank to introduce all new and a first of its kind mobile payment service.

The new service allows HDFC Bank customers to pay bills, top up prepaid airtime and buy tickets from their mobile phone and is designed to operate across all mobile networks using any Visa or non-Visa branded payment account.

It can be used by any mobile subscriber, anywhere and accessed by even the most basic mobile phone as well as high end smartphones.

The new service uses menu-based USSD mobile technology making it one of the easiest services to use and the most widely available. After linking their HDFC Bank Visa or non-Visa payment card to their mobile phone number, cardholders can access the service via USSD over Movida’s secure connection right from their mobile phone.

From then on it is just a matter of selecting the payment service require and making the payment. The simple menu on mobile phone can complete a transaction in only a few steps.

And not only is the service simple, it’s secure and backed by two of the world’s most trusted brands in electronic and mobile payments. The system encompasses various security measures to maintain account integrity, including a unique PIN number set up on the phone to access the account information. Only the user’s bank-registered phone can be connected to the service.

Facebook hires former Levi’s, Apple exec to head marketing

Facebook has hired Rebecca Van Dyck as head of global marketing, likely with the hope she can change the social networking giant’s branding. “We can confirm that Rebecca is joining the marketing team and we are thrilled she’s decided to join us,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.

Facebook hasn’t done much marketing of itself at all, so Van Dyck will likelybe taking on quite a bit of work. Given that Facebook  is going public soon, she’ll need to boost Facebook’s image so that the company can draw more users, developers, as well as advertisers. In just eight years, Facebook has become one of the most well-known brands in the world, but its consumer satisfaction is very low.

Good thing Van Dyck has quite the employment history to help her with her new responsibilities. Prior to Facebook, she spent just 10 months at Levi’s working as the company’s Global CMO, where she oversaw the company’s global “Go Forth” campaign. Before that, Van Dyck worked alongside Steve Jobs at Apple during the release of the iPod, iTunes, iPhone, and the iPad.

“The iPhone was something created from the outside in, by how it felt to the consumer and the user experience going through it,” Van Dyke told AdAge when explaining her approach and what it was like working with Jobs. “It was first and foremost about the user experience. And that’s how I approach marketing, that theme of focusing on what’s important to the customer.”

Van Dyck was the senior director of worldwide advertising at Apple for four years and then as senior director of worldwide marketing communications and advertising at Apple for three years. Apple hired her away from advertising agency , where for 12 years she worked as the Global Account Director in charge of Nike.

Supreme Court Cancels 122 Licences Given in 2008, (2G SEPCTRUM)

What come as a shocker for many operator is the judgment passed by the Supreme Court today which has cancelled all 122 2G licences.

As per ET the licenses of 11 companies have been cancelled the penalties have been imposed on Tata Teleservices, Unitech and DB Realty.

The Mobile Service providers (GSM/CDMA) that are set to lose on account of the cancellation of the licences are Uninor (joint venture between Unitech and Telenor of Norway), Loop Telecom, MTS India(Sistema Shyam TeleServices) Cheers Mobile – Etisalat DB (joint venture between Swan and Etisalat of UAE), S Tel, Videocon, Tatas and Idea Cellular.

All these 122 licences issued by former telecom minister A Raja in January 2008 on first—come first—serve basis, Uninor (Unitech-Telenor) was alloted 22 pan India licences, Loop 21, Sistema-Shyam/MTS India 21, Cheers Mobile or Etisalat—DB 15, S Tel (Shiva Group & BaTelco) 6, Videocon 21, Idea 9, Spice Communications 4 (now owned by Idea Cellular) and Tatas 3.

The companies can operate the quashed licenses for 4 months and TRAI has been asked to make fresh suggestions for grant of licenses.