Tag Archives | authority

TRAI calls for DoT to reject industry protests and stand by recommendations

By on May 17, 2012 in News

Despite mounting opposition from operators and diplomats, the Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has stood by its controversial recommendations to raise the reserve price for spectrum. According to the Hindustan Times, the TRAI in a ‘strongly worded’ letter requested that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) support the TRAI’s proposals and reject demands from industry players. Defending the price hike, the TRAI said that the recommended cost levels would ensure that the government got the full value of the spectrum without compromising the industry’s profitability or adversely effecting costs to end users

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TRA reduces raft of Batelco’s wholesale charges

By on May 15, 2012 in News

Bahrain’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has issued an order setting ‘fair and reasonable’ charges for regulated wholesale access and interconnection services offered by Batelco to alternative operators, modifying the incumbent telco’s previously published terms in its Reference Offer for 2012. Amongst the charges being reduced are: bitstream and wholesale DSL broadband access (by between 2% and 26%); interconnection links (30%-50%); domestic leased lines (up to 46%); international leased half circuits to Gulf countries (28%-68%), and to Southeast/East Asia, Europe and the USA (41%-45%).

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TCRA says MNP to start ‘soon’

By on May 14, 2012 in News

Prof John Nkoma, the director general for the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), says that the government has approved regulations to allow mobile number portability (MNP) in the country.

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No new licences on offer in Zimbabwe

By on May 9, 2012 in News

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) has revealed that it has no plans to issue new fixed line or mobile telephony licences, despite interest from a number of foreign firms, Telecompaper reports. The regulator says the government would have to alter legislation to permit new players to enter the market, which is currently served by one fixed operator – TelOne – and three cellular providers – Econet Wireless, Telecel and NetOne.

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Nepal poised to approve controversial unified licensing regime

By on May 3, 2012 in News

The government of Nepal is set to rubber stamp the implementation of the controversial universal licensing regime, although critics argue that the plan will only create increased uncertainty in the mountain Kingdom’s telecoms industry. The Himalayan News Service adds that the regulator, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), is accelerating its efforts to install the new provisions for unified licensing and has proposed a licence fee of NPR295 million (USD3.54 million), a renewal fee of NPR20 billion, 4% of annual income as a royalty payment and a 2% levy, to go to the national Rural Telecommunication Development Fund (RTDF).

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AMC expands HSPA+ footprint to 95%

By on May 2, 2012 in News

Albanian Mobile Communications (AMC), the Balkan nation’s largest cellco by subscribers has announced that it has expanded the footprint of its 3.5G network to cover 95% of the population. The HSPA+ network was officially launched in January this year with 90% population coverage, and AMC is aiming to achieve 99% coverage over the next few months.

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Fixed broadband subs exceeded 75,000 in 2011

By on April 25, 2012 in News

Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has reported that the Sultanate ended 2011 with a total of 78,214 fixed broadband subscribers, an increase of 20% quarter-on-quarter, while dial-up subscribers declined 15% to 10,846 over the same period. The regulator said that mobile broadband customers (defined as ‘mobile subscribers with unique 3G-supported devices’) reached 2.14 million at 31 December 2011, an increase of 11% over the previous quarter

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Maldives reports end-March telecoms stats

By on April 25, 2012 in News

According to the latest figures from the Communications Authority of Maldives (CAM), the island ended March 2012 with a total of 539,792 mobile subscribers, of which 86.7% were pre-paid. Fixed broadband subscribers, meanwhile, totalled 17,140 at the end of the first quarter of 2012, compared to 15,601 twelve months earlier, while mobile broadband customers almost doubled from 32,485 to 60,215 over the same period. The number of fixed telephone lines (including payphones) reached 25,306 at 31 March 2012, of which the majority (18,768) were located on Male

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Sector balks at TRAI recommendations

By on April 24, 2012 in News

The Telecoms Regulatory Authority of India has incensed representatives of the nation’s telecoms sector with its base price recommendations for spectrum concessions revoked by the Supreme Court earlier this year.

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Multimedia given green light for Stream acquisition

By on April 24, 2012 in News

Polish broadband provider Multimedia Polska has received approval from Poland’s anti-trust authority the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) to acquire 100% of cableco Stream Communications, reports Broadband TV News. Stream Communications currently represents approximately 100,000 subscribers and its acquisition will increase Multimedia’s customer base past the 500,000 threshold for Q1 2012.

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